Jim Casey talks with Kristian Bush about his transition from being a member of a duo—first with Billy Pilgrim and then Sugarland—to being a solo artist, receiving validation for his first solo album, Southern Gravity, from fans and critics, his new song, “Sing Along,” upcoming new album, producing Lindsay Ell’s new EP, Worth the Wait, and more.
Unabashed Britney Spears fan Kelsea Ballerini stopped by the Entertainment Tonight studio to share an amusing anecdote about her idol. According to her story, Kelsea spent many a day trying to perfect her “Britney” growl.
“So, this is embarrassing, but my dad always tells this story of me going around the house as a kid trying to get the ‘Britney’ growl,” says Kelsea before demonstrating her purr. “[Britney] was also my first concert, she’s a legend, I think she’s the queen of pop music, and I adore Britney Spears.”
Check out the video below to hear Kelsea’s “Britney” growl.
With today’s release of his new album, God’s Problem Child, Willie Nelson is celebrating his 84th birthday one day early.
To jump-start the festivities, Willie dropped a new video for “Still Not Dead,” a tune on the new album that pokes fun at the many reports of Willie’s demise over the years. Co-penned by Willie and Buddy Cannon, the song opens with the Red Headed Stranger singing “I woke up still not dead again today / The internet said I had passed away / If I died I wasn’t dead to stay / And I woke up still not dead again today.”
The new video provides some visual hilarity that features footage of Willie enjoying his morning coffee, playing cards, smoking weed, performing onstage and recording the song in studio.
After taking a hiatus in fall 2015, Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood got their creative juices flowing by spending about two months together in sunny Florida and Los Angeles last summer. In the process, the Grammy-winning trio created their upcoming sixth studio album, Heart Break, which drops on June 9.
The 13-song offering was produced by busbee and features a number of well-known songwriters, including Hillary Lindsey, Jesse Frasure, Shane McAnally and more.
“When we started working on this record, the goal was to give ourselves some space from the day to day,” said Hillary Scott. “Surrounding ourselves in a new environment with sunny beaches and warm weather really helped free our minds to focus solely on our art. We took some of our favorite writers and other writers we hadn’t worked with before to a new inspiring backdrop, where we were able to just write and soak up the journey. And it was on our first trip in Florida when we wrote ‘Heart Break’ that we felt it all click.”
Lady A posted a behind-the-scenes video on Twitter today (April 28) that documents some of the trio’s time together in L.A. Check it out.
Jim Casey talks with Cole Swindell about his string of consecutive No. 1 singles, being a fan of Dierks Bentley from his first album, writing “Flatliner” specifically for Dierks with Jaron Boyer and Matt Bronleewe, touring with Dierks and Jon Pardi, gives us a little spoken word “Flatliner” performance and more.
One month after releasing her Billboard No. 1 album, WildHorse, RaeLynn made her late-night television debut on April 27 by performing “Love Triangle” on Late Night With Seth Meyers.
“Love Triangle,” which was co-penned by RaeLynn, Nicolle Galyon and Jimmy Robbins, is currently No. 28 on the Mediabase chart.
“‘Love Triangle’ was that song that really put me on the map as a songwriter in Nashville,” said RaeLynn to Nash Country Daily. “I remember amazing songwriters like Shane McAnally and Natalie Hemby—people that I had looked up to as songwriters—would come up to me and say, ‘When is that going to be a single, that song is incredible.’ A lot happened for me in the writing world because of this song and how vulnerable it was. It’s been in my life for four years. This song has healed me so much. I didn’t even realize that I needed healing in my life in this area. Just goes to show how much you cover it up or you mask it, you have to heal. Writing this song let me deal with the pain and the hurt that I felt growing up and being stuck in between my parents.”
Watch RaeLynn’s performance of “Love Triangle” below.
Check out show 5 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.
Watch the latest show below and find out more about the weekly feature HERE.
The May 5 release of Chris Stapleton’s highly anticipated sophomore solo album, From A Room: Volume 1, is one week away.
After sharing his new tune, “Broken Halos,” earlier this month, Chris is giving fans their second taste of what’s to come on the album by releasing “Second One to Know,” which was co-penned by Chris and Mike Henderson.
“I’m real proud of this record,” Chris said on April 5 during an album listening party for industry insiders. “We made it right here in [RCA Studio A] like the last one [Traveller]. We camped out in here . . . and had a lot of fun recording things.”
The album takes its name from Music City’s iconic RCA Studio A, where it was recorded during the winter of 2016-17. Dave Cobb, who produced Chris’ debut solo album, once again helmed Volume 1, which features eight original songs as well as a rendition of “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning,” written by Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar and made famous by Willie Nelson.
Listen to “Second One to Know” below.
From A Room: Volume 1
“Broken Halos” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
“Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning” (Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar)
“Second One to Know” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
“Up to No Good Livin’” (Chris Stapleton and Casey Beathard)
“Either Way” (Chris Stapleton, Tim James and Kendall Marvel)
“I Was Wrong” (Chris Stapleton and Craig Wiseman)
“Without Your Love” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
Them Stems” (Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Stewart and Shawn Camp)
Wiggins will wear No. 6 for the Vols / Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Alvin Kamara is still helping Tennessee’s football program even though he’s no longer playing for the Vols.
Tennessee received a commitment from graduate transfer cornerback Shaq Wiggins on Wednesday. Wiggins played for Georgia in 2013 before spending the last three years at Louisville.
Like Wiggins, Kamara transferred to Tennessee in 2015 after having spent time at Alabama and Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.
Kamara, who played high school football at Norcross (Ga.) High School, told Wiggins, a Tyrone, Ga., native, about his experience transferring to Tennessee.
“I kind of went down a similar road (as Kamara),” Wiggins told WNML. “I just asked him about the program and Coach Jones and how the coaches were. You kind of get a feel for yourself just being in college for so long.”
The status of Tennessee’s program has changed since before Wiggins entered college in 2013.
As a high school prospect, Wiggins was recruited by former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley and his staff. At the time, the Vols were enduring a third straight losing season, which ultimately led to Dooley being fired.
Wiggins said Tennessee’s program has greatly improved since he went through the recruiting process in high school.
“It’s definitely high profile,” Wiggins said. “Tennessee beat a couple of teams they were usually used to losing to when a different coaching staff was there.
“The vibe and the feel from the players in how they react to Coach Jones is very different. That is one thing that stood out to me from visiting Knoxville.”
Wiggins said he will begin summer classes at Tennessee in June with hopes of competing for a starting position at cornerback when fall practice begins.
Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop will likely welcome the addition of Wiggins. Athlon Sports writer Braden Gall pointed to cornerback this week as a position of need for the Vols.
“Tennessee, compared to the rest of the SEC, has a lot of question marks at that position,” Gall said.
Tennessee found an answer this week with the commitment from Wiggins, who could make the biggest impact among the Vols’ newcomers this fall.
Wiggins said he will wear No. 6 for Tennessee – the same number Kamara wore the last two seasons.
“Hopefully we’ll have the same turnout,” Wiggins said.
Click below to listen to the full interview with Wiggins on Sports Radio WNML.
Derek Barnett and Roger Goodell / Credit: UT Athletics
PHILADELPHIA —Derek Barnett, Tennessee’s all-time sack king and a 2016 Consensus All-American, was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft at the Philadelphia Museum of Art at Eakins Oval.
“I’m excited,” Barnett said at the press conference following his selection. “I don’t have to go far just a few blocks up the street. I appreciate the love I’ve been receiving already.”
Philadelphia have a long history of selecting Vols. Barnett is the 18th Vol to be selected by the Eagles in the NFL Draft or Supplemental Draft. That group includes VFL legends such as Frank Emanuel, Reggie White, Antone Davis and Charlie Garner. The Eagles selected White with the fourth overall pick of the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL players.
“I’ve heard the fans are very passionate and I know I’m going to an organization with a lot of great players,” he said. “I just can’t wait, I’m ready to get to work and everybody’s been telling me to enjoy the moment but I love football and I’m ready to get back to what I love to do.”
Barnett is Tennessee’s first NFL first-round draft pick since the Miami Dolphins took Ja’Wuan James with the No. 19 overall selection in 2014. The last time the Eagles took a UT player in the first round of the NFL Draft, they selected Antone Davis with the eighth overall pick of 2008.
The Eagles acquired the No. 14 pick from the Minnesota Vikings as part of a September trade for former Philadelphia quarterback Sam Bradford.
Barnett is the first UT defensive lineman drafted since the Pittsburgh Steelers picked Daniel McCullers in the sixth round (No. 215 overall) in 2014. He is also Tennessee’s first defensive player to be picked in the first round since 2010 when the Kansas City Chiefs selected Eric Berry with the fifth pick and the Arizona Cardinals selected Dan Williams with the 26th pick. The last UT defensive end to be selected in the first round was Robert Ayers, who went to the Denver Broncos with the 18th pick in 2009.
From 2014-16, Barnett played in 39 games, totaling 197 tackles (131 solo) and a Tennessee program-record 33.0 sacks. He tallied a career-best 13.0 sacks, including the 33rd of his career against Nebraska in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl to break the previous record of 32.0 held by the late great Reggie White since 1983. Barnett’s 52.0 career tackles for loss rank second in Tennessee history only to Leonard Little’s program-record 53.0.
Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson
“Being a former quarterback in this league, anytime you can acquire a pass rusher to get after a quarterback to go with the guys we have, to mix him in there now, makes us better.”
Philadelphia Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman
“He stands for what we want to be and I think everyone in this city will see what kind of person he is, what kind of player is. Unbelievable high character, unbelievable worker and tremendously talented and productive.”
Philadelphia Eagles VP of Player Development Joe Douglas
“We couldn’t be more excited about Derek and how he hit the nail on the head, he is a guy that is tough as nails. When I think about some of the teams I used to grow up watching here in Philadelphia, he’s going to fit in with some of those guys from the late 80s early 90s. He is Philly tough.”
“When you see a guy that shows up in big moments… see a guy that plays in the best conference in all of college football show up week in week out and be as consistent as he is, it’s a big factor.”
ESPN Analyst Jon Gruden
“When you surpass the all-time sack king in Knoxville… great pick by the Philadelphia Eagles.”
ESPN Analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
“You think about production in the SEC, unmatched. Unbelievable week to week what Derek Barnett was able to do. He has great hand usage and he can close despite having 4.88 speed, doesn’t have the length, the long arms you would want. The savvy he has as a defensive end, the way he works the offensive tackles, he schooled these tackles in college.”
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