Pulse – Country Music News

Brad Paisley has joined the Universal Music Group Nashville roster as the latest addition to the EMI Records Nashville imprint. The move reunites him with UMGN Chairman and CEO Mike Dungan and President Cindy Mabe, who both played major roles in his early music career at Arista Nashville.

Brad is finishing his next studio album, the first for UMG Nashville, which is due out later this year. This Friday (February 24th), Brad will release a new song called "Same Here" from upcoming album.

Jason Aldean is already at work on his next studio album. On Monday (February 20th), he shared several pictures of himself in the studio with the caption, "Today was the first day of recording the new album. Always a blast when we start making new music together. Love all these guys who have played on pretty much everything with me since the beginning. Album #11 Let's f**kin GET IT!!!!!!!"

No word on whether the new project will coincide with the start of Jason's Highway Desperado Tour, but he hits the road on July 14th in Bethel, NY with special guests Mitchell Tenpenny and Corey Kent.

Jason's Macon, Georgia double album project was released in two parts last year.

Kelsea Ballerini's marriage to her now ex-husband Morgan Evans was in trouble longer than she'd care to admit. During a recent taping of the Call Her Daddy podcast, Kelsea shared that she spent many nights sleeping on the couch, including the night before an unspecified CMA Awards. She said, "I remember I went to rehearsal at the arena and texting him and being like, 'I'll just see you at the carpet.'"

People.com reports that Kelsea also admitted to separations and "years of couples therapy."

Kelsea took issue with Morgan's song, "Over For You," which he released on the heels of their breakup. She said, "As he's putting out a song about being blindsided, he's taking half the house that he didn't pay for. How was I married to this person for this long and I had no idea that that bit of character was tucked within that human being?"

The Call Her Daddy podcast episode featuring Kelsea is out today (Wednesday, February 22nd). Last week, she released a six-song EP called Rolling Up the Welcome Mat which details the demise of her marriage to Morgan.

Morgan Evans has issued a response to his ex-wife, Kelsea Ballerini's, new EP, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat. The six-song project, which was released last week, addresses the former couple's issues leading to their divorce after nearly five years of marriage. Morgan turned to social media last night (Tuesday, February 21st to write, in part, "It's really sad for me to see this person, who I spent so much of my life with, and loved with all my heart, saying things that aren't reality and that leave out what really happened."

He continued, "If this is what she needs to heal, I hope it helps. All I ask is that if you're on my pages, please don't be mean. Don't be mean to Kelsea, don't be mean to each other. Life's too short."

Kelsea and Morgan's divorced was finalized in November. She is currently dating actor Chase Stokes.

Sam Hunt fans who are waiting for a new album might not get what they want. He has released a few songs one at a time over the last few years and that's the way things are going to continue, as Sam tells us: "Obviously over the past few years I've had a hard time putting together music, getting it written, recorded and get it out, and so, especially when it comes to putting together albums, so I've kind of decided that instead of trying to get all the work done and bundled up in an album format that I'm just gonna focus on one song at a time and try to get a song finished and put out songs one at a time."

Sam most recently released the song "Walmart." His current single, "Water Under The Bridge," is a current Top 15 and climbing on the country charts.

Kenny Rogers' Atlanta area mansion located in the sought-after Buckhead neighborhood is once again on the market for $4,243,300. The late singer's home spans 15,409 square feet on five acres and includes six bedrooms, 12.5 bathrooms, a home gym, theater and ballroom, to mention just a few highlights.

Kenny reportedly sold this home in 2006.

He died in 2020 at the age of 81.

Kelsea Ballerini has reached another milestone in her career, as she will make her debut as a musical guest on NBC's Saturday Night Live next month. The episode will be hosted by Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl winning tight end Travis Kelce.

She shared the news on Instagram and wrote, "It's not 7AM and I'm not on a mountain with a view but I am in my living room screaming crying and throwing up."

After her March 4, appearance she'll head back out on her Heartfirst Tour with concerts scattered across the U.S. Currently she's in the U.K. making appearances in Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, and London this week.

Chris Stapleton is featured on Pink's new release, "Just Say I'm Sorry." The heart-wrenching love song finds the two Grammy winning vocalist, pleading with each other to put their pride aside and live up to their mistakes. Both are listed as co-writers.

The song was posted on YouTube, but was audio only. The duet is from Pink's new album, Trustfall.

In 2019, they collaborated on a song called "Love Me Anyway" that charted on Country and Top 40 radio charts.

Jelly Roll has announced a massive 44-city arena tour for this summer. It kicks off on July 28th in Southaven, Mississippi and stops include: Milwaukee, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Albuquerque, and Lexington, Kentucky.

Shows will wrap in Tampa on October 14.

Several different artists have signed on to open, including Ashley McBryde, Elle King, and Chase Rice.

Aside from his own tour, Jelly Roll has several dates booked to open for Eric Church.

Tickets for the Backroad Baptism Tour go on sale starting February 24.

One week away from Mardi Gras (2-21) and Jordan Davis, who grew up in Louisiana knows all about it. His advice, is to "pace yourself" because it's a month long event. He has a lot of great memories of the festivities around his hometown and he shared this: "I mean, Mardi Gras growing up for me, that was like Christmas. We had just as much fun at Mardi Gras as we did come Christmas time. In Shreveport, the parade came right down my street. So, I remember my dad building a, on top of a ladder, he built a platform for me and my brother to sit up there and we were 12 feet above everybody, and we just had a bullseye. If you have a bullseye at a Mardi Gras parade, you are going to load up on beads. So, we had, every year we would come home with Moon Pies and beads and cups and everything under the sun. Mardi Gras is a special, it's a special holiday for us, and we're going to definitely eat our fair share of King Cake." :44 (OC: King Cake)

Wynonna Judd is in the studio this month working on new music and rumor is, that Trisha Yearwood and Brandi Carlile may be on the record too.

She told Billboard, "Trisha and I have talked about wanting to do something. There is a lot of talk and vibe about right now."

As for Brandi Carlile, they've been working on a song together and she still wasn't sure if it was going to be on the record or not.

Wynonna is currently on the second leg of her tour, which was originally scheduled to be The Judds farewell tour, before her mother Naomi died last year.

On Friday (2-17) afternoon Kellie Pickler's husband, Kyle Jacobs was found dead from apparent suicide in the couple's Nashville home.

According to a statement from the Metro Police Department, officers and the Nashville Fire Department responded and said he apparently suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Kellie had reported that she awoke a short time earlier, did not see her husband, and began looking for him. After she and her personal assistant were unable to open the door to the upstairs bedroom/office, the assistant telephoned 911."

Kyle co-wrote and produced for several artists and is one of three writers on Garth Brooks' "More Than a Memory."

The day before Kyle's death, he posted on Instagram in celebration of Lee Brice's album Hey World being certified platinum. He wrote: "Platinum?! SWEEEET!!! An amazing crew of incredibly talented peeps put this one together…Deeply honored to be a creative part of it…Thank you Jesus!!!" Jacobs co-wrote three songs, played acoustic guitar, sang backup, and also produced the album.

Kellie and Kyle just celebrated their 12^th wedding anniversary last month. he was 49.

On Saturday, Jon Pardi and his wife, Summer welcomed their first baby together and they named her Presley Fawn.

The proud father posted a black-and-white photo of her and wrote: "Our baby girl is here and ready to Pardi, Ha Ha. Dad Joke!"

She weighed in at 7lbs 12oz. and is 20.25 inches long.

On Thursday night (2-26) George Strait made a brief but memorable appearance at Bruce Springsteen's concert in Austin, Texas.

Without any introduction, George walked onto the stage to introduce Bruce. As his face appeared on the jumbotron, you could hear people yelling, "That's George Strait!"

The two friends hugged and George said, "Austin, Texas! It's my honor tonight to introduce to you a man who really needs no introduction, right? Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band."

He then walked off the stage and Bruce started the show. The Texas native did not return for a performance.

Lainey Wilson has released her cover of The Rolling Stones' classic song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want." She commented through a press release: "To have the opportunity to record one of their tracks was an incredible honor for me."

The song is the latest preview from Country music's album tribute to the super group's 60 year history. Other contributors include Eric Church with "Gimme Shelter," Little Big Town recorded "Wild Horses," "Honky Tonk Women" by Brooks & Dunn, and "Tumblin' Dice" by Elle King. There are 14 songs in all.

Stoned Cold Country is set for release on March 17.

Carly Pearce is on tour with Blake Shelton and is opening shows for him through next month. She says she's really looking forward to seeing Blake, but she loves Gwen Stefani too. Carly told us this: "Blake has been so good to me through this whole last, I don't know, six years, I guess, five years. And at every step, he's just encouraged me and made me feel like he really supported the kind of country music that I was making. So, at this point in my career to be able to be in that direct support slot with him, and almost feel like I graduated … and I do respect him so much as an artist, and just the way that his brand has built. I'm really, really excited. He's been one of my favorite people in the industry. And I have to say, I really love Gwen as well, so we're gonna have girl time." :35 (OC: gonna have girl time)

Morgan Wallen has once again topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart with "Thought You Should Know." This marks his eighth #1 hit. Morgan's next album, One Thing At A Time, comes out on March 3.

Parker McCollum revealed that his new album Never Enough, will be released on May 12. It will include his new single, "I Ain't Going Nowhere," which he describes as a testament to where he is right now in life.

Breland has released a duet version of his single, "For What It's Worth" featuring the vocals of Alana Springsteen. Through a press release, he said he had overwhelming responses from women who wished their exes would own up to their mistakes and because of that, he "knew a woman's perspective would take the song to another level." Look for Breland to open this year for both, Walker Hayes and Shania Twain tours.

Nate Smith dropped two new tracks, "Better Boy" and "Oil Spot." His most recent single, "Whiskey On You" spent two weeks at #1 and was certified Platinum. Nate's self-titled, debut album will be released on April 28.

Jordan Davis' new album, Bluebird Days, is out today (Friday, February 17th). The 17-song collection includes his multi-week Number One songs "Buy Dirt" (featuring Luke Bryan) and "What My World Spins Around," as well his new single "Next Thing You Know."

The album borrows its title from one of the songs on the project, however their meanings are two totally different things. Jordan explained, "The song, being kind of a cautionary tale of how fast you can get out of bluebird days with not taking care of a thing that I sing a lot about and that's my family. The album itself, you know coming from actually a hunting term that I had, you know I'm a big duck hunter, and early on we prayed for bluebird days – cold, north wind, sunshine, no clouds, that was a good chance, a good setting for ducks to be moving around."

Jordan tells us: "I feel like I'm in that right now personally, professionally; I'm in a really good place. I'm kind of in the bluebird days of my life right now, so I don't want those things to go away. I want to stay here, but like I say, the song is the tale of how it can go away. Yeah, so same two words, totally different meanings."

Jordan is in the midst of a run of Canadian dates, playing tonight in Regina.

Tractor Supply Company has teamed with Opry Entertainment Group to launch the company's inaugural "Emerging Artists Program" in partnership with Tractor Supply Brand Ambassador Lainey Wilson, who will curate the program, along with Jimmie Allen, Dustin Lynch, Ashley McBryde, and Kat & Alex. According to a release, "the program will discover and support emerging country artists who live and love what Tractor Supply calls 'Life Out Here.'"

Burgeoning artists can submit an original song inspired by the Out Here lifestyle to tractorsupply.com/emergingartists through March 15th. Tractor Supply will name the final five artists in May, and each will be paired with an established mentor.

The final five will also travel to Nashville to work with their mentors, record their songs in the studio, and get to open for Lainey during CMA Fest in June. The selected artists will also earn a spot on "Ole Red on the Rise Presented by Tractor Supply," an Opry Entertainment Group series kicking off June 7th at Ole Red on Broadway. Lastly, each artist will have the chance to perform at the Grand Ole Opry alongside Lainey.

She said, "It really hits home that I get to help an aspiring artist through this program. I'm so excited to guide my mentee through this complex music industry as best I can, and I hope we get to build a relationship that lasts a long time. I always say I only take advice from people around me who are where I want to be, so I'm hopeful I can be that person for somebody else through Tractor Supply's program."

Sara Evans revealed herself to be the Mustang on The Masked Singer during the show's ninth season premiere on Wednesday (February 15th). She performed Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" and judges Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Robin Thicke were stumped.

Sara later said,"I love the show and I don't think there's ever enough country artists represented."

In other Sara news, she will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her debut album, Restless, with a special performance at The Ryman in Nashville on August 17th. Sara Evans Still Restless – The 20 Year Celebration will feature Sara's performance of the album in its entirety. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 24th at 10 a.m. CT.

Congratulations to LoCash's Preston Brust and his wife, Kristen, who are expecting their third child together. The new addition is due in June. Preston and Kristen are already parents to six-year-old daughter Love and four-year-old son Legend.

The couple candidly told People.com they have been trying to have a third child for a couple years. Preston said, "We prayed for this baby but started to feel like maybe it wasn't going to happen. Two years and nothing . . . We have always been calm and thankful for Love and Legend. We anchored there."

The baby's gender will remain a secret until he or she is born.

Jo Dee Messina has announced her headlining Heads Carolina, Tails California Tour. The run includes more than 45 dates and is set to launch tonight (Friday, February 17th) in Greensboro, NC.

Jo Dee said, "It seems crazy that we've never toured under the 'Heads Carolina, Tails California' banner before. We are so excited to bring people songs that they know, stories we will share and, yes, new music!"

She also recently announced that Heads Carolina, Tails California: The Best of Jo Dee Messina will be released on March 10th. The vinyl, limited-release album features 11 of Jo Dee's hits, including "Bye, Bye," "I'm Alright," "Lesson In Leavin,'" and "Heads Carolina, Tails California."

Luke Combs is saying goodbye to one of his longtime band members, guitar player Rob Williford, who has also co-written several of the superstar's biggest hits. Williford posted a long note to fans on social media on Tuesday (February 14th) explaining his decision along with a picture of he and Combs hugging on stage. He wrote in part, "I always knew that I would just know – and I know – it's time. That doesn't make it one bit easier. I am equally as a terrified of the future as I am excited for it. But just to set the record straight, no I'm not going out on my own . . . I'm simply starting a new chapter in life."

Williford thanked several people, including the fans, and addressed his now-former boss Combs writing, "Luke, I owe you so much, man. There are no words. I could never thank you enough for your loyalty and your friendship and for allowing me to part of your journey over the years . . . We have another Song of the Year to write soon. I love you. Thank you for believing in me."

Combs commented on the post writing, "God dang, that one got me. Love you too buddy. We got plenty of songs and memories ahead of us too."

Williford co-wrote such Combs hits as "Doin' This," "Forever After All, and "Beautiful Crazy."

He plans to focus his time on songwriting and producing.

Jackson Dean hits the road for the first time with headliner Blake Shelton on his Back To The Honky Tonk Tour, which kicks off tonight (Thursday, February 16th) in Lincoln, NE. Jackson is excited to share the bill with one of his musical heroes, not to mention the chance to get to meet Blake's pop star wife, Gwen Stefani.

Jackson tells us: "I'm excited to see Gwen. I mean, that's pretty crazy. Like, 'Oh, Gwen's here.' Wow! And I'm in the same room? No, it's funny, one of the early songs that I learned playing guitar on was ‘Boys ‘Round Here' and ‘Ole Red.' But yeah, he's been around as long as I've loved music. ‘Ole Red' is one of the OG, OG country songs. But to get to go and play with him, I'm excited to see the show. I'm excited to see what they do this year. But yeah, it's just one hell of an opportunity."

The Back to the Honky Tonk Tour, which also features Carly Pearce, runs through March 25th where it wraps up in Buffalo, NY.

Jackson's latest single is called "Fearless (The Echo)."