April 1, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCEver since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, Eric Church has pulled no punches about what his goal is: To get back onstage, whatever it takes.

“I just want to play shows,” the singer and reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year tells Billboard. “Politics’ job is to divide — that’s how you win elections. The things that unite us are music and sports. The times when, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or whatever, you throw your arm around the person next to you.”

When he had to halt live show plans in March of 2020, Eric met with industry experts and epidemiologists to try to figure out what he could do to get back to what he loves doing most. He didn’t think he’d be able to resuming touring until 2023, but then the vaccine roll-out happened, faster than anyone expected.

Now, the singer’s on a mission to get fans to sign up for the shot.

“I view it as a God-sent miracle,” he says. “It became very clear to me that the only way to really get back to normal is through vaccinations. You’ve got to get needles in arms.”

Eric — who signed up for his own shot as soon as he became eligible, using his birth name, Kenneth, so no one would let him skip the line — knows that vaccinations are a politicized issue.

“If you believe you shouldn’t [get the shot], I don’t have a problem with it. I’m a liberty guy, too. I get it,” he reasons. “But I view this a little differently than most other things. We’ve never encountered this.” 

Eric is also looking ahead to the April release of his triple album, Heart & Soul. His current single, “Hell of a View,” is now a top-15 hit.

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

April 1, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Cody VillalobosIf you loved Justin Moore‘s number one song, “Why We Drink,” and his follow-up single, “We Didn’t Have Much,” it’s no coincidence.

“You know, we actually wrote, recorded, found the outside songs, all of the above that is Straight Outta the Country at the same time that we did the Late Nights and Longnecks album,” he tells ABC Audio.

His current album — and its continuation — were actually recorded at the same time.

“We had 30 or 40 songs ready to go,” he explains. “The Late Nights and Longnecks album ended up being 10, 12 songs, whatever it was.”

“And I just coincidentally, I wrote most of those,” he adds. “We would have put 30 or 40 songs on that album if we could have, but we just obviously, you can’t do that.”  Justin’s new collection, Straight Outta the Country, featuring his current hit, “We Didn’t Have Much,” comes out April 23. 

By Stephen Hubbard
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. 

March 31, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Disney Channel/Image Group LACarrie Underwood is among a number of A-List women to be featured in People’s Beautiful issue, sharing some of the most beautiful things that have ever been said to them.

For the country superstar, one of the sweetest compliments she’s ever received came from her dad during an awkward stage of her youth. She’d had a difficult day in school because of a boy in her class who had made fun of her makeup.

“Hey, I was just 14…I was still learning how to do it,” Carrie says, thinking back on that moment. But things took a turn for the better when her family sat down to dinner that evening, the singer recounts.

“…For no reason at all, my dad told me that I looked really pretty. He had no clue about what had happened that day, nor is he exactly the kind of guy to give out compliments like that freely,” she explains. “But those words turned a bad day into a really good one.”

Not only has Carrie become an expert at doing her makeup, she’s also one of the most accomplished women in country music. Most recently, she’s been expanding her musical horizons. She released her first-ever gospel project, My Savior, this month, and she’s also gearing up for the 2021 Latin AMAs, where she and David Bisbal will perform their bilingual duet, “Tears of Gold.”

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

March 31, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

MCA NashvilleTuesday marked the three-year anniversary since Kacey Musgraves released her fourth studio album, Golden Hour, and the milestone brought another exciting reason to celebrate: The album has officially achieved RIAA Platinum certification.

Kacey commemorated the achievement on social media, posting video and photos of Golden Hour’s certification plaque as she thanked her fans for supporting the project.

“Happy 3rd birthday, Golden Hour,” she wrote in another post. “Can’t wait for what’s next.”

Golden Hour was a massive success upon its release and was named Album of the Year at both the 2018 CMA Awards and the 2019 ACM Awards. Kacey also swept all four of the categories in which she was nominated during that year’s Grammy Awards. Among the trophies she took home for Golden Hour was the all-genre, marquee Album of the Year Award.

The singer has said that she’s at work on her next project. Last month, she revealed to Rolling Stone that her divorce from fellow performer Ruston Kelly is among the inspirations for her next musical chapter.

But on the heels of two big milestones for Golden Hour this week, the singer dedicated her social media presence to revelling in the music that chapter in her career produced. She also shared a glittering, neon image of an old Nokia cell phone featuring lyrics from “Space Cowboy,” a spirited fan-favorite from Golden Hour’s track list.

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

March 31, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesWhen he released the deluxe edition of his Wild World album last month, Kip Moore bumped up the project’s track list from 13 to 17 songs.

Wild World Deluxe features new additions “Man’s Gotta Do,” “Midnight Slow Dance,” “How High” and “Don’t Go Changing,” the latter of which Kip packaged with a corresponding music video and fundraising campaign to support independent music venues struggling with the impacts of the pandemic.

“The fans stepped up huge on ‘Don’t Go Changing,’ and right from the start, they were just really emotional about that track,” the singer says in retrospect during a new interview with American Songwriter.

“Any time I can shed light on a good cause, I’m gonna do it,” he adds.

But while he may have added to Wild World’s batch of songs, Kip says there’s still plenty of new music that has yet to see the light of day.

“Wild World Deluxe includes four new songs, but the truth is that we had ten other ones on the table,” the singer explains. “I sincerely hope to get a chance to release the other ones someday, but it often just comes down to the flavor of an album.”

While Kip hasn’t shared exactly what his next move is, he’s definitely got big plans in the works. This week, he took to social media, writing, “I know I’ve been quiet on here but…I’ve been up to somethin. New things comin’.”

I know I’ve been quiet on here but…I’ve been up to somethin. New things comin

— Kip Moore (@KipMooreMusic) March 25, 2021

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