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Talk about “Fifteen” minutes of fame! It turns out one of the contestants on the new season of ABC’s The Bachelor has a surprising connection to Taylor Swift.
Eagle-eyed viewers realized during the season 27 premiere that Christina Mandrell once starred in the superstar’s music video for 2008 Fearless single “Fifteen,” exactly 15 years before she was vying for Bachelor Zach Shallcross’ heart. In the clip, Swift recounts her freshman year of high school with longtime best friend Abigail Anderson, and at the very end, she stands outside in the rain as a young Mandrell glances over at her while chatting with her own bestie.
For her part, Mandrell poked fun at both her music-video past and dating-show present on social media, writing, “Apparently I look at Zach the same way I look at Taylor Swift. New Conspiracy theory, first I stared at Taylor, then stared at Zach, which inevitably leads to me crying on the STAIRs.”
Of course, in the decade-plus since Swift tapped the Bachelor contestant for her “Fifteen” video, she’s released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) as the very first album in her grand plan to re-record her back catalog. The 2021 version of “Fifteen” became an instant fan favorite, with many Swifties remarking that the bittersweet nostalgia of the track has only grown stronger since Swift first recorded it at 18.
Time will tell how far Christina Mandrell — niece of Hot Country Songs chart-topper Barbara Mandrell — gets on The Bachelor.
Swift’s recent clash with Ticketmaster over ticketing for The Eras Tour has already launched a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee over the debacle, complete with baked-in lyrical references to “All Too Well” and “Anti-Hero” from Senators Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal during questioning.
Relive Mandrell staring down Taylor in “Fifteen” below.
Since the passing of Naomi Judd on April 30, her daughter and musical partner Wynonna Judd has kept the music alive, honoring her mother on The Judds: The Final Tour. Judd has found the trek, on which she has welcomed a slate of fellow female artists as guest collaborators, to be a conduit of healing not only for herself, but for her fans.
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“It’s beyond my expectations,” Judd tells Billboard, calling from her family farm in Nashville, recalling an emotional moment from the tour’s Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena stop in October.
“There was a moment where I literally took a step back physically because of the love and support coming at me,” the Country Music Hall of Famer says. “They were singing louder than my vocal and were taking over, and I was shocked by it. I knew that they would be great and that they would know the words, and I just didn’t expect the volume and the passion behind people singing.”
Tomorrow (Jan. 26), Wynonna will launch the 15-show second leg of The Judds: The Final Tour at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa., with Kelsea Ballerini, Ashley McBryde, Brandi Carlile, Little Big Town and Tanya Tucker joining her on various dates. Martina McBride reprises her role as special guest on all shows. The tour, which began in September, was originally slated to feature Wynonna and Naomi before Naomi died by suicide in August.
The 2023 leg will run through Feb. 25 and Wynonna does not expect it to be extended again. “There are no plans for going past February,” she says. “It’s a chapter of finding meaning in the grieving process, so I think it is coming to a close.”
She adds, “This is something I don’t think I’ll ever see again. There will be tours and concerts, but this is something that is somewhere between a memorial and a celebration of life — and me, just kicking ass and giving every single note from my toenails.”
Speaking with Billboard, Wynonna discussed her bond with her tourmates, her relationship with her fans, a new album in the works, and collaborations with Carlile and Trisha Yearwood.
Watching the concerts on this tour, the camaraderie among you and the other artists is palpable. What was it like hearing that so many of these artists wanted to rally around you in this way?
I just said “yes” when they came to me with names of people that said, “Yes, we want to support Wynonna.” Brandi was the first person to respond when mom died, when we decided to do the memorial. She flew in to be there and sing with her guitar. Brandi was an obvious [choice], because we bonded during the time of the memorial in a way that was so personal. It wasn’t about tours or music business. Her first two concerts in her life were Judds concerts, and the third was me [solo]. So, there we went — we’re at the farm and sitting in her vehicle listening to Joni Mitchell sing in her living room, and I’m weeping because I’m just sitting there with Brandi and we’re bonded. That’s a sisterhood that happened very organically.
Then suddenly, Sandbox [Entertainment] came to me and said, “These artists really want to do this.” I said, “OK!” It’s amazing to me because this kind of stuff doesn’t really happen, not usually organically. A lot of times it’s a board room and it’s an office thing. This was not [that] — this was a “We love Wynonna” thing. Is it business after that? Sure, but the most important part was we have become really close.
What is that camaraderie like for you and the other artists on the tour?
I text Trisha Yearwood on an ongoing basis. Little Big Town has been out to the farm, and we sit around and talk and share and sing together. It’s been really intimate. I’m shocked by that, to be honest, because so many times, things are about, “This is what will look good on a TV show,” or be good for ratings. This has not been normal — this has been about a personal love for me and the music during a very difficult time.
[At Naomi Judd’s memorial at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in May], Ashley [McBryde] sang “Love Is Alive” and wept through the whole chorus and could barely sing the song at the memorial. So I went back into her dressing room and I told her, “Don’t you dare apologize for being that emotional. Everyone saw the cracks in your armor and that’s how the light gets out.” She looked at me like I had spoken something ancient, and we just bonded. We text each other all the time. I think it’s doing something to the other artists as well — I think they are seeing how much the fans are rallying and it’s impacting them as well.
What is the vibe like backstage?
One night, we played where a lot of Little Big Town’s families live and they all came — there were like 30 people in the dressing room, and it was like a family reunion and I walked into the middle of it and was surrounded by all these characters that are not anywhere near a showbiz vibe. There were aunts, uncles, kids, grandparents and I just stood there looking around like, “This is great.” Backstage can be very presumptuous sometimes and showbusiness-y, and that’s wonderful and I get that. But when you go backstage and there are 30 family members, it’s not about that at all.
As you have been on the road for The Judds: The Final Tour, you have been able to meet with fans and hear their stories about how the music has impacted them. What has that been like?
I have a soundcheck every day with about 200-300 people and there is a Q&A and it’s so intense. People will weep, people will dress up in rhinestones, boots, Judds T-shirts. I think people are healing and going through their own struggles and coming out of the pain-demic, and they know mom is gone and I’m still living and breathing through the music. The process of going forward without your mother — everybody deals with losing a parent. This is not about Wynonna Judd. Sure, there is the Country Music Hall of Fame induction stuff, but it’s about family.
How might this leg of the tour be different from last year’s tour dates?
Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I will say, I don’t feel the pressure I did with the first leg of the tour, and I am in a different place in my grieving process. I’m walking through different stages. Any given day, it’s a combination of different things. There are six stages, and I think I’m somewhere in between my sixth stage, and my third and fourth stages. I still get angry, because it’s like, “I can’t believe you’re not here so I can argue with you.” Then, finding meaning is the sixth stage of grief. It’s really heavy, but it’s sweet as well, because I’m finding meaning. I did rehearsal the other day and I found myself not crying as much.
The beginning of the tour, it just felt like, “I’m devastated and having a hard time focusing and forgetting words. I turn around and look at the screen and see her and break down.” The first part of the tour was a lot of shock, denial and accepting it. This leg of the tour is more about, “I miss her and love her.” And I feel that intensely.
Your sister Ashley joined you for the previous leg of the tour. Will she be out on this leg of the tour with you?
I don’t know. She’s getting ready to do a movie, so we don’t know yet. We are closer than we’ve ever been. We talk about, “Where are you today and is this something you want to do?”
During your November concert at MTSU in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where you recreated your and your mom’s 1991 Farewell Tour, you told the crowd that you felt it would be lonely once you got offstage. What helps you in those moments?
I look at pictures of my grandbaby. Kaliyah is my firstborn grandbaby. I look at her photo and I think about her being with me on the bus someday. She sings back to me already and I love her and am overwhelmed by her sweetness. I see the future when I look at her and that’s the greatest gift. I tend to get very emotional very quickly anytime someone comes up to me and says, “I’m sorry about your mom.” My son is also moving out right now and I’m having empty nest syndrome big time. My mother’s heart is just breaking, watching him load the U-Haul. My daughter just moved away, so it’s just lonesome sometimes — but the music, the music…
You have been working on new music.
We are working on a new record, hopefully for this year. I’m writing songs, and just finished one called “Broken and Blessed,” and it talks about being somewhere between hell and hallelujah. That’s where I’m at — I walk through it and deal with it and find meaning in it. Suicide is as deep as the ocean, as far as the depth of sadness and all these emotions, but the music continues to absolutely give me purpose. I’ve found a way to write from a very deep, personal space.
Brandi Carlile has been such a strong support for you. Will she be part of this record?
We are working on a song and we don’t know if it will be on the record or not yet. Feb. 3-5 is already blocked off, and we are in the studio and we are going in between shows.
Right now, Trisha [Yearwood] and I have talked about wanting to do something. There is a lot of talk and vibe about right now. Nobody has come out to the farm yet; we are starting to get that part on the schedule. It has been me and [husband] Cactus [Moser] writing. We are inseparable and are writing songs and will get with Sam [Beam] of Iron & Wine. Lots of people, lots of phone calls and texts. There is natural collaboration right now. I’m such an empath. I just had a show moment with Robert Weir and the Dead & Company guys and I looked at him like, ‘We’re going to do something together, right?’ It’s just palpable.
This is a really ripe season, when you are brokenhearted like this, there is something about a song that comes naturally and easily. It’s a sweet time to write songs, even though it is a desperately sad time.
Vector Management founders Ken Levitan and Jack Rovner have named Jason Murray president of the artist management company, where he will oversee operations and new business.
Murray is the owner and co-founder of the Canadian indie label and artist management company Black Box Music, which will merge with Vector.
Joining the Vector roster is singer-songwriter-guitarist Charley Crockett, who released his latest album, The Man From Waco, in 2022.
In 2023, Vector is set to release a Rick Rubin-produced album from Kesha as well as new music from Manchester Orchestra. Meanwhile, Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Williams Jr. will hit the road with current Grammy nominee Molly Tuttle (nominated in the all-genre best new artist category). In addition to its headquarters in Nashville, Vector has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.
During his career, Murray has worked with rock artists including The Glorious Sons, JJ Wilde and Blanco Brown.
“I believe today, more so than ever before, artists need a management partner that fully understands all aspects of the music business,” Murray said in a statement. “Vector has been that company for decades, and we will continue to build on that ethos as we look forward.”
“We’re thrilled to bring Jason into the Vector team,” Levitan added. “His years of expertise and deep knowledge of this industry are excellent, and we can’t wait for the road ahead together.”
“We look forward to welcoming Jason to our great team here at Vector,” Rovner said. “His knowledge and leadership serve to further strengthen our management team and we couldn’t be happier to have him as part of the next chapter of Vector.”
Luke Combs’ “Going, Going, Gone” reaches the top 10 of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Jan. 28) as the single rises from No. 11 to No. 8. In the tracking week ending Jan. 19, the song increased by 12% to 21.2 audience impressions, according to Luminate.
Combs co-authored the track with Ray Fulcher and James McNair. It’s the third single from Combs’ LP Growin’ Up, which opened at No. 1 on Top Country Albums in July, marking his fourth leader.
On the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs survey, “Going” pushes 7-5 for a new best. It drew 9.9 million official U.S. streams and sold 2,000 downloads in the Jan. 13-19 tracking week.
“Going” follows Combs’ “The Kind of Love We Make,” which reached No. 2 on Country Airplay last September. Before that, he racked up a record 14 consecutive career-opening No. 1s, starting with his first entry, “Hurricane,” which led for two weeks beginning in May 2017.
On Jan. 4, Combs took to social media to announce that he’ll release a new (as yet untitled) studio album sporting 18 songs on March 24. He kicks off a worldwide tour – set to encompass 35 shows in 16 countries on three continents – March 25 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
More ‘Spins’
Jordan Davis’ “What My World Spins Around” dominates Country Airplay for a second week (31 million impressions, up 4%). It became the singer-songwriter’s fourth No. 1 among six career-opening six top 10s.
‘Orange’ Shining Bright
The Hot Country Songs chart is led for a fourth frame by Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange.” The track crowns Country Streaming Songs for a 12th week (17 million streams) and rises 5-4 on Country Digital Song Sales (4,000 sold) and 32-27 on Country Airplay (4 million in audience, up 12%).
Surprise!
Chris Young’s “Looking for You” — which RCA Nashville released to country radio via PlayMPE on Jan. 12 — traverses familiar subject matter for the singer, set in the same sort of nightclub that has provided the focal point for “Lonely Eyes,” “Neon” and the Mitchell Tenpenny duet “At the End of a Bar.” But the results are not what one would expect.
For starters, despite a widespread belief that lasting relationships can’t be found in a bar, “Looking” celebrates a guy who discovered a longtime love when he wasn’t actually seeking one in a night spot. Additionally, the song takes a surprising turn at the end of the chorus, injecting a chord that normally wouldn’t work and stamping it with a decidedly unusual melodic twist.
“It feels unexpected,” Young says. “And it’s one of the reasons I love the song so much.”
“Looking for You” got started while his co-writers were waiting for Young on May 22, 2022, at the Middle Tennessee home studio of songwriter-producer Chris DeStefano (“From the Ground Up,” “Something in the Water”). James McNair (“Lovin’ On You,” “Going, Going, Gone”) had the “Looking for You” title, accompanied by a plot that contrasts with the similar-sounding title of Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ for Love.” Where the guy in Lee’s Urban Cowboy classic had spent much of his life searching for romance “in all the wrong places,” the protagonist in McNair’s idea wasn’t looking at all.
“I remember him kind of disclaiming it,” says Emily Weisband (“Jealous of Myself,” “All for You”). “’It’s not going to blow your mind,’” she recalls McNair saying. “’But it could be a great, uptempo country vibe. I think it might be something.’”
They fashioned it primarily as a two-chord country song, building off the “Looking for You” title with a series of single-guy pursuits, including “looking for a feeling,” “looking for an up-all-night-long” and “looking for a sunrise leading to a sunset.”
The chorus was half finished when Young arrived. That part of the melody relied on syncopated waterfall intervals to cast a sense of adventure, but it needed a change in direction to bring it home. After mostly alternating between the tonic chord and the four chord up to that point, DeStefano took a risk. He lobbed a hit-or-miss four-minor chord, one that would either be a musical goldmine or a sonic train wreck.
“It’s a little bit of a one-bullet gun,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll just kind of throw it out there and see if it feels right, if everybody in the room is digging it, because it’s a commitment. In that situation, everybody was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to do that.’ So it was like, ‘OK, I trust y’all. Let’s do it.’ ”
The minor chord changed what would typically be an E note to an E-flat — only a half-step difference, but that small alteration created a significant misdirection. Young fitted a melody to the new section, landing directly on that E-flat, the very note that changed the song’s course. It created an enormous amount of musical tension.
But it also arrived at the perfect time for the song’s message, following a “right out of the blue” lyric with an out-of-the-blue sonic flow.
“A lot of songs will end on a ‘ta-da,’ you know — a major chord, and you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s the hook. There it is,’ ” says McNair. “But this one ends on kind of a half ‘ta-da,’ where you’re kind of hanging on the edge.”
They had said pretty much everything that needed to be said with that maneuver — the words and the music both yelled “surprise!” — so they kept the song’s lyrics to a minimum. When they reached the bridge, instead of introducing any new vocabulary, they borrowed two lines from the pre-chorus near the beginning of the song and paired them with one more four-minor chord, repeating the tension caused by that simple E-flat.
“You do something once, it could be an accident,” DeStefano says. “You do it twice, it’s intentional.”
The song was mostly written before DeStefano started building a track to support it, but that happened quickly. He didn’t just develop a demo: He created almost the entire final master before his co-writers left.
“People don’t realize just how good he is unless you’ve been in a room with him,” says Young. “He’s probably top five — one of the fastest editors on ProTools that I’ve ever seen. Just on the fly, he’s laying stuff down, so by the time that we’re done writing it, it is done. And that’s not to say that he’s just sitting there building the track. He’s coming up with melodies, coming up with guitar parts, interjecting lyrics. He’s an all-around [talent].”
DeStefano established a pulsing foundation, alternating — sometimes combining — guitar, programmed keyboards and/or banjo to evolve the sound underneath the melody even as the beat moved forward. He also played a short guitar solo that used a series of flatted notes, complementing the attitude from the four-minor chord.
Weisband tossed in harmonies and some ad-libs to support Young’s lead vocal, with one of those off-the-cuff ideas forming what became a key musical hook. DeStefano pitch-shifted that phrase into a higher octave, generating a sort of electronic Mariah Carey sound. “I sound like a little alien on there,” Weisband jokes.
Juxtaposed with Young’s lead vocal, the effect brings contrasting elements together in a unique way. “She’s got an amazing voice, and she has a lot of pop sensibility,” says McNair. “His tone is such a rich, country, smooth tone. Mixed with her, the blend of those was really cool.”
The waterfall chorus melody and the tense E-flat in the four-minor chord are unusual enough that they’ll likely challenge fans who sing along with “Looking for You” — though in Young’s experience, repetition solves that issue. “I ended up singing the song the entire day of the video shoot over and over and over,” he says. “So it’s just ingrained in my head.”
The song’s inherent surprises invariably won over Young and his associates, and RCA Nashville made it the lead single from his forthcoming project. “Looking for You” will go for adds on Jan. 23.
“I loved it, and then the label loved it and other songwriter friends of mine that I played it for loved it,” says Young. “It was like the same response every time because when they got to the end of that chorus, everybody was like, ‘Ah, that’s cool.’ ”
Not a shock, since most people like surprises. But it confirmed for Young that the risks in “Looking for You” were likely to pay off: “That’s what I needed to hear.”
Willie Nelson will get an illustrious, star-studded celebration in honor of his upcoming 90th birthday (on April 29), when a cavalcade of stars including The Chicks, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childers gathering for a two-day concert event at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl on April 29 and 30, 2023.
“I can’t think of a better way to spend my 90th birthday than being surrounded by family, friends and of course the fans who made this all possible,” Nelson said via a statement. “It’s an honor to perform with such an incredible group of artists at such an iconic venue.”
Billed as Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, A Star-Studded Concert Celebrating Willie’s 90th Birthday and presented by Blackbird Presents and Live Nation Hewitt-Silva, the celebration’s lineup will also include performances from Nelson himself, as well as Allison Russell, Beck, Billy Strings, Bobby Weir, Charley Crockett, Edie Brickell, Kacey Musgraves, Leon Bridges, Lukas Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff, Neil Young, Norah Jones, Orville Peck, Particle Kid, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Snoop Dogg, Sturgill Simpson, The Avett Brothers, The Lumineers, Tom Jones, Warren Haynes and Ziggy Marley. Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks.
Two-day packages for the general public go on sale Saturday, Jan. 28, at 10 AM PT at ticketmaster.com.
Nelson continues to be prolific, gearing up to release his upcoming studio album, I Don’t Know a Thing About Love, a set of classic Harlan Howard songs, on March 3. Additionally the definitive five-part documentary film on Nelson’s life and career will premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. He also continues to tour the country, headlining festivals including Farm Aid, July 4th Picnic and his Outlaw Music Festival Tour. Last year, he also released his latest book, Me and Paul, chronicling his 70-year friendship with drummer Paul English.
ACM Triple Crown winner Miranda Lambert and “Son of a Sinner” hitmaker Jelly Roll have been cooking up some new music in the writing room lately — and according to Lambert, the two singer/songwriters “go together like biscuits and gravy!”
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Lambert shared a few photos from the writing session that included both Jelly Roll and DJ Telemitry (aka hit writer/producer Jesse Frasure).
“Made a new friend this week!” Lambert captioned the photos. “Jesse was right when he said we go together like biscuits and gravy! Loved writing a tune with @jellyroll615 and @telemitry.”
No word yet on what the collaboration might sound like, but both artists are dedicated to making music their own way and fulfilling their unique artistic visions, with Jelly Roll’s hard-driving rap-rock sound and Lambert’s range from Texas-dipped country tracks like “Tequila Does” to electric tracks like “Locomotive” from her Wildcard album.
Jelly Roll recently earned his first Country Airplay No. 1 with “Son of a Sinner,” which followed his rock chart-topper “Dead Man Walking.” He also headlined a sold-out show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena earlier this year, has shared the Grand Ole Opry stage with Craig Morgan and last year, joined Brantley Gilbert and Pillbox Patti on tour.
Meanwhile, reigning ACM entertainer of the year Lambert has been on a songwriting tear as of late. In addition to releasing her album Palomino last year and teaming with Elle King for the Country Airplay No. 1 “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home),” she’s been steadily writing songs other artists have recorded, including Morgan Wallen’s “Thought You Should Know,” and Jon Pardi’s “Don’t Blame It on Whiskey” (featuring Lauren Alaina).
Interestingly, Jelly Roll was already manifesting a Lambert collab back in September 2022, when he shared with fans on Twitter, saying, “I wanna do a song with @mirandalambert someone please help me meet Miranda please.”
Alana Springsteen has an old classical guitar she found in her grandfather’s garage at the age of seven to thank for her first foray into music.
“He didn’t even play guitar, but from the first second I saw it, I was drawn to it,” the Virginia native tells Billboard, calling just before heading out to perform as part of Luke Bryan’s annual Crash My Playa festival in Cancun, Mexico.
Her grandfather gifted her the guitar, on one condition. “He said I could have it if I promised to learn how to play it,” Springsteen recalls. “I begged my uncle to come over on weekends and start teaching me chords.”
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By nine she started writing songs and a year later was making trips to Nashville. By age 14, she had signed her first publishing deal. Last year, she released the two-part EP project, History of Breaking Up, via Sony Music Nashville/Columbia. Now 22, the member of CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2023 is gearing up to release her three-part, full-length debut album.
On March 24, she will put out the project’s first installment, the six-song Twenty Something: Messing It Up, spearheaded by fiery single, “You Don’t Deserve a Country Song.”
When she walked into the writing session with Mitchell Tenpenny, Geoff Warburton, Michael Whitworth and Will Weatherly in early 2021, Springsteen was healing from a tough romantic breakup and was intent on writing about moving on.
“You can’t really say that title without smiling,” she says. “I wasn’t in a really good place after my last relationship ended, and this guy was the same one I wrote a lot of History of Breaking Up (Part Two) about. He broke my heart and it was not a good situation, which is why It made sense to me to kick off Messing It Up with this song. It doesn’t come from a place of anger or pain, but from a place of deciding to put myself first. I realized I was giving my ex a lot of power by sitting in regret and heartbreak, so I walked into that writing session very intentionally.”
Chatting with Billboard, Springsteen discussed her upcoming project, her new song and her time in Nashville.
When you first came to Nashville, what were your first co-writing sessions like?
I first came when I was 10 and started co-writing with Sherrié Austin and Will Rambeaux. It’s so funny looking back because I’m like, “What must they have been thinking when they saw this 10-year-old walk into a room like, ‘Here’s this idea I have. Let’s write a song’?” But I never questioned it, and just knew it’s what I was born to do.
We wrote a breakup song, believe it or not. I remember they were like, ‘Have you been through a breakup?’ I drew from stories, and movies and books. Then I met people like Bart Herbison at NSAI and Tim Fink at SESAC, just early believers. That’s one thing that is so special about Nashville. People, for the most part, genuinely want to help you get connected.
What does songwriting mean to you?
That was really a big deal for me. I mean, when I found songwriting, my whole world changed. Songwriting is how I make sense of the world. It has been my therapy. All I wanted to do was be a country artist like those I grew up on, like Shania Twain, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. I love the way country music can craft a hook and take you on this journey through song.
Mitchell Tenpenny was a co-writer on “You Don’t Deserve a Country Song.” You’ve also toured with him.
We met while writing this song and that led to a cool friendship. He’s got a few other moments on this upcoming album, which is exciting.
As a co-writer, a vocalist, or both?
I don’t want to give away too many details, but he’s definitely all over this record.
Do you already have all of the songs written for all three portions of Twenty Something?
I always leave room to change things. I write in real time, so I’m keeping room if something really special comes along, but I have pretty much the record planned out.
Last year, you released the two-part project, History of Breaking Up. Your upcoming album, Twenty Something, has three parts. What appeals to you about making these multi-part albums?
I think there’s just something really cool about creating this body of work and letting fans digest a lot of songs. Twenty Something is, as a whole, about kind of the messiness of your 20s. I’m only two years into my 20s, but I’ve already learned so much about myself and experienced so much change. I know I’m not alone in that.
When I wrote the song “Twenty Something,” I started to see that a lot of the music that I had written over the past few years fit into three separate categories. I wanted to compile them and take it step by step and take my fans along with me on this journey.
What can fans expect from the music on the upcoming portions of Twenty Something?
There are songs on here that call out my struggles, areas that I’ve messed it up, which a lot for me has been in the areas of love and relationships. It’s pretty vulnerable. But then there are moments where, if you’re lucky, you start living your purpose and start figuring things out. I think your 20s are a mixture of all of that. I hope that people can just find a little bit of themselves in this record one way or another.
What is the first concert you remember seeing?
The first concert I went to was Taylor Swift’s Speak Now Tour in Charlotte, North Carolina. I’m a huge Taylor fan. Growing up, it was like she was telling my stories. She was writing from such a young age, that encouraged me that I could do the same thing. I’ll never forget what it felt like watching her on that tour, the way she shared that moment with her fans. It was beautiful to watch and I’d never seen fans react to an artist that way.
Do you have a favorite music book or podcast?
I love the [podcast] And the Writer Is…, that one’s always really fun to listen to, to get into the mind of writers and learn tips from people that I look up to in the field. I’ve also been reading a book called 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think. I’m making my way through it. I feel like I’ll read a paragraph and be like, “Oh, wow, I need to spend a week just sitting with that and figuring out what it means to me.” So it’s one that I pick up, whether I’m on a plane or in the van on the road. But it just gives me something to think about.
Over the past five years, Michael Hardy (who records under his last name, HARDY) has swiftly become one of country music’s most in-demand writer-artists, crafting hit country songs with and for artists including Morgan Wallen (“Sand in My Boots,” “More Than My Hometown”), Blake Shelton (“God’s Country”), and notching his own No. 1 Country Airplay hit with “One Beer.”
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But even as he released his debut 2020 album A Rock and was making a sharp impact on country music’s charts, HARDY was already hinting at his hard-rock proclivities on the track “Boots,” and laying the groundwork for his new album, the half-country, half-hard rock project The Mockingbird & The Crow, which Big Loud/Big Loud Rock released Jan. 20.
Early on during his live performances of “Boots,” his rendering steadily evolved into the sung-screamed vocal delivery that fans have come to know.
“There’s a trick to it. It’s not as loud or as harsh on your throat as you would think,” he tells Billboard, seated at Big Loud’s Nashville office. “I kept trying to get better at it, and I had a bit of a conversation with Caleb Shomo from Beartooth about it, and then Hunter Madison from Hunt the Dinosaur. When I wrote ‘Sold Out,’ I had just gotten off the road and was exhausted. My voice was nearly gone, and I thought, ‘I could do the scream really good. It’s better when your voice is raspy. I did, and it’s been a thing ever since.”
In the explosive aggro-rock of “Sold Out,” HARDY asserts that though his last name is “a whole lot bigger than I thought it’d be,” and gold plaques line his walls, he’s “still the same old redneck f–k, don’t give a d—n.” The song launches the rock half of The Mockingbird & The Crow and became HARDY’s first song to crown Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart in 2022. He’s followed that with a pair of top 5 hits on the chart: “Jack” and the album’s title track.
“The Mockingbird & The Crow,” a five-minute song that evolves from country to grunge, bridges the two halves of the album.
“For a second, [the album title] was just going to be my full name, Michael Hardy. ‘Michael’ was going to be the country side and ‘Hardy’ the rock side, but I was never married to that idea,” HARDY says. “Then I was on a jon boat on the Cumberland River and I saw a crow flying into the sky with a mockingbird, just fighting each other. I thought that would be a cool song idea.”
The half-country, half-rock album represents both an outside-the-box moment for country music, but also comes at a time when several artists are incorporating a rock sensibility into their sound.
Jelly Roll is in the top 5 on the Hot Rock and Alternative Songs chart with “Son of a Sinner,” a song that recently topped the Country Airplay chart. Zach Bryan’s genre-fluid “Something in the Orange” has been a mainstay on both the country and rock charts. Even country legend Dolly Parton is currently working on a rock album with such artists as John Fogerty and Stevie Nicks, following her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But HARDY embodies the full country-to-rock range over the course of the album’s 17 songs.
The first half is chock-full of the kind of red-hot, redneck songs HARDY has become known for. “Screen” espouses trading phone screens for front porch screens. “Red,” his collaboration with Wallen, is no nod to Republican-state politics, but rather themed around the various ways the color is splashed across small towns — including courthouse bricks, rusted and dusted pickups, barn doors, worn Bibles and sports jerseys. He also adds to country music’s canon of murder ballads with his current top 15 Country Airplay hit, “wait in the truck,” featuring Lainey Wilson.
But this Mississippi native also grew up hearing his father play Pearl Jam and Lynyrd Skynyrd. By his early teens, he had added Nelly, Eminem and Kid Rock to the rotation.
“Every song from Eminem has some sort of twist or hook to it. But you can totally listen to those songs and think, ‘That could be a country hook.’ He’s so good at twisting words, his phrasing, and he’s a lyrical genius,” HARDY says. “Huge respect for him.”
HARDY made his first foray into the rock genre with his 2021 cover of Puddle of Mudd’s ’00s metal crossover hit “Blurry,” but also considered covering Stone Temple Pilots’ ’90s alternative staple “Big Empty.”
“‘Blurry’ just fit my brand more. We were testing the waters of rock radio to see if they would bite,” he says. “I’m thankful because rock is really intentional. You intentionally have to go there for it to be accepted and I’m thankful they have let me in that world a bit.”
Wry humor, self-awareness and a distorted vocal permeate “Radio Song,” featuring Jeremy McKinnon of A Day to Remember, which finds the pair playfully jeering country music tropes from moonlight kisses, trucks and conventionally attractive females, as the song itself twists from pop-country verse to an intense crescendo of a chorus.
“I was a huge Day to Remember fan, especially in high school,” HARDY recalls. “Their first three records, I listened to all the time. Jeremy and I started talking on Instagram. After ‘Sold Out’ came out, I started getting some attention from some of the rock guys. I’ve reached out to people, saying, ‘I’m a huge fan.’ I have no shame in telling people I grew up listening to that I’m a huge fan. Chris Fronzak in Atilla, he and I chat quite a bit. Even on the hip-hop side, Arizona Zervas who had the ‘Roxanne’ song, Yung Gravy, just all kinds of people.”
On its surface, “Jack” sounds like another party soundtrack, but one listen reveals a deeper purpose.
“My mom dealt with alcoholism — not herself, but people in her family growing up,” HARDY says. “I’ve always been conscious of that, and making sure that it’s never become a problem. It’s always been present, the grip that alcohol can have on you. I wanted to write a song about how it can tear people away from people. It’s paying homage to my mom and others that have had to put up with alcoholics and stuff like that.”
Though “Here Lies Country Music” is a song he calls “the funeral for country music on this record — if you don’t like the other stuff, start the record over from there,” his lyrics celebrating rural living and small-town pride reverberate throughout the whole of the album.
“I have to write a country lyric. It’s the only thing I know how to do,” he says. “Yes, it’s a half country, half-rock record, but the rock stuff is still my take on how I would like to experiment with country music. When you dig into the lyrics on the rock half of the album, I would argue that some of them are more country than the country side. On ‘Kill Shit ‘Til I Die,’ it’s talking about learning to hunt and clean your own deer that you killed. Even my rock stuff is a spin on country music.”
Looking ahead, the reigning ACM Awards songwriter of the year anticipates returning his focus to writing songs for other artists. “I love when a project is done and my brain switches back over [to writing for others]. I will always love getting cuts with other people, so I’m excited to get back in the room and do that. I was writing with Bailey Zimmerman the other day and I was like, ‘Man you just got your first No. 1′ — and I made that joke about BMI and mailbox money, and he said he didn’t write the song. I was like, ‘Dang, really?’ I think that’s cool that some of these younger kids are cutting outside songs. That’s, like, old-school Nashville stuff.”
HARDY also hopes to someday add writing credits for rock artists to his resume.
“I haven’t pitched any songs yet, but I’ve talked about it with a lot of people,” he says. “It would be cool to write rock songs for other people. I would add that to my list of things I want to do.”
BMG has promoted JoJamie Hahr to executive vp of recorded music, Nashville.
Hahr will oversee day-to-day operations of BMG Recorded Music in Nashville, including BBR Label Group and its roster and imprints Broken Bow Records, Stoney Creek Records and Wheelhouse Records. She will continue reporting to Jon Loba, president of BMG Nashville.
Hahr was promoted to senior vp of BBR Music Group in 2020, where she oversaw all artist strategy, brand partnerships, strategic marketing and digital/creative efforts for BBR Music Group imprints Broken Bow Records, Stoney Creek Records and Wheelhouse Records. She has been with BBR Music Group for eight years. Prior to joining BBR, Hahr served as national director of field promotion for The Valory Music Co., after being promoted from director of Southeast promotion and marketing. Her two decades of music industry experience have also included stints at Universal Music Group, Nashville radio station WSIX and Orlando radio station WWKA.
“I’ve had the good fortune to work with JoJamie for a significant part of her professional life. Whenever she has been given a new opportunity for growth, she has not only met, but exceeded my high expectations,” said Loba in a statement. “She is one of the very best music executives in the industry and this promotion recognizes her many contributions, while at the same time giving her the opportunity to help further grow BMG Nashville, where I have no doubt, she will once again exceed our expectations.”
“It’s a privilege and a blessing to work with our extraordinary artists and our BMG family every day,” added Hahr. “Jon Loba has always encouraged my passion and my growth and I’m thankful for his belief in me. BMG truly puts artists and their music first, and I’m extremely proud of what we all continue to build together in Nashville and beyond.“
Over the past year, BBR Music Group has seen two red-hot artist breakthroughs. In March, Lainey Wilson won new female artist of the year and song of the year at the 2022 ACM Awards, followed by wins for female vocalist of the year and new artist of the year at the 2022 CMA Awards in November. Meanwhile, Jelly Roll just earned his first No. 1 single on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart with “Son of a Sinner” after previously earning his first No. 1 single on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with “Dead Man Walking.” The singer has also a total of spent 22 weeks atop Billboard‘s Emerging Artists chart. Elsewhere, three-time ACM entertainer of the year winner Jason Aldean earned his 25th No. 1 Country Airplay hit in May.