Darius Rucker is celebrating his tenth trip to the top of the charts with latest single, the upbeat “Beers And Sunshine.”

Written during a Zoom session with producer Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne, and JT Harding at the onset of the pandemic, the anthem has been celebrated for its calls for slowing down to recognize the important things in life when the world feels out of control. It was recorded virtually from Rucker’s home.

“It’s certainly been a challenging year,” said the singer. “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.”

Rucker, who is currently at work on a forthcoming studio album, will perform the song this week when he appears live on NBC’s Today show Friday (Feb. 25).

Veteran singer-songwriter Bill Nash will release a new memoir, Saint Sinner Singer: An Unexpected, Redirected, Resurrected Life, on March 23.

Nash’s career has spanned across seven decades, and five major record labels. His songs have been recorded by Diamond Rio, Dolly Parton, Larry Gatlin, Reba McEntire, Wayne Newton, and Eddy Arnold. He and his wife and frequent songwriting partner Kim Nash, also founded Champions Kids Camp, a camp for survivors of traumatic events, in honor of their oldest son’s healing from Leukemia.

The autobiography will detail the ups and downs of Nash’s music career and personal life. From growing up on the road singing in his family’s band, his first meeting with Kris Kristofferson, his first record deal and writing songs for country music artists, to meeting his wife and the fearful times their family has endured, Saint Sinner Singer will take readers through the triumphs and struggles.

“Hope. If I could give everyone one gift by way of reading this book, it would be hope,” says Nash. “Sure, I love telling my stories about Kristofferson and Reba and everybody else I’ve been so fortunate to work with, but at the end of the day, I would like anyone reading my story to come away with a feeling that they can make it through whatever life throws at them.”

Saint Sinner Singer is available for pre-order now.

Sara Haze has signed with Sheltered Music Publishing.

Haze began her career at 13 as a performer for film and TV scores. Her writing career took off soon after and she began securing placements in major films and in shows on MTV, Fox, WB, and E!. In 2011, Haze moved to Nashville to pursue a solo career where she toured with artists such as Little Big Town and Hunter Hayes. A collaboration she did with Hillary Scott of Lady A was discovered by Elle King, who recorded it for the 2015 film Hot Pursuit featuring Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon, and the song later became the nationwide campaign for Coors Light Beer. Haze’s writing success has continued with cuts by Little Big Town, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Lady A, Carly Pearce, Hunter Hayes, and more.

“I am so proud to have Sara as part of the roster here in Nashville, said Darrell Franklin, SVP, Sheltered Music Publishing. “Having been an artist herself, Sara brings such a depth of vision and perspective to other artists and writers to help them express what they are trying to say lyrically and melodically.  She has a unique skillset that is truly one of a kind.”

“I am extremely grateful to be able to call Sheltered Music my new publishing home,” said Haze. “The excitement of a newly formed company with industry veterans such as Lance Freed, Darrell Franklin, and Dann Huff is an absolute dream come true. Darrell’s proven ability to recognize talented new artists, as well as his relationships with labels and producers throughout Music Row, is an invaluable asset as a songwriter. I am thrilled to work with Jenny Hall and the incredible roster of talented songwriters on this team.”

In its first year, Sheltered Music has completed deals with Burt Bacharach, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Melissa Peirce, and Jenna LaMaster, as well as established a creative development partnership with producer Dann Huff.

During the CRS Artist Interview, Luke Bryan was named Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) 2021 Artist Humanitarian Award recipient. The interview, sponsored by BMI, was conducted by CRS/CRB Board President Kurt Johnson during CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience.

Bryan was recognized for his charitable work with numerous organizations throughout his career, including ACM Lifting Lives, CMA Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Shriners Hospital, St. Jude, TJ Martell, and more. His charitable work also includes his ongoing efforts with the Brett Boyer Foundation and Bayer’s #HeresToTheFarmer campaign through his annual Farm Tour.

Johnson, who surprised Bryan with the honor, commented, “Luke is a big star with a bigger heart. From his earliest days to as recently as Super Bowl LV, he’s leveraged his influence for good and helped songwriters, farmers, children, small businesses—people in so many different walks of life that Luke Bryan’s philanthropic work has touched. We’re so proud to honor him with this much-deserved award.”

Bryan, who finished the 2011-2020 decade as the most played artist on country radio, walked through his career with Johnson, starting with his debut single “Do I,” and his Spring Break EPs.

“I think there’s a lot of naiveness behind building stuff like Spring Break and Farm Tours,” Bryan said. “It was methodical, controlled, naiveness.”

In addition to his full length albums targeted for radio airplay, Bryan released a series of seven Spring Break EPs, targeted at college-aged fans, with an accompanying Spring Break concert series. “I kept it going until it just seemed like I was too old and it got weird,” Bryan joked, “and Panama City said there’s 200,000 people on the beach and we can have you here anymore.”

Taking the party further down south, Bryan’s annual Crash My Playa concert series in drew fellow country artists and fans to resorts in Mexico. The 2020 Crash My Playa festival, that took place in January of 2020 before the pandemic halted touring, was the sixth annual event.

“What I’m proud about with Crash My Playa is that the artists come down and they have fun,” Bryan says. “I remember being the artist to go play festivals and I remember going, ‘They’re really not doing this properly. I mean, Hillshire Farm deli meat for your main entree probably isn’t the way this ought to go.’ The fact that we can go to Playa and I can ask, ‘Where do we knock it out the park?'”

Bryan’s annual Farm Tours, launched in 2009, highlight and celebrate the contributions of America’s farmers. Every year a portion of the concert proceeds are donated as college scholarships for students of farming families where the tour is played. In 2015, Luke partnered with Farm Tour sponsor Bayer who launched the #HeresToTheFarmer campaign to support their hard work and help fight hunger throughout the country. Since its inception, the campaign has donated four million meals across the U.S. in addition to thousands of dollars to area food banks and local farmers in each of the Farm Tour cities.

“To grow up with a farming background and to go do the Farm Tours is great,” Bryan says, commenting about his great partnership with Bayer and the thrill of giving back.

Now that Bryan, a four-time entertainer of the year, is looking back on his career, he can point out two moments in his career where the gravity of his success hit him.

“When add-day came for ‘Country Girl (Shake It For Me),’ which was a crazy song, we had about 35 adds. Me and my wife sat in my room, and everyone at the label and Kerri [Edwards, Bryan’s manager] said we had 35 adds, and I was just crying. Caroline was crying. That was the moment that I knew radio was starting to trust. They had to trust me with a song ‘Country Girl (Shake It For Me).’ When they started trusting me and what me and my team were doing, I was like, ‘We’re turning a corner, radio is coming around.'”

The next moment came after the label had decided to release the single “I Don’t Want This Night To End.” Bryan’s dad, who was not a fan of the decision, had driven to Louisville, Kentucky for a concert and watched the audience’s reaction to the song.

“When I hit the stage it was crazy energy. And when I kicked into ‘I Don’t Want This Night To End,’ they lit up [the crowd] and I looked at my dad. He’s over there drinking a beer, checking it all out. We get off stage and my dad was like, ‘Well son, you picked the right next damn single.'”

Now, many singles and more than 25 No. 1 songs later, Bryan has expanded his brand into more avenues of entertainment. For the past several years, Bryan has served as a judge on American Idol.

“Every phase of your entertainment career is about pushing yourself into new little avenues and challenges,” Bryan said about his journey into American Idol. “At the core of what I am, I will always be a guy that likes to sit down and write a song, play it for people, record it, hear it on the radio and watch the people respond to that.

“My biggest thing with Idol was will it affect my music career? Will country radio go ‘He thinks he’s went on to other things,” Bryan said. Turns out the soon to be Idol judge called some fellow country artist friends, including Blake Shelton and Keith Urban, to run the idea by them. “They were like, ‘Man, you’re just going to enjoy learning something different.'”

Now on his fourth season of Idol, Bryan has found his footing as a judge. Earlier in February, Bryan announced that he will release a deluxe version of his No. 1, Gold-certified album BORN HERE LIVE HERE DIE HERE (Deluxe Edition) on April 9, 2021 adding six new songs to add to the album’s original 10 tracks.

Ashley Monroe is set to release her fifth studio album Rosegold on April 30 via Mountainrose Sparrow/Thirty Tigers. On Friday (Feb. 19) she released the video for the album’s first single “Drive,” which was co-written with Niko Moon and Mikey Reaves, who co-produced the track with Monroe.

“I had this chorus and idea when I went in to write with Mikey Reaves and Niko Moon on September 10 (my birthday),” says Monroe. “I told them my dad/other angels always send special songs on my birthday. It didn’t take long into the session until we knew we were on to a special one. I always imagine me singing this while driving on a desert highway.”

Written and recorded over the past two years, the record finds Monroe pushing her sound in new directions. Monroe tracked and co-produced the album one song at a time, inviting collaborators including Nathan Chapman, Jake Mitchell, Jordan Reynolds, Ben West, and longtime producer/co-writer Tyler Cain, to help build and produce full tracks in the studio.

“I’ve always been good at writing sad songs because I’ve experienced a lot of sadness in my life,” Monroe reflects. “When my son was born, though, it was like some sort of innocence got plugged back into my heart. I’d never really felt that kind of joy before, and I wanted to find a way to make it last. I told everyone I was working with that I didn’t want even a hint of sadness this time around. I wanted to embrace all the light and love in my life and find ways to share it with people.”