Thomas Rhett Adds Canadian Dates To ‘Bring The Bar To You Tour’

Thomas Rhett is taking his “Bring The Bar To You Tour” into Canada in February, extending the tour with 10 Canadian dates through Feb. 25. Jordan Davis and Kameron Marlowe will open the shows.

Tickets for the new dates will be available for purchase beginning Aug. 26 at thomasrhett.com/.

“It’s been an absolute blast being back out on the road this summer and we are so excited to take the tour to Canada next year,” Rhett shares. “It feels like forever since we were last able to play for those fans. They always bring an insane amount of energy and we cannot wait to get up there and see them again.”

Rhett is currently on the first stretch of his “Bring The Bar To You Tour,” which will visit Shoreline Amphitheatre, Toyota Amphitheatre, and North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre this weekend across the state of California.

“Bring The Bar T0 You Tour” Canadian Dates:
2/9/2023 – Vancouver, BC –  Rogers Arena
2/11/2023 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
2/12/2023 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
2/16/2023 – Saskatoon, SK – SaskTel Centre
2/17/2023 – Regina, SK – Brandt Centre
2/18/2023 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
2/21/2023 – London, ON – Budweiser Gardens
2/22/2023 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
2/24/2023 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
2/25/2023 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre

Chris Young & Mitchell Tenpenny Find The Top Of The Charts ‘At The End Of A Bar’

Mitchell Tenpenny & Chris Young. Photo: Matthew Berinato

This week, multi-Platinum entertainer Chris Young and Riser House/Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville recording artist Mitchell Tenpenny have taken their “At The End Of A Bar” collaboration to the top of the Billboard and Country Aircheck/Mediabase country radio charts.

Included on Young’s Famous Friends (Deluxe Edition), the track marks the singer-songwriter’s 13th No. 1 single as an artist and his 11th trip to the top as a songwriter. Meanwhile, the single also notches Tenpenny’s second No. 1 as an artist and as a songwriter.

Young, Tenpenny and Chris DeStefano wrote “At The End Of A Bar” in February 2021 during a Nashville snowstorm. “It’s a true testament to never skip a day of work because you never know what you might write,” Young says. “It’s also a hell of a lot of fun to sing, and Mitchell Tenpenny and I had entirely too much fun stacking vocals on this, so we had to make it a duet.”

“I’m just so excited to have a number one with this song. It’s a special song and a great story about how it was written. Even cooler to have it with some of my best buddies,” shares Tenpenny. “Chris has become one of my best friends, so to get to celebrate this together is special in itself. And I can’t express enough how amazing Chris DeStefano is. His talent and his energy in the room is unmatched. We’ve written some of my favorite songs together and I’m just honored to share a No. 1 with these incredible men.”

“At The End Of A Bar” is the follow-up to Young’s multi-Platinum, multi-week No. 1, “Famous Friends” with Kane Brown.

Bobby Bones Launches Sports Podcast, ’25 Whistles’

Multi-media star Bobby Bones is now talking all things football with the launch of his new podcast, 25 Whistles With Bobby Bones (A Football Podcast).

The new podcast, sponsored by DraftKings Sportsbook, is a limited 25-episode series centered around college and NFL football. The first two episodes are available now and will be released every Friday leading up to The Super Bowl.

“It’s been about a decade since my last sports show, so this is me coming out of retirement, off the bench, back to first string…all the puns,” says Bones. “I have some of my friends chatting with me, so it’s like what we do normally, just with microphones and a lot of cool new guests.”

Joining Bones are his sports-obsessed friends, singer-songwriter Adam Hambrick, Kickoff Kevin and Producer Eddie. The inaugural episodes feature legendary sports broadcaster Dan Patrick, Bones’ home team favorite Arkansas Head Coach Sam Pittman, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, and Upperhand Fantasy Football’s Faraz Siddiq. Guests on future episodes will include Vanderbilt University’s head football coach Clark Lea and comedian Michael Rapaport.

Along with the new podcast episodes, fans can catch Bones every Monday night as the host of USA Network’s new series, “Snake In The Grass,” a show that tests the limits of participants as they complete challenges while aiming to figure out which person is the “snake” sabotaging the competition.

Bones is the host of the nationally syndicated iHeartRadio program The Bobby Bones Show, which broadcasts to over 185 stations and is the No. 1 country morning show with millions of monthly listeners. The show is a two-time CMA Award winner, four-time ACM Award winner and earned Bones the honor of being the youngest-ever inductee into the prestigious National Radio Hall of Fame.

Maren Morris & Zedd Join Forces Once Again For ‘Make You Say’ Collab

Maren Morris & Zedd. Photo: Sophia Matinazad

Grammy-winning entertainer Maren Morris and producer Zedd have reunited on their new collaboration, “Make You Say,” featuring production duo BEAUZ.

Written by Zedd, Morris, BEAUZ, Charlie Puth and Jacob Kasher Hindlin, the track follows the duo’s six times Platinum-certified hit collab from 2018, “The Middle,” which has accumulated more than four billion streams worldwide.

YouTube video

“I loved working with Zedd again on ‘Make You Say’ after such a thrill ride with ‘The Middle,’” Morris shares. “It’s such a vibey melody and making the music video was definitely a first for me as far as choreography and animation go. The fans are gonna flip.”

“I started working on this record with Beauz about three or four years ago,” Zedd adds. “We went back and forth slowly, refining the production over the years, and then Charlie and I got in the studio and wrote the topline for the track. Maren recorded a demo of it and sounded phenomenal, so I met her in Nashville, and we recorded the final vocal to ‘Make You Say’ and she took the song to a whole new level. ‘Make You Say’ is the kickoff of a new chapter for me and I can’t wait for the world to hear it.”

Morris’ new album, Humble Quest, is out now and she’s currently making her way around North American on her headlining tour. For a full list of upcoming dates, click here.

Eric Church Releases Previously Exclusive ‘&’ Album To The Public

Eric Church. Photo: Anthony D’Angio

Eric Church fans everywhere can now enjoy the middle installment of his Heart & Soul triple album. The country superstar’s album, which was previously available only to his Church Choir fan club, is now available on CD, black vinyl and digitally.

Along with the moving “Through My Ray Bans,” dedicated to the fans he played for at Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival, the album also features four new songs–“Do Side,” “Kiss Her Goodbye,” “Mad Man” and “Lone Wolf”–plus his latest single, “Doing Life With Me.”

Like the successful bookends Heart and Soul& is the result of Church’s time spent sequestered in North Carolina, writing and recording a song a day for nearly a month. The project earned a Best Country Solo Performance Grammy nomination, and also landed atop the Billboard charts.

Church replaced himself at the top of the all-genre Top Album Sales chart in back-to-back weeks, with all three albums landing in the top 10 concurrently. He became the first country artist to simultaneously occupy the two top spots on the Billboard Vinyl Albums chart since its inception in 2011 with Soul and &, respectively.

& Track List
Through My Ray-Bans (Eric Church, Luke Laird, Barry Dean)
Doing Life With Me (Eric Church, Casey Beathard, Jeffrey Steele)
Do Side (Eric Church, Casey Beathard)
Kiss Her Goodbye (Eric Church, Casey Beathard)
Mad Man (Eric Church, Casey Beathard)
Lone Wolf (Eric Church, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell)

Willie Morrison Signs With Edgehill Music Publishing Nashville

Pictured (L-R): Randy Brown (Prime Focus Management), Tara Joseph (Edgehill), Willie Morrison, Julia Keefe (Edgehill), Josh Joseph (Edgehill)

Willie Morrison has signed a global publishing deal with Edgehill Music Publishing.

The Washington, D.C. native co-wrote “I Smoke Weed,” by Brothers Osborne and Ashland Craft on Hardy’s Hixtape project, as well as Craft’s “Make it Past Georgia,” which has surpassed 12 million streams on Spotify.

Morrison’s co-writers include Ben Johnson, Fraser Churchill, Jon Robert Hall, Craft, Lee Starr, and Maddie Poppe.

“From the first meeting, I knew that Willie was a writer I would love to work with,” says Edgehill Head of A&R Julia Keefe. “Between his drive and ability to craft a song across multiple genres, his addition to the Edgehill roster felt like a no brainer. We are so excited to have him a part of the family!”

“I’m so happy to be partnering with Edgehill,” adds Morrison. “I’m a believer that great people build great companies, and Edgehill embodies that philosophy. The best is yet to come, and there’s no one I’d rather do it with than the amazing team at Edgehill.”

Chart Action: Parker McCollum Scores Most-Added Distinction

Parker McCollum. Photo: Jim Wright

MCA Nashville artist Parker McCollum is most added this week on the Mediabase and MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio charts with his single “Handle On You.” He gained 49 new station adds on Mediabase and 9 on MusicRow, where he debuted at No. 69.

“Handle On You” was written by McCollum and Monty Criswell with Jon Randall producing the track. The track about reeling from a doomed relationship captures the emotions of grappling with trying to let go of someone you loved.

“I know I have written quite a few songs about heart break and drinking. So here’s another one,” says McCollum.

For more chart data, click here to view the latest edition of The MusicRow Weekly.

Ben Burgess’ Debut Album, ‘Tears The Size Of Texas,’ Slated For September

Ben Burgess. Photo: Chris Hornbuckle

Ben Burgess will release his debut Big Loud album, Tears The Size of Texas, on Sept. 30. In celebration of the upcoming project, Burgess has re-released a solo version of the Diplo hit “Heartbreak.”

The 10-track collection features twangy weepers like the already-released title track, the tent revival throwdown “Sick and Tired,” the blatant “Kill A Man,” and the autobiographical “Started A Band.” Writers contributing to the album include Jessie Jo Dillon, Kevin Kadish, Brandy Clark, and more.

“I’d given up on the dream of being an artist,” Burgess admits. “I always wanted to do it and felt like I could, but the pieces never aligned. I feel like you can hear this triumphant thing on the songs that says, ‘I’m here.’ It was about just letting go and finding my lane. It’s just me. It’s where I grew up, what I’ve seen; it’s three or four-minute movies every track you turn. It’s a world and a sound.”

Burgess is currently opening amphitheaters for fellow Texan Koe Wetzel through the end of August, bringing the soon-to-be-released record to packed-out crowds. This fall he will open on select dates of Warren Zeiders‘ “Up To No Good Tour,” then rejoins Wetzel and Jelly Roll for their “Role Models Tour.”

Tears the Size of Texas Track List:
1. Tears the Size of Texas (writers: Ben Burgess, Josh Kerr)*
2. White Picket Fence (writers: Ben Burgess, Kevin Kadish)*
3. When We Die (writers: Ben Burgess, Josh Kerr)*
4. Jackson (writers: Ben Burgess, Brandy Clark, Jessie Jo Dillon, Jesse Frasure)*^
5. High Road (writers: Ben Burgess, Ryan Beaver, Kevin Kadish, Randy Montana)*
6. Heartbreak (writers: Ben Burgess, Jacob Durrett, Ashley Gorley)*
7. Kill A Man (writers: Ben Burgess, Kevin Kadish)*
8. Sick and Tired (writers: Ben Burgess, Jacob Davis, Josh Kerr)*
9. Started A Band (writers: Ben Burgess, Chris LaCorte, Hunter Phelps)*
10. Ain’t Got No Phone (written by Ben Burgess)+
* produced by Joey Moi
+ produced by Ben Burgess
^ co-produced by Jesse Frasure

Tyler Hubbard On The Journey To Becoming A Solo Artist [Interview]

Pictured: Tyler Hubbard rehearses for first solo tour. Photo: Devin Groody

In January of 2021, multi-Platinum duo Florida Georgia Line announced on social media that they would be releasing their own music as individuals. Though rumors swirled that the two were breaking up, the duo’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard maintained that they weren’t, but that they were exploring their creativity as solo artists.

By April, Kelley had partnered with Warner Music Nashville to release an EP, BK’s Wave Pack. In June of 2021 he doubled down, releasing a 17-song project inspired by his beach-side upbringing, Sunshine State Of Mind. Now, after aligning with Big Machine Label Group in June of 2022, Kelley is releasing more new music.

During most of that time, Hubbard kept his head down, continuing to write with and for other artists, while spending some time in the producer’s chair on projects such as Lathan Warlick‘s My Way EP. For a while it was unclear if Hubbard would make a run at a solo career or not.

“It was very unexpected. BK came to me in 2020 and just expressed his desire and need to go do a solo thing. At first I was a little surprised and didn’t fully understand it, but I thought, ‘I really want to support him, so I’ll just take a step back and be a stay-at-home dad and a songwriter,'” Hubbard shares. “That seemed pretty incredible to me at the time, and it was. I did that for probably eight months. Then I realized there was a big piece of this that I really love and was really missing: making music, recording records, being on tour and doing the artist side of things.”

Pictured (L-R) Jimmy Rector, EMI; Lori Christian, UMGN; Tyler Hubbard; Cindy Mabe, UMGN; Gary Borman, Borman Entertainment; Erik Peterson, Borman Entertainment

Hubbard said it took an impromptu, non-business meeting with industry veteran Gary Borman—who has long managed the careers of Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton—to help show him the way to becoming a solo artist.

“I was in Sun Valley about a year ago. That’s where my wife grew up, so we were hanging out with one of our close family friends. One afternoon, our friend asked me, ‘How’s it going with FGL? What’s going on?’ I was filling her in and she said, ‘You need to meet my friend Gary.’ I was leaving Sun Valley the day after, so I said, ‘I can this afternoon if he happens to be available.’ At the time I didn’t even put two and two together on who Gary was or the fact that he was a manager.

“I went to his house and I sat in his living room for a couple hours. I just spilled my heart and told him my story. We chatted for a couple hours and connected. He was very content managing who he is managing. He wasn’t looking for more artists, but once we met and we connected, we both felt excited and energized.”

After leaving Borman’s house, Hubbard called him to see if he was interested in working together. Borman agreed and the two were off to the races.

“I would say that was pretty much the beginning of me processing [being a solo artist] and feeling supported and enabled to put together a project and to really pursue the artist thing 110%,” Hubbard says. “Once I started feeling that support, I was quickly energized and my creativity was re-lit. I found my passion again. I started transitioning my head space into writing for me and what I wanted my solo project to be like.”

In May of 2022, news broke that Hubbard had signed with UMG’s EMI Nashville, and that he was working on a solo project. He released his first solo single, “5 Foot 9,” later that month. The track has done extremely well at country radio, earning 157 first week adds across the Billboard, Mediabase, and MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart. It has garnered almost 90 million LTD streams and has reached the top 15 at radio.

“It’s definitely a lot of the same energy and excitement of being a new artist,” Hubbard says. “Like I said, my passion has been reignited. I’ve been feeling the new artist energy. It’s been really fun because it was unexpected. Considering that I have somewhat of a foundation already, and I’m not struggling day-to-day to make ends meet, there’s a little bit lower level of stress. I’m really just trying to soak it up and enjoy it.

“When FGL was coming up, we were going so hard that I don’t think we took time to really sit back and enjoy what we had accomplished until COVID hit. That sounds crazy, but we just went so hard for 10 years. So now I’m really trying to remember that and take it in stride and enjoy each success and each moment.”

Once Hubbard, with the help of Borman and his team at UMG, got a clear view of his path forward as a solo artist, he began writing for his debut solo project with a new lens of creativity.

“With this new perspective and this new lens of looking at a career, picking songs and putting an album together, there is this level of being able to go more personal [than we could on FGL songs]. There’s that freedom in the writing room. I still felt it before, but it’s definitely on a new level now, especially when the intention is writing for me. It enables me to pull from life experience. We can make it more obvious and not have to use analogies, different images or different people.

“This has been a season of self discovery,” he adds. “Inevitably, when you’re wanting to tell your story, it requires you to take a deeper look into your life. I had to ask myself, ‘What do I want to sing about? What do I want to talk about? How do I want my music to impact people?’ That has been a lot of fun.”

Hubbard released his 6-song EP, Dancin’ In The Country, on Friday (Aug. 19). The project includes “5 Foot 9,” the good time track “Everybody Needs A Bar,” a swanky “Baby Gets Her Lovin’,” and the title track, which is fit for a modern country line dance. Dancin’ In The Country was produced by Hubbard and Jordan Schmidt, with assistance from Jesse Frasure on “Baby Gets Her Lovin’.”

Hubbard also announced he will release his yet-to-be-titled debut solo album on Jan. 27, 2023.

He will take his new music on the road when he joins the fall leg of Urban’s “The Speed Of Now World Tour.” He says he’s really enjoying crafting a show for this phase of his career.

“It’s been a lot of fun. One of the biggest things I thought about when I was making this music was the live aspect of it, because I knew that I was going to be playing all these songs live, as opposed to making a sixth FGL album and only being able to play a couple of the songs live off the album,” he says. “Now to be rehearsing and be putting the show together for this Keith tour, it’s been a lot of fun. The band’s excited, the songs are coming together and it just feels great.”

Now, with his own music out in the world, Hubbard is grateful for the outlet him and Kelley have to tell their own stories.

“That’s the beauty of having this individual outlet,” he says. “We are able to tell stories on an individual and personal level and really go deeper. The fans loved FGL—what we were and what we represented. We were a good time and we were good dudes, but ultimately, we could only go so deep because of the dynamic of having two people. We chose to be respectful of one another’s life and just find common ground to sing about. This now allows us both to go deeper and to tell more of our personal stories.”

Sam Williams To Expand Debut Album With ‘Glasshouse Children: Tilted Crown’

Sam Williams. Photo: Alyssa Gafkjen

Singer-songwriter Sam Williams will release a deluxe version of his debut album, Glasshouse Children, on Oct. 14 via Mercury Nashville.

The expanded record, Glasshouse Children: Tilted Crown, features six new songs including “Ragdoll,” written by Williams with Femke Weidema and William Benjamin Roberts, which is available now.

“I felt some of the songs that didn’t make Glasshouse Children deserved their shine, while also wanting to provide new music before a second LP,” Williams explains. “Tilted Crown tells a little more story and lets the listener in just that much more.”

Glasshouse Children was released in August of 2021, serving as an introspective meditation on hurt and healing. Williams recorded the album primarily in Nashville with Jaren Johnston and other producers, such as 5x Grammy-nominated producer Paul Moak, Sean McConnell, Bobby Holland and more. The record features tracks such as “Happy All The Time (Feat. Dolly Parton),” “Kids (Feat. Keith Urban),” “10-4,” ”Can’t Fool Your Own Blood,” and more.

Williams, the grandson of country pioneer Hank Williams and the son of outlaw legend Hank Jr., will also be hitting the road across the pond in the UK with famed singer-songwriter Marty Stuart through September. For a full list of dates, click here.