Country
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For Thomas Rhett, creating his new album, About a Woman, out Friday (Aug. 23) via The Valory Music Co., was a family affair.
The singer-songwriter, who has four children with his wife of nearly 12 years and childhood sweetheart, Lauren, tells Billboard, that his “two oldest [daughters, Willa Gray and Ada James] are starting to form their own opinions on what they like. If they go to hip-hop class and a Luis Fonsi song comes on, that’s what they think is fire. Or they’ll hear kids at school talking about Luke Combs or Morgan Wallen. When it comes to my music, they’ve become a little bit of my little A&R team. On the way to school, I’m playing a new demo and I’m watching if they start moving or if they’re asking to hear it again. So in a way, they influence a lot of the music. They can point out a bop. They love ‘Gone Country,’ ‘Back to Blue’ and ‘Don’t Wanna Dance.’”
Those songs are among the key tracks that represent the new album’s breadth of sounds, ranging from ‘90s country to pop and soul. “Don’t Wanna Dance,” which interpolates the 1987 Whitney Houston classic, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” presented a challenge for the singer-songwriter, turning the pop anthem’s bubbly yearning for romance on its head.
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“It was not an easy feat… when you’re about to put arguably [one of] the most-listened and covered songs ever in one of our songs, and by one of the most amazing voices to ever live on this planet,” says Thomas Rhett, who has notched nearly two dozen Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 hits, including such pop-fueled love songs as “Die a Happy Man” and “Angels Don’t Always Have Wings.” “Don’t Wanna Dance” was co-written by Matt Dragstrem and Ryan Hurd, who texted Thomas Rhett the song file, along with a note that just said, “Whitney.”
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“I was driving down Music Row and heard it, and when that chorus came on I was like, ‘I can’t not try this,’” the 2020 ACM Awards entertainer of the year recipient says. “It’s heartbreak, but it also makes you want to punch a hole through a wall, because you’re so jacked about the melody.”
Helming the album was the production team of revered producer Dann Huff and Julian Bunetta, who has produced recent albums for Sabrina Carpenter and Teddy Swims. About a Woman was recorded at Berry Hill’s Blackbird Studio and at Bunetta’s Nashville home.
The album’s songs, such as the rhythm-driven “Fool” and laid-back “Overdrive,” draw inspiration from artists ranging from Steely Dan to the Oak Ridge Boys. Thomas Rhett recalls aiming to “channel ‘Beast of Burden’ and ‘Miss You’ by The Rolling Stones” when writing another album track, “Can’t Love You Anymore.”
“The vision for this album was just joy,” he says. “It’s this weird melting pot, and Julian and Dann figured out a way to make it feel progressive yet timeless. They’re both old souls,” Thomas Rhett says of Huff and Bunetta, recalling the “neat old school versus new school collaboration that came with knowing the same music and the same sounds in the same way.”
Like many of his previous albums, About a Woman draws much of its inspiration from his own love story with his wife. He keeps things upbeat and romantic with “Beautiful as You,” the midnight-velvet of “All the Bars Are Closed” and slow-burning “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Woman,” before closing out the album with the tender ballad “I Could Spend Forever Loving You.”
On “Church,” Thomas Rhett nods to his and Lauren’s high school love story through the lens of Eric Church’s music, lacing the tune with Church song titles including “Springsteen,” “Love Your Love the Most” and “Talladega.”
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Though Thomas Rhett isn’t one of the original writers on “Church,” he rewrote the song’s final chorus, transforming it from a heartbreaker into one more closely aligned with the couple’s own story.
“This is Lauren’s favorite on the album, because when we were in high school, I bought [Church’s] Carolina record, which was his second album,” he says. “I had to buy a new copy every three months because I just wore it out. It kept skipping — but he was like our Zach Bryan. He was that dude who kind of got played on the radio but could care less if he was or not, and he was kind of grungy and would say things in songs that most people weren’t saying. I learned the entire album on acoustic guitar, and any time we were at a party, that’s all I played — so this song means a lot to us, because he was the soundtrack to our teenage years.”
Still, he says how involved Lauren is in hearing new music early on has shifted through the years.
“Even three years ago, I used to be at the point where every time I’d come off the road, I’d play her everything we wrote and she would sometimes get attached to [a song] that I wasn’t attached to — so it became this awkward conversation when it came time to record. She’s like ‘Oh, are you putting that on there?’ and I’m like ‘No,’ and she’s like ‘Why?’ So lately, I’ll slowly seed her things that I know for a fact that I love. I’ve even kind of quit playing demos because she’ll get attached to the demo [version] of a song. So, on this record, I might’ve played her a couple of demos but for the most part, I’ll play her rough cuts in the studio first.”
Meanwhile, the life vs. social media balance is one that Thomas Rhett and his family continue to refine. At one point, “Every bit of [social media] was off my phone,” he says. “I approved everything that went out, but I couldn’t look at it anymore.”
A recent conversation with his longtime manager, G Major Management’s Virginia Bunetta, helped him reframe his relationship with social media. “She said, ‘Everything is for sale.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, if one post doesn’t do well, you’re thinking, ‘What else about my life can I share that might get engagement?’ I think for me, for better or for worse, a lot of my engagement on social media is about my family,” he says. “You can go through this spiral of ‘I’m going to film this and this,’ and then you haven’t lived your day—you’ve just been capturing content. I’m trying to figure it out.”
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The fact that music consumption among Gen Z has tilted toward social media and streaming as opposed to terrestrial radio, has only enhanced that challenge. “Artists that come from my generation, it was like there’s sort of one master to serve — if my song goes top 10 on radio, people are going to hear it,” says Thomas Rhett, 34. “Now, the landscape is so vast that it feels like when you speak on social media, you’re competing with a million voices. Some kid from Nebraska can put a video on social media and immediately have stardom. I think some of us are kind of sitting there going, ‘What is our voice today?’”
Ahead, he’ll launch a mini-residency at the BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau Las Vegas, with four shows on Dec. 6-7 and 13-14. He took inspiration from watching one of Miranda Lambert’s The Velvet Rodeo residency concerts in Vegas, as he was considering the new opportunity.
“I love the freedom they had,” he says of Lambert’s show. “They built a set that they probably would never take on the road, played songs that might not play a lot on the road, and did renditions that felt very old-school Vegas. When you go to a Vegas show, you want to see something different. I’m glad we are doing these shows, because it will be a different crowd. Yes, your fans will be there, but also it might just be the random dude playing blackjack who says, ‘I’ll go see a show.’ I think I’ll play longer, more obscure songs, get diligent with the covers, more Bakersfield, older country tunes with our spin on it.”
Meanwhile, back in Nashville, it seems the slate of downtown celebrity bars doesn’t seem to be slowing down soon — but don’t count Thomas Rhett among those with plans to add to the cluster.
“There were a couple of people who brought it up to me a couple of years ago, and I mean, I wake up every day and there’s a new bar,” he says. “I kind of think, ‘Would it be cooler to just open a sick brunch spot that doesn’t have my face plastered on the wall?’ That’s never been my vibe — I don’t want someone to walk into my restaurant and just see me everywhere. I’d want to serve the most banging biscuits and breakfast tacos and mimosas and call it ‘TR Tequila Bar’ or something. But it’s not really my style to do the Broadway thing, and people have too many options as it is.”
While a star bar may not be in the plans, ultimately releasing an album in another genre could be. Earlier this year, Thomas Rhett teamed with Contemporary Christian artist Brandon Lake for a cover of Elevation Music and Maverick City Music’s “Talking to Jesus.” During the pandemic years, he collaborated with another CCM luminary, Chris Tomlin.
As for releasing his own CCM album, he says, “That question has come up a lot lately. My thing is that I just want it to be the right version of that. I’m not trying to lead a church service, but my faith is extremely important to me. I do write a bunch of worship, Christian-type songs, and worship music is changing so much today. Brandon sort of renewed my love for it and my buddy Forrest Frank just came out with a banger of an album — I was talking to him like, ‘Do you think I could do this?’ and he was like, ‘Absolutely.’ So I think it’s nice that those two folks could maybe help me one day find what that version is for me. It’s a pipe dream that hopefully happens in this decade.”
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Though 14-time CMA Award winner Miranda Lambert is gearing up to release her upcoming Sept. 13 album, Postcards From Texas — her first under her new deal with Republic Records — she’s also learning to relax. In an interview on Bunnie XO‘s Dumb Blonde podcast that arrived Monday (Aug. 19), Lambert opened up about how she’s learning to balance work with living life.
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The musician discussed how she and husband Brendan McLoughlin recently took two weeks off and traveled to Italy. “It was like a little panicky, but then once you settle into it, you really need to do it. You just don’t know you need to until you get the chance,” Lambert said.
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The past year has been a hectic one for Lambert, who concluded her Las Vegas residency last year. Earlier this year, she also inked her new label deal and is preparing for her new album release.
She also revealed, “I reached a pretty high level of burnout last summer and I didn’t realize what it was until I was like, I think this is what we call burnout, from just not taking a break or a long enough one. Just a couple of days at a time just wasn’t enough for the amount of busyness, and so I feel like we have to learn to balance. It’s really hard when you’re so driven, to like relax into doing nothing. If you don’t recharge, it’s like you’re only operating at 50% anyway. Recharging is so important — it’s just hard to do.”
Lambert also noted the importance of living life to help inform her music. “As a creative, if you don’t let go and live your life, there’s nothing to write about,” she told Bunnie, who is married to Jelly Roll. “There’s no fuel. You know what I mean? If you just constantly are going to the next goal.”
Bunnie XO noted that Lambert has been in the music industry for almost 25 years, saying, “That’s a long time. So for you to just have reached burnout last year? You’re a savage. Like, you are an animal!”
Lambert responded, “It wasn’t the burnout where I’m like, ‘I’m quitting forever.’ It was just one of those moments — I’ve had those over the years. Honestly, a lot of it for musicians — as you know, because you’re on tour [with Jelly Roll] — is August, when you’re doing summer tours. By the time August comes, I’ve been hot all year. You’re playing outside. August is usually [when] everyone is like, ‘I don’t wanna tour anymore.’ But then you take a break and you’re like, ‘OK, I’m ready again.’”
Lambert also noted that at 40, she’s more interested in being selective in pursuing things that are beneficial. “You just go,’ I really just wanna go after the good s–t, and not deal with any of the other noise that doesn’t really matter in my life.’ And also spend my time, whether it be personal or professional, on things that really add to my life,” she shared. “I do love what I do for a living — that’s why I’ve done it for so long. But you can’t love it all the time.”
For Lambert, getting away often means being around her beloved animals and riding horses. “It’s taking moments and also chasing hobbies, and like, doing other forms of art. I need to just sit down. I don’t paint. I’m terrible at it, but I should try. I ride horses and like, I love that, and it’s physical, and it’s good for your mind and spirit. So taking time to do those things is important.”
She also noted that she goes antiquing, saying, “I go to this place called Round Top in Texas twice a year and its just miles and miles — the biggest flea market ever … my friends Junk Gypsy, they’re a lifestyle brand and are the staple of this whole vibe and they have a bed and breakfast called the Wander Inn. We go around in golf carts and drink wine and buy old s–t. It’s heaven.”
Listen to Miranda Lambert chat with Bunnie XO on Dumb Blonde:
Country singer-songwriter Drew Baldridge is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist as his breakthrough single, “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined),” debuts on the latest chart (dated Aug. 24) at No. 93.
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The song enters led by 26.5 million all-format radio audience impressions (up 2%), as well as 565,000 official U.S. streams in the Aug. 9-15 tracking week, according to Luminate.
“She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined)” has had a long journey leading up to its Hot 100 arrival. Baldridge originally self-released the song in 2019, followed by a second mix in 2021 (the “Wedding Version”) and a third in 2023 (“Reimagined”).
The track recently made history on Country Airplay by becoming the first self-released song in the chart’s 34-year history to reach the top five. The only other such song to reach the top 10 is Aaron Watson’s No. 10-peaking “Outta Style” in 2017. “Daughter” holds at its No. 5 high on the latest list.
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The Patoka, Ill., native first appeared on Billboard’s charts in January 2016 with his single “Dance With Ya” (No. 48 peak on Country Airplay). Since then, he’s charted four additional songs at the format: “Rebound” (No. 50, 2017), “Guns & Roses” (No. 51, 2018), “Senior Year” (No. 50, 2020) and “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined).” Plus, his debut studio album, Dirt on Us, released on his former label, Cold River, reached No. 11 on Top Country Albums and No. 111 on the Billboard 200 in July 2016.
In a recent interview with Billboard, Baldridge explained that after recording the original “She’s Somebody’s Daughter,” Cold River didn’t release it as a single because fellow country artist Tenille Townes was already working a similarly titled song, “Somebody’s Daughter,” and the label wanted to avoid confusion. Two years later, after Cold River closed, he recorded a new version for his wedding titled “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Wedding Version)” that quickly went viral on TikTok. That version’s official audio has soundtracked more than 900,000 clips on the platform to date.
Baldridge later recorded a third version, “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined),” at the end of 2022 with the intention of garnering radio play, and formed a promo team for his own Lyric Ridge Records to make it happen. He had some insider radio knowledge from his three years as a weekend jock on KKGO, Los Angeles’ country station. Though he doesn’t program his shifts, “I got to intro my own song and intro out my own song, which is the coolest thing on the planet,” he said. “And with these DJs and [programmers], I have a way to connect with them that I didn’t have four years ago.”
Big Loud artists Morgan Wallen, HARDY and Ernest are set to celebrate Big Loud partner/CEO Seth England, as the T.J. Martell Foundation honors England with the lifetime music industry award during its 49th annual New York Honors Gala.
The event marks the T.J. Martell Foundation’s primary fundraiser of the year and supports the organization’s mission of curing cancer through funding high-risk, high-reward research with the aim of advancing early detection, screening and treatments. The lifetime music industry award honors England’s impact on the music industry, but also his steadfast support for the T.J. Martell Foundation’s mission.
The New York Honors Gala will take place at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Wallen, HARDY and Ernest will lead a writers’ round performance. The evening will also include a fundraising auction, while Archie Davis, Def Jam’s chief creative officer/executive vp (who was honored with the New York Honors Gala rising music superstar award in 2023), is set to announce an initiative that will continue to raise awareness of early screening and testing.
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“We are thrilled to be honoring our distinguished music industry colleague and dear friend Seth England with this year’s Lifetime Music Industry Award to commemorate his deep commitment to the foundation,” said Steve Gawley, REPUBLIC Corps. executive vp of business & legal affairs and business development and chairman-elect of the Board of Trustees, T.J. Martell Foundation, via a statement. “We are proud to shine a spotlight on Seth’s dedicated efforts towards our cancer research as well as his pioneering work in the music world, and look forward to celebrating Seth and his achievements with an exhilarating night of music!”
England is the 2024 Billboard Country Power Players executive of the year, and the inaugural recipient of Billboard’s Country Power Players choice award, a peer-voted honor given to the country music executive that industry power players feel have made the most impact on the genre in that year.
The Big Loud Records roster of artists includes Wallen, HARDY, Ernest, Charles Wesley Godwin, Lauren Alaina, Larry Fleet, Lily Rose, Ashley Cooke, Lauren Watkins, Kashus Culpepper and more. Meanwhile Big Loud Publishing‘s clients include Cooke, Craig Wiseman, Jacob Durrett, Rocky Block and Rhys Rutherford. Big Loud Management‘s roster includes Ernest, HARDY, Cooke, Jake Worthington and more.
“As a longstanding proud member of the music industry, I am grateful to see the unwavering dedication and generosity that our music peers put forth to help propel this vital cancer research,” said John Esposito, Chairman of Board of Trustees, T.J. Martell Foundation, in a statement. “As we look ahead towards what will be the foundation’s 50th anniversary, this year’s gala is a great reminder of how far we have come as a foundation and how much further we still need to go in the fight against cancer.”
“We are incredibly thankful to the music community for uniting to support the foundation’s critical work in funding cancer research,” said Lynn-Anne Huck, CEO, T.J. Martell Foundation, in a statement. “Witnessing our donors rally around the fight against cancer and uphold the promise made between a father and his son is both beautiful and inspiring.”
The 49th Annual New York Honors Gala co-chair committee is comprised of music industry members including Ben Adelson, Tyler Arnold, Tom Corson, Archie Davis, John Esposito, Clint Higham, Monte Lipman, Avery Lipman, Rakiyah Marshall, Debbie Martell, Joey Moi, Brian O’Connell, Andre Stapleton, Julie Swidler, Greg Thompson, and Craig Wiseman.
Jelly Roll‘s music and relatable persona have made him a favorite of fans and celebrities alike. The four-time Billboard Country Airplay chart-topping artist recently played a show at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, N.Y., and the show not only aired on SiriusXM’s The Highway, but according to People and Variety, it had a star-studded list of attendees that included Jimmy Fallon, John McEnroe, Kelly Bensimon and Jon Hamm.
Jelly Roll’s set included songs such as “Halfway to Hell,” “Wild Ones,” “Son of a Sinner” and “Son of the Dirty South,” which he originally recorded with Brantley Gilbert. At one point, the Antioch, Tennessee native told the audience, “I make real music for real people with real problems,” adding, “I believe music can heal people.”
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In addition to his own tunes, the country star offered covers of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” Green Day’s “Good Riddance” and Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay.”
The co-hosts of the SmartLess podcast — Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes — introduced Jelly Roll.
Arnett said, “Tonight’s performer is an incredible performer. He is a husband, he is a father, he is a philanthropist, he is a Grmamy-nominated artist, he is a CMA Award winner.”
Hayes added, “He’s performed in front of sold-out crowds, setting records at music festivals across the country. We are so excited to have him tonight. He’s about to kick off his tour, The Beautifully Broken Tour, [and is] releasing a new album very soon.”
Jelly Roll’s The Beautifully Broken Tour launches Aug. 27 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Listen to his Hamptons set on SiriusXM’s website.
Twenty-five years ago, singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne was done making her way through Nashville’s Music Row system. She’d released her first album, Sunrise, a country project produced by Bob Montgomery and Billy Sherrill, in 1989. Her sophomore album, Tough All Over, spurred top 30 Country Airplay singles with the title track and “I’ll Lie Myself to Sleep.” Lynne began contributing writing on her fourth and fifth albums, but longed for creative freedom.
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Then, she made the career-shifting decision to move from Nashville to California, crafting her liberating 2000 project I Am Shelby Lynne which perhaps served as her true debut. The album marked her foray from country into soul and R&B, with her commanding vocal and writing perspectives shining through every track. I Am propelled her to win new artist of the year at the 2001 Grammys, and marked her first project to debut on the Billboard 200.
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This year sees the celebration of I Am Shelby Lynne’s silver anniversary, celebrated through the re-release of the project’s vinyl and digital versions. As her decampment from Nashville to California propelled her breakthrough those years ago, Lynne’s return to Music City two years ago has heralded her latest reinvention — as she also releases her ninth studio album, Consequences of the Crown, which arrived Aug. 16 via Monument Records. The album marks her first since 2021’s The Servant.
After living in California for the better part of three decades, Lynne relocated back to Nashville to live closer to her sister, fellow singer-songwriter Allison Moorer, and to her nephew.
“I just wanted to get back to the South after all that time,” Lynne tells Billboard, noting songwriting — not recording — was her primary goal. “My original plan was to scooch into Nashville real quiet and find me some folks to write some songs.”
But Nashville’s creative community ultimately had other plans. Her friend Waylon Payne offered to introduce her back into Nashville’s writing circles. The first person Payne brought over was Ashley Monroe. “We were instantly drawn to each other and actually wrote a couple of songs on the first day,” Lynne recalls.
From there, her community of collaborators kept expanding, with Monroe bringing her Pistol Annies cohorts Angaleena Presley and Miranda Lambert — and soon, Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild was brought into the fold. It was Fairchild who set Consequences of the Crown into motion, first becoming Lynne’s manager and then encouraging her to record the album and landing Lynne a deal with Monument Records.
“She’s just an amazing woman,” Lynne shares. “Karen said, ‘Well, we need a new record from you,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, no. I think that part of my career… I think I’m done. I just want to write songs.’ But she made some calls and Katie McCartney at Monument [Records] said, ‘Let’s make a record.’ So here I am.”
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Lynne began those writing sessions last Spring, with the deal with Monument happening in August. When it came time to record the album, the all-woman creative collective naturally fell together: Lynne, Fairchild, Monroe and engineer Gena Johnson.
“We found ourselves in there together, and we just decided we’d go four ways on this thing,” Lynne says. “We met when the four of us could meet, because we found that we would never work without the four of us together, because it just didn’t feel right. The songs we were writing were good songs. I’d look around my living room and see these amazing, talented people. I felt loved and kind of taken in.”
The album’s pop-fused, yet stripped-back instrumentation, features Lynne not only on vocals, but on bass, acoustic and electric guitar, percussion, and drums. Monroe played a range of instruments including keys, piano, organ and acoustic guitar, while Fairchild contributed percussion and background vocals, with Johnson also handling percussion and programming. Also on the project is Eleonore Denig on strings, while Lynne’s sister Moorer offers background vocals.
Monroe is a co-writer on all but one of the songs on the album, with Fairchild contributing to five of the songs. Other writer credits scattered throughout the project include Payne (“Keep the Light On”) and Presley (“Keep the Light On,” “Over and Over”), as well as Meg McRee, Carter Faith and Jedd Hughes.
In the process, Lynne found a camaraderie and safe space for free-flowing collaboration and emotional excavation. Music led the way in the studio, leaving room for unexpected twists and turns, spoken-word moments, vocal howls and sonic shifts. The new album also nods to the work of I Am Shelby Lynne, as “But I Ain’t” interpolates “Dreamsome” from that seminal album — another mark of that impulsive studio vibe.
“When I’m on the mic and I’m hearing the music, letting things happen, it just kind of fell down because it was so real and we had to keep it,” Lynne says.
The album opens with “Truth We Know,” which Lynne calls “a sketch of words that I had written down right in the middle of my heart breaking.” Songs including “Shattered,” “Consequences” and “Over and Over” offer up the nuanced process of navigating a breakup and the work of healing and moving on.
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“It was a little bit devastating for me, and I was in a sad kind of a way,” Lynne says. “These songs are little chapters of the pain I was going through when I was breaking up with somebody, and I compare it to all of my crappy relationships, but they can fit in through all of the broken hearts that we’ve had.”
The Nashville Lynne has returned to has both changed and stayed the same. It’s notable that in that time, the Nashville country music scene has moved from the height of the “bro country” era dominated by hip-hop-inflected country songs recorded by white males, and the spark of “Tomatogate” that continues to see women artists fighting for a precious few slots on male-dominated mainstream country radio. Currently, traditional-leaning artists including Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson are making waves, while as country audiences take to streaming, Americana and folk-oriented artists such as Zach Bryan, The Red Clay Strays, Tyler Childers and Allison Russell are surging, and Shaboozey’s genre-blending anthem “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is dominating.
“Of course, Nashville’s grown into this huge city, so that’s different,” Lynne says of the changes she’s seen in Music City. “But the good old boy network still runs — it’s just another set of boys. So that exists.
However, Lynne, who is gay, also acknowledges that Nashville has changed in other important ways: “How can I put it? Queers have come in and we just f—king run everything. And so, Nashville has had to embrace all of the changes — and look at this eclectic group of people we have, like Allison Russell, Fancy Haygood… people that are saying, ‘I’m doing this.’
“I’m proud of musicians just taking over and saying, ‘F—k you. This is who I am. I’m country. Kiss my a–,’” she continues. “I don’t think genre really matters anymore, because everybody’s doing exactly whatever in the hell they want to do, musically. I love the variety, and the mixed bag of what country music truly is — I don’t listen to mainstream music much, but I guess they’re Americana artists.”
Consequences also serves as a potent reminder of Lynne’s own trailblazing, genre-blending ways, as she melded different styles long before it was the “in” thing to do — though she’s quick to recognize that fearless spirit in others, such as Beyoncé. Lynne is a fan of Beyoncé’s country-influenced Cowboy Carter, a project she calls “well done and brilliant. I couldn’t wait until it came out because I love her and I said, ‘This is not just a country album, but it’s an album for the country.’ It’s an uplifting, creative experience.”
Ahead, Lynne has select shows, including what is sure to be a homecoming of sorts at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 26. But for now, she’s celebrating the creative community that has formed around her, as she’s open to exploration on her next ventures.
“I’m still kind of blown away that everything happened the way it did, because it’s just proof that you don’t need to plan everything — just get out of the way,” she says.
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This time of year, Tony Brown is frequently reminded of his work with Elvis Presley.
On Aug. 16, 1977, he was at the Nashville Airport with several other Presley band members waiting for a plane that would take them to Portland, Maine, for a show. Instead, Colonel Tom Parker sent word that the tour was off and they should go home. In his car, Brown heard on the radio that Presley had died. If the DJ had teed up Presley’s then-current “Way Down,” Brown would have heard himself playing piano even as his world tipped over.
“My first thought was, ‘Now what am I going to do, man?’ ” Brown recalls. “ ‘I already spent the money I was going to make on that tour.’ ”
Brown’s doubts about his future were understandable, though with hindsight, they were temporary. He got a job in the RCA A&R department, and in a few short years, Brown led the MCA A&R department, where he became one of country’s leading creative figures, pushing the genre’s edge through his 1980s work with Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith. He would also play a significant role in shaping ’90s country — still very much in vogue in 2024 — through his productions of Vince Gill, Wynonna, Reba McEntire and George Strait.
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The Academy of Country Music will recognize Brown’s influence on the format’s direction on Aug. 21, as he receives the ACM Icon Award during the ACM Honors at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. During the event, to be hosted by Carly Pearce and Jordan Davis, trophies will also be bestowed upon the likes of Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, Trisha Yearwood and Alan Jackson.
“Getting this award just sort of gives me, I don’t know, credibility in my mind that I’m not an old-timer,” Brown confesses.
He is, to be certain, in a different part of his career. Working at a label, particularly before laptop technologies and the internet became dominant, provided an opportunity to be at the hub of the creative activity, and it fed the extroverted part of his personality.
“Everybody would come to your office to play songs, and even the artists would come to your office to listen to songs together,” he says. “Now you need to call them up and say, ‘Do you want me to come to your place to listen to songs? Are you going to come to my place?’ And they go, ‘Just send them to me.’ It’s a whole different dynamic, and I’m not used to that. I’m a face-to-face kind of guy.”
The North Carolina-bred keyboard player grew up in a gospel environment — his evangelist father forbade him from listening to secular music. Studying with a piano teacher in Louisiana one summer as a teenager, he got introduced to country — particularly through Ray Charles’ Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music — and pursued that direction professionally. He played piano with Presley, The Oak Ridge Boys, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell’s Cherry Bombs, and ultimately landed on Music Row, where his gospel background applied nicely. Gospel is a format defined by the words more than the sound, and Brown was keenly focused on lyrics as he signed singer-songwriters and picked material for his production clients. He frequently demanded song pluggers supply lyric sheets when they pitched material.
“I love the melodies,” he says, “but I really follow the lyric.”
Brown’s impressive rèsumè includes, just for starters, Crowell’s Diamonds & Dirt, Stapleton’s “What Are You Listening To?,” Wynonna’s “No One Else on Earth,” Yearwood’s “How Do I Live,” Gill’s “I Still Believe in You,” Strait’s “Blue Clear Sky,” David Lee Murphy’s“Dust on the Bottle,” Chely Wright’s“Single White Female,” Gary Allan’s“Smoke Rings in the Dark,” Steve Wariner’s“The Weekend,” Sara Evans’“A Little Bit Stronger” and Brooks & Dunn’s “Believe,” which infused Brown’s gospel history in both its sound and its lyric.
“I still cry, man,” Brown says of the recording. “It just makes me cry.”
But McEntire’s “Fancy,” he suggests, is probably the most famous of his productions. More than 30 years after its debut, its swampy tone — enhanced by Steve Gibson’sslide guitar — still feels current.
“Just before he walked out of the studio, he said, ‘Hey, let me put some slide Mac Gayden kind of thing on there,’ ” Brown notes. “It was kind of like an afterthought overdub. He put it on there, and it gives it that snaky kind of Deep South, snake-oil thing.”
Brown survived a horrific ordeal in April 2003, suffering a head injury when he slipped at a Santa Monica, Calif., restaurant. His mother died while he was hospitalized, and it left him with plenty to process as he began appearing in public again roughly two months later. He eventually discovered he was mired in depression.
“Depression is a strange thing — it’s hard to know you got it,” he says. “I didn’t realize it until I went to a therapist, and he figured it out. It’s nice to get out of it.”
Working in a freelance capacity, Brown admittedly doesn’t produce as many albums as he did at the height of his career, though he’s hardly finished. He oversaw a diverse-sounding 2023 album, Gaither Tribute: Award-Winning Artists Honor the Songs of Bill & Gloria Gaither, featuring Ronnie Dunn, Josh Turner, CeCe Winans and Jamey Johnson, among others. Brown also co-produced several of the tracks on Strait’s Cowboys and Dreamers, due Sept. 6, and he’s producing a portion of McEntire’s next project.
The ACM Icon Award is a welcome confirmation amid that renewed activity. The fear he had when the Presley gig came to a tragic halt isn’t much different from the uncertainties he still feels about his future as an independent contractor. When he was producing 13 albums a year, he took the work for granted. Now he has enough time between commitments to savor just how fortunate he has been — and to know he’s not ready to stop.
“I am totally pumped that this [award] popped up right now,” he says. “It’s a big deal.”
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This week, Post Malone made his much-heralded country music debut with his collaborations-packed album F-1 Trillion–and then surprised fans with the release of F-1 Trillion: Long Bed, with an additional nine songs. Elsewhere, Brantley Gilbert teams with Justin Moore for a new track, while bluegrasser Bella White covers an Emmylou Harris classic.
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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.
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Post Malone, F-1 Trillion: Long Bed
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Post Malone’s country era officially arrived in full bloom on Friday (Aug. 16) via his new album F-1 Trillion. While his foray into the genre came with the help of one of the format’s biggest artists, Morgan Wallen, on “I Had Some Help,” the full F-1 Trillion project displays Post Malone’s undeniably deep-seated love for the genre, with an array of collaborations with Luke Combs, Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Ernest, Hank Jr. and other genre stalwarts. Each of those collabs feels crafted toward the featured artist’s strengths (in the case of McGraw’s collab, it even ties in titles of some of McGraw’s lengthy list of hits). However, Post Malone also proves he can do country just fine without any star-studded collabs, such as on the tender ode to his daughter, “Yours.”
Later in the weekend he also surprised fans with nine additional, solo-recorded songs for the Long Bed edition, and in the process, offered up a slate of some of the overall album’s strongest, and delightfully country, material. This “no skips” string of songs includes the Western swing romps of “Who Needs You” and “Back to Texas” and flirty ’90s country of “Hey Mercedes.” “Two Hearts” looks at the reverberations that heartbreak has on an entire family, while he makes the case for a post-breakup, passion-filled reunion on “Ain’t How It Ends,” but acknowledges that “Hank and Johnny, Strait and Ronnie Dunn made all the rules.” Meanwhile, the somber “Killed a Man” is a clear-eyed look at viciously and suddenly putting his various vices behind him.
The extended version of F-1 Trillion cements Post Malone as an artist with a full-fledged sense of his musical vision and contributions to the genre — while the fiddle, steel guitar and ’90s country twang that fill this album suits this Texas native with aplomb.
Brantley Gilbert feat. Justin Moore, “Dirty Money”
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Georgia native Gilbert and Arkansas native Moore team up for this pride-fueled celebration of those who earn their “dirty money” straight from the ground, providing food for communities through raising and harvesting crops. Written by Gilbert with Josh Phillips, this track revs up with all the gritty churn of a combine, as a bed of industrial-scale, frothy guitars, sharp percussion and thudding bass carry the two artists’ intertwined, destinctive drawls.
“Dirty Money” serves as the opening song to Gilbert’s upcoming album, Tattoos, out Sept. 13.
Morgan Wade feat. Kesha, “Walked on Water”
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On her new album Obsessed, Wade offers her most detailed and unvarnished storytelling to date, particularly on her new song with veteran pop hitmaker Kesha. “Walked on Water” is a post-breakup realization of one’s own faults and delusions that led to the relational dissolution. “People like me/ We don’t do well at sea/ ‘Cause I thought I walked on water,” Wade sings, as her oil-and-sandpaper voice weaving together with Kesha’s on this tender piano ballad, a solo write from Wade.
Bella White, “Luxury Liner”
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Canadian-born White issued her debut album, Just Like Leaving, four years ago and since then has proven to be a prolific and essential new voice, thanks to songs including “Not to Blame.” Here, White covers the Gram Parsons-written, Emmylou Harris-recorded “Luxury Liner,” which was the title track to Harris 1976 album. White’s version retains the song’s frenetic instrumental urgency, particularly with razor-sharp fiddle and a steady percussion, while White’s voice interjects a hazy, twangy purity.
“Luxury Liner” is from White’s new five-song covers EP Fire for Silver, which also includes covers of Lucinda Williams’ “Concrete and Barbed Wire,” and Jeff Tweedy’s “Nobody Dies Anymore.”
Muscadine Bloodline, “Good in This World”
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Since forming their duo in 2016, Muscadine Bloodline’s Charlie Muncaster and Gary Stanton have forged a reputation as two of country music’s liveliest entertainers, and a duo deadset on creating their career on their own terms, outside of the major label system. On their latest album, The Coastal Plain, released, Aug. 16 on Stancaster via Thirty Tigers, they further elevate their songcraft, particularly on the meticulously detailed album closer, “Good in this World.” The song hinges on the tale of a young man’s chance meeting with a Vietnam veteran at a gas station, as the veteran tells of relishing in (and intentionally making) many of his life’s simplest but best moments, from listening to “Brown Eyed Girl” to buying his loved one pearls. The conversation is a perspective-shifting one, leading the younger gentleman to make the most of his own moments, both present and future.
Keith Urban gave just a few hours’ notice before performing a free concert Friday night (Aug. 16) in the parking lot of a large convenience store and gas station in north Alabama. Hundreds of people turned out for the show in Athens, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Nashville. It was outside a Buc-ee’s, a […]
Taylor Swift is praising Post Malone following his new album release.
The 34-year-old pop superstar took to her Instagram Story on Saturday (Aug. 17) to gush over the “Sunflower” singer’s country debut, F-1 Trillion, which dropped on Friday.
“Was lucky enough to hear this amazing music on set of the ‘fortnight’ video when Austin played it for me,” Swift captioned an image of herself on set with Malone, 29. She added, “It’s incredible how versatile his artistry is. And just the most down to earth guy alive.”
The “Anti-Hero” hitmaker’s post also included a link to stream F-1 Trillion.
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Malone has spent months in Nashville, writing and collaborating with Music City’s top country artists and songwriters in crafting the new set. He teamed with Morgan Wallen for the six-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “I Had Some Help,” and his collaboration with Blake Shelton, “Pour Me a Drink,” is at No. 14 on the Country Airplay chart.
F-1 Trillion also features collaborations with Luke Combs, Dolly Parton, Jelly Roll, Tim McGraw, Ernest, Hank Williams Jr., Lainey Wilson, Brad Paisley, Sierra Ferrell, HARDY and Chris Stapleton.
Earlier this year, Swift teamed up with Malone on “Fortnight,” the lead single from her 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department. The track spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May.
Malone also joined Swift for the trippy music video of “Fortnight.” The visual features Post’s tattoos on Taylor’s face as she appears to wipe her face clean, only to reveal a face full of ink instead. In a series of flashback scenes, both of the musicians are fresh-faced, as Swift runs into the arms of a tattoo-free Malone.
See Swift’s post about Malone’s F-1 Trillion album on her Instagram Story here.