If college football gave an award for the Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year, Tennessee’s Jarrett Guarantano would be a sure winner.
It’s not often that a quarterback comes off the bench to win a game.
It’s even more unusual when he’s helped you win four.
After being benched at Florida, Guarantano has assisted the Vols beating Mississippi State, South Carolina, UAB and Kentucky.
And in the second half of his last five games, Guarantano has completed a blistering 76 percent of his passes (28 of 37) for 426 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.
Guarantano said his teammates jokingly call him the sixth man – a term usually reserved for basketball.
Guarantano’s play has raised this question: Should he start or continue to be a sub?
Opinions are mixed.
He’s your best quarterback, so start him, some say.
He’s done well coming off the bench, so why mess with success, others say.
We asked Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim Chaney if he thinks Guarantano is better coming off the bench than starting.
“That’s interesting,’’ Chaney said. “People have asked me that and said that. I don’t know the answer. Whether he is or he isn’t, I don’t know. You’d have to ask him how he feels.’’
Does Chaney think Guarantano is better as a backup?
“I don’t see that,’’ Chaney said. “I see a kid that knows football very well and he’s learning what I want him to do and handling it better and better as the days go by.
“As far as coming off the bench, that sixth-man mentality that I continue to hear, I never think much about that.’’
Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt has thought about it, but he’s not saying whether the junior will start at Missouri this Saturday (7:30 p.m., SEC Network).
We asked Pruitt if Guarantano is better coming off the bench.
“I do think he’s probably more suited to come off the bench maybe than the other guys,’’ Pruitt said. “There’s a lot of emotion and anxiety that goes into the preparation and getting ready for a game, and I think the fact that he has a little age on him and some maturity, he can handle coming off the bench. I think he can see and process and take some of the things that have happened previously in the game and take advantage of it.’’
Pruitt said he thought having Guarantano in relief “gave us the best opportunity to win and to have success,’’ but he also said, “I think he can play just as well starting the game.’’
When asked what Guarantano has to do to reclaim the starting spot, Pruitt said who starts is “not as important to me as who is playing effectively, efficiently.’’
Guarantano’s early struggles have been well documented. Chaney pointed out that Guarantano has had four offensive coordinators in four years at Tennessee.
“That can’t go unnoticed,’’ Chaney said. “It’s difficult. … Everyone one of us (offensive coordinators) is bringing our own language.’’
Chaney compared it to starting a new job or having to learn to speak French.
“You’re learning a new language, and he’s had to learn three or four of them,’’ Chaney said. “That affects the play of that position because you have to be in command of everything. It takes time to do it, so I don’t think you can discount that. That takes time.’’
Jordan Davis and wife Kristen welcomed their first child—a baby girl—on Nov. 17.
Jordan shared a photo of the newborn via Instagram, saying: “Excited to announce that Kristen and I have welcomed a beautiful baby girl…Momma and baby are both doing great, and I wanna thank everyone for the well wishes and love. God is good!”
Jordan and Kristen were married in March 2017.
Jordan recently scored back-to-back No. 1 singles with “Singles You Up” (April 2018) and “Take It From Me” (March 2019). His current single, “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot” is No. 23 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after 30 weeks.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Five players scored in double figures, as No. 23 Tennessee topped Stetson, 73-46, at Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday night to improve to 5-0 on the year.
The Lady Vols opened with five straight wins for the third season in a row, and they gave head coach Kellie Harper the first 5-0 start of her career.
Junior Rennia Davis and freshman Jordan Horston led Tennessee in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Sophomore Rae Burrell notched her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Jazmine Massengill pitched in 12 points and junior Kasiyahna Kushkituah tallied 11.
Stetson (2-3) was led in scoring by Day’Neshia Banks, a high school teammate of Davis, with 21, followed by Kennedi Colclough with 10.
With the win, UT improved to 8-0 against Stetson (2-3) and to 12-0 all-time vs. schools in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Tennessee out-rebounded the Hatters 48-32, making it the fifth-straight came that the Big Orange recorded more rebounds than their opponents.
Senior Lou Brown scored the opening points of the evening with a corner three less than a minute into the game. Tennessee would go on to knock down five more three-point shots in the opening quarter, recording a 66.7 shooting percentage from beyond the arc in the period.
Horston quickly drained two more three-pointers, giving the Lady Vols an early 9-2 lead over the Hatters. Sophomore Rae Burrell came off the bench at the 4:44 mark and quickly sank another three for UT, giving the Lady Vols a 12-8 advantage.
Freshman Jessie Rennie kept the three-point scoring streak alive with another bucket from beyond the arc, putting the Lady Vols up 15-10. Horston would finish out the quarter with a jumper from inside the paint to give the Big Orange a 20-11 lead at the end of the first period. Horston led the team with 11 points, while Massengill dished out five assists.
Davis scored a bucket just over two minutes into the second quarter to get the Lady Vols going. The Big Orange went on a 9-0 scoring run to close out the second stanza, starting with a pair of free throws from Kushkituah with 2:15 left. A pair of buckets from Davis and a last second three-pointer from Horston closed out the scoring run for the half. The freshman had her career high for threes by halftime with four.
Both Horston and Davis scored in double digits in the first half with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Kushkituah had a team-high five rebounds, while freshman Tamari Key led the team in blocks with two.
Massengill opened up the third stanza with two buckets, followed by a jumper from Key to extend UT’s lead to 45-26 with 6:50 left in the quarter. Burrell came off the bench again to score for the Lady Vols, scoring a lay-in to make the game 49-28 with just over four minutes remaining in the period.
Kushkituah went on to score Tennessee’s next three buckets via layups and finished the quarter leading the team with seven points. The biggest advantage of the quarter also came when UT had a 24-point lead at 2:03 left after a lay-in from Kushkituah.
Burrell scored an easy jumper in the opening two minutes of the final quarter, making it 60-38 in favor of the Lady Vols. Massengill scored UT’s eighth bucket from beyond the arc with 7:16 left to play, followed by two free throws from Burrell to extend the lead by another five points. The Lady Vols led the Hatters by 27 for most of the fourth quarter and finalized it at the end following a couple free throws from Massengill in the last 30 seconds of the game.
Up Next: Tennessee will return to action on Tues., Nov. 26, hosting Arkansas Pine-Bluff for UT’s first Salute to Service game. The contest will tip at 7 p.m., and current military members and veterans will receive free admission when presenting their military ID. The game will be streamed on SECN+ and broadcast on Lady Vol Network radio stations. Fans can buy tickets at AllVols.com.
Horston Dishing:Jordan Horston doled out seven assists against the Hatters, leading the team for the fourth time this season and moving her average to 4.8 apg. If the season ended today, that average would rank her second all-time among Lady Vol freshmen.
Unselfish Play: UT posted its highest assist total of the season against Stetson, dishing out 19 on the night. Through five games the Lady Vols have recorded at least 16 assists in every contest.
Raining Threes: The Lady Vols scored their first 18 points from behind the arc, shooting a sizzling 66.7 percent from 3-point range in the first quarter. The six made threes in the opening quarter tied UT’s record for most threes in a quarter that was set during the opening stanza at Long Beach State on Dec. 17, 2017.
Newcomers Hitting Opening Buckets:Lou Brown and Jordan Horston opened the scoring for UT against Stetson, knocking down 3-pointers to combine for the Lady Vols’ first nine points. Newcomers have scored the first points in four of Tennessee’s five games this season.
Working the Boards: Six Lady Vols finished the night with 5+ rebounds, helping UT out-board Stetson 48-32. Tennessee is averaging 53.0 rebounds per game through five games while holding opponents to 35.2.
1st and 500th: Tuesday’s match-up with Stetson was the 500th Lady Vol game played in Thompson-Boling Arena. The first contest in T-BA was played on Dec. 3, 1987, and also featured the Hatters. In that contest No. 1-ranked Tennessee defeated Stetson, 102-59.
Knoxville, Tenn. – The Tennessee football team is looking to keep its spark going as they prepare for their final road SEC matchup coming off an open date.
“We had a lot of little sparks during the season,” said senior linebacker Daniel Bituli. “After going against a really great running back in the Mississippi State game, we realized that if we’re communicating as much as possible on the field, if we know what we were going to do, if we read our cues correctly, then the world is ours. We can stop anybody. Definitely that game really showed that we can do it for a whole game.”
Since the Vols squared off with Mississippi State, they have forced 10 turnovers, including eight interceptions, and have recorded 17 sacks. During that same stretch, the defense is allowing 320.2 yards per game, 17.2 points per game, and 179.4 passing yards per game. All of which would rank in the top-20 nationally for a full season.
Bituli Finishing Strong
After missing the first two games of the season, Bituli has been at his best. Two weeks ago against Kentucky, he registered a season-high 19 tackles to earn his second SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
“I feel like we have something to prove each and every game,” said Bituli. “Like I said, every SEC team is capable of doing so if we don’t come in with the same mindset. We just have to come in today with the same hardworking mindset, try to win today, and if we do the rest will take care of itself.”
Bituli became the first Vol to earn the SEC weekly defensive honor twice in the same season since Derek Barnett did so in 2016. His 62 tackles this season lead the Vols, and his 9.8 tackles per game in the last six SEC games ranks second in the league.
Defensive Line Buying In
The defensive line faced the challenge of a run-heavy offense when they squared off with Kentucky, holding the Wildcats to just 13 points. On fourth-and-goal late in the fourth quarter, redshirt junior Ja’Quain Blakely along with Bituli sealed the victory when they stopped Lynn Bowden from reaching the endzone with just over a minute remaining in the game.
“I feel like as a d-line we’ve improved because we’ve come together more and have a bond and a brotherhood,” said Blakely. “With Coach (Tracy) Rocker, he’s a very good coach, and all the d-linemen we all bought in to his coaching and his philosophy. That’s been the point where we’re getting over the edge.”
Blakely, who played tight end and full back in 2018, has seen increased playing time over the last two games. He recorded a career-high two tackles against UAB and has seven on the season.
Man of the Year
On November 13th, it was announced that redshirt junior offensive lineman Trey Smith was named one of 20 semifinalists for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award.
“Take the football out of it, you won’t find a better representative, number one, of his family,” head coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “I can’t say enough about Trey and the type of person and the individual that he is. He does a fantastic job with anything that he touches. Whether it is on the field, off the field or in the classroom, he is what college football is all about. It’s not surprising. I would like to meet the people that are more deserving of this award than Trey Smith.”
In his off time, Smith assists with the Knoxville Area Rescue Ministry’s (KARM) annual coat drive.
“I think it’s a great thing,” Smith said. “There’s no real reason why I do it, I just don’t like seeing people struggle. If I can help somebody out, it is just in my nature to help any way I can. When I had the opportunity to help KARM last year, and I had the opportunity to help KARM this year I didn’t hesitate. I wanted to help people out.”
Smith has started nine games this season at left guard and has played a key role in the Vols’ upward trajectory with the team currently on a three-game win streak.
As one of the most experienced offensive linemen on the team, the Jackson, Tenn., Smith has been a vocal leader for the Vols and mentor to younger linemen.
Tennessee Player Media Availability (Nov. 19)
Quick Quotes
Nigel Warrior, Sr. DB
On how Derrick Ansley has helped develop his game:
“He stays on me the most at practice. He makes sure I stay low and I get to the ball. When I see the ball, ’Go get the ball.’ He just stays on me more. I didn’t expect it. He plays a part in my success.”
On what differences he sees in himself, from the time his Tennessee career began:
“The biggest difference, I would say, is finding a passion for the game and actually loving what I’m doing. I’m not saying I didn’t love it, but I just have more for love for what I’m doing it for and who I’m playing with. It’s becoming more routine.”
On what has allowed him to get his hand on the ball more in the passing game this year:
“I would say just knowing what plays are coming up next and really paying attention to what routes are being ran, how many times they run it. When they run this certain route, what goes behind the route and just playing as a team. My uncle said, ‘When your team is able to pay attention, then everybody gets to show their attributes.’ We’ve been able to pay attention to what’s going on and everybody can show their attributes to the team.”
Ja’Quain Blakely, R-Jr. DL
On his role as a defensive lineman:
“It’s a great role for me. I feel like my twitch is very good for that role. It’s a third down key, I mean, my job is basically third down get off the field.”
On why the defensive line has improved late in the season:
“I feel like as a d-line we’ve improved because we’ve come more together as a bond and as a brotherhood. With Coach (Tracy) Rocker, he’s a very good coach, all the d-linemen we all bought in to his coaching and his philosophy. That’s been the point where we’re getting over the edge.”
On if Missouri’s offense can be compared to other opponents from previous weeks:
“Not really. I feel like all o-lines have their moments; I feel like Missouri will be a good challenge for us. I feel like they’ll test us, and that’ll be the bar that we have to get to.”
Kivon Bennett, R-So. LB
On how he feels he has played this season:
“I feel like I’ve played well. The thing I pride myself the most on is just continuing to improve day after day, week after week, and I feel like I’ve just kept doing that. I just want to see myself keep improving.”
On if he saw himself as an edge guy coming in or if it was a natural transition:
“It really just kind of happened. When I came in, I was super young. I was 17, and I think just the process of me being in a college weightlifting program, the weight kind of just naturally fell off, and it just made the most sense. It wasn’t a thing that I tried to do, or had a plan of doing, but it just more naturally happened.”
On where he feels he has developed the most as a player:
“The most I think I’ve developed is just having a better understanding of defense more technically. Just understanding the game. I went from playing d-line to linebacker, so there are more things I have to think about instead of just going left, right, or forward. I have to consider coverages, I have to count receivers, I have to do all these types of things; recognize formations. Sometimes we call the plays too, not only the middle linebackers, so we’ve got to be on top of all of that, so it’s just a lot more responsibility.”
LaTrell Bumphus, Jr. DL
On how he was able to improve as a pass rusher:
“Just taking my time and watching videos and studying tape, and then working on stuff with coach and other people on the team that have already been on the d-line before I was.”
On the challenge of playing multiple positions:
“It’s been hard at times, but I just figured out that the more I study plays and stuff the easier it becomes.”
On what the team does at halftime to correct first-half mistakes:
“Really just listening to the coaches, listening to the corrections, and just knowing that we can’t make the same mistakes in the second half that we did.”
Trey Smith, Jr. OL
On the transition from tackle to guard:
“I love playing guard, but I know I’m capable of playing tackle if I need to. Just a little proper practice of stuff I needed, just getting ready to actually play the position and understand it. Also, to play tackle I need to lose a lot of weight. That’s one thing I’m going to do next time.”
On how he feels about his performance so far this year:
“It’s been okay. I’ve had some good moments and also had some really bad moments. My biggest issue is consistency, and with lack of practice that happens. In my mind, I need to play at a much higher level. I need to stop doing stupid stuff and clean up my play.”
On the adjustment to practicing non-contact and having to play on Saturdays:
“Honestly, it’s really not that tough. I don’t know why it isn’t. At the beginning of the year, I think I was more fearful about everything going on, but the first game, it really wasn’t that hard. At the end of the day, I’m still just playing football. In my mind, I guess that’s how I approach it. As long as I know what to do mentally, it’s almost like mental repetition. I just know what to do when I go out there.”
Daniel Bituli, Sr. LB
On what led to watching more film:
“The winning. We know the more we put in to football, the more we’re going to get out of it. It’s because of those guys that are working so hard, putting in that extra time and understanding the offense we’re going up against. Our defense, as a whole, is definitely helping us out when we go out there on Saturdays.”
On if it was easier for him to buy into the coaches, being a senior:
“Since the time they got here, how can you not buy into a coaching staff that’s so established? You can look at Coach Pruitt’s record, the players that he’s coached and the players that are doing so well in the league (NFL) right now – to bring a coach like that into this facility to help us out, help us become a better defense, better players as a whole – definitely. I’m a sponge when it comes to Coach Pruitt, because he definitely knows what he’s talking about, because he’s been in this for so long.”
On how the team is preparing to not let up, after three consecutive wins:
“Just staying in each other’s ears. What we don’t want to do is become complacent and be happy with where we’re at. We’re still a hungry team. We want to win this next game coming up. Missouri’s a great team. Each and every week, every team in the SEC’s a good team and what we can’t do is overlook them because of the previous success we’ve had these previous games. We’ve just got to come in and win each and every day.”
On when he realized that the defensive unit was coming together and reaching their potential:
“We had a lot of little sparks during the season, but after going against a really great running back in the Mississippi State game, we realized that if we’re communicating as much as possible on the field, if we knew what we were going to do, if we read our cues correctly, then the world is ours. We can stop anybody. Definitely that game really showed that we can do it for a whole game.”
Marquez Callaway, Sr. WR
On how the bye week rejuvenated the team:
“Anytime we get time off it’s good – not just for our bodies, but mentally too. I feel like this bye week has been productive. We still got a lot of work done, mentally; we took a lot of load off our bodies, obviously, to get us healthy for next week. This week, I expect us to go in, fully recharge with more energy for the game.”
On if the team’s confidence is at the highest level that it has been this season:
“I think so. I think we are all looking forward to these games. It’s a lot to play for. For the seniors, it’s the last road game and the last home game. For everybody else, it’s trying to make bowl eligibility. Really, we’re trying to take this week to prepare and try to see what we can do.”
On if he’s seen Jarrett Guarantano become more motivated lately:
“Jarrett’s a competitor. He wants to play. Even if he’s not playing, he wants to do what he can to help, whether that’s coaching up the younger guys, or just being in the receivers’ ears, getting the O-line’s butt, talking to the running backs. He wants to do what he can to help, whether that’s on or off the field. The other quarterbacks are there. Obviously, they want to play. Who doesn’t want to play? But, there’s only one ball and only one quarterback position, so whoever’s up, they’re going to play their best and if Jarrett’s playing or not playing, he’s going to be a competitor.”
Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook of Little Big Town will drop their upcoming ninth studio album, Nightfall, on Jan. 17.
Buoyed by lead single, “Over Drinking,” which was penned by Jesse Frasure, Cary Barlowe, Hillary Lindsey, Ashley Gorley and Steph Jones, the upcoming album follows 2017’s The Breaker, which was helmed by longtime producer Jay Joyce.
“The new album has 13 tracks—we cut so many songs,” says Karen to Nash Country Daily. “We self-produced this record, so a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this one. I love all of the different vocal moments on the record. Lots of new adventures on this record with co-writing. We’re really proud of it.”
Karen co-penned nine of the 13 tracks. Additional songwriters include Foy Vance, Lori McKenna, Ashley Gorley, Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey and more.
The foursome will embark on a 34-date tour—dubbed The Nightfall Tour—which kicks off on Jan. 16 in New York at Carnegie Hall, followed by back-to-back shows at Apollo Theater, before making additional stops in Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Chicago, L.A. Denver and more.
“This will be our first time playing Carnegie Hall on the 16th, then the album will come out on midnight, and then we’re doing two nights at the Apollo,” says Jimi to NCD. “It’s just gonna be a fun time across the country and all these iconic theaters, and an intimate setting, which is gonna be great for this record.”
Nightfall Track List & Songwriters
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)
The Nightfall Tour
Jan. 16 | New York, NY |Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Jan. 17 | New York, NY | Apollo Theater
Jan. 18 | New York, NY | Apollo Theater
Jan. 30 | Philadelphia, PA | The Met Philadelphia
Jan. 31 | Philadelphia, PA | The Met Philadelphia
Feb. 01 | Pittsburgh, PA | Benedum Center
Feb. 07 | Boston, MA | Boch Center Wang Theatre
Feb. 08 | Boston, MA | Boch Center Wang Theatre
Feb. 14 | Cincinnati, OH | Taft Theatre
Feb. 15 | Cincinnati, OH | Taft Theatre
Feb. 20 | St. Louis, MO | Fabulous Fox Theatre
Feb. 21 | Indianapolis, IN | Murat Theatre
Feb. 22 | Indianapolis, IN | Murat Theatre
Feb. 26 | Tampa, FL Ruth | Eckerd Hall
Feb. 27 | Tampa, FL Ruth | Eckerd Hall
March 05 | Charleston, SC | Charleston Gaillard Center
March 06 | Charleston, SC | Charleston Gaillard Center
March 07 | Atlanta, GA | Fox Theatre
March 12 | Detroit, MI | Fox Theatre
March 13 | Chicago, IL | The Chicago Theatre
March 14 | Chicago, IL | The Chicago Theatre
March 27 | Salt Lake City, | UTEccles Theater
March 28 | Salt Lake City, | UT Eccles Theater
April 09 | Seattle, WA | The Paramount Theatre
April 10 | Seattle, WA | The Paramount Theatre
April 15 | Portland, OR | Keller Auditorium
April 17 | Oakland, CA | Fox Theater-Oakland
April 18 | Oakland, CA | Fox Theater-Oakland
April 23 | Los Angeles, CA | The Theatre At Ace Hotel
April 24 | Los Angeles, CA | The Theatre At Ace Hotel
April 26 | Las Vegas, NV | The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
Luke Bryan has finalized the lineup for his sixth annual Crash My Playa concerts at the Moon Palace in Riviera Cancun, Mexico, on January 22–25.
During the four-night concert vacation on the beach, Luke will headline two nights, while Jason Aldean and Old Dominion will each headline one night. Additional performers include Lee Brice, Scotty McCreery, Granger Smith, Jordan Davis, Jon Langston, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack, Kendell Marvel, DJ Rock and Dustin Lynch, who has performed at every Crash My Playa.
“I’m so appreciative that the fans have shown up and supported this destination concert weekend,” says Luke. “To have one of my best friends Jason join us this year means it’s about to be epic!”
Fresh off of her CMA Awards win for New Artist of the Year, Ashley McBryde announced she will hit the road in 2020 for her One Night Standards Tour.
Kicking off on Jan. 30 in Birmingham, Ala., the tour will make additional stops in Georgia, Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin and more. Tickets go on sale on Nov. 22 at 10 a.m. local time.
Ashley’s new tour takes its name from her current single, “One Night Standards.” Penned by Ashley, Nicolette Hayford and Shane McAnally, the new tune was produced by Jay Joyce and is her first new music since her debut album, Girl Going Nowhere.
One Night Standards Tour
Jan. 30 | Saturn | Birmingham, AL
Jan. 31 | The Lyric Oxford | Oxford, MS
Feb. 1 | Druid City Music Hall | Tuscaloosa, AL
Feb. 28 | Georgia Theatre | Athens, GA
Feb. 29 | Variety Playhouse | Atlanta, GA
March 7 | 8 Seconds Saloon | Indianapolis, IN
March 19 | Bourbon Theatre | Lincoln, NE
March 21 | Majestic Theatre | Madison, WI
March 28 | Soul Kitchen | Mobile, AL
April 23 | Floore’s Country Kitchen | Helotes, TX
Luke’s current single, “Even Though I’m Leaving,” ascended to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart this week.
With his latest No. 1 single, Luke is first country artist in history whose first seven singles have reached No. 1, following previous chart-toppers “Hurricane,” “When It Rains It Pours,” “One Number Away,” “She Got the Best of Me,” “Beautiful Crazy” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart.”
When “Beautiful Crazy” topped the charts in March, Luke became the first country artist in history whose first five singles reached No. 1.
Penned by Luke, Wyatt B. Durrette and Ray Fulcher, “Even Though I’m Leaving” is featured on Luke’s 2019 EP, The Prequel.
“‘Even Though I’m Leaving’ was the first song I wrote with Wyatt Durrette, who I wrote ‘Beautiful Crazy’ with, and my buddy Ray, who I write with a lot—it was our first time writing with Wyatt, and, man, it’s just one of those tunes that . . . Wyatt, he’s a dad and he has written a lot of stuff about being a dad, and you kind of wanted to just tap into that thing,” says Luke. “Sometimes when you sit down to write, it may not be necessarily a story about yourself, it may be a story about your co-writer or a friend of yours or your mom or somebody like that. And so it was just kind of one of those things where he was like, “Hey man, I’m in the mood to write like a dad song.’ And I had had that idea in my phone for awhile and it was a tough write too. Really had to work at it. It wasn’t one of those songs that just kind of came out. It was definitely more of a construction project than just . . . because sometimes you get in there and a song just kind of writes itself. But that one was tough. We wanted to get it right and make sure that people could relate to it and see a bit of themselves in it. And I think we did a good job of that.”
Luke dropped his highly anticipated sophomore album, What You See Is What You Get, on Nov. 8. The new offering debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart this week, moving 172,000 equivalent units, according to Nielsen Music.
Blake Shelton has been swiveling his chair toward talented singers for 17 seasons as a coach on The Voice. In fact, Blake has been the only coach to be a part of every season since the show’s inception in 2011. At this point, it’s hard to imagine the show without him.
However, Blake dropped a bit of knowledge to media members during a The Voice event at Nashville’s Ole Red on Nov. 14. Blake revealed he wasn’t the show’s first choice as a coach from the country community—Reba McEntire was.
“If I’m not mistaken, they wanted Reba to be a coach on The Voice first,” said Blake. “I hope I’m not saying something I shouldn’t say. It’s out there now. But they wanted Reba, and they knew they wanted a country artist to be a coach on The Voice to fill that lane.”
Blake revealed that Starstruck Entertainment owner—and Reba’s husband at the time—Navel Blackstock recommended him for the gig.
“So, Narvel told them, you know, Reba can’t do it, you know, but hey, I got this other guy that I manage that’s got all the time in the world.”
As to why Reba passed on the job, Blake recalled the timing just wasn’t right for her.
“They called Starstruck, and Reba at the time, you know, for whatever reason, I can’t remember,” said Blake. “She may have had her Malibu Country show going at the time, for whatever reason, she couldn’t do it, or they just decided it wasn’t the thing for her at the time. ‘What is The Voice? It sounds dumb, right? I don’t know, I’m Reba McEntire. I’m in this chair and I hit a button and my chair turns around.’ Like, it sounded weird to probably anybody they pitched it to, honestly.”
Southington, CT – November 1, 2017 – Crystal Bee’s: Portrait of Paul Biancardi during the 2017 College Basketball Seminar (Photo by Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)
Paul Biancardi, the National Recruiting Director for ESPN College Basketball and NBA draft analyst, joined me for a 1-on-1 interview to talk about the great recruiting class signed by Rick Barnes and the Tennessee basketball staff.
He shared his detailed analysis of each of the three players in Tennessee’s 4th-ranked 2020 signing class in basketball, the class overall, how Rick Barnes recruits and builds teams and talks about what he thinks of this year’s Vols team.
Here are just a few of his quotes on the Tennessee signees from the interview.
On Keon Johnson: “Absolutely love him. Just an elite athlete.”
On Jaden Springer: “He plays with urgency on both ends of the court.”
On Corey Walker Jr: “He’s a gifted scorer. He’s got length. Another high-level athlete.”
On the 2020 Signing Class Signed By Rick Barnes: “What I love about this class is…Rick understands to recruit talent but also build a team, a lot of coaches recruit talent and they have a very talented group of guys, but they’re not a team, they’re not a unit. I think Rick Barnes is one of the absolute best at taking talent and turning it into a team.”
Listen to the entire interview below.
Read about the backgrounds of the three Vols signees HERE.
Check out the just announced Geico ESPN High School Showcase that will feature Jaden Springer playing for IMG Academy three times and Paul as an analyst during the games. See the release and schedule HERE.
Excellent breakdown from the Hoops National Recruiting Director for ESPN.
Check out the just announced @GEICO@espn High School Showcase that will feature Jaden Springer playing for @IMGABasketball 3 times and Paul as an analyst during the games.
