Opry Entertainment Group and Twitch are partnering to offer a free livestream experience for its first-ever Opry NextStage Live In Concert event. The Opry-style show will showcase some of country’s top rising stars on Nov. 21 at the Grand Ole Opry House.

The immersive, fan-interactive experience will give online fans the opportunity to engage with the artists in real-time, and will be available to stream on the Opry’s Twitch channel.

“For nearly a century, the Opry has built a rich history of connecting fans to the artists they love,” says Jordan Pettit, Opry Entertainment Director of Artist Relations & Programming Strategy. “We are thrilled to partner with Twitch to create this special opportunity to share these rising stars with a broader audience for a one-of-a-kind interactive experience.”

Hosted by 2019 Opry NextStage artist Tenille Townes, the event will include a night of all-live performances in addition to exclusive, backstage artist interviews hosted by Travis Denning. The show’s lineup will celebrate the 2021 Opry NextStage artists Priscilla Block, Parker McCollum, Niko Moon, Jameson Rodgers, Hailey Whitters and Lainey Wilson, and also include special performances by Opry NextStage alumni and hosts, Townes and Denning.

Ingrid Andress performs at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville on her “Feelings Things 2021” Tour on Nov. 18, 2021. Photo: Acacia Evans

Warner Music Nashville singer-songwriter Ingrid Andress took over Brooklyn Bowl Nashville last night (Nov. 18) with her “Feeling Things 2021” Tour, delivering a solid set of hits, fan-favorites, sneak peeks of unreleased tracks, and more.

One of Nashville’s newest venues, which made its official grand opening in June of this year, was the perfect home for the self-proclaimed “Queen of Sad Songs” and opener Georgia Webster. Andress opened her set with the cheeky “Bad Advice” followed by the strong and confident “Both” and “We’re Not Friends.”

Before jumping into “Life of the Party,” one of her more high-energy songs, she quipped: “This sounds like it’s about to be a happy song…but it’s not.”

Ingrid Andress performs at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville on her “Feelings Things 2021” Tour on Nov. 18, 2021. Photo: Acacia Evans

While, admittedly, most of the multi-Platinum artist’s songs address breakups, hardships, and the general feelings of melancholy, she did give fans a special preview of some songs to come, including her first cracks at love songs. Written with Shane McNally, and longtime collaborators Derrick Southerland and Sam Ellis, she showcased the unreleased “Blue,” as well as her forthcoming Julia Michaels co-penned “Feel Like This,” which offers, “I don’t know what this is, but I think love’s supposed to feel like this,” for its killer hook.

“This is actually really exciting for me because I’ve lived here for a while and wrote a lot of shitty songs in this town. It’s really great to be able to play the good ones that I wrote for you guys,” she joked with the packed crowd. “It’s really nice to finally play in the city where I learned how to write.”

She then broke into her current single, “Wishful Drinking,” the powerhouse duet with Sam Hunt. “Sam is busy, so you’re going to have to help me sing the second verse on this,” she said, to which the audience happily obliged.

Throughout her career, Andress has also written songs for other artists, including the Charli XCX-recorded, love-crazy, pop track “Boys.” Andress performed her own up-beat and dance version, which also included a breakdown and introduction of her bandmates followed by their own solo moments. She backed the song up by offering her own high-energy “Waste of Lime,” which gave the audience a much-welcomed twangy moment of alcoholic bliss.

Towards the end of her set, Andress brought out Nashville-based artist and songwriter Teddy Swims who wooed the crowd with his honey vocals and vulnerable lyrics on his recently released duet “Bed On Fire.”

“This human being has the voice of a literal angel… He’s way cooler than me and has quite a few more tattoos than I do, which makes him ten times cooler than me,” she said of Swims during his introduction. “[This song] literally broke my heart when I heard it, and that is very hard to do for me because I’m the Queen of Sad Songs. I think I met my match.”

Pictured (L-R): Blythe Scokin (Manager/Co-Founder, rogue.), Tom Martens (VP, Radio & Streaming, WMN), Clark Tedesco (Sr. Director, Artist Development, WMN), Ingrid Andress, Kristen Williams (SVP, Radio & Streaming, WMN), Tim Foisset (SVP, Commercial Partnerships), Rohan Kohli (Sr. Director, A&R, WMN). Photo: Acacia Evans

Andress wrapped up the night with her two biggest hits: the family-inspired, 2x Platinum-certified “More Hearts Than Mine,” which earned a booming crowd sing-along, and her bold, Gold-certified single “Lady Like.”

The audience soaked in every word and screamed their fair share along the way.

Scotty McCreery’s heartwarming hit single “Five More Minutes” is the inspiration behind a brand new TV movie of the same name from Hallmark that will air Nov. 20 as part of their Miracles of Christmas celebration.

Written by Nikki Deloach and Megan McNulty, Five More Minutes stars Deloach and David Haydn-Jones as a woman’s Christmas wish is answered in unexpected ways when her late grandfather’s journal turns up and reveals an untold romance. McCreery serves as an Executive Producer on the new film, which airs at 9 p.m. CT on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel.

Released as the first song from his Gold-certified album, Seasons Change, the 2x Platinum “Five More Minutes” reached No. 2 on the iTunes country singles chart and No. 9 on the iTunes all-genre singles chart when it was released in 2017, and debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard Country Digital Sales Chart. The chart-topping track was penned with Frank Rogers and Monty Criswell.

“It was a special day writing this one” recalls McCreery. “We all sat down, and at first, I was just talking about my granddaddy. I always believed in it and thought it was a story that everyone could relate to—I feel like everyone has these things that they go back to and wish they had more time. We worked on this song for three or four different days, and a lot changed, and it took a while, but I wanted it to be perfect.”

McCreery recently announced plans for his 2022 “Same Truck Tour” across the U.S., as well as four new dates in Germany and the Netherlands. For tickets and more information, click here.

Bridgestone Arena

Bridgestone Arena has been nominated for Arena of the Year for 2021 by Pollstar Magazine. This is Bridgestone Arena’s 14th consecutive and 17th overall nomination for the award.

Pollstar‘s Arena of the Year award recognizes superior programming, effective promotion and marketing, quality production values and staff, an exemplary experience for fans and artists, and consistent box office success. Bridgestone Arena won the award in 2014 and 2017.

“We are extremely proud to have received our 14th consecutive Pollstar nomination for Arena of the Year, and we want to thank David Kells for his dedication to making Bridgestone Arena the best environment in the sports and entertainment industry for agents, managers, performers, promoters and fans,” says Arena President and CEO Sean Henry. “After a trying for a year and a half, we have been so honored to help bring live entertainment–one of the staples of what makes Smashville such a special place–back to our community. We want to thank our loyal fans for consistently displaying their passion and helping us earn the opportunity to be recognized for this prestigious award.”

Henry was also named to the VenuesNow All-Stars list for 2021, and Executive Vice President of Entertainment & Venues David Kells was nominated for Pollstar‘s Venue Executive of the Year.

“First and foremost, we want to thank our fans for helping us be nominated for this award,” says Kells. “This could not have happened without their unwavering support of all we do–their feedback and passion has made Bridgestone Arena a safe and unique venue to enjoy the best shows on tour. Additionally, we’d like to recognize the countless artists, managers, agents, promoters and crew members for their efforts to help bring live entertainment back to lower Broadway. To be included on the same list as so many other venues and industry executives is a true honor I am very thankful for.”

Bridgestone was nominated for Pollstar‘s Arena of the Decade in 2020 and ranked third in the world and the U.S. for ticket sales in the publication’s third quarter ticket sales report. Pollstar announced Bridgestone Arena’s ticket sales as 82,431, inclusive solely of show and concert tickets, and was ranked behind only Staples Center in Los Angeles and Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.