The St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund announced their first ever virtual benefit concert, “Highway to Hope,” which will take place on Sunday, May 16 from 6-8 p.m. CST.

Award-winning country singer Wynonna Judd will headline this event along with fellow country artists Heath Sanders, John Schneider, Billy Dean, Lindsay Lawler. The show will also be hosted by one of the trucking industry’s most well-known voices and host of Radio Nemo, Jimmy Mac.

“The first ever Highway to Hope benefit concert will be a fun virtual event bringing our industry together, at a time when we are far apart, to raise support for SCF and our highway heroes with amazing artists that want to give back to this industry. We hope you will join us for a night of music and celebration,” says Director of Philanthropy and Development Shannon Currier.

Truck drivers are essential workers who spend long durations away from home, work irregular hours, and are often unable to get to a clinic, pharmacy, or hospital. The St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund is a truck driver charity organization who aims to help over-the-road and regional semi-truck drivers and their families when an illness or injury has caused them to be out of work.

Tickets for the benefit concert are available for $20 (plus a $2 transaction fee) on the SCF website, and donations can also be made during the live event. A portion of the ticket proceeds will go directly to the SCF to support truck drivers in need. Individual ticket purchasers in the US will receive a free CD from the NASTC Grand O Trucking Show which includes Nashville singer-songwriters and music that celebrates the trucking industry.

Any company interested in sponsoring the event or matching funds raised for this event can contact Currier at shannon@truckersfund.org.

To wrap up Women’s History Month, the AIMP Nashville Chapter will be hosting the “Legendary Women of Music Row” webinar this Thursday (April 1) at 4:30 p.m. CST.

During the webinar, a handful of panelists and pioneers will discuss how they made a name for themselves in Nashville’s music industry with moderator and country music historian Dale Dodson. Guest speakers include publishing executive Celia Froehlig; President & Owner, Wrensong Entertainment, Ree Guyer; Founder & Owner, Judy Harris Music, Judy Harris; and Chief Creative Officer, SMACKSongs, Robin Palmer.

The online event is free for all AIMP members and $5 for non-members. Registration information can be found here.

The Cadillac Three teamed up with Red Bull and Music Venue Alliance Nashville (MVAN) last week and transformed the Exit/In into a pop-up skatepark, filming a music video and offering socially-distanced skate lessons.

The three-day event featured nine skate crews from Nashville, Chattanooga and Memphis had the opportunity to ride custom-built features and listen to live sets from local DJs. A music video for their song “Bridges” was filmed and will release in April. The track is on featured on their latest record Tabasco & Sweet Tea.

“I grew up skateboarding, so I thought it was a really cool thing to be a part of, and Exit/In is our favorite place,” says TC3 lead vocalist Jaren Johnston.

TC3 has continued to support local venues throughout the pandemic, raising awareness through #SAVEOURSTAGES over the past year. They live-streamed concerts through Country Fuzz Presents, in an effort to support local venues through the pandemic.

“Independent music venues are the soul of our city,” says Chris Cobb, owner of Exit/In and president of MVAN, whose mission is to fiercely protect Nashville’s 15 independent music venue owners, operators and the ecosystem surrounding these notable properties. “Pretty quickly we realized it was existential and most of us realized we would go out of business if we didn’t do something about it,” he says. “Thus far we’ve been successful. We’ve been able to fend it off through fundraising initiatives, grant programs and a streaming series. That’s allowed us to collectively pool our resources and our talents to raise enough funds that we can all pay our bills.”

TC3 also recently announced that they have added a second night at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in September, celebrating their tenth anniversary as a band.

“For the three of us, being born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee has always been special. We’ve worn it as a badge of honor all around the world, and if we had written down the dream scenario for how to celebrate our 10-year anniversary, it would have been by playing a show to all our fans, friends and family at the Ryman Auditorium in our hometown,” says drummer Neil Mason. “To have the first night sell out and add a second night … that’s as good as it gets. We can’t wait for Sept. 1 and 2!”

Tickets for the September 1 and 2 shows are available now.

To keep fans protected, the Ryman Auditorium strictly complies with safety regulations that include socially distanced seating, enhanced cleaning practices and mandatory masks for all.

Aspiring country trio, Lockeland, has announced they are dissolving after three years together.

The trio, made up of Mark Vikingstad, Michael Boris and Kyndon Oakes, released their debut single “Til’ The Cows Come Home” in March 2019, landing it in the top 40 on MusicRow‘s CountryBreakout Radio Chart. The band has since released “Drive,” “These Hands,” “Keep Us Young,” and most recently “Made For Mornings.”

Lockeland has shared the stage with Big & Rich, Kip Moore, Josh Turner, LANCO, Morgan Evans and Logan Mize.

The band will release a final single, “Blackberry Whiskey,” to all digital platforms on April 30.

“We are so appreciative of the support all of our fans and the music community has offered to us,” says Lockeland. “Our hope is that the music we recorded together will continue to bring joy to those who hear it. At the present time, we do not know where our individual paths may lead, but we are extremely grateful for the journey together. We want our fans to know that we are closing this beautiful chapter in our careers, as friends. As we always have been.”

David Tucker Signs With 117 Entertainment

Newcomer country artist David Tucker has signed with 117 Entertainment for publicity and distribution. Tucker recently released his debut single “Lyin’.” The Kentucky native draws on his influences of ’90s country and gospel as well as rap and rock & roll to create a modern country sound used to tell his story of the past few years. Tucker announced plans to releasing new music soon.

“These songs are the stories of my life the past few years. It’s an amazing feeling to finally put them out into the world. I couldn’t be more thankful for the people who helped me bring this vision to life and for all the love and support along the way. I’m fired up for the world to hear this music,” says Tucker.

 

Grammy Nominated Songwriter Rick Lang Signs With Bluegrass Label, Dark Shadow Recording

Grammy-nominated songwriter Rick Lang has joined forces with Nashville based bluegrass label, Dark Shadow Recording. Lang’s first album under the label, A Tale To Tell, is set to be released in the fall of 2021. The lead single from this project, “Lost Town” is available now and features James Keel on lead vocals. This track shares the true story recollection of the 1930’s flooding of four Massachusetts towns to create to Quabbin Reservoir, which provided drinking water for Boston.

“After reading transcripts of one of the town residents I was moved to write this song and tell the story based on recollections of this life changing event,” shares Lang.

As the story-song album finishes wrapping up production, Lang is set to release several singles in the coming months.

 

Time Life, THE SONG Partner To Release Exclusive Performances

Time Life and the nationally-syndicated television series THE SONG are setting off on a new partnership to release live performances recorded exclusively for the show. The two companies will also work together to develop enhanced content for THE SONG‘s YouTube channel, including unreleased footage.

These performances will be available to stream on all major platforms and will feature artists who appeared on the shows first season, including All-4-One, Big & Rich, Cee Lo Green, Lonestar, and Rick Springfield.