Since The Voice began in April of 2011, there has been one constant presence in the judges chair – Blake Shelton.
The original 4 judges were Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, CeeLo Green and Blake.
Now, 10 years, 20 seasons and nearly 500 episodes later – Blake is still turning that chair to work with talented young singers.
This week a bunch of former Team Blake artists, including RaeLynn, The Swon Brothers, Toneisha Harris, Lauren Duski, Todd Tilghman, Danielle Bradbery, Ian Flanigan, and Cassadee Pope, shared what it meant to have Blake as a mentor.
Watch their video message here – with an introduction by Gwen Stefani.
This week Blake wasn’t just helping the talented singers of The Voice — he took the stage to sing his current single “Minimum Wage” — one of the tracks from his brand new album, Body Language.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Tennessee trio of Liam Spence, Jake Rucker and Blade Tidwell earned SEC postseason honors, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
Spence (shortstop) and Rucker (third base) both garnered All-SEC first team recognition, marking the first time since 2005 that the Vols had multiple players earn first-team honors.
Spence was one of the top hitters in the SEC all year long, leading the league in on-base percentage (.493) and walks (32) in conference-only games. He also batted .342 in league play and was tied for third in runs scored with 29. Spence reached base in all but two conference games and tied for third in the SEC with 13 multi-hit games in league play.
The Geelong, Australia, native was also named to the SEC All-Defensive team at shortstop after ranking second on the team with 93 assists and posting a .971 fielding percentage after committing just four errors in 140 chances.
Rucker was a consistent threat in the middle of Tennessee’s lineup for the entire season, leading the SEC with 16 doubles while finishing tied for third with a team and career-high 76 hits. Of those 76 hits, 41 came during conference play, which was tied for sixth in the SEC. The Greenbrier, Tennessee, native also finished second on the team with a .342 batting average and 50 RBI, 27 of which came during conference play, good for eighth in the league.
Rucker was named the SEC Co-Player of the Week on April 26 after a monster series at Texas A&M, tying a career high with three hits in all three games while also hitting four doubles and a home run against the Aggies.
Tidwell became the first UT player to be named to the Freshman All-SEC team since Andre Lipcius in 2017 after an impressive debut season in the Orange and White. The hard-throwing right hander posted a 7-3 record and had the best ERA (3.74) among Tennessee’s starting pitchers. Tidwell’s seven victories and 77.0 innings pitched both ranked first among freshman pitchers in the league. His seven wins are also tied for the fourth most by a freshman in program history while his 72 strikeouts are the fifth most in a single season by a Vols’ freshman.
The Loretto, Tennessee, native was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on March 22 after a dominant performance in his SEC debut at Georgia, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out six in 7.1 innings pitched to lead the Vols to a series win in Athens.
To see all of the postseason award winners and complete All-SEC teams, click HERE.
The matchups for the 2021 Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament were announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Monday, and Tennessee is set to open against Villanova on Saturday, Nov. 20 at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Resort.
The opposite side of the bracket features a showdown between North Carolina and Purdue. The winners of those games meet in the championship on Sunday, Nov. 21.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame Tip-Off will go on sale in September. Tip times and broadcast information have yet to be announced.
Under the direction of Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright, Villanova projects to enter the 2021-22 season as a top-five team. Expectations for the Wildcats soared when seniors Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels opted to return to the program. Wright’s squad returns significant depth—including four starters—while adding yet another outstanding collection of newcomers.
Tennessee and Villanova have met four times previously on the hardwood, with the Wildcats owning a 3-1 advantage. The Vols’ lone win in the series came in the championship game of the 2011 NIT Season Tip-Off. The most recent meeting saw fifth-ranked Villanova overcome a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat the Big Orange at the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Volunteers own a 30-26 all-time record against current members of the Big East Conference.
Season-ticket renewals for Tennessee’s highly-anticipated upcoming campaign begin in late June.
Deaths across Knox and Anderson counties have increased more than 11 percent in 2020 from 2019, while homicides rose nearly 72 percent, according to the 2020 Annual Report.
The annual report was released by the Knox County Regional Forensic Center which provides autopsy and consultative services for 23 counties in Middle and East Tennessee.
According to the report, accidental and natural deaths each increased 20 percent in 2020. Officials said suicides increased by 14 percent and gun-related deaths increased 62 percent.
In 2020, Knox County saw 40 gun-related homicides. That number is the most of any other area in the center’s jurisdiction. There were 50 homicides in total reported in Knox County in 2020.
Motor vehicle accidents accounted for nearly 100 deaths in Knox County and 183 in total across the region.
The guys in Old Dominion say their new song “I Was On A Boat That Day” has been around since their debut hit “Break Up With Him” — but they just thought it was a joking title.
Lead singer Matthew Ramsey shares the story, “We had this idea we were kicking it around for a long time. And we bring it up and shoot it down. I don’t know how many times we decided not to write this song. And then for whatever reason, when we were in Asheville, North Carolina, making this album, it came up again and we sort of laughed like it was a joke, but then our co-writers Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne helped us see the light that it actually was not a joke title. It was actually a really fun title.”
Matthew adds, “So we wrote it and really liked it. We took it upstairs to record it. We had this idea that it needed to sound like a party and needed to sound a little, you know, intoxicated, so we drank some tequila and went in and did our best little party dance song and we had a really great time recording it and hope you have a great time listening to it.”
Listen…and watch the video for Old Dominion’s “I Was On A Boat That Day” right here…
Tenille Arts is following up her very successful hit song “Somebody Like That” with her new single, “Back Then, Right now.”
Tenille shares the story behind the new track, “‘Back Then, Right Now’ is all about looking back on being a teenager and just how simple things felt back then. You were kind of naïve to the world around you and what was going on and there was a beautiful freedom in that…so, just trying to bring some of that feeling into our current day lives right now.”
Listen to Tenille Arts new song “Back Then, Right Now” right here, and now…
Garth Brooks has achieved a lot of honors throughout his career.
But this weekend, he received one that not many get to experience — he was one of the people celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, DC.
Garth, along with fellow honorees actress-dancer-choreographer Debbie Allen, folk singer and activist Joan Baez, violin virtuoso Midori, and beloved acting icon Dick Van Dyke, were at the Medallion Ceremony on Friday.
Talking about being among that group Garth says, “Just getting to be among this level of ‘character’ is good for me. I feel very lucky.”
He also joked “And for the first time in my life, I don’t mind being the weak link in the chain. I’m in the chain – that’s it. This is a cool thing. Just feel very, very lucky.”
Garth’s no stranger to the Kennedy Center Honors – he’s appeared many times as one of the people there to celebrate the honorees, but now being on the other side he said “An award is only as good as the names that are on it. That’s it. When you walk in that door…and you see the list of names…and then you sit in this group…and get to be a part of this…pretty cool.”
Garth also shared this, “To loosely quote Maya Angelou, I stand here as one but I stand here for the people who have carried me to this point.”
Fans can check out the event showcasing the honorees, hosted by prior recipient Gloria Estefan, June 6th on CBS TV.
Right now Garth, and Trisha Yearwood, are at country radio with their version of “Shallow”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A grand slam by Liberty freshman Savannah Channell in the fourth inning gave Liberty the spark it needed to claim a 6-4 victory over the No. 9-seeded Lady Vols, as Tennessee’s season came to a close at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on Saturday night.
Liberty freshman starter Karlie Keeney earned her 17th win of the season on Saturday for the Flames (44-14), after allowing six hits, four earned runs and dealing one strikeout.
Tennessee’s Ashley Rogers received the loss, allowing four earned runs in 4.0 innings of work. Rogers, a junior right-handed pitcher for the Lady Vols, tossed five strikeouts and walked four batters on the evening.
From the plate, Ashley Morgan went 2-2 with a pair of RBIs for the Lady Vols. As a team, Tennessee (42-14) logged seven hits, including two triples, and 4 RBIs.
Rogers came out dealing, getting two Liberty batters to strike out swinging in the top half of the opening frame.
In the bottom of the first inning, an Amanda Ayala triple to left field and an Morgan single up the middle drove Ayala home to put Tennessee on the board first, 1-0.
The bottom half of the third inning saw the Lady Vols tally a second run as Kaitlin Parsons scored off an RBI sac fly by Morgan. The Lady Vols led 2-0 entering the fourth inning.
There, the Flames received the offensive spark they needed. With two outs and the bases loaded, Channell belted a grand slam over the left field wall to get Liberty on the board and earn Liberty a 4-2 advantage.
Liberty added what would be the game-winning run in the fifth inning, as Mary Claire Wilson scored to increase their lead to 5-2.
In the bottom of the sixth frame, Morgan’s single to left field was followed by Ally Shipman’s triple down the left field line, which scored pinch runner Josie Willingham and cut Liberty’s lead to 5-3.
Chelsea Seggern recorded a sac fly to center field, bringing Shipman home and making it a one-run game, with the Lady Vols trailing 5-4.
Liberty senior Amber Bishop-Riley sent a seventh inning pitch to left field for a solo home run that gave Liberty a 6-4 lead.
That would ultimately serve as the final score, as two fly outs and a ground out for Tennessee concluded the seventh inning.
