Dolly Parton will return to TV screens this winter in a new Hallmark movie, Christmas at Dollywood.
The upcoming flick, which stars Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years), will begin filming in Tennessee in August, according to Entertainment Tonight. Dolly will make a special appearance in the film, which is slated to be released in December as part of Hallmark’s 10th Countdown to Christmas campaign.
The movie stars Danica as Rachel, a single mom and Broadway producer who returns to her hometown roots—after suffering financial difficulty—to co-helm a production at Dollywood with its entertainment director, Luke. It’s likely the duo will clash before discovering love.
“As the pair meets in the middle to please the boss, little do Rachel and Luke realize love lurks in all the unexpected places because this isn’t the Great White Way. Or Hollywood. This is Dollywood!” reads the official logline.
After releasing his six-song EP, Patient, in October 2018, Levi Hummon, 28, roared into 2019 with a spot on Hunter Hayes’ Closer to You Tour and a new single, “Night Lights,” which was featured on Spotify’s Hot Country Playlist.
Now, the Nashville native—and son of heavyweight songwriter Marcus Hummon (“Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Bless the Broken Road”)—is keeping his creative juices flowing with the release of a new single, “Drop of Us,” which he co-penned with Eric Arjes and Jimmy Robbins.
“I knew the second we started playing ‘Drop of Us’ live that it was a special song,” says Levi to NCD. “You could feel the energy change in the room and watch fans singalong by the third chorus. I can’t wait for this song to be out in the world—and take it on the road this summer and fall.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Senior linebacker Daniel Bituli, redshirt junior quarterback Jarrett Guarantano and redshirt senior outside linebacker Darrell Taylor will join Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt as the Vols’ representatives at SEC Media Days this Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala.
Tennessee will make the media rounds in the afternoon at the Wynfrey Hotel. ESPN and the SEC Network will have live coverage of the four-day event, which begins on Monday, while Tennessee football’s official social media accounts (@Vol_Football on twitter and instagram) will provide updates during Tennessee’s media session.
Tennessee’s trio of players will be making their first appearance at SEC Media Days. However, they are all well-known to Vol fans and the SEC as returning starters.
Bituli led Tennessee in tackles (79) for the second straight season from his inside linebacker position in 2018. A native of the Congo, he also totaled 6.5 tackles for loss last fall. For his career, he has notched 178 total stops, 9.5 TFLs and one interception over 33 games. Bituli had 23 tackles in the 2017 season-opener – the most tackles by a Power 5 player in a single-game that season.
Guarantano started all 12 games at quarterback in 2018, passing for 1,907 yards and 12 touchdowns with just three interceptions. The Lodi, N.J., native broke the school record for consecutive passes without an interception (166). He was named SEC Player of the Week and National Player of the Week by several organizations following his 328-yard, two-touchdown performance in UT’s 30-24 upset at No. 21 Auburn. Guarantano was recently called an “under-the-radar” player for 2019 by ESPN after he was one of the nation’s top signal-callers in the face of a pass rush in 2018. He completed 57 percent of his passes at nine yards per attempt when under pressure according to ESPN.
Taylor’s eight sacks in 2018 are the most of any returning player in the SEC. The Waverly, Va., native added 11.0 tackles for loss and 36 total stops as an outside linebacker. Taylor was one of only two Power 5 players to notch two three-sack games in 2018. He had a three-sack game at No. 2 Georgia, adding a pair of forced fumbles against the Bulldogs. Additionally, Taylor notched four sacks in the 24-7 upset win over No. 11 Kentucky, becoming just the third Vol with four sacks in a game all-time. He was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week and won several national defensive awards following his performance against the Wildcats.
The Tennessee Volunteer football team kicks off year two of the Jeremy Pruitt era at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 when Georgia State comes to Neyland Stadium. For more information on tickets for the 2019 season, including the Vol Pass, visit AllVols.com.
With that kind of earning power, don’t let your parents talk you out of pursuing your country music dreams—or any kind of music for that matter. Taylor Swift topped the list with $185 million, while Kanye West (#3, $150 million), Ed Sheeran (#5, $110 million) and The Eagles (#8, $100 million) rounded out the Top 10.
Luke, the top earner in the country genre, raked in the majority of his income via his headlining What Makes You Country Tour—which routinely grossed seven figures nighty—as well as his role as a judge on American Idol and his endorsement deal with Chevy.
ZBB netted most of its $38.5 million from its touring schedule, grossing roughly $1 million per stop.
Over the course of his 16-year career, Dierks Bentley has accumulated enough hardware to fill more than a few trophy cases, including 18 No. 1 singles, eight No. 1 albums, two platinum albums, four platinum singles, five gold albums, nine gold singles, three CMA Awards, five ACM Awards and more.
The 43-year-old Arizona native is showing no signs of slowing down, either. Dierks’ current single, “Living,” cracked the Top 20 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart this week as it continues its ascent. Dierks has also accrued a cache of meaningful gifts from fans—and his three kids are always giving daddy presents that “bring him joy.”
As the awards, accolades and gifts continue to funnel in, Dierks told Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown that he had to figure out a way to tidy up his house that was “bursting at the seams.”
photo by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com
“You know who I’ve become a big fan of—I hate to even admit this because a lot of guys out there are probably gonna give me some grief—but there’s this Japanese [organizing consultant and author] Marie Kondo,” says Dierks. “She’s all about [getting rid] of clutter and tidying up. I’ve gathered so much stuff. Every night, I get slipped . . . like this bracelet I’m wearing right now in honor of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots. I get coins from military guys. I get paintings that a nine-year-old painted of my dog that passed away. I gather so much stuff, you know? And, it all comes back into my house. It’s like a ship that is just bursting at the seams.”
One of Marie Kondo’s popular tenets is to throw out or donate items that don’t “spark joy.” It’s a tenet that Dierks has adopted.
“So you’ve gotta go through things, and just figure out what’s bringing you joy, what’s sparking joy, and what’s not,” says Dierks. “For me, you know, seeing a gold record with my name on it, it doesn’t spark the same joy as it did for me as when I first got one, and I’d rather see, honestly, like a drawing that my five-year-old made. That has more value to me right now. It has nothing to do with not being grateful. It’s just recognizing what brings you joy, and it’s just the little interactions with people. This bracelet that someone gave me, a fan gave me, that means more to me than a plaque would mean to me.”
Blake Shelton scored the 26th No. 1 single of his career as “God’s Country” ascended to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart this week.
Blake’s new chart-topper puts him in a tie with George Strait (26) and Alan Jackson (26) at No. 3 on the all-time list for most No. 1 singles on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, which was launched in 1990. Now, Blake trails only Tim McGraw (29) and Kenny Chesney (30) on the all-time list.
The battle for the No. 1 spot on the all-time list appears to be a three-man race for the next few years.
Currently, Tim McGraw’s single, “Thought About You,” is No. 20 on the chart after 23 weeks, while Blake’s new duet with Garth Brooks, “Dive Bar,” is No. 24 after three weeks. Blake will probably drop a new solo single soon. Kenny Chesney will release his new single, “Tip of My Tongue,” on July 12.
photo credit: George Strait by Kirkland/AFF-USA.com; Blake Shelton by NCD
Luke Bryan announced the lineup for his 11th annual Farm Tour: Cole Swindell, Mitchell Tenpenny, DJ Rock and the Peach Pickers (3 dates).
The tour will make six stops at farms in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas (X2) and Oklahoma between Sept. 26–Oct. 5.
Over the years, Luke has awarded more than 60 college scholarships to local students from farming families within the communities the tour has played.
“The idea behind this tour is to bring full production concerts to small towns that would not see larger scale shows,” says Luke. “Growing up in rural Georgia we had to drive to larger cities to see concerts. It is so exciting to watch each of these shows being built like a small city in itself in the empty pasture land of these farms. We can feel the pride from the people in these towns as well as the farmers and it takes everyone coming together to pull them off!”
Tickets for the this year’s Farm Tour are on sale now.
Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2019
Sept. 26 | Marshall, WI | Statz Bros. Farm
Sept. 27 | Richland, MI | Stafford Farms
Sept. 28 | Pleasantville, OH | Miller Family Farms
Oct. 3 | Louisburg, KS | MC Farms*
Oct. 4 | Douglass, KS | Flying B Ranch*
Oct. 5 | Norman, OK | Adkins Farm*
Since suffering a stroke in May 2017, Loretta Lynn, 87, has only made a handful of public appearances, but she stepped out on July 5 to attend Ray Stevens’ show at his Nashville theater, CabaRay—and she looked great.
Ray hosted Loretta and her group at his VIP booth, where they dined and watched the newest electee of the Country Music Hall of Fame perform. Ray made sure the audience knew they were in the presence of country music royalty by introducing Loretta to the crowd before his show.
“There are queens and first ladies of country music, but there’s only one Coal Miner’s Daughter,” said Ray. “Bless you, Loretta. You are a treasure!”
“It was a huge treat for me to go to Ray Stevens’ show at CabaRay this past weekend,” says Loretta. “He kept me laughing the whole time. He’s such a wonderful entertainer. I am so happy that he’ll be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this year.”
Watch the CabaRay crowd give Loretta a rousing ovation below.
Morgan Wallen will follow up his bourbon-soaked, back-to-back No. 1 singles, “Up Down” and “Whiskey Glasses,” with the release of new single, “Chasin’ You,” on July 29.
Penned by Morgan, Jaime Moore and Craig Wiseman, “Chasin’ You” is featured on Morgan’s 2018 debut album, If I Know Me. The new tune showcases Morgan’s smoldering vocals as he pines for a relationship that fell apart when his girl moved West to pursue her dreams.
“This album is a celebration of music, because that’s kinda where I’m at in life right now,” says 25-year-old Morgan to NCD. “But the one that I co-wrote, ‘Chasin’ You,’ is a little more serious—it’s about looking back.”
If you weren’t lucky enough to be one of the 80,000-plus fans who descend on Nashville during each day of CMA Fest this year, Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini have you covered.
Kelsea and TR will once again co-host an upcoming three-hour television special on ABC that features 2019 CMA Fest performances from more than two dozen artists. Filmed during Nashville’s annual CMA Fest on June 6-9, the television special will include more than 30 of country music’s biggest names as they hit the stage during the four-day event, including Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Janson, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Midland, Old Dominion, Pistol Annies, Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett and Brett Young.
The TV special will also feature collaborations between Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus and Keith Urban; Kelsea Ballerini and The Chainsmokers; Brothers Osborne, Brooks & Dunn and Ashley McBryde; Brantley Gilbert and Lindsay Ell; Tim McGraw and Luke Combs; Maren Morris and Brandi Carlile; and Carrie Underwood and Joan Jett.
2019 marks Thomas Rhett’s fourth year co-hosting the event, while Kelsea returns for a third year. The TV special will air on Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. CT on ABC.
![Levi Hummon Drops Energetic New Single, “Drop Of Us” [Exclusive Premiere: Listen]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/602/2019/07/11104118/Levi-Hummon-CH.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
![Loretta Lynn Looking Great During Rare Public Appearance in Nashville [Watch]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/602/2019/07/09111950/Loretta-Lynn-Ray-Stevens-Hayden-Oothout.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
![Morgan Wallen to Release Smoldering New Single, “Chasin’ You” [Listen]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/602/2019/07/09104654/Morgan-Walln-TA1.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
