Jimmy Fortune‘s upcoming album God & Country will release May 24 via Gaither Music Group.

Fortune, a 21-year member of The Statler Brothers, offers his tenor voice to renditions of patriotic and spiritual classics. The tracks were recorded, mixed and engineered at Ben’s Den by Ben Isaacs and Mark Capps, and mastered at Georgetown Masters by Andrew Mendelson.

The project will be available on all streaming platforms, and also through Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations.

God & Country Track List:
1. Battle Hymn of the Republic/This Land Is Your
Land
2. The Old Rugged Cross
3. Battle of New Orleans
4. In the Garden
5. Meet Me at Arlington
6. Because He Lives
7. I Love You More
8. More Than a Name on a Wall
9. Softly and Tenderly
10. In God We Trust
11. God Bless America/America the Beautiful
(medley)
12. It Is Well with My Soul
13. Intro to It Is No Secret
14. It Is No Secret

Sony’s Robert Counts Sets Nashville Shows

Sony Music Nashville rising artist Robert Counts is set to perform four concerts at The Local in Nashville with shows slated for April 23, May 8, May 21, and June 4. Counts will take the stage at 7 p.m. each night. The soulful vocalist and songwriter will also perform on WSMV-TV’s “Today in Nashville” Monday, April 22.

 

Smokin’ On The Row Coming April 24

Songwriters night Smokin’ On The Row will be held Wednesday, April 24 from 6 p.m.-10 p.m. at Douglas Corner on 8th Ave. S. in Nashville. The event will feature performances from Ashlyn Grayce, Judy Paster, Antonio Moraes, Taylor Hughes, Earl Bud Lee, Gary Cotton, Matt Wynn, Alex Dooley, Tyler Tymes, Ryan Nicholson, Alisha Pace, Kyle Sturrock, Kason Lester, Jason Goolesby, Luke Austin and more. The event will also feature complimentary BBQ.

 

Larkin Poe Team With LR Baggs For Video Series

Larkin Poe has joined the LR Baggs Presents series, with three live performances filmed in Nashville. For the series, Larkin Poe’s Rebecca and Megan Lovell offer renditions of “Beach Blonde Bottle Blues,” a cover of “Black Betty,” and “Might As Well Be Me.” The session was directed and edited by Mike Luckett, with camera work by Dave Johnson and audio mixing from David Brubaker.

 

 

Joshua Singleton has signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Combustion Music in partnership with King Pen Music. Singleton began touring throughout Europe in 2001 performing Blues and Americana music. Upon returning stateside, Singleton lived and played in Asheville, North Carolina until 2017, when he moved to Nashville.

Combustion Music’s Chris Van Belkom said, “We’ve been following Joshua for a while now, so when he told us he was moving to Nashville we jumped at the chance to work with him.  His unique voice and commercial writing style are exactly what we look for in a songwriter. Additionally, we had been looking for an opportunity to collaborate with Kelly and King Pen on a writer together, and Joshua was the perfect fit for that alliance.”

Kelly King stated, “I am so proud to be partnering with a great company like Combustion, and we are beyond excited to be a part of Joshua’s journey as a writer. I think his versatility as a writer is going to earn him a really special place in this industry.”

Joshua joins Combustion Music’s roster, which includes Matt Jenkins, Matthew West, Jameson Rodgers, Anthony Olympia of Everette, Brett Tyler, Bones Owens, AJ Pruis, Leanna Crawford, Lukr, Johnny McGuire, Jordan Walker and Sam Bergeson.

Sheryl Crow Releases Poignant “Redemption Day” Video Duet With Johnny Cash

Scott Borchetta‘s Big Machine Label Group has released the first new music since signing the incomparable Sheryl Crow. “Redemption Day” is a poignant song written and released by Crow in 1996. Johnny Cash recorded his version shortly before his 2003 death, so moved by the meaning in the lyric. The Valory Music Co. has simultaneously released the record single of the newly combined duet and music video, which was directed by Shaun Silva.

“As a mom of two young kids, I see that our kids watch what we do on their behalf and how we shape their future,” said Crow. “They’re privy to everything visual, especially now, and there’s no way to shield your children from the roughness of reality. If we could see the world through a child’s eyes, we would make different decisions.”

Read MusicRow‘s exclusive reporting on the song’s announcement at MusicRow.com.

 

Lee Ann Womack Reinvents Tinseltown Romance For “Hollywood” Music Video

Refinery29 has exclusively released the music video for “Hollywood,” Lee Ann Womack‘s second single from the Grammy nominated The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone (ATO Records).

Directed by Chris Ullens (Rex Orange County, Fergie), the video features custom-made dolls and stop-motion animation set to the moody and mournful tune of faded love, all paired with romanticized footage of California landmarks like the Hollywood sign, desert motels, and wind farms.

Womack teased the video on her socials this week with a series of movie posters featuring quotes from her friends Reba McEntire, Buddy Miller, Brothers Osborne, Rodney Crowell and Willie Nelson.

Lee Ann Womack’s Upcoming Tour Dates:
Friday, May 3 – Musical Instrument Museum – Phoenix, AZ
Wednesday, May 29 – Cactus Cafe – Austin, TX
Thursday, May 30 – Cactus Cafe – Austin, TX
Friday, May 31 – Cheatham Street Warehouse – San Marcos, TX
Wednesday, July 3 – J.M. Caldwell Sr. Community Park – Princeton, TX
Saturday, August 10 – Sugar Creek Casino – Hinton, OK
Friday, October 4 – City Winery – Chicago, IL
Saturday, October 5 – City Winery – Chicago, IL

Rodney Atkins celebrated his upcoming album, Caught Up In The Country, this week at a gathering at Nashville’s ONE at Cannery Row. Atkins’ first new album in eight years comes out May 10. The Curb Records crew also celebrated the success of his 2011 album, Take A Back Road, along with Atkins’ co-writers.

Atkins supposes he started making Caught Up In The Country around 2014. He wed fellow artist Rose Falcon—whose presence on the album is undeniable—in 2013.

“A lot of it was me writing with Rose,” Atkins tells MusicRow. “We met in 2012 and obviously started trying to write songs together. It kind of didn’t work [at first] because we wanted it to be the end-all, be-all of all songs. That process took a while for us to figure out we needed to just write a freaking song. Once we clicked, man, it changed everything. It changed how I wrote with other people. So it was constant from 2014.”

“My Life,” which was released early, is a direct implantation from Rose’s life onto the album. It is inspired by her grandparents’ 71-year marriage, and written when her grandmother passed in 2017.

 

Known for his father-son hits like “Watching You” and “He’s Mine,” Atkins continues the story on Caught Up In The Country with “Young Man.”

“So we had ‘Watching You,’ and then ‘He’s Mine,’ so that’s young, teenage boy getting in trouble,” he said. “And then this is the next place for where [my son] Eli is at. Saying, ‘It’s okay, quit trying to be cool and just be where you are.’ It definitely is a purposeful message to him—and to me!”

Atkins also includes his version of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up” on the album. “I’ve heard other people cover that song before but they’re pretty much just trying to do Isbell, and I knew I couldn’t do Isbell,” he said. “I had to hopefully make it my own thing, and not even try to be him because what he does is unbelievable.”

Atkins worked with Ted Hewitt again on this record, and brought on Blake Bollinger on to do a few tunes, as well.

“Two of my secret weapons when making records are Kim Keyes and Vicki Hampton. They are singing on several songs to make it big, and then Rose would come in and she would keep it in Williamson County,” he quips. “There’s a couple duets on there, she’s singing on almost everything.”

Caught Up In The Country is available for pre-order now.