November 17, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCMiranda Lambert will soon officially be a cowgirl. 

The country superstar will be inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in her home state of Texas in 2021.

Miranda is in the company of four other nominees including painter Pop Chalee, eight-time Women’s Professional Rodeo Association roping champ Lari Dee Guy, show jumping Olympic medalist and first licensed female jockey in the U.S. Kathryn Kusner, and cowboy hat designer Lavonna Koger. 

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is described in its mission statement as a place that “honors and celebrates women, past and present, whose lives exemplify the courage, resilience and independence that helped shape the West, and fosters an appreciation of the ideals and spirit of self-reliance they inspire.”

The induction luncheon is set to take place on April 27 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

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

November 17, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Valerie Macon/Getty ImagesAs if we needed another reason to love Dolly Parton.  Her $1 million donation to Vanderbilt has made an impact on the search for a COVID-19 vaccine. 

The icon made headlines in April with the major donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in honor of her friend, Dr. Naji Abumrad, to support research teams working on coronavirus cures.  When pharmaceutical giant Moderna announced Monday that their vaccine had proven to be better than 94% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection, there was a familiar name among the list of research funding supporters reported by the New England Journal of Medicine: “the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund (Vanderbilt University Medical Center).”

Dolly’s money has also gone toward convalescent plasma studies, which takes the antibodies from patients who had the virus to treat those who are currently infected with it.

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

November 17, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

John ShearerFlorida Georgia Line has inked a multi-year touring deal in North America with Live Nation. 

Billboard reports that the deal will make Live Nation the exclusive tour promoter for the duo of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, with hopes of resuming touring as early as summer 2021.

Like countless other artists, FGL has been off the road this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two saying in a statement that they have used this time to focus on writing and creativity but are “itching” to get back on the road.

“We miss our fans, and the live energy and connection we have with them when we hit the stage,” FGL states. “Our Live Nation family has been a great partner in the past, and we’re excited to be teaming up like this together. Getting back on tour and being able to share our new music can’t come soon enough!” 

The Live Nation deal comes in the wake of rumors that the duo was on the rocks after a fan noticed that Tyler and his wife, Hayley Hubbard, had unfollowed Brian and his wife, Brittney Kelley, on Instagram. The Hubbards have since re-followed the Kelleys, with a source telling Billboard there is “no truth” to the breakup rumors.  

Florida Georgia Line is working on their fifth studio album and has already released “Long Live” as the lead single.

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

November 17, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

If you listen to the new music Eric Church has been putting out lately, it’s easy to assume his latest tunes were created as a response to the unpredictable developments of 2020.

But the truth is, Eric created tracks like “Stick That in Your Country Song” and “Through My Ray-Bans” much earlier.

“The interesting thing about my perspective is we made — I don’t [want to] say album — we made this project,” he explains, “before COVID ever existed. So for me, we never came in reacting to COVID.”

“We made this project, we wrote this project, we recorded this project before we ever knew what COVID was,” he adds.

Still, the newly-crowned CMA Entertainer of the Year understands if you can’t help but see the music through the lens of the past few months. 

“I think a lot of that is a little bit divine,” Eric reflects, “that if you listen to songs and you hear what the songs are, you very easily go, ‘This sounds like they were in the middle of quarantine.'”

“But we weren’t. I was not,” he continues. “So for me, it just kind of happened the way it was supposed to happen. I did not make this album after COVID happened. I made it before.”

So far, Eric hasn’t revealed when can expect his seventh studio project, the follow-up to 2018’s Desperate Man.

Last week, he debuted his new single, “Hell of a View,” on the 54th Annual CMA Awards, before taking home the night’s big prize.

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

November 16, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCCountry stars were the big winners at the 2020 Tunie Awards, a collaboration between Waffle House and TouchTunes which celebrates the artists who received the most plays on Waffle House jukeboxes throughout the year.

During the virtual show,co-hosted by Walker Hayes, Chris Stapleton kept up his winning streak: He was awarded the #1 Played Song trophy for his signature rendition of “Tennessee Whiskey” for the second year in a row 

Winners in other major categories include Luke Combs for Top Country Artist and Zac Brown Band for Top Country Band.

Meanwhile, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice‘s “I Hope You’re Happy Now” was named Top Collaboration. Lee also took home the prize for Top Songwriter, while Lauren Alaina was dubbed Top Country Vocalist.

Old Dominion scooped up the Associate’s Choice Award, which recognizes the artist selected most by Waffle House employees at restaurants around the country.

LoCash scored their first Tunie Award for Breakout Band of the Year with their most recent number one single, “One Big Country Song,” and their other fan-favorite, “I Love This Life.”

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