Brett Eldredge Says Top 5 Single “The Long Way” Is About Not Being “Afraid to Air Out Your Life in Music”

Brett Eldredge Says Top 5 Single “The Long Way” Is About Not Being “Afraid to Air Out Your Life in Music”

Posted on April 12, 2018

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.

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

After More Than a Decade, David Lee Murphy Chases — and Finds — Another Hit With “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”

After More Than a Decade, David Lee Murphy Chases — and Finds — Another Hit With “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”

Posted on April 11, 2018

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.

 

photo courtesy of Kristin Barlowe

Watch Dierks Bentley Pay Tribute to Mother/Daughter Heroes in New Video for “Woman, Amen”

Watch Dierks Bentley Pay Tribute to Mother/Daughter Heroes in New Video for “Woman, Amen”

Posted on April 11, 2018

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.”

Watch the video for “Woman, Amen” below.

photo by Jason Simanek

Kacey Musgraves Becomes First Solo Female Artist to Score No. 1 Country Album in More Than 5 Months

Kacey Musgraves Becomes First Solo Female Artist to Score No. 1 Country Album in More Than 5 Months

Posted on April 11, 2018

Kacey Musgraves earned her third No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with the debut of Golden Hour, which moved 49,000 equivalent units in its first week, according to Nielsen Music.

Kacey became the first solo female artist to top the chart since Jessie James Decker in November 2017.

The new 13-song offering follows Kacey’s 2013 debut album, Same Trailer Different Park, and her 2015 sophomore album, Pageant Material, both of which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.

Kacey co-wrote every track on Golden Hour, and she co-produced the new album with Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian.

“I had a different mindset this time, which was feeling rather than thinking—leading heart first,” says Kacey.

Golden Hour also debuted atop Billboard’s Americana/Folk chart.

photo by Carissa Riccardi

Jimmy’s blog: Cutcliffe praises defensive mind of UT’s head coach

Jimmy’s blog: Cutcliffe praises defensive mind of UT’s head coach

Posted on April 11, 2018

By Jimmy Hyams

Duke coach David Cutcliffe has faced his share of outstanding defensive minds during a stellar 35-year career as a college coach.

As offensive coordinator at Tennessee, he faced top defenses from Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, LSU and Florida.

As Duke’s head coach, he’s gone against such stalwarts as Clemson and Florida State and Notre Dame.

And when Duke made an appearance in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game in 2013, he faced another terrific defense at FSU. Only this one was spearheaded by the man who would eventually become Tennessee’s head coach, Jeremy Pruitt.

Pruitt was defensive coordinator for Jimbo Fisher, whose Seminoles would win the national championship that season. And FSU had little trouble disposing of Duke, 45-7, holding the Blue Devils to 239 total yards.

“I thought he was just absolutely outstanding,’’ Cutcliffe said of Pruitt in the ACC title game. “Schematically, he put you in a lot of binds.’’

Usually when Cutcliffe finds his offense in a bind, he figures out a way to move the ball. Not against FSU.

Cutcliffe said Pruitt benefited from spending a lot of time around Alabama coach Nick Saban.

Before last year’s national title game between Alabama and Georgia, Cutcliffe did a coach’s film room study for ESPN, so he evaluated both teams closely. He came away impressed with Pruitt.

“I thought he had that defense playing extremely hard,’’ said Cutcliffe, who spoke recently at Tennessee’s football clinic.

Alabama lost several key linebackers during the season, yet still ranked among the nation’s top defenses.

“Sometimes you can tell more about a coach then (when he has injuries) and I thought that defense played at a high level even when they lost some of their best players,’’ Cutcliffe said.

“At the end of the day, the bottom line is, that defense got stops when that great Georgia defense couldn’t, and that was a big part of (Alabama) winning the national championship.’’

While Cutcliffe said he doesn’t know Pruitt well, he has seen Pruitt out “hustling’’ on the recruiting trail.

“You know a head coach better be out on the road and be in the right places, and I bumped into him four or five times, so I hope we were both in the right places,’’ Cutcliffe said.

Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all

Country News

Weather

  • Forecast
  • Currents
  • Planner