1990s Country Star Hal Ketchum Dead at 67

1990s Country Star Hal Ketchum Dead at 67

Posted on November 24, 2020

1990s country star Hal Ketchum, 67, died on Nov. 23, according to a post made by his wife Andrea on Hal’s official Facebook page on Nov. 24: “With great sadness and grief we announce that Hal passed away peacefully last night at home due to complications of Dementia. May his music live on forever in your hearts and bring you peace. Andrea.”

Hal had a string of hits in the 1990s, including “Small Town Saturday Night,” “Sure Love,” “Hearts Are Gonna Roll” and more.

Andrea revealed that Hal was suffering from dementia in April 2019 and had decided to retire from touring.

photo by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com

Vols Basketball shutdown extended, won’t play Gonzaga or Notre Dame; update on Barnes

Vols Basketball shutdown extended, won’t play Gonzaga or Notre Dame; update on Barnes

Posted on November 24, 2020
UT Basketball / Credit: UT Athletics

After receiving Monday’s COVID-19 test results, the Tennessee men’s basketball program is extending its pause on team activities.

The Volunteers will not travel to Indianapolis for next week’s Jimmy V Classic, where they were scheduled to face top-ranked Gonzaga. Tennessee also will not play at Notre Dame on Dec. 4—a game that had been reported but was never officially announced due to the contract not yet being finalized.

Barring additional setbacks, the program aims to return to action on Saturday, Dec. 5, with its first game currently set for Dec. 12 against Cincinnati at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Head coach Rick Barnes, who has been diagnosed with the virus and is in isolation at his home, is experiencing very mild symptoms but is generally feeling well.

-UT Athletics

SEC Network shares select slate of televised Lady Vols games

SEC Network shares select slate of televised Lady Vols games

Posted on November 24, 2020
Lady Vols / Credit: UT Athletics

Tip Times For Arkansas, Georgia Home Games Change To 6:30 p.m. ET

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — SEC Network unveiled its full women’s television schedule for the 2020-21 campaign, with regular season games and postseason play set for SEC Network this season.

ESPN has not yet announced its selection of games, and SEC Network+ (SECN+), the digital companion to SEC Network, will stream several women’s matchups throughout the season that have not been assigned. All schedules are subject to change and additional network designations are forthcoming.

The SEC released game times last week for several conference games, and there are two changes in tip times for Tennessee due to television. The Arkansas and Georgia home games on Jan. 7 and 14, respectively, will tip at 6:30 p.m. ET now.

All told, eight Lady Vol games have been selected to be televised by SEC Network. The list includes home matchups vs. Jackson State on Dec. 20 (noon), Arkansas on Jan. 7 (6:30 p.m.), Georgia on Jan. 14 (6:30 p.m.), Vanderbilt on Feb. 14 (2 p.m.), South Carolina on Feb. 18 (7 p.m.) and Auburn on Feb. 28 (2 p.m.). Road contests chosen to air on SEC Network include Vanderbilt on Jan. 24 (2 p.m. CT.) and Georgia on Feb. 21 (noon).

SEC Network will provide wall-to-wall studio coverage surrounding the 2021 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Greenville, S.C., with the early rounds on SEC Network for complete Champ Week coverage.

All games on ESPN networks are available to stream on the ESPN App, which is accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.

2020-21 Schedule | Printable Schedule (PDF) | Add To Calendar | Tickets | Gameday Info. 

-UT Athletics

Vince Gill & Amy Grant

Vince Gill & Amy Grant

Posted on November 24, 2020

One of Nashville’s longstanding holiday traditions—Vince Gill and Amy Grant’s Christmas at the Ryman shows—will not take place in 2020 because of the ongoing pandemic, but plans have already been announced to bring the festive shows back to the Mother Church in 2021.

Vince and Amy announced their 2021 Christmas at the Ryman shows will features 12 performances, which run from Dec. 13, 2021, to Dec. 22, 2021. Tickets go on sale on Nov. 27 at Ryman.com.

“None of us could have ever predicted a year like this one and the holidays are going to look a lot different because of it,” says Amy. “While Vince and I are disappointed we can’t be with you all this year, we are thrilled to be able to return to Ryman Auditorium for the holidays in 2021. It is such a special time of year for us and our family, and these shows have become a holiday tradition for us!”

2021 Amy Grant & Vince Gill’s Christmas at the Ryman

  • Dec. 13 – 7:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 14 – 7:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 15 – 7:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 16 – 7:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 18 – 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 19 – 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 21 – 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 22 – 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

photo by E.M., AFF-USA.com

Brett Eldredge Releases New Version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” Featuring Sofia Reyes [Listen]

Brett Eldredge Releases New Version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” Featuring Sofia Reyes [Listen]

Posted on November 24, 2020

Country music’s resident Christmas crooner, Brett Eldredge, released a new rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” featuring Latin star Sofia Reyes.

Brett and Sophia recorded the track at the historic Capitol Studio in Los Angeles—the same studio where Frank Sinatra, one of Brett’s biggest influences, recorded many of his songs. For the new duet, Sophia sings her vocals in Spanish.

“I love Sofía’s voice and I’ve always wanted to learn some Spanish,” says Brett. “And who better to learn from than her?”

“I’m so happy to work with Brett,” says Sofia. “It’s an honor and I think you’ll love the Spanish version of this song.”

Brett recorded a version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” on his 2016 holiday album, Glow.

Listen to Brett and Sofia sing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

Gabby Barrett Approaches Chart Milestone as “I Hope” Spends 17th Week at No. 1

Gabby Barrett Approaches Chart Milestone as “I Hope” Spends 17th Week at No. 1

Posted on November 24, 2020

Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart (streaming, sales and airplay-based) for the 17th week, which is the second-longest run by a solo female artist in the history of the chart. Only Maren Morris’ “The Bones” enjoyed a longer reign with 19 weeks atop the chart.

The longest run on the Hot Country Songs chart is Bebe Rexha’s “Meant to Be,” featuring Florida Georgia Line, which spent 50 weeks at No. 1 in 2017-2018.

Penned by Gabby, Zachary Kale and Jon Nite, “I Hope” is featured on Gabby’s 2020 debut album, Goldmine. “I Hope” topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart in April.

Gabby’s “I Hope” won the Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2020 CMT Music Awards, while also garnering nominations at the 2020 CMA Awards, ACM Awards and American Music Awards.

Listen to Gabby’s “I Hope,” featuring Charlie Puth.

photo by O\’Connor, AFF-USA.com

Garth Brooks Reveals Why He Ditched Track No. 13 on New “Fun” Album

Garth Brooks Reveals Why He Ditched Track No. 13 on New “Fun” Album

Posted on November 24, 2020

Garth Brooks released his new album, Fun, on Nov. 20. While there are 14 songs on the new project, fans will notice that Track 13 is actually two seconds of emptiness. Don’t worry, it’s not a glitch from the production team, according to Garth.

Track 12 on Fun is the album’s most serious song, “Where the Cross Don’t Burn,” featuring Charley Pride. As Garth explained on his Facebook Live series, Inside Studio G, on Nov. 23, he wanted a moment of silence after the song for listeners to absorb it.

“It’s not like I’m superstitious, knock on wood,” said Garth as he knocked on his head a couple of times. “You know, they say superstition is the lack of faith. For me, I don’t think it hurts to have both. I’m sorry, I don’t . . . What I wanted after ‘Where the Cross Don’t Burn,’ I wanted four or five seconds of just silence to kinda absorb what that song said, and [Track 13] having to play for two or three seconds to register for the computers and then move on to [Track] 14. It all fell perfectly together.”

Longtime fans of Garth’s work will recall the absence of Track 13 on his 1998 Double Live album, which featured six seconds of crowd noise on Track 13 on disc one.

Fun Track List

1. “The Road I’m On”
2. “That’s What Cowboys Do”
3. “All Day Long”
4. “Shallow” with Trisha Yearwood
5. “Dive Bar” with Blake Shelton
6. “Amen”
7. “The Courage of Love”
8. “I Can Be Me With You”
9. “Message in a Bottle”
10. “Stronger Than Me”
11. “(A Hard Way to Make An) Easy Livin’”
12. “Where the Cross Don’t Burn” feat. Charley Pride
13.
14. “Party Gras (The Mardi Gras Song)”
15. “(Sometimes You’ve Got to Die To) Live Again”

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani Release New Performance Video for “Happy Anywhere” [Watch]

Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani Release New Performance Video for “Happy Anywhere” [Watch]

Posted on November 24, 2020

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani released a new performance video for their single, “Happy Anywhere.”

Penned by Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne and Matt Jenkins, “Happy Anywhere” is currently No. 4 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after 18 weeks.

“As I’ve said, ‘Happy Anywhere’ feels like the perfect song for right now,” Blake said. “I’m proud to see that fans feel the same way about it that Gwen and I do.”

Watch the new performance video for “Happy Anywhere” below.

photo by Chase Rollins, AFF-USA.com

Morgan Wallen Scores 4th Consecutive No. 1 Single With “More Than My Hometown”

Morgan Wallen Scores 4th Consecutive No. 1 Single With “More Than My Hometown”

Posted on November 24, 2020

Morgan Wallen scored his fourth consecutive No. 1 single as “More Than My Hometown” ascended to the top of both the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Mediabase chart this week.

Co-penned by Morgan, Michael Hardy, Ernest Keith Smith and Ryan Vojtesak, “More Than My Hometown” will be featured on Morgan’s upcoming sophomore album, Dangerous: The Double Album, which drops on Jan. 8.

The No. 1 tune features Morgan staying true to his small-town roots as he says goodbye to the girl: “I love you more than a California sunset / More than a beer when you ain’t 21 yet / More than a Sunday morning Lord / Turning some poor lost souls around, and Hallelujah bound / I love you more than the feeling when the bass hits the hook / When a guy gets the girl at the end of the book / But baby this might be the last time I get to lay you down / Cause I can’t love you more than my hometown.”

“More Than My Hometown” follows Morgan’s previous No. 1 singles “Up Down” (June 2018), “Whiskey Glasses” (June 2019) and “Chasin’ You” (May 2020).

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

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