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Coachella & Stagecoach 2021 have officially been canceled

• No Comments • Country Music News

Rich Fury/Getty ImagesAfter missing out last year, fans who were hoping to enjoy Coachella this April are out of luck again.

The festival, as well as its sister country event, Stagecoach, have been officially canceled due to a public health order. Dr. Cameron Kaiser, the Public Health Officer of Riverside County, CA, issued the order due to the likelihood of the festivals becoming super-spreader events, and because of the concern that there will be a fall resurgence of COVID-19 within the country and worldwide.

Kaiser’s order notes that both events attract “hundreds of thousands of attendees from many countries, including several disproportionately afflicted by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.”

“If COVID-19 were detected at these festivals, the scope and number of attendees and the nature of the venue would make it infeasible, if not impossible to track those who may be placed at risk,” the order continues.

Coachella 2020, which had originally been postponed from April to October of last year, was canceled outright in June of 2020. It was to have been headlined by a reunited Rage Against the Machine, Frank Ocean and Travis Scott.  Stagecoach 2020, canceled that same month, was to have been headlined by Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and Eric Church. 

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam announces rescheduled 2021 dates after postponing last year’s event

• No Comments • Country Music News

Courtesy of Campbell Entertainment GroupThe Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, like virtually every other festival scheduled to take place last year, was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The event planned for 2020 was postponed, but not for good: Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam will return in 2021.

The new dates for the festival will be June 4-6, 2021, taking place in Panama City Beach, Florida. Luke Bryan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Brad Paisley — the originally scheduled headliners — will all remain on the bill for the new dates.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is headlining the first night of the three-night event, and will be joined by fellow performers Cody Jinks, Lindsay Ell and many others. The following day will feature Cole Swindell, Tenille Townes, Billy Ray Cyrus and other acts, with Brad Paisley headlining. Finally, Luke Bryan’s performance will close out the festival, flanked by Brothers Osborne, Riley Green, Walker Hayes and others. 

Almost all the artists who were originally scheduled to perform have remained on the bill. However, due to a scheduling conflict, Jordan Davis will no longer perform, and Rodney Atkins will take his slot in the lineup.

The Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam has implemented several changes to increase safety and social distancing during the event. No vendors will accept cash at the festival, and patrons will wear wristbands registered with a credit or debit card to enable touchless payment. The festival will also offer contactless pickup for artist merch and a variety of other purchases.

For ticket info and other details, visit the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam’s website.

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

Eric Church debuts 'Heart & Soul'’s bluesy album opener, “Heart on Fire”

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Reid LongEric Church leans into his rocker side with “Heart on Fire,” the bluesy, electrifying album-opener off his upcoming triple project, Heart & Soul.

Eric first made the song available to members of his Church Choir fan club on Thursday, then sharing “Heart on Fire” for general listening on Friday morning. Now, the singer says that his just-released song is a perfect example of the unusual album-making philosophy that he and his collaborators embraced while creating the new body of work.

“‘Heart on Fire’ is the first song on the Heart album, and normally, if we had four songs about ‘heart,’ with the way we used to do this, we’d cut three of ‘em out and we’d do one,” Eric explains. “It started to be cool that this time we could lean into that sameness and the themes where you can put the songs together and know we wrote these within this much time of each other.”

All 24 tracks on the three upcoming albums, including “Heart on Fire,” were written during a marathon destination writing and recording retreat, which found Eric and his team spending 28 days working in a makeshift studio in the mountains of North Carolina.

Fans have already heard several of the tracks off the new project, including “Through My Ray-Bans,” “Bad Mother Trucker,” “Doing Life with Me” and more.

His current single off Heart & Soul, “Hell of a View,” is nearing country radio’s top 20.


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

Granger Smith brings fans out to the farm for inaugural CMT “Campfire Sessions” episode

• No Comments • Country Music News

Disney Channel/Chris HolloGranger Smith is helping CMT kick off a new digital series called “Campfire Sessions,” a collection of intimate, acoustic performances in the theme of a traditional campfire sing-along.

For the first installment, Granger invites fans out to his Yee Yee farm in Texas for a stripped-down, 15-minute performance around the singer’s fire pit. The set list includes fan-favorite songs like “Backroad Song,” “Hate You Like I Love You” and more. Smith also offered some of the stories and fun facts behind the songs as part of his performance.

In 2020, Granger released his two-part double album, Country Things Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, in September and November, respectively. In doing so, he kicked off what has become something of a country music pandemic trend: In the months that followed, Morgan Wallen, Eric Church and Chris Young have all either released supersized projects or shared plans to do so.

Next month, the “Campfire Sessions” series will return with a performance from Jimmie Allen. Other artists slated to appear on future episodes of CMT’s new digital show include The War and Treaty, Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson.

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

Niko Moon has a “Good Time” with Shaggy in this breezy new rendition of his hit song

• No Comments • Country Music News

Matthew Berinato/Johnathan MannionNiko Moon’s “Good Time” is poised to be his breakout hit as a country artist, with the song a top-ten hit and climbing at country radio.

Meanwhile, the singer is offering an even more laid-back and carefree rendition of his ode to having fun, inviting reggae star Shaggy to join him for a new duet version of “Good Time.” While Niko had long been a fan of Shaggy, he says that the collaboration allowed him to get to know the singer better, and now he admires him on a personal level, too.

“We worked on this song remotely, which made it a lot of fun. I love Shaggy’s music and his whole vibe,” Niko explains, adding that while the song might sound easygoing, the recording process wasn’t always quite so carefree.

“I found we are both perfectionists when it comes to our work, and we really dialed into every detail,” Niko continues. “This is my first collaboration and I had a blast. I loved getting two creative minds together. We’re in completely different genres but we both love having a good time!”

Niko’s single is also the title track for his 2020 Good Time EP. He also recently released an acoustic, outdoors version as part of his Good Time Campfire Sessions EP.

In addition to his rapidly growing career as a recording artist, Niko is an in-demand Music City songwriter who has written five number-one hits for Zac Brown Band. He also penned Dierks Bentley’s current single, “Gone,” and before deciding to cut “Good Time” himself, he thought about pitching the song to Blake Shelton.


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