Eric Church is preparing to release the first of three new albums from his upcoming Heart & Soul project on Friday (April 16th). The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year helmed a marathon session during which he spent nearly a month writing and recording a song per day – including current single “Hell of a View” – while sequestered in a rural North Carolina cabin last January (2020). He brought with him his producer Jay Joyce, his band and a horde of songwriters, including one of his frequent collaborators Casey Beathard, who co-wrote 12 of the 24 tracks on Heart & Soul.

Eric calls Casey the “heartbeat” of this new project because of everything he brought to the table less than one month after his 22-year-old son, Clay Beathard, was stabbed to death four days shy of Christmas 2019.

“Casey was, of all the writers, he was the most integral in this whole process. Everybody did great, but he was the one to me that got the heartbeat of it, the soul of it. And he was coming off of, for people who didn’t know, his son was killed right before we went. And when I mean right before, I mean within a month. So, I wasn’t sure if Casey was going to be in a position to go and do it,” says Eric. “Just the strength and faith, he was very inspiring to me. And I had lost my brother not long before, about a year or so before that, so we were talking about that a lot. It just created the most unique situation I’ve ever seen. And with the musicians and writers too, they felt they were a part of something; they weren’t just hired, they weren’t just paid to do it. They wanted it.”

Eric, who is nominated for three ACM Awards including Entertainer, Male Artist and Music Event of the Year, releases the first of his three records, Heart, on Friday (April 16th). He created the middle album of the trilogy, &, specifically for the Church Choir (his fan club), which will be available exclusively to them only as a vinyl record on April 20th. The third installment, Soul, is set for release April 23rd.

We’re offering an Eric Church brown bag interview for your use prior to the release of his new project Heart & Soul. We will also be updating the pressroom site with more audio from him.

Click here to download the open-ended interview.

Dierks Bentley turned in one of the top performances of Sunday night’s ACM Awards with a cover of U2’s “Pride (In the Name of Love)” from Nashville’s famed Station Inn. He originally recorded the song for his 2010 bluegrass album, Up on the Ridge, and he reimagined the performance with special guests, husband-wife duo The War and Treaty, sister duo Larkin Poe and Brittany Haas on fiddle.

“It’s just an amazing group with a huge mixture of sounds and the soulful sound of The War and Treaty, the bluegrass shredding of Larkin Poe and Brittany Haas, of course War and Treaty being African-American,” said Dierks prior to the ACM Awards. “And hopefully, it’ll be a powerful moment in the show and the right song for the right time here in country music with all that’s going on and all we’re trying to do to broaden our boundaries a little bit. So, I’m excited to have the opportunity to be part of that.”

Dierks is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest song, “Gone.”

Travis Denning went a little retro with the official music video for his single, “ABBY.”  The clip draws inspiration from a handful of early 2000s videos complete with fringe jackets, cowboy hats, leather pants, a bit of swagger and goatees. Check it out below.

The Georgia native brought his new single “ABBY” to life this weekend, premiering the official music video exclusively on CMT. Denning, alongside director PJ Brown, took the already-humorous anthem up a gear in the new video as Denning embraced the role of multiple characters all tipping their hat to some unforgettable and beloved country music videos from the 2000’s.

“‘ABBY’ has always been a song that typically gets a good laugh when people first hear the lyrics,” explained Denning. “So, when it came to a concept for the music video, it just made sense for it to be something that matched that sentiment of lightheartedness and not taking yourself too seriously. We had so much fun shooting this music video and honestly just paying tribute to some of my favorite artists in the genre, from Toby Keith to Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney to Montgomery Gentry. I hope everyone feels that when they’re watching it.”

Since it’s release the “clever kiss-off” (Billboard) and “wickedly fun good-riddance anthem” (PEOPLE) has been a fan-favorite, and instantly turned heads with it’s double-edged lyrical anagram that has fans already amassing over 17 million streams and the track reaching the No. One spot on Sirius XM’s Highway Hot 30. Written by Ashley Gorley, Matt Jenkins and Chase McGill, Music Row declares “this is as clever as all get out. Catchy, too. Play it,” with the track earning the most adds at country radio upon add date.

https://twitter.com/Travis_Denning/status/1380922332403892224

Travis has a handful of dates on the books, including April 16th in Athens, Georgia and Milledgeville, Georgia on April 17th. For more information, go to travisdenning.com.

Eric Church, Darius Rucker and Ashley McBryde debuted an Ad Council PSA (public service announcement) during Sunday night’s ACM Awards. They appeared in the ad for the “It’s Up To You” campaign asking people to get the COVID-19 vaccine so that live music can return to normal. At the beginning of the PSA, Church walked on stage of the legendary Ryman Auditorium speaking to empty seats “I’ve thought a lot about what I’ve missed the most during this pandemic, and the thing that I miss the most is you.” He added, “All these places that we stand in – the Ryman, the Opry House – those places are just places if you don’t put the people in them.”

Darius, also appearing on the stage of the Ryman said, “There’s nothing like feeling the love that you guys give to us and we’re trying to give to you, and I just can’t wait to get back to that.”

Ashley McBryde was at the Opry House urging people to ask questions about the vaccines and get informed, adding she loves “playing to a live audience.”

Eric appeared on the cover of Billboard receiving his second dose of the vaccine. He said he truly believes it’s the only way to return to full-capacity concerts. “I view it as a Godsent miracle…It became very clear to me that the only way to really get back to normal is through vaccinations.”

Luke Bryan just released his brand new single, “Waves,” this morning (April 9th). The song, written by Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd and Chase McGill, is featured on the deluxe edition of his album, BORN HERE LIVE HERE DIE HERE, which is available today.

He immediately gravitated toward the song the moment he heard it. “’Waves’ is a song about kids falling in love during the summer and just all the images and everything about just how beautiful that summer love is and how the emotions just keep coming in waves,” he says. “‘Waves’ is kind of a play on words, and I feel in love with the song the second I heard it.”

BORN HERE LIVE HERE DIE HERE was originally set to release last April, but due to the pandemic the project was moved to August and debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, making it Luke’s sixth consecutive appearance in the top position. The album became his eleventh top 10 album on Billboard’s Top 200 since his first appearance with 2009’s DOIN’ MY THING.

The album contains his current smash single “Down To One” as well as four No. 1 hits so far- “Knockin’ Boots,” “What She Wants Tonight,” “One Margarita” and “Down To One,” which landed as Luke’s 26th career #1 single.

Eric Church has released his second of three albums today (4/20). The six-song collection, &, is available on vinyl only to the superstar’s Church Choir fan club. The record includes “Through My Ray Bans,” “Doing Life With Me,” “Do Side,” “Kiss Her Goodbye,” “Mad Man” and “Lone Wolf.”

The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year co-wrote “Doing Life With Me,” with Jeffrey Steele and Casey Beathard, and it combined a few different elements that fused together effortlessly. “We had a little writer’s cabin that I would go to — that’s where the writers stayed and I would pop in and out because I couldn’t stand to be with them all the time because I would lose my mind — but I would pop in and out,” says Eric. “And one day (Jeffrey) had this little – that little riff on ‘Life With Me,’ just up and down my neck. And he goes ‘I don’t know what this is.’ And then Casey Beathard walks in and he goes ‘Man, I had this lady I was just talking to and talking about her husband and she goes I guess that’s what he gets for doing life with me.’ And I thought that’s interesting. And all the sudden (sings) it just turned into a thing, but it was over Jeffrey’s thing. So, that night in the studio as opposed to having a session guy, Jeffrey Steele played that part and Jeffrey Steele sang harmony on that part and so did Casey.”

The third and final installment of Heart & Soul will be available this Friday (April 23rd). Eric’s current single, “Hell Of A View,” is making its way up the country charts.

Church recently announced The Gather Again Tour kicking off this fall and visiting 55 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, culminating at Madison Square Garden in the spring of 2022. Making the most of the long-awaited opportunity to “gather again,” for the first time in his career Church will adopt an in-the-round set up, with the stage at the center of each arena floor in order to accommodate as many fans as possible. Tickets to all U.S. dates go on sale to the general public Friday, May 7th at 10am local time at www.EricChurch.com. Church Choir members may access tickets early via pre-sale on Tuesday, May 4th at 10am local time. On sale information for the Canadian dates will be announced soon.

Click here to download the Deluxe Edition Album Audio Toolkit.

Jon Pardi performed his latest single, “Tequila Little Time,” on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday night (April 16th). Check out the performance below.

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

Jordan Davis is set to hit the road with Kane Brown on the Blessed & Free Tour beginning this fall. Pre-sale starts April 15th, with general on sale tickets on Friday, April 16th.

Jordan says, “I’ve been waiting for over a year now to say this…It’s coming back…So pumped to hit the road with one of the best dudes out there.”

The Louisiana native’s current single, “Almost Maybes,” is sitting Top 15 on the country charts.

I’ve been waiting for over a year now to say this…It’s coming back…So pumped to hit the road with one of the best dudes out there @kanebrown this fall. Pre-sale starts next Thursday 4/15, general on sale next Friday 4/16 pic.twitter.com/56JxdQS96h

— Jordan Davis Music (@JordanCWDavis) April 8, 2021