Following the release of From A Room: Volume 1 in May 2017, Chris Stapleton dropped Volume 2 in December 2017.
Taking its name from Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A—where it was recorded in 2016 with producer Dave Cobb—Volume 2 features nine songs, including seven co-penned by Chris.
One of the two songs that Chris did not co-write is his new single, “Millionaire,” which was penned by Kevin Welch. Chris will ship the new single to country radio on April 23.
“I love that song,” says Chris. “I would always sit around the house playing that song to myself on guitar. It’s fun to play. It’s fun to sing. It’s a great melody. It’s great lyrics. It’s great everything. To me, that’s a great song.”
“Millionaire” will follow Chris’ previous single, “Broken Halos,” which became his first No. 1 single in March.
Locash’s Preston Brust and wife Kristen announced they are expecting their second child in August.
“With full hearts, we’re excited to announce we have a new roommate movin’ in this August,” said Preston, Kristen and daughter Love, 2, in a statement.
Preston and Kristen were married in September 2015 and welcomed Love to the family in January 2016.
Locash is nominated for two ACM Awards on April 15, including Vocal Duo of the Year.
Dierks Bentley announced he will release his upcoming ninth studio album, The Mountain, on June 8.
The 13-song offering was inspired by Dierks’ June 2017 performance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in the town of Telluride in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.
“I found myself there, constantly reaching for my guitar,” Dierks said. “It was like a gravitational pull. That town and those people just make you want to be creative, I couldn’t describe it. I was like, ‘How do I tell everyone in Nashville this is what I want to write about?’ I realized I couldn’t bring it back, so I had to take everyone out there.”
Dierks returned to Telluride a short time later for a week-long retreat with fellow songwriters Natalie Hemby, Luke Dick, Ross Copperman, Jon Randall, Jon Nite and Ashley Gorley and wrote the bulk of the album’s songs. Dierks co-wrote 10 of the 13 tracks.
Dierks returned to Telluride with his production team of Ross Copperman, Jon Randall Stewart and Arturo Buenahora Jr to a tucked-away hideout called Studio in the Clouds in November 2017 to record the album.
“For me it’s the best of both worlds, and it feels like something new,” says Dierks. “It’s powerful but also happy, with acoustic sensibility mixed in with the big sounds I like to have for the road. They are the songs I’d play for somebody to say, ‘This is who I am right now.’”
In addition, Dierks revealed that two songs on the new album include collaborations with other artists: “Burning Man” features Brothers Osborne while “Travellin’ Light” features Brandi Carlile.
Brett Eldredge has scored the seventh Top 5 tune of his career with “The Long Way,” the second single from his self-titled 2017 album.
Brett says the mid-tempo tune, which he co-penned with Matt Rogers, was the catalyst for creating the new album, and he believes the song’s honesty is one of the reasons it has been connecting with fans.
“‘The Long Way’ kind of was the first song that I wrote for this record that I was like, ‘Ok, I’m gonna build a record around this kind of sound,’ and it opened me up a lot more than any other records and songs had,” says Brett to Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown. “So, when I got that, that was like, ‘Ok, I know exactly what I want to do.’ I played it for my manager and he was like, ‘You just sound way more honest in this stuff than anything I’ve heard.’ That kind of flipped my switch of how honest I could make the [record], and now it’s just taken off in that special way. Anytime you can be real and not be afraid to air out your life in music, its gonna connect with people that need to hear that.”
Brett is currently in the midst of his first major headlining tour—dubbed The Long Way Tour. The 11-date tour kicked off on April 5 in Garden City, Idaho, and makes stops in Louisville, Kansas City, Boston and more before capping in New York City on May 5.
There might be a little “dust on David Lee Murphy, but don’t let it fool ya about what’s inside.”
David Lee, 59, has a bona fide hit on his hands with “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” which features vocals from Kenny Chesney. The tune is currently No. 12 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
David Lee, who’s probably best known for his 1995 No. 1 hit, “Dust on the Bottle,” hadn’t scored a hit—as a singer—since 2004’s “Loco,” which reached No. 5. But over the last dozen or so years, the Illinois native has stayed busy as a songwriter, penning hits such as “Big Green Tractor” (Jason Aldean), “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” (Thompson Square), “Anywhere With You” (Jake Owen), “The More I Drink” (Blake Shelton), “’Til It’s Gone” (Kenny Chesney) and more.
After all of his success as a songwriter, why would David Lee go chasing another hit as a singer? Kenny Chesney is to blame . . . or thank, actually.
“I got talked into it by Kenny Chesney, but [I’m] loving every minute of it, you know?” says David Lee to Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown. “To go in and write songs five days a week, I love it. I love when I hear somebody record one of my songs. As a writer, when you hear somebody take one of your songs and make a hit out of it, it’s the coolest thing you can imagine, except if you’re singing it yourself. Kenny called me one night after several, you know, songs of mine that he had recorded, and we’ve written songs and become friends over the years, and he basically just said, ‘Man, you need to make a record again. Me and Buddy [Cannon] can produce it and put something out.’ He goes, ‘It’ll be fun. Man, we’ll have a ball. Go in the studio, no pressure.’ That was the perfect situation for me to do that.”
On April 6, David Lee dropped his new album, No Zip Code, which features 11 songs that he wrote or co-wrote.
Dierks Bentley dropped a new video for “Woman, Amen,” the lead single from his upcoming ninth studio album, The Mountain, which was inspired by his June 2017 performance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in the town of Telluride in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.
Dierks returned to Telluride a short time later for a week-long retreat with fellow songwriters Natalie Hemby, Luke Dick, Ross Copperman, Jon Randall, Jon Nite and Ashley Gorley and wrote the bulk of the album’s songs, including the title track.
However, “Woman, Amen” was penned by Dierks, Josh Kear and Ross Copperman in Nashville in between the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and his songwriting retreat.
Directed by longtime collaborator Wes Edwards, the video for “Woman, Amen” features real-life heroes Jennifer and Sydnee Floyd, a mother-daughter duo who drew from their own personal hardships to create positive change in their Nashville community.
“Jennifer and Sydnee make everyone around them want to do more, to be better . . . it was an incredible honor for me to honor them,” said Dierks. “I hope that by shining a light on the completely selfless volunteer work they do, it will maybe inspire other folks to do what they can in their own communities. I was really drawn to their real-life experience, and I wanted to do a video based on real people with real struggles and real triumphs. These are the people I get to meet every day, and they are really the ones who have inspired this music.”
The Mountain Track Listing 
