2017 Grammy Awards: Red Carpet Coverage

2017 Grammy Awards: Red Carpet Coverage

Posted on February 12, 2017

Watch tonight’s Grammy Awards red carpet with us!

2:04 PM

2:08 PM – Drake White

3:15 PM – Chris Young & Cassadee Pope

5:51 PM – Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

5:58 PM – Kelsea Ballerini

6:04 PM – Maren Morris

6:16 PM – Rory Lee Feek

6:18 PM – Carrie Underwood

6:23 PM – Maren Morris

6:25 PM – Keith Urban

6:34 – Little Big Town

6:39 – Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

6:42 – Carrie Underwood

6:46 – Dierks Bentley & Elle King

7:01 – Dwight Yoakam

Red Carpet Snapshot Gallery

Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini Attend Clive Davis’ Pre-Grammy Party With Their Signifcant Others

Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini Attend Clive Davis’ Pre-Grammy Party With Their Signifcant Others

Posted on February 12, 2017

Grammy Award night (Feb. 12) may be a big night for both Maren Morris—nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist (all genre) and Best Country Solo Performance—and Kelsea Ballerini, nominated for Best New Artist (all-genre), but the young ladies enjoyed another big night out Saturday evening (Feb. 11), when they scored an invite to music mogul Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy party—rubbing shoulders with music’s elite.

Maren, who was on the list of the evening’s performers, sang her smash hit, “My Church” to the celebrity crowd, attended the party with her boyfriend, Ryan Hurd. Kelsea, who attended the party with her fiancé, Morgan Evans, on her arm, posted a sneak peek inside the party as she hung out with pop stars Rachel Platten and Tori Kelly, captioning the video, “when the praises go up, the blessings come down, and @rachelplatten, @Torikelly and I dance along.”

when the praises go up, the blessings come down, and @rachelplatten @torikelly and I dance along.

A video posted by Kelsea Ballerini (@kelseaballerini) on

Clive’s star-studded party, held in association with the Recording Academy, was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Among the artists that attended the party were Britney Spears, Joe Jonas, Paris Jackson, Tori Kelly, Rachel Platten, Barry Gibb, JC Chasez, Matthew Morrison, Lucas Graham, Paula Abdul, Diplo, Halsey, Neil Diamond, Jennifer Hudson, Courtney Love, Mary J. Blige, Elle King, Chance The Rapper, Pete Wentz, Taylor Dayne, LL Cool J, Jesse J, Rita Ora, Zayn Malik, Lorde, Andra Day and many more.

Check out photos of Kelsea and Morgan and Maren and Ryan from the party and tune in tonight to CBS for the 2017 Grammy Awards on CBS at 8pm ET.

 

Photos by LuMar/AFF-USA

Cassadee Pope and boyfriend, Rian Dawson, Are Engaged

Cassadee Pope and boyfriend, Rian Dawson, Are Engaged

Posted on February 10, 2017

Another country cutie is off the market. Congratulations are going out to Cassadee Pope and her boyfriend, Rian Dawson, who have publicly announced their engagement.

Cassadee—who has been dating Rian for seven years— posted a cute photo, on her social media accounts, of the couple kissing along with the captions, “We’re ENGAGED!”  And “The love of my life is now OFFICIALLY the love of my life. Never been happier.”

 

Cassadee is the latest in a long line of country stars that have gotten engaged recently. Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves, William Michael Morgan and Jennifer Wayne, Dan +Shay’s Dan Smyers, Mickey Guyton and Sam Hunt have all gotten engaged since November 2016.

In early January, Nash Country Daily asked our readers to vote who they thought the next country couple to get engaged would be. The winners were Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, with Cassadee and Rian in third place behind Lindsay Ell and Bobby Bones. Looks like Cassadee and Rian beat them all to the punch.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Photo courtesy Cassadee Pope Twitter

The Top 5 Best Performances From the Randy Travis Tribute Concert [Watch . . . and Learn]

The Top 5 Best Performances From the Randy Travis Tribute Concert [Watch . . . and Learn]

Posted on February 10, 2017

1 Night. 1 Place. 1 Time: A Heroes & Friends Tribute to Randy Travis took place on Wednesday night (Feb. 8) in front of a packed house at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and it featured more than 40 performers, including Garth Brooks, Wynonna, Jeff Foxworthy, Alison Krauss, Ben Haggard, Neal McCoy, Phil Vassar, Travis Tritt, Alabama, Kenny Rogers, Rodney Atkins, Chris Janson, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Michael Ray, Ricky Skaggs, Michael W. Smith, The Randy Travis Band, Tanya Tucker, Kane Brown, James Dupre, Scotty McCreery, Joe Nichols, Collin Raye, The Bellamy Brothers, Ricky Traywick and Chris Young, Chuck Wicks, Mark Chesnutt, Daryle Singletary, Paul Overstreet, Shane Owens, William Michael Morgan, Josh Turner, Rudy Gatlin, John Conlee, Daily & Vincent, Jan Howard, Jeannie Seely, Riders in the Sky and Charles Esten.

In addition to the great performances—and there were a bunch—Randy capped the three-hour show by leading the all-star cast in a rendition of “Amazing Grace” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

I’ve narrowed down those 40-plus performances to the Top 5. If you disagree, and I’m sure you will, feel free to tweet your Top 5 list to @TheJimCasey or @NashCntryDaily—but only if you attended the show. No fan-club fodder needed.

5. Phil Vassar
“More Life”
Phil Vassar was mesmerizing as he tickled the ivory and crooned “More Life.” If you’ve ever seen Phil in concert, the wild man has the tendency to be—look squirrel—but for four minutes he was focused on one mission: honoring Randy with this redemptive tune. And he was truly captivating. I would have tipped my hat to him, if I was wearing one.

4. Wynonna
“On the Other Hand”
Randy’s tribute concert was lacking one thing: female performers. Of the 40 artists who took the stage, only a handful were women, including Alison Krauss (who was amazing singing “Deeper Than the Holler”), Tanya Tucker and Jeannie Seely. Vocally, Wynonna was on another level as she belted out “On the Other Hand.” It’s a level few performers have ever been on, but Wynonna at age 52 is still better than any other female vocalist on the planet (Ok, maybe she’s tied with Trisha Yearwood).

3. Travis Tritt
“Better Class of Losers”
Full disclosure: I’m an unabashed Travis Tritt super-fan. Regardless, no one onstage that night had more energy than TT. He was genuinely excited to be there. He was giddy. I don’t think there’s a better adjective to describe him (or I would have used it). Travis’ rendition of “Better Class of Losers” had the crowd on its feet immediately and he got a louder ovation than anyone else (sans maybe Garth Brooks and Kenny Rogers), but Travis’ performance outshined the G-Man and The Gambler, which is no small feat.

2. Chris Janson
“Look Heart, No Hands”
As a performer, winning over a crowd with one song in less than five minutes is a daunting task, especially against the firepower onstage that night, but Chris Janson WON the crowd like Maximus in Gladiator: he gave them something they’ve never seen before. Chris, who is normally a whirling dervish of energy onstage, was almost stoic as he sang “Look Heart, No Hands”—until he busted out his harmonica and went to town on a solo. Dude has skills. Mad skills. He deserves a new boat from the show’s promoter.

1. Randy Travis
“Amazing Grace”
Technically, Randy sang at the CMA Awards in November when he capped “Forever and Ever, Amen” with the “Amen,” and he did that again on Wednesday night as Garth Brooks sang the tune. But on Feb. 8, Randy truly sang for the first time—that I know about—since suffering his stroke in 2013. Randy closed the show by leading the all-star troupe in a rendition of “Amazing Grace” as everyone joined him onstage. It truly was amazing. Randy may not ever get back to where he was pre-stroke, but where he is now is amazing . . . and grace has a lot to do with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnuR1DOL9ho

photo by Jason Simanek

Dustin Lynch Talks “Seein’ Red” Success and His Growing Fanbase

Dustin Lynch Talks “Seein’ Red” Success and His Growing Fanbase

Posted on February 10, 2017

Lisa talks with Dustin Lynch about the success of his latest single “Seein’ Red” on the charts, his growing fanbase, how continued success is changing his life and more.

Show Participants

  • Dustin Lynch
  • Lisa Konicki, NCD editor in chief

Show Links & Notes

https://youtu.be/dtzHL5S-xUw

The Writers Room, Ep. 54, 9 minutes
photo by Jason Simanek

Watch Brett Eldredge’s Priceless Reaction to Fake Snake Prank on “Today” Show

Watch Brett Eldredge’s Priceless Reaction to Fake Snake Prank on “Today” Show

Posted on February 10, 2017

If finding a live snake in his toilet wasn’t enough for Brett Eldredge, he had to relive the scary moment when he co-hosted the third hour of the Today Show this morning (Feb. 10) with Al Roker and Shenielle Jones.

The 6’4″ singer was at the anchor desk recalling his story of finding the snake in his hotel room toilet bowl when he was on vacation in Mexico. During the story, his “friends” at the Today show lowered a rubber snake onto Brett’s head. The singer didn’t flinch at first—thinking it was a microphone mishap—but once he laid eyes on the rubbery creature, he let out a priceless scream.

“I was like what is touching my head right now,” Brett explained. “I’m not even afraid of snakes but that was serious. I thought there was  a microphone—like maybe there was a studio malfunction and I had a microphone touching my head.”

After the scare, Brett composed himself and continued his co-hosting duties. Take a look at the video of Brett being scared by a snake.

Trek Across Iceland With Dierks Bentley in Behind-the-Scenes Footage From His New “Black” Video

Trek Across Iceland With Dierks Bentley in Behind-the-Scenes Footage From His New “Black” Video

Posted on February 10, 2017

With his wife, Cassidy, and director Wes Edwards, Dierks Bentley trekked across Iceland for four days to complete the scenically stunning music video for “Black,” which he released in January.

Today (Feb. 10), Amazon released an in-depth look at the epic four-day filming process of the “Black” video.

“We’ve been talking about Iceland as a location since before I even released the album last year, but I never thought we’d actually go. The next thing I know, there’s a shoot booked and we are standing on the side of a glacier half-dressed,” said Dierks. “The crew wasn’t kidding around . . . it was four long, cold days in some really treacherous conditions. We were on a lot of the same locations that Game of Thrones and the Star Wars films have shot, and it’s just crazy what those people go through every day. I had the idea of putting my wife in the video, which is totally taking her out of her comfort zone, but I just couldn’t imagine doing a video for this song without her in it and she reluctantly agreed . . . but then totally nailed it. It wouldn’t have been genuine without her. I think the end result is something really special, and it was a trip of a lifetime for everyone involved.”

The tune, which was written by Dierks, Ross Copperman and Ashley Gorley, is the third single from Dierks’ 2015 album, Black, and it is currently No. 23 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.

Watch the behind-the-scenes footage of “Black” below.

 

Two Country Stars Are Better Than One! Brandy Clark and Charlie Worsham Join Forces For 20+ City Tour

Two Country Stars Are Better Than One! Brandy Clark and Charlie Worsham Join Forces For 20+ City Tour

Posted on February 10, 2017

We all know that two country singers are better than one, especially when it comes to a night of incredible music. That’s just what country fans will get when two of country music’s best songwriters, Brandy Clark and Charlie Worsham, team up for An Evening with Brandy Clark & Charlie Worsham Tour.

The two artists have announced that they will be hitting the road together for a 27 city tour kicking off on April 6 in Charlottesville, Va., with stops in New York, Washington, D.C., San Antonio, Nashville and Atlanta.

In 2016 Brandy released her critically acclaimed sophomore album, Big Day in a Small Town, which earned her two 2017 Grammy award nominations for Best Country Album and Best Solo Performance (“Love Can Go To Hell”). Nash Country Daily’s Jim Casey also named Big Day in a Small Town as the Best Country Album of 2016.

“Brandy is everything I love about country music. She speaks her truth, and she breaks new ground with every song she writes,” said Charlie in a statement. “She’s beloved by the Nashville community, and each time she and I have collaborated, it’s been a blast. This tour is going to be so much fun, and I know the fans who fill up the venue each night will bring with them the same deep love for music that we have as artists.”

Charlie is set to release his highly-anticipated sophomore album, Beginning of Things—a follow up to his 2013 debut album Rubberband—which features five recently unveiled tracks including ”The Beginning of Things,” “Old Times Sake,” “Southern By The Grace of God,” “Cut Your Groove,” and “Call You Up.”

“Charlie Worsham is one of my favorite singers, songwriters, and musicians. I absolutely love his new record and where his heart is musically,” Brandy said in a statement. “I can’t wait to share the stage with him.”

Tickets are on sale now and available here.

An Evening with Brandy Clark & Charlie Worsham Tour Dates
April 6 / Charlottesville, Va. / The Southern
April 7 / Cincinnati / 20th Century Theatre
April 8 / Cleveland / House of Blues
April 9 / Ann Arbor, Mich. / The Ark
April 10 / Lexington, Ky. / Lyric Theatre
April 13 / Charleston, S.C. / Pour House Charleston
April 14 / Asheville, N.C. / The Grey Eagle
April 15 / Rocky Mount, Va. / Harvester Performing Arts Center
April 20 / New York / City Winery
April 22 / Annapolis, Md. / Rams Head On Stage
April 23 / Washington, D.C. / The Hamilton
April 26 / New Orleans / Parish at House of Blues
April 27 / The Woodlands, Texas / Dosey Doe
April 28 / San Antonio / Sam’s Burger Joint
April 29 / Fort Worth, Texas / The Live Oak Music Hall
April 30 / Austin, Texas / Antone’s
May 5 / Birmingham, Ala. / WorkPlay Theatre
May 7 / Mobile, Ala. / The Steeple
May 11 / Athens, Ga. / 40 Watt Club
May 12 / Greensboro, N.C. / The Blind Tiger
May 13 / Richmond, Va. / The Broadberry
May 19 / Nashville / City Winery
May 20 / Atlanta / City Winery
June 15 / Saint Louis / Delmar Hall
June 16 / Des Moines, Iowa  / Wooly’s
June 17 / St. Paul, Minn. / Turf Club
June 18 / Omaha, Neb. / The Waiting Room Lounge

Photo courtesy of Ebie Media

Maren Morris Makes the Most of Her Time in L.A. for Grammy Awards Weekend

Maren Morris Makes the Most of Her Time in L.A. for Grammy Awards Weekend

Posted on February 10, 2017

It’s turning out to be a big weekend for country newcomer Maren Morris. The “My Church” singer is nominated in four categories at the 2017 Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Best Country Album (Hero), Best Country Song (“My Church”) and Best Country Solo Performance (“My Church”), so it’s no wonder that she made her way out to Los Angeles early to soak up the experience.

The first-time Grammy nominee visited the set of The Talk on Thursday (Feb. 9) to perform her biggest hit, “My Church.” Prior to her performance, the Texas native took a few moments to talk with hosts Sharon Osbourne and Julie Chen about her excitement in seeing Beyonce and Adele at the Grammy Awards and where she was when she got news of her nominations.

“I was asleep,” Maren said. “They’re announced really early. But my mom called me and she was like ‘You’re nominated for four.’ I didn’t need coffee that day.”

That wasn’t all for Maren. Later in the evening, the “’80s Mercedes” singer headed out on the town to perform—along with The Chainsmokers, who shared the stage with Daya and Wiz Khalifa—at The Belasco Theater for a Spotify-hosted party to celebrate the Grammy nominees in the Best New Artist category.


Maren, decked out in a black crop top, black-pearl encrusted pants and a black choker, performed her songs “My Church,” “’80s Mercedes,” “How It’s Done,” and “Rich,” to an amped-up crowd that included celebrities Big Sean, Charlie Puth, Jason Mraz, Sophie Beem, Maia Mitchell, Noah Cyrus, Leon Bridges and many more.

Not a bad start to a weekend that could find the newcomer walking away with four Grammy Awards. Tune in to the 2017 Grammy Awards to see if Maren can sweep all four categories on Sunday, February 12, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

Photos by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Spotify

In Your Face, Nashville: Sturgill Simpson Announces New Tour Dates and You’re Not VIP

In Your Face, Nashville: Sturgill Simpson Announces New Tour Dates and You’re Not VIP

Posted on February 10, 2017

While the chances of hearing a Sturgill Simpson song on country radio are slim to none—and slim just left Nashville—you can catch country radio’s most underrepresented prodigy on tour in 2017.

Sturgill announced more than 20 tour dates today (Feb. 10), with stops at some pretty cool venues, including Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and Austin’s 360 Amphitheater.

Surprisingly Sturgill’s tour does not make a stop in Nashville, but he will play in just about every other major city within spitting distance to Music City, including Atlanta, Birmingham, Louisville and St. Louis. Are you happy, Nashville? You’re now in the Sturgill Simpson Bermuda Triangle Music City Quadrilateral.

Sturgill Simpson 2017 Tour Dates
March 4—Okeechobee, FL—Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival
May 6—Orange Beach, AL—The Wharf Amphitheater
July 7—Charlotte, NC—Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 8—Cary, NC—Koka Booth Amphitheatre
July 14—Atlanta, GA—Fox Theatre
July 15—Louisville, KY—Forecastle Festival
July 16—Birmingham, AL—Sloss Music & Arts Festival
July 30—Niigata, Japan—Fuji Rock Festival
Sept. 7—Sugar Land, TX—Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
Sept. 8—Grand Prairie, TX—Verizon Theatre
Sept. 9—Austin, TX—Austin360 Amphitheater
Sept. 14—New York, NY—Radio City Music Hall
Sept. 15—Columbia, MD—Merriweather Post Pavilion
Sept. 16—Boston, MA—Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
Sept.19—Detroit, MI—Fox Theatre
Sept. 21—St. Louis, MO—Fox Theatre
Sept. 22—Chicago, IL—Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
Sept. 25—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Sept. 29—Portland, OR—Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Sept. 30—Redmond, WA—Marymoor Amphitheater
Oct. 6—Los Angeles, CA—Greek Theatre

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