Artist Updates (6/30/14)

McGraw on “Artists Den”

Tim McGraw will kick off the new season of PBS’s Live from the Artists Den this week. The episode was filmed at a century-old bank building in Houston, Texas and includes many songs from his upcoming album, Sundown Heaven Town. Check local listings.

• • • •

ABC’s singing competition Rising Star premiered with lukewarm ratings last week and fell slightly in its second week. Last night’s show averaged 4.7 million viewers in the 9 and 10 p.m. hours, according to Nielsen ratings posted on Zap2it.com. Rising Star, which features Brad Paisley as one of the celebrity experts, scored first place during the 9 p.m. hour and slipped to second place at 10 p.m. For the night, ABC and CBS tied for the lead among adults 18-49.

• • • •

JT Hodges

JT Hodges has launched a new website at jthodges.com. One of the new components, JTV, features exclusive video content. Show Dog–Universal recently released the first single from Hodge’s upcoming sophomore album. He penned “Already High” with Kevin Griffin (Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue,” Better Than Ezra frontman).

• • • •

Nashville duo Carolina Story (husband and wife Ben and Emily Roberts) have released the 6-song EP Chapter Two. They celebrated the new album with their debut performance at the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday, June 28 and a release show at Douglas Corner. Chapter Two was produced by Grammy winner Blake Chancey.

Carolina Story on the Opry.