• CELEBRATED COUNTRY MUSIC GROUP, LITTLE BIG TOWN, KICKS-OFF FIRST WEEKEND OF ‘THE NIGHTFALL TOUR’ WITH SOLD OUT SHOWS AT FAMED CARNEGIE HALL AND APOLLO THEATER.

    Fresh off their ninth studio album release, Nightfall, Little Big Town kicks off their ‘The Nightfall Tour’ with sold-out shows at New York City’s historic venues, Carnegie Hall and a two-night engagement at The Apollo Theater.

    The band’s full album showcase on January 16th at Carnegie Hall, marked the first time in 13 years a Country music act has performed at the world-renowned theatre, the last being Alan Jackson in 2013.

    “Little Big Town’s mesmerizing harmonies soar on the excellent 13-track album Nightfall. Cinematic musical landscapes intrigue while each song’s storyline sets the stage for a memorable moment on their current tour.” Billboard

    Nightfall has already garnered the foursome a 2020 Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their empowering song, “The Daughters.” The song serves as an inspirational and motivational call for young girls to pursue their passions and believe in themselves regardless of societal expectations of women.

    “The foursome, Grammy-nominated for 2017’s The Breaker, continue their hot streak with this new set, packed with tear-jerking ballads (“The Daughters”) and cathartic anthems (“Next to You”). There are curves too, like “Wine, Beer, Whiskey,” a blaring, Mexican-horn-infused salute to good evenings (and rough mornings).”People Magazine

    The band is currently making their way up the country charts with “Over Drinking” from their new album, Nightfall.

  • BRANDON LAY SHOWS US THE “MONEY” WITH HIS LATEST SINGLE.

    Brandon Lay has released his new single, “For My Money” Brandon, who co-wrote the tune with Andrew DeRoberts, says he can really identify with the song on a few different levels.

    “It’s just basically a fun story about a girl chasing a guy for the wrong reasons and the tables kind of flip. I can identify with the guy in the story trying to fake it til he makes it. That’s kind of what the music business is all about in a nutshell, and also the guy is trying to show off, but really he’s got an old truck that barely runs. I can certainly identify with that, so it was fun to write and it was fun to record, and hopefully it’ll be fun for people to check out.”

    Brandon is getting ready to hit the road with Brantley Gilbert on his Fire’t Up Tour, kicking off Thursday (January 23rd) in London, Ontario.

    Audio / Brandon Lay talks about his new single, “For My Money.”

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    Brandon Lay (For My Money) OC: …to check out. :32
    “‘For My Money’ was inspired one night with Andrew DeRoberts. It’s just basically a fun story about a girl chasing a guy for the wrong reasons and the tables kind of flip. I can identify with the guy in the story trying to fake it til he makes it. That’s kind of what the music business is all about in a nutshell, and also the guy is trying to show off, but really he’s got an old truck that barely runs. I can certainly identify with that, so it was fun to write and it was fun to record, and hopefully it’ll be fun for people to check out.”

    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (For My Money) 1

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    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (For My Money) 2

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    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (For My Money) 3

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    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (For My Money) 4

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  • THE GRAMMY AWARDS 2020: Church, LBT, Brothers Osborne, Stapleton, Vince

    This year’s Grammy Awards show is looming on the horizon and all of the artists are hoping to take home the bronze gramophone.

    Eric Church has two nominations at this year’s GRAMMY Awards, including Best Country Album for Desperate Man and Best Country Song for his recent No. 1 smash, “Some Of It.”

    Brothers Osborne are up for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “I Don’t Remember Me (Before You),” while Little Big Town has a nod in the same category for “The Daughters.”

    Vince Gill is nominated for Best American Roots Song for “I Don’t Wanna Ride the Rails No More,” and Chris Stapleton has a nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media for “The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy” for Toy Story 4.

    Keith Urban and Shania Twain are among the presenters at this year’s show.

    The 62nd GRAMMY Awards will air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles January 26th at 8pm ET on CBS.

    Best Country Duo/Group Performance
    “Brand New Man,” Brooks & Dunn With Luke Combs
    “I Don’t Remember Me (Before You),” Brothers Osborne
    “Speechless,” Dan + Shay
    “The Daughters,” Little Big Town
    “Common,” Maren Morris Featuring Brandi Carlile

    Best Country Song
    “Bring My Flowers Now,” Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth & Tanya Tucker, songwriters (Tanya Tucker)
    “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” Jeremy Bussey & Ashley McBryde, songwriters (Ashley McBryde)
    “It All Comes Out in the Wash,” Miranda Lambert, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)
    “Some of It,” Eric Church, Clint Daniels, Jeff Hyde & Bobby Pinson, songwriters (Eric Church)
    “Speechless,” Shay Mooney, Jordan Reynolds, Dan Smyers & Laura Veltz, songwriters (Dan + Shay)

    Best Country Album
    Desperate Man, Eric Church
    Stronger Than the Truth, Reba McEntire
    Interstate Gospel, Pistol Annies
    Center Point Road, Thomas Rhett
    While I’m Livin’, Tanya Tucker

    Best American Roots Song
    “Black Myself,” Amythyst Kiah, songwriter (Our Native Daughters)
    “Call My Name,” Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan & Sara Watkins, songwriters (I’m With Her)
    “Crossing to Jerusalem,” Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, songwriters (Rosanne Cash)
    “Faraway Look,” Dan Auerbach, Yola Carter & Pat McLaughlin, songwriters (Yola)
    “I Don’t Wanna Ride the Rails No More,” Vince Gill, songwriter (Vince Gill)

    Best Song Written for Visual Media
    “The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy,” From: Toy Story 4 (Chris Stapleton)
    “Girl in the Movies,” From: Dumplin’
    “I’ll Never Love Again” (Film Version), From: A Star Is Born
    “Sprit,” From: The Lion King
    “Suspirium,” From: Suspiria

    Audio / BROTHERS OSBORNE’S TJ OSBORNE TALKS ABOUT THE GRAMMY-NOMINATED SONG “I DON’T REMEMBER ME (BEFORE YOU).

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    Brothers Osborne (I Don’t Remember Me (Before You) 1:05
    “There was a bit of the song that was a little on the nose. I don’t – it started the first tag (sings) which was an idea Shane had. He showed up that day and goes ‘I don’t remember my life before I had my babies.’ He said, ‘I literally can’t think of who I was. I don’t remember who I was before [my] husband Michael.’ And we thought man, that is a really interesting thing. An incredible idea. I’m sure it’s been done to some extent, but I can’t really recall that subject being said that way. And so, we were all about it. We loved the idea and the concept, but when Jay [Joyce] heard it, he goes, ‘Man, I think it would be really cool to save the ‘before you’ till the end of the song and I instantly was like, ‘Man, I think that’s a killer idea.’ John and I were all about it. And so, it ends now (sings) it kind of goes in a turn around. You don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. ‘I don’t remember me,’ you keep hearing this, and then at the end is the reveal ‘I don’t remember me before you,’ which I think is great. It also made it problematic [for] the title of the song.”

    Audio / ERIC CHURCH TALKS ABOUT HIS GRAMMY-NOMINATED 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 / ERIC CHURCH TALKS ABOUT BEING CREATIVE IN THE STUDIO FOR HIS GRAMMY-NOMINATED ALBUM, DESPERATE MAN.

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    Eric Church (creative process in the studio) OC: …the creativity. :57
    “It was an interesting creative process. This record was made in the studio, from writing to completion, then any record we have ever made. It was really there, ‘cause I wrote songs there, we change things there. I played parts there, I never played, never thought of. I think maybe it was the first album in our career that there was more creative energy in the studio than any other, because it was written, made, conceived, it was all there. I mean, on ‘The Snake,’ for example, that background part was myself, Jeff Hyde and Joanna, and we tried to sound the old blues kind of sound. We were doing that creatively in the studio, and it made a really interesting thing. A lot of people will say, ‘Who sang that? who is that?’ Well it was us! We were feeling the creativity.”

    Audio / Vince Gill talks about his Grammy-nominated song, "I Don't Wanna Ride the Rails No More."

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    Vince Gill (I Don’t Wanna Ride the Rails No More) OC: …down the road. (laughs) 1:15
    “I don’t think that I intended it to be so verbatim about trains. I think it’s about – it could very well be the bus for me. I don’t want to ride the bus no more. I’ve been riding this bus for 40 something years. But it’s just a song of reflection. My brother struggled in his life and probably a good chance he hopped a few trains in his life. And it just has such a – such a great history of Grapes of Wrath and just old school people hopping freight trains and struggling and riding them out. Maybe Dust Bowl folks riding them out, copping a ride on a train somewhere. I just think that that whole image of riding a train has just this great beauty to it. So, it’s really just a song of reflection, of a life that at times is lonely but ‘I don’t want to ride the rails no more. I want to find a woman’s love worth dying for.’ That’s yearning. It’s hopeful. Even, once again, you can get an element of some sense of hope in something then you just don’t depress the crap out of somebody and send them on down the road. (laughs)”

    Audio / Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild talks about the group’s Grammy nominated “The Daughters.”

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    LBT (Grammys 2020) OC: …speaking about. 1:28
    “We put it out as a moment to kind of kick off the record Nightfall, and we just love the song so much and we’ve had so many opportunities to share it on television and lots of radio opportunities. For it to just get nominated for Country Song of the Year by a Duo or Group, that’s an incredible category to be in because that’s any collaboration that’s been done on any country record plus by any duo or group. It encompasses so many incredible performances, that it really, it’s an absolute honor for that song to have gone all the way to the Grammys. Just so cool. It speaks to the message too. It speaks to how important that message is. We’re still talking about it all the time – equal play, equal play. We’re talking about it in just the way women are treated, and we need the champions out there for the daughters and that’s the heart of the song. Luckily, we’re in a band with two guys that believe in that, but there’s a lot of people out there that need that reminder that it’s not an equal playing field. It still isn’t. It’s time for us to change it so that the next generation doesn’t know what we’re speaking about.”

  • JORDAN DAVIS KICKS OFF OPENING WEEKEND OF HEADLINING TROUBLE TOWN TOUR WITH SOLD OUT SHOW.

    Country music hitmaker Jordan Davis kicked off his headlining Trouble Town Tour last weekend with stops in Milwaukee, WI and Rosemont, IL. Davis entertained fans at a sold-out Joe’s Live in Rosemont with Platinum-Certified, No. 1 songs “Singles You Up” and “Take It From Me;” as well as new tracks “Trouble Town” and “Cool Anymore,” his recent collaboration with GRAMMY-nominated, pop star Julia Michaels; and a number of fan-favorite covers including Jo Dee Messina’s 1996 hit “Heads Carolina, Tails California.” Fans can listen to Davis’s Amazon Original cover of that track available now on Amazon Music; listen HERE.

    “There’s always something special about the energy that surrounds the beginning of a tour,” shares Davis. “Seeing people show up and sing along to songs that mean something to them doesn’t get old. We’re also bringing out some new songs on the road that we’re looking forward to fans hearing live for the first time.”

    Davis’s 2020 Trouble Town Tour touches down in Springfield, IL and Minneapolis, MN this week and continues until Saturday, March 21 at Rams Head Live in Baltimore, MD. The Louisiana native will hit over 20 cities during the next three months including New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Denver with support from Kassi Ashton and Hailey Whitters on select dates. The tour earns its moniker from Jordan’s new song also titled “Trouble Town;” listen HERE.

    Jordan is making his way up the country charts with his latest smash, “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot.”

    For additional information or to purchase tickets, visit www.jordandavisofficial.com/tour.

    Trouble Town Tour Dates:
    Jan. 16                         Springfield, IL             Boondocks*
    Jan. 17 & 18                Minneapolis, MN        Varsity Theatre*
    Jan. 25                         Detroit, MI                  Majestic Theatre^
    Jan. 30                         Charlottesville, VA     Jefferson Theater*
    Jan. 31                         Charlotte, NC             Coyote Joe’s*
    Feb. 1                          Atlanta, GA                 Buckhead Theatre*
    Feb. 6                          Cincinnati, OH            Bogart’s*
    Feb. 7                          Madison, WI               Majestic Theatre*
    Feb. 20                        Council Bluffs, IA      Whiskey Roadhouse^
    Feb. 21 & 22               Denver, CO                 Grizzly Rose^
    Feb. 27                        Boise, ID                     Knitting Factory
    Feb. 28                        Spokane, WA              Knitting Factory
    Feb. 29                        Eugene, OR                McDonald Theatre^
    March 5                       Sacramento, CA         Ace of Spades
    March 6                       Los Angeles, CA        El Rey Theatre^
    March 7                       San Diego, CA            House of Blues
    March 19                     New York, NY           Webster Hall^
    March 20                     Verona, NY                The Showroom^
    March 21                     Baltimore, MD           Rams Head Live^

    * with special guest Kassi Ashton
    ^ with special guest Hailey Whitters

    About Jordan Davis:
    MCA Nashville’s Jordan Davis has been named an “Artist to Watch” by Billboard, Rolling Stone, CMT, Pandora, Shazam, Amazon Music, Sounds Like Nashville, The Tennessean, SiriusXM, Whiskey Riff and more. A Native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Jordan graduated from LSU and briefly pursued the path of his degree working as an environmental consultant; however, his passion for music and songwriting eventually compelled him to move to Nashville in the summer of 2012. Jordan’s debut album Home State has accumulated 1 billion streams worldwide and features his current Top 15 single “Slow Dance In A Parking Lot” as well as two recent back-to-back No.1 Platinum-Certified hits “Singles You Up” and “Take It From Me.” In 2019 Jordan won Best New Country Artist at the iHeart Radio Music Awards and was a nominee for ACM New Male Artist of the Year. He was also named Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2018 as well as Country Aircheck/Mediabase’s Most Heard New Artist of 2018. The hitmaker just released a new collaboration with GRAMMY-nominated artist Julia Michaels titled “Cool Anymore.” The track was written by Jordan and Julia along with Nicolle Galyon, Ross Copperman and Emily Weisband. The singer/songwriter has previously toured with the likes of Rascal Flatts, Jake Owen, Kip Moore, Brett Young and Old Dominion. On Jan. 10, 2020, Davis kicks off his headlining Trouble Town Tour in Milwaukee, Wisc. hitting over 20 cities including New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Denver with up-and-comers Kassi Ashton and Hailey Whitters on select dates. For additional information, visit www.jordandavisofficial.com 

  • LAUREN ALAINA LAUNCHES HER THAT GIRL WAS ME TOUR WITH MULTI-NIGHT SELL-OUT SHOWS.

    Lauren Alaina kicked off her headlining That Girl Was Me Tour with special guest Filmore with back-to-back sold-out nights at Nashville’s Exit / In (Jan. 15-16) followed by a sold-out show at 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis (January 18th).

    Throughout her 90-minute set, Lauren takes fans on a journey with her from the lighthearted, with “Georgia Peaches” and “Ladies in the ’90s,” to the deeply personal, with “Doin’ Fine” and “The Other Side,” to the redemptive with No. 1 hit “Road Less Traveled.” Lauren owns the stage with every note, each song recorded by and/or written by the Georgia native, and her passionate fans stay in stride all night, singing every word including to brand new, unreleased music performed publicly only once prior to the tour. Opening night also saw surprise guests Devin Dawson and HARDY join Lauren on stage for a performance of the trio’s “One Beer.”

    Another highlight of the night is Lauren’s inviting tune, “My Kinda People,” which lends its name to her My Kinda People charity. Always touched by the personal – sometimes uplifting, sometimes tragic – stories her fans share with her, the My Kinda People initiative began as a way for Lauren to give back when and where she could. In celebration of the Nashville tour kickoff, Lauren gave a contribution to Musicians On Call (MOC). Dear to Lauren’s heart, MOC is an organization that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. She has volunteered many times with MOC, seeing and experiencing firsthand the healing power of music.

    The That Girl Was Me Tour continues this weekend in Columbia, Mo.; Rosemont, Ill. and Warrendale, Pa. (sold out), before heading to New York City’s Bowery Ballroom (sold out).

    While in NYC, Lauren will also stop by NBC’s TODAY Show to perform her current radio single “Getting Good” on Monday, January 27th.

    For more information on Lauren and the That Girl Was Me Tour, visit www.LaurenAlainaOfficial.com.

  • POWERHOUSE COUNTRY MUSIC GROUP LITTLE BIG TOWN RELEASES NINTH STUDIO ALBUM, NIGHTFALL.

    One of country music’s most successful and celebrated groups, Little Big Town, have released their ninth studio album, Nightfall (Capitol Records Nashville). The self-produced album is one of the band’s most intimate and powerful to date.

    “Little Big Town Are Beacons Of Hope With Ninth Album, ‘Nightfall’”- American Songwriter

    Co-writing nine of the album’s 13 tracks, the band has already kicked off this latest effort with a 2020 Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the empowering song, “The Daughters.” The song serves as an inspirational and motivational call for young girls to pursue their passions and believe in themselves regardless of societal expectations of women.

    To use a phrase only occasionally appreciated or particularly appropriate in country, this is a class album from one classy group.”– The Wall Street Journal

     LISTEN:  NIGHTFALL

    NIGHTFALL Track List:

    1. Next To You (Hillary Reynolds, Michael Jade, Trevor Jarvis)
    2. Nightfall (Karen Fairchild, Daniel Tashian, Fancy Hagood)
    3. Forever And A Night (Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, Foy Vance)
    4. Throw Your Love Away (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose, Lori McKenna)
    5. Over Drinking (Carey Barlowe, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Steph Jones, Hillary Lindsey)
    6. Wine, Beer, Whiskey (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, Sean McConnell, Tofer Brown)
    7. Questions (Karen Fairchild, Jon Green, Sara Haze)
    8. The Daughters (Karen Fairchild, Sean McConnell, Ashley Ray)
    9. River Of Stars (Karen Fairchild, Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk)
    10. Sugar Coat (Josh Kerr, Jordyn Shellhart, Lori McKenna)
    11. Problem Child (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, Sean McConnell, Tofer Brown)
    12. Bluebird (Karen Fairchild, Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk)
    13. Trouble With Forever (Jason Saenz, Marc Beeson, Sara Haze)

    “There are plenty of fun moments on ‘Nightfall,’ but Little Big Town continues to be brave enough to make their lyrics matter.”The Tennessean

    The album’s current single, “Over Drinking,” is a pick-yourself-up and dust off the heartache anthem. The single’s music video stars Michelle Monaghan and takes inspiration from classic films like Urban Cowboy and Thelma & Louise – complete with Stetsons, fringe and a mechanical bull.

    Another track from Nightfall, “Sugar Coat,” and its accompanying music video starring Kate Bosworth, tells the story of a forbearing wife and mother whose husband’s continuous philandering proves harder and harder to endure, but is pressured out of the responsibility to her family to keep smiling and wearing her ‘sugar coat.’

    Nightfall is a textured album that is every bit the cinematic experience the band promised. Lyrically they don’t just ask questions but draw conclusions that won’t alienate. – Taste of Country

    Last night (Jan. 16), Little Big Town performed a track-by-track showcase of Nightfall at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall. The performance comes just ahead of their two-night engagement (January 17 and 18) at another of New York’s iconic venues, the Apollo Theatre, which officially kicks-off of their national Nightfall tour.

    For additional information on Little Big Town including upcoming tour dates, please visit:

    Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

     

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild says Nightfall is a really special record.

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    LBT (Nightfall album) 2 OC: …what you think. :33
    “It’s a very special record, and we got to produce this one on our own and just really wrote a lot of songs. We could’ve done a double record (KIMBERLY: “Easy.”), we had so much content and songs and so many meaningful moments. There’s a song called ‘Throw Your Love Away’ that Kimberly and I wrote with the Love Junkies, you know those girls from the song ‘Girl Crush,’ a very soulful song, and one with Foy Vance called ‘Forever and a Night.’ (There were) just a lot of really special moments. So, check it out, download it, let us know what you think.”

    Audio / LINER LBT (available now)

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    Video /

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  • LITTLE BIG TOWN NIGHTFALL ALBUM AUDIO TOOLKIT

    Click here to download Little Big Town‘s Nightfall Album Audio Toolkit.

     

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Little Big Town, Kacey, Kassi, Keith and more

    Little Big Town will perform on Live With Kelly and Ryan on January 31st.

    Kacey Musgraves will be among the performers for this year’s Primavera Sound music festival. The 2020 event, taking place June 3rd through June 7th in Barcelona, Spain, will also feature performances by Maggie Rogers, Lana Del Rey, Bad Bunny, Beck, Tyler, the Creator and many more.

    Kassi Ashton will release a new song “Hopeless” on Friday (January 24th).

    Keith Urban is a huge Tennessee Titans fan, and while he had a private show on Sunday, he and his band watched the AFC Championship game during soundcheck at the venue. Later he posted how proud he was of the NFL team as well as the Kansas City Chiefs who advance to this year’s Super Bowl.

    Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley and Jon Pardi will headline this year’s Windy City Smokeout country music and barbecue festival in Chicago. The three-day event, taking place July 10th through July 12th, will also feature performances by Morgan Evans, Ryan Hurd, Riley Green, Cody Johnson and many others.

     

     

  • JON PARDI CELEBRATES SIX YEARS SINCE THE RELEASE OF HIS DEBUT ALBUM, WRITE YOU A SONG, THIS WEEK.

    Jon Pardi released his debut album, Write You a Song, six years ago this week (January 14th, 2014). He has since exploded on the country charts with three No. 1 songs, and headed for a fourth with his latest offering, “Heartache Medication.” The California native, who grew up listening and singing songs by his heroes — George Strait, Dwight Yoakam, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson — with his grandmother.

    Write You A Song contains both of Pardi’s breakthrough hits—“Missin’ You Crazy” and “Up All Night”–as well as tracks that veer from pure honky-tonk and party songs to tales of love and romance. The bottom line, though, is pure, stage-worthy high energy.

    “All I ever wanted to do coming to Nashville,” says Jon, “was to write rowdy, in-your-face, straight country music, and that’s what this album is.”

    The album’s title track packs the kind of punch that marks Pardi as heir to a honky-tonk line that runs through Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam, and its spare instrumentation brings a purist’s grit to heartfelt tales of road life. “What I Can’t Put Down” is an ode to the addictive nature of cigarettes, alcohol, love and, above all, music. “Trash A Hotel Room” is not, as might be expected, a tale of road excess, but rather a tale of two lovers getting back to basics, and “Happens All The Time” makes a terrific song out of a pick-up line. If there is a bit of autobiographical philosophy here, it’s in the fan-favorite “Chasin’ Them Better Days,” an infectious look at hope and dreams in the worlds of music and love.

    Jon, who released his third album Heartache Medication late last year, is closing in on the top of the country charts with the title track.

    Jon is also set to host the 2019 CMA Touring Awards, taking place Tuesday (January 21st) at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works. The CMA Touring Awards highlight vital behind-the-scenes members of the touring industry.

    Audio / Jon Pardi talks about the title track of his debut album, Write You a Song.

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    Jon Pardi (Write You a Song) OC: …a Song. :51
    “Well, ‘Write You a Song’ was the second song I’d ever co-written in Nashville, and it was like 2010, maybe in 2009, and it just stuck for so long. That’s a long time to just stick around, but once you hear it, it’s just so in your face and it’s fun. It’s talking about this guy that tours around the country in a van, and he’d always meet girls at shows, and he’s just having fun and they’re having fun. It doesn’t sound like me at all, you know, it doesn’t sound like me at all. But, this song has brought that guy to life, who’s not me, I’m just saying. It’s about writing chicks songs, and as I listen to the 11 songs, ‘Write You a Song,’ sticks out, and that’s why it’s the title track. It’s like you want to have a title for your essay you turned in in high school, or you have a title for your track list. Boom – ‘Write You a Song.’”

  • THE MEMBERS OF LITTLE BIG TOWN LEARNED TO TRUST THEMSELVES AS PRODUCERS IN MAKING NIGHTFALL.

    The members of Little Big Town release their ninth studio album, Nightfall, on Friday (January 17th). Easily the band’s most nuanced project, upon inception, they didn’t realize they were on the verge of producing their ninth studio album. But with songs to capture, creative fires to stoke, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook went into the studio to develop what was there with no masterplan. It wasn’t long before the fiercely musical foursome realized they’d found a new creative horizon –and they just kept going until Nightfall emerged from 34 songs, myriad experiments and the inherent harmony singing that has defined the Grammy-winning group.

    Nightfall includes their latest single, “Over Drinking,” the Grammy-nominated “The Daughters,” the cascading loveliness of “River of Stars,” the Mexican horn stomping revelry of “Wine, Beer, Whiskey,” the James Taylor-esque hope of “Bluebird” and the piano/gospel vocal chorus-tinged soul plea of Phillip’s raw vocal pledge on “Forever And A Night.”

    They will experience a once-in-a-lifetime performance at the historic Carnegie Hall in New York City on Thursday (January 16th). This is the first mainstream country performance featured at Carnegie Hall since Alan Jackson in 2013. The Nightfall Tour will roll to the Apollo Theater for two nights January 17th and 18th.

    LBT’s Kimberly says they have truly learned to trust themselves in the studio alone. “I think we learned to trust ourselves. I don’t know that we’ve really trusted ourselves as much as we have on these last two records,” says Kimberly. “I think it’s confidence, experience, because we maybe weren’t quite ourselves in the past a few times, so we learned to, let’s just follow our gut, because it’s usually right, and if it’s not, we’ll live with it. But we do trust ourselves more now. We’re braver.”

    NIGHTFALL TRACK LIST: 

    1. Next To You (Hillary Reynolds, Michael Jade, Trevor Jarvis)
    2. Nightfall (Karen Fairchild, Daniel Tashian, Fancy Hagood)
    3. Forever And A Night (Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, Foy Vance)
    4. Throw Your Love Away (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose, Lori McKenna)
    5. Over Drinking (Carey Barlowe, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Steph Jones, Hillary Lindsey)
    6. Wine, Beer, Whiskey (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, Sean McConnell, Tofer Brown)
    7. Questions (Karen Fairchild, Jon Green, Sara Haze)
    8. The Daughters (Karen Fairchild, Sean McConnell, Ashley Ray)
    9. River Of Stars (Karen Fairchild, Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk)
    10. Sugar Coat (Josh Kerr, Jordyn Shellhart, Lori McKenna)
    11. Problem Child (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, Sean McConnell, Tofer Brown)
    12. Bluebird (Karen Fairchild, Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk)
    13. Trouble With Forever (Jason Saenz, Marc Beeson, Sara Haze)

    Audio / Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town says they earned a whole new level of trust in themselves when making Nightfall.

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    LBT (learning to trust themselves more in the studio) OC: …braver. :29
    “I think we learned to trust ourselves. I don’t know that we’ve really trusted ourselves as much as we have on these last two records. That feels good. I think it’s confidence, experience, because we maybe weren’t quite ourselves in the past a few times, so we learned to, let’s just follow our gut, because it’s usually right, and if it’s not, we’ll live with it. But we do trust ourselves more now. We’re braver.”

     

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman and Karen Fairchild talk about producing their new album.

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    LBT (producing Nightfall) OC: …of Nightfall. :33
    KIMBERLY: “We produced this record for the very first time. We’ve never done that before.” KAREN: “We’ve co-produced before, but never taken the reins fully. It’s quite the task (Phillip: “Yes.”). It’s very satisfying when you’re finally finished. (laughs) (JIMI: “Finally.”) Finally, yeah. But it’s 13 brand new songs. We did co-produce a couple of tracks with some friends of ours that are writers in town and incredible producers, and that came out of just wanting to finish songs that we wrote with those guys, and so we’re anxious for you guys to hear it. We’re super proud of Nightfall.”