March 2020

Thomas Rhett has shared a new song called Be A Light, which features Reba McEntire, Keith Urban, Hillary Scott and Chris Tomlin. You can listen to the song here. All proceeds from the song will be going to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, as Rhett tries to do his best to assist those in need at time of this pandemic. Speaking about the song, Rhett shared that he wrote the song 12 months ago as a coping mechanism to deal with the outside world and was delighted to be able to get the people he did on the track to share the positive message. “I wrote Be A Light last year as a way to process negativity and sadness I was seeing in the world,” Rhett said. “Now, as I sit in my home with my family on my 30th Birthday, we are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic affecting every single human on earth, all while our town of Nashville is still healing from devastating tornadoes that destroyed so much of our city less than one month ago. “But, among the wreckage, I see us come together in ways I never dreamed possible. I knew in my heart this was the time to share this message with the world and our community. “The voices who join me on this track are some of the brightest lights I know. I hope this song serves as a reminder that we are all in this together.” So far for Thomas Rhett, 2020 has been positive at least from a professional outlook, with the artist being nominated for five ACM Awards, including Entertainer of the Year.

Megan O’Neill has released a new song called Devil You Know, which is the third standalone single that the Irish artist has released from her next project. You can listen to the song here. Written with Essex-based artist Jake Morrell and produced by the Dunwells, Devil You Know follows in the footsteps of Rootless and Winter Sun. Speaking about the song, O’Neill explained where the inspiration for the track came from and opens up on the song’s message, which ultimately is a positive one. “I wrote Devil You Know based on the expression: ‘It’s better the devil you know than the devil you don’t’,” O’Neill said. “Sometimes in a long-term relationship, it’s easy to forget what it was like at the beginning when after a number of years, you’re so familiar with your partner and you often pass each other like ‘ships in the night’. “That initial can’t-keep-your-hands-off-each-other phase is over. So the mind wanders and you wonder what it would be like with someone new – would it end up just the same as this after a number of years? Is this normal? “By the end of the song, the singer realises that love just inevitably changes as the years go on – it might be less exciting in some ways but much more exciting in others. Building a life with someone is never easy and the singer here is quite sure she’s found a good one – despite it not being the honeymoon phase anymore!” Megan O’Neill was set to tour Ireland and Germany in April, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced her to cancel those dates.

Margo Price has postponed the release of her upcoming album ‘That’s How Rumors Get Started’ indefinitely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The album, Price’s third studio effort, was due to be released on May 8, but as a result of the pandemic and how it is impacting the world, Price has been left with little choice but to halt proceedings. As of yet, there isn’t a date locked in for it to be rescheduled to, but speaking about the situation, Price said that she’s still keen to release some singles and that she cannot wait to get out into the world once the pandemic is over to play her new material. “Sometimes circumstances are beyond our control,” Price explained. “I would say that’s the case for folks everywhere in the world right now. Life is postponed until further notice. “I would love nothing more than for everyone to hear my next album in it’s entirety but it’s just not gonna be May 8th. More realistically, it’s going to be this summer. Even the record plants have halted production of vinyl. “I want to be able to play this album live and tour with my band all over the world and I know that time will come. In the meantime, I’m still going to release some singles and be making lots of music for y’all anyway that I possibly can. “Until then, take care of yourselves, be good to each other and this weary planet… and watch what you say and who you trust, because we all know… That’s How Rumors Get Started” The previous effort from Margo Price, ‘All American Made’, elevated her to a whole new platform as the album played a big part in her being nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist.

Florida Georgia Line have announced their comeback with the release of their brand new single, I Love My Country, which dropped on March 27. You can listen to the single here. The single marks the first taste of the next album from the duo – made up of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley – which will mark their fifth studio release. Speaking about the next step to Esquire, the duo stated that they are constantly seeking to grow and evolve as musicians and as a duo, while they are also keen to see how far they can test the boundaries. “We’re not afraid of change,” Hubbard stated. “We’re proud of where we came from, but we’re excited to grow. “We’re always evolving—whether it’s our personal lives, whether it’s our career, whether it’s our marriages, whether it’s friendships. We’re always trying to better ourselves and just continue.” “We’re just hyper creatives,” Kelley added. “And we’re always writing with great, young songwriters in town. Worlds are colliding, from L.A. to New York to Nashville, even people from Europe hopping into co-writes. “Especially with streaming, artists have an option to be a real global presence. So for us, it’s about how far can we push ourselves?” The last album from Florida Georgia Line was ‘Can’t Say I Ain’t Country’, which is now Gold certified and featured hit songs Simple and Talk You Out Of It.

Jordan Davis has offered fans a glimpse into what will come next with the release of Detours, which is the first single from his upcoming record. You can listen to the track here. The track itself is a deeply personal one for Davis as it is written about his wife Kristen and his recently born baby daughter Eloise. Speaking about the song, Davis – who only moved to Nashville back in 2012 – said that it is a song very close to his heart and that he is still in disbelief that the life he leads now is a genuine reality. “This song is probably one of my favourites I’ve ever written,“ Davis said. “My life has changed so much since I moved to Nashville – from meeting Kristen, getting married and having Eloise to signing a record deal, landing back to back No. 1s and touring the country playing for fans, I pinch myself every day that this is my life. “I’m so blessed and so grateful for all of the detours that led me to today.” Jordan Davis was recently nominated for Best New Male Artist of the Year at the 2020 ACM Awards, which will now take place in September as opposed to its initial date in April.

Lainey Wilson has shared a new track titled WWDD, which is directly inspired by country music icon and legend Dolly Parton. You can watch the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]6s1Tqhc4taw[/wpdevart_youtube] Wilson has been very much on an upwards curve since she broke onto the country music scene and WWDD is her first single since she released her 2019 EP, ‘Redneck Hollywood‘. Speaking about the single, Wilson said that she decided to release a studio version of WWDD as she got a huge reaction from it whenever she performed it live, while also hailing Parton for her impact within country music and beyond. “I’ve been playing a few new songs at my shows and people seem to be liking them, so I figured I should put them out so they can keep liking them,” Wilson explained. “I’m kicking off the release series with WWDD because people have started singing along to it before the song is even over. “It makes sense. I don’t know anyone who don’t love Dolly. From her sense of humor, to her look, to her songwriting, to her singin’ to how she has such an incredible giving heart, to how she’s an awesome businesswoman…Dolly does everything just a little better with a little bow on top. “Dolly is an international icon and role model for a lot of folks around the world, so it’s an easy song for a lot of people to relate to.” Last year, Lainey Wilson signed to BBR Records, while she also wowed at The Long Road Festival in September.

Kip Moore has announced that he will be releasing his fourth studio album ‘Wild World’ on May 29 and also shared the title track from the record. You can listen to that here. The album will be Moore’s first full length studio release in almost three years, though he did share the ‘Room to Spare: The Acoustic Sessions’ EP in November 2018. Speaking about the record, Moore said that while these times are certainly very challenging, he hopes that his new music can help even just one person, while also stating that he always tries to make music that connects with others. “I know it’s an unsettling time for a lot of people right now, and so my hope is that this music can bring even just one person some peace,” Moore said. “I try to make music that reaches people in a pure sense – something that’s light and easy to carry with you, but 1000 pounds of weight at the same time and I think ‘Wild World’ is just a depiction of what I see. “Life is one crazy, wild ride. But it can be so simple if we look for the right things and I think that is more important than ever right now.” In 2019, Kip Moore headlined The Long Road Festival in Leicestershire and also had two other UK headline tours.

Joe Diffie, a huge country music artist in the ’90s and a Grammy Award winner, has sadly passed away aged 61 after contracting COVID-19. Diffie had become the first country music star to go public with his diagnosis after revealing the news on March 27, but just two days later had died following complications from the virus. The artist, who was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, won a Grammy in 1998 for Best Country Collaboration for  Same Old Train with Merle Haggard, Marty Stuart, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and a host of other artists, while his albums ‘Third Rock From the Sun’ and ‘Honky Tonk Attitude’ both went platinum. In addition, Diffie had five US Number One singles in the Country Chart, including Bigger Than The Beatles, If The Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets) and Pickup Man. Joe Diffie was also a member of the Grand Ole Opry and had been for 25 years, while he was also inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame for his contributions to the country music genre. Back in 2012, two years after Diffie released what proved to be his final solo album in ‘The Bluegrass Album: Homecoming’, the artist was cited in Jason Aldean’s track ‘1994’, which was meant as a homage to the artist.  

Kane Brown has joined forces with John Legend on his latest release Last Time I Say Sorry, which is his first single of 2020. You can listen to it here. The collaboration is something of a shock, though it isn’t the first time that Brown has linked up with high profile artists in other genres – most notably One Thing Right with Marshmello. The track was co-written between the two, in addition to Matt McGinn and Andrew Goldstein – the latter of which also producing the track, which came about after Legend and Brown met backstage on an episode of The Voice. Brown was there to perform Homesick, while Legend was a coach on the show and the two hit it off and agreed to head into the studio to get something down. Kane Brown has very much made the most of 2020 so far, with the artist also performing his first ever UK date at a sold out O2 Kentish Town Forum in London and this single now represents the next step. Brown’s last album, the Platinum certified ‘Experiment’, came out in November 2018 and there is speculation that a new album could be emerging at some stage this year, though we will have to wait and see on that front.