Cole Swindell Has Been Waiting for Dierks Bentley to Record “Flatliner” for 4 Years: “It Was a Running Joke Every Time We’d See Each Other”

Cole Swindell Has Been Waiting for Dierks Bentley to Record “Flatliner” for 4 Years: “It Was a Running Joke Every Time We’d See Each Other”

Posted on April 6, 2017

Getting Dierks Bentley to lend his vocals to Cole Swindell’s current single, “Flatliner,” was a long time coming.

Although Cole had Dierks in mind when he co-wrote the tune with Jaron Boyer and Matt Bronleewe in 2012, it took Dierks a few years to warm up to the idea—or perhaps savvy Dierks was just waiting for Cole’s career to takeoff. After six consecutive No. 1 singles, it’s safe to say Cole’s career has skyrocketed.

“I wrote ‘Flatliner’ with Jaron Boyer and Matt Bronleewe before I had my [Warner Bros.] record deal—it was in 2012 or ’13,” says Cole to Nash Country Daily. “We wrote it and I was like, ‘Man, we gotta try to get this to Dierks.’ Whatever happened, we didn’t have the avenue to get it to him, or he heard it and didn’t want it. I don’t know what happened.

Cole talks with NCD editor Jim Casey in studio.

“After I got the record deal and had some success, I told Dierks the story and he was like, ‘Well, send it to me. I gotta hear it.’ He listened to it and loved it, and I joked with him, ‘Man, you gotta sing on that with me if we ever record it. You got to.’ It was kind of a running joke every time we’d see each other. Sure enough, when the time came, he agreed to do it.”

The “time” was Cole’s 2016 sophomore album, You Should Be Here, which features “Flatliner” as the third single. The tune is currently No. 24 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. But it still begs the question: Was Dierks just waiting for Cole’s career to skyrocket before he lent his vocals to the song?

“Yeah, he’s not gonna just sing on some new guy’s song that used to sell merch, right?” says Cole with a laugh. “But it’s just cool that I met him in those days when I was Luke Bryan’s merch guy. Dierks is a good dude. For him to know what it means to me to be on that song and to be performing it with me, that’s a big deal to me. He knows that. That’s just something I hope I get to do for somebody someday.

“I’m thankful that I’m touring with Dierks. But I’m thankful because I had to sing this song for a while by myself. There are way too many words. I about pass out every night I have to sing it by myself. But out there on tour with Dierks, he helps me out, and it’s how it’s supposed to be. So I’m glad. I think it was just made for me and him, and I’m glad that he’s on it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reba McEntire and Maren Morris to Receive Music Business Association Awards

Reba McEntire and Maren Morris to Receive Music Business Association Awards

Posted on April 6, 2017

The Music Business Association (Music Biz) will honor Reba McEntire and Maren Morris with awards at their 2017 luncheon on May 18.

Reba will be the recipient of the Chairman’s Award for Sustained Creative Achievement, while Maren with be bestowed with the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award.

Past winners of the Chairman’s Award for Sustained Creative Achievement, which recognizes superior and continuing artistic achievement within the industry, include Kenny Rogers, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Nat King Cole, Leonard Bernstein, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and many more.

“I am very grateful, getting to do what I love to do after all these years at the level I get to do it,” said Reba in a press release. “When I first started out I didn’t have enough imagination to even dream about all the wonderful things I’ve gotten to do along with all the great people I have gotten to meet. Thanks so much to Music Biz for this award and to my loyal fans for the support throughout the years that has kept me going. I can’t wait to see everyone in Nashville.”

Additional 2017 Music Biz honorees include Adele (Artist of the Year), Lukas Graham (Breakthrough Artist), the Hamilton Original Cast Recording and Mixtape albums (Outstanding Achievement Award) and Paula Abdul (Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award).

 

photo: Maren Morris by LeAnn Mueller/Sony Music; Reba McEntire courtesy BMLG

Chris Stapleton Announces New Album, “From A Room: Volume 1,” and Track List

Chris Stapleton Announces New Album, “From A Room: Volume 1,” and Track List

Posted on April 6, 2017

To celebrate the upcoming release of his new album, From A Room: Volume 1, Chris Stapleton held a listening party for industry insiders at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A last night (April 5). In addition to sampling tracks from the new album, which drops on May 5, Chris announced that he will also release From A Room: Volume 2 later this year.

“I’m real proud of this record,” Chris told the crowd. “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 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.

The album’s first single will be “Either Way,” a tune Chris co-wrote with Tim James and Kendall Marvel.

In addition to Chris on vocals and guitar and Dave Cobb on acoustic guitar, the album features Morgane Stapleton on harmony vocals. Also featured are longtime band members J.T. Cure (bass) and Derek Mixon (drums) and musicians Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Robby Turner (pedal steel) and Mike Webb (keys).

From A Room: Volume 1 Track List and Songwriters

  1. “Broken Halos” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
  2. “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning” (Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar)
  3. “Second One to Know” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
  4. “Up to No Good Livin’” (Chris Stapleton and Casey Beathard)
  5. “Either Way” (Chris Stapleton, Tim James and Kendall Marvel)
  6. “I Was Wrong” (Chris Stapleton and Craig Wiseman)
  7. “Without Your Love” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
  8. “Them Stems” (Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Stewart and Shawn Camp)
  9. “Death Row” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)

 

On the One-Year Anniversary of Merle Haggard’s Death, We Remember the Icon With 11 Hag Facts

On the One-Year Anniversary of Merle Haggard’s Death, We Remember the Icon With 11 Hag Facts

Posted on April 6, 2017

It’s been exactly one year since the music world lost icon Merle Haggard, who died on April 6, 2016, on his 79th birthday from complications of double pneumonia. He had been in the midst of a concert tour when he was hospitalized in March 2016 and had to cancel several concert dates. Like the lifelong trouper that he was, Merle had hoped to resume his tour at some point. And that was Merle to the very end, not wanting to let down his fans, the common folks of America.

The enduring impact of Merle’s legacy is the appellation that’s often affixed to his name, “Poet of the Common Man.” No country singer who ever picked up a guitar or put down thoughts in song could aspire to anything higher.

On the one-year anniversary of his death, here are 11 Merle facts you may not know.

1. Merle was born in a train boxcar in 1937 that his father purchased in 1935 for $500. The tiny boxcar was moved from its original location in Oildale, Calif., in 2015 to the Kern Country Museum, where it has been refurbished for display. Guided tours begin on April 9.

Merle’s childhood home was moved in 2015 to Kern Pioneer Village in Bakersfield, Calif.

2. Merle’s first career No. 1 single, “The Fugitive,” in 1967 was written by Liz Anderson and her husband Casey Anderson, the parents of country star Lynn Anderson. Liz has often noted that the song was inspired by the popular TV series The Fugitive, which starred David Janssen as a physician on the run from the law.

3. Merle made his acting debut in 1968 in Killers Three, a Western drama written by Dick Clark. Merle played a sheriff in the movie and sang his No. 1 smash, “Mama Tried.” Merle also appeared on one episode of the television miniseries Centennial.

Merle Haggard playing Charlie in the film “Killers Three.”

4. Merle has graced the covers of several publications throughout his career. One of his more publicized was his appearance on the cover of the May 6, 1974, issue of TIME magazine. Merle served as the representative of the cover story titled, “Country Music: Songs of Love, Loyalty & Doubt.”

5. Crooner Dean Martin was likely a bit out of his element when he recorded Merle’s tune, “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am.” Dean’s version only made it to No. 75 on the pop charts.

6. Many of Merle’s tunes have made their way into movie soundtracks, including his 1982 No. 1 “Big City” in the darkly humorous Fargo, “Mama Tried” in the 2003 film Radio and “Swingin’ Doors,” which appeared in the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 2005, Crash.

7. Merle’s duet partners have included everyone from Willie Nelson and George Jones to Jewel, Janie Fricke and even the iconic actor/director Clint Eastwood, who teamed with Merle on the 1980 No. 1, “Bar Room Buddies.” Merle’s best-loved collaboration remains the 1983 No. 1 with Willie, “Pancho and Lefty.”

8. Merle wrote most of his songs, but certainly not all of them. His 1975 No. 1 single, “Kentucky Gambler,” was written by none other than Dolly Parton.

9. An all-star band comprised of the members of Diamond Rio, Steve Wariner and Lee Roy Parnell recorded a version of Merle’s classic “Workin’ Man’s Blues” in 1994.

10. Merle evidently harbored a certain fascination with the word “strangers.” It’s appeared in his first Top 10 hit “(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers” and “We’re Strangers Again,” his duet with Leona Williams. Strangers is also the title of his debut album. Plus, Merle’s backing band is named The Strangers.

11. Among Merle’s slew of honors: Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year in 1970, election to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and a Grammy lifetime Achievement award in 2006.

Merle Haggard, Country Music Hall of Fame plaque. Photo by Larry Hill

 

 

main image courtesy Myriam Santos

Jessie James Decker Has More Up Her Sleeve Than Singing and Songwriting

Jessie James Decker Has More Up Her Sleeve Than Singing and Songwriting

Posted on April 6, 2017

Jessie James Decker is a singer/songwriter—who just released her latest EP, Gold, featuring her current single, “Lights Down Low,” and a mom to two young children—but what you might not know about the pretty brunette is that she’s also a successful businesswoman. Jessie launched her own clothing and accessory line, Kittenish, in 2015.

“My clothing line is really taking off,” Jessie tells Nash Country Daily during a stop by the studio. “We’re in year three and it’s just booming. I’m so surprised by it. We started off thinking it was just going to be this little thing—did just six outfits, six pieces just to see what could happen. Now it’s exploded—we’re launching 12 to 20 pieces a month. We’ve already sold out of the month of February so it’s unbelievable, and we know it’s growing and there’s becoming big, fashion interest in our brand. So we’re excited.”

Jessie’s Five Must-Have Fashion Products

  1. Teasing comb – “Because I like big hair.”
  2. Eyelash extensions – “I cannot live without those because I have teeny tiny blonde eyelashes.
  3. Chapstick – “I have a big addiction with that.”
  4. Tinted moisturizer
  5. Bronzer

Jessie isn’t just the face of the Kittenish, she is very hands-on with all of her designs. The fashion line, described as sexy, fun and flirty, has Jessie surrounded by a team of women that helps in every facet of the business.

“I design everything with my team. My partner, Rachel is a huge designer. If I don’t design everything, she’ll design,” Jessie said. “We go back and forth. It’s a mix of trendy but comfortable and Southern influences. I don’t feel like there’s a lot of fashion that is Southern influenced, in my opinion, and there should be. So we’re bringing a little bit of that flavor. These are great women I work with.”

My favorite leggings and many more up on Kittenish tomorrow noon EST 😉 @kittenishstore

A post shared by Jessie James Decker (@jessiejamesdecker) on

Aside from a clothing line, Jessie has also branched out to hair and beauty products, which has her teamed up with FAVE4, a company that sells hair products, from shampoo, hairspray and conditioner to hair tools and accessories.

“I am an ambassador for the brand Fave4, but within Fave4, I have my own brand called Bless Your Hair—a hair perfume which we sell at Target. We’ve since expanded to body lotion and body wash, so we’re going to continue doing that,” she continues. “We have a curling iron too. I love beauty. I love hair. I love makeup. I love all that good stuff. Anything girly, I’m all about it. I’ve always wanted to J-Lo it up. I’ve always wanted to have my hand in just everything I could possibly do because I just love being creative. I love being able to do anything and everything that inspires me. I’m able to do hair and makeup and fashion and music and television and balance it properly—that way I don’t go crazy. I’ve always wanted to just do all sorts of things.”

Mission accomplished.

Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Casting ‘Tennessee: The Dave Hart Era’

Casting ‘Tennessee: The Dave Hart Era’

Posted on April 5, 2017

Sports 180 had its traditional Tennessee sports movie casting on Wednesday.

The idea is pretty simple: When a key figure leaves the Tennessee athletic department, we cast the movie of the major players from that time period.

Dave Hart’s tenure as the athletic director at Tennessee ended on Friday, which meant it was time for another casting call.

As always, we allowed ourselves an unlimited budget. And as always, we cast ourselves into the movie. After all, it’s our “movie.”

Many thanks to the listeners for your suggestions. They sure kept us entertained.

Here’s the cast for “Tennessee: The Dave Hart Era” as it stands today. It always remains subject to change. (Click each actor’s name for his or her IMDB bio.)

Dave Hart – George Hamilton

Mike Hamilton – Rick Moranis

John Currie – Johnny Knoxville

Butch Jones – Michael Rooker

Derek Dooley – Ty Burrell

Cuonzo Martin – Dennis Haysbert

Bruce Pearl – Lou Ferrigno

Rick Barnes – Kevin Costner

Jimmy Cheek – Dan Aykroyd

Beverly Davenport – Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Pat Summitt – Meryl Streep

Holly Warlick – Jane Lynch

Joe DiPietro – Mandy Patinkin

Charlie Strong – Titus O’Neill

Lane Kiffin – Daniel Tosh

Josh Richardson – Michael B. Jordan

Tyler Bray – Justin Timberlake

Erik Ainge – John Malkovich

Josh Ward – Josh Ward (Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas also suggested)

Will West – Will West (Jeff Daniels as Harry Dunne also suggested)

The Railers Roll Out ’90s-Inspired Music Video for “11:59 (Central Standard Time)” [Watch]

The Railers Roll Out ’90s-Inspired Music Video for “11:59 (Central Standard Time)” [Watch]

Posted on April 5, 2017

The Railers—Jonathan, Jordan and Cassandra Lawson—rolled out a new video for their single, “11:59 (Central Standard Time),” which is one of the Top 10 most added songs at country radio this week.

The new video pops with the energy of the 1990s as the trio takes their musical talents to the rink for some old-school rollerskating and break-dancing.

“We’re excited about this song,” said Jonathan to NCD. “We spent a long time looking for the right song that we felt like was a hit for country radio, but also something that creatively we could bring something to the table on. We wrote and wrote and wrote, and we listened to a ton of songs that our friends had written. It was actually on the way back from Missouri one night that ‘11:59’ was a on a CD that a friend had sent over of songs he had written. We listened to it and we all kind of looked at each other like, ‘I think this might be it.’ We listened again, and a few more times, and then we called our producer at midnight and said, ‘You have to hold this song right now, this is gonna be the single. We’ve got to go cut it.’”

“That moment, we believed in the song fully,” added Jordan.

“I feel like it’s the perfect time to release it, because it’s been a heavy year for everybody and we just wanted to release something that could bring everyone together, regardless of beliefs,” said Cassandra. “The video is so much fun. It’s got a lot of energy.”

Watch the new video for “11:59 (Central Standard Time)” below.

Thomas Rhett Talks “Craving You” With Maren Morris: “I Can’t Really Imagine Anyone Else Being On It”

Thomas Rhett Talks “Craving You” With Maren Morris: “I Can’t Really Imagine Anyone Else Being On It”

Posted on April 5, 2017

Thomas Rhett, who recently took home the ACM Male Vocalist of the Year award, is continuing to make his own way in country music with the release of his new single, “Craving You.”

The uptempo song, written by Julian Bunetta and Dave Barnes, features ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year winner Maren Morris on vocals and is the lead track from TR’s upcoming third studio album

Nash Country Daily caught up with Thomas Rhett, on the single’s release day, to talk about the new song, working with Maren and to check in on his Home Team Tour.

“The song is basically about a guy who is overwhelmingly in love with this girl,” Thomas Rhett tells Nash Country Daily. “Like I am with my wife, except that I’m singing it to Maren Morris this time. It’s just fun. It’s just a driving uptempo jam that Maren—when she got on the song—just made it twice as good. To have a guy and girl singing this to each other just makes it that much more powerful and emotional. I’m really to see what the reaction is in a week.”

When it came to having a female voice on the song, TR had thought immediately of the “My Church” singer and her vocal prowess.

“I think we knew we wanted to put a female on the song,” Thomas said of the collaboration. “I’ve always wanted to work with Maren, her voice just blows me away. It’s such a powerful, soulful voice. Now that she’s on it, I can’t really imagine anyone else being on it. It’s like, that’s the song. It’s like, it’s her or nobody. I’m really honored that she said yes to do it and she sounds amazing on it.”

TR will head back out on the road to wrap up the first leg of his Home Team Tour, featuring Kelsea Ballerini, Ryan Hurd and Russell Dickerson. The tour wraps at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville on April 20 and 21.

“It’s really good,” TR says of the tour experience. “It started in February and all we did was rehearse for a month and I just felt like it went by so fast—the last two shows are like next week. Then we pick back up in the fall but it’s a different package. It’s amazing to see people show up at these arena tours. I’ve been doing nothing but opening for acts for the last six years and so now to be a headliner is pretty surreal.”

https://youtu.be/vOut6izbsf8

Photo courtesy The Valory Music Co.

2017 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees Include Alan Jackson, Jerry Reed and Songwriter Don Schlitz

2017 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees Include Alan Jackson, Jerry Reed and Songwriter Don Schlitz

Posted on April 5, 2017

The Country Music Association announced its 2017 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees this morning (April 5):

  • Modern Era: Alan Jackson
  • Veteran Era: Jerry Reed
  • Songwriter: Don Schlitz

Alan Jackson

Mustachioed and mulleted, Alan burst onto the country music scene in 1990 with his platinum-selling debut album, Here in the Real World. But that success—and mullet—didn’t happen overnight. To truly appreciate the heights to which this singer/songwriter has risen, it’s important to know where he stated. Born into humble beginnings in Newnan, Ga., in 1958, Alan grew up listening to the spiritual sounds of gospel music in his family’s local church. After a friend introduced him to the stylings of Gene Watson and Hank Williams Jr., Alan became hooked on the everyman lyricism of country music. When Alan was 16, his parents bought him a $50 guitar, and he made his first public performance a year later.

After graduating from high school, Alan worked a series of blue-collar jobs, started his own band, Dixie Steel, and became a frequent performer at local clubs. He scraped by on the regional circuit before landing his big break in 1986 when his wife, Denise, who was working as a flight attendant, met Glen Campbell and gave him a copy of Alan’s demo. Alan secured a songwriting gig at Glen’s publishing company, eventually becoming the first artist to sign with Arista’s new Nashville division in 1989. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Over the course of the next 27 years, Alan unleashed 35 No. 1 hits, including his 9/11 tribute “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” dropped more than a dozen platinum albums and earned two Grammys, 16 CMA Awards (three for Entertainer of the Year) and 18 ACM Awards. He has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide and ranks as one of the 10 best-selling country artists of all-time.

The folkloric escapades of Alan are almost as compelling as his music, from spontaneously adding a snippet of George Jones’ “Choices” to his set at the 1999 CMA Awards to donning a fake mullet and stonewashed jeans in his 2014 artist-in-residence show at the Country Music Hall of Fame. And if it’s been a while since you’ve reveled in the awesomeness of the 1993 music video for “Chattahoochee,” stop reading right now and watch it.

“For me to say I’m honored sounds like the standard old response, but for a man who loves country music, there is no higher honor,” said Alan during his acceptance speech. “This is the mountaintop.”

Jerry Reed

Jerry Reed

Jerry “The Guitar Man” Reed was born in Atlanta on March 20, 1937, and passed away from complications of emphysema on Sept. 1, 2008, at the age of 71.

Over his storied career, the consummate entertainer racked up hits as a singer and songwriter, while mesmerizing fans with his guitar prowess and charming audiences with his down-home acting chops.

As a songwriter, Jerry penned tunes for everyone from Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash to Dean Martin and Tom Jones. As a solo artist, Jerry found his groove with hits like “Amos Moses,” “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot”—which won a Grammy Award—“Lord, Mr. Ford,” and “East Bound and Down,” which served as the theme song to 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit. In the flick, Jerry starred opposite Burt Reynolds as wily truck driver Cledus “Snowman” Snow.

Leave it to Jerry to upshift the unsavory occupation of bootlegging beer into an anthem for every truck-driving Southerner with an unquenchable thirst for adventure. When The boys are thirsty in Atlanta and there’s beer in Texarkana, the big-riggin’ Snowman will bring it back no matter what it takes.

“Thank you, CMA and Country Music Hall of Fame, for recognizing all the years of love, dedication and hard work that daddy put into his craft,” said Jerry’s daughters, Seidina Hubbard and Lottie Zavala, during their acceptance speech. “He loved country music and would be so deeply humbled and appreciative if he was here. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Don Schlitz

Don Schlitz

Don is among the most influential and beloved songwriters in the history of country music. His chart-topping songs include “The Gambler,” “On the Other Hand,” “Forever and Ever, Amen,” “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” “The Greatest” and “When You Say Nothing At All.”

Don’s 50 Top 10 singles have been performed by iconic acts Mary Chapin Carpenter, Alison Krauss, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Kenny Rogers, The Judds, Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, Keith Whitley, and many others. Don has won three CMA Song of the Year Awards, two Grammy Awards, and four consecutive ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year trophies (1988-91).

Don was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Association Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012.

“I live in the parentheses,” said Don during his acceptance speech. “I’m just a small part of a wonderful process of making music. This is overwhelming and humbling.”

The formal induction ceremony for the new inductees will take place at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the CMA Theater in October.

 

 

main photo by Jason Simanek

Luke Bryan Makes History By Going “Fast”

Luke Bryan Makes History By Going “Fast”

Posted on April 5, 2017

Fresh from hosting the 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards  on April 2, Luke Bryan is making history. His current single, “Fast” hit the top spot on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, making that Luke’s sixth single to go No. 1 from his Kill The Lights album.

“Fast,” written by Luke, Rodney Clawson and Luke Laird, is Luke’s 18th No. 1 hit overall.

Here’s where the making history comes in. Luke is the only artist, in the 27-year history of the Billboard chart, to have six singles from one album make it to the top of the chart. His preceding No. 1’s from Kill The Lights include, “Kick The Dust Up,” “Strip It Down,” “Home Alone Tonight,” “Huntin’ Fishin’ & Lovin’ Everyday” and “Move.

The Georgia native broke his previous record of having five singles from his last album, tailgates & tanlines, reach the top.

Next up for Luke, he’ll be kicking off his Huntin’ Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day Tour, featuring Brett Eldredge, on May 5-6 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Lauren Alaina, Craig Campbell, Adam Craig, Seth Ennis and Granger Smith will also join the tour for various dates.

Photo courtesy Schmidt Relations

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