Chris Young will follow up his Top 5 hit “Raised on Country” with the release of a touching new single, “Drowning.”
The new tune, which will be featured on Chris’ upcoming eighth studio album, Raised On Country, will impact country radio on Sept. 23.
Co-penned by Chris, Corey Crowder and Josh Hoge, “Drowning” was partly inspired by the death of Chris’ close friend, Adam, and features lyrics: “So tonight I’m gonna pull out pictures, ones with you in ’em / Laugh and cry a little while reminiscing / By myself, I can’t help that all I think about is / How you were taken way too soon / It ain’t the same here without you / I gotta say, missing you comes in waves / And tonight I’m drowning”
“I actually wrote this song with two of my really good friends, Corey Crowder and Josh Hoge,” says Chris. “All of us were writing to that hook, which Corey actually brought in that day, and we just all thought that it was an amazing idea and it was something that was gonna touch pretty much anybody that has ever lost anyone. I actually wrote it about a friend of mine, Adam, who passed away many years ago. It’s just a really, really special song to me and I hope it really touches a lot of people.”
Lil Nas X earned his first trophy at MTV’s Video Music Awards on Aug. 26 as his smash hit, “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, won Song of the Year.
The tune, which spent a record 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, bested hits from Drake, Ariana Grande, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
“This is my first award ever,” said Lil Nas X, as he accepted the moon man trophy onstage next to Billy Ray. “I want to say thank you to this man [Billy Ray] for helping me take my career to the next level.
“I never dreamed I’d be standing here tonight,” added Billy Ray “One time, Johnny Cash wrote me a letter, and in the letter, he said, ‘It’s good to be reminded where all goodness comes from: Almighty God.'”
“It’s that time of year again and I know everyone is excited. I know that we are as a football program. Talking to our staff this morning, there’s a lot of time and effort that you put in to prepare for your one guaranteed game. It’s the first game where you get to see the time you put in with your players in January, February, spring ball, summer conditioning and fall camp. To me, one of the most important things is that you have to enjoy it. I was thinking back today and told our staff about the first time I got a football helmet. It was in the back of a truck in Pisgah, Alabama. My dad was mowing the grass out on the football field and the guy pulled upon in the pickup truck and before you knew it I was out there in headgear and shoulder pads and didn’t have to sign any agreements or anything like that. I’m playing ball and out there doing ‘bull in the ring.’ That’s why these kids play the game, and lots of times we’re coaching them and telling them they have to do things this way or that way, but you think back to the purity of the game when you first started and that’s why we do play the game.
Credit: UT Athletics
“You look at our opponent this week in Georgia State, a team very similar to us. They have lots of players coming back on both sides of the ball. Shawn Elliott is a guy that I’ve coached against over the years when he was at South Carolina – he was a fantastic offensive line coach. When you watch this team play, you see the same things that I’ve always seen going against his offensive line. They’re tough, they’re smart, they play hard, they’re very well coached and they do lots of things on offense. Their quarterback is coming back and he was also the leading rusher last year, so they have a dual threat guy that can present some issues there. Tra Barnett, the running back, is a guy that has breakaway speed that can score at any point in time. They also have two of their leading wide receivers back. On defense, the leading tackler last year is back, Ed Curney. Up front, they have two guys that when you watch the tape, just stick out to me — No. 52 and No. 55, they’re all over the field. And they’re good in the back end as well. They have their specialists back, so it will be a tremendous challenge for us.
“I know for us to start with, everybody is always going to ask about Trey Smith. The plan has not changed with Trey. Our doctors and medical folks will continue to work hard to try and find a way to allow him the opportunity to play. He has had a chance to participate in a couple of practices this camp and we’ll just kind of stay the course there and it’ll really be a game time decision with that.
“Aubrey Solomon is another topic that always comes up, same thing there. We haven’t heard anything yet, and we’re going to continue to practice like he’s going to play. All our guys take a lot of reps in practice and we’re going to continue to do that to create some depth on both sides of the ball.
“One thing that coming into this camp we wanted to do was to create an identity of what we want the 2019 Tennessee football team to be, and Saturday is one of the first opportunities we get to do that. We’ve had a really good camp, we’ve had really good leadership out of our seniors and we have lots of new guys, lots of unknowns and that’s the excitement about college football. We have a lot of guys that came here because they felt like they had the opportunity to play early at a big-time program, and a lot of them have put themselves in position to do that, so we’re excited about Saturday and having an opportunity to get this thing going.”
On DB Bryce Thompson:
“I released a statement today, and that’s all we’re going to talk about for right now. We’re going to focus on this game and, for us, that’s what we can focus on.”
On the cornerbacks listed on the depth chart:
“We’ve worked a lot of different combinations in the secondary. Alontae Taylor has played star and corner, Warren Burrell has played corner, Shawn Shamburger has played star and corner. We’ve got a bunch of guys there. Kenney Solomon is another guy. We have a bunch of different combinations and we’ll continue to work those combinations. We’ll probably play all those guys. They all deserve to play, so we’ll probably play them all.”
On what he is looking to learn on Saturday:
“To me, one of the most important things is, when things are going good they have a little pep in their step when things are going the right way. Well, things don’t always go the right way. One of the most important things is how we’re going to handle adversity as a team. Do you have a penalty? Do you make a mistake? Do we have a second-and-12? Do we get behind? There’s a reason that it’s a 60-minute game, and its one play at a time, so I want to see how we handle adversity and how we respond. I think that’s a huge part of the maturity and growth from where we were a year ago.”
On Jerrod Means’ progress since switching to the secondary from receiver:
“It has probably not been talked about a lot, but Baylen Buchanan is not going to play right now. First of all, we are trying to create some depth in the secondary, so one of the first things you do is run 40s or whatever is out there, testing numbers. You need to be fast if you are going to play corner on our team and (Jerrod) is a fast guy. He is also a big guy. He didn’t play a lot in high school, but just talking to him, we asked him if he could help us for a year to provide some depth. He would obviously like to play wide receiver and he will do that one day here at Tennessee. He is a team guy. He has worked hard on what to do in the back end. He got a little banged up in camp and had a few days that he didn’t get to participate, but he has had a good camp and a great attitude. He is a guy that will play on special teams and a guy that I think has a bright future here at Tennessee.”
On if the star position is more difficult to play than corner and if he wants his best guy to cover star or corner:
“That is interesting. You probably get different type routes inside as opposed to outside. The star position plays much closer to the fray, so they have to be able to support the run. You want to have good blitzers there. So, it is a unique body, it needs to be physical enough to play the runs, but at the same time, on third-and-three (they) can guard the best athletes in the SEC. When you look there at corners, it is a little further away from the ball. The game has changed a little bit over the last couple years with all the perimeter stuff out there, so it is a little more physicality involved. But the main thing for me I look for in a corner is cover skills.”
On which backup quarterback would go in if Jarrett Guarantano couldn’t play:
“That is one of the places that we don’t have an answer yet. Nobody has really separated themselves from the other guys, so we have repped both guys with the twos and we will continue to do that. This might be a two-week deal, or it may be a six-week deal. You do have to decide on who to put in, so that is probably going to be dictated on who has performed the best this week until somebody has separated themselves there.”
On the growth of the defensive line:
“Those guys have really worked hard and improved from where they were at in spring ball to where they’re at today. It’s really been positive, and they’ve got to continue to do that every single week. We have, really, an inexperienced football team when you look at the two-deep or three-deep, so we’re going to continue to improve this season, and we’ve got to focus on that every day. We can’t take a day off. We’ve got to work hard to improve and we’ve got to be much better in week two then we were in week one, and each continuous week of the season. So, our defensive line, along with the rest of our team, has got to work hard to do that.”
On if it is confirmed that Maleik Gray is transferring:
“Right, Maleik has transferred.”
On why building relationships with players is important:
“It was probably around Christmas, like I said, when the season was over with – the first thing you do is you go back and you’ve got to look back and say, ‘Okay, what did we do really well? Where did we not do so good at?’ The first thing that I looked at is I looked in the mirror at myself. I’ve said this before, if you look at the teams that I’ve been a part of over the years, specifically the groups that I have coached, they play together, play with toughness, play smart, never quit, relentless, and it’s something that I’ve kind of prided myself in and the guys that have played. And, now, as you’re in charge of the entire team, what was the identity? Did we play that way the entire year? There was a point in time, in several games last year, where we were on the cusp of playing the right way. Did we sustain that? No, and if you look, we lost some games because of mental errors and we lost some games because of, to me, just the willingness to fight. Well, that all goes back to me, right? And, I know that’s last year and we’re moving forward, but a direct question for me is to me, that goes back to relationships, and I’ve said it before. The first six months here on the job, everything was focused on fixing the weight room, the training table, recruiting staff, whatever it is, setting up a foundation, and I missed the most important part, which is my favorite part, the players. So, I’m sitting there last night, and it’s like midnight, and my wife wakes me up and I’m like, ‘What do you want?’, and she goes, ‘Hey, I’m going to feed some guys this week, who do you want me to feed?’ So, it’s been just kind of continuous, just going throughout the season, just to build relationships, get to know guys, and have an influence on them.”
On first three games being at home:
“I’m worried about this week, but I know our players are excited. How can you not be excited when you get a chance to pull up in that bus for the Vol Walk, when there is standing room only. You feel the passion and the energy of the fan base when you run through the ‘T’ and there’s lots of guys on this team that will get to do this for the first time, so they will get to experience something that will stick with them for the rest of their life.”
On the key to being “clean” from a game management standpoint with a younger team:
“I think as a coaching staff, it starts with us as coaches, we have to be able to keep our poise. We are not going to be completely clean, nobody ever is. So, to me, having poise and having confidence you can rep it a bunch of times and you want to do it until you don’t get it wrong, so that’s what we’ve been working on.”
On how many freshmen he anticipates playing and if Daniel Bituli will be ready:
“I think Daniel will be pushing for him to be ready this week. He’s not going to be able to practice today. He’s right there but we’ll make sure we do what’s in the best interest of him. As far as freshmen playing, I don’t know I haven’t looked.”
On how many mistakes will be accepted for the younger guys:
“I think us as coaches, we are always looking for the perfect game. The number one maxim is the team who makes the fewest mistakes will win. So, first what you got to do is don’t beat yourself, so I don’t think you sit there and say, ‘hey, we tolerate mistakes’, but they happen, so when they happen you got to be able to keep your poise and minimize them and learn from them and don’t let them happen again.”
On if the unknowns of the first game are exciting:
“When you have turnover in coaching staffs (you wonder) are you going to get what they did at this last school or are you going to get kind of what they were before? So, there are lots of unknowns. We’re going to be simple on both sides of the ball and give our kids a chance to play fast and try to win each play in itself. We have goals offensively for every play and defensively, so we are going to take it one play at a time and play together and have fun while we’re doing it.”
Luke Combs will try to score his seventh consecutive No. 1 single with the release of “Even Though I’m Leaving,” which will impact country radio on Sept. 9.
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 is first country artist in history whose first six singles have reached No. 1: “Hurricane,” “When It Rains It Pours,” “One Number Away,” “She Got the Best of Me,” “Beautiful Crazy” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” Luke recently made history as the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboard country charts for multiple weeks: Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales.
Eric Church will follow up his recent No. 1 hit, “Some of It,” with the release of his new single, “Monsters.”
Penned by Eric and Jeff Hyde, “Monsters” is the third single from Eric’s 2018 album, Desperate Man, following the aforementioned “Some of It” and the title track.
The chilling new tune features the chorus: “Anymore when a restless feelin’ keeps me up at night / Fallin’ on my knees is my new turnin’ on the light / I keep my faith intact and make sure my prayers are said / ’Cause I’ve learned that the monsters ain’t the ones beneath the bed.”
Brad Paisley and wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley have teamed with Belmont University and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to open The Store—a free grocery store—in Nashville.
The Store will receive a $1.5 million 2Gen Family Wellbeing Program grant from the Department of Human Services. The grant will also support the Belmont Ministry Center, which opened last year to assist low income families with health screenings, legal aid clinics, mental health counseling and more.
The Store, which broke ground in April, will operate as a year-round free grocery store that allows people to shop for their basic needs. Clients will be given the opportunity to come to The Store for a one-year period. There is no charge to those referred or to the people and agencies that send them. They may shop for food to supplement their income during times of crisis and as they work toward self-sufficiency.
Brad and Kimberly were inspired to get involved in the Nashville project after volunteering at a similar organization, Unity Shoppe, in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Store, which is located at 2005 12th Ave. S. next to Belmont University’s Ministry Center, hopes to serve 3,000 people per year. It is expected to open in early 2020.
Belmont administrators and members of The Store Board celebrated the grant announcement with Tennessee Department of Human Services Commissioner Danielle W. Barnes.https://t.co/WI6b2RmjkLpic.twitter.com/PcNpD2TwuH
Our Cumulus Broadcasting Knoxville sports department staff was there as Vols head football coach Jeremy Pruitt held his Georgia State week Monday press conference. Watch that below.
Vols HC Jeremy Pruitt / Credit: 99.1 The Sports Animal
The 2019 Americana Honors & Awards show—the centerpiece of AmericanaFest—announced the performers for its ceremony on Sept. 11 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium: Jade Bird, Brandi Carlile, Elvis Costello, Mark Erelli, Rhiannon Giddens, I’m With Her, Ruston Kelly, Delbert McClinton, Lori McKenna, Maria Muldaur, John Prine, J.S. Ondara, Our Native Daughters, Erin Rae, Amanda Shires, Mavis Staples, The War and Treaty and Yola.
In addition, The Milk Carton Kids will once again be on hand to host and Buddy Miller will return as musical director for the 18th annual Americana Honors & Awards ceremony.
Honorees for the evening include:
Felice & Boudleaux Bryant (posthumously): President’s Award
Elvis Costello: Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting
Delbert McClinton: Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance
Maria Muldaur: Americana Trailblazer Award
Frank Johnson (posthumously) and Rhiannon Giddens: Legacy of Americana Award
Mavis Staples: career recognition
Nashville’s 2019 AmericanaFest (Sept. 10–15) will feature approximately 500 performances from more than 250 artists at more than 50 venues, including Brandy Clark, Tanya Tucker, Corb Lund, Jack Ingram, Lori McKenna, Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, Quaker City Night Hawks, Shinyribs, Aubrie Sellers, Maggie Rose, Micky & the Motorcars, Foy Vance, Brent Cobb, Shawn Colbin, Drivin N Cryin, Andrew Combs and more.
Check out the full list of nominees from the 2019 Americana Awards on Sept. 11.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
“To the Sunset,” Amanda Shires, Produced by Dave Cobb
“The Tree,” Lori McKenna, Produced by Dave Cobb
“The Tree of Forgiveness,” John Prine, Produced by Dave Cobb
“Walk Through Fire,” Yola, Produced by Dan Auerbach
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Brandi Carlile
Rhiannon Giddens
Kacey Musgraves
Mavis Staples
DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR
I’m With Her
Our Native Daughters
Tedeschi Trucks Band
The War and Treaty
EMERGING ACT OF THE YEAR
Jade Bird
J.S. Ondara
Erin Rae
The War and Treaty
Yola
INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Chris Eldridge
Eamon McLoughlin
Chris Powell
Michael Rinne
SONG OF THE YEAR
“By Degrees,” Mark Erelli, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Lori McKenna, Anais Mitchell & Josh Ritter, Written by Mark Erelli
“Mockingbird,” Ruston Kelly, Written by Ruston Kelly
“People Get Old,” Lori McKenna, Written by Lori McKenna
“Summer’s End,” John Prine, Written by Pat McLaughlin and John Prine
Jason Aldean scored his 23rd No. 1 single as “Rearview Town” ascended to No. 1 on both the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Mediabase chart this week.
“Rearview Town,” which was penned by Kelley Lovelace, Bobby Pinson and Neil Thrasher, is the title track to Jason’s 2018 No. 1 album, which has spawned three additional No. 1 hits: “You Make It Easy,” “Drowns the Whiskey” and “Girl Like You.”
“Rearview Town” is Jason’s 20th No. 1 single on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, which puts him in sixth place on the all-time list.
“Sometimes you have to let go of the things behind you, that have held you down and look forward,” says Jason. “That’s this song to me, and I think a lot of my people have been there in their lives too.”
Lauren Alaina has rescheduled her headlining That Girl Was Me Tour to make time for her upcoming appearance on Season 28 of Dancing With the Stars.
Originally scheduled to kick off on Sept. 14 and run through Oct. 25, That Girl Was Me Tour will now begin on Jan. 15 in Nashville and make additional stops in New York, Boston, Atlanta and more. Fillmore will serve as support.
Dancing With the Stars premieres on Sept. 16 on ABC, featuring Hannah Brown, Karamo Brown, Mary Wilson, Lamar Odom, James Van Der Beek, Ally Brooke, Kate Flannery, Sean Spicer, Kel Mitchell, Christie Brinkley and Ray Lewis.
