Home

TTR News Center

Gabby Barrett's first child is due any day, but she's already planning for number two

No Comments Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LA“I Hope” singer Gabby Barrett will be a first-time mom “any day now,” according to her Instagram account, but the former American Idol finalist says she’s already thinking about baby number two.

“We’re ready to add on to our family and get some babies in there,” she tells People. “I definitely want to have more than one in the future, for sure.”

Twenty-year-old Gabby, who’s expecting a baby girl, says “I always wanted to be a mom. It was something that was always ingrained in me from a very young age. I remember being in high school and I would always pray about my future spouse and my future kids.”

“I just can’t wait to see what she looks like. It’s insane to me that we are literally right around the corner from this; that she’s coming very soon,” she adds.

Until then, Gabby will have to deal with the downsides of pregnancy.

“I can’t do normal things that I want to do. I get so tired so quickly,” she laments. “I want to clean the house and make sure everything’s so clean, but it’s so hard to bend down and it’s hard to roll over when you sleep.”

Luckily, her husband and fellow American Idol alum Cade Foehner is around to help out.

“He’s just been very nice. He rubs my feet every single night. He’s been extra, extra thoughtful,” Gabby gushes, adding, “He’s just been very patient about [my mood swings] and very understanding.”

“I hope she gets Cade’s hair, not mine,” Gabby adds, laughing. “He has much nicer hair than I do.”

 

 

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

Nearly three years after 'Dark Horse,' Devin Dawson delivers the upbeat 'Pink Slip'

No Comments Country Music News

Tyler ConradIf you listen to Devin Dawson‘s new The Pink Slip EP, you might assume it’s a well-thought-out concept album.

But the California native admits it was more of an attempt to organize all the songs he’s written since his debut was released almost exactly three years ago. 

“We talked about how I have three sides of me that I do really well… that [were] showcased on Dark Horse…” Devin tells ABC Audio. “And one of them is that kind of groovy, radio-centric, soulful, sunny ‘All on Me’ thing.”

The new songs in the vein of Devin’s breakthrough hit were the ones he recorded first, and the only ones he was able to finish before COVID-19 hit.

“It was really, really lucky that these were the first songs that we started with,” he explains, “because then I listen to them as a whole and it was like, ‘Wow, this is dope. This is actually something that is really indicative of the things that I’ve gone through in the last year.'”

“And it’s also something that I really feel like people need and want in these times,” he adds.

In this case, Pink Slip doesn’t refer to losing a job, but to the title certificate referenced in the TimMcGraw-inspired “I Got a Truck.” Devin’s grandfather stars in the “He Loved Her” video, while his wife Leah shows up in the “Whatever Forever Is” lyric video.

“Until you’re looking backwards, it doesn’t really make sense why things happen the way they do,” Devin reflects. “And so it’s really cool to see it come to fruition, in a kind of meant-to-be, everything-happens-for-a-reason kind of way.”

Tonight, Devin celebrates The Pink Slip EP with an 8 p.m. ET performance on his YouTube channel.

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

After releasing 'Dangerous,' Morgan Wallen’s planning “a little hiatus” to spend time with his son

No Comments Country Music News

ABCMorgan Wallen’s mammoth, 30-track sophomore outing, Dangerous: The Double Album came out earlier this month, and the singer says he’s planning on a little break after a busy season of putting together and promoting the project.

But that doesn’t mean complete R&R. Morgan tells ET online that he’s using his “little hiatus” to focus on raising his six-month-old son, Indigo Wilder, also known as Indie.

The singer adds that his mom also loves spending time around her new grandson, whom she says is a dead ringer for Morgan as a baby. “She says he’s just like me. And I just imagine that when he’s doing the things he’s doing. And I just — I don’t know, it’s funny to me,” says Morgan.

Little Indie’s mom, KT Smith, seems to also enjoy playing up the family resemblance. She posted a hilarious Halloween snapshot of him dressed up as his country star dad, complete with sleeveless flannel shirt, clip-on earring, ball cap and mullet.

Fans aren’t likely to hear many songs about fatherhood on Dangerous, and that’s because Morgan was “pretty much finished with the writing aspect” of the album before Indie’s birth, he explains. But on songs like “Still Goin’ Down,” he tips his hat to the family resemblance he shares with his own dad.

“The way I talk / I guess I got it from my pops,” Morgan sings in the song’s first verse. 

Dangerous: The Double Album arrived on January 8.


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

Willie Nelson gives a thumbs-up after receiving first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

No Comments Country Music News

Gary Miller/Getty ImagesWillie Nelson is among the many Americans who’ve signed up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

During his drive-through vaccination this week, a masked Willie posed for a series of pictures, offering the camera a thumbs-up as he received his dose of the vaccine. The Texas-based Family Hospital Systems shared the images to Facebook, encouraging everyone to sign up for their shots and stating that “getting your COVID vaccine is Willie cool!”

Willie, who turns 88 in April, is among the first mainstream country stars to publicly receive the COVID-19 vaccine, though many of his fellow artists have battled the virus.

John Prine, Joe Diffie and Charley Pride all died of complications of COVID-19 in 2020, while dozens more country stars — Tyler Hubbard, Lee Brice, Runaway June’s Jennifer Wayne and Natalie Stovall and Parker McCollum, to name just a few — have spoken about their experiences contracting the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Thursday, 383,351 Americans have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak began.

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

CMA Foundation taps Lindsay Ell to be its next music education ambassador

No Comments Country Music News

Jeremy Cowart Lindsay Ell will take on ambassador duties for the CMA’s Unified Voices for Music Education initiative beginning this month. She’s the third artist to join the program, following Ashley McBryde — who was the inaugural artist ambassador, back in December 2020 — as well as Jimmie Allen.

Known both for her skills as a songwriter and guitar player, Lindsay will participate in the program by creating tutorials, meeting virtually with students and teachers, leading a songwriting workshop and more.

“Music education was such an important part of my childhood,” the singer explains. “Growing up, I learned to lean into music as an outlet thanks to the guidance and encouragement of some truly amazing teachers….Being able to teach the power of music to students in school at an early age is a gift that I believe will serve them in so many ways for the rest of their lives.”

The Unified Voices for Music Education is still a relatively new initiative, and Ashley helped forge a path during her time with the program by putting together a band lesson about building the musical note major scale.

Jimmie, meanwhile, met virtually with a third-grade class to share his musical journey with the young students, and also participated in a webinar series to discuss music education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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