Tennessee cornerback Alontae Taylor spoke to the media Monday reviewing the win over South Carolina and previewing Saturday night’s home game vs. Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss.
Volunteers head football coach Josh Heupel spoke to the media at his Monday game week press conference looking back on Tennessee’s rout of South Carolina Saturday and discussing this week’s game versus Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels.
Darius Rucker‘s song “My Masterpiece” name checks the famous artist Pablo Picasso, so Darius broke out the paint brush to make his own masterpiece…he shared the results on social media.
Here’s Darius Rucker’s other musical work of art – “My Masterpiece.”
Photo Courtesy of Darius Rucker & UMG Nashville
Did you catch Brandi Carlili‘s recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show?
Brandi stopped by and chatted with Ellen about her recent book, music, her upcoming appearance on Saturday Night Live (Oct. 23rd), and Brandi also shared that her obsession with Nintendo games is spilling over into her Halloween plans.
Watch the conversation here…
Along with breaking out her British impression, Brandi also broke out her guitar and sang her song “If There Was No You” as a thank you for the impact that Ellen and her show has had on Brandi and so many others.
From her album, In These Silent Days, here’s Brandi Carlili’s music video, directed by Courtney Cox, for “Right On Time”
Photo Courtesy of Brandi Carlili
Dillon Carmichael‘s sophomore album Son Of A is going to be released Friday, October 22nd – and he’s got an offer for his fans.
That’s one of the more unique marketing strategies for a new release in a while.
Son Of A‘s14-tracks includes “Paychecks and Longnecks”…
the album also feature’s “Hot Beer”
Dillon Carmichael’s Son Of A arrives Friday, October 22nd – and to get a number-one shaved into Dillon’s chest hair, pre-order the album here: https://orcd.co/dcsonofa
Photo Courtesy of Dillon Carmichael
By Jimmy Hyams / @JimmyHyams
Five things we learned about Tennessee after 45-20 rout of South Carolina.
*The Vols are fast starters.
UT has outscored South Carolina and Missouri 56-3 in the first quarter. It has also outscored those two SEC foes 83-17 in the first half. It has outscored six opponents 101-13 in the first quarter.
That might be the widest first-quarter margin of any team in the NCAA this season.
Why the fast starts?
Scripting plays has helped. The scouting report has helped. The efficiency of quarterback Hendon Hooker has helped. And being ready to play has helped.
Coach Josh Heupel has complained at times that his team doesn’t prepare properly in the 48 hours before kickoff. He couldn’t have any complaints about the last two games.
*The Vols can overcome a plethora of injuries.
Against South Carolina, Tennessee was without three defensive backs (Theo Jackson, Christian Charles, Deneiko Slaughter) two running backs (Jabari Small, Jaylen Wright) two defensive linemen (Elijah Simmons, Latrell Bumphus), two offensive linemen (Cooper Mays, Kingston Harris) a linebacker (Juwan Mitchell) and a few others.
Yet, Brandon Turnage, the Alabama transfer, replaced Jackson at nickelback and led the team in tackles with 14. The Vols ran for 247 yards against South Carolina while having to use a fourth-team running back. And the patched-up defense held the Gamecocks to one touchdown in the first half.
Also, during the South Carolina game, running back Tiyan Evans and offensive linemen Dayne Davis and Jackson Lampley went down with injuries.
Heupel and his staff had done a remarkable job implementing the “next-man up theory,’’ especially when you consider that UT is down 44 players from the start of last season that could be on the roster: 38 in the transfer portal, two that took medical leaves and four that were let out of their National Letter of Intent.
Even with all that attrition, UT still has 78 on scholarship, although Heupel lists 71 because he does not count the seven super seniors who are, indeed, on scholarship.
*The Vols need Tiyan Evans to beat Ole Miss.
Ole Miss has the best quarterback in the SEC in Matt Corral. It is averaging over 45 points per game. It scored 52 against Arkansas.
The Rebels, a four-point favorite, might score close to 50 against Tennessee’s better-than-expected defense.
That means UT has to score a ton of points. But the Vols can’t do it without a healthy Evans, who has emerged as one of the SEC’s top five running backs. He is averaging 97.2 rush yards per game and has had three 100-yard games. He has power, speed, balance and vision.
Evans could have a field day against Ole Miss’ defense, which surrendered 51 points and 324 rush yards to Arkansas. And it’s evident that UT’s run game drops off quite a bit without Evans in the backfield.
Evans left the South Carolina game in the second half with an undisclosed injury. Heupel said Evans could have returned but wasn’t needed. He will be needed against Ole Miss.
*Tennessee must play a clean game.
In losses to Pitt and Florida, the Vols had double digit penalties and lost the turnover battle to Pitt, 3-0.
In the past two SEC games, the Vols had no turnovers and four combined penalties.
That is a winning formula as UT outscored Missouri and South Carolina 107-44.
*Tennessee must avoid sacks.
The Vols scored touchdowns on their first four possessions against the Gamecocks. Counting the Missouri game, UT scored on 14 of 15 possessions with 12 touchdowns. That is mind-blowing.
That streak ended abruptly in the second half against South Carolina as UT punted on its first four possessions. The first drive was stopped on third-and-1. The other three were thwarted due to sacks.
Hendon Hooker was sacked six times. That’s far too many.
Sacks are usually drive killers, and UT can’t afford sacks if it wants to keep pace with Ole Miss’ high-powered offense.
Along those lines, first-down production could be a key. In the first half against South Carolina, UT gained 180 yards on 21 first-down snaps with 11 gains of 5 or more yards. In the second half, UT got 38 yards on 11 first downs with just four plays of 5 or more yards.
First-down efficiency can keep you out of third-and-long, which can lead to sacks.
Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all
Chris Young is not the kind of guy to make extravagant purchases, but 10 years ago, an item came up for sale that he couldn’t resist.
Keith Whitley was one of Chris’ musical heroes – Keith tragically died in 1989 – so, in 2011 when one of Whitley’s guitars came up for sale, Chris knew he had to have it.
Chris shares, “They found this guitar that Keith actually owned and played, and it was one of the three guitars that he used on the road between ’84 and ’89, right before he died, when he was really, you know, having number-ones and having hits. And it’s so cool. It’s still got the original luggage tag on it with his signature. I don’t buy much stuff, but when that came by, I was like, ‘That’s one of a kind. I gotta have that.’ So…and I’m a huge Keith Whitley fan anyway, so for me, it means a lot to have it.”
It’s all the imperfections in the guitar that makes it perfect for Chris, “It’s got all the dings and the scratches, but it’s in really, really great shape for being as old as it is. I mean, you think about I think…I’m not exactly sure what year, but I think it’s early ’80s, so, I mean, just the fact that the guitar has held up this well and the case is in such great shape, and it’s actually the original case. And yeah, I geeked-out a little bit over that.”
The first time Chris played the guitar in a public setting was an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, where he performed Keith Whitley’s classic “Don’t Close Your Eyes” – ten years ago today, October 11th 2011
Chris has not played it in public since, and he jokes that he may never write a song with it…why? “You don’t want to come out of the gate and the first song you write on Keith Whitley’s old guitar is terrible. (laugh)”
We think he’d be OK with writing a song on it – Chris is doing pretty good in that department.
The title track to his album Famous Friends topped the country music song chart earlier this year, and now Chris’ current single, with Mitchell Tenpenny, “At The End Of A Bar” is starting it’s climb…
Photo Credit: Joel Dennis & Grand Ole Opry
Old Dominion‘s new album, Time, Tequila & Therapy is available now.
Old Dominion’s lead singer Matthew Ramsey shares the story of how the guys ended up getting out of Nashville last year to see what they could come up with music wise…never intending to create a whole album, “Our new album ‘Time, Tequila, and Therapy’ was written and recorded all in a three week span in Asheville, North Carolina during the height of the pandemic lockdown. We decided to create our own little Old Dominion bubble, go out there with no plan, no songs whatsoever and just see what we can do in the moment. So we really didn’t really put much pressure on ourselves to make a whole album we were aiming for, hopefully four or five good songs, but we wound up making a whole album. It was really a dream scenario.”
When it comes to the title of the album, Trevor Rosen of Old Dominion shares that getting together when they did last year was a bit of therapy for the band, “Yeah, I think that’s exactly it, and that’s not to say that every song lyrically is about therapy or anything like that but I think the process of not being able to do it for so long and then getting back out there and get the chance to do it again was definitely cathartic and therapeutic in that release the energy in that excitement all fueled that whole 3 week process.”
Time, Tequila & Therapy track list;
1. “Why Are You Still Here”
2. “Hawaii”
3. “Walk On Whiskey”
4. “All I Know About Girls”
5. “Blue Jeans”
6. “No Hard Feelings”
7. “Lonely Side of Town” (feat. Gladys Knight)
8. “I Was On A Boat That Day”
9. “Drinking My Feelings”
10. “Somethings The Same About You”
11. “I Want To Live In A House With You”
12. “Don’t Forget Me”
13. “Ain’t Nothing Wrong With Love”
While the guys went to Ashville to create songs, but not with the intention of producing a whole album, one of the greatest surprises was the collaboration they got to do with a living legend in the world of music – Gladys Knight.
Among the 13 tracks on the new album, the Gladys Knight joins the guys on “Lonely Side Of Town.”
Matthew Ramsey jokes that they can’t even say this this collaboration is a “bucket list” item, because it’s so amazing they never thought to add it to their “bucket list,” “Ah, it’s huge man…you know, that wasn’t even close to our bucket list…I don’t think we imagined anything like that would happen it just presented itself as an amazing opportunity.”
Matthew shares the story of how Gladys came to be on the album, “She actually lives in Ashville, North Carolina we didn’t realize at the time, it’s just the stars just lined up and you know when we had the idea to bring her in on it, we had easy contact to her because the studio manager knew her and she was on board immediately so it was just kind of happened so fast and was an amazing experience to just sit there and watch her do her thing, and it was very validating. It was an amazing thing”
After Old Dominion ended up finishing their new album in Asheville, North Carolina a year ago, Trevor says that the band is very happy to finally have Time, Tequila & Therapy out for fans to listen to it, “We wrote and recorded it a year ago, so you’re always itching to get it out there and there’s been a lot of preparation going into it so you know the fact that it finally comes out is always just an amazing feeling.”
Old Dominion’s current single at country radio, “I Was On A Boat That Day”, is a Top-10 hit (and climbing)…Brad Tursi from the band shares the story behind the song, “The title is one that we’ve had for many years, we had the title the same time we were writing ‘Break Up With Him’ and it got brought up and put down over the years. And finally, when we went to Asheville to make this next batch of songs, we told the title to Shane (McAnally) and Josh (Osborne) and they loved it. So we ended up finally writing it and it’s just about, you know, a little heartbreak song about a guy who’s not really heartbroken in this particular moment cuz he’s on a boat and he’s having fun and I’ll deal with the rest tomorrow.”
Old Dominion’s Time, Tequila & Therapy is available now
Photo Credit: Mason Allen
Reba McEntire‘s brand new box set, Revived Remixed Revisited, is available now.
Reba shares the story behind her new triple collection of songs, “Well, Revived Remixed Revisited is a sort of reimagined collection of some of my biggest songs, which is exciting for me and hopefully the fans too.”
Breaking down each set of songs, Reba says, “Revived features exciting new arrangements of fan favorites like ‘Is There Life Out There’ and ‘Can’t Even Get The Blues’ that I recorded with my touring band.”
Reba continues, “Remixed takes songs like ‘Little Rock’ and ‘I’m A Survivor’ and spins them in ways like you’ve probably never heard me before”
Reba, “And on Revisited I got to work with Grammy award winning producer Dave Cobb, who strips back songs like ‘Somebody Should Leave’ and ‘Consider Me Gone’ AND I finally got to team up with my friend and hero — Dolly Parton – on a brand-new version of ‘Does He Love You.’”
Reba thinks that this collection is great for new and old fans of hers, “This project really has something for every one of my fans out there, whether they’ve been with me for 40 years or just joined the journey, we wanted something for everybody.”
To explain the concept of the album, Reba went a step further…
Revived Remixed Revisited track list:
DISC 1 – REVIVED
1. “Cant Even Get The Blues”
2. “Is There Life Out There”
3. “The Greatest Man I Never Knew”
4. “Walk On”
5. “Whoever’s In New England”
6. “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia”
7. “For My Broken Heart”
8. “Take It Back / Why Haven’t I Heard From You”
9. “You Lie”
10. “Fancy”
DISC 2 – REMIXED
1. “Turn On The Radio” – Tracy Young Remix
2. “I’m Gonna Take That Mountain” – Dave Aude remix
3. “Little Rock” – Stonebridge Mix
4. “I’m A Survivor” – Lafemmebear remix
5. “Does He Love You” – Eric Kupper Remix
6. “Keep Me Hangin’ On” – Love To Infinity Remix
7. “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” – Eric Kupper Remix
8. “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” – Ralphi Rosario Remix
9. “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” – Dave Aude remix
10. “Fancy” – Dave Aude remix
DISC 3 – REVISITED
1. “The Fear Of Being Alone”
2. “Consider Me Gone”
3. “Somebody Should Leave”
4. “How Blue”
5. “Does He Love You” (with Dolly Parton)
6. “One Promise Too Late”
7. “The Last One To Know”
8. “New Fool At An Old Game”
9. “I’m A Survivor”
10. “Fancy”
Reba shares the new takes on her classic hits even made her listen to them in a new way. “You know, listening to the three versions of the songs that I have recorded in the past, I have performed on stage, now listening to the dance mix it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s weird!’ Or it’s like, ‘Wow, get up and dance.’ Or ‘I never would have picked that song to be a dance remix until now.’ They did a great job. I’m just so thrilled with it. And then the way Dave Cobb did the selected songs that we slowed the songs down, we’ve got different instrumentation, it’s just a brand-new song for me. I love them.”
No matter what version they are, Reba knows there’s songs of hers that will connect with fans no matter what. “’I’m a Survivor’ is the theme song of the Reba TV song and I love to perform this on stage. Women will stand up in the audience and hold their hands up when I sing ‘I’m A Survivor,’ because they are too.”
Reba McEntire’s Revived Remixed Revisited, is available now.
Photo Courtesy of Reba McEntire and UMG Nashville
Cody Johnson‘s new project, Human – The Double Album, is available now.
Human – the Double Album is the result of all the downtime Cody had during the quarantine shutdown. Cody shares that he had more time to work on his music than he had in years, “During the year 2020, I had the opportunity to really spend more time focusing on a good pile of songs that all complemented each other. By the time we were through there was 18 so we had the idea to make a double album not only did I have the opportunity the first opportunity in my life to spend the most time on the album had the most time picking songs it’s the first time I’ve ever recorded a piece this big.”
Human – The Double Album track list;
Part 1
Part 2
Cody adds, “It’s been a long time coming and I’m proud to finally give y’all my newest record, Human The Double Album. I’m thankful for God giving me the talent and ability to make music. Also, thank you to my team, my family, and my fans for making this project possible. I couldn’t have done it without y’all!“
Human – The Double Album from Cody Johnson is available now, and among the 18 tracks, it includes “‘Til You Can’t” – watch the Live From the Stage music video for the song here…
Photo Credit: Chris Douglas
