Thomas Rhett Mixes It Up in New “Leave Right Now” Video [Watch]

Thomas Rhett Mixes It Up in New “Leave Right Now” Video [Watch]

Posted on May 23, 2018

In April, Thomas Rhett dropped a new EP that features four versions of “Leave Right Now,” a tune from his 2017 Life Changes album that he co-wrote with Julian Bunetta, Edward Drewett and John Henry Ryan.

The highlight of the four-song collection is a reimagined version of “Leave Right Now” with Martin Jensen, a platinum-selling European DJ who gives the song an electronic bolt of energy. The EP also features an album version, radio version and a Nashville Remix of “Leave Right Now.”

“Writing ‘Leave Right Now’ really pushed me outside of my comfort zone creatively,” said Thomas Rhett. “A lot of times for me, that’s when you grow the most as an artist and end up making the best music. It ended up being one of my favorite songs I’ve recorded, so we decided to mix it up a little and just have some fun with this song.”

Thomas Rhett released a new video for the Martin Jensen version of “Leave Right Now.” The new clip, directed by Justin Clough, features TR searching for his love interest throughout the Frist Art Museum in Nashville.

Watch the new video below.

Watch Tim McGraw Announce That Nashville Will Host the 2019 NFL Draft

Watch Tim McGraw Announce That Nashville Will Host the 2019 NFL Draft

Posted on May 23, 2018

The NFL Draft is coming to Nashville in April 2019.

NFL owners approved Nashville as the host city, besting bids from Las Vegas, Cleveland, Kansas City and Denver.

The three-day event on April 25–27 will mean a multi-million-dollar boon for Music City, as the Draft draws around 20,000 tourists and is watched by more than 45 million people via television and streaming.

Tim McGraw, who has been a vocal supporter of bringing the Draft to Nashville, teamed with former Nashville Titan Eddie George to make the NFL Draft announcement via Instagram.

“The 2019 NFL Draft is coming to Nashville,” said Tim, in part. “The future is now.”

Watch Tim and Eddie below.

photo by Jason Simanek

Watch Kane Brown Team With “The Voice” Finalist Spensha Baker for Performance of “What Ifs”

Watch Kane Brown Team With “The Voice” Finalist Spensha Baker for Performance of “What Ifs”

Posted on May 23, 2018

Kane Brown teamed with finalist Spensha Baker to sing his 2017 No. 1 hit, “What Ifs,” during the Season 14 finale of The Voice on May 22.

While the Team Blake Shelton member ended up finishing fourth, she performed a rousing rendition of the song in place of Lauren Alaina, who was featured on the album cut. The tune, which was penned by Kane, Matthew McGinn and Jordan Schmidt, was the third single from Kane’s 2016 self-titled debut album.

After a record 34 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” was dethroned by Kane’s “What Ifs” in October 2017.

Watch Kane and Spensha perform “What Ifs” below.

Jimmy’s blog: How long will it take Pruitt to change team’s culture?

Jimmy’s blog: How long will it take Pruitt to change team’s culture?

Posted on May 23, 2018

By Jimmy Hyams

Most any coach that takes over a program says he must change the culture.

Doesn’t matter if the previous team won 10 games or made it to the Final Four – the new coach believes he has to alter the mindset of his players.

With that in mind, Tennessee’s first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt is tasked with turning around the fortunes of a program that endured its first-ever eight-loss season and didn’t win an SEC game for the first time in school history.

How long does it take to change the culture? A spring practice? Summer workouts? And entire fall season?

“Each program is a little bit different and some of it probably has something to do with leadership,’’ Pruitt said. “When you change the culture, I don’t think sometimes it’s measured in wins and losses.

“It’s the `buy in’ factor. It’s people trying to do it the way you want it to be done.

“If you look over the history of guys taking jobs, it seems like lots of times you can look from Year One to Year Two and you see a big jump. I think that’s part of guys (coaches) having the opportunity to change the culture.’’

You saw that jump at LSU from the first to the second year under Nick Saban. You saw it again when Saban took over at Alabama. You saw it with Mark Richt at Georgia and Bob Stoops at Oklahoma and Kirby Smart at Georgia.

But you wonder if Saban or Richt or Stoops or Smart faced at their new schools what Pruitt faces at Tennessee.

During the spring game, Pruitt said several players “flat-out quit.’’ That’s not a good sign. If a player quits during the spring game, will he quit when adversity strikes during a real game or when he’s at practice or in the weight room or in the classroom?

“One thing that don’t take any ability is the effort that you give,’’ Pruitt said. “Effort and toughness has nothing to do with ability and I think it’s the habits that you create.

“Sure it (players quitting) bothered me, but at the same time, it’s a learning lesson. I would rather teach the lesson in April than have to learn it the hard way in September and October.’’

Is that part of changing the culture?

“To me, I think it’s a really good measurement of who you are,’’ Pruitt said. “Who you are as a competitor. When things don’t go your way, how are you going to respond? It’s easy to play at your best when the sun is shining and everyone is cheering for you. But sometimes it gets a lot tougher when you’re on the road and things aren’t going your way. You got to find a way to change the momentum.’’

And in Pruitt’s case, he’s got to find a way to change the culture.

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Dustin Lynch Talks Traveling the Globe, Reaching Career Milestones, Releasing Surprise Single, “Good Girl,” & More

Dustin Lynch Talks Traveling the Globe, Reaching Career Milestones, Releasing Surprise Single, “Good Girl,” & More

Posted on May 23, 2018

Jim Casey talks with Dustin Lynch about:

  • going back to his hometown of Tullahoma, Tenn., to spend time with his family
  • some of the cool places in the U.S. that he has visited, including Bend, Ore., and New Hampshire
  • visiting Australia for the first time
  • celebrating his 2017 smash hit, “Small Town Boy”
  • documenting his accomplishments online
  • his growing social media following
  • the surprise release of his new single, “Good Girl”
  • writing, recording and releasing the new single
  • having fun writing songs without plans for an upcoming album
  • playing Nissan Stadium at this year’s CMA Fest
  • hitting the road this summer for a number of festivals and fairs

Show Participants:

  • Dustin Lynch
  • Jim Casey, NCD editor in chief

Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Kelsea Ballerini, Sam Hunt, Chris Stapleton & More to Perform at CMT Music Awards

Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Kelsea Ballerini, Sam Hunt, Chris Stapleton & More to Perform at CMT Music Awards

Posted on May 23, 2018

CMT announced its first round of performers for the 2018 CMT Music Awards at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on June 6.

Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, Kelly Clarkson, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt will perform at this year’s show, which will be hosted by Little Big Town. Additional perfrmers will be announced soon.

The CMT Music Awards will crown winners in eight categories. A number of artist earned multiple nominations for the fan-voted awards, including Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Brothers Osborne, Kelsea Ballerini, Thomas Rhett and more. Voting is open until June 4.

Check out the nominees below.

Male Video Of The Year

  • Dustin Lynch — “Small Town Boy”
  • Jason Aldean — “You Make It Easy”
  • Blake Shelton — “I’ll Name The Dogs”
  • Jon Pardi — “Heartache On The Dance Floor”
  • Luke Bryan — “Light It Up”
  • Thomas Rhett — “Marry Me”

Female Video of the Year

  • Carly Pearce — “Every Little Thing”
  • Carrie Underwood — “The Champion”
  • Lauren Alaina — “Doin’ Fine”
  • Maren Morris — “I Could Use A Love Song”
  • Miranda Lambert — “Tin Man”
  • Kelsea Ballerini — “Legends”

Duo Video of the Year

  • Big & Rich — “California”
  • Brothers Osborne — “It Ain’t My Fault”
  • Dan + Shay — “Tequila”
  • Florida Georgia Line — “Smooth”
  • High Valley — “She’s With Me”
  • Tim McGraw & Faith Hill — “Speak To A Girl”

Group Video of the Year

  • Lady Antebellum — “You Look Good”
  • Lanco — “Greatest Love Story”
  • Midland — “Make A Little”
  • Old Dominion — “No Such Thing As A Broken Heart”
  • Little Big Town — “When Someone Stops Loving You”
  • Rascal Flatts — “Yours If You Want It”
  • Zac Brown Band — “My Old Man”

Breakthrough Video of the Year

  • Carly Pearce — “Every Little Thing”
  • Danielle Bradbery — “Sway”
  • Devin Dawson — “All On Me”
  • Lanco — “Greatest Love Story”
  • Russell Dickerson — “Yours”
  • Walker Hayes — “You Broke Up With Me”

Collaborative Video of the Year

  • Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line — “Meant To Be”
  • Carrie Underwood feat. Ludacris — “The Champion”
  • Cole Swindell feat. Dierks Bentley — “Flatliner”
  • Justin Timberlake feat. Chris Stapleton — “Say Something
  • Kane Brown feat. Lauren Alaina — “What Ifs”
  • Thomas Rhett feat. Maren Morris — “Craving You”

CMT Performance of the Year

  • Andra Day, Common, Little Big Town, Lee Ann Womack, Danielle Bradbery — “Stand Up For Something” (CMT Artists of the Year 2017)
  • Backstreet Boys & Florida Georgia Line — “Everybody” (CMT Crossroads)
  • Charles Kelley, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, Derek Trucks — “Midnight Rider” (CMT Music Awards 2017)
  • Earth Wind & Fire & Lady Antebellum — “September” (CMT Crossroads)
  • Jason Aldean, Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town, Keith Urban — “I Won’t Back Down” (CMT Artists of the Year 2017)
  • Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood — “The Fighter” (CMT Music Awards 2017)

Video of the Year

  • Justin Timberlake feat. Chris Stapleton — “Say Something”
  • Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line — “Meant To Be”
  • Blake Shelton — “I’ll Name The Dogs”
  • Brett Young — “Mercy”
  • Brothers Osborne — “It Ain’t My Fault”
  • Carrie Underwood feat. Ludacris — “The Champion”
  • Dan + Shay — “Tequila”
  • Jason Aldean — “You Make It Easy”
  • Kane Brown feat. Lauren Alaina — “What Ifs”
  • Luke Combs — “When It Rains It Pours”
  • Thomas Rhett — “Marry Me”
  • Kelsea Ballerini — “Legends”

photos by Jason Simanek

Watch Jason Aldean Perform New Single, “Drowns the Whiskey,” on the Finale of “The Voice”

Watch Jason Aldean Perform New Single, “Drowns the Whiskey,” on the Finale of “The Voice”

Posted on May 23, 2018

Before 15-year-old Brynn Cartelli of Team Kelly Clarkson was crowned Season 14 winner of The Voice on May 22, Jason Aldean stepped onstage to perform his new single, “Drowns the Whiskey.”

“Drowns the Whiskey,” which features vocals from Miranda Lambert on the album cut, was written by Brandon Kinney, Jeff Middleton and Josh Thompson. Unfortunately, Miranda wasn’t in tow during Jason’s performance on The Voice.

“The way fans and radio have responded to this record has been really cool for me,” said Jason in reference to his recent album, Rearview Town. “‘Whiskey’ has always been a favorite of mine, but when Miranda came in and knocked out her parts in only a couple takes, I knew it was special.”

“Drowns the Whiskey” has the chance to become Jason’s 21st No. 1 single.

Check out Jason’s performance below.

photo courtesy of JPA/AFF-USA

Fulmer Announces Hiring of VFL CJ Fayton

Fulmer Announces Hiring of VFL CJ Fayton

Posted on May 22, 2018
C.J. Fayton — VFL Coordinator / Credit: UT Athletics

Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer announced Tuesday that CJ Fayton has been hired as Director of VFL Programming.

Fayton returns to his alma mater after building an impressive resume in both collegiate athletics administration and the private legal sector. Most recently, he held the role of Associate Athletics Director at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. He served as the Scots’ Title IX Deputy Coordinator and was also the sport administrator for football, men’s and women’s basketball and golf.

In his new role with Tennessee Athletics, the three-time UT graduate and former two-sport student-athlete will administer comprehensive career and professional development programming to student-athletes across all 20 sports while also directing the Vol For Life (VFL) program and working to keep former letterwinners engaged and connected to Rocky Top.

“I am very excited to have CJ Fayton join our team,” Fulmer said. “He will touch all phases of the student-athlete experience at Tennessee, from recruiting to life after sports. CJ will work under my direction with our letterwinners for all sports, our development efforts, our alumni relations office, our marketing department and the Thornton Center.

“He brings a lot to the table as a former Vol and UT graduate with a law degree and experience in administration. He has excellent communication skills and understands how important this position is to me, as we connect our past to the future.”

A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Fayton was recruited to Tennessee as a wide receiver during Fulmer’s impressive tenure as head football coach. Fayton lettered on the gridiron from 2002-05, during which time he twice earned SEC All-Academic Team honors and was a member of two SEC Eastern Division championship teams and three teams that made postseason bowl appearances. He also was a member of the Tennessee men’s basketball team during the 2000-01 campaign, appearing in three games.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to serve as the Director of VFL Programming for all sports,” Fayton said. “What makes Tennessee a special place is the people. To have an opportunity to work with the current student-athletes, former letterwinners and the whole VFL community is an honor. Tennessee’s traditions were built by a number of great coaches, student-athletes, administrators and fans. I’m thankful that Coach Fulmer has entrusted me with connecting that past tradition and history to our current student-athletes and program.”

After receiving his degree in Sport Management in 2005, he gained an array of administrative experience at Tennessee as a development assistant with Tennessee’s VASF staff, a recruiting assistant with the football program and a graduate assistant for football administration. He earned his Master’s degree in Recreation Administration in 2008 and a Juris Doctorate degree in 2014—both also from Tennessee. He is a current member of the New Jersey Bar and the Knoxville Bar Association.

Fayton also boasts experience as an assistant football coach at Norfolk State (wide receivers, 2010-11), a compliance assistant (Vanderbilt athletics, 2012-13) and a private-practice law clerk (2013).

 

UT Athletics

Chris Janson Shuts Down Nashville’s Lower Broadway to Send a Message in New “Drunk Girl” Video [Watch]

Chris Janson Shuts Down Nashville’s Lower Broadway to Send a Message in New “Drunk Girl” Video [Watch]

Posted on May 22, 2018

After taking “Fix a Drink” to the top of the Mediabase chart in November 2017, Chris Janson is hoping his current single, “Drunk Girl,” will find a home there.

But don’t let the two aforementioned song titles fool you. “Fix a Drink” and “Drunk Girl” couldn’t be farther apart thematically.

Fun-loving “Fix a Drink” kept the summertime party flowing with cocktails and cold beers, while “Drunk Girl” tackles a much more serious subject matter: respecting women, regardless of the circumstances.

The tune—which was co-penned by Chris, Tom Douglas and Scooter Carusoe—reinforces its theme of respect throughout the chorus: Take a drunk girl home / Let her sleep all alone / Leave her keys on the counter, your number by the phone / Pick up her life she threw on the floor / Leave the hall lights on, walk out and lock the door / That’s how she knows the difference between a boy and man / Take a drunk girl home.

“Both of my co-writers are legendary,” said Chris to Nash Country Daily. “They certainly didn’t need me in the room. I can tell you that the song basically wrote itself. We were just stewards of the ship. And I say that in regard to, sometimes songs happen like that. You can’t really twist and turn ’em. If you try, you mess ’em up. If you let them lead, they lead. We wrote ‘Drunk Girl’ from a father’s perspective. We are all dads. I would hope after hearing the lyrics, if my daughter was in that situation, I hope someone would take care of her. Being a husband, being a dad of girls, I have such a great respect for women in general. I think this song needed to be said.”

Chris released a new video for the tune, which is currently No. 27 on the Mediabase chart. Directed by Jeff Venable, the new clip features Chris playing piano in the middle of Broadway—the street that runs through downtown Nashville’s famed honky-tonk district—as interspersed footage tells the story of a woman who finds herself living out the song’s lyrics after enduring an abusive childhood and a college assault.

Watch the video for “Drunk Girl” below.

photo courtesy of Brenton Giesey/Warner Music Nashville 

Jimmy’ blog: UT allotment for Belk College Kickoff exceeds 16,000

Posted on May 22, 2018

By Jimmy Hyams

Tennessee’s allotment for the Belk College Kickoff exceeds 16,000.

It will be interesting to see if Vol fans snatch up those tickets before the Sept. 1 matchup against top 25 West Virginia in Charlotte.

Cole Cubelic of the SEC Network has picked the Mountaineers to win the Big 12.

The range of ticket prices varies greatly: $199 for club seats, $123 for sideline seats, $99 for end zone seats, and $65, $70 and $75 for upper deck seats.

UT’s allotment was 12,500 and UT requested almost 4,000 more for the lower level, based on previous purchases for neutral-site games by Tennessee fans. That brings the ticket total to 16,381.

Tickets to the Belk College Kickoff are on sale to members of the Tennessee Fund and season ticket holders until May 30. They will go on sale to the general public the first week of June.

Ticket requests have not been strong from Tennessee so far, but that could change, given UT’s history for recent games at neutral sites.

In 2012, UT sold more than 25,000 tickets to see the Vols play North Carolina State in the Georgia Dome.

Last year, Tennessee sold about 30,000 for the Georgia Tech game in the new Mercedes Benz Stadium.

UT did negotiate student discount tickets, getting 1,100 for current students at $45 each and another 400 for incoming students. All those seats are in the upper deck.

Tennessee bought about 450 tickets for band members at $53 per ticket.

Meanwhile, Tennessee has sold about 61,000 season tickets with the deadline for renewal having already passed. Those season ticket holders will have a chance to upgrade or downgrade their tickets until May 30. Shortly thereafter, season tickets will go on sale to the general public.

UT hopes to sell about 65,000 season tickets.

Two years ago, when many favored the Vols to win the East Division, UT sold about 73,000 season tickets.

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