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Miranda Lambert and Brendan McLoughlin continue cross-country road trip

• No Comments • Country Music News

ABCMiranda Lambert and husband Brendan McLoughlin are back on the road. 

Following their cross country road trip last year, the couple has climbed back aboard their elegant Airstream, The Sheriff, for part two of their excursion.

Miranda revealed in an Instagram post on Sunday night that the first stop on the trek was in Asheville, North Carolina. They hit several hotspots in the mountain city including the historic Biltmore Estate, where they delighted in the stunning architecture and full bloom conservatory, and snacked on a birthday cake bonbon on the terrace.  

“It was absolutely stunning. You can feel the history and heart that was put into that property as soon as you step foot on the grounds,” Miranda remarked of the estate. 

The twosome also visited farm-to-table restaurant Moose Cafe and sipped on “quarantine fatigue” cocktails at Red Stag Grill, in addition to sleeping under the Wolf Moon at a KOA campground, an experience Miranda calls “pretty magical.” 

“Needless to say, we will be back very soon Asheville NC!” she concluded, alongside a gallery of photos that show her and her husband in front of the Biltmore, Miranda holding one of Moose Cafe’s biscuits up to her face, and a snap of The Sheriff parked under the moonlight. 

Last summer, the couple headed up north in The Sheriff to visit Brendan’s family in New York, passing through Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Virginia and Pennsylvania along the way.

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

Luke Bryan, Eric Church to perform at post Super Bowl event

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ABCLuke Bryan and Eric Church are supporting small businesses in a big way. 

The country superstars are part of the star-studded lineup for Verizon’s Big Concert for Small Business, airing after the Super Bowl on Sunday. 

The event will be hosted by actress Tiffany Haddish and features additional performances from Brandi Carlile, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Brittany Howard, H.E.R. and Jazmine Sullivan. 

Now through Super Bowl Sunday, fans can use #BigConcertSmallBiz on social media and tag their favorite small businesses. The concert is part of Verizon’s multi-year commitment to bring awareness to small businesses; the company pledges $10 million to focus on business owners in underserved communities, among other initiatives. 

Luke also participated in Verizon’s Pay It Forward series last year that also supported small businesses. 

Eric will also appear during the Super Bowl when he and Jazmine unite to perform the national anthem ahead of the big game.  

Super Bowl LV begins on CBS on February 7 at 6 p.m. ET, with Big Concert for Small Business airing across multiple networks, including CBS Sports Network, BET, CMT and Verizon’s YouTube page, at 11 p.m. ET.

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

Luke Combs teams with Billy Strings for reflective bluegrass song, "The Great Divide"

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Sony Music Nashville Luke Combs tries his hand at bluegrass on “The Great Divide,” a new collaboration with Billy Strings.

The reflective song penned by Luke, Billy and Wyatt Durrett offers an aerial perspective of the division they’re witnessing across the nation, comparing the energy to that of a fire.  But in the same breath as expressing worries that it seems difficult to get along with those on the other side of the ideological fence, Luke recognizes symbols of unity such as seeing “strangers love each other like a mother does her son.” 

“We’re all so far/So far apart now/It’s as deep as it is wide/We’re about to fall apart now/If we can’t reach the other side/We’ve got to find a way to cross/The great divide,” Luke sings, with subtle backing harmonies from Billy.

“Something that I’ve always wanted to do is write and put out a bluegrass album,” Luke explains in a statement. “This is a song that was supposed to be a part of that project. It’s not a lead single or a lead-in to that project yet, because that is not done. But it felt like the right time to put this song out.”

“When we wrote it, there were a lot of crazy things going on in the world. There’s still a lot of crazy things going on in the world. And I just felt like I had some stuff to say,” he continues. “It’s not meant to be political. It’s not meant to try and tell you what to think or tell you how to believe. That’s not my job. It’s just a guy kinda saying the way he was feeling when he wrote it.”

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

Morgan Wallen snags third week atop 'Billboard' 200

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Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty ImagesThird times a charm! Morgan Wallen‘s album, Dangerous: The Double Album has snagged its third consecutive week at number one on the Billboard 200.

Not only did the record top the chart, but it’s the first country album to do so in the last eight years, earning 130,000 equivalent album units, according to Billboard. The accomplishment puts Wallen in good company, as Taylor Swift‘s Folklore is the only other album to achieve at least 125,000 units earned within the last 12 months. 

Additionally, Dangerous’ stronghold on the number one spot marks the third week that a country album reigned supreme on the Billboard 200. The last artist to do so was, again, Swift, with her 2012 album Red. 

Wallen’s three weeks on the charts also have him tied with the King of Rock, Elvis Presley. Billboard states that “the last album by a male artist to log three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and its first three weeks at No. 1 — and also appear on Top Country Albums — was Elvis Presley’s Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits, which clocked a total of three weeks in the lead on the Billboard 200.” 

Dangerous: The Double Album is the second studio album from the 27-year-old country artist. The album, which was released on January 8, includes his two previously released singles, “More Than My Hometown” and “7 Summers.”

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

Jake Owen makes his big screen debut alongside Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson in 'Our Friend'

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Gravitas VenturesYou can check out Jake Owen‘s long-awaited feature film debut in the new movie Our Friend, which just opened in select theaters and on demand. 

Based on the book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, it tells the true story of a man who steps in to help a married couple after the wife is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“It stars Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel,” Jake tells ABC Audio. “It was fun, and I enjoyed being challenged in a way that I’ve never been challenged before.”

Jake plays Aaron, a mutual friend of the main characters. Shot in Fairhope, Alabama where the events actually took place, it was an opportunity the country hitmaker was eager to embrace.

“I just like always stepping outside the box a little bit,” Jake explains. “I get bored really easy, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But I always like to try to challenge myself to do something that I’m not sure that I can accomplish, outside of the fact that I have confidence that I could possibly make it work.”

“And there’s been many times that I’ve failed,” he reflects, “and there’s been many times that I’ve been successful. And I kind of like to ride that line of the feeling of doing something right and making it happen.”

“And I think that’s what happened with the film thing,” he says. “I was nervous, but I was like, ‘If I can pull this off, this will be something that’s very fulfilling for me.’ And I pulled it off and it worked out.”

You can check out one of Jake’s scenes from Our Friend on YouTube now. Meanwhile, “Made for You,” from his Greetings from… Jake album is a top 25 hit. 

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