By age 82, perhaps most people have long settled into their retirement years. But not Charlie Daniels.

This road warrior, frenetic fiddler, and hard-driving lead singer of the Charlie Daniels Band keeps setting new goals and exploring new creative outlets.

In August came Volunteer Jam XX: A Tribute To Charlie Daniels. In November, Daniels released the book Let’s All Make The Day Count: The Everyday Wisdom of Charlie Daniels (Thomas Nelson), which includes a 10-song accompanying CD by the same title.

“The only thing I’ve ever wanted to do was make music and be a professional musician,” Daniels tells musicrow.com. “I’ve been very blessed to get to do that. All the other stuff stems out from that.”

Perhaps his most interesting project came in October, with the release of a new 10-song album Beau Weevils–Songs In The Key Of E. For the project, Daniels teamed with a trio of longtime friends and fellow musicians, including Charlie Daniels Band bassist of 43 years Charlie Hayward, and Billy Crain (whose late brother Tommy was a CDB member) on guitar. James Stroud, who produced several of The Charlie Daniels Band’s hit albums including 1988’s Homesick Heroes, 1989’s Simple Man, 1991’s Renegade, and 1996’s The Roots Remain, spearheads the drums. Daniels, of course, lent his signature, vocals, guitar and fiddle work.

“I love the way James plays drums and the way this whole album is made, I wrote the songs in that framework of the way he plays,” Daniels says. “I call it playing on the backside of the beat, he has a relaxed feeling when he plays drums.”

Stroud was a studio musician when he first met Daniels several decades ago; over time he would also become a producer on those seminal CDB albums, and would spearhead production for artists including Tim McGraw and Clint Black. Later, Stroud made his mark on country music on the label side, spearheading Giant Records, DreamWorks Records Nashville, and serving as co-Chairman of UMG Nashville before launching the indie label Stroudavarious Records and later, R&J Records.

“We became friends through doing all those records and over the years we would talk, and he would say, ‘I wish there was something we could work on together again.’” Stroud says. “Less than a year ago, he called me up and said he had written a couple of songs. I went over to his house and he played me this song ‘Mudcat.’”

The song served as a catalyst for the album (which includes eight new tracks); the project was recorded over the course of three or four sessions at Daniels’ home studio outside of Nashville. As the four-man group would record, the session would inspire Daniels to pen more songs, and then regroup with Stroud, Crain, and Hayward to record more.

As deduced from the album title, all tracks were recorded in the key of E, though Daniels says that wasn’t intentional.

“They just lent themselves to being in that key, with that swampy sound,” Daniels says. “There is something special about the key of E, the way the open strings of the chord sounds. A lot of the old blues players played in that key.”

“We took a song at a time,” notes Stroud. “There is nothing electronic as far as loops or electronic overdubs on the record,” Stroud says. “So we wanted it to be the way we grew up playing music and the way we recorded records. All the overdubs and percussion I did by hand and that’s unheard of nowadays. As Charlie would play the songs for the musicians, we just let ourselves jam like we used to and fool with the music until it felt right. That was what was so much fun on the record.”

For Daniels, the tell-tale sign that it’s a good record comes from repeated listens.

“When I make a record, I usually finish it up and I’m on to something else. I don’t go back and listen to records a lot. But this record I’ve listened to more than any record I’ve recorded in a long time.”

The Raconteurs (Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler) are releasing their first new music in more than 10 years. The two new songs released by Third Man Records, “Now That You’re Gone” featuring Brendan Benson on lead vocals, and “Sunday Driver” with Jack White singing lead, are available digitally worldwide today (Dec. 19).

Both tracks are joined by companion videos that are being released, and the songs coincide with the delivery of the only physical version of the tracks available on 7″ vinyl as part of Third Man’s Vault Package #38 celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the bands’ acclaimed second album, Consolers Of The Lonely. Released in March 2008, Consolers Of The Lonely took its title from an inscription on the frieze of a Washington D.C. post office and proved a phenomenon, making a top 5 debut on the Billboard 200 on its way to earning the Grammy for “Best Engineered Non-Classical Album,” as well as a nomination as “Best Rock Album.”

“Now That You’re Gone” and “Sunday Driver” both stem from recent sessions for the long-awaited new Raconteurs LP, due out in 2019.

“We’re knee deep in the trenches of our first new album in a decade,” White said to Mojo Magazine. “We have a vast amount of genre-pushing songs that bridge the gap between Detroit and Nashville rock and roll. The album sounds like a World War. It’s great to be co-writing songs with Brendan Benson again, the man is a song craftsman.”

Lauren Duski performs. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow

Last month, singer/songwriter Lauren Duski was named part of CMT Next Women of Country’s current class.

In front of several of her music industry peers, the Michigan native offered a rendition of her first single, “Costume Party,” an uplifting and confessional ballad born from years she has spent overcoming self-doubt to pursue her dream of music.

Duski began performing at age seven, took up guitar at 13, and by her teens, she was balancing her schoolwork at a private Catholic school with evenings and weekend performances with a country band. Creative-yet-practical minded, Duski then put music on the back burner while she enrolled at University of Michigan. After initially pursuing a major in pre-dental, Duski earned her Bachelors in Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience in 2013.

“After graduating I thought, ‘If I don’t move to Nashville and try to pursue this dream, I’ll never forgive myself.’”

Even after arriving in Nashville, Duski struggled to find herself as a performer. “I was so nervous and I was dealing with a lot of self-confidence issues that I have no idea where they came from, and I let the opinions of others control me. I moved here five years ago, but after the first three years had gone by, I realized I didn’t have much to show for those years.”

In fact, Duski came very close to abandoning her hopes of a music career and returning to dental school—until The Voice came calling.

“It was a path I never envisioned for myself. I told my mom I was going back to dental school, and then I got a message two days later from The Voice to come audition.”

Lauren Duski with MusicRow Magazine Publisher/Owner Sherod Robertson. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow

After a successful blind audition with her rendition of Jewel’s “You Were Meant For Me,” Duski kept winning, ultimately being named Season 12’s runner up.

“The Voice was a crash course for me in confidence; I had no choice.” She says. “I was nervous at first, but you realize it’s one big family. The hardest part is not having a lot of creative control and you are just one of 98 people auditioning and there are a lot of producers involved. But I was on team Blake [Shelton] and he was such a champion for me. Blake was a hoot to work with and it was such a gift during that process. He’s got a heart of gold.”

While most artists who earned runner-up status would release a single immediately after the show to make the most of television exposure, Duski has taken her time to write, record and develop her craft and message.

“I’ve never been in the business of releasing music just to release music. I came off the show and there was a lot of ‘When is the single coming?’ And I didn’t have a single then. I had no idea what I wanted to say as a woman, as a young artist.”

Instead, she asked her music fans to share their experiences with her.

“I asked them to be my pen pal, and write me letters,” she says. “I expected 20, maybe 30 letters, but I got hundreds. That was my full-time job, just reading and responding to them. I couldn’t believe the vulnerability coming from complete strangers, just sharing their stories.

“It gave me the courage to open up in the room that day to write “Costume Party.” It’s for anyone who has ever felt uncomfortable in their own skin and I definitely am, most of the time. I’ll probably always be a work in progress and I’m finally feeling like that’s ok.”

During a visit to the MusicRow offices, Duski performed a trio of songs, including “Costume Party,” as well as the love song “Heart For good,” and “The Weather,” which was penned after Duski’s grandmother died just over a year ago.

“We knew it was coming because she was sick for a long time,” Duski recalls. “The hardest part about losing her is watching grandpa live life without her. When I came back from that trip a year ago I wrote ‘The Weather.'”

Earlier this year, Duski performed shows opening for Bobby Bones and Raging Idiots tour. Duski has a manager and is with WME for booking, but is currently not signed to a publishing or recording deal.

The fanbase she has earned since her time on The Voice won’t have to wait much longer for new music. Duski revealed plans to release her first EP, titled Midwestern Girl Part 1, in January 2019.

Lauren Duski with MusicRow staffers.

Brett Young wraps final week of CMT On Tour: Here Tonight Tour with Tyler Rich and Rachel Wammack in Louisville, KY (12/15)

Brett Young has debuted atop the country albums chart with his sophomore album, Ticket To L.A. (BMLG Records), which reached No. 1 following its release Dec. 7. Music Connect puts total consumption of the album in its first week at 36,257.

Last week in support of the new project Young visited the TODAY show for multiple performances including the album’s title track, and also stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform his new single. Fans can tune in to catch him perform on NBC’s New Year’s Eve from the Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville.

Ticket To L.A. follows Young’s blockbuster debut, which earned Platinum certification and yielded four consecutive No. 1 Platinum hits including the monster hit “In Case You Didn’t Know.”

Capping off a monumental year, Young just wrapped up the final week of CMT On Tour: Here Tonight Tour along with Tyler Rich and Rachel Wammack in Kansas City on Dec. 16.