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Carly Pearce details how “Next Girl” evolved from a “sad little letter” to an “anthem for women”

• No Comments • Country Music News

ABCCarly Pearce’s current single, “Next Girl,” is filled with musical nods to ‘90s country and a twangy, upbeat message of empowerment for any woman staring down a relationship full of cheesy pickup lines and broken promises.

But Carly says that the idea for the song actually started from a much sadder place: Her feelings of heartbreak and loss during her own “failed relationships.”

“I had this title, but I, in true Carly Pearce fashion, heard it more as a sad little letter to the next girl,” she recounts in a new installment of CMT’s “Hit Story” series.

But the song started taking on a peppier element after the singer brought it to Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, who co-wrote the song with Carly and are also producing her new batch of music.

“They totally heard it as just, something like an anthem for women,” she continues. “And it almost wrote itself. We were just spewing things out, all together, and it was just a really, really fun song to write.

Since dropping “Next Girl,” Carly’s hinted at a handful of other unreleased new songs that she’s been working on during the pandemic. Many of them stick to the the themes of heartbreak and love gone wrong, and Carly — who divorced her husband, Michael Ray, last summer — says that’s the subject matter that she finds most creatively fruitful right now.

“I feel like I’m onto something with these, writing songs about relationships that don’t work,” she adds.


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

Garth Brooks thanks Lady Gaga for loaning him her glam squad on Inauguration Day

• No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LABlame it all on his roots, he showed up in boots…and apparently needed a little extra help getting camera-ready before his Inauguration Day performance!

Garth Brooks was among the stars who turned out to celebrate President Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, and the country superstar opted for an a cappella performance of “Amazing Grace.” Garth wore a dark shirt and jacket along with jeans and cowboy boots for the occasion, donning his signature cowboy hat as he walked up to podium but removing it before he began singing.

Afterwards, however, a tweet from the “Dive Bar” star revealed that he had a little last-minute help from his fellow performer, pop star Lady Gaga.

“You were fabulous today and every day. A national treasure,” Garth told Gaga over social media. “Please tell Frederick and Miss Sarah thank you for me! They saved a cowboy today.”

The people he named in his tweet are Gaga’s longtime makeup artist, Sarah Tanno, and hairstylist Frederic Aspiras. The specifics of how they “saved a cowboy” aren’t clear from Garth’s Tweet, but it seems they must have helped him primp before the big event — and the time they spent together clearly made an impression on the country star.

“Oh, and tell Miss Sarah to hug her momma for me! love, g,” Garth added.

Garth was the only country artist to perform at the inauguration ceremony itself, though Tyler Hubbard and Tim McGraw offered up their new duet, “Undivided,” at that evening’s Celebrating America TV special.

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

Shania Twain recounts memories of the best shows she watched during her Las Vegas residency

• No Comments • Country Music News

Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesIn the latest episode of her Home Now Radio show on Apple Music, Shania Twain takes a walk down memory lane of her Las Vegas residencies, sharing some of the most memorable highlights and stunning shows she saw by other resident artists.

“During my first Las Vegas residency at Caesers Palace, I saw all of the other artists that were playing in circulation in the same room with me,” Shania recalls, explaining that Elton John and Rod Stewart were two of the other performing acts during that time.

“When I was leaving, I would try to catch whoever was coming in next, before I left town. And when I was arriving for my next leg, I would try to catch the artist that was there before me,” the singer explains of the time she spent in her “second home” of Vegas.

There’s never been any shortage of talent on the Vegas stage. Shania remembers pop superstar Cher as “the real deal,” raves that Justin Timberlake’s residency was “one of the most musically supreme shows that I’ve seen live in Las Vegas,” and describes Ariana Grande as “the voice of today.”

But as for who the ultimate residency legend of Vegas is? Shania says she reserves that distinction for a classic talent.

“I would say that the most iconic resident artist in Las Vegas is Celine Dion, by far,” the singer says. “I’ve seen Celine Dion many, many times in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace and she’s always incredible, funny, fun and sings like the superstar that she is.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shania had planned to spend much of 2020 on stage in Vegas. Her Let’s Go! Las Vegas Residency had to be cancelled during the shutdown.

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

Jason Aldean + wife Brittany had a five-hour trip to the ER, but everything turned out okay

• No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LAJason Aldean and his wife, Brittany were tired but still cracking jokes late Thursday night, after a five-hour emergency room trip turned out to have a happy ending.

The couple went into the ER after Brittany began experiencing chest pains earlier that day. She updated fans via Instagram stories, having canceled her plans for the day to rest in bed.

“Aaaaaaaand… still having bed and still having chest pains. I had SO much to do today of course,” she said. While she tried to push through the pain, Brittany was also “scared to kick the bucket while out in public. So…in bed I stay.”

Finally, the singer’s wife made the decision to head to the ER. After her hours-long visit, she shared a video update from the car outside the hospital.

“So after five years — yep, five hours — of being at the ER, I have pleurisy,” she reported, explaining that pleurisy is a type of chest pain that affects the lining around the lungs.

“To help this, I take ibuprofen,” she deadpanned, joking that after putting her husband through a five-hour hospital visit, she might have bigger problems on her hands.

“I think I’m gonna get divorced now, because I just put this man through five hours at the ER,” Brittany said, panning the camera towards an unamused Jason.

“Five hours? That’s being generous. I mean, for something that two Advil would have knocked out in like, 30 minutes…” the singer said. Brittany protested that she thought she was having a heart attack.

“No, you weren’t. That’s like having indigestion,” was Jason’s retort.

In musical news, the “Got What I Got” star is looking toward a busy year ahead. Back in October, he shared that he was already at work on his tenth studio album.

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

Dan + Shay put an a cappella spin on their favorite new Morgan Wallen song, “Sand in My Boots”

• No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LALike lots of country fans, the bandmates of Dan + Shay can’t stop spinning Morgan Wallen’s newly-released Dangerous: The Double Album. So much so, in fact, that the pair decided to lend their trademark vocal harmonies to an a cappella rendition of their favorite track, “Sand in My Boots.”

Duo members Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney uploaded the results to social media as a fan tribute this week, with a black and white split image of the two of them singing the song’s chorus.

“Can’t stop listening to to ‘Sand in My Boots’ by Morgan Wallen so figured we’d sing it for y’all,” Dan + Shay wrote alongside their post. “Songs like this are why we fell in love with country music.”

The song is one of a whopping 30 tracks included on Morgan’s sophomore effort, which arrived in early January and also includes his chart-topping single “More Than My Hometown.” Elsewhere, the project features a handful of songs co-written by fellow artist Thomas Rhett, plus one track co-written by Eric Church and a duet with Chris Stapleton.

For their part, Dan + Shay also know a little something about the top spot on country radio. Earlier this week, their current single “I Should Probably Go to Bed” hit number-one.

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