Jon Pardi To Make Debut Performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

ACM Awards nominee Jon Pardi will make his debut performance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” tonight, Tuesday, March 6. Pardi’s GOLD-certified album California Sunrise is nominated for ACM Awards Album Of The Year and highlights him as the artist, co-producer and songwriter on several of the tracks. Tune in to watch a special performance of his current single “She Ain’t In It” and his #1 hit “Heartache On The Dance Floor” on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday, March 6th at 10:35 CST or check local listings for air-times.

“She Ain’t In It” follows three consecutive #1 hits including “Dirt On My Boots,” Platinum-selling “Head Over Boots” and “Heartache On The Dance Floor.” The song about long-lost love was written by Clint Daniels and Wynn Varble. Billboard called it “…a stone-cold weeper that would make George Strait nod with approval.” Directed by Jim Wright, the song’s cinematic music video was filmed entirely in black-and-white and debuted exclusively on Entertainment Tonight. View it HERE.

The reigning CMA New Artist Of The Year and ACM New Male Vocalist is performing nationwide with Miranda Lambert’s Livin Like Hippies Tour and will join Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country Tour this summer. Pardi was nominated for iHeartRadio Music Awards Country Song Of The Year (“Dirt On My Boots”) and was also nominated for Best New Country Artist. Most recently, he was featured in two large-event TV commercials including Michelob ULTRA’s “I Like Beer” campaign, which aired during the Super Bowl and the “truth” campaign, which aired during the Grammy Awards.

Ryan Kinder Goes Back To His Roots with New Single “Leap Of Faith”

With unbreakable concentration and masterful guitar skills, Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville artist RYAN KINDER delivers his latest offering, “Leap of Faith” with a mesmerizing visual and an audio accompaniment available at all digital retailers.

Written by Kinder along with Fred Wilhelm and Luke Sheets, “Leap of Faith” features his now-signature intricate guitar licks and introspective lyrics. Flexing his string expertise, Kinder supplies electric guitar, acoustic guitar and resonator guitar contributions in addition to his gritty vocals. Frequent collaborators Kristen Rogers and April Rucker offer their backing vocals throughout “Leap of Faith.”

Earning a coveted spot on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist, the Birmingham, AL native’s latest track has been a staple in his live show and was only recently recorded in the studio. Kinder explains, “With ‘Leap of Faith,’ I’ve had the chance to live with it, rework it, go back to the original version, play with 1,000 different solos and test it out with my fans. I dug through the catalog and found what made me fall in love with songwriting. I got to go back to my roots with this song and it rocked.”

His latest offering drives home Billboard’s assertion that he is “a singer-songwriter with an intense, urgent vocal style.” The accompanying video – filmed at The Foundry in Athens, GA – was directed by Justin Key and highlights Kinder’s musicianship. With the sun soaking through the windows, the majority of the video captures the singer-songwriter in his prime before opening to a full band performance in the unique space. The style echoes his previous hits “Close,” which has amassed over 30 million streams on Spotify alone, and the heartwarming “Still Believe in Crazy Love.”

As People notes, “Ryan Kinder is making a name for himself in Nashville” and the singer-songwriter will propel that momentum as he performs overseas later this month at C2C Festival in London and Glasgow before heading to Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

For the latest updates, visit www.RyanKinder.com.

CMR Exclusive: Sandra Lynn Shares Details About New Music and More

Artist on the Rise Sandra Lynn chatted with us while in Nashville for Country Radio Seminar 2018 earlier last month. Sandra shared details about her newest single, “Somebody Kissed Me In A Bar,” as well as details about her latest EP FIGHT which is available now.

FIGHT is a fantastic collection of music that is inclusive of four songs produced by Grammy award-winning producer/engineer, Ben Fowler. See what Sandra Lynn shared with us about her latest music, and much more. Watch out interview below, or click here. 

Grab Sandra Lynn’s new EP FIGHT, featuring her latest single “Somebody Kissed Me In A Bar” on iTunes here.

Luke Bryan Gears Up for His Role As An American Idol Judge with Multiple TV Appearances

Four-time Entertainer of the Year, current 2018 ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee and American Idol judge Luke Bryan is preparing for the show’s March 11 premiere on ABC with several television appearances. On Tuesday, March 6 Luke will visit Good Morning America, Live! with Kelly & Ryan and Late Night with Seth Meyers, where he is also slated to perform. Additionally, Luke will make an appearance on The View on March 8.

Luke’s What Makes You Country album debuted #1 on both the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country Albums charts last December. On Friday, March 9 the album will be available for the first time on vinyl. The 16-track double vinyl will also feature an exclusive bonus song for fans, “I Can’t Even,” written by Michael Carter, Jon Nite and Jimmy Robbins. Get the album HERE.

Luke kicked off his “What Makes You Country Tour” in February and this month he will head to Australia to perform his first-ever shows down under. His touring year will conclude this fall after headlining concerts across North America including some of the biggest and best sports stadiums in Toronto, New York City, Cincinnati, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Boston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles (the first country concert to ever be held in Dodgers Stadium), Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Vancouver and wrapping the tour in Detroit at Ford Field on October 26.

Reba McEntire Returns To Host 53rd Annual ACM Awards + Award Nominations Revealed

The Academy of Country Music announced the host and nominations for the 53RD ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS™, Country Music’s Party of the Year®, honoring country music’s superstars and hottest emerging talent. Multimedia superstar and sixteen-time ACM Award® winner Reba McEntire will return to host LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 15, 2018 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. This year’s show will mark Reba’s fifteenth time hosting the ceremony, last appearing in 2012 with Blake Shelton.

In addition to surprising audiences with the news that she will return to host, Reba appeared live yesterday (3/1) on “CBS This Morning” to announce this year’s ACM Award nominees for Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Vocal Duo of the Year, and Vocal Group of the Year, as well as nominees for Song of the Year on Facebook LIVE. “Entertainment Tonight” host Nancy O’Dell announced additional nominees on ETonline.com.

The following is the full list of final nominees. The Academy of Country Music’s professional membership selects the nominees and winners of the Academy of Country Music Awards.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Jason Aldean
Garth Brooks
Luke Bryan
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Reba McEntire
Maren Morris
Carrie Underwood

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Jason Aldean
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban
Chris Young

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
LOCASH
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady Antebellum
LANCO
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion

NEW FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
 Lauren Alaina
Danielle Bradbery
Carly Pearce
Raelynn

NEW MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
 Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Devin Dawson
Russell Dickerson
Brett Young

NEW VOCAL DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
 High Valley
LANCO
LOCASH
Midland
Runaway June

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Breaker – Little Big Town
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville

California Sunrise – Jon Pardi
Producers: Bart Butler, Jon Pardi
Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville

From A Room: Volume 1 – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Record Label: Mercury Records

Happy Endings – Old Dominion
Producer: Shane McAnally
Record Label: RCA

Life Changes – Thomas Rhett
Producers: Julian Bunetta, Jesse Frasure, Dann Huff, Joe London, Thomas Rhett
Record Label: The Valory Music Co.

SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR
Better Man – Little Big Town
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville

Body Like A Back Road – Sam Hunt
Producer: Zach Crowell
Record Label: MCA Nashville

Broken Halos – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Record Label: Mercury Records

Drinkin’ Problem – Midland
Producers: Dann Huff, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
Record Label: Big Machine Records

I’ll Name The Dogs – Blake Shelton
Producer: Scott Hendricks
Record Label: Warner Bros.

SONG OF THE YEAR
Body Like a Back Road – Sam Hunt
Songwriters: Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
Publishers: Anderson Fork In The Road Music (ASCAP), Atlas Music Publishing, Highly Combustible Music (ASCAP), I Love Pizza Music (ASCAP), Kobalt Music Group Ltd. (GMR), Kobalt Songs Music Publishing (ASCAP), Sam Hunt Publishing (ASCAP), Smack Hits (GMR), Smack Songs LLC (ASCAP), Smackville Music (ASCAP), Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing (ASCAP), Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP), Who Wants To Buy My Publishing (ASCAP)

Female – Keith Urban
Songwriters: Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon and Shane McAnally
Publishers: A Girl Named Charlie (BMI), EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI), Plain Jane Songs (BMI), Rezolant Music (BMI), Smack Hits (GMR), Smack Songs LLC (GMR), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)

Tin Man – Miranda Lambert
Songwriters: Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert Jon Randall
Publishers:Beat Up Ford Publishing (BMI), BMG Platinum Songs (BMI), Lonesome Vinyl Music (BMI), Pink Dog Publishing (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), SWMBMGBMI (BMI)

Whiskey And You – Chris Stapleton
Songwriters: Lee Thomas Miller, Chris Stapleton
Publishers: New Sea Gayle Music (ASCAP), Spirit of Nashville One (BMI), Spirit Two Nashville (ASCAP), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI), WM Music Corp. (ASCAP)

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Black – Dierks Bentley
Director: Wes Edwards
Producer: Max A. Butler

It Ain’t My Fault – Brothers Osborne
Director: Wes Edwards, Ryan Silver
Producer: Tiffany Davies

Legends – Kelsea Ballerini
Director: Jeff Venable
Producer: Ben Skipworth

Marry Me – Thomas Rhett
Director: TK McKamy
Producer: Dan Atchison

We Should Be Friends – Miranda Lambert
Director: Trey Fanjoy
Producer: April Dace

VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Craving You – Thomas Rhett Featuring Maren Morris
Producers: Julian Bunetta, Dann Huff, Joe London, Thomas Rhett
Record Label: The Valory Music Co.

Dear Hate – Maren Morris featuring Vince Gill
Producers: Brad Hill, Maren Morris
Record Label: Columbia Nashville

Funny (How Time Slips Away) – Glen Campbell And Willie Nelson
Producer: Carl Jackson
Record Label: Universal Music Enterprises

The Fighter – Keith Urban featuring Carrie Underwood
Producers: Busbee, Keith Urban
Record Label: Capitol Nashville

What Ifs – Kane Brown Featuring Lauren Alaina
Producer: Dann Huff
Record Label: RCA Nashville