American Music Awards: Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown Lead Country Contenders

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The American Music Awards nominations were announced Thursday morning (Oct. 24), and Luke Combs, Dan+Shay, Carrie Underwood and Kane Brown are among the leading country nominees.

Combs earned a nomination in the all-genre Best New Artist category, alongside Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and Ella Mai. Combs is also nominated for Favorite Male Artist-Country and Favorite Song-Country for “Beautiful Crazy.”

Dan+Shay also earned three nominations, including Favorite Duo or Group-Country, as well as Favorite Album-Country (Dan+Shay), and Favorite Song-Country (“Speechless”).

Underwood has two nominations, for Favorite Female Artist-Country, as well as Favorite Album-Country for Cry Pretty. Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini are also nominated in the Favorite Female Artist-Country category.

Brown has two nominations, for Favorite Male Artist-Country and for Favorite Album-Country (Experiment).

2019’s runaway hit, “Old Town Road” from Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, is nominated for Collaboration of the Year; the song’s video earned a nod for Favorite Music Video. The track is also nominated for Favorite Song-Pop/Rock and Favorite Song-Rap/Hip-Hop.

Lauren Daigle, for King & Country, and MercyMe are nominated for Favorite Artist-Contemporary Inspirational.

Post Malone leads this year’s overall nominees with seven nods, while Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish follow with six nominations apiece.

The 2019 AMAs will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 24 at at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Nominations in select categories are included below:

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY 
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kelsea Ballerini
Maren Morris
Carrie Underwood

FAVORITE DUO or GROUP – COUNTRY 
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion

FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY 
Kane Brown, Experiment
Dan + Shay, Dan + Shay
Carrie Underwood, Cry Pretty

FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY 
Luke Combs, “Beautiful Crazy”
Dan + Shay, “Speechless”
Blake Shelton, “God’s Country”

FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Lauren Daigle
For King & Country
MercyMe

Kacey Musgraves Set To Break Attendance Record At Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena

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Kacey Musgraves. Photo: Kacey Musgraves/Facebook

Kacey Musgraves is set to make history with her Oh, What a World: Tour II headlining tour during the tour’s final stop at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena tomorrow night. She is set to break the female attendance record of any genre at Bridgestone with 18,373 projected attendees. Due to popular demand, the show was opened up to 360 and additional tickets have been released. Musgraves will be joined at Bridgestone Arena by special guests Maggie Rogers and Yola.

The tour, which kicked off in Amsterdam last October, has taken Musgraves around the globe, playing venues in North America, the U.K., Europe, Japan, China, New Zealand, and Australia. She recently played two sold-out nights each at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre and New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, and tomorrow night completes the Oh, What a World: Tour II with her first-ever arena show.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Musgraves has toured extensively, both as a headliner and supporting Little Big Town and Harry Styles. She became the first-ever female country artist to play Coachella, performed at Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 in South Africa, and continued to play major festivals including Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Governors Ball, and Newport Folk Festival, among others.

TobyMac’s Son Truett Foster McKeehan Passes Away At 21

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TobyMac

Truett Foster McKeehan, the eldest son of Christian rapper and entertainer TobyMac, has died. Truett was 21.

Truett passed away at his Nashville home sometime Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, a PR rep for TobyMac confirmed. The cause of death has not been determined.

“Toby was traveling back from Canada and did not get home to be with his family until after midnight last night so there is no statement, we just ask that everyone please be respectful of their privacy during this time and allow them to grieve their loss,” a spokesperson for TobyMac said.

Truett, the eldest of McKeehan’s five children, was also an aspiring rapper, who released music under the names Truett Foster, TRU, Shiloah, and truDog.

TobyMac included a song, “Scars,” on his most recent album, The Elements, which discussed his struggle with seeing Truett leave home.

Darrell Franklin To Lead Blackbird Music Publishing Group’s Nashville Office

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Darrell Franklin

Darrell Franklin has been named Sr. VP, Nashville of Blackbird Music Publishing Group, and will lead the company’s newly-opened office in Nashville’s Berry Hill area. Blackbird also has offices in New York and Los Angeles, and recently announced it had acquired the music catalog of composer Burt Bacharach.

The role reunites Franklin with Lance Freed, who in July was announced as President of the newly-formed Blackbird Music Publishing Group.

“My first boss when I got into publishing was Lance Freed at Rondor Music International,” Franklin tells MusicRow. “Lance approached me about the job at Blackbird and the more I talked to him the more excited I got about Blackbird and what their vision was.”

Franklin previously served as General Manager at 3 Ring Circus. Under Franklin’s leadership, the company celebrated several hits including “Raise ‘Em Up” (Keith Urban), “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” (Tim McGraw), “Yours” & “Blue Tacoma” (Russell Dickerson).

In 2009, Franklin was named Exec. VP for BMG Nashville. He oversaw the purchases of catalogs such as Evergreen, Bug, Chrysalis, Cherry Lane, Stage Three, and added writers including Hillary Lindsey, Rodney Crowell, Darrell Brown, The Civil Wars, Steve Robson, Chris Wallin, Chris Lindsey, Angelo, and Lucie Silvas. In 2013, he formed a publishing joint venture with BMG titled Darrell Franklin Music. The company began developing artist/writer Russell Dickerson, who now is signed with Triple Tigers.

Franklin also spent 14 years doing A&R with producer Dann Huff; along the way, Franklin found hits like “What Hurts The Most”, “My Wish” (Rascal Flatts), “I’m Tryin’” (Trace Adkins), “When The Lights Go Down” (Faith Hill), “Raining On Sunday” and “Making Memories Of Us” (Keith Urban). Early in his career, Franklin served as Sr. VP at Crosstown Nashville, developing writers and artists including busbee, John Paul White, Jonathan Singleton and Neil Thrasher.

“One of the biggest things I learned from those years was that you were hearing every song, every songwriter, all around the world and I felt like I was quickly able to do A&R from a songwriting standpoint because of that,” Franklin says. “It helped me identify people’s strengths and weaknesses and that made be better at setting up co-writes.”

Blackbird Music Publishing Group was founded by The Raine Group, Keith Wortman and Blackbird Presents, which provides production for large-scale concert events, TV series, broadcast specials and more. A few of Blackbird Presents’ well-known specials include “Willie: Life & Songs Of An American Outlaw,” “All In For The Gambler: Kenny Rogers’ Farewell Concert Celebration,” “Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard,” “The Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson,” and more. Blackbird Presents is also creator/producer for The Outlaw Music Festival Tour, in partnership with Willie Nelson, as well as The American Roots Music & Arts Festival, in partnership with Eric Church.

“Music publishing is a natural next step for us given that our work across film, television, concerts, and festivals enables us to offer incredible opportunities to songwriters,” says Keith Wortman, CEO of Blackbird Presents.

Blackbird Music Publishing Group will announce initial Nashville signings in the coming weeks.

On The Row: John King Talks Writing With Hootie & The Blowfish, Offers New Single “Try Saying Goodbye”

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John King. Photo: LB Rogers

Georgia native John King recently visited the MusicRow offices to perform some of his latest music. King is currently signed with Starstruck Management and inked a publishing deal last year with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

King offered an acoustic rendition of “We Went,” a song he wrote that went No. 1 for Randy Houser in 2015. The song’s success was a full-circle moment for King, who shared how Houser had encouraged him as an aspiring artist and songwriter some years earlier.

“I was playing every writers’ round and just living off a tip bucket. I got a residency playing Puckett’s downtown, playing every week. I would play a mix of covers and originals. One night, there was this one guy at the back by the bar and I could tell he really seemed focused on my songs and paying attention,” King said. “Toward the end of my set he came up and put $100 in my tip jar. It was Randy Houser. I felt like that told me I was on the right track.”

King also contributed a song on Hootie & the Blowfish’s upcoming album Imperfect Circle. He co-wrote “Rollin’,” which was ultimately released as the first song from the album.

“I was riding into town and got a call from my publisher. It was 30 minutes before the writing session, and they were like, ‘Would you like to write with Hootie & the Blowfish?’ I was like, ‘Yes!’ Talk about a band you grew up idolizing, that was one of the first concerts I saw in Greenville, South Carolina when I was six.”

King also performed his current single, “Try Saying Goodbye.”

“We wrote it just over two years ago. I told [Starstruck’s] Narvel [Blackstock] when I signed, ‘This is a song that has stuck with me.’ I think it’s because it rings true in my personal life. I wrote it about my wife. We were high school sweethearts and started dating when we were 15 years old. She’s the only girlfriend I ever had. Now we have a baby girl. You change a lot between 15 until now, a lot of progression happens. You get in those spots in a relationship where it’s real easy for pride to get in the way and for it all to just end. People listen to this and think it’s a breakup song, but to me, it’s a stay together song. But that’s what I love about this, that people can put their on stamp on it.”

John King and MusicRow Magazine owner/publisher Sherod Robertson. Photo: LB Rogers

Pictured (L-R): David Ross, MusicRow Magazine Founder, Alex Kobrick, Sales Manager & Chart Director, Artist John King, MusicRow Magazine Sherod Robertson, Publisher/Owner, Jessica Nicholson, Managing Editor, LB Rogers, Project Manager. Photo: MusicRow.

Chris Stapleton To Headline First Event At Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field

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Chris Stapleton will headline the first-ever event at the new Texas Rangers baseball stadium, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, March 14, 2020 with very special guests Willie Nelson & Family, Jamey Johnson and Yola.

Presented by Live Nation, the concert will go on sale to the public Friday, November 1, at 10:00 a.m. local time. Tickets can be purchased at www.LiveNation.com. Stapleton Fan Club pre-sale will begin Tuesday, October 29, at 10:00 a.m. local time. For more information visit www.StapletonFanClub.com.

It was also announced today that Stapleton will collaborate with P!nk for the debut performance of their duet “Love Me Anyway” on the 53rd Annual CMA Awards on Nov. 13, airing live on ABC. Stapleton is nominated this year for Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Single of the Year (for “Millionaire”).

Provident Label Group, Matthew West’s Story House Music Sign Leanna Crawford

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Pictured (back row L-R): PLG/Sony Music’s VP, A&R Blaine Barcus, Story House Collective’s David Childress and Rachel Pinkerton; (front row L-R): PLG/Sony Music CEO Terry Hemmings, Leanna Crawford, Matthew West.

Provident Label Group has partnered with Story House Music, which is helmed by multi-award winning artist Matthew West, to sign singer/songwriter Leanna Crawford.

“It is my honor to introduce Leanna Crawford, the newest addition to team PLG and the special joint venture with Story House Music,” shares West. “Leanna has such amazing talent that the world’s going to hear very soon, so get ready! She’s going to knock it out of the park, and the Lord’s going to use her voice in an awesome way.”

Crawford, who grew up in rural Washington, began playing shows more than three years ago and to date, has already shared the stage with West along with other artists such as Michael W. Smith, Matt Maher, and Jeremy Camp. She just wrapped The Roadshow Futures Tour and will be on the road touring this holiday season. She debuted a six-song EP as well as two Christmas tunes last year, and she is currently working on new music with her first single with PLG/Story House Music, slated to release in the new year.

“I’ve been a fan of the many artists Provident has worked with over the years, and I’m extremely honored and humbled to now be joining their amazing roster of artists, as well!” Crawford says. “I’m looking forward to working with their team alongside Story House, and I can’t wait to see where it takes us.”

CMA’s ‘Introducing Nashville’ Series Wraps Successful Tour in Europe and U.K.

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Pictured (L-R): Danielle Bradbery, Devin Dawson, Travis Denning, and Rachel Wammack at the Columbia Theatre in Berlin, Germany on Sunday, October 13th, 2019. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

The Country Music Association’s international artist-focused touring series “Introducing Nashville” just wrapped a successful run in Europe and the U.K. The 10-date tour made stops throughout October in Oslo, Stockholm, Hamburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, Manchester, Gateshead, Glasgow and Brighton before wrapping with a sold-out performance at London’s Cadogan Hall during Country Music Week.

With ticket sales nearly doubling in every market since last year’s European and U.K. tour, audiences flocked to see Nashville artists Danielle Bradbery, Devin Dawson (on the European leg), Travis Denning, Walker Hayes (on the U.K. leg) and Rachel Wammack. Selling out a number of shows including London, Oslo, Glasgow and Brighton, these Nashville artists introduced audiences to new music and had them singing along to the songs they knew.

In each city, audiences were captivated by the show’s intimate Nashville-style writer’s round, with artists appearing on stage together in an acoustic lineup, sharing their stories as they performed their songs.

Pictured (L-R): Travis Denning, Danielle Bradbery, Devin Dawson, and Rachel Wammack perform at Gruenspan in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday, October 12th, 2019. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

Pictured (L-R): Travis Denning, Danielle Bradbery, Walker Hayes and Rachel Wammack made stops in Manchester, Gateshead, Glasgow, Brighton and London as part of CMA’s “Introducing Nashville” U.K. tour. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

Devin Dawson. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

Danielle Bradbery. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

Pictured (L-R): Rachel Wammack, Travis Denning, Walker Hayes and Danielle Bradberry perform during CMA’s Introducing Nashville U.K. tour in London on October 21, 2019. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

Rachel Wammack. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

Walker Hayes. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

Travis Denning. Photo: Matt Carson/CMA

Blake Shelton Unveils Cover Art, Tracks For ‘Fully Loaded: God’s Country’

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Blake Shelton has revealed the cover artwork and track listing for his upcoming Dec. 13 album Fully Loaded: God’s Country. The 12-song collection includes seven hits from previous albums and five new tracks, including his latest single “Hell Right” and the recently released “Jesus Got a Tight Grip,” co-written by Shelton alongside frequent collaborators Chase McGill, Jessi Alexander and Rhett Akins.

The title track and three-time CMA-nominated multi-week No. 1 “God’s Country” is the fastest country single in the past year to reach one million track equivalents. Nominated for a Video, Single and Song of the Year CMA Award this year, the smash hit became Shelton’s 26th chart-topper on country radio, where it remained for multiple weeks, becoming his 16th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as well. Shelton also earned a Musical Event of the Year nomination for “Dive Bar,” his collaboration with Garth Brooks.

Fully Loaded: God’s Country Track Listing:
1. God’s Country
2. Hell Right (feat. Trace Adkins)
3. Nobody But You
4. Came Here to Forget
5. She’s Got a Way with Words
6. A Guy With a Girl
7. Every Time I Hear That Song
8. I’ll Name the Dogs
9. I Lived It
10. Turnin’ Me On
11. Jesus Got a Tight Grip
12. Tequila Sheila

CMA Awards Performers To Include Eric Church, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, P!NK, Dolly Parton, for King & Country

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The first performers have been announced for this year’s Country Music Association awards.

Guest host Dolly Parton will team with for King & Country and Zach Williams for an inspirational gospel medley including for King & Country’s “God Only Knows,” as well as Williams’ “There Was Jesus,” and Parton’s not-yet-released new song, “Faith.”

Chris Stapleton, a three-time nominee this year, will join P!NK to perform their duet, “Love Me Anyway.”

Eric Church will perform “Some Of It” from his CMA Album of the Year-nominated Desperate Man project. Luke Combs, the reigning CMA New Artist of the Year and a three-time nominee this year, will offer “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” In addition to her guest hosting duties, Reba McEntire will perform her classic “Fancy.” Miranda Lambert, nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, will perform “It All Comes Out In The Wash.”

Maren Morris, who leads this year’s nominees with six nominations, will perform her hit “GIRL.” This year’s CMA host and reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Carrie Underwood will perform “Drinking Alone” from her CMA Album of the Year-nominated project Cry Pretty. Reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, and a two-time nominee this year, Keith Urban will offer his new single “We Were.”

Country Music’s Biggest Night™ will air live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 8/7 CT on the ABC Television Network. The 53rd Annual CMA Awards is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the Executive Producer, Alex Rudzinski is the Director, and David Wild is the Head Writer.

Additional performers and presenters will be revealed in the coming weeks.