March 18, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Eric Ryan AndersonSix weeks after coming out as gay to TIME, TJ Osborne admits there were some things he wasn’t expecting, as he became the first mainstream country artist with a major label deal to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality. 

“A lot of things I’ve been surprised by,” the lead singer of Brothers Osborne told a group of Nashville journalists. “First of all, granted on social media — I haven’t really seen it in real life when we were going out to perform — but the positivity was a lot more than I thought it would be.”

The “All Night” hitmaker reveals some of the support he couldn’t have predicted.

“The other thing that really surprised me was how many straight dudes were like, ‘Right on, brother!’…” he continues. “I’m good buds with Jon Pardi, but I did not expect him to be like, ‘Hell yeah!’… That was a shock to me.”

“I knew this straight dude over here had my back and he’s had my back for a long time,” he says, referring to his brother John. “I thought it was really awesome, like Cole Swindell and a lot of those people who for no reason were giving their seal of approval.”

“And truly, I didn’t even think I needed to hear it, but I did,” TJ reflects. “And that was a surprise and a really beautiful thing to experience.”

“And then straight fans who were like, ‘Hey, me and my girlfriend, we’ve seen you like eight times and we love [you] and we’re still coming to your shows,'” he adds.

Ultimately, TJ says he now feels “incredibly happy” to be living his life transparently, as well as more protective of the LGBTQ+ community than ever before. 

Next up, Brothers Osborne vie for Album of the Year for Skeletons at April’s ACM Awards. 

By Stephen Hubbard
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 17, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Nathen McEvoyThe same week that his Parmalee duet, “Just the Way,” is sitting at the top spot on country radio, Blanco Brown dropped the music video for his fast-paced “CountryTime.”

The video offers stark visuals to go along with the song’s story, following a man going through financial desperation who considers robbing a bank, but ultimately decides on a different path.

Blanco originally slated “CountryTime” to be his debut single, intending it to be an introduction to his patented musical blend of country and hip-hop influences, aka ‘TrailerTrap.’ But he decided to hit pause on the song after creating “The Git Up,” which became a triple-platinum viral hit in 2019.

Now, “CountryTime” is ready to have its moment, propelled in part by its feature two weeks ago in an episode of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia. The creator of the show, Sarah Lampert, says she was inspired by the song while writing scenes for Georgia, one of the show’s title characters.

“I heard the song on a playlist randomly when I was working and it immediately became Georgia’s song when I was writing,” Sarah explains. “Georgia has to balance so many different things: She’s beautiful, brilliant, devious, loving, dangerous and funny. The song felt like that for me.”

Between notching his first-ever radio chart-topper and releasing his “CountryTime” video, it’s been an exciting few weeks for Blanco. He’s not taking any of it for granted, following his near-fatal motorcycle accident last year.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 17, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LAJust when you thought Dolly Parton couldn’t get any sweeter, the singer’s got her very own Jeni’s Splendid ice cream flavor in the works.

The specialty ice cream brand announced their newest collaboration on social media this week with an illustration of the country legend herself, after teasing a big partnership in the works since last weekend. There’s no word yet on what the flavor will be.

The partnership will benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which gifts free books to children under the age of five around the world.

Joining forces with Jeni’s Splendid is just the latest sweet team-up for Dolly, who added a 10th Grammy trophy to her collection over the weekend when she won Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for her Zach Williams duet, “There Was Jesus.”  It’s the second consecutive year Dolly’s won that award; last year, she won the same title for “God Only Knows,” her duet with For King & Country.

Jeni’s × @DollyParton. Benefitting @dollyslibrary. COMING SOON.https://t.co/spT6KtOxrx pic.twitter.com/yjIBnzPaJA

— Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams (@jenisicecreams) March 15, 2021

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 17, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Getty Images/Getty Images for Children’s Diabetes FoundationPop mainstay Gwen Stefani is getting her moment of country stardom, with two back-to-back chart-topping singles and now, her first ACM Awards nomination, together with her fiancé, Blake Shelton.

In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week, Gwen says it’s a big deal to her to find success in a genre that she’s just dipping her toes into for the first time. She’s also giving plenty of credit to her duet partner and soon-to-be husband, who sings with her on hit singles “Nobody but You” and “Happy Anywhere.”

“I mean, I really just hopped on a couple of songs,” Gwen says. “Which was an honor. I mean, Blake Shelton has 27 number-one radio hits.”

As for her country success? Gwen says she’s just as surprised as anyone else.

“To be on a song that goes number-one in a genre that I have no business being part of — twice! — and now up for these awards, it’s pretty monumental and exciting and unexpected,” she points out.

Gwen adds that getting to know country music a little bit better has taught her a lot, especially when it comes to songwriting.

“The whole genre is just such an incredible writing community…I feel so much respect, and I’ve learned so much from all the songs Blake has show me, and just the different artists. I relate to that because I’m a songwriter,” she continues.

Blake and Gwen are nominated in the ACMs Music Event of the Year category for “Nobody but You.” They’ll find out whether they’ve won when the show airs on April 18 on CBS, beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 17, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCFans hoping to catch Chris Stapleton live in concert this spring will have to wait: The singer has rescheduled the first three tour dates of his All-American Road Show to April 2022.

The change comes amid continuing concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought public live music performances to a screeching halt last March. Despite ongoing vaccinations and declining case numbers, live, in-person concerts have yet to make a large-scale return.

Chris issued a statement this week regarding the affected show dates, which were planned to take place in the Ohio cities of Toledo and Columbus, as well as Lexington, Kentucky. He announced the rescheduled dates for shows in all three cities, which will take place in 2022 on April 20, April 21 and April 23. Additionally, Chris indicated that all of the performing acts scheduled to appear at those shows — Willie Nelson & Family, Sheryl Crow, Margo Price and Yola — will all be there for the rescheduled dates next year.

As of now, the remainder of the 2021 All-American Road Show dates are still listed on the singer’s calendar. The first stop on the trek is scheduled to take place in June in San Bernardino, California.

Chris’ upcoming tour was originally scheduled to take place in 2020, before being postponed as a result of the pandemic.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.