• HALLOWEEN 2020

    Halloween is Saturday, October 31st, and the holiday, which may be a little different this year with a global pandemic, has some of your favorite country stars getting into costumes, while others are recalling memories of Halloweens past.

    Audio / Adam Hambrick talks about one of his favorite Halloween costumes as a kid.

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    Adam Hambrick (Halloween) OC: …five-years-old. :10
    “My grandmother made me a Ghostbusters jumpsuit, and I had the proton backpack and I went as Peter Venkman, the Ghostbuster, when I was five-years-old.”

    Audio / Alan Jackson used to take his now grown daughters trick-or-treating when they were young children, but he recalls one costume that he hated. It was an infant costume that made one of the girls look like a little peapod.

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    AJ (Halloween) OC: …cute, but…[laughs] :17
    “Aww, I remember some, when they were infants, they had like these little, they looked like a little pea pod, you know, or something. It’s like a little green pea or something. And I thought man, that’s awful. But Denise liked it, and I guess it was cute, but…(laughs).”

    Audio / Billy Currington reminisces about his childhood Halloween memories.

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    Billy Currington (Halloween) OC: …Halloween. :17
    “You know, when I was a kid, I loved the trick and the treat. I loved dressing up. I was always wanting to be Dracula. That was my favorite guy. But, of course, who doesn’t love going door-to-door and getting these buckets of candy? [laughs] So, love, love Halloween.”

     

    Audio / Brandon Lay says since his father was a preacher, their Halloween activities were church-related.

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    Brandon Lay (Halloween) OC: …let Ryder do. :26
    “You know, my dad was a preacher, so Halloween for me (ha) was a little different than most kids. We always had something going on at church, so I think I was usually a character from the Bible and walk around the gym and just try to get as much candy as I can. It sounds a little weird, but I kinda was robbed of the trick-or-treating experience – thanks a lot Mom and Dad – but I’m not bitter about it or anything. We’ll see what we let Ryder do.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s TJ and John Osborne talk about dressing up like zombies for Halloween.

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    Brothers Osborne (zombie costume) OC: (John) …was so fun! :29
    TJ: “Literally, you can dress up like a zombie and drag your foot behind you all day and make weird noises, and everyone finds that completely acceptable.” [laughs] JOHN: “One year I dressed up as a ‘90s redneck zombie with a mullet wig and an Alan Jackson denim coat. I never once broke character. That’s part of the thing — you can actually not break character and get away with it. And everywhere I went, even when I ordered a drink, I ordered it like a zombie that was falling apart. [laughs] It was so fun!”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne talks about carving pumpkins with their dad when they were growing up.

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    Brothers Osborne (carving pumpkins) OC: …or something. :25
    “With our dad every year, we would go looking for pumpkins, and we would all get our own pumpkin to carve, and he would buy the biggest pumpkin that they had. It was huge. I mean, it was way too big for any one person, but he would love carving. He’s kind of an artsy guy. He was a great drawer and stuff, and he would carve the most terrifying, vicious looking, scary pumpkin you’d ever seen in your life, and it would be massive. It would be like on a 50-pound pumpkin or something.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne talk about their favorite Halloween candy.

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    Brothers Osborne (Halloween candy) OC: (John) …go stale. [laughs] :34
    TJ: “I would say, Snickers, Baby Ruth, Kit Kat and Reese’s too.” JOHN: “I always hated those houses that would give you bad candy, though. You’re like, ‘C’mon. Step it up.’ Spend the extra dollar on a bag, you know?” TJ: “A house when we were growing up used to give out whole candy bars. It was the best. You were like, ‘That house – that’s the honey hole of candy.’” JOHN: “I love it, and I love like at the end, like three or four days after Halloween you would see what candy was left, and it was always like those crappy cheap candies, and they would just go stale.” [laughs]

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne talks about one of his favorite childhood Halloween costumes.

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    Brothers Osborne (Halloween costume) OC: (TJ) …I love it. :37
    TJ: “There was a costume I had when I was a kid that my dad made. I was a caterpillar, no, you were a caterpillar and I was a spider. And so I don’t know if you’re familiar with pipe insulation? It’s like these black tubes, and so I had these little black pipe insulators as my legs.” JOHN: “There were strings attached to him that would hold some of the black pipe insulators under his hands, and he’d put working gloves on the end of them and so when he’d raise his arms, all of the little spider legs would raise up with it. [laughs] I’m telling you, our parents were total hippies. They were just…” TJ: “Artsy-fartsy hippies. I love it.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker loves Halloween, especially because it’s his kids’ favorite holiday.

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    Darius (Halloween) OC: …I’m into. :06
    “Halloween’s big for me, because the kids love it. It’s my kids’ favorite holiday, so anything they’re into, I’m into.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about the Halloweens of his childhood.

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    Dierks Bentley (Halloween) OC: … …around home. [laughs]  :23
    “Oh, when I was a kid, I was all into fireworks. Growing up in Arizona, we couldn’t get ’em, so we’d have ’em shipped in illegally. I still remember the name of the guy we’d call. His name was Joe, and he’d bring in, ship ’em in a package with no writing on ’em. We were all about M-80s in the mailboxes and bottle rocket wars. To me, as a kid, Halloween was fireworks, was blowing up stuff around home. [laughs]”

    Audio / Eric Church recalls his favorite Halloween costume.

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    Eric Church (Halloween) OC: …Franklin Street. 1:18
    “My favorite Halloween costume really came, I remember when I got a little older my first year of college, there’s this thing they do every year in Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Halloween on Franklin Street. We drove down from Boone, North Carolina. I had a bunch of friends that went to University of North Carolina, and we didn’t have costumes and didn’t realize until we were on the way that we had to have costumes. So, we stopped at a costume place in Greensboro, North Carolina. It’s Halloween, so there’s a run on everything and couldn’t find anything. And we end up getting sent around, driving  around town. We end up finding this hole in the wall place, but they had the full costume, Sesame Street outfits. The real deal. The real ones [with] feathers and fur. We were Elmo, Cookie Monster and I was Big Bird, and the Big Bird was the actual Big Bird. It’s about 7-foot-4, and yiou looked out of the body and then you had these straps that went on since the head was a lot higher. There’s a lot of beer involved in Franklin Street, so we get down there and as the night went on, my straps broke, so the head would pivot. And so, I would be walking one way and the head would be facing the other, and it just became this funny…I didn’t know the head was on backwards. I had no idea. I see out of the body, so I’m just kinda walking around and people were talking to my ass-end. [laughs] The whole time peiople’d come up and start talking and go, ‘Hey, turn around.’ And I’d turn around, and they’d go, ‘No turn around.’ It was a mess. That year, there was no other Big Bird on Franklin Street.”

    Audio / Jon Langston talks about his favorite Halloween show a few years ago when his band surprised him on stage.

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    Jon Langston (Halloween show) OC: …memorable Halloween. :59
    “So we played a show a few years ago in Baton Rouge and I go off stage and I come back on stage for the encore. I don’t know this until midway through the song, I’m just into the crowd, like I’m engaged. I’m in the zone, and I just see everyone, like everybody else behind me but me and I’m like what’s going on. I turn around and each of them has a different huge mask on, like one of those stuffed animal masks, like my drummer has a dinosaur head on. My guitar players, one of ‘em has monkey head on, the other has a unicorn head on. And my bass player has like a, I think a dog or cat head or something like that. I couldn’t finish the song I was laughing so hard just seeing them playing with these like oversized huge mask heads on Halloween night. That was funny. It was a good prank, so that was probably the most memorable Halloween.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi talks about his favorite Halloween costumes as a child.

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    Jon Pardi (Halloween) 1 OC: …the Superman. :15
    “Man, I went through phases of costumes – the Superman costume, then it was a ninja, then I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle one year. I remember rockin’ the Superman.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi reveals his favorite Halloween candy.

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    Jon Pardi (Halloween candy) OC: …during Halloween. :06
    “Man! The candy corn is pretty good, and that’s seasonal, so it only kinda pops out during Halloween.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT HIS FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES OVER THE YEARS.

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    Jordan Davis (Halloween) OC: …jet black. :49
    “I can remember being really big into Power Rangers. I always liked the Red Ranger. I remember being Red Ranger one Halloween. I remember me and my br4other being big into the Ninja Turtles. I was Donatello one year, which I think was the purple turtle. I think, though, my favorite Halloween was I was in college and I went as Luigi from Mario and Luigi, and I actually grew a legit mustache and dyed it jet black and ran into an ex-girlfriend at the costume shop and completely forgot I had the mustache on. So, when Is saw her, she was like, ‘So, you’re going with a mustache nowadays, huh?’ [laughs] I remember being like, ‘I swear this is part of my Halloween costume.’ [laughs] When I dyed my mustache, my top lip was black for a week. Like I really did dye it jet black.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT HIS FAVORITE HALLOWEEN CANDY.

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    Jordan Davis (Halloween candy) OC: …some Starbursts. :21
    “My favorite Halloween candy [is] probably Reese’s or M&M’s, although I love the variety of Starburst. It’s one that I feel like I only eat at Halloween, because I feel like at Halloween one of the popular ones is the two-piece Starburst things. So, probably Reese’s, M&Ms and throw in some Starbursts.”

    Audio / CANDY CORN IS A PRETTY POLARIZING CANDY THAT ONLY COMES OUT AROUND HALLOWEEN. SOME LOVE IT; SOME HATE IT AND NEITHER OPINION IS WRONG. JORDAN DAVIS SIDES WITH THE HATERS (DON’T BLAME HIM), SINCE HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO CANDY CORN.

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    Jordan Davis (no candy corn) OC: …they’re awful. :05
    “You know what I never got? The candy corns. I’ve never been a candy corn guy. I think they’re awful.”

    Audio / Josh Turner and his family (including wife Jennifer and their four sons) enjoy dressing up as a family for Halloween. The multi-platinum selling star says his favorite family costumes was a few years ago when they dressed up as Star Wars characters.

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    Josh Turner (Halloween costumes) OC: …pretty classic. :27
    “My favorite family costume was from a couple of years ago when I had my six-and-a-half-month-old beard going, and me and the whole family dressed up as Star Wars characters. So, I was a young Obi Wan Kenobi, Jennifer was Princess Leia, Colby and Marion were Storm Troopers, Hampton was Darth Vadar and Hawk was, I guess, pretty much still a baby, and he dressed up as Yoda. It was pretty classic.”

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    Audio / We all know Lauren Alaina loves to dress up, but she also loved to come up with costumes for her brother. She says one of her favorite costumes was when she dressed up her brother…as her.

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    Lauren Alaina (Halloween-brother) OC: …mad about that! :19
    “I always would dress my brother up too, and I’d say not my best costume, but his best costume when I put makeup all over him and made him, he looked JUST LIKE ME, but I put extensions in his hair and a little hat on his head and I put makeup on him and my cheerleading outfit. It fit him. I was so mad about that!”

    Audio / Luke Bryan says you can tell a lot about your neighbors from what kind of Halloween candy they hand out.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween) OC: …your teeth. :21
    “You can find out a lot about your neighbors by what kind of candy they put out. So, well, like full bars of Snickers bars, that’s what, and Reese’s cups, [but] the old chocolate popcorn ball of stuff, that’s no good either, like Dots – you get Dots one time of year and they pull your teeth.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about his Halloween traditions.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween) 2 OC: …with all that. :33
    “My tradition for Halloween is Caroline picks the outfit. I never know what I’m wearing. So that day, I’ll talk to the neighbors ‘cause I have a tractor back there and I’ll go get my tractor and get a big long trailer, and then I’ll run down to…a couple miles from the farm, we’ve got a big hay farmer that keeps hay and you run in there and pay him for his hay bales. And I’ll load the hay up and get the hayride ready and we’ll take all the kids behind the tractor and have a fun Halloween with all that.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan says his wife Caroline usually pick out his Halloween costumes....and if you follow her on Instagram, you know she's already been testing out new costumes.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween costumes) OC: …always has. :20
    “Me and Caroline did one year where I dressed up as the old lady, and she dressed up as, she called herself a dirty old man. So, she went around acting like an old man saying snide comments to everybody. That was a fun one. The main thing is Caroline is big, she loves Halloween and always has.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae sit on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to scary movies.

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    Maddie & Tae (Halloween) OC: …princesses. :24
    TAE: “Oooooh, Halloween [is] my favorite holiday. Anyone who knows me knows I love all things scary and gory, so especially on Halloween all the scary movies that come out in theaters, I am there every single time.” MADDIE: “And I never go with her because I hate scary things.” TAE: “You know what’s funny? As little girls, everyone wants to dress up as princesses, and I think I was a witch like six years in a row. I just wanted to be scary.” MADDIE: “Girl, I was like Jasmine and you know [other] princesses.”

    Audio / Mickey Guyton was raised in a very religious household, so she didn’t really celebrate Halloween and only went trick-or-treating one time.

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    Mickey Guyton (Halloween) OC: …the costumes. :50
    “Growing up, my parents were very, very conservative Christian, and so they viewed Halloween as a pagan holiday. BUT, I got to go trick-or-treating once in my life, and I dressed as a clown because my mom made me this clown suit and that was the best. We were in Moody, Texas. It was all three of my siblings and myself and we had so much candy that it lasted for months and months. My parents eventually had to throw it away because we had so much candy. And it was one of the most amazing, magical experiences I’ve ever had, because I never got to celebrate freaking Halloween. I tell you what, this son of mine is gonna definitely going to be celebrating trick-or-treating. Like I can’t wait to dress him up in all of the costumes.”

    Audio / Parker McCollum says his favorite Halloween candy is…Tootsie Rolls.

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    Parker McCollum (favorite Halloween candy) OC: …
    “What I can eat like 6,000 of are Tootsie Rolls. If I eat one Tootsie Roll, I’m gonna eat 30. Man, they’re so good.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about his favorite – and probably most embarrassing – Halloween costume.

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    Travis Denning (Halloween costume) OC: …Busch Light. :21
    “Honestly, I think one of my most proud and embarrassed Halloween costumes is I went as Terry from Reno 9-1-1. I had the roller skates, the short-shorts, the tied-up shirt. Looking back, it wasn’t the manliest thing I ever did, but it got a lot of laughs. And I think that year my favorite candy I ever had was Busch Light.”

  • CMT MUSIC AWARDS INCLUDED PERFORMANCES FROM LUKE BRYAN, LITTLE BIG TOWN, SAM HUNT, SHANIA TWAIN, MICKEY GUYTON, CAYLEE HAMMACK, TRAVIS DENNING AND MANY OTHERS.

    Last Night’s CMT Music Awards included several performances from many locations around Nashville and around the world.

    Luke Bryan, who picked up the award for Male Video of the Year (“One Margarita”), performed his No. 1 hit, “What She Wants Tonight.”

    https://twitter.com/CMT/status/1319108807340052481

     

    Little Big Town turned in a fiery performance of their latest single, “Wine Beer Whiskey,” and the song ended up at #1 on the iTunes sales chart this morning.

    https://twitter.com/CMT/status/1319103391218470912

     

    Sam Hunt performed his recent chart-topping smash, “Hard to Forget.”

    https://twitter.com/CMT/status/1319106977193168896

     

    Shania Twain performed all the way from Switzerland with a rousing performance of “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qUM77-x84U&feature=youtu.be

    https://twitter.com/ShaniaTwain/status/1319279928014061571

     

    Travis Denning performed his recent No. 1 hit, “After a Few,” on his first-ever awards show appearance.

    https://twitter.com/UMGNashville/status/1319077428006932480

     

    Caylee Hammack performed her new single, “Just Friends.” Prior to the awards show, she answered a few fan questions.

    https://twitter.com/CMT/status/1319093050963054592

     

    Mickey Guyton delivered a beautiful performance of her single, “Heaven Down Here,” which is featured on her new EP, Bridges.

    https://twitter.com/MickeyGuyton/status/1319098615839817729

     

  • MICKEY GUYTON RELEASES POWERFUL VIDEO FOR HER SINGLE, “HEAVEN DOWN HERE.”

    Capitol Nashville’s Mickey Guyton released the new music video for her latest heartfelt anthem “Heaven Down Here,” yesterday with an exclusive premiere across all CMT and MTV platforms as well as Viacom’s Times Square Billboard. Directed by Sarah McColgan, the timely track and video display a relevant reflection of the world and a plea to God through Guyton’s lens.

     

    Mickey is set to perform “Heaven Down Here” as part of the CMT Music Awards airing Wednesday, October 21 at 8:00pm ET/7:00pm CT on CMT, MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop and TV Land. “Heaven Down Here” is Mickey’s current single off her recent EP Bridges which continues to receive critical acclaim by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard and more. In addition to “Heaven Down Here,” Bridges also includes the powerful “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” which Mickey just performed on the Academy of Country Music Awards, watch HERE. Mickey also recently appeared on NBC’s TODAY where she delivered an emotional performance of her song “Black Like Me,” watch HERE.

    About Mickey Guyton
    Mickey Guyton was born in Arlington, Texas and began singing in church at a young age. She was drawn to a variety of artists with big voices including Dolly Parton, Cece Winans, Whitney Houston and LeAnn Rimes. After signing to Capitol Records Nashville, Mickey’s first appearance was an all-star concert at the White House captured by PBS. In 2015 she released her self-titled EP featuring her debut single “Better Than You Left Me.” The following year she was nominated for her first Academy of Country Music Award for New Female Vocalist. Mickey returned to the ACM Awards in 2019 performing “I’m Standing With You” from the BREAKTHROUGH movie soundtrack alongside Chrissy Metz, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina and Maddie & Tae. This last year, Mickey performed her first solo ACM Awards performance of “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” with labelmate Keith Urban’s accompaniment on piano.  The performance, which HITS called “…a Whitney Houston/Beyoncé power-vocal rendition of the glass-ceiling reckoning…” was named one of the best performances of the night. Mickey released her EP, Bridges, on September 11, which includes “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”, hailed by Variety as “country music’s song of the year”, as well as, “Black Like Me,” a song Mickey co-wrote in March 2019 at a cross-genre writing camp. Due to demand, “Black Like Me” was released in June and has been praised by critics and fans alike. Her latest single “Heaven Down Here” was written in recent months as a plea to God to spare a little love for this world in need. Mickey and her music have been featured recently by The New York TimesCBS This MorningNPRTodayBillboardThe Los Angeles TimesEntertainment WeeklyELLE, The Washington Post, Paste, Rolling StoneThe Wall Street JournalAmerican Songwriter and Pollstar.

     

    For more information visit www.mickeyguyton.com

  • MICKEY GUYTON GIVES EMOTIONAL PERFORMANCE OF “BLACK LIKE ME” ON NBC’S TODAY.

    Capitol Nashville’s Mickey Guyton performed the powerful “Black Like Me” yesterday as part of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, watch HERE. Praised by HITS for, “nudging America’s conscience with personal truth and gospel fervor,” “Black Like Me” has resonated with critics and fans alike since its release earlier this year. Mickey originally wrote the track at a cross-genre writing camp in 2019 but due to demand released the song this summer.

    “Black Like Me” is featured on Mickey’s new EP, Bridges, in addition to, her current single “Heaven Down Here” and “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”, which she performed as part of the Academy of Country Music Awards with surprise guest Keith Urban last week, watch HERE. Mickey’s performance was hailed as one of the best of the show with Rolling Stone noting, “Guyton knocked it out of the park demonstrating that she’s got a world-class set of pipes as well as something important to say.”

    For more information visit www.mickeyguyton.com

    Fans can listen to Bridges HERE

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Mickey, Keith, Jordan and more

    Mickey Guyton appeared on NBC’s Today Show Monday morning (September 21st). She talked to the hosts Hoda and Jenna after her stunning performance with Keith Urban at the ACM Awards. Plus, she shared a special performance of her single, “Black Like Me.” Watch below.

    Keith Urban has released the official video for “One Too Many” with P!NK. The song is from his new album, The Speed of Now Part 1, which was just released on Friday (September 18th).

     

    Jordan Davis recently released an acoustic version of his latest hit, “Almost Maybes.”

     

    Video /

  • MICKEY GUYTON DELIVERS POWERFUL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS PERFORMANCE WITH KEITH URBAN.

    Capitol Nashville’s Mickey Guyton performed the powerful “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” with surprise guest Keith Urban on last night’s Academy of Country Music Awards, watch HERE. Since its release earlier this year, “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” has continued to receive critical acclaim with NPR saying it’s, “a cry of the heart by a remarkable singer and writer who deserves to be a full-on superstar.”

    Mickey co-wrote “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” along with all five additional tracks featured on her new EP, Bridges. In addition to “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” Bridges includes the autobiographical “Black Like Me” which Mickey is set to perform on NBC’s TODAY this Monday, September 21. Bridges has been praised by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard and more with Paste Magazine declaring that “Mickey Guyton is the unapologetic voice country music needs right now.”

    About Mickey Guyton:
    Mickey Guyton was born in Arlington, Texas and began singing in church at a young age. She was drawn to a variety of artists with big voices including Dolly Parton, Cece Winans, Whitney Houston and LeAnn Rimes. After signing to Capitol Records Nashville, Mickey’s first appearance was an all-star concert at the White House captured by PBS. In 2015 she released her self-titled EP featuring her debut single “Better Than You Left Me.” The following year she was nominated for her for first Academy of Country Music Award for New Female Vocalist. Mickey returned to the ACM Awards in 2019 performing “I’m Standing With You” from the BREAKTHROUGH movie soundtrack alongside Chrissy Metz, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina and Maddie & Tae. The last few years, Mickey has been focused on her songwriting and she just released her new EP, Bridges, on September 11. Bridges includes “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”, which Variety called “…exquisitely sung, moving and brilliant,” as well as, “Black Like Me,” a song Mickey cowrote in March 2019 at a cross-genre writing camp. Due to demand, “Black Like Me” was released in June and has been praised by critics and fans alike with HITS noting the song “nudges America’s conscience with personal truth and gospel fervor.”  Her latest single “Heaven Down Here” was written in recent months as a plea to God to spare a little love for this world in need. Mickey and her music have been featured recently by The New York TimesCBS This MorningNPRBillboardThe Los Angeles TimesEntertainment WeeklyELLE, Paste, Rolling StoneThe Wall Street JournalAmerican Songwriter and Pollstar.

    Audio / Mickey Guyton talks about performing on this year's ACM AWARDS.

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    Mickey Guyton (performing on the ACM AWARDS) OC: …to people. :35

  • ACM AWARDS 2020 WILL BE A STAR-STUDDED SHOW.

    The Academy of Country Music will present its annual awards show on Wednesday night (September 16th). The show was postponed from April in Las Vegas to September in Nashville due to the global pandemic (COVID-19).

    For the first time in the show’s history, the awards will take place in Nashville, broadcasting from three iconic Country Music venues: Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe. The reigning Entertainer of the Year, Keith Urban, will host the show from The Grand Ole Opry House.

    Performances include a star-studded medley from the night’s Entertainer of the Year nominees – Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett – to kick off the show, as well as other performances by Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Pink, Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani, Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Riley Green, Tenille Townes, Thomas Rhett with Jon Pardi, Eric Church, Mickey Guyton, Morgan Wallen, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Florida Georgia Line, Trisha Yearwood, Taylor Swift and Luke Bryan.

    Eric Church is set to perform the anthemic “Stick Tat in Your Country Song,” while Luke Bryan will sing his multi-week No 1 summer smash “One Margarita.” Taylor will perform her Top 40 country hit, “betty,” and Carrie Underwood will turn in a medley of songs by the format’s most iconic female artists, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton. Mickey Guyton will sing the critically-acclaimed “What Are You Gonna Tell Her,” and the night’s host Keith Urban will perform with P!ink on his new song, “One Too Many from his upcoming album, The Speed of Now Part 1.

    Newcomer Caylee Hammack picked up her first ACM Award for Music Event of the Year for the Miranda Lambert-led collaboration, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” which also featured Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes and Elle King.

    Universal Music Group Nashville is celebrating its honorees (see below).

    Eric Church leads our nominees with three, including his second nod for Entertainer of the Year. He was also nominated as artist and songwriter in the Song of the Year category for “Some of It” – marking his eighth and ninth nominations in the category.

    Reigning Female Artist of the Year Kacey Musgraves earned three nominations including her seventh nod for Female Artist of the Year. Additionally, she received her first Single of the Year nomination as both artist and producer for “Rainbow.”

    Carrie Underwood is nominated for a pair of awards, including Entertainer of the Year, as well as Female Artist of the Year.

    Little Big Town also picks up a pair of nods for Group of the Year and Video of the Year for “Sugar Coat.”

    Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley and Keith Urban are nominated for Male Artist of the Year; Jon Pardi is up for Album of the Year for Heartache Medication; and Brothers Osborne and Maddie & Tae are up for Duo of the Year.

     

    The 55th ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, hosted by Keith Urban, will be broadcast Wednesday, September 16th (live 8:00-11:00 PM ET/delayed PT) on CBS  and will be available to stream on demand on CBS All Access.

     

    ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

    Luke Bryan

    Eric Church

    Luke Combs

    Thomas Rhett

    Carrie Underwood
    FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

    Kelsea Ballerini

    Miranda Lambert

    Maren Morris

    Kacey Musgraves

    Carrie Underwood
    MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

    Dierks Bentley

    Luke Combs

    Thomas Rhett

    Chris Stapleton

    Keith Urban
    DUO OF THE YEAR

    Brooks & Dunn

    Brothers Osborne

    Dan + Shay

    Florida Georgia Line

    Maddie & Tae
    GROUP OF THE YEAR

    Lady Antebellum

    Little Big Town

    Midland

    Old Dominion

    The Highwomen
    ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

    Center Point Road – Thomas Rhett

    Producers: Julian Bunetta, Jesse Frasure, Dann Huff, Thomas Rhett, The Stereotypes, Cleve Wilson

    GIRL – Maren Morris

    Producers: busbee, Greg Kurstin, Maren Morris

    Heartache Medication – Jon Pardi

    Producers: Bart Butler, Ryan Gore, Jon Pardi

     

    What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs

    Producer: Scott Moffatt

    Wildcard – Miranda Lambert

    Producer: Jay Joyce

     

    SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

    God’s Country – Blake Shelton

    Producer: Scott Hendricks

    One Man Band – Old Dominion

    Producer: Shane McAnally

    Rainbow – Kacey Musgraves

    Producers: Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian

    Rumor – Lee Brice

    Producers: Lee Brice, Dan Frizsell, Kyle Jacobs, Jon Stone

    What If I Never Get Over You – Lady Antebellum

    Producer: Dann Huff

     

    SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

    10,000 Hours – Dan + Shay Featuring Justin Bieber

    Songwriters: Justin Bieber, Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, Jessie Jo Dillon, Shay Mooney, Jordan Reynolds, Dan Smyers

    Publishers: Beats and Banjos (ASCAP), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) / Shay Mooney Music (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI) / Big Ass Pile Of Dimes Music (BMI), Big Machine Music (BMI) / Buckeye 26 (ASCAP), Jreynmusic (ASCAP), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) / Bieber Time Publishing (ASCAP), Universal Music (ASCAP) / Poo B Z Inc. (ASCAP), BMG Gold Songs (ASCAP).

    Girl Goin’ Nowhere – Ashley McBryde

    Songwriters: Jeremy Bussey, Ashley McBryde

    Publishers: Songs of Song Factory (BMI) / Universal Tunes (SESAC).

    God’s Country – Blake Shelton

    Songwriters: Devin Dawson, Michael Hardy, Jordan Schmidt

    Publishers: Relative Music Group (BMI), Administered by Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing (BMI) / WB Music Corp. / Georgia Song Vibez / We-volve Music (ASCAP) / Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. / Neon Cross Music (BMI).

    One Man Band – Old Dominion

    Songwriters: Josh Osborne, Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Brad Tursi

    Publishers: WB Music Corp/Smackville Music/Smack Songs LLC (ASCAP) adm by Kobalt Songs Music Publishing. Rezsongs/Reehits World/Smacktown Music, a division of Smack Blue, LLC/Unfair Entertainment  (ASCAP) adm. by Me Gusta Music. We’re Really Doin’ It Publishing (ASCAP) adm by Words & Music. Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing/Smackville Music/Smack Songs LLC (ASCAP) adm. by Kobalt Songs Music Publishing.

    Some Of It – Eric Church

    Songwriters: Eric Church, Clint Daniels, Jeff Hyde, Bobby Pinson

    Publishers: Sony/ATV Tree Publishing/Longer and Louder Music, admin. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC; Mammaw’s Fried Okra Music/Little Louder Songs, admin. by Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing; New Writers Of Sea Gayle Music, admin. by ClearBox Rights; New Writers Of Sea Gayle Music/Not A Track Guy Music, admin. by ClearBox Rights (BMI).
     

    MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

    10,000 Hours – Dan + Shay Featuring Justin Bieber

    Producers: Dan Smyers

    Record Label: Warner Music Nashville

    Dive Bar – Garth Brooks Featuring Blake Shelton

    Producers: Garth Brooks

    Record Label: Pearl Records, Inc.

    Fooled Around And Fell In Love – Miranda Lambert Featuring Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack & Elle King

    Producer: Jay Joyce

    Record Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville

    Old Town Road – Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

    Producers: Michael Trent Reznor, Atticus Matthew Ross, YoungKio

    Record Label: Columbia Records

    What Happens In A Small Town – Brantley Gilbert Featuring Lindsay Ell

    Producer: Dann Huff

    Record Label: The Valory Music Co.

    Audio / ERIC CHURCH TALKS ABOUT THE ENERGY EXCHANGED BETWEEN HIM AND HIS FANS IN THE AUDIENCE AT HIS SHOWS.

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    Eric Church (performing energy) OC: …type of crowd. :40
    “Well, I think for me every night I try to empty the tank. There’s always that energy floating around. It’s a palpable thing, and it’s up to me to start that exchange and get the crowd to give it back to me and then watch it build on itself and just to have that experience. We have one night here in whatever city we’re in, you know, we’ve got this night. I’m not gonna see you for a while you’re not gonna see me for a while, you know? And I love being able to capitalize on that moment and trying to live in that moment and get as much energy exchange between myself and the crowd as we can. I love that. That’s my favorite part of what we do. I love being around people, I’m very passionate about my music, and I love people who are passionate about the music too and I love playing a show for that type of crowd.”

    Audio / LAST YEAR, CARRIE UNDERWOOD TALKED ABOUT HER ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR NOMINATION FOR LAST YEAR’S CMA AWARDS…AND THE SAME SENTIMENT HOLDS TRUE FOR THIS YEAR’S ACM AWARDS.

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    Carrie Underwood (Entertainer nod 2019) OC: …sorry boys! (laughs) :28
    “I personally feel like entertainer. It’s everything, right? So, I feel like people kind of narrow it down to tours, but I feel like there’s so many more components to it. And, you know, I’m blessed and lucky to be nominated, obviously, and fantastic company. It would be amazing, but of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it. (laughs) Sorry boys.” (laughs)

    Audio / A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, LUKE BRYAN TALKED ABOUT BEING NAMED ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR FROM BOTH THE ACM AWARDS AND CMA AWARDS.

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    Luke Bryan (Entertainer wins) OC: …got it right. :49
    “The title is what it is, you know? I mean, my focus in life when I’m on stage is entertaining these fans. If it’s my smile and my demeanor, if it’s my song that does it, if it’s me picking up a child out of the audience and letting them sing, it’s not being so premeditated that you can see it from a mile away. I mean, my main thing is be a fan up there that just gets to sing. That’s kind of how I’ve always approached it, and being called the Entertainer of the Year makes me want to do that to the best of my ability every night for the rest of my life as long as I’m on stage. I want people to leave my shows and go, ‘You know what? Whoever’s voting him Entertainer of the Year, they got it right.’”

    Audio / Caylee Hammack, who was nominated for a pair of awards going into this year's ACM AWARDS, has won her first for Music Event of the Year.

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    Caylee Hammack (ACM Music Event of the Year win) OC: …of women. :42
    “Getting to recreate this song with women that inspire me so very much was already a huge blessing for me. To get to perform it every night for the encore of Miranda Lambert’s show that I got to be on tour with her for, it was already this huge blessing for me and then to be nominated was a huge deal and now, we’ve won an ACM for vocal event of the year, this is unreal. And I wish there was another word I could use for it, but unreal is truly it. This is so very special, and I’m just so honored to be in this group of this caliber of women.”

    Audio / KACEY MUSGRAVES SAYS SHE WROTE “RAINBOW” AS A MEMO TO HERSELF, BUT SAYS IT CAN HELP PEOPLE ACTUALLY SEE THE SUN THROUGH THE CLOUDS.

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    Kacey Musgraves (Rainbow) 1 OC: …make it through. :48
    “The song ‘Rainbow’ was actually written a handful of years ago as sort of a little bit of a memo to myself. I think we can all get stuck in a mindset that things are never gonna improve or you can easily focus on kind of the bad parts of whatever you’re going through and not really realize that if you pulled your head above the water you’d see that the sun is actually shining and that everything’s actually okay. I think one of the reasons that people may relate to the song a lot is because, though it was written to myself, I think that it can take the shape of like whatever someone’s going through – whether it’s coming out and not having the support or just any kind of a situation that they don’t feel like they may make it through.”

    Audio / ERIC CHURCH TALKS ABOUT HIS SONG "SOME OF IT."

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    Eric Church (Some of It coming of age) OC: …figure it out. :56
    “That’s a song, a coming-of-age song, it’s an adult song. It’s adult music. If you listen to the thematics in that and what it’s about, it’s about being older and having some wisdom about you. I think that’s something that I appreciate in my fan base now that early on probably wasn’t there. We were young and drunk and fighting and stupid. But I think now to see them grow – to see the fan base grow – it’s just one of those songs that came along at the right time. And again, it was such a blessing that happened. It wasn’t going to be on the album. It was just one of those freak things that I put it on the album, the last song on the album. The album was done, and all of a sudden it becomes the pillar, one of the pillars on the album. I think again, you go back to it’s one of the great things about music, is you just never know what’s going to happen until it’s all said and done. You can try to plan all you want to, but you’ll probably not going to figure it out.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi is excited for his ACM Album of the Year nomination.

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    Jon Pardi (nominated for ACM AWARD for album) OC: …it’s awesome. :32
    “Being nominated for an ACM Award is always awesome, especially when it’s for Album f the Year. From all the hard work we put in to making this record to seeing it as a nominee for Album of the Year is amazing. It’s such a great honor to just have a nomination – to still be in the game is what I’m saying, and I put in a lot of hard work and it’s just so fun. It’s my favorite category to be in and the most, it’s the one I want to be in because that means all the songs help you get that nomination. I think that’s so great, and we work so hard on picking songs. So, it’s awesome.”

    Audio / MADDIE MARLOW OF MADDIE & TAE TALK ABOUT BEING NOMINATED FOR THE ACM DUO OF THE YEAR AWARD.

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    Maddie & Tae (ACM 2019) OC: …this year. :35
    “Being in the Duo category, especially being the only females in that category, is really, really special. We are just in such good company. Every single duo that’s nominated this year, we are really good friends with and we love and support and root for, but just the fact the industry acknowledges what we’re doing, especially after the crazy past couple of years we’ve had, just to get that nod saying, ‘Hey! You’re doing good. Keep doing what you’re doing,’ is so special. We do not take that for granted ‘cause we didn’t expect that at all, and so it was a huge shock for us and such good news for us this year.”

    Audio / BROTHERS OSBORNE SAYS IT'S AN HONOR TO BE NOMINATED AT THIS YEAR'S ACM AWARDS.

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    Brothers Osborne (being nominated) OC: (TJ) …but it really is. :26
    JOHN: “One of the things I love about the country music genre is “It sounds cliché to say it’s an honor, but it really is that it’s a family. We’re all really, really close. We’re all a bunch of misfits thrown together. We’re all a little different, but we love one another and respect one another, and I’m just honored for the both of us to be a part of this awesome family.” TJ: “I will say to add on that, it sounds cliché to say it’s an honor to be nominated, but it really is.”

  • MICKEY GUYTON PERFORMS THE TITLE TRACK FROM HER NEW EP, BRIDGES.

    Mickey Guyton performed the title track from her new EP, Bridges, live from Capitol Studios. She says of the song, “This was one of the last songs I wrote for the EP, but it really helped bring everything together. In these divisive times, we should be building bridges to come together instead of tearing things apart.”

     

    Mickey, who is set to perform during Wednesday night’s ACM Awards, has hit the airwaves with her single, “Heaven Down Here.”

  • MICKEY GUYTON’S EP, BRIDGES, IS AVAILABLE TODAY.

    Capitol Nashville’s Mickey Guyton releases her new EP, Bridges, today (listen HERE). Bridges features six songs all co-written by Mickey including the previously released tracks “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?,” “Black Like Me” and current single “Heaven Down Here.”  Continuing to receive critical acclaim as the “unapologetic voice country music needs right now” (Paste Magazine), the Texas native is “turning a mirror on country music by speaking her truth” (Associated Press).

    Mickey will perform the powerful “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” as part of the Academy of Country Music Awards on Wednesday (September 16th) live at 8pm ET on CBS.  Variety praised Mickey’s “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” as “…exquisitely sung, moving and brilliant” while NPR touted it as “a cry of the heart by a remarkable singer and writer who deserves to be a full-on superstar.”

    Bridges Track Listing:

    1. “Heaven Down Here”*
      (Mickey Guyton, Gordie Sampson, Josh Kear, Hillary Lindsey)
    2. “Bridges”*
      (Mickey Guyton, Karen Kosowski, Victoria Banks, Emma-Lee)
    3. “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”*
      (Mickey Guyton, Karen Kosowski, Victoria Banks, Emma-Lee)
    4. “Rosé”**
      (Mickey Guyton, Victoria Banks, Karen Kosowski)
    5. “Salt”*
      (Mickey Guyton, Jesse Frasure, Carly Barlowe, Steven Lee Olsen)
    6. “Black Like Me”+
      (Mickey Guyton, Nathan Chapman, Fraser Churchill, Emma Davidson-Dillon)

    *Produced by Karen Kosowski
    ** Produced by Karen Kosowki and Forest Whitehead
    +Produced by Nathan Chapman and Forest Whitehead

    Mickey just released the new track “Without A Net,” written by award-winning songwriter Diane Warren (listen HERE). “Without A Net” is featured in the new documentary film Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story which is narrated by Michelle Rodriquez and chronicles the lives of women who perform the stunts in some of Hollywood’s biggest action sequences. Fans can watch the trailer and learn more about the film HERE.

    Mickey has recently been highlighted by outlets including Pollstar, NPR, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times and more. Originally from Arlington, Texas, Mickey has made a name for herself as a powerhouse vocalist and impressive songwriter. NPR notes, “she’s emerging as a poised and galvanizing country-pop conscience, at once consummate pro, steadfast optimist and truth-teller…a stirring, sumptuous singer” while Billboard calls Mickey, “one of the most promising new voices in country in recent years.” In 2015, she released her self-titled EP featuring her debut single “Better Than You Left Me” and the following year she was nominated for her first ACM Award for New Female Vocalist. Last year, Mickey returned to the ACM Awards stage to perform “I’m Standing With You” from the BREAKTHROUGH movie soundtrack alongside Chrissy Metz, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina and Maddie & Tae. Mickey has been featured on CBS This Morning, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today Show. She has also been spotlighted in the Los Angeles Times, PEOPLE, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Billboard and more.

    For more information visit www.mickeyguyton.com

    Audio / Mickey Guyton talks about her new EP, Bridges.

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    Mickey Guyton (talking about EP) OC: …around people. :31
    “This EP is just so important to me. I wrote a lot of it during this quarantine, and I’m currently in downtown Los Angeles so I’ve seen a lot of protests and things happening outside of my own window and there just seems to be so much pain around the world about this pandemic so I wrote about it. And some interesting facts about this is I’ve written this EP and recorded it through ZOOM. It’s crazy what you can do during a time that you can’t be around people.”

  • MICKEY GUYTON HELPS FEED AMERICA WITH THE HELP OF THE ACM AWARDS AND WELLS FARGO.

    The Academy of Country Music®, dick clark productions, and Wells Fargo announced today 55th Academy of Country Music Awards™ performer Mickey Guyton will appear in a special moment airing during the telecast to help raise awareness around the issue of hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with Feeding America®, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the country, and its network of member food banks, Wells Fargo is turning many of its locations across the country into mobile food distribution centers with the goal of providing 50 million meals* to individuals and families through the Wells Fargo Drive-Up Food Bank program.

    Additionally, Wells Fargo is joining forces with ACM Lifting Lives®, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music, and donating $100,000 to the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund. Created in response to the growing need, the fund assists individuals working in the Country Music industry who are suffering a financial crisis as a result of the pandemic. This donation is in addition to the more than $175 million the Wells Fargo Foundation has donated to help address critical community needs such as food assistance, financial health, small business, and housing stability in communities across the United States since the beginning of the pandemic.

    During the last few years, Mickey has been focused on her songwriting and just released her new EP, Bridges,  which includes “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?,”  as well as “Black Like Me,” a song Mickey cowrote in March 2019 at a cross-genre writing camp. Due to demand, “Black Like Me” was released in June and has been praised by critics and fans alike, with HITS noting the song “nudges America’s conscience with personal truth and gospel fervor.” Her latest single, “Heaven Down Here,” was written in recent months as a plea to God to spare a little love for this world in need.

    Mickey was previously announced as a performer at next week’s ACM Awards. She’s currently set to sing the critically-acclaimed song, “What

    The 55th ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, hosted by Keith Urban, will be broadcast September 16th (live 8:00-11:00 PM ET/delayed PT) on CBS  and will be available to stream on demand on CBS All Access.