Pulse – Country Music News

Jimmie Allen popped up at EDM act Cheat Codes' concert in Las Vegas over the weekend to perform a song called "Lose You" which he recorded with the act. According to TMZ, Cheat Codes was playing at Zouk Nightclub inside Resorts World Las Vegas and "fans went wild" when Jimmie hit the stage.

Cheat Codes' upcoming album will reportedly feature other country collaborations with Dolly Parton, Lady A, Lee Brice and Russell Dickerson.

According to Cheat Codes' social media, they will be releasing a new single today (Wednesday, August 17th).

Chris Young might be joining the likes of Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley in opening his own establishment, but unlike the others, he says it won't be in Music City and it won't have his name on it. He recently told Taste of Country Nights, "It wouldn't be in Nashville and it won't be under my name . . . I was like, 'Man, we gotta come up with, like ... where they know it's mine, but it's also a cool idea, so, we'll see.""

While Chris admits he's had "multiple conversations" about opening his own bar, he wouldn't share any additional details.

Chris sits at Number Three on the Mediabase chart this week with "At the End of a Bar" with Mitchell Tenpenny.

In addition to opening his new bar on Nashville's popular Lower Broadway area, Garth Brooks is working with city officials to help open a police substation right next door. The Tennessean reports that Garth will provide the funding for the substation at no cost to taxpayers to help control traffic and safety in that busy area of downtown.

The plan depends on approval from the city's Metro Council.

The building for Garth's new establishment, called Friends In Low Places, was purchased in December 2021 for close to $48 million.

Zac Brown Band's current single, "Out In The Middle," speaks to basically being in the middle of nowhere, but lead singer Zac Brown would rather be out in the middle of a beach somewhere. While he's been to many, Zac tells us there are still some to cross off his list of dream destinations. "I grew up going down to the Gulf, you know, going down to the panhandle there and that's the prettiest sand in the world. It's like white coarse powder. Then in Hawaii there's black sand beaches that are beautiful. There's a lot more to go see you know another some pink sand beaches . . . I have a future day with a lot of beaches."

"Out In The Middle" is included on Zac Brown Band's 2021 album, The Comeback. The deluxe edition of the album features a special version of the song with a guest appearance by Blake Shelton. The Comeback Deluxe is due out on September 30th.

This year's Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, TN will feature headlining performances by Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Jon Batiste and The Avett Brothers, as well as Elle King, Marty Stuart, Lennon Stella, Trampled by Turtles, Better Than Ezra, Butch Walker, Brittney Spencer and more. The event, now in its eighth year, will take place at The Park at Harlinsdale Farm on September 24th & 25th in Franklin, TN. Tickets are available at PilgrimageFestival.com.

In celebration of National Rum Day, Kenny Chesney's Blue Chair Bay Rum brand announces Mocha Rum Cream, which will be available beginning September 1st.

Blake Shelton will release a new single and video called "No Body" on Friday (August 19th). The clip was filmed in a country bar in the Los Angeles area and is a throwback to the 90s era when country establishments were filled with line dancing patrons. The video is authentic to the time and finds Blake sporting a cowboy hat on top of his infamous mullet.

He said, "I get excited and feel like a kid every time we release new music, but this song in particular takes me back to the ‘90s when I was in high school and first moved to Nashville, because it feels like what the music sounded like at that time."

Blake will perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Saturday, September 10th as he celebrates his 12th year as an Opry member.

Thomas Rhett co-wrote his latest hit, "Half of Me," and instantly knew he wanted to turn it into a moment with his good friend Riley Green. He tells us: "We wrote this song and immediately we were like, 'This song is begging for a collaboration,' and Riley and I have gotten really close over the last couple years. We've been hunting buddies and gotten to do some shows together and I wrote a couple songs on his last record and it just kind of felt like it was time for me and Riley to do something together and he's just the perfect dude for this song."

Thomas and Riley sit inside the Top 20 and climbing with "Half of Me."

Thomas performs in Seattle, WA on Thursday (August 18th), while Riley continues on Luke Bryan's Raised Up Right Tour on Friday (August 19th) in Knoxville, TN.

Kane Brown scores his eighth Number One hit this week as "Like I Love Country Music" claims the top spot on both the Mediabase Country Airplay and Billboard Country Airplay charts. The song is Kane's fastest-rising single, making the leap to Number One after just 14 weeks.

Final nominees for the 56th Annual CMA Awards will be announced on Wednesday, September 7th at 8 a.m. ET. The complete list will also be posted on the CMA Awards website. Luke Bryan and NFL superstar Peyton Manning will host this year's CMA Awards, with performers and presenters to be announced in the coming weeks. The program will air live from Nashville on Wednesday, November 9th on ABC.

Reba McEntire's real life boyfriend, actor Rex Linn, will play her husband in the upcoming season of ABC's Big Sky. Deadline reports that Rex and Reba will play Buck and Sunny Barnes, owners of the Sunny Day Excursions which specializes in glamping. Reba and Rex will also appear together in the upcoming Lifetime movie The Hammer.

Brantley Gilbert and Five Finger Death Punch are joining forces for a co-headlining tour with special guest Cory Marks. The trek launches on November 9th in Grand Rapids, Michigan and runs through December 17th with a final show in Las Vegas. General tickets go on sale on Friday (August 19th) at 10 a.m. local time at Ticketmaster.com.

Brantley shared the list of dates on social media yesterday (Monday, August 15th) writing, "This is going to be EPIC!!"

Brantley and Five Finger Death Punch previously teamed up in 2019 to remake the rockers' "Blue on Black," which also featured Queen guitarist Brian May and the song's originator, Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The collaboration was a Number One hit and benefitted The Gary Sinise Foundation which assists wounded military veterans.

Five Finger Death Punch will be on tour with Megadeth, The Hu and Fire From the Gods beginning on Friday in Ridgefield, WA through October 15th in West Valley City, UT. Their new album, AfterLife, will be released on Friday.

Russell Dickerson will head out on his headlining 10-date She Likes It Tour beginning on November 17th in Indianapolis, IN. General tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday (August 19th) at 10 a.m. local time. Russell will be joined by opener Drew Green.

Before hitting the road on his new U.S. run, Russell is set to take the second leg of the All Yours All Night Tour worldwide with headlining dates in the UK and Northern Ireland in the fall.

Russell recently celebrated the gold certification of his recent pop/country hit, "She Likes It (Feat. Jake Scott)."

Lainey Wilson will release her new album, called Bell Bottom Country, on October 28th. She celebrated the news by revealing the album cover on the Paramount billboard in NYC's Times Square. Lainey has also released a new track from the album called "Watermelon Moonshine."

She said, "I've lived quite a bit of life the past few years, and I have a lot more to say.Sure, I love a good pair of bell bottoms, but Bell Bottom Country to me has always been about the flare and what makes someone unique — I have really embraced mine, and I hope y'all can hear that across this project."

"Watermelon Moonshine" is the second song available from Bell Bottom Country, the first being her current single "Heart Like A Truck."

Lainey is out on the Ain't Always the Cowboy Tour with Jon Pardi and Hailey Whitters this summer as well as select dates with Luke Combs.

Dan + Shay's Shay Mooney and his wife, Hannah, will be welcoming their child child, another boy. They shared the exciting news on social media on Friday (August 12th) with a video of their sons, five-year-old Asher and two-year-old Ames, learning they will welcome a baby brother soon. Shay and Hannah captioned the clip, "Mooney Baby #3! Thankful. Excited. Tired."

Asher seemed disappointed as he kept reiterating that he wanted a baby sister.

So far, the new baby's due dates has not been announced.

Dan + Shay continue on the Here And Now Tour stadium dates with Kenny Chesney through the end of the month.

Lady A's Charles Kelley turned to social media on Friday (August 12th) to thank fans for their support as he works to get sober. He posted a picture with his wife, Cassie, and their son, Ward, taken beachside writing in part, "I want to thank everyone who has shown me so much support and encouragement so far on my journey of sobriety. Y'alls kind words have meant the world to me and really lifted me up over the past few weeks . . . I'm grateful for this time to focus on my family and my health.⁣"

Lady A recently announced plans to postpone their Request Line Tour to support Charles on his journey. The trek was scheduled to open on August 13th. The trio plans to return to the road in 2023.

Naomi Judd's husband, Larry Strickland, and her two daughters, Ashley and Wynonna Judd, filed a lawsuit against Williamson County, TN and its sheriff on Friday (August 12th) to prevent the release of records related to Naomi's suicide. According to Nashville CBS affiliate WTVF, the family issued a statement which reads, "Our family continues to grieve together privately, in unity and community, recognizing our mother's beauty and talents as a gift to the world. There has been misinformation circulated as we continue to mourn and we lament that. We ask news organizations only to cover facts . . . "

The statement continues, "As we recognize other families struggling as a loved one faces mental health crises, we encourage them to seek help through NAMI: The National Alliance on Mental Illness available 24 hours a day at 800-950-6264."

The family's attorney, J. Michael Shipman II, wrote in the suit, "(The Judds) will suffer significant trauma and irreparable harm in the form of emotional distress, pain and mental anguish should these records be released. Moreover, the release of these records would continue to cause the entire family personal and public pain for years to come as they would undoubtedly live in perpetuity on the internet."

The family's suit requests a temporary injunction to stop the release of any records. A final ruling will be decided when the case is heard in Williamson County Chancery Court on September 12th.

Naomi died in April of this year at the age of 76 after a long battle with depression.

Walker Hayes collects more heavy metal as his hit "Fancy Like" has been certified RIAA 4X Platinum, "AA" becomes certified Platinum, and his album, Country Stuff The Album, strikes gold. Just the other day, his single "U Gurl" also became RIAA certified gold. Walker was surprised by record label executives with a new plaque at his sold-out show in Long Island, NY over the weekend.

As of July, Country Stuff The Album is one of only three albums in any genre released in 2022 to have gained an RIAA certification, and the only country album to do so, according to Walker's spokesperson.

He said, "To watch these songs grow and impact more and more people is everything you can ask for as an artist. My fans are the most incredible fans out there, and this is all due to them."

Walker is gearing up for his fall headlining arena Glad You're Here Tour. He has just added three more dates to the tour -- Portland, ME on October 6th; Doswell, VA on October 9th; and Green Bay, WI on October 20th.

Jordan Davis' new single, "What My World Spins Around," has garnered more than 50 million streams since hitting country radio airwaves in June. Jordan's co-writers on the song include Ryan Hurd. He performed the hit on NBC's Today show last week, and it will be included on his upcoming album.

Little Big Town have debuted a new song called "Better Love" from their upcoming 10th studio album, Mr. Sun, due out on September 16th. The song was co-written by LBT's Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook. Jimi said, "The attitude of this song is mischievous and lands squarely in Karen's wheelhouse. It's fun to sing, too."

Parmalee has released their new single, "Girl In Mine," the follow up to their latest Number One hit, "Take My Name." The song was co-written by lead singer Matt Thomas.

Kane Brown will make MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) history when he takes the stage to become the first male country artist to perform on the show, airing live on Sunday, August 28th at 8 p.m. ET from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. He'll give the debut performance of "Grand," the new pop single from his upcoming third album, Different Man, due out on September 9th.

Last year, Kane was the only country artist to receive a 2021 nomination ("Video for Good" for "Worldwide Beautiful").

This year's VMA's will also include performances from Anitta, J Balvin, Marshmello x Khalid, Panic! At The Disco and Nicki Minaj, who will receive the Video Vanguard Award.

Cole Swindell released the video for his latest single, ""She Had Me At Heads Carolina," yesterday (Thursday, August 11th) on Facebook. The clip was shot in downtown Nashville and features a cameo appearance by "Heads Carolina, Tails California" singer Jo Dee Messina. The song is a Top 10 and climbing on the Mediabase chart this week.

Cole shared a snippet of the video on social media writing, "The official music video for "She Had Me At Heads Carolina" is out NOW. Thank you @jodeemessina for being my bartender"

Cole launches his headlining Back Down To The Bar Tour, featuring Ashley Cooke and Dylan Marlowe, on September 23rd. His first headlining show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on November 3rd is sold out, but he has added a second show on November 2nd. Tickets for the second show go on sale today (Friday, August 12th) at 10 a.m. local.

Dustin Lynch will take a break from his busy summer tour schedule to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville tonight (Friday, August12th). Dustin became an Opry member almost four years ago, and in addition to just being honored to play the venue, he tells us it's always a special time because he shares it with his family. "It's a magical place. It's my favorite stage to play because everytime I get to play I get to see my parents and friends that are from back home. They come up and hang out, so we make it a family affair and get to see them and eat dinner and make it kind of a whole evening. It brings my family together so that's a really cool thing. I think it's probably pretty unique to the artists that get to play."

Dustin shares the Opry bill tonight with FOR KING + COUNTRY, Bill Anderson and Jeannie Seely.

He sits inside the Top 20 and climbing with his latest single, "Party Mode."

Dustin's Party Mode Tour continues through the fall.

Reba McEntire shared the trailer for her new Lifetime movie, called The Hammer, on Facebook yesterday (Thursday, August 11th). The movie is set for release sometime next year. In addition to having a starring role, Reba co-produced the project.

Ingrid Andress and 2022 YouTube Artist on the Rise Avery Anna are featured in the first installment of audio brand Bose's "The Nashville Sound," a multi-part video series that will feature two artists per episode. Ingrid and Avery discuss finding their sound, musical inspirations and more before stepping into the studio for an acoustic duet of Ingrid's "Good Person."

Elle King has released a behind-the-scenes look at the video shoot for her latest single, "Worth A Shot," featuring Dierks Bentley. The concept for the clip was created and written by Elle, and it was filmed in Murfreesboro, TN. It flashes back to the Wild West in the late 1800s where Elle and Dierks star as husband-and-wife outlaws.

The two teamed up to co-host the ABC primetime special CMA Fest, which aired earlier this month. It was filmed back in June during the annual four-day CMA Fest in downtown Nashville.

Elle said, "Let me tell you, if anyone is having more fun than me this summer, I want to come join your party too. I honestly couldn't be more grateful to the fans and everyone playing, streaming and enjoying my music. This is what I've dreamed of and worked for since I was a teenager. I can't believe this is my job and I get paid for it!"

Jason Aldean celebrated his career 27th Number One hit, "Trouble With A Heartbreak," with a private party in Nashville yesterday (Wednesday, August 10th) where he and his band performed a few songs at an intimate bar. "Trouble With A Heartbreak" recently topped the Billboard and Mediabase charts for three weeks.

With a career spanning nearly 20 years and close to 30 chart-topping hits, Jason tells us each Number One hit only takes on greater importance. "You know you almost maybe take those for granted a little bit early on in your career especially when things kind of get white hot for you. All of us kind of have a shelf life, you know what I mean? You don't know how long that's gonna be and so for me everytime we put a song out and it does well, to me it just kind of lets me know that we kind of still have our finger on the pulse of country music and what's going on and people still are into what we're doing and that means more to me now than it ever has."

Jason's new single is called "That's What Tequila Does."

His Rock N' Roll Cowboy Tour rolls on to Chicago, Indianapolis and Detroit this weekend.

The 15th Annual Academy of Country Music Honors will air on Tuesday, September 13th at 8 p.m. ET on Fox for the very first time. This year's honorees include ACM Triple Crown Award recipient Miranda Lambert, ACM Spirit Award recipient Chris Stapleton, ACM Poet's Award recipient Shania Twain, ACM Milestone Award recipient Morgan Wallen and ACM Film Award recipient Yellowstone.

The ACM Honors will again be hosted by Carly Pearce for the second year in a row, where she is also scheduled to perform. Additional performers and presenters include Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Vince Gill, Mickey Guyton, HARDY, Wynonna Judd, Avril Lavigne, Little Big Town, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson, Trace Adkins and more. The full line-up of artists included in the Fox primetime special will be released in the coming weeks.

The 15th Annual ACM Honors will be held on Wednesday, August 24th at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Tickets are currently on sale to the general public at AXS.

Illness has forced Cody Johnson to cancel his concerts this week. The affected shows are tonight's (Thursday, August 11th) in Lewisburg, WV; Friday (August 12th) in Richmond, VA; and Saturday (August 13th) in Johnstown, PA. Fans learned the news via a statement posted to Cody's social media on Tuesday (August 9th) night via a statement posted which read in part, "We understand the inconvenience this causes with travel, plans and with purchased tickets, and we apologize for this unforeseen circumstance. We very much appreciate your understanding and patience, and we will make every attempt to get back to these markets to make up the dates as soon as possible . . ."

The statement continued, "Please be on the lookout for an email from your original point of purchase regarding your tickets for these shows."

Cody Johnson's next scheduled tour date is set for August 18th with Zac Brown Band at Citi Field in New York City.