By Preshias Harris
Tours canceled, venues dark, but the music lives on! ‘ACM Presents: Our Country’ to air April 5
Here are a few more items from the March 2020 edition of my column, Inside Track on Music Row, the longest-running country music column in the USA, and now around the world on the Web. See the entire column in this month’s Nashville Music Guide, along with a lot more Nashville news.
BREAKING NEWS: See below for link to story about ACM TV Special to air on original date of ACM Awards Show.
NOTE: Some news items refer to current or upcoming tours. Because of concerns about Covid-19, many shows have been postponed, canceled or rescheduled. Always check with the artist’s website or the ticket seller before making any plans to attend a show. Hopefully, this problem will soon be over, but let’s remember: the music lives on!
Some of this month’s column items. Scroll down to continue reading…
- ‘ACM Presents: Our Country’ to air April 5
- Luke Combs gets 3 ACM Award nods, but show postponed
- Pam Tillis Looking For a Feeling with new album
- Jason Isbell’s Reunions, recorded at RCA Studio A
- Secret Sisters record album at Brandi Carlile’s home studio
- Walker Montgomery sings “Like My Daddy Done It”
- Scroll down to read these news stories from Inside Track on Music Row
BREAKING NEWS:
A two-hour special. ACM Presents: Our Country, will air in the former 55th ACM Awards timeslot April 5 at 8pm ET on CBS. The special will feature at-home acoustic performances from artists, as well as their thoughts on and clips of favorite ACM Awards moments. Participating artists will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Although the highly anticipated 55th ACM Awards show is unable to take place on April 5 due to the health crisis, we still wanted to deliver fans an entertaining ACM country music special as planned,” says ACM CEO Damon Whiteside. Adds DCP President Amy Thurlow, “Music has always served as a powerful form of hope and solidarity during challenging times. It’s our privilege to offer audiences an uplifting message through music as well as a look back at some of the best moments in ACM Awards history.” Updates and details of artists appearing will be posted at https://www.acmcountry.com/
ACM NOMINATIONS NEWS:
Reigning ACM New Male Artist of the Year Luke Combs is nominated in three categories at the 55th ACM Awards: Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for his acclaimed global #1 record, What You See Is What You Get. The awards ceremony originally scheduled for April 5 has now been rescheduled for “some time in September, at a date, time and venue to be determined,” according to the ACM.
What You See Is What You Get (River House Artists/Columbia Nashville) debuted at #1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart as well as Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this past November. It also enjoyed the largest streaming week ever for a country album with 74 million on-demand streams. It also achieved the biggest first week of album streams ever for a country artist on Apple Music. Combs will make his headline debut at New York’s Madison Square Garden with two special performances on November 30 and December 1 as part of his What You See Is What You Get Tour, depending on how the current tour embargo works out. Best to check for updates at https://www.lukecombs.com/
ALBUM NEWS:
Looking for a Feeling, the 11th studio album from country icon Pam Tillis, is due out April 24, 2020 on Stellar Cat Records via OneRPM Distribution. From the Muscle Shoals torch of the title track to the languid, healing “My Kinda Medicine,” the wry Beatlesesquery of “Karma” to the enveloping Marty Robbins’ sweep of “Lady Music,” these are all facets of one of contemporary music’s most consistently interesting women.
“Stylistically, there’s so much here that’s always been a part of me,” she says of the dozen tracks. “It’s a story I haven’t told on any of my records so far. I wanted work that’s as close to true and unselfconscious as possible, to provide access to my heart.” Tillis, a Grammy-nominated and CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, moved to East Nashville in 2016, to reconnect with her roots. Quickly finding her place in the artist community, often embracing young, indie artists who also blurred the lines between labels, Tillis was enriched musically — and circled back to those influences from her own youth. Info at http://pamtillis.com/
ARTIST NEWS:
There’s a new album on the way from Jason Isbell and his band, The 400 Unit. Titled Reunions, the album will be released May 15 (via Southeastern Records/Thirty Tigers). but can be pre-ordered now. Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb and recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, the album features 10 new songs written by Isbell including album track, “Be Afraid,” which debuted mid-February. Reunions is Isbell’s seventh full-length studio album from the Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician. In celebration of the release, the band plans to tour extensively throughout 2020, depending upon any cancelations or postponements. Pre-order info and tour updates at https://www.jasonisbell.com/
CD NEWS:
Grammy-nominated The Secret Sisters’ new album, Saturn Return (New West Records), produced by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth, features ten new songs written by real-life sisters Laura and Lydia Rogers and is already receiving widespread critical acclaim. Recorded at Carlile’s home studio in Washington state, the album features Laura and Lydia singing individually for the first time instead of relying solely on their trademark harmonies—something Carlile challenged them to do. Named after the astrological occurrence that takes place approximately every 29 ½ years, the album heralds the arrival of a new era for Laura and Lydia—both of whom experienced extreme change and transformation during the making of the record. Grappling with the grief of losing both grandmothers, while also both becoming first-time mothers, the sisters reflect on their world view, relationships and own mortality through the album’s ten songs. Music and tour update info at https://www.secretsistersband.com/
CHART NEWS:
Cody Purvis scored his first Top-50 single on Billboard’s Indicator chart in February with his single, “Drinkin’ Terms” that was nominated for CMT’s “Next Up Now,” featured on SiriusXM’s “On the Horizon,” and Spotify’s “New Boots,” “Wild Country,” “Next from Nashville,” and “Hot Country” playlists, and accumulated a whopping 7.5 million streams prior to being serviced to radio. The single, which appears on Purvis’ latest EP, Boots on the Ground, produced by the Dove award-winning Jeff Silvey (best known for his work with Gospel icon Bill Gaither, and “The Last Ride” movie soundtrack), has been on a steady climb since its release to radio in late October. Now managed by Erv Woolsey Company (George Strait, Lee Ann Womack), Purvis appeared as a contestant last year on USA Network’s “Real Country” featuring Travis Tritt, Shania Twain and Jake Owen. For more information on Cody Purvis, see www.CodyPurvis.com
INDIE NEWS:
Award-winning singer/songwriter Matt Rogers has released his latest single, “Tailgate Town.” The song captures Rogers’ love and nostalgia for his hometown Eatonton, Georgia, as he chases his dreams in Nashville, Tennessee. He details the intricacies of the people and relationships he misses. “Every soul ‘round here somehow connected. Degrees of separation can’t be found,” sings Rogers. He takes pride in where he is from, and will never forget the place and people that raised him. “They’re the folks that made me who I am.” Tailgate Town was penned by Rogers, Holly Ashby, and Steve Mitchell and can be found on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and all other digital sites. Rogers, a Music City SongStar Winner, NSAI Top-40 songwriter and Georgia Country Awards Overall Artist of the Year, also kicked off his Tailgate Town Tour. Music and tour news at https://www.mattrogerscountry.com/
KENTUCKY MUSIC NEWS:
KY born Walker Montgomery has released a new single “Like My Daddy Done It” (Play It Again Music). It’s not a coincidence that the young artist chose this song. John Michael Montgomery is his father, but Walker is the first to point out that the single actually doesn’t mention anything about playing music, it just talks about all the great things that dads do. And, even though Walker’s dad happens to be a country music star, to Walker, he’s just dad. Montgomery’s new single might just be destined to become a country classic, in the vein of some of his daddy’s 90’s hits that are still beloved to this day. The cranked-up, country-as-cornbread tune revels in the fact that no matter how hard we think we try to resist, we usually end up becoming just like our parents — hopefully in the best of ways. Walker’s uncle is Eddie Montgomery and his cousin is Dillon Carmichael. Tour updates and music at https://www.walkermontgomery.com/
Read my entire Inside Track on Music Row column in the March issue of Nashville Music Guide, available here. Click on the arrow ( > ) next to the magazine cover (with Tanya Tucker’s photo) and you’ll find my column on pages 34 to 43.
Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com