Country
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Megan Moroney is clearing the air about the longtime rumors that she dated Morgan Wallen. The country star is the latest guest on the Call Her Daddy podcast, where host Alex Cooper directly asked her if she dated the “Last Night” singer. “Never exclusively,” Moroney replied. “I have tried to avoid that in every single […]
The standard chord in a country song has three notes, but the members of Little Big Town approach their material with four voices.
The incongruity is a source of tension — good tension, to misquote John Lewis — that adds up to 25 years. The group gave its first public performance at the Grand Ole Opry in May 1999, sang the national anthem a day later before an Oscar de la Hoya boxing match in Las Vegas and received its first concert payday — a $2,000 check after opening for Dwight Yoakam — four weeks after that.
As Little Big Town celebrates its 25th anniversary with the Aug. 9 release of Greatest Hits, all four of the group’s original voices — Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild and Phillip Sweet — remain in the lineup, in a show of unity that defies the norm.
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“I think back to when we started and the people that were in town — a lot of those people are [still] here, but then there’s a lot of people that aren’t,” Westbrook reflects. “We know how hard it is to last this long in this. But then for a group of four individuals to stay together without any switch-out of personnel within the four of us — yeah, we know how hard that is. And we’re so grateful.”
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Little Big Town marks its silver anniversary with several notable undertakings. The band’s Greatest Hits collection will include three new collaborations: Sugarland joins the group on a cover of Phil Collins’ “Take Me Home,” Kelsea Ballerini assists on a reworking of the 2010 LBT track “Shut Up Train,” and Miranda Lambert updates the band’s 2010 single “Little White Church.” “She came in the studio and just smoked it,” Sweet says of Lambert’s performance.
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Later in this anniversary year, LBT embarks on a Take Me Home Tour of 18 arenas with Sugarland, and NBC will present a two-hour holiday special, Little Big Town’s Christmas at the Opry, with a slate of unnamed guests.
Plenty has changed during LBT’s 25-year run. The members have been with three different labels; Westbrook and Fairchild married seven years into the band’s existence; Schlapman lost her first husband to a heart attack; and the addition of kids into the LBT mix created additional dynamics to navigate.
No matter how the tides of fortune have turned or their personal relationships have changed, the quartet has stayed committed to the group. They’ve done some work outside LBT, but none of them has released a band-challenging solo album.
“I think we find real joy in creating together,” Sweet says. “There’s something about that that heals — it brings things in that we couldn’t have done if we were all independent solo [artists]. I mean, harmony — cheesy as a word as that can be — it is a true thing. We found harmony within ourselves, and then when our voices sing together, we feel that joy, we feel that harmony, we feel something bigger than ourselves.”
The 25th anniversary and Greatest Hits point in tandem to what makes Little Big Town’s brand bigger than the average career. The bulk of the songs on Greatest Hits — including 2005’s “Boondocks,” 2012’s “Pontoon” and 2014’s “Girl Crush” — feel more recent than they really are. LBT’s Taylor Swift-written “Better Man” topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 2017, seven years ago. It’s the last top 10 single the group has had, though other, more recent songs — including 2020’s RIAA-certified double-platinum party track “Wine, Beer, Whiskey” and 2019’s female-empowerment statement “The Daughters” — have made their biggest impact by widening the group’s creative turf.
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This year’s Sugarland dates are a reminder of how Little Big Town connects even when country’s most traditional means of exposure, broadcast radio, isn’t particularly receptive. Those two acts teamed with Jake Owen for a 2007 cover of “Life in a Northern Town,” a choice that seemed quizzical at the time: a melancholy post-new wave pop song that contrasted with the heartland rockers that were most often used as country covers during that era. “Life in a Northern Town” didn’t chart, but it earned a Grammy nomination and became a cult favorite among the LBT fan base. It also strengthened the group’s creative convictions.
“It definitely shaped the way we approach making music — following our own creative inspiration rather than trying to chase radio, because that wasn’t always available for us,” Westbrook says. “I feel like we’ve probably always been that band that people gave us opportunities when we would stretch ourselves. So I think a lot of the biggest songs that we’ve had were moments that weren’t necessarily what people would call chasing a trend. It was us just kind of following our creative inspiration.”
That inspiration plays out unlike any other act in the format, in great part because LBT crams four voices into those three-note chords. In some of the act’s most effective pieces — “When Someone Stops Loving You,” “Silver and Gold,” “Leavin’ in Your Eyes,” “Tumble and Fall” — there are moments when the extra voice wedges itself in on a note that makes the harmonies thick and unstable with a slight sting of dissonance. Even if those songs don’t land among the band’s greatest hits, they fill out the members’ creative palette and put them in a distinct sonic country space.
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“There’s tones between the tones,” Sweet explains. “There’s beautiful things that happen when we create together that I can’t explain. There’s vibrations and overtones and things that happen. You can’t explain it; you just have to feel them. [If] it goes to No. 58 on the charts, who cares? We loved it.”
Those songs, it can be argued, are — alongside the still-necessary hits — the key to the group’s longevity, keeping the fan base interested in Little Big Town’s work even as they keep the members interested in staying together.
“We’re still out here, fighting and loving every minute of it,” Westbrook says. “And I’m grateful that after 25 years that it’s still happening.”
After months of slowly revealing songs from his upcoming debut country album, F-1 Trillion, Post Malone has dropped the full 18-song slate of songs that will be included on the upcoming album, out Aug. 16. The titles and features were first officially revealed in a full-page ad in The Tennessean. Post then shared a photo […]
Carrie Underwood has teamed with rock band Papa Roach to help shine a light on mental health awareness and suicide prevention. The Academy of Country Music entertainer of the year winner and the Grammy-nominated band will release a new version of Papa Roach’s song “Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark)” on Friday, Aug. 2.
“We were humbled that Carrie was open to our mission, and hearing the power of Carrie’s voice in that recording session we were blown away,” Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix said in a statement. “Not only is her vocal ability unequaled, but the impact of her voice brings a new meaning to our cause and will help people all over the globe. It’s an honor to have a ‘Rock Star’ bring life to this track with us.”
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“I’m such a huge fan of Jacoby and Papa Roach and was honored to be invited to record ‘Leave a Light On’ with them,” Underwood added. “It’s a beautiful song and the message behind it and the band’s mission to shine a light on suicide prevention and mental health awareness has never been more important.”
The song was recorded in Nashville, and both artists’ royalties generated from the track will aid the organization American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). The release also raises awareness for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United State and Canada.
Papa Roach first performed “Leave a Light On” in concert last year with Shinedown and Spiritbox, and in each city, the song was preceded by a video PSA delivered by Shaddix, who also pledged to donate to the AFSP on behalf of each city’s attendees, which led to a $155,000 donation at the tour’s conclusion.
To further propel support for the AFSP, the band renamed the song “Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark),” to correspond with the AFSP’s “Talk Away the Dark” campaign. The song spent three weeks atop Billboard‘s Rock Airplay chart in February, and reached No. 11 on the Alternative Airplay chart. To date, the band’s efforts have raised more than $250,000 for the AFSP.
“Papa Roach’s ‘Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark)’ has tapped into a cultural moment in which people are eager and ready for the message the song contains: that we all go through difficult times and that we can all be there for each other,” said American Foundation for Suicide Prevention CEO Bob Gebbia. “We want to thank Carrie Underwood for joining with Papa Roach to record this new, inspiring duet version, which will reach even more fans and connect them to AFSP’s Talk Away the Dark campaign. We are also incredibly grateful to Papa Roach and Carrie Underwood for their commitment to providing those struggling with their mental health information and resources that can help. These amazing artists are educating the public about the importance of taking care of our mental health, and they are generously supporting AFSP’s mission of saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide.”
Throughout her career, Underwood has regularly dabbled in the rock arena, including covers of songs including Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “Paradise City,” Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart.” She also teamed with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler during the 2011 ACM Awards to perform a mashup of her own “Undo It” and Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”
If you or anyone you know is in crisis, call 988 or visit the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s website for free, confidential emotional support and resources 24/7.
If you were born Austin Richard Post and you heard a song called “Austin” by one of your mom’s favorite country singers, and she said it was about you, chances are you’d believe her. At least that’s what Post Malone told Blake Shelton.
Speaking to American Songwriter, Shelton said that when the men were working on their new joint single “Pour Me a Drink” from Posty’s upcoming star-packed debut country album, F-1 Trillion, Malone told him that he thought Blake’s 2001 debut single was written in his honor.
“Post’s real name is Austin, and he told me that when he was a kid, his mom told him that that song was written about him,” Shelton said of the 29-year-old rapper-turned-country crooner who would have been a first grader when Blake released his self-titled debut album. “That’s what he told me, and he said he believed it. His mom was, I guess, the country music fan in the family, and his dad was the rock guy. So, I guess that’s how Post Malone was created.”
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In the chorus of the twangy ballad about a lost love who moves to the Texas town, Shelton sings in the voice of his former girlfriend, crooning, “And by the way, boy, this is no machine your talkin’ to/ Can’t you tell, this is Austin, and I still love you.”
Malone and Shelton seem like they’re having a blast on “Pour Me a Drink,” a party tune about tipping one (or four) up with your pals and forgetting about your mistakes. “Guess I really went and messed it up again Now, my baby’s goner than the Tulsa wind/ Judgin’ by the stone-sober state I’m in/ Need to crack one wide open,” Shelton sings, with Malone adding on the chorus: “Somebody pour me a drink, somebody bum me a smoke/ I’m ’bout to get on a buzz, I’m ’bout to get on a roll.”
Shelton said he had a great time recording the song with Texas-bred Malone and now that they’ve hung out he can understand why his new pal is such a mega-selling/streaming artist. “I didn’t because at the end of the day, I just, for whatever reason, he asked me to do it—I’m proud,” Shelton said. “I’m proud of that record. I’m proud to have worked with him. I think he’s an incredibly talented guy. Now that I’ve spent some time with him, it’s no mystery to me that he’s as huge as he is as an artist and successful as he is because he’s just somebody that you just love being around. He’s just so much fun.”
Malone’s F-1 Trillion (August 16) is slated to feature a number of other A-list collaborations, including songs with Dolly Parton (“Have the Heart”), Morgan Wallen (Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “I Had Some Help”), Tim McGraw (“Wrong Ones”), Brad Paisley (“Goes Without Saying”), Lainey Wilson (“Nosedive”), ERNEST (“Devil I’ve Been”), Chris Stapleton (“California Sober”) and Billy Strings (“M-E-X-I-C-O”), as well as Hank Williams Jr., Luke Combs, Jelly Roll and Sierra Ferrell.
The singer recently previewed some of the songs at his Bud Light “A Night in Nashville” show at Music City’s Marathon Music Works, where he played his collaboration with HARDY (“Hide My Gun”) and with Ferrell (“Never Love Again”), as well as the previously-released “Pour Me a Drink” alongside Shelton.
Eric Church, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Tyler Hubbard, Jamey Johnson, Ashley McBryde, Darius Rucker and Keith Urban are the first performers announced for the 2024 ACM Awards, which will be presented on Wednesday, Aug. 21 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
Carly Pearce and Jordan Davis are set to host the event, which will pay tribute to this year’s previously-announced honorees Walt Aldridge, Tony Brown, Luke Bryan, Alan Jackson, Shannon Sanders, Lainey Wilson and Trisha Yearwood.
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Pearce is hosting for the fourth straight year. Davis is the reigning ACM song of the year winner, having won at the May 16 show for co-writing “Next Thing You Know” with Josh Osborne, Chase McGill and Greylan James.
Brown has worked closely with both Harris, for whom he played piano, and Gill, for whom he produced many recordings, including one that won an ACM Award – “Building Bridges,” a 2006 collab with Sheryl Crow which was voted vocal event of the year.
In addition to performing on the show, Hubbard will present the ACM studio recording and industry awards portion of ACM Honors, which is in its 17th year.
Additionally, previously announced artist-songwriter of the year winner Chris Stapleton and songwriter of the year Jessie Jo Dillon will be feted at ACM Honors.
Limited tickets for ACM Honors are available through AXS, including VIP packages which include a ticket in the VIP artist section of the Ryman (first seven rows), a ticket to the VIP pre-party reception, a commemorative Hatch Show Print poster, parking, and drink tickets.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Gwen Stefani’s 15-year-old son, Zuma, recently made his country music debut at his stepdad Blake Shelton’s Ole Red Tishomingo bar and live music venue in Oklahoma, where he took the stage to perform a guitar-led rendition of Zach Bryan’s hit song, “Revival.” The teen also looked the […]
K-pop has been gathering commercial momentum in the U.S. over a decade, and this week it achieves a historic milestone on the Billboard 200. As Billboard reported on Sunday, this current chart (dated Aug. 3) marks the first time that the top two spots are both held by K-pop (Korean pop) albums. Stray Kids’ ATE debuts […]
Jelly Roll has added several new titles to his resume over the past few years, among them Billboard chart-topper, Grammy nominee, CMA Award winner and concert headliner. But earlier this week, he added a new role: Jelly Roll cut the ribbon on the Jelly Roll Music Studio at Genesee County Jail in Flint, Mich., and […]
The late Toby Keith will be posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year, but on Monday night (July 29) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, nearly two dozen of the Oklahoma native’s fellow country artists offered a stirring, life-celebrating party that was equal parts rowdy, tender and patriotic — as was Keith’s own slate of hits. The Keith-honoring event took place for the taping of the two-hour NBC concert special Toby Keith: American Icon, which will air August 28 from 9 p.m. – 11 p.m. ET/PT.
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A cavalcade of his fellow country artists, including Eric Church, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Darius Rucker, Luke Bryan, Priscilla Block and Keith’s fellow Sooner State native Carrie Underwood, gathered to honor the multi-faceted entertainer’s career and towering legacy as a songwriter, singer, leader, performer, businessman, steadfast military supporter and philanthropist.
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Keith died in February at age 62 following a battle with stomach cancer. Keith worked in the oil fields before starting his Easy Money Band and playing bars around Oklahoma and Texas. After he moved to Nashville and landed a label deal in 1993 while in his 30s, he forged a three decade-plus career, becoming one of country music’s most successful artists — and ultimately doing so on his own terms, by recording his own songs, constructions that also made the most of his outsized persona.
He was known for his burly baritone, for writing or co-writing the bulk of his hits and for being as adept at crafting a heart-tugging ballad as he was at employing the clever wordplay that filled many of his up-tempo hits such as “I Love This Bar” and “As Good As I Once Was.” He amassed 20 Billboard Country Airplay hits, sold 44 million albums and earned 10 billion streams. He was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
Underwood opened the show with Keith’s 1994 hit “A Little Less Talk (And a Lot More Action).”
“We are all here for one reason — this man, the big dog daddy. His music, his heart, his life. Everyone on this stage loves Toby. Tonight, we are going to have a party he’d be proud of,” Underwood declared.
And from there, those packing the Bridgestone Arena indeed proceeded to party, with the stage packed with revelers as well as the audience. A giant bar was set up in one corner of the stage, while the other — topped with an American flag set piece — gave several military members some of the best seats in the house.
Church recalled how Toby Keith invited him to play some shows with him, at a time when Church’s career was still in its early stages. “There is no way I’m standing here today without Toby Keith,” Church said, before performing Keith’s “As Good As I Once Was.” He added, “We help each other out, that’s what country music does.”
Wilson knew how to make an entrance, riding a horse through the Bridgestone crowd to the main stage before joining Jamey Johnson to sing “Beer For My Horses,” a 2003 hit for Keith and Willie Nelson.
Meanwhile, Rucker offered a full-throated, joyous rendition of “God Love Her,” recalling the support he received from Keith when Rucker prepared to release his first country project back in 2008. “He was one of the first people to reach out and let me know how welcome I am,” Rucker said.
Keith’s catalog was filled with up-tempo party songs, but especially early in his career, he was known for ballads, both heartbreaking and heart-tugging entries. Performing his 1994 hit “Wish I Didn’t Know Now,” Ashley McBryde said, “Anything he sang you believed it because he only wrote what he believed.”
Interspersed between performances were video tributes from his fellow country artists Nelson, Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire and George Strait, as well as other celebrities Keith had developed close ties with, including comedian Carrot Top and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert.
“There will never be another Toby Keith,” Shelton said in one video clip.
Elsewhere during the evening, Jordan Davis performed “I Love This Bar,” with help from Clay Walker, while Riley Green teamed with Ella Langley for “Who’s Your Daddy.” Luke Bryan donned a cowboy hat that had been given to him by his sister (who later passed away in 2007) as he performed Keith’s debut hit, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” Tyler Hubbard was joined by songwriters Warren Brothers and Jim and Brett Beavers, as well as Davis and Jelly Roll, elevating the party atmosphere and trading lines on the rap-tinged anthem “Red Solo Cup” (one of the rare Keith hits that Keith wasn’t a writer on), while HARDY and Brantley Gilbert teamed for the defiant, blistering “How Do You Like Me Now?”
Alongside his work as a musician, Keith’s support for the military was a cause close to his heart. Over the years, he did 16 USO Tours, visiting 18 countries and performing for an estimated 250,000 troops. A military band marched onstage during the concert to honor Keith, while chants of “U.S.A.” rose from the audience. During the tribute concert, Trace Adkins performed Keith’s heartfelt ballad “American Soldier,” and told the crowd, “Never apologize for being patriotic,” which drew another round of “U.S.A.” chants.
The evening also highlighted Keith’s work in supporting children battling cancer, through his OK Kids Korral, which started in 2014 and provides a cost-free place for families of pediatric cancer patients to stay while patients are receiving treatment at the Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center. The Bridgestone Arena concert aided the OK Kids Korral, as well as Nashville’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Furthermore, the evening also made it clear that Keith’s first priority was his family, including his wife Tricia, his son Stelen and his daughters Krystal and Shelley, all of whom were in attendance that evening.
Jelly Roll dedicated his performance of Keith’s “My List” to the late singer’s family, singing the tender song as photos of Keith with his family were displayed on the screen. Jelly Roll noted, “Toby inspired me to be a better American human and songwriter and inspired me to be a better father.”
Keith’s daughter Shelley took the stage to offer words of tribute to her father, saying, “My dad knew your worth isn’t measured by what you have, but by what you give,” before Krystal performed Keith’s “Don’t Let the Old Man In,” which Toby had performed in 2023 at the inaugural People’s Choice Awards.
Later on, one of the highlights of the evening was provided by Keith himself, as footage played of him in his final recording session, laying down vocals on a version of the late Joe Diffie’s “Ships that Don’t Come In,” which Keith recorded as part of HARDY’s Hixtape to honor Diffie.
“What an amazing tip of the hat and such a patriotic person and to see such a song sung so gracefully with so much feeling and with so much meaning, I’m just so thankful to be such a small part of such a cool moment,” HARDY noted.
The evening concluded as Texas native and “Pretty Heart” hitmaker Parker McCollum took center stage.
McCollum called Keith “one of the greatest country music singer-songwriters to ever live,” before welcoming the top-shelf lineup of artists back to the stage for an all-sing of another of Keith’s signature songs, the defiant hit that captured the fury many felt following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).”