October 28, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LASuperstar group Old Dominion embark on a dreamy and whimsical adventure in the music video for their new single, “Never Be Sorry.”

In the first shot, frontman Matthew Ramsey reaches into a night sky and, pulling a lamp chain attached to the moon, switches on the sun. That sets the tone for a surrealist clip that flips easily between performance video and animation, as the group launches into the first verse of the song.

The video for “Never Be Sorry” was directed by Mason Allen, a frequent collaborator for Old Dominion and one who has helped the group create some memorable music videos this year.  Prior to the release of “Never Be Sorry,” Mason also worked on the video for the group’s single “One Man Band,” which won Old Dominion their first-ever CMT Music Awards trophy earlier this month.

“Never Be Sorry,” currently climbing the charts, features an easygoing, poppy melody with lyrics that juxtapose regret-tinged heartache against an upbeat musical backdrop. It’s the fourth single from the band’s self-titled 2019 album, a project that also produced fan-favorite songs like “Make it Sweet” and “Some People Do.”

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

October 28, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Atlantic RecordsKelly Clarkson unveiled the first of two seasonal releases this week, and it’s an original duet with the country king of Christmas himself, Brett Eldredge.

The song, “Under the Mistletoe,” which Kelly co-wrote, is upbeat, flirty and festive. Its lyrics wonder if holiday magic might lead to romance, set against a chorus of jingle bells.

“Push my pride aside, when I close my eyes / It’s just you and I, here under the mistletoe,” the pair sing in harmony during the swelling chorus. “Magic fills the air, standin’ over there / Sent to heal my pride, here under the mistletoe…”

“Under the Mistletoe” is the first of a two-pack of songs Kelly’s got planned for this holiday season, the singer recently revealed.

“I actually have a couple Christmas things dropping too, that are very random,” the singer said. “A duet with Brett Eldredge, who I love, that I wrote, and a cover song. So it’s like an A/B side thing that’s coming out for Christmas.”

Kelly previously dropped a full-length holiday album in 2013 called Wrapped in Red. Her duet partner’s no slouch when it comes to Christmas, either: Brett’s Glow album was a festive hit after it arrived in 2016, and the singer’s since embarked on a series of holiday tours named after the project.

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

October 28, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Shout! StudiosLinda Ronstadt‘s in the Rock Hall, but could she eventually join the Country Music Hall too? 

Despite hits like “When Will I Be Loved” and “Blue Bayou,” the now-retired legend “never considered [her]self a country singer,” instead preferring her Trio equals, creators of eighties classics like “Those Memories of You” and “Wildflowers.” 

“The person that’s had a lot of influence is Emmylou Harris...” Linda insists. “And Dolly [Parton], I can hear a lot of her voice in a lot of the current singers.”

Linda’s roots surface in Linda and the Mockingbirds, which follows the Arizona native to her grandfather’s birthplace of Sonora, Mexico with Los Cenzontles, the California academy that preserves Mexican-American music.

“I related to country music and Mexican Rancheras,” Linda explains, “because they were so similar… They were about the fertility of the earth and moving the cattle around and falling in love.”

Cenzontles means “mockingbirds,” and the documentary juxtaposes the joy of the traditional music of hardworking Mexican-Americans with the possibility of family separation.

“Thirty percent of them [are] under the age of five…” Linda tells ABC Audio, “And then they fly them across the country to New York or New Jersey or some other holding pen, and then they lose track.”

“They weren’t set up to keep track of their parents because the administration is so incompetent…” she continues. “So they wound up putting them in cages like cattle and traumatized those children forever.”

You can stream the film now, as the legend prepares to release some recently-discovered live performances,  and contemplates a return to Music City.

“I’ve heard Trisha [Yearwood]’s singing and I like it, but I haven’t tasted her cooking…” Linda says. “I have to figure out a way to get to Nashville so I can invite myself over for dinner.” 

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

October 27, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LAKane Brown, Miranda Lambert, Ashley McBryde and Tim McGraw are just a few of the acts who’ve signed on for the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Big Night at the Museum, a benefit to raise funds for the museum.

The fundraiser features ecorded performances of current stars playing instruments that belonged to legends of past generations. Kane performs on a Gibson that once belonged to Randy Travis, Miranda takes on John Prine’s custom-made David Russell Young guitar, and Ashley gets her hands on an instrument once owned by Loretta Lynn.  That guitar, a Gibson J-50, boasts a custom Formica pick guard installed by Loretta’s late husband, Doolittle, whom she called Doo.

Ashley tells Rolling Stone that when she first walked up to the instrument, she had an unusual request for the gloved curators who placed it into her care for the performance.

“I’m terrified that my sweat is gonna somehow ruin the fretboard. I said, ‘Is it weird if I smell it?’ They said, ‘Yeah, kind of,’” Ashley remembers. “But I stuck my nose in the sound hole — old guitars smell like old library books.”

The “Martha Divine” star went on to say that she knew this was one performance where she’d have to dial down her hard-rockin’ ways.

“I play pretty hard, and I really needed to pay attention,” she admits. “You can’t play that guitar too hard because you’re gonna damage that pick guard that’s already pretty fragile.”

You can check out Ashley’s performance, along with a slew of other big names playing museum artifacts, by tuning into the CMHOF YouTube channel on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. ET.

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

October 27, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Courtesy of Donovan Public RelationsIt may only be Tuesday, but Kelsea Ballerini’s already had a busy week of television performances.

The “hole in the bottle” star teamed up with Luis Fonsi of “Despacito” fame Monday night to perform a duet rendition of “Girasoles/Sunflowers” as part of the CBS special Essential Heroes: Momento Latino.

Next, Kelsea stopped by Good Morning America Tuesday to chat about how the COVID-19 pandemic inspired her to release a second album, ballerini, on the heels of her March project, kelsea.

“It was kind of my pivot,” she said, admitting a double album wasn’t necessarily the plan at the beginning of 2020.

“I made the album sound big and ready to tour, and I wanted it to sound like there would be confetti cannons and the whole thing, and then everything changed,” she added. “I needed to find a way to fall back in love with this body of work that I worked really hard on for a long time.”

So, she stripped down the songs and re-released them as ballerini, with production that better reflected the quarantine era.

“I love it differently now, and more in some ways. It’s been a real gift,” Kelsea added.

The singer then showcased the acoustic, interior sound she developed for ballerini with a performance of her new song, the reflective “love and hate.”

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