Chris Stapleton – with a very special guest – has joined the list of performers at next week’s CMA Awards. The powerhouse vocalist and songwriter received his first nominations this year, which includes Male Vocalist, New Artist and Album of the Year for Traveller. He joins previously announced performers including Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves, Dierks Bentley with Lindsey Stirling, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line, Zac Brown Band, Maddie & Tae, Kelsea Ballerini, Eric Church with Hank Williams Jr., Keith Urban with John Mellencamp, Reba with Brooks & Dunn and Thomas Rhett with Fallout Boy.

Also, the list of presenters have been announced: Charles Kelley, Darius Rucker, Reba, Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, actor Kiefer Sutherland (24), Lee Ann Womack, Cole Swindell, Jennifer Nettles, ABC’s Wicked City actress Erika Christensen, ESPN’s Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, Sports Illustrated cover model Hannah Davis, Heather O’Reilly and Megan Rapinoe of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team and A Capella sensations Pentatonix.

The 49th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday (November 4th) at 8pm ET on ABC.

Luke Bryan and Eric Church, along with Carrie Underwood have been announced as headliners for the 2016 Stagecoach Country Music Festival April 29th and 30th and May 1st. The three-day event in Indio, California, will also include performances by Sam Hunt, Eric Paslay, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Chris Young, The Band Perry, Dustin Lynch, A Thousand Horses and Old Dominion.

Lauren Alaina was chosen as this year’s hottest bachelorette by Nash Country Weekly readers. Lauren’s self-titled EP is available now, and it includes her single “Next Boyfriend.”

Keith Urban joined Taylor Swift during her sold-out 1989 Tour stop in Toronto, to perform with the pop superstar. The pair collaborated on his 2002 No. 1 hit “Somebody Like You,” along with his most recent chart-topper, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.”

Lady Antebellum will perform at the NASH Presents Hearts Unsung – a special evening of music benefiting Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals. The event will take place November 9th at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center and will be part of the full-length feature film, Hearts Unsung in theaters nationwide January 21st.

Prior to heading out on his Wild Ones Tour on October 8th in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Kip Moore has enjoyed a little R&R the past few days with a surfing trip in Costa Rica.

During a hometown show in Mineola, Texas over the weekend, Kacey Musgraves was surprised by the classic car club. Kacey took to social media to announce the surprise. “I cannot believe what just happened – as a thank you for doing my Hometown Hang benefit…the Lake Country Classic Car Club and the City of Mineola, TX SURPRISED me and fixed up my old ’67 Mustang…shined it up and got it runnin’ again…It was a high school project my Dad and I worked on and I haven’t been able to drive it for about 7 years. THANK YOU SO MUCH!” She also received a key to the city of Mineola, Texas.

Speaking of Kacey, she’s set to ring in 2016 with Willie Nelson at his annual New Year’s Eve shows in Austin, Texas.

Chris Stapleton has been announced as one of the performers during the Jack Daniel’s Bash on Broadway show on New Year’s Eve in Nashville. The free show will also feature performances by Kings of Leon, Wild Cub and Kelsea Ballerini.

Sam Hunt’s chart-topping “Take Your Time” has been certified double-platinum by the R.I.A.A. (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales of more than two-million.

Eric Church was the special guest on ESPN’s Gameday at Ole Miss vs. Alabama over the weekend. Check out the video below on who his picks were…and if he was right or not. Also, check out his friend and fellow CMA nominee for Entertainer of the Year, Luke Bryan, whose song “Kick the Dust Up” appears to be the show’s theme song for now.

Chris Stapleton performed “Might As Well Get Stoned” during his recent appearance on Stephen Colbert.

Kip Moore performed “Come And Get It” during his recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Dierks Bentley was a special guest of Taylor Swift’s during her show in Kansas City show this week. They performed Dierks’ hit, “Every Mile a Memory.”

Easton Corbin sang the National Anthem at the Monday Night Football game on ESPN this week as the Jets beat the Colts 20 – 7.

Kacey Musgraves performed “Dime Store Cowgirl” on the outdoor stage on a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman are the 2015 Artists of the Year at the second annual Women in Music City Awards from The Nashville Business Journal. The Women in Music City Awards recognizes the women who help shape Nashville’s music industry. Both women serve on boards of music associations, Fairchild on CMA and Schlapman on ACM. They both also work with charities, including Bloodwater Mission and TJ Martell Foundation. The two will be honored Thursday (September 24^th) during the event at Nashville’s Omni Hotel.

Lady Antebellum scored their first No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart with “Something Better” with DJ Audien.

Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott has created a scholarship fund for young women interested in a career in the entertainment industry at her alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University.

(Nashville, TN) – Chris Stapleton’s solo debut album, Traveller, entered the Billboard Country Albums Chart at No. 2 and Top 15 on Billboard’s Top 200 with over 27,000 albums sold making it the best-selling first week by a debut country artist in 2015.  Traveller is also one of the Top 10 best first week country debuts in the last five years. With appearances on ABC’s The View and CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman, rave reviews from media, as well as, fellow artists and sold out shows in New York City and Nashville – Traveller has been one of the most talked about albums of the year.

In addition to its chart topping success, Traveller has been met with stellar reviews:

“a triumphant debut…”

Billboard

“…a capital-A Album bursting with old-school country outlaw tracks that his voice has lived long enough to sing.”

Entertainment Weekly

“…Traveller is easily, and naturally, the year’s strongest country debut.”

The Fader

“It’s easy to imagine masses in sold-out arenas bellowing all the words to ‘Fire Away,’ the crawling country blues track that’s one of many highlights of this debut album. Or, for that matter, most of the album.”

Los Angeles Times

“..stunner of a solo debut.”

Philadelphia Inquirer 

“…stunning new album…”

Rolling Stone

“…expansive, explosive solo album.”

Stereogum

“The much-anticipated Traveller more than meets the expectations of a debut disc by a singer- songwriter who’s been a well-known secret in Nashville for years.”

The Wall Street Journal

Traveller was recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A (with additional production at The Castle and Blackbird Studio) and was produced by Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell) and Stapleton, and recorded by Vance Powell (Jack White).

Already a world-renowned songwriter, Stapleton has enjoyed five #1 hits including the five-week No. 1 “Never Wanted Nothing More” recorded by Kenny Chesney, George Strait’s “Love’s Gonna Make it Alright,” Josh Turner‘s “Your Man” and Luke Bryan‘s “Drink A Beer,” which Stapleton is nominated for a CMT Award for Performance of the Year with Lady Antebellum from the recent CMT Artists of the Year show (watch the performance here).

In support of Traveller, Stapleton will be performing on a series of shows on Eric Church’s The Outsiders World Tour.

Chris Stapleton made his debut on ABC’s The View Tuesday morning (May 5th), performing “Tennessee Whiskey” from his new album, Traveller.

Chris Stapleton’s highly anticipated solo debut album, Traveller, is available now. Recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A (with additional production at The Castle and Blackbird Studio in Middle Tennessee), Traveller was produced by Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell).

“The song ‘Traveller’ and how it ended up being the title of the record, it seemed like a natural thing to call it, because a lot of, certainly the inspiration for this record came from a series of events,” says Chris. “Another reason is that it can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. It’s about a journey in a musical sense and in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense. In every way that you can have a journey, this record is kind of that for me, and hopefully for some other folks too.”

In addition to renditions of Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove’s “Tennessee Whiskey” (recorded by George Jones and David Allan Coe) and Don Sampson’s “Was It 26,” the album features twelve original songs, including fan-favorite “Sometimes I Cry,” for which Chris returned to RCA Studio A to record a new version of “Sometimes I Cry” live-to-tape in front of an audience.

Catch him performing “Tennessee Whiskey” on ABC’s The View on Tuesday (5/5), and then performing live on select days on Eric Church’s The Outsiders World Tour.

TRAVELLER ALBUM TRACKLIST:

1. Traveller (Chris Stapleton)
   2. Fire Away (Chris Stapleton and Danny Green)
   3. Tennessee Whiskey (Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove)
   4. Parachute (Chris Stapleton and Jim Beavers)
   5. Whiskey And You (Chris Stapleton and Lee Thomas Miller)
   6. Nobody To Blame (Chris Stapleton, Barry Bales and Ronnie Bowman)
   7. More Of You (Chris Stapleton and Ronnie Bowman)
   8. When The Stars Come Out (Chris Stapleton and Dan Wilson)
   9. Daddy Doesn’t Pray Anymore (Chris Stapleton)
   10. Might As Well Get Stoned (Chris Stapleton and Jimmy Stewart)
   11. Was It 26 (Don Sampson)
   12. The Devil Named Music (Chris Stapleton)
   13. Outlaw State Of Mind (Chris Stapleton, Ronnie Bowman and Jerry Salley)
   14. Sometimes I Cry (Chris Stapleton and Clint Ingersoll)

Chris Stapleton has a voice other artists envy and celebrate, having him guest on many of their songs that he wrote, including the No. 1 “Drink a Beer,” as well as two that are on the charts right now – Gary Allan’s “Hangover Tonight” and Thomas Rhett’s “Crash and Burn.” The gravelly, powerful and touching voice has been in Nashville for the last 15 years and tells us he can’t remember a time he didn’t sing.

“I don’t ever remember not singing. I always sang. I sang with my brother. We would sing at home and sing at church and different things. I don’t ever remember not singing. I don’t have any memory of where I didn’t sing,” says the Kentucky native. “I don’t know how you find that out [of my path as an artist]. I found it out, because I didn’t like anything else. I found out a bunch of things that I was not. I sold cars and drove an ice truck and went to college and did different things, not in that order, but you find out who you’re not. And the thought of doing anything else just made me so miserable. I think that really [laughs] kind of steered my path, for better or worse.”

Chris’ solo debut album, Traveller, is available on Tuesday (May 5th).

Chris Stapleton did a little soul-searching in the desert to really find his “voice” for his solo debut album, Traveller, which comes out Tuesday (May 5th). The collection leads off with the title track, the song that really helped guide the album’s direction.

“My father passed away in October 2013, and [I] had a single die around the same time on radio, so I needed a little head clearing space. My wife had the presence of mind to know me well enough that I needed that. She bought me an old jeep out in Phoenix, Arizona, and we flew out there and decided to drive it home,” recalls Chris. “Along the way, just driving through the desert, I was thinking about life and how we’re all just passing through it and that’s what the song is. So, as I was driving, I was humming lyrics into my phone and wrote the song then and there. Somewhere in New Mexico, probably, that song was born.”

Chris, who penned the No. 1 hits “Drink a Beer” for Luke Bryan, “Never Wanted Nothing More” for Kenny Chesney, George Strait’s “Love’s Gonna Make It Alright,” “Come Back Song” for Darius Rucker and “Your Man” for Josh Turner, wrote or co-wrote 12 of the 14 songs on the new project. The other two are covers of “Tennessee Whiskey,” which was recorded by David Allan Coe, as well as George Jones (and written by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove), and “Was It 26,” which was recorded by Charlie Daniels and written by Don Sampson.

You can catch Chris performing on ABC’s The View on Tuesday.

Check out Chris Stapleton‘s performance of his new single, “Traveller,” here on the Late Show With David Letterman on Tuesday night (April 14th). The song goes for ADDs on April 27th, and it’s the title track from his new album, Traveller, which drops May 5th.