March 14, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Francis Specker/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.Although Mickey Guyton didn’t walk home a winner at the 63rd Grammy Awards, she still shook the stage when she belted out her Grammy nominated hit “Black Like Me.”

The singer, who has spoken out against racism in country music, particularly the controversy with disgraced singer Morgan Wallen, dazzled in her bronze dress as she gave it all on stage.

The lyrics she put extra emphasis on were, “If you think we live in the land of the free/ You should try to be oh, Black like me/ Oh, I know I’m not the only one who feels like i don’t belong.”

She also pointed up to heaven as she cheered, “And someday we’ll all be free.”

The 37-year-old singer is the first Black female country singer to perform on the Grammys stage. She also made history as the first Black female solo artist to earn a Grammy nomination in a country category. She lost out on the Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance to Vince Gill‘s “When My Amy Prays.”

Guyton’s performance, part of Grammys spotlight on the women of country, was followed by rousing performances by Miranda Lambert, who sang “Bluebird,” and Maren Morris, who sang “The Bones” joined by John Mayer.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 14, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Francis Specker/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.We aren’t messing with your head, Miranda Lambert‘s album Wildcard won Best Country Album at the 2021 Grammy awards on Sunday night. 

The country star snagged the award over Little Big Town‘s Nightfall, Ashley McBryde‘s Never Will, Ingrid Andress‘ Lady Like and Brandy Clark‘s Your Life Is a Record. 

This is Lambert’s third Grammy Award out her 21 career nominations. 

Her song “Bluebird,” from the Wildcard album was also nominated twice, for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song.

By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 12, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCKelsea Ballerini is on the cover of Shape magazine this month, reflecting on a healthy eating balance, her Dry January and more in a corresponding interview.

The slower pace of 2020 was a huge adjustment for the singer, whose self-titled third album came out early on in the COVID-19 pandemic. In the year since, she’s been “baby stepping my way into” a routine and prioritizing self-care. 

“Get outside for 30 minutes a day. Sit on the porch. Take the dog for a walk. I’m building that into my life, and it’s not boring at all,” Kelsea explains. “It’s really helping me feel that ownership of my life that I need.”

But while Kelsea’s continuing to learn how to live a balanced life, she’s prioritized being true to herself since the beginning. For example, Kelsea shares a story about the day before her first-ever photo shoot, when her first single, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” was just beginning its journey up the charts. She says she “panicked” when she realized that she had always wanted a tattoo, but hadn’t gotten one yet.

“And I was like, ‘What if this single works and people start to follow me?’ Then all of the sudden, I get a tattoo. People will be like, ‘She’s going off the deep end,’” Kelsea recalls. “So I went to the tattoo parlor the day before that shoot and got a tattoo.”

That tattoo is of the words “how sweet the sound.”

“It was just this youthfully innocent way of saying, ‘I’ve got to be who I am from the beginning of all this,’” Kelsea explains.

That approach has certainly worked for Kelsea: Her single, “hole in the bottle,” recently hit number-one on country radio.

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

March 12, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Allister AnnKenny Chesney filmed his music video for his newest song, “Knowing You,” against the vivid and contrasting backdrops of chilly New England and colorful St. Croix, one of the Virgin Islands.

That contrast between cool and warm highlights the emotions at play in the song, from remembering the happy days of a relationship to acknowledging that that relationship is now long gone.

“One of the things I love about this video is the way you can feel the settings,” says Kenny. “And each location…was selected because it feels the way these emotions actually feel.”

The singer pairs his song with a reflective voiceover, in which he meditates on the feelings of loving someone deeply, and then losing them.

“As I’ve said over and over lately, the people who come into your life and then are gone, it’s for any number of reasons,” the singer says. “But beyond missing them, you have the opportunity to recognize what they brought to your life and be thankful.”

“Knowing You” is the fourth single off of Kenny’s Here and Now album. The title track of that project became his 31st number-one hit.

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

March 12, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Capitol Records NashvilleDarius Rucker is following up his latest chart-topper, the feel-good “Beers & Sunshine,” with a single that was inspired by the singer’s COVID-19 quarantine hobbies — or lack thereof.

“One of the most common questions I got asked last year was if I had picked up a new hobby in quarantine,” Darius explains. “I always answered that I was trying to learn piano, and someone asked if I was any good yet. [Songwriter] J.T. Harding heard my response in that interview — ‘I can’t play piano like Ray Charles’ — and knew we had to write a song around that line.”

So Darius and J.T. put their heads together, along with in-demand Nashville hit-makers Ross Copperman and Josh Osborne, and came up with the romantic story line behind “My Masterpiece.”

“I can’t play piano like Ray Charles, but baby, when my life is through, I hope they say my masterpiece is loving you,” Darius sings in the chorus of the song.

“My Masterpiece” is the next taste of a new album the singer has in the works. With “Beers & Sunshine,” Darius snagged his tenth career number-one hit at country radio.

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