• NEWS AND NOTES: Brothers Osborne, Reba, Sam, Shania, Little Big Town and more

    Brothers Osborne will perform from the Sofar Listening Room on Thursday (October 15th) beginning at 3pm ET/2pm CT. The duo just released their brand new album, Skeletons, last week and are currently making their way up the country charts with their latest single, “All Night.”

    Reba McEntire will reportedly star in a television adaptation of “Fried Green Tomatoes” with legendary producer Norman Lear at the helm as executive producer, according to Variety. The hour-long drama, possibly airing on NBC, is described as “a modernization of the novel and movie that explores the lives of descendants from the original work. When present-day Idgie Threadgoode (McEntire) returns to Whistle Stop after a decade away, she must wrestle with a changed town, estranged daughter, faltering cafe and life-changing secret.” Reba is also said to be one of the executive producers, as well.

    Reba McEntire, Brothers Osborne and Little Big Town are among the artists performing at various venues around Nashville for the virtual Save Our Stages Festival, taking place October 16th – 18th. The three-day event will also include performances by Kelsea Ballerini, Dave Matthews, Marshmello, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Jason Mraz, Foo Fighters, Leon Bridges and many more. This benefit will raise awareness and money for the NIVA Emergency Relief Fund to support independent music venues across the nation during this devastating pandemic. Check out all the information on times, venues and performances right here.

    Sam Hunt has been added to the list of performers at this year’s CMT Music Awards. Sam is up for Male Video of the Year for “Hard to Forget,” and he’s also nominated for CMT Performance of the Year for his cover of Reba McEntire’s iconic hit, “Fancy,” at the 2019 CMT Artists of the Year ceremony. He joins previously announced performers Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Kane Brown, Dan + Shay and Ashley McBryde on the main stage. Also performing are Gabby Barrett and Morgan Wallen, as well as several performances from the the Ram Trucks Side Stage featuring Caylee Hammack, Mickey Guyton, Travis Denning, Ingrid Andress, Hardy and Riley Green. Shania Twain will also make an appearance at the CMT Awards ceremony, her first since 2011. The 2020 CMT Music Awards will air October 21st beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT.

     

  • SAM HUNT RELEASES HIS NEW SINGLE, “BREAKING UP WAS EASY IN THE 90s.”

    Sam Hunt has released his latest single, “Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90’s.” The tune, which is featured on his latest album Southside, is the follow-up to his recent chart-topper, “Hard to Forget.”

    “’Breaking Up Was Easy in the ‘90s,’ that’s a song that kind of speaks to the times a little bit. My favorite line from that song is ‘Modern love leads to modern hearts breaking. I’m just a product of my generation.’ Just a fun, kind of simple reflection on how much more difficult it is to be so connected, the downside of being so connected, nowadays. Yeah, that was one that was written in the ninth hour and turned out pretty cool, I thought, and we put it on the record.”

    Sam is nominated for two CMT Music Awards — Male Video of the Year for “Hard to Forget” and CMT Performance of the Year for his cover of Reba McEntire’s iconic hit, “Fancy,” at the 2019 CMT Artists of the Year ceremony. The 2020 CMT Music Awards will air October 21st beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT.

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about his new single, "Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90's."

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    Sam Hunt (Breaking Up Was Easy in the ‘90s) OC: …on the record. :35
    “’Breaking Up Was Easy in the ‘90s,’ that’s a song that kind of speaks to the times a little bit. My favorite line from that song is ‘Modern love leads to modern hearts breaking. I’m just a product of my generation.’ Just a fun, kind of simple reflection on how much more difficult it is to be so connected, the downside of being so connected, nowadays. Yeah, that was one that was written in the ninth hour and turned out pretty cool, I thought, and we put it on the record.”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s) 1

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    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s) 2

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    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s)

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    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s) 4

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    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s) 5

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  • SAM HUNT RELEASES THE MUSIC VIDEO TO HIS SONG, “BREAKING UP WAS EASY IN THE 90S.”

    Sam Hunt has released the lyric video to his latest song, “Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s.” The tune, which he co-wrote with Zach Crowell, Chris LaCorte, Josh Osborne, Ernest K Smith, is from his current album, Southside. Check out the video below.

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  • SAM, CARRIE, KEITH, LITTLE BIG TOWN, LUKE, MADDIE & TAE, BROTHERS O, CHRIS, PARDI, CAYLEE AND TRAVIS NOMINATED FOR CMT AWARDS THIS YEAR.

    The nominations for this year’s CMT MUSIC AWARDS were announced on Wednesday (September 23rd), and several UMG Nashville artists were among the nominees.

    Sam Hunt picked up three nods, including Video of the Year (“Hard To Forget”); Male Video of the Year (“Hard To Forget”) and CMT Performance of the Year (“Fancy” from CMT Artists of the Year show).

    Carrie Underwood, who reigns as the most awarded artist in CMT Music Awards history with 20 wins, is up for two awards including Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year  for “Drinking Alone;” and Little Big Town is also up for a pair of awards including Video of the Year (“Sugar Coat”) and Group Video of the Year (“Wine, Beer, Whiskey”).

    “Breakthrough Video of the Year” nominees include Caylee Hammack (“Family Tree”) and Travis Denning (“After a Few”).

    The finalists for “Video of the Year” will be announced on October 12; fans will be able to vote throughout the week until October 16 to determine the winner.

    Fan voting begins today at vote.cmt.com and continues until 12PM ET/11 AM CT on Monday, October 12. The top five “Video of the Year” finalists will be revealed at that time.

    The finalists for “Video of the Year” will be announced on October 12; fans will be able to vote throughout the week until October 16 to determine the winner.

    The nominees for the “2020 CMT Music Awards” are:

    VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director. Final nominees announced on 10/12, with final voting held until 10/16 and announced in-show.

    • Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
    • Blanco Brown – “The Git Up”
    • Carrie Underwood – “Drinking Alone”
    • Dan + Shay – “I Should Probably Go To Bed”
    • Keith Urban – “Polaroid”
    • Kelsea Ballerini – “homecoming queen?”
    • Little Big Town – “Sugar Coat”
    • Luke Combs – “Beer Never Broke My Heart”
    • Miranda Lambert – “Bluebird”
    • Old Dominion – “Some People Do”
    • Sam Hunt – “Hard To Forget”
    • Tanya Tucker – “Bring My Flowers Now”
    • The Chicks -“Gaslighter”
    • Thomas Rhett – “Remember You Young”

    FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist

    • Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
    • Carrie Underwood – “Drinking Alone”
    • Gabby Barrett – “I Hope”
    • Kelsea Ballerini – “homecoming queen?”
    • Maren Morris – “The Bones”
    • Miranda Lambert – “Bluebird”

    MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist

    • Jason Aldean – “Got What I Got”
    • Luke Bryan – “One Margarita”
    • Luke Combs – “Even Though I’m Leaving”
    • Morgan Wallen – “Chasin’ You (Dream Video)”
    • Sam Hunt – “Hard To Forget”
    • Thomas Rhett – “Remember You Young”

    GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    Best video by a group; awarded to the artists

    • Lady A – “Champagne Night”
    • Little Big Town – “Wine, Beer, Whiskey”
    • Midland – “Cheatin’ Songs (Live From the Palomino)”
    • Old Dominion – “One Man Band”
    • The Chicks – “Gaslighter”
    • The Highwomen – “Crowded Table”

    DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    Best video by a duo; awarded to the artists

    • Brothers Osborne – “All Night (Studio Performance)” 
    • Dan + Shay – “I Should Probably Go To Bed”
    • Florida Georgia Line – “Blessings”
    • LOCASH – “One Big Country Song”
    • Maddie & Tae – “Die From A Broken Heart”

    BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    Best video from an artist’s major breakthrough album; awarded to the artist (male, female or group/duo)

    • Blanco Brown – “The Git Up”
    • Caylee Hammack – “Family Tree”
    • Gabby Barrett – “I Hope”
    • Ingrid Andress – “More Hearts Than Mine”
    • Riley Green – “I Wish Grandpas Never Died”
    • Travis Denning – “After a Few”

    COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    Best video from a collaboration; awarded to the artists

    • Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani – “Nobody But You”
    • Carly Pearce and Lee Brice – “I Hope You’re Happy Now”
    • Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber – “10,000 Hours”
    • Kane Brown featuring Nelly – “Cool Again”
    • Marshmello and Kane Brown – “One Thing Right”
    • Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi – “Beer Can’t Fix”

    CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
    Musical performance on a television show, series or variety special on CMT; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo)

    • From CMT Artists of the Year: Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
    • From CMT Crossroads: Brooks & Dunn and Luke Combs – “Brand New Man”
    • From CMT Artists of the Year: Chris Young – “Drowning”
    • From CMT Crossroads: Halsey and Kelsea Ballerini – “Graveyard”
    • From CMT Artists of the Year: Sam Hunt – “Fancy”
    • From CMT Crossroads: Sheryl Crow and Chris Stapleton – “Tell Me When It’s Over”

     

    Audio / MADDIE & TAE TALK ABOUT THE EMOTIONS THAT TOOK PLACE WHILE FILMING THE VIDEO FOR THEIR LATEST SONG, “DIE FROM A BROKEN HEART.”

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    Maddie & Tae (DFABH video emotions) OC: (Tae) …feel something. :49
    MADDIE: “My role in this is kind of being the narrator and watching my best friend go through kind of like how this inspiration started for this song. So, we just both really, really dug into the like just lowest, lowest parts of our (TAE: “Heartache.”). It was tricky, ‘cause I was like I have to be really, really emotional and I feel bad all the camera guys, especially with Tae’s scenes, they’re just like, you could see their eyes welling up watching her and watching me crying.” TAE: “My parents just happened to be in town when we were shooting, so I was like, ‘When else are you gonna be in town when we’re making music videos, so you have to come,’ cause they’ve never seen it. They came and one specific scene – I’m not gonna say what it is – but it made both of my parents cry. And I walked out and my mom had a red nose and my dad’s like, ‘I wasn’t crying. I wasn’t crying.’ (MADDIE: “Awwwwww.”) And I was like, ‘Oh no.’ Well, if it makes my parents cry, hopefully it’ll makes people feel something.”

    Audio / CAYLEE HAMMACK TALKS ABOUT HAVING SOME OF HER FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS FEATURED IN THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “FAMILY TREE.”

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    Caylee Hammack (Family Tree video) OC: …world to me. :37
    “If you’ve ever wrangled monkeys, that’s pretty much the gist of getting ‘Family Tree’ together because I brought in a bunch of my family members, I brought a bunch of my friends, I brought my dog in, we had a little cast because some of the people couldn’t come in to play the roles. It was a wild day on set, but I think it all came together. Being able to bring my family in that video means the world to me, because ‘Family Tree’ is the introductory course into my music, you know? It’s the appetizer of my tunes, and being able to start that off very strong with all of my family surrounding me, means the world to me.”

    Audio / TRAVIS DENNING TALKS ABOUT THE STORY LINE OF HIS MUSIC VIDEO FOR "AFTER A FEW."

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    Travis Denning (AAF video) OC: …act in it. :50
    “One thing I loved about the treatment for the After a Few music video is Justin Clough, who directed it, just had this great idea of the similarities between the relationship and taking a gamble on that and actually taking a gamble on a poker game. And so, we decided to kind of have this story line of me and this girl that I just couldn’t help but go back to and every drink was a gamble into falling back in her arms. And then this other side where I’m going up playing poker and getting more confident and winning money and then finally, everything comes to a T with going all in on this hand, and all of a sudden, I’m all in with her. I just thought it was so cool, and it was just great how the cinematic aspect completely mirrored one another. It was fun to act in it.”

    Audio / CARRIE UNDERWOOD TALKS ABOUT “DRINKING ALONE,” WHICH SHE CO-WROTE WITH BRETT JAMES AND DAVID GARCIA.

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    Carrie Underwood (Drinking Alone) OC: …right now. 1:07
    “I had the title, and we just kind of started what does this mean. This is another one that I feel like the title could have gone to a very like sad emotional place, but me being me I still wanted to have that strong kind of character in there. So, I love the fact that this is a breakup song. ‘I’m here at the bar drinking my pain away. You and me can hang out. Why should we both be lamenting over lost love separately? We’re both here doing the same thing. Let’s just do that together.’ I love that the character, I was like I don’t want her like going home with him. I don’t want any of that. I just want it to be like, ‘Okay we’ll just hang out. We’ll drink. We’ll maybe share a corner booth kiss.’ But it’s just more about that night and that moment and that Band-Aid and then going your separate ways. ‘Like this isn’t a thing. I’m not looking to start a new relationship. I’m out of this one. Let’s just let whatever this is be what this is right now.’”

    Audio / LUKE BRYAN TALKS ABOUT HIS MULTI-WEEK NO. 1 SONG, "ONE MARGARITA."

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    Luke Bryan (One Margarita) OC: …margarita. :44
    “’One Margarita’ is like the perfect summertime anthem party song, get on your boat, have a great time. The first time I heard it, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s like the catchiest, most fun party song I’ve heard in a long time.’ Sop, we knew we had something special with the song. We get it recorded, and I’m like, ‘Hey! We’ve got Crash My Playa. What better place to put a song called ‘One Margarita’ out and then do the video?’ So, we go to Crash My Playa and we just start shooting it down there. And the video just feels fun. It came together amazing, and it gives fans a little glimpse of what Crash My Playa is if they’ve never been, and hey-it makes you want to have a margarita.”

  • SAM HUNT HEADLINES NIGHT THREE OF RED ROCKS UNPAUSED.

    Last night country superstar Sam Hunt headlined the final night of Red Rocks Unpaused, Visible’s free, three-night virtual concert series that brought in over 7.5M viewers. Hunt performed over an hour at the historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado giving fans everything from multi-Platinum, record-breaking hits, including many of his seven No. 1s off albums MONTEVALLO and SOUTHSIDE, to brand new unreleased material.

    In an unprecedented viewer engagement experience, fans were able to interact with Hunt through messages, emoticons, and audio cheers which were then pumped into the venue for Hunt to see and hear.

    Relive the full show HERE

    Named one of US Weekly’s Best Albums of 2020 so far, SOUTHSIDE is Hunt’s second No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart following his 3x Platinum debut album MONTEVALLO. Like MONTEVALLO, Hunt wrote every track on SOUTHSIDE including his recent back-to-back No. 1 hits “Kinfolks” and “Hard to Forget,” and the record-breaking “Body Like A Back Road.”

     The New York Times says SOUTHSIDE is “a reminder that Hunt is a Nashville provocateur who can write better songs than almost everyone he’s trying to provoke,” while Rolling Stone pegs Hunt as “an innovator who has remade country in his own image and also figured out how to reclaim its past.” Billboard notes, “his ace storytelling and ability to incorporate hip-hop influence into a more modernized form of country are still intact,” and Stereogum indicates, “Hunt’s formidable charisma and world-building ability” as the through lines of SOUTHSIDE. The album has also earned praise from American Songwriter, Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, NPR and more. Listen to SOUTHSIDE HERE

  • LABOR DAY 2020 LINERS

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    LINER Adam Hambrick (Labor Day)
    “Hey guys! It’s Adam Hambrick, hoping you have a Happy Labor Day weekend.”

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    LINER Billy Currington (Labor Day)
    Hey y’all! It’s Billy Currington, wishing you a very happy Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Brandon Lay (Labor Day)
    Hey y’all! This is Brandon Lay, wishing you a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Brothers Osborne (Labor Day)
    This is TJ, and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne, wishing you a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Carrie Underwood (Labor Day Weekend)
    Hey everyone! I’m Carrie Underwood, hoping you have a happy Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Caylee Hammack (Labor Day)
    Hey y’all! This is Caylee Hammack. I’m wishing you a fun and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Chrissy Metz (Labor Day)
    Hi, I’m Chrissy Metz, wishing you a work-free Labor Day Weeend.

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    LINER Darius Rucker (Labor Day)
    Hey! It’s Darius Rucker, and I hope you have a have a happy work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Eric Church (Labor Day)
    Hey! It’s Eric Church, and I hope you have a have a happy Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Jon Langston (Labor Day)
    Hey! I’m Jon Langston. Hope you have a Happy Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Jon Pardi (Labor Day weekend)
    Hey! It’s Jon Pardi, and I hope you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Jordan Davis (Labor Day)
    Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Kacey Musgraves (Labor Day weekend)
    Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves, hoping you have a happy Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Keith Urban (Labor Day weekend)
    Hi everybody! This is Keith Urban, wishing you a very happy Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Kip Moore (Labor Day)
    Hey—what’s happening guys? This is Kip Moore, wishing you a happy and work-free Labor Day Weekend.

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    LINER LBT (Labor Day)
    Hi! We’re Little Big Town, hoping you have a work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Luke Bryan (Labor Day)
    Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, and I hope you have a have a happy Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Maddie & Tae (Labor Day)
    Hey everybody! I’m Maddie, and I’m Tae, and we’re Maddie & Tae, hoping you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Sam Hunt (Labor Day)
    Hey everybody! I’m Sam Hunt. Have a great and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    LINER Travis Denning (Labor Day)
    Hey y’all. It’s Travis Denning, hoping you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

     

  • SAM HUNT IS “HARD TO FORGET” AS HE HITS THE TOP OF THE COUNTRY CHARTS.

    Sam Hunt hit the top of both the Country Aircheck and Billboard country charts with his latest smash, “Hard to Forget.” Written by Sam Hunt, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Ashley Gorley, Audrey Grisham, Russ Hull, and Mary Jean Shurtz, the song features samplings of Country Music Hall of Famer Webb Pierce’s 1953 hit, “There Stands the Glass.”

    The Georgia native says “Hard to Forget” is a fun song from his new album, SOUTHSIDE that runs along the same lines as some of his previous hits. “‘Hard to Forget’ is a fun song that is kind of like ‘House Party’ and even ‘Leave the Night On,’ which is the first single I put out on my first record, and then I put out a song ‘Body Like A Back Road’ and then playing these songs live they go over so well in a live setting and are so fun to play live that I started to lean into that lane more on this record. That’s where ‘Kinfolks’ comes from, that’s where ‘Hard to Forget’ comes from. But that song ‘Hard to Forget’ kind of walks this tight rope and balances all these things in one song.”

    Named one of US Weekly’s Best Albums of 2020 so far, SOUTHSIDE is Hunt’s second No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart following his 3x Platinum debut album MONTEVALLO. Like MONTEVALLO, Hunt wrote every track on SOUTHSIDE including “Hard to Forget,” the record-breaking “Body Like A Back Road,” and his most recent No. 1 “Kinfolks.”

    The New York Times says SOUTHSIDE is “a reminder that Hunt is a Nashville provocateur who can write better songs than almost everyone he’s trying to provoke,” while Rolling Stone pegs Hunt as “an innovator who has remade country in his own image and also figured out how to reclaim its past.” Billboard notes, “his ace storytelling and ability to incorporate hip-hop influence into a more modernized form of country are still intact,” and Stereogum indicates, “Hunt’s formidable charisma and world-building ability” as the through lines of SOUTHSIDE. The album has also earned praise from American SongwriterAssociated PressEntertainment WeeklyNPR and more. Listen to SOUTHSIDE HERE

    For information on Sam Hunt, visit www.SamHunt.com.

    Audio / Sam Hunt says “Hard to Forget” is a fun song that runs along the same lines as some of his previous hits.

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    Sam Hunt (Hard to Forget) OC: …in one song. :42
    “‘Hard to Forget’ is a fun song that is kind of like ‘House Party’ and even ‘Leave the Night On,’ which is the first single I put out on my first record, and then I put out a song ‘Body Like A Back Road’ and then playing these songs live they go over so well in a live setting and are so fun to play live that I started to lean into that lane more on this record. That’s where ‘Kinfolks’ comes from, that’s where ‘Hard to Forget’ comes from. But that song ‘Hard to Forget’ kind of walks this tight rope and balances all these things in one song.”

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  • SAM HUNT RELEASES THE VINYL VERSION OF HIS LATEST ALBUM, SOUTHSIDE, ON FRIDAY.

    Sam Hunt will release the vinyl version of his latest album, SOUTHSIDE, on Friday (July 17th). The collection, which includes a free poster, features 12 songs including his multi-week No. 1 and six-times platinum “Body Like A Backroad,” the recent No. 1 smash “Kinfolks” and “Hard to Forget,”which is poised to hit the top of the country charts next week.

    Sam says the title SOUTHSIDE seemed to fit the songs he collected for the record. “The album title came well after all the songs were finished. I essentially sat down and made a list of potential titles and just off the top of my head, I just sort of started writing down words or phrases that felt like the songs or felt like the record. SOUTHSIDE was the one that just kept standing out. I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into why that was the case. Southside just for me is a phrase that just feels like my rural and urban roots, you know, where I’m from, I kind of feel like I’m from the south side of that place, and obviously, the word south is in the title so there’s association with being from the South. More than having a really good backstory for the title, it just felt – when I looked at it on the page – it felt like the record.”

    SOUTHSIDE VINYL TRACK LIST:

    SIDE A

    1-2016

    2-Hard To Forget

    3-Kinfolks

    4-Young Once

    5-Body Like A Back Road

    6-That Ain’t Beautiful

    SIDE B

    1-Let It Down

    2-Downtown’s Dead

    3-Nothing Lasts Forever

    4-Sinning With You

    5-Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90’s

    6-Drinkin’ Too Much

     

    Audio / Sam Hunt says the title of his new album, Southside, just seemed to fit the collection of songs on the record.

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    Sam Hunt (Southside album title) OC: …like the record. :47
    “The album title came well after all the songs were finished. I essentially sat down and made a list of potential titles and just off the top of my head, I just sort of started writing down words or phrases that felt like the songs or felt like the record. Southside was the one that just kept standing out. I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into why that was the case. Southside just for me is a phrase that just feels like my rural and urban roots, you know, where I’m from, I kind of feel like I’m from the Southside of that place, and obviously, the word south is in the title so there’s association with being from the South. More than having a really good backstory for the title, it just felt – when I looked at it on the page – it felt like the record.”

  • FOURTH OF JULY 2020

    Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. The holiday is commonly associated with fireworks displays, parades, barbecues and concerts. This year with the pandemic still raging across the country, the holiday may look a little different for most people, including musicians. Some of your favorite country stars take time to remember their Fourth of July traditions, memories and what the holiday really means to them.

    For liners, click here.

    Lauren Alaina and Chrissy Metz will be among the performers on this year’s A Capitol Fourth this weekend. They’ll be joined by a slew of other famous faces, including hosts John Stamos and Vanessa Williams, as well as Trace Adkins, Brantley Gilbert, Patti LaBelle, John Fogerty and Yolanda Adams among others. Chrissy is set to sing “I’m Standing With You” from last year’s film, Breakthrough, as a tribute to first responders and frontline personnel. Celebrating a special 40th anniversary presentation, A Capitol Fourth will air Saturday (July 4th) at 8pm ET/7pm CT.

    Lauren will also perform on the iHeart Country 4th of July BBQ on Friday (July 3rd) at 8pm ET/7pm CT on The CW.

     

    Audio / Adam Hambrick has two things that make the Fourth of July spectacular.

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    Adam Hambrick (Fourth of July) OC: …July. :11
    “Fire up the grill and blow something up. Two things that are important for a good time on the Fourth of July – one (is) fire and meat. Those two things make a Happy Fourth of July.”

     

    Audio / Alan Jackson recalls one of the coolest Fourth of July memories he’s ever enjoyed.

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    AJ (fave 4th of July memory) OC: …very cool. :58
    Well, this one is hard to beat. A couple of years ago, maybe longer than that now, I had an old boat in Florida. It’s like an old antique motor yacht, and it was kind of a cool old boat. I had taken that boat, I’ve always wanted to take it up north like to New York and up in that area, up in the northeast where it’s so pretty. So, we took the boat up there and Denise and the girls, we all went up. They like going to New York City, which I don’t really care about going to the city. So, I got to stay in my boat there at the harbor tied up, which was cool anyway. So they spent time in the city a few days and then that was Fourth of July, and we went out in the Hudson River that night and they shot the fireworks off and we were anchored out in front of the Statue of Liberty and New York City was behind us, and the Statue of Liberty and the fireworks were going off sitting on that boat. That was the coolest thing and my girls still talk about that. I mean, that was the coolest thing on Fourth of July I can ever remember. I can’t top that one probably. It was emotional sitting there watching the Statue of Liberty and thinking about all that. It was very cool.”

     

    Audio / Billy Currington talks about his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Billy Currington (4th of July) OC: …of my life. :16
    “My best memories would be hanging out with my mom, brother and sister on the beach on Tybee Island right off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. We’d go there every year, and we’d light our own fireworks and watch the ones that they had for us. They were the best times, some of the best times of my life.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay recalls one of his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Brandon Lay (Fourth of July) OC: …good times. :47
    “I remember everybody hanging out at my grandmother’s and we would drive down the road to a fireworks stand off the side of Highway 45 out there in Jackson [Tennessee]. Just getting the bottle rockets and Black Cats and bringing ‘em back to the house, it felt like it was an eternity before it got dark. We just kept wanting to light ‘em and our parents would tell us it ain’t time, but just how exhilarating it was to see ‘em shoot up. We’re not talking big time fireworks here, but you would’ve thought that it was. It’s funny just how you remember things, but I just remember a screen door at my grandmother’s, running in and out, in and out, in and out and four wild little cousins running around. It was good times.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood recalls one of her favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Carrie Underwood (favorite Fourth of July memory) OC: …work out. :51
    “I think my favorite Fourth of July memory would be going to the fireworks stand and picking out which fireworks I wanted to do. I must’ve been like 7 or 8, and I came home and made a list of what order I wanted to do them in, because I wanted to put a show on for Mom and Dad, and of course I couldn’t wait until it was dark outside (laughs). So, I made my Mom and Dad get the lawn chairs and come out to the backyard and watch some not very dramatic fireworks at like six o’clock in the evening, but I was so proud of myself, and I was so proud of the show that I put on. So, I feel like that was a little training for what I do now – putting on shows, figuring out how it’s all going to work out.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about what the Fourth of July means to him.

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    Darius Rucker (4th of July) 1 OC: …in the world. :24
    “The Fourth of July to me is a day to celebrate freedom. We get to travel all over the world and see a lot of stuff, and I’ve been to a lot of countries that aren’t like ours and that’s when you really appreciate the fact that you can do whatever you want. As long as you’re willing to deal with the consequences, you can do whatever you want, you know?  [I] appreciate those soldiers who died for us to be sitting here doing this, and we live in the greatest country in the world.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker enjoys setting off fireworks.

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    Darius Rucker (fireworks) OC: …off once. :15
    “Oh, I love fireworks. We had the bottle rocket fights and all that good stuff. I was the typical little crazy kid, you know. In South Carolina, it was always legal, so we shot fireworks when it was legal. We did all that sort of stuff. I almost blew my hand off once.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley explains why he is so patriotic.

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    Dierks Bentley (4th of July-patriotic) OC: …all the time. :17
    “I’m extremely patriotic. I love this country, and I love the history of this country. I read books on this country. I spend my time on the road traveling physically throughout the country. The soldiers and their families are constantly on my mind. We work closely with the Wounded Warriors Project. We think about this stuff all the time.”

    Audio / Eric Church recalls his family activities on the Fourth of July holiday.

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    Eric Church (4th of July) OC: …freedoms. 1:17
    “The Fourth of July for me, growing up we would always go to the lake, we didn’t live on the lake but we would all go to the lake. Had a buddy who had a pontoon and we would always get on the pontoon and you go out and you’d tie all the pontoons together and just have a big time. This was before, I was younger then, the adults were having more fun than we were, you know it was just to go swim in the water and shoot off fireworks. Basically, water tailgating is what it was. And then as we got older, same thing…we would just, us younger kids had our own boat and we had as much fun as the adults.”

    Audio / Jon Langston talks about what he usually does on the Fourth of July,

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    Jon Langston (Fourth of July) OC: …either way. :17
    “The Fourth of July is usually different every year. We’re usually playing shows, or we’re out on the lake or at the beach, or sometimes I’ve said, ‘I’m staying at home,’ shooting fireworks off the back porch or something. That’s probably not the safest thing, but we have a good time either way.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT SOME OF HIS FAVORITE CHILDHOOD FOURTH OF JULY MEMORIES.

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    Jordan Davis (Fourth of July) 2 OC: …really cool. :17
    “Probably baseball games, firework shows at baseball games. We’d go to Shreveport Captains games, so yeah, we’d do that or barbecues and fireworks. I can remember being on the lake for a couple of Fourth of Julys. We’d take the boat out and we’d watch the downtown fireworks show from the boat, which was really cool.”

    Audio / Josh Turner talks about the fireworks “wars” his family would have when he was growing up.

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    Josh Turner (fireworks) OC: …of money. [laughs] :20
    “Yeah, we had fireworks around, especially my Daddy’s family. All the individual families had a lot of competition with each other and tried to outdo each other to try to see who had the biggest and baddest fireworks and all that. [laughs] My daddy, I think, was the smartest one. He just went out and bought maybe $25 worth of fireworks and let everybody else put on the big show, so he saved a lot of money.” [laughs]

    Audio / Keith Urban recalls coming over to America for the first time.

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    Keith Urban (coming to America 1st time) OC: …as I could. :39
    “1989 was the first year I came to the States, and it had always been my goal, but I had no plan on how to get here. It was just a case of keep playing, keep getting better at what you do, and then hopefully, somehow, some way I’ll end up over here. The guy who was managing me at the time, we just planned a trip over here – it was actually for the New Music Seminar in New York. And we came over for that, and then we did a trip down to Nashville, and I shopping my little demo around. I think I humored everybody more than anything else [laughs] with my tragic, ill-fitting demo for the time. So, I left there, but I was just so committed to coming back as quick as I could.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan recalls one of his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Luke Bryan (4th of July memories) OC: …we used to. :21
    “Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories were spent on Lake Blackshear down in Georgia with my family. I was always kind of in charge of driving home from Tennessee and picking up all the fireworks and my nieces and nephews always got excited when I rolled in because they knew I had all the fireworks. But, it was always a great memory, and I miss not getting to do that as much as we used to.”

    Audio / MADDIE & TAE TALK ABOUT THEIR FOURTH OF JULY TRADITIONS.

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    Maddie & Tae (Fourth of July) OC: …it’s perfect. :29
    TAE: “One of my favorite Fourth of July traditions – I’d say it’s a tradition ‘cause it happens every year, but I’m not always able to make it – is that we go to my grandparents in Oklahoma, and we all line up lawn chairs right in front of their garage and we just light fireworks. We always do it far away and then we light it, and we always run back and watch the fireworks, but that’s probably one of my favorite memories.” MADDIE: “My birthday is July 7th, so I always get built-in fireworks for my birthday, and sometimes we actually celebrate it on the 4th, because there’s fireworks everywhere, so it’s perfect.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about what he and his family did over the Fourth of July holiday when he was growing up in Georgia.

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    Sam Hunt (Fourth of July) OC: …good time. :39
    “My granddad on the other side of my family, he would always take a lot of pride…fireworks were actually, I’m from Georgia, and most of them were illegal, I’m pretty sure, growing up. But over in Alabama, that’s where all the firework stands were, and we only had to drive 10, 15 minutes to get to the Alabama line, so we could go get a bundle of fireworks pretty easy. But he would always take a lot of pride in going and finding all the good stuff, and coming back with a  big pile. He’d have his torch out there at the end of the driveway and we’d all eat homemade ice cream and put down towels on the driveway and he’d shoot off fireworks for 30-45 minutes. Such a good time.”

    Audio / TRAVIS DENNING TALKS ABOUT THE FOURTH OF JULY EVENTS HIS HOMETOWN OF WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA WOULD THROW EVERY YEAR.

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    Travis Denning (Fourth of July) OC: …will love. :51
    “Fourth of July in Warner Robins, Georgia is an event. It’s something else. In fact, forever they’ve thrown an Independence Day concert, and back in the day, it was huge. It was the biggest thing they did all year. They would actually have the concert in the MAC (McConnell-Talbert Stadium), which was the high school football stadium that Warner Robins and Northside and Houston County shared. I mean, one year they had Wynonna play and then they had Josh Turner one year, Darius Rucker. I mean it was like a big deal, and there’d be 15,000, 20,000 people there, and I think it’s so cool that there’s a little bit of a legacy of people coming together in that town and making something happen, you know? I’ll never forget going to those shows and thinking, I was more proud of what the city had done. I was like, ‘That’s just so cool that they could put together a show like this, an event that everybody will love.”

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  • SAM HUNT DROPS ACOUSTIC “HARD TO FORGET.”

    Sam Hunt released a new acoustic version of his smash hit, “Hard To Forget.” Currently racing up the country airplay charts and one of the country streaming leaders, “Hard To Forget” is the latest off of Hunt’s chart-topping album SOUTHSIDE.

    Listen to the acoustic “Hard To Forget” HERE

    Named one of US Weekly’s Best Albums of 2020 so far, SOUTHSIDE is Hunt’s second No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart following his 3x Platinum debut album MONTEVALLO. Like MONTEVALLO, Hunt wrote every track on SOUTHSIDE including “Hard to Forget,” the record-breaking “Body Like A Back Road,” and his most recent No. 1 “Kinfolks.”

    The New York Times says SOUTHSIDE is “a reminder that Hunt is a Nashville provocateur who can write better songs than almost everyone he’s trying to provoke,” while Rolling Stone pegs Hunt as “an innovator who has remade country in his own image and also figured out how to reclaim its past.” Billboard notes, “his ace storytelling and ability to incorporate hip-hop influence into a more modernized form of country are still intact,” and Stereogum indicates, “Hunt’s formidable charisma and world-building ability” as the through lines of SOUTHSIDE. The album has also earned praise from American Songwriter, Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, NPR and more. Listen to SOUTHSIDE HERE

    For information on Sam Hunt, visit www.SamHunt.com.

     

     

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