Cole Swindell’s self-titled debut album earned the singer-songwriter considerable early career success, including four No. 1 singles, “Let Me See Ya Girl,” “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight,” “Ain’t Worth The Whiskey” and “Chillin’ It.” The debut project was certified platinum by the RIAA and Swindell’s music has amassed more than 250 million streams, with 4.2 million tracks sold. He took home the Academy of Country Music’s New Artist of the Year trophy in 2015.

This year, Swindell is eager to build on those early stats with his forthcoming sophomore project, You Should Be Here, which releases May 6 on Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville. The album’s title track and debut single—an intensely personal song that focuses the loss of Swindell’s father in 2013–has already become Swindell’s fifth consecutive No. 1 song.

“It was a title that [songwriter] Ashley Gorley had,” Swindell recalls about writing “You Should Be Here.” “We were up in Foxboro [Massachusetts], playing at Gillette Stadium [as part of Luke Bryan’s That’s My Kind of Night Tour]. Ashley had texted a picture to his daughter of us at the stadium and said, ‘You should be here.’

“I immediately said, ‘Please let me write that with you.’ Because all I could think about was my dad and I hadn’t written about it yet. We wanted it to be where it wasn’t just about me. A lot of other people have obviously been through that. And through things way worse than what I’ve been through. I had chills on my arms the entire time we were writing that. That doesn’t happen at every writing appointment and I don’t think it can be like that, because it was something so personal to me. It didn’t take that long to write, but it was emotional. I knew if it was hitting me like that, that it would hit other people that have been through the same thing. It’s my favorite song I’ve ever written.”

“You Should Be Here” became a quality benchmark as Swindell co-wrote and searched for songs to round out the album. Seven Swindell co-writes made the final project.

“It seems like it takes a while for an artist to release a song that makes a statement like that, maybe not even on a second album. But for me, writing as much as I do, and having so much success off the last album, I had to go somewhere that I hadn’t been. Nothing made more sense to me than [writing about] the most tragic thing I’ve ever been through.”

MusicRow‘s Troy Stephenson presents Cole Swindell with two MusicRow Challenge Coins for co-writing FGL’s “This Is How We Roll” and Luke Bryan’s “Roller Coaster.”

Swindell namechecks tracks like “Broke Down” and “Remember Boys” from the upcoming project that live up to the standard.

“It’s got just an older, classical, gut string guitar and it doesn’t sound like anything I’ve done before,” he says of “Remember Boys.” “Sometimes the production can get in the way of a message that is powerful. With ‘Remember Boys’ I want people to hear every word of that song, and it’s just a stripped-down thing. Just the message of it, it’s where I am personally and in my career.”

One of the highlights on the album, a collaboration with Dierks Bentley titled “Flatliner,” is already receiving plenty of buzz.

“It’s so crazy,” says Swindell. “I wrote that with him in mind four years ago. I wrote it with Jaron Boyer and Matt Bronleewe. It sounded like something Dierks would record. So we recorded it like Dierks would. I sang the demo like Dierks…”

Bentley eventually heard the song, but it took a while for the two to record the track. “He texted me and said, ‘This is a smash,’ and I suggested we should record it together. We would joke about it when we would see each other, but you never know if it will happen. But he was serious about it and we made it happen. He’s a great guy. Just knowing how much his music influenced me, especially his first album, and every album. I’ve got every one of them. For me, Dierks is one of my favorites.”

“I was thankful I wrote ‘You Should Be Here,’ but I had to have 11 other great songs, and there are some subjects I didn’t touch on with the first album,” Swindell sums. “I think they are all great songs. I want to be a guy people will remember for a long time. If you listen to this album, you have a better idea of who I am.”

BMI Launches #MusicMonday

BMI has launched BMI #MusicMonday, a playlist of songs curated by BMI’s Writer/Publisher Relations department, of what they are listening to at BMI each week. The playlist, which includes music from the worlds of pop, hip-hop, country, rock, Latin, R&B and more, will be updated each Monday with a fresh batch of tunes.

To listen each week, visit the #MusicMonday page at bmi.com.

Charley Pride Joins Webster PR

Kirt Webster, President of Webster Public Relations, has announced Charley Pride as the latest artist to join the company for publicity representation. Pride celebrates his 50th anniversary as a recording artist this year.

A native of Sledge, Mississippi, Pride pursued a baseball career first, with stints on minor-league teams before injuring his arm. His musical talent was brought to the attention of Chet Atkins at RCA Victor in Nashville, and Pride’s debut single “The Snakes Crawl At Night” was released in 1966. Between 1966 and 1987, Pride amassed 52 Top 10 country hits, with 29 climbing to the No. 1 spot on Billboard‘s country chart.

CMT Names Courtney Cole As CMT Empowering Education Spokesperson

Courtney Cole

CMT has named Courtney Cole as its newest spokesperson for CMT Empowering Education campaign, which is now in its fourth year. Cole launched the first CMT Empowering Education event at Hazard Community and Technical College in Hazard, Kentucky. Cole, a recent Belmont University graduate, will headline 10 events this year at community colleges around the country, including a first stop at Northeast State Community College in Blountville, Tennessee, on Friday (April 22).

“I’m excited to partner with CMT on their Empowering Education initiative,” said Cole. “Music and education are a powerful combination. Having the opportunity to meet students and hear their stories is something I’m looking forward to!”

Toby Keith will perform a tribute to Merle Haggard following an introduction by Matthew McConaughey on the 2016 American Country Countdown Awards.

The ceremony will air live from The Forum in Inglewood, California, on May 1 on FOX.

Haggard’s longtime back-up band, The Strangers, will join Keith as part of this performance. In addition, Haggard’s widow, Theresa, will be in attendance along with other members of the Haggard family, including son Ben, who also will perform with The Strangers.

Keith joins previously-announced performers Kelsea Ballerini, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Bryan, Cam, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, Martina McBride, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell and Carrie Underwood.