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B-Sides Report for 11/05/2015



Eric Church Releases Surprise Album 'Mr. Misunderstood'

Country music star Eric Church surprised fans on Wednesday with the release of a surprise album called "Mr. Misunderstood" ahead of his performance at the CMA Awards.

Church announced the new surprise album via a handwritten note that reads, "My son names my guitars. He named the one that would make my 5th album 'Butter Bean'. I've always believed that instruments have stories to tell. Its up to the keeper of the instrument to turn those stories into songs.

"I wrote my first song on 'Butter Bean' late this summer. 20 days later, I had 18 songs. 20 days following that, I had 10 recorded. That was 30 days ago. It always takes me time to look for inspiration to make a new album. This time, inspiration came looking for me. Together, we found Mr. Misunderstood. Today, it's yours."

See the handwritten letter and the artwork here.

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Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani Relationship Confirmed

(Radio.com) A spokesperson for Gwen Stefani confirmed the rumors that she and Blake Shelton are officially dating, following speculation after the couple had been seen in public together.

Us Weekly broke the news on Wednesday (Nov. 4) sourcing a rep who said, "Gwen and Blake are longtime friends who have very recently started dating." Stefani's spokesperson also said the two would be attending after parties following the Country Music Awards in Nashville last night.

The Voice coaches raised eyebrows over the weekend after they were photographed holding hands leaving Jared Leto's Halloween party over the weekend. Read more here.

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Kenny Chesney Adds Date To 2016 Stadium Tour

Kenny Chesney has added a new stop in Louisville to his upcoming 2016 Spread The Love North American stadium tour, bringing the total number of dates to 12, with more still to be announced.

The new show will be taking place on May 28th at the Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Chesney had the following to say about the addition, "You don't wanna overdo the stadium thing to where it's not special. But being outside in Louisville is one of those places where the music hits the night, and it's not the same as being inside.

"As we're looking at the routings and our history, I'm really glad we're gonna be playing Cardinal Stadium 'cause as great as the Yum! Center was, I think we're gonna top that show!"

At this point, the tour is scheduled to kick off on April 23rd in Auburn, Ala. at the Jordan-Hare Stadium and conclude on August 20 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. See the dates here.

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Phil Vassar Jams With Tommy Shaw And Hunter Hayes

(Webster) Phil Vassar has been out on the road for his #noPHILter tour and this past week shared the stage with Styx legend Tommy Shaw and country music star Hunter Hayes at two special events. We were sent the following details:

Vassar collaborated with Hunter Hayes on Vassar's hit "Just Another Day in Paradise" Monday night outside Bridgestone Arena. The crowd sang along with Vassar and Hayes during the free outdoor concert that spilled into the streets of Music City's downtown. Hayes and Vassar shared the stage with Cole Swindell, Striking Matches, Charles Kelley, Eric Paslay, Dave Barnes, Will Hoge, Chris Janson and Danielle Bradbery.

During Sunday's Off The Record event benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, Vassar joined celebrities, designers and musical guests for the elite event and fashion show. The runway lit up during Vassar's star-studded performance with STYX's Tommy Shaw, which included a captivating rendition of the rock hit "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)." More than 400 guests enjoyed Vassar's performance at Sylvia Roberts' estate, best known for its appearance on ABC's "Nashville."

Vassar will cap off the week with additional #noPHILter dates while working on his latest album project, slated for release in 2016. See the dates here.

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Britney Spears 'Hard At Work' On New Album

Pop star Britney Spears has ended speculation that she is working on a new album, by posting a message on her Instagram page that she is indeed "hard at work" on the new effort.

Spears has been dropping hints via online postings about the project for weeks, according to ABC radio. They report that she has been posting photos from the studio and using the hashtag #B9, assumed to refer to her ninth studio album.

On Monday, she stopped hinting and directly confirmed that she is recording a new album. She posted a studio photo with songwriters Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter with the caption "Working hard and hardly working...new album...wheeeee!"

Michaels and Tranter were co-writers of Justin Bieber's "Sorry" and Gwen Stefani's "Used to Love You", and they also worked on Selena Gomez's new album "Revival". See Britney's post here.

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One Direction Preview Songs From New Album

(Radio.com) One Direction has released a video previewing two new songs on the forthcoming album "Made in the A.M." The group posted the clip to YouTube that gives fans a taste of the music with "Temporary Fix" and "Walking in the Wind," with interviews from Niall Horan and Harry Styles.

The upbeat rock song "Temporary Fix" was co-written by Horan, British songwriter Wayne Hector and two members of production team TMS. The song was born when the co-writers asked the singer what was missing from their upcoming album.

He told the guys they didn't have a "rock song" and they used Kings of Leon's hit single "Sex on Fire" as the inspiration for their "dark" song about approaching a girl at a bar. Horan adds, "It's relatable, I guess. Everyone has a grungy night out every now and then."

The seconds song previewed is "Walking in the Wind," which Harry Styles explains was inspired by Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland. He said, "I like 'Walking in the Wind' because I'm a big Paul Simon fan and I think the inspiration behind it was Graceland, in which the verse was so conversational, informal and it's like spoken word." Read more and check out the video here.

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Bloc Party Release Video For New Single 'The Love Within'

Bloc Party have released a new music video for the song "The Love Within." The track is the first single from their forthcoming record, "Hymns," which is set to be released on January 29th.

Frontman Kele Okereke spoke to Rolling Stone about the new clip. "In terms of the video, the only rule that I had was that I wanted something that reflected the states of joy. I think the video does that. It captures being lost in the moment and that's the one way I feel like the video is connected to the song."

He also had this to say about the song, "I guess it's about embracing feelings of joy and being connected. I think it's ultimately about trying to explain that feeling of rapture and joy that comes with being in love with the world or universe.

"It sounds quite hippie-ish when I say it like that, but I was reading from [William Blake's] collection Songs of Innocence. Something struck a chord with me, this idea of being connected to the earth and nature. The idea of sublime connectivity to the world that is around - that's the idea that stuck with me.

"How do I describe this transcendent feeling of joy that can come from surrendering yourself to a higher power? In the vaguest, most hippie-ish terms, that's really what this song is about. It's about being in love with the stars, the earth and nature." Read the rest of the interview and watch the video here.

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Old Dominion Streaming New Song 'Snapback'

(Radio.com) Old Dominion are gearing up for the release of their album Meat and Candy, which is set for release on Nov. 6, and they are giving fans a little early taste with the release of their new song called "Snapback."

The song celebrates the simple things women do to make men fall for them. In the case of the song, the object of Old Dominion's affection checks her makeup in the reflection of his sunglasses while rocking her favorite band's t-shirt and a snapback cap.

'When we were kids sitting in our rooms with our guitars and Rolling Stone magazines, this is the moment we were imagining for ourselves," the band says of their new record. "As musicians and songwriters, we are very proud of every song on the album."

"We are looking to turn some heads and make some big noise here. We're stepping out there on stage with the big boys and girls and our hope is that this album will prove we deserve to be there." Check out the song here.

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Jake Miller Releases Video Of Unplugged Version of 'Yellow Lights'

Jake Miller has released a new homemade video for an acoustic version of the song "Yellow Lights" on YouTube. The studio version of the song is featured on his current EP Rumors.

The new video includes footage that Miller shot during his very first European tour and shows the music star taking in the sights in various cities across the continent.

The clip also features footage of him performing in Amsterdam, London, Hamburg, and Berlin, meeting fans in Cologne, and performing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Watch the video here.

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Oh Wonder Announce North American Tour

Oh Wonder have announced that they will be embarking on a North American tour in January following their sold out debut shows in New York and Los Angeles in October.

The tour announcement follows the release of a new music video for the UK duo's (Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht) latest single "Without You." Watch the clip here

The two and a half week North American trek will be kicking off on January 12th in San Diego, CA at the Casbah and will conclude on January 30th in Boston, Ma at Brighton Music Hall with stops in major markets in between. See the tour dates here.

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Never Shout Never Announce U.S. Winter Tour

Never Shout Never will be kicking off 2016 by launching a new headline tour across the United States in support of their latest studio album "Black Cat," which hit stores this past summer.

The tour is scheduled to kick off on January 13th in Dallas, TX at the House Of Blues and will be concluding on February 27th in Lawrence, KS at the Granada Theater.

The month and half trek also includes shows in Houston, Austin, Phoenix, Anaheim, San Diego, Sacramento, Portland (OR), Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, two stops in Ohio, Boston, New Jersey, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington D.C., Raleigh, Orlando, Atlanta and St. Louis, MO. See the dates here.

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Alanis Morissette Unplugs For Jimmy Fallon Performance

(popmusiclife) Alanis Morissette delivered an unplugged performance of her 1995 hit, "Hand In My Pocket", on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday and video of the performance has been posted online.

The singer also joined the Jagged Little Chicks for an all-clucking rendition of "Ironic", as she promotes the newly-released 20th anniversary "Collector's Edition" of her 1995 smash, "Jagged Little Pill."

The package presents a remastered copy of the original album and a disc of unreleased demos alongside a previously unreleased concert from 1995.The set also features a copy of 2005's "Jagged Little Pill Acoustic."

The "Collector's Edition" is limited to 30,000 copies worldwide, while a two-disc "Deluxe Edition" is also available. Her third Canadian release but first international album, "Jagged Little Pill" launched Morissette to a global audience. The record delivered 6 hit singles - including the lead track "You Oughta Know" - on its way to sales of more than 33 million copies worldwide. Watch both Tonight Show performances here.

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Run The Jewels Release Internet Cat GIF Heavy 'All Meow Life' Video

(Radio.com) If you are a cat lover and dig the sounds of Run The Jewels, your head is about to explode. The hip-hop heavyweights have just released a mesmerizing video for the Nick Hook remix of "All Meow Life," featuring viral cat gifs.

The hilarious clip, directed by Jason Goldwatch, features many memorable viral cat videos, including this one where a feline gets revenge knocking a toddler off a bed. The video also shows cats using the toilet, playing the piano, riding on the back of a sheep, fighting dogs, owls and parakeets and more.

The track is from the group's Meow the Jewels album, which remixes Run The Jewels' second album using cat noises. This is not the first cat video for Run The Jewels. Last month, the duo released the charmingly lo-fi music video for the Just Blaze remix of 'Oh My Darling (Don't Meow)." In the clip, cats wreak havoc and some simply lounge in a miniature city with toy police cars and helicopters. Watch the new video here.

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Singled Out: Hollywood Heartache's Summer Romance

Australian Gold Coast group Hollywood Heartache has been drawing comparisons to 5 Seconds To Summer with their EP "Eager Hearts", so we asked them to tell us about the single "Summer Romance." Here is the story:

Greetings reptilians. We have been eating, sleeping and recording for the past couple of months and boy oh boy, do we have something for you. After countless nights of songwriting and falling asleep in each others arms, we have written an extended playlist. Summer Romance is our brand new single from our debut EP, Eager Hearts.

With summer quickly approaching, we often found ourselves on the sunny beaches of the Gold Coast. Spending day after day in the sand jamming to our favorite songs, we were always having the swaggiest of times. We wanted to capture all the feels we were feeling, we thought why not combine the two things that we love most, summer and music.

We took our fresh ideas straight to the studio and with our creative juices flowing, we created Summer Romance. It started out with a guitar riff quickly followed by a tasty melody that wouldn't leave our lips. Once the feel of the song was established, we added a thundering bass line riding on an unforgiving wave of percussion. We had finally given birth to our first musical baby.

This song is the perfect tune for your summer playlist that will bring out the good vibes in everybody, especially your dad ;)

We hope you love this song as much as we do and that you can't stop listening to it

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and watch the video right here!

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