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Tenille Townes has unveiled another new song from her upcoming debut album, with Jersey on the Wall being released for public consumption. You can listen to the song here. Townes has already shared White Horse, I Kept the Roses and Somebody’s Daughter from the album, which has been produced by Jay Joyce and is to be released via Columbia Nashville at some point in the near future. The latter stages of 2019 are shaping up to be very busy for Townes, who is scheduled to perform at the 2019 ACM Honors ceremony at the Ryman in Nashville, while she is also pencilled in to support Miranda Lambert this autumn and Maren Morris in November. Currently, she is supporting Dierks Bentley on his ‘Burning Man Tour’. In addition, Townes will heading to the UK in late October for a five-date spell with Striking Matches, including a headline date in London. Tenille Townes will be playing: October 21 – Thekla, Bristol, England* October 22 – O2 Academy Oxford, Oxford, England* October 23 – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, London, England October 27 – Arts Club Loft, Liverpool, England* October 28 – Stereo, Glasgow, Scotland* *supporting Striking Matches

CJ Solar will be making one of his dreams come true very soon as he has been invited to play the Grand Ole Opry for the first time on September 7. Solar has released two EPs so far in his career and is gearing up to release his third, with his upcoming single Coming My Way to be released on Country radio as of August 27. In addition, Solar has also been operating as a songwriter in Nashville and recently celebrated his first No. 1 Country single as Up Down by Morgan Wallen featuring Florida Georgia Line topped the charts. Speaking about the news, Solar said that he is in disbelief that he is getting the opportunity to perform at the Opry and that seeing a show there when he was 12 made him want to move to the city. “It’s been a dream of mine to stand on the circle, since I attended my first Opry performance with my parents on a trip to Nashville when I was 12…it inspired me to move to Nashville and want to make Country music,” said Solar. “Always said this was the biggest bucket list moment for me in Nashville and I can’t believe it’s happening!”

After a record 19 weeks as US No. 1 on the Billboard 100, Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus has lost its place to Billie Eilish. Eilish, still only 17 (December 18 2001), becomes the first artist born after 2000 to claim the No. 1 spot, with bad guy now sitting at the top of the charts having been sat at No. 2 for a record nine weeks. bad guy is also the first song to be both No. 1 on the Billboard 100 and Alternative Songs chart since Lorde’s Royals back in 2016. Both Lil Nas X and Cyrus – who famously agreed to appear on the remix version of Old Town Road that dominated the charts following outrage that Billboard removed it from the US Country Charts, with many citing racism as a reason for the removal – offered their congratulations to Eilish on Twitter in the immediate aftermath. “Congratulations Billie Eilish, well deserved,” Cyrus said. “Your persistence paid off. Thanks everybody. It was a hell of a ride.” Since Old Town Road gained major traction, the song was performed at the Nissan Stadium for CMA Fest, with Keith Urban joining Cyrus and Lil Nas X, while on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, Miley Cyrus brought the pair out for a rendition of the track.

To celebrate the legendary women of country music, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton will host the 2019 CMA Awards on November 13. The awards will be take place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN at 9pm and while there are no announced plans yet, it is believed that the CMA have something special in mind to recognise the impact female artists have had on country music. Between the three hosts, there are 124 CMA Award nominations in total, with 22 wins shared between them. Underwood has been hosting the awards with Brad Paisley since 2008, while McEntire (1990, 1991, 1992) and Parton (1988) have also hosted the event before. Speaking about the decision to make Underwood, McEntire and Parton the hosts of the event, Sarah Trahern – CEO of the CMA – said that it was an honour to be able to have them host and believes that the trio are perfect for what the CMA want to achieve. “It’s an incredible honour to welcome Carrie, Reba and Dolly to the CMA Awards stage this year,” Trahern said. “In addition to awarding the year’s best and brightest in the genre, the 53rd Annual CMA Awards will celebrate the legacy of women within country music and we couldn’t think of a more dynamic group of women to host the show.” The nominees for the 2019 CMA Awards will be revealed on August 28 and will be shown on ‘Good Morning America’ as well as via a live stream for worldwide country music fans.

Due to phenomenal demand, Scotty McCreery has added an extra date at London’s Bush Hall on his UK tour, as well as upgrading his Manchester venue. Initially, McCreery was due to play Manchester Academy 3 on October 27, but due to it rapidly selling out, it has now been moved to Manchester Academy 2. In addition to that demand, McCreery’s first date at Bush Hall for UK Country Music Week sold out pretty much immediately, so the former American Idol winner added a second date at the venue, for the day after. Speaking about the news, McCreery expressed his surprise and joy that the ticket sales had been so promising, while also emphasising that he is very excited to get over to the UK and perform. “One of my goals for the last few years has been to perform overseas,” McCreery said. “To sell out my first ever shows in England on the first day of general on-sale is amazing and beyond what I ever expected. I cannot wait to come over there in October” McCreery’s UK tour is as follows: October 26 – Bush Hall, London, England (sold out) October 27 – Manchester Academy 2, Manchester, England October 28 – Bush Hall, London, England

Miranda Lambert has revealed that the seventh studio album under her own name, ‘Wildcard’, is set to be released on November 1. You can pre-order the album here. Recently released singles It All Comes Out in the Wash, Locomotive and Mess With My Head will all feature on the record, but Lambert has also released Bluebird to celebrate the album release news. Speaking about the album in a statement, Lambert said that she wants her fans to know that they have been listened to and taken into consideration when it came to the overall content of the record and that she just wants people to be Abel to get along with each other. “When people listen to this record, I want them to know that I see them and hear them,” said Lambert. “I feel you, because I’m just a girl from East Texas, writing about all the things that go on in my world and in the worlds of people around me. I want people to get along, you know, just be who you are, own it and move on from the moments you couldn’t live in.”  

Brothers Osborne have revealed that their ‘Live at the Ryman’ album will be available in the UK both physically and digitally on October 11. Earlier this year, the duo had a three-night residency spell at the Ryman in Nashville and the recordings are taken from those gigs, including hits like It Ain’t My Fault, Stay a Little Longer and Love the Lonely Out of You. Speaking about the album in a statement, the band said that it highlights exactly what Brothers Osborne is all about and that they feel it is right to get it out in the open. “‘Live At The Ryman’ highlights who we really are,” the band said. “We did ‘Port Saint Joe’ live for the most part and that gave us the courage to take this on – to record live at the Ryman and see what would happen. Is it perfect? No. Is it right? We think so.” The track listing for ‘Live at the Ryman’ is as follows: 1) Drank Like Hank 2) Shoot Me Straight 3) I Don’t Remember Me (Before You) 4) Weed, Whiskey and Willie 5) Down Home 6) Rum 7) Pushing Up Daisies (Love Alive) 8) Tequila Again 9) 21 Summer 10) Love the Lonely Out of You 11) Stay a Little Longer 12) It Ain’t My Fault

Hunter Hayes has surprised the country music world by announcing that his fourth album ‘Wild Blue (Part 1)’ will be released tomorrow on August 16. Performing at 30 Rock, Hayes revealed that he had planned to drop the album in October, but as he had everything finished, decided to bring forward the release date. In addition, My Song Too will have a world exclusive play on BBC Radio 2’s Country Show after 9pm tonight (15/8/19). The track listing for ‘Wild Blue (Part 1) is: 1 – Madness (Hunter Hayes, Sam Ellis, Sara Haze) 2 – Wild Blue (Hayes, Troy Verges, Gordie Sampson) 3 – Heartbreak (Hayes, Thomas “Tawgs” Salter, Sampson, Simon Wilcox) 4 – One Good Reason (Hayes, Ellis) 5 – Dear God (Hayes, Andy Grammer, Dave Spencer) 6 – Loving You (Hayes, Jordan Reynolds, Dave Barnes) 7 – My Song Too (Hayes, Reynolds, Barnes) 8 – One Shot (Hayes) 9 – Night and Day (Hayes, Derrick Southerland, Ellis) 10 – Still (Hayes, Verges, Tommee Profitt)

Country in the Afternoon will be returning to The Half Moon in Putney for November, with Stevie O’Connor and William Michael Morgan pencilled in to headline. On November 16, O’Connor will headline the festival, with The Remedy Club, The Jaywalkers and Emma Moore also on the bill, while on November 17, Morgan will headline with Kezia Gill, Gary Quinn and O&O on the line-up. Tickets will be £15 per day and you can get November 16 tickets here and November 17 tickets here. The festival, which is put on by Cumbrae Promotions, had its first incarnation earlier this year in June to great effect, with Robert Vincent and Jesse Dayton headlining. The festival takes place between 12:30pm-5pm on both days.

LA based actor/country singer Rob Mayes has just released the video to his latest track, ‘Closer’ (which you can see below) and spoke to Maverick about the video and what he’s got coming up in the near future [wpdevart_youtube]Ogf2IDP1d54[/wpdevart_youtube] The video for Closer is now out, what was it like to film? We had so much fun, me and Ana (Kharisova Carter, co-star) and Christine (Solomon, director). We shot in Griffith Park and all around the valley in LA and Malibu, and even up and down the PCH in my friend Andrea’s Jeep. Most of the video was shot on the iPhone XS Max with additional shots with the Sony Alpha. We just wanted to hit up some spots we love and to keep it simple, fun and light. You said that you wanted to take the viewer on a date to all your favourite locations in LA – where did the idea come from to do that? When coming up with ideas for concept for a video, there are many different ways you can go. Do we shoot black and white? Use projection overlays? Instead of going in a more abstract, arty direction, Christine and I thought let’s make this less of a ‘film’ and more ‘hey, why don’t we just have some fun and make it feel like we are taking the viewer on a day date around LA?’ We didn’t really want to make it overwrought, just make it a good time with cool spots and to make it feel accessible and easy. I didn’t want the video to take away from the song. I just wanted it to give the song some context.  That said, my friends over at The Picture Shop elevated the video to a whole new level in the editing bay. I can’t thank Tom Kendall and his team enough. You’ve already had a few singles out recently, can you tell us a bit more about your upcoming EP? My next single Kiss The Night comes out on August 23 and the following single We’ll See on September 6…all leading up to the EP on September 20! It’s been a long time coming, we’ve put a lot of work into the music and trying come up with the best release plan. I think so far so good! I’m excited to keep sharing music and for you guys to hear the new stuff over the next few weeks and the music I’ve been working on that will follow that. What was it like to head into a studio and record? It’s really my favourite thing. Writing a song is an amazing process. Sometimes short and easy and boom, but other times it’s an arduous process that can take months or years. But then once you’ve got the song(s) and you get into the studio, a whole new level of creativity opens up. The instrumentation, the bpm, what I do vocally. Making those decisions, for me, is the most exciting part of making music – being in that booth and really bringing the song to life. Aside from the EP, what have you got coming up over the next few months? I just finished a movie with Marla Sokoloff and Marie Osmond called ‘The Road Home For Christmas’, which is due out this holiday season on Lifetime. I’m excited to have been asked to do another Christmas movie this year, I had two last year premiere on Lifetime and this current one is about a musician trying to make it. It takes us on a road trip from New Orleans, one of my favourite cities for food, for spirit, for music, all the way up to Akron, Ohio. I’m from Cleveland, so it’s a bit reflecting my own life! I also have a holiday song I’m looking to release in tandem with the movie. I was just in the booth for ADR on my western that I did with Val Kilmer and Jake Busey, Annalynne McCord – that will be due out later this year. I’ve got a thriller ‘The House on the Hill’ with Samaire Armstrong coming out soon and another music, road trip movie ‘Maybe I’m Fine’. It’s really cool that there has been so much recent overlap between my music and my movies lately. I would love to take the new music on the road and do my own small road trip tour in the coming months if my schedule will allow!