Jake Owen dropped an eight-minute video for his new single, “I Was Jack (You Were Diane).”
Jake’s new tune is interspersed throughout the clip that throws it back to 1982 to tell the story of a high school couple—played by MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge—trying to find their paths in life. And wouldn’t ya know it, their paths cross again 10 years later in a familiar diner, with Jake Owen as their server.
Both melodically and lyrically, Jake’s new single is rooted in John Mellencamp’s iconic 1982 hit, “Jack & Diane.” In fact, Mellencamp received a songwriting credit on Jake’s “I Was Jack (You Were Diane), along with songwriters Tommy Cecil, David Ray, Jody Stevens and Craig Wiseman.”
“When I heard the song, I thought to myself, ‘I’m glad I didn’t write this,’ because the legalities behind using a song that is that iconic,” says Jake to Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown. “[The songwriters] sent it to [Mellencamp] and his manager, and they actually got back to us saying that as many times as they’ve heard people try to take that song and do something with it, John’s never been for it. Ever. And, they said that. He gave us his blessing to use it. And, they actually licensed us some of his content to use for our video that we’re making, so it feels good to know that he kind of gave his stamp of approval. I mean, that was a big kind of chance for me—thinking about doing this song—because of the folks out there that are gonna be like, ‘How are you gonna take a classic song like this and redo something that’s already great?’ You know? And, really for us, it was more about paying homage to that song while still making it relevant in today’s world.”
“I Was Jack (You Were Diane)” is currently No. 14 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
Bebe Rexha’s “Meant to Be” (featuring Florida Georgia Line) has resided atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 20 weeks, which is the third longest reign in the history of the chart, behind Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” (34 weeks) and FGL’s “Cruise” (24 weeks).
While FGL is known for their collaborative efforts with artists outside of the country genre—see “God, Your Mama, and Me,” “Let Me Go” and “Life Is a Honeymoon”—“Meant to Be” is pop star Bebe’s first foray into country music.
“Here I am this girl that grows up in the pop world, and I write a song with Florida Georgia Line and it’s one of the biggest songs I’ve put out in my life,” says Bebe. “And I think it’s just a record that was honest and true. And I think that people really connected with it on a deeper level.”
“Meant to Be,” which was co-penned by Bebe, Josh Miller, David Garcia and FGL’s Tyler Hubbard, was recently nominated for Top Country Song at the upcoming Billboard Music Awards on May 20.
“To me, it’s saying that the [country music community] is willing to allow me in because they really respect the song,” says Bebe. “And that’s the most important thing for me, more than anything, is for people to respect my music and my songwriting more than anything.”
Sugarland released a new song, “Babe,” from its upcoming sixth studio album, Bigger, which drops on June 8.
The new album, which was co-produced by Julian Raymond and Sugarland’s Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles, features 11 songs, 10 of which were co-written by Kristian and Jennifer.
The outlier is “Babe,” a song penned by Taylor Swift and Train’s Pat Monahan that features vocals from Taylor.
“We’ve obviously known [Taylor] for many years,” says Jennifer. “And she was excited we were getting back together and reached out, and said, ‘Hey, I have a song.’ That is a short list, ladies and gentleman, of people to whom she has said, ‘Hey, I have a song. Wanna sing it?’ So, we said, ‘Yeah.'”
“We’ve never really put a song by anybody else on any of our records, so we weren’t really used to kinda sorting through that, and we didn’t want to mess it up,” says Kristian. “So we didn’t tell anybody about it, until we got finished. And she liked it, thank God.”
Taylor posted a video on Instagram on April 20, letting her fans know how happy she is that Sugarland recorded the tune, as well as sharing the song’s origin, which Taylor says she initially co-wrote for her Red album in 2012.
“Hey guys, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the nice things you’ve been saying about ‘Babe,’” said Taylor, in part. “It’s a song I wrote with Pat Monahan when I was making the Red album. I’m so happy that that it gets its own life. I’m so happy that Sugarland wanted to record it and has done such a great job with it. And I’m so stoked to be able to sing on it, too.”
Nash Nights Live co-host Elaina Smith added a noteworthy achievement to her already-impressive résumé by joining Shawn Parr as the live voiceover team for the ACM Awards on April 15.
While 2018 marked Shawn’s 24th year as announcer for the awards show, it was Elaina’s debut, adding a charming and talented female voice to the ACMs for the first time as more than 12 million people watched at home on their televisions.
NCD asked Elaina to chronicle her ACM Awards experience. In her own words, here is Elaina’s whirlwind story.
I have been attending the ACM Awards since 2014 on behalf of Cumulus, Westwood One and Nash Nights Live. It’s always been a crazy four-day experience, interviewing more than 100 country artists and entertainers on radio row, working the red carpet as a journalist and recording a five-hour companion show for radio. But this year was a completely new experience.
In February, I received a phone call from Rac Clark, the executive producer of the ACM Awards—he’s also Dick Clark’s son. He explained that the ACMs wanted to add a female voice for the first time this year and my name had been thrown into the ring. My NNL co-host, Shawn Parr, has been the voice of the show for 24 years, so the team at Dick Clark Productions was familiar with my voice from listening to our show.
However, I still had to go through the audition process, and I recorded a series of liners for Dick Clark Productions. Two weeks later—spoiler alert—they asked me to join the team! I had to keep it a secret for almost a month, so you can imagine my relief when it was formally announced on March 9.
The stage view from the voice announcing booth
That’s how it happened, now here’s how it went down. The process of getting the show ready is fascinating. They begin writing the script months before. Shawn and I were already recording packages for the show in early March. They are constantly changing things, adding artists, adding segments, taking things away. It’s chaotic, but it’s organized chaos.
As soon as we landed in Las Vegas on April 12, we went backstage at MGM Grand Garden Arena so I could start to get a feel for the process. There were a bunch of different offices set up backstage with all of the different departments. Everyone was working long hours to bring you the best show possible. In between radio row and label events, we would go back and forth to the announcer booth for rehearsals. This also meant I was far exceeding my steps goal every day.
By the way, rehearsals are intense. The artists have to show up and go through their performances several times for camera blocking and to take notes from the producers and their team. One of the coolest experiences was seeing Carrie Underwood’s rehearsal. It was a closed rehearsal because no one was allowed to see her until the big reveal on Sunday night. As we all know now, Carrie looked and sounded amazing. During rehearsal, she was wearing workout clothes, very little make-up—she still looked gorgeous—and the heels for her performance. She sang “Cry Pretty” SIX TIMES—full voice. Each performance was better than the previous one. She worked SO HARD to get that performance perfect, and it showed!
Shawn Parr and Elaina show off their red carpet attire
Sunday, April 15, was insane. I knew in addition to my new ACM Awards show duties, I’d be hosting the red carpet for radio, so I had to get red-carpet ready before the 9 a.m. full-show run-through. The day of the show, everyone does the entire show TWICE. There is a full dress rehearsal in the morning that runs through from beginning of the show to end, and EVERYONE has to be there. Then we all got ready for the big show. I had to get in my dress in our tiny booth and head to the red carpet. I conducted interviews for two hours on the red—actually, it was blue—carpet and ran right back to the arena to do stage announcements with Shawn. Side note: I had to take the same entrance as all of the artists going into the show . . . and they have to have actual tickets to get in. That was super surprising to me.
Now, being onstage was quite an experience. We basically warmed up the crowd of 18,000. I looked down and saw some of the biggest names in country music . . . not intimidating at all (HA)!
Shawn and Elaina warm up the ACM Awards crowd
After warming up the crowd, we literally ran back to the booth—in my heels, nonetheless—so we could go live in one minute. The vibe backstage during the show is pure adrenaline. And of course, nothing goes as smoothly as planned. People don’t show up, acceptance speeches go long, Reba thinks of new jokes, whatever it may be—the show is constantly changing as it’s happening. In my headphones, I hear EVERYTHING from the director, producers and camera crew, and we have to announce on live TV while they’re in our in ear.
Finding out about Chris Stapleton’s twins was an exciting moment. They were calling for Reba to try to time it out with the award. One of my favorite backstage moments was when they were trying to find Brothers Osborne to acknowledge their two previously announced wins . . . but they couldn’t. I’m guessing they were celebrating at the bar because they won TWO ACM Awards and those boys know how to celebrate! Once the show wrapped up, I basically collapsed with happiness and exhaustion and floated off on cloud nine. The set was down before I even got my first glass of champagne!
Elaina interviews Brantley Gilbert and wife Amber
Honestly, I’m still processing the whole experience. We made history that night by adding a female voice to the show, and I am so proud to have been a part of that, especially working in an industry that is often criticized for it’s lack of female representation.
The conversation is shifting, and it’s an exciting time to be a part of country music.
My ACM Awards experience would not have been possible without Rac Clark, Ryan Marie Smith, Sacha Muller and the ENTIRE team at Dick Clark Productions, as well as Shawn Parr and Nash Nights Live producers Brian Egan and Ryan Kershner for going above and beyond to work around my schedule. Thank YOU!
Jason Aldean, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kid Rock will co-headline a day of music and fun on Sept. 2 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Labor Day weekend concert at the home of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars will also include more special guests to be announced soon. In addition to performances, the all-day-and-night event will feature food trucks, games and more.
The concert is a part of Skynrd’s Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour.
“We are very excited to have friends Jason Aldean and Kid Rock join us in our hometown of Jacksonville,” said Skynrd’s Gary Rossington. “Playing where the band got its start all those years ago is always special but having these guys with us makes it even sweeter. We can’t wait to rock EverBank Field.”
Phillip Fulmer / Tennessee AD / Credit: UT Athletics
KNOXVILLE – University of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport announced Thursday that Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer has signed a four-year contract. Fulmer took over as UT’s Director of Athletics on Dec. 1, 2017.
“Phillip has been a great partner over the last four months and I commend him for the wor he has done with our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” Davenport said. “Phillip has been connected to the University of Tennessee and its athletics program for more than 40 years and he understands the expectations we have for our athletics department.
“He is surrounded by a very knowledgeable staff that is deeply committed to the success of our student-athletes. I look forward to our continued partnership.”
Fulmer has wasted no time during his four months at the helm of his alma mater, ushering in two new head coaches to Rocky Top. Six days after his initial appointment as athletics director, Fulmer finalized a deal to make Jeremy Pruitt the 26th head coach in the storied history of the Tennessee football program. Then on Jan. 10, Fulmer introduced Eve Rackham—a former AVCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year—as UT’s new volleyball coach.
Fulmer also secured a contract extension for coach Brian Pensky, who led the women’s soccer program to a 15-4-2 record last fall and a berth in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I am very grateful to Chancellor Davenport for the opportunity to continue to serve our outstanding university and its proud legacy,” Fulmer said. “The positive momentum established by our talented student-athletes, dedicated coaches, excellent staff, our great alumni and fans has united us all. I am excited to work alongside them as we push forward in pursuit of excellence in all sports.”
Another early highlight of Fulmer’s tenure came when UT’s men’s basketball program—led by SEC Coach of the Year Rick Barnes and SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams—stormed to a share of the SEC regular-season championship. The Vols went on to appear in the SEC Tournament final before advancing to their first NCAA Tournament since 2014.
“We are all so much better when we are aligned and pushing ahead together,” Fulmer added. “A perfect example of turning challenges into opportunities is our men’s basketball team this past season. When you care for each other, work really hard and no one cares who gets the credit, lots can be accomplished.”
Fulmer’s days on Rocky Top date to 1968 when he enrolled at UT and joined the football team as an offensive guard. He became a co-captain and went on to lead the Volunteers to a football national championship as a head coach, ultimately earning first-ballot induction into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame.
Fulmer’s 17 years at the helm of the Volunteers program produced a record of 152 wins and 52 losses. At the conclusion of Fulmer’s final season, he was the dean of SEC football coaches and no active coach with at least a decade in Division I-A had a better winning percentage (.744).
Under his tutelage, the Volunteers were the first to win the Bowl Championship Series National Championship in 1998 and made five appearances in the SEC Championship game over his last 11 seasons. Fulmer was named SEC Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year in 1998.
Eric Church treated his fans to more than 100 songs on his 2017 live album, 61 Days in Church. The songs were recorded over the course of Eric’s 61-date Holdin’ My Own Tour.
Eric performed nearly 40 songs each night during his 2017 tour, including a number of songs made popular by other artists.
On April 21, Eric will release an eight-song LP of cover songs recorded during the tour, with 2,500 copies available at participating record stores. Eric’s covers include Pearl Jam’s “Better Man,” Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage,” Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider,” Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page,” Billy Joel’s “Allentown,” The Guess Who’s “American Woman,” Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken” and Dave Dudley’s “Six Days on the Road.”
61 Days in Church: Covers
“Better Man” (Live At Tacoma Drive, Tacoma, WA, March 18, 2017)
“Turn The Page” (Live At CenturyLink Center, Omaha, NE, April 8, 2017)
“Dixie Chicken” (Live at Pepsi Center, Denver, CO, April 5, 2017 with Chuck Leavell)
“Six Days On The Road” (Live at PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA, April 21, 2017)
“Rusty Cage” (Live at Verizon Center, Washington, D.C., May 19, 2017)
“Allentown” (Live at Santander Arena, Reading, PA, May 18, 2017)
“Midnight Rider” (Live at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN, May 27, 2017)
“American Woman” (Live at Pepsi Center, Denver, CO, April 5, 2017 with Glenn Hughes)
Kacey Musgraves is headed to the Big Apple on May 12 to perform as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Actress and comedienne Amy Schumer will tackle the hosting duties.
In the past three years, a handful of country stars have performed on SNL, including Blake Shelton (January 2015), Zac Brown Band (March 2015), Chris Stapleton (January 2016, January 2018), Maren Morris (December 2016), Margo Price (April 2016) and Sturgill Simpson (January 2017, January 2018).
Kacey, who dropped her Billboard No. 1 album, Golden Hour, on March 30, made the SNL announcement via Instagram, which you can see below.
61 Days in Church: Covers 
