• NEWS AND NOTES: Eric Church, Vince Gill, Josh Turner, Mickey Guyton

    Eric Church will release a special physical edition of his 2011 EP, Caldwell County, on vinyl for Record Store Day on April 20th. The 7-inch disc will feature the songs “His Kind of Money (My Kind of Love),” “My Heart’s Got a Memory,” “Faster Than My Angels Can Fly” and “Chevy Van.”
    He posted the news on his Instagram stories.

    Vince Gill will join Blake Shelton and his own All For The Hall at the Bok Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 30th. The show will benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and will also feature performances by Ronnie Dunn, Kristen Chenoweth, Wade Hayes and The Swon Brothers.

    Josh Turner will be on hand to help induct Scotty McCreery into the Grand Ole Opry on April 20th. Scotty got his start during Season 10 of American Idol, and he auditioned by singing Josh Turner’s hit, “Your Man.”

     

    Mickey Guyton is attending New York Fashion Week for the first time. She was invited by famed fashion designer Michael Kors. In her Instagram posts, she’s wearing a beautiful, above-the-knee white dress by Kors.

     

     

     

  • GRAMMY AWARDS 2024: Chris Stapleton, Brothers Osborne, Dierks Bentley, The War And Treaty, Kacey Musgraves, Vince Gill and more

    The 66th annual GRAMMY Awards are taking place this Sunday (February 4th), and several country artists will be taking home some coveted trophies.

    Chris Stapleton has three nominations, including Best Country Song (“White Horse”), Best Country Solo Performance (“White Horse”) and Best Country Duo/Group Performance as a featured performer on Carly Pearce’s “We Don’t Fight Anymore.”

    Brothers Osborne nabbed a pair of noms, including Best Country Album for their self-titled fourth record and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Nobody’s Nobody.”

    Kacey Musgraves picked up two nominations for her featured performance on Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

    The War And Treaty are nominated for two GRAMMY Awards, including the overall Best New Artist and for Best American Roots Song for “Blank Page.” The husband-wife duo have several events leading up to Sunday night’s GRAMMY Awards Show, including Spotify’s Best New Artist party, and Michael and Tanya (pr. Tonya) will perform at the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala honoring Jon Bon Jovi on Friday (February 2nd).

    Dierks Bentley is nominated in Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “High Note,” featuring Billy Strings. When the nominations were announced, Dierks posted a heartfelt message of gratitude on his Instagram, writing, “Thank you Billy for lending your talents. Been fun to watch your career explode dude since we recorded this. It must have been the collab!! Haha. The song actually started off pretty grassy with Billy, @sambushband @bryansuttond28 @jerrydouglas on it (and my band). And then we went back in a year later and gave it a little more of a country vibe. Thanks to my friends @jimbeavers and my pal @charlieworsham for writing it and letting me make it my own. This song is why Charlie has been in our band the last two years. After he recorded the acoustic lick at the top, I remember asking him how in the hell are we gonna play this live on the road. @bhelson is on electric and there’s no way I can play it. He said, ‘Well I could come out and do it.’ And he did!! And he still is haha.”

    Vince Gill and Paul Franklin are nominated in Best Country Duo/Group for “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)” from their latest collaboration, Sweet Memories.

    George Strait‘s Blue Clear Sky album was nominated for Best Immersive Album. The collection must be commercially released for physical sale or on an eligible streaming or download service and must provide a new immersive mix of four or more channels. Award to the immersive mix engineer, immersive producer (if any) and immersive mastering engineer (if any).

    The 2024 Grammy Awards will air live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday (February 4th) at 8pm ET/7pm CT on CBS and streaming live on Paramount+.

    Best Country Album
    Kelsea Ballerini, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
    Brothers Osborne, Brothers Osborne
    Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
    Tyler Childers, Rustin’ In The Rain
    Lainey Wilson, Bell Bottom Country

    Best Country Song
    Brandy Clark, “Buried” (Brandy Clark & Jessie Jo Dillon)
    Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything” (Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves)
    Tyler Childers, “In Your Love” (Tyler Childers & Geno Seale)
    Morgan Wallen, “Last Night” (John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin & Ryan Vojtesak)
    Chris Stapleton, “White Horse” (Chris Stapleton & Dan Wilson)

    Best Country Solo Performance
    Tyler Childers, “In Your Love”
    Brandy Clark, “Buried”
    Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
    Dolly Parton, “The Last Thing On My Mind”
    Chris Stapleton, “White Horse”

    Best Country Duo/Group Performance
    Dierks Bentley featuring Billy Strings, “High Note”
    Brothers Osborne, “Nobody’s Nobody”
    Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything”
    Vince Gill & Paul Franklin, “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)”
    Jelly Roll With Lainey Wilson, “Save Me”
    Carly Pearce featuring Chris Stapleton, “We Don’t Fight Anymore”

    Best New Artist
    Gracie Abrams
    Fred again..
    Ice Spice
    Jelly Roll
    Coco Jones
    Noah Kahan
    Victoria Monét
    The War and Treaty

    Best American Roots Song
    “Blank Page” — Michael Trotter Jr. & Tanya Trotter, songwriters (The War And Treaty) 
    “California Sober” – Aaron Allen, William Apostol & Jon Weisberger, songwriters (Billy Strings Featuring Willie Nelson)
    “Cast Iron Skillet” – Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit)
    “Dear Insecurity” – Brandy Clark & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile)
    “The Returner” – Drew Lindsay, JT Nero & Allison Russell, songwriters (Allison Russell)

    Best Immersive Audio Album
    Blue Clear Sky — Chuck Ainlay, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Chuck Ainlay, immersive producer (George Strait)
    Act 3 (Immersive Edition) – Ryan Ulyate, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Ryan Ulyate, immersive producer (Ryan Ulyate)
    The Diary Of Alicia Keys – George Massenburg & Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineers; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Alicia Keys & Ann Mincieli, immersive producers (Alicia Keys)
    God Of War Ragnarök (Original Soundtrack) – Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Kellogg Boynton, Peter Scaturro & Herbert Waltl, immersive producers (Bear McCreary)
    Silence Between Songs – Aaron Short, immersive mastering engineer (Madison Beer)

    Audio / Dierks Bentley jokes around about his GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance with Billy Strings.

    Download

    Dierks Bentley (Grammy 2024) OC: …a fun ride. :50
    “I think this is my 16th nomination. At 17, they give you one out of pity, so I just have to get one more next year to get the courtesy win. No, but this is my 16th nomination, hey, I’ll take the nominations all day long. This is a tough thing to be nominated for, and I’m proud of the nomination. Actually, when I heard the news – I didn’t even know the song was submitted for a GRAMMY, so when I heard the news, I’m like, ‘Wow! Billy Strings! This might be the one. I’ve got the hottest guy in all music.’ And then I look down the list, and I was like, ‘Oh, we got Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll. Oooof, that’s tough. We’ve got Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves, they’re GRAMMY darlings, so I don’t know.’ But the nomination is good enough. I’m proud of it, and I’m grateful for Billy for his time and doing it and it was a fun ride.”

    Audio / BROTHERS OSBORNE'S TJ OSBORNE EXPLAINS WHY THEY SELF-TITLED THEIR FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM.

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    Brothers Osborne (self-titling album) OC: …Brothers Osborne. :58
    TJ: “John and I have really shared so much of our personal lives since the release of Skeletons, and I guess we didn’t realize when we created that there was some sort of barriers there that maybe we didn’t realize and certainly didn’t want there. And this time around, while we didn’t necessarily pointedly or specifically talk about those topics, it was the first time we were able to create without any barriers, and it just made the process a lot more fun. We got to explore a lot more musically in the studio, and we felt like for the first time completely 100% us. And I think, I hope, but I feel that the record reflects that. We thought, usually people do that on their first record, but we thought this is a new beginning for us, so between the change of the producer and a lot of the musicians and stuff, so we just thought this was kind of a fresh thought. So we kind of thought we’re gonna lean in more than we have previously and this us—Brothers Osborne.”

    Audio / BROTHERS OSBORNE'S TJ OSBORNE TALKS ABOUT THE DUO'S SONG, "NOBODY'S NOBODY."

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    Brothers Osborne (about Nobody’s Nobody) OC: …by that. :21
    “So, ‘Nobody’s Nobody’ was really inspired just by us thinking, ‘You know what? I don’t care who you are or what you do, we all have our differences and we sometimes get on each other’s nerves, but you still are somebody. Everyone is someone in this world and it takes literally every one of us to make it go around.’ So, ‘Nobody’s Nobody’ was inspired by that.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton talks about the GRAMMYS.

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    Chris Stapleton (GRAMMYS) OC: …very cool. :22
    “It’s such a convergence of different aspects of music. It’s just like a big melting pot of stuff that is just so fantastic to watch people interact that you don’t get that any where else, really. The GRAMMYs are great to see that and you always see some cool collaboration or something that’s going on at the GRAMMYS that it’s not going on anywhere else. I think it’s a real honor to be nominated for GRAMMYS, and I think it’s very cool.”

    Audio / The War And Treaty's Michael Trotter Jr. talks about their Grammy-nominated song, "Blank Page."

    Download

    The War And Treaty (Blank Page) OC: …someone new. :16
    “Picture this – you meet someone, both of you decide to fall in love and all of a sudden, you decide to bring in past failed relationships into the equation. No. ‘Blank Page’ is simply about starting from a clean slate and building your own history with someone new.”

    Audio / The War And Treaty's Michael Trotter Jr. talks about the Best New Artist nominations at this year's GRAMMY Awards.

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    The War And Treaty (Best New Artist nod) OC: …for that. :33
    “It was very shocking, one. I just couldn’t believe that it was happening, but I felt really humbled and really blessed to be in that category with so many amazing artists, trailblazing artists, artists who set a standard. And just to call their names out – Gracie Adams, Fred Again, Victoria Monét, Coco Jones, Ice Spice, Noah Kahan and the man, the myth and the legend, Jelly Roll. It feels so good, and we have a role to play. We have a place right there amongst them, so we’re just grateful for that.”

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  • BRAD PAISLEY, LITTLE BIG TOWN, LUKE BRYAN, SAM HUNT AND VINCE GILL TO HONOR SUPER GROUP ALABAMA.

    Brad Paisley, Little Big Town, Sam Hunt, Toby Keith are among the artists performing during CMT’s upcoming special event, CMT Giants: Alabama.” The star-studded tribute concert, which will also feature performances by Blake Shelton with Steve Wariner, Jason Aldean, Old Dominion, Jamey Johnson and Riley Green, will celebrate the extensive and extraordinary career and music of one of the legendary supergroup, Alabama.

    Filming at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville, the two-hour special will air later this year. Luke Bryan, Vince Gill, Lionel Richie, Martina McBride, Pam Tillis, Lorrie Morgan, boxer Evander Holyfield, among others will appear both in-person and virtually to share personal stories on Alabama’s impact on music, plus an all-new interview with Alabama.

     

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Reba McEntire, Jon Pardi, Keith Urban, Vince Gill, Mickey Guyton, Chris Stapleton, Priscilla Block

    Reba McEntire performed her new song, “Seven Minutes In Heaven,” on NBC’s The Voice on Tuesday night (December 5th).

    Jon Pardi just released the official music video for his holiday tune, “Beer For Santa,” from his new Merry Christmas From Jon Pardi album. The clip features Santa, Jon and his beer-slugging faithful dog, Cowboy, in animated form.

     

     

    NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – DECEMBER 05: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (Front Row) Ernest, Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter of The War And Treaty, Brenda Lee, Patty Loveless, Mickey Guyton, HARDY (Back Row) CEO of Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum, Kyle Young, Matthew Ramsey, Geoff Sprung, Trevor Rosen and Brad Tursi of Old Dominion, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, Riley Green and Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum Board Chair, Mary Ann McCready attend All for the Hall, a concert benefiting the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum at Bridgestone Arena on December 05, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)

    Keith Urban and Vince Gill returned as co-hosts and bandmembers for this year’s benefit show, All for the Hall, with all proceeds going to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The show raised over $900,000 for the Hall of Fame.  The theme of the night was “The Song Remembers When,” and artists performed one of their own songs and a song that influenced them. Trisha Yearwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Brenda Lee, Brooks & Dunn, Mickey Guyton, The War And Treaty, Riley Green, Patty Loveless, Old Dominion, HARDY and Ernest also performed.

    Mickey Guyton‘s song “Heaven Down Here” inspired a Hallmark Christmas movie of the same name, which will premiere December 14th. The movie, which stars Phylicia Rashad, Tina Lifford and Richard Harmon, takes place in a diner in which four people are trapped inside on Christmas Eve.

     

    Chris Stapleton has announced new dates for his All-American Roadshow Tour.

    Priscilla Block covered Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe” during CMT’s Campfire Sessions: Christmas Version earlier this week. Backing her up was Tenille Townes, Brittney Spencer and Caitlyn Smith.

     

     

     

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Carrie, Jon, Mickey

    A handful of country artists will be in Las Vegas during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) next month, including Carrie Underwood who will continue her Reflection residency at Resorts World. The NFR returns to the Thomas & Mack enter December 7th – 16th for its 65th anniversary. Garth Brooks will perform seven shows at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace beginning November 29th. Also performing in Vegas will be Jon Pardi (December 9th), Toby Keith (December 10th and 11th), Miranda Lambert, Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, Ryan Bingham and more.

    Mickey Guyton has been added to the list of performers at this year’s All For The Hall benefit show next week. Hosts Keith Urban and Vince Gill will perform, as well as Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, The War And Treaty, Kelsea Ballerini, Brooks & Dunn, Riley Green and Hardy, among others. The theme for the show is “The Song Remembers When,” and each artist is expected to perform a song that is personal to them, as well as one of their own. The event takes place Tuesday (December 5th) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

     

  • CHRIS STAPLETON, BROTHERS OSBORNE, DIERKS BENTLEY, KACEY MUSGRAVES, THE WAR AND TREATY AND VINCE GILL & PAUL FRANKLIN ARE NOMINATED FOR GRAMMYS.

    The nominations for the 66th annual GRAMMY Awards were announced, and Chris Stapleton earned three nominations, including Best Country Song (“White Horse”), Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Duo/Group Performance as a featured performer on Carly Pearce’s “We Don’t Fight Anymore.”

    Brothers Osborne nabbed a pair of noms, including Best Country Album for their self-titled fourth record and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their current single, “Nobody’s Nobody.”

    Kacey Musgraves picked up two nominations for her featured performance on Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

    The War And Treaty are nominated for two GRAMMY Awards, including the overall Best New Artist and for Best American Roots Song for “Blank Page.”

    Dierks Bentley is nominated in Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “High Note,” featuring Billy Strings. Dierks posted a heartfelt message of gratitude on his Instagram, writing, “Thank you Billy for lending your talents. Been fun to watch your career explode dude since we recorded this. It must have been the collab!! Haha. The song actually started off pretty grassy with Billy, @sambushband @bryansuttond28 @jerrydouglas on it (and my band). And then we went back in a year later and gave it a little more of a country vibe. Thanks to my friends @jimbeavers and my pal @charlieworsham for writing it and letting me make it my own. This song is why Charlie has been in our band the last two years. After he recorded the acoustic lick at the top, I remember asking him how in the hell are we gonna play this live on the road. @bhelson is on electric and there’s no way I can play it. He said, ‘Well I could come out and do it.’ And he did!! And he still is haha.”

    Vince Gill and Paul Franklin are nominated in Best Country Duo/Group for “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold).”

     

    The 2024 Grammy Awards will air live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 4th on CBS and streaming live on Paramount+.

    Best Country Album
    Kelsea Ballerini, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
    Brothers Osborne, Brothers Osborne
    Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
    Tyler Childers, Rustin’ In The Rain
    Lainey Wilson, Bell Bottom Country

    Best Country Song
    Brandy Clark, “Buried” (Brandy Clark & Jessie Jo Dillon)
    Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything” (Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves)
    Tyler Childers, “In Your Love” (Tyler Childers & Geno Seale)
    Morgan Wallen, “Last Night” (John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin & Ryan Vojtesak)
    Chris Stapleton, “White Horse” (Chris Stapleton & Dan Wilson)

    Best Country Solo Performance
    Tyler Childers, “In Your Love”
    Brandy Clark, “Buried”
    Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
    Dolly Parton, “The Last Thing On My Mind”
    Chris Stapleton, “White Horse”

    Best Country Duo/Group Performance
    Dierks Bentley featuring Billy Strings, “High Note”
    Brothers Osborne, “Nobody’s Nobody”
    Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything”
    Vince Gill & Paul Franklin, “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)”
    Jelly Roll With Lainey Wilson, “Save Me”
    Carly Pearce featuring Chris Stapleton, “We Don’t Fight Anymore”

    Best New Artist
    Gracie Abrams
    Fred again..
    Ice Spice
    Jelly Roll
    Coco Jones
    Noah Kahan
    Victoria Monét
    The War and Treaty

    Best American Roots Song
    “Blank Page” — Michael Trotter Jr. & Tanya Trotter, songwriters (The War And Treaty) 
    “California Sober” – Aaron Allen, William Apostol & Jon Weisberger, songwriters (Billy Strings Featuring Willie Nelson)
    “Cast Iron Skillet” – Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit)
    “Dear Insecurity” – Brandy Clark & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile)
    “The Returner” – Drew Lindsay, JT Nero & Allison Russell, songwriters (Allison Russell)

    Best Immersive Audio Album
    Blue Clear Sky — Chuck Ainlay, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Chuck Ainlay, immersive producer (George Strait)
    Act 3 (Immersive Edition) – Ryan Ulyate, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Ryan Ulyate, immersive producer (Ryan Ulyate)
    The Diary Of Alicia Keys – George Massenburg & Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineers; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Alicia Keys & Ann Mincieli, immersive producers (Alicia Keys)
    God Of War Ragnarök (Original Soundtrack) – Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Kellogg Boynton, Peter Scaturro & Herbert Waltl, immersive producers (Bear McCreary)
    Silence Between Songs – Aaron Short, immersive mastering engineer (Madison Beer)

  • VINCE GILL & PAUL FRANKLIN’S SWEET MEMORIES: THE MUSIC OF RAY PRICE & THE CHEROKEE COWBOYS.

    “With this record, Vince Gill and Paul Franklin have taken their admiration for Ray Price to the next level, with one of the finest true-country tributes of all time,” states country music icon Bill Anderson in the liner notes for Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys.

    Now, 10 years after the release of Bakersfield, their ringing homage to the music created by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard and their bands, Gill and steel guitar wizard Franklin are back in the re-discovery lane with Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys, now available everywhere.

    LISTEN TO Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys | HERE

    “It’s a kind of magic when (Vince) Gill and (Paul) Franklin apply their talents to the great American country music songbook,” states Cowboys & Indians. “Paul and I are in no way trying to say we can make these records better than the original,” Gill stresses. “I don’t think any of these songs sound comparable to the original. Paul didn’t play the same solos. Part of the reasoning behind this record was to feature not only Paul as a steel guitarist but me as a vocalist,” he adds.

    “I think Vince’s singing on this album is maybe his Mount Everest of performances,” Franklin says. “I’m excited this music is getting out there and in a way that we feel brings new life and new ideas to it.

    What we hope to do is introduce it to a new generation of fans and musicians that might not take the time to look back into the ’50s and ’60s. If you have great songs and you interpret them through improvisations, you’re going to get something good. And that was our mission,” Franklin adds.

    The entire album contains material that might be surprising to even the most die-hard of Price’s fans. “We started looking through the sheer volume of Ray’s music,” Franklin explains. “We looked for obscure songs, ones even Ray’s fans might not know as well.” As No Depression noted, “Sweet Memories is a labor of love, introducing Price and his music to a new generation.”

    Gill and Franklin discuss the making of Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys in a series of YouTube videos on Gill’s channel. You can watch them HERE.

    Last night, Gill and Franklin previewed a few selections from the project, for the first time live on the Grand Ole Opry, performing “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold),” “You Wouldn’t Know Love,” “Danny Boy,” and “Your Old Love Letters.” The performance will air on Circle All Access TV on August 12th.

    The album is now available on all streaming services. It is also available on limited edition autographed milky clear vinyl, as well as special exclusive autographed box sets that include the CD, an autographed art card, and a limited edition T-Shirt on Gill’s website HERE.

    There is also a special exclusive tan vinyl that is only available at all Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores©.

     

    Audio / Vince Gill talks about the legendary Ray Price.

    Download

    Vince Gill (Ray Price) OC: …over the years. :22
    “The fact that I got to sing on his last record he ever made was pretty special, so there’s a sentimental story there. He’s a kind, soft-spoken good guy, and he loved and revered great musicians, that’s why we also (included) the music of Ray Price and The Cherokee Cowboys – so many iconic musicians that passed through his ranks over the years.”

    Audio / Paul Franklin talks about the legendary Ray Price.

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    Paul Franklin (Ray Price) OC: …nice man. :42
    “Vince and I both played on his last album. I never got to hang around with Ray, but I was taken by – this is of course when he was really dealing with his health – but just watching how kind…we’ve got headphones so we can hear the breathing and issues, but he never lost his voice. When he sang, it was still Ray Price as we’ve known him. But just watching him struggle with that, but yet the kindness and everything to musicians, and I was honored because Buddy Emmons had just turned it down and that was his guy, so to get that call – I mean, I just assumed he’d go down to one of the guys that he knew, but it was really cool and just a nice man.”

  • VINCE GILL AND PAUL FRANKLIN GET READY TO RELEASE “SWEET MEMORIES: THE MUSIC OF RAY PRICE & THE CHEROKEE COWBOYS” TOMORROW.

    Ten years following the release of the critically-acclaimed Bakersfield album, country music icon Vince Gill and legendary musician Paul Franklin, have joined forces once again for their latest project, Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys. The 11-track album will be released on Friday (August 4th)

    Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys contains material that might be surprising to even the most die-hard of Price’s fans. Gill explains, “When we originally started thinking about doing this record, we were going to do half and half, focusing on two different artists like we did with Bakersfield, recording songs of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. But we got to liking so many of Ray’s songs, that it became ‘Let’s do all Ray’ and ‘Well, Okay!””

    Franklin adds, “We had such a great time doing Bakersfield. It felt good introducing that music to a new generation. This time, it was a no-brainer to pick Ray Price. Once we locked in on Ray, we started looking through the sheer volume of his material. We looked for obscure songs, ones even Ray’s fans might not know as well.”

    Vince says the new project with Paul started out as half Ray Price and half Little Jimmy Dickens until they started delving into Ray’s extensive catalog. “Our intention when we started this record was to do like we’d done Bakersfield—half Ray Price and probably half Little Jimmy Dickens was the perfect pair we thought would work, and then we started finding so many things we loved,” he says. “We go, ‘Well, we want to do this, we want to do this.’ It was more than half a record’s worth, and we said, ‘Hell, let’s just do all Ray.’”

    In trying to pick songs, Vince says they decided not to do Ray’s obvious hits. “We just followed our ears and we did the songs we liked. We didn’t do the obvious things. I think in a tribute record and we’re honoring someone from the past to do the obvious ones – ‘For The Good Times’ and ‘Crazy Arms’, things like that – they’ve been done a zillion times. And it’s kind of fun to take something that not a lot of people had a great snapshot of what that record was.

     

    Track List – Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys

    1. “One More Time”

    Written by Mel Tillis

    1. “I’d Fight The World”

    Written by Hank Cochran and Joe Allison

    1. “You Wouldn’t Know Love”

    Written by Hank Cochran and Dave Kirby

    1. “Walkin’ Slow (And Thinking ‘Bout Her)”

    Written by Bobby Bare and Lance Guynes

    1. “The Same Two Lips”

    Written by Marty Robbins

    1. “Weary Blues From Waitin’”

    Written by Hank Williams Sr.

    1. “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)”

    Written by Mel Tillis, Ray Price and Wayne Walker

    1. “Sweet Memories”

    Written by Mickey Newbury

    1. “Danny Boy”

    Written by Fred E. Weatherly

    1. “Your Old Love Letters”

    Written by Ray Price

    1. “Healing Hands Of Time”

    Written by Willie Nelson

     

     

    Audio / Vince Gill says "Sweet Memories," the new project with Paul Franklin, started out as half Ray Price and half Little Jimmy Dickens until they started delving into Ray's extensive catalog.

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    Vince Gill (deciding on what songs from album) OC: …do all Ray. :18
    “Our intention when we started this record was to do like we’d done Bakersfield—half Ray Price and probably half Little Jimmy Dickens was the perfect pair we thought would work, and then we started finding so many things we loved. We go Well, we want to do this, we want to do this. It was more than half a records worth, and we said, hell, let’s just do all Ray.”

    Audio / Vince Gill talks about doing Ray Price songs that weren't the obvious hits on the new album, Sweet Memories.

    Download

    Vince Gill (deciding on what songs from album) 2 OC: …away we went. 1:00
    “We just followed our ears and we did the songs we liked. We didn’t do the obvious things. I think in a tribute record and we’re honoring someone from the past to do the obvious ones – ‘For The Good Times’ and ‘Crazy Arms’, things like that – they’ve been done a zillion times. And it’s kind of fun to take something that not a lot of people had a great snapshot of what that record was. There’s a lot of people that really love this guy’s records, his career, and I told ‘em what songs we’ve done, and they go, ‘I don’t know that song.’ I said, ‘I didn’t either.’ It was fun kind of rediscovering some things that would fall in line with what we wanted to do and how we wanted to play and picking things that were very steel guitar-driven. These records are, their point was much more from a musicians’ place. We wanted to do instrumental kind of music, but we liked the stories of the songs so much (PAUL: “Yeah.”) that it’s just like more interesting to do the songs and have somebody sing ‘em. I sing a little bit, so I’ll sing ‘em (PAUL LAUGHS)

    and away we went.”

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Dierks Bentley, Priscilla Block, Jordan Davis, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill

    Dierks Bentley, Priscilla Block and Jordan Davis will be featured on CMT’s Hot 20 Countdown this weekend. Catch all the action this Saturday (July 29th) and Sunday (July 30th) beginning at 9am ET/8am CT.

     

    Jordan Davis will be featured on CMT’s Summer Sessions performing some new songs as well as some of his biggest hits on August 4th.

     

    Carrie Underwood supported husband and former NHL player, Mike Fisher, as he was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame earlier this week.

     

     

    Reba McEntire will livestream her recent show from Madison Square Garden with Veeps. If you purchase tickets for the event, you can also pre-order her book, “Not That Fancy” at a special price. For more information, go to veeps.com/reba.

     

     

    Vince Gill and Paul Franklin will talk about their new project, Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys on TalkShop Live on Monday (July 31st) beginning at 7pm ET/6pm CT.

     

     

     

     

     

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Keith Urban, Jordan Davis, George Strait, Vince Gill

    Keith Urban gave a shout-out on his socials to his wife, actress-producer Nicole Kidman, who is starring in Taylor Sheridan’s new series, Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+. The first two episodes dropped on Sunday (July 23rd), and it’s an intense thrill ride of a series. He wrote, “Loved seeing the first episodes finally air last night of Special Ops: Lioness! When Nic told me that Taylor Sheridan had a story he wanted to do w/ her, I knew it would be extraordinary – and sure enough – I love this series. Huge props to the whole cast – check it out now on @paramountplus  !!!!!!! Love you babygirl!”

    The series stars Nicole, Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame), Laysla De Oliveira (Locke & Key), Dave Annabelle (Yellowstone, Brothers & Sisters), LaMonica Garrett (1883), Michael Kelly (Jack Ryan, House of Cards), Morgan Freeman and others. Special Ops: Lioness, inspired by an actual U.S. Military program, follows the life of Joe (Zoe Saldaña) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA’s spear in the war on terror. The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) and Byron Westfield (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of State terrorism in the CIA’s efforts to thwart the next 9/11.

     

     

    Jordan Davis is featured in the third episode of Hulu’s new music series, The Playlist, from ABC News Live. The description of the show is “Music — it’s what unites us, what entertains us and for so many, what we find solace in during difficult times. But what is the inspiration behind our favorite song? How did our favorite artist find their way to music? ABC News Live sits down one-on-one with some of music’s most influential artists to hear the story behind the sound.”

     

    George Strait can make ANYTHING look great — a cowboy hat, Wrangler Jeans, a pair of well-worn cowboy boots and his own brand of Tequila, Codigo 1530, which he toasted to on National Tequila Day on Monday (July 24th).

    https://twitter.com/GeorgeStrait/status/1683560444311801857

     

    Vince Gill and Paul Franklin will chat about their upcoming album, Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on August 4th.