Country
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...
Country Music Is Enjoying a Streaming Boom During the Pandemic: New Data
“It’s the soundtrack of our lives whether our lives are going great or going terribly,” explains Pandora head of country Beville Dunkerley. As Americans continue to shelter in place, they are turning to country music to keep them company in record numbers. Over the last two weeks, country music has enjoyed a streaming bonanza, with on-demand audio streams growing 10.7% to a record high 1.26 billion for the week ending April 23. The next week ending April 30, a new record was set as streams grew 14.3% to 1.3 billion. This is versus the baseline weekly audio average of 1.138 billion for the eight-week period Jan. 17 through March 12, according to MRC Data/Nielsen Music. A number of factors contribute to the rise. Among them are the release of new albums from Kelsea Ballerin...
Rock Concert to Take Place in Arkansas Next Week With “Pod” Seating and Temperature Checks
On Monday, Missouri Governor Mike Parson officially gave the okay for concerts to return to parts of the state — though few venues or artists were ready to make the risky move in the middle of the pandemic. Similarly, beginning on May 18th, the state of Arkansas will allow live events to resume, and already one concert is on the books. Bishop Gunn singer/guitarist Travis McCready has announced a limited-capacity concert taking place at TempleLive in Fort Smith, Arkansas next Friday. Perhaps a preview of what’s to come for future live events across the country, Ticketmaster is listing tickets broken down into “fan pods,” blocks of seats set six feet apart that must be purchased in groups of two to 12. The venue boasts a 1,100-person capacity, but has slashed it by 80%, with only 229 se...
