October 22, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Courtesy of NetflixDolly Parton is bringing her legendary vocal talents to the small screen this holiday season.

Netflix just released the trailer for its upcoming musical holiday special Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square. In the film, Dolly stars opposite Christine Baranksi in a heartwarming small-town holiday story that takes cues from seasonal classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

The special follows Regina Fuller, played by Baranski, a rich woman who returns to her hometown just before Christmas to attend to her recently deceased father’s affairs. The family owned a large swath of the town, and Regina is planning to evict the townspeople in order to sell her dad’s land to a mall developer. To make matters even worse, eviction day is Christmas Eve.  Of course, Dolly appears as a singing angel to change Regina’s mind, and open her heart to the Christmas spirit.

“Find that light and it will lead you to the part of you that you lost,” Dolly’s character tells Regina. “The part of you that can be happy.”

Also starring Jenifer Lewis and Treat Williams, and directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen, Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square boasts 14 original songs from the legendary country performer.

Just in time for the holiday season, the special debuts on November 22.

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

October 22, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LACountry trio Lady A are expanding their horizons as they nab their first number-one hit on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart, dated October 24.

The band’s new hit comes courtesy of “Who You Are to Me,” their collaboration with veteran Christian artist Chris Tomlin. It’s the first single off of Chris’ Chris Tomlin & Friends album, a project that sees the singer collaborating with a number of country A-Listers.

The Lady A band mates co-wrote “Who You Are to Me,” which is their first-ever entry on the Christian Airplay chart as well as their first number-one hit. Of course, Lady A’s no strangers to hitting the top spot on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, where they have a total of 10 number-one hits under their belt.

Lady A is only the second act to ever top both the Country Airplay and Christian Airplay charts. They’re following in Dolly Parton’s illustrious footsteps: Dolly became the first-ever performer to hit the number-one spot on both charts only last month, when her Zach Williams duet “There Was Jesus” became a chart-topping Christian Airplay hit.

Meanwhile Lady A’s “Champagne Night” is also climbing the charts over at country radio.

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

October 22, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Capitol Records NashvilleEven though live country music’s been mostly “Gone” since early this year, Dierks Bentley is still right here. Now, he’s giving fans a taste of new music to tide them over until he can get back out on the road again.

“Gone” is an infectious, sing-a-long ode to how a breakup can make you tune out of life without ever leaving the couch. It’s Dierks’ latest single, and the first taste of fresh solo music since his 2018 studio album, The Mountain.

Lyrically, the song uses the metaphor of a failed relationship to speak to the isolation caused by this year’s COVID-19 shutdown, which has kept country artists off the road and “Gone” from their fans.

“A good country show is just about the greatest communion there is out there,” Dierks reflects. “We are all relying on lyrics and melodies at home and trying however we can to find different ways to connect with our fans, so that they know how important they still are to us.”

Until he’s able to see his listeners again in person, Dierks says that he hopes his new single will remind his fans how much they mean to him.

“I’m counting the days until we can all be back together again, beers in the air,” the singer adds.

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

October 22, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LAAs far as Maren Morris and her fellow artist husband Ryan Hurd are concerned, they hit the parenting jackpot with their six-month-old son, Hayes.

“Ryan and I are both pretty laid back. We kind of lucked out having a very chill baby,” the singer tells People. “We’re pretty chill people, so maybe that’s reflected in our kid. We’re learning every day.”

Still, there are some parenting habits that the first-time mom and dad are trying to stay away from. Maren admits that they sometimes have to work to differentiate between the way they speak to Hayes and the way they speak to their two dogs, June and Pancake.

“There are habits we’re trying to break. Like, not talking to him in a high-pitched baby voice is so hard, but I don’t want to talk to him like I do my dogs,” she admits. “I was reading a French parenting book [that said], ‘Your kid isn’t the boss, you are.’ That’s been a thing we’re trying to stick by.”

But for the most part, she goes on to say, Hayes makes navigating first-time parenthood easy.

“We have started him on some baby food. He’s been pretty good with everything we’ve given him, so hopefully we don’t have a picky eater,” she explains, adding that her son is also getting close to another big baby milestone.

“I feel like he’s just about to start to crawl. He’s getting his butt in the air — I feel like he’s about to launch forward!” Maren adds.

Ryan also recently documented another big moment in Hayes’ life: Getting to watch his star mom perform for the first time, during an audience-less virtual show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

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

October 22, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Pearl RecordsIn response to fan demand, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are sending their version of “Shallow” to country radio.

The song, best known from the A Star Is Born soundtrack, found its way to the country superstar couple after fans requested a version of it during one of their Facebook live performances. Garth and Trisha’s rendition of “Shallow” was such a big hit that it will be included on the track list of Garth’s upcoming Fun album, as well as becoming his next radio single.

“From the moment Ms. Yearwood and I first performed ‘Shallow,’ we had so much Fun with performing it, and so have the fans, that it just felt right to share this with country radio,” Garth says. “Getting to sing this duet with the queen is really special and it’s a nice way to work up to the release of my album Fun coming out next month.”

Garth was hoping to pair that announcement with a preview of the song, as well as some additional glimpses into his new album, with a performance on Wednesday night. However, those plans were thwarted by a minor farm injury that affected some of the fingers on Garth’s left hand.

The singer explained the situation to fans in a Facebook video, displaying his gloved hand and apologizing profusely for having to cancel at the last minute.

“I kept trying — all the way up until showtime — to play, thinking that it was going to eventually get better…and then finally just had to give in to the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to play tonight’s show,” he explained. “[I] can’t apologize enough to everybody. Thank you for showing up.”

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