Author Archives: Jess

CMA Awards

Posted on by

 

Aside from the biggest award of the night – Entertainer of the Year – going to Garth Brooks, the biggest winners at the 53rd CMA Awards were Luke Combs and Kacey Musgraves, the only artists to win two trophies. Luke’s were for Male Vocalist and Song of the Year for “Beautiful Crazy.” Kacey’s were for Female Vocalist and Video of the Year for “Rainbow.”

Other notable wins, on a night that paid tribute to the women of country music, past and present, include Jenee Fleenor, who became the first woman to ever win the trophy for Musician of the Year, and it’s about dang time! And for the second year in a row, a woman grabbed the Album of the Year win – it was Maren Morris and her album Girl, who follows last year’s winner, Kacey Musgraves. And Ashley McBryde became the first woman to win New Artist of the Year since Maren did it in 2016. (Since 2008, only three solo women have won New Artist, the third being Kacey Musgraves in 2013 – are you seeing a pattern here? Anybody wanna predict Ashley McBryde for next year’s female vocalist and/or album winner?)

Garth’s win for Entertainer was his seventh, the first time being in 1991, just a year after he won what was then called the Horizon Award (now it’s New Artist). And it was cool that he used his time to point out great performances from other artists that night – Reba’s three-costume change performance of “Fancy,” Kelsea Ballerini’s “Homecoming Queen,” and he said Luke Combs would be holding that EOTY trophy someday.

If you want to hear more stories, highlights, winner reactions, and the songs that were performed, check out our CMAs 2019 station here.

Totally Tim

Posted on by
Treat. It’s definitely a treat to see Tim McGraw in Men’s Health showing off his TruMav gym in Nashville and what’s in his fridge. You might know Tim lost 40 pounds about a decade ago, and he did it by getting rid of alcohol and junk food and starting to walk in the morning. The walking turned into running and then he added weight lifting, and I think it’s safe to say we’re all grateful for the results. He even includes a bodyweight workout you can do yourself. Get the workout, read the interview and watch him do this thing here.

Homecoming Queen

Posted on by

It was a random Thursday night in Nashville, and a normal songwriters round at the downtown Listening Room Café that included Jimmy Robbins, who has written such big songs as Blake Shelton’s “Sure Be Cool If You Did,” Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert’s “We Were Us” and Maren Morris’ “I Could Use A Love Song,” among many, many others. And Jimmy invited a friend and co-writer on stage to join him on their joint effort…. And the friend was Kelsea Ballerini.

She tells the story about the background of the song, and the pressure she’d been putting on herself to make it look like her life was perfect, and the realization that the world wouldn’t end if her life looked like everyone else’s, and that sometimes that means it’s not all great.

And then she did the song, “homecoming queen?” Watch here.

And That’s Why He’s The King

Posted on by

Well, George Strait has done it again – he’s made country music history. When his song “The Weight of the Badge” got enough air time on FM country radio, it became his 100th song on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart, and nobody else has ever done that.

Now, that chart only started in 1990, so it doesn’t even count the songs he had on the radio all the way back to 1981, when he had his first hit. Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, which uses a combination of radio airplay and streaming and sales, includes 124 George Strait songs, and that list does go back to ’81.

No matter, which chart you’re looking at, George Strait is still the King of Country Music. You can hear all of those hits and learn more about how he got that way, with his influences and collaborations and the music that made him, him, by listening to our George Strait: DNA station.

Git Up, Granny!

Posted on by

First of all, have you learned the dance to Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up” yet? He teaches you all the steps you need in this video, and let me just warn you from my own personal experience: have water nearby. And maybe a towel.  It’s a workout!

Blanco told Billboard that he knows the lyrics to the song don’t include “the git up” anywhere, but that title comes from his grandmothers. He says when he was young, his grandmothers wouldn’t let him lay around in bed and sleep, they’d wake him up early in the morning and yell, “git up!” “You had to get outside and be productive, find purpose and enjoy and just celebrate as a kid,” he said. 

Blanco calls his style of music country trap, and it’s something he’s wanted to do for a long time. He says when you hear this particular song, he wants you to feel full of life, joy, and purpose. You can’t be in a bad mood when you hear it, that’s for sure. 

After you learn the dance, listen to it on repeat on our stations like Nashville Now, Country Hits, Party Country and New Pop Now, among others, and check out the official music video here.

She Wants To Dance With Somebody

Posted on by

She did it – Lauren Alaina made it through the first week of Dancing With The Stars. I mean, nobody gets eliminated in the first week, so that was easy, but she got some pretty great scores with her partner Gleb Savchenko and they wouldn’t have been eliminated anyway. For their first performance, they danced the Cha Cha to Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” and they scored 19 points out of a possible 30. That’s third to Bachelorette Hanna Brown’s 20 points, and James Van Der Beek’s 21, so really close. 

The judges were mixed in their reactions: Len thought it wasn’t enough Cha Cha, but Carrie Ann and Bruno like it, and Bruno said, “it was like watching a sultry southern belle.” Well, that’s kinda what she is, so yeah. 

Watch their dance here.

Just... WOW.

Posted on by

It was three years ago, in July 2016, when Craig Morgan’s 19-year-old son Jerry died in a horrible tubing accident. So it’s understandable that we haven’t heard much in the way of new music from Craig since then, but now he’s back with a song for his son that he first performed on the Grand Ole Opry almost three years to the day after that accident. 

We don’t know how he got through that performance without crying, or how you could have, either. 

Craig says he had no intention of recording it, but a dear friend and fellow Opry member told him he had to. He said, “you must sing this song.” 

When Blake Shelton heard the song, he decided to be Craig’s radio promotion guy, since Craig doesn’t currently have a record deal with a company that would do that for him. Blake tweeted, “I would gladly give up my spot on country radio to get this song on.. Wow [Craig Morgan] you blow me away brother. There’s nothing easy or fun about writing a song like this but sometimes it’s just something you gotta do.”

Blake spent the next few days rallying his fans behind Craig and the song, and not long after was joined by his girlfriend Gwen Stefani, as well as Ellen Degeneres, Travis Tritt, Ricky Scaggs, actress Angie Harmon and lots of others. Then Blake tweeted Carson Daly and Hoda Kotb, and they got on board, too. 

Craig told People the song came to him in a dream, and "I have heard from so many people already who have said that they had given up on their faith until they heard this song. But I’m purely the one singing that song. It’s not about me. I was just the outlet, the way to get the song to the people who need it the most.”

We can’t help what country radio does, but we can support Craig and the song, too. Listen to it on our Nashville Now station here, and be sure to tap that heart button if you love it as much as Blake Shelton and everyone else does! 

Not To Be Confused With…

Posted on by

The CMA (Country Music Association) Awards are coming soon – those are the ones that happen in Nashville every November, not to be confused with the ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards, which happen in Las Vegas every April. Unless the ACM wants you to be confused, which it kind of seems like it does.

This week, the ACM announced seven new awards recognizing the best artists and music of the past decade, which it technically started when Jason Aldean was named Artist of the Decade earlier this year. But now, two months before the CMAs, the ACM has named Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” the first ever recipient of the ACM Song of the Decade award, which also honors songwriters Tom Douglas and Alan Shamblin. Miranda was given her award in a surprise backstage ceremony at one of her shows recently. 

The other six awards – Album, Artist-Songwriter, Breakout Artist, Single, Songwriter, and Music Event of the Decade – will be announced in the coming weeks. That is, the weeks leading up to the CMA Awards. 

Yeah, it seems like weird timing, and I can see it definitely adding to the confusion for people who already can’t keep them straight. But let’s not let that confusion bury the honor for Miranda Lambert and the “House That Built Me” songwriters, because that’s huge and well-deserved. 

And if it’s been a while since you’ve heard the song, let’s fix that. Listen to it on Country Hits or watch here:

And the nominees are…

Posted on by

Maren Morris heard her voice a lot when the nominees for the 53rd CMA Awards were announced this week. Six times, to be exact, for a total of 8 chances at trophies, more than anyone else on the list. In fact, she’s up in every category she possibly could be except Entertainer of the Year – female vocalist, album, single, song, video, and musical event, and as producer on the album and musical event contender “All My Favorite People,” she could get two more. Entertainer of the Year finally includes a woman – Carrie Underwood, who is also competing for female vocalist and album. Dan + Shay are up for duo, album, single and song, with the pair’s Dan Smyers adding a couple of chances by writing “Tequila” and producing “Speechless” and their album.

But where is Kane Brown? He’s broken records in the past year, hits number one every time he sneezes, and has never been nominated for a CMA. Did you notice Luke Bryan is missing from this list, too? He’s won Entertainer twice and consistently sells out stadiums. And let’s look at that new artist category: Midland’s already been in it, and is Carly Pearce really new? “Every Little Thing” went to number one in 2017, and the ACMs nominated her for New Female Vocalist more than a year ago. Meanwhile, there’s no room for Jimmie Allen, who definitely belongs in that category. And this may not be a popular opinion, but just based on its performance on our stations, I think “Old Town Road” should have gotten Lil’ Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus into the single and song categories, but they’re up for Musical Event, so they weren’t totally disregarded. 

This is a surprise: Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” was nominated at last year’s CMAs for Single of the Year. And this year it’s up for Song? What? Apparently, because it was still on the chart within the eligibility period (July 2018 through June 2019), it can still be on the list. 

This year’s list of nominees shows some growth in acknowledging women, too. In the four major categories – Entertainer, Album, Single, and Song – there are eight female contenders. That’s news because last year there were only three. And check out that Musician of the Year category: Jenee Fleenor is Blake Shelton’s fiddle player, and she’s the only woman ever nominated in that category since it was added to the show in 1988. Read that again. There are thousands of female session and touring musicians in Nashville and until now none have ever been nominated for a CMA Award. I don’t know whether to applaud the CMA membership for finally getting it right, or shame them for taking so long. Progress is progress, though, so let’s go with the applause. 

See the full list of nominees below, and check out the show hosted by Carrie Underwood with a little help from Reba and Dolly, November 13th.

 Entertainer of the Year
Garth Brooks
Eric Church
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban

Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

Female Vocalist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae

New Artist of the Year
Cody Johnson
Ashley McBryde
Midland
Carly Pearce
Morgan Wallen

Album of the Year
Thomas Rhett – Center Point Road
Carrie Underwood – Cry Pretty
Dan + Shay – Dan + Shay
Eric Church – Desperate Man
Maren Morris – Girl

Single of the Year (goes to artist)
“Burning Man” – Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne
“Girl” – Maren Morris
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“Millionaire” – Chris Stapleton
“Speechless” – Dan + Shay 

Song of the Year (goes to songwriter)
“Beautiful Crazy” by Luke Combs (Like Combs, Wyatt B Durrette III, Robert Williford)
“Girl” by Maren Morris (Maren Morris, Sarah Aarons, Greg Kurstin)
“God’s Country” by Blake Shelton (Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy)
“Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves (Kacey Musgraves, Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally)
“Tequila” by Dan + Shay (Dan Smyers, Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds)

Musical Event of the Year
“All My Favorite People” – Maren Morris featuring Brothers Osborne
“Brand New Man” – Brooks & Dunn with Luke Combs
“Dive Bar” – Garth Brooks & Blake Shelton
“Old Town Road (Remix)” Lil’ Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
“What Happens In A Small Town” – Brantley Gilbert & Lindsay Ell

Music Video of the Year
“Burning Man” – Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne (Dir. Wes Edwards)
“Girl” – Maren Morris (Dir. Dave Meyers)
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton (Dir. Sophie Muller)
“Rainbow” – Kacey Musgraves (Dir. Hannah Lux Davis)
“Some Of It” – Eric Church (Dir. Reid Long)

Musician of the Year
Jenee Fleenor – fiddle
Paul Franklin – steel guitar
Mac McAnally – guitar
Ilya Toshinsky – banjo/guitar
Derek Wells - guitar

Back To Reality (TV)

Posted on by

You probably remember that we first met Lauren Alaina when she was a 16-year-old contestant on American Idol, coming in runner up to Scotty McCreery at the end of season 10. 

Well, it’s just been announced she’s coming back to reality TV with the new season of Dancing With The Stars when it launches September 16th. We don’t know who she’s being paired with yet – we won’t find that out until the first show. What we do know is that, among all the actors, former pro athletes, models, other musicians, and former Press Secretary Sean Spice, who will be the other competitors, Lauren is the most starstruck by Kate Flannery, of The Office, American Housewife, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine fame. She said, "I wanted to win until [Kate Flannery] walked in and then I was like, 'Oh, no, I'm going to vote for her. I literally freaked out. The only other person I remember doing that for was Dolly Parton." 

Um. That’s cool, but around here, we’ll be voting for Lauren. (Ok, and also Ally Brooke, formerly of Fifth Harmony, and Mary Wilson of The Supremes.)

Meet the whole cast here