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Maren Morris is further explaining her decision to distance herself from the country music industry.
In an hourlong interview on the New York Times’ Popcast podcast with reporters Joe Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli posted Wednesday (Oct. 4), the singer laid out a scenario where she says she always felt at odds with the country music business, even as she experienced success. Over the last few years, after the pandemic and Black Lives Matter, the feeling has only deepened.
“I felt like I don’t want to say goodbye, but I really cannot participate in the really toxic arms of this institution anymore,” she said. “I love living in Nashville, I have my family there. … There’s a reason why people come there from L.A. and N.Y. to write with us because we have amazing songwriters there, so that’s not going to change. But I couldn’t do this circus anymore of feeling like I have to absorb and explain people’s bad behaviors and laugh it off. I just couldn’t do that after 2020. … I’ve changed.”
Even so, she said, “It’s a little bit hyberbolic to be like ‘She’s left country music,’ because that’s ridiculous, but I certainly can’t participate in a lot of it. I’m OK kind of just doing my own thing. Come with me if you please; everyone’s welcome.” She also stated that she will no longer submit her music for country awards consideration. Morris is also transferring from Sony Nashville to New York-based Columbia Records.
The new podcast follows her Sept. 15 interview with the Los Angeles Times in which Morris said she was “moving forward,” adding, “I thought I’d like to burn [the country music industry] to the ground and start over, but it’s burning itself down without my help.” The same day, she released two Jack Antonoff-produced songs, “The Tree” and “Get the Hell Out of Here,” that further explained her position.
“These two songs are incredibly key to my next step because they express a very righteously angry and liberating phase of my life these last couple of years, but also how my navigation is finally pointing towards the future, whatever that may be or sound like,” she said in a statement.
In the New York Times podcast, she says as far back as her 2016 breakthrough, she felt unwelcome by some sectors. “It was very clear even from early stages, ‘My Church’ into my next single, ‘80s Mercedes,’ which leaned more pop,” she said. “Ironically, it was, ‘She’s not country. Look at the way she dresses. Get the hell out of here.’ Like ‘You don’t belong here, this is not like Dolly.’ I was like, ‘I know it’s not, I’m not trying to be.’ … All the negativity and that initial backlash … was the writing on the wall for what was to come.”
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She went on to say that the industry still circles the wagons any time someone criticizes country music or an artist, even from within. “It’s so ingrained and Pavlovian that you are not allowed to criticize this family ever,” she said. She felt any critical comments were interpreted as a greater attack on country music as an institution. When she spoke out, it was like, “‘Not only are you criticizing our way of life,’ which I’m not, ‘you’re criticizing every fundamental belief we have, you’re criticizing Jesus, you’re criticizing blue-collar workers, your criticizing farmers.’ Like, they will go to these lengths to justify the abuse and discrepancies that exist within the machine of what this is.”
A flashpoint came after she tweeted that Morgan Wallen’s use of a racial slur in February 2021 would be condoned by the industry. She tweeted in part, “We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse.” She was in Hawaii recording and felt very far removed from Nashville.
“I didn’t realize I had lit the fuse,” she said. “I underestimated — like I have a lot — the power of the town and also kind of every broken thing about it and how it protects itself no matter what.”
Following her tweet, she says she not only received death threats, but so did her infant son. “I could have never fathomed that it would go there just off of criticizing a racial slur,” she said. “It felt like a warning shot.”
Over the past year, she said that she came to the conclusion that in order to save both her mental and physical health, it was time for her to give up commenting on every issue (“I don’t feel like that is my crown to wear every single time”) and find a more hospitable environment. “I’m so ready to just go elsewhere and look at the light and bring the people who want to come along with me, but honestly I just truly, as someone who has grown up listening to country music, growing up on the women of it, particularly — I’ve just had to find my own patch of grass with all of it.”
With women still struggling mightily for country radio play, she worries that the situation is not improving and that women artists will become even more reticent to speak out. “I kind of said this in my LA Times piece, kind of just the indoctrination of ‘Stay in line, do not ever question the way we do things because you’re looking at the door. We only ever let three of you in, and you made it, so shut up.’ That’s terrifying, especially as a new artist.”
But she then added the playing field is so tilted toward male artists at radio that it may not matter whether women speak out or not. “So, look at the [women] doing the same exact things I did, putting great music out, not getting played, doing all the same radio tour even after Covid, even though streaming is starting to greatly surpass it, and it’s even worse than ever on the chart. And even the playlisting is extremely slanted,” she says. “It’s hard to be like, ‘I’m the one that got affected by it,’ when there are no women on the chart. Whether you speak up or you keep playing the game, they’re still not going to play you.”
Her concern extends beyond artists and to the next generation of listeners. “In country, what standard are we setting? What is a little girl or like a little gay kid in the South at home when they look at this format right now, what are we teaching them? That they’re not welcome,” she says.
Looking also at prospective young female artists, she continued, “Even if they do everything right and look exactly like they’re supposed to or sound or say or have the perfect twang to their voice, thank Jesus in everything you do, you’re not allowed here until you’ve eaten enough sh–, I guess, to do it,” she said, comparing the genre to the current pop field, which is female-dominated.
“I feel like now more than ever, the women in these audiences, the little girls at home, they only see themselves in these songs as scenery or objects,” Morris said. “It’s heartbreaking because the few women that are kicking ass and still writing the best songs can’t even get radio play, and I thought they’d been given the keys to the kingdom 15 years ago.”
—Assistance in preparing this story provided by Jessica Nicholson
Jelly Roll offered up a surging, open-hearted performance of his song “Halfway to Hell” during his Tuesday night (Oct. 3) performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
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Like many of the other songs on his album Whitsitt Chapel (released on BBR Music Group), Jelly Roll sings of the struggle between harmful vices and being his best self–or as he sings on “Halfway to Hell,” it’s the struggle between “a bottle and a Bible.”
“I’m a rolling stone disciple with a cross across my face,” he sang passionately, pointing to his signature cross tattooed on his cheek.
On social media, Jelly Roll offered his gratitude for the opportunity to perform, saying, “What an incredible experience this was–thank you Jimmy Fallon for having me–this was unreal.”
Over the past year, Jelly Roll has notched two No. 1 Country Airplay hits, with “Son of a Sinner” and “Need a Favor.” He was also Billboard‘s cover star for its 2023 Country Power Players issue, and performed and spoke during Billboard‘s inaugural Billboard Country Live in Concert event in Nashville earlier this year.
He has earned armfuls of awards wins and nominations from the CMT Music Awards, the upcoming CMA Awards and the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards. Jelly Roll has five nominations leading up to the CMA Music Awards, including musical event of the year, single of the year, music video of the year, and new artist of the year and male vocalist of the year.
In addition to his own music, Jelly Roll has been a king of collaborations of late, teaming with Lainey Wilson for “Save Me,” but also joining Dustin Lynch on “Chevrolet,” a song from Lynch’s new album. Jelly Roll also joins Craig Morgan on a version of “Almost Home” on Morgan’s upcoming album. His collaboration with Jessie Murph, “Wild Ones,” will release Oct. 6.
See Jelly Roll’s performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon below.
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Zach Bryan triples up in the top three spots of Billboard’s Americana/Folk Albums chart dated Oct. 7, becoming only the second act ever to earn the honor.
The singer-songwriter’s self-titled LP leads for a fifth week, encompassing its entire run on the survey so far, with 66,000 equivalent album units earned Sept. 22-28, according to Luminate. His new EP, Boys of Faith, launches at No. 2 with 44,000 units and former leader American Heartbreak dips to No. 3 from No. 2 with 31,000 units.
Bryan joins only Chris Stapleton in having monopolized the chart’s top three. Stapleton did so for 11 weeks in 2017-18.
Bryan now boasts seven career Americana/Folk Albums top 10s, all tallied in just over a year and a half. In chronological order of their peaks: DeAnn (No. 6, February 2022); American Heartbreak (No. 1, 61 weeks, beginning in June 2022); Summertime Blues (No. 2, July 2022); Elisabeth (No. 6, November 2022); All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks) (No. 3, January 2023); Zach Bryan (No. 1, five weeks to date, beginning in September 2023); and Boys of Faith (No. 2 to date, October 2023).
Bryan ties for the ninth-most top 10s since Americana/Folk Albums began in December 2009. Bob Dylan leads with 30, followed by Neil Young with 25.
Meanwhile, Bryan charts six titles overall on the Oct. 7 Americana/Folk Albums tally, matching his mark for the most by an act in a single week. He first totaled that many on the Sept. 9 and Jan. 14 rankings.
As previously reported, Boys of Faith boys at No. 8 on the all-genre Billboard 200. It’s Bryan’s third top 10, following his self-titled No. 1 and the No. 5-peaking American Heartbreak.
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All five Boys of Faith tracks debut on the Billboard Hot 100, led by “Sarah’s Place” featuring Noah Kahan at No. 14. It starts at No. 5 on Streaming Songs with 15.8 million official U.S. streams. It also begins at No. 2 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and No. 5 on Hot Country Songs.
Four weeks earlier, Bryan notched his first Billboard 200 No. 1 with his self-titled set, while the LP’s “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves debuted as his first Hot 100 leader.
HARDY is canceling two of his upcoming shows on his The Mockingbird & the Crow fall tour due to suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, the country artist announced via social media on Tuesday (Oct. 3). The pair of concerts had been slated for Oct. 5 in Simpsonville, S.C., and Oct. 7 in Brandon, Miss. Additionally, his Georgia Rodeo show, slated for Oct. 6, has been postponed until April 12, 2024.
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“I need to be honest with everyone for a second,” HARDY wrote in an all-text post. “I’ve been dealing with some serious anxiety since the bus accident last year, and over the last two weeks, it has taken control of my life. It has caused me to suffer many panic attacks which have landed me in the hospital. I need a moment to focus on me and to make myself better for my wife, family and you, the fans.”
“My plan is to be back and focused on Oct. 12,” he concluded. “Thank you for understanding, see you soon.”
Refunds for the Oct. 5 and Oct. 7 shows will be available at the point of purchase. HARDY’s next show, on Oct. 12, is set for First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro, Ark. His Mockingbird & the Crow tour dates run through December.
Last October, HARDY and members of his touring team were injured during a bus accident that occurred in Tennessee, where the bus ran off the highway and turned over.
“Following last night’s show, our tour bus was in an accident on our way home from Bristol,” HARDY wrote in a statement on social media at the time. “There were just four of us, including myself, on the bus, however we were all treated for significant injuries.”
See his full message announcing the cancelations of two shows below:
Wynonna Judd is set to host ‘Christmas at the Opry,’ airing from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on NBC on Thursday, Dec. 7, beginning at 8 p.m. ET, and airing on Peacock the following day.
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Joining Judd is a stellar slate of performers, including Brenda Lee, Kelly Clarkson, Mickey Guyton, Lauren Alaina, BRELAND, Trace Adkins, Chris Janson, Chrissy Metz, Meghan Patrick, Mitchell Tenpenny and Adam Doleac.
The two-hour music special will feature several top artists performing an array of holiday classics alongside some of today’s most impactful music. The show will be taped on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at the Grand Ole Opry House, beginning at 7 p.m. CT.
Earlier this week, Judd was honored during the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards with the country champion award.
“Wynonna is one of the most recognized and lauded performers in country music,” said Cassandra Tryon, senior vp, Live Events, NBCUniversal Entertainment, in a statement. “Not only is she incredibly talented, her selflessness and passion for putting the needs of others in the spotlight is unmatched. We can’t think of a better person to honor as our inaugural ‘Country Champion’ and to celebrate the holidays with across these two major country music events.”
Christmas at the Opry is executive produced by Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski for Den of Thieves along with RAC Clark and Jen Jones.
Both Christmas at the Opry and People’s Choice Country Awards reflect collaborations following NBCUniversal’s equity investment in Opry Entertainment Group alongside Atairos.
Tickets to the Oct. 3 taping are available at opry.com.
Kacey Musgraves and Noah Kahan are teaming up to release a new duet rendition of Kahan’s “She Calls Me Back” on Friday (Oct. 6). Kahan revealed the upcoming collab through a social media post that included a voicemessage from Musgraves saying, “Hi, you’ve reached the voicemail box of Kacey Musgraves and Noah Kahan. We’ll call […]
Years ago, when Brad Paisley was racked with pain from a ruptured disc during a trip, a long-forgotten doctor gave him a prescription for OxyContin with instructions to take it as needed.
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“I knew enough at that point,” Paisley remembers, “to rip it up.”
But the experience also gave him enough information to understand how his home state of West Virginia had become ground zero for an opioid crisis. Paisley and co-writer Lee Thomas Miller (“In Color,” “It Matters to Her”) addressed the topic in “The Medicine Will,” a gripping overview that appears on Son of the Mountains: The First Four Tracks, an EP released Sept. 29 that teases his next album. They could have easily turned “Medicine” into a trudging ballad of anger and grief, but instead embedded it in a midtempo package that hints at the strength of resilience. Though to be clear, anger is distinctly buried in there, too.
“I really do believe that this might be the best song I’ve ever written,” notes Paisley. “I can say that humbly. I do think that it’s as important as anything I’ve ever written — whether anything I’ve ever written is important. It feels that way because I know what it can mean to where I’m from. If you’re going to write a song about where you’re from, you want it to do some good.”
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Paisley was already deep into the creation of his next album when Miller watched the Netflix series Dopesick, which premiered Nov. 10, 2021.
“It’s very damning,” Miller says. “It’s not a feel-good 30-minute [sitcom], but the more I researched after watching it, it was pretty accurate.”
The project documented how Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, twisted government connections and processes to con a vulnerable population into believing that OxyContin was nonaddictive. The company persuaded two congressional Republicans — Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn (now a senator) and Pennsylvania’s Tom Marino (no longer in Congress) — to introduce a bill that made it difficult for the Drug Enforcement Administration to penalize drug companies. Once it passed, Purdue specifically induced coal-mining communities in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and western Pennsylvania to use OxyContin to quell the pain caused by back-breaking work. Some 12 million pills were shipped to Kermit, W.Va., a town of just 350 people. As a result of the campaign, one county in the state estimated 10% of its population was opioid-dependent.
“Everywhere where [drug companies] should have been shut down, they doubled down,” says Miller. “They knew they would make all this money — I mean, they made Saudi Arabian money.”
Watching Dopesick, Miller scribbled down a thought: “If the livin’ here don’t kill you/ The medicine will.” He brought the hook and the topic to Paisley, who admits he was skeptical: “I said, ‘Yeah, I think that’s an interesting idea. I don’t know how good a song it would be.’ That was my instinct.”
But they toyed with it anyway at the bar in Paisley’s home studio, The Wheelhouse. Paisley established an acoustic guitar feel that sounded as dark as “Whiskey Lullaby,” and he grew more positive about the idea once he had the twisted opening lines to the chorus: “There’s coal under the mountains/ And gold in them there pills.”
“Whenever I play it for somebody, I watch their eyes because I need to make sure that they hear the word,” Miller says. “Once you get the word ‘pills,’ you know what we’re talking about.”
They sketched out some of the song’s repetitive themes, particularly one built around digging holes. They addressed digging the mines, digging graves for overdose victims and digging a hole that’s “hotter than the sun” where the Big Pharma executives can roast for eternity.
“No one’s gone to jail yet,” observes Paisley.
He “wrestled with the melodies,” he says, careful to make it inspiring and listenable, but not Pollyannic. Ultimately, the structure builds from a dark-sounding verse to a transitional pre-chorus (Paisley calls it a “channel” because it works almost like a mine shaft, transporting the listener to the next section), ultimately reaching an energetic chorus, offset by the stinging bite of bluegrass harmonies. Once they had a verse and chorus completed, Paisley went to the studio upstairs in a converted bedroom and put down an instrumental bed.
They continued working on “The Medicine Will” for several weeks, chipping away until they had a song that told the story without naming names and without wallowing in victimhood. Much of its power rested in their ability to shape a narrative that plays out like a news piece but still feels like a call to action.And when the band swung into action, “The Medicine Will” found its full expression. Working with co-producer Luke Wooten (Dierks Bentley, Dustin Lynch), Paisley augmented his road crew with three bluegrass pros — Dobroist Jerry Douglas, vocalist Dan Tyminski and mandolinist-vocalist Sierra Hull — whose presence underscored the Appalachian foundation of Paisley’s home state. Midway through tracking, Kenny Lewis switched from an electric bass to an upright model, enhancing that acoustic sound, though Paisley wasn’t strict about following the bluegrass tradition.
For starters, he still utilized drummer Ben Sesar on the track, and he added burning electric guitar at a later date. Additionally, he had Kendal Marcy apply a Hammond B-3 organ. Like each of the eight instruments in the mix, it gets subtle moments to make its presence felt without ever dominating the proceedings.
“That was one of the pieces of glue because if you’re going to make a song about this area of the country, it’s not all just bluegrass,” Paisley says. “There’s something about that B-3 that feels churchy.”
While he worked on “The Medicine Will,” Paisley heard from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who — unaware of the song — invited the singer to appear June 1-2, 2022, at a GameChanger prevention education event in White Sulphur Springs. Paisley performed the song live for the first time at the bipartisan gathering for 500 kids. He later shot a video in a Beckley, W.Va. mine.
“I can’t even express what that was really like, standing there singing and the water trickling, and the echo of it, and you’re however-many-hundred feet below the ground,” recalls Paisley.
The video features a number of recovering opioid victims as well as Manchin, who confirms the pharmaceutical abuse behind “The Medicine Will”: “They preyed on the people who did the hardest work, who sacrificed the most, because they figured they’d be the most dependent.”
“The Medicine Will” fits into a bigger arc in Paisley’s public persona. His recording of “Same Here,” featuring Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy (included in the new EP) and his participation in The Store, a grocery outlet that provides free food for needy Nashvillians, demonstrate his intent to use his platform for something bigger.
“It would be so much simpler, easier, to just be like, ‘OK, here’s a song about love, or a situation, or something funny,’ ” Paisley says. “But that isn’t what I’ve done. For better or worse, this is a phase of my career where I have to say something.”
When vocalist and piano player Ronnie Milsap worked with Elvis Presley on Presley’s 1970 hit “Kentucky Rain,” Milsap recalls The King possessing a keen sense of the feel and drive he wanted on the song.
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“He’d say, ‘More thunder on the piano, Milsap!’ You’d go to a low note on the piano and he just wanted more thunder,” Milsap relates to Billboard.
Thanks to his soulful singing and piano playing, and his exuberant stage presence, the Country Music Hall of Famer Milsap has been bringing the thunder for five decades, on such signature songs as “Stranger in My House,” “Smoky Mountain Rain” and “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me.”
Tonight (Oct. 3), the wide-ranging scope of his sound and influence on country and pop music will be highlighted during his final Nashville concert, taking place at Bridgestone Arena. A swath of artists will take the stage to honor the 80-year-old Milsap, including Trace Adkins, Ricky Skaggs, Little Big Town, Kelly Clarkson, Charlie McCoy, The McCrary Sisters, Ray Stevens, Steven Curtis Chapman, Pam Tillis, the Gatlin Brothers, BRELAND, Elizabeth Cook and more.
“I think we’re going to blow up the Bridgestone. We’re going to blow it up. I’m very thankful for everyone,” Milsap says of the evening.
In 1977, Milsap won entertainer of the year, and over his career has taken home album of the year four times and male vocalist of the year three times from the CMA Awards. He earned Grammy Awards for his Kenny Rogers duet “Make No Mistake, She’s Mine,” and his own “Lost in the Fifties Tonight,” “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me,” “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends,” and “(I’m A) Stand by My Woman Man.”
Several of the artists on the Bridgestone lineup collaborated with Milsap on his 2019 album The Duets, including Little Big Town, with whom he recorded “Lost in the Fifties,” and Chapman, who sang “You’re Nobody” with the singer.
“They’re really good, wonderful people,” Milsap says of LBT. “They are fun to be around. We did that song on [Jimmy Fallon]’s show and they were just wonderful.”
Of Chapman, “he used to pitch me and Ronnie songs,” Milsap’s current producer, Rob Galbraith, tells Billboard. “Sometimes he would text me from the road and just say, ‘Man, I’m listening to some of Ronnie’s old stuff. Thank you for cutting that music.’”
Milsap has an even closer tie with another performer on the bill: since 1976, Milsap has lived in a Nashville residence he bought from Stevens.
“I loved working with Ray,” Milsap says. “Ray wanted to move out of this house because Webb Pierce lived across the street and he was selling tapes and CDs out of his house there and Ray said he wanted out of that. Well, Webb also played music kind of loud.” He adds, “Ray Stevens is one smart cookie, I’m telling you.”
Having a plethora of artists singing his music and feting his work is light years away from Milsap’s difficult childhood. The North Carolina native was born blind and was subsequently abandoned by his mother, who felt her son’s blindness was a kind of divine punishment. He lived with his grandmother from age one, until he was enrolled in the State School for the Blind in Raleigh at age six.
The school had a premier music program, with Milsap learning classical technique. He took up violin at age seven and piano a year later, all the while soaking up sounds of Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles and Fats Domino from the radio. Milsap studied at Young-Harris Junior College in Atlanta, but ultimately turned down a full law school scholarship to chase his dreams of music. His first release came with his 1963 single “Total Disaster.” He first broke through as an R&B singer, earning a top 20 hit on the R&B Songs chart with Ashford & Simpson’s “Never Had It So Good.”
He relocated to Memphis in 1968, working with legendary producer Chips Moman. Milsap was also playing several clubs around Memphis, including The Thunderbird and TJ’s; Presley would bring in Milsap in to play a few of his New Year’s Eve bashes.
“I said, ‘Elvis, any possibility you want to get up and sing anything? We know all your songs,’” Milsap recalls of those parties. “He said, ‘No, I’d rather sit here with my friends and enjoy the evening.’ Elvis went around kissing all the girls ‘Happy New Year.’”
Milsap calls those Memphis years “magical,” saying, “Everything that happened in Memphis, with Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis … that energy was all over the place.”
Even so, Milsap’s heart was in country music. “I decided I needed to do what I wanted to do, not what everyone else was asking me to do,” Milsap recalls. After seeing him perform in a nightclub, Charley Pride encouraged Milsap to move to Nashville.
Milsap moved to Nashville in 1972 and quickly landed a gig playing five nights a week at a popular Nashville industry hotspot, Roger Miller’s King of the Road Motor Inn. Milsap, who was managed by Pride’s manager, Jack Johnson, recorded a batch of demo tapes, and they took them to then-RCA Nashville label head Jerry Bradley.
“Jerry said, ‘We know about Milsap. He’s down there in Memphis and he plays rock n’ roll and rhythm and blues. He’s not a country singer,’” Milsap recalls. “Jack played him a song I cut called ‘That Girl Who Waits on Tables,’ and Jerry heard that and said, ‘Well, that S.O.B. really is a country singer.’”
Milsap’s slate of hits in the 1970s and 1980s proved Bradley correct. Milsap’s first Hot Country Singles top 10 hit with RCA Nashville was 1973’s “I Hate You.” “That Girl Who Waits on Tables” reached No. 11 on the same chart a year later. In 1974, he earned his first No. 1 there with the Eddie Rabbitt-penned “Pure Love,” launching a string of chart successes that also included the Grammy-winning “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends,” as well as “Daydreams About Night Things.”
His blend of country and soul sparked even greater crossover triumphs in the 1980s, most notably with his 1981 hit “(There’s) No Getting’ Over Me,” which spent two weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart but also garnered Milsap his most preeminent pop chart hit, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a Grammy for best country vocal performance, male.
Milsap has earned 35 Billboard Hot Country Songs No. 1 hits, many of them recorded in his own studio, which he purchased from Roy Orbison in 1978 and renamed Groundstar Laboratories. Among the songs recorded at the studio with his then-producer Collins were 1979’s “Nobody Likes Sad Songs,” and the Mike Reid-penned 1983 hit “Stranger in My House,” which netted a Grammy for best country song.
“We cut everything there, as soon as Mike Reid would write a song, I’d get in there and record it,” Milsap recalls. Affectionately known as “Ronnie’s Place,” the studio is now under the ownership of Black River Entertainment.
Notably for an artist who grew up steeped in the soulful sounds of artists such as Charles, Lewis and Presley, Milsap was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame last year. Recently, he’s spent time recording in his home studio, cutting classics from the Great American Songbook for a project he hopes to release next year.
“It’s not a small studio; it fits like six or seven people in there, but it’s a wonderful studio,” Galbraith says. “We did an album like this back in 2004 [Just For a Thrill], but we’re doing other songs and more songs that Ronnie grew up on. We cut [Frank Sinatra’s] ‘Witchcraft,’ [Tony Bennett’s] ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco.’”
Ethan Hawke and daughter Maya Hawke share one of their family’s beloved go-to playlist tracks on an upcoming Record Store Day Black Friday compilation Light in the Attic & Friends. The compilation, due out on Nov. 24, features covers of songs released on the reissue label including the Hawkes’ hushed take on Willie Nelson’s “We Don’t Run.”
The song appeared on the country icon’s bare bones 1996 Spirit album and in a statement, Ethan Hawke explained, “This song is off Willie’s brilliant album Spirit, which has been a mainstay in our home since it was released in 1996. Everybody needs a good anthem song. This is one of the best.”
The Hawke family Nelson cover opens with Ethan singing over gently picked acoustic guitar, “You are the road, you are the only way/ I’ll follow you forever more/ We’ll look for love, we’ll find it in the eyes/ The eyes that see through all the doors.”
Maya then comes in for the third verse, matching her dad’s hushed, vulnerable vocals with the lines, “There is a train that races through the night/ On rails of steel that reach the soul/ Fueled by fire as soft as candle light/ But it warms the heart of a love grown cold.”
The family then comes together for the inspiring chorus, “We don’t run, we don’t compromise/ We don’t quit, we never do/ We look for love, we find it in the eyes/ The eyes of me and the eyes of you.”
Stranger Things star Maya released her sophomore studio album, Moss, last month, which she said was “super inspired” by Taylor Swift’s Folklore. Dad Ethan has long kept a hand in music, from directing the 1994 video for Lisa Loeb’s breakthrough hit, “Stay (I Missed You),” to his 2014 documentary debut with “Seymour: An Introduction,” a profile of classical pianist/composer Seymour Bernstein. He also portrayed a fictional musician in the 2018 film Juliet, Naked and directed the biopic of obscure country singer Blaze Foley in that year’s Blaze; he also portrayed jazz icon Chet Baker in 2015’s Born to Be Blue
In a statement about the collection, archival label Light in the Attic said it has long sought to spotlight the “most unique — and often forgotten — voices” in music. “We believe that an essential component of archival work, aside from simply honoring the music, is to seek ways in which to bring fresh perspectives, context, and reverence to the original artists and their work,” said LITA Founder and co-owner Matt Sullivan. The 20-track collection collections LITA’s 7″ vinyl and digital singles from its Cover Series, in which contemporary artists pay tribute to their favorite LITA artists and songs.
Among the other notable covers are Iggy Pop & Zig Zags covering funk queen Betty Davis’ “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up,” Mac DeMarco taking on Japanese pop singer/songwriter Haruomi Hosono’s “Honey Moon” and Swamp Dogg, John C. Reilly, Jenny Lewis and Tim Heidecker doing the Louvin Brothers’ “The Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea.” The collection also includes covers by Vashti Bunyan and Devendra Banhart, late Screaming Trees singer and solo star Mark Lanegan and Angel Olsen, among others.
Listen to the Hawkes sing “We Don’t Run” and see the Friends announcement below.
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Thomas Rhett, Lainey Wilson and Lynyrd Skynyrd will help ring in the new year in Nashville, as the first performers announced for CBS’ New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash, airing Sunday, Dec. 31 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET/PT. The annual concert will put Nashville in the national spotlight, highlighting a range of […]
