Freeman Wizer

Freeman Wizer has joined Sheltered Music Publishing as Senior Creative Director. The music publishing veteran of more than 20 years brings a significant background of experience and success to the company.

“Freeman is joining us with a wealth of proven leadership working with songwriters and artists, and his extensive knowledge of working with catalog is remarkable,” shares Darrell Franklin, Senior Vice President of Sheltered Music Publishing. “He is passionate, driven and has the creative vision to help us support our growing roster of songwriters and artists.”

Holding both a BBA and MBA from Belmont University, Wizer’s experience includes 12 years at Universal Music Publishing, as well as high level creative roles at Sea Gayle, Spirit and Porchlight. Throughout his career in publishing, Wizer has worked closely with artists and songwriters such as Luke Laird, Brandy Clark, Ingrid Andress, Nathan Chapman, Clint Daniels, Ryan Hurd, Radney Foster, and many more.

“I’m honored to work with accomplished professionals Lance and Darrell,” says Wizer. “Darrell’s ability to recognize great music and passion for songs and songwriters is something I have always respected, while Lance Freed is widely regarded as one of the most respected music publishers. It’s no surprise they have assembled incredible talent at Sheltered and I’m excited to contribute to its continued success.”

Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert have penned four new songs exclusively for the final two episodes of CBS’s popular new TV show Fire Country.

The new songs, which were inspired by the themes of the show, can be heard in the episodes on Friday May 12 and May 19 on CBS and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+*.

The four songs include “Saved,” written by Jon Randall and Luke Dick; “Still Burning” written by Lambert, Randall and Dick; “Something in the Water” written by Lambert, Bentley,  Randall and Dick; and “Barbed Wire Heart” written by Bentley and Randall.

“I’m a huge country music fan! Dierks and Miranda have written and performed some of my all-time favorite songs, so to get the chance to work with them on Fire Country was a dream come true,” says series creator and star, Max Thieriot. “Their songs provide the perfect backdrop for our dramatic conclusion to the season.”

“Dierks and I got together with our buddies Luke Dick and Jon Randall, and we started writing for Fire Country,” says Lambert. “It’s a different process to write to another storyline that’s already been written and sort of go along with the script. It’s been a cool project!”

“From the moment I saw the very first scenes of the pilot for Fire Country, I knew I wanted to try to write songs for it,” adds Bentley. “Writing for TV stretches different muscles than writing for my own albums. And getting to collaborate with my friends Miranda, Luke Dick and Jon Randall made the whole process explorative and, of course, a lot of fun.”

Bentley and Lambert aren’t the first country artists to join the world of Fire Country. Kane Brown guest-starred on an episode earlier this year.

Zach Bryan‘s “Something In The Orange” has jumped to No. 3 on the country streaming songs chart this week with 12 million new streams, adding to 632 million RTD, according to Luminate data.

Morgan Wallen‘s “Last Night” remains at No. 1 with 26 million streams, adding to 386 million RTD, while Luke Combs‘ “Fast Car” cover stays at No. 2 with 14 million streams, adding to its 74 million RTD. Wallen’s “Thinkin’ Bout Me” moves to No. 4 with 12 million new streams, adding to 129 million RTD, and “You Proof” lands at No. 5 with 12 million streams, adding to its 569 million RTD.

Once again, the top five country albums remain the same this week.

Wallen’s One Thing At A Time rests at No. 1 with 138K in total consumption (5.4K album only/166 million song streams), and Dangerous: The Double Album stays at No. 2 with 47K (1.3K album only/59 million song streams). Combs’ Gettin’ Old holds No. 3 with 37K (3K album only/42 million song streams). Bryan’s American Heartbreak continues at No. 4 with 28K (1.5K album only/34 million song streams), and Taylor Swift‘s Red (Taylor’s Version) persists at No. 5 with 22K (3.8K album only/24 million song streams).

Turnpike Troubadours. Photo: David McClister

Turnpike Troubadours will release their new album, A Cat in the Rain, on Aug. 25 via Bossier City Records/Thirty Tigers.

On the tracks, “Mean Old Sun,” is available now, along with its music video directed by Sterlin Harjo and filmed at Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom.

Produced by Shooter Jennings, A Cat in the Rain marks a long-awaited return for the band following their self-imposed hiatus in 2019. With these ten new songs, the band renews with a fresh perspective on their authentic songwriting and signature foot-stomping sound fans have come to know and love.

Pioneers of the Red Dirt music scene, Turnpike Troubadours has amassed more than 1.5 billion global streams and over 1.28 million equivalent units sold to-date. Originally from Tahlequah, Oklahoma, members of group include Evan Felker (vocals, guitar), Kyle Nix (fiddle), Ryan Engleman (electric guitar), RC Edwards (bass), Gabe Pearson (drums) and Hank Early (accordion).

The band is slated to headline shows at New York’s Beacon Theater, Washington D.C.’s The Anthem, Los Angeles’ Greek Theater and more, including two nights Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and three nights at Fort Worth’s Billy Bob’s this fall. They will also perform at the Newport Folk Festival, Born & Raised Music Festival, Memphis Mempho Music Festival and Darius Rucker’s Riverfront Revival Music Festival.