On Christmas Day 2016, Ashley Monroe and husband John Danks announced via Twitter that they were expecting their first child.
Almost three months later on March 19, Ashley posted a baby update on social media—this time Instagram—to let fans know that her upcoming bundle of joy is a baby boy.
Decked out in a bikini and robe with her baby bump for all to see, Ashley posted a pic with the following caption: “It’s a BABY BOY!! A big one I have a feeling 😎 🎈👶🏼🍼⚽️🏀🏈⚾️🚀💙”
The Tennessee football team will begin spring practice on Tuesday.
The Vols enter the spring with several players taking on more prominent roles. That’s because key players like Derek Barnett, Josh Dobbs and Alvin Kamara are gone. So are Josh Malone, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Cam Sutton.
Tennessee football coach Butch Jones will meet with the media on Monday (hear it live on WNML at noon ET) and begin answering questions about the new year for Tennessee football. The Vols will try to answer as many questions as they can this spring while recognizing most of that will take place this summer and fall.
Here are five thoughts I have on Tennessee’s football team as the Vols begin spring practice.
Guarantano has a lot of hype
Maybe it’s fair. Jarrett Guarantano was a highly-touted quarterback when he signed with the Vols in 2016, and his commitment video in Times Square only added to the attention he received before he stepped foot on campus. Is he ready to take on junior Quinten Dormady, who has more experience but lower expectations entering the quarterback battle? We’ll see. Guarantano himself said in February that he’ll “run away” with the job if he ends up being named the starter.
Will the Vols look Rock solid?
Jones made several staff changes following the 2016 season, and the biggest one might have been in January when he hired Rock Gullickson to take over Tennessee’s strength and conditioning program. The veteran coach was asked to help a program that appeared to have grown weak following last year’s departure of coach Dave Lawson. Gullickson’s top priority is the offensive line, which has several veterans capable of playing well if they’re physically ready to do so. Freshman offensive lineman Trey Smith should also look the part.
John Kelly needs to be the real deal
Tennessee’s junior running back emerged in a big way last season. Kelly ran for 630 yards on 98 carries after taking on a heavier workload midway through the season. Tennessee’s coaching staff will need him to do that over the course of an entire season. Kelly is one of only two scholarship running backs currently on the roster; sophomore Carlin Fils-aime is the other. Three freshmen running backs will arrive this summer, but with the Vols relying on a new starting quarterback and several inexperienced wide receivers, Kelly will be asked to help lead Tennessee’s offense.
Where’s the pass rush?
Barnett is gone. So are LaTroy Lewis and Corey Vereen (graduation) as well as Dimarya Mixon (dismissal). That’s a lot of talent and experience at defensive end for Tennessee to replace. New defensive line coach Brady Hoke will be tasked with developing talented but unproven players, most notably Jonathan Kongbo and Darrell Taylor. Kyle Phillips will have an opportunity to prove his five-star rating out of high school was no fluke when he returns from injury in August.
Marquill Osborne needs to have a big spring
Osborne isn’t the only one, but he probably has the most upside among Tennessee’s returning cornerbacks. The sophomore saw the majority of his playing time on special teams last season while also working in at defensive back. Osborne can help at nickelback and cornerback. With Sutton and Malik Foreman gone and no one cornerback locked in as a starter, Osborne would do himself and Tennessee’s defense a favor if he plays well in the spring. Tennessee’s coaches have similar hopes for Baylen Buchanan, another rising sophomore who saw plenty of playing time last fall.
Bonus thought
This offseason is probably going to be a long one. The 2016 regular season ended on such a negative note that nothing could realistically lift the spirits of most Tennessee fans before games are played in 2017. Not all fans are unhappy, but there are enough fans letting their voices be heard to know frustration exists in Vol Nation. Positive vibes will likely start to emerge when the season approaches, but that is still several months away. In the meantime, try to enjoy some spring football.
More than 20 stars—including newly announced Toby Keith, Alabama and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons—will come together at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on April 6 for a Merle Haggard tribute concert. Dubbed Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard, the concert will also feature performances from Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, John Mellencamp, Dierks Bentley, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams Jr., The Avett Brothers, Alison Krauss, Ronnie Dunn, Warren Haynes, Jamey Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lucinda Williams, Ben Haggard, John Anderson, Connie Smith and Bobby Bare.
The concert takes place on April 6, the one-year anniversary of Merle’s death and what would have been his 80th birthday.
“I am so very thankful for this tribute to my husband, Merle Haggard. Please come join me and my family at this fantastic show that Merle would be so proud of,” said Theresa Haggard in a statement.
Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com and the Bridgestone Arena.
“12” must be Trace Adkins’ lucky number this year.
On March 31, Trace will release his 12th studio album, Something’s Going On, a 12-song offering that features the single, “Watered Down.” Trace’s dozenth album also happens to coincide with his upcoming 12th USO Tour this spring, an overseas outing that Trace is once again looking forward to.
“Well, it’s the most appreciative audience you’ll ever play for, I’ll tell you that,” says Trace to Nash Country Daily. “Over the years, I have gotten more comfortable with feeling guilty when you come home. I tell people that if somebody’s going to go do their first USO Tour and they asked me what to expect, I tell them the same thing that I was told the first time I went, ‘Expect to feel guilty when you come home.’ Over the years I’ve come to be okay with that and accept it. I haven’t been able to stop feeling guilty when I come home, but at least I can deal with it better now. Having said that, I’m really looking forward to my 12th tour.”
Watch Trace’s lyric video for his new single, “Watered Down.”
Jim Casey talks with Jerrod Niemann about his USO Tour, participating in a benefit for the Orlando shooting victims last year, working with a new label on his upcoming album, his brand-new single, “God Made a Woman,” and more.
Brooke Eden’s new single, “Act Like You Don’t, about a girl pleading with her ex for space after a breakup so that she can heal, is a case of art imitating life. The song’s relatable message comes from a real-life breakup that the 28-year-old singer found herself in.
“I wrote this song when I was going through a really hard break-up,” Brooke shares with Nash Country Daily. “What was so hard about the break up, was that we never had a big, blowout fight. It was never like, ‘I hate you. Yeah, well I hate you, too.’ It was never that. It was harder because we just knew that it wasn’t going to work out. It kind of became a toxic relationship in a lot of ways, but it was never like we hated each other. He would text me after we broke up, ‘I miss you. I want to hang out. I still want to be friends.’ I’m like, ‘I can’t be there yet. I know you can’t either.’ We kind of did this long back and forth, this where we were friends and then we would end up being together for a really long time. We always knew that the outcome was that we were never going to be together in the end. I finally got to this point where I was like, ‘I can’t have you texting me like this anymore. If you ever loved me and you still love me, I need you to act like you don’t anymore.'”
And thus, “Act Like You Don’t” was born. The deeply personal song that was therapy for Brooke has hit a nerve with fans as well. Being able to help others get through their own breakup by telling her story has meant the world to the Florida native.
“It was so therapeutic for me to write it,” Brooke said. “It’s been so cool. Fans have Tweeted me being like, ‘Thank you so much for this song. It’s my break up anthem. It’s helping me get through this.’ To me, that’s everything. I think that, especially, through a break up, it’s one of the loneliest times. You’re so used to having that person that you can talk to and get through hard times with. Now, the person that you would normally talk to to get through this hard time is the reason that you’re having the break up.”
“Act Like You Don’t” is the follow-up to Brooke’s lead off single, “Diamonds,” and the second release from her debut EP, Welcome to the Weekend.
“It’s the song that I always wanted to be my single,” Brooke adds. “I think we just had to get there. I think that everyone has to get on the same page and sometimes that’s not immediate. Sometimes it doesn’t happen immediately.”
You won’t have to wait much longer to hear Lindsay Ell’s debut EP, appropriately titled, Worth the Wait. The singer announced today (March 17) that she will be releasing her new project on Friday, March 24.
The new EP enlists the talents of many of Nashville’s hottest songwriters, including Fred Wilhelm, Caitlyn Smith, Heather Morgan, Travis Meadow and Ryan Hurd. Also on board for the project is Kristian Bush, who produced the album.
“Lindsay has become a freaking superstar,” Kristian tells Nash Country Daily. “I think one of the things we’re finding is no one knew how well she could sing because they were just looking at her guitar. They were like, ‘Oh, that must be the device we’re using to talk about Lindsay Ell.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. Have you guys heard her sing? Like really sing.’ I didn’t get a lot of reaction until we started making recordings. Then I’m watching people’s eyes. They get bigger and bigger, and it looks like you’re looking at a cartoon character. And now the music. I told her, ‘You have to believe in the music you’re making. Otherwise, no one will believe you when they look at you or listen to you.’ She has done a fantastic job at stepping up to the plate and making and singing and interpreting. It reminds me of a female John Mayer, if he was making his first record or his second record, or Sheryl Crow’s first record.”
Worth the Wait contains six tracks, including a cover of John Mayer’s “Stop This Train,” where Lindsay shows off her guitar riffing skills.
The Alberta, Calgary, native is currently on tour as part of Brad Paisley’s Life Amplified Tour.
Worth the Wait Track List & Songwriters
1. “Waiting on You” (Lindsay Ell, Adam Hambrick, Andrew DeRoberts)
2. “Criminal” (Lindsay Ell, Chris Stevens, Fred Wilhelm)
3. “Space” (Caitlyn Smith, Heather Morgan, Maggie Chapman)
4. “Standing Here” (Melissa Peirce, Ryan Hurd, Chase McGill)
5. “Worth the Wait” (Lindsay Ell, Travis Meadows)
6. “Stop This Train” (John Mayer, Pino Palladion)
You can check out a live version of Lindsay’s “Worth the Wait” below.
In honor of college basketball’s craziest month, I created a bracket with 16 of the hottest acts in country music. I seeded them based on the strength of their current “season,” which ran from the ACM Awards in April 2016 to the Grammy Awards in February 2017.
After thousands of votes were cast in the Great 8 Round, four stars emerged victorious: Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett and Dolly Parton.
A few interesting factoids from the previous Great 8 Round before you vote in the Fab 4 Round.
Carrie Underwood defeated Dierks Bentley by more than 1,000 votes.
Blake Shelton mounted a huge comeback win over Keith Urban, who was winning by more than 400 votes on March 13. Blake’s margin of victory was less than 100 votes.
Both Dolly Parton and Thomas Rhett dispatched of opponents Eric Church and Kelsea Ballerini, respectively, by more than 500 votes each.
Sooners and Volunteers. The Fab 4 Round consists of two artists from Oklahoma (Carrie and Blake) and two artists from Tennessee (TR and Dolly).
Garth Brooks courtesy CMA; Dierks Bentley courtesy The Greenroom PR; Carrie Underwood by Koury Angelo/Schmidt Relations; Miranda Lambert by Randee St. Nicholas/Sony Music Nashville; Keith Urban courtesy PFA Media; Little Big Town by Matthew Welch/Sandbox Entertainment; Blake Shelton by Brian Bowen Smith/NBC; Maren Morris by LeAnn Mueller/Sony Music; Sturgill Simpson by Reto Sterchi/Sacks & Co.; Kelsea Ballerini courtesy Black River Entertainment; Thomas Rhett by John Shearer/The Greenroom PR; Jason Aldean by James Minchin/The Greenroom PR; Eric Church by John Peets/EB Media; Chris Stapleton courtesy UMG Nashville; Luke Bryan courtesy Schmidt Relations; Dolly Parton by Quantrell Colbert/NBC
Garth Brooks is full of good news this week. The superstar announced that he will be returning to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2018, for the first time since 1993, to not only open the show, but also to close it as well.
The 2018 Houston Rodeo is scheduled to run from Feb. 27 to March 18.
“It’s with great humility and great appreciation that we accept this offer to come here and play,” Garth said in a press conference. “It’s been a long time. The greatest gift I ever received was getting to go home and raise my babies. Thank you for that time that I got to go home. Now getting to come back here and play the Livestock and Rodeo, it’s going to be like old school. I’m just going to warn you now, you’ve got a year to prepare. Just make sure you bring a helmet because it’s going to be loud, it’s going to be fun and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Additionally, Garth announced his new single, “Ask Me How I Know,” which will impact radio on March 27. This will be the follow-up to Garth’s Top 15 hit, “Baby, Let’s Lay Down and Dance,” and the second single from his 2016 album, Gunslinger.
On his way to SXSW, the Oklahoma native posted a video on social media, teasing the new song.
“Hey everybody, Garth Brooks here,” he said in the video. “Houston, thank you. Great day, great start, I’ll see you one year from now. As far as South By [Southwest] down in Austin—what’s gonna go on there [laughs]? I know, ‘Ask Me How I Know.'”
In the lead-up to the 26.2-mile race, Cassidy will be posting training updates on her website and Instagram pages. In addition, Cassidy will be raising awareness and money for Safe Haven Family Shelter of Nashville, a non-profit organization that provides shelter to homeless families. Cassidy’s Crowdrise.com page, where you can make a donation, has already raised more than $6,000 for Safe Haven.
Cassidy shared a lengthy post at Crowdrise.com about how important running has been to her since moving to Nashville 11 years ago, saying, in part: “It’s hard to overestimate how important running has been to me in the last decade. It helped me transition through so many life changes and adjustments, most of all to being a parent. Its given me time to myself that I need but don’t often get. It’s been both a meditative exercise and an escape, a way to be more present in my life and also a way to just zone out from it all when I needed to. I owe a lot to running.”
The new EP enlists the talents of many of Nashville’s hottest songwriters, including Fred Wilhelm, Caitlyn Smith, Heather Morgan, Travis Meadow and Ryan Hurd. Also on board for the project is Kristian Bush, who produced the album.
Additionally, Garth announced his new single, “Ask Me How I Know,” which will impact radio on March 27. This will be the follow-up to Garth’s Top 15 hit, “Baby, Let’s Lay Down and Dance,” and the second single from his 2016 album, Gunslinger. 
