Last November Carly Pearce shared with fans the raw emotional moment that was captured when she was presented with the news that she and Lee Brice won the CMA for Musical Event of the Year for “I Hope You’re Happy Now.”
She was doing an interview from home at the time…
Carly now shares that the trophy has arrived!
Along with her smiling photo, Carly added “My team surprised me yesterday with this gem. I have dreamt of winning one of these since I was 5 years old, so there were plenty of tears when I held my very own with my name on it in my hands. Thank you country fans & thank you CMA Country Music Association”
Congrats again to Carly Pearce and Lee Brice on their CMA win, and check out their winning collaboration right here, “I Hope You’re Happy Now.”
Morgan Wallen‘s sophomore effort Dangerous: The Double Album arrives in stores and online in less than 24 hours.
When the process to make his follow-up project to his debut If I Know Me began early last year, Morgan knew he had 20 songs already available, but wasn’t quite sure what to do with them, “At the beginning of 2020, we probably had about 20 songs that we felt were ready to be recorded…that we felt were worthy of being recorded. You know, 20 is a weird number, you can either whittle it down to 15, or you can do…maybe put out 5 here, 10 there, something like that.”
Then after a conversation with his manager, Morgan shares that an idea emerged, “There’s all kinds of things you can do with 20, but we just for some reason gravitated towards the idea of a double album.”
Even with 20 songs already available, Morgan still didn’t think a double album was a viable option, “I personally didn’t think it was going to be possible just because I scheduled to do a lot of touring in 2020…I didn’t think I was going to have enough time to put that much effort, and the proper amount of effort into doing an album like that, so I just kind of passed it off as a pipe dream almost.”
Of course all of this was in consideration very early in 2020 when Morgan’s touring and appearance schedule looked jam-packed…but then as we all know, quarantine hit.
Morgan shares, “When everything happened the way it did…I thought, ‘Well, maybe this might be possible.’ Fortunately, I was able to write 4, 5 songs really at the beginning of quarantine, kind of just right off the bat. Which got us to a number of about 25, that made me feel confident that it would be actually something we could do. We ended up with 30, it’ll be 32 eventually when the exclusive tracks come out, but that was never the goal number, we didn’t really have a goal number in mind, it’s kind of just what happened.”
From pipe dream to reality, Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album is heading to fans tomorrow, January 8th, with 30 awesome songs.
One of the 30 tracks is climbing its way up the country airplay chart right now. Check out the music video for “7 Summers” right here…
Have you also checked out the short film inspired by Morgan’s “7 Summers”–it connects the dots that you see in the music video?
When you have a little unexpected quiet time, what do you like to do?
Tenille Townes recently had a little time to kill, so she started to write a song.
Why did she have time to kill? Turns out that she locked her keys in her truck…which evidently, she’s quite good at.
Tenille shared her oops moment with her friends and fans on social media with the following message…
“Well, I spent a little time writing a song on my phone in a parking lot on my tailgate today waiting for a lock out from AAA… They may or may not have told me on the phone that I’m officially out of free ones that come with my membership ha…. this is really a problem lately…. I gotta quit locking my keys in “
Between the quarantine of 2020 and the recent holiday break, a lot of people are caught up on their favorite shows.
Did you finish a series that you’ve been wanting to watch? Or maybe discover something new to binge?
Darius Rucker had some time over the past several months to catch up on his favorite shows, so we checked in on what was on his watchlist.
Darius shared, “Ozark. Season Three of Ozark was just, if you’re an Ozark fan, I’m not gonna spoil it for you, but the ending was just genius. I never saw it coming. It was genius. Ozark is great.” Darius also recommends the show Letterkenny, “I watch that show, and I just laugh constantly. It’s a Canadian comedy and it just kills me.”
But his real viewing preference, “Peaky Blinders – my favorite show of all time, the Peaky Blinders. It is some of the best television I’ve ever seen.”
Darius added one more show to his list, “Billions is friggin’ genius. The writing on that show and the acting and then you throw some music in too, you know, man, it’s such a great show. Billions is such a great show.”
Of course Darius laughs about all the viewing options he has now compared to when he was a kid, “I’m 54 now, and I think back to my childhood and what TV was like when I was a kid and three channels and now you have 72 million different apps you can watch. It’s crazy, so there’s always something crazy on TV.”
Something we recommend watching? How about Darius’ video for his latest chart climber, “Beers and Sunshine”…
Jennifer Nettles jumps into the judge’s seat on a brand new program called Go Big Show – which premieres tonight on TBS.
With fellow judges…actress Rosario Dawson, wrestler Cody Rhodes, hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg and host Bert Kreischer they showcase talent unlike any other talent show around.
From monster trucks, to alligator trainers, to stunt archery and all kinds of other radical feats, Go Big Show takes talent to the next level!
The most talented of the talent will take home a $100,000 prize.
Go Big Show airs on TBS starting at 9 PM (ET)/ 8PM (CT)
Check out the trailer for the Go Big Show featuring Jennifer Nettles as one of the judges, right here…
Tennessee basketball senior forward John Fulkerson has been placed on the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Wednesday.
Chosen by a poll of college basketball experts based on performance thus far in 2020-21, the list features 25 student-athletes who are frontrunners for one of the sport’s most prestigious honors.
Fulkerson is one of eight seniors to make the midseason list and is the lone representative from the SEC.
Through eight games, Fulkerson—also a Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year candidate—is averaging 11.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 offensive rebounds.
Fulkerson has scored in double figures in all but one game for the Vols this season and has led Tennessee in scoring twice.
The players on the Midseason Top 25 Watch List are considered strong candidates for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award Men’s Player of the Year award, presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the midseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of the nations’ top 15 players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.
VFL Grant Williams was on the national ballot for the 2019 Wooden Award, and Lady Vols great Candace Parker won the women’s Wooden Award in back-to-back years in 2007 and 2008.
To view the complete Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List, please click HERE.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee graduate and women’s basketball standout Michelle M. Marciniak is one of seven former college student-athletes who will receive the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award in recognition of their collegiate and professional achievements, as well as their civic contributions.
The award annually recognizes distinguished individuals on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers. The honorees are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, composed of representatives of NCAA member schools, conferences and distinguished citizens, including past awardees.
The 2021 Silver Anniversary honorees will be recognized during a virtual Honors Celebration awards show on Wednesday, Jan. 13. The show will be streamed at 7 p.m. Eastern time on the NCAA Twitter account and on the ESPN app.
In addition to Marciniak, the other recipients are Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Cal, basketball), Adam J. Burgasser (UC San Diego, swimming & diving), Fernando Palomo (Texas A&M, track & field), Amy E. Reinhard (Harvard, softball & basketball), Lt. Col. Dan Rooney (Kansas, golf) and Michelle Cusimano Vachris (Virginia, lacrosse & field hockey).
Marciniak becomes the first-ever female student-athlete at the University of Tennessee to receive the Silver Anniversary Award, joining previous NCAA Vol inductees Andrew Kozar (1978, football), Bob Johnson (1993, football), John Trembley (2000, swimming) and Heath Shuler (2019, football). Legendary Lady Vol basketball head coach Pat Head Summitt was a 1999 recipient representing UT-Martin.
“I am humbled and honored to receive the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award,” Marciniak said. “I am aware of the prestige that accompanies this distinct honor and can’t help but think about all the people who helped pave the way for me to pursue my dreams in life.
“From my parents, siblings, mentors and my college coach, Pat Summitt, and especially to Susan Walvius, my business partner and Co-Founder of SHEEX — I have become who I am today due to the sacrifice of others dedicated to guiding me to become my best in life, both as an athlete and as an entrepreneur.”
Marciniak, a dynamic point guard who became known as “Spinderella” by Lady Vol followers for her whirling dishes and drives, won a national championship with Tennessee in 1996 and received Naismith All-America acclaim and Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention honors that season. She was named Most Outstanding Player and a member of the All-Tournament Team at the 1996 NCAA Final Four, which Tennessee claimed by an 83-65 score over Georgia to launch a three-year run of national championships for the Big Orange.
During her tenure, Tennessee was 97-9, including 31-2 in the Southeastern Conference, winning league titles in 1994 and 1995 and claiming tourney crowns in 1994 and 1996. Marciniak surpassed 1,000 points in her UT career (1,004) and still ranks third in program history in season assists (204, 1994-95), fifth in season assists average (5.7, 1994-95) and sixth in career assists average (4.32, 1993-96).
She represented Team USA in international competition, winning a silver medal at the 1995 World University Games and a gold medal at the 1996 Jones Cup.
She played professionally with the Portland Fire and Seattle Storm and was previously named an American Basketball League All-Star with the Portland Power. Concurrently, Marciniak worked as a color commentator for Fox Sports, ESPN Radio and the Lady Vol Radio Network.
She served as a Women’s National Basketball Association representative at the 2002 NBA All-Star Weekend and later served as a WNBA player representative for corporate marketing strategies in 2003. The WNBA also awarded her the National Community Service Award in 2002.
After her playing career, Marciniak worked as an assistant women’s basketball coach for South Carolina from 2003 to 2008. She is co-founder and co-CEO of SHEEX Inc., which invented the category of performance fabric bedding and holds numerous worldwide patents in bedding, mattress and sleepwear products. SHEEX has been featured in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated and O Magazine.
Marciniak, a 1995 UT graduate with a degree in psychology, co-founded Pedal for Alzheimer’s and has previously served as a spokesperson for the Pat Summitt Foundation. She is a Henry Crown Fellow (class of 2014), a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a strategic advisor for Space for Humanity.
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