Marking an achievement-packed holiday weekend, Warner Music Nashville’s Gabby Barrett became the first-ever female Country artist to top 10 MILLION single week streams with 11.3 MILLION streams this week. Her debut single “I Hope” keeps gaining and making waves, reigning for its seventh consecutive week atop the Country On-Demand Streaming chart, and perching Barrett at the #2 spot on Nielsen’s Country On-Demand 2020 Year To Date chart.
Amplifying the singer/songwriter’s explosive debut, the music video for “I Hope,” went #1 on CMT Hot 20 Countdown for the very first time this weekend. Tallying over 48 MILLION views on YouTube alone, the video for the sizzler – co-directed by Taylor Kelly and Brian Vaughan and shot in Nashville – continues Barrett’s unstoppable momentum after already notching the first debut single by a female artist to go #1 since 2017 and being named one of Taste of Country’s “10 Hottest Songs of the Summer” for 2020.
Putting the cherry on top of the excitement-filled weekend, Country icon Trisha Yearwood virtually stopped by Hot 20 to surprise Barrett and congratulate her on her unprecedented success.
Proving her staying power as the #1 recurrent single at Country radio with “I Hope,” Barrett will launch her sophomore single on June 8 when “The Good Ones” impacts airwaves nationwide. Her debut album, GOLDMINE, will release June 19.
Country Music icon Alan Jackson will perform a pair of shows next month in Alabama as he launches his first-ever “Small Town Drive-In” concerts – presented by Pepsi – bringing three decades of hits to music fans in a unique “drive-in meets concert” experience, giving attendees a quality-of-life activity during this current time of isolation and uncertainty.
Jackson will stage two shows – June 5 in Cullman, AL (on the open-field site of the long-running Rock the South festival) and June 6 in Fairhope, AL (on the grounds of Oak Hollow Farm). Detailed information regarding each location and event is available at AlanJacksonDriveIn.com.
Alan Jackson’s Small Town Drive-In concerts will find the Country Music Hall of Famer playing to an audience of approximately 2,000 parked vehicles. Both events will be staged in accordance with and while promoting CDC and Alabama state health guidelines regarding social distancing and other practices. Concertgoers will be required to stay with their vehicles…and concessions will be provided only via phone orders with delivery to vehicles.
Tickets for Alan Jackson’s Small Town Drive-In concerts go on sale Wednesday, May 27 (10:00am CT) at AlanJacksonDriveIn.com. General admission price per vehicle (up to two passengers) is $99.99; additional passenger tickets may be purchased for $39.99. A limited amount of VIP parking, closest to the stage, is available starting at $199.99.
A portion of all proceeds from each Small Town Drive-In concert will go toward food relief efforts in the respective regions, which have been taxed more than usual due to current events and resulting economic circumstances. More information about the designated charities can be found at AlanJacksonDriveIn.com.
The Cory Farley Band, frequent performers at Jackson’s AJ’s Good Time Bar in downtown Nashville, will open the shows.
Alan Jackson’s touring history has taken him all over the U.S. and around the world. His concert performances have been seen by millions in such far-reaching places as Australia, Norway and Brazil; he’s played iconic stages ranging from Carnegie Hall to the Ryman Auditorium. His 2020 Small Town Drive-In concerts will be the latest in his storied line of memorable and notable live concert events.
As the release of his fourth studio album WILD WORLD nears, multi-PLATINUM singer/songwriter Kip Moore continues to share more insight into the upcoming record, today announcing that his timely and thoughtful documentary “7 DAYS AT THE ROCK” will premiere on OUTSIDE TV on May 28. The short film offers an unfiltered look into the weeks leading up to the release of WILD WORLD (out May 29), as Moore spent time in self-isolation at his remote rock climbing facility, BedRock, located in Red River Gorge, Kentucky.
Moore reflects on the current times, shifting gears in light of the pandemic while recording his IN THE WILD SESSIONS acoustic series and shares some personal reflection.
“7 DAYS AT THE ROCK” will be available to watch on Outside TV on May 28 at 8pm CT available on all major streaming platforms and devices including The Roku Channel and Samsung TV Plus. Moore joins the company of other musicians spotlighted by Outside TV including Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson and Michael Franti.
Sharing the news of the forthcoming documentary exclusively with Rolling Stone, Moore also premiered a new track “Red White Blue Jean American Dream” today, available to listen here. The only outside cut on the album, written by Jimi Bell, Barton Davies, Luke Dick, Philip Lammonds, it’s a jangle-rock stand out full of pure-American references and razor-sharp hooks, once again pointing to WILD WORLD’S central theme – that life could be less complicated than we make it.
“‘7 DAYS AT THE ROCK’ came around really organically leading up to the release of this record,” shared Moore. “This is a unique moment in time for all of us that none of us will ever forget and so it felt right to kind of reflect on everything that is going on, as well as shed some light into the process of releasing WILD WORLD. I also really wanted ‘Red White Blue Jean American Dream’ to be the next look into the album.”
Multi-Platinum entertainer Chase Rice is back with more new music today, May 15, as he releases The Album Part II. The four-song project follows January’s surprise release of The Album Part I which has already amassed over 125 million on-demand streams and counting.
“The crazy thing, even more than differentiating from Part I, is the four songs are really different from each other. None of them sound like the other songs, which I think is cool. All of them have their own identity,” Rice shared with Billboard, who gave fans an early listen to new song “Down Home Runs Deep” yesterday, May 14. Rice will also appear on this weekend’s edition of CMT “Hot 20” to chat about The Album Part II and perform an acoustic version of the nostalgic song.
People also gave fans a sneak peek at the project with the official music video for timely track “Belong,” which Rice added to Part II during the final stages of production upon realizing how well its heartfelt message speaks to the current state of the world.
“‘Belong’ might be the most meaningful song that I’ve ever put out,” he notes. “The times that everybody’s going through right now with this pandemic and having to stay at home, being away from other people, and people losing jobs, people losing lives – it’s a very, very tough time. But the moral of the story is we’re right where we belong. Don’t panic. We’re gonna get out of this and the thing is, we’re gonna do it together.” Watch the uplifting video featuring fan-submitted quarantine footage HERE.
Fans can hear Rice perform these new songs and more today, May 15, at 5 p.m. CT live on his Facebook and Instagrampages. Rice partnered with Spotify to promote the full band acoustic live stream to his top fans on the platform via Spotify’s Fans First program.
Earning early praise from Forbesfor “writing and recording new songs on a greater scale than ever before… [with] a burst of creativity in recent months motivated by a renewed focus on his music future,” Rice cites The Album series as his most personal and refined releases to date.
ETonlinehas also offered high marks for the “incredibly honest music,” with American Songwriter adding that “Rice has spent recent months cementing his place as one of country music’s most intriguing and lasting acts via a series of impressive music.”
The Album Part II Track Listing 1.You (Chase Rice, Jon Nite, Zach Kale) 2.Break. Up. Drunk. (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt) 3.Down Home Runs Deep (Daniel Ross, Michael Hardy, Mike Walker, James McNair) 4.Belong (Chase Rice, Chris DeStefano, Jon Nite) Produced by Chris DeStefano & Chase Rice
Garth Brooks is adept at fulfilling fan requests, whether that be in front of thousands in a sold-out stadium or in his weekly Facebook Live “Inside Studio G.” When recently asked by a fan when his new album FUN! would be available, Brooks decided on the spot to make more of the album available as soon as possible, offering fans some respite during unprecedented and trying times.
Seven tracks from FUN! are now available to stream exclusively on Amazon Music here, including new songs “What Cowboys Do,” and “Party Gras,” as well as the previously released tracks “Courage of Love,” “The Road I’m On,” “All Day Long,” “Stronger Than Me” and his recent Top Five hit “Dive Bar with Blake Shelton.”
