At his label home, Warner Music Nashville, artist Chris Janson is all smiles as he enters the room, having just been surprised by label CEO John Esposito with the news that his breakthrough single from 2015, “Buy Me A Boat,” has been certified double platinum by the RIAA. In fact, the single might soon bring Janson even more hardware, as its sales are closing in on three million.

Janson has been accumulating several milestones in 2018. In March, he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. In June, his single “Drunk Girl” earned MusicRow’s “Song of the Year” honor, alongside Luke Bryan’s “Most People Are Good.”

Most recently, Janson found out he was nominated for three Country Music Association Awards, including New Artist of the Year, as well as Music Video of the Year and Song of the Year (both for “Drunk Girl”).

“It’s crazy,” Janson reflects on all the milestones the year has brought. “It’s been good. And all my kids have stayed healthy and I have a good marriage so it’s good.”

Janson was at home when he got word of the CMA nominations. “I was on the back porch, doing an early conference call with Bass Pro and a bunch of leaders in the outdoor industry. My phone was beeping off the hook with messages. When I got off the call there were a million messages and the first one was Keith Urban congratulating me.”

Janson has high hopes for the CMA nominations, especially the coveted Song of the Year honor, which goes to the songwriters.

“It’s rare for an artist to get a Song of the Year nomination,” says Janson, who is both artist and co-writer on “Drunk Girl,” having penned it with Scooter Carusoe and Tom Douglas. “I think it’s even more special to have that nomination with the guys I wrote it with. Tom has already been a Song of the Year recipient, and a [Songwriters] Hall of Famer. It’s a really stacked lineup for that category but our song, take the hit factor away from it, which thankfully it has become a hit. It’s a stacked group of writers–Travis and Tom is great combo. I’m really thankful they gave me a shot.”

All three penned “Drunk Girl” from a father’s perspective. Janson is father to four kids, while Douglas and Carusoe each have two children.

“I remember we shed some tears,” Janson recalls of penning the song. “We wrote it with our girls and sons in mind. We want our sons and daughters to have a great respect if they get into those kinds of situations, which they probably will at some point in their life. It’s normal to get drunk and party. Most people in the world do that and it’s ok. I’ve done that more times than I can count. But you know, it’s all about how you react when you are out with somebody.”

The song’s release was a long time coming. Janson, Douglas and Carusoe penned “Drunk Girl” in early 2017, prior to Janson’s stint as an opener on Sam Hunt’s 15 in a 30 tour.

“I never even played the song on that tour,” Janson recalls, pondering the timeliness of “Drunk Girl,” which was released amid the surging #MeToo movement. The song is ever-more relevant today, given the controversy surrounding the current Brett Kavanaugh hearings.

“We never could have bet on the timing in a million years,” Janson says. “It’s really a message to dudes. We are three guys who wrote the song. We are really preaching to our own choir, at the end of the day. We really wrote this as a message to guys. You’ve got to do the right thing. There is no choice in the matter. Taking advantage of anyone is the wrong thing to do, whether it is physically, emotionally, sexually. It’s just wrong. People, just do the right thing. How hard is that?

“You get up and you treat people with dignity and respect and if you are a man, you take care of your woman and if you are a woman, you take care of your man. Real simple.”

The song has caught on, both at radio and streaming platforms. Since the release of “Drunk Girl,” the track has become a top 10 radio single, and has earned 520K in track equivalents, and 53 million on-demand streams.

 

The song’s arresting video, directed by Jeff Venable, has been viewed more than 3.8 million times on YouTube. The clip follows a woman from childhood through young adulthood, as she witnesses violent altercations between her parents, and later, finds herself in a precarious situation following a night of partying and drinking. Interspersed between these scenes are performance clips of Janson, seated behind a piano in the middle of downtown Broadway in Nashville. Behind him, the street is dark and emptied.

“My part started about one in the morning,” Janson recalls. “They really shut it down; it was a ghost town. Jeff, Shane Tarleton and Mike Dupree, they really had the vision for it. I’m best at writing songs and singing them and that’s what I did.”

Janson didn’t see the finished version until the rest of the world did, on the day of its release. “I didn’t go through editing or early cuts, and I did that on purpose. I trusted those guys that they were going to put it in the best light and I don’t think they could have done a better job.”

Though sales and radio airplay are an indication of the song’s impact, Janson is perhaps most affected by the stories he hears during nightly meet & greets on tour, such as a self-professed non-country fan who came through Janson’s meet & greet line a few months ago.

“He said, ‘I’m not a country fan, but I am a fan of yours.’ He said he played the video for ‘Drunk Girl’ for his nephew’s fraternity. I thought it was so awesome. He said, ‘It’s changing opinions and changing minds and the way things are done,’ and that’s the exact reason we wrote it. It’s validation that it’s speaking to the hearts of the right people.”

In his own life, Janson tries to provide a positive example to his children, of how to be positive and treat others with respect.

“You just try to impress upon your kids the right thing to do in life. That’s the best you can do. We are Christians and we pray over our kids all the time and we just live by that. If you ask me, that’s what’s important to Kelly and I. It’s like Tom’s “The House That Built Me,’ with the line You do this you move on and you do the best you can’ You just do the best you can in this world and raise your kids the best you can, and nobody’s perfect.”

Janson is already hard at work on his next album. He says he’s penned around 30 songs, with five or six that could be strong contenders for his next radio single.

“I would say there is a 90 percent chance we will come with something new. I’m ok either way but I hope that happens. We will see where it lands.”

Janson’s approach to releasing music and making videos allows him to focus on what he does best–writing and singing songs–and to rely on his label team to help decide which work best in the commercial sphere.

“I write a bunch of songs and bring them in and let them say what they think about them and whatever they pick is cool by me. It’s a pretty great process and that’s the way I did my last two albums. I wrote them all–I’m winning either way, so whatever they pick is cool by me.”

Miranda Lambert is adding some sparkle and shine to her world with several more multi-Platinum album and single certifications. Her albums Revolution and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend have been certified double-Platinum by the RIAA, along with singles “The House That Built Me” (3X Platinum), “Mama’s Broken Heart” (3X Platinum), “Over You” (2X Platinum), and “Automatic” (2X Platinum).

Lambert recently wrapped her stand as the 2018 Artist-in-Residence at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, performing two sold-out nights at the CMA Theater. Night one, “The Ones That Got Away,” featured Lambert performing deep cuts from her catalog, many for the first time in a live setting, while the second show reunited supertrio Pistol Annies (Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley) for their first performance in five years and debuted tracks from their upcoming new album Interstate Gospel.

Lambert is also nominated this year for CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as Single and Musical Event of the Year for “Drowns the Whiskey” with Jason Aldean.

Jimmy Wayne To Star In Lifetime Network Holiday Movie

Jimmy Wayne is set to make his acting debut in the new Lifetime TV network film, Every Other Holiday, which premieres worldwide on November 23. Wayne plays Brent, a potential love interest of the lead female character, Tracie, in the movie, which tells the story of recently separated parents Tracie (Schuyler Fisk) and Rick (David Clayton Rogers) who spend every other holiday with their young daughters Harper and Ava. But this Christmas, the girls have only one thing on their wish lists—to spend Christmas with both Mom and Dad at Tracie’s family farmhouse in hopes that the parents will rekindle their lost romance.

Every Other Holiday was directed by Blair Hayes and produced by Kristofer McNeeley, Marybeth Sprows, Stacia Crawford and George Flanigen and also stars Dee Wallace, Glenn Morshower, and Abby James Witherspoon.

“This is the first movie I’ve had more than a cameo appearance in. I was very nervous but working with professionals like Glenn Morshower, Dee Wallace, Schuyler Fisk and David Clayton Rogers made it a comfortable experience. I can’t wait to see it! Viewing party anyone?” said Wayne about the experience.

Wayne is also currently working towards a film based on his New York Times bestselling memoir, Walk To Beautiful.

Hayley Orrantia Cast In New ‘What Would Dolly Do’ Film

Hayley Orrantia from The Goldbergs ABC-TV sitcom has been cast in the new comedy film What Would Dolly Do? The movie centers on a female country music trio from the hills of Appalachia who commit a crime of passion and find themselves both on tour and on the run from the law.

Orrantia stars as the film’s lead character, ‘Rae Lynn White,’ a feisty country singer whose troubled past has inspired a catalogue of music. ‘Rae’ along with her two best friends/bandmates make up the country music trio “The Gypsy Jo’s” and embark on an unforgettable musical journey. Production on the film is slated to begin mid-April 2019.

Known for her role as ‘Erica’ on The Goldbergs, which is currently in its sixth season, Orrantia is also a rising singer/songwriter. She kicked off her first-ever headlining “Strong, Sweet & Southern” tour in the Spring, performing for fans in 23 cities.

As part of the Nashville Symphony’s Pops Series, Emmy- and Tony-Award-winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth kicked off a three-night residency at the Schermerhorn this Thursday, Sept. 27.

With grace and aptitude, the 4’11” singer charmed Nashville by making her home in New York City not seem so far away.

“I consider Nashville like a home,” said the Oklahoma native, who donned a Nashville Predators jersey at start. “When I was 18-19, I worked at Opryland USA in a show called Way Out West…I have had such a great journey. My friend Ty Herndon is here tonight…Larry Gatlin, I know you’re out there and don’t think I’m not a nervous wreck about it.”

Chenoweth then went into a mash-up of her own creating: Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Losing My Mind,” weaving in and out of lyrics with the symphony.

“I’ve always felt that country music and broadway weren’t that much different,” she said to laughs. “We’re all just trying to tell a story, right?”

What was a departure from country music was Chenoweth’s calling out of another female artist, namely Mariah Carey. Prior to the Wicked original, “Popular,” Chenoweth portrayed Carey’s recent performance flubs as needing advice from Broadway stars, who notably sing live.

A mentor of new talent however, Chenoweth brought out Charlotte Leigh to sing on the popular Wicked duet “For Good.” “I heard this young lady sing on a video with a band she’s going to join called Backroad Anthem, and my extensions fell out,” Chenoweth joked by literally laying herself on the floor before the 21-year-old.

“One of the roles I am so honored to have as an artist is the role of mentor,” she continued. “I love to shepherd and foster new talent, and I want other people—especially other women—to know there is room for everyone…I have a theater in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. It’s nuts. I said to them, ‘I’m too young to possibly have something named after me.’ I see my dad’s name, and my grandfather’s name [above the performing arts center] and in February we hold the Kristin Chenoweth Broadway Bootcamp.”

It was announced today that NBC will air a live concert, A Very Wicked Halloween, on Oct. 29 for Wicked since celebrating 15 years on Broadway, when Chenoweth joined the original cast.

Chenoweth brought her musical director Mary-Mitchell Campbell with her, a talent currently serving as Music Director, conductor and arranger for the musical Mean Girls. Backing Chenoweth on piano and conducting the symphony, Campbell at times took turns at the microphone both singing and narrating songs such as an anniversary song “Fifty Years Long,” a title she brought to Chenoweth by Jason Robert Brown with lyrics the star changed to “West Oklahoma” to reflect her parents. Additionally the two performed the Eagles’ “Heart Of The Matter,” in honor of the Newtown, Connecticut shootings—noting that making music is most important in times of pain.

Similarly, Chenoweth’s guitarist and boyfriend Josh Bryant was invited to the stage for accompaniment on a teary rendition of the Eagles’ “Desperado,” followed by an extended kiss of affection.

The 50-year-old playfully danced around the Bible Belt audience, noting her love for reality TV on the Bravo network, aimed at 25-54 year-old women as well as the LGBT community. “As a Christian person, it’s very interesting to be in show business. I probably haven’t made all the decisions a Christian person would make and that’s okay. I’m an artist too, and I’ve had tough decisions—some I regret and some I don’t—that’s life, right?”

Chenoweth then explained she felt obligated to sing a song honoring her faith in performing Les Miserables‘ “Bring Him Home,” a song that crescendos to Chenoweth’s jaw-dropping vibrato. This was performed with a dozen from Vanderbilt’s choir.

Although fully capable of the operatic highs, Chenoweth displayed impeccable constraint and control for emotive emphasis within on classics like Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” and the Hoagy Carmichael-composed “I Get Along Without You Very Well.”

However, her fervent operatic display reigned on Henry Mancini’s “The Sweetheart Tree,” My Fair Lady’s “I Could Have Danced All Night”

“I’ve been allowed to sing all over the world and I’m so honored to stand in front of you on this beautiful stage, which is now my second time to be here, in front of what I consider to be one of the best symphonies in the world…I would like to go on the record saying I want to record an album with you.”

Chenoweth’s acoustic encore of Nat King Cole’s “Smile” was delivered after her salutation to the crowd, “I want to say God Bless you, and don’t forget to stop at the Loveless Cafe—biscuits and gravy and sausage,” she trailed.

Tickets for Friday and Saturday are still available at nashvillesymphony.org

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