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For years, Kelsea Ballerini has been advocating for greater diversity in country music — look no further than her headline-making CMTs performance from earlier this year for proof. Now, in a new interview, Ballerini spelled out exactly what she means by that.
In an interview as a 2023 TIME100 Next honoree, Ballerini said that she wanted to see country music become a platform where all kinds of artists could find massive success. “It’s a process, and we’re undoing a way that, specifically, country music has done things forever,” she said. “It’s making sure that we’re giving a voice to new artists; we’re giving a voice to unsigned artists who represent underrepresented groups in Nashville because they’re not getting a chance to be signed.”
Continuing, Ballerini got more specific, pointing out that the communities finding themselves the least represented in country music deserve to be given a fair shot at stardom. “Nobody says people don’t want to jam out to guys on the radio. I do. I also want to hear from women. Just as much, maybe more,” she said. “I also want to hear from people of color, from the LGBTQ+ community. I want to hear all the voices we hear on pop radio on country radio.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ballerini said that she was not comfortable speaking as the representative for all country artists. “One person cannot speak for everyone. That is true for country music,” she said. “I am in control of standing in what I believe in — and being a kind, good person who works towards making the world a more heard, safe, and inclusive place in whatever capacity I can do.”
Part of that aim to make the world better and more inclusive came during her aforementioned CMTs performance, when Ballerini brought a group of drag queens on stage with her to perform her song “If You Go Down,” and to protest ongoing legislative attacks against drag artists around the country. Speaking about it now, Ballerini said that if she had the opportunity, she would go back and do it again.
“I was not only hosting the CMT Awards, but I had a performance for a song of mine that is all about friendship and standing up for people that you love, and being ride-or-die for your people,” she said. “I realized that that would be a really good, important, loud, big stage to make that statement on, and CMT was all for it.”
Over the past decade, Dan + Shay’s Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney have won multiple Grammys and scored a string of Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers with their melodic ballads, bolstered by Smyers’ lush production and Mooney’s otherworldly tenor.
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But on July 9, the duo shocked fans by posting a video to social media titled “The Drive,” where they shared they had reached a breaking point in early 2022.
“It was important to us to be honest,” Smyers tells Billboard.
The story of how they salvaged their partnership and returned with a renewed creative vigor and strengthened bond plays out on their fifth studio album Bigger Houses, out Friday, Sept 15, on Warner Music Nashville.
“This album was birthed from literally just us hanging out, and it just started [with us] writing all these songs and there was no pressure — and that’s how we did it on our very first record, and I think there was some magic to that,” Mooney says.
Smyers and Mooney met more than a decade ago at a party in December 2012 — or as Smyers puts it, “A lifetime [ago] in the music business.” Then, they were both single, talented guys, working doggedly toward aspirations of musical stardom.
“Early on, we didn’t have any responsibilities — the only thing we had to worry about was like, ‘Dude, let’s write a couple of songs today,’” Smyers says.
The hustling soon turned to success: publishing deals, a label deal with Warner Music Nashville, followed by their 2013 debut single, “19 You + Me.” Then came the hits (and the megahits): “Tequila,” “Speechless” and “10,000 Hours,” the latter collaboration with Justin Bieber hitting the top five on the Billboard Hot 100. The pair, who are managed by Sandbox Entertainment, earned three consecutive Grammys for best country duo/group performance, and back-to-back CMA Awards for vocal duo of the year.
Life surged forward on all fronts: Smyers wed Abby Law in 2017, while Mooney and Hannah Billingsley wed and welcomed their son Asher, in 2017, followed by Ames in 2020 and Abram in 2023.
As with the rest of the world, 2020 also meant their lives and careers were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dan + Shay had to come off the road just three shows into the start of their first headlining arena tour. The outing resumed in September 2021, and by the time it wrapped on Dec. 7 at TD Garden in Boston, the grueling pace of nearly three dozen shows in three months had taken its toll.
“I remember getting off that stage, just completely in maximum burnout,” Smyers recalls. “I didn’t know if I could do it anymore.”
Over the past decade, while Mooney has forged a reputation for his formidable vocal prowess, Smyers has earned a reputation for geeking out on production and songwriting, spending hours in the studio refining songs to perfection. But as the massive tour wound down in December, Smyers says, “I looked back and I had written four total songs that year, which is nothing for me. I needed a hard reset.”
The rigors of touring and balancing family life had also left little time for true communication between Smyers and Mooney.
“You’re touring 150 days a year, 200 days a year, and you come home and the last thing you want to do is spend time with each other,” Smyers says. “People have asked if there was a specific incident, or, ‘Did something happen?’ There was no incident; we never really fought, and maybe that was part of the problem — we never fought. We never really discussed tough issues and weren’t super open in our communication with each other.”
Mooney and Smyers didn’t speak to each other for nearly four months after getting off tour, but at the same time, they were gearing up for another major tour — this time ascending from arenas to stadiums, as openers on Kenny Chesney’s Here and Now 2022 Tour.
“We were doing that tour either way,” Smyers says. “I didn’t want to go do that tour in vain; if it was our last tour, I wanted to high-five it, blow it out and ride off into the sunset — we got to play football stadiums! But if it ended up not being our last tour, I wanted it to be a fresh start, a new slate.”
That reset began in March 2022, prompted by a text from Smyers to Mooney, asking if they could hang out. When Mooney responded that they could get together in a couple of days, Smyers insisted they meet up that day.
“I think that was the point where he kind of knew I was serious about it,” Smyers says. “He came over to the house, we sat on the back patio, just the two of us — no outside influences. We hadn’t had a ‘Come to Jesus’ moment in a long time. We both apologized for not communicating enough and for not going out of our way to nurture the relationship. Being in a duo is tough. There’s money on the line, notoriety on the line — and that’s why a lot of duos, historically, have fallen apart. But if you don’t go out of your way to work on the relationship, it will fall apart, and you will go separate directions.”
“I’ve learned so much about communication,” Mooney adds. “When you are with each other all the time, you take it for granted that you’re talking and communicating, but there’s a difference between being present and communicating. It’s being able to say the hard stuff.”
“That night was the most pivotal moment in our career, to this point. It changed everything,” Smyers says.
The notion of Dan + Shay’s recorded music outlasting their time together as a proper duo fueled the Bigger Houses album’s origin story, beginning with “Always Gonna Be.”
“We talked about feeling like we owed it to our fans to figure things out, because Dan + Shay is always going to be the first dance music at someone’s wedding, or the tattoo on someone’s arm,” says Smyers, who recalls those sentiments being among the ones he jotted down, which made their way into the lyrics of “Always Gonna Be.” “A few more hours went by, and we talked about what we needed to do to give this a shot again.”
Chief among those renewed priorities was intentionally spending time together, as friends rather than just business partners. Though, as musicians do, they found those leisurely moments inevitably drifting to music. Nowadays, they take time to encourage each other’s personal journeys, whether that’s checking in on workouts or spending time together intentionally before a concert.
“We’ll sit in lawn chairs outside the bus, catch up or watch TV,” Smyers says. “In the past, we were in our own dressing rooms doing that — but now, they’ll always set us up with two dressing rooms and we only ever use one of them.”
Mooney’s renewed focus on health—eating well, cutting out alcohol—also led to a creative and relationship rejuvenation. “I think I’m in better shape than I have been since high school,” Mooney says, noting he lost over 60 pounds. “I shed some of the toxic things that were in my life. It played a big part in being able to get to this place with Dan and us being able to move forward. If this had been two years ago when I was in a low place, I don’t think I would be able to handle the pressure, with an album rolling out. I’d probably be having panic attacks again. But I’m super grateful that I’ve been kind of preparing for this moment; it feels good to be able to handle all the new stuff.”
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While they return to form on Bigger Houses with lush, romantic ballads, such as the surefire wedding favorite “For The Both of Us,” they also take chances. “We Should Get Married” skewers the duo’s reputation for show-stopping balladeering, featuring Mooney’s voice in rapid-fire mode over a quick succession of lyrics and up-tempo percussion.
“We’ve been fortunate enough in our career to have songs used in weddings and first dances — which, if all else goes away, people will always be getting married, so it gives us a bit of job security,” Smyers says with a laugh. “We’ve played weddings — whether it’s a celebrity, non-celebrity — and after you play, there’s a local band or DJ who cranks some ‘Uptown Funk’ or ‘Twist and Shout,’ and everyone’s on the dancefloor. I thought we should have a song everyone can start dancing to.”
Mooney says, “It was great to be able to play around with that fast melody and fast phrasing and do something we haven’t really done in our career. I was still learning the words when we were in the vocal booth [recording]. You could hear how much fun we had making the record. Now we just have to figure out how we’re gonna pull it off live,” he says.
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If “Always Gonna Be” marked the album’s beginning, the project’s title track, “Bigger Houses” is the thru-line, spawning from a conversation Smyers’ wife Abby had with Dan + Shay’s longtime writing collaborator Andy Albert and his wife Emily.
“Andy and Emily had just bought a dream home — big yard, beautiful home — and Abby had visited,” Smyers recalls. “Eventually, they mentioned how people are always looking forward to what is ahead, and sometimes we stop appreciating what we have. We have a roof over our heads, we’re doing something we love and we can afford groceries—those are things we shouldn’t take for granted. Andy and I couldn’t afford a meal when we moved to Nashville. We couldn’t afford heat or AC in the house we lived in, and we’ve all come a really long way.”
Albert wrote down “Bigger Houses” on his phone, and brought it into a writing session.
“He told me, Abby said, ‘The thing about happiness is I’ve found that it don’t live in bigger houses.’ I was like, ‘Well that’s a hook right there.’ It’s a song that is close to our hearts and something we think about every day,” Smyers says.
“If there is one message for people to hear from this album, it’s this song,” Mooney adds.
In 2024, Dan+Shay will return to the road, stronger than ever, for their headlining The Heartbreak on the Map Tour, with openers Hailey Whitters and Ben Rector.
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For the bulk of his career, acclaimed artist, writer and producer David Hodges has found success in the collective work of helping collaborators to shape ideas and messages into songs — as part of the 2000s hitmaking rock outfit Evanescence, as a hitmaking songwriter and with co-writers on more than a dozen of his own solo projects.
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As an early member of Evanescence, David Hodges co-wrote many of the songs on the group’s 2003 debut album Fallen, including the top five Billboard Hot 100 smash “Bring Me to Life.” After leaving the group before Fallen was released, the two-time Grammy winner has spent the better part of the past two decades cementing himself as a key element in the creation of numerous hits, writing on Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years,” Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You,” Ed Sheeran’s “2 Step” and “Afterglow,” Carrie Underwood’s “See You Again” and “There’s a Place for Us” and Kelsea Ballerini’s “Miss Me More.” He’s also worked with Celine Dion, the Backstreet Boys, Daughtry, Jason Mraz, Avril Lavigne and more.
But on his upcoming, 23-song, two-part double album, The Unattainable/The Unavoidable (out Friday, Sept. 15), Hodges tenders frank vulnerability as he unveils more than ever of his own recent journey.
With The Unattainable/The Unavoidable, Hodges unflinchingly traces his love-loss-love story, excavating every turn of emotions along the way. On the album’s first half, The Unattainable, songs such as “Waves” and “The Man Who Makes Mistakes” chronicle Hodges’ divorce, while The Unavoidable features songs including “Still Be You” and “You Go First” that focus on the early embers of healing and embracing new love.
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“When I’m working with artists to develop a whole album, I’m always thinking of sister songs on a record,” says Hodges, who is managed by Lucas Keller’s Milk & Honey and published by Kobalt. “They may not have the same instrumentation or be next to each other on a record, but there’s something that links these two songs together in a broader perspective. So as this album was coming together, it kind of naturally fell into these buckets of going into a valley and coming up from a valley.”
The project’s fulcrum and title track, which Hodges wrote with Drew Kennedy, serves as a musical bridge connecting the two sides of the project. Kennedy presented the idea of writing and positioning lyrics that tell one story when read straight through but tell the opposite story when read in reverse. “At the end, we had this finished piece of art, and you look at those lines differently when you see them in the context of how what comes before, what comes after it,” Hodges says.
He wrote “I’m Around” with Donovan Woods, about the willingness to still support an ex-lover, as he sings, “I might have left your life/ But I didn’t leave town.”
“There’s so much detail about a specific moment,” Hodges says. “That’s what I love about this project — it’s not just about a breakup. This song is about six months after the breakup, you’re still healing from the wounds, but there is also still a real love and care for each other that supersedes current feelings.”
“When it comes to you, emotions flow in twos/ Yellows to saddest blue,” he sings in “Emily,” one of Hodges’ seven solo writes on the album, and a track inspired in part by the Pixar movie Inside Out.
“In Inside Out, Joy is yellow and Sadness is blue and one of the lessons in the movie is that as you grow up, your memories are rarely just one emotion. This song is about thinking back on the relationship, and it’s not all blue and not all yellow. I felt like that song captured a sense of feeling like, ‘We can still look back fondly on some of that stuff, but all of it’s gonna have a bit of a blue tint to it.’”
Overall, the process reminded Hodges of his love for full-length projects, even in an era where streaming and social media places the focus on individual songs.
“I miss the focus on album-making, because the single is the driver for so much art. It’s a unique challenge to have such a finite space to work in. Especially in pop music, when you crack the code, it feels great to make something compelling within this small framework. But making this album reminded me again how much I like long attention spans. When Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” first released, a buddy of mine was asking me about it and I was like, ‘I’m going to try my best to wait until the album is out to hear anything beyond “Vampire,” because I want to know what each of these songs mean in the context of the bigger story she’s telling.’ I don’t know Olivia or if she is drawn to that long-form storytelling — but artists like Billie Eilish, Adele, Ed Sheeran, you can tell they are thinking in terms of this longer storytelling. I love to embrace a whole piece of art.”
Though Hodges is one in a lengthy line of hit songwriters to also issue their own albums — including recent offerings from country songcrafters Lori McKenna and Ross Copperman — he notes the new album is also a heartening prospect for his fellow songwriters.
“I love my job of songwriting, of helping artists tell their stories,” Hodges says. “But it’s also personally rewarding for me to have a body of work that I can say is really mine. I’ve been surprised by how many songwriter friends of mine have reached out to me and said, ‘I’ve been sitting on a collection of songs for years and watching you put out your own music reminded me that I should, too.’ I would love for every songwriter to put out their own music as well; it becomes a calling card for you as a writer, too.”
As Big Loud Records experiences global successes with its artists, the Nashville-based label is expanding its footprint by opening offices in Australia and the United Kingdom and bolstering its presence in its Toronto office, which opened in 2015.
Big Loud senior vp of global marketing and strategy Brianne Deslippe will oversee the effort. Reporting to her will be newly named label managers Cayleigh Shepherd in London, who joins from U.K.-based imprint Snakefarm Records; and Johnno Keetels in Brisbane, Australia, where he most recently worked in Universal Music Australia’s media and editorial department. Meanwhile, Toronto-based employee Justin Clark rises from international coordinator to manager of national promotion/associate label manager.
“We started in year one with our Canadian office, and it has been a long-term goal of ours to have direct Big Loud representation in both Australia and the U.K.,” Big Loud CEO Seth England tells Billboard. “We waited for the best strategic time, but now makes the most sense with how we’ve grown as a company. We continue to keep an eye on other emerging markets as well.”
Deslippe adds, “With 25-plus artists now across multiple imprints and genres, it was important for us to have strong voices on the front lines, finding opportunities and making connections for them around the world. Having key experts in the field will be a valuable resource for our wider teams, staff and managers as well.”
Over the last few years, Big Loud has ramped up its global presence with artists including Morgan Wallen, HARDY, ERNEST, Hailey Whitters, MacKenzie Porter, Stephen Wilson Jr., Lauren Alaina and Griffen Palmer all playing dates outside the United States.
Cayleigh Shepherd
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A number of Big Loud artists are experiencing faster gains globally as they build domestically, including a handful of Canadian artists that label has signed.
“[MacKenzie] had multiple No. 1s in Canada and Australia before breaking through in the U.S.,” notes Deslippe of the Medicine Hat, Canada native. “Ashley Cooke, Hailey Whitters, and MacKenzie have also made inroads in the U.K. over the past 18 months, playing C2C Festival and receiving mainstream radio, press, and DSP support. Stephen Wilson Jr. has done four U.K. visits in the past year. Morgan, HARDY and ERNEST did a sold-out run this spring in Australia/New Zealand, and Morgan celebrated his first #1 ARIA album and single while we were in market. [Canadian artist] Dallas Smith continues to break every country record in Canada and will also spend more time in the U.S. during this next album cycle.”
Big Loud may sign artists specifically for release in Australia and the United Kingdom, but England adds, “It needs to be fantastic, something we love and where we see growth.”
Johnno Keetels
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While Big Loud has a global partnership with Republic/UMG for Wallen and Lily Rose, the rest of its releases are distributed internationally by Stem. This move will enhance the label’s strength in Australia and England, where they have also relied on third parties to help promote their artists.
With leaders in place in the three territories, Deslippe says Big Loud will continue to scale up as needed. “There is so much growth potential in these markets, I feel like we’ve just scratched the surface,” she says. “For a long time, I was the only international team member having moved to Nashville from Canada, but I’ve always been made to feel like a valued member of the core team. I’m excited to pay this sentiment forward and invite some more unique and different voices to the table.”
England says he’s taking a page from music executive Clive Calder, who in the ‘80s and ‘90s built Jive Records into an independent powerhouse before selling it to Bertelsmann Music Group in 2002.
Justin Clark
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“[Calder] expanded internationally and made it to where all their records were being worked globally by them,” England says. “And Jive, to my understanding, was the last great label who did this level of international expansion as an independent. And you know it’s no secret we’ve been a fan of studying those who have come before us.”
He also hints that there’s more to come with more partnerships down the road. “That’s why getting these international pipes, if you will, set up now, has never been more important or timelier for us,” England says. “This is the next logical step; be ready for the ones to come and stay prepared for the ones we have.”
Country music is hot right now, and Drake Milligan looks like a guy who’s making a real fist of it.
On Wednesday night (Sept. 13), the season 17 alum made his return to the America’s Got Talent stage, stared down the barrel of the camera and delivered a performance of “I Got A Problem,” an original song.
Wearing a white denim jacket with a red bandana, and wielding an acoustic guitar, Milligan’s performance was confident, polished. Slick even. He appeared right at home under the bright lights, a year on from his AGT podium finish.
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Hailing from Fort Worth, Texas, Milligan has quite the story to tell. He cut his showbiz teeth as an Elvis impersonator and enjoyed a deep run in the 2022 season, finishing third and placing top among all singers.
He followed his AGT stint the release of a 14-song collection, Dallas/Fort Worth, which features Milligan’s writer’s credit on every track. Billboard described the LP as “a steady mix of laid-back, ‘90s Strait inspired come-ons including ‘Save It For a Sunny Day’ and ‘Hating Everything She Tries On,’ the barroom burner ‘Tippin’ Point’ and ‘Long Haul,’ which finds Milligan incorporating an Elvis-esque vocal swagger.”
Earlier this year, Milligan and several members of his band were injured when his touring van crashed into a concrete median in the Lone Star State.
Based on his latest AGT appearance, Milligan has made a resounding recovery. The audience loved it, so too the did the four judges. At the end of the performance, everyone in the room was on their feet.
“Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing,” was Simon Cowell’s initial response. Milligan is on the way to becoming a superstar, the Brit reckons. “That was amazing.” Cowell was adamant that AGT addicts haven’t seen the last of the crooner. Milligan, he hinted, might even find a spot in one of the upcoming all-star AGT spin-off series.
For the record, America’s votes were tallied, season 18 contestants Anna DeGuzman and Chibi Unity were saved. They progress through to the semis, alongside previously announced competitors Adrian Stoica & Hurricane, Lavender Darcangelo, Ahren Belisle, Murmuration, Mzansi Youth Choir and Putri Ariani.
Watch Milligan’s performance below.
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“Question the Universe” is a strange title for a song. It’s fairly abstract, doesn’t roll off the tongue and doesn’t sound like it rhymes with anything in a comfortable, singable way.
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But it sure fits independent artist Teddy Robb. He had a near-miss on a relationship, meeting a woman he thought was his soul mate just days before she moved to Los Angeles to live with her boyfriend. He had a near-miss on a songwriting opportunity when Old Dominion guitarist Brad Tursi started — and finished — a song about Robb’s almost-relationship before Robb had arrived for a writing appointment. And Robb had yet another near-miss when the song came along shortly after he lost his recording deal with Monument and had no label that would issue it.
All of that gives real perspective to the “Question the Universe” title. Robb struggled to find any meaning in the series of events, and his performance of the current release is heartbreakingly convincing.
“The emotion of it is so raw that when I’m singing it, it kind of takes me right back to that moment,” he says.
That moment was St. Patrick’s Day 2022. Robb met Leah Lawson, a former Miss South Carolina, at Nashville club Red Door, where the green beer was flowing. They had an instant, undefined connection and ended up talking and partying for much of the night. “It really started off the very first night, very platonic, just like friends,” he remembers. “There was sparks, but [she] was very up front: ‘I have a boyfriend. I’m going to L.A.’ ”
During the evening, they ran into Tursi, and the party expanded. “We hung out that night, and everyone kind of slept over at my house,” recalls Tursi. “We just stayed up late and indulged ourselves in music and all the other things you can indulge yourself with, and then I guess the next day, they’d really fallen for each other.”
Lawson and Robb met up daily during her final days in Nashville, and he admittedly tried to get her to stay. She insisted on sticking with her California boyfriend, and Tursi watched Robb experience torturously teasing circumstances. Robb planned a co-writing session at Tursi’s house, and before it commenced, Tursi sat down at a piano that he had recently purchased.
“I don’t really know how to play it that well,” Tursi says. “Accidents can happen, which makes it more inspiring sometimes.”
Tursi stumbled across some melancholy chords and began recounting Robb’s heartbreaking tale with conversational, out-of-meter lines about meeting over drinks and forming a seemingly doomed connection. It eased into an aching chorus melody that accompanied an accurate summation — “Right person, wrong time” — with the singer adhering more closely to the beat for singalong ease, even as he reveals his anger toward God. Tursi didn’t know where he was going until he reached the chorus’ final line: “It’s shit like this makes me question the universe.”
Musically, that chorus started on a two-minor chord — an unsettled sound that the listener intuitively hopes will resolve. The entire eight-line stanza dodges root-chord finality, though, until the last line, wrapping itself in the situation’s inherent frustration. “It’s hard to accept that, [when] you actually like the person and there’s seemingly some insurmountable obstacles in your way,” says Tursi. “The chorus definitely feels that.”
He kept going with it and finished “Question the Universe,” then texted it to Robb, who was en route for the co-write when it appeared on his phone. Surprisingly, he wasn’t at all bothered that he had missed out on crafting it.
“I was flattered because it was so accurate — Brad paid attention so well to our story,” Robb says. “I mean, I’m still a kid from Akron [Ohio] who moved to Nashville to write songs and play country music, and to find out a guy wrote a song about you … I still have those kinds of moments.”
On March 25, following a send-off dinner for Lawson, Tursi played “Universe” for the ill-fated couple on piano at his house, reflecting their turmoil back to them even as they lived it out. Tursi stealthily whispered to Lawson that he knew she was gone for good.
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Indeed, when she reached California, Robb told her not to call him again unless she moved back. But he decided he needed to record “Question the Universe.” Following the rules hadn’t necessarily paid off, and “Universe,” he felt, broke a bunch. “It starts with the title, ‘Question the Universe,’ ” he says.
It’s definitely outside the norm for country music, as are the melancholy chords, its piano foundation and its ballad tempo. But the differences are what make it stand out, as it did when producer Pete Good (Brandon Ratcliff, Alana Springsteen) reviewed a bundle of songs that Robb presented him. “When he played that, I was just like, ‘Holy crap, what is this?’” recalls Good. “It doesn’t sound like anything else. It’s a one-of-a-kind song.”
They recorded it on July 22, 2022 — four months after it had been written — at Good’s Stone Jag Studio with drummer Evan Hutchings, bassist Craig Young, guitarist Sol Philcox-Littlefield and pianist Alex Wright. The team agreed with Robb that they should break some rules with it.
“We knew that with this song in particular, we could take liberties,” Good explains. “It felt like it needed to be kind of dreamy, atmospheric, surreal — whatever word you want to use — and then we wanted to kind of crescendo toward the end of the song as well, where it just got more intense as it went on.”
Hutchings’ drum part felt sluggish — appropriate support for a depressed protagonist — and Philcox-Littlefield created a swath of razor-like sounds with a spacey vibe — “We’re talking about the universe here,” says Good — and a sitar-ish guitar break. As much as 90% of Robb’s final vocal came from his performance with the band as he relived every ounce of the pain in Lawson’s departure. It was so personal that he delivered even the difficult, out-of-meter sections with conviction.
“It stretched me vocally,” Robb says. “I just tried to do my best to sing what I was feeling, and so that’s probably why it feels like it pushes and pulls, as far as the meter goes. [The feeling’s] important when you’re telling a story like that.”
Good brought Sarah Buxton in to handle background vocals, and the sections where she sings unison octaves are particularly haunting. “It sounds like another person in a song versus a cast of people,” notes Good. “I wanted it to feel a little bit more like there’s an actual, singular female in the song with Teddy. It feels more intimate.”
Robb released it independently on April 20 with Gator Michaels Consulting. After Cumulus expressed some interest in playing it, Robb overdubbed a clean hook line — “Shit like this” became “Things like this” — and released it to radio on July 28 via PlayMPE.
The developments are making Robb more optimistic about his career path. And there’s a postscript regarding Lawson, too: A little more than a week into her time in Los Angeles, she realized it hadn’t been the right move. She returned to Nashville, pursued the relationship with Robb, and the two are now engaged. He has fewer questions for the universe than he did in March 2022.
“I think it takes heartbreak in this town,” he says, “to prepare you for the really good stuff.”
Like so many country artists, Carrie Underwood has an undeniable love for Las Vegas — so much so, that the current CMA entertainer of the year nominee is extending her show, Reflection: The Las Vegas Residency, adding 18 new shows in 2024.
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Underwood will perform at six new residency dates in March, five new dates in May, one new date on June 1, and six new dates in August. Tickets and a limited number of VIP packages and upgrades to this new set of performances at the 5,000-seat capacity theatre will go on sale to the public on Monday, Sept. 18, at 10 a.m. PST. For more information, click here.
“Performing live for an audience is my favorite part of what I do, and I love the idea of giving the audience a show and not just a concert,” Underwood previously told Billboard. “We can do things in this production we aren’t able to do out on the road.”
Underwood launched the 2023 run of her residency in June, after the conclusion of her 43-city headlining Denim & Rhinestones Tour earlier this year.
In comparing touring with residency shows, Underwood told Billboard, “I have always loved touring and coming to the fans where they are, but it’s great to be in one place and get to perform for audiences from all over the world who are all coming to a city like Vegas to have a great time.”
In the meantime, Underwood is gearing up for the release of the deluxe edition of Denim & Rhinestones on Sept. 22. The project features six new songs, including her current country radio single, “Out of That Truck.”
Recently, Underwood also continued her long-held affinity for rock n’ roll, when she opened a trio of concerts for Guns N’ Roses’ tour, including a stop at Nashville’s GEODIS Park.
The Country Music Association has announced the nominees for the 2023 CMA International Awards. The awards, which encompass six categories – two for artists and four for industry players – honor those who have impacted the growth of country music in the international marketplace.
Luke Combs, Kip Moore and Morgan Wallen are vying for the International Artist Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement by a U.S.-based artist who has demonstrated the most significant creative growth, development and promotion of the country music industry outside of the U.S. during the eligibility period.
“As we continue to see country music grow globally, it is thanks in large part to those who have supported our mission and spearheaded events, initiatives and programming to reach new territories around the world,” Sarah Trahern, CMA CEO said in a statement. “The dedication from each of these nominees has made them a vital part of the success of our genre internationally, and we cannot wait to celebrate them in the coming months.”
This year’s nominees hail from Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S.
Nominees are voted on by international members of CMA along with a select panel of U.S.-based professionals who have knowledge in the international country music industry. Voting is open now through Thursday, Sept. 28. Winners will be announced later this year.
Here’s a complete list of nominees:
International Artist Achievement Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievement by a U.S.-based artist who has demonstrated the most significant creative growth, development and promotion of the country music industry outside of the U.S. during the eligibility period.
Luke Combs
Kip Moore
Morgan Wallen
Jeff Walker Global Country Artist Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievements by a country music artist signed outside of the U.S. The artist must have furthered the popularity of country music as well as brought attention to the country music format in their foreign-based territory.
Casey Barnes (Australia)
Kaylee Bell (New Zealand)
Tebey (Canada)
Jo Walker Meador International Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual in advocating and supporting country music’s marketing development in territories outside the U.S.
Jon Cauwood (U.K. – music consultant)
Sina Hall (Germany – Semmel Concerts)
Natalie Waller (Australia – ABC Music)
Rob Potts International Live Music Advancement Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievements by an individual who has made important contributions to the live music industry by extending performance opportunities and building live audiences for country music outside of the U.S.
Susan Heymann (Australia – Frontier Touring)
Anna-Sophie Mertens (U.K. – Live Nation)
Ron Sakamoto (Canada – Gold and Gold Productions, LTD.)
Neil Warnock, MBE (U.K. – United Talent Agency)
Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievements in the media as they relate to country music outside of the U.S.
Jill Johnson (Sweden – ‘Jills Veranda’ SVT)
Ross Jones (U.K. – Holler)
Richard Murdoch (Scotland – BBC Radio)
Dayna Bourgoin (Canada – Pure Country Radio, iHeart Radio)
International Country Broadcaster Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievement by a radio broadcaster or syndicated radio reporter outside the U.S. who has made important contributions for the development of country music in his/her country.
Stefanie Jüneman (Germany – FM Maximum Roc)
Joakim Richardson (Sweden – Go Country)
Ricky Ross (U.K. – BBC Radio Scotland)
Justin Thomson (Australia – KIX Country)
Wimpie van der Sandt (South Africa – Bok Radio)
Triple Tigers, the Nashville-based label home to chart-topping country artists Scotty McCreery and Russell Dickerson, has named Kevin Herring and Annie Ortmeier co-presidents, while former president Norbert Nix has left the company.
Herring had served as the label’s senior vp of radio promotion. Ortmeier joins from Universal Music Group Nashville where she was senior vp of streaming marketing. They will report to George Couri, Triple Tigers co-founder and Triple 8 Management co-founder. The moves align with Triple Tigers’ focus on terrestrial radio and digital media, such as streaming and social platforms.
“Triple Tigers 2.0 is here,” Couri said in a statement. “I look forward to stepping into a more active role, as well as having Kevin and Annie form a dual attack in the worlds of both radio and streaming & digital. Kevin’s radio singles batting average here is unmatched in the industry, and Annie comes from leading streaming and digital strategies at the biggest label in the business. With our company intentionally focused on maintaining a very small group of artists who benefit from dedicated attention, there will be tremendous impact on our roster.”
Launched in 2016 as a joint venture between Thirty Tigers, Sony Music Entertainment-owned distributor The Orchard and Couri’s Triple 8 Management (whose clients include McCreery, Eli Young Band and Corey Kent), the label has had tremendous success right from the start with McCreery’s first five singles and Dickerson’s first four singles going to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Dickerson’s current single, “God Gave Me a Girl,” is bulleted at No. 11 on the chart, while McCreery’s new single, “Cab in a Solo,” is bulleted at No. 40. Jordan Fletcher is also on the boutique roster. Couri is now Triple Tigers’ remaining managing partner.
A representative declined to comment on whether Triple Tigers co-founder David Macias had sold his stake in the company.
“I am very proud and honored to be entrusted with a leadership role at Triple Tigers,” said Herring, in a statement. “This is an amazing group of people and artists who are dedicated to making world class country music and lifting up the artists, songwriters, format and community.”
Ortmeier added, “I am excited to be joining George, Kevin and the team at Triple Tigers. I have admired Triple Tigers and the incredible success they have had thus far and am looking forward to being able to build upon that success with Scotty, Russell, Jordan and the team!”
Nix, who was also a partner in the label, is set to launch VISCYRL, a new artist development company in partnership with the Orchard. He leaves with fond memories. “It was us against the world. A David vs. Goliath story,” he says. “The most exciting thing for me was being able to bring in this team of people who were dedicated to the music and understood the vision. We came out of the chute with a string of No. 1 singles. It was an honor to lead that group of people.”
Luke Bryan is set to host and executive-produce an upcoming, six-episode Hulu docuseries titled It’s All Country, which will examine “the iconic songs and artists that changed the face of country music forever,” according to a release. A release date for the docuseries has not yet been revealed. Executive-producing the series alongside Bryan will be […]