December 3, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCBillboard released its year-end charts this week, and it’ll come as no surprise to many country fans that Luke Combs reigns as the Top Country Artist of the year overall.

That’s a repeat title for the “Better After All” star, who nabbed the title in 2019 as well. He’s also listed as top name in the male-artist category, also landing that spot for the second consecutive year.

In fact, Luke was the top artist of the year on four out of Billboard’s five major year-end charts, coming in second only on Country Streaming Songs, which Morgan Wallen dominated. Luke came in the number-one spot on the Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay Songs, Top Country Albums and Country Digital Song Sales charts.

Meanwhile, Maren Morris hangs on to her 2019 title of Billboard’s top female country artist of the year. She’s also the only country artist to slide into the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of 2020, with “The Bones” sitting in ninth place.

But while Luke and Maren are accustomed to topping the charts, Gabby Barrett’s rise to the top is a breakout for the new star. She stands as Billboard’s top new artist for 2020, and her single “I Hope” even edged out “The Bones” to reign atop the Hot Country Songs year-end chart.

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

December 3, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LARussell Dickerson is a new dad after he and his wife, Kailey, welcomed baby boy Remington this fall. And though the singer’s a prolific songwriter who’s been hard at work on an album recently, he admits that he has yet to successfully write a song about his son.

“Whew, I have tried, honestly,” he tells Billboard during a recent “20 Questions” feature. “But I just end up crying too much! I’ll get there, though, I promise.”

Russell’s not shy about the fact that he’s an easy crier and that it doesn’t take much to make him emotional. “Where do I even start?” he jokingly replied when asked what movies or songs always get his waterworks going.

“I’m a softie. Toilet paper commercials make me cry,” he adds.

Softie or not, Russell seems to have tapped into a winning formula when it comes to radio hits. His latest chart-topper, “Love You Live I Used To,” is his fourth consecutive number-one hit. That means that every single song he’s sent to country radio since debuting has landed on top of the charts.

The singer’s hoping to keep that hot streak going as he gears up to release his new album, Southern Symphony, this Friday.

“Honestly, [it’s] just that feeling of, ‘Man, our hit radar really works!’” Russell reflects. “We felt it in those moments in the writer room, but to have all three singles off the first record go number one was a huge confirmation to just keep following the same instincts that brought us here.”

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

December 3, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Universal Music Spain S.L.Carrie Underwood dips her toe into the world of international pop with “Tears of Gold,” her new collaboration with Spanish superstar David Bisbal. The single is epic, up-tempo and bilingual, with a stunning video to match.

The two singers might come from very different ends of the musical spectrum, but they’re both champion vocalists with a flair for musical drama. David explains that he’s especially proud of the new collaboration because of his admiration for Carrie as an artist.

“…I love Carrie and truly admire her courage,” the singer says. “She has shown a profound admiration for the Spanish language with her wonderful vocals on the track and I am honored to collaborate with Carrie on her first bilingual Spanish song.”

Shot in Los Angeles, the video for “Tears of Gold” ups the dramatic elements of the song even further, with the two singers performing it against an elegant nighttime backdrop, interspersed with dazzling shots of a starry sky.

In addition to her work on the new duet, Carrie’s been busy lately with plenty of music of her own. This fall, she dropped her first-ever Christmas album, My Gift.

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

December 3, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCWhen writing her original song, “Christmas Always Finds Me,” Ingrid Andress was intentional about finding comfort amidst the chaos. 

In what she calls a “sad girl” Christmas song, Ingrid wanted “Christmas Always Finds Me” to capture how people will be adapting their holiday traditions this year in response to the pandemic, but even though it’s a challenging time, there’s still hope to be found.  

“This year has been insane, and so I feel like it just came from a real place of thinking about how different the holidays are going to look this year for everybody. And I didn’t just want to write a song that didn’t really acknowledge that,” she explains of her process to ABC Audio.

“I feel like we still have so much to be grateful for though, even though we can’t celebrate the way we normally do,” she continues. “There’s always something to be grateful for and there’s always time for Christmas and the people that you love.”

She adds that writing the song served as a form of therapy and hints that there may be more holiday songs to come. 

“Writing that song was really therapeutic, and so I feel like even though it’s like kind of sad girl Christmas, there’s more where that came from. I just don’t know when,” she suggests. “The Christmas mood strikes at any moment. So we will see.”

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 2, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCRising star Caylee Hammack calls back to her love of 90s rock group Everclear in the video for her current single, “Just Friends.”  

Everclear frontman Art Alexakis cameos in the video, with Caylee sharing with Billboard that the band’s 1997 album, So Much for the Afterglow, “really shaped me” — especially the song “I Will Buy You a New Life,” which heavily inspired “Just Friends.”

The two connected after Caylee professed to guitarist Steve Wilson, a mutual friend, that she was a massive Everclear fan.   

“Considering ‘Just Friends’ partly came from a Everclear binge during a breakup, I dream[ed] that Art Alexakis could star as a…mystery character in the music video,” Caylee says. 

She adds, “‘I Will Buy You a New Life’ was one of the first songs and music videos that stuck in my head as a kid. I knew I had to reference that in someway.  Then the idea popped in my head to just ask [for] [Art’s] number [from] of a mutual friend and call him. I’m glad I did. He is a wonderful creator and even better human.”

In the video, Caylee auditions for Art; at the end, the tables turn and she’s the one judging him.  Caylee and her band also appear in black suits and ties, a nod to the original video for “I Will Buy You a New Life.”

“Just Friends” is featured on Caylee’s 2020 debut album, If It Wasn’t For You.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

By Andrea Dresdale  
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.