Latest Day In Country News Stories

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Earlier this week, Country star Clay Walker was recognized as a Pandora Billionaire. Walker, who's achievements include 11 number one singles, 40 charted singles, and 6 platinum and gold records, was presented with a Pandora's Billionaire's plaque by SiriusXM Pandora's Associate Director of Talent & Industry Relations Bekah Digby during his SiriusXM Prime Country music event at SiriusXM's new Nashville studios.

The plaque commemorates Walker's music having been streamed over 1 billion times on Pandora. During the event, Walker performed "Live Until I Die," "What's It To You" and more hits in front of an excited audience full of fans and chatted with SiriusXM's Mike Terry about his life, career, what's next and the streaming milestone. (continue)

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Lee Brice, is getting ready for the summer alongside Nate Smith and Hailey Whitters in their latest single, "Drinkin' Buddies," out now. The track, written by Zach Kale, Chris Destefano and Justin Wilson, and produced by Ben Glover and Jerrod Nieman, is a cheers to the friends we call on to help lift us up in our down times and are always there to make the good ones even better.

"We all got 'em, we all need 'em, so let's raise a glass to 'em! Cheers to all our Drinkin' Buddies out there. Huge thanks to Nate and Hailey for bringing this thing all the way home!! Can't wait for y'all to hear this one!" -Lee Brice (continue)

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Nashville-based Aussie artist Wesley Dean releases his new album Music From Crazy Hearts, the companion piece to an upcoming feature film, Crazy Hearts: The Documentary, which sees Dean hit the road with his family for an ambitious tour across America.

With a director and cameraperson in tow, Dean and his family drove over 5000 miles from Nashville to Los Angeles in an RV via towns steeped in musical history playing shows off the beaten track; Memphis, New Orleans, Luckenbach, Marfa, Las Vegas, and more. The songs on Music From Crazy Hearts complement the soundscape to Dean's own story of breaking the industry mold to carve out his name independently. (continue)

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Breland sat down with GMA3: What You Need To Know anchor DeMarco Morgan and ABC News' Rhiannon Ally to discuss his nationwide headline Little More Countrier Tour and how he dove into Country music through songwriting.

The interview also touched on his electrifying performance in Prime Video's new Road House remake with spirit-lifting "Praise the Lord," recent release of the version of the song seen in the film - "Praise the Lord (The Road House Edit)" - plus his viral success on TikTok in sports predictions, leading to a special guest appearance on ESPN's Pat McAfee Show. Additionally, Breland weighed in on representation in Country music and the impact of Beyonce's Country album. (continue)

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Scotty McCreery may be a happily married father, but that is not stopping him from tapping into a bit of sorrow for his latest release out today, "Lonely," from his upcoming album Rise and Fall. This will be the final song released from Rise and Fall before the album comes out on May 10.

"I love a good heartbreak, honky-tonk country song, and 'Lonely' is definitely that," said McCreery. "Brent, Derek, Frank, Bobby, Jeremy, Monty and I had such a good time writing this song on my back porch in the mountains of North Carolina. This song is so much fun to perform live and have the audience sing along with us. I've had a lot of requests from fans who've heard this song on the road to put it out on streaming. Here you go!" (continue)

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GRAMMY nominated, CMA Award-winner, and soon-to-be newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, T. Graham Brown, is excited to announce a brand new studio album titled 'From Memphis to Muscle Shoals,' which is set to drop on Friday, August 2nd via Warner Music Group-ADA. The album is available for pre-order now and is packed with legendary collaborations, including Bettye LaVette, Sam Moore, Delbert McClinton, Dwight Yoakam, Eddie Floyd, Little Anthony, Randy Houser, Sammy Hagar, Tanya Tucker, Wynonna, and Zach Williams. The first single off the new album, "The Dark End of the Street," featuring Country Music Hall of Famer and GRAMMY Award-winning artist Tanya Tucker, was exclusively premiered by Whiskey Riff and is available now.

"I had the idea to do a soul tribute album for probably the last twenty years," shares Brown. "When the opportunity came up, we jumped on it. We went down to Muscle Shoals, the heartbeat of soul music. Billy Lawson (co-producer) and I cut fourteen tracks and I started asking friends to sing on it with me. We made ten duets in total. This album was a lot of fun. We cut it to be authentic to the mid-60s. We used the same instrumentation, the horn sections, and we even used some of the instruments and equipment that were used on the original tracks at the historic Fame Studios. I think this is the "truest" album possible." (continue)

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The Marshall Tucker Band (MTB) and rock staple Jefferson Starship are on cloud 9 in more ways than one. Earlier this year, the two bands launched their 2024 "Live on Cloud 9 Tour." The national road show has drawn hundreds of thousands of fans and will continue onward with today's announce of the second leg of the tour.

With low ticket warnings galore, the tour is set to roll through Lincoln, RI; Nashville, TN; Huntsville, AL; Prior Lake, MN; Santa Fe, NM; Tacoma, WA and more. (continue)

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Donny Van Slee has released a brand new single called "Shinin'". What do you do when you are ready to move on? You keep going and set your sights higher. After Reba and Dan & Shay battled to have Donny Van Slee on their team during this current season of The Voice his new single Shinin' celebrates his experience on the show and his breakout rise as an artist in the country and americana scene.

The song is about the challenges in moving forward and finding new motivation to keep on "grinding". Donny Van Slee has put his career as a chiropractor on pause to pursue this opportunity. It has paid off and Van Slee writes, Something is telling me to keep going. "Got my eyes on the horizon/Another 100 miles gotta keep on grindin/Got my head down got a prayer up/Day old coffee and a nicotine buzz" (continue)

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The Academy of Country Music (ACM), Prime Video, and Dick Clark Productions (DCP) today announced that entertainment icon Reba McEntire will host the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards on Thursday, May 16 at 8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT/5 p.m. PDT, streaming live exclusively for a global audience across 240+ countries and territories on Prime Video from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. A Prime membership will not be required to watch live, everyone is invited to the Party of the Year.

Returning as host for the 17th time, the most of any artist, Reba has a celebrated history with Country Music's Party of the Year and will take the stage for a show stopping special performance featuring brand new music. The iconic entertainer boasts an impressive record of 16 ACM Award wins and nine nominations for the prestigious ACM Entertainer of the Year, including a win in 1994; she also holds the most nominations for Female Artist of the Year. (continue)

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GRAMMY, CMA and ACM Award-winning singer-songwriter Carly Pearce has announced the early release date of her highly anticipated fourth studio album hummingbird, now arriving June 7 via Big Machine Records.

Pearce announced the news yesterday evening on Instagram Live with fans in celebration of her birthday, "For my birthday this year, I wanted to give you guys a gift instead. My album hummingbird is now coming out Friday, June 7. CMA Fest, I hope you're ready because we're going to be celebrating!" (continue)

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Panama City Beach, Florida has been a constant buzz since Kickoff Jam with headliners Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, ALABAMA and 12 other hit artists was announced last week. Tickets for the three-day festival celebrating five decades of Country music and five decades of Panama City Beach August 30 - September 1, 2024 are currently on sale exclusively at KickoffJamPCB.com.

Night one of Kickoff Jam will be headlined by supergroup ALABAMA with a special appearance by Randy Travis on Friday, August 30. Jamey Johnson, Tyler Farr, Gavin Adcock, Pam Tillis and Catie Offerman round out the night. (continue)

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John Oates (co-creator of the iconic pop-rock duo Hall & Oates) is thrilled to release his cover of John Prine's "Long Monday" that is out now. This track is part of his forthcoming album, Reunion set to drop on May 17th. As a preview he has released the title track "Reunion" that is out now as well.

Oates says, "I chose to record 'Long Monday' due to the evocative nature and down-to-earth beauty of the song's story. I think it's important to respect a songwriter's work. Because of that I wanted to remain faithful to the lyrics and melody while, at the same time, making it my own as far as the arrangement. It was recorded in Nashville at Addiction Sound Studio. The mandolin genius Sierra Hull put her finishing touch on the recording." (continue)

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Sam Barber has announced his debut headline performance at Nashville, TN's historic Ryman Auditorium, set for Friday, October 4 with support from special guest Hans Williams. Artist pre-sales begin Wednesday, April 24 at 10:00 am CT and all remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 26 at 10:00 am CT.

Now boasting more than 4.5M total monthly Spotify listeners and a rapidly increasing fan following around the world, Barber is currently traveling North America on the epic Till I Return Tour - his biggest headline run thus far. (continue)

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Eight 30 Records' highly anticipated If It Weren't for You: A Tribute to Walt Wilkins is being released one single a month starting with Gretchen Peters' stunning new "Watch It Shine" on May 3!

Wilkins tributes from Verlon Thompson, Leslie Satcher, Slaid Cleaves, Tina Wilkins, and Ron Flynt will follow throughout the rest of this year. The Austin-based label will release the full album If It Weren't for You: A Tribute to Walt Wilkins in late summer 2025 with additional singles being announced in coming months. (continue)

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Seasick Steve is today sharing new single 'Internet Cowboys', the latest to be taken from his upcoming new album A Trip A Stumble A Fall Down On Your Knees, out 7th June via SO Recordings. Following on the heels of recent new album cuts 'Backbone Slip', 'Funky Music' and 'Let The Music Talk', Steve had the following to say about 'Internet Cowboys':

"Am I getting paranoid? Ha! Well Internet Cowboys is about internet scams, about people trying to rob you via the internet and maybe if you weren't on the internet all day maybe you wouldn't get scammed? That's where the lyric 'Get yourself a record player or maybe a guitar' came from." (continue)

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Fans are being given their first taste of a new album created with previously unreleased Johnny Cash recordings called "Songwriter", with the release of the first single "Well Alright".

The album will be released by Mercury Nashville/UMe on June 28th and was co-produced by John Carter Cash and David "Fergie" Ferguson and featuring newly recorded band of Marty Stuart, Dave Roe, Pete Abbott and others plus special guests Dan Auerbach And Vince Gill. (continue)

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Multi #1 hit singer-songwriter John Morgan's debut single "Friends Like That (feat. Jason Aldean)" impacts country radio today, claiming the week's #1 most-added accolade with 64 first-week stations.

Releasing a ramped up, new version of his fan-favorite song, John enlisted his buddy and mentor country superstar Jason Aldean for some vice-induced good times post breakup. Making us wish we all had friends like that, having toured with Aldean, Riley Green, ERNEST and Jameson Rodgers, John just made his Grand Ole Opry debut, as this barn burner raised its hand. Racking up over 30 MILLION on-demand streams, the rowdy party-starter was originally featured on his recently released debut EP Remember Us? (continue)

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Always music forward and reaching for new levels of candor in her country, trailblazing superstar/songwriter Miranda Lambert forges a new creative alliance designed to take the three-time GRAMMY winner to even more powerful spaces. Having just wrapped her twice-extended, 48-show Velvet Rodeo residency in Las Vegas, the most awarded artist in Academy of Country Music history - including their top Entertainer of the Year honor - signs with Republic Records. The deal will include support from the Nashville-based Big Loud, including Country Radio promotion as well as other marketing efforts, all as a part of the overall strategic partnership with Republic Records.

The announcement signals Lambert's first new solo music since 2022's critically acclaimed, GRAMMY-, ACM- and Country Music Association-nominated Palomino. "Wranglers," arriving May 3, is her first track. (continue)

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HARDY is set to play his first-ever stadium and biggest headline show to date this fall, returning to his home state to play Mississippi State University's Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Miss. on Sept. 12. In addition, HARDY confirms two nights at Colorado's iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre Oct. 20 + 21, his first shows at the storied venue. Randy Houser and Travis Denning will join as support on all new dates. Fan club presales will begin tomorrow, April 23 at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets on sale this Friday, April 26.

The new dates, produced by Live Nation, will come on the heels of a massive run of touring this spring and summer including bill-topping sets at Stagecoach, CMA Fest, Harley Davidson Homecoming and more, plus his own Quit!! tour headline dates nationwide. (continue)

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Danny Wimmer Presents is proud to announce the 2024 lineup for the 4th annual Born & Raised Festival happening September 13-15 in Pryor, OK. The lineup, programmed specifically For The Outlaw In All Of Us, features headliners Cody Johnson, Hank Williams Jr., and Koe Wetzel on the mainstage alongside the very best of left-of-center country artists and bands who comfortably walk the line between outlaw, Americana, Red Dirt, and folk genres. The full 3-day, 4-stage lineup can be found below.

The Born & Raised 2024 Lineup Features: Cody Johnson, Hank Williams Jr., Koe Wetzel, Dwight Yoakam, Midland, The Red Clay Strays, Shane Smith & The Saints, Paul Cauthen, Treaty Oak Revival, The Cadillac Three, William Clark Green, Wade Bowen, Cody Canada & The Departed, Kolby Cooper, Jack Ingram, Colby Acuff, J.R. Carroll, Brent Cobb, The Band of Heathens, Stephen Wilson Jr., Ole 60, Pony Bradshaw, Tyler Halverson, Jamie Lin Wilson, The Wilder Blue, Maggie Antone, Reid Haughton, Clayton Mullen, Kin Faux, Django Walker, Zandi Holup, Harper O'Neill, Lance Roark, Josh Weathers, Jason Scott & The High Heat, and Blaine Bailey. (continue)

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