Jim Casey talks with Kelsea Ballerini about how busy she has been lately, the magic of her single, “Peter Pan,” the 2-year anniversary of the release of her debut album, The First Time, being the first solo female artist in the history of the world who’s first three songs all reached No. 1, her upcoming sophomore album, playing beer pong, planning a wedding and more.
Nashville’s 2017 CMA Music Festival is just over a month away. Officially is runs from June 8–11, but Nashville gets its craziest week started early. If you’re planning on attending, go ahead and get to Music City on June 4 for a full week of country fun.
The events are nonstop, and it look like the Grand Ole Opry is getting in on the fun with a star-studded lineup on Thursday, June 8, featuring Opry members Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins and the Oak Ridge Boys, as well as Tracy Lawrence. More artists will be announced soon.
Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, May 5, at noon CT at opry.com.
With all of the success that Thomas Rhett (CMA Single of the Year, ACM Male Vocalist of the Year) and Maren Morris (CMA New Artist of the Year, ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year, Grammy Best Country Solo Performance) have had over the last six months, they might feel like they’re stuck in the feel-good movie of the year. Perhaps that’s why the tandem decided to team up in a new movie-like video for “Craving You,” the first single from TR’s upcoming album. Maren’s vocals are featured on the new single.
The new video was directed by frequent TR collaborator TK McKamy, who also directed the videos for “Make Me Wanna,” “Die a Happy Man” and “Crash and Burn,” among others. Much like a movie trailer, the five-minute music video is full of twists and turns—focusing more on action than actual plot.
“There are a lot of crazy action scenes—a lot of firsts for me, in general, in this video,” said Thomas Rhett. “I’ve always wanted to get to do a fight sequence and play a tough guy, but I think Maren definitely shows me up. TK really pushed us both since we’d never really acted before.”
“Craving You,” which was written by Dave Barnes and Julian Bunetta, is currently No. 18 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after five weeks.
T minus nine days (May 12) until Zac Brown Band releases its much-anticipated fifth major-label studio album, Welcome Home, a project that Zac promised would go “straight back to our roots.”
Zac has kept his word. Following the release of “My Old Man” (Feb. 3), “Real Thing” (March 20), “Family Table” (April 7) and “All the Best” (April 21), ZBB continued its roll-out of new songs from its upcoming album by releasing their rootsiest song yet, “Roots.”
Produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson), “Roots” is a definite throwback to ZBB’s early sound, deviating 180 degrees from the band’s 2015 album, Jekyll + Hyde, which pushed the country boundaries with traces of electronic music, hard rock and big band sounds.
ZBB’s new lyric video for “Roots” features a slideshow of photos and videos that serve as a timeline, documenting the band’s experiences and successes over the years, including an opening clip that shows ZBB winning a Grammy.
Kelsea Ballerini is once again on the cusp of making country music history.
Kelsea’s first three singles—“Love Me Like You Mean It,” “Dibs” and “Peter Pan”—from her debut album, The First Time, all reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country chart. The only other female artist to score three consecutive No. 1s on a solo debut album? Wynonna Judd in 1992.
Two sidebars to Wynonna’s accomplishments:
By the time Wynonna released her self-titled debut solo album in 1992, she had been a household name for almost 10 years as part of The Judds.
Unlike Kelsea, Wynonna didn’t co-write her first three singles: “She Is His Only Need,” “I Saw the Light” and “No One Else on Earth.”
I’m not trying to take anything away from Wynonna, as much as I’m trying to illustrate Kelsea’s monumental accomplishments.
Now, Kelsea’s fourth—and final—single, “Yeah Boy,” from her debut album is inching its way up the Billboard Country Airplay chart. It is currently at No. 3.
As “Yeah Boy” makes its final push up the charts toward an unprecedented fourth consecutive No. 1, Kelsea stopped by the Nash Country Daily studio to talk about her upcoming sophomore album.
Here’s everything we know about her new project—from Kelsea’s lips to your ears—as well as a couple of tidbits about her upcoming tour with Lady Antebellum and her impending nuptials to Morgan Evans.
Kelsea in studio with NCD editor Jim Casey
New Album’s Status
“We’re close to done. Yeah, I feel like everyone talks about the sophomore slump, and I was really scared. I still am. I have a lot of anxiety about it. But I have written probably 200 songs. I’ve written everything twice. I know that I have picked the songs to make the record, and it is the best record I can make. I think as long as it’s something that I would listen to, and that I’m proud of, that’s all I can do. That’s all I am in charge of.”
Album’s Theme
“It’s years 21 through 23. It really is. It starts with a gross breakup that I had. It talks about the darkness of that. I haven’t really . . . ‘Peter Pan’ is like as much of a breakup as I went into on the first record, because that’s really the only feeling of a breakup that I’d had at that point. This one definitely gets darker than that. But then it takes you through the darkness of that, the bounce back from that, into just growing up and finding who I am as a young girl. New insecurities that I have, all of that, into meeting [fiancé] Morgan [Evans] and getting engaged. It talks about all of it.”
New Songs on the Album
“Yeah, ‘High School’ [which Kelsea performed after the ACM Awards in April] will be on the new album. Absolutely. That song, I wrote that the week after my last record was done. It’s been around for a while. I wrote it by myself. It’s a super important song to me. Yeah, it’s on the record. Also, we recently played a song at the [Grand Ole] Opry called ‘I Hate Love Songs.’ I was not planning on putting it on my record, until I played it at the Opry, and the reaction was so crazy that I sent it to my label and I’m like, ‘We can’t not cut this song.’ And so I think we’re cutting it now.”
Album Release Date
“This year. That’s what I can tell you. But I think I can tell you that it will come out in maybe a couple phases. It won’t all be at once.”
Upcoming Tour With Lady Antebellum
“I got to open for Lady A a bit last year. They’re incredible. They’re really good friends too, which it’s nice to be on the road with your friends, because then . . . during the day you can all hangout and actually have chill time.”
Marriage
“We’re getting married this year. I think an engagement to me is like just enough time to plan a wedding. I have a wedding planner. It’s fun to think about. When I’m done with working or whatever, it’s kind of a fun thing to look forward to.”
Check out show 6 of the SportsRadioWNML.com exclusive weekly video podcast “The Big 3 with Heather & Will.”
Sports Radio WNML hosts Heather Harrington and Will West discuss and debate current local and national sports topics including the Tennessee Volunteers.
This week they look back on the Bears pick of Mitchell Trubisky, when is it too late to be a bandwagon Preds fan and Nick Saban’s massive new contract. Plus, watch for the extra credit question at the end.
Watch the latest show below and find out more about the weekly feature HERE.
After the release of their new video for “It Ain’t My Fault,” the Brothers Osborne may get another trophy to add to their collection.
The reigning CMA and ACM Vocal Duo of the Year dropped a comical, high-energy new video for “It Ain’t My Fault”—think Point Break meets the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”—that features an armed group of mask-wearing Presidents robbing a Pawn Shop (which just happens to be the name of TJ and John Osborne’s 2016 album).
Presidents Trump, Obama, W. Bush and Clinton rob Brothers Pawn Shop before hitting the streets, where they are pursued by cops. Chaos ensues as the Presidents try to escape, including a masked cameo by a motorcycle-riding Hillary Clinton, who comes to Bill’s aid. Find out how Trump, Obama and Bush fare below.
“The media these days is flooded with all things presidential and politics,” John says. “No matter what happens, politicians all seem to pin the blame on something else as opposed to being accountable for their own actions. We felt the connection with the song title was perfect.”
“John and I always like song titles that aren’t immediately obvious but are common everyday sayings,” says TJ. “We’re all guilty of saying ‘It Ain’t My Fault’ more so than it actually being true. When our co-writer Lee Thomas Miller brought up the idea, we loved it. We wanted a video that was as exciting as the music.”
Before his What the Hell World Tour at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., on April 29, Dierks Bentley helped one soldier—Sgt. Steven Mendez—and his family create an unforgettable memory.
As the soldier’s two sons were taking pictures and chatting with Dierks backstage before the concert, Sgt. Mendez, who had been overseas for 10 months, casually walked into the photo opportunity. Sgt. Mendez’s sons were so stunned that it took them a few seconds to regain their composure and embrace their father.
“I can’t begin to imagine the sacrifice of being away from your family for sometimes years,” said Dierks. “I love the fact that country music fans hold our military and their families in such high regard and always jump at the chance to say thank you. It was a really cool moment in the show, and a really special thing for me to be part of.”
Later that evening during the concert, an emotional Dierks invited the Mendez family onstage while he performed “Home,” and he thanked Steven for his service as the crowd chanted “U.S.A.”
With her husband, Mike Fisher, serving as the Nashville Predators captain, Carrie Underwood is obviously more invested in the hometown hockey team’s success than most folks. And when the Preds win—which they’ve done a lot lately—Carrie likes to celebrate.
After last night’s Game 4 playoff win over the St. Louis Blues, Carrie and her crew celebrated in their Bridgestone Arena suite by sampling DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.”
The Preds now lead the Round 2 series 3–1 and can move on to Round 3 with one more win.
Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson / via TitansOnline.com
The mood has changed within the Tennessee Titans fanbase over the last year.
Titans general manager Jon Robinson has added several players, including offensive tackle Jack Conklin and running back DeMarco Murray, that have helped the Titans become more competitive in the NFL. Those roster upgrades helped the Titans finish last season with a 9-7 record, the team’s first winning season since 2011.
Last year’s performance combined with this past weekend’s draft has created even more buzz for Tennessee. The South Point Hotel in Las Vegas has even made the Titans the favorite to win their division following last weekend’s NFL Draft.
Evan Silva of Rotoworld expressed more confidence in the Titans when he joined Sports 180 on Tuesday. The Titans’ draft results from last weekend helped play a role.
“Second strong draft in a row, in my opinion,” Silva said. “I would be very optimistic if I were a Titans fan. It feels like we were doing this four years ago with the same sort of stuff and there was just not a whole lot of room for optimism. Things have changed very, very quickly and I think this team is headed in the right direction.”
Silva shared more thoughts on the Titans as well as Alvin Kamara’s role in the New Orleans Saints’ offense during his interview on Sports 180. Listen below.
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![Dierks Bentley Gets Emotional as He Helps U.S. Soldier With Surprise Family Reunion [Watch]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/1446/2017/05/03100126/Dierks-Bentley.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
