Country
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Cole Swindell is going to be a dad! The “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” hitmaker and his wife, entrepreneur and former NBA dancer Courtney Little, revealed on Monday (March 3) that they are expecting their first child this year. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news On […]
Collaborations abound in this week’s Must-Hear column. Kassi Ashton and Parker McCollum team up for a sultry new ballad, Charles Wesley Godwin joins musical forces with Ernest, and Dani Rose partners with Brent Cobb. Meanwhile, Zach Top and Billy Strings offer a take on a Ricky Skaggs classic, while JD Clayton offers up music on his new project, Blue Sky Sundays.
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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country, bluegrass and/or Americana songs of the week below.
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Kassi Ashton feat. Parker McCollum, “Sounds Like Something I’d Say”
Enveloped in a cool, sultry swagger, Ashton and McCollum sing about the hazy, morning-after regrets that follow a night of decisions intended to make one forget the loneliness that haunts them. “It sounds better in the dark than in the light of day,” Ashton sings about recalling words spoken under the influence of heartache and alcohol. They both venture into fervent, soulful territory here, to mighty impact.
Charles Wesley Godwin feat. Ernest, “Dead to Rights”
Charles Wesley Godwin teams with Ernest for this track included on Godwin’s seven-song EP, Lonely Mountain Town, which released Feb. 28 on Big Loud. Somber, acoustic-driven and steel guitar-inflected, “Dead to Rights” finds the song’s protagonist reflecting on how he once reveled in nights on the town and the single life, until finding a love worth trading it all in for. “You crashed into me, like that d–ned left hook I never got to see,” Godwin sings. He’s got a voice with all the warmth of a crackling fire, and he employs it admirably here.
Zach Top and Billy Strings, “Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown”
Bluegrass-and-beyond luminary Strings and ascendant country star Zach Top serve up a slab of classic country, taking on Ricky Skaggs’ 1983 hit “Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown.” The track is from Top’s new three-song EP, Me & Billy, which features a trio of songs previously featured as part of their Apple Music Sessions, and now available to stream everywhere. Strings, of course, has become an arena draw with his superb, genre-agnostic musicianship, while Top is has become one of the most-buzzed-about new country artists. Top also comes from a bluegrass background, formerly leading the band Modern Tradition, which won the SPBGMA Band Championship in 2017. He also issued his solo, self-titled bluegrass-leaning project in 2022, before issuing his breakthrough country project in 2024. Their musical camaraderie and mutual love for the genre is undeniable here.
JD Clayton, “Slow & Steady”
On his previous project Long Way From Home, Clayton focused on more pared-back folk and country vibes. But on his new album, Blue Sky Sundays, he returns to his rock influences. Here, a tale about a balmy Sunday drive gets a laid-back, Southern rock surge, thanks to the solid percussion and muscular guitar work Clayton and his band employ here. His grizzled voice lays into lyrics about soaking in a carefree day, from first sunlight to when the sun’s rays fade. “I said let’s take it slow/ You know we ain’t got no place to go,” he sings.
Blue Sky Sundays released Feb. 28 on Rounder Records.
Dani Rose and Brent Cobb, “I Ain’t Livin’”
Rose and Cobb trade harmonies gloriously on this track, which marked Rose’s fifth placement on the Paramount’s Yellowstone series. The track was written by Cobb and Jessi Alexander, and co-produced by Rose and Maks Gabriel. Together, Rose and Cobb turn in a cool, sultry rendering, declaring devotion to living life to the fullest and seeking adventure wherever they come across it. “May I ride till the wheels fall off/ But my soul’s out there in the ether,” they sing, wrapping in elements of a freewheeling, 1970s feel.
Brad Paisley announced the initial run of dates for his upcoming 2025 Truck Still Works World Tour on Monday (March 3). The first leg of the outing is slated to kick off on May 21 at the Mountain America Center in Idaho Falls, ID and bring the “No I in Beer” singer to Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Arizona, California, Ohio, New York, Virginia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida before winding down on August 8 at in Arcadia, WI at the Ashley for the Arts festival.
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The first announced dates of the Live Nation-promoted tour will feature support from Walker Hayes, as well as Avery Anna, Mae Estes and Alexandra Kay and Paisley’s first-ever stops at Morrison, CO’s historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre. The tour is named for Paisley’s current radio single “Truck Still Works,” which the singer debuted last fall on NBC’s People’s Choice Country Awards and the American Music Awards 50th anniversary special on CBS.
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A fan club presale will open on Tuesday (March 4) at 10 a.m. local time through Thursday (March 6) at 10 p.m. local time. The general on-sale will kick off on Friday (March 7) here. In addition, there will be an exclusive Verizon presale through Verizon Access for select shows beginning on Tuesday at noon local; for more details click here. Official tour sponsor Citi will give cardmembers access to a presale beginning on Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time through 10 p.m. local on Thursday here.
Check out the dates for Paisley’s Truck Still Works World Tour below.
May 21 – Idaho Falls, ID @ Mountain America Center #
May 22 – Bonner, MT @ KettleHouse Amphitheater #
May 24 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre *#
May 29 – Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater *+
May 30 – Airway Heights, WA @ BECU Live at Northern Quest *+
May 31 – Everett, WA @ Angel Of the Winds Arena *+
June 5 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre @ *#
June 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre *#
June 7 – San Diego, CA @ Gallagher Square at Petco Park *#
July 10 – Ft. Loramie, OH @ Country Concert festival line up
July 12 – Canandaigua, NY @ Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center ++ xx
July 17 – Richmond, VA @ Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront *=
July 18 – Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater *=
July 19 – Gilford, NH @ BankNH Pavilion *=
July 24 – Wilmington, NC @ Live Oak Bank Pavilion @ *=
July 25 – Simpsonville, SC @ CCNB Amphitheatre *=
August 1 – Savannah, GA @ Enmarket Arena *=
August 2 – St. Augustine, FL @ The St. Augustine Amphitheatre *=
August 3 – Clearwater, FL @ The Baycare Sound @ *= ++
August 8 – Arcadia, WI @ Ashley For the Arts Festival
* Walker Hayes
# Avery Anna
+ Mae Estes
= Alexandra Kay
@ No Citi & Verizon pre sale
++ non Live Nation show
xx Dylan Scott & Alexandra Kay
Former American Idol finalist Colin Stough was arrested over the weekend and charged with DUI, underage consumption of alcohol and failure to exercise due care. According to AL.com, the Tennessee Highway Patrol took the 20-year-old singer into custody on Friday after he reportedly crashed his car outside of Nashville. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts […]
Country music reigned at the Ryman Auditorium on Friday night (Feb. 28), as Zach Top stepped onto the revered stage for the first of two headlining shows at country music’s historic Mother Church. The shows come as part of his Cold Beer and Country Music Tour, which sold out just hours after the trek went on sale.
Washington native Top’s brand of tunes — steeped in the influence of ‘80s and ‘90s country music, along with bluegrass — has swiftly pushed him to the forefront of a new generation of neo-traditional artists who are seeing their careers ascend.
Opening the show was Texas native and George Jones acolyte Jake Worthington, who told the crowd, “You’re getting a whole bunch of country music tonight.”
Worthington and Top made good on that promise, proving themselves as worthy musical torchbearers for fans starved for sounds inspired by ‘80s and ‘90s country.
Throughout the evening, both musicians offered a heady blend of their own music, mixed with a plethora of covers of hits from Jones, Keith Whitley, Merle Haggard, George Strait, Randy Travis and Sammy Kershaw.
Worthington launched into his set with a charismatic onstage persona and deep twang on “Night Time Is My Time,” then previewed a song that will feature Marty Stuart called “I’m The One.” His ace band included Gordon Mote on piano.
He also offered up a solo version of his Miranda Lambert collaboration, “Hello Shitty Day,” before nodding to the influence of Country Music Hall of Famer George Jones by offering up spot-on renditions of Jones classics “The Grand Tour” and getting the audience grooving to the rollicking “White Lightnin’.” He finished with his own “The State You Left Me In,” eliciting cheers from the audience.
“This song got me a lot of opportunities,” Worthington said.
A neon-lit jukebox was situated at the side of the stage, playing snippets of country classics as Top took the stage to fervent cheers from the audience. The crowd was instantly on its feet — and stayed on its feet for the rest of the show.
Top, who was highlighted in Billboard’s “Future of Country Music” spotlight earlier this year, spent his two-hour set blending top-shelf vocals, ace guitar picking, energetic performances and a devotion to old-school country music to prove why he’s leading today’s crop of future country superstars.
He kicked off his set with his Country Airplay top 15 hit “Sounds Like the Radio,” from his debut country project Cold Beer and Country Music, before nodding to his bluegrass roots with “I Don’t Mind,” from his 2022 self-titled bluegrass project.
Top had a laid-back, easygoing camaraderie with the crowd, cracking jokes between songs and regaling them with songs from Cold Beer and Country Music.
“I’m thankful that y’all have come out to make us feel welcome. We appreciate it. I’ll need one of these for the next song,” he quipped, opening up a beer before launching into “Beer for Breakfast.” He followed with “Dirt Turns to Gold” and a particularly well-received rendition of “Lonely for Long,” followed by “There’s the Sun.”
Like Worthington, he peppered his set with perfectly selected cover songs, highlighting his love for country’s deep canon of hits, including Strait’s “Love Bug,” Haggard’s “Ramblin’ Fever” and Travis’ “If I Didn’t Have You.” In his signature starched shirt and cowboy hat, grinning beneath his signature mustache, Top also slyly nodded to those Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck comparisons in a cover of Kershaw’s “Cadillac Style.”
Top has earned the praise of many of his country contemporaries and has amassed 6 million monthly followers on Spotify alone. His Cold Beer and Country Music Tour is set to headline the 7,000-capacity Appalachian Wireless Arena in Kentucky in May. He’s also been on the road opening shows for Alan Jackson and will open shows for Dierks Bentley this year.
Judging from the fan reactions at country music’s Mother Church, which served as home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974, it seems like country music is in good hands and that Top is on a direct trajectory to headlining his own slate of arena shows in the very near future — and being the tip of the spear of a crop of new artists bringing classic country music back into prominence.
Here, we look at five top moments from Top’s Ryman show:
Top Closes Out His Show With a Hit and a Mission
Currently, Jelly Roll and Brandon Lake — two of the biggest draws in their respective genres of country and Contemporary Christian music, respectively — are gaining traction with a new collaborative version of Lake’s hit “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” The collab is in the top five on Spotify’s Viral 50 – USA chart, and the two […]
Kelsea Ballerini is halfway through her first-ever arena tour, and the country superstar took to Instagram on Thursday (Feb. 27) to reflect on the run so far.
“17 shows, half the tour is done. thank you for showing up so wholeheartedly, for decking out in glitter and making signs, for keeping it safe and fun for everyone,” she wrote alongside a carousel of sparkle-filled moments from the road, both onstage and off. “We feel so lucky to be doing this show for you, i really still can’t believe we get to do it 19 more times. my heart is full, my tank is empty, im gonna go eat some chicken nuggets and take a nice nap before we get back to it for the west coast. i adore and appreciate you more than i can say.”
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The “Cowboys Cry Too” singer’s Live on Tour is in support of her 2024 album Patterns, the follow-up to her 2022 full-length LP Subject to Change. Patterns gave Ballerini her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, and the album hit No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart.
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The 30-city Kelsea Ballerini Live on Tour trek features support from MaRynn Taylor and Maisie Peters. It kicked off back in January, and features the singer traveling across Chicago, Milwaukee, Nashville, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Philadelphia, Boston, Tampa, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas before the run wraps up on March 30 at the Ball Arena in Denver.
For this run, Ballerini is donating $1 from every ticket sold to her Feel Your Way Through Foundation, which works to minimize the stigma around mental health conversations.
When Kacey Musgraves served as the opening performer at the new, 4,500-person capacity music venue The Pinnacle in Nashville on Thursday night (Feb. 27), she featured a new, unreleased song as part of her set — a song she wrote about her Australian cattle dog, whom Musgraves told the audience “is so spicy, I named her Pepper.”
Musgraves offered up the witty yet loving “She’s My Bitch,” inspired by her beloved pup.
“She’s black and white/ All Ride or die, more bark than bite/ She’s my b—h,” Musgraves sings in a fan-captured video, eliciting cheers from the audience. “The star of the pack, no one’s talking smack/ Yeah, she’s got my back/ She’s my b—h.”
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From there, the musician wrapped in a bit of her signature, keen-eyed wit, singing, “Who would have known when I took her home, that I’d fall so in love … Yeah, I’m her b—h.”
Last year, Musgraves shared how Pepper saved the singer from nearly stepping on a venomous copperhead snake. Pepper was bitten by the snake and Musgraves took the dog to the vet, where it was treated and ultimately healed. “Thank God for good dogs,” Musgraves wrote on social media at the time.
In a set that offered up earthy vibes thanks to a stage filled with moss, greenery and even confetti, Musgraves’ show also included songs such as her Grammy-winning “The Architect” and her breakthrough “Merry Go Round,” as well as “Rainbow” and “High Horse.”
The performance came just a couple of months after Musgraves performed at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Musgraves’s most recent album, Deeper Well, released in 2024 and followed her 2021 album Star-Crossed.
Zach Top earns his first top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “I Never Lie” rises 12-10 on the ranking dated March 8. During the Feb. 21-27 tracking week, the single increased by 12% to 17 million audience impressions. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The 27-year-old […]
Chris Stapleton isn’t taking part in one of Australia’s most infamous concert traditions.
The 10-time Grammy winner, who is currently on his first-ever tour of the country, has made it clear that he won’t be doing a shoey—drinking beer from a shoe—despite the custom being a fan favorite at major performances.
“I’ve heard about this. I asked somebody before I went on for the first night, ‘Is there anything that I should be prepared for?’” Stapleton said according to news.com.au.
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“And then they’re like, ‘Yes, a shoey. They’ll want you to drink beer out of a shoe’. And I said I will graciously decline to do that. But no one has asked me to do that yet and maybe this interview will make someone want to do that. I don’t know. But I’m probably going to decline that request.
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“I mean is there some kind of penalty if I don’t do it? Are they going to throw things at me?”
The country star joins a growing list of artists who have opted out of the tradition, which has been embraced by performers like Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, and Morgan Wallen. While Stapleton remains appreciative of his Australian fans, he’s keeping the focus on his music rather than sideline antics.
Stapleton’s tour has been a massive success, with tickets selling out in minutes. His impact on the country music scene has been undeniable, with five No.1 albums and collaborations with Adele, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Dolly Parton, and Taylor Swift. His latest single, “Think I’m In Love With You”, saw renewed success after he performed a special version with Dua Lipa at the Country Music Awards in Texas.
In between sold-out shows, Stapleton has been making time to promote his Traveller Whiskey, which has just launched in Australia.
Partnering with Kentucky distillery Buffalo Trace, he emphasized that this isn’t just a celebrity-branded product, but a passion project.
“I don’t look at it as a side hustle, this is a company that makes some of the finest bourbons in the world and a bottle of something that master distiller Harlen Wheatley has made has been in the studio for every record I’ve ever made,” he said.
“This is a point of passion for me and you know it’s a bit of a hindrance, the perception that it’s a side hustle that somebody makes something somewhere and they get a celebrity to slap their name on it But I’m not into that and I really believe in what’s in the bottle and the people that are making the whiskey and they’re very serious about it and I am too.”
Stapleton’s Australian tour continues with back-to-back sold-out performances at Brisbane Entertainment Centre before heading to Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on March 4 and 5.