The Country Music Association is headed Down Under in 2019 with an international showcase featuring Brandy Clark, Devin Dawson, Lindsay Ell and Tenille Townes.
The six-date tour, dubbed Introducing Nashville, will visit Australia for five dates and New Zealand for one date.
As part of CMA’s mission to support the expansion of country music around the globe, Introducing Nashville will provide a platform to introduce exciting current artists to international audiences for the first time. Each tour stop will replicate a Nashville writer’s round, with artists appearing onstage together in an acoustic lineup to introduce their songs and talks about their careers and personal stories.
Tickets are on sale now. In addition, Frankie Ballard will headline a soon-to-be-announced date in Japan for the Introducing Nashville series.
Introducing Nashville 2019
March 18 | Lismore, Australia | Lismore City Hall
March 19 | Brisbane, Australia | The Old Museum
March 21 | Sydney, Australia | The Factory Theatre
March 22 | Canberra, Australia | The Abbey
March 23 | Melbourne, Australia | Athenaeum Theatre
March 26 | Auckland, New Zealand | Tuning Fork (Tenille Townes will not perform)
Brett Eldredge is relishing his “crazy” Christmas persona.
Over the weekend, Brett capped his five-date Glow Live Tour with two shows in Nashville on Dec. 14 and 15. The tour was created in conjunction with the October release of the deluxe version of his 2016 holiday album, Glow.
Glow Deluxe features 13 songs from the original album (Target Exclusive) with five new tracks, including “Do You Hear What I Hear,” “Silver Bells,” “Sleigh Ride,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas and “Christmas Time Is Here,” all of which were recorded at Sear Sound in New York City.
“I always just wanted to make a really special record and see whatever [would] happen with it, and then, it all of a sudden went crazy,” says Brett. “People went crazy for it, so I was like, ‘Okay, we’ve got a whole other thing here I can do every Christmas.’ I love Christmas music so much, so I [started] a tour this year for it in Chicago, New York, Ontario and Nashville, so next year, I’ll probably do an even bigger one. It’s just a new thing for me and I love it.”
If you need more of Brett’s Christmas persona, he’s teamed with Amazon to share entries from his gratitude journal each day from Dec. 15–25. Just say, “Hey Alexa, ask Brett Eldredge’s Christmas Countdown what he’s thankful for.”
Eric Church will follow the July release of his lead single/title track, “Desperate Man,” from his sixth studio album by shipping a new single, “Some of It,” to country radio on Jan. 14.
Co-penned by Eric, Jeff Hyde, Clint Daniels and Bobby Pinson, “Some of It” finds Eric dispensing “some” fatherly advice, including the chorus: “Some of it you learn the hard way / Some of it you read on a page / Some of it comes from heartbreak / Most of it comes with age / And none of it ever comes easy / A bunch of it you maybe can’t use / I know I don’t probably know what I think I do / But there’s something to some of it.”
Desperate Man debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in October, while the title track peaked at No. 13 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
For the second consecutive week, Tennessee senior Admiral Schofield has earned SEC Player of the Week recognition. He does not share the honor this time, however, as his first double-double of the season set him apart from all his peers.
Schofield totaled 29 points and 11 rebounds to power the Volunteers to a 102-92 victory at Memphis Saturday. In front of a sellout FedExForum crowd, he shot .667 from the field, connected on four of eight 3-point attempts and made all nine of his free-throw attempts. The victory also marked the second consecutive game in which Schofield scored more than 20 points in the second half.
Schofield—who dropped 30 points in UT’s Dec. 9 victory over then-top-ranked Gonzaga—became the first Vol to post score at least 25 points in consecutive games since 2016. The Zion, Illinois, native has scored at least 20 points in five of Tennessee’s last six outings.
A 6-6, 241-pound force who impacts games on both ends of the floor, Schofield’s 19.1 points per game rank second in the SEC (behind teammate Grant Williams, who averages 19.8 ppg), and his .426 shooting percentage from 3-point range ranks seventh in the SEC.
Schofield has made multiple 3-point shots in six straight games, with 20 makes during that span. His 23 treys this season lead the Vols and rank fifth in the conference.
This is the fifth SEC weekly honor of Schofield’s career. He earned Freshman of the Week acclaim on Jan. 11, 2016, and he was named Co-Player of the Week twice last season before sharing last week’s POW award as well.
Schofield and the Vols return to action Wednesday night when they host Samford at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Alabama will celebrate a half-century of making music with their upcoming 50th Anniversary Tour in 2019. The 27-date tour will kick off in Detroit on Jan. 10, making additional stops in New Orleans, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and more. Additional dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Alabama’s Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook formed the band in 1969 when the cousins journeyed to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to play at a bar called The Bowery.
“We never thought playing for tips at The Bowery in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, that 50 years later we would still playing arenas, stadiums and festivals,” says Randy. “Teddy, Jeff and I are humbled at the amount of fans that are coming out to see us. We are finding out that we are playing to three generations of fans who have followed us and our music from day one. The fans are the ones responsible for our continued success on the road and we love them.”
The Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Oak Ridge Boys, Restless Heart, Chris Janson, Tracy Lawrence and Exile will join Alabama on select dates.
Alabama 50th Anniversary Tour
Jan. 10 | Detroit, MI | The Fox Theatre (w/ Chris Janson)
Jan. 11 | Indianapolis, IN | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (w/ Restless Heart)
Jan. 19 | Atlantic City, NJ | Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
Jan. 20 | Albany, NY | Times Union Center (w/ Exile)
Feb 14 | San Antonio, TX | San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo
Feb 15 | New Orleans, LA | Smoothie King Center (w/ Tracy Lawrence)
Feb 28 | Plant City, FL | Florida Strawberry Festival
March 1 | St. Augustine, FL | The St. Augustine Amphitheatre
March 14 | Salem, VA | Salem Civic Center (w/ The Oak Ridge Boys)
March 15 | Pittsburgh, PA | PPG Paints Arena (w/ Tracy Lawrence)
March 22 | Springfield, MO | JQH Arena (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
March 23 | North Little Rock, AR | Verizon Arena (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
April 5 | Greensboro, NC | Greensboro Coliseum (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
April 6 | Charlottesville, VA | John Paul Jones Arena (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
April 12 | Wilkes-Barre, PA | Mohegan Sun Arena (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
April 13 | Hartford, CT | XL Center (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
April 26 | Providence, RI | Dunkin’ Donuts Center (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
April 27 | State College, PA | Bryce Jordan Center (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
May 31 | Cedar Rapids, IA | U.S. Cellular Center
June 1 | La Cygne, KS | Tumbleweed
June 6 | Myrtle Beach, SC | Carolina Country Music Festival
June 7 | Macon, GA | Macon Centreplex Coliseum (w/ The Marshall Tucker Band)
June 13 -16 | Grand Junction, CO | Country Jam (performance date TBA)
June 15 | Salt Lake City, UT | Maverik Center
June 26 | Minneapolis, MN | Target Center (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
’Tis the season for giving . . . and Blake Shelton is giving back to his home state in a major way by helping establish the Blake Shelton Cancer Research Program at Oklahoma University’s Children’s Hospital.
Blake created the program in honor of his infant cousin, who underwent cancer treatment at the hospital’s Jimmy Everest Center when she was five months old. The center is Oklahoma’s only full-service children’s cancer program. After two blood transfusions, surgery and three rounds of chemotherapy, Blake’s cousin is getting ready to celebrate her third birthday in January.
In 2016, Blake donated $600,000 to the Jimmy Everest Center during a concert stop in Oklahoma City on Sept. 10. Blake brought his young cousin onstage and told the fans in attendance about her battle with cancer.
“This time last year, we had a scare,” said Blake. “And, we didn’t know what was going going to happen. And, you can see that she’s here right now . . . [Jimmy Everest Children’s Hospital doesn’t] turn any kids away. You come in there, you have a problem, they don’t turn anybody away, so I thought ‘That’s a place that needs some money. Let’s all do the right thing.’ This is our money, Oklahoma.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In one of women’s basketball’s classic rivalries, No. 9/9 Tennessee (8-0) and No. 11/11 Stanford (7-1) face off Tuesday in the 36th meeting between these storied programs. Tip-off is slated for 6:02 p.m. ET at Thompson-Boling Arena, with the game available on the SEC Network and the Lady Vol Radio Network.
The Lady Vols will have gone eight complete days between games, entering with the momentum of an 88-82 victory over No. 12/12 Texas in Austin on Dec. 9. Stanford, meanwhile, comes to Knoxville after a 68-63 home win over No. 3/4 Baylor on Saturday. The Cardinal bounced back in strong fashion after falling at Gonzaga, 79-73, on Nov. 25.
UT has won two straight in the series and three of the past four, giving Holly Warlick a 3-3 record against one of college basketball’s coaching giants.
Tennessee’s Lou Brown (out for season/knee injury) and Stanford’s Alanna Smith both hail from Melbourne, Australia. The duo played against one another while Brown was in the Pac-12 at Washington State before becoming a graduate transfer to UT. The Lady Vols’ Kasiyahna Kushkituah and the Cardinal’s Maya Dodson were high school teammates at St. Francis High School in suburban Atlanta, Ga.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Pam Ward (play-by-play) and Carolyn Peck (analyst) will describe the action for the SEC Network.
Mickey Dearstone is handling the call for IMG College/Lady Vol Network radio/online broadcasts for the 20th season. A link to the live audio stream can be found on each game’s Hoops Central page or the Lady Vol schedule on UTSports.com.
Air time for games on the Lady Vol Radio Network generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
For UT home games (after football season has concluded), the Lady Vol Network has a low-power transmitter that makes the game available on the radio at 99.3 FM.
GAME PROMOTIONS
Tuesday night is designated as an ORANGE OUT game! Wear your best Tennessee Orange!
The UT-Stanford contest will feature a $2 Tuesday promotion, with $2 Petros OR $2 drinks. Fans must get a voucher at participating concession stands inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
There will be $2 off any TeamShop purchase at the Arena on game day. No voucher necessary. $5 minimum purchase required.
Halftime performance by The Knoxville Pipes & Drums.
Kids 12 & younger can pick up a wristband at the Fan HQ table on the concourse to participate in the pregame high-five tunnel. Wristbands are limited. To purchase discount group tickets and reserve wristbands for your team, call 865-946-7000.
It’s the Twelve Names of Volidays! This game features the second and third names of Volidays! If your name is Carol or Jack, receive a complimentary ticket to the game at the ticket window with ID.
Help us Spark the Summitt during introductions at the game! Download our free light-up app, courtesy of Coca-Cola. Once downloaded, simply open your Hoops Hype app when the lights go out, and let your phone do the rest.
Tickets are available for as low as $10 at AllVols.com.
There will be free parking & shuttle service available from UT’s Ag Campus. Shuttles begin two hours prior to tip-off.
UT-STANFORD SERIES NOTES
This is the 36th all-time meeting between these programs, and the Lady Vols own a 25-10 record vs. the Cardinal in a series that dates back to Dec. 18, 1988.
This will mark the 32nd time these teams have played when both schools are ranked in the top 15 of at least one of the polls.
There have been 14 occasions when both programs were ranked in the top five of either the AP or coaches polls and 25 top-10 match-ups, pending the teams’ Dec. 17 and 18 poll positions.
Tennessee is 13-2 in Knoxville vs. Stanford, 6-0 at neutral sites and 6-8 at Maples Pavilion.
One of those neutral site wins for Tennessee, came in the Lady Vols’ run to NCAA Championship trophy number eight, when the Lady Vols defeated Stanford, 64-48, on April 8, 2008, in Tampa, Fla.
The programs have combined for 10 National Championships (UT 8, SU 2), 31 NCAA Final Fours (UT 18, SU 13) and 2,419 victories (UT 1,352, SU 1,067).
The Lady Vols have won two straight in the series and three of the past four meetings.
Last season, the Lady Vols defeated Stanford, 83-71, on Dec. 21, 2017, for UT’s first victory at Maples Pavilion since a 74-67 win on Dec. 4, 2005.
In the last meeting in Knoxville, an unranked UT squad toppled a No. 10 Cardinal club, 59-51, on Dec. 18, 2016.
Tennessee won 11 games in a row over their West Coast foes from 1997-2006, but the series has been even (6-6) since then, with UT posting a 4-1 mark in Knoxville during that time.
UT and SU have needed overtime to settle scores in six contests, with the club from Rocky Top holding a 4-2 record. Tennessee is 2-0 in OT games played in Knoxville, 1-2 at Stanford and 1-0 at neutral sites.
UT is 68-20 all-time vs. schools currently in the Pac-12 Conference, forging a 1-1 record in 2017-18 with a road win over Stanford and a home loss to Oregon State in the NCAA Tournament.
ABOUT THE LADY VOLS
CONSECUTIVE 20S: Point guard Evina Westbrook has scored 20+ points in three straight games, the most by a Lady Vol since Diamond DeShields put together three in a row in 2016-17. The only other Warlick-era players to drop three 20s in a row were Meighan Simmons twice in 2013-14 and Isabelle Harrison once that season. The last UT player to produce four in a row was Candace Parker during the first four games of 2007-08.
LET IT FLY, M3M3?!:Meme Jackson had herself a day at Texas on Dec. 9, firing in a career-high 33 points and helping key a UT victory. She leads the Lady Vols with 18 three-pointers after knocking down a season-best-tying four vs. the Longhorns.
LONDON CALLING: Cheridene “London” Green is gaining confidence with each outing. The redshirt senior had five double-figure scoring efforts all last season and already has four in eight games this year.
FACING RANKED FOES: Tennessee is 42-35 vs. ranked foes during the Holly Warlick era, including 20-10 at home. UT was 7-6 vs. ranked teams in 2017-18, including a win at Stanford.
WINNING BOARD BATTLES: UT has out-rebounded all of its foes except a taller Texas team, which held a 41-35 advantage with Lady Vol Kasi Kushkituah out due to injury.
REBOUNDING RANKINGS: Tennessee ranks No. 7 nationally in reb. margin (13.3), No. 13 in rebs. per game (45.8) and No. 14 in off. rebs. per game (17).
MATCH-UP ON THE GLASS: As noted, the Lady Vols rank as a strong rebounding team. Stanford is solid as well, ranking No. 10 in rebound margin per game at 12.4.
A GAME OF KEEP AWAY: UT ranks No. 26 in turnovers forced (22.5) and No. 28 in steals (12.0) per game, while Stanford is No. 5 in fewest turnovers (13.3) and has allowed only 6.4 steals per contest (no rank).
TENNESSEE’S LAST GAME
Senior Meme Jackson fired in a career-high 33 points to lift the No. 9/9 Lady Vols to an 88-82 victory over No. 12/12 Texas at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin on Dec. 9.
Sophomore Evina Westbrook posted 23 points for her third straight 20+ point performance. Cheridene Green was also in double figures for Tennessee (8-0), adding 10 points and six rebounds.
Texas (7-2) was led in scoring by Audrey Warren with 21 points. Danni Williams, Destiny Littleton and Sug Sutton were also in double digits for the Longhorns with 14, 13 and 11, respectively.
In the 40th meeting between the two teams, the win moved Tennessee’s record to 25-15 all-time against Texas and 4-3 under Holly Warlick. UT has won the last two meetings.
ABOUT THE CARDINAL
Stanford is the No. 6 all-time winningest women’s college basketball program and is directed by one of the game’s all-time greatest coaches in Tara VanDerveer.
VanDerveer owns an 891-192 record in her 33rd season at the helm of the Cardinal and is 1,043-243 in 40 seasons as a head coach.
Stanford returned 12 letterwinners from a year ago, including three players who were starters the majority of the season (Alanna Smith, Kiana Williams and Marta Sniezek).
Stanford overcome a 6-6 start to finish 24-11 overall last season and place second in the Pac-12 with a 14-3 league mark.
The Cardinal fell in the NCAA Sweet 16 to Louisville, 86-59.
Brittany McPhee led SU in scoring at 16.7 ppg.
STANFORD’S LAST GAME
Alanna Smith had 21 points and eight rebounds, Shannon Coffee made a key 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter and No. 11 Stanford held on to beat previously undefeated #3/4 Baylor, 68-63, on Saturday afternoon.
Kiana Williams had 13 points and five assists, DiJonai Carrington scored 10 points, and the Cardinal (7-1) ended the Bears’ 36-game winning streak in the regular season. The 6-foot-5 Coffee set season highs with nine points and 19 minutes.
Stanford led 58-42 entering the final stanza and had to withstand a 21-10 fourth-quarter blitz by the Bears to earn the victory. BU was eight of 12 from the field for 66.7 percent in the fourth.
THE LAST TIME WE MET
Senior Jaime Nared posted a 28-point effort to lead the No. 7 Lady Vols to an 83-71 victory on the road against No. 18 Stanford (6-6) on Dec. 21, 2017.
The win improved Tennessee to 12-0 on the season and broke a five-game Tennessee losing streak at Maples Pavilion dating back to Dec. 4, 2005. That season also marked the last time UT opened a campaign with 12 straight wins.
Senior Mercedes Russell contributed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds on the night, while freshman Evina Westbrook posted a (then) career high of 17 points. In addition to a season-high 28 points, Nared also posted a career-best seven steals.
Brittany McPhee was Stanford’s leading scorer and the only Cardinal in double digits, notching 27 points on the night
COMING UP FOR TENNESSEE AND STANFORD
After the Stanford game, UT will play host to ETSU on Friday at 7 p.m. (SECN+) in the final contest before winter break. Following a six-day respite from the action, the Lady Vols return to host Murray State and Belmont on Dec. 28 and 30, respectively, to close out 2018.
The ETSU contest is a “School’s Out” game. All Kids 12 & younger receive complimentary admission at any arena ticket window.
The game vs. ETSU also is a “Big Orange Friday” contest. Download a Buy One/Get One free ticket voucher available exclusively at BigOrangeFriday.com.
Stanford continues an East Coast swing on Friday, when it plays at Buffalo at noon. The Cardinal then head back home for an eight-day holiday break.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A double-double by Admiral Schofield fueled No. 3 Tennessee to a tough, 102-92 win over in-state rival Memphis on the road in FedExForum.
Schofield finished with 29 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds, while helping the Vols’ eclipse the 100-point margin for the first time since putting up 103 against Appalachian State on Nov. 15, 2016.
Four other players chipped in double-digit scoring performances. Grant Williams had 19 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Jordan Bonedropped 17 points behind 11-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe. Jordan Bowden finished with 12 points, and Kyle Alexander just missed a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
It was a physical game from start to finish, with a total of 57 fouls called on both teams. The Vols (8-1) were able to capitalize at the stripe, knocking down 39 of their 46 attempts. The last time UT made 30 free throws in a game was last season vs. Auburn (1/2/18), when the Big Orange made exactly 30. In the second half alone, Tennessee was 25-of-29 from the line.
The second half was a high-scoring affair for both teams. The Vols scored 52 points, which is the most they’ve put up in a half this season. The Tigers (5-5), meanwhile, went off for 57 points.
Despite Memphis refusing to go quietly , the game was never closer than seven points during the entire period. The Tigers’ Kyvon Davenport posted an impressive performance with 31 points and 11 rebounds. At one point in the second half, he scored 18 consecutive points for the Tigers to keep Memphis in the game.
Ultimately, it was Tennessee’s offensive production that lifted the Vols to victory, shooting 52 percent from the floor and assisting on 21 of its 27 baskets.
The Vols began the game on a 15-5 run in the opening 3:43 of play. After Schofield knocked down his second 3-pointer in the stretch, the Tigers were forced to call a timeout.
However, Memphis fought back to make it a game, cutting UT’s lead to six points at 28-22. With the arena ready to burst, the Big Orange responded by rattling off a 15-3 run to regain the momentum.
Tennessee took a 50-35 lead into halftime. Williams led all scorers with 14 points, while Schofield chipped in nine points behind three 3-pointers and six rebounds. This marked the sixth-consecutive game the senior wing has knocked down multiple threes.
The first frame saw a major difference in shooting percentage between the two teams, as the Vols shot a 52-percent clip (15-of-29) from the floor while holding the Tigers to just 27-percent shooting (10-of-37).
AD FROM THREE: Schofield, who leads the Vols in 3-point shooting (23 3FGM), continued to show his range in UT’s 102-92 win against Memphis, knocking down four threes in his 29-point performance. The senior wing has made a three in 15 consecutive games as well as multiple treys in each of Tennessee’s last six outings.
CONVERTING FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: Tennessee shot 46 free throws in Saturday’s win at Memphis. The Vols made those attempts count, knocking down 39 (85 percent) of them. During the final 5:26 of play, 16 of UT’s 20 points came from the charity stripe, including the final nine points to seal the victory. The last time the Vols had at least 42 attempts in a game was on Dec. 21, 2012, against Western Carolina.
UP NEXT: The Vols return home for a four-game stretch, beginning with Samford on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. That game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
Each of the past two years, the SEC has had a losing record in bowl games.
In a conference where it “just means more,’’ the SEC had two teams play for the national championship last season but went 4-5 in bowls and lost to Central Florida (Auburn), Notre Dame (LSU), Northwestern (Kentucky), Wake Forest (Texas A&M) and Texas (Missouri).
Two years ago, the SEC went 6-7.
In 2015, the SEC set a record for bowls wins, going 9-2.
Can this season’s bowl matchups produce a repeat of 2015? Odds-makers think so. Based on point spreads, the SEC should go 9-2 with Alabama advancing to the national title game.
During the last weekend of the season we went 8-1 with our SEC picks and finished the regular season 94-16.
Cole Swindell stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Dec. 10 to perform his new single, “Love You Too Late.”
Penned by Cole, Michael Carter and Brandon Kinney, “Love You Too Late” follows No. 1 lead single, “Break Up in the End,” from Cole’s third album, All of It, which was released in August. The tune is currently No. 53 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after two weeks.
