Country
Jason Isbell’s Houston Show Canceled, Says Venue Owner ‘Flat-Out Refused’ to Implement COVID-19 Policy
Isbell proved he wasn’t paying lip service when his show scheduled for Aug. 11 at Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchel Pavilion was canceled. According to a statement from the venue, “we are all on the same page and we agree with what Jason Isbell would like to implement, but there is a timing issue.” The statement continues, “to implement a major change in policy such as what is requested will take more time than we have.” Isbell contests those claims. “The pavilion statement is false,” he tweeted. “Live Nation, the promoter, was on board but the venue owner flat-out refused to even attempt to implement the policy.” Earlier, Isbell laid out the strict new protocols. “We’re now requiring proof of vaccination or a current negative test to attend all our shows, indoors or out. If the ...
Still Unbroken: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Marks 50 Years of an Improbable Album
This week marks 50 years since the band recorded the 38-track set in six focused days at Nashville’s Woodland Sound Studios. Originally released on three vinyl discs in the fall of 1972, it never spawned any actual hit singles, though it did peak at No. 4 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart. People heard about it through word-of-mouth, Dirt Band concerts and significant critical attention, given in great part because it was a grand experiment that managed to cross multiple gaps — generational, cultural, stylistic and geographical — in an era when America was divided by urban violence and the Vietnam War. “I have close friends that said, ‘You kind of helped bridge that gap between my dad and me; we would put this record on, have something in common,R...
Chris Young Talks His ‘Growth’ on ‘Famous Friends’ Album & Leaving Zoom Songwriting Behind
Though it’s been almost four years since Young’s last album release — 2017’s Losing Sleep — fans have heard a steady stream of new material from Famous Friends since its first single, party anthem “Raised on Country,” came out in 2019. That was followed by the emotional gut punch of “Drowning,” co-written by Young as his response to a friend’s sudden death, and then the title track. The three songs highlight the musical and lyrical breadth of Famous Friends, which Young attributes to his broader experiences as he gets older and “being open and letting the music be what it needs to be without worrying about where it comes from and how it gets started.” Time was also on his side as the pandemic gave him unlimited time to craft the album. Young never had a release date ...
Jason Isbell to Require Proof of Vaccination at Shows: “If You’re Dead, You Don’t Have Any Freedoms”
Jason Isbell has a way with words, as he demonstrated on his 2020 album Reunions, and which he proved again on a new appearance on MSNBC. In conversation with Stephanie Ruhle, he explained his decision to require proof of vaccination at his concerts, saying, “If you’re dead, you don’t have any freedoms at all.” The quip came as part of a larger conversation about the resurgent threat of COVID-19 sparked by the delta variant. The singer-songwriter said he hadn’t received much pushback: “All the response I’ve gotten from people in the business has been positive, because they understand that we could go back to not working at all. And a lot of these smaller venues, they aren’t going to be able to reopen if they go through another round of shutdowns.” As he explained it, most venues ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Rickey Medlocke Tests Positive for COVID-19, Band Cancels Shows
Jimmie Allen, who was the opening act, has extended his set list to open the show. He performs a duet with Paisley on the current hit “Freedom Was a Highway.” The band also suspended shows in Jackson, Mississippi; Atlanta; and Cullman, Alabama, with the Aug. 13 show in Atlanta rescheduled for Oct. 23. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Chart Rewind: In 1996, Rhett Akins ‘Started’ a Long Run of Hot Country Songs No. 1s
Including “Started,” Akins has written eight Hot Country Songs No. 1s. He’s penned 25 Country Airplay leaders, tied for the second-most with Shane McAnally (after Ashley Gorley’s 43). He’s authored six Country Airplay No. 1s recorded by son Thomas Rhett, who boasts 16 chart-toppers as an artist, and 12 as a writer. Named songwriter of the decade by the Academy of Country Music in 2019, Akins, 51, will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame this year. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their ...
Willie Nelson Headlines Texas Protest Rally in Support of Voting Rights
“If you don’t like who’s in there, vote them out,” Nelson sang, inviting the crowd to join him in singing lyrics he’d previously written about taking a stand at the ballot box. “I felt like I needed to be here. It is a history-making event that is so necessary right now,” said Brenda Hanson, 75, of Austin. “I am a descendant of slavery and I am not interested in moving back. I want to see this country go forward. I have lived well over three quarters of a century and I have never seen us go backwards like this before.” Hanson said she is disabled but otherwise would have participated in the nearly 30-mile walk. Instead, she hoped to make a statement with her presence as she sat chanting in support on a bench under a tree. The march began Wednesday and ended Saturday when participants walke...
Willie Nelson Performs at Poor People’s Campaign Voting Rights March in Austin: Watch
Willie Nelson performed at the Poor People’s Campaign march for voting rights outside of the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Saturday. As Rolling Stone notes, it marked Nelson’s first public performance outside of his Luck, Texas ranch since the start of the pandemic. In response to Texas’ controversial election reform bill, The Poor People’s Campaign march organized a four-day 27-mile march that began Wednesday in Georgetown, TX, and concluded on Saturday on the steps of the state capitol in Austin. Advertisement Related Video If passed, the election reform bill would limit early voting hours, ban drive-thru and mail-in ballot drop boxes, allow partisan poll watchers to record voters who get help filling out ballots, and make it a crime for local elections officials to encourage voting b...
Morgan Wallen Makes a Surprise Cameo at Luke Bryan’s Nashville Concert, Performs Pair of Hits
Dressed in a black T-shirt, blue jeans and a backwards baseball cap, Wallen strutted down the catwalk with his acoustic guitar and handed celebratory shots to his fellow musicians before serenading concert-goers. “This is a song about staying true to yourself, and that’s been a really hard thing for me to do lately, but here I am,” Wallen said before performing “More Than My Hometown.” Last week, in his first major interview since being on video caught using the racial slur, Wallen spoke to Good Morning America‘s Michael Strahan, offering an explanation for the incident, which resulted in his music being pulled from radio and streaming, as well as earning him a suspension by his record label and declared ineligible for this year’s ACM Awards. “I was arou...
Brandi Carlile to Livestream ‘Echoes Through the Canyon’ Concert on Veeps
“Back in March, Brandi delivered one of the very first ever hybrid experiences, playing to an intimate crowd at the Ryman while an arena-sized audience watched the livestream at home. She’s been a constant innovator and the “Echoes Through The Canyon” show is no exception, giving fans access to an incredible amphitheatre experience regardless of where they’re located,” Joel Madden said in a statement. “We’re constantly impressed with what Brandi has created on the platform — for her fans, for her crew, and for the other artists that have been inspired to use the platform to bring people together.” The performance comes in advance of the six-time Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, performer, producer and New York Times best-selling author’s ne...
Garth Brooks Concert in Kansas City Will Include Vaccine Clinic
Garth Brooks fans will have a chance to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when the country music star performs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 7. Kansas City Chiefs president Mark Donovan said Monday the team plans to take every opportunity to offer vaccinations at Arrowhead, The Kansas City Star reported. Donovan said the organization isn’t sure if it will be able to use Arrowhead Stadium as a vaccination site on Chiefs game days this fall but “We’re trying to work through that as well.” You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back...
Rodney Crowell Turns the Personal Into the Universal on New Album ‘Triage’
Working with producer/son-in-law Dan Knobler, Crowell had almost completed Triage when a health crisis inspired “Transient Global Amnesia Blues,” the final song they recorded for the album. He’s currently on tour playing that and other songs from the new collection. Crowell shares with Billboard how he weathered the pandemic, what happened the morning he wound up in the ER, and how his writing has evolved. Why did you title the album Triage? I looked up the definition to make sure I had it right, but triage requires establishing priorities if you’re going to medically save lives. When a head-on collision happens and help is on the way, triage is prioritizing what to do first. I feel like the song “Triage” [says] that the first thing we have to do is remember how to love. [Even people] that...
