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Chris Young Cafe opens at Middle Tennessee State University

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Jeff JohnsonThe Chris Young Cafe at the singer’s alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, is officially open. 

On Tuesday, the university in Chris’ hometown of Murfreesboro hosted the grand opening of the newly renovated cafe.  It’ll serve as an entertainment venue on campus, where students can learn and refine their skills in music business, audio production, songwriting, lighting and rigging, and more.  The Cafe can accommodate 240 people post-pandemic and 74 people during the pandemic to allow for social distancing. It features an elegant stage and a portrait of Chris on the wall. The singer also donated microphones, soundboards and other equipment from his previous tours.

“This is a huge honor,” Chris said during the grand opening, thanking MTSU for providing him with a “breadth of musical knowledges” including jazz education and learning how to sing in multiple languages.  

Representatives from the university also unveiled a plaque in front of the Cafe commemorating Chris’ career.

The hitmaker hopes that student artists use the Cafe as a safe space to learn and display their talent through live performances, comedy shows and radio broadcasts. “I hope everyone finds a use for this space,” he said. “This means the world to me.” 

The Grammy nominee christened the stage with the debut live performance of his current single, “Famous Friends,” a duet with Kane Brown that will be featured on his upcoming album. 

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

Miranda Lambert celebrates "2 years hitched" with husband Brendan McLoughlin

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ABCMiranda Lambert and husband Brendan McLoughlin commemorated their second wedding anniversary with a pair of celebratory posts. 

On Tuesday, Miranda turned to Instagram to share a photo from the set of the video for her latest single, “Settling Down,” which also stars her husband.  The couple shares a sweet, face-to-face moment on their Tennessee farm next to Miranda’s horse, Gibson. 

“2 years hitched!!” Miranda writes alongside the pic.

Meanwhile, Brendan showed off Miranda’s playful side with his tribute, sharing a snap of her in the kitchen using a pair of wooden spoons as crossbones while wearing an apron with a bawdy message on it.

“Happy anniversary to this amazing woman,” he writes.

The couple met in November 2018 when Brendan was working as a security guard as part of the New York City Police Department when Miranda and her trio Pistol Annies performed on ABC’s Good Morning America. They tied the knot in January 2019.   

“Settling Down” is currently in the top 30 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

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

Brett Young and wife Taylor expecting a baby: "We feel very blessed!"

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Taylor Hill/Getty ImagesBrett Young and his wife Taylor are expecting their second child this summer. 

The new baby will join the couple’s one-year-old daughter, Presley Elizabeth, born in October 2019. Brett and Taylor say they wanted their children to be close in age, like Taylor and her sister are. 

“We really wanted them to be close enough in age so they could have a lot of things in common and be best friends,” Brett shares with People, along with photos of Presley wearing a “big sister” shirt and Taylor cradling her baby bump. “Tay is so close with her sister, and that’s something we always knew we wanted for Presley. We feel very blessed!”

Brett reveals that Taylor is experiencing morning sickness, which she didn’t while pregnant with Presley, and hopes it will pass after the first trimester.   

“And then we were 4. It seems like just yesterday we found out our little Presley was on her way. We are beyond blessed by this growing little family!” the “Mercy” singer writes on Twitter. 

Brett’s current single, “Lady,” is inspired by his wife and daughter. It currently sits in the top 20 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

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

Gabby Barrett notches third longest-running no. 1 on country chart with "I Hope”

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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartMediaGabby Barrett may be on maternity leave, but her smash-hit debut single “I Hope” is working overtime.  The song has just become the third longest-running number one single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

For 25 weeks now, Barrett has dominated the chart that tracks streaming, sales and airplay platforms.  By notching another week at the top, “I Hope” eclipsed Florida Georgia Line‘s “Cruise” for having the third-most weeks in the number one spot.

“Cruise” topped the Hot Country Charts for 24 weeks between 2012 and 2013. 

Barrett is officially halfway to defeating FGL and Bebe Rexha‘s “Meant to Be,” which stayed at number one for 50 weeks between 2017 and 2018.  

But first, the American Idol finalist has to overcome Sam Smith‘s record, who has the second highest number of weeks in the top position with “Body Like a Back Road.”  It dominated the chart for 34 weeks in 2017.

As for the accomplishments “I Hope” collected over the past week, the song was streamed 8.4 million times in the U.S., sold an additional 3,000 singles and reached 52 million people on the radio.

Billboard‘s Hot Country Chart has been tracking movers and shakers in the country industry since 1958.

Barrett has another single climbing up the very same chart.  Her sophomore effort , “The Good Ones,” increased its foothold 31-25, reports Billboard, which is up 5 percent.   It was also streamed 4.8 million times and sold 4,000 singles.

Music career aside, Barrett previously announced on Tuesday that she and husband Cade Foehner welcomed a baby girl, named Baylah May, on January 18. 

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

Kane Brown admits writing "Worship You" was a religious experience

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RCA NashvilleWhen Kane Brown came up with his latest hit, “Worship You,” he admits he and his co-writers weren’t necessarily on a hot streak. But once they found their inspiration, they were off and running.

“When we were writing it, we really didn’t know what to write about. I think we tried like four different songs before we wrote that song…” Kane recalls. “But I remember us writing it. It came, you know, so fluent. We actually wrote it pretty fast.”

Perhaps it’s only fitting that writing a song titled “Worship You” should be a bit of a religious experience.

“Everything that we threw out, it was literally kind of like that we were in church, you know,” Kane reflects. “Everything that we said: ‘down on my knees praying,’ ‘If you were religion, I’d worship you.'”

“It was everything. It just felt right,” he adds.

And once it was finished, Kane was obsessed.

“It’s just one of those songs that I’ve listened to — when I first wrote it, I listened to it a hundred times,” he admits. “I was just like, ‘This is the song. This is it. This is it.’ And then [producer] Dann Huff did his magic on it.”

Of course, “Worship You” was inspired by Kane’s wife Katelyn and his daughter Kingsley, who both star in the song’s music video. 

You’ll find it on Kane’s Mixtape Vol. 1 EP. 

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