Josh Turner is making, what some might call, a comeback in country music with the announcement of the release of his sixth studio album, Deep South, on March 10. This will be the traditional-leaning singer’s first studio album in five years since the release of Punching Bag in 2012.
“I’m really proud of this album,” says Josh. “It was really important for me to expand creatively and explore in new ways for this record. The way I pick songs is different now. There are so many things in my life and career that have matured me as an artist. I’ve had another child since my last project!”
The album’s title has deep meaning for the warm baritone singer. “It represents hardworking people who find joy in the simple things in life; heritage, church, community, high school sports, being outdoors. It is a culture.”
The wait is over. RaeLynn has finally set a new date for the release of her debut album, WildHorse.
The singer announced this morning (Jan 27), during a Facebook Live interview, that her new album will be released on March 24. The album, originally slated for Dec. 2016 release, was pushed back due to “an amazing opportunity” that changed the timing of the album launch.
“Thank you so much for being so patient with my debut record WildHorse,” RaeLynn said in a statement. “This record deserved to have the perfect release and I’m so beyond excited it will be in your hands on March 24th!! No more surprises.”
WildHorse features a guest appearance by Dan+Shay on the song “Say,” as well as her current single, “Love Triangle”—written by RaeLynn, Nicolle Galyon and Jimmy Robbins— an autobiographical divorce ballad sung from a little girl’s point of view.
“A lot happened for me in the writing world because of this song and how vulnerable it was,” RaeLynn shared with Nash Country Daily. “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.”
The Texas native is getting ready to hit the road with her The Voice coach and good friend Blake Shelton, as part of his Doing It To Country Songs Tour, which kicks off on Feb. 16 in Bakersfield, Calif. “We had such a blast this fall, I’m so grateful Blake asked me to join him again this spring! Can’t wait for y’all to come out!” said RaeLynn.
The momentum of Dustin Lynch’s career is going full-speed ahead as his first single, “Seein’ Red,” from his upcoming album, is nearing the top spot on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. If the song, currently sitting at No. 4 on the charts, hits the No. 1 spot, this would give Dustin his fourth consecutive No. 1 hit, following “Hell of A Night,” “Where It’s At” and “Mind Reader.”
“It feels crazy right now,” Dustin tells Nash Country Daily of his success. “We’ve hit this moment now where our crowds are starting to really blow up. I think I can speak for my band too, all of our lives are changing drastically. It’s been cool to see. I think the momentum is going and we want to keep it going with ‘Seein Red’ and the following ones.
“I’m having the time of my life and I’ve gotten better at having a blast doing this,” adds Dustin. “I think there for awhile I was so nervous about not being able to do it ever again, that I was just a nervous wreck the whole time. I couldn’t enjoy what was happening, but now with the sustained success we’ve had—with ‘Seein’ Red’ now keeping the train rolling—I think I’ve been able to suck it all in and it’s a lot of fun.”
“Seein Red” is a taste of what we can expect from Dustin’s upcoming third studio album, due out later this year. The sexy blue-eyed singer is still in the studio putting the finishing touches on his latest project, but rest assured, the album will be “very sexy.”
“A lot of love on this album. I don’t know why. I’m not in any sort of serious relationship at the moment, so that’s been the weird thing. Maybe I’m longing for it, I don’t know, but the theme of most of the songs is breakup, makeup or I’m in love,” explains Dustin. “It’ll be out sometime this year for sure. I’m still working on it and I want to make sure I have—I’m a couple songs away from really putting the final touches on it. I don’t know when those come, because you just never know what song you’re gonna write the next day and I’m writing a lot right now. We’re recording too, so we’ve got a little bit further to go but I feel confident that what we already have is gonna be really good.”
Of that, we have no doubt. Dustin kicks of his run with Florida Georgia Line on the Dig Your Roots tour tonight (Jan. 27) in Tallahasse, Fla. “It’s a big party,” says the Tennessee native of the FGL tour run. “But every group’s different and I’ll get to see a completely different village, move around the country and make the show happen every night and see how they do it.”
They say art imitates life, and Brantley Gilbert is applying that prophecy to his new album, The Devil Don’t Sleep, which is set to drop Friday, Jan. 27. The new album will reflect Brantley’s life experiences over the past couple of years since the release of his last album, 2014’s Just As I Am.
“All of my records are chapters of my life. I feel like I need to live in between records to be able to write about it,” Brantley tells Nash Country Daily of the three-year wait between albums. “Of course, we’ll circle back to the catalog, and there may be songs that I started way back in the day that fit this chapter better than they did another one. You end up finishing those ideas and they fit.”
With hit songs like “Country Must Be Country Wide,” “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,” “Bottoms Up” and “The Weekend”—the lead single from his upcoming album—Brantley maintains a certain party-boy-rocker style, a sound that fans have come to expect from the Georgia native.
“We’re staying in that vein,” adds Brantley about his fourth studio album. “I always go back and listen to all my old records and listen through my whole entire catalog—even before I start writing a new record—because a lot of times, like I said, you’ll find some unfinished ideas that may have not fit the last chapter but fit it now. I think it’s important for me to hear The Modern Day Prodigal Son [Brantley’s debut album from 2009] before I start working on new stuff. I’m sure many of us have been in a position where you’ve liked an album that a band’s come out with and you get really into it and then they release something after it and you’re like, ‘What is this?’ I don’t dig that at all, so I want to try to avoid that. Plus, I think the style that I was writing in—it’s almost a way of staking ground as well for me. I still live at home [in Georgia] for that reason too, to be around the people and places that I started writing about.”
But don’t pigeonhole the “One Hell of an Amen” singer. There is more to Brantley musically than meets the eye.
“As a writer, I’ve been able to grow and try new things, things that are outside the box. I’ve said it several times, that as long as there is a box, I’m all right because I know where I stand and that’s right on the other side of that line. I’ve always been kind of musically bipolar, like a little bit of everything. Being able to bring those influences into my writing is awesome. It’s a lot of fun for me. It keeps it fresh, and it keeps me growing as a writer and a musician. [The Devil Don’t Sleep] is another chapter of my life, and we’re really stoked about this. I don’t know if I’ve ever done [an album] that is as back and forth as this one is. It covers a lot of ground as far as just making the genre versatile. It just does a little bit of everything—yings and yangs a lot in the weirdest way. It’s awesome. I’m stoked about it.”
Brantley will be hitting the road for The Devil Don’t Sleep Tour, with opening acts Tucker Beathard and Luke Combs, which kicks off on Feb. 2 in Reading, Pa., with stops in Kansas City, Baton Rouge and Sioux City.
“It’s going down. We’re ready,” said Brantley of the tour.
Based on the New York Times best-selling book of the same name, motion picture The Shack—co-starring Tim McGraw—will open in theaters nationwide on March 3, but you don’t have to wait that long to get a taste of what the soundtrack has to offer.
The soundtrack, which will be released on Feb. 24, features songs by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (“Keep Your Eyes On Me,” which the couple co-penned with Lori McKenna and Shane McAnally), Dierks Bentley (“Days of Dark”), Lady Antebellum (“Lay Our Flowers Down”), Brett Eldredge (“Phone Call to God”), Dan + Shay (“When I Pray for You”) and more. If you pre-order now, you get two instant grat downloads, including Tim and Faith’s “Keep Your Eyes on Me.”
Check out the official trailer for the soundtrack below.
It’s not exactly da Vinci’s The Last Supper, but one of Nashville’s favorite honky-tonks recently unveiled a new mural depicting some of country music’s biggest stars, both past and present.
Any country music fan worth his or her weight in salt should be able to rattle off the mural’s cast of characters, which include Tim McGraw, Loretta Lynn, Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, Willie Nelson, Taylor Swift, Johnny Cash, Keith Urban, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks.
If naming the 14 characters didn’t stump you, how about answering me these question three (answers are at the bottom of the page, so don’t scroll too far).
How many Country Music Hall of Fame members are depicted?
According to the RIAA, who are the three best-selling artists depicted?
Can you put all of the living artists depicted in order from youngest to oldest?
Controversy can be a double-edged sword in country music. On the one hand, some spirited conversation about a song or album can elevate an artist’s profile, particularly in our present on-demand world. On the other, there’s a real risk of being banished from radio.
Here are 10 of country music’s most controversial tunes, in order of their release date.
10. “Girl Crush”
Little Big Town
2014
The latest controversial tune, Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” entered public consciousness at a time when the discourse over culture and equality was particularly strident. Structured like a lost pop classic, the slow-burning ballad written by Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose begins with a reverb-heavy guitar arpeggio and Karen Fairchild emoting the line, I’ve got a girl crush. That was all some people needed to hear to infer that it was about a lesbian relationship. Truthfully, it’s a song about loss and envy, as the character embodied by Karen sees her ex with a new woman that apparently offers something she herself cannot. I want to drown myself in a bottle of her perfume, Karen sings, supported by the perfect harmonies of her bandmates. It’s a devastating, vivid portrait of a woman shattered and paralyzed by a breakup.
But the conversation dwelled more on the provocative aspects of the song—of which LBT was surely aware when they recorded it—and its spectral suggestion of same-sex love. Some listeners reportedly complained to radio but the song didn’t lose any steam on the charts and won two Grammys and two CMA Awards. And perhaps that’s because, in the larger scheme, it’s a great song no matter how you interpret it.
9. “Follow Your Arrow”
Kacey Musgraves
2013
Cookie-cutter country music about dirt roads and tailgates? Keep driving because Kacey’s 2013 song “Follow Your Arrow,” which she wrote with Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, was aiming at another target. And it hit the bull’s-eye, bucking conservative country trends by alluding to sex, drugs and same sex relationships in a message that championed personal choices with lyrics like Make lots of noise / Kiss lots of boys / Or kiss lots of girls / If that’s something you’re into / When the straight and narrow / Gets a little too straight / Roll up a joint, or don’t / Just follow your arrow. Although ultra-right wingers got their undies twisted over it, the song received modest radio airplay, peaking at No. 43 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, but it reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, which factors in streaming and digital sales. The people had spoken. And CMA voters listened by naming “Follow Your Arrow” Song of the Year in 2014. The song was also featured on the record, Same Trailer, Different Park, which earned Kacey a Grammy for Country Album of the Year. How’s that for aim.
8. “Goodbye Earl”
The Dixie Chicks
1999
When it came time to work on Fly, the follow-up to the Dixie Chicks’ multi-platinum release Wide Open Spaces, members Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison mixed things up with Dennis Linde’s song “Goodbye Earl.” The song’s upbeat lyrics feel like black comedy that Joel and Ethan Coen could have cooked up, as the female characters Wanda and Mary Ann plot the best way to get rid of an abusive ex-husband (Earl) who has walked right through that restraining order, putting Wanda in intensive care. They ultimately decide to dispatch Earl by poisoning his black-eyed peas. Even before its release, the song gained attention with unsolicited airplay in late 1999. After becoming the group’s official single, “Goodbye Earl” (along with the Chicks) was the topic of many headlines, but that didn’t entirely stop the song from getting airplay. While it peaked at No. 13 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, “Goodbye Earl” became one of the trio’s highest charting songs on the pop charts as well as one of the most popular tunes of their career.
7. “Indian Outlaw”
Tim McGraw
1994
Political correctness? We don’t need no stinking political correctness in 1994. It may have seemed like a little hubbub over some cliched lyrics at first, but when radio stations stopped playing Tim McGraw’s “Indian Outlaw,” it was time to listen up. Riddled with references to wigwams, tomtoms, peace pipes and medicine men, the song was pulled from playlists for its offensive stereotyping of Native Americans. That gesture was enough to keep “Indian Outlaw” from becoming Tim’s first No. 1 hit in 1994, but it went on to achieve gold sales success.
6. “The Thunder Rolls”
Garth Brooks
1991
He’s driving home from somewhere that he never should have been. She sits at the house waiting, hoping that it’s only the stormy weather that’s delayed him. The story builds to a tempestuous climax, clearly explaining that the “thunder” in the title no longer refers to the weather conditions but instead the personal clash inside the home. “The Thunder Rolls,” written by Garth and Pat Alger, dared to address a domestic situation in graphic terms, particularly in the second verse when the woman smells the perfume on her cheating husband. But the added-on third verse, which fans can find on his Double Live album, got tongues wagging and controversy brewing like a literal tempest. The woman retrieves a pistol and vows that he’ll not wander on her again. ’Cause tonight will be the last night / She’ll wonder where he’s been, the song concludes. Citing issues of gratuitous violence, cable stations TNN and CMT ultimately pulled the video from their rotations. But Garth had the last word: the single hit No. 1 in 1991 and the video went on to win the Country Music Association award for Music Video of the Year.
5. “The Pill”
Loretta Lynn
1975
In a different time in our country’s history, people were up in arms over women assuming authority over their reproductive ability by electing to use birth control. Loretta Lynn must have had a prophetic vision of how thorny things would be for women after her infamous single, “The Pill,” was released in 1975. In the song, which was penned by Lorene Allen, Don McHan and T.D. Bayless, the narrator comically admonishes her husband for having all the fun while she’s at home having baby after baby with no choice in the matter. But with the titular medication, they’re on equal footing and she’s considerably happier about her situation. Radio, however, was none too pleased with the subject matter and many stations dropped the song entirely, causing it to stall at No. 5. Nonetheless, the controversy also helped Loretta achieve more attention outside country music than ever before. And as a side effect, women from rural areas like Loretta’s Butcher Holler, Ky., became aware that they too could choose for themselves.
4. “You’ve Never Been This Far Before”
Conway Twitty
1973
Country music has been talking about falling in love, being in love and, to some degree, making love pretty much since the beginning. But those oh-so clever songwriters have always found ways to dance around the specifics of sex to make it seem innocent. Maybe it was the tumultuous time in the late 1960s and early ’70s, but things began to change and country edged ever nearer the cultural mainstream. Whatever the case, Conway Twitty was compelled to push the envelope when he wrote “You’ve Never Been This Far Before.” Combined with his low rumbling baritone, Conway’s no-detail-spared lyrics took listeners step-by-step through a night of passionate lovemaking that proved to be a rapturous event even in commercial terms. The song enjoyed a sustained visit on top of the chart for three weeks in 1973.
3. “Sunday Morning Coming Down”
Johnny Cash
1970
Rhodes Scholar. U.S. Army Ranger. Janitor. Aspiring singer/songwriter. That was Kris Kristofferson in a nutshell in 1969 when he wrote “Sunday Morning Coming Down” in his dilapidated apartment shortly after his wife had left him. So it’s no wonder he composed a tune about a downtrodden, hungover man drinking beer for breakfast and wandering aimlessly wishing, Lord, that I was stoned. Ray Stevens recorded the song in 1969 and it reached No. 55, but it wasn’t until Johnny Cash put his deep-bass baritone on it in 1970 that it went to No. 1. However, when Johnny was set to perform the song live on his 1971 television show, Johnny Cash and Friends, network suits demanded that Johnny change the lyrics to wishing, Lord, that I was home, in order not to offend family audiences. The Man in Black would not be bogarted, and he performed the song live without excising “stoned,” which helped brand Johnny as a player in country’s Outlaw movement, while earmarking Kris as a force to be reckoned with in the industry.
2.“Okie From Muskogee”
Merle Haggard
1969
Merle got liberals and hippie-types riled up with this anthem told from the point of view of a small-town man who stood for good old American values. Written by Merle and his drummer Roy Edward Burris, the song looks at the activities one wouldn’t find folks in Muskogee [a city in Oklahoma] taking part in, such as smoking marijuana, burning their draft cards or challenging any sort of authority in general.
Against the tide of mounting protests against the Vietnam War and civil unrest of the 1960s, Merle’s 1969 single might have seemed archaic and out of step. But through “Okie,” Merle became a voice for Middle America, for those who couldn’t quite comprehend the sweeping societal changes in the country. The song surely reflected the cultural divide that separated young and old, liberal and conservative. Merle has often commented that the views expressed in “Okie” weren’t necessarily his. But whatever the aim, it worked. “Okie From Muskogee” hit No. 1 in 1969 and became one of Merle’s most popular tunes.
1. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” Kitty Wells
1952
When Hank Thompson released “The Wild Side of Life” in 1952, singing about his bride-to-be leaving him for another man, one line in particular struck a chord: I didn’t know that God made honky tonk angels. Songwriter J.D. “Jay” Miller took that and ran with it, quickly writing the answer song “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” The lyrics blame unfaithful men for creating unfaithful women, saying too many times married men think they’re still single, that has caused many a good girl to go wrong. Kitty Wells took a stand for women by recording and releasing the song, a controversial move for a female artist at the time. Some radio stations banned the song and prohibited Kitty from performing it on the Grand Ole Opry. Still, “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” launched Kitty’s career and became the first No. 1 country hit for a solo female artist. It also helped break down the walls for many female voices to follow, including Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.
Here’s where you’ll find the newest members of the Tennessee football team on National Signing Day, Wednesday, February 1, 2017!
Our unmatched on-air, online and social media coverage in the past goes to new heights this year with all of this:
*On-Air* -4 LOCAL SPORTS TALK SHOWS: From 6am to 7pm on FM 99.1 & AM 990 in Knoxville and East Tennessee, we’ll bring you each player that signs with Tennessee, what that player is all about and what the class as a whole is all about and perspective on how it compares to others in the SEC and around the country. Plus, we’ll have analysts on throughout the day sharing their views on how the Vols fared on NSD. Listen to The First Quarter with Doc and Heather (6-9am); The Erik Ainge Show with Brian Rice (9am-Noon); Sports 180 with Josh and Will (Noon-3pm); SportsTalk with John and Jimmy (3-7pm)
-BROADCASTING LIVE: We’re live all day Wednesday at Smoky Mountain Brewery in Turkey Creek for our UT Federal Credit Union Signing Day coverage. We’ll have info and videos on each signee playing on the big screens. Plus, enjoy the great atmosphere, food, drinks, service and more.
-TENNESSEE INTERVIEWS: Jimmy Hyams brings you interviews with high school coaches of the signees, Josh Ward and Jimmy interview the newest Vols players, Erik Ainge will have interviews with Butch Jones and UT assistant coaches on-campus at UT’s NSD headquarters where Erik will be working for UT as well.
-LOCAL PLAYER INTERVIEWS: John Wilkerson will have interviews and reaction of local players (and some of their coaches) from the Knoxville area on their exciting day of making their college choices official.
-STREAMING: Listen to all of our day-long coverage listed above by clicking the play button at the bottom of the page. Our streaming is brought to you by Marco’s Pizza.
*Online* -NSD BLOG: Here on SportsRadioWNML.com, our coverage of National Signing Day is presented by Fox and Farmer, Attorneys at Law. Click on the big photo on the home page or go to the Blog tab. Then click on each player for info, video highlights and Josh Ward’s analysis on them. Only the 10 most recent will show, so you may need to click on “older posts” at the bottom to see previously signed players.
-PODCASTS: You’ll find featured interviews throughout the day highlighted on the main page. You can also find every on-air interview archived by shows under the “Interview” tab.
-LIST OF LOCAL SIGNEES: We’ll have an updated list of players from the area that sign with colleges.
*Social Media & Other Ways To Connect* – TEXT ALERTS: Text “WNML” to 68683 for instant text alerts to your phone. If you received them last year, you’re set to go already. Our text alerts are also brought to you by Fox and Farmer, they’re two for you, call 531-9400!
-TWITTER: Follow us at @SportsRadioWNML for breaking news on official signatures turned in, links to online coverage, info on show interviews and much more.
-FACEBOOK: Like us at Facebook.com/SportsRadioWNML for info on signings as they come in along with links to highlights/analysis, show information and much more.
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Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Joshua John “JDub” Waldrop—a young boy that Alan Jackson befriended in 2015—who passed away on Jan. 24 after battling cancer.
Alan met JDub, who was 5 years old at the time and one of his biggest fans, in 2015 when he became aware that the little boy was battling Stage 4 hepatoblastoma—liver and lung cancer. The superstar arranged for little JDub to be picked up and driven to the Country Music Hall of Fame where the two met and sang together.
Alan took to his Twitter account to say goodbye to the little guy with a video post of the two jamming to the song “I’ll Fly Away,” and a caption that read, “My little buddy JDub flew up to heaven. We will always remember this day. Sending his family prayers for peace & comfort.”
My little buddy JDub flew up to heaven. We will always remember this day. Sending his family prayers for peace & comfort pic.twitter.com/ifVZM9Ae9z
Willie Nelson, 83, was forced to cancel two upcoming concerts at Las Vegas’ Venetian Theatre on Jan. 28 and 29 due to a recent illness.
The announcement was made on Willie’s Facebook page earlier today (Jan. 26): “We regret to inform fans that Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29 performances of Willie Nelson & Family: Vegas On My Mind have been cancelled due to recent illness and will not be rescheduled. Performances on February 1, 3 and 4 are still scheduled to take place. Ticket holders for the cancelled performances can contact their point of purchase for a refund.”
Willie, who has toured perpetually over the course of his Hall of Fame career and has a bevy of dates scheduled in 2017, was forced to cancel two shows in November 2016 in Texas due to illness.
“I’m really proud of this album,” says Josh. “It was really important for me to expand creatively and explore in new ways for this record. The way I pick songs is different now. There are so many things in my life and career that have matured me as an artist. I’ve had another child since my last project!”
“I’m having the time of my life and I’ve gotten better at having a blast doing this,” adds Dustin. “I think there for awhile I was so nervous about not being able to do it ever again, that I was just a nervous wreck the whole time. I couldn’t enjoy what was happening, but now with the sustained success we’ve had—with ‘Seein’ Red’ now keeping the train rolling—I think I’ve been able to suck it all in and it’s a lot of fun.”
“All of my records are chapters of my life. I feel like I need to live in between records to be able to write about it,” Brantley tells Nash Country Daily of the three-year wait between albums. “Of course, we’ll circle back to the catalog, and there may be songs that I started way back in the day that fit this chapter better than they did another one. You end up finishing those ideas and they fit.”![New “The Shack” Soundtrack Features Songs by Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum, Brett Eldredge, Dan + Shay & More [Listen]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/1446/2017/01/27074532/Tim-McGraw.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
Here’s where you’ll find the newest members of the Tennessee football team on National Signing Day, Wednesday, February 1, 2017!
