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Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) has revealed the rising country music newcomers to be featured as part of the 2025 New Faces of Country Music showcase during next year’s Country Radio Seminar, slated for Feb. 19-21 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Nashville. Announced Wednesday (Dec. 11), the showcase will highlight Drew Baldridge (Lyric Ridge/BMG/Stoney Creek), […]

The performers lineup for CBS’ New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash is getting packed with even more musical talent. The special, which will be headlined by Kane Brown, Keith Urban and Jelly Roll, will also feature performances from Shaboozey, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Tyler Hubbard, Miranda Lambert, Post Malone, Brittney Spencer, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson and Zach Top.

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Jelly Roll, Urban and Brown will headline from Nashville’s Bicentennial Park, while Parker McCollum will perform from the Brooklyn Bowl, with special guests SiriusXM and CMT host Cody Alan, and SiriusXM host Caylee Hammack.

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The special will be hosted by four-time Grammy winner Urban and Entertainment Tonight‘s Rachel Smith. Shaboozey has seen his smash hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” rule on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks this year, while Eric Church and Luke Combs aided those impacted by Hurricane Helene earlier this year by teaming up with artists including Billy Strings, Urban and James Taylor for the all-star Concert For Carolina in October. Bryan, Lambert, Post Malone, Top and Wilson all released new projects in 2024.

The five-hour celebration will air live on Dec. 31 (8-10 p.m. ET/PT, 10:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. ET/PT) on the CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Set in Music City, the special will feature more than 40 performances, while Nashville counts down to midnight with the East Coast, and continues the festivities through midnight Central Time with the city’s signature Music Note Drop at the Bicentennial Mall stage.

New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash is executive produced by Robert Deaton and Mary Hilliard Harrington in partnership with Music City Inc., the foundation of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. The special will be directed by Sandra Restrepo.

Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” isn’t just one of the longest-running No. 1s of all time on the Billboard Hot 100; it was also the most-played song on TouchTunes jukeboxes for 2024, TouchTunes announced on Tuesday (Dec. 10).
“A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which was released in April, was an immediate hit on the company’s jukeboxes, allowing it to reign as the most-played song of the year despite not being available for the first quarter of the year. In July, Billboard began partnering with TouchTunes to present a pair of quarterly charts – the Frontline and Catalog rankings – and Shaboozey’s tune has ranked at No. 1 on the Frontline survey for both iterations so far.

According to TouchTunes, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is the first Frontline song (defined as music released in the past 18 months) to be its most-played year-end music on its jukeboxes since Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey,” which was released in 2015.

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(Naturally, Stapleton’s rendition of “Tennessee Whiskey” remains a perennial favorite; it’s the second-most-played song on TouchTunes for the year.)

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” has spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 between July and November, tying the song with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, for the longest reign on the tally in its history.

Shaboozey was also the 10th-most-played artist on TouchTunes in 2024. The distinction of No. 1 goes to Morgan Wallen, whose music dots the collection of most-played songs on TouchTunes for the year. Along with being featured on Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” the No. 5 song of the year, his own “Last Night” is No. 8, and he’s featured on six of the top 50 most-played songs of the year in all. “I Had Some Help,” “Last Night” and his “Cowgirls,” featuring ERNEST, are also Nos. 3-5 for the most-played songs in the Frontline category of the year.

The No. 2 in the Frontline category also happens to be the only non-country song in the top 10 of the overall ranking: Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” which ends the year as the third-most-played song overall. The pop track topped the Hot 100 for a week in March and boasts a monstrous 45 weeks in the top 10, second-most all time behind The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.”

One must scroll to No. 11 to find the most-played rock song of the year, Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Even still, the rock genre remains the most-consumed genre on TouchTunes, with the company reporting that 38% of its plays were rock songs in 2024. Country music follows with 24%. Comparatively, rock had 39% in 2023, while country had 23%. Other genres that saw gains year over year include hip-hop (up 2% to 14%) and pop (up 1% to 11%).

The entire top nine of the year was performed by soloists; the first duo or group to appear comes in at No. 10 via Brooks and Dunn’s “Neon Moon.” AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” which ranks at No. 31, is the highest-performing song of the year for the veteran rockers, who rank as TouchTunes’ most-played band of the year.

Taylor Swift ends the year as the most-played solo woman on the platform, with the top song from a woman being “Save Me,” Lainey Wilson’s duet with Jelly Roll.

See more insights from TouchTunes’ year-end roundup here and see below for the top 50 most-played songs of the year.

TouchTunes’ Most-Played Songs of 2024

1. “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey2. “Tennessee Whiskey,” Chris Stapleton3. “Lose Control,” Teddy Swims4. “I Love This Bar,” Toby Keith5. “I Had Some Help,” Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen6. “Friends in Low Places,” Garth Brooks7. “Son of a Sinner,” Jelly Roll8. “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen9. “Fast Car,” Luke Combs10. “Neon Moon,” Brooks & Dunn11. “Fat Bottomed Girls,” Queen12. “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink,” Merle Haggard13. “Copperhead Road,” Steve Earle14. “Drinkin’ Problem,” Midland15. “Cowgirls,” Morgan Wallen feat. ERNEST16. “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey17. “Something in the Orange,” Zach Bryan18. “Whiskey Glasses,” Morgan Wallen19. “Lovin on Me,” Jack Harlow20. “Save Me,” Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson21. “Simple Man,” Lynyrd Skynyrd22. “Truck Bed,” HARDY23. “White Horse,” Chris Stapleton24. “Rockstar,” Nickelback25. “Family Tradition,” Hank Williams Jr.26. “Wasted On You,” Morgan Wallen27. “Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone28. “The Joker,” The Steve Miller Band29. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” Toby Keith30. “Brown Eyed Girl,” Van Morrison31. “Thunderstruck,” AC/DC32. “Save Me,” Jelly Roll33. “Where the Wild Things Are,” Luke Combs34. “Higher,” Creed35. “Oklahoma Smokeshow,” Zach Bryan36. “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” Guns N’ Roses37. “Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar38. “In the Air Tonight,” Phil Collins39. “Too Sweet,” Hozier40. “Bartender Song,” Rehab41. “Kryptonite,” 3 Doors Down42. “Picture,” Kid Rock feat. Sheryl Crow43. “Feathered Indians,” Tyler Childers44. “You Proof,” Morgan Wallen45. “Hippies and Cowboys,” Cody Jinks46. “I Remember Everything,” Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves47. “Chicken Fried,” Zac Brown Band48. “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” Def Leppard49. “Dreams,” Fleetwood Mac50. “Sweet Home Alabama,” Lynyrd Skynyrd

It’s gift-shopping season, and Walker Hayes has the perfect products for the cozy or outdoorsy people in your life.
The country singer chatted with Billboard’s executive editor of West Coast and Nashville, Melinda Newman, on talkshoplive, an online livestream shopping platform, where he showed off products from his Duck Buck Co. brand. The line of activewear and loungewear features trucker hats, t-shirts, leggings, sweats and much more — all featuring the quirky half-duck, half-buck logo that Hayes drew himself.

“I’m a doodler, I wouldn’t call myself an artist but I’m constantly drawing,” he shared during the livestream. “It’s therapeutic to me. We had to draw a picture for each song back when NFTs were a thing. Each song needed an NFT following ‘Fancy Like,’ so for the song ‘Country Stuff,’ I drew this duck buck. And my team — nobody asked questions, they were like ‘That’s your logo.’”

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He added that the inspiration while designing clothing were items “that are comfy, that I know I’m going to look good in.”

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Since it’s the holiday season, Hayes discussed his fun, festive spin on his Billboard Hot 100 No. 3 hit “Fancy Like.” The track, “Fancy Like Christmas,” in which he switches up the lyrics to the chorus and sings, “Fancy like Christmas ’round a fake tree/ Nutcracker on the mantle and a candy cane candle/ Get your eggnog, with your fruit cake/ Go Jesus, it’s your birthday!”

“I honestly think the lyrics to the Christmas version are better,” Hayes admitted, adding with a laugh, “When we dropped ‘Fancy Like Christmas,’ the response was so amazing and continues to be, that I did start think, ‘I mean, do we need a Halloween version? Does this song need to take over holidays?’ Is it the next ‘Happy Birthday?’”

Watch the entire livestream and shop Walker Hayes’ Duck Buck Co. brand here.

The late country artist and Country Music Hall of Fame member Keith Whitley will be the focus of an upcoming documentary film, thanks in part to his fellow country artist Blake Shelton. The Whitley-centered documentary will begin filming in January 2025.

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Shelton is co-producing the documentary with Lee Metzger of Lucky Horseshoe Productions. Also leading the project are Anomaly Content & Entertainment (ACE) partner and producer Evan Hayes (Free Solo), with ACE partner and CEO Justin Barocas serving as executive producer and Zach Heinzerling (Cutie and the Boxer, McCartney 3, 2, 1) serving as director.

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Whitley died in May 1989 at age 34, with only two full-length studio country albums having been released by the time of his passing (1985’s L.A. to Miami and 1988’s Don’t Close Your Eyes; his third album, 1989’s I Wonder Do You Think of Me, arrived three months after his death). However, the songwriting and vocal prowess displayed on those projects — and in his live shows — has been an indelible influence on generations of artists. Whitley’s “I’m No Stranger to the Rain” earned the CMA’s 1989 single of the year honor, while Whitley’s duet with wife Lorrie Morgan, “‘Til a Tear Becomes a Rose,” was named the CMA’s vocal event of the year in 1990.

The documentary will look at Whitley’s life and career, his struggles with addiction, his romance and marriage to fellow country artist Morgan, and his lasting impact on the music industry. The upcoming documentary will also feature archival footage from the Country Music Hall of Fame, as well as personal collections from Morgan. The film will also look at Whitley’s roots in Sandy Hook, Kentucky, and will highlight reflections from Morgan as she navigates her own career while honoring Whitley’s memory.

Shelton said in a statement, “Keith Whitley released only three albums during his life, but his music has influenced generations of country music artists and fans. Gwen [Stefani] and I love to watch music documentaries, and I looked for his doc one night and couldn’t believe that there wasn’t one. I’m proud and honored we get to bring his incredible story to film.”

“Thanks to Blake, we finally have the chance to uncover the truth behind the legend that is Keith Whitley: a layered and heartbreaking story of talent, hardship, and love that is long overdue,” Heinzerling added. “It’s an honor to bring Keith’s story to a wide audience,” Metzger said. “He’s the kind of singer everyone knows the songs when they hear them but doesn’t know the story of the singer who performed them.” Hayes said, “What drew me to this project was the idea of tapping into a pop culture story that lies slightly beneath the surface. Here is this guy who is so important in the country music world — he inspired the modern Star Is Born, Morgan Wallen wrote a song about him and his music — and a lot of people don’t know his name. To be able to explore this character and this love story that had permeated pop culture country music in such an impactful way and to introduce it to mainstream audiences is exciting.”

In 2023, Shelton and Metzger founded Lucky Horseshoe Productions, which helmed the USA Network series Barmageddon, and is in pre-production on the upcoming singing competition series The Road.    

12/10/2024

Our favorite albums from a year filled with country crossovers, traditional country-tilted albums and projects that highlighted the songwriting talents of both artists and songwriters.

12/10/2024

This week’s crop of new country tunes includes the debut major label EP from newcomer Braxton Keith, a sterling, introspective look from Ashley McBryde at the values that embody a “cowboy song,” Kameron Marlowe’s haunting look at the impact of addiction and depression, and Ned LeDoux offering a collaboration with his late father and country great Chris LeDoux.

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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country releases of the week below.

Braxton Keith, ‘Blue’

Keith, newly signed to Warner Music Nashville, turns in a slab of stone-cold country on his new EP Blue. This five-song collection, forged from the depths of the Texas honky-tonk circuit, highlights Keith’s unmistakable, conversational singing style, as he weaves through songs of sly warning (“Cozy”), romance (“Fall This Way”) and post-heartbreak acceptance (the fiddle-drenched “Giving Up On You”).

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Ashley McBryde, “Ain’t Enough Cowboy Songs”

Grammy winner McBryde sings of a longing for more songs that embody the essence of the values of freedom, hard work, responsibility and love of the outdoors, and grieves for the struggles of those who are still doing their best to live up to that ethos. “There’s a few of us left trying to circle the wagons/ But we’re barеly holding our ground,” she sings. Her voice, as always, rings with an earthy authenticity and earnestness.

Kameron Marlowe, “Never Really Know”

Marlowe just released the gripping music video for this song, one that showcases not only his commanding, gritty voice, but also a storyline that is unfortunately all too familiar to so many people — who don’t notice the pain and impact of shattered dreams, depression and addiction until it is too late. Marlowe wrote this song with co-writer James McNair, and it’s one that further positions Marlowe as an all-around vocalist-writer-artist worth paying attention to.

The Castellows, “Alabama Stone”

The title track to this sibling trio’s new three-song EP, “Alabama Stone” further solidifies The Castellows’ top-flight songwriting. Written by the trio’s Powell Balkcom, Eleanor Balkcom and Lily Balkcom along with writers Josh Dorr and Caroline Watkins, the song’s crux turns on the various meanings of “Alabama Stone” that keep the song’s protagonist connected to her Alabama hometown — whether that be her familial home, the wedding ring on her hand, or, at the end, the stone that marks her final resting place. The track gets bolstered by reverential piano and the trio’s ethereal harmonies.

Chris & Ned LeDoux, “One Hand in the Riggin’”

In a song set to be featured on Ned LeDoux’s upcoming 2025 album, he duets with his late country singer/rodeo champion father Chris LeDoux on the song “One Hand in the Riggin,’” with Ned pairing his vocal alongside what he calls the final vocal track his father ever recorded prior to his death in 2005. The song nods to the twin pulls toward home and the road, maintaining a family while chasing the endless thrill of “one more rodeo.” All together, it is refreshing hearing Chris’s voice again — especially on a song that feels this timeless, and given how his and his son’s vocals blend so well together.

Evan Honer, “High School Reunion”

After seeing his career surge on the strength of Tyler Childers covers, followed by the release of his own projects such as Fighting For and Different Life, Honer delves into the complication emotions surrounding the notion of seeing a former high school lover at their 10-year high school reunion — his cut-to-the-bone style of songwriting and rugged vocal revealing an anxious pondering of how that teenage relationship might have progressed. “High School Reunion” marks the third single from Honer’s upcoming EP annabelle, out Dec. 13.

Keith Urban is set to bring his high-octane live show on the road in 2025, when his High and Alive World Tour launches May 22 in Orange Beach, Alabama, at The Wharf Amphitheater. Joining Urban on the tour will be Chase Matthew, Alana Springsteen and Karley Scott Collins. Following the Alabama kick-off, the tour will include stops in Chicago, Salt Lake City, Houston and Nashville, Tennessee.

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“Playing live is what I live to do,” Urban said in a statement. “Looking out from a stage and seeing people singing, forgetting about all the stress in their lives, cutting loose, and feeling ALIVE – that’s what it’s about for me. Lots of hits, new songs, things we won’t even think about until we’re onstage – and loads of guitar. We’re gonna make this tour the best night of your life!”

The tour takes its name from Urban’s latest album, High, which debuted at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart following its September release. Tickets for Urban’s High and Alive World Tour will go on sale Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. local time, with additional North American show dates to be revealed in the coming months.

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Urban is slated to announce international dates for the High and Alive tour at a later date.

See the full list of 2025 tour dates below:

May 22: Orange Beach, AL @ The Wharf Amphitheater

May 23: Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

May 24: Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium

May 30: Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion

May 31: Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park Raleigh

June 12: Gilford, NH @ BankNH Pavilion

June 13: Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center

June 14: Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater

June 19: Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion

June 22: Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre

June 26: Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center

June 27: Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center

June 28: Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center

July 17: Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre

July 18: Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre

July 19: Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater

July 24: TBA

July 26: Inglewood, CA @ Intuit Dome

Sept. 25: Chicago, IL @ United Center

Sept. 26: TBA

Sept. 27: Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center

Oct. 2: Hershey, PA @ Giant Center

Oct. 3: Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena

Oct. 4: Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live

Oct. 9: Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena

Oct. 11: Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman

Oct. 16: Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Oct. 17: Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena

With the inauguration of a new president just six weeks away, many in country music’s creative community recognize they have a role to play.
In his first administration, Donald Trump was frighteningly comfortable making life difficult for people who exercised their First Amendment freedom of speech rights — threatening, for example, to revoke TV licenses over negative coverage and calling for a federal investigationof Saturday Night Live over a skit.

For his second administration, Trump and some of his cabinet nominees have vowed to exact revenge on his perceived enemies, including journalists whose coverage he deems unflattering. Some former White House staff and advisers say Trump aspires to rule as an autocrat.

Songwriters, artists and musicians — like reporters — make their living transmitting messages, and many are aware that on certain days, they may be led to create music that might seem contrary to a thin-skinned ruler. Do they self-edit and slink to the next subject? Or do they stand up and speak their piece?

Songwriter Dan Wilson, who co-wrote Chris Stapleton’s  “White Horse,” which won the Country Music Association’s single and song of the year, is familiar with the issue. He worked with The Chicks, co-writing the Grammy-winning “Not Ready To Make Nice” after they were booted out of country’s mainstream for criticizing then-President George W. Bush and the Iraq War. 

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“As I’ve learned firsthand in the past, critiquing the president can be a fraught and dangerous thing to do,” Wilson said on the red carpet before the CMA Awards. “Generally, doing what artists do anyway, which is pointing things out that no one else will talk about, that could be a dangerous thing to do, but I don’t think that’s going to stop.”

Most songwriters, particularly in country music, don’t address political topics in their work on a regular basis. And plenty of those creators — when pressed in recent weeks on how Trump’s return to the White House might influence their art — shrugged off the subject, saying they were apolitical or didn’t feel comfortable talking about it publicly.

But others were particularly sensitive about the subject. In the past, Trump has incited his followers to intimidate his detractors, and many see his return to office as a threat to their personal freedoms and, possibly, to their safety. Artists are already acutely aware of the potential reaction of the audience and media gatekeepers.

“You always think about that stuff,” Phil Vassar noted at the ASCAP Country Awards red carpet. “You’re writing songs — ‘Can I say that in a song?’ ”

Under normal conditions, songwriters ask that question to avoid commercial and/or artistic repercussions. But in authoritarian regimes, expression is tightly guarded, creating additional emotional hurdles. In Russia, the population is famously loath to speak ill of top government officials. Vladimir Putin has jailed artists whose music opposes his rule. In Afghanistan, music has been outlawed in its entirety.

“The arts are frightening because the arts reveal people to themselves,” Rosanne Cash said at a Dec. 4 party for her new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, “Rosanne Cash: Time Is a Mirror.” “The arts are inherently political in that bigger sense, that it changes people and wakes them up.”

Not everyone sees the incoming administration as a threat. Jason Aldean, Chris Janson and Brian Kelley all participated in the Republican Convention in July, and Big Loud artist Lauren Watkins is hopeful that “we are going to have more freedom of speech.” 

Meanwhile, Julie Williams, a mixed-race, queer artist, is already concerned about being canceled by emboldened conservatives under a Trump administration. The day after the election, she wasn’t convinced she had the strength to play a Nov. 7 show celebrating her new EP, Tennessee Moon. But the audience response helped her recognize that her songs might be even more important over the next four years.

“For me, when I get a chance to be onstage and sing songs about growing up in the South or my queer journey, it makes me feel like I have a little bit of control, a little bit of power, over what’s happening in the world,” she said on the CMA Awards carpet. “While I can’t change what’s happening at the national level at the moment, at my shows, I can help create an environment that people feel like they belong, that they feel like there’s somebody that loves them, and just to share my stories and hope that the audience hears themselves in it.”

It’s not only the songwriters and artists who sense they have a mission. Found Sound Media founder Becky Parsons, who specializes in management and PR for women and minority artists, is encouraging her acts — including Sarahbeth Taite and Fimone — to present themselves authentically through their art. And she intends to do that herself.

“I’m not going to be silent,” Parsons said on the CMA Awards carpet. “I’m not going to sit down and play by your rules. I’m going to break your rules. I’m going to create the world that I want to see. Not everybody has the luxury to do that, but thankfully, I do, and that’s the kind of future in country music and the world that I want to see.”

For many artists, the mission headed into the new administration is less about confrontation than about bringing disparate people together. Willie Nelson famously did that by attracting an audience of cowboys, college students and hippies with country music in the mid-1970s. Today, The War and Treaty, Charlie Worsham, Home Free, Frank Ray and Niko Moon aim to act as a bridge between communities.

“I’m kind of over being on any one team, and I’m ready to talk to people — especially people that I don’t agree with — and better understand what their plight is,” Worsham said on the CMA carpet. “And I think country music is uniquely poised to speak to this moment.” 

Moon is similarly dedicated to putting “love and positivity out there into the world.”

“We’re living in strange times,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean we have to be strangers. We’re more similar than we are different.”

That said, if Trump follows the Project 2025 agenda, as many fear he may, it is likely to embolden his most ardent supporters, who have at times resorted to violence — in Charlottesville, Va., in 2016 or in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, to name two examples. It would be easy, in such an atmosphere, for cultural groups under siege to withdraw from the public space. But that’s all the more reason, openly gay country artist Chris Housman said, for creatives to speak out. He concedes that he went into a mini-depression after the election and admits that he’s among the faction of Americans who considered leaving the country. But he’s not going anywhere.

“I get so much inspiration and motivation out of challenging stuff and uncertainty and being uncomfortable,” Housman said on the CMA carpet. “It kind of feels like it’s ground zero here in the South, and in America in general, right now. If everybody leaves, if all the queer people leave, then it’s not going to change anything. So I’m just trying to dig in for that motivation and inspiration.”

Digging in against an autocrat is not comfortable. But staying quiet has consequences, too. As Thomas Jefferson noted, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for men of good conscience to remain silent.” Creatives who self-censor to avoid controversy might make their lives a little easier for the short-term, but they also won’t make much of a long-term difference. Artists who stood up in the past — such as Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Bob Marley and Johnny Cash — influenced the eras in which they made their music, but they also helped to improve future generations’ understanding of their times.

“A lot of the reason that we are able to remember fascists and dictators is because of the work of creatives, because of the work that we’ve done in documenting things from our authentic perspective,” said Supreme Republic Entertainment founder Brittney Boston, whose clients include rapper DAX and country singer Carmen Dianne. “I think it’s really important as an artist right now to be honest, to write from your heart, because a lot of people are going to be too scared to do that, and people are going to be craving that authenticity.”

If nothing else, the creative class has an opportunity as Trump moves into office threatening retribution. On those occasions when artists or songwriters have something to say, but hold back to avoid scrutiny, they chip away at their own freedoms. Those who decline to self-censor their work often discover a greater sense of empowerment, even as they continue a free-speech tradition that was etched into the Constitution.

“You find the limits of your courage, don’t you?” Rosanne Cash said rhetorically. “Let’s just go for it.” 

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Shaboozey brought his massive hit to Studio 8H during his Saturday Night Live debut on Dec. 7.
The 29-year-old breakout country star took the stage as musical guest on the Paul Mescal-hosted episode, performing his 19-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” alongside his new ballad “Good News.”

Introduced by Gladiator II star Mescal, the Virginia native opened with “Good News,” his first new single since the release of his third album, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in May.

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The song’s wistful lyrics — “I need some good news/ Sittin’ here, sippin’ on cold truth/ Nobody knows what I’m goin’ through/ Bet the devil wouldn’t walk in my shoes” — were underscored by gentle acoustic guitar, plaintive fiddle and a healthy dose of pedal steel.

Later in the show, Shaboozey returned to perform his inescapable hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Dressed in a shiny brown jacket and matching pants, the country star delivered the track in a dimly lit, bar-like setting, surrounded by his backing band.

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The SNL appearance marks another milestone in a whirlwind year for Shaboozey. On Thanksgiving, he performed at the halftime of the Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears game at Ford Field, singing “Last of My Kind,” “Highway” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Just weeks earlier, he received five Grammy nominations, including nods for best country song and song of the year.

SNL is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary season, which launched in September and will culminate in a special live primetime event on Feb. 16. Next week, Gracie Abrams will make her SNL debut on the Chris Rock-hosted episode, followed by Hozier’s return with Martin Short as host.

Watch Shaboozey’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.