Country
Listen to Steve Earle’s New Album, ‘Ghosts of West Virginia,’ in Its Entirety: Premiere
Coal Country’s run at New York’s Public Theater has been cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. But Steve Earle is still abundantly enthusiastic about Ghosts of West Virginia, the album that came alongside the production and is premiering exclusively below. The songs scored him a Drama Desk Awards nomination for outstanding music in a play. “We had a hit,” Earle, who performed his songs in the play as “a kind of Greek chorus,” tells Billboard. “People were buying tickets. We were only open officially for a week when it closed, so I feel like we were just at the beginning of it.” Coal Country and Ghosts of West Virginia — which features six songs from the play plus an additional four tracks recorded with his band the Dukes and comes out Frid...
Makin’ Tracks: Ryan Hurd Moves Forward by Mining ‘Every Other Memory’
Ever since its inception, when promoters promised to preserve “old-time music,” country has been a genre built upon the past. Whether it’s recounting childhood events in the lyrics or borrowing the phrasing and technique from its predecessors, each generation has managed to bring history into the here and now. With “Every Other Memory,” Ryan Hurd accomplishes that in two ways as the song’s protagonist recalls an old flame through a mental scrapbook of their time together. And one of the specific images is an Eric Church concert, which pays homage to one of Hurd’s real-life icons. “I really love leaning on nostalgia,” says Hurd. “It’s just such a huge part of our genre, and I kind of picked pictures, like emojis sort of, so that every line is a snapshot.” Every lyrical line owes a debt to t...
How Brad Paisley Put on a Full Production Arena Show and Kept Everyone Safe (Including Himself)
Last Friday, Brad Paisley and his band played a full production arena show, sponsored by Bud Light Seltzer. It was one of the first shows since the COVID-19 pandemic started earlier this year to feature all the bells and whistles of a regular concert. Beamed online from the Steel Mill, a production space in Nashville where Paisley rehearses his tours, the only thing missing was a live audience. As Paisley details below, it took tremendous work and extreme attention to every detail to ensure that all safety standards were met, even navigating with precision how he and his guitar tech would switch guitars. He tells Billboard how the show came together and the possibilities for more live entertainment on the horizon. Billboard: How did you feel on that stage with the full production and your ...
God, Family, Country: Vet Craig Morgan’s New Album Tackles All-American Issues
America is headed into the oddest Memorial Day in its history. The National Memorial Day concert will be broadcast from indoors instead of in front of a crowd outside the U.S. Capitol Building. Seats at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will remain empty. And in many states, citizens are being encouraged to avoid barbecues or, at the very least, to exercise social distancing when they attend. Despite the unusual nature of living through a pandemic-challenged era, Craig Morgan is moving forward with the release of a new album, God, Family, Country. Due May 22, the Friday of the holiday weekend, the project is practically made for Memorial Day: It focuses on meaning-of-life and meaning-of-death issues while exploring sometimes uncomfortable topics. Morgan, who served more than two decades in t...
The 8 Best Moments From ‘A Night of Covenant House Stars’
Jon Bon Jovi, Dolly Parton, Meryl Streep and more stars united over livestream on Monday (May 18) for “A Night Of Covenant House Stars,” a concert benefiting the Covenant House charity. Actors like Streep and Diane Keaton read written letters from kids about their experiences with homelessness, while musicians and Broadway talent performed together (remotely). Hosted by Broadway veteran Audra McDonald and 60 Minutes anchor John Dickerson, “A Night Of Covenant House Stars” was part of the initial slate of programming for the new streaming service Broadway On Demand. Covenant House provides “housing, food and healthcare to children and youth facing homelessness and the heroism of front-line staff working around the clock to keep them safe during the COVID-19 crisis.” Below, ...
First Country: New Music From Brothers Osborne, Garth Brooks, Chase Rice & More
First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos and albums that dropped this week. This week’s edition of First Country has lauded veterans, promising newcomers and the welcome return of a pair of siblings who have left us without new music for too long. The Brothers Osborne, “All Night” [embedded content] Ready to forget your problems for three minutes? Then the new Brothers Osborne is for you. “All Night,” co-written by TJ and John Osborne, is a feel-good, rocking little ditty that opens with a “Pretty Woman”-like opening guitar lick before exploding into a fun romp. “I’ve got the good if you’re got the time/I’ve got the moon if you’ve got the shine,” sings TJ. If country clubs were open right now, this one would instantly bring crowds to the dance floor and in...
No Mystery Here: The ‘Scoob!’ Movie Album With Charlie Puth & More Has Arrived
Plus, watch the video for ‘On Me’ by Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown featuring Ava Max. Jinkies! Atlantic Records unleashed Scoob! The Album on Friday (May 15), and it features some high-profile collaborations. The album for the highly-anticipated film features 12 brand new tracks from stars of all genres. Charlie Puth and Lennon Stella collaborated on “Summer Feelings,” while Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown and Ava Max teamed up for “On Me.” Scoob! reveals how lifelong friends Scooby and Shaggy first met and how they joined with young detectives Fred, Velma and Daphne to form Mystery Inc. Later on, Scooby Doo and the gang race to stop a global “dogpocalypse,” and learn that Scooby has a secret legacy and an epic destiny. The movie is available for b...
Neil Young’s Unheard ‘70s Album ‘Homegrown’ Will Finally be Released
Neil Young’s Homegrown, one of the great “Holy Grails” of his unreleased catalogue, will finally see the light of day some 46 years after its recording. The twelve-track studio set will be released June 19 on all formats, via Reprise Records, the Warner Music Group label and Young announced Friday. In a letter posted to the Neil Young Archives, the legendary Canadian rocker admits Homegrown was the one that got away for far too long. “I apologize,” he writes. “This album Homegrown should have been there for you a couple of years after Harvest. It’s the sad side of a love affair. The damage done. The heartache. I just couldn’t listen to it. I wanted to move on. So I kept it to myself, hidden away in the vault, on the shelf, in the back of my mind….but I should have sha...
Brad Paisley Set for Full Production Arena Show From Nashville
In the pre-coronavirus world, Brad Paisley would have been kicking off his summer tour this weekend. Instead, he’s taking his show to the Internet. But unlike the virtual acoustic concerts that have flooded the digital space since sheltering in place began two months ago, he is putting on a full-production arena show with his band. The only thing missing will be a live audience. “I know that we all miss a lot of things. One of the things we miss would be live concerts,” Paisley says in a video posted to his Instagram that takes fans behind the scenes to rehearsal at The Steel Mill, a production facility in Nashville. As the video stresses, all CDC guidelines for social distancing will be observed and through rehearsal and the night of show, temperatures are taken upon arrival, with crew an...
WME Partner Richard Weitz’s Pandemic Parties Surpass $2 Million Raised With Star-Studded Nashville Edition
Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Michael McDonald and more performed before music execs and first responders. Six weeks ago with the coronavirus shutdown already in full effect, WME partner Richard Weitz celebrated his daughter Demi’s 17th birthday with a virtual party with guests including as LL Cool J. The event proved so popular, Weitz and his daughter knew they were on to something and turned their Zoom party, dubbed RWQuarantunes, into a nationwide invite-only weekly event with a charitable tie in for COVID-19 relief. Each subsequent edition has drawn more entertainment industry insiders and big name performers — including Josh Groban, John Mayer, Rick Springfield, Boy George, Michael Bolton and Fantasia — to what has become Friday night’s hottest ticket and the feel-good e...
Rewinding the Country Charts: In 2015, Little Big Town’s ‘Girl Crush’ Began a Record Run at No. 1
The smash ruled Hot Country Songs for 13 weeks. On May 9, 2015, Little Big Town‘s “Girl Crush” hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart for the start of a 13-week command. The reign stands as the longest for a group (of three members or more) in the chart’s six-decade history. The song, written by Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose, became Little Big Town’s second of three leaders, between “Pontoon,” which led for two weeks in September 2012, and the Taylor Swift-authored “Better Man,” a two-week No. 1 in February 2017. The lyrical content of “Girl Crush” caused a notable reaction, with many getting it wrong, thinking that “Crush” is about a woman romantically interested in another woman. Th...
Here Are the Lyrics to Kane Brown’s ‘Cool Again’
Kane Brown might hope he’s “Cool Again” like last summer, but the country star is currently burning up on the Billboard Hot 100 with a No. 68 debut (chart dated May 9). “We wrote ‘Cool Again’ at a writing retreat when it was about 20 degrees outside,” Brown said about the song of the summer contender, which he released last month and wrote with Josh Hoge, Matthew McGinn and Lindsay Rimes. “At the time, it was about missing warm weather, but then it became so much more. It made us think about all the amazing memories of summer. We were really wanting to go back to that. I think there’s something people can really relate to in their lives, especially right now.” Check out the lyrics below. I’ve been thinkin’ about ya late...
