Sold-Out Country Rising Concert Brings Hope And Healing

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Numerous country music artists were on hand on Sunday (Nov. 12) to perform as part of the sold-out Country Rising benefit concert, presented by Hilton and Dollar General, to raise funds for the Country Rising Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The fund was established to support charitable efforts to help victims of the September 2017 hurricanes, as well as to aid victims of the shooting that took place during the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas in October.

The concert, held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, included performances from George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Reba, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Sam Hunt, Martina McBride and Jon Pardi.

Singer-songwriter Carrie Underwood was also slated to perform. Her appearance was canceled after the star sustained injuries, including a broken wrist, from a fall over the weekend at her home in Nashville. Underwood later took to social media to reassure fans that she is recovering.

George Strait performs onstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: Rick Diamond/Country Rising/Getty Images

Radio personality and host Bobby Bones poses backstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: Rick Diamond/Country Rising/Getty Images

Keith Urban performs onstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: Rick Diamond/Country Rising/Getty Images

Chris Stapleton performs onstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Country Rising/Getty Images

Pictured (L-R): Dierks Bentley and Jon Pardi perform onstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Country Rising/Getty Images

Reba McEntire performs onstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Country Rising/Getty Images

Jason Aldean performs onstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Country Rising/Getty Images

Martina McBride performs onstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Country Rising/Getty Images

Pictured (L-R): Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild and Philip Sweet of Little Big Town perform onstage for the Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Country Rising/Getty Images

Brett Eldredge and Kelly Clarkson Partner With Cracker Barrel For New Series

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Brett Eldredge and Kelly Clarkson will help Cracker Barrel kick off the holiday season with the release of its “Rocking and Stockings” content series. Premiering today on Cracker Barrel’s YouTube channel, the series will feature exclusive performances of new hits and traditional holiday classics including Clarkson’s “Love So Soft,” followed by Eldredge’s “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” on Nov. 17. Fans can follow along as each new video launches weekly through Dec. 12.

“Rocking and Stockings” features four performances of new music from Clarkson’s recently released eighth studio album Meaning of Life, including “Meaning of Life,” “Heat,” and her new holiday track “Christmas Eve.” Eldredge performs traditional classics, including “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “First Noel,” along with tunes from his 2016 holiday album Glow.

“The holidays are always a special time for us,” said Cracker Barrel Senior Marketing Manager Julie Ulmer. “We created ‘Rocking and Stockings’ to bring together two of music’s most beloved artists for exclusive performances as a joyful way to kick off the season and to help inspire the love and togetherness we hope our guests feel when they dine with us.”

 

Garth Brooks Adds Sixth Nashville Show To Close Out Tour

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Garth Brooks has added a sixth show to his Nashville run on Dec. 22, which will be the final stop of his massive The Garth Brooks Tour With Trisha Yearwood, which has been selling out North American concert venues since 2014. Newly-crowned with his sixth CMA Entertainer of the Year title, Brooks will play his first full concerts at the Bridgestone Arena since 2010.

Last Friday (Nov. 10), tickets went on sale for five upcoming shows at Bridgestone Arena, with a new date rolling out as each sold out moments after tickets went on sale. The previously announced Bridgestone Arena dates include Dec. 9, 10, 15, 16 and 17.

Garth’s sixth win for CMA Entertainer of the Year is a first for any artist, and he recently celebrated six million tickets sold on his tour, making it the biggest North American tour in history and the biggest American tour in the world. The tour is presented by Amazon Music Unlimited.

Tickets, which cost $74.98, will go on sale Nov. 16, and there is an eight ticket purchase limit. Tickets can only be purchased at ticketmaster.com/GarthBrooks or through Ticketmaster Express. There will be no ticket sales at the venue box office or Ticketmaster outlets on Nov. 16.

Concert Discovery Platform Bandsintown Opens Platform To Venues And Festivals

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Bandsintown has opened up its platform to allow venues and festivals to claim their own official profiles and alert local music fans of new show announcements in real time. Venues will now be able to establish their brand presence, customize their profiles, and add and edit new events.

While over 15,000 promoters, venues and festivals have been using Bandsintown’s promoter service for years to create campaigns in order to reach fans and boost concert attendance, this marks the first time venues will have their own access to Bandsintown Manager, allowing them to publish events independently.

“We’re excited to have over 500 venues already signed up to the Beta release, which will become public on Dec. 15,” says Jon Ostrow, VP, Sales and Business Development.

Venue Manager is currently available in Beta release. Venues interested in joining Beta as a Venue Manager can sign up here.

Taylor Swift Announces Reputation U.S. Stadium Tour Dates

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The first round of dates for Taylor Swift’s reputation Stadium Tour were announced on Monday (Nov. 13). Twenty-seven shows were announced, including a stop at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on Aug. 25. The tour will launch May 8 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Additional shows will be announced in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Tickets for the North American leg will go on-sale to the general public on Dec. 13. Fans will have the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance of the public on-sale in North America via Taylor Swift Tix powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan. Registration is currently open and continues until Nov. 28.

The announcement follows the release of Swift’s highly-anticipated sixth studio album, reputation, which released Friday, Nov. 10. According to Nielsen Soundscan, the album sold more than 700,000 on its first day of release.

Swift also performed two songs on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, including “Call It What You Want” and “…Ready For It?”

In Pictures: ole Celebrates CMAs

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ole celebrated this year’s CMA Awards with two parties, including a CMA Awards viewing party on Wednesday evening (Nov. 8) and the company’s sixth annual post-CMA Awards fiesta on Thursday, Nov. 9 at its Nashville office.

Earlier this week, ole took home honors from both the ASCAP Country Music Awards and the BMI Country Awards. At the ASCAP Country Music Awards, ole earned three honors, for “How I’ll Always Be” and “I Know Somebody” both co-written by Jeremy Stover, and “How Not To,” co-written by Adam Hambrick.

At the BMI Country Awards, ole legacy writer Jesse Lee was honored for “Peter Pan.” “A Little More Summertime,” co-written by Tony Martin and “How I’ll Always Be,” co-written by Jeremy Stover, were also honored.

 

Moe Bandy Signs With 117 Publicity

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Moe Bandy

Moe Bandy has joined 117 Publicity’s roster for exclusive PR representation.

“I’ve loved working with Moe and his team in the past, so I’m excited to be onboard again for his future projects and continued road success! Adding Moe to the 117 Publicity roster demonstrates our commitment to traditional country music and the artists that have given so much to this genre. I love everything about our roster of clients and their music,” said Zach Farnum, President & CEO of 117 Entertainment Group.

“I am really excited about working with Zach and 117 Publicity. We’re looking forward to some neat things happening for traditional country music in the future with 117,” said Bandy.

Cole Swindell Plots Down Home Tour For 2018

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Cole Swindell will return to the road in January 2018, in support of Down Home Sessions IV EP which releases Nov. 24. The Cole Swindell Down Home Tour follows three previous sold-out headlining Down Home Tours. The 2018 tour will kick off in his home state of Georgia at the Georgia Theatre in Athens on Jan. 11. Swindell’s labelmate and rising newcomer Morgan Evans will open.

Other familiar tour stops on the Down Home Tour include Cotton Eyed Joe in Knoxville, Tenn., and Joe’s Bar in Chicago.

Pre-sale tickets will go on sale Tuesday, Nov. 14 and will go on sale to the public on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

Cole Swindell’s Down Home Tour:
Jan. 11: Athens, Ga.; Georgia Theatre
Jan. 12: Savannah, Ga.; The Stage on Bay
Jan. 18: Knoxville, Tenn.; Cotton Eyed Joe
Jan. 19: Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Druid City Music Hall
Jan. 25: Chicago; Joe’s Bar
Jan. 26: Oxford, Ohio; Brick Street Bar
Jan. 27: Charlottesville, Va.; Jefferson Theater

CCM News: Rend Collective, Tenth Avenue North, Zach Williams

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Rend Collective Continues Sold-Out Run

Rend Collective

Rend Collective has announced dates for their Good News North America Tour Pt. 2. Kicking off March 1 in Orlando, the tour will hit 32 markets throughout the U.S. The band is getting ready to wrap up their headlining part 1 of the outing on Nov. 19, which sold out every night of the 10-date run in Canada and other major markets.

The album Good News is available for pre-order on all online retailers in advance of its Jan. 19 release. It includes the lead single, “Rescuer (Good News),” which went top 20 and has more than 1.7 M music video views on YouTube.

 

Tenth Avenue North “Decade The Halls”

Tenth Avenue North’s Christmas album, Decade The Halls Vol. 1 (Remade Records) is available today (Nov. 10). This unique concept-album is a musical walk through the last 100 years of Christmas music with each song featuring a different decade starting in the 1920s all the way to present day.

The band will be taking this concept album on the road next month with Zach Williams and Meredith Andrews. Tour dates and ticket information can be found at tenthavenuenorth.com/tour.

Zach Williams Plans Christmas Single

Zach Williams, the GMA Dove Awards reigning New Artist of the Year, will debut his first original Christmas song, “The Call Of Christmas.” He will be sharing the song, along with a few other holiday favorites, when he joins Tenth Avenue North on their Decade The Halls Christmas Tour. Williams is currently on the fall leg of Casting Crowns’ The Very Next Thing Tour. He will also be part of the Rock & Worship Roadshow in the spring.

Williams’ current radio single, “Old Church Choir,” held the No. 1 spot for 12 weeks in a row (BDS Audience chart). Additionally, the song can be heard on ESPN, which has licensed it for Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday NFL Countdown through January 2018.

Sir Rosevelt Debut Album Coming In December

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Sir Rosevelt, the new trio comprised of Zac Brown, Niko Moon and Ben Simonetti, will drop its debut album Dec. 15 via Elektra Records. Described as “Southern pop,” the self-titled project includes songs co-written with Pharrell Williams and co-produced by Timbaland.

Sir Rosevelt followed the release of debut single “Sunday Finest” with their first-ever network TV performance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! In addition, the song was featured throughout TNT and TBS’ hugely-rated coverage of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. (See the official music video.)

Sir Rosevelt will celebrate the album release with a performance at CBS Radio’s “An Epic New Year’s Eve Weekend,” slated for Friday, Dec. 29 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The show marks the band’s first U.S. live date following critically-acclaimed performances earlier this year in London and Australia. Additional North American live dates will be unveiled soon for 2018.

Track Listing

1. Sunday Finest *
2. Something ‘Bout You **
3. The Bravest **
4. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us
5. Hurricane
6. For My Own *
7. Robert Baker
8. Take Your Love Away
9. Slow Motion
10. Let Me Go
11. Infinite & Endless

* Co-written by Pharrell Williams
** Co-produced by Timbaland