Tennessee quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke spoke with the media via UT Athletics Zoom call on Wednesday. Note: UT’s connection on the Zoom call went bad in the answer to the final question. We apologize for that, but it was out of our control. You can still make out basically what he was saying.
Tennessee first-year outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton spoke with the media via UT Athletics Zoom call on Wednesday.
Thomas Rhett teamed with Reba McEntire, Lady A’s Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin and Keith Urban to record the bright new tune, “Be A Light,” which was released in March.
Thomas Rhett co-penned the song with Josh Miller, Josh Thompson and Matt Dragstrem. TR and the song’s collaborators are donating all proceeds from “Be A Light” to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, which was created by The Recording Academy to help people in the music industry affected by the coronavirus disease outbreak and subsequent cancellation of music events.
On Sept. 2, Thomas Rhett and Big Machine Label Group president/CEO Scott Borchetta surprised Recording Academy chair and interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. and MusiCares executive director Laura Segura via a video conference with an additional $100,000 for the relief fund.
“Thank y’all so much for everything y’all are doing,” said Thomas Rhett during the video, which you can watch below. “The fact that y’all are helping people pay mortgages and hospital bills, I commend y’all so highly for that. Hopefully we can get a lot more on board this train to continue to give and continue to help out our people.”
“On behalf of the Big Machine Label Group, we are going to donate $50,000 today to the MusiCares COVID Fund to keep moving this forward in an aggressive way and try to be more aggressive that this terrible disease that we are dealing with,” said Scott Borchetta, before Thomas Rhett said he would match the monetary amount for a donation total of $100,000.
“Be A Light” is currently No. 4 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after 22 weeks.
photo by TCD
Kelsea Ballerini is once again dropping “Easter eggs.”
In the lead-up to the release of her 2020 studio album, kelsea, the East Tennessee native often sported a gold “kelsea” necklace in photos/videos on social media.
On Sept. 1, Kelsea posted a new video clip on Twitter and Instagram showing off a gold “ballerini” necklace with a “?” as the only text.
While Kelsea didn’t receive any CMA Awards nominations on Sept. 1, she noted in a follow-up post via Twitter that she has been working on something she’s “proud of,” which fans speculated may be a new album, ballerini: “Ugh. I really love you guys And deeply appreciate you. And am grateful beyond words that you’re in my corner, today and always. I’ve been working hard the last few months on something I’ve never been more proud of. You’re picking up on it. Let’s continue our story…”
Kelsea also responded to a fan’s tweet regarding “Easter eggs” in her new video, “Hole in the Bottle,” by posting emojis of a “clock” and “leopard.” Of course, this sent her followers into a deciphering frenzy.
Kelsea release her third studio album, kelsea, on March 20. The new album features Top 20 single, “Homecoming Queen,” and current single, “Hole in the Bottle.”
photo by TCD
Tennessee basketball senior forward/guard Yves Pons met with the media on Wednesday to review his decision to pass on going to the NBA Draft and returning to the University of Tennessee basketball team.
Since dropping her debut album, Kerosene, in March 2005, Miranda Lambert has served as one of the de facto “voices” in country music. With a résumé that includes 34 ACM Awards (most all time), 13 CMA Awards and two Grammy Awards over the last 15 years, Miranda has built herself into one of the most celebrated artists—male or female—in country music history.
On Sept. 1, Miranda added a new bullet point to her impressive résumé: most nominated female artist in CMA Awards history.
Miranda led all artists by receiving seven nominations at the upcoming 54th CMA Awards, bringing her total number of career nominations to 55, which surpassed Reba McEntire’s 51 nominations.
Miranda’s seven nominations include: Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year (“Bluebird”), Album of the Year (Wildcard), Song of the Year (“Bluebird”), Musical Event of the Year (“Fooled Around And Fell In Love”) and Music Video of the Year (“Bluebird”).
The 54 CMA Awards will take place on Nov. 11.
photo by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com
The Academy of Country Music announced its second round of performers for the 55th ACM Awards: Eric Church, Mickey Guyton, Morgan Wallen, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan.
Previously announced performers include Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Riley Green, Tenille Townes, and Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi.
The ACM Awards will air live from Nashville on Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. The show will take place at three iconic Nashville institutions: the Grand Ole Opry House, The Bluebird Cafe and Ryman Auditorium.
Keith Urban will host the show for the first time.
Additional performers will be announced soon.
Ryman Auditorium
Bluebird Cafe
Grand Ole Opry
photo by TCD
The 35th anniversary Farm Aid celebration, dubbed Farm Aid 2020 On The Road, will be live streamed on Sept. 26.
In addition to performances from Farm Aid founders Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and board member Dave Matthews, the lineup includes Chris Stapleton, Margo Price, Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Nathaniel Rateliff, Jamey Johnson, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, and more.
“This pandemic and so many other challenges have revealed how essential family farmers and ranchers are to the future of our planet,” says Willie in a press release. “Farm Aid 2020 is going to give the whole country a chance to learn about the important work of farmers and how they’re contributing to our well-being, beyond bringing us good food.”
Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp organized the first Farm Aid concert in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on the land. Farm Aid, which has raised nearly $60 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on the land.
Farm Aid On The Road will be streamed via FANS.com on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.
photo by AFF-USA.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football announced Monday the launch of “VFlight,” a comprehensive VFL educational and development program geared toward the success of student-athletes beyond the playing field.
VFlight is being overseen by Ashley Smith, UT Assistant Athletics Director for Player Relations & Development.
“I am so excited to see our VFlight program get off the ground,” Smith said. “With the resources we have at Tennessee and the intense commitment Coach Jeremy Pruitt has shown, this program is truly going to the change the lives of the young men on our football team. We are branding this program as VFlight. The first three letters are VFL which everyone around here knows that means Vol For Life. That’s our commitment to our young men – to prepare them for a day when the game ends. When that day comes, they will still be a part of the Tennessee football family, and we will always want to see our family do well in life.”
The mission of VFlight is to holistically develop Vol football student-athletes by providing innovative programs and initiatives in the areas of leadership development, personal enhancement, community outreach, and career and professional development.
“Our top priority as a program is developing our players for a successful life beyond football,” head coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “VFlight will empower our players from the time they enroll to their transition into professional careers after graduation. We are excited about the vision of VFlight, and we feel all VFLs can take tremendous pride in this initiative.”
Through VFlight, football student leaders are empowered to embrace their position and platform as members of the Tennessee Football family to make a positive impact on campus, in the community, and within their families.
VFlight features three foundational pillars: reVOLve, inVOLve and eVOLve.
For more information on the VFlight program, visit utsports.com/vflight.
Here’s a photo gallery courtesy of the UT Athletics from Tennessee fall football practice 8 for the 2020 season from Tuesday. Click on any image to see it full size with the ability to scroll through.
