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As a continued wave of anti-LGBTQ bills are being passed in Tennessee, a number of artists are saying enough is enough with a new benefit concert.
On Tuesday (March 7), Maren Morris, Sheryl Crow and may other artists announced their participation in Love Rising, an upcoming benefit concert taking place in Nashville to support Tennessee-based LGBTQ organizations including Tennessee Equality Project, inclusion tennessee, OUTMemphis and The Tennessee Pride Chamber.
The show, which will take place at Bridgestone Arena on March 20, is set to feature performances from Morris, Crow, Jason Isbell, Hayley Williams, Brittany Howard, Julien Baker, Allison Russell, Brothers Osbourne, Amanda Shires, Joy Oladokun, Yola, Jake Wesley Rogers, Mya Byrne and the Rainbow Coalition Band.
Last week, Tennessee passed two controversial anti-LGBTQ laws — one banning gender-affirming care from being performed on minors, another aiming to prevent drag queens from performing in public spaces. According to the Human Rights Campaign, Tennessee has passed more anti-LGBTQ laws than any other state in the U.S.
In a statement released alongside the concert’s announcement, singer-songwriter Allison Russell wrote that as “a queer, intersectional artist and mother raising my child in Nashville,” she knows how valuable organizations like the ones being supported through the concert are. “LGBTQIA+ contributions and creativity are foundational to every genre of modern song and arts performance,” she said. “I think it speaks volumes that so many in our community are feeling the same call to support, celebrate and uplift!”
Meanwhile, Isbell used his statement to condemn the latest bills signed into law in Tennessee. “SB3/HB9 and SB1/HB1 are clearly targeted attacks on Tennesseans who haven’t done anything wrong,” he said. “These bills add up to an attempt to eradicate a valuable part of our community and force good people to live in fear. We can’t in good conscience just stand by and let that happen.”
Throughout her career, Morris has been an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ community. Just last year, the singer called out Brittany Aldean (the wife of country star Jason Aldean) for posting misinformation about gender-affirming care on Instagram. Morris went on to raise more than $100,000 for transgender organizations fighting against this kind of misinformation by selling T-shirts bearing the words “Lunatic Country Music Person,” in reference to Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson referring to her as a “lunatic” on his show.
Tickets for Love Rising officially go on sale Wednesday, March 8, at 10 a.m. local time, with net proceeds benefiting the organizations listed above. Get your tickets here.
It’s amazing how fast two minutes and 55 seconds can go.
That’s the amount of time it takes Jordan Davis to follow the life of a relationship — from confirmed bachelor, to husband, to father, to grandfather — in “Next Thing You Know,” a moderately unconventional ballad that practically has awards-circuit contender stamped on it. MCA Nashville released it to country radio via PlayMPE on Feb. 6 based on the reaction from fans, who frequently confess in YouTube comments that the song makes them cry. That response is not much different from the reaction of the four men who created it.
“I’m not the only one that probably had a few tears in the writing room,” Davis says. “That usually means you’re writing something real.”
“Next Thing” was basically a last-minute bonus as Davis worked on his Bluebird Days album, released Feb. 17. Greylan James (“Happy Does,” “For What It’s Worth”), Chase McGill (“5 Foot 9,” “Never Say Never”) and Josh Osborne (“What He Didn’t Do,” “Body Like a Back Road”) had a co-writing session booked at Universal Music Publishing Nashville for June 14, 2022, and Davis was added to the appointment just a couple of days before it took place. He had a June 21 recording session on his schedule, and the implication put pressure on the group to come up with something great.
“If we do it, we get a cut,” recalls James. “If we don’t, we’ve missed an easy opportunity.”
McGill had the title, “Next Thing You Know,” when they gathered in a basement writing room, and he saw it originally as a device for a tale about a couple who meets in a bar — the guy swears he’s staying single; next thing you know, he’s not. Davis liked the idea but wanted to shoot for something bigger: not just the first exchange of glances, but the whole sweep of a lifetime romance.
Everyone agreed, though they knew it was an ambitious concept. They briefly took time to lay out the chapters up front, making sure they had a sense of the journey.
“On a song like this, it felt like we needed to have a little bit of a road map before we got too far into it,” McGill says. “Fairly quickly into writing a life song, you think, ‘OK, if we spend 47 seconds of the song being 21, then we’re not going to get a lot of life in there.’ So kind of delicately, you have to think about how we get [in] the really important parts and yet move time along.”
The “Next Thing You Know” title became a significant part of the story. Each verse used the phrase twice to set up a change in perspective or life circumstances, allowing them to speed through some moments and linger on others. And one of them suggested that if they really wanted to pack a lot of life into the piece, they should make the lyrics in every chorus different and cover more events.
“That’s usually the kiss of death, if we change stuff,” says James. “We’re like, ‘Are we?’ We’re all looking around the room, just waiting for somebody to go there, and Jordan’s like, ‘I’ll do three different choruses. I don’t care. Let’s do it.’ ”
McGill and James played interlocking guitar parts, creating a “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” musical vibe, and they headed down the road with the couple marrying in the first chorus, leaning on Davis’ own experiences to tell the narrative. “The best man giving the half-drunk speech — that was me,” he admits. “I probably had a few too many cocktails before I gave my best-man speech for my brother.”
The second-chorus scene in the hospital nursery, the singer dressed in scrubs and talking with the doctor, provoked some of the tears in the room. “I do specifically remember our doctor,” says McGill. “I might have looked a little faint or something, and I just remember him going, ‘How you doing there, Dad?’ It hit me right then: ‘Holy crap, this is real, man. I’m fixing to be a dad.’ ”
The protagonist’s kid heads off to college at the end of that stanza — “It’s amazing how fast 17 years go” — and next thing you know, the couple is back to two again, experiencing life as grandparents, with the story falling off before it reaches an obvious conclusion. “We didn’t kill anybody in the song, which we’re very proud of when we’re talking about life,” James says.
All four writers sang along to a guitar-only work tape with plans to do something more elaborate, but Davis didn’t have time to do another vocal for it over the next week — and didn’t need to. The group’s performance was highly emotional, and it sold the song perfectly. “The second I turned it in to my team, everybody was kind of like, ‘We need to get this out,’ ” recalls Davis.
Producer Paul DiGiovanni recognized that the words needed to carry the song, and was careful to keep the studio band restrained even as it moved the sonic narrative forward.
“It was all about the biggest moment being that last chorus, but we still didn’t want the song to be too huge,” he notes. “How do we get from zero to, say, 40, and slowly accelerate in between there? That was the whole key. We didn’t want to go zero to 60, we didn’t want to go zero to 100. We really wanted to just have a smooth runway to get us up to that last biggest chorus but still not be overbearing, not to get in the way of that vocal.”
Ilya Toshinskiy played the acoustic guitar part twice — once for the left channel and again for the right to create a depth of sound without using too many notes. Drummer Nir Z also loosened the screws on the snare, playing with his bare hands to develop a bongo sound. Other percussive elements, like shaker, tambourine and a programmed sound that approximates the African talking drum, subtly fill in gaps without covering the vocal. Guitarist Derek Wells topped it off with a mysterious, atmospheric solo that underscores the inspirational weight of the story.
“It’s very dreamy; there’s a lot of delay and reverb,” says DiGiovanni. “It’s not like a ‘Here comes the guitar player to the front of the stage’ moment. It just adds a little bit of a mood to the track.”
“Tucson Too Late” was originally slotted as the second Bluebird Days single, but listeners were already streaming the fire out of “Next Thing.” When Davis saw the audience’s overwhelming reaction to it on the first few dates of his new tour, the label called an audible. It commands No. 19 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated March 11 after 25 weeks on the list and rises to No. 42 in its third week on Country Airplay. Davis is learning to let it elicit tears in his live shows without breaking down himself.
“You just kind of have to remember there’s probably somebody here that came tonight to hear this song, so get it together and present it well,” he says. “That’s what I tell myself every night. I see how special this song is.”
When HARDY hit No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart dated Feb. 4 with the mockingbird & THE CROW, he shined a light on country’s move toward the hard edge of the overlapping rock format.
HARDY’s album opens squarely in country territory, shifting midway on the title track into angry messages, crunchy chords and sections that feature the harsh screaming associated with the metal genre. The development is part of a bigger-picture revival.
“Rock’n’roll has kind of come back, even in pop music a little bit,” HARDY says, pointing to Machine Gun Kelly and the Billie Eilish track “Happier Than Ever.” “It’s a good time for rock to make its way back into the mainstream. It hasn’t been that way for a long time.”
Country’s embrace of rock elements and symbolism is nothing new. Alabama, now considered traditional country, was viewed as revolutionary when it applied Creedence Clearwater Revival and Lynyrd Skynyrd influences to early-’80s country singles. The entire country/rock subgenre — featuring Eagles, Poco and The Flying Burrito Brothers — made the mixture fashionable in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Still, country has grabbed increasingly harder rock inspiration over time. Billy Ray Cyrus grafted Led Zeppelin‘s “Heartbreaker” riff onto “Achy Breaky Heart” performances in the 1990s, Garth Brooks covered Aerosmith‘s untethered “The Fever” in 1995, and Jason Aldean drew comparisons to AC/DC with his thunderous 2008 single “She’s Country.”
Brantley Gilbert concerts felt more metal than country when he emerged shortly after Aldean with heavy guitar chords and dark imagery.
“I’ve always told people there’s a box that is country music,” says Gilbert. “Where we belong is right on the outside of it, close enough to touch it.”
The genre edges even further toward the end of the rock’n’roll plank with Country Goes Metal, a five-song EP recorded under the banner of metalcore act Righteous Vendetta. Due in May through 8 Track Entertainment, the project has already been teased with a harsh, blistering cover of Rodney Atkins‘ “If You’re Going Through Hell.” A frenetic remake of Dustin Lynch‘s “Small Town Boy” will be released May 10, and the full project includes raucous versions of songs associated with Sam Hunt, Chris Young and Montgomery Gentry.
“HARDY, in my opinion, he’s one of the best things going,” 8 Track co-founder Noah Gordon says. “If people are digging that, then the pump is primed for this hybrid music.”
On the surface, the two genres would not seem to fit together well. Country originated in rural areas, while the sound of metal better reflects industrial buildings and urban isolation.
But Righteous Vendetta lead vocalist Ryan Hayes attended a show on Gilbert’s recent tour with Five Finger Death Punch and was convinced that 75% of ticket buyers were fans of both acts.
“Five Finger Death Punch is a certain demographic, like hard-working guys just trying to make ends meet,” says Hayes. “Those are the same people that I think [follow] Brantley Gilbert, like really rough around the edges. That’s the audience that I think they share.”
The country/hard-rock bond has appeared periodically in different ways since around 2010. Staind frontman Aaron Lewis, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl appeared on country charts, the latter through a collaboration with Zac Brown Band. Jelly Roll scored a No. 1 country single while riding the rock charts, and Cody Jinks and Devin Dawson have found country success after starting out in metal bands. Eric Church‘s “The Outsiders” made it to No. 6 on Hot Country Songs, Blackberry Smoke and The Cadillac Three mixed hard Southern rock and blues into a country framework, and Carrie Underwood shared the stage with Guns N’ Roses. Additionally, Chris Stapleton, Darius Rucker and Jon Pardi participated in the cover project The Metallica Blacklist;Luke Bryan has made “Enter Sandman” a part of his “All My Friends Say” live performance; and a host of country acts — including LeAnn Rimes, Justin Moore and Florida Georgia Line — took part in Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute to Mötley Crüe.
The growing confluence of country with rock’s harder edge is just another version of music’s natural evolution.
“In the ’70s, when Black Sabbath was doing their thing, that was considered heavy metal then, and now you listen to heavy metal, and it’s so much heavier,” Hayes says. “So I think, as this progresses, we’re going to see an entire subgenre come out of this, like country metal. I think it’s going to get heavier, and it’s going to get more crazy.”
It already has. Brantley pushed some of his existing material further over the hard-rock edge during the Five Finger Death Punch tour, and he anticipates it will become a permanent part of the show during his upcoming outing with Nickelback.
“When we went through songs like ‘My Kind of Party’ and ‘Kick It in the Sticks,’ my guitar player, Noah [Henson] — he’s got dreads hanging down to his calf muscles — he came from the metal world, and he does the screaming thing behind me on some of them,” says Gilbert. “The energy behind it was so crazy, we’ve kept it.”
Gilbert’s live revision, the impending Country Goes Metal project and HARDY’s country-metal mixture all suggest that a day may be on the horizon when banjos and fiddles could be completely welcome at a headbangers’ ball.
“There have been people that have really pushed the boundary with the whole rock thing, especially — in my era — FGL and Brantley Gilbert,” HARDY says. “With the screams and the breakdowns and stuff, I’m just pushing it a little bit further.”
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Morgan Wallen rises from No. 3 to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated March 11), becoming the top musical act in the U.S. for a seventh total week.
Wallen released his third studio album, One Thing at a Time, Friday (March 3), with the set slated to soar onto next week’s Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts (dated March 18).
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Contributing to Wallen’s Artist 100 ascent are six songs on the Billboard Hot 100, all of which appear on One Thing at a Time. Here’s a recap.
Rank, Title:
No. 5, “Last Night”
No. 13, “Thought You Should Know”
No. 21, “You Proof”
No. 51, “One Thing at a Time”
No. 63, “I Wrote the Book”
No. 93, “Everything I Love”
Further fueling Wallen’s return to No. 1 on the Artist 100 is his prior LP Dangerous: The Double Album, at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. The set has spent 109 weeks in the Billboard 200’s top 10, tying the soundtrack to The Sound of Music, from 1965, for the second-most time tallied in the region, after the My Fair Lady original cast recording, from 1956 (173 weeks in the top 10).
Wallen extends his record for the most weeks atop the Artist 100 among core country acts. Jason Aldean and Luke Combs follow with three weeks on top apiece. Taylor Swift leads all acts with 64 weeks logged at the summit.
Elsewhere in the Artist 100’s top 10, Gorillaz re-enter at No. 3, thanks to the group’s new album Cracker Island. The set opens at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 (64,000 units) and No. 1 on Top Album Sales (48,000 sold).
Plus, Karol G re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 5, a new high, thanks to her new album, Mañana Será Bonito. The set debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (94,000 units), becoming the first all-Spanish-language leader by a woman in the list’s history. The only other all-Spanish-language No. 1s are Bad Bunny’s El Ultimo Tour del Mundo and Un Verano Sin Ti.
The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
CMA Fest returns to downtown Nashville on June 8-11 and organizers revealed the initial artist performer lineup for the festival’s 50th anniversary on Tuesday (March 7), including entertainers set for the nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium as well as the lineups for multiple outdoor daytime stages including Chevy Riverfront Stage and Dr Pepper Amp Stage at Ascend Park. Outdoor daytime stages are free and open to the public.
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“We are so excited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of CMA Fest this year!” said CMA chief executive officer Sarah Trahern in a statement. “A lot has changed since our early days of Fan Fair but all these years later, the heart of the festival remains that special connection between the fans and the artists. We are truly grateful to everyone who has supported us throughout the years and we look forward to celebrating this milestone with all of our attendees in June. Stay tuned for much more!”
See below for the performer lineups, listed by stage:
Nissan Stadium: Jason Aldean, Jimmie Allen, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, HARDY, Tyler Hubbard, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Tim McGraw, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson
Nissan Stadium Platform Stage: Ashley Cooke, Dalton Dover, Megan Moroney, Ian Munsick, RVSHVD, Nate Smith, Alana Springsteen, Hailey Whitters
Chevy Riverfront Stage: Lauren Alaina, Cooper Alan, Ingrid Andress, Tenille Arts, Chayce Beckham, Priscilla Block, Danielle Bradbery, Tyler Braden, BRELAND, Cooke, Jackson Dean, Travis Denning, Madeline Edwards, Morgan Evans, Caylee Hammack, Corey Kent, Jon Langston, Maddie & Tae, Kameron Marlowe, Chase Matthew, Drake Milligan, Niko Moon, Kylie Morgan, Megan Moroney, Munsick, Parmalee, MacKenzie Porter, Restless Road, Jameson Rodgers, Lily Rose, Runaway June, Dylan Scott, Elvie Shane, Conner Smith, Smith, Matt Stell, Whitters, Wilson, Warren Zeiders
Dr Pepper Amp Stage at Ascend Park: A Thousand Horses, Avery Anna, Kassi Ashton, Rodney Atkins, Frankie Ballard, Blanco Brown, Craig Campbell, Mackenzie Carpenter, Callista Clark, Ashland Craft, Tyler Farr, Josh Gracin, Kidd G, Erin Kinsey, Love and Theft, Alexander Ludwig, Dylan Marlowe, Chrissy Metz, William Michael Morgan, David Nail, Jamie O’Neal, Frank Ray, Seaforth, Shenandoah, Caitlyn Smith, Springsteen, The Frontmen, The Red Clay Strays, Pam Tillis, Uncle Kracker, Chancey Williams and Rita Wilson.
Chevy Vibes Stage at Walk of Fame Park: Tyler Booth, Dillon Carmichael, Spencer Crandall, Adam Doleac, Dalton Dover, Hannah Ellis, Carter Faith, Ryan Griffin, Chapel Hart, Home Free, Kat & Alex, Halle Kearns, Tiera Kennedy, Brett Kissel, Ella Langley, Jerrod Niemann, Catie Offerman, Drew Parker, Meghan Patrick, Kimberly Perry, Shane Profitt, Tyler Rich, Josh Ross, RVSHVD, Dylan Schneider, Canaan Smith, Noah Thompson, Thompson Square, Kasey Tyndall, Georgia Webster, Mark Wills, Anne Wilson
Maui Jim Reverb Stage at Bridgestone Plaza: Tanner Adell, Casey Barnes, Justin Champagne, Ben Chapman, Kyle Clark, Abbey Cone, Melanie Dyer, Taylor Edwards, Drew Green, Jonathan Hutcherson, David J, Willie Jones, Thomas Mac, Bryan Martin, Chase McDaniel, Meg McRee, Madeline Merlo, Logan Michael, David Morris, Patrick Murphy, Neon Union, Griffen Palmer, Pillbox Patti, Peytan Porter, Brandon Ratcliff, Riley Roth, Matt Schuster, Austin Snell, Tigirlily Gold, Anna Vaus, Lathan Warlick, Lauren Watkins, Sam Williams, Stephen Wilson Jr.
Additional stage lineups for Ascend Amphitheater, Fan Fair X activities inside Music City Center and more are set to be revealed in coming weeks. Once again, portions of the country music festival will be filmed for the annual CMA Fest television special set to air on ABC.
A limited number of four-night stadium passes are currently on sale, while fans can access several new ticket options beginning Tuesday (March 7) at 10 a.m. CT here.
Single night tickets for the nightly Nissan Stadium concerts are available beginning at $85.70 per night. Four-day and single day tickets will be available to Fan Fair X inside Music City Center (which features meet-and-greet events, music, merchandise and more in an air-conditioned environment).
Four-day tickets will also be available for Riverside Retreat, located along the Cumberland River. Riverside Retreat offers early admission to the Chevy Riverfront Stage, as well as shaded areas, misting stations, charging for mobile device, air-conditioned restrooms, discounts on select beverages and online merchandise and more.
Kid Rock has announced four arena shows for 2023 as part of his No Snowflakes Tour, with each concert featuring a different special guest.
The June 23 concert at the Moody Center in Austin will feature Chris Janson, while the June 24 show at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, will feature opener Marcus King. Travis Tritt joins for Kid Rock’s set at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on July 1. A final show on July 14 at Little Caesars Arena in Kid Rock’s native Detroit will feature Grand Funk Railroad.
On social media, Janson said of the upcoming Austin, Texas concert, “This is goin to be one hell of a show!! Tickets on sale Friday and #JansonJunkies presale starts Thursday! @kidrock”
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Kid Rock — real name Robert James Ritchie — is currently based in Nashville and is known for hits including “Cowboy,” “Only God Knows Why” and “Picture,” a 2002 collaboration with Sheryl Crow.
In 2022, Kid Rock earned a chart leader on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart with “We the People.” The song marked his first No. 1 on that chart, following his No. 2 hit “Don’t Tell Me How to Live,” featuring the rock band Monster Truck. “People” also topped the all-format Digital Song Sales chart, Rock Digital Song Sales chart and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart, marking his first No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales and Rock Digital Song Sales charts.
In addition to music, Kid Rock is known for his conservative politics. The No Snowflakes Tour takes its name from the derogatory phrase “snowflake,” which was popularized by the 1996 novel and 1999 movie Fight Club, which includes the line to aspiring fighters: “You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake.”
The term “snowflake” later took on a political nature around the time of the 2016 election of Donald Trump, who opened the musician’s 2022 tour with a video message. Kid Rock also includes the term “snowflake” in the lyrics for “Don’t Tell Me How to Live.”
See his four-show announcement below:
With Country Radio Seminar just a week away, key showcases are taking shape, with three record labels unveiling their lunchtime performance lineups and CMT announcing a handful of acts appearing at the first evening’s opening reception.
Brad Paisley, making his first CRS appearance since signing with Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN), will play during the label’s annual takeover of the historic Ryman Auditorium. Brantley Gilbert, Vince Gill, Sam Hunt and Cody Johnson are among the major acts officially in the mix during the three-day seminar March 13-15 at the Omni Nashville Hotel.
Newly announced entertainment lineups include:
• Warner Music Nashville sponsors the March 13 lunch that offers Johnson, Chase Matthew and Ian Munsick, with additional acts promised.
• The March 13 happy hour opening event will feature four acts associated with CMT’s Next Women of Country: Julia Cole, Ashley Cooke, Miko Marks and O.N.E the Duo.
• At least 14 acts are appearing at the lunchtime UMGN Ryman gig on March 14: Gill,Hunt,Paisley, Kassi Ashton,Boy Named Banjo,Brothers Osborne,Dalton Dover,Caylee Hammack,Tyler Hubbard,Parker McCollum,Kylie Morgan,Catie Offerman,Josh Ross and Darius Rucker.
• Big Machine Label Group hosts the March 15 lunch that will feature Gilbert, Danielle Bradbery, Mackenzie Carpenter, Riley Green, Chris Janson, Justin Moore, Shane Profitt and Conner Smith.
CRS previously announced the lineup for the closing New Faces Show: Priscilla Block, Jackson Dean, Jelly Roll, Frank Ray and Nate Smith.
Sam Hunt will hit the road this summer on his headlining Summer on the Outskirts Tour with Brett Young and Lily Rose.
The 27-date, Live Nation-produced tour will launch July 6 in Hartford, Conn., and will include stops in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit and New York City.
The tour takes its name from a new song Hunt will release on Friday, March 10, titled “Outskirts.” The track follows his previous release, “Walmart.”
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To date, Hunt has earned nine No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay chart hits, including “23,” “Take Your Time” and “Body Like a Back Road.” His current country radio single, “Water Under the Bridge,” is at No. 17.
Meanwhile, Young’s current single “You Didn’t” is at No. 13 on the Country Airplay chart. “Villain” hitmaker Rose was honored with the 2022 GLAAD Media Awards’ outstanding breakthrough artist accolade and launched 2023 with her own headlining tour. Later this year, she will join Shania Twain’s Queen of Me Tour for 11 tour stops.
Tickets for Hunt’s Summer on the Outskirts Tour will go on sale beginning with the Verizon presale on March 7 at 10 a.m. local time, ahead of the general on sale, which begins Friday, March 10, at 10 a.m. local time.
See the full list of Hunt’s Summer on the Outskirts tour below:
July 6 – Hartford, CT – Xfinity Theatre
July 7 – Gilford, NH – Bank of NH Pavilion
July 8 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
July 14 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
July 15 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
July 16 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
July 20 – Brandon, MS – Brandon Amphitheater
July 21 – Orange Beach, AL – The Wharf Amphitheater *
July 22 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
July 27 – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
July 28 – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Music Center
July 29 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Aug. 3 – Carbondale, IL – Southern Illinois University-SIU Banterra Center**^
Aug. 4 – Bonner Springs, KS – Azura Amphitheater ^
Aug. 5 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Zoo Amphitheatre ^
Aug. 11 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre
Aug. 12 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Aug. 13 – Stateline, NV – Lake Tahoe Harveys Outdoor Arena ^
Aug. 18 – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman***
Aug. 19 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
Aug. 20 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
Aug. 24 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Aug. 25 – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
Aug. 26 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
Sept. 7 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sept. 8 – Atlanta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Sept. 9 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
*On Sale March 17 ** On Sale TBD *** On Sale March 24 ^ Not a Live Nation date
Kelsea Ballerini made her Saturday Night Live debut on March 4, delivering a pair of heartbreaking songs from her new EP, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.
For her first musical performance of the evening, the 29-year-old country singer confidently stepped onto the Studio 8H stage for an emotional delivery of “Blindsided,” a new track inspired by her recent divorce from singer-songwriter Morgan Evans.
Backed by a full band and donning a zebra patterned black jumpsuit, the three-time Grammy nominee stood amid a large white screen that featured a silhouetted dancer who appeared trapped. At the end of the song, Ballerini added a new verse that some speculate is a response her ex-husband’s post-divorce cut “Over For You.”
“Now you’re singin’ it loud on the radio like you’re the only heart that breaks/ You would’ve searched the whole world over? Yeah, sure, OK,” she sings.
Later in the show, Ballerini returned for a stunning performance of “Penthouse.” This time around, she wore a beautiful silky white gown and delivered the slow ballad in front of a large white piano.
“We played the part five nights, but we were never there on the weekends, baby,” she belted out.
Saturday’s SNL episode was hosted by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who also made his debut on the iconic NBC sketch comedy show.
Ballerini, who announced her divorce from Evans in August 2022, addressed her marriage’s dissolution on her recent six-song EP, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, which was released on Valentine’s Day. The project’s handful of songs are littered with details of the couple’s crumbling marriage and the emotional wreckage left in its wake. The EP was accompanied by a 20-minute short film.
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat also follows Ballerini’s 2022 album, Subject to Change, which reflects on her personal growth over the past few years.
Watch Ballerini’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes as well.
Bassist and session musician Michael Rhodes, who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019, has died. He was 69.
A representative for Rhodes confirmed his death to Billboard. Rhodes passed away at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, Saturday morning (March 4). No cause of death was given at press time.
Rhodes was born in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1953. At age 11 he taught himself to play guitar, which he began playing professionally, before taking up bass.
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After stints living in Austin and Memphis, he wound up in Nashville in 1977, where he joined local rock band Nerve and Tree Publishing’s house demo band. It was there that he got what he called “a great crash course in the art of playing a song, and what was needed for a song,” he told Nashville Arts.
He went on to have a prolific career in session work, playing on award-winning songs including Shawn Colvin’s “Sunny Came Home” (1996) and Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” (2000), and even had the honor of playing on both LeAnn Rimes’ and Trisha Yearwood’s 1997 versions of Diane Warren’s “How Do I Live.”
His incredibly long list of credits includes recordings for Willie Nelson, Etta James, Mark Knopfler, Alan Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Brian Wilson, Joss Stone, Dolly Parton, the (Dixie) Chicks, J.J. Cale, Wynonna, Merle Haggard, Randall Bramblett, Amy Grant, Hank Williams Jr, the Highwaymen, John Oates, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Bob Seger, Dave Stewart, Keith Whitley, Joan Baez, Lionel Richie, Burt Bacharach, Aaron Neville, Johnny Cash, Lonnie Mack, India.Arie, Buddy Guy, Grace Potter, Billy Joe Shaver, Ruthie Collins, Michael McDonald, Dan Penn, Jennifer Holiday, John Fogerty, Elton John and Joan Osborne.
In recent years, he played often in Joe Bonamassa’s band.
Rhodes is survived by wife Lindsay Fairbanks Rhodes, son Jason Rhodes and daughter Melody Wind Rhodes, and Lindsay’s sons, Van and Weston Hayes, as well as grandchildren Cayman Rhodes, Cora Rhodes, Wylder Rhodes, Kingsley Rhodes, Jenna Nicole Hillman and Ryley Bruce Hillman.
Memorial arrangements will be provided at a future time.
In lieu of flowers, and in Rhodes’ spirit, his family requests that donations be made to the Music Health Alliance, which provides aid to musicians in need of healthcare and support. Checks may be sent to Music Health Alliance, 2737 Larmon Dr, Nashville, TN, 37204 or through their website, musichealthalliance.com. Rhodes’ family also encourages listening to a piece of music that matters to you; Rhodes listened to John Coltrane before he passed. “He really loved jazz and John Coltrane, all those guys,” Rhodes’ wife says. “It fed him, always.”
