Last night (August 25^th), the Academy of Country Music® presented the 14^th Annual Academy of Country Music Honors™, recognizing the special award honorees, and Industry and Studio Recording Award winners from the 55^th and 56^th Academy of Country Music Awards™.

The event featured a star-studded lineup of live performances and award presentations celebrating Special Awards recipients Joe Galante and Rascal Flatts (ACM Cliffie Stone Icon Award), Lady A and Ross Copperman (ACM Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award), Luke Combs and Michael Strickland (ACM Gene Weed Milestone Award), Dan + Shay (ACM Jim Reeves International Award), RAC Clark (ACM Mae Boren Axton Service Award), Toby Keith (ACM Merle Haggard Spirit Award), Loretta Lynn, Gretchen Peters and Curly Putman (ACM Poet’s Award) and Ken Burns’s Country Music (ACM Tex Ritter Film Award).

Also honored were winners of the 55^th ACM Industry Awards, 55^th & 56^th ACM Studio Recording Awards, along with 55^th and 56^th ACM Songwriter of the Year winner, Hillary Lindsey.

The show, featuring performances from Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack, Keith Urban, Lauren Alaina, Sam Williams, Caylee Hammack, Trace Adkins, Ashley McBryde, HARDY, Chris Janson, Ronnie Dunn, Brittney Spencer and many others, will air live on Circle TV on Tuesday, November 23 at 8pm ET with encore on Wednesday, November 24 at 12am ET.

• In honor of legendary artist Loretta Lynn receiving the ACM Poet’s Award, Lee Ann Womack and Alan Jackson teamed up to perform their rendition of Lynn’s “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man.”
• Rascal Flatts were tributed by a trio of female artists that have toured with the band in honor of the band’s ACM Cliffie Stone Icon Award. Songs included “Bless The Broken Road” performed by Carly Pearce, “My Wish” performed by Caylee Hammack and “Life is a Highway” performed by RaeLynn.
• In honor of Hillary Lindsey being named ACM Songwriter of the Year for 2019 and 2020, HARDY, Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson teamed up to perform their hit song “One Beer,” which Lindsey helped co-write with HARDY and Jake Mitchell. Alaina accepted the award on Lindsey’s behalf.
• After 23 years of producing the ACM Awards, and serving as interim Executive Director, RAC Clark was named recipient of the ACM Mae Boren Axton Service Award for his longtime dedication to the Academy. The award was presented to him by Country Music industry leader and friend Sarah Trahern, followed by Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack’s performance of “Murder on Music Row.”
• Now with a total of 21 ACM Award wins, Toby Keith was honored with the ACM Merle Haggard Spirit Award, which was accepted on his behalf by fellow artist Trace Adkins. Adkins honored Keith with a performance of his hit, “Love Me If You Can.”
• In celebration of Ken Burns’ renowned docuseries Country Music receiving the Tex Ritter FILM Award, Sam Williams performed a rendition of “I’m So Lonesome I could Cry,” written and originally performed by his grandfather, country icon Hank Williams. Sam Williams received a special visit backstage by his father Hank Williams Jr. who proudly watched his son’s ACM debut side stage.
• For their generosity and participation with ACM Lifting Lives, both Lady A and Ross Copperman were awarded with this year’s Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award. ACM Lifting Lives Executive Director Lyndsay Cruz introduced both honorees, while ACM Lifting Lives camper Clancey Hopper presented the awards.  Keith Urban recognized Copperman with a performance of his own “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” a hit which Copperman co-wrote.
• In advance of Gretchen Peters accepting the ACM Poet’s Award, Brittney Spencer made her Ryman debut with her powerful performance of “Independence Day” that had the audience on its feet.

Maddie and Tae have been through a lot the past few years and weren’t quite sure they’d still be making music. However, they stayed the course and through a global pandemic over the past year and a half, they released an album and had a chart-topping song with “Die From a Broken Heart.”

“I think we’re just so comfortable in our skin now and there’s a confidence just knowing that we can get through some things,” says Maddie Font. “I mean, we put out an album during a global pandemic and we made it through. We had a number-one song during a global pandemic and stayed the path and stayed the course, you know. And so, just like that confidence that we will figure it out. No matter what kind of curveball, we’ll get there.”

The duo, who is on the road with Brett Young, are currently making their way up the country charts with “Woman You Got.”

Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Mickey Guyton, Darius Rucker and Carrie Underwood are among the artists performing during the upcoming CMA Summer Jam TV special. Filmed at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater, the CMA Summer Jam is a three-hour television event airing Thursday, September 2nd at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC. Luke Combs, Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, BRELAND, Florida Georgia Line, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Cole Swindell, Thomas Rhett, Lainey Wilson and Dwight Yoakam will also perform.

Keith Urban is set to perform “Wild Hearts,” among others during the Today Show Summer Concert Series on September 3^rd on NBC.

Keith Urban is coming to TODAY! Get your fan passes here!https://t.co/8krr3yMSdn

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 25, 2021

Chris Stapleton performed “Worry Be Gone” on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Wednesday (August 25th). The song is from his latest No. 1 album, Starting Over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmc7MnKvD4Q

Josh Turner was surprised by his wife Jennifer and their four sons – Hampton, Colby, Marion and Hawke – after learning that the video for his 2005 chart-topping hit “Your Man,” surpassed 100 million views on Youtube. The video was the first he and his wife filmed together. He took to his socials to share a photo of the celebration, and said, “The ‘Your Man’ video surpassed 100 MILLION views yesterday. It was the first video Jennifer and I shot together, which makes it all that more special. Thanks to y’all for all the watchin’ and support these past 15 years.”

The boys surprised us with some big news yesterday. The “Your Man” video surpassed 100 MILLION views yesterday 😳🤠. It was the first video Jennifer and I shot together, which makes it all that more special. Thanks to y’all for all the watchin’ and support these past 15 years. pic.twitter.com/kRy8zx1Tvm

— Josh Turner (@joshturnermusic) August 25, 2021

Luke Bryan will appear on ABC’s Live With Kelly and Ryan on Friday (August 6th). He will chat about his new imdb.com docuseries, Dirt Road Diaries.

Reba McEntire is joined by buddies Brooks & Dunn for their final shows in Las Vegas this December. Tickets go on sale for the December 1st – 15th shows at The Colosseum this Friday.  “I can’t wait to be back in Vegas with my buddies @BrooksAndDunn  for our final shows at the @ColosseumatCP  Dec 1-15! Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 AM PT. Don’t miss your last chance to see us #TogetherInVegas!

I can’t wait to be back in Vegas with my buddies @BrooksAndDunn for our final shows at the @ColosseumatCP Dec 1-15! Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 AM PT. Don’t miss your last chance to see us #TogetherInVegas! https://t.co/469JWfqwU8 pic.twitter.com/mqdkhiseUA

— Reba McEntire (@reba) August 2, 2021

Join Maddie & Tae as they rate their past red carpet looks in their latest YouTube video.

Keith Urban graces the new issue of Rolling Stone Australia, which will hit newsstands Down Under September 6th. Keith, who is sitting inside the Top 10 on the country charts with “One Too Many” feat. P!nk, rejoins The Voice Australia as a coach, premiering this weekend.

.@rollingstoneaus 🇦🇺 available September 6
Pre-order/subscribe: https://t.co/F12gmHk0Hi

Photographer: Tim Ashton
Stylist: Nichhia Wippell
Grooming: Sophie Roberts pic.twitter.com/FY9XtbHGyA

— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) August 2, 2021

Jon Pardi had a little writer’s block before he and his co-writers Rhett Akins and Luke Laird came up with his latest single, “Tequila Little Time.”

“‘Tequila Little Time’ was written on a song retreat in NorCal at my Mom’s studio, we did a retreat out there, er my studio at my mom’s house, Shelly’s Honkytonk. But it was the last day of the retreat and we were just co-staring, we were doing some co-staring for like three hours, so like miserable. It’s just what songwriters go through. You don’t have to be a songwriter to know this feeling. Just think of trying to write something down and you can’t write it down. And then all of a sudden, Rhett (Akins) was like, ‘Tequila little time with you.’ And I was like, ‘Yes!’ And then we wrote it in an hour, and we always thought since it was about tequila, we’d have a Spanish thing or kinda like mariachi style with the horns.”

The tune is from his ACM and CMA-nominated album, Heartache Medication.

Jon is also featured on Lauren Alaina’s latest song, “Getting Over Him.”

Mercury Nashville’s newest band, Boy Named Banjo, announced their new EP, Circles, today. Dropping August 27th, American Songwriter describes the project as, “Marrying a myriad of influences within the country/bluegrass/folk realm, Nashville-based quintet Boy Named Banjo sets an energetic pace for their forthcoming major-label debut…” Pre-save Circles HERE.

The time has finally come. We are so proud to announce the “Where the Night Goes Tour” in support of our new EP “Circles” out 8.27! Tag your friends & family, and let’s get this party started! Presale begins Wed 8/11 at 10 am. Tickets go on sale to the general public Fri 8/13. pic.twitter.com/YxFG3xmTmW

— Boy Named Banjo (@BoyNamedBanjo) August 9, 2021

The seven-song EP, produced by Oscar Charles (Charlie Worsham, Carly Peace, Elvie Shane), illustrates their evolved, genre-defying sound. “Our Circles EP has been years in the making,” says the band. “With the unexpected time at home during the pandemic, we decided to dive back into this music and try to make it the very best that it could be. We feel the finished product both highlights and represents our band like nothing we have released before. We could not be more proud and grateful to present this EP to the world.”

Fans can catch a glimpse of Boy Named Banjo’s new EP with a live performance video of their song “Feel For You” and the EP’s title track, “Circles,” which MusicRow Magazine calls, “Packed with pep, this country rocker ramps up the energy with hearty vocals, relentless percussion and ripples of banjo notes beneath wafting electric guitar.”

Circles EP Track List:

1. Only You Know (Barton Davies, Jon Sherwood, William Reames)
2. Feel For You (Barton Davies, William Reames, Michael Whitworth, Dan Fernandez)
3. Too Close (Barton Davies, William Reames, Tim Bruns, Jon Sherwood)
4. Circles (William Reames, Oscar Charles, Jon Sherwood)
5. Where The Night Goes (Barton Davies, William Reames, Benjamin Simonetti, Jon Sherwood)
6. Keep Lying To Me (Barton Davies, William Reames, Benjamin Simonetti, Jon Sherwood)
7. Go Out Dancing (Barton Davies, William Reames, Oscar Charles, Jon Sherwood)

Additionally, the road-tested band will embark on their headlining Where The Night Goes Tour kicking off late August in Atlanta, GA. Tickets are available for purchase HERE.

Where The Night Goes Tour

8/27/2021         Atlanta, GA                  Terminal West

9/15/2021         Birmingham, AL          Saturn

9/16/2021         Athens GA,                  The Warehouse

9/17/2021         Columbia, SC               The Senate

9/18/2021         Lexington, VA             Chi Psi Lodge

9/19/2021         Richmond, VA             The Broadberry

9/29/2021         Starkville, MS              Rick’s Cafe

9/30/2021         Rome, GA                    Peaches

10/1/2021         Anderson, SC               Wendells Dippin Branch

10/2/2021         Asheville, NC              The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall

10/5/2021         Greensboro, NC           The Blind Tiger

10/6/2021         Knoxville, TN              Bijou Theatre

10/7/2021         Charlottesville, VA       Jefferson Theater

10/8/2021         Washington, DC           9:30 Club

10/9/2021         Ithaca, NY                   The Dock

10/13/2021       South Burlington, VT   Higher Ground – Showcase Room

10/14/2021       New York, NY             Mercury Lounge

10/15/2021       Northampton, MA        Iron Horse Music Hall

10/16/2021       Wayne, PA                   118 North

10/17/2021       State College, PA          Stage West

10/19/2021       Madison, WI                High Noon Saloon

10/20/2021       Columbus, OH             The Basement

10/22/2021       Chicago, IL                  Carol’s Pub

10/23/2021       Milwaukee, WI            The Rave II

10/24/2021       Louisville, KY             Headliner’s Music Hall

10/28/2021       Oxford, MS                  The Lyric Oxford

11/1/2021         Columbia, MO             The Blue Note

11/2/2021         Lawrence, KS              The Bottleneck

11/3/2021         Oklahoma City, OK      Ponyboy

11/4/2021         Fayetteville, AR           George’s Majestic Lounge

11/5/2021         Little Rock, AR            Stickyz

11/16/2021       Fort Collins, CO           Aggie Theatre

11/17/2021       Boulder , CO                 Fox Theatre

11/18/2021       Denver, CO                  Globe Hall

11/19/2021       Frisco, CO                    10 Mile Music Hall

11/20/2021       Aspen, CO                   Belly Up Aspen

12/23/2021       Nashville, TN               Brooklyn Bowl

About Boy Named Banjo:
Long before Boy Named Banjo, two of the founding members of the genre-bending band grew up a mile down the road from each other in Nashville. William Reames and Willard Logan both picked up the guitar at an early age, took lessons from the same teacher in town, and played in the same middle school band together.

A shared love for bluegrass, folk, and singer/songwriter music sparked a new musical friendship between Reames and banjo player, Barton Davies. The two young musicians enthusiastically bounced songs off each other, discovering some of their favorite artists together, such as The Steeldrivers, John Hartford, and more. Before long, they were writing and performing songs of their own, and at the age of 16, they decided to form their own band. Only, they needed a mandolin player. That’s when they called Logan – and the two longtime friends, and now Davies, were bandmates once again. “We were still too young to step foot inside a bar when we first started to play,” Davies recalls, “so we’d set up shop on the sidewalk outside of Robert’s Western World in downtown Nashville and play our own songs for whomever would listen.” According to Davies – about halfway through one of their sets, a man came stumbling out of Robert’s, got in Barton’s face and yelled “play that thing, Banjo Boy! C’mon, Banjo!” Reames texted Davies later that night – “Boy Named Banjo.”

With a brand-new name and a handful of original songs, the trio recorded The Tanglewood Sessions, giving fans an inside look into the lives of the young outfit and receiving unexpected praise. In 2013, Boy Named Banjo invited drummer Sam McCullough to join the group, before recording their sophomore album, Long Story Short (2014). The band earned a spot in their first major music festival, performing at Bonnaroo in 2015. Shortly after releasing their Lost on Main EP in 2016, Boy Named Banjo found its missing piece, bass guitarist Ford Garrard. The group hit the road and haven’t stopped touring since. Boy Named Banjo has crafted a sound that incorporates an energetic blend of country, bluegrass, alt-rock, and folk-pop telling their stories through an honest, emotional, roots-driven perspective.

Luke Bryan is set to launch this year’s Farm Tour September 9th at the Statz Bros. Farm in Marshall, Wisconsin, and he can’t wait to get back to the farms to perform and help raise money for scholarships and feed the hungry.

“To say it’s been 12 years of Farm Tour is pretty miraculous. I mean, it’s been something that’s been very special to us,” says Luke. “I can’t remember the stats, but I think we’ve fed, we’ve done six million meals to hungry families over the life; it may be even more, and to partner with these farmers to come on their fields to allow fans to come to a rural setting and watch Farm Tour is always very charming and humbling to me. I mean farming is such a special part of who I am and my background. Any time I can bring awareness to the challenges that  farmers have and the ups and downs, and we get to do all that with the Farm Tour – we get to give scholarships out, we get to help a lot of people and we get to have a lot of fun too.”

As five-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan is performing for fans coast-to-coast on his “Proud To Be Right Here Tour” this summer and gearing up for the next season of American Idol, Luke’s also been busy lining up additional talent for his 12th FARM TOUR taking place this September. Dylan Scott, Whitney Duncan, The Peach Pickers and DJ Rock will round out the concert line ups as Luke headlines each of the six concerts scheduled September 9-18. Tickets for FARM TOUR are on sale now at www.lukebryan.com/FarmTour.

Bayer will continue its partnership with Luke Bryan to help fight hunger across the United States by using the hashtag #HerestotheFarmer to help families in need. The campaign supports Bayer’s vision of Health for All, Hunger for None and asks fans across the United States to share the hashtag #HerestotheFarmer on their social media channels to show their gratitude to America’s farmers. For every share, Bayer will provide one meal* to a person in need through Feeding America ® with the goal of helping to provide 1 million meals.

FARM TOUR 2021:

9/9         Marshall, WI                       Statz Bros. Farm

9/10       Cedar Rapids, IA               Brown Farms

9/11       Chillicothe, IL                    Three Sisters Park

9/16       Kingman, IN                       Martin Farms

9/17       Baltimore, OH                    Miller Family Farms

9/18       Fowlerville, MI                   Kubiak Family Farms

Luke is also poised to take over the top spot on the country charts with his latest smash hit, the song of the summer, “Waves.”

Dierks Bentley had a blast making the award-nominated music video for his latest hit, “Gone.” The clip has Dierks hitting rock bottom as his own life plays out before him through iconic television scenes where each one is worse than the previous. He was able to film a bunch of scenes inspired by some of his favorite shows such as “The Office,” “MacGyver,” “Game of Thrones” and “Full House.”

“Making the video for ‘Gone’ was so much fun, even more so considering that we’d all been in the middle of COVID and there was kind of a lockdown and I hadn’t seen a lot of my Nashville friends. So, we all got together in Nashville. We were all wearing masks, the face shields and the hand sanitizer and somehow managed to pull this thing off,” says Dierks. “I just went from one scene to the next and put on different clothes and did different weird things with my hair and played out the different scenes in this ‘Gone’ setting—the idea for this video that this guy is just sitting on the couch watching TV and everything he clicks on is a video of himself (laughs) losing or dying or having a really bad day. It was so much fun making it and I enjoy watching it. I don’t watch too many of my videos, but I’ve watched ‘Gone’ a few times ‘cause it just cracks me up.”

The music video for “Gone” was shot in Nashville in November and produced by Lora Criner, Angie Lorenz and J.R Wilson, directed by Wes Edwards, Ed Pryor, Travis Nicholson, Running Bear and Sam Siske with animation by Skylar Wilson. It finds Dierks watching TV in agony while also taking on nearly every character he encounters on his TV screen from MacGyver to an infomercial host.

Dierks, who is poised to hit the top of the country charts with “Gone,” will hit the road with his Beers On Me Tour with Parker McCollum and Riley Green August 13th in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Six-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves will release her highly-anticipated fourth studio album star-crossed on September 10th, via Interscope Records / UMG Nashville.  star-crossed : the film directed by Bardia Zeinali, stars Musgraves, and will be streamed exclusively via Paramount+ on the same day. The title track written by Musgraves, Daniel Tashian, and Ian Fitchuk along with the film’s trailer are both out now.  star-crossed is the first album of new material from Musgraves since releasing her groundbreaking and critically-acclaimed album Golden Hour in 2018.  Check out title track “star-crossed,” here and check out star-crossed : the film trailer below.

star-crossed, the album, found Musgraves collaborating once again with co-producers and writers, Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian, and was recorded in Nashville,TN earlier this year in just under 3 weeks.  The 15-song collection, structured as a modern-day tragedy in three acts, tells an extremely personal journey of heartache and healing and displays Musgraves continued growth as one of the finest singer-songwriters of our time. Pre-order the album here.

star-crossed : the film, takes the music from the studio to the screen with gorgeous visuals and a sense of heightened reality envisioned by Musgraves and Zeinali and shot by Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Matthew Libatique (A Star Is Born, Black Swan). “We wanted it to feel cinematic and epic without compromising the heart and the emotion,” Zeinali says, “to feel fantastical and heightened and tell her story through the lens of art and fashion.”  The 50 -minute movie was filmed over a 10 day shoot in Los Angeles and features cameos from Emmy Award-winner Eugene Levy, Victoria Pedretti (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, You), singer-songwriter Princess Nokia, Symone (RuPaul’s Drag Race winner) and comedian Megan Stalter.  The global premiere of Kacey Musgraves’ star-crossed : the film will exclusively debut on Paramount+ in the US, Latin America, Australia, the Nordics and Canada beginning on Friday, September 10th. Fans outside of these markets can watch on MTV across its worldwide network of channels in nearly 180 regions.  star-crossed : the film is presented by Interscope Films and is an Anonymous Content Production in association with UMG Nashville, Sandbox Entertainment and Golden Girl Productions.

star-crossed track listing:

1. star-crossed
2. good wife
3. cherry blossom
4. simple times
5. if this was a movie..
6. justified
7. angel
8. breadwinner
9. camera roll
10. easier said
11. hookup scene
12. keep lookin’ up
13. what doesn’t kill me
14. there is a light
15. gracias a la vida

Mickey Guyton’s “Remember Her Name” was featured in a massive USA Women’s Olympics recap of the gold medal winners in such categories as gymnastics, swimming, fencing, wrestling and track and field, among others. The recap, which aired on NBC on Sunday afternoon (August 8th), can be seen here.

Mickey is set to release her debut album of the same name (Remember Her Name) September 24th.