The nominees for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards were announced today (November 23rd).

Chris Stapleton has three nods including Best Country Album (Starting Over), Best Country Solo Performance (“You Should Probably Leave”) and Best Country Song (“Cold”).

Mickey Guyton is nominated in three categories, including Best Country Solo Performance (“Remember Her Name”), Best Country Song (“Remember Her Name”), Best Country Album (Remember Her Name)

Carrie Underwood has a pair of nominations for Best Roots Gospel Album (My Savior), Best Country Duo/Group Performance (“If I Didn’t Love You”) with Jason Aldean.

Brothers Osborne pick up nominations for Best Country Duo/Group Performance (“Younger Me”), Best Country Album (Skeletons).

Kacey Musgraves has a pair of nods for Best Country Solo Performance (“camera roll”) and Best Country Song (“camera roll”).

The Grammy Awards ceremony will take place January 31st at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. It will recognize the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021.

Best Country Solo Performance

“Forever After All,” Luke Combs
“Remember Her Name,” Mickey Guyton
“All I Do Is Drive,” Jason Isbell
“Camera Roll,” Kacey Musgraves
“You Should Probably Leave,” Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“If I Didn’t Love You,” Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood
“Younger Me,” Brothers Osborne
“Glad You Exist,” Dan + Shay
“Chasing After You,” Ryan Hurd and Maren Morris
“Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home),” Elle King and Miranda Lambert

Best Country Song

“Better Than We Found It,” Jessie Jo Dillon, Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz, songwriters (Maren Morris)
“Camera Roll,” Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves and Daniel Tashian, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
“Cold,” Dave Cobb, J.T. Cure, Derek Mixon and Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
“Country Again,” Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley and Thomas Rhett, songwriters (Thomas Rhett)
“Fancy Like,” Cameron Bartolini, Walker Hayes, Josh Jenkins and Shane Stevens, songwriters (Walker Hayes)
“Remember Her Name,” Mickey Guyton, Blake Hubbard, Jarrod Ingram and Parker Welling, songwriters (Mickey Guyton)

Best Country Album

“Skeletons,” Brothers Osborne
“Remember Her Name,” Mickey Guyton
“The Marfa Tapes,” Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall and Jack Ingram
“The Ballad of Dood & Juanita,” Sturgill Simpson
“Starting Over,” Chris Stapleton

Best Roots Gospel Album

“Alone With My Faith,” Harry Connick, Jr.
“That’s Gospel, Brother,” Gaither Vocal Band
“Keeping On,” Ernie Haase and Signature Sound
“Songs For the Times,” The Isaacs
“My Savior,” Carrie Underwood

When watching the original video for “Does He Love You,” you may have noticed some dramatic ways Reba McEntire wore her hair or the white turban on her head. Come to find out, her fashionista, Sandi Spika (Borchetta) was covering up a huge bandage on Reba’s forehead.

“Well, before we shot the video, I had to have surgery on my forehead, because I had a basal cell carcinoma on my forehead,” says Reba. “So, to get my schedule lined up with a plastic surgeon and my dermatologist was a miracle, but it happened to be real close to the filming of the ‘Does He Love You’ video. So, if you’ll watch it, you’ll see that Sandi Spika had draped my head with hair which usually goes the other way, hair or scarves, because I huge band-aid on my forehead, so that’s one thing I remember very distinctly. And then looking back at it, it was like I was looking in a mirror because that’s not how I see my hair parted.”

Also, casting Rob Reiner as the director at the end of the video was pretty easy. She was actually shooting the movie North in California and he came in and shot the end scene just for fun. “He did that last bit with us just for fun, and I thought it was great of him to do that.”

The original version and the new revisited version with Dolly Parton is featured on Reba’s new three-part box set, REVISED REMIXED REVISITED.

Today, Nashville singer/songwriter Sam Williams releases a brand-new song, “Snow Angels,” via Mercury Nashville. The song is a gorgeous ballad with warm melodies and melancholy lyrics that recall fleeting memories. “Snow Angels” was written by Sam, Hillary Lindsey (Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Kacey Musgraves), Jonny Price (Tim McGraw, Caitlyn Smith) and Andrew Dorff (Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney) and was produced by Paul Moak (Joy Williams, Ashley Monroe, Caitlyn Smith).

Listen to “Snow Angels” now HERE and watch the visualizer HERE.

In October, Sam released a very special rendition of the holiday classic, “Blue Christmas.” He put his own spin on this staple holiday track, originally recorded by Doye O’Dell and most famously performed by Elvis Presley, with his soulful vocals and lush, string arrangements. Watch his in-studio performance of the song now HERE.

Next month, Sam will be opening on select dates of Brittney Spencer’s “In A Perfect World” Tour. Kicking off his run on December 2nd at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City, he will join Spencer for five stops, wrapping on December 9th in Nashville at The Basement East. See below for a full list of dates. Tickets are available now HERE.

In August, Sam released his much anticipated and gorgeous debut album Glasshouse Children, via Mercury Nashville. Each song on the record depicts an incredible amount of vulnerability on a range of heavy topics, all the while providing a sense of hope. The album has garnered widespread acclaim from the likes of Billboard, Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, No Depression, MusicRow and more since its release.

SAM WILLIAMS TOUR DATES

Dec. 2     Rockwood Music Hall        New York, NY

Dec. 3     Milkboy                               Philadelphia, PA

Dec. 4     Songbyrd                             Washington, DC

Dec. 5     The 8×10                             Baltimore, MD

Dec. 9     The Basement East              Nashville, TN

“If I Didn’t Love You,” a duet between Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood, has tops the country charts this week. The song, written by Jason’s bandmates Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy, along with John Morgan and Lydia Vaughan, was the first time the pair of superstars recorded a duet together. Carrie is really thrilled for the writers of the smash hit.

“The song was written by Kurt and Tully from Jason’s band and then John Morgan, who is like an artist/songwriter who Jason works with and then a new young songwriter, who’s very talented, named Lydia Vaughan. I’ve actually written with her kind of separately for other stuff and she’s super cool,” says Carrie. “So, they wrote this song and kind of what I love about the writers of the song is that two of them are in Jason’s band. They’ve known him for a long a time. They know his style, and then you have these two other artists and songwriters that that’s like they’re newer and this is kind of their first major write for them which is supercool that the song is doing so well for these young, these young’uns, to slide in there and have a really successful song right off the bat. So, I’m really excited for all of them.”

The duet is available now and can be found on Jason’s upcoming album, Macon, which will be available November 12th.

Carrie, who just released a special edition of her first Christmas album My Gift, is getting ready for her Las Vegas residency, Reflection, which begins December 1st at the Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas.

Carrie Underwood has won her 16^th and 17^th American Music Awards, which were announced during a special TikTok livestream ahead of Sunday night’s “2021 American Music Awards” (AMAs), the world’s largest fan-voted awards show.  Additionally, Underwood and fellow nominee Jason Aldean performed their No. 1 smash hit duet “If I Didn’t Love You,” while showcasing their hometown influences and Southern roots, as part of ABC’s live telecast from L.A.’s Microsoft Theater on November 21st.

2021 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS – The AMAs will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 8:00 p.m. EST/PST on ABC. (ABC)
CARRIE UNDERWOOD

Underwood’s 8^th win for Favorite Female Country Artist and her first for Favorite Inspirational Artist elevate Underwood to tie Garth Brooks and Justin Bieber as the sixth top AMA winners of all time.  With 15 prior wins, including seven for Favorite Female Country Artist (2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), Underwood was previously tied with Reba McEntire and Lionel Richie as the seventh highest all-time winners.

Reba McEntire performed “Is There Life Out There” and “I’m a Survivor” “Is There Life Out There” from her new REVISED REMIXED REVISITED box set on NBC’s Today Show on Thursday (October 14th). She also talked about the three-part collection, as well as her duet with Dolly Parton on “Does He Love You,” her recent rescue from a collapsed building, her romance with actor Rex Linn (“Better Call Saul,” “CSI Miami,” “Young Sheldon”) and more.

On Friday (November 12th), Taylor Swift officially released Red (Taylor’s Version), the re-recording of her 2012 album, and it features the 10-minute version of the song “All Too Well,” which she has teased fans for years that it does exist.

With the new release, she also premiered a short film, All Too Well: The Short Film, which she wrote and directed (see below). The film stars Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf, Maze Runner) and Sadie Sink (Stranger Things, American Odyssey) who play love interests that eventually go through a painful breakup. Taylor stars as the older version of “Her,” 13 years later.

Taylor also performed the full 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” complete with the film playing in the background, on NBC’s Saturday Night Live on November 13th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2uxc01fUXU

MCA Nashville/Interscope recording artist Kassi Ashton released her dynamic new song, “Heavyweight,” on Friday (October 22nd). Written by Kassi, Luke Laird, and Hillary Lindsey, the sultry song tells a story of a woman being underestimated in the midst of heart break. The lyrics, Whatever you got to say, I’d appreciate / Just the bare-bone cold hard truth / I’d rather be alone / to be honest, I’m a full grown woman / I can handle your hardest shot, give me what you’ve got/ I’ve seen way worse than you/ paint a picture of the strength and unwavering determination, two attributes Kassi wishes to share most with her fans. Listen to Kassi Ashton’s “Heavyweight” HERE.

“This song is to those of us who don’t want sugar coated bullshit, to hear it like it is,” says Kassi. “It is for those of us who have seen the worst and made it through. Those of us who can take on all we’re given and more.”

Kassi’s visual trailer of “Heavyweight” accompanies the new track, featuring dark imagery and symbolism of breaking free. Watch HERE.

“Heavyweight” joins Kassi’s previous critically acclaimed releases “California, Missouri,” “Hopeless,” “Violins,” and more. For additional information, visit KassiAshton.com

About Kassi Ashton
Kassi brings a whole new attitude to country music. The California, Missouri singer/songwriter touched down with a string of critically acclaimed tracks released by UMG Nashville in conjunction with Interscope Records. Her introductory release “California, Missouri” stirred up widespread critical acclaim from Taste of Country, CMT, The Boot, and many more. Named “Who to Watch” by Huffington Post, The Tennessean, and radio personality Bobby Bones. Rolling Stone lauded her as “a devilish songwriter who isn’t afraid to flip convention on its head,” while Refinery29 claimed, “she blends pop aesthetics with a presence doused in no-fucks-left-to-give authenticity,” and PAPER Magazine called her “the next big country superstar.”

Keith Urban appeared on the Late, Late Show With James Corden on Thursday night (November 18th). He talked about his latest single, “Wild Hearts,” what it was like performing live on stage after not being able to for over 500 days and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snRgv59LWao

Chris Stapleton and Jimmy Fallon donned chinos and cozy sweaters last night (October 12th) on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The pair performed a song about getting “cozy on the couch” and watching films by Nancy Meyers (which included “It’s Complicated,” “The Holiday,” “Something’s Gotta Give” and “Father Of The Bride.” Check it out below.

Last week, Chris performed his latest single, “You Should Probably Leave.”