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Dierks Bentley, Vince Gill and more guests sign on for Terri Clark’s upcoming Christmas album

• No Comments • Country Music News

Mercury NashvilleTerri Clark will be getting into the holiday spirit in style this year: She just announced plans for a collection of seasonal classics called It’s Christmas…Cheers!

A slew of talented musical friends will join Terri for her new album. Dierks Bentley, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, The Oak Ridge Boys, Pam Tillis and Suzy Bogguss have all signed on to lend their voices to the 10-track project. The Time Jumpers play on every song.

From “Winter Wonderland” to “Silent Night,” It’s Christmas…Cheers! takes on some of the best-loved holiday tunes of all time, a prospect that the singer admits would have been daunting earlier in her career.

“I resisted making and releasing a Christmas album for many years, even though I’m a big Christmas person and I love the music of the season,” Terri notes. “It’s been done by the best in so many amazing ways, and I wanted to wait until I felt I could make it special, be excited about it and do it justice in my own way.”

But thanks in part to her impressive roster of guests, Terri was finally able to bring her vision for a Christmas album to life.

“Having the Time Jumpers to collaborate with and the wonderful guest artists featured — it did just that. I am eager for everyone to hear the record that was almost two years in the making but took 25 years to get around to,” she says.

It’s Christmas…Cheers! isn’t due out until September 25, but it’s available for pre-order now. Each purchase of the album comes with a holiday postcard, and the LP is pressed on festive, holly-green vinyl.

Here’s the track list:

“Winter Wonderland”
“Jingle Bells”
“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
“Cowboy Christmas” (feat. Ricky Skaggs)
“Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” (with Dierks Bentley)
“Silent Night” (feat. Vince Gill)
“Up on the Housetop”
“Silver Bells” (feat. the Oak Ridge Boys)
“Away in a Manger” (with Pam Tillis and Suzy Bogguss)

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Garth Brooks steps aside as an Entertainer of the Year contender

• No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LAAfter a record seven wins as CMA Entertainer of the Year, Garth Brooks is stepping aside as a contender.

The country superstar made the announcement during a news conference Wednesday, revealing he’d been in discussions with the Country Music Association about perhaps assuming the status of Entertainer of the Year Emeritus at this year’s CMA Fest. 

Of course, the annual gathering wasn’t possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now that CMA Awards voting has begun, the Country Music Hall of Famer wants to make it clear he’s grateful for his Entertainer wins, but wants to step aside to make way for the other contenders.

At the same time, Garth also reiterated he’s happy to be included in all the other categories, and has no intentions of retiring or slowing down. 

Garth’s win at the 2019 awards show came as a curve ball for many viewers, who were hoping that Carrie Underwood would win the title at the close of a show that was centered on spotlighting female artists. 

That night, Garth used his acceptance speech to draw attention to rising artists, both male and female. He highlighted co-host Reba McEntire’s showmanship, applauded Kelsea Ballerini’s vulnerable performance of her single “Homecoming Queen?”, predicted an Entertainer of the Year trophy in Luke Combs’ near future, and credited his wife, fellow country star Trisha Yearwood.

But some viewers critiqued Garth’s win both as a legacy problem — Garth has won the CMA Awards’ biggest trophy seven times — and as a symbol of the obstacles female artists face in the industry. No woman has won the Entertainer of the Year trophy since 2011, when Taylor Swift took home the honor.

By Stephen Hubbard and Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

AOC, ACLU demand answers after NYC protester arrested and thrown into unmarked van

• No Comments • National News

jetcityimage/iStockBy ELLA TORRES and AARON KATERSKY, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — New York political leaders, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Human Rights Campaign are demanding answers after an 18-year-old protestor was arrested by plainclothes officers and thrown into an unmarked van on Tuesday night.

That protestor, Nikki Stone, was arrested at a demonstration near 2nd Avenue and East 25th Street in Manhattan. Other protesters said they were fighting for Black liberation.

The New York City Police Department said Stone was wanted for damaging police cameras in five separate vandalism incidents in and around City Hall Park. A police official also told ABC News Stone’s arrest was conducted in a manner consistent with NYPD warrant squad deployments.

Fellow protesters said the arrest looked more like a kidnapping, reminiscent of a tactic used by federal officers in Portland, Oregon.

After video of the arrest hit social media, the response from politicians and nonprofit organizations was swift.

“Our civil liberties are on brink. This is not a drill,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., wrote on Twitter. “To not protect our rights is to give them away. It is our responsibility to resist authoritarianism.”

Carlina Rivera, the councilwoman for the 2nd District of the New York City, where the arrest took place, tweeted that there needs to be an independent review and “an immediate explanation for why an unmarked van full of officers was anywhere near a peaceful protest.”

“It’s clear that using an unmarked van and plainclothes officers to make an arrest for vandalism (in the middle of a peaceful protest) is a massive overstep. I’m exploring legislation,” Rivera later tweeted.

 

 

The ACLU called the actions of police “dangerous, abusive, and indefensible,” while the Human Rights Campaign said the incident was “deeply troubling.”

Stone, held for five hours before being released, was charged with five counts of criminal mischief, four counts of making graffiti and three counts of possession of a graffiti instrument.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison wrote on Twitter that while police welcome peaceful protesters “damage to NYPD technology that helps keep this city safe will never be tolerated.” The cameras, he wrote, are “vital resources which help prevent and solve crimes throughout the city.”

 

 

Harrison also released video that appears to show Stone vandalizing a police camera overlooking City Hall.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the arrest in a daily briefing on Wednesday, saying it was “the wrong time and wrong place.”

De Blasio said it’s been painful to see what is going on in Portland and “anything that even slightly suggests” something similar is happening in New York City is “troubling.”

“This,” the mayor said, “is not Portland.”

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Oregon governor announces 'phased withdrawal' of federal officers from Portland

• No Comments • National News

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesBy LUKE BARR and ALEXANDER MALLIN, ABC News

(PORTLAND, Ore.) — After unrest and public outcry over clashes between protesters and law enforcement, there will be a “phased withdrawal” of federal officers from Portland, the Oregon governor announced Wednesday.

“These federal officers have acted as an occupying force, refused accountability, and brought violence and strife to our community. Beginning Thursday, all Customs and Border Protection and ICE officers will leave downtown Portland, and shortly thereafter will begin going home,” Gov. Kate Brown said in a statement, adding that the withdrawal agreement came after “my repeated requests.”

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said in a statement that a joint plan with the governor “includes a robust presence of Oregon State Police in downtown Portland.”

“State and local law enforcement will begin securing properties and streets, especially those surrounding federal properties, that have been under nightly attack for the past two months,” Wolf said.

The Department of Homeland Security will keep federal law enforcement personnel present in the city “until we are assured that the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and other federal properties will no longer be attacked and that the seat of justice in Portland will remain secure,” according to Wolf.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Tiffany Haddish emotionally reveals that racism made her afraid to have children

• No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Eric McCandless(LOS ANGELES) — Tiffany Haddish tearfully revealed on Monday the reason why she doesn’t have any children, and it’s due to her fears about racism.

The Like a Boss star spoke about her decision when talking with Carmelo Anthony on his podcast What’s in Your Glass. 

When remarking how she, a woman in her 40s, is frequently dodging questions about when she’ll have a baby, Haddish became emotional.

“There’s a part of me that would like to do that, and I always make up these excuses like, ‘Oh, I need a million dollars in the bank before I do that, I need this, I need that.’ But really, it’s like, I would hate to give birth to someone that looks like me and then knowing that they’re gonna be hunted or killed,” She tearfully explained, revealing she watched her friends “be slaughtered by the police” when she was 13 and 14-years-old.

She adds that’s why she has a deep understanding of what George Floyd’s family is going through because she, too, felt powerless to save her friends that were in police custody.

That’s why she’s calling for change.

“White people don’t have to think about that,” Haddish explained. “It’s time to talk about that, and how we have to come together as a community and work as a unit.  Maybe we don’t all agree on the same things, but we need to find some common ground.”

The Emmy winner also noted that such conversations won’t be easy, but they need to happen in order to “move forward as human beings.”

“We have to figure out how to change people’s hearts,” She passionately declared. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do my whole career.  Not necessarily change their hearts but inspire their hearts to laugh” because “everyone wants to be happy.”

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.