Music

Don’t let its title fool you: Josh Grider‘s new song “Life’s a Party” is deeper than those three words let on. The sentimental, traditional-leaning love song, built around a unique metaphor, is premiering exclusively on The Boot; press play below to listen. “Life’s a Party,” written by Grider with Jamie Floyd and Bobby Hamrick, turns

Starting her career in the early 1960s, Dottie West stormed onto the country music scene and made history. The first woman to win a Grammy Awards trophy, with “Here Comes My Baby,” West went on to record some of the genre’s most popular duets of the decade alongside artists like Jim Reeves. In the late 1970s, West

Nineteen years ago today, on Oct. 11, 2002, the band formerly known as the Dixie Chicks had one good reason to celebrate — or rather, 3 million good reasons. It was on this day that their album Home earned triple-platinum status. The Texas trio, made up of Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer (then Robison),

Willie Jones is spreading all the good vibes and positivity with his brand-new song “Get Low, Get High.” Written by Jones, Cary Barlowe and Brandon Day, the euphoric track highlights the importance of choosing joy, love and happiness, even when life feels overwhelming. “You gotta get down so you can get up / All you really

Nashville seemed like a longshot when it debuted on ABC on Oct. 10, 2012 — nine years ago today — but the show defied all odds to become one of country music fans’ favorite television shows of all time. It’s notoriously difficult to capture the true vibe of Nashville’s music scene in films and on

Having spent more than two decades in the music industry, Natalie Hemby has plenty of wonderful stories about working with dozens of artists. As a songwriter, her name is in the credits of dozens of albums, and she’s notched eight No. 1 country songs. She’s also won two Grammys: one for a song from the 2018 version

Even a legend like Reba McEntire is thrilled to get a chance to sing with Dolly Parton. She says their just-released collaboration, on McEntire’s early-’90s hit “Does He Love You,” is a “dream come true.” “We were just thrilled to pieces” when Parton agreed to sing with her, McEntire says. Parton was McEntire’s first choice for the

After scaling down and shifting locations in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the CMA Awards will return to their usual home of Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for this year’s November 10th ceremonies. Unlike last year, a limited number of tickets will be made available to the public, but audience members must be fully vaccinated and

Twenty-nine years ago today, on Oct. 9, 1992, Alan Jackson released his third studio album, A Lot About Livin’ (and a Little ‘Bout Love). Jackson released five singles from A Lot About Livin’ …, and all five of them landed in the Top 5; two of the songs, “She’s Got the Rhythm (and I Got the Blues)” and

Nearly 50 years after her country music debut, Tanya Tucker was having a moment — or, should we say, another moment. The two-time winner at the 2020 Grammy Awards thrilled her longtime fans, and make a new generation of them, with her 2019 album Bring My Flowers Now. Many country singers would give anything to have a hit like

Cody Johnson wasn’t receptive to “I Always Wanted To” the first time he heard it. “Why would you even play me that?” he asked his production team, almost offended. The acoustic ballad from the new Human the Double Album comes at the mid-point of an ambitious project that’s dynamic in all the right ways. Outlaw songs dance

Reba McEntire takes a look back at some of her biggest songs on the new box set Revived Remixed Revisited, which was released Friday. Much more than a typical greatest-hits set, the three-disc collection offers 30 new versions of the singer’s best-known songs including “Fancy,” “Why Haven’t I Heard from You,” and “Does He Love

Amanda Shires‘ “Gone for Christmas” is a wish-filled holiday kiss-off. It’s the first song from a full-length Christmas album from the singer and songwriter, arriving in mid-November. Slinky piano — somewhat a la “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” if we’re looking for festive comparisons — stomps and ragged fiddle set the tone for “Gone for Christmas,”

In 2010, Jo Dee Messina released an EP trilogy, the Unmistakable series. Unmistakable: Inspiration, the final of the three projects, includes a particularly personal song, “That’s God.” Messina was in the midst of some personal struggles when she and bandmate Brent Rader co-wrote “That’s God.” She’d been inspired and reminded of the presence of a higher

Five-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan’s new song ”Up” hinges on the power of a single word. Through different uses of the word “up” — from waking “up” to growing “up” to looking “up” toward the heavens — the track takes a nostalgic look back at a rural childhood, and expresses Bryan’s enduring faith. “It talks about

Fortunately, Jimmy Fallon knows his way around a guitar. The Tonight Show host stepped in to play rhythm during Chris Stapleton’s Tuesday night appearance on Fallon’s talk show after the country singer’s usual guitarist — his producer Dave Cobb — bowed out with an earache. Fallon told his audience that Stapleton had texted him the

“This was my favorite thing in 2019,” Jason Isbell said, greeting his band’s first audience of ShoalsFest 2021. “I was so looking forward to doing it last year. I know you had to jump through some hoops, but I’m glad you’re here and we’re here to have a good time.” Addressing a polarizing topic in

Lainey Wilson has gotten a chuckle out of most of the responses to her chart-topping song “Things a Man Oughta Know.” It’s really wild, she says, what some women think their man oughta know. “One girl was like, ‘I think a man should know all the Disney princesses,'” Wilson tells Taste of Country Nights‘ Evan and

Rising country star Brittney Spencer takes lead on a soulful new cover of Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia,” which will appear on Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit‘s upcoming album, Georgia Blue. The song, which also features backing vocals from John Paul White, is the second release from Isbell’s upcoming covers album, which is due out on

“God was a word I had spoken but I hardly knew,”  Katie Pruitt sings in “Normal,” a track off her 2020 debut album Expectations. Raised Catholic, the singer-songwriter peppered her record with specific references to a Catholic school childhood (which she navigated as a closeted gay girl) and broad allusions to faith in general. Now,

Country star and veteran The Voice coach Blake Shelton filled out his Season 21 roster of hopefuls during Tuesday night’s (Oct. 4) set of blind auditions. The eight-time champion, who calls his team the G.O.A.T (“greatest of all time”), turned his chair for rock singer Tommy Edwards. The 27-year-old from Montana performed in the middle of the

It’s easier to decide the best country singer from some states than it is others. There are just too many from Kentucky and Arkansas to decide quickly, and there are too few from South Dakota and Idaho to make it much of a competition. It’s likely that some states have never even been represented on the Top

It’s been a banner year for Justin Moore. From dropping his sixth studio album, Straight Outta the Country, in April to notching his 10th No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with his hit single “We Didn’t Have Much,” the singer has emerged from an era of shutdowns and cancellations busier than ever. Now back on

In mid-August, Nashville’s Big Loud Records issued an email through PlayMPE, the digital promotion platform that supplies radio and media tastemakers with new singles. “For Immediate Airplay,” read the subject line. The artist and song for which airplay was requested: Morgan Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots.” So far, country radio has indicated that it’s happy

Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe wowed movie viewers of all ages, the cowboys of the silver screen’s musical selections and moral compasses filled a role in popular culture similar to that of today’s superheroes. For examples, see the singing cowboy films of the 1930s and ‘40s. Nowadays, Western films and television series rely on moral

Sam Hunt is embracing the power of Virtual Reality (VR) headsets and blissful nostalgia in the music video for his new single, “23.” The clip features three exhausted individuals winding down after a long day. They appear caught up in a life devoid of the spark of youth and young love, but this changes when each

Not everyone can be the total package, and in their newest duet, “Huntin’ Land,” Dustin Lynch and Riley Green describe a relationship with a girl who’s downright incompatible with them in just about every way. However, there’s one important thing about this relationship that’ll keep the two singers invested — at least until hunting season

John Prine dove headlong into country music stylings in “Yes I Guess They Oughta Name a Drink After You,” a fiddle-driven track on his 1972 album Diamonds in the Rough. Tyler Childers covers the song for an upcoming Prine tribute record, maintaining the vibe (and fiddle) of the original but adding some tinkling barroom piano