Josh Turner Visits Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital

Josh Turner joined CMT’s Cody Alan and Katie Cook on Tuesday to spend time with patients of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Taking place at the hospital’s Seacrest Studios in front of a live audience and broadcast throughout the facility, Turner discussed favorite holiday traditions, took questions and played games with the children.

 

46th Annual Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade Has A Big & Rich Time

Big & Rich served as the Grand Marshals of the 46th Annual Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade in Fort Lauderdale on December 9 with nearly one million spectators along the shoreline of the 12-mile parade route. The Winterfest TV special will air on WSVN 7 on December 16, December 25, and December 31.

 

Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood Big Winners At Rare Country Awards

Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood scored two awards each for the second consecutive year at last night’s Rare Country Awards concert event. Blake won “Male Artist” and “Fan Moment of the Year;” with Carrie taking home “Female Artist” and a win for her collaboration with Reba McEntire for “Grand Ole Opry Moment of the Year.” The Rare Country Awards featured performances by Kane Brown, LANCO and RaeLynn, with video appearances by Blake, Carrie, Reba and Luke Bryan, winner of “Tour of the Year.” Additional winners included Brett Young for “New Artist,” Little Big Town for “Duo/Group” and Thomas Rhett for “Story of the Year.”

 

Szlachetka Previews New Album For SESAC Staffers

Szlachetka previewed his upcoming album Heart of My Hometown, due out February 16, in a performance at SESAC’s Music Row offices. His acoustic performance was enjoyed by publishers, media, and the team at SESAC.

 

Kip Moore Wraps Storytellers Run With Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen

Kip Moore wrapped his final show on a limited acoustic-storyteller run alongside Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen last night (Dec. 14) in New York City. The show marked the last of many capacity-crowd houses Moore has played to this year, including his recently wrapped Plead The Fifth Tour and a headlining sold-out stint across the pond earlier this fall.

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood return to the stage in Nashville this weekend for three consecutive nights of music, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The shows are the midway mark of the seven that will officially end their massive World Tour that began just over three years ago. Though they are receiving plenty of love from the Music City crowds, the duo is using the shows to give back as well, encouraging fans to bring toys for the Marine Corps’ annual Toys for Tots program.

Collection bins will be available at the entrance of the Bridgestone Arena for packaged toys.

The tour, over 400 performances in front of over six million people with 6.4 million tickets sold, has been full of special moments for the two, as Yearwood reflects. “Joy. Joy is the word. You’ve got crazy stuff like gender reveals…engagements happening in front of you…people [meaning Garth] offering to pay for college educations and honeymoons!” she notes, recounting just some of the personally memorable moments she’s witnessed. “Every night you just never know what’s going to happen. And truly, that’s one of the things that’s so cool about it.”

Earlier this year, North Carolina natives Delta Rae released their debut The Valory Music Co. EP, A Long And Happy Life, featuring the rich harmonies and swirling melody of the title track.

Today (Dec. 15) the band releases a follow-up with the four-song EP The Blackbird Sessions, recorded when the band returned to same the studio where they recorded A Long and Happy Life, Nashville’s Blackbird Studios.

The group had initially intended to record a rendition of “Silent Night,” as a holiday follow-up to the band’s initial single, “No Peace in Quiet.”

“’No Peace in Quiet’ is a ballad I wrote after going through a personal heartbreak, about not being able to find peace in being by myself,” Eric Hölljes tells MusicRow. “We wanted a song that was a little more hopeful as a counterpoint to the sadness and heartbreak of ‘No Peace in Quiet.’ So we went in to record ‘Silent Night.’”

Once in the studio, the band sailed through the recording, and had enough time to put down additional songs during the session. They opted for a new version of ‘No Peace In Quiet,” along with cover versions of the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” and the Eagles’ “Seven Bridges Road.” The self-contained band handled all the musical arrangements for each track during the recording session.

“The music gods were smiling on us that day,” Hölljes says. “In Nashville, everything gets processed and pitched and timed and every note gets scrutinized over. With this record, we just let it fly because we wanted it to be as real as we could be. It was just us being ourselves.”

The cover of the Eagles classic “Seven Bridges Road” is especially fitting, given that Hölljes and his Delta Rae bandmates previously collaborated with Eagles member Don Henley on the song “Tobacco Road.”

“We had put out a song called ‘Bottom of the River,’ and he heard it on SiriusXM,” Eric Hölljes recalls. “He reached out and got us to come add harmonies on his song, so we went into the studio with Don. He knows Garth Brooks and had rented Garth’s studio. Don flew in and we recorded the song there. He’s been so kind to us, and a great mentor. We’ve stayed in touch and he’s helped guide us along the way and gave us his blessing as we’ve ventured to Nashville.

“And, the Eagles are one of the best harmony bands I’ve ever heard and Delta Rae wants to be a great harmony band.”

A full album is in the works.

The Blackbird Sessions EP Track List:

1. Seven Bridges Road (Recorded at Blackbird Studios, Nashville) | Written by Stephen T. Young
Vocals – Brittany Hölljes, Eric Hölljes, Ian Hölljes, Liz Hopkins
Acoustic Guitar – Eric Hölljes, Gideon Klein
Upright Bass – Grant Emerson
Banjo, Mandolin – Gideon Klein
Percussion – Brittany Hölljes, Liz Hopkins

2. No Peace In Quiet (Recorded at Blackbird Studios, Nashville) | Written by Eric Hölljes, Tiffany Goss, Adam Wood
Vocals – Brittany Hölljes, Eric Hölljes, Ian Hölljes, Liz Hopkins
Acoustic Guitar, Piano – Eric Hölljes
Upright Bass – Grant Emerson
Violin – Gideon Klein

3. Silent Night (Recorded at Blackbird Studios, Nashville) | Traditional (Written by Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr, John Freeman Young) | Arrangement by Delta Rae
Vocals – Brittany Hölljes, Eric Hölljes, Ian Hölljes, Liz Hopkins
Acoustic Guitar – Eric Hölljes
Upright Bass – Grant Emerson
Cello – Gideon Klein

4. Blackbird (Recorded at Blackbird Studios, Nashville) | Written by John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Vocals – Brittany Hölljes, Eric Hölljes, Ian Hölljes, Liz Hopkins
Acoustic Guitar – Eric Hölljes
Percussion – Brittany Hölljes

Songwriter Dean Dillon and BMI will return to “the last great Colorado ski town” to present the fourth annual Mountain High Music Festival on Jan. 10-13, 2018 in Mt. Crested Butte, Colorado.

Music lovers will be able to hear music from chart-topping songwriters and artists, including Toby Keith, Kellie Pickler, Scotty Emerick, William Michael Morgan, and festival architect, Dean Dillon.

Others performing include The Voice winner Sundance Head, Kendall Marvel, Sonia Leigh, Tracy Byrd, Shane Minor and Jessie Rice.

A live auction will be held each night of shows featuring exclusive, one-of-a-kind items to benefit local community organization’s Tough Enough To Wear Pink and Adaptive Sports organizations. The Adaptive Sports Center provides high-quality adventure activities for individuals with disabilities in and around Mt. Crested Butte year-round. Cattlemen’s Days Tough Enough to Wear Pink is a nationally-recognized campaign for rodeos and western events that aims to promote breast cancer awareness and fundraising to benefit local communities. All money raised assists the residents of Gunnison and Hinsdale counties providing support in education, mammograms, ultrasounds and further diagnosis.

The songwriter festival was responsible for Dillon’s latest biopic, which was recently previewed in Franklin, Tennessee.

For more information on the event, visit mountainhighmusicfest.com.

South Carolina native Lewis Brice possesses a muscular voice that is at once soulful and rough around the edges—a natural fit for an artist who drew as much inspiration from ‘90s rock band Fuel as he did from blues and country artists.

Musical talent is deep in the family roots for Lewis and his brother (and fellow country artist) Lee Brice, whose mother was part of a family vocal group, The Lewis Sisters. After following his brother to Nashville, Lewis appeared on CMT’s Can You Duet in 2010, where he made it to the Top 8. He also starred in his brother’s video for the award-winning “I Drive Your Truck.”

During a recent visit to the MusicRow office, Brice performed three songs, including what he calls the “half-true” story in his current single, “Best Ex Ever,” as well as “Outta My Mind.”

His muscular voice was its rugged best on “Messin’ With My Mind,” a passionate take on a confusing relationship.

“I really thought for the longest time that she really wanted to connect in more of a serious relationship, and I got to the point where I wanted to make it a serious relationship. So I took her to a real nice dinner and I was like, ‘Let’s make this official, just you and I, boyfriend and girlfriend.’ But she wanted to stay friends and hang out nonchalantly. I was cool with that, and we talked about other things and hung out and had a good time at dinner.

“Two days later I get a phone call from my buddy, saying, ‘Are you still seeing that girl?’ I said, ‘I hung out with her two nights ago. Things are going good, we are friends and hanging out.’ He was like, ‘Interesting, well have you seen her Facebook lately? She’s done gone and got engaged.’ So yeah, that’s when I wrote ‘Messin’ With My Mind.’”

All three tracks are from Brice’s self-titled six-song EP, which released earlier this year via Straight 8 Entertainment and Kobalt Music Recordings. The album was executive produced by Lee Brice, and produced by Lewis Brice, Brian Bunn, Ben Simonetti and Dan Frizell.

Brice says there is more to come in 2018.

“I’ve got a whole bunch of new music I’m working on, and next year is going to be a great year,” Brice says.