Pulse – Country Music News

Luke Combs is diving headfirst into the bar and restaurant business as he joins forces with what is currently known as The Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville.

The three-level, live music complex will total 69,000 square feet, including an outdoor-indoor capacity of nearly 3,200 people, and will reflect Luke's passions for music, songwriting, whiskey and sports.

Specifically, the venue will take inspiration from Combs' debut hit "Hurricane," which went 8x multi-Platinum and spent two weeks on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart in 2017.

The business is owned by Opry Entertainment, which is also responsible for Blake Shelton's Ole Red venues.

Luke said, that was one of his deciding factors to do this project. He even talked to Blake to get his opinion. He said, "Blake had so many great things to say about them and was like, ‘You should absolutely do this,' and he was excited for me. It was great to get that affirmation."

Located on 2^nd Avenue in downtown Music City, the yet-to-be-named venue will open sometime next year.

Brothers Osborne will be joining the Artist of the Day lineup for CMA Fest in Nashville on June 10. They'll play on a stage inside the festival in celebration of the event's 50th anniversary. The show will be taped for a podcast as well.

Brothers Osborne first played CMA Fest in 2017.

The announcement from the CMA follows news that Reba McEntire will also join the Artist of the Day lineup. Her day is June 11.

Keith Urban‘s latest single, "Brown Eyes Baby," is currently a Top 15 hit. Obviously his fans love it, so, we asked Keith what drew him to the song when he first heard it: "I get sent a lot of songs when I'm doing a record and I heard Brown Eyes Baby and I just loved it. I played it again and again. Like 6 times and knew I had to record the song." :10 (OC: to record the song)

At the stroke of midnight, Michael Ray released his new single, "Get Her Back." Through a press release he said the song speaks for a lot of people who don't wanna talk about relationships.

He explained "Most of us have all these emotions, feel all kinds of things – and we're expected to act like we're good or everything's fine."

Digging deeper, he said, "You hear people talk, but if you respected whatever it was you had, feel it, but don't feed the fire. That's what's at the heart of this song."

Michael Ray will release an EP of new music on June 23.

Luke Combs' World Tour moves on to his adopted hometown of Nashville, TN this week, with back-to-back shows at Nissan Stadium on Friday (April 14th) and Saturday (April 15th).

This is Luke's first full-fledged global tour and it's something that's been in the works for a long time. He tells us: "We've been building to this tour for a long time, you know, we've always had a long term strategy touring wise. Like, that's something we always wanted to do. And now, you know, we're doing 35 shows and 16 countries 18 NFL stadiums, I mean, it's just gonna be nuts. And so, I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to the culmination of years worth of touring in into what I think it's gonna be a pretty epic year, no doubt."

The World Tour moves on to New Zealand in August. The tour is expected to wrap up on October 20th at O2 Arena in London.

Luke released his latest album, Gettin' Old, last month.

Reba McEntire will release a new book called Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots on October 10th. Country Now reports that the book "will include over 50 recipes for desserts, meats, sides and cocktails from Reba's own family traditions." She will appear on TalkShopLive on Monday (April 17th) at 7 p.m. ET alongside her friend Garth Brooks, who wrote the book's foreword.

Not That Fancy is a 288-page book, and it will be available as a hardcover, digital book and audiobook at Barnes & Nobles, Target, and many other book retailers.

Carly Pearce made her 100th performance at the Grand Ole Opry since making her debut in 2015 on Tuesday (April 11th). She surprised the crowd with several guest appearances by her friends including The Isaacs, Ricky Skaggs, Ashley McBryde, and Lady A's Charles Kelley. Carly's performance is set to air on Opry Live on Circle Network Saturday, April 22nd at 9 p.m. ET.

Prior to taking the Opry stage, Carly was presented with several plaques from the RIAA, including platinum certification for "What He Didn't Do" alongside a plaque to commemorate her four ACM Awards, three CMA Awards, 2022 CMT for Artist of the Year, four Number One singles, and more than 2 billion global streams, according to American Songwriter.

The nominations for the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards will be announced this morning (Thursday, April 13th) on iHeartRadio's nationally syndicated The Bobby Bones Show beginning at 9 a.m. ET. The full list of ACM Awards nominations will be released widely at 9:30 a.m. ET, including on the Academy of Country Music website and social media channels. The ACM Awards, hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, will stream live exclusively on Prime Video on Thursday, May 11th at 8 p.m. ET from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Trace Adkins will host a free concert called "SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA: A Concert For Mayfield" to aid the Tornado-devastated Western Kentucky region. The event will take place at Mayfield High School's CFSB War Memorial Stadium in Mayfield, KY, on May 20th.The concert honors the site of a 2021 tornado that leveled the town as it ripped across Western Kentucky, claiming more than 50 lives and displacing thousands in the process.

Trace said during his appearance on NBC's Today show, "We were looking for a place to do a video for this song on our new album, called ‘Somewhere In America,' and the song just talks about how somewhere in America there's still people that have that indomitable spirit, that resilience, and we could think of no place better that exemplified that than Mayfield, KY, so now I've spoken with Mayor O'Nan, and she's been wonderful to work with, and so we're going to go to Mayfield and give them a pat on the back."

"Somewhere In America" is featured on Trace's 25th anniversary, 25-song album, The Way I Wanna Go.

This morning (4-13) The Academy of Country Music announced nominations for the 58th ACM Awards.

HARDY leads with seven nominations including Song of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year. He shares three of his nominations with Lainey Wilson for their song "Wait in the Truck".

Lainey received the most nods for a female artist with six, including Female Artist of the Year. She is nominated in more categories than any other artist.

Luke Combs, Kane Brown, and Cole Swindell follow HARDY with the second-most nominations for a male artist, with five total nods each. Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton are nominees for Entertainer of the Year. A win for either artist in this category will also clinch the coveted Triple Crown Award, which consists of Entertainer.

This is the fourth year in a row that Luke Combs is nominated for both Male Artist and Entertainer of the Year. Kane Brown received his first ever nominations for Entertainer of the Year and Male Artist of the Year.

The most-awarded artist in ACM history, Miranda Lambert, received her record-breaking 17th Female Artist of the Year nomination (passing Reba McEntire with 16), as well as four other nominations.

Of note: At least one woman is nominated in Every Eligible Main Awards Category this year.

Hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, the show will stream from Frisco, Texas on Prime Video on May 11.

Bailey Zimmerman claims the Number One spot on the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart this week with "Rock And A Hard Place." This feat earns the title of most-played record across the country in one single week since the Mediabase chart's inception, according to a release. The song is also celebrating its third consecutive week at the top of the Billboard Country Airplay chart. According to Billboard, Bailey's three-month, three-week span between "Rock And A Hard Place" and his first chart-topper, "Fall In Love," "the quickest for any act's first two in nearly a quarter-century."

Bailey shared the big news on social media writing in part, "Cheers to all the people that had a part in the making of this smash and Cheers to my second number 1 at country radio! Man I feel so blessed, I love you all so much ..."

Bailey will kick off the US leg of headliner Morgan Wallen's One Night At A Time World Tour this Friday (April 14th) with back to back nights at Milwaukee's American Family Field stadium.

Bailey will release his full-length debut, Religiously. The Album., on May 12th. He co-wrote 11 of the 16 tracks, including the title-track, "Religiously."

Russell Dickerson and his wife, Kailey, are expanding their family! The couple will welcome their second child -- and second boy -- later this year, however they did not share a due date. Russell shared the news via a video posted on social media last night (Tuesday, April 11th) featuring the moment he found out Kailey was pregnant as well as the gender reveal.

Baby boy Dickerson will join two-year-old big brother Remington.

Russell captioned the video, "God gave me a... BOY! So grateful we get to tell you Remington is going to be a big brother this fall."

Russell and Kailey were expecting a child last year but unfortunately suffered a miscarriage.

Clay Walker is going to be a father of eight!! The singer and his wife, Jessica, are expecting their sixth child together, a girl, this fall. Clay is also father to two daughters from his previous marriage.

Via a release, Clay said, "We are beyond excited about having a little girl! Her brothers and sisters are waiting her arrival. God is great."

Clay and Jessica are already parents to sons Christiaan (2), Ezra (5), Elijah (10), and William (14) and daughter Mary-Elizabeth (13).

Clay continues on tour, with his next date on Sunday (April 16th) in Georgetown, TX.

Megan Moroney, Corey Kent, Ashley Cooke, Jackson Dean, ERNEST, Chapel Hart, Kameron Marlowe, and Ian Munsick are all part of the Opry NextStage Class of 2023, it was announced yesterday (Tuesday, April 11th). The Opry NextStage program spotlights country music's rising talent on the Opry stage and across Opry Entertainment Group platforms.

This year's class will be introduced with an "Opry NextStage Live" concert at Lava Cantina on May 10th at 2:30 p.m. in The Colony, Texas, preceding the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards on May 11 in nearby Frisco, Texas. Tickets will be available to the general public beginning on Friday (April 14th) at 10 a.m. CT.

Previous Opry NextStage classes included Riley Green, Parker McCollum, Tenille Townes and Lainey Wilson, to name just a few.

Granger Smith has announced that this summer's Like A River Tour will be his last. He shared a video message to fans on social media yesterday (Tuesday, April 11th) explaining his decision to pursue a career in ministry and that he's been working on a master's degree at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In the clip, Granger said, "I have felt a strong desire to pursue ministry. This doesn't mean I'm going to start a church, but this is a time of learning and growing for me. I'm so hopeful about this future. (Wife) Amber and I have been totally united on this. I know there are going to be a lot of questions and I'm going to try to stay engaged. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be here."

The Like A River farewell tour begins on April 13th in Oshkosh, WI.

Granger will also release a book called Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward After Loss and Heartache on August 1st.

Tenille Arts' current hit single, "Jealous of Myself," will be re-released on Friday (April 14th) featuring special guest LeAnn Rimes. LeAnn returned the favor and invited Tenille to perform "Blue" at her sold-out Ryman Auditorium concert on Saturday (April 8th) night.

Tenille said, "LeAnn Rimes, The Chicks, Shania Twain and Kelly Clarkson were my idols growing up. LeAnn in particular has been a huge part of my story in Country Music since I was very young. One of my most viewed videos on TikTok is of me singing 'Blue' when I was 11 years old, and then it transitions to a full circle moment of performing it on the Opry. I am so grateful and humbled by LeAnn's willingness to collaborate with me on this very special song. I will remember and cherish this forever."

LeAnn added, "As soon as Tenille invited me to join her on ‘Jealous of Myself,' I had to say yes. The song and Tenille's vocals are stunning. It's an honor to collaborate with any artist that is as talented as Tenille, but after she shared her journey in music with me and how much I have influenced her, it made this opportunity even more special."

Tenille is on the road with Lee Brice tonight (Wednesday, April 12th) in Kelowna, BC, Canada on his Beer Drinking Opportunity Tour.

Jordan Davis has announced a fall headlining tour set to kick off on August 31st at the Roxy in Atlanta. He will be joined on the Damn Good Time Tour by such opening acts as Avery Anna, Gabby Barrett, Danielle Bradberry, Flatland Calvary, Greylan James, Dylan Marlowe, Kameron Marlowe, Mike Ryan, Connor Smith, and Georgia Webster. Public on sale for all shows is Friday (April 14th) at 10 a.m. local time.

Jordan shared news of the tour yesterday (Monday, April 10th) on social media with a video featuring his band and his wife, who is eight months pregnant with their third child.

The Damn Good Time Tour will run through October 21st in Las Vegas.

Jordan sits inside the Top 25 and climbing on the Mediabase chart this week with "Next Thing You Know."

Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain, Ingrid Andress and Breland are among the artists featured in the new ACM Awards campaign called "What Country Music Means to Me." They, along with Orville Peck, drag queen Trixie Mattel, and baseball outfielder Mookie Betts, to name a few, share their definition of Country music in the video, which was released yesterday (Monday, April 10th).

In the clip, Miranda said, "Country music makes me happy. It's just my roots. It's what I loved the most about the music I grew up on and that's why I love making that kind of music."

Shania said, "Country music is part of a lifestyle ... Country music was always this huge influence on how I write very statement lyrics."

The campaign leads up to next month's ACM Awards, which will be held in Frisco, TX on May 11th. It will be co-hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks and will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

Zach Bryan is taking on Travis Tritt and showing his support for the transgender community all in one tweet. He recently posted on Twitter, "I mean no disrespect towards anyone specifically, I don't even mind @Travistritt. I just think insulting transgender people is completely wrong because we live in a country where we can all just be who we want to be. It's a great day to be alive I thought." Zach is referring to Travis' recent tweet about removing all Anheuser-Busch products from his tour rider due to the brand's recent campaign with a transgender influencer.

Zach's tweets continued with "and @Travistritt I love Jack Daniels (my dogs name) and I will drink enough for both of us I promise"

He added, "and yo I don't support transgender people attacking swimmers I just have family transitioning and have blood to defend here No one threaten me pls"

The latter tweet references former college swimmer Riley Gaines who claimed she was physically assaulted by protesters at a speaking engagement. Riley is a spokesperson for Independent Women's Forum, an organization that supports "keeping women's sports female," among other issues.

Brantley Gilbert and Jelly Roll first worked together when they recorded the duet "Son of The Dirty South" for Brantley's 2022 album, So Help Me God. That was so much fun that Brantley says the two have several collaborations in the works for an EP.

He tells us: "We went and got in the studio and basically live there for a week, and a lot of good stuff came out of that. I don't know that we'll release all of ‘em right now, but we are working on like kind of a little EP to put out. Cause ‘Son of the Dirty South' was so fun, we clicked so well, and we just hit it off, man. And it works on stage, it works through speakers, so we felt like we wanted to do some more. Plus I just enjoy working with the dude, man. He is solid."

In the meantime, Brantley climbing the charts with his latest single, "Heaven by Then," featuring Blake Shelton and Vince Gill.

Jelly Roll sits inside the Top 30 and climbing with "Need A Favor."

The Deluxe Edition of the So Help Me God album will be released on April 21st.

Buddy Jewell has teamed up with some of his musical heroes, each one representing a different decade in Country music, to re-record his 2003 hit, "Sweet Southern Comfort," on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. The new version features The Bellamy Brothers from the 70's, Shenandoah and Marty Raybon from the 80's, Clint Black from the 90's and Buddy, who represents the 2000's.

On Friday (April 7th), Luke Combs surprised fans with the announcement of a second show this weekend at Nashville's Nissan Stadium on his World Tour. He posted a video message to fans about the second show on social media shortly before tickets went on sale. He ended the message by saying, "Two shows in Nashville and maybe some more exciting news on that front to come in other places too, so stay tuned ..."

Luke will be joined by special guests Riley Green, Mitchell Tenpenny, and Brent Cobb on Friday. According to Luke, Flatland Calvary and Lainey Wilson "already had commitments, so they couldn't come on to this show last minute."

He released his new album, Gettin' Old, late last month.

Eric Church is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of his 2013 album, Caught In The Act, which was released on April 9th. The project was recored during Eric's 2012 tour stop at the Tivoli Theater in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The 17-song collection features tracks from Eric's previous three albums, 2011's Chief, 2009's Carolina, and his 2006 debut, Sinners Like Me.

Eric tells us the album's set list was created right before the concert. "We made the set list up that day around a drum kit, going, ‘What have we not played in a while. Let's do everything, you know, do all our songs.' I just enjoyed seeing the people. We kinda left the lights up, so you could kinda look around and see everybody. You could see the emotion, you could see the face(s), you could hear ‘em. I felt at home. I felt like I was back in those bars and clubs that I love so much, and theaters, that I've had that interaction, that connection with individual people. It wasn't just groups of ‘em, it was individual people."

Eric is celebrating the anniversary with some limited-edition merchandise, including a white vinyl pressing.

He will perform at the Tortuga Music Festival at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park on Friday (April 14th).

Eric is set to play Nissan Stadium in Nashville during CMA Fest on June 10th.