genre country
Page: 40
Even as a child, singer-songwriter Caylee Hammack realized the power of storytelling. She grew up immersed in stories — whether from the adventures embedded in the songs of musical influences such as Dolly Parton and Kate Bush, or in the pages of Harlequin romance novels she read as a teen.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“I remember in elementary school, I would charge my friends a dollar to tell [them] scary stories or mysteries,” she recalls to Billboard. “It got to the point where I was like, ‘I could build a business from this.’”
The Ellaville, Georgia native first tried to write her own book at age 13 and made another attempt a few years later, ultimately letting that hope go — or so she thought.
Trending on Billboard
“I just told myself, ‘This is never going to be something you can do,’” she says. “And I hate that little voice — that I actually listened to it — but I put that dream away.”
Instead, she made an impact relating her stories through song: releasing her debut country album If It Wasn’t For You in 2020, collaborating with Chris Stapleton on “Small-Town Hypocrite,” recording with Miranda Lambert as part of the ACM Award-winning musical event of the year “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” and picking up a pair of nominations for the ACM’s new female artist of the year.
But on her latest Capitol Nashville project, Bed of Roses, out today (March 7), Hammack fulfills that childhood dream.
Bed of Roses comes with a companion, a 240-page romance novel. Each book chapter corresponds to a song on the album, such as “No I Ain’t,” “The Pot & The Kettle” and “Bread & Butter.”
Sam, the protagonist in the book Bed of Roses, finds herself stuck in rural Homestead, Texas, after her vintage car breaks down. There she meets Jack, the owner of the only mechanic shop in Homestead. His grandmother offers Sam a place to stay in exchange for help in her flower shop. Sam agrees in a decision that opens her eyes to all the charms of the small town.
“What I wanted to do was hone in a woman listening to her intuition, listening to her gut, and wise women that have come before her and experienced the same things,” Hammack says. “Finding your own community–whether it’s people you’re related to or people that you’ve met along the way that feel as if they’re related to your soul. I just really wanted a romance novel that had a sturdy, steadfast building of love. I love the bad boy tropes, but I’ve loved him a little too much in real life. For once, I would like to have a story where you want to root for the good guy.”
Hammack co-authored the book with one of her long-time favorite writers, New York Times best-selling author Carolyn Brown, who has written more than 140 romance books, including Ladies Room, The Dove, and her most recent, The Party Line, which Hammack calls a favorite.
“We would work 8-10 hours a day or more, just going back and forth. I was a tennis player growing up and I think of it as the most beautiful, consistent volley of ideas and creative energy,” Hammack recalls.
Hammack says the songs on the album chronicle Sam’s story, but also Hammack’s own journey: “If you listen to the album top to bottom, you get my story, my progression through lessons and experiences in the past 10 years. If you listen to it backwards, from bottom to top, and you read the book, then you get [the book’s protagonist] Sam’s story.”
The album is filled with songs that delve into self-love and knowing one’s limits, such as “No I Ain’t.” “I just kind of wrote it from personal experience,” she says. “I wanted one song that I could sing back to myself, or that someone could sing to themselves, where if you’re not strong enough right now to make the decision to love yourself more, that this can be a mantra to choose what is best for you. ‘I’m putting barbed wire around my boundaries,’ meaning I’m going to protect myself.”
Hammack credits her team at UMG Nashville with setting the dual book-album project into motion, noting that the album’s songs were inspired by consistencies in the romance novel genre as a whole — and those songs then sparked the idea for the book itself.
“I had told my label how I had based different songs [on the album Bed of Roses] off romance novels, and the tropes and dynamics of them. I like when tropes are used well and cleverly, so I look at songs as books — there are certain rises and falls you have to hit. [The label executive] had been meeting with a literary agent. I think he misunderstood because he said that I had an idea for a romance novel. But when I heard that this literary agent wanted to meet with me and talk about this romance novel idea, I automatically started thinking of characters and the whole book just exploded in me.”
The digital version of the book Bed of Roses is available now, while physical copies of the book will be released in June. Hammack says that could be just the first in a series of books ahead.
“I have ideas sketched out for two different books coming off this book. I would love to continue the story of the families and the people related around the Bed of Roses. I love captivating people and taking them to another place, opening their mind a bit. That’s what you get to do with music, too. You get to comfort, you get to awaken people, you get to excite people, but you also get to just be a refuge for people if they’re heartbroken. I hope that’s what this album and book is.”
John Morgan’s “Friends Like That,” featuring Jason Aldean, hits the top 10 of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated March 15), rising two spots to No. 10. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news During the Feb. 28-March 6 tracking week, the single advanced by 6% to 16.8 million audience […]
CMT’s Next Women of Country franchise, launched in 2013, has selected its class of 2025, naming seven burgeoning female country artists to the latest edition.
The Class of 2025 is Alexandra Kay, Dasha, Kaitlin Butts, Kat Luna, Lanie Gardner, Meghan Patrick and MŌRIAH.
CMT’s Next Women of Country franchise started 12 years ago under Leslie Fram, CMT’s former senior vp of music & talent, as a way to highlight developing country artists across CMT and parent company Paramount’s suite of brands.
“CMT provides support for our NWOC artists, their music and videos across CMT, CMT Music, PlutoTV’s CMT Equal Play channels, CMT Hot 20, our CMT Digital franchises (Studio Sessions, Campfire Sessions, On The Road, etc.) our curated playlists on Apple Music, Spotify and beyond,” Donna Duncan, vp of music & talent tells Billboard. “We also provide support and cross-brand promo opportunities across our portfolio of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Network brands with the Times Square Billboard in New York City, promotional and event opportunities.” There have also been branded NWOC tours, but so far there are no plans for a tour this year.
Trending on Billboard
Members of the 2025 class are already benefiting from the corporate synergy. Duncan cites Dasha, who was the first country artist to be named an MTV Push artist in December. “We just coordinated a big premiere rollout for her new video with CMT, MTV and the Times Square billboard,” she says. “We also just booked her to perform at a Paramount ad sales event in Vail. These are the kind of opportunities we look to do across the board where it makes sense for all our artists.”
The official introduction to the new class will come Saturday (March 8) during CMT Hot 20 Countdown, when Lauren Alaina interviews each of the new inductees during the three-hour episode. The segments also include Alaina, who was in the class of 2014, breaking the news to each woman that she is a member of the 2025 class.
“It was special to have it come from someone who has also been in their shoes,” says Duncan. “One of my favorite moments is Lauren talking to Kaitlin Butts about her upcoming tour with Lainey Wilson. She tells her Lainey will take great care of her on the road – and that she herself is only a call away. That moment embodied exactly what NWOC is about – it’s become one big sisterhood and artist support group.”
CMT selects the women through a variety of ways, but the primary focus is always the music, Duncan stresses. Then, “CMT takes a 360, full-picture look at each artist. There is no single stat, streaming benchmark or airplay requirement,” she says. “A variety of factors are considered in our decision making: Artists can be independent, signed to a label, in the industry for a decade or a new breakout sensation. Each class of Next Women are selected for their unique contributions to meeting the moment in country music.”
The seven-member class size is smaller than in past years — last year’s class was 14 — but Duncan says “there’s no one-size-fits-all rule for the number of inductees.”
Despite the cutbacks CMT underwent last fall as part of a Paramount Global restructuring, which included Fram’s departure, Duncan says continuing the NWOC program was never in doubt. “There was never a question CMT would continue the work it’s done for 10+ years in this space,” Duncan says. “Supporting female artists and underrepresented voices in country music remains a top priority for us.”
Including the new class, more than 130 women acts have gone through the NWOC program. Beyond Alaina, alumni include Ashley McBryde, Brandy Clark, Brittney Spencer, Carly Pearce, Ella Langley, Gabby Barrett, Ingrid Andress, Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini, Lainey Wilson, Maren Morris, Megan Moroney and Mickey Guyton.
Dolly Parton‘s songs have always been there to comfort us, bring joy and, occasionally, put certain people in their when they get a bit too cheeky. So it’s perfectly fitting that following the death earlier this week of her husband of 60 years, Carl Thomas Dean, Parton paid tribute to her lifelong partner with a heartbreakingly beautiful musical testament to their endless love.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Carl and I fell in love when I was 18 and he was 23, and like all great love stories, they never end. They live in memory and in song, and I dedicate this to him,” Parton, 79, wrote in an early-morning post on Friday (March 7) announcing the ballad “If You Hadn’t Been There” that featured a sweet throwback pic of the couple in which Parton is smiling and wrapping her arms around Dean’s neck.
Trending on Billboard
Like so many of Parton’s most beloved songs, “If You Hadn’t Been There” tells a complicated story in plain, powerful language in a way that is pure Dolly. “If you hadn’t been there/ Where would I be?/ Without your trust/ Love and belief/ The ups and downs/ We’ve always shared/ And I wouldn’t be here/ If you hadn’t been there,” Parton sings delicately, her voice just a whisper at times over subtle piano and strings.
As a swaying fiddle comes in and the beat picks up, Parton swells into her full voice while paying tribute to the famously attention-shy partner who she says was truly her other half. “If you hadn’t been there/ Well, who would I be?/ You always see the best in me/ You’re loving arms have cradled me/ You held me close, and I believe,” she sings before exploding into the loving chorus: “I wouldn’t be here/ If you hadn’t been there/ Holding my hand/ Showing you care/ You made me dream/ More than I dared/ And I wouldn’t be here/ If you hadn’t been there.”
The instant classic written by Parton and produced by Gregg Perry swells to a crescendo in the final verse, with a gospel chorus backing Parton up as she repeats the song’s title a few more times like a prayer.
The song’s release came shortly after Dolly posted a note about Dean’s death on Monday (March 3) in which she wrote, “This is a love note to family, friends and fans. Thank you for all the messages, cards and flowers that you’ve sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl. I can’t reach out personally to each of you, but just know it has meant the world to me. He is in God’s arms now, and I am okay with that,” before quoting her own 1982 classic hit: “I will always love you.”
Parton met Dean the day she moved to Nashville at age 18 to pursue a career in music and they got married a short time later in in Georgia in 1966, two years after that first run-in at the Wishy Washy Laundromat. Though Dolly would soon climb to the highest highs as a performer, songwriter and global superstar, Dean preferred to stay out of the spotlight and was rarely seen by the public.
Listen to “If You Hadn’t Been There” below.
Ingrid Andress made headlines — and garnered considerable backlash — last summer after her botched performance of the national anthem at the MLB Home Run Derby in Arlington, Texas. Andress swiftly issued an apology on social media, saying, “I’m not gonna bullsh– y’all. I was drunk last night. I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night.”
The “More Hearts Than Mine” hitmaker sought treatment and, more recently, made a comeback, singing the national anthem at a Colorado Avalanche hockey game.
Trending on Billboard
She’s been making the media rounds, and during an appearance on the podcast The Viall Files, Andress opened up about the support she’s received from other artists — and she noted, in particular, how other women country music artists encouraged and championed Andress during her time in rehab.
“That was actually the other really meaningful thing that happened after the anthem. I was expecting no one to reach out,” she said. “But there was just so much outpouring of love from female country artists in Nashville. I actually felt so loved and seen going into rehab.”
She continued, “Elle King was like, ‘This is just all part of it, girl,’ and she’s obviously been there before, too, and you know, Kelsea Ballerini was like, ‘Welcome to the worst parts of this job.’ It was mostly women. Karen Fairchild from Little Big Town, and that really meant a lot to me, because I feel like women in country music have had to stick together based on very obvious things because it’s a very male-dominated genre, but for them to be like, ‘Hey, we’ve all been there,’ it was very meaningful.”
Country music’s female artists weren’t the only artists to reach out with love: Andress recalled how artist-guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana reached out with support.
“Have never spoken to him before in my life, and he asked my management, ‘Hey, can I get Ingrid’s number?’ … He was so kind and so supportive. He was like, ‘If you ever want to do a song, you know where to find me,’ and he sent me flowers.”
Andress continues to cement her return with the recent release of her new song “Footprints.”
“As I’ve gotten older and experienced more life, I think the most human thing on earth is failing. It’s getting kicked off, feeling the sting of it, but getting back on the same d**n horse anyway,” Andress wrote in an Instagram post revealing the song. “The sister, daughter, and human I want to be is resilient. Without the mistakes in my life, I would not be the person I am today, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have the stories to pass on about my journey. We have to talk about our mistakes in order for our success to make sense. ‘Footprints’ is a reminder to all the people I love the most, and also to myself, that I’m out here trying my best at this “life” thing, and if there’s any helpful guidance anyone can take from it, it’s all worth it. Here’s to making it worse, making it right, and making it.”
See the full podcast below:
Morgan Wallen gets personal about his anxieties on an unreleased song titled “I’m a Little Crazy,” a snippet of which the country superstar shared Thursday (March 6) on Instagram. In the short clip, Wallen’s crackling voice soars over resonant finger-picked guitar as he sings about the lengths he goes to in order to feel safe […]
The star-studded lineup for NBC’s upcoming Opry 100: A Live Celebration just keeps expanding, with the network announcing Thursday (March 6) that Post Malone, Keith Urban and a slew of other musicians will be joining the special. In addition to the “I Had Some Help” singer and Australian musician, the three-hour showcase — which will […]
Dolly Parton has spoken out with another statement following the death of her husband of 60 years, Carl Dean. In a message posted to her Instagram Thursday (March 6) — about three days after she first revealed the Nashville businessman’s passing at the age of 82 — the country superstar wrote, “This is a love […]
Though Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan just kicked off their eighth season behind the iconic American Idol judge’s desk, they told Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night (March 5) that newcomer Carrie Underwood is already shaking things up just one week into her tenure.
“She was the number one at the beginning,” Richie said of Underwood, 41, who memorably won the fourth season of the show when she was 21 and said she still has her “14887” contestant sticker from her audition. Asked what it’s like to have an OG Idol on the show, pop icon Richie said their new partner is a “jukebox… she knows every song that the contestants are singing,” joking that Underwood can’t help joining in.
“I go Carrie, ‘they’re competing. It’s not you. You already won,’” Richie joked, as Underwood defended herself by explaining that if a nervous contestant flubs a lyric she is happy to be their human “Teleprompter. I got you. I will help you.”
Trending on Billboard
As for whether contestants still try to “butter up” the panel by covering their songs, Underwood said they’ve all had it happen so far, for good or ill. “They think it’s to compliment us, but some days we’re just praying, ‘Please God, just let them be able to sing it.’ And sometimes they nail it and sometimes it goes south real fast,” Richie admitted.
Replacing fan favorite Katy Perry, Underwood appears to have slipped into the pump-up pal seat with no hiccups. Richie said the country star immediately said yes to the first singer the panel saw, then again for the second one, only to reach a crossroads for singer number three out of nearly 200. “Luke and I were laughing, ‘well, she’s gotta say no,’” Richie recalled. “And she said, ‘well, she’s so cute… she’s so adorable.’ I said, ‘the answer is no!’”
“I care a lot and it’s people’s hopes and dreams,” Underwood said in her defense. “I’m trying to evaluate, ‘is there more in there,’” she added, as Richie flashed some performative exasperation at his co-star’s gentle nature. “There was not any more in that woman’s [inaudible]… it was a firm ‘no,’” Bryan said.
Asked if some of the singers get nervous in front of the superstar panel, Bryan said he’s basically become an amateur psychologist at this point. “I can read a fainter when they’re about to faint… we had one kid and I went behind him and kind of patted him down and he was 157 degrees, his body temperature,” he said.
The trio kicked off their visit with a competitive, trash-dancing showdown in the “Name That Song Challenge,” during which Bryan and Richie faced off against Underwood and Fallon. Racing to guess which instrumental versions of pop songs house band the Roots were playing while adding one instrument at a time, UnderFallon shot out to an early lead when the host quickly guessed Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”
Fallon rubbed in his correct guess with a hip-shaking dance and impromptu duet with Underwood, cheekily asking his rivals, “isn’t this the best game ever?” A not-amused Richie rolled his eyes and shot back sarcastically, “this is so much fun,” with Bryan pointing to the other team and saying, “she’s a jukebox and all you do [Fallon] is listen to music!”
The next one was trickier, with Fallon incorrectly guessing the Commodores’ “Brick House,” as the band’s former singer Richie snagged the obvious answer: the Jackson 5’s “ABC,” which set him and Bryan off on their own touchdown dance routine. They all struggled with the third track, with Fallon finally humming out Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” for the win, then fanning himself theatrically.
After Underwood nailed Huey Lewis & the News’ “Power of Love” to Bryan’s chagrin, Richie rocked back with a correct guess on Heart’s “Barracuda,” setting off a friendly twin air guitar solo with Fallon that lead to a celebratory couple’s waltz for the team that correctly guessed the last song. American Idol airs at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday (March 9) on ABC.
Click below to find out who won the guessing game and to hear Underwood, Bryan and Richie talk about the new season of Idol.
Ingrid Andress is ready to move on from her controversial national anthem performance.
In her first interview since going to rehab after her botched take of the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the 2024 Home Run Derby served as a wakeup call to her issues with alcohol, the country singer-songwriter opened up to Rolling Stone about everything that led up to her “worst moment” — and how she’s grown from it since. “I am sorry you had to witness that horrific rendition of our nation’s anthem,” she began in a piece published Thursday (March 6) .
“Whoever that was is not an accurate representation of who I am at all,” she continued. “You got to see me in my worst moment, so now, everything from here will be great.”
Andress went on to explain that, by the time she stepped onto the field in Arlington, Texas, last July, she’d already been accustomed to drinking before gigs to numb unresolved feelings about her career and a certain breakup — and that day was no exception. Up until then, however, she’d “never let it get in the way of my performance,” she told the publication. “I liked the numbness … That’s part of how it got out of control.”
Trending on Billboard
This time around, the “More Hearts Than Mine” singer said she was too “blacked out” to hear the anthem’s starting pitch in her in-ear monitors, which contributed to the pitchiness and questionable melodic choices viewers witnessed that day. “If you don’t start on the note that it gives you, you’re screwed,” she explained. “It was my voice fighting with the tuner, which is a losing battle.”
Andress didn’t immediately realize how badly the performance went, but the online vitriol that followed quickly opened her eyes to how serious the issue was. She quickly drafted a statement at her team’s suggestion — “I’m not gonna bulls–t y’all, I was drunk last night … That was not me last night,” she wrote — and was on a plane to a rehab facility outside of her home state of Tennessee mere hours later.
“I didn’t run that statement by anybody,” she said in the interview, adding that she received messages of support from fellow women country artists such as Elle King, Kelsea Ballerini and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild in the aftermath. “I needed to let people know that it’s not just this one incident that I messed up. ‘I need to get better. I’m at such a low place, I’m not gonna lie about it.’”
The four-time Grammy nominee has since completed treatment and, after spending months reconnecting with herself in her native Colorado, redeemed herself with a second national anthem performance at a recent Colorado Avalanche hockey game. On Monday (March 3), she also released her first song since the debacle: “Footprints,” a musical “reminder to all the people I love the most, and also to myself, that I’m out here trying my best at this ‘life’ thing,” she wrote on Instagram this week.
Of what her redemption arc has taught her, Andress told Rolling Stone, “I learned to not ever let your past dictate what you can do in the future.”
She added, “Sometimes it takes a little public humiliation to turn your life around.”