In just under two years, Priscilla Block has gone from a hopeful singer-songwriter, grinding it out in Nashville’s songwriting circles, to a New Female Artist award nominee at the upcoming ACM Awards.

Her shot at country stardom came during a difficult time. In early 2020, Block was struggling to make ends meet after losing her job and her apartment. Without a place to play anymore due to the pandemic, she turned to TikTok to experiment with promoting her music, and soon started building a fan-base with her relatable lyrics and charm.

After uploading a snippet of “Just About Over You,” a tune about relapsing after nearly moving on from a tough breakup, Block’s fate was sealed. The song took off on the platform, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.

With the attention of multiple major labels, Block signed to UMG Nashville’s Mercury Nashville. The powerhouse label then shipped “Just About Over You” to country radio as her debut single.

“Brian Wright, Cindy Mabe and Mike Dungan have been the most supportive and encouraging people that I’ve ever met,” Block says of her new label home execs. “I’ll never forget when I signed with UMG, Cindy looked at me and she said, ‘Let me learn from you.’ That was the moment that I knew that I was in the right place, because no was trying to change me.”

Since then, Block has commanded the attention of the industry. She was named part of MusicRow‘s Next Big Thing Class of 2021, as well as many other artist to watch lists from Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, CMT, and more.

Today (Feb. 11) she releases her debut album, Welcome To The Block Party. Among the collection’s 12 songs, all co-written by Block, the bold new artist has set the tone for her career to be filled with vulnerable, honest songs—with a splash of sass.

On Welcome To The Block Party, Block tackles heartache with “Wish You Were The Whiskey,” personal set-backs with “Just About Over You,” self-assertiveness with “My Bar,” and no-holds-barred confidence with “Thick Thighs” and “Peaked In High School.”

“I’m a big Taylor Swift fan. I connect to artists that I feel like get me. People want to be around authentic people,” Block says of her songwriting. “All these songs are me: my experiences, and my life. It’s the way that I want my music to be. Where fans can relate to it and be like, ‘Holy crap. She’s just like me, she’s gone through this shit. She’s real.'”

Since Block entered the country music space, fans and members of the media have grabbed hold of her messages of self-love and body positivity. Her infectious anthem “Thick Thighs,” where Block sings “I can’t be the only one who likes extra fries over exercise,” is a big fan favorite.

When asked if she likes being known as the “body positive country artist,” Block owns it. “I take that as the biggest compliment ever. I’m a curvy girl and for so long, I didn’t love being a curvy girl. My body changed so much when I hit puberty and I spent so many years of my life hating my body and myself.

“When I wrote ‘Thick Thighs,’ that was one of the biggest moments that changed my artistry. It changed who I was as a person. It was like a switch for me. And people want to hear that, people need to hear that! It really gave me a lot of confidence to own that.

“At the end of the day, if you talk about your flaws in songs, or things that people might consider a flaw, they can’t call you out about it. If I see a magazine one day that says I’m fat, at least I have a song called ‘Thick Thighs!,'” she adds with a laugh.

Another moment of confidence and personal growth showcased on Welcome To The Block Party is “I Know A Girl,” featuring background vocals from one of the song’s co-writers, Hillary Lindsey.

“That song was something that I had never said before,” Block says. “I remember the day that I wrote it, Hillary Lindsay had just asked me, ‘Why are you the way that you are? You’re like my little sister, but I want to know more about you.’ We just started talking about my life and how I’m the life of the party, but that I’ve also gone through a lot.

“I feel like it’s an older sister talking to the younger me. It [represents] the idea that you don’t need anybody to get you through something. You got that in you. That’s really powerful.”

A stand out track on Block’s debut is her live-show ready, head bobber, “Ever Since You Left.” Reminiscent of fellow North Carolinian Luke Combs‘ “When It Rains It Pours,” Block lets her ex know that she’s been “having a hell of a time with you off my mind.”

Another great song, “Peaked In High School,” finds Block moving on from those in her past who didn’t believe in her. The music video interweaves clips of the singer as a child, dealing with bullying, with her all grown giving a victorious speech at graduation.

In the video, a text message appears that tells young Block that she would look “way hotter” if she “got slimmer.” The text was a real message Block received as a teen.

“I got a message from two of my guy friends telling me that I would be way prettier if I lost weight. We used that exact message that I got in that music video,” Block says.

“I wrote ‘Peaked In High School’ with some of my best friends. We were out in Ohio and ‘Just About Over You’ was blowing up. We were all just hanging out, talking about how I started hearing from people that I hadn’t heard from in forever. People that I could have sworn hated me in high school,” Block recalls. “There’s a lot of people that made me feel really bad about myself in high school, but now they are reaching out. It’s a good testament to be nice to people.”

But now, Block is far from her high school days and on top of the world. With her debut album out, a hit single, and her first ACM nomination, Block is on her way to being country music’s bold and hilarious it girl.

Wade Bowen’s annual charity concert, the two-day Shiner Bock Presents Bowen Musicfest 2022 Benefitting the Bowen Family Foundation, is set for April 9-10 at Baylor University’s McClane Stadium Touchdown Alley.

Performing along with Bowen on Saturday, April 9 are Parker McCollum and Deana Carter. Sunday, April 10 will feature performances from Lainey Wilson and Shenandoah, plus the Wade Bowen & Friends All Star Jam featuring William Clark Green, Randy Rogers, Carter, Casey Donahew, Josh Abbott, Jamie Lin Wilson, Stoney Larue, Lee Roy Parnell and more surprise guests.

“When we launched our annual Bowen Musicfest and Bowen Classic golf tournament, I never dreamed that we’d still be at it twenty years and millions of dollars later,” reflects Bowen. “I’m so proud of the way my family, friends and hometown continue to step up with hearts and hands to help make Waco a better place. At the Bowen Family Foundation, we believe that Music Heals and I can’t wait to see the good we can do for the community with this incredible group of musicians joining us in April.”

With funds raised by the annual Bowen Musicfest, the Bowen Family Foundation has helped children and families in and around Waco through beneficiaries such as March of Dimes Waco, CASA of McLennan & Hill Counties, City of West Disaster Relief, Boys & Girls Clubs of Waco, Inspiración, The Mentoring Alliance and more.

Noah Schnacky has released his new album, Thoughtfully Reckless, on Big Machine Records, available everywhere now.

The songs on Thoughtfully Reckless captures Schnacky’s search for love and happiness on tracks such as “Wherever You Are,” the infectious collaboration with Jimmie Allen “Don’t You Wanna Know,” and the vulnerable “Meet The Man.” The record wraps with “Every Girl I’ve Ever Loved,” which has proven to be a fan favorite with over 47 million total global streams.

“This collection is raw and hopeful,” shares Schnacky. “Sometimes it’s hard to put out there but it’s authentically everything I’ve been through myself, put in chronological order. I just hope that it connects. I hope someone hears this music and feels like they’re not alone, and it leaves them uplifted.”

To promote the album, Schnacky will host a livestream from backstage at the Grand Ole Opry tonight (Feb. 11) at 7:30 p.m. CT on TalkShopLive. Throughout the night, fans can chat with the singer-songwriter and have exclusive access to signed copies of his new album.

Schnacky has garnered over 92 million streams with his self-titled EP. His self-released “Hello Beautiful” skyrocketed to over one million streams in just eight days, which helped him land his deal with Big Machine.

Thoughtfully Reckless Track List:
1. “Wherever You Are” | Troy Cartwright, Benjy Davis, Daniel Ross
2. “Hello Beautiful” (2020 Version) | Noah Schnacky, Zachary Hall, Jodi Marr, Johnny Reid
3. “Don’t You Wanna Know” w/ Jimmie Allen | Noah Schnacky, Josh Dorr, Dylan Guthro
4. “Feels Like Love” | Noah Schnacky, Ross Copperman, Matt Rogers
5. “Maybe We Will” (2020 Version) | Noah Schnacky, JT Harding, Ilya Toshinskiy
6. “I’ll Be The One” | Noah Schnacky, Seth Ennis, Jordan M. Schmidt
7. “Last Name” | Noah Schnacky, Nelly Joy, Jason Reeves
8. “Meet The Man” | Noah Schnacky, Jake Rose, Jordan M. Schmidt
9. “Where’d You Go” | Noah Schnacky, Mark Holman, Tommy Lee James
10. “She Broke My Heart” | Noah Schnacky, Lindsay Rimes, Laura Veltz
11. “Comeback” | Noah Schnacky, JT Harding, Lindsay Rimes
12. “Every Girl I’ve Ever Loved” | Noah Schnacky, Josh Kear, Lindsay Rimes

For the first time in four years, Joe Nichols is releasing a new full-length project. Now with a new label home at the newly-formed Quartz Hill Records, Nichols released his tenth studio album, Good Day For Living, on Friday (Feb. 11).

Nichols joining Quartz Hill was a homecoming of sorts, as it reunited him with Benny Brown, who runs the label alongside Paul Brown and award-winning songwriter Jason Sellers. Nichols and Benny enjoyed two big hits, “Yeah” and “Sunny and 75,” together while Benny was at the helm of Broken Bow Records.

“It feels incredible to be back,” Nichols says. “It feels great to be back on the road, it feels great to be playing music for people. Recording new music has been amazing.”

Good Day For Living includes lead single, “Home Run,” written by award-winning songwriters Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson and Ross Copperman. The tune features Nichols’ signature baritone singing about needing to “hit a home run” after going through life’s less-than-celebratory moments.

Nichols says that leading with “Home Run” was key. “It has a strong melody that sticks in your head, but it also has a great message for right now. Everyone is feeling a little crazy, a little lost.

“It’s been wonderful working with Benny Brown again. He’s always been a believer in me. That’s another reason we chose ‘Home Run,'” Nichols adds. “Benny and I are back on a team again, and we’ve brought several people into the fold. We feel like we could all use a home run right now. We could all use something great to happen.”

In addition to reuniting with Benny, Nichols’ new project also finds the country singer working with producers Mickey Jack Cones and Derek George, for his 2013 album Crickets containing the Gold-certified hits “Sunny and 75” and “Yeah.”

“We had a great time together on Crickets,” Nichols says. “Those guys have such a great chemistry. They compliment each other very well. They have a good sense of my overall history of music and my catalog. They can say, ‘That doesn’t sound like you. This sounds like you.'”

The chemistry between Nichols, Cones, and George is heard on tunes such as “Brokenhearted,” an ironically hooky lament about modern country music, as well as the title track and next radio single, “Good Day for Living.”

“We started with great songs, we have great producers, and my job is not to screw it up,” Nichols quips.

Now, more than 25 years after his debut, Nichols has a well-rounded perspective on the music industry and how it has changed over the years.

“Some things have stayed the same. There’s still a need to go to radio and present them with hits, something they can play on their radio stations and have success with themselves. That’s still king,” Nichols says. “What’s changed, though, is you have a lot of guys and girls that for whatever reason don’t have what radio wants to hear or won’t give what radio wants to hear. But they’re finding success via all the other avenues, and having great careers. They’re selling a lot of tickets, streaming a lot of music, and building their brands in other ways.

“In a world where we have thousands of country singers that want to compete for 30 country radio spots, [having different avenues other than radio] is a great thing. You have so many other avenues that can give you a great career.”

But Nichols doesn’t think all change is good when it comes to country music.

“The music has changed quite a bit. Even in 2002, we could see that coming. In my opinion, one of country music’s greatest gifts was that it always had an identity of its own. It always was something you could identify out of all things,” he offers. “Along with that identity came this inferiority complex that we weren’t as legitimate as other genres, say rock or pop.

“So, either by leadership, musicians, [and/or] people who wanted to make money in country music, they stepped into country music and pulled it towards the other genres a little bit to try to fit in,” Nichols explains. “[Since then] country music has dominated a lot of categories in the music spectrum. It’s probably been the No. 1 format in a lot of ways with radio, sales, tickets, the number of artists, and more. So it’s certainly been successful, what has happened. But along the way, a little bit of that step-child mentality caught up with us. We’ve tried to mold into a lot of different genres at one time.

“That’s my rant, I hope it doesn’t offend people,” Nichols says with a laugh. “I should point out, too, I’m not innocent of this. I’m not standing on the perch going ‘Look what all of you have done.’ If it were up to me and I had no business sense whatsoever, I would make records that nobody would ever hear. I would make a record that would wind up in the 99 cent bin at Walmart or truck stops everywhere.”

Like many artists, the country traditionalist has found it hard to walk the line between art and commercialism.

“The hardest thing [I’ve dealt with] is how do you make peace with not only you artistically, but what people expect of yourself artistically? My experience has been that a lot of country fans feel like they get to know you, and they expect a certain kind of consistency of you,” Nichols says. “There’s a lot of pressure that comes from trying to be as consistent at possible with who I am artistically and who the fans expect me to be artistically, because I think they’re right. You have to find an acceptable compromise.”

Despite the challenge, Nichols mixes both quite well on Good Day For Living, out today (Feb. 11).

Ronnie Dunn has formed his own publishing company, Perfect Pitch Publishing. Braden Carney serves as VP of General Operations of the new company, and Haley Dunn is VP of Writer and Artist Relations.

The Perfect Pitch roster already includes writers Hayden Baker, Dakota Striplin, Ariel Boetel, and Thomas Perkins.

“I wanted to immerse myself into the incredibly talented writing community in Nashville and see how I might be able to help all writers, both young and old,” the veteran country entertainer says of the new venture.

Dunn has also unveiled some new solo music with the release of his brand new single, “Broken Neon Hearts.” The track was co-written by Perkins, Dunn and Matt Willis, and is the first single from his upcoming fifth solo album, 100 Proof Neon, due out this summer.

“This is a project that I’ve wanted to make for a long time,” adds Dunn. “I purposely reached for a late 80’s and 90’s country vibe… honkytonks, whiskey, neon lights, lost love, looking for love… twin fiddles, steel guitars, and string bending telecasters. 100% neon!”