September 2020

Cassadee Pope has unveiled a performance video of her latest single Let Me Go, which will be the first in a series of content in this mould to be taken from her new acoustic record ‘Rise and Shine’. You can watch the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]Erw_Oe7W2RA[/wpdevart_youtube] Platinum-certified artist Pope co-produced the album with Todd Lombardo, with the record showcasing a very different and hugely intriguing side to her usual sound. In addition to co-producing, Pope co-wrote every song, including the Sam Palladio feature California Dreaming. Speaking about the video, Pope said that she really wanted it to properly bottle the feel of the track, given that there is so much heartfelt meaning behind it for her personally. “I wanted the video for Let Me Go to really capture the essence of the song,” Pope said. “It’s emotional and raw and came from a place of wanting freedom.” While 2021 is still very much up in the air for many, Cassadee Pope will be venturing into the UK as she is one of the first artists that have been announced for The Long Road Festival, which takes place between 10-12 September. Pope was part of the first wave announcement, which also features  Brandy Clark, Dale Watson, Sunny Sweeney, Sarah Darling, Gretchen Peters and Kyle Daniel, amongst others.

Haley & Michaels have celebrated the birth of their new baby daughter by releasing a song titled Born Yesterday in her honour. You can watch an audio video below. [wpdevart_youtube]arUZuyYPAJE[/wpdevart_youtube] The song is the first piece of new music that the duo – made up of Shannon Haley and Ryan Michaels – have shared since the release of their debut album ‘Hail Mary’, which dropped in 2019. Speaking to People magazine, the pair said that they are so excited and happy to be have the baby in their lives now and said that the song is very much written for her, with the hope that it can bring happiness to others as well. “We are over the moon excited to welcome our little Keira Harmony to our family,” they said. “We could not be more in love with her. We wrote the song Born Yesterday for her and we hope that it will do for others exactly what she’s done for us; bring love and joy to our world.” Ever since they shot onto the scene, Haley & Michaels have risen drastically in profile and their ascension doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon. As well as their debut album release, the pair have performed at the Levi’s Stadium in support of the NFL team, the San Francisco 49ers, while they also had their album title track appear in the Netflix feature ‘Walk. Ride. Rodeo.’

Olivia Lane has sent out a strong message on her latest single Fight For Us, with the rising star calling for unity and common ground in today’s world. You can listen to the track here. Lane, an independent artist who operates her own record label and publishing company, brought in the talents of David DeVaul for the song, which is very much a rallying cry. Speaking about the song, Lane spoke of her dismay at how the world is in its current form and wanted to do something about it through song form, with the hope that people can club together and make a better tomorrow possible. “With all of the divisiveness in the world today and all of the quarrels and online hate, I wanted to encourage people — whether it’s in a relationship or politics — to come together for a better society and world,” Lane said. “We can find common ground. I hope this song reminds people of what’s important.” Olivia Lane continues to rise within the country music world, with the singer now sitting on a staggering 15 million streams on Spotify, while her 2019 release, ‘The One’ continuing to fare well among both her fans and the general listening public.

Tenille Arts has been recognised by the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) in a notable way, with the talented artist winning the ‘Rising Star Award’ at the 2020 CCMA Awards. Arts, who originally hails from Weyburn, Saskatchewan in Canada, has had a tremendous 18 months or so, with her recent album ‘Love, Heartbreak & Everything In-Between’ winning many plaudits and gaining critical acclaim, while appearances on the US show ‘The Bachelor’ have also boosted her popularity. Speaking about the award, Arts said that it was an incredible honour to win the award as the CCMAs have always been something of great importance to her, while she is very keen to see where the next step in her career takes her. “It is such an honour to take home the Rising Star Award,” Arts said. “The CCMAs have been a part of my life and my career for many years now and it feels incredible to be recognised in this way. “I’m so grateful to all of the CCMA members who voted for me. It’s just the beginning and I’m so excited.” Prior to lockdown, Tenille Arts was scheduled to play C2C 2020, but it is testament to her song Somebody Like That – which she was riding the wave of ahead of C2C – that it is still doing remarkably well in the charts.

Scotty McCreery has shared a news song in the form of You Time, which will be the lead single from his upcoming fourth album. You can listen to the track here. McCreery premiered the song in spectacular fashion as he performed it at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on September 4, as the first artist at the first gig at the venue that had fans back in, with capacity being limited to 150. It marked a full circle moment for McCreery of sorts, as he was the last artist to perform in the venue (a sold out show) prior to lockdown. Speaking about the song, McCreery stated his delight that he was able to have new music out in the world and also opened up on the meaning behind the song, which came from him wanting to spend more time with his partner. ”I am so excited to have new music out,” said McCreery. “I wrote this with Frank [Rogers] and Aaron [Eshuis] at a time when I was on the road more than I’d ever been before and I’d get home just in time to see Gabi heading out to start her shift as a nurse. I was craving some You Time with her and that inspired this song. Of course, now during the pandemic, we’re having a lot of You Time, which I love.” Scotty McCreery will also be venturing to the UK and Ireland next year to play his rescheduled dates, which had to be moved as a result of the pandemic. The dates are as follows: May 4 – O2 Ritz, Manchester, England May 5 – Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Scotland May 7 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, England May 9 – Ireland Academy, Dublin, Republic of Ireland May 11 – The Limelight, Belfast, Northern Ireland* *denotes sold out show

Rob Mayes is continuing to appease his fans in 2020 by releasing another new song, this time in the shape of Length of a Song. You can listen to the song here. Mayes has been very busy in 2020, with Length of a Song being his 10th single release since January, following in the footsteps of Building Us, Addicted to the Chase, Didn’t Do This on My Own, Damage I Done, Don’t Give Up on Me, Avalon, Marshalls Sticker, What I Remember Most and The Way That It Was It’s a tactic that is very much working for Mayes, as his streaming figures since he started mass releasing have shot up. Mayes is now at a stage where he is bordering on 200k monthly listeners, while he is on the cusp of passing the 500k total stream mark. There is more to come, too – Avalon, Marshalls Sticker and The Way That It Was are all part of a soon to be four-track EP titled ‘Songs From the Sofa: A Quarantine Project’ and the fourth instalment is set to drop at some stage in October. Rob Mayes is also well known for his acting talents, with the US artist starring in the film ‘John Dies at the End’ and in TV series’ ‘Mistresses’ and ‘The Client List’.

Kerri Watt has released an acoustic cover of NEEDTOBREATHE’s Let’s Stay Home Tonight, which will be featuring on the artist’s upcoming EP. You can watch the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]bCXdmLz2sqk[/wpdevart_youtube] The Scotland based artist was due to be releasing an album this year, but opted against it as a result of the pandemic and subsequently being unable to promote it in a normal fashion, so is instead releasing an EP. Speaking about the decision to cover Let’s Stay Home Tonight, Watt heaped praise on NEEDTOBREATHE’s musical style and also shared some meaning behind the video. “I thought it would be fun to portray the reality of putting on a live stream show and the minutes leading up to it; albeit with a little twist,” Watt said. “Getting creative with music videos at home has been really fun and challenging; it’s amazing what you can make with a few house hold items and a half decent camera! “NEEDTOBREATHE’s music is a perfect blend of country, rock and pop – three of the genres prominent in my upcoming album. I loved the idea of doing a stripped back acoustic cover song with some country style picking and harmonies inspired by Southern American acts like The Chicks and Little Big Town.” Kerri Watt had a very successful 2019, with a support slot for Keith Urban on his first UK appearance in over a decade, while she also starred at C2C 2019.

Americana star Jerry Castle has released a new song titled Stars Align, which is taken from his upcoming record ‘Midnight Testaments’, available on October 16. You can listen to the track below.   Recorded at Trace Horse Studio in Nashville, ‘Midnight Testaments’ is an album that very much channels his Music City surroundings, with a very strong country vibe throughout. Speaking about the song, Castle said that it was an example of him writing a song that was just lyrics and with no music, while also elaborating on some of the song meaning. “I wrote all of the lyrics to this song before I ever picked up a guitar and put music to it,” Castle said. “The song is about the fact that sometimes you can do everything right and things still don’t work out the way you want. “Nonetheless, the ride of life is a beautiful one. It takes the downs to make the ups feel good and it takes the ugly to make you recognise the beautiful.” Jerry Castle has been very busy in 2020 and has released a number of singles, including hits like Make Do, Calm and Tequila & Tears. It is expected that all of these single releases will be appearing on ‘Midnight Testaments.’

Four-time GRAMMY winning duo for KING & COUNTRY have announced that they will be releasing a Christmas album titled ‘A Drummer Boy Christmas’ on October 30. You can pre-order here. The album features 13 tracks – two of which are original Christmas tracks – and has been executively produced by Aqualung, otherwise known as Matt Hales, while Davide Rossi has put together the orchestral arrangements. Speaking about the record in a statement, for KING & COUNTRY said that Christmas has always been something of huge importance to them as a pair, while also offering some handy advice on how to enhance your listening experience of the album. “The miracle of Christmas captivated us long ago and has been laced into the DNA of the band,” the duo said. “We felt it was the imperfectly perfect time for us to do our small part in telling the story of the redemption that Christmas offers to all of us. “So, bake those chocolate chip cookies, make a little hot chocolate, strike up that cozy fire, and let us take you on a 44 minute and 49 second musical Christmas journey to celebrate the greatest story the world has ever known!” Last year, the pair performed at CMA Country Christmas, performing Little Drummer Boy and receiving a standing ovation for their efforts.

Runaway June have revealed that they will be sharing a five-track Christmas EP titled ‘When I Think About Christmas’ on October 16. The trio, made up of Naomi Cooke, Jennifer Wayne and recently Natalie Stovall after Hannah Mulholland’s departure, will be covering three Christmas classics on the EP in addition to two Runaway June originals. Speaking about the EP, the group offered a little insight to some of the sounds that they will be implementing on the record. “Our new Christmas EP, ‘When I Think About Christmas’ has all of these beautiful mountain Appalachian sounds,” the trio said in a statement. “So we put our own little spin on Christmas music and we’ve got some fiddle, so why not!” Runaway June’s rise in country music over the last 18 months or so has been huge, with the trio’s debut album ‘Blue Roses’ yielding the hit track Buy My Own Drinks, which became the first song from an all female trio to get into the Mediabase Country chart since The Chicks did so in 2003. The tracklisting for ‘When I Think About Christmas’ is: 1. Christmas on the Radio* 2. Sleigh Ride 3. O Holy Night 4. When I Think About Christmas* 5. Let It Snow *denotes original track