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"In His Arms": Miranda Lambert shares the rugged, acoustic first taste of her project with Jack Ingram, Jon Randall

• No Comments • Country Music News

Sony Music NashvilleJust one day after announcing The Marfa Tapes, her upcoming musical collection with fellow Texans Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, Miranda Lambert is offering a first look into the project.

That song, “In His Arms,” is a stripped-down, quiet ode to restless love, recorded outdoors around a campfire with only the trio’s vocal harmony and an acoustic guitar. That raw and rugged approach to music-making will be a hallmark of the project when it arrives in full on May 7, the three musicians explain.

“I’ll never forget pulling into Marfa that first night at 4AM,” Miranda remembers. “The stars were like nothing I’d ever seen before, just this endless blanket hanging so low you could reach up and touch them. I immediately understood why this place was so special.”

Adds Jon, “There’s no TV, no radio, nothing to do out there but pour a cocktail, sit around the campfire and talk. Eventually, that just inevitably leads to songs.”

In order to further transport listeners to the special environment in which they wrote the song, the trio head outdoors with a guitar for a simple, mesmerizing music video for “In His Arms.”

The Marfa Tapes includes 13 never-before-songs from the trio, all recorded in Marfa, Texas. Additionally, the project includes two tracks written in Marfa that fans already know and love: “Tequila Does,” from Miranda’s Wildcard album, and her 2018 ACM Song of the Year, “Tin Man.”

Here’s the full track list:

“In His Arms”
“I Don’t Like It”
“The Wind’s Just Gonna Blow”
“Am I Right or Amarillo”
“Waxahachie”
“Homegrown Tomatoes”
“Breaking a Heart”
“Ghost”
“Geraldene”
“We’ll Always Have the Blues”
“Tin Man”
“Two-Step Down to Texas”
“Anchor”


By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Creighton University basketball coach suspended for 'plantation' analogy

• No Comments • Sports News

Ahmed Benzerguine/iStockBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News

(OMAHA, Neb.) — Creighton University has suspended its men’s head basketball coach after he admitted to making a “terribly inappropriate analogy” when he told his players not to “leave the plantation.”

Coach Greg McDermott issued a contrite statement acknowledging his “egregious mistake” and apologizing to those hurt by his comments.

“On February 27th, after an emotionally tough loss on the road, I addressed our student-athletes and staff in the postgame locker room and used a terribly inappropriate analogy in making a point about staying together as a team despite the loss,” McDermott said in a statement posted to Twitter earlier this week. “Specifically, I said: Guys, we got to stick together. We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can’t have anybody leave the plantation.”

“I immediately recognized my egregious mistake and quickly addressed my use of such insensitive words with the team,” he added. “I have never used that analogy and it is not indicative of who I am as a person or as a coach. I am deeply sorry.”

Bruce Rasmussen, the university’s director of athletics, announced on Thursday evening that McDermott had been suspended “from all team activities” for an undisclosed period of time.

Rasmussen said that he engaged in discussion with senior leaders at the university “regarding appropriate sanctions for the remarks” that “were not in alignment with Creighton’s commitment to racial equity, diversity and respect.”

“Coach McDermott and the team have accepted that, effective immediately, he is suspended from all team activities, including Saturday’s home season finale against Butler,” Rasmussen added. “Further sanctions remain under consideration, not all of which will be shared publicly.”

Al Huss, an assistant coach, has been named interim head coach.

The university’s basketball team dons the word “equality” on their uniforms, ESPN reported.

The saga comes as the world of sports has faced immense pressure to combat systemic racism head-on, especially in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd last year.

The NBA was forced to postpone playoff games in August after players boycotted to protest racial injustice.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Thomas Rhett sets his sights on a double album in 2021, beginning with 'Country Again: Side A'

• No Comments • Country Music News

The Valory Music Co. Thomas Rhett has a double album in the works, and this week, he clued fans in to all the details about the first half, Country Again: Side A. 

Featuring his current Top 5 hit single, “What’s Your Country Song,” the new, 11-track collection will arrive in April. A number of the songs should feel at least a little familiar, as Thomas has performed acoustic snippets of tracks like “Ya Heard” and “To the Guys That Date My Girls” on social media in recent weeks.

The track list also includes a duet with Hardy, called “Put it On Ice.”

Thomas is known for his deeply personal lyrics, and the new music will be no exception: He says that Country Again: Side A traces his journey into adulthood and how his life on the road ultimately brought him back to his roots.

“Country Again: Side A is everything that I wanted to say when I was 19 years old, but hadn’t lived enough to know how to say any of those things yet,” the singer explains. “It’s about the crazy journey that took me out into the world over the last ten years and ultimately brought me back home, more centered and content than ever, with a deep understanding for what’s important in life.”

Ahead of the album’s release, Thomas Shared two new songs: the heartbroken “Want it Again,” and “Growing Up,” a reflective look back at how life changes over time.

Country Again: Side A is due out on April 30; it’s available for pre-order now. Here’s the full track list: 

“Want it Again”
“Growing Up”
“What’s Your Country Song”
“Where We Grew Up”
“Heaven Right Now”
“To the Guys That Date My Girls”
“More Time Fishin’”
“Country Again”
“Put it on Ice” (featuring Hardy)
“Blame it On a Backroad”
“Ya Heard”



By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

WandaVision's Paul Bettany proves to be fan trolling king with finale "cameo" talk

• No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC(LONDON) — While there are secrets in the finale of WandaVision, which just dropped today — and which we won’t reveal — star Paul Bettany admits hype over an earth-shaking cameo in the last episodes was on him. 

Quite literally. 

Last month, he told the Black Girl Nerds podcast, “There’s stuff that I can’t talk to you about, where I get to work with an actor that’s going to be a surprise for everybody. I get to work with an actor that I’ve been wanting to work with forever, who is just unbelievable. We have some real fireworks together.”

Naturally, the hints got fans guessing. Would it be Doctor Strange? Professor Xavier from the X-Men films? 

But on Thursday, Bettany told Good Morning America that the “secret” cameo amounted to Bettany working with…himself: an alternate version of Vision seen in the show’s penultimate episode. 

“You know when you think something is going to be funny, and you say it? And then you actually panic about it? Because that’s what I did,” a slightly embarrassed Bettany admitted to GMA via a remote interview.

He added, “Fans started guessing about who it might be, and they were guessing people like Benedict Cumberbatch or Patrick Stewart. And I was thinking, ‘…that’s a good idea!’ And they’re going to be so disappointed when they find out it’s me!”

When pushed for some actual tea on the finale, Bettany flexed his trolling muscles again, by saying he’d love to spill secrets — only to freeze on camera, pretending his Internet service was dodgy.

The Marvel movie veteran wouldn’t answer various fan theories about the finale, responding to each of Michael Strahan’s questions with “Hmmm” — except one. When pressed whether Vision would “survive the finale,” Bettany allowed, “Well, my bank manager certainly hopes so,” cracking up the GMA team. 

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Landmark LGBTQ series Pose returning for third and final season on May 2

• No Comments • Entertainment News

Billy Porter in “Pose” – FX(NEW YORK) — Pose is returning for a third and final season on May 2, co-creator and executive producer Steven Canals announced Friday on Good Morning America. The series finale will air June 6.

“It was a very difficult decision for us to make, but this has been an incredible journey and we have told the story that we wanted to tell the way that we wanted to tell it,” Canals told GMA.

“I, along with my incredible collaborators, never intended on changing the television landscape. I simply wanted to tell an honest story about family, resilience and love.”

The FX series, created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Canals, premiered in June 2018 and followed a group of queer and transgender people of color in the ballroom scene of New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“To go from the beginning of my career in the late ’90s when it was nearly impossible to get an LGBTQ character on television to Pose — which will go down in history for having the largest LGBTQ cast of all time — is a truly full circle moment for me,” he said.

“Pose” made history for having the largest cast of trans actors — all of whom were women of color — including Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore Angelica Ross and Hailie Sahar. Also, part of the main cast is made up of cisgender actors of color who identify as queer, including Billy Porter, Ryan Jamaal Swain and Dyllón Burnside.

Trans talent has also been featured behind the camera, as Janet Mock has directed and either written or co-written numerous episodes. Our Lady J has also written or co-written several episodes to date. The two also serve as producers on the series.

By Carson Blackwelder and Eric Jones
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.