B Sides for 04/08/2015
But things are looking up, as King announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the hospital. In a message posted to Facebook, King announced "I want to thank everyone for their concern and good wishes. I'm feeling much better & am leaving the hospital today." As Billboard points out, King's health concerns have become more of an issue in recent months, with the usual road warrior canceling some tour dates last year. Read more here.
To be fair, the affectation that is commonly put on Rihanna's name is placed to make the singer seem all the more elegant, giving her a name to match her iconic status. But, with a post on Instagram, the singer says her own name with a more simple pronunciation: Ree-anna. That is opposed to the previous common way of saying it: Ree-ahh-na, with an emphasis on the middle syllable. And while this clip certainly ends the discussion on how to say Rihanna out loud, it does beg the question, "is this really the first time anyone has ever heard Rihanna say her own name?" Watch the clip here.
The tune follows the video for the project's lead track, "Stormbringer", and "Burn." The group's 12th album sees frontman David Coverdale re-recording classic songs from the Deep Purple's Mark 3 and Mark 4 records he appeared on: "Burn" (1974), "Stormbringer" (1974) and "Come Taste The Band" (1975). In addition to Coverdale, Whitesnake's current lineup includes guitarists Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra, bassist Michael Devin and drummer Tommy Aldridge. Whitesnake will launch a North American tour in support of the project on May 28 in Airway Heights, Washington. Stream the new song here.
As part of the deal, West was required to meet with the photographer and apologize face to face, which TMZ caught on film. (via Complex) We are unsure if West was forced to smile for the photo, as we know how he feels about doing that, but he did nonetheless. The picture also shows him exchanging a handshake, pleased that this portion of his life is behind him. The other terms of the deal, including whether or not money was given to Ramos, have not been revealed, but we do know that West is on probation and has been speaking to fashion classes as part of his service requirements. Check out the photo of Kanye West apologizing to Daniel Ramos here.
According to wife Dorothy, Best was overcome by complications from pneumonia. Although a busy actor, it wasn't until 1977 when Dukes of Hazzard began the first of its seven seasons that Best was launched into stardom. An obituary posted to Best's website explains he performed in hundreds of episodes for TV, including iconic roles in multiple installments of hits such as The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock and The Andy Griffith Show. "It's such a shame to hear of the loss of James Best," explains Burt Reynolds in a statement. "Jimmie really was a great actor, but more than that he was a great teacher of acting. I was fortunate enough to call him my friend since the day he walked on the set of Gunsmoke back in the early 60s." Read more here.
Richman told E! News that "anyone who believes it makes no sense at all" and calls the claims "completely absurd." But the young men in question did do something illegal they didn't report to the cops, Richman claimed. "He was leaving a show, a very successful show, and he stopped for gas," Richman told E! News. "Four young men approached him for a photo. They took photos and they offered [DMX] drugs. He said no and told them to go�They had an argument and next thing you know, they are accusing him of robbery. Just nonsense." Read more here.
That news comes according to Karen Civil, who tweeted that the case had been moved to New Orleans--the rapper's home turf. To recap, this all seems to have started over negotiations involving Tha Carter V, which was supposed to have come out several months ago. The album is still in limbo, and Wayne has expressed his extreme frustration with his former partner Birdman. His attempts to get out of his deal have culminated in the massive lawsuit, which asks for money not only for unpaid advances, but for percentages of the income from Drake and Nicki Minaj's careers as well. Read more here.
Before This World will become Taylor's first record since 2002's October Road and features 10 songs, including nine original compositions plus a version of the folk tune "Wild Mountain Thyme." The album, recorded at Taylor's Massachusetts studio, features contributions from Yo-Yo Ma and Sting--the former playing cello on "You and I Again" while the former Police frontman provides vocals for the title track. "My sort of self-expression and the autobiographical aspect of my work is a thru-line that links all my albums together," Taylor said in a press statement. "I think I have grown musically, and I think people can hear it in what I played in '68, and you can hear it in what I'm singing about now. It is ongoing, it's still me, but it's still evolving." Read more here.
The promo video lists the new lineup along with a plug for fans to sign up "for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience sessions from the inside" - without providing further details at this time. The follow-up to 2013's "Super Collider" will be Megadeth's 15th studio album. "I'm stoked so many people have reacted so positively about Kiko and Chris playing on this next record!," tweeted Mustaine. " Falling Upward again!" In a second tweet, Mustaine added, "15 songs finished being written. Just waiting for Jr. [Ellefson] to arrive. He is gonna freak over Chris and Kiko." Read more and watch the video here.
Sam Smith is a close second earning 13 nominations including nods in some of the night's biggest categories including Top Male Artist, Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Hot 100 Song. Iggy Azalea and Meghan Trainor round out this year's biggest nominees with 12 and nine nominations, respectively. Both are nominated for Top New Artist alongside 5 Seconds of Summer, Hozier and Sam Smith. While winners at the Billboard Music Awards are based on album and digital song sales, radio airplay, streaming, touring and social-media interactions, there is one category, the Billboard Chart Achievement Award, that the fans get to decide. This year's nominees for that prize include Azalea, Trainor and Swift. Florida Georgia Line lead the way for country artists with four nominations including Top Country Song where they are nominated twice for "Dirt" and "This Is How We Roll" featuring Luke Bryan. Read more and check out the list of announced nominees for all 40 categories here.
"I got two versions. I got twoooo versions," he wrote as the caption. Later, the front page of his website featured the same photo with the hashtags #ISSUE1 #ALBUM3 #JULY2015 #BOYSDONTCRY. According to Billboard, Ocean is releasing both a new album and his own publication in July. As of now, neither has a title or an official release date, nor do we know if the two are a package deal. Read more here.
On Tuesday (April 7), the Academy of Country Music Awards revealed the recipients of some of its awards prior to the main ceremony, held April 19 in Arlington, Texas. In particular, Alabama were given the Career Achievement Award, which in the past has been snagged by Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and many more. In a similar vein, Loretta Lynn was awarded the Crystal Milestone Award after Lynn celebrated her 50th anniversary in country music in 2014. Meanwhile, Luke Bryan attained the Gene Weed Special Achievement Award for his stupendous 2014 that saw him continuing to promote the behemoth 2013 record Crash My Party, while the Jim Reeves International Award went to Eric Church after a successful European tour last year. Jay Joyce (Little Big Town's Pain Killer, Eric Church's The Outsiders) won for Producer of the Year, while Luke Laird (Eric Church's "Talladega" and "Give Me Back My Hometown," Kenny Chesney's "American Kids") won Songwriter of the Year. See a full rundown of winners so far here.
This song is titled "Get Ugly," and features some heavy Michael Jackson and/or Justin Timberlake vibes in the deep synth groove and repeated "wooing." Derula also shows no shyness for dropping f-bombs in the chorus here, the sprinkles on top of his highly sexual lyrical doughnuts. But with a hook as catchy as this and a beat as dance-floor ready, use of profanity seems to not be a big worry in this song's success. Check out "Get Ugly" here.
"Last night I hooked up with this amazing girl," the groom tells his friend before the wedding. When asked if he's sure if he wants to go through with the wedding, he asserts, "Yeah. The family is worth millions. Absolutely. Big bucks." Meanwhile, Moore and his band show up midway through the ceremony to perform in blue tuxes just as the bride and everyone else in the room has second guesses. In an interview with Radio.com in February, Moore hinted at the fun video. "It's going to be very different then a lot of the country videos, that's for sure," he said with a mischievous grin. "The fans are going to get a chance to see me in a quirky kind of light." He said that the opening scene with his band "is awesome." "I like to, any chance I get to put those guys in the forefront. I like to have those guys in the videos with me because I couldn't do it without them," he said. "They're so charismatic in their own right. The video is going to be a trip. It's going to make some people laugh for sure." Watch the video here.
Bandmates Troy Gentry and Eddie Montgomery worked with producer Michael Knox (Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett) for the new release. 'Listening back through our older albums, I can definitely hear some growth and maturity in the new music, but Folks Like Us still feels like a Montgomery Gentry record," Gentry said in a press release. "There are probably a few more introspective moments on the album, and front to back, this might just be our strongest record yet." Fans will be able to preview tracks from the album later this month. The band's first single from the album is title track "Folks Like Us." Read more including the tracklist here.
The latter's offering is called "Constantly" and features Chief Keef, and it's the tape's finest moment. C-Note samples a bevy of trance synths over cloudy, ambling drums. Gucci Mane claims he's "not shamed to say that I think about my family constantly" while Keef expresses paranoia about the feds tapping his phone "constantly." The only other guests are Peewee Longway and Young Thug, who show up on "No One Else." Young Thug is in top form, his voice warbling all over the place as it strains against the limits of the register. Stream the whole mixtape here.
The fifth album will be released on May 25. The video is directed by David Solbjorg and Kjetil Kolbjornsrud of Twitchy Films, who have previously worked with the group. The band say: "The Price was the obvious choice for us to make a video of. It's straight to the point, technical, focused, catchy and shows a new side of Leprous. "We're very happy to be working with Twitchy Films, and they've done a impeccable job creating an atmospheric and artistic video clip." Watch the video here.
The record, which features lead single "I Want You to Know" featuring Selena Gomez, will follow Clarity, which spawned a title track that won the GRAMMY in 2014 for Best Dance Recording. Additional featured vocalists besides Gomez have not yet been revealed, but according to a press release, those musicians will be announced in the coming weeks--same with a tracklist. Read more here.
After producing his previous three records himself, Hoge this time enlisted Marshall Altman (Frankie Ballard, Eric Paslay) as producer. He says this decision was a huge step forward for him musically, and it was important to work with Altman, a friend and someone he trusted. "I really wanted to push myself forward sonically, and I just felt like with having produced the last three records by myself, I have a particular way that I make records for me," he says. "I talk about it all the time, this idea that you can't keep making vanilla cake and using the same ingredients and wonder why you don't get a chocolate cake." Hoge said over the course of his last album, 2013's Never Give In, he saw success in "places genre-wise that we had never seen before." It was this acceptance that opened his eyes to making a different record than he had in the past and the decision to work with Altman. There are many autobiographical moments on the album. For instance, Hoge says album opener "Growing Up Around Here" tells the story of growing up in Nashville and Franklin, Tenn. while "Little Bitty Dreams" is a direct representation of some memories and specific images of growing up. Another song, "They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To," tells the tale of the advice Hoge's father, a former musician, has given to him. "You always used to warn me about this highway that I was on. Ain't no way to make a living squeezing pennies out of songs," he sings on the track. "My father had grown up wanting to be a musician when he was younger," Hoge recalls. "Met my mom and that's what he did for a living. When they settled down and started a family, he got a 'real job' and started to do those things. When you start being in a band your parents think that it's cute. When you quit school to be in a band it's not as cute anymore. It starts to be a much more serious thing." Read more here.
Every year in the month of June, my fianc�e Taylor and I take off a couple of weeks from whatever projects we're working on to get recharged and inspired by volunteering and living at the Kerrville Folk Festival. The year leading up to our last retreat in 2014 was one that needed a lot of chewing before it could be properly digested. The project I had been working on with the band was "Water Walker" and at that point we'd already been working on the record for around two years. During those two years, Taylor was attending school at Texas State in San Marcos, and I was juggling living on the road and cooking at a country club. I was feeling very disconnected from my creativity and started joking saying, "I don't write songs anymore," and I was starting to believe it and didn't know what to do about it. That's about when Taylor and I found out we were gonna have a baby. Like most unplanned pregnancies, it freaked us the f*** out, but rather than freaking out we decided to accept the challenge. We saw it as a opportunity for a much needed change in pace. Like Bob Ross always said, "There are no mistakes, just happy accidents." So we started working harder. I picked up a third job mowing lawns and Taylor started working at the infamously sh*tty Gil's burger broiler, which we called Gil's Bug Broiler. Anyway, despite the hard work, we were very happy and very excited about our child and our new lifestyle. Then we got a huge slap in the face when we lost our son Hadley to a miscarriage at 17 weeks. We realized it's very common and had a lot of support from our friends and family, but it was none the less heartbreaking and sat me right back down deep into a disconnected depression. Strangely enough, I found comfort again in the same quote from Bob Ross. (Thanks, Bob.) We quit our jobs and we packed up with our baby savings and headed to Kerrville. All I can say about the festival is it's absolutely magical. Two weeks wasn't enough, so we decided to extend our time off and drove to Breckenridge, Colorado. We stayed there for a week with Taylor's family who happened to be on vacation at the same time. That's where I was sitting on a three-story condo porch looking over snowcapped mountains, picking on my guitar and I came up with a quick line for the first lyrics I'd written in months, "Don't fight, let it move you, it's the bloodline running through you, it's deeper than the river running through the hills, deeper than the shiver giving you chills." It felt like the mountains were singing it to me. Maybe it was the altitude or those funny smelling cigarettes they sell there, but, whatever it was, it was healing my heart... so I pulled out my notebook and wrote it down and put it away and forgot about it like it never happened. We realized we didn't have enough money to make it home so I called a friend of mine, Kevin Shaw, in Denver to see if he could hook me up with a gig somewhere for some cash. His kids have a band called Our Generation, so he's pretty connected in the music scene. He called back with something like five gigs, and that extended our stay in Colorado about another week. We crashed in Kevin's man cave in Denver then decided we had enough money to make it to Utah for the Rainbow Family Gathering so we were out another week. Then we headed back to Texas via Missouri where we camped out on the Elk River in Pineville with my grandparents, parents, and brothers -- that was another couple weeks. We knew our adventures were nearing an end and we were ready to get back into to the grind and finish the album. My family left a day ahead of Taylor and me, and the next afternoon I found myself having one of the most enlightening conversations with my Uncle Jack (my dads brother) who I hadn't really spoken to in years. He is a paster of a church in Fayetteville, Arkansas called Regeneration. He's one of only two preachers I enjoy talking with, the other being my friend, Aaron Edwards. Anyway, the conversation was very open-minded and inspiring from both sides and never turned into an argument like most conversations with religious folks do. When I got home two days later, my brothers and I set up to practice for our first show in a month, which was at Courville's in Beaumont. While we were checking our amp tones and tuning up one of the guys asked if I'd written any songs while I was traveling. I thought about it for a minute and said, "No, but I wrote down some lyrics or something when I was in Colorado. I don't know if they're any good or not but I'll try to work them out." After we got set up the guys went inside to eat some lunch, so I picked up my guitar and the song just flowed out like water. The second verse and all three choruses are inspired directly from the conversation I'd had with my Uncle Jack. The guys came back out to the shed and I told them I'd just written a song. We were all a little surprised but we worked it out and played it the next day for our good friend Rich Courville. We showed the song to Jeffery (our manager and producer) and he liked it so we tracked it at Blue Rock Studio in Wimberley and it became the single for "Water Walker." And there you have it. The story behind, "If It Don't Kill You." Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!
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