Country
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Michelle Obama is loving Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album. The former First Lady of the United States took to Instagram on Tuesday (April 2) to share a photo of the recently released album’s cover art, alongside a plea for fans to register to vote for the upcoming presidential election this year. “@Beyonce, you are a record-breaker […]
As CMA entertainer of the year winner, 10-time Grammy nominee and whiskey enthusiast Eric Church has grown his varied business empire to include being a co-owner of the Field & Stream brand, launching his own SiriusXM music channel, “Eric Church Outsiders Radio,” rolling out the drinks line Whiskey JYPSI and his upcoming six-story venue Chief’s in downtown Nashville. Infusing his personal brand into every part of these ventures has been just as critical as it has been in his music.
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For some artists, putting out a whiskey might involve little more than slapping their name on a bottle—but Church has never been most artists. His name doesn’t appear on a bottle of Whiskey JYPSI, yet he’s been intimately involved in crafting its feel and flavor.
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“It’s not a celebrity whiskey,” Church says of Whiskey JYPSI to Billboard via email. “I’m a whiskey and bourbon connoisseur. It’s what I enjoy. I have my whole life and Whiskey JYPSI was built to produce a unique and high-quality product. It’s a true partnership and I happen to be a creative and that’s how I contribute the most.”
In 2020, Church joined forces with Raj Alva to launch Outsiders Spirits, an incubator for whiskey creativity. On April 2, the new Whiskey JYPSI Explorer Series launches, with the first release from the series boasting a blend of two six-year-old bourbons: a Kentucky-distilled low rye, as well as an Indiana high rye. The new offering follows the inaugural Whiskey JYPSI Legacy Batch 001, which released in 2023.
“We created this – Raj, Ari and I – it was important to us that we could be creative; to have creativity not just at the start, but through the whole process,” Church says. “We’re able to look around the world and find unique ingredients – like our initial Explorer release is finished with wood from the Appalachian Forrest in North Carolina, where I am from, and Legacy 001 had Canadian Rye that was very unique to its location. By finding unique ingredients and making smaller batches, you can super serve the product and get highly creative with the flavors. That’s what makes Whiskey JYPSI different as a brand.”
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Church’s imprint is also on every inch of his upcoming venue Chief’s. The 20,000-square-foot establishment at 200 Broadway in downtown Nashville celebrates its grand opening on April 5, and not only features Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ on the rooftop, but a two-story, approximately 350-capacity live music venue called The Neon Steeple.
The Neon Steeple is set to feature upcoming performances from not only the “Chief” himself, but Ray Wylie Hubbard, songwriter Casey Beathard, Jim Lauderdale, Sunny Sweeney, Suzy Bogguss and Radney Foster. Church has been very hands-on in selecting performers for the venue, with some artists in the inaugural batch of performers having ties to Church’s own music. In 2019, Church’s music video for “Desperate Man” featured the song’s co-writer Wylie Hubbard. Beathard has co-written several of Church’s hits including “The Outsiders” and “Homeboy.”
“I have a vision for it – there is a troubadour element, there is a songwriter element, and that will evolve over time like anything else but that has been the fabric of how we want to activate the first year,” Church says. “I’m excited to do my shows and we will have other artists that people will recognize. For a lot of artists, it will be an underplay, and for others it will be a perfect place to play Nashville.”
Also originating April 5, Church will launch the 19-show “To Beat the Devil” residency at Chief’s—one that promises a wellspring of creativity and intimacy with his ardent fanbase.
“Very rarely do I get to walk out with a guitar in a living room setting,” says Church, who notes that it is likely that attendees will see some surprise guests show up at various shows during the residency. “It’s very rare that you get to go out and have a conversation like that. It allows me to turn the show into a full musical piece and not just playing songs. It was conceived that way. I have most of it sketched out and I can’t wait to do it.”
In August 2023, Church performed two nights as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s artist-in-residence program, offering up a two-hour, 19-song set that included both Church’s radio hits as well as rarely-heard live renditions. The set was somewhat of a precursor to the unique nights of music he has planned for the Chief’s residency.
“It will be a lot of unique, new music that pertains to different times in my career; stuff that I wrote and maybe didn’t make an album or a story that nobody’s ever heard,” Church says. “That’s part of the reason we are going restrict cell phone use. That’s the only way people can truly be in the moment and experience the moment. As a parent, I understand the challenges of people being away from their cell phone though, so we are going to use Yondr [a pouch system that allows concertgoers to lock away their phones], which allows you access to your phone by stepping outside if you need to – which is important to me. But there will be no recording. What happens there is for the people that fought so hard to get tickets, and they get to talk about it,” Church says.
“It will be a completely unique show and one of the more challenging and special ones of my career.”
At the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday (April 1) night, Jelly Roll took the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles to church. After an introduction from his old touring pals Shinedown, Jelly Roll hit the stage, surrounded by hundreds of glowing votive candles on a stage that resembled a prism-like church. Looking briefly teary-eyed, the […]
Beyoncé‘s new album Cowboy Carter has stirred up some discourse over whether she should be considered “country.” But as far as Carlene Carter is concerned, there’s no question that Bey is in league with her mom: late country icon June Carter Cash.
In a recent statement, Carlene condemned the “negativity” she’s seen in the days since Cowboy Carter arrived on Friday, bringing with it 27 new experimental, country-inspired tracks. “As a Carter Girl myself and coming from a long line of Carter Girls, I’m moved to ask why anyone would treat a Carter this way?” she questioned.
“She is an incredibly talented and creative woman who obviously wanted to do this because she likes country music,” continued the 68-year-old singer-songwriter. “In my book, she’s one of us Carter women and we have always pushed the boundaries by trying whatever music we felt in our hearts and taking spirit-driven risks.”
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Carlene is the daughter of June and Carl Smith, who divorced in 1956. The “Jackson” singer went on to marry Edwin “Rip” Nix in 1957 before splitting in 1966, after which she famously wed Johnny Cash in 1968.
Throughout her career as a country musician, June notched nine hits on the Hot Country Songs chart — a ranking Bey would become the first Black female soloist to top decades later with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The single, along with “16 Carriages,” preceded Cowboy Carter, which features guest appearances from Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson.
“I admire and love her and all she does,” added Carlene, directly addressing the “naysayers.” “I am delighted to know that Carter spunk is in her just like it’s been through nearly 100 years of us Carters choosing to follow ours hearts, hearts that are filled with love not just for country music but for all kinds of music. Here’s a warm welcome to the Carter Girl Club!”
Carlene isn’t the first country star to defend Bey’s right to explore country music. Linda Martell, who is featured on Cowboy Carter, wrote on Instagram that she’s “proud” of the 32-time Grammy winner for “exploring her country music roots,” while Rihannon Giddens said in a recent interview: “People can do what they wanna do. They wanna make a country record? Make a country record. Nobody’s askin’ Lana Del Rey, ‘What right do you have to make a country record?’”
Plus, Queen Bey’s mom, Tina Knowles, reminded critics prior to the album’s release that her daughter grew up in the heart of “cowboy culture” in Houston. “There is a huge Black cowboy culture,” she said at the time. “Why do you think that my kids have integrated it into their fashion and art since the beginning? … We went to rodeos every year and my whole family dressed in western fashion… It definitely was a part of our culture growing up.”
Magic Johnson continues to be a loyal member of the BeyHive. The former basketball superstar took to Instagram on Friday (March 29) to celebrate the release of Beyoncé’s newest album, Cowboy Carter. “Beyoncé – It’s only fitting that I recognize a living icon as the world tunes in to listen to your newest album, ‘Cowboy […]
Jon Batiste recently reflected on not only what it meant to work on Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter, but also how her country album is dismantling genre barriers.
The five-time Grammy winner co-wrote and produced the album opener, “AMERIICAN REQUIEM,” and he broke down the process by sharing a photo to his Instagram on Saturday (March 30) showing him and legendary producer No I.D. (real name Ernest Dion Wilson) in the studio, as well as their text exchange with Batiste writing out the chorus, pre-chorus and part of the first verse.
“This is the moment yall, where we dismantle the genre machine. I was happy to produce and write for AMERIICAN REQUIEM, along with Beyoncé and Dion. When I catch inspiration, the words and chords pour out of me. What an honor to then see how brilliantly Beyoncé made them her own and THEN further enhanced the lyrical statement, synthesizing it into the larger body of work,” he wrote. “After the harrowing vocal prelude that happens to start Cowboy Carter, you get to hear these words that read like a proclaimation. ‘Do you hear me or do you fear me?’ or better yet in our Louisiana vernacular ‘Looka dere, Looka dere.’”
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He continued, saying that he and Dion embarked on a “creative journey” asking questions about “the state of music” today. “We’d been having these conversations for years but something about recent times has felt ripe with the power of actualization. When I picked up my guitar and notebook to write this song I put my trust in God to liberate my creative mind, as I always do when channeling inspiration.”
But Batiste shared another conversation he had with a another legendary producer, Quincy Jones, that Jones even wrote as part of the foreword to Batiste’s 2021 album We Are, which won album of the year at the 2022 Grammy Awards. “‘It’s up to you to de categorize American music!!’ which is what Duke Ellington told him,” Batiste continued. “I really believe that is our generation’s role, led by a few artists willing to take this leap.”
He also praised Cowboy Carter as a “brilliant album, a work of such unimaginable impact and artistic firepower by a once in a generation artist. So glad that we finally got to collaborate with each other at this time,” Batiste wrote. “Producing and writing for AMERIICAN REQUIEM was an example of extraordinary alignment—when many leading artists see a similar vision at the same time, that’s when you know a major shift is happening. A new era, long time coming. Let’s liberate ourselves from genre and break the barriers that marginalize who we are and the art that we create. Grateful and impressed by my brother @dixson and the other collaborators who helped make this album opening statement possible.”
See Batiste’s full Instagram post below.
Country artist Orville Peck has signed with Warner Records – and has already teased new music on the way.
“I was ready for a change,” Peck tells Billboard. “I spent most of last year making several huge changes to all aspects of my life – my career being just one of them. I was ready for a clean start.”
Today (April 1), Peck announced his first release on the label: a collaboration with Willie Nelson. The pair will duet on a cover of “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other,” a song originally released in 1981 by Latin country artist Ned Sublette and covered by Nelson in 2006. Peck himself previously performed a rendition for SiriusXM and at his 2023 Hollywood Bowl show.
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Jeff Sosnow, EVP of A&R at Warner – whom Peck calls “the GOAT” – tells Billboard he met Peck a few years ago and was taken “not only by his musical acumen and knowledge, but also his sense of purpose, ambition and curation of his own world, which all extends from the music.”
“It’s rare to come across an artist who checks so many necessary boxes for a path to success – great songs, singular voice, curation of overall aesthetic and visuals, ambition, communication and work ethic. With [what’s ahead], we have a real opportunity to fortify and grow Orville’s base and reach.”
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In 2019, Peck released his debut album Pony on Sub Pop. The following year, in 2020, he signed with Columbia and released his major label debut EP Show Pony. Two more EPs followed in 2022 leading up to his second full-length that August, Bronco.
“I was drawn to Warner because of their unique emphasis on their artists,” says Peck. “It may seem like it should be the standard but more and more, the music industry invests less and less in artists.” He says in addition to Sosnow being “a genuine fan of music,” he has “great respect” for Warner CEO and co-chairman Aaron Bay-Schuck along with COO and co-chairman Tom Corson. “They have helped me to feel so motivated,” he adds.
Currently, Warner is on a hot streak with its superstars and emerging talent alike. Next month (on May 3), Dua Lipa will release her anticipated album Radical Optimism, while Zach Bryan is currently playing to sold-out arenas on his The Quittin Time Tour. Plus, rising acts like Teddy Swims and Benson Boone occupied the Hot 100’s top two slots last week with “Lose Control” and “Beautiful Things,” respectively.
“The last five years have proven Warner has the patience and ingenuity to work with real artists with vision and songs and grow with them,” says Sosnow. “The structure of the company has put us in a unique place where we do indeed have a special sauce.”
Peck is signed to Brandon Creed’s Good World Management, and is managed by Creed along with Dani Russin and Anika Capozza. The firm says: “Warner has been in Orville’s corner for many years and when the moment arose to work together, they immediately seized the opportunity with incredible support and enthusiasm…We are so excited for this new partnership and couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with them.”
As Peck says, this next chapter can be defined by “evolution and exploration. I have honestly never felt so excited about my career before.”
Adds Sosnow: “The possibilities are really limitless for Orville. He is a generational talent.”
Orville Peck
Ben Prince
This week’s batch of new music features Oliver Anthony’s full-length project, a tribute to the late Joe Diffie which features vocals from Diffie, Luke Combs and the late Toby Keith, as well as another viral hit from Tucker Wetmore and the sterling soul-country of Angel White.
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Oliver Anthony, Hymnal of a Troubled Man’s Mind
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Oliver Anthony follows last year’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” breakthrough success with this full-length, 10-song project, Hymnal of a Troubled Man’s Mind, which released on Easter Sunday (March 31). The Dave Cobb-produced project incorporates new recordings of previously-released tracks such as “I’ve Got to Get Sober” and “VCR Kid,” as well as a new song, “Mama’s Been Hurting.” Oliver Anthony caught people’s attention thanks to his homespun sound, and his new project hews close that, bolstering his grainy, soulful vocal with acoustic guitars, bass and fiddle.
Noticeably absent from the set is “Rich Men,” though he adds in several spoken-word moments of himself reading Bible verses, similar to what he does in concert. Keeping with the biblical-tinged moments on the album, the project was recorded in a church in Savannah, Georgia. “Mama’s Been Hurting” continues with Anthony’s penchant for singing about the hard-scrabble lives of rural people, offering up a musical plea heavenward to not “let the land I love die so young.” Oliver seems to know his audience, and continues offering up the kind of rustic laments here they’ve come to know him for.
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Joe Diffie, Toby Keith and Luke Combs, “Ships That Don’t Come In”
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HARDY’s latest Hixtape project offers a tribute to the late country singer Joe Diffie, but fashions a unique take on a tribute project, drawing in a plethora of artists to sing on many of Diffie’s biggest hits, alongside Diffie vocal tracks taken from a 2006 re-recordings session. “Ships That Don’t Come In,” a tip of the hat to the struggles military members face after making it home — if they do make it home — was a top five hit on Billboard‘s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart (now Hot Country Songs) for Diffie in 1992.
This track is particularly poignant, as it also features the final recorded vocal from another late country star, Toby Keith, who passed away earlier this year. Keith’s voice is the first you hear on this track, and his voice still rings with strength and weathered warmth, like a fine, time-tested leather. Diffie’s sturdy twang and Combs’s muscular, gruff vocal further extend the storyline, heightening this timeless ’90s country classic.
Tucker Wetmore, “Wind Up Missin’ You”
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Wetmore has earned a viral hit with the heartbreak-fueled “Wine Into Whiskey,” (which earned Wetmore his first Billboard Hot 100 chart entry) and follows with what is fast becoming another early signature hit, “Wind Up Missin’ You.” Sonically, Wetmore’s hip-hop-laced grooves have drawn comparisons to Morgan Wallen, while his twangy vocal phrasing at times sounds like a carbon copy of Wallen. Still, he weaves his own distinct personality through the song’s poetic moments — particularly on this song, where his vocals are underpinned by subtle, guitar-driven percussion.
Wetmore wrote “Wind Up Missin’ You” with Thomas Archer and Chris La Corte. Though the song’s title here points to forlorn heartbreak, the story arc finds him on the cusp of a potential long-term romance, as he tries to convince a woman at the bar that despite his ballcap-wearing, barfly exterior, his sights are set on committed love, rather than a quick-fix heartbreak salvo. “I’ve turned the page on the old me,” he sings. Wetmore seems to have another surefire hit on his hands.
Angel White, “Outlaw”
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“I’m an outlaw and you can’t catch me now,” this fifth-generation Texan boasts over stacked harmonies, as he sings of packing up his things and moving on after a breakup. Bluesy guitar work seems to answer his calls, while largely pared back instrumentation and a slow-paced groove puts his smooth, soulful vocal at the fore. He’s released a handful of tracks, including the sentimental “Red Blanket,” and here delves deeper into his unique fusion of musical styles and sentiments. “Outlaw” was written by Dwight A. Baker and Khalil Hall, and is from White’s upcoming album Ghost of the West.
The Lone Bellow, “Victory Garden”
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In recognizing the one-year anniversary of the school shooting that took place at Nashville’s Covenant School, resulting in the loss of six lives, The Lone Bellow released this gorgeous, folky, and pristine harmony-filled ballad that champions doing the work of healing and putting good into the world as a means of shifting communities toward a brighter place and preserving oneself. Elsewhere, they sing, “So we sow the seeds in our victory garden/ Hands in the earth/ So the heart doesn’t harden.”
The Lone Bellow has partnered with the nonprofit Voices for a Safer Tennessee, with all money generated from the song going to charity. The song was written by the band’s Zach Williams, Kanene Donehey Pipkin, and Brian Elmquist along with Mikky Ekko.
Lola Kirke and Kaitlin Butts, “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?”
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Americana stalwarts Kirke and Butts put their own defiant spin on Paula Cole’s 1997 hit “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” here. Kirke takes the lead, while the duo’s voices mesh superbly, infusing the lyrics with both extra layers of sweetness and bite. The song will be available on 12” vinyl at select stores during Record Store Day on April 20.
In the latest installment of Vevo Footnotes, Shania Twain takes fans behind the scenes of the music video for “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” in honor of the 25th anniversary of the empowering song.
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In 1999, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” reached No. 23 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, and reached No. 4 on the Hot Country Songs chart. But the song’s spirit of empowerment, confidence and freedom have etched an enduring, decades-spanning connection with music fans. The song, and its video, continue to draw superb viewership on Vevo. From 2016-2022, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” saw an average lift of 31% in global daily views annually on International Women’s Day (March 8) over the previous 10 weeks leading up to the holiday, including a 57% lift in global daily views in 2021 and a 24% lift in 2022.
In the Vevo Footprints video, Twain discusses the song’s role in breaking barriers and defying genres, and crafting lyrics that she says centered on “liberation, independence and the human spirit.”
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“I was standing up for myself through the song,” she says in the annotated video. “I wasn’t being apologetic for all the things I had been criticized for in my life — ‘You can’t do that, you can’t wear that, that’s too tight, that’s too short.’ This was my song that really said you know what I love about being a woman! I’m feeling comfortable in my own skin! That’s awesome!” She also added of the song’s rock-fueled instrumentation, “I wanted to go beyond country music and this song was pushing my genre boundaries. Musically it was not limited to one genre. It’s rock, it’s pop, it’s country.”
She also discusses the intentional fashion decisions she and her team made for the video, which was inspired by the styling in Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love.”
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“We wanted to take that idea and turn it on its head,” Twain says. “We wanted to make something unexpected and the role reversal was the vision… [Fashion designer/stylist] Mark Bauer got to work on the wardrobe, with that idea in mind, and dressed me in that amazing high women’s coat, the top hat, with the veil added for a touch of femininity, in what was a ‘typically’ masculine outfit.” She added, “As part of the role reversal, it was important to have the guys be really sexy and androgynous. All of the little details of the fashion were considered and on purpose. It’s a real credit to Mark and his talent.”
Twain also remembers “getting a lot of flack for doing what we did at that time. We were taking country music to a place it hadn’t been before and some people didn’t like that.”
She recalled even the art department questioning whether female listeners would feel threatened by the video.
“I remember the art department saying, ‘This is way too sexy! The women listeners are not going to like this! They’re going to feel threatened.’ They told me I was going to alienate a huge part of my audience. I knew that women would totally get it,” Twain says.
But clearly, the song has become an anthem — whether helping people hype up for a night of partying, or serving as an encouragement for being confident in themselves and their own personal visions. “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” also won a Grammy in 2000 for best female country vocal performance.
On Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, released Friday (March 29), the superstar salutes pioneering country artist Linda Martell, the first Black woman to ever play the Grand Ole Opry in 1969, and, in doing so, is introducing the pioneer to a whole new audience.
Though she has long retired, the 82-year-old Martell returns on Beyoncé’s album on two segments, both of which address Beyoncé’s refusal to be bound by genre lines. In the introduction to “Spaghettii,” she says, “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes they are. In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand, but in practice, well, some may feel confined.”
Martell returns on the 28-second interlude titled “The Linda Martell Show,” opening with “Thank you very much,” to the sound of applause. She continues, “This particular tune stretches across a range of genres and that’s what makes it’s a unique listening experience. Yes, indeed. It’s called ‘Ya Ya,’” she says before the genre-bending “Ya Ya” opens to a sample of Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 classic, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin.’”
For many listeners, this is likely the first time they have heard of Martell, who played such a groundbreaking role in country music. Her breakthrough single, “Color Him Father,” peaked at No. 22 in September 1969. The song was the highest-charting song on the tally by a Black woman for more than 50 years until Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” reached No. 1 earlier this year.
On Friday, Martell praised Beyoncé via an Instagram post. “I am proud that @beyonce is exploring her country music roots. What she is doing is beautiful, and I’m honored to be a part of it. It’s Beyoncé, after all!”
Here are seven things you should know about Martell.
Her South Carolina Roots