The Mavericks are sending some love and relief to those in Texas affected by the recent hard times and weather disaster with the help of Casa Garcia’s Restaurants.

Fans in need can visit any of Casa Garcia’s six Austin-area locations and mention The Mavericks to receive a hot meal at no cost. Anyone wishing to support the cause may donate at bit.ly/MavsTexasRelief (please include note “Texas”), with all funds used to feed as many people as possible.

“Texas is near and dear to our hearts. It’s been a second home of this band for many years, and we’re proud to partner with our friends at Casa Garcia’s to give back to the place that has given us so much,” said The Mavericks. “We miss everyone there, and look forward to the day we see your faces again. Until then, we want to make sure no one goes without a meal in this time of need.”

The Mavericks are also set for the fourth episode of their web concert series this Saturday, Feb. 27. The show will feature music from the band’s En Español and Play The Hits albums, along with never-seen-before interviews.

 

Luke Combs‘ “Forever After All” debuts at No. 49 this week on MusicRow‘s CountryBreakout Radio Chart. It received 17 new station adds and had the highest increase in spins with a + 241. The single was written by Combs, Robert Williford, and Drew Parker.

Lauren Alaina‘s new duet with Jon Pardi, “Getting Over Him,” also debuted this week at No. 70.

Receiving the highest spin gain on the Mediabase chart, “Beers and Sunshine” by Darius Rucker reached No. 1 on both Mediabase and Billboard. 

“It’s certainly been a challenging year,” said Rucker. “Like a lot of people, when I got home from being on the road last March and we parked the tour bus for the foreseeable future, we had no idea what our future would actually look like. I don’t have the answers for how we fix the complex issues that we’re facing in our country or in country music, however while we work through this time I think it’s important that we balance the heaviness by finding the silver lining, where we can really enjoy the simple joys this song talks about like time spent together with friends and family.”

Old Dominion, Ashley McBryde, Lee Brice, and Scotty McCreery will help support the efforts to rebuild and restore Nashville’s Second Ave. neighborhood. The 2nd Ave Strong benefit, a star-studded, two-hour musical event will broadcast on NewsChannel5 from the Wildhorse Saloon on March 26.

Hosted by the DISTRICT, Inc. and the Metro Historical Commission Foundation, the event will raise money for the Second Avenue Restoration and Preservation fund to support the efforts to restore the Second Avenue neighborhood impacted by last year’s Christmas Day bombing, and the preservation of many of the city’s most treasured architectural landmarks and historical contributions.

In addition to the musical performances, the benefit will also take a look back on the important role Second Avenue has played in the history of Nashville. It will also include appearances by Nashville Mayor John Cooper and Governor Bill Lee, plus a tribute to heroic first responder law enforcement officers. The goal is to raise a milestone $2 million dollars towards the $10 million overall goal in supporting immediate and long-term restoration and preservation of the vitally important 2nd Avenue district.

“Giving back to the community speaks to the very heart of what we do every day through hospitality to our guests. The fact that we can join with the music industry to help rebuild this incredible neighborhood of an eclectic blend of artists, business owners, and community leaders is humbling,” said show producer Brian Schafer, general manager of the Wildhorse Saloon.

Revered music executive and philanthropist Joe Galante has established an endowment for Leadership Music with a $500,000 initial gift. The Joe Galante Leadership Music Preservation Fund has the potential to grow to $1 million, due to his generous offer to match dollar-for-dollar additional contributions totaling up to $250,000. Joining him in fundraising efforts are campaign co-chairs Christian/pop music star and humanitarian Amy Grant, and Universal Music Nashville CEO Mike Dungan, both alumni of Leadership Music.

This endowment is the first of its kind in the non-profit’s 32-year history and will ensure financial stability for the organization for years to come.

Galante, a founder of the organization, says the idea came about at a pre-Covid Leadership Music retreat. “The board was asked how we could ensure, going forward, that future leaders would always be guaranteed best practices for education, connection and leadership. In that moment the answer emerged–build an endowment. More recently with the pandemic leveling our business, I realized the urgency of the endowment and the need to act now, not only for the future of the organization but the future of our music business and its yet-to-emerge leaders.”

Galante knows the importance of mentorship, citing Frances Preston, Irving Waugh, and Jerry Bradley, as leaders who impacted his career. “The time they spent teaching and connecting me to others allowed me to grow and learn. That was a gift of enormous value.

“When the Founding Council of Leadership Music came together, led by Jim Ed Norman, it continued that process–silos were connected, and the organization helped Nashville…and the music industry…develop a deep bench,” Galante continues. “Over the years, I have seen members of my staff, colleagues and friends, and people I didn’t even know, become leaders in our field as a direct result of their Leadership Music experience, reinforcing my belief in this organization and its goals.”

Grant emphasized that in addition to her love of Leadership Music, she wanted to be involved because she has always been impressed with Galante’s generosity. She says, “Vince and I treasure our friendship with Joe, and my Leadership Music journey was unparalleled, so I instantly wanted to be involved in honoring both the man and the organization. Joe has such a huge heart and has given so generously to cancer research, animal welfare, music education and entrepreneurship, among many others. I am so pleased to join forces with Mike and Joe on this special endeavor.”

Dungan adds, “As any of the more than 1200 graduates will attest, Leadership Music is a one-of-a-kind industry accelerator. An eye-opening, life-changing, career-bending experience constructed to build lifelong friendships and working relationships. Leave it to the one-of-a-kind Joe Galante to see to it that this organization has the financial stability to keep going long into the future. Now it is up to all of us to accept Joe’s challenge and match these funds. I’m honored to have been chosen to co-chair this effort.”

Joe Galante took over as head of RCA Nashville in 1981. In 1990, he was named president of RCA Records in New York, and then returned to Nashville four years later as chairman of the RCA Label Group/Nashville, which eventually became Sony Music Nashville. Under his leadership the company thrived, adding imprints and bolstering the careers of Alabama, Kenny Chesney, The Judds, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert and Brad Paisley, to name a few. In April 2010, Galante announced his decision to step down from his post as chairman of Sony Music Nashville.

Leadership Music was founded in 1989 by 12 music industry executives who had graduated from Leadership Nashville. They included, in addition to Galante, Rick Blackburn, Tony Brown, Tom Collins, William Denny, Dale Franklin, Bruce Hinton, Bill Ivey, Joe Moscheo, Jim Ed Norman, Tandy Rice, and Roger Sovine.

Chris Young marked a major career milestone recently, surpassing the four billion streams mark for his catalog worldwide, which includes eleven No. 1 singles.

Young received word of the impressive total tally earlier this week while filming the soon-to-be-released “Famous Friends ” music video with Kane Brown and director Peter Zavadil.

Written by Young with Cary Barlowe and Corey Crowder during a tour stop in Tampa in 2018, the autobiographical tune mentions the counties where Young and Brown grew up in Tennessee, as well as Nashville’s Davidson County.

A tribute to the names, faces, and legendary stories that make up each hometown, “Famous Friends” brings the two friends back together after collaborating on Brown’s 2017 song “Setting The Night On Fire.” The song reunites the former tour mates from Young’s 2018 Losing Sleep headlining outing and is a full-circle moment for Brown since his first live concert as a young country fan was a Brad Paisley and Chris Young tour stop.

Over the course of his career Young has released seven albums in 15 years including Losing Sleep, his third project in less than two years. The title track is certified Platinum while “Hangin’ On” is his ninth No. 1 as a songwriter. Losing Sleep (2017) and I’m Comin’ Over (2015) debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart, and he was recently ranked in the Top 20 of Billboard’s top country artists of the decade.