April 5, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Capitol Records Nashville Carrie Underwood is at the top of the charts with her latest album, My Savior. 

The 13-song collection of gospel hymns debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and Top Christian Albums chart following its March 26 release, opening with 73,000 equivalent album units sold.

My Savior also bows at #4 on the Billboard 200, making for the American Idol champ’s ninth consecutive album to debut in the top spot on the country chart and inside the top five on the all-genre chart. 

The album features a variety of songs Carrie grew up singing in church in her native Oklahoma including “How Great Thou Art,” “Just As I Am” and “Softly and Tenderly.” She also performs “Great is Thy Faithfulness” with Grammy Award winning gospel singer CeCe Winans and duets with Bear Rinehart of Needtobreathe on “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.” 

The powerhouse singer celebrated the release of  My Savior with a livestream concert from the Ryman Auditorium on Easter Sunday that raised more than $100,000 for Save the Children.

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 5, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCKelsea Ballerini has received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The “Peter Pan” singer turned to Instagram over the weekend to share the news, with a photo of herself holding up her vaccination card and showing off the band-aid on her arm, eyes closed as she smiles. “Closer to being closer,” she captions the shot. 

Kelsea joins the growing list of country artists who have gotten the vaccine, including Dolly Parton,Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn and Garth Brooks. 

The Tennessee native returns to The Voice tonight to fill in for Kelly Clarkson during the Battle Rounds, where Dan + Shay will serve as advisors to Blake Shelton‘s team members. The Voice airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 5, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

UMG NashvilleLuke Bryan is celebrating the release of his new album, Born Here Live Here Die Here (Deluxe Edition), with a series of TV performances. 

Luke will make the rounds on ABC shows with an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday night, followed by a stop on Good Morning America and GMA3: What You Need to Know on Friday, the same day the album will be released. 

The deluxe edition of Luke’s chart-topping 2020 album features six new songs: “Country Does,” “Drink a Little Whiskey,” “Waves,” “Bill Dance,” “Up,” and “Floatin’ This Creek.” The half dozen songs join the album’s original 10 tracks, including the four consecutive #1 hits “Knockin’ Boots,” “What She Wants Tonight,” “One Margarita” and “Down to One.” 

Born Here is Luke’s ninth album to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and reached #5 on the all-genre Billboard 200. 

American Idol fans can continue to see the country superstar at the judges’ table on the fourth season that airs through May 23 on ABC.

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 5, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCJason Aldean locks in two nights at The Bonnaroo Farm. 

The “She’s Country” hit maker is taking part in the Concerts on the Farm series with two outdoor, socially-distanced shows on the Bonnaroo property in rural Manchester, Tennessee on May 14 and 15.

This marks Jason’s first full production showcase since the COVID-19 pandemic led to the mass shutdown of concerts and live events in March 2020. The shows will be limited capacity and tickets will be sold in pods of four people, each pod spaced six feet apart.  

“You could’ve asked me to play a gas station at this point and I would say yes, so being able to setup the full show with all the band guys plugged in is going to make for a really good time,” Jason says in a statement. “We’re going to turn it up — there’s nobody out there to bother — and make up for some lost time for sure.”

Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

Jon Pardi and Jameson Rodgers are among the other artists taking the stage at The Bonnaroo Farm next month.

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 5, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Beth GarrabrantAfter tasking her “expert level” fans with decoding a series of word scrambles, Taylor Swift released the names of all the tracks featured on her upcoming album Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which is due out at the end of the week.

Taylor is known for leaving Easter eggs ahead of a new music release and, on Saturday, praised her dedicated followers for solving her latest puzzle in 24 hours.

“You cracked the codes and guessed all the ‘From The Vault’ titles,” she applauded on Instagram, listing all 26 titles, plus a bonus track. Fans can get them all starting April 9.

Fans appeared most excited to learn that country superstar Keith Urban will be featured not once, but twice, on the upcoming record. 

Taylor gushed about adding one of her idols onto the album, telling fans on Saturday, “I’m really honored that @keithurban is a part of this project, duetting on ‘That’s When’ and singing harmonies on ‘We Were Happy.'”

“I was his opening act during the Fearless album era and his music has inspired me endlessly,” she continued.  “I’m counting down the minutes til we can all jump into this brave world together, filled with equal parts nostalgia and brand newness.”

Taylor signed off by telling fans, “Head first, Fearless.”

Fearless, originally released in 2008, won the Grammy for Album of the Year.  The rerecorded version is available for pre-order now.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version), will feature 27 tracks in all: 20 re-recordings, six never-before-heard songs “From The Vault,” and the Elvira remix of “Love Story (Taylor’s Version).”

You cracked the codes and guessed all the From The Vault titles. 👏👏👏 Here’s the full track list, my friends. pic.twitter.com/lC3awlRmm2

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 3, 2021

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