Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton have a Top 20 hit on their hands with their new duet, “Dive Bar,” which is currently No. 19 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after 13 weeks. Penned by Garth, Mitch Rossell and Bryan Kennedy, “Dive Bar” will be featured on Garth’s upcoming album, FUN.
If you were wondering how two of country music’s biggest stars ended up joining forces for the duet, it was a simple phone call. As Garth tells Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown, he was inspired to make the call after watching Blake’s performance of “God’s Country” during the ACM Awards in April.
“I saw him on the ACMs—he was doing ‘God’s Country,’ his current single,” says Garth to Kix. “And I just saw it in his face. It was like, ‘Wow.’ . . . Every entertainer, if you’ll listen to what you’re saying and if it still gets you, that’s a statement to the song, it’s a statement to how you’re treating the song. And something got [Blake], you could see it in his face when he was singing ‘God’s Country,’ so I called him up afterwards just to say, ‘Hey, man. I was just real impressed. That was cool. Would you ever think about doing a duet?’ And it wasn’t, ‘Let me think on it.’ It was, ‘Hell yeah, I’d like to do a duet,’ so we picked ‘Dive Bar,’ and it was fun.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Senior defensive back Nigel Warrior earned a spot on the PFF College National and SEC Defensive Team of the Week after his performance in Tennessee’s 45-0 win over Chattanooga last Saturday.
The College Park, Georgia native was stout in coverage all afternoon and intercepted the only pass sent his direction, nearly returning it for a touchdown. It was the second-career interception for the preseason All-SEC third team selection.
Warrior’s pick set up set up UT’s third touchdown of the game, a 12-yard pass from Jarrett Guarantano to Jauan Jennings that put the Vols ahead 21-0 midway through the first quarter. Warrior also added a pair of tackles in the shutout victory, Tennessee’s second under head coach Jeremy Pruitt.
The entire PFF College Offensive and Defensive National Teams of the Week can be seen HERE.
The Vols hit the road for the first time this season as they travel down to Gainesville this Saturday to open SEC play in “The Swamp” against the ninth-ranked Florida Gators at noon ET on ESPN.
After more than 50 years as a recording artist, Mississippi native Charley Pride can add another feather to the cap of his Hall of Fame career as he will be the recipient of the inaugural Grammy Museum Mississippi’s Crossroads of American Music Award.
The award honors an artist who has made significant musical contributions “influenced by the creativity born in the cradle of American music.” Charley will appear at the Grammy Museum Mississippi’s 2019 Gala to accept the award on Nov. 1.
“I’m honored to be the first recipient of this award from the Grammy Museum Mississippi,” said Charley. “And thankful to the many great American music artists before me that helped to pave the way for my success. I applaud the Museum for celebrating those artists and championing the importance of American music.”
Charley, a three-time Grammy winner, is considered country music’s first African-American superstar. He signed to RCA Victor in 1967 and earned a string of No. 1 hits, including “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me),” “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again,” “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” “Amazing Love” and many more.
Charley won the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year award in 1971 and Top Male Vocalist in 1971 and 1972. Charley became the Grand Ole Opry’s first African-American member in 1993. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 for outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.
Lauren Alaina made her debut on Dancing With the Stars on Sept. 16 as she danced the cha-cha to Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” with partner Gleb Savchenko.
The dancing tandem scored 19 out of 30 points from judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, with Carrie Ann remarking that the couple had “style.”
Lauren’s score from Week 1 (19 points) and Week 2 will be combined with Week 2 fan voting to determine the first elimination. Dancing With the Stars also features Hannah Brown, Karamo Brown, Mary Wilson, Lamar Odom, James Van Der Beek, Ally Brooke, Kate Flannery, Sean Spicer, Kel Mitchell, Sailor Brinkley-Cook and Ray Lewis.
Over the past 27 seasons of DWTS, a number of country artists haves taken their talents to the dance floor, including Sara Evans, Billy Ray Cyrus, Chuck Wicks, Kellie Pickler, Jana Kramer and more.
Knoxville, Tenn. –After three straight non-conference games at Neyland Stadium to kick off the 2019 season, the Tennessee football team began preparation for its first road game and first Southeastern Conference matchup of the fall.
Tennessee travels to No. 9/8 Florida on Saturday for a Noon ET kick inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. The Gators have won seven straight games dating back to the end of last season under second-year head coach Dan Mullen.
Florida has an experienced offense and impressive defense that leads the nation in sacks (16), while allowing only 13.7 points per game. Florida is coming off a 29-21 win over Kentucky where the Gators rallied to score 19 fourth-quarter points behind backup quarterback Kyle Trask, who replaced an injured Feleipe Franks.
“When you look at Florida this week, there’s a lot of familiarity with the coaching staff there,” Pruitt said. “I’ve coached against Dan (Mullen) for a long time and I’m very familiar with (Defensive Coordinator) Todd Grantham. (Linebackers Coach) Christian Robinson was a GA for us at Georgia. If you look at them, they’re very well-coached. To start with, offensively, they are replacing some guys up front, but they’re doing a really nice job. They probably lost their quarterback this past week, but the backup has come in there and done a really fine job, which would probably be expected from a guy who’s been in the program for a while, a lot of maturity. These guys have really good skill players from tight ends, to running backs, to wide receivers.”
UT enters its SEC East slate looking for the Vols’ first win over Florida in the Jeremy Pruitt era. Last week against Chattanooga, the Vols had four interceptions en route to a 45-0 win at Neyland.
“We got a good win and got five turnovers (Saturday), which was very important,” Pruitt said.
“We didn’t turn the ball over, which was probably the difference in the game. We created some opportunities in special teams. Those guys have done a really nice job of running the football against us and created some explosive plays there.”
With three of the Vols’ next four matchups against teams currently ranked in the AP Top-10, Pruitt’s plan for such a daunting task is to take it one week at a time.
“You just have to worry about the team that you’re playing,” Pruitt said. “You’re not playing all four of them at one time. We’re playing Florida this week. We’ll focus on Florida and then whoever is after that.”
The Vols will look to several freshmen to make plays in their first away game. Pruitt expects the young guys to stay disciplined in their first road test.
“It’s about execution,” Pruitt said. “Knowing what to do, how to do it, and why it’s important to do it that way, getting prepared throughout the week. You create the right habits during the week, and to me it’s fun going on the road. I like going on the road. You find out who you are. Everybody is against you. You see a little bit about your character. It’ll be good for us.”
Bituli Makes Return
The Vols active tackles leader Daniel Bituli made his season debut on Saturday against the Mocs after battling a knee injury at the end of Fall Camp. The senior collected a pair of tackles, a quarterback hit and a pass breakup.
Pruitt noted that Bituli’s expanded time in the program helped him ease back into action and run the defense.
“Daniel (Bituli) is guy that we have a lot of time invested in him, starting with last spring, two springs now, two fall camps, so you know when you come into a program and you spend that much time with guys to develop to get them ready to play and then they can’t play, there’s a difference,” Pruitt said. “Will Ignont doesn’t really play the money position, but he hadn’t played money for us, that’s why we moved Jeremy Banks over to create some more depth, but it’s obvious that he has some experience there playing, whether it was with us or before us. The game slows down a little bit and probably takes a little bit of pressure off the other guys as far as making calls and adjustments.”
Special Teams Shine
The Vols have been dominant in the special-teams phase through the first three weeks of the season.
Placekicker Brent Cimaglia has made all eight of his field-goal attempts this season to tie for the national lead and extend his streak to 10 consecutive field goals made, dating back to last fall. Paxton Brookshas kicked off 18 times, with 17 resulting in touchbacks. Brandon Johnson recovered a Tyler Byrd blocked punt in UT’s 45-0 win over Chattanooga, with Johnson returning it 24 yards for a touchdown. It marked the first time the Vols have returned a blocked punt for a touchdown since Marquill Osbornedid so against ETSU on Sept. 8, 2018.
Additionally, the Vols rank first in the SEC in punt return average (23.67) and fourth in kick return average (25.0) behind veteran returners Marquez Callaway and Ty Chandler. Tennessee also ranks second in the league in net punting average (49.3), third in punt return defense (1.00 yards allowed per return) and is the only team in the SEC that has not allowed any kick return yardage.
“Brent (Cimaglia) has done a nice job on field goals,” Pruitt said. “Riley (Lovingood) snapping and Joe (Doyle) holding, those three together have done a really nice job. Paxton (Brooks), except for kicking it out of bounds the other day, has had a touchback on every kick. Joe has punted every time except for one, Paxton punted one the other day. The guys have executed very well there, and we have to continue to do that because the guys back there receiving the balls are more and more capable of putting points on the scoreboard.”
Opening Statement:
“When you look at Florida this week, there’s a lot of familiarity with the coaching staff there. I’ve coached against Dan (Mullen) for a long time and I’m very familiar with Todd Grantham. Christian Robinson was a GA for us at Georgia. If you look at them, they’re very well-coached. To start with, offensively, they are replacing some guys up front, but they’re doing a really nice job. They probably lost their quarterback this past week, but the backup has come in there and done a really fine job, which would probably be expected from a guy who’s been in the program for a while, a lot of maturity. These guys have really good skill players from tight ends, to running backs, to wide receivers. They spread the ball around, they’ll hit you with RPOs. They’re really stubborn when it comes to running the football. They’ve always done a very nice job running the football and being creative in how they do it. Now they’ve got really good playmakers at wide receiver, so they can get the ball out there and they can hurt you with runs after the catch, screens, or throw the ball down the field. Defensively, Todd continues to do a really good job up front. They lead the country in sacks. They’re playing really well in the red area. It’s not surprising they have really good players at all three levels. They’ve got experience, they’ve got depth. When we look at them in the kicking game, Freddie Swain is a kick returner. With their punter, field goal kicker, and kickoff guy, probably is as good of a combination as anybody in the conference. They’ve got really good speed to play on teams, so we will definitely have our hands full.”
Credit: UT Athletics
On how different their offense is without Franks:
“They ran their offense: same plays, nothing different. They might’ve even executed better. Obviously, they scored more points there in a short period of time, but as a guy that competed for the quarterback job, [he’s] very talented and has experience.”
On the decision to start Kenneth George Jr., over Alontae Taylor against UTC:
“We’re just playing the guys who practice the best week in and week out. Kenneth practiced really good last week, and whoever practices the best this week will play this week.”
On what he plans to do to neutralize Florida’s pass rushers:
“The first thing is we need to be able to run the football. If you can run the football and stay ahead of the sticks a little bit so they can’t pin their ears back and go. We’ve got to be able to run the football. We’ve got the be creative probably with different things and protections. Whether we’re chipping or leaving a back in or something like that. We’ve got to be efficient offensively. We’ve got to get the ball out of our hand and know where we’re going with the ball and spread it around.”
On if DB Bryce Thompson will travel to Gainesville:
“I’ve not decided that.”
On Trey Smith and where he’s at:
“Trey’s playing really hard. We’ve altered practice a little bit to help his development—being really light on Mondays and Thursdays, and then on Tuesdays and Wednesdays he does not participate. Just like anybody that’s not getting to practice, he makes some mistakes out there, but the guy is playing hard and continues to improve each week.”
On his thoughts on the offensive linemen after watching film:
“We’re going to the right folks. We might not be taking the right path to get there so to speak. There are lots of things technically that we need to cleanup, but the positive is there are very few mental errors.”
On his evaluation of the defensive line and where he wants to see them:
“I think Aubrey Solomon has played really well. The rest of the guys—you can kind of put them in a group there—there’s not much difference in them. We’ve really got to continue to improve up front, and we will. Most of those guys have very little playing experience. If you look at them, a lot of the guys that we’re playing were not even here during the spring, so they are going to continue to improve, and they’ve got to improve to reestablish the line of scrimmage a little bit. We’ve got to be better at pass rush, and we’ve got to get more push up the middle. We’ve just got to continue to work hard at that position.”
On if going into the Florida game as underdogs gives the team a different mentality:
“Well, it didn’t help us those first two games, did it? So, I don’t think that has much barring on the game. We’ve got to go out there and play good football, clean football, play hard, play tough, be relentless, and play for four quarters. And, we’ve got to practice that and create the right habits during the week.”
On how he would evaluate the way that Darrell Taylor has played and how important it will be to get pressure off of him on the other side:
“I think Darrell can play better. Unfortunately, he had a little bit of an injury during fall camp that really has been going on since July, so he didn’t get to practice as much as we would have liked to have practiced him. But he’s getting healthier and healthier. He’s a guy that can be a really good player, and he needs to do that all the time. He’s improved every game, and I expect him to continue to do that.”
On how the team will game plan for Florida QB Kyle Trask:
“Well last year for them, at one time, it was close enough that there was a quarterback battle (between Trask and Franks), talking about who was going to be the starter, even into the season. So, this guy is plenty capable, we saw it the other night. They were very efficient in what they did. They didn’t really change much of who they are. The guy is plenty capable. He’s a big, strong guy that’s got a good arm and he’s physical in the run game.”
On what he thinks it will be like for the true freshmen playing on the road in Florida:
“It’s about execution. Knowing what to do, how to do it, and why it’s important to do it that way, getting prepared throughout the week. You create the right habits during the week, and to me it’s fun going on the road. I like going on the road. You find out who you are. Everybody is against you. You see a little bit about your character. It’ll be good for us.”
On how the team is going to lean on the experience playing Florida last year in preparation for this week:
“Well hopefully we learned a lesson that if you turn the ball over six times it’s hard to win. So, last year’s game will have no bearing on this year’s game. We’ll have a good plan. We got to get our guys ready to execute the plan, play the right way and do it for 60 minutes.”
On how the defense plays when LB Daniel Bituli is out there vs. when he isn’t:
“Daniel is guy that we have a lot of time invested in him, starting with last spring, two springs now, two fall camps, so you know when you come into a program and you spend that much time with guys to develop to get them ready to play and then they can’t play, there’s a difference. Will Ignont doesn’t really play the money position, but he hadn’t played money for us, that’s why we moved Jeremy Banks over to create some more depth, but it’s obvious that he has some experience there playing, whether it was with us or before us. The game slows down a little bit and probably takes a little bit of pressure off the other guys as far as making calls and adjustments.”
The biggest difference in Austin Pope this year and how important he has been to the run game and the protection on offense:
“Austin has kind of quietly done his job. He’s played really well through three games. We got to continue to get that productivity out of him. He’s a guy that has been in the program for two years and he kind of knows expectations, he’s willing and we just got to continue to get the same type of production.”
On Tennessee’s special teams so far this season:
“Brent (Cimaglia) has done a nice job on field goals. Riley (Lovingood) snapping and Joe (Doyle) holding, those three together have done a really nice job. Paxton (Brooks), except for kicking it out of bounds the other day, has had a touchback on every kick. Joe has punted every time except for one, Paxton punted one the other day. The guys have executed very well there, and we have to continue to do that because the guys back there receiving the balls are more and more capable of putting points on the scoreboard.”
On the upcoming stretch with three of four games against top 10 teams:
“You just have to worry about the team that you’re playing. You’re not playing all four of them at one time. We’re playing Florida this week. We’ll focus on Florida and then whoever is after that.”
On Dan Mullen’s coaching style at Mississippi State and Florida:
“Dan does what all good football coaches do. He figures out what he has. He’s done it a little bit differently over the last 10 years each year. To me, that’s what a good football coach does. He figures out who his playmakers are and what the best part of his offensive team is, and he focuses on that. They continue to do that.”
The Highwomen—Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby—reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with the release of their self-titled debut album.
The new album, which also reached No. 10 on the Billboard all-genre Top 200 chart, moved 34,000 equivalent units, according to Nielsen Music.
The Highwomen were joined by several guest musicians, vocalists and songwriters on the new album. The project features Sheryl Crow (background vocals, bass), Yola (vocals, background vocals), Dave Cobb (acoustic/electric guitar), Jason Isbell (acoustic/electric guitar), Phil Hanseroth (bass, background vocals), Tim Hanseroth (guitar, background vocals), Chris Powell (drums) and Peter Levin (piano and keyboards) with songs written by Carlile, Hemby, Morris, Shires, Isbell, the Hanseroth twins, Rodney Clawson, Lori McKenna, Miranda Lambert and Ray LaMontagne among many others.
“Anyone can be a Highwoman,” Carlile notes. “It’s about banding together, abandoning as much ego as humanly possible, holding one another up and amplifying other women every chance we get. Shoulder to shoulder. One push, one love.”
The supergroup’s name is a play on The Highwaymen—a supergroup that featured Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.
Craig Morgan shared his first new music in more than three years with the release of “The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost” in August.
The new tune, which Craig penned and produced, honors his late son, Jerry Greer, who passed away after a boating accident in July 2016 at the age of 19.
After Blake Shelton spearheaded a successful viral campaign to get the new tune to No. 1 on the all-genre iTunes Songs chart on Sept. 12, “The Father, My Son & the Holy Ghost” will be released to country radio as an official single on Oct. 7 with major-label support from Broken Bow Records, Craig’s label home for six years in the 2000s.
“I am truly humbled by the response to the song so far and to my friend Blake Shelton for what he has done to honor Jerry,” says Craig. “It’s incredible to reunite with the team at Broken Bow to share this song with radio and my hope is, it will be a help to those who need it most.”
Craig was signed to BBR Music Group from 2002 to 2008 where he delivered signature songs, including “Almost Home,” “International Harvester,” “Redneck Yacht Club,” “Tough” and “That’s What I Love About Sunday.”
George Strait will ship a new single, “The Weight of the Badge,” to country radio on Sept. 30.
Penned by George, Bubba Strait and Dean Dillon, “The Weight of the Badge” is featured on George’s 2019 album, Honky Tonk Time Machine.
The new tune finds George paying homage to law officers as he croons, “He swore that oath to protect and serve / Pours his heart and soul into both those words / Lays his life on the line / And the line he walks is razor fine / Tempered strength is always tough / But he ain’t gonna buckle under the weight of the badge.”
Taylor Swift will serve as a mentor during Season 17 of The Voice, which debuts on Sept. 23 on NBC with coaches Blake Shelton, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and Gwen Stefani.
As a mentor, Taylor will help the contestants on each team prepare for the Knockout Rounds, which pit teammates against each other in a loser-goes-home song performance. The Knockout Rounds are slated to begin in late October.
Blake and John shared the announcement in a video via Instagram that featured Taylor. Check it out below.
