DISClaimer Singles Reviews: Priscilla Block, Brandy Clark, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, And More

Priscilla Block

Country goes topical this week.

In this stack of tracks we have an ode for world peace, an anti-racist message, a gay man’s song and a coronavirus composition. And they’re all pretty darn good.

The Disc of the Day award is being divided into categories. The Female honor goes to Brandy Clark (with a harmony assist from Brandi Carlile). The male prize belongs to Luke Combs. The Duo/Group platter to pick belongs to Jon Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles.

Our DisCovery Award is for newcomer Priscilla Block. She sounds like a comer.

ADAM DOLEAC/Meet Me in the City
Writers: Adam Doleac/Sarah Buxton/Andy Skib; Publisher: none listed; Producer: none listed; Arista
-Buoyant and bubbly, this is a rush of smiling energy. Romantic, youthful, joyous and utterly delirious. Get up and twirl around the room.

LUKE COMBS/Without You
Writers: Daniel Paul Isbell/Luke Albert Combs/Wyatt Beasley Durrette III; Publisher: none listed; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews & Jonathan Singleton; River House/Columbia/Country
-My main man brings it home yet again. This is a stirring, personal anthem to his loving fans. He sings that his stardom is nothing without them. Spoken like a country star, amen. That’s Amanda Shires on fiddle backing him.

PAISLEY FIELDS/Stay Away From My Man
Writers: Paisley Fields/Mya Byrne; Publishers: none listed; Producers: Trace Faulkner/Don Giovanni
-He’s an out gay man with country song titles like “Ride Me Cowboy.” This track is an uptempo, stuttering-guitar romp cautioning, “I’m gonna slap you silly if you touch my hillbilly” to the guy in the bar who’s coming on to his lover. He’s not the strongest singer in the world, and the band is ragged-but-right. But there’s energy and verve here.

BRANDY CLARK & BRANDI CARLILE/Same Devil
Writers: Brandy Clark/Marla Cannon/Hailey Whitters; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Brandi Carlile; Warner
-This haunting, echoey ballad explores a variety of troubled souls with a ghostly female choir soaring softly in the background. The two voices weave and blend imaginatively while the production swirls. Captivating. Clark deserves country superstardom like nobody’s bizness.

PRISCILLA BLOCK/Just About Over You
Writers: Priscilla Block/Emily Kroll/Sarah Jones; Publishers: none listed; Producer: none listed; Mercury Nashville/InDent
-This song became a TikTok viral sensation, which led to her being signed by Universal. Block has a strong, emotive country voice which she most effectively applies to this plaintive lyric. It’s almost closing time in the bar, and she’s got a nice wine buzz going, feeling good about herself. Then her ex walks in and ruins everything. Sounds like a relatable relationship, right?

JON BON JOVI & JENNIFER NETTLES/Do What You Can
Writer: Jon Bon Jovi; Publisher: none listed; Producer: none listed; Big Machine
-These two previously won a Grammy for their No. 1 hit “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.” This country-rocking track appeared on Bon Jovi’s CD as a response to the coronavirus pandemic a couple of months ago. Now Nettles has added her terrific vocal to create another memorable duet. Their two voices hit all of the highlights of our “new normal,” social distancing, closed schools, lost paychecks, skipped graduations, PPE, front line workers, yearning for a vaccine, etc. The message is that we will survive this if we love one another. Filmed on the streets of New York City, the video is downright inspirational. This just might be the ultimate song of our COVID-19 times.

RILEY GREEN/If It Wasn’t for Trucks
Writers: none listed; Publishers: none listed; Producers: none listed; BMLG
-A song about trucks? What a novel idea. Lucky for us, Riley’s great country vocal, honest presentation and true-to-life lyrics raise this one head and shoulders above the rest. Ya gotta love him. Folks like Mr. Green and Mr. Combs are going to lead us out of the pop-country wilderness.

CHARLES J. JONES/What Color Am I
Writer: Troy McConnell; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Troy McConnell; Metamundo
-Back in the 1990s, this guy was billed as “J.C. Jones” on Rising Tide Records (”One Night,” 1998). He has returned with this timely ode’s anti-racist message. The lyric profiles African American, Native American and Latino American people, asking, “What color am I on the inside?” and “Can you tell how I feel by the shade of my skin?” and “Just like you, I laugh and I cry.” The video shows soldiers, first responders, medical professionals and law enforcement people of various races, working together.

MADELINE MERLO/If You Never Broke My Heart
Writers: none listed; Publishers: none listed; Producers: none listed; Open Road
-This Canadian won on the NBC-TV songwriting competition Songland. She has since penned a Lady A hit (”Champagne Night”) and issued her own “Kiss Kiss,” as well as this heartache ditty. Promising.

JEFF CARSON/God Save the World
Writers: none listed; Publishers: none listed; Producers: none listed; Curb
-Originally put out in 2003, this is a reissue of a stately ballad that pleads for world peace. Who can argue with that?

Brantley Gilbert Honors Friend’s Memory On New Deluxe Edition Of ‘Fire & Brimstone’

Brantley Gilbert is releasing a special deluxe edition of his fifth album, Fire & Brimstone. The expanded release, Fire & Brimstone (Deluxe Edition) will include two new songs—current single “Hard Days” and “Old Friends,” a somber, reflective ballad written after the unexpected passing of Gilbert’s long-time crew member and friend Al Ditch. The project is set for release Oct. 2.

“‘Old Friends’ is about treasuring friendships with those folks who always have your back through thick and thin, the ones you make memories with that last a lifetime,” shares Gilbert. “Al was that kind of friend, and he had that kind of impact on the entire crew. He made sure we’d have plenty of good memories to look back on, and we’re so blessed to have had him with us for eight years.”

The release commemorates the one-year anniversary of the album’s original release, and the Georgia native will host fans for the “Hard Days” acoustic performance video YouTube premiere.

“When you write as much as I do, there’s just no sense in holding it back, especially when it fits in so well with what BG Nation is listening to at the moment,” said Gilbert. “After hearing our fans and knowing so many of them are going through it, we wanted to commemorate the one-year anniversary of our latest album with something special.”

Pre-order and pre-save options for Fire & Brimstone (Deluxe Edition) are available now.

Track listing for Fire & Brimstone (Deluxe Edition):
1. Fire’t Up (Brantley Gilbert, Brandon Day, Justin Weaver)
2. Not Like Us (Brantley Gilbert, Rhett Akins, Brock Berryhill, Amy Wadge)
3. Welcome to Hazeville (Brantley Gilbert, Rodney Clawson, Andrew DeRoberts, Colt Ford) featuring Colt Ford, Lukas Nelson and Willie Nelson
4. What Happens in a Small Town (Brantley Gilbert, Rhett Akins, Brock Berryhill, Josh Dunne) featuring Lindsay Ell
5. She Ain’t Home (Brantley Gilbert, Brian Davis, Justin Weaver)
6. Lost Soul’s Prayer (Brantley Gilbert, Andrew DeRoberts)
7. Tough Town (Brantley Gilbert, Blake Chaffin, Andrew DeRoberts, Josh Phillips)
8. Fire & Brimstone (Brantley Gilbert) featuring Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss
9. Laid Back Ride (Brantley Gilbert)
10. Bad Boy (Brantley Gilbert, Andrew DeRoberts, Josh Phillips)
11. New Money (Brantley Gilbert, Rhett Akins, Brock Berryhill, Brandon Day)
12. Breaks Down (Brantley Gilbert, Jaida Dreyer, Josh Mirenda, Justin Weaver)
13. Man of Steel (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Cole Taylor)
14. Never Gonna Be Alone (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Erik Dylan)
15. Man that Hung the Moon (Brantley Gilbert)

DELUXE TRACKS:
16. Hard Days (Brantley Gilbert, Jimi Bell, Brock Berryhill, Jay Brunswick, Logan Wall)
17. Old Friends (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Randy Montana)

Shenandoah To Release All-Star Collaborations Album


Shenandoah, the band behind classic ’90s country radio hits such as “The Church on Cumberland Road,” and “Two Dozen Roses,”  will return with their first album of original material since 1994, and they are welcoming an all-star lineup with the release of Every Road (Foundry Records) on Nov. 13.

Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Ashley McBryde, Dierks Bentley, Lady A, Zac Brown Band, Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson and Brad Paisley take part in the new project, with Zac Brown Band collaborating on the lead single “I’ll Take Another One of Those.”

The album was produced by Buddy Cannon, executive produced by the band’s manager Cole Johnstone, and engineered/mixed by Tony Castle.

Since the band’s debut album in 1987, the’ve earned 13 No. 1 hits and charted 26 songs on Billboard‘s country charts, including the classic radio hits “Sunday in the South,” “The Church on Cumberland Road,” “Two Dozen Roses,” “Next to You, Next to Me,” and “If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too).”

In 1994, the band’s sixth studio album In The Vicinity of the Heart included the lilting title track, a collaboration with Alison Krauss that became a Top 10 hit on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, and won a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and a CMA honor for Vocal Event of the Year. The single’s followup, “Darned If I Don’t (Danged If I Do),” became a Top 5 hit.

EVERY ROAD TRACK LIST:
1. “I’d Take Another One Of Those” (with Zac Brown Band)
Brett Beavers, Stephen Robson, Brett James
*Zac Brown Band appears courtesy of Home Grown Music

2. “Make It Til Summertime” (with Luke Bryan)
Dallas Davidson, Marty Raybon, Mike McGuire
*Luke Bryan appears courtesy of Capitol Records Nashville

3. “If Only” (with Ashley McBryde)
Lori McKenna, Phil Barton, Jaron Boyer
*Ashley McBryde appears courtesy of Warner Music Nashville

4. “Every Road” (with Dierks Bentley)
Brett Beavers, Jamie Moore, Kevin Griffin
*Dierks Bentley appears courtesy of Capitol Records Nashville

5. “Then A Girl Walks In” (with Blake Shelton)
Adam Sanders, Lance Miller, Brad Warren, Brett Warren
*Blake Shelton appears courtesy of Warner Music Nashville

6. “High Class Hillbillies” (with Cody Johnson)
Marty Raybon, Mike McGuire, Wade Kirby, Jim Collins
*Cody Johnson appears courtesy of Warner Music Nashville/COJO Music

7. “Every Time I Look At You” (with Lady A)
Dallas Davidson, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood
*Lady A appears courtesy of BMLG Records

8. “Life Would Be Perfect” (with Brad Paisley)
Wade Kirby, Phil O’Donnell, Bill Luther
*Brad Paisley appears courtesy of Sony Music Nashville

9. “I’ll Be Your Everything” (with Carly Pearce)
Marty Raybon, Barry Hutchens, Mark Narmore
*Carly Pearce appears courtesy of Big Machine Records

10. “Boots On Broadway”
Austin Merrill

Weekly Radio Report (9/25/20)


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Unearthed Earl Thomas Conley Tracks Set For Release In New ‘Promised Land’ Collection

Earl Thomas Conley fans can rejoice, because some brand new music from the beloved country legend will soon see the light of day. BFD/Audium Nashville is releasing Earl Thomas Conley – Promised Land: The Lost Album, a compilation of a dozen tunes originally recorded by Conley in 2000 and 2001, tomorrow (Sept. 25). Conley died on April 10, 2019, at age 77.

“This collection of music was one of dad’s last endeavors of putting together an album,” Conley’s youngest daughter Erinn Scates said. “Here you will find some of his most thoughtful lyrics and heartfelt mementos. Dad was a man who wore many hats. A painter, a craftsman, a sketch artist but music, most of all, was his truest passion. To his loyal fans, thank you for loving him as much as we did. This last album is dedicated to you and the man who spent the last years of his life devoted to it.”

Conley wrote/co-wrote all 12 Promised Land tracks in the early and mid-‘90s, and recorded some of the songs as demos during that time, but the tracks were never released. At the dawn of the new millennium, Conley circled back to the tunes and cut them.

Earl Thomas Conley – Promised Land: The Lost Album Track Listing:
1. Better Said Than Done (Earl Thomas Conley, Charlie Allen Bouton, Nelson Larkin)
2. Love’s the Only Voice (Earl Thomas Conley, Carole Scates)
3. Workin’ My Way Down (Earl Thomas Conley, Bob Corbin, Bat McGrath)
4. How Much Heartache (Earl Thomas Conley, Ron Reynolds)
5. My Heart’s Just Her Old Stompin’ Ground (Earl Thomas Conley, Ron Reynolds)
6. That’s What a Fool Deserves (Earl Thomas Conley, Ron Reynolds)
7. Takin’ Me Away From the Promised Land (Earl Thomas Conley, Ron Reynolds)
8. Those Clouds I’ve Been Walkin’ On (Earl Thomas Conley, Ron Reynolds)
9. I Still Love the Girl (Earl Thomas Conley, Ron Reynolds)
10. Your Love is Worth It All (Earl Thomas Conley, Nelson Larkin, Ron Reynolds)
11. Physical Attraction (Earl Thomas Conley, Wade Kirby, Randy Scruggs)
12. She Just Wants to Dance (Earl Thomas Conley, Ron Reynolds)

Newcomer Andrew Jannakos Breaks Through With Viral Country Hit “Gone Too Soon”

Andrew Jannakos. Photo: Anthony Stone

Former The Voice contestant and indie artist Andrew Jannakos has a debut song roaring up the charts. This week it sits at No. 12 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Within days of its official release, “Gone Too Soon” earned 28,000 downloads and more than 2.4 million digital streams. The song also debuted at No. 1 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart, at No. 2 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart, and at No. 1 on the Emerging Artists list.

“It was a really humbling experience,” Jannakos tells MusicRow. “You see songs go viral all the time, but when it happens to you, and I see people then start streaming all my other music and my platforms start going up, it feels great to see that our hard work is paying off.”

These chart successes are not too shabby for a guy whose first-ever performance in front of an audience came less than two years ago—in front of millions of people when he did the blind auditions for The Voice.

“It was pretty terrifying,” he recalls. “It’s crazy to look back and think how far I’ve come as a performer. It’s all about dedication. I’m young and I’m hungry, and I’m ready for whatever gets thrown at me.”

He joined Team Adam [Levine], and though he was ultimately eliminated during the battle rounds, the encouragement from the likes of coaches Levine and Kelly Clarkson were enough to spur Jannakos deeper into music and songwriting.

In January, Jannakos wrote “Gone Too Soon” alongside Jason Afable and Josh Bricker during a homespun writers retreat at a cabin in Chattanooga, Tennessee, just weeks before the pandemic forced co-writing sessions to shift to virtual co-writes.

“I had written with Josh a few times. I hadn’t written with Jason before but I had heard great things about him as a writer so I was excited,” Jannakos says. “ Somebody threw out the line, ‘Man, they’re gone too soon.’

“Music is so subjective to change that it could mean a lot of different things. To me, the meaning for this song is my fiancée. When we first started to date, she had a one-year-old son. She didn’t really want to introduce me to him at first, so she would always come over and then have to leave. So for me, it was about her always having to be gone too soon. When we finished the song, I remember looking around the room and just feeling like the song was special.”

Jannakos, like every artist, saw the majority of his shows canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he and his fiancée Katie turned to social media to help keep promoting his music—which turned “Gone Too Soon” into a viral sensation.

“I had 22 of my shows—which, to an independent artist like myself who nobody knew two months ago, was a good bit—I had all of them cancel. But you take the negatives and turn them into positives. So we just went on social media and were able to make something out of it.”
His fiancée encouraged him to release snippets of the song on TikTok prior to its official release, and that turned into 9 million views, helping Jannakos build a base of more than 600,000 subscribers on the platform. It was around that time he teamed Nashville-based managers Andrew Cohen and Anthony Stone to further fuel the song up the charts.
“It’s been cool to see what they bring to the table, with lots of good things to come,” Jannakos says.
Since “Gone Too Soon” has broken through on the music charts, Jannakos has been in talks with a few labels and says he had “more opportunities come up over the past couple of weeks and co-writes with people that are incredible.”

This year is doubly special for the singer-songwriter, as he revealed he and his fiancée Katie are set to wed this weekend. While he’s currently making regular trips to Music City, he says a more permanent move to Nashville is in the very near future.

YouTube video

Matt Stell’s New EP ‘Better Than That’ Due In October


Matt Stell has made the most of his quarantine time by putting together a new project, Better Than That. The new EP is set for release on Oct. 16 and was co-produced by Matt with Ash Bowers.

Better Than That features five new songs, including the EP’s title track, which is available now along with the “Better Than That” lyric video. In addition to the new tracks, the EP includes the single “Everywhere But On,” his multi-week No. 1 Platinum-certified smash “Prayed For You,” as well as the recently-released “If I Was A Bar.”

“I think the silver lining to quarantine and being off of the road is that I’ve been able to focus on writing and becoming more creative,” said Stell. “I’m really proud of these new songs, so it’s exciting to finally get them out to the fans.”

BETTER THAN THAT EP Track List:
1. Everywhere But On (Matt Stell, Paul Sikes, and Lance Miller)
2. If I Was A Bar (Dan Isbell, Zack Kale, and Jonathan Singleton)
3. Prayed For You (Ash Bowers, Matt Stell, and Allison Veltz-Cruz)
4. Better Than That (Joe Fox, Phil Barton, and Matt Stell)
5. I Love You Too (Seth Alley, Matt Stell, Ryan Peterson)
6. Sadie (Nate Cyphert, Sam Roman, Parrish Warrington, and Diederik van Elsas)
7. Chase it Down (Jarrod Ingram, Blake Hubbard, Brian Maher, and Matt Stell)
8. Look at Me Now (Joe Fox, Seth Ennis, and Thomas Finchum)

Singer-Songwriter Queeva Inks Publishing Deal

Pictured (top row, L-R): Joe Carter (Carter and Company Mgmt), Mike Taliaferro (Songs of New Town); (bottom row, L-R): Queeva, Tim Medlin (Songs of New Town)

Singer-songwriter Queeva has signed a publishing deal with Songs of New Town.
“We are thrilled to add Queeva to our songwriter family,” said the publisher’s Tim Medlin. “Her level of talent is a rarity and we can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.”

Queeva has earned more than 1.3 million streams to date. “Above Water,” the first track from her upcoming EP, has been added to Spotify’s “Wild Country,” “Next From Nashville,” and “Fresh Finds” playlists.

The Mavericks Sign With APA


The Mavericks, who recently released their first Spanish/Latin album, En Español, have signed with APA for global representation in music touring, branding/marketing and more.

En Español recently reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Latin Pop chart. The group celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, performing more than 120 shows in 2019.

Produced by Raul Malo and long-time collaborator Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Prince, Sheryl Crow), the line-up for the new album includes Malo’s fellow Miamian and charter band member Paul Deakin on drums, as well as veterans Eddie Perez on lead guitar and Jerry Dale McFadden on keyboards. The band is also joined on both the album and on stage by their renowned Fantastic Five sidemen.

“We’re thrilled to be represented by Akiko Rogers and her team at APA,” The Mavericks’ Malo said. “We feel this is the right opportunity and the right time to have all our business under one roof, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship.”

Chaz Cardigan’s New EP ‘Holograma’ To Drop Oct. 22


Chaz Cardigan has revealed the track list for his upcoming new eight-track EP Holograma, due out Oct. 22. Fans who pre-save the EP will instantly receive the dreamy, slow-burning new single “Room” plus “Everything’s Wrong” and “Middle of the Road.”

“When we started writing ‘Room,’ it just snapped me back into being 16. I realized that feeling of being in love for the first time is something I’ve been chasing for so long,” says Nashville-based artist Cardigan, who penned the track with ROBOPOP (Maroon 5, Lana Del Rey), who also produced, and Jon Green (James Bay, Kylie Minogue). “We really dug deep and tried to make it as tactile and specific as possible, with lots of little details, like the map of Ecuador he had on his wall.”

On the new collection, Cardigan makes a new leap in what he calls “cracking codes to emotion,” sharing a batch of songs that show incredible growth in both his life and his music. “Room” comes on the heels of Chaz’s standalone single, “Live A Little,” which can be heard in the promotional campaign for Tiny World, a new Apple TV Plus documentary series narrated by Paul Rudd that premieres Oct. 2. It also follows his breakthrough track “Not Ok!” which reached the Top 20 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart.

Throughout Holograma, he showcases the eclectic musicality he first began honing as a kid in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. A classically trained pianist who taught himself to play guitar, bass, and drums, he started gigging in punk bands at 11, covered classic songs in Louisville bars during high school, and later produced in a Nashville hip-hop collective. After releasing his debut album, I, he put out a series of singles that all ended up on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist – a triumph that soon earned him the distinction of becoming the first artist jointly signed to Capitol Records and Loud Robot, the record label from J.J. Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot. He is also signed to management company Hard 8 Working Group, which operates in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles.

Holograma Track List:

  • Everything’s Wrong
  • Losing Touch
  • Kamikaze
  • Room
  • Middle Of The Road
  • Jesus Christ I’m Lonely
  • Change Your Mind
  • Let It Rest