• NEWS AND NOTES: Darius Rucker, Keith Urban, Lauren Alaina, Jordan Davis, Chris Stapleton, Taylor Swift, Mickey Guyton

    Darius Rucker is performing his current single, “My Masterpiece,” on Good Morning America on Friday (November 5th), airing on ABC.

    Luke Bryan, Keith Urban and Lauren Alaina, along with several other artists, will be featured on ABC News’ Backstage Pass: Countdown to the CMA Awards on Monday (November 8th).

    Jordan Davis will perform his latest smash, “Buy Dirt,” on Live With Kelly and Ryan on Monday (November 8th).

    Taylor Swift will be the musical guest on NBC’s Saturday Night Live on November 13th. Actor Jonathan Majors will host.

    Chris Stapleton is featured on a new version of Adele’s “Easy On Me.” The duet is a bonus track on the Target deluxe edition of her new album, 30, which is available November 19th.

    Mickey Guyton performed “Different” from her new album, Remember Her Name, on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday (November 4th). Check out the performance below.

    Video /

  • LAUREN ALAINA PERFORMED THE NATIONAL ANTHEM AT GAME 5 OF THE WORLD SERIES.

    ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 31: Lauren Alaina sings the national anthem before the start of Game 5 of the 2021 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Sunday, October 31, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

    ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 31: Lauren Alaina sings the national anthem before the start of Game 5 of the 2021 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Sunday, October 31, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

    Georgia native and multi-Platinum-selling rising superstar Lauren Alaina was invited to perform the National Anthem before Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night (October 31st) at Truist Park before her beloved Atlanta Braves took on the Houston Astros.

    Watch her performance HERE.
    (accompanied by her guitar player and band leader, Tico)

    Photos credit: Photos courtesy of MLB Photos

  • LAUREN ALAINA JOINS THE CMA FOUNDATION’S ARTIST AMBASSADOR PROGRAM, EXPANDING ITS EQUITABLE MUSIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES.

    The CMA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Country Music Association, welcomes Lauren Alaina as the non-profit’s newest Artist Ambassador, further expanding its support and advocation for equitable music education opportunities across the U.S.

    As a CMA Foundation Artist Ambassador, Alaina will participate in various events and initiatives that enhance the CMA Foundation’s mission. She sat down with ABC’s “On the Red Carpet” ahead of “The 55th Annual CMA Awards” to discuss her ambassadorship, her passion for music education and the importance behind ensuring this generation’s access to equitable music education opportunities. The full interview will air in various U.S. markets this coming weekend, Nov. 6-7, during the “On the Red Carpet: CMA Awards Countdown” preview show hosted by KABC Entertainment Reporter George Pennacchio. Check out a teaser of the interview HERE.

    “We are excited to welcome Lauren Alaina to the CMA Foundation Artist Ambassador collective,” says Tiffany Kerns, CMA Foundation Executive Director. “Lauren’s passion for music and music education is so evident. She continues to use her voice in a way that magnifies the power of music, and we could not be more grateful to her for joining us to further drive our mission forward, making sure all students across the U.S. have access to participate in quality music programs.”

    As a further extension of her commitment, on Nov. 22, Alaina will host a live virtual “Fansgiving,” benefitting the CMA Foundation, in celebration of her new book, Getting Good at Being You, which releases the following day. Fans can chat with Lauren and cook alongside her as she reads from her book and prepares for the holiday season. Fans are encouraged to share their funniest Thanksgiving stories before the event, and she will pick her three favorite stories and invite those fans to join her live on-screen during the event. Tickets for the event start at $10 and go on sale Friday, Nov. 5. Click HERE for tickets and more information.

    “I would not be Lauren Alaina without the role music education played in my life,” says Alaina. “I’m grateful for the music programs I was in throughout my middle school and high school years. I’m honored to join the CMA Foundation in their mission to make sure all kids have the same opportunity to make music a part of their lives.”

    Alaina joins the CMA Foundation’s Artist Ambassador group alongside Jimmie Allen, Russell Dickerson, Lindsay EllMaddie & TaeAshley McBryde, Caitlyn Smith, Tenille Townes and Charlie Worsham who have all supported music education initiatives in ways that are unique and personal to them.

    • Allen took part in a virtual meeting with a third-grade music class at Snowden Elementary in Memphis, TN to share his story and discuss music and songwriting with the students. He also participated in the CMA Foundation’s Teaching Artist Webinar Series to discuss culturally relevant teaching, music discovery and parenting in a pandemic.
    • Dickerson visited with band students at his former high school in May and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry during Teacher Appreciation Week.
    • Ell shared the healing power of music with Nashville’s Mt. View Elementary students during a virtual songwriting session in March and taught student guitarists how to restring and tune a guitar.
    • In April, Maddie & Tae met virtually with high school choir students and then sat down with female band directors.
    • McBryde served as the inaugural Artist Ambassador, meeting virtually with music teachers last year to discuss the obstacles faced while teaching amid the pandemic and sharing how music education led to her career in Country Music. She created a music lesson on building the major scale for teachers and students to use in both their in-person and virtual classrooms.
    • Smith created a Songwriting 101 video turtorial to give viewers an inside look at her songwriting process and performed as headliner during “Tuesday Night Music Club” at Basement East in July with merch sales benefitting the CMA Foundation.
    • Townes visited Stewarts Creek Middle School in Smyrna, TN and Isaiah T. Creswell Middle Magnet School of the Visual and Performing Arts in Nashville, as well as two additional elementary schools in nearby Coffee County to engage, equip and empower both students and educators through the healing power of music.
    • In August, Worsham joined a Tennessee Music Education Association (TNMEA) virtual panel alongside his mother, Sherry Worsham, and TNMEA Advocacy/Government Relations Chair, Christopher K. Dye, to discuss the life-changing impact of music on young people, specifically in rural communities.

     

    Since its inception in 2011, the CMA Foundation has been committed to improving and sustaining music programs throughout the U.S. so all students have equitable opportunities to participate in a high-quality music education. The non-profit, which is in the midst of celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, believes music and the arts are part of a well-rounded education. During this time, the CMA Foundation has observed why music programs are not thriving, seeing first-hand the challenges educators are facing and, most importantly, the systemic issues that must be addressed in order for every child to have access to music. Committed to its vision, the CMA Foundation is working directly with school districts to identify needs, understand their challenges, build community support and develop local and national resources from partners as part of the non-profit’s systems change model.

    The CMA Foundation will continue to provide unique opportunities and support for music teachers and students as more Artist Ambassadors are announced throughout the year.

    Her No. 1 debuting album Sitting Pretty On Top of The World, which includes her current single “Getting Over Him” featuring Jon Pardi, as well as her recently RIAA-certified Gold-selling “Getting Good.” Alaina will release her inspirational book “Getting Good At Being You” on Tuesday, November 23rd.

    About the CMA Foundation
    Established in 2011 as the philanthropic arm of the Country Music Association (CMA), the CMA Foundation is committed to improving and sustaining high-quality music education programs across the United States, working to ensure every child has the opportunity to participate in music. Through strategic partnerships, professional development and grant distribution, the CMA Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), invests various resources across the national public school system, after school programs, summer camps and community outreach organizations.

  • LAUREN ALAIN WRITES ABOUT HER JOURNEY OF SELF-LOVE AND FAITH IN HER BOOK, GETTING GOOD AT BEING YOU, OUT IN NOVEMBER.

    Lauren Alaina is gearing up to release her first-ever book, Getting Good At Being You, on November 2nd. The new scribe says the faith-based book, is about her path to loving herself again.

    “I’ve been doing a lot of stuff, faith-based stuff over the last couple of years. It was really laid on my heart to do that and I think this opportunity probably came to me from doing those other things. I hosted a Jesus Calling show. I did the Jesus Calling podcast. I started really talking – speaking out about my faith. And Harper Collins actually came to me to write the book and asked if I would be interested in writing a gift book. They sent me a couple of examples that I read, and I was excited because it really felt like it lined up with kind of what I do already. And it’s a faith-based book called Getting Good At Being You and it’s all about my journey of self-love and my faith and getting into the place that I’m in now and all of the things that happened. It’s not really a memoire but a lot of my life is woven through the book to share with people how I got through different situations and how different things shaped my faith, and I’m really proud of it.”

    Trisha Yearwood, who debuts with her on the song “Getting Good” from her album Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World, wrote the foreword to the book.

    Lauren is currently making her way up the country charts with “Getting Over Him,” which features her pal Jon Pardi.

    [[audio-player-1]]

  • LAUREN ALAINA GETS ADVICE FROM DAD WHILE FILMING NEW HALLMARK MOVIE.

    Lauren Alaina will star in the Hallmark Channel’s “Roadhouse Romance,” the first movie of their 2021 “Fall Harvest” programming event. She will star as Lt. Callie Jackson, who returns home after a military tour, expecting everything to pick up right where she left it. To her dismay, her late Grandfather’s BBQ joint is struggling, and her high school sweetheart has moved on. She has a run-in with Luke (Tyler Hynes), a TV director passing through town, who teaches her that sometimes it’s best to look forward instead of looking back.

    Her father, JJ, gave her some pointers for her character’s uniform. “My character’s name is Callie Jackson. Do I look like a Callie? Um, and she’s a lieutenant in the Army. Do I look like a lieutenant in the Army? (laughs) No, I don’t but they made me look like one so that’s all that matters, which was a really nice nod to my father because my dad is an Army vet, so I was really excited about that. And while I was on set, I facetimed my daddy in my uniform and he cried and then he told me to fix my hat. That he didn’t like the way it was sitting on my head and I didn’t actually look like I was in the Army. So, we had to spend ten minutes on the phone addressing the hat, which is a classic JJ move. If you ever meet my father, you’ll understand.”

    Lauren performs her songs “Run” and “What Do You Think Of,” in the movie which also appear on her new album, Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World. She also sings a cover of Keith Whitley’s “When You Say Nothing At All,” the first song she performed at Tootsies in Nashville when she was just twelve years old.

    Lauren is making her way up the country charts with her latest song, “Getting Over Him,” which features her pal, Jon Pardi.

    Audio / Lauren Alaina talks about her role in the new Hallmark movie, "Roadhouse Romance."

    Download

    Lauren Alaina (Hallmark movie) 1 OC: …excited about. 1:21
    “I made a movie with Hallmark. It’s called Roadhouse Romance. I’m so excited for y’all to see it. I’m really proud of it. My character’s name is Callie Jackson. Do I look like a Callie? Um, and she’s a lieutenant in the Army. Do I look like a lieutenant in the Army? (laughs) No, I don’t but they made me look like one so that’s all that matters. Um, which was a really nice nod to my father because my dad is an Army vet, so I was really excited about that. And while I was on set I Facetimed my daddy in my uniform and he cried and then he told me to fix my hat. That he didn’t like the way it was sitting on my head and I didn’t actually look like I was in the Army. So, we had to spend ten minutes on the phone addressing the hat, which is a classic JJ move. If you ever meet my father, you’ll understand. But the character is really sweet. She’s really family oriented. She comes home from being deployed for two years and is trying to get back into her life and there are a couple of things that happened. It feels very much like the Lauren Alaina world, just a little different. Um, so the character is pretty – personality-wise — pretty close to me naturally, so that was exciting. And I get to sing in the movie. They made that work and I got to put a couple of songs from the album in there, which I’m excited about.”

  • THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF SEPTEMBER 11TH: Alan Jackson, Brandon Lay, Darius Rucker, Eric Church, Jordan Davis, Keith Urban, Lauren Alaina, Luke Bryan, Travis Denning

    On September 11, 2001, the world changed forever with the devastating attacks on both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” embodied the thoughts and feelings of millions in the wake of the events that took place 20 years ago. (This Saturday is the 20th Anniversary of 9-11.)

    There is audio from country superstar Alan Jackson sharing memories and thoughts on the events of September 11, 2001 and discussing his song, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” as well as remembrances from Darius Rucker, Eric Church, Gary Allan, Lauren Alaina, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Jordan Davis, Lauren Alaina and Travis Denning.

    The chorus and melody of “Where Were You…” came to Jackson in the middle of the night several weeks after the 9/11 tragedies. He awoke…sang the words into a recorder and wrote down key elements of the chorus…and completed the lyrics and verses later that same day. Initially reluctant to record the song, he was convinced by family and friends to share it with the world and debuted “Where Were You…” live on national television in early November at the 35th annual CMA Awards.

    “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” embodied the thoughts and feelings of millions in the wake of the 2001 events. Written by Jackson, the song was called “…one of the most touching, powerful songs to come after the tragedies” by USA Today and dubbed “a reflective hymn that Americans will be listening to well into the second half of this century” by Salon.comThe New York Times singled out “Where Were You…” as “one of his finest songs,” and Billboard noted “a multitude of songs have been written and recorded in the wake of September 11th, but none captures the myriad emotions unleashed by the terrorist attacks on an unsuspecting nation more perfectly than Jackson’s eloquent ballad.” The song went on to be honored with a Grammy, CMA and ACM Awards.

     

    Audio / Alan Jackson explains why he feels “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” still resonates with music fans in concert 20 years after the events of September 11, 2001.

    Download

    Alan Jackson (20th Anniversary of Sept 11) OC: …it all started. 1:24
    “Yeah, I mean it makes me feel really warm inside to know that that song and at the same time I feel a little bit surprised that it has lasted all this – these years. When I first wrote it, I didn’t think I would record it. And then we didn’t think it would ever – we would want to release it. At first I didn’t think I would ever write a song about the event because I just didn’t feel right about it and then this came out of nowhere and then it went on to be such an anthem for it for years. And now it’s kind of grown into just its own song outside of 9/11 where it’s just a song about faith and hope and love. And I see that in the crowds now. And a lot of my fans, younger fans weren’t hardly even around when 9/11 happened but they have connected with that song. And it’s one of the highlights of the show now and it’s just amazing that it has outlived where it really began. So, it can’t help but make me feel very proud that something like that has helped people through that hard time in the beginning and it still has a lasting affect outside of where it all started.”

    Audio / Alan Jackson describes how the events of September 11, 2001 impacted him…and talks about writing “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” a few weeks later.

    Download

    AJ (Where Were You) 2 OC: …same feelings. 1:33
    “Well, I don’t know – I think I was probably like most people that were impacted with that day and the months that followed. You know, everybody was glued to the news and television and I think it really affected a lot of people – their perspective on their lives and their jobs and their families and where they were and what they were wanting to do and how they looked at things. And I guess…I mean, that’s what I was thinking, too. And I just pretty much visualized a lot of those scenes and stories I’d heard and seen on television or heard people talk about. The song came out of nowhere in the middle of the night – the chorus did. Just a gift. And I got up and scribbled it down and put the melody down so I wouldn’t forget it, and then the next day I started piecing all those verses together that were the thoughts I’d had or visuals I’d had, and…that was about it. I think it was just really…I had so many people tell me that there’s always a line or something in there that they did, whether it was go to church or pick up their Bible or go see their mother or watch a sunset – I mean, just a lot of things in there people told me that they had actually done those things, so…I guess I was like everybody else, just feeling those same feelings.”

    Audio / Alan Jackson recalls sharing “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” with all of us for the first time live on national television during the 35th Annual CMA Awards.

    Download

    AJ (Where Were You) 3 OC: …meant something. :56
    “It was a tough performance for me. You know, just the whole idea of releasing that song was a little bit tough. I wasn’t sure I wanted to put that out, but everybody convinced me that it was the thing to do…and in retrospect, I agree with that. But, you know, I hadn’t really sung the song much, first of all. It was just in the studio, basically, and when I wrote it…so it’s hard to go out there and sing something new anyway, and just the topic made it nerve-wracking, too. You know, I didn’t think about what was going to happen or anything – we just sang it. And I just remember, other than being relieved that I got through it, I just felt very proud that it seemed to cause a reaction in people…and I was proud that I got to do it, and that it seemed like it meant something.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay remembers being in class in high school when he found out about the tragic events of 9-11.

    Download

    Brandon Lay (9-11) OC: …changed forever. :52
    “I remember 9-11 very vividly. I was in Ms. Munn’s College Algebra class. It was a Tuesday. We happened to be able to bring breakfast, it was our day to bring breakfast to school that day, and Megan Smith was in my class and she came in and said something’s hit one of the towers in New York. There was a bomb or something. And the principal came and pulled Ms. Munn out in the hall and told her. From then on, we listened to some of the radio that day. Obviously, when we got home, we saw the replay of all that, and it was just unbelievable. I was in my sister’s Honda Accord – I had just got my driver’s license – and I went to go fill it up with gas and there was none, and I just remember thinking this country we live in now has just changed forever.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker recalls where he was on September 11th, 2001.

    Download

    Darius Rucker (9-11) OC: …vicious day. :24
    “[On] 9-11, I was playing golf with a friend early in the morning. Had an apartment in New York, and I lived in New York kind of at the time. If you looked out my bedroom window, we saw the World Trade Center. I was on my way back home. I was playing a 7 o’clock round of golf, and then I was catching a noon flight, and when I was finishing up, we stopped in to get a drink and I looked and we saw the second tower come down. It was a vicious day.”

    Audio / Eric Church was on his way to work when he heard the news of the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.

    Download

    Eric Church (9-11) OC: …that feeling. :23
    “I was driving into work — the Shop-At-Home Network — I was listening to (WSIX’s) Gerry House, I remember that, and the news broke. [I] really couldn’t grasp what had happened until I got to work and saw it for myself on television. I remember I watched the second plane hit the tower in real time. I had just moved to Nashville earlier that year, and all I remember is wanting to go home and be with those I loved. I’ll never, I’ll never forget that feeling.”

    Audio / Gary Allan was across the pond on September 11th, 2001, and was stuck in London for almost three weeks until his flight attendant wife was able to get him on a plane to come home.

    Download

    Gary Allan (September 11th) OC: …me outta there. 1:31
    “I can remember exactly where I was on 9-11. I had played in Switzerland the 10th at Gstaad and the band flew home and me and Jake Kelly flew to London to do a show on September 11th in a bar. I was in the BBC doing media, I was sitting there doing interviews, and they had glass walls and there were cubicles, so I could see through into other offices.  I remember looking over, they were showing the first plane fly into the building, and I said, ‘Are they editing movies over there?’ And they all kind of looked at me pretty serious and said, ‘No, that’s live.’  And that was right when the second plane flew in, and I said, ‘That’s live?! That’s the twin towers?” And they said, ‘Yes.’ And I remember looking at John, my manager, and said, ‘Man, let’s get out of here!’ And that’s when the U.S. put out a statement saying that nobody’s flying into the U.S. If it flies, it dies, don’t approach us right now was the whole message. And I got stuck there for three weeks watching the media. It was really crazy times, just nobody really knowing, ‘cause it took us a while to get our heads around what had actually happened, but it was scary. I got trapped there for a couple of weeks. I remember my wife Angela got me out before the record label did. I remember going to the airport and John, my manager, saying you’re wasting your time, you’re not going to get out of here, and my wife at the time was a flight attendant, and she said, ‘Go sit at this terminal.’ That’s when you could just walk in and sit by a terminal. And I went in and sat there and eventually this flight attendant came out and said, ‘Are you Gary?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ She said, ‘Come on,’ and snuck me onto a plane and got me outta there.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis recalls what he was wearing and where he was on September 11th, 2001.

    Download

    Jordan Davis (September 11th) OC: …happen again. :51
    “Yeah, I think I was in second period, Louisiana studies, Miss Porter was the teacher. I was wearing my football jersey ‘cause we had a football game that night. And I think back on that as like how many times in your life can you explain in that much detail what you were wearing? The number – I was number 11, it was a blue jersey, white lettering with yellow numbers. I’d never had anything just hit me that (hard) and just be that scary. But I remember just for the rest of the day, there was no school. I mean, we obviously stayed there, but nobody was teaching. Every TV was on and everybody was glued to it. I don’t know, it was just something that I still kinda get chillbumps about now thinking back on it. It’s one of those things that you pray never to happen again.”

    Audio / Keith Urban recalls being on the beach in Florida on September 11, 2001 and felt there was a really eerie feeling in the air, before heading back to his rental house and finding out what happened that would change the world forever.

    Download

    Keith Urban (September 11th) OC: …lot of people. 1:14
    “Yeah, I was in Florida. We had just played a show on the night, either the 9th, I think it might have been the 9th or the 10th, somewhere around there. It was right before it. And then we decided to stay down and have a few days vacation on the beach down there and I remember that morning. I didn’t turn the news on and I was really grateful that I didn’t because I had a few extra hours before I was aware of this reality that was going on that would change everything. But the beach was deserted, and it was an eerie, ominous feeling in the air and I couldn’t put my finger on it. when we ended up going back to the house that we were renting we put the news on and that was the first time I saw what was happening and I couldn’t take it in. It was too surreal. Couldn’t fly anywhere. I had to send my tour bus to come down and get me and then bus all the way back to Nashville. My mom was staying with me at the time, and she was panicked and worried about me being away and was anxious for me to get home. It was a very, it was a really, really surreal traumatic time for a lot of people.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina was just a little girl when the tragic events took place on September 11th, 2001, but she remembers feeling very scared when her father picked her up at school and explained what happened.

    Download

    Lauren Alaina (September 11th) OC: …very scared. 1:11
    “I was in first grade when 9-11 happened. I don’t have a ton of memories from that time period, but I do specifically remember 9-11, because my father came and picked me up at school which never, ever happened. Like I didn’t miss school, but I didn’t totally understand what was going on. My father explained it to us, and we went to the house. I think he just wanted our family to be together ‘cause it was so devastating and so scary, and nobody knew what was actually happening. And I just remember as a little girl knowing how serious it was. I didn’t know what was going on, but I remember my dad cried and it really affected my dad and little girls don’t see their dads cry very often, and I remember thinking this is not good. This is not good. For both of my parents to come home from work and for us to all be at home in the middle of the day, I just remember being seven years old being very confused and very scared.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan just moved to Nashville about 10 days before the devastating terror attacks on the twin towers in New York City and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

    Download

    Luke Bryan (9-11 20th) OC: …when that happened. 1:01
    “So, as we come up on the 20th Anniversary of 9-11, certainly a life-changing event for me and it was really, really challenging for me because I had just moved to Nashville. I moved to Nashville September 1st, 2001 and I’m in an apartment by myself down in Franklin. I never will forget. I was in bed and my sister called and said, ‘Turn on the TV. A plane had flown into the World Trade Center.’ I remember kinda getting my wits about me, and I turned it on and like so many other people, I saw the second plane hit. And at that moment a lot of innocence is forever lost and that’s certainly when the world changed. And I remember almost getting in the car and going home and spending some time with my family, but I wound up kinda toughing it out in Nashville. But it was a challenging moment being away from your family when that happened.”

    Audio / Travis Denning recalls where he was, what he was doing and how worried he and his family were about his mother, who was in D.C. working out of the Pentagon on a worktrip on September 11th, 2001. Near the end of the soundbite, Travis gets a little emotional and the soundbite trails off.

    Download

    Travis Denning (Sept. 11th) OC: …makes me…(emotional trailoff). 2:18
    “I was in Atlanta on a field trip and we were going to a shadow puppet play and we were actually currently making our own shadow puppets. I’m telling you, I can remember everything about this, and my teacher came in, Mr. Andy Payne who I went to church with and amazing guy, great guy, and he came into the room, the little workshop we were in and had to be 12:30p, one o’clock, and he just announced in the room, ‘Hey everybody. There’s been a change of plans. We’re not gonna go to the play, and we actually have to, we’re going to go back home.’ And we’re in Atlanta, so we’re an hour and a half from Warner Robbins. I walked past him, and I said, ‘Well, what’s going on?’ He didn’t even look at me. He just said, ‘Everybody, get your stuff and we’ll get back in the bus and we’ll get rolling.’ I thought that was pretty weird. We did not go back to the school. We got dropped off at a Chik-fil-a parking lot down the road from the school and all our parents were picking us up and cops were there, and then I remember just at that point something was very wrong. I remember my grandmother picked me up and took me to his house. My dad eventually got to the house. We did not turn on the TV until he got there, but as soon as he turned on the TV every channel had it on. And then it hit you like a freight train, and you just think we’re at war. And then it hits you why we left Atlanta is because nobody knew what was going on, and they thought Atlanta might be attacked. Just the overwhelming like uncertainty hit, and then just the worst part is it hits you that my mom is in D.C. She’s at the Pentagon, and the Pentagon was attacked and we couldn’t get ahold of my mom, but it worked out. It was all good  She was at the hotel. The impact blew out the windows at the hotel, but (pause) we couldn’t get ahold of her for a while, so…it’s weird. It’s still kinda like, makes me…(gets emotional)”

    Audio / Travis Denning continues talking about the events of 9-11 and eventually getting ahold of his mother.

    Download

    Travis Denning (Sept. 11th) 2 OC: …that is nuts. :49
    “So, eventually my dad got ahold of my mom and she was like, ‘Oh yeah. It has hit the fan here. It is so bad.’ They actually walked down to a separate hotel and got onto the roof and they were able to see directly into the Pentagon and see the crash. Ultimately too, she was like, ‘Well, I’m not getting home any time soon.’ And she ended up renting a car and about two days later pulled up in a rental vehicle. I remember everything about it. It was just so nuts. Then going back to school and just everybody talking about it. And on top of that it felt like the kids and the teachers were equally so astonished. It is wild. It’s just crazy that 20 years is coming up. That is nuts.”

  • LAUREN ALAINA’S THIRD STUDIO ALBUM, SITTING PRETTY ON TOP OF THE WORLD, IS AVAILABLE NOW.

    Lauren Alaina releases her new and most personal and soul-shifting album Sitting Pretty On Top of the World TODAY (September 3rd). Sitting Pretty On Top of the World, Alaina’s third full-length album for Mercury Nashville, follows on the heels of her two critically-acclaimed career-changing EPs released in 2020, Getting Good EP and Getting Over Him EP.

    https://twitter.com/UMGNashville/status/1433819200003379238

     

    Lauren partners with Opry Entertainment and her friend Blake Shelton’s Ole Red in downtown Nashville for a Sitting Pretty On Top of the World album release Livestream celebration on Tuesday, September 7TH at 8:30 PM Central. The show is free and open to the public. Lauren will introduce and perform songs from the new album. In addition to the live audience, the livestream event will be available to fans all over the world through both Lauren’s Facebook (@LaurenAlaina) and Ole Red’s Facebook (@OleRedNashville).

    The Georgia native was a featured guest this week on Entertainment Tonight to talk about her journey to this third album, her upcoming book and starring role in the Hallmark movie, “Roadhouse Romance.” The multi-award winner will have upcoming features and interviews in Billboard, FORBES, PEOPLE, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Southern Living, CMT Hot 20, CIRCLE TV’s Southern Weekend (Oct 14), Holler Country, Music Row and more.

    Features have run in EverythingNash.com, Country Now, RIFF Magazine, Sounds Like Nashville, Taste of Country, The Boot, Outsider.com and more.

    Alongside award-winning songwriters Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Emily Weisband, David Garcia, Ben Johnson, and more, Lauren co-wrote 14 of the 15 songs on Sitting Pretty On Top of the World, including her current single “Getting Over Him,” featuring Jon Pardi, which is climbing the country charts.

    Sitting Pretty On Top of the World Track Listing:
    1.   It Was Me                                                             Lauren Alaina, Hillary Lindsey

    1. If The World Was A Small Town                         Lauren Alaina, David Garcia, Josh Miller
    2. Getting Good (featuring Trisha Yearwood)         Emily Weisband
    3. Same Story, Different Saturday Night                 Lauren Alaina, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose
    4. On Top Of The World                                          Lauren Alaina, Jordan Reynolds, Sasha Sloan
    5. Run                                                                       Lauren Alaina, Ben Johnson, Kennedi Lykken
    6. What Do You Think Of? (w Lukas Graham)       Lauren Alaina, Jens Carlsson, Asia Whiteacre
    7. I’m Not Sad Anymore                                          Lauren Alaina, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose
    8. Getting Over Him (w Jon Pardi)                          Lauren Alaina, Paul DiGiovanni, Emily Weisband
    9. Good Ole Boy                                                       Lauren Alaina, David Garcia, Josh Miller
    10. When The Party’s Over                                        Lauren Alaina, David Garcia Corey Crowder
    11. You Ain’t A Cowboy                                           Lauren Alaina, Casey Brown, Parker Welling
    12. Goodbye Street                                                     Lauren Alaina, Jacob Durrett, Ernest K. Smith
    13. Written In The Bar                                               Lauren Alaina, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose
    14. Change My Mind                                                  Lauren Alaina, Cameron Bedell, Seth Ennis

    Sitting Pretty On Top of the World was produced by Paul DiGiovanni, with exception of her song “Getting Good” which was produced by David Garcia.

    In addition to her new release, the ‘Fall of Lauren Alaina’ includes the Georgia native also starring in a Hallmark Channel movie “Roadhouse Romance” premiering on September 11. On November 23, her inspirational book, Getting Good At Being You will be released. The book is available for presale now wherever books are sold.

     

    About Lauren Alaina:

    Lauren Alaina has earned three No. 1 hit singles in just under three years with her smash “Road Less Traveled” (2017), the now 6x Platinum “What Ifs” (2018) with her childhood friend and superstar Kane Brown (his first career No. 1) and most recently “One Beer” (2020) with friend and rising star HARDY (also his first career No. 1).

    Her two EPs, Getting Over Him EP and the previous Getting Good EP (March 2020) are evidence of Lauren’s evolution as a songwriter and as an artist as she wrote each of the songs on both EPs. The title track to Getting Good EP was recently certified GOLD by the RIAA. The pair of EPs follow her No. 1 smash “Road Less Traveled” from the 2017 most-streamed album of the year for a female country artist, Road Less Traveled. Her critically acclaimed sophomore album, Road Less Traveled, landed on multiple “Best Of” lists including BillboardRolling Stone and Amazon, and it became the top-streamed female country album release of 2017. Praised as “full of life lessons and uplift” (PEOPLE), the collection of 12 songs all written by the young star includes Lauren’s first No. 1 smash, “Road Less Traveled,” “Doin’ Fine,” and the inspiring, “Three.”

    The “sassy Southerner with killer pipes” (PARADE) has shared the stage with superstars including Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Martina McBride and Jason Aldean, and sold out her own, first-ever headlining, That Girl Was Me Tour.

    Lauren has received multiple nominations for ACM Awards, CMA Awards, CMT Music Awards, Teen Choice Awards, Radio Disney Awards and Billboard Music Awards. Awards include 2017 ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year, CMT Breakthrough Video of the Year for her “Road Less Traveled,” and CMT Collaborative Video of the Year for “What Ifs,” the 6x Platinum-selling No. 1 hit with childhood friend, Kane Brown.

    The Georgia native has played on some of the highest-profile stages in the world including national television performances on PBS’s A Capitol Fourth, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, TODAYABC’s Good Morning AmericaThe Ellen Degeneres Show, Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, ABC’s CMA Fest specials, CMA and ACM Awards, Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day halftime performance and more including a performance at the White House for President Obama for a PBS special.

     

    Audio / Lauren Alaina talks about writing songs for Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World during the global pandemic.

    Download

    Lauren Alaina (writing songs for SPOTOTW) OC: …been through. 1:16
    “I wrote the whole album during the pandemic. What a crazy time. I was flooded with emotion like the rest of the world, and for the first time in 10 years, I stopped, and I was able to more fully process everything that’s happened over the last ten years, specifically the last two to three years. And I wrote most of the songs in the last six to eight months. And when I went into the studio to record the songs, I had written some of them a month before. I wrote it all in a pretty short amount of time, which is very different than my other projects because I think I wrote Road Less Traveled over like four or five years and I haven’t had a project out in quite a few years. But I really think that this album happened the way that it happened because I was home, and I was able to think about everything that has happened to me and able to process everything that’s happened and get my head wrapped around all of it and write a really raw, emotional, truthful album about everything that I’ve been through.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina says writing songs for her new album, Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World, helped her grow and recognize her growth over the past 10 years.

    Download

    Lauren Alaina (realized how she’s grown since last album) OC: …in life. :38
    “Writing the songs helped me to grow and they also helped me to realize how much I have grown. I’ve been through a lot since I was 16, a lot of life changing events. And this album for me feels like a celebration of all of those things and overcoming all of those things. And I start – this journey is really a lot about my love life more than anything I’ve ever done. I mean I was 16 to 19 writing the last album and this album I was 25. So that’s a really big difference in life.”

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (available now)

    Download
  • LAUREN ALAINA IS PROUD TO TELL HER STORY WITH HER NEW ALBUM, SITTING PRETTY ON TOP OF THE WORLD.

    Lauren Alaina has lived a lot of life in the past few years, and with her new album, Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World, she is very transparent in singing about her ups and downs, heartbreaks and losses and the life experiences that have shaped who she is now.

    “Honestly, I feel like the collection of songs really showcases my growth in the last few years of my life. And I share a lot of really personal stories on this album, really big moments in my life that kind of changed and shaped who I am, and this album for me is about me being a woman,” says Lauren. “My music in the past has been about me becoming a woman, and this album is about me loving myself despite some boy not loving me or grieving the loss of my stepfather and achieving my dreams and riding that out. And I’m just I’m excited for the fans to hear my take on the things that have happened in my life because I’ve lived a pretty public life for the last ten years, and I think it’s about time that I tell what happened and I tell my story and Sitting Pretty On Top of the World is the way that I get to do that.”

    The collection features 15 tracks and will be released tomorrow (September 3rd). Alongside award-winning songwriters Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Emily Weisband, David Garcia, Ben Johnson, and more, Alaina co-wrote 14 of the 15 songs on Sitting Pretty On Top of the Worldincluding her latest single, “Getting Over Him” featuring Jon Pardi, which is currently climbing the country charts.

    Alaina describes how personal this album is saying, “It’s about a dreamer becoming an achiever. It’s being broken and ending up healed. It’s all of me. The early chapters. The new beginnings. The hope for the future and total appreciation for the past. Taking the Road Less Traveled and ending up Sitting Pretty on Top of the World.”

    In addition to the 12 brand new songs included on Sitting Pretty on Top of the WorldAlaina included the two duets she recorded for her Getting Over Him EP– “What Do You Think Of?” featuring international pop sensation Lukas Graham and “Getting Over Him” featuring Jon Pardi. Additionally, the Georgia native also reached out to her friend/mentor Trisha Yearwood to remix the just recently GOLD certified “Getting Good” from her Getting Good EP to include as a duet on this new album.

    Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World Track List:

    1. It Was Me
    2. If The World Was A Small Town
    3. Getting Good (Duet with Trisha Yearwood)
    4. Same Story, Different Saturday Night
    5. On Top Of The World
    6. Run
    7. I’m Not Sad Anymore
    8. What Do You Think Of? (With Lukas Graham)
    9. Getting Over Him (With Jon Pardi)
    10. Good Ole Boy
    11. When The Party’s Over
    12. You Ain’t A Cowboy
    13. Goodbye Street
    14. Written In The Bar
    15. Change My Mind

    In more Lauren Alaina news, the Georgia native will star in a Hallmark Channel movie “Roadhouse Romance” premiering on September 11th. On November 2nd, her book, Getting Good At Being You will be released.

     

    Audio / Lauren Alaina says her new album showcases her growth over the course of the last few years.

    Download

    Lauren Alaina (proud of SPOTOTW) OC: …to do that. 1:10
    “My new album is called Sitting Pretty On Top of the World. I am so proud of it. Honestly, I feel like the collection of songs really showcases my growth in the last few years of my life. And I share a lot of really personal stories on this album, really big moments in my life that kind of changed and shaped who I am, and this album for me is about me being a woman. My music in the past has been about me becoming a woman, and this album is about me loving myself despite some boy not loving me or grieving the loss of my stepfather and achieving my dreams and riding that out. And I’m just I’m excited for the fans to hear my take on the things that have happened in my life because I’ve lived a pretty public life for the last ten years, and I think it’s about time that I tell what happened and I tell my story and Sitting Pretty On Top of the World is the way that I get to do that.”

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (available this week)

    Download

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (available now)

    Download
  • NEWS AND NOTES: Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Lauren Alaina

    Luke Bryan appears on Live With Kelly and Ryan on Friday (August 6th) to talk about his new imdb documentary, My Dirt Road Diary, as well as returning to the judges’ table for American Idol and much more.

    Keith Urban and Sam Williams have been announced as performers for this year’s ACM Honors, taking place August 25th at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. The event, which also includes performances by Lauren Alaina, Sara Evans, Ashley McBryde, Lee Ann Womack, HARDY, Toby Keith, Jamey Johnson, Lady A and event hosts Carly Pearce and Chris Janson, among others, will be livestreamed on the Circle Network’s social channels, as well as a television special to air later this year.

    Lauren Alaina recently released the lyric video for a new song “It Was Me,” which will be featured on her new album, Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World, due September 3rd.

  • LAUREN ALAINA ANNOUNCES HER TRACK LIST FOR HER NEW ALBUM, SITTING PRETTY ON TOP OF THE WORLD.

    Lauren Alaina announced on her socials the track list for her new album, Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World, as well as the release dateThe collection features 15 tracks and will be released September 3rd. She also released one of the new tracks and her favorite song she’s ever written, “It Was Me.”

     

    Sitting Pretty on Top of the World is available for preorder beginning today at all digital retailers or by clicking HERE. Those who preorder the album will instantly get a download of the album’s lead off song “It Was Me.” The song is available now on all DSPs and for digital download HERE.

    Alongside award-winning songwriters Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Emily Weisband, David Garcia, Ben Johnson, and more, Alaina co-wrote 14 of the 15 songs on Sitting Pretty On Top of the World, including her “Getting Over Him” featuring Jon Pardi, which is currently climbing the country charts.

    Alaina describes how personal this album is saying, “It’s about a dreamer becoming an achiever. It’s being broken and ending up healed. It’s all of me. The early chapters. The new beginnings. The hope for the future and total appreciation for the past. Taking the Road Less Traveled and ending up Sitting Pretty on Top of the World.”

    In addition to the 12 brand new songs included on Sitting Pretty on Top of the World, Alaina included the two duets she recorded for her Getting Over Him EP- “What Do You Think Of?” featuring international pop sensation Lukas Graham and “Getting Over Him” featuring Jon Pardi. Additionally, the Georgia native also reached out to her friend/mentor Trisha Yearwood to remix the just recently GOLDâ certified “Getting Good” from her Getting Good EP to include as a duet on this new album.

    Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World Track List:

    1. It Was Me
    2. If The World Was A Small Town
    3. Getting Good (Duet with Trisha Yearwood)
    4. Same Story, Different Saturday Night
    5. On Top Of The World
    6. Run
    7. I’m Not Sad Anymore
    8. What Do You Think Of? (With Lukas Graham)
    9. Getting Over Him (With Jon Pardi)
    10. Good Ole Boy
    11. When The Party’s Over
    12. You Ain’t A Cowboy
    13. Goodbye Street
    14. Written In The Bar
    15. Change My Mind

    In more Lauren Alaina news, the Georgia native will star in an upcoming episode of CBS Television’s Secret Celebrity Renovation. She will join Florida Georgia Line’s I Love My Country Tour in September and will star in a Hallmark Channel movie “Roadhouse Romance” premiering on September 11. On November 2, her book, Getting Good At Being You will be released. The book is available for presale wherever books are sold.

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (It Was Me out now)

    Download