Dierks Bentley attended the Hollywood premiere for the new film, Only the Brave, for which he contributed the song, “Hold the Light.” The film, which stars Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Taylor Kitsch, Jennifer Connelly and Andie MacDowell, is the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a group of elite Arizona firefighters who risk their lives to protect Prescott from one of the worst wildfires in history.
“This song hits really close to me because we wrote it based on the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots,” said Dierks in a recent press release about the song “Hold the Light.” “One of the most powerful takeaways for me from working on this project has been the need to search for hope and light even in the darkest of times. I think right now that message is more meaningful than ever.”
Only the Brave opens in theaters nationwide October 20th.
Kip Moore is continuing to build a fervent following across the pond, returning this past week for a headlining sold-out stint kicking off in Birmingham, UK on 10/2, also stopping in Manchester, UK (10/3), Glasgow, UK (10/4) and London, UK (10/6). Playing to capacity crowds each night, Moore treated audiences to songs from his “strongest, most artistic album” (Forbes), the recently released and critically acclaimed SLOWHEART, as CMT declares “it’s the way he expresses what’s on his mind that draws sold-out audiences around the world.”
The triumphant run culminated in a special show on Friday night (10/6) as part of Country Music Week in London, UK at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, with Entertainment Focus noting the “rapturous reception from the audience…Throughout the set Kip mixed in songs from all three of his albums, with highlights including a raucous rendition of ‘Beer Money’, the high energy of ‘The Bull’, and the sing-along ‘Heart’s Desire’ and the rocky ‘Bittersweet Company.’” Moore, who first made an impression overseas at Europe’s Country To Country Festival in 2015, will return to the festival in 2018 for the annual festival taking place March 9-11 in London, UK, Glasgow, UK, and Dublin, I.E.
Moore has hit his stride with SLOWHEART, and his current Top 5 single “More Girls Like You,” is the fastest rising single of his career and is receiving praise from critics such as Entertainment Weekly declaring he “has made a name for himself weaving vignettes of Southern, blue-collar life and love into rollicking country anthems.” SLOWHEART follows the acclaim that surrounded his sophomore album WILD ONES heralded as “an impressively singular release from Music Row” by The Guardian. Moore first turned heads with his debut album UP ALL NIGHT which was recently certified Double-PLATINUM by the RIAA and spawned three No. One hit singles including GOLD certified “Beer Money,” PLATINUM certified “Hey Pretty Girl,” and the DOUBLE PLATINUM breakout hit “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck. Moore, who has trail-blazed his own path with his reputation-making live show recently announced his headlining PLEAD THE FIFTH TOUR kicking off on 10/19. For more information and a full list of tour dates visit kipmoore.net.
Darius Rucker is getting ready to release his new album, When Was the Last Time, which is a line taken from his new song, “For the First Time.”
“When was the last time you did something for the first time? Yeah, let yourself go, follow that feeling Maybe something new is what you’re needing Like a real life, let your hair down, feel alive When was the last time you did something for the first time?”
Darius has experienced a lot of firsts in his lifetime, but there are still a few things he’d like to experience “for the first time.”
“I wanna go back to Africa, I wanted to see [Paul] McCartney, I want to see, I’ve never seen U2. It’s one of my favorite bands in the world. I want to see U2,” says Darius. “I’ve been lucky. I’ve gotten to do a lot of stuff that I’ve wanted to do. I’ve lived a really blessed life, but then I started thinking about it. There’s so much stuff, I’ve never been to Iceland, stuff like that that I want to do that I’ve never took the time to do, and I think now is the time to start doing that stuff.”
He’s already crossed off a couple of things on his list – seeing Paul McCartney live in concert was at the top and he was able to do that earlier this year. He also visits a psychic for the first time, which you can see for yourself below.
When Was the Last Time will be released October 20th.
Audio / Darius Rucker lists off a handful of things he’s never done.
Darius Rucker (When Was the Last Time bucket list) OC: …doing that stuff. :32 “No. 1 was see [Paul] McCartney [laughs] and I got to do that this year, and that was awesome. That was awesome. But I wanna go back to Africa, I wanted to see McCartney, I want to see, I’ve never seen U2. It’s one of my favorite bands in the world. I want to see U2. I’ve been lucky. I’ve gotten to do a lot of stuff that I’ve wanted to do. I’ve lived a really blessed life, but then I started thinking about it. There’s so much stuff, I’ve never been to Iceland, stuff like that that I want to do that I’ve never took the time to do, and I think now is the time to start doing that stuff.”
Shania Twain’s new album, NOW, bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart this week. The superstar’s first studio album in 15 years sold 137,000 in sales and equivalent streams during its first week. According to Billboard, 134,000 were in traditional album sales, which is the third largest sales week for a country album this year and the largest for a woman in nearly two years (Carrie Underwood’s Storyteller album debuted in November 2015 with 164,000 in sales and streams).
NOW has come in at #1 in the US. I'm feeling really happy and supported, thank you ❤️ pic.twitter.com/3xXjRZrA76
The album, which features “Swingin’ With My Eyes Closed” and “Life’s About to Get Good,” along with “Soldier” and many more, includes many varied styles and moods, according to Shania.
“Stylistically, the album is very diverse. I really took the freedom to just approach with an anything goes attitude. I really didn’t want to box myself in to any specific style or mood, and just let my creativity flow, and that resulted in a lot of just all of my favorite musical ideas in one,” she says. “So, I really had fun with it and explored things I’d never done before stylistically or things I always wanted to explore. I knew that I wanted the album to sound, you know, to not lose authenticity in the mix of everything. Once we got into production, I really wanted to make sure and my direction was I want to use authentic string instruments, acoustic instruments and use musicians with a lot of soul and a lot of really great live experience playing.”
NOW has also debuted at the top of the U-K chart, beating out Wolf Alice’s Visions of a Life by fewer than 800 copies, as well as topping the album chart in Australia and Canada, where it has already been certified platinum.
Shania will launch her NOW Tour May 3rd in Tacoma, Washington.
Audio / Shania Twain says the songs on her NOW album are pretty diverse.
Shania Twain (album stylistically different) OC: …playing. :53 “Stylistically, the album is very diverse. I really took the freedom to just approach with an anything goes attitude. I really didn’t want to box myself in to any specific style or mood, and just let my creativity flow, and that resulted in a lot of just all of my favorite musical ideas in one. So, I really had fun with it and explored things I’d never done before stylistically or things I always wanted to explore. I knew that I wanted the album to sound, you know, to not lose authenticity in the mix of everything. Once we got into production, I really wanted to make sure and my direction was I want to use authentic string instruments, acoustic instruments and use musicians with a lot of soul and a lot of really great live experience playing.”
Keith Urban will be honored with BMI’s (Broadcast Music Incorporated) Champion Award during the 65th Annual BMI Country Awards November 7th in Nashville. Keith is being honored by the performing rights organization for his assistance in helping the next generation of songwriters and musicians, as well as furthering music education.
Jon Pardi, who’s headlining his own Lucky Tonight Tour, has already planned dates for next year by heading out on Miranda Lambert’s Livin’ Like Hippies Tour beginning January 18th in Greenville, South Carolina.
Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” has caught the ear and the voice of Harry Styles, who recorded the song for the UK version of Spotify Singles. He later performed the tune during his show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
Eric Church is set to perform at the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association’s 2018 Hall of Fame induction ceremony February 24th. Maren Morris, Radney Foster, Jack Ingram, Joe Ely, Lori McKenna and Hayes Carll will also perform in honor of this year’s inductees – Buddy Holly, Liz Rose, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Mickey Newberry.
Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves and Kip Moore are among the performers announced for next year’s C2C: Country to Country Festival. Faith Hill & Tim McGraw, Luke Combs, Emmylou Harris, Margo Price, Midland, Lukas Nelson, Ashley McBryde, Lindsay Ell and Jillian Jacqueline will also perform during the three-day festival running March 9th – 11th in London.
On November 17th, Carrie Underwood‘shighly successful Storyteller Tour – Stories in the Round will be released digitally. The live concert video was filmed at her sold-out Madison Square Garden show.
2016’s top touring country female of the year took her critically-acclaimed world tour across nine countries, playing more than 100 shows for over one million fans. Carrie Underwood: The Storyteller Tour – Stories In The Round, Live from Madison Square Garden will be available digitally on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Qello.
“We had the best time on ‘The Storyteller Tour’ performing for the fans last year,” said the reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year. “The amazing production and 360-degree stage let me get closer to them than ever before. I saw so many of their social media posts asking for a release of the show and we knew we had to do it. I’m so happy to get this out and relive the most fun I’ve ever had on tour!”
“The Storyteller Tour – Stories in the Round” received rave reviews for its massive in-the-round 360-degree stage production as well as Carrie’s command of it.
Check out the trailer for the film below.
Stories in the Round, Live from Madison Square Garden Set List:
“Renegade Runaway”
“Last Name/Somethin’ Bad”
“Undo It”
“Good Girl”
“Church Bells”
“Cowboy Casanova”
“Heartbeat”
“Jesus, Take the Wheel”
“Wasted”
“Blown Away”
“Two Black Cadillacs”
“Dirty Laundry”
“Choctaw County Affair”
“I Will Always Love You”
“What I Never Knew I Always Wanted”
“Mountain Music” feat. Easton Corbin and The Swon Brothers
Little Big Town today wrapped their sold-out UK tour dates with a sold-out show at The Royal Albert Hall in London. Praised for their flawless “silvery vocal harmonies” (The Guardian) and their “irresistibly upbeat” (Rolling Stone) style, Little Big Town also announced they will return to the UK in March to Headline this year’s C2C: Country to Country music. C2C 2018 will take place from 9th to 11th March 2018.
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No strangers to playing prestigious venues, the critically-acclaimed quartet are currently in the middle of their sold-out, year-long artist residency, “Little Big Town At The Mother Church,” at Nashville’s famous Ryman Auditorium. “Little Big Town At The Mother Church” represents the first and only artist residency of its kind for the historic venue.
The multi-CMA nominees recently celebrated their 26th career CMA nomination, including a nomination for Album of the Year for their chart-topping album, The Breaker.The Breaker debuted #1 on the Billboard Country Chart and Top 5 on the Billboard 200.
About Little Big Town:
Little Big Town-consisting of members Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, and Jimi Westbrook – first entered the music scene more than 18 years ago with hits such as “Boondocks,” “Bring It On Home,” “Good As Gone” and the Grammy-nominated single “Little White Church.” With albums Tornado and Pain Killer, they have seen massive success with #1 singles “Pontoon,” “Tornado,” “Day Drinking,” and most recently the history-making, best-selling country single of 2015, with “Girl Crush.” The Grand Ole Opry members have earned more than 50 award show nominations and in the past five years has taken home more than 20 awards, including multiple Grammy, CMA and ACM awards, and an Emmy award. They are the reigning ACM and CMA Vocal Group of the Year and recently won the same award for the fifth consecutive year. Little Big Town won a Grammy for “Best Country Group/Duo Performance,” and “Girl Crush” received the honor for “Best Country Song.” Their album, The Breaker, debuted #1 on the Billboard Country Chart and Top 5 on the Billboard 200 and features the two-week #1 song “Better Man” as well as their current hit, “When Someone Stops Loving You.” Little Big Town recently announced their The Breakers Tour with Kacey Musgraves and Midland and are currently headlining “Little Big Town At The Mother Church,” their year-long historic sold out headlining run at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium.
For more information, visit LittleBigTown.com or follow them @littlebigtown.
Four-time Entertainer of the Year winner and current CMA Entertainer of the Year nominee Luke Bryan announced the release of his sixth studio album on Capitol Records NashvilleWhat Makes You Countryon “Good Morning America” this morning. What Makes You Countrywill be available on Friday, Dec. 8 with pre-orders available now at http://strm.to/whatmakesyoucountry and exclusive album packages available here: https://LukeBryan.lnk.to/storePR
“My favorite part of making a new album is getting to collaborate with the songwriting community in this town” said Luke. “It is important to me to continue to push myself to grow on all levels and I feel like we did that on this project. Making and performing music never gets old and I can honestly say I am having the time of my life. I will be forever grateful to every fan who sings along each night.”
What Makes You Country was produced by Jeff Stevens and Jody Stevens and contains 15 songs, seven of them co-written by Luke including the title track. The album’s lead single “Light It Up,” written by Luke and Old Dominion member Brad Tursi, (watch the lyric video here: http://vevo.ly/39Je7H) is the follow up to his 18th career No. 1 single and sixth No. 1 from his Kill The Lights album. With this feat, Luke made Billboard chart history as the only artist in the 27-year history of the Billboard Country Airplay chart to garner six No. 1 singles from one album. Luke’s tailgates & tanlines and Crash My Party albums both generated five No. 1 singles.
In conjunction with the announcement of the What Makes You Country album today, “Good Morning America” also shared a sneak peek of the “What Makes You Country” digital campaign. The video engages Luke’s fans, celebrity friends and people from all walks of life representing what ‘country’ means to them. Check out the first installment of the video series here: www.whatmakesyoucountry.com and share your own video using the hashtag #WhatMakesMeCountry. What Makes You Country track list:
What Makes You Country – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley
Out Of Nowhere – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley
Light It Up – Luke Bryan, Brad Tursi
Most People Are Good – David Frasier, Ed Hill, Josh Kear
Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset – Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd, Chase McGill
Bad Lovers – Justin Wilson, Dallas Davidson, Kyle Fishman
Drinking Again – David Lee Murphy, Brad Warren, Brett Warren
Land Of A Million Songs – Luke Bryan, Jeff Stevens, Jody Stevens
Like You Say You Do – Luke Bryan, Michael Carter, Ashley Gorley
Hooked On It – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, David Lee Murphy
She’s A Hot One – Michael Carter, Chase McGill
Hungover In A Hotel Room – Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Josh Kear
Pick It Up – Luke Bryan, Rodney Clawson, Matthew Dragstrem
Driving This Thing – Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, Jody Stevens
Win Life – Rodney Clawson, Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon
Luke will wrap his annual “Farm Tour” this weekend and has now awarded more than 50 college scholarships to a local student from a farming family within the communities the tour has played. His “Huntin’, Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day Tour” continues this fall.
Earlier this week, Luke, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Ryan Seacrest appeared for the first time together on ABC’s “Good Morning America” since signing on as judges and returning host for the music competition series “American Idol” for its first season on ABC.
About Luke Bryan
Luke is a two-time Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, a five-time host of the ACM Awards and the 2017 Super Bowl LI national anthem performer. He has garnered 18 No. 1 singles, sold over 10 million albums and more than 40 million tracks with three Billion music streams, and has performed for millions of fans on tour.
Visit www.LukeBryan.com or follow Luke on Twitter @LukeBryanOnline, Instagram and Facebook
Words are still hard to come by, emotions and unfamiliar feelings are flooding our hearts and souls and trying to process the horrific tragedy at the Rt. 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night (October 1st) is still something that we can’t quite do and which will affect us the rest of our lives. The Country Music family, community, fans and friends around the world have been shaken to the core by the devastating carnage from Sunday night.
It has taken days for me to post the following:
Eric Church performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Wednesday night (October 4th) and spoke eloquently and passionately about Sunday’s shooting in Las Vegas. He was one of the headliners at the Route 91 Harvest Festival and painted the picture of the fans who attended the festival. He dedicated “Why Not Me,” a song he wrote this week, to Sonny Melton, the Paris, Tennessee man who died protecting his wife from the bullets that were being sprayed into the crowd of festivalgoers. Check out the videos below.
Woke up to such horrible news. We are praying for the victims and their families. May the Lord bring some comfort to them.
While he performed “Here On Earth” the other morning for a national radio show, he’s also healing folks by talking to them and really listening to them, as well as giving much needed blood to the American Red Cross.
We are devastated by the news from Las Vegas this morning. Our hearts and prayers are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Our fans are our family – we love you all. pic.twitter.com/k0CiL1THlu
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"You look up and you see us. But what you don't understand is we look back and we see you." @VGcom remembers Las Vegas victims pic.twitter.com/Kf0C0gMWdV
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Audio / Before performing “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” at Monday night’s Candlelight Vigil at Nashville’s Ascend Theater, Keith Urban offered hope and prayers from his family to everyone who was affected by Sunday night’s horrific tragedy in Las Vegas.
Keith Urban (Candlelight Vigil) OC: …in the world. 1:23 “I I want to firstly offer the prayers and love of my whole family to everybody affected by last night’s horrific tragedy. I started this morning by finding out about it, and being shell-shocked all morning getting my kids ready for school. And our nine-year-old, as I was driving her to school this morning, said to, ‘Dad, you seem quiet.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it was a lot of people killed last night.’ She said, ‘Did you know any of them?’ I said, ‘Not that I know of.’ Then she said, ‘Well, why are you so sad?’ I said, ‘Well, first of all, these were innocent people horrifically taken. Secondly, they’re like family.’ It’s the one thing about country music that’s always been at the center of it. It is community. It’s about community. So, I did know those people in that way, and it just really hit me. I feel very grateful for this moment tonight to be able to put some light in the world.”
Audio / Before performing "Go Rest High On That Mountain" at Monday night's Candlelight Vigil in Nashville, Vince Gill gave his thoughts to the horrific events of Sunday night.
Vince Gill (Candlelight Vigil) OC: …innocent people. :17
“Thank you for the opportunity to come and lift up 58 families who lost somebody last night. An honor to be here as a voice for the innocent. May we never lose our voice for innocent people.”
Audio / Vince Gill's wife, Amy Grant, led a prayer at Monday night's Candlelight Vigil in Nashville to honor those who lost and risked their lives Sunday night in Las Vegas.
Amy Grant (Candlight Vigil) OC: …each other. Amen. 2:21
“Father in Heaven, thank you for the gift of each other. Thank you that none of us is born alone or dies alone. But you go before us and beneath us and beside us and within us. Thank you for loving arms that were there to catch every fallen child, man and woman. Thank you for your presence that never leaves us. Thank you for word said over and over again, ‘Fear not.’ ‘Fear not.’ Father, in silence, we lift up, we just imagine all of the people rebuilding their lives. Broken. Grieving. And as a group, I don’t even know how to imagine lifting them all up, but I’m just picturing us almost like slinging them on our backs, lifting them up in our arms to the light of your love. We lift them up now, God, in silence. We lift up grieving spouses, God. We lift up moms and dads grieving the loss of a child, a son and a daughter. We lift up the doctors and nursing attending to the hundreds of people recovering. Give us the grace, God, every day, to see each other. To see each other. To see our differences. To see our similarities. To observe. To learn rather than judge. Fill our hearts with courage to not be afraid. To love, love, love. Thank you that you began this story that we’re all a part of, and you will finish it. And it began in love, and it will end in love. Thank you for the gift of each other. Amen.”
Video / Eric Church performs "Why Not Me" on the Grand Ole Opry.
