Merle Haggard Tribute Adds Performers, Tickets Still Available

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The April 6 Merle Haggard tribute show, set for Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, has added Toby Keith, Alabama and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top to the lineup. Sing Me Back Home: The Music Of Merle Haggard is a taping to honor of what would have been Haggard’s 80th birthday and the one-year anniversary of his passing.

This one-night-only show will bring together an additional lineup of previously announced performers, including Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, John Mellencamp, Dierks Bentley, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams Jr., The Avett Brothers, Alison Krauss, Ronnie Dunn, Warren Haynes, Jamey Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lucinda Williams, Ben Haggard, John Anderson, Connie Smith and Bobby Bare. Additional performers to be announced in the coming weeks.

A limited number of tickets are currently available at ticketmaster.com, by phone at 800-745-3000, all Ticketmaster locations and the Bridgestone Arena box office.

Keith Wortman, Mark Rothbaum and Theresa Haggard are the creators and executive producers of the show. Don Was, Ben Haggard and Buddy Cannon will serve as music directors, and preside over the house backing band. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation.

“I am so very thankful for this tribute to my husband, Merle Haggard. Please come join me and my family at this fantastic show that Merle would be so proud of,” said Theresa Haggard.

“I am honored to produce a show that celebrates the life and music of Merle Haggard,” says Wortman. “His music and lyrics continue to shape the lives of musicians and millions of fans. I can’t think of any better way to celebrate his 80th birthday than to honor his legacy with this extraordinary event. It’s going to be an unforgettable evening.”

Jerrod Niemann Restores Romance With New Single, ‘God Made A Woman’

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Hitmaking Curb Records artist Jerrod Niemann (“Lover, Lover,” “Drink to That All Night”) aims to restore country’s old-school ideals of classy romance in his brand new single, “God Made A Woman,” hitting country radio airwaves today (March 17) and available now via digital retailers nationwide here. 

The first taste of Niemann’s upcoming fourth album, his first for Curb Records, “God Made A Woman” is a delicate and dignified celebration of a woman’s love, backed by sweeping orchestral strings, pedal steel and Niemann’s reverent vocal. Bucking the current trend of throwaway pickup lines, “God Made A Woman” finds Niemann putting the lady in his life up on a pedestal of adoration.

“You realize really quickly that the weight of the world is easier to hold with two sets of shoulders,” says Niemann, who married wife Morgan in 2014. “That’s what I think about when I listen to this song.”

Niemann first teased the single on social media calling it “my favorite song I’ve ever recorded.” Co-produced with Jimmie Lee Sloas, more details on the upcoming project – including the album’s official release date – will be revealed soon.

After joining good friend and labelmate Lee Brice for select shows in 2016, Niemann is currently headlining solo dates with shows scheduled through June, including the ACM Pool Party For A Cause in Las Vegas, Nevada (April 1) and the Suwannee River Jam in Live Oak, Florida (May 5).

SXSW News: Garth Announces Single, Lady A Brings Back Series, SESAC With R.E.M.’s Mike Mills

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CMA Entertainer of the Year Garth Brooks Announces New Single “Ask Me How I Know”

In a press conference today (March 17) at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, Garth Brooks announced that “Ask Me How I Know,” written by Mitch Rossell, will be the second single from his new album Gunslinger. The song, available to preview here, is a poignantly reflective track heralded as a “romantic power ballad” by LA Times.

It was also revealed that Brooks will headline Saturday night at the SXSW Outdoor Stage featuring Garth Brooks: Presented by Amazon Music. Taking place at Ladybird Lake, complimentary general admission tickets are sold out. Tickets to this event are restricted to residents of Austin and surrounding areas. SXSW registrants and Music Festival wristband holders can also attend, with a special allocation of space made available via Primary and Secondary access.

Later today, Brooks will be joined by Amazon Music Vice President Steve Boom for a special keynote conversation.

 

Lady Antebellum, busbee and Nicole Galyon perform on Thursday, March 16 at CMA Songwriters Series at The Moody Theater in Austin, Texas as part of South By Southwest.

Award-Winning Lady Antebellum Ushers In CMA Songwriters Series In Acoustic Evening

Seven-time CMA Awards-winning trio Lady Antebellum brought the intimate CMA Songwriters Series back to the SXSW Music Festival Thursday night (March 16) as they took the stage at Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater, alongside CMA Awards-nominated songwriters busbee and Nicolle Galyon.

Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, and Hillary Scott performed their hits, including six-time Platinum single “Need You Now” and double Platinum “I Run To You,” along with new material from their forthcoming seventh studio album Heart Break. Lady A also performed a special rendition of their current Top 25 single “You Look Good,” as they were joined by the song’s co-writer busbee, who also serves as the producer on their upcoming record.

“This is our first time at SXSW and we are so excited that it’s for the CMA Songwriters Series,” said Scott. “We’ve worked so hard on this upcoming record with both busbee and Nicolle Galyon, and to share the stage with them made this night even more special and one we will never forget.”

The performance marked the CMA Songwriters Series debuts for busbee and Galyon, both CMA Song of the Year nominees for penning Maren Morris’ “My Church” and Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic,” respectively.

 

SESAC’s Erin Collins, Mike Mills of R.E.M., and SESAC’s Dennis Lord

Mike Mills And SESAC Staffers At SXSW

Mike Mills of R.E.M. spent some time with SESAC execs at South By Southwest. Mills was in attendance for a Q&A session following the premiere of Thank You, Friends: Big Star‘s Third Live … And More which will be released on CD/DVD on April 21.

Mandisa Finds Light After The Darkness On New CD, Out in May

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Mandisa will release her first album in four years, Out Of The Dark, on May 19. The aptly-titled project is her first since battling depression for the past few years, a fight she is transparent about on the new collection, which will be released by Capitol CMG. A new single from the album, “Unfinished,” lands at radio today. The singer will appear on Good Morning America in an exclusive interview on April 26, her first in over three years, to discuss the new music and perform. 

“My hope is that people will be on this journey with me,” explains Mandisa. “When I began, I was in a really dark place, but where I am today is so much better and so much lighter!”

Mandisa has been touring across the country playing 30 arenas as part of TobyMac’s Hits Deep Tour alongside Matt Maher, Mac Powell from Third Day, Capital Kings, Ryan Stevenson and Hollyn. The tour will wrap on April 9 at Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Out Of The Dark will be available for pre-order on April 7.

RaeLynn’s ‘Wildhorse’ Running Free On NPR

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RaeLynn’s debut album Wildhorse is streaming exclusively and in its entirety as an NPR First Listen beginning yesterday (March 16) through its release March 24. 

Produced by Jimmy Robbins and Nicolle Galyon, RaeLynn co-wrote 11 of the album’s 12 tracks, including the powerful first single, “Love Triangle,” a divorce ballad told from a little girl’s point of view.

The former Voice star has been busy on the road touring with Blake Shelton and will wrap the Doing It To Country Songs Tour in Omaha, Nebraska tomorrow (March 18). She will kick off her first-ever headlining RaVe Tour April 20.

Artist Action: Luke Bryan at Houston Rodeo, Clay Walker’s Chords of Hope, Aaron Watson Featured by NRA Country

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Clay Walker

Clay Walker will host his benefit concert Chords of Hope in partnership with his charity Band Against MS (BAMS) in Nashville on June 6 at 3rd & Lindsley. The event, now in its eighth year, will feature surprise performances and will raise money to fund research, education and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis. Chords of Hope has raised well over $200K just for the MS Center at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Doors open at 6 p.m., and fans can purchase tickets here.

“This is our 8th year putting together Chords of Hope and every year the event and even the fans who come out and support keep getting better,” said Walker. “The amount of money that continues to get raised to help support research and education through BAMS and the MS Center at Vanderbilt is incredible and this night is truly a special one for me and for Music City!”

Band Against MS was founded by Walker in 2003 with the goal of helping others living with the same disease he has battled since 1996. To date, BAMS has raised more than 4.5 million dollars.

 

ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee and four-time show co-host Luke Bryan performed at the Houston Rodeo last night (March 16) as the biggest country act to play this year with a crowd of 75,500 screaming fans. Last night marked Bryan’s fifth consecutive year at the rodeo.

“It continues to be an honor to play here at the Rodeo,” shared Bryan. “The fans are so energetic and make this such an incredible night. This is one I always look forward to doing!”

Bryan will wrap his Kill The Lights Tour this weekend with two sold out shows in Orange Beach, Alabama. The tour launched in February 2016.  

Coming up, Bryan will appear as the skilled adviser for friend Blake Shelton’s team on NBC’s The Voice March 20 & 21 and March 27 & 28. On Sunday, April 2 Bryan will co-host the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards with Dierks Bentley from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 8:00 p.m. ET/delayed PT on CBS.

 

Aaron Watson has been chosen as NRA Country’s Featured Artist for the month of March. To celebrate, the Texas native will be joining NRA Country in offering an exclusive giveaway with one lucky fan winning a prize pack featuring airfare and hotel accommodations to the NRA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, VIP tickets to the NRA Country Jam concert on April 28 and NRA’s Saturday night concert on April 29, and other prizes.

Watson’s new album, VAQUERO, debuted in the Top 10 on Billboard’s 200 Albums chart and #2 on the Top Country Albums chart.

Lindsay Ell’s ‘Worth The Wait’ EP Releases March 24

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Lindsay Ell will release her debut Stoney Creek EP Worth The Wait on March 24. Produced by Kristian Bush, the six-song collection includes tunes written by Caitlyn Smith, Ryan Hurd, Travis Meadows, and more.

The EP delves into relationship territory on tunes like “Waiting On You,” and “Criminal,” and Ell caps off the project with a cover of John Mayer‘s “Stop This Train,” which showcases the young singer’s guitar chops. The multi-instrumentalist has toured with Luke Bryan, Buddy Guy, The Band Perry, and Keith Urban, and wowed audiences as Carrie Underwood’s guitar player live on the “50th Annual CMA Awards.” She is currently on tour with Brad Paisley as part of his Life Amplified World Tour.

Worth The Wait Track Listing:
1) “Waiting on You” (Lindsay Ell, Adam Hambrick, Andrew DeRoberts)
2) “Criminal” (Lindsay Ell, Chris Stevens, Fred Wilhelm)
3) “Space” (Caitlyn Smith, Heather Morgan, Maggie Chapman)
4) “Standing Here” (Melissa Peirce, Ryan Hurd, Chase McGill)
5) “Worth The Wait” (Lindsay Ell, Travis Meadows)
6) “Stop This Train” (John Mayer, Pino Palladion)

CMA Music Festival Artist Lineup Announced

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CMA announced the superstar lineup for the nightly concerts at CMA Music Fest 2017 earlier this morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, and the list of names taking the big stage at Nissan Stadium for country’s biggest week reads like a Billboard Top 100 list, with Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line, and Miranda Lambert all set to perform on the nightly shows. Also performing during the nightly concerts will be Trace Adkins, John Anderson, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Brett Eldredge, Sam Hunt, Lady Antebellum, Tracy Lawrence, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Rogers, Darius Rucker, Chris Stapleton, Cole Swindell, Thomas Rhett, and Chris Young.

Monday through Wednesday of this week a different stage lineup was posted on CMAfest.com and on the CMA Fest mobile app as artists and fans posted their #CMAfest excitement and music education support on social media. The tweets and Instagram posts tagged were compiled into a virtual mosaic image of the CMA Fest logo that was revealed following today’s announcement of the lineup on Good Morning America.

Lineups for several of the other stages were revealed as well. Old Dominion will kick things off June 8 at the Chevrolet Riverfront Stage, which will also feature performances by A Thousand Horses, Lauren Alaina, Bobby Bones & The Raging Idiots, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Chase Bryant, Cam, Brandy Clark, Luke Combs, Easton Corbin, Russell Dickerson, Drake White and the Big Fire, Eli Young Band, Tyler Farr, High Valley, Home Free, Chris Janson, Jana Kramer, Chris Lane, LOCASH, Maddie & Tae, Neal McCoy, Scotty McCreery, William Michael Morgan, Joe Nichols, Jon Pardi, Parmalee, Eric Paslay, Kellie Pickler, RaeLynn, Michael Ray, Chase Rice, Canaan Smith, Corey Smith, Granger Smith, Josh Turner, Aaron Watson, and Brett Young.

The Chevrolet Park Stage will entertain crowds daily with performances by Drew Baldridge, Ryan Beaver, Big Smo, Bailey Bryan, Kristian Bush, Ruthie Collins, Travis Collins, Adam Craig, Jacob Davis, Cale Dodds, Casey Donahew, Clare Dunn, Brooke Eden, Lindsay Ell, Morgan Evans, Ryan Follese, Ryan Griffin, Trent Harmon, Walker Hayes, Sundance Head, LANCO, Jon Langston, Jackie Lee, Love and Theft, Steve Moakler, Muscadine Bloodline, Kyle Park, Carly Pearce, Luke Pell, Mo Pitney, Maggie Rose, Runaway June, Adam Sanders, Jamie Lynn Spears, The Railers, The Swon Brothers, Michael Tyler, Walker McGuire, Morgan Wallen, and Waterloo Revival.

The Gildan Broadway Stage at Hard Rock Cafe will feature Abby Anderson, Chris Bandi, Risa Binder, Craig Wayne Boyd, Ashley Campbell, Colin Elmore & The Danville Train, Davisson Brothers Band, Fairground Saints, Filmore, Ben Gallaher, Haley Georgia, Jillian Jacqueline, Ryan Kinder, Trea Landon, Olivia Lane, Brandon Lay, Levon, Lillie Mae, Sean McConnell, Alyssa Micaela, Meghan Patrick, Jordan Rager, Brandon Ray, Restless Road, Tyler Rich, Dylan Schneider, Scooter Brown Band, Kalie Shorr, Jo Smith, Smithfield, Natalie Stovall, Tara Thompson, Walker County, Hailey Whitters, Alex Williams, and Carter Winter.

A limited number of tickets for the Nightly Concerts at Nissan Stadium are still available at CMAfest.com or through the CMA Box Office at 1-800-CMA-FEST. Outdoor daytime stages including Chevrolet Riverfront and Park Stages, as well as the Gildan Broadway Stage at Hard Rock Cafe, are free and open to the public.

Ralph Stanley Concert Released In ‘Live At The Bottom Line’ Series

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A rare concert recording featuring Ralph Stanley performing at New York’s famed Bottom Line club, Ralph Stanley: Live At The Bottom Line, has been released and is in stores and available online now. The live set was recorded at the legendary Big Apple nightclub in 2002, and features many of Stanley’s best-known songs, including “Man of Constant Sorrow,” and “O Death.” He is backed by a host of prestigious musicians on the recording, with Stuart Duncan (violin), James Shelton (guitar), Dennis Crouch (bass), and Mike Compton (mandolin) performing with the bluegrass legend for the special evening.

The show marked the only time that Stanley played the venue, but he was one of many roots artists to showcase their talents at the hotspot, along with artists like Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Doc Watson, and Emmylou Harris.

“You could get the New York Times, and Rolling Stone, and The Daily News, and The New York Post, all covering your gig,” Bottom Line co-founder Allan Pepper said. “And the record companies would get celebrities to come to the shows, so suddenly you see Andy Warhol coming to see Dolly Parton, and there’s a picture and a big story about that. There was a buzz factor that played heavily into building this scene nationally. An artist could be on a morning or an evening news show, and could even do a live radio broadcast. In that way, New York was pretty big for the country music scene. Plus at our place, you could sit, and it was comfortable and intimate, and that was very important for getting the fans and press to come out. It was all part of the star-making machinery.”

The project is the first album released featuring the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor inductee since his passing in June 2016.

Live At The Bottom Line Track Listing:
1. O Death
2. Band Introductions
3. Girl from the Greenbriar Shore
4. False-Hearted
5. Henry Lee
6. I’ll Remember You Love, In My Prayers
7. Lift Him Up
8. Wild Bill Jones
9. Hemlocks & Primroses
10. Look On and Cry
11. Calling You
12. Pretty Polly
13. Great High Mountain
14. Man of Constant Sorrow
15. Amazing Grace

Garth To Open And Close 2018 RodeoHouston

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Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks will kick off next year’s RodeoHouston, set for February 27, and then close out the Livestock Show and Rodeo with a second show on March 18. The bookend performances will mark the first time in the history of the rodeo that one artist has both opened and closed the event.

“We are thrilled to welcome Garth Brooks back to the RodeoHouston stage,” said Jack A. Lyons, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo chairman of the board. “This is the first time in multi-entertainer show history that one artist has opened and closed RodeoHouston, and we could not think of a more engaging performer to take on this epic presentation.”

The 2018 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is scheduled to run February 27–March 18. Additional 2018 entertainers and ticket information will be announced at a later date. Fans attending this year’s show between March 20 and March 24 will receive instructions on how to enter a text-to-win contest for a chance to win 2018 season tickets. More than 61,000 tickets still remain for the 2017 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which runs through March 26, and are available at rodeohouston.com.