This is A Day in the Country with Paul Koffy – July 7th
On this day in 2017, Matt Stell recorded “Prayed for You,” which would go on to become his first number-1 song.
In 2012, Luke Bryan was at number-one with “Drunk On You.”
On this day in 2008 Carrie Underwood sent “Just A Dream” to radio
And all the way back in 1956, Johnny Cash was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.
Photo Credit: Jeremy Cowart
Michael Ray knows that his music has had an impact on his fans from the messages that they share with him, and the stories they tell him when he meets them.
Michael also has had music impact his own life – and he was lucky enough to not only share that story with the artist who recorded the song – the song is “Ships That Don’t Come In” and the artist – the late great Joe Diffie.
Michael shares, “Joe Diffie was not only just one of my musical heroes but a great friend and somebody that I had some great memories with…. I’ve said it since day one…since I’ve heard this song…and I’ll always stand by it I think that… ‘Ships that Don’t Come In’ is one of the best written country songs of all time and there’s a line in there that says ‘God made life a gamble and we’re still in the game’ – that line has gotten me through so much. I moved to Nashville lived in a two bedroom two bath with five other guys drove my tour van was playing shows in Florida to pay for shows in Mississippi…and all that stuff, I always quoted that line whenever things got hard and I wanted to give up “god made life a gamble but we’re still in the game.”
One of Michael’s most cherished memories is getting to sing the song alongside Joe Diffie…
“I actually got to sing that with Joe one time on a cruise ship that we did… a country cruise together… it was one of my last times being able to see him and I cherish that song even more now.”
Michael Ray’s latest song that his fans are connecting with is “Whiskey and Rain.”
Photo Credit: Sean Hagwell
When it comes to creating music, a lot of artists say that albums and song collections that they release are snapshots of where they are in their lives at that point.
Right now, Brett Young says that while his life is better than ever – it’s pretty much focused on being a husband to his wife Taylor, dad to his daughter Presley — and getting ready for another daughter to arrive this summer. But when it comes to the songs 12:05he created for Weekends Look A Little Different These Days…
Brett says he made sure to leave some of that out of the song writers room, “As affected as I was by this stage of my life while we were writing these songs, I was also really conscious of making sure there was something for everybody. So, there were a lot of those kind of obstacles that presented themselves in trying to make sure that we didn’t write eight songs about being a new parent and a new father. And so, it was interesting. It was, I think, the most challenging writing for a project has been to this point.”
Weekends Look A Little Different These Days features Brett’s number-one hit “Lady” and his current single “Not Yet”…
Photo Courtesy of BMLG
How did you spend your time in quarantine?
For the last year and half, Caroline Jones was on the other side of the world – making music and friends.
With the ultimate confluence of timing and opportunity, Caroline made a decision that would lead to once in a lifetime experiences.
She shares, “I was fortunate enough to spend most of the past year in New Zealand, where I met The Trenwiths, a bluegrass band whose founding members have been playing together since the 1960’s.”
Caroline adds, “Their family band now consists of three generations of musicians and singers. They are some of the most good-humored, good-natured, authentic people I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around. Before I left New Zealand to come back to America, I brought a couple of cameras along to capture one of our jams, which we edited down into this video called ‘The Raglan Sessions’.”
You can watch it here…
While in New Zealand Caroline would also work on her current single “Come In (But Don’t Make Yourself Comfortable)”
With lyrics like “Come in, but don’t make yourself comfortable, because I don’t know, if I’m going to like you for long. Come in, but park your truck facing out cause I wouldn’t want to be you when I want you gone” — Caroline says the song reminds her of the music that influenced her when she was young, “Kind of reminds me of some of my heroes growing up, like Shania Twain…that had that kind of energy, and it’s a wonderful thing to tap into – especially as a woman.”
While it’s a beautiful country, and she loved her time in New Zealand, – when it came to finding locations to film the music video for her song, Caroline did admit “It was a challenge to find a country and western bar in New Zealand, but we did it! Working with an all-New Zealander cast was especially refreshing as they were all very joyful, pure, and genuine people. I believe that energy comes across in the dancing and throughout the video too.”
Check out the music video for “Come In (But Don’t Make Yourself Comfortable)” from Caroline Jones right here…
Headline & Additional Photo Credit: Laura Tait
Single Image Photo Credit: Tyler Lord
Tennessee junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua is the latest Vol set to compete on an international stage this summer, suiting up for Finland in a trio of preparatory national matches.
Nkamhoua and Finland are scheduled to play three games on July 7, 9 and 11 against Belgium, Hungary and Japan, respectively, in Naha, Okinawa, Japan.
Though Finland’s contests take place in the host country of this summer’s Olympics just ahead of the start of the games, the exhibitions do not have bearing on this year’s Tokyo Olympics. However, Nkamhoua’s experience with Basketball Finland this summer leaves him well positioned for the opportunity to compete with Finland’s men’s national team in its quest to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
Following Finland’s three games this week, Nkamhoua will return to campus and resume workouts with the Vols.
Nkamhoua joins freshman guard Kennedy Chandler and junior guard Santiago Vescovi as current Vols competing internationally this summer. Chandler recently qualified for the 12-man USA Basketball U19 team and is currently playing in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Latvia, while Vescovi wrapped up play last week with Uruguay in Olympic pre-qualifying games in Canada.
A Helsinki, Finland, native, Nkamhoua has appeared in 54 games through two seasons at Tennessee, averaging 9.5 minutes per game and shooting .560 from the field. Over the course of his two years on Rocky Top, Nkamhoua has been the first Vol off the bench a team-high 25 times during that stretch.
-UT Athletics
A big congrats goes out to Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani – turns out they celebrated Independence Day by uniting in marriage!
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On Saturday July 3rd, 2021 – the two music superstars tied the knot!
Blake & Gwen first met as judges on The Voice 6 years ago. After their individual break-ups, the two bonded and became music’s favorite couple.
After years of “will they” or “won’t they” – it was this past October that the couple officially announced their engagement.
Of course everyone has witnessed the growth of their relationship through seasons of The Voice, various talk show appearances, social media, and Blake’s own music, where he proclaimed that there was nobody but Gwen for him, that he’s happy anywhere she is…
Blake and Gwen shared a look into their world with the music video for “Happy Anywhere.”
Headline Photo Courtesy of Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton & The Voice
Additional Photo Courtesy of Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton
This is A Day in the Country with Paul Koffy – July 6th
On this day in 2017, Dan and Shay’s “How Not To” was at number-1
Back in 2011, Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere with You,” was certified platinum
In 2010, Brantley Gilbert sent “My Kind of Crazy” to radio
And on this day back in 2002, Brad Paisley hooked the number-1 spot with “I’m Gonna Miss Her (Fishin’ Song).”
Photo Credit: Jeff Lipsky
The annual SEC Network Takeover is set to run July 3-16. Tennessee’s day in the spotlight begins at midnight ET on Wednesday, July 14.
During the SEC Network Takeover, each of the 14 Southeastern Conference schools has the opportunity to create a customized, 24-hour stretch of programming to highlight its memorable moments and history. Ten Tennessee athletic events from 2020-21 and two produced shows highlight UT’s 24-hour takeover.
A complete list of Tennessee ‘s programming follows (all times Eastern):
Midnight – Softball: Tennessee vs. Kentucky (April 4, 2021)
2 a.m. – SEC Storied: The Color Orange
3 a.m. – SEC Inside: Tennessee Men’s Basketball
3:30 a.m. – Men’s Basketball: Tennessee at Kentucky (Feb. 6, 2021)
5:30 a.m. – Softball: Tennessee vs. Arkansas (SEC Tournament | May 13, 2021)
7:30 a.m. – Men’s Tennis: Tennessee vs. Florida (SEC Tournament | April 23, 2021)
10 a.m. – Soccer: Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt (Sept. 27, 2020)
Noon – Baseball: Tennessee vs. Florida (April 9, 2021)
3 p.m. – Men’s Basketball: Tennessee vs. Kansas (Jan. 30, 2021)
5 p.m. – Women’s Basketball: Tennessee vs. South Carolina (Feb. 18, 2021)
7 p.m. – Baseball: Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt (April 17, 2021)
10 p.m. – Football: Tennessee Orange & White Game (April 24, 2021)
-UT Athletics
June was another packed month for Tenille Arts – and she made sure to capture it all!
Check out her 1 Second Everyday montage for June 2021!
A big part of Tenille’s month of June was her new song “Back Then, Right Now.”
Photo Courtesy of Tenille Arts
If you’re all fireworked out, but still want to see an explosive…musical…performance – check out Laine Hardy on tonight’s episode of ABC’s The Bachelorette!
Laine will be singing his latest song, “Memorize You” – and you can check out it out at 8 PM ET/ 7 PM CT.
Before then – check out the music video for the track right here…
Photo Credit: Dustin Haney
