November 19, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LADan + Shay, Dolly Parton and Brett Eldredge are bringing the country holiday cheer to the all-genre, all-star lineup of this year’s Christmas in Rockefeller Center special.

Each year, the event features festive performances to kick off the holiday season, along with the annual, iconic tree-lighting ceremony in New York City’s Rockefeller Center. This year, a number of the performers will be performing duets.

Dolly will be dialing into the event virtually, and will perform with late-night show host Jimmy Fallon. Presumably, their song of choice will be their rendition of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which is included on Dolly’s recently-released holiday album, A Holly Dolly Christmas.

For his part, Brett will perform alongside Kelly Clarkson. Those two artists also joined forces for some Christmas magic this year, releasing their original “Under the Mistletoe” earlier this holiday season.

They’re not the only ones who tried their hand at penning a holiday classic this year: Dan + Shay released “Take Me Home for Christmas” early this month.

Also taking the stage during the special will be the Goo Goo Dolls, Earth, Wind & Fire, Pentatonix, Meghan Trainor and many more. The Radio City Rockettes will also make an appearance, and Gwen Stefani’s due for a virtual performance too — though if she’s planning to bring her country star fiancé Blake Shelton along, she’s keeping that information under wraps for now.

The two-hour Christmas in Rockefeller Center special will air on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. ET. Due to social distancing regulations, a live audience will not be viewing the special. However, you can watch all the festive fun on NBC.

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

November 19, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Audio Up MediaThe season finale of scripted musical podcast Make It Up as We Go premiered this week, and with it came a powerful new song from series executive producer Miranda Lambert.

Miranda rounds out the podcast soundtrack with her reflective “Champion,” a song about how life’s setbacks and closed doors amount to nothing more than the lead-up to eventual hard-earned success. As one of country music’s greatest superstars, that climb is something Miranda knows about on a personal level, and is also the storyline for the country music-themed podcast.

Over Make It Up As We Go’s eight-episode season, Tyler Rich and Lindsay Ell have also lent their voices to the soundtrack. Singer-songwriter and actor Scarlett Burke stars in the series, which she also co-created and directed.

The podcast’s cast also includes Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Craig Robinson and many others.

The full, nine-song Make It Up As We Go soundtrack is out today. You can also listen to all the podcast episodes now.

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

November 19, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC“Wine, Beer, Whiskey,” the latest hit from Little Big Town, continues a tradition the band started with smashes like “Pontoon” and “Day Drinking.” 

“We’re a country band and we’ve done pretty well writing drinking songs,” Kimberly Schlapman says, “so we thought, ‘Let’s just do that again.'”

“Wine, Beer, Whiskey” came together on the road, as Kimberly, Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, and Phillip Sweet had just composed the Nightfall track “Problem Child” with writers Topher Brown and Sean McConnell. After that, they needed a change of pace.

“Phillip, who we call our cruise director,” Kimberly explains, “is like, ‘Whoo! Let’s take a break from that. Hey, anybody want something to drink? We’ve got wine, we’ve got beer, we’ve got whiskey.'”

“And then… Topher or Sean started playing something on the guitar,” Kimberly continues, “and somebody in the room sang, ‘The wine, the beer, the whiskey.’ And then we were all like, ‘Oh, we have to write that!'”

Once they started, it didn’t take long.

“Everybody sat back down,” Kimberly recalls. “Several of us had a wine, a beer or a whiskey, and in like twenty-five minutes, we had written that song, which is the fastest we’ve ever written a song.”

Kimberly goes on to reveal that “Wine, Beer Whiskey” is actually her three-year-old daughter Dolly‘s favorite song, adding that it’s “not serious. It’s just for fun.” 

Her new children’s book, A Dolly for Christmas, tells the story of Dolly’s adoption, after her daughter Daisy desperately wanted a sibling, following Kimberly’s struggles with miscarriage and infertility.

You can also tune in to see Little Big Town on CMA Country Christmas, Monday, November 30 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.  

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

November 18, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCLuke Combs continues his winning streak atop the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. 

This week, the singer spends his 34th week at number one with his sophomore album, What You See Is What You Get, making him the first artist since the chart debuted in 1964 to have two albums sit in the top spot for at least 34 weeks. 

The “Beer Never Broke My Heart” hitmaker has now surpassed Garth Brooks, who previously held the record when his 1990 album, No Fences, spent 41 weeks at number one, while follow-up Ropin’ the Wind sat at the top of the chart for 33 weeks in 1991. 

Additionally, Luke’s debut album, This One’s for You, spent 50 weeks at number one, tying with Shania Twain‘s record for her hit 1997 album, Come On Over. 

Luke has the deluxe edition of his sophomore album, What You See Ain’t Always What You Get, to thank for the boost. The new project boasts pop hit “Forever After All,” which soared to number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 during its debut week. 

His current single “Better Together” is also climbing the country charts.

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

November 18, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Greg NoireBrett Eldredge is raising his voice to support a noble cause this holiday season. 

The country singer is taking part in T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods’ holiday campaign, Carol for a Cause, to “help rediscover the joy of the season with song,” as T.J. Maxx describes. 

Now through December 27, artists from across many genres will post a video of themselves singing a Christmas carol to Instagram Reels alongside #carolforacause, with a different artist posting a new Instagram Reel each week. 

Fans are also invited to get in on the action by posting videos of themselves performing a carol.

For each video posted to a public account with the #carolforacause hashtag, the three retail giants will donate $10, up to $1 million, to Feeding America to help provide meals to families in need across the country during the holiday season. 

Meghan Trainor, with who Brett duetted on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” on his 2016 holiday album, Glow, kicked off the campaign this week, with Pentatonix, Andy Grammer, Ally Brooke, Sofia Reyes and Brandy among the other participants. 

Additionally, Brett recently teamed with Sofia for a Latin version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

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