Watch Sturgill Simpson’s Guitar-Smashing Performance of “Call to Arms” on “Saturday Night Live”

Watch Sturgill Simpson’s Guitar-Smashing Performance of “Call to Arms” on “Saturday Night Live”

Sturgill Simpson continued his momentum-generating 2016—one that saw him drop a Billboard No. 1 album and earn two Grammy nominations—by performing as the first musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 2017.

After opening his SNL gig with a brassy performance of “Keep It Between the Lines,” Sturgill capped his stint with a guitar-smashing rendition of “Call to Arms,” the final track on his 2016 album, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.

Check out both performances below.

 

Sturgill will gear up for the Grammys on February 12, where A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is nominated for Album of the Year and Country Album of the Year.
Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, Darryl Worley, Big & Rich and More to Take Part in Inauguration Festivities

Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, Darryl Worley, Big & Rich and More to Take Part in Inauguration Festivities

“Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” singer Toby Keith has added his name to the list of artists who will perform during next week’s inauguration festivities for President-elect Donald Trump. Toby will perform at Trump’s Make America Great Again Welcome Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday, Jan. 19, along with “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, Tim Rushlow of Little Texas, Larry Stewart of Restless Heart, Richie McDonald of Lonestar and 3 Doors Down.

Other country artist slated to perform at the various inauguration shindigs include:

  • Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers: Black Tie & Boots 2017 Inauguration Ball, Thursday, Jan. 19, Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center
  • Big & Rich, Cowboy Troy: Great American Alliance Inaugural Gala, Thursday, Jan. 19
  • Darryl Worley: Great American Inaugural Ball, Friday, Jan. 20, MGM National Harbor Hotel
  • Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts: Veterans Ball, Friday, Jan. 20, Renaissance Downtown Hotel
Lennon & Maisy of “Nashville” Cover Coldplay’s “Up and Up” [Listen]

Lennon & Maisy of “Nashville” Cover Coldplay’s “Up and Up” [Listen]

You may know Lennon and Maisy Stella as the girls who portray Rayna James’ (Connie Britton) daughters on the hit TV show Nashville, but the real-life siblings also have a passion for music.

lennon-maisy-singleBorn in Ontario, Canada, to musical parents Brad and MaryLynne—Canadian country music duo The Stellas—Lennon and Maisy have been singing all of their lives. They gained notoriety by performing covers on YouTube, along with their popular cover of The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey,” which they sang on Season 1 of Nashville. The duo has since released an EP, Live YouTube Sessions, in 2012, as well as a holiday song, “Christmas Coming Home.” They also covered Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ “That’s What’s Up” in 2014.

The sisters are at it again, releasing their latest cover, “Up and Up,” from Coldplay’s 2015 album, A Head Full of Dreams. Their new video for the tune features Lennon and Maisy surrounded by a group of folks dressed in T-shirts that read “Be Love.”

Fixing up a car to drive in it again / Searching for the water, hoping for the rain / Up and up, Up and up / Down upon the canvas, working meal to meal / Waiting for a chance to pick your orange field / Up and up, Up and up, the girls sing to kick off the song.

“Up and Up” is now available on iTunes and you can check out the video below.

You can also check out Coldplay’s version below.

Zac Brown Band Announces “Welcome Home Tour”—New Album Drops May 12

Zac Brown Band Announces “Welcome Home Tour”—New Album Drops May 12

Zac Brown Band announced today (Jan. 13) that it will kick off a 40-plus-date Welcome Home Tour on May 12 in their hometown of Atlanta. During the six-month trek across North America, the troupe will make stops in Denver, Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Tampa and Los Angeles, among others.

“We’re looking forward to heading back on the road in 2017 and sharing some new songs with our fans,” said Zac.

Promising a return to their roots, the band is currently in the studio recording a new album, Welcome Home, which drops on May 12.

Tickets for the tour will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Jan. 20, 10 a.m. local time. The Zamily Fan Club pre-sales will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 10 a.m. local time. Every online ticket order includes a choice of a physical or digital copy of the new album.

Zac Brown Band’s 2017 Welcome Home Tour Dates

May 12 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park

May 13 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park

May 20 – Charleston, SC – Southern Ground Music and Food Festival – MUSC Health Stadium

May 21 – Charleston, SC – Southern Ground Music and Food Festival – MUSC Health Stadium

May 26 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion

May 27 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion

May 28 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion

June 8 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre

June 9 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center

June 10– Columbus, OH – Ohio Stadium – 2017 Buckeye Country Superfest

June 11 – Pittsburgh, PA – KeyBank Pavilion

June 23 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

June 24 – Syracuse, NY – Lakeview Amphitheater

June 25 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

July 1 – Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee Summerfest

July 6 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre

July 7 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center

July 8 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center

July 14 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion

July 15 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion

July 16 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live

July 29 – Denver, CO – Coors Field

August 4 – Detroit Lakes, MN WeFest – WeFest Amphitheatre

August 19 – George, WA – Gorge Amphitheatre

August 20 – Brownsville, OR Bi-Mart Willamette Country Music Festival

August 25 – Indianapolis, IN – Klipsch Music Center

August 26 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field

August 27 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

August 31 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage

September 1 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage

September 2 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center

September 3 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium

September 15 – Dallas, TX – Starplex Pavilion

September 22– West Palm Beach, FL– Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre

September 23– West Palm Beach, FL– Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre

September 24 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre

October 5 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion

October 6 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek

October 8 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater

October 27 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre

October 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl

 

photo by Danny Clinch

Billy Currington Announces “Stay Up ’Til the Sun” Tour

Billy Currington Announces “Stay Up ’Til the Sun” Tour

Sun-loving, beach-bummin’ Billy Currington announced his new Stay Up ’Til the Sun Tour today (Jan. 13).

Billy will visit more than 20 cities during the tour, including stops in Houston, Philadelphia, New York and Atlanta.

Stay Up ’Til the Sun Tour (more dates to be announced)
March 9 – St. Louis, MO – Peabody Opera House
March 10 – Dubuque, IA – Five Flags Center
March 11 Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
March 23 – Northfield, OH – Hard Rock Live
March 24 – Roanoke, VA – Berglund Performing Arts Theatre
March 25 – Sayerville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
April 6 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
April 7 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore
April 8 – Strousburg, PA – Sherman Theater
April 20 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
April 21 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion
May 11 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
May 12 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
May 13 – Hampton Beach, NH – Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
May 19 – Richmond, VA – Center Stage
May 20 – New York, NY – Playstation Theater
June 1 – Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle

Watch Brett Young’s New Video for “In Case You Didn’t Know”

Watch Brett Young’s New Video for “In Case You Didn’t Know”

Very few artists earn a Mediabase No. 1 with their debut single, but you can add Brett Young’s name to the rarefied list thanks to “Sleep Without You,” his breakout tune that ascended to the top of the chart in November 2016.

Riding that wave of momentum into the new year, the California-to-Nashville transplant is set to release his self-titled debut album on February 10. The 12-track offering—of which Brett co-wrote 11 songs—is a give-and-take mix of love songs and heartbreak ballads, sans any obligatory “party” anthems that usually pepper a first project in today’s country-radio-friendly-first atmosphere.

“I think, for me, love songs and heartbreak songs are the easiest songs to write because it’s just straight from personal experience,” says Brett to Nash Country Daily. “I think everybody’s felt both of those. Everybody’s been in love, everybody’s had heartbreak. We noticed that when we put it together, the 12 songs that would make the record that we liked, there’s not a party song on this record. I’ve written a ton of party songs, and not that there’s anything wrong with that. I think, in trying to tell my story and let people get to know me, it seemed like we should talk about things that I’ve lived.”

On Jan. 9, Brett delivered his second single, “In Case You Didn’t Know,” to country radio. Written by Brett, Tyler Reeve, Kyle Schlienger and Trent Tomlinson, the emotional melody has all the makings of a wedding song, complete with the heartstring-tugging chorus In case you didn’t know / Baby I’m crazy ’bout you / And I would be lying if I said / That I could live this life without you / Even though I don’t tell you all the time / You had my heart a long, long time ago / In case you didn’t know.

“You know, when it was done being written, I think we all looked at each other and went, ‘I think that’s a wedding song,’” says Brett. “In the process of writing the song, it was more about wanting to write something that everybody could relate to. In a way, I think men are really bad at saying ‘I love you.’ It’s strange because women need to hear it all the time. We were just talking about how, as a guy, you’ve got to remind yourself to say it. Even if you feel like you’re saying it too much, maybe it comes out like, ‘Hey, you know I love you, right?’ or, ‘Hey, in case you didn’t know, I love you.’ I think we just wanted to keep it really simple and down the middle so that everybody that listened to the song could make it their story. In the process, we accidentally stumbled on a wedding song.”

Check out Brett’s new video for “In Case You Didn’t Know.”

Jake Owen Pledges His Love to Seafoam Green in New Video

Jake Owen Pledges His Love to Seafoam Green in New Video

There are plenty of songs in the country music catalog that refer to colors, including Dierks Bentley’s “Black,” Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” Kellie Pickler’s “Red High Heels” and Jason Aldean’s “Amarillo Sky,” but never has there been a country song pledging allegiance to the color seafoam green—until now. Jake Owen has gone out on a limb and pledged his love to the unusual color in a song. But get this, there’s a video to go along with it.

“Somebody once asked me what my favorite color was. This was my response,” Jake posted along with the video. “Also, thanks to Chase Rice for dumping paint all over me.”

The video for “Seafoam Green” features newcomer Ryan Hurd—boyfriend of Maren Morris—and YouTubers Austin and Colin, who add their rapping skills to the song. Even Jake’s buddy Chase Rice makes an appearance—he’s the lucky guy that gets to douse Jake with the seafoam green paint.

In the video, the color is the star of the show. It can be seen on Jake’s beloved seafoam green VW bus, his multiple pair of seafoam green sneakers and our favorite, the seafoam green adult jumpers.

You just have to see it to believe it. Take a look at the video as hilarity ensues.

Watch Dierks Bentley Take His Annual Lake Jump in 36-Degree Water

Watch Dierks Bentley Take His Annual Lake Jump in 36-Degree Water

After 15 years of jumping into frigid lakes, it just wouldn’t be a new year unless Dierks Bentley made his annual ice-cold plunge. Although he was almost two weeks late this year, Dierks kept his tradition alive and stepped right into a 36-degree lake in the middle of January.

“I’m a little a little late, I’m about 13 days late for it,” Dierks says in the video. “But I’m very superstitious, I can’t miss this we’ve done it every year for 15 years. I’m here by myself. To make up for the fact that I’m late I’m going to try and do one minute for every day I’m late. I’m going for 13 minutes, which is crazy, usually we do like 13 seconds. But I feel like I gotta make good on missing the lake jump. I just checked the temperature, it’s 36 degrees. It’s really cold. So, here it goes.”

The “Drunk on a Plane” singer, who is usually joined by a bunch of friends, kicks off every year by jumping into a freezing cold lake in Nashville. Why? To wash off the old and breathe in the new, of course. But because Dierks was late this year, he had to go in solo, and to make up for his tardiness he stayed in much longer than past years.

Keep in mind the water is a frigid 36 degrees and even a short time in that temperature could hurt someone, but 13 minutes . . . insane. However, Dierks keeps his word, even plunging underwater at one point.

Watch as Dierks braves the frigid water.

New Country Music Hall of Fame Exhibit Will Feature Garth Brooks, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Buddy Miller & More

New Country Music Hall of Fame Exhibit Will Feature Garth Brooks, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Buddy Miller & More

In the final revelation of its week-long rollout of new exhibits in 2017, the Country Music Hall of Fame announced today (Jan. 13) that its new American Currents exhibit will open on March 17, 2017, and run though March 2018.

The exhibit will provide an annual up-to-date snapshot of the state of country music, featuring Garth Brooks, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Buddy Miller, Margo Price, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton and more.

Earlier this week, the Hall of Fame announced upcoming exhibits for Jason Aldean, Shania Twain, Loretta Lynn and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

Jason Aldean Launches New 33-City “They Don’t Know Tour” With Chris Young & Kane Brown

Jason Aldean Launches New 33-City “They Don’t Know Tour” With Chris Young & Kane Brown

Jason Aldean announced today (Jan. 13) that he’ll be heading back out on the road in April with the launch of his new They Don’t Know Tour. The 33-city tour kicks off on April 27 in Toledo, Ohio, and makes stops in Chicago, Toronto, St. Louis, Tampa, Philadelphia, Denver, Los Angeles and San Diego, among others.

Joining the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year on the trek will be former tourmate Chris Young as well as Kane Brown and Dee Jay Silver.

“It only takes a couple weeks off the road before I get that itch, and I’m already feeling it,” said Jason. “We’re going to spend some time switching the production up to be bigger and louder than anything we’ve ever done. It’ll be cool to have Chris back out with us and Kane is the right guy to get the fans riled up.”

Tickets for the first dates will be available beginning Jan. 20 at 7:30 a.m. on JasonAldean.com and LiveNation.com.

Jason Aldean They Don’t Know Tour (Cities With Partial Date List)

Month Date Location
April

27

Toledo, OH

April

28

Ft Wayne, IN

TBD

Green Bay, WI

TBD

Charleston, WV

TBD

Cleveland, OH

TBD

Chicago, IL

May

18

Providence, RI

May

19

Uncasville, CT

May

20

Uncasville, CT

TBD

Toronto, ON

TBD

Darien Center, NY

TBD

Wantagh, NY

TBD

Charlotte, NC

TBD

Indianapolis, IN

TBD

St. Louis, MO

TBD

Cincinnati, OH

TBD

Birmingham, AL

TBD

Jacksonville, FL

TBD

Tampa, FL

TBD

W.Palm Beach, FL

TBD

Philadelphia, PA

TBD

Washington, DC

TBD

Virginia Beach, VA

TBD

Raleigh, NC

TBD

Holmdel, NJ

TBD

Salt Lake City, UT

TBD

Denver, CO

TBD

Albuquerque, NM

TBD

Spokane, WA

TBD

Sacramento, CA

TBD

Mtn. View, CA

TBD

Los Angeles, CA

TBD

San Diego, CA

TBD

Anaheim, CA

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