August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LABrothers Osborne are going live for a good cause. The superstar brother duo will play a free livestream show on Friday, August 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET on YouTube.

Called Brothers Osborne: Let’s Play Live, the free event will encourage fans to donate to the ACM Lifting Lives’ COVID-19 Relief Fund, an organization supporting music industry professionals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is produced by Lightning Link.

The show will likely include a bit of new music: Brothers Osborne’s third studio album, Skeletons, is due for release on October 9, and they’ve already shared the lead single “All Night” and another tune, “Hatin’ Somebody,” off the project.

Brothers Osborne previously explained to ABC Radio that in fact, they made Skeletons specifically with live performance in mind.

“We thought, ‘Man, let’s have some songs that we can play to thousands of people and just kind of get the party going and have a good time,’” the group’s TJ Osborne says. “And we knew people would eat it up.”

But with the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of stopping anytime soon, the band has had to settle for a life off the road — for now. In the meantime, the livestream show they’re planning will provide a little bit of the live experience, both for the band and for the fans that can’t wait to see them in concert again.

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

August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and MuseumThe Country Music Hall of Fame announced its 2020 class of inductees on Wednesday, and the three legends who made the cut are Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart and singer/songwriter Dean Dillon.

“Bocephus has been eyeing this one for a while. It’s a bright spot during a difficult year,” said Hank Jr., who’s going in as the Hall’s Veterans Era inductee this year. “I have been making Top 10 records for 56 years…I’ve got to thank all those rowdy friends who, year after year, still show up for me. It’s an honor to carry on this family tradition.”

“It is the ultimate honor in country music,” added Marty, who represents the Modern Era this year. “…To be officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame is beyond words. I’m not usually at a loss for words.”

For his part, Dean Dillon, who’s the 2020 Non-Performers category inductee, also struggled to find the right words to describe his reaction to the news.

“I was just speechless,” he recalled. “Trying to soak in the words I had just heard. My life flashed before my eyes. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather.”

Typically, the Hall of Fame inductees are announced each year in an in-person ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hall of Fame broke its news virtually this year. The formal induction event, called the Medallion Ceremony, usually takes place in October. It remains to be seen if that will be the case in 2020.

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

August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

CMA/Country Music Hall of FameHank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart and singer/songwriter Dean Dillon will be the 2020 inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. 

Hank Jr., of course, is the son of country legend Hank Williams, and went on to develop a stellar career in his own right, charting hits like “Family Tradition,” “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound,” “All My Rowdy Friends Are Comin’ Over Tonight,” “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down),” “A Country Boy Can Survive” and many more. He goes in as a Veterans Era Artist. 

Marty Stuart represents the Modern Era this year. After starting his career in the band of bluegrass legend Lester Flatt, he went on to win five Grammys on the strength of country singles like “This One’s Gonna Hurt You (For a Long, Long Time),” “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin'” and “Honky Tonkin’s What I Do Best” — all with Travis Tritt — as well as “Hillbilly Rock” and “Tempted.” Stuart’s also an avid preservationist and collector of classic country memorabilia. His wife, Connie Smith, is a member of the Hall as well. 

Dean Dillon makes his way into country’s most esteemed ranks in the Songwriter category, being best known for his long association with Hall of Fame member George Strait. “Unwound,” “The Chair,” “Marina Del Ray” and “Ocean Front Property” are just a few of the songs he penned for King George. Dillon’s “Tennessee Whiskey” was a massive hit for another George — George Jones — as well as Chris Stapleton.

The inductees are typically announced in the spring but were delayed this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The formal induction evening, known as the Medallion Ceremony, typically takes place in October, though it’s yet to be seen if that will be the case this year.

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

August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Big MachineFor Tim McGraw, “I Called Mama” is much more than just his latest top ten hit. It’s a tribute his mother Betty.

“My mom, she… found out she was pregnant with me her senior year in high school, so she had me young,” Tim explains. “She didn’t get to graduate because I came along.”

“And then she went through some terrible things early in my life,” he continues. “So I have a lot of memories of all those things and I know how resilient my mom is, and how tough she is, and how strong of a woman she is, and how well she raised us under the circumstances.”

Though he’s a superstar now, Tim still has vivid memories of his humble beginnings in Louisiana.

“I can remember us being on our own — my mom and my two sisters — and her working three jobs probably, just to try to keep the basics,” he recalls, choking back tears. “She made no money, really.”

“I can remember walking through the kitchen one night, getting up late, and… she had her head down on the table at like two in the morning with bills everywhere and was crying, and she didn’t see me. But for her that was probably a hundred different nights that I didn’t know about.”

“But that’s something that really resonates with me and sticks out with me,” Tim reflects. “And I think about that when I hear this song.”

At the age of 11, Tim learned that professional baseball player Tug McGraw was his dad, and went on to develop a relationship with him before his death in 2004.

“I Called Mama” is the lead single from Tim’s new album, Here on Earth, which comes out August 21. 

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

August 11, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LALuke Combs is living the high life following his wedding to wife Nicole. 

The country superstar shared another memory from their recent nuptials on Instagram in the form of a stunning shot showing the couple on the beach at sunset, Nicole letting the train of her dress float in the wind as she and Luke look lovingly into one another’s eyes.

“Still seems like a fairytale @nicocombs, I love you. Probably gonna post a lot of these so just get used to it,” Luke forewarns in the caption. 

“oOoOo a ~fairytale~ I love you like a lot,” his wife writes in the comments. 

It appears the couple has extended their stay in Florida, the country superstar sharing a follow-up snap on Instagram that shows them both proudly showing off a pair of fish they caught while out boating. 

“They ain’t the biggest fish in the world, hell they ain’t even keepers, but they’re the first fish me and my WIFE caught on OUR boat,” Luke writes in the caption.  “Helluva day babe.  I love you.”

Luke and Nicole married in a small beachside ceremony on August 1. To celebrate, the couple had a cake in the shape of a beer can that read “Nicole & Beer Never Broke My Heart” — a reference, of course, to Luke’s hit song, “Beer Never Broke My Heart.”

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