Music

LeAnn Rimes shifts her focus into a new stylistic direction with CHANT: The Human & the Holy, a 12-track collection released on Friday (Nov. 20).  Rimes dropped two of the songs off the album ahead of the full project’s release, beginning with “Sing Love Into the World.” This song, like the rest of CHANT, grew out of Rimes’

Chances are good that 39 years ago today (Nov. 21, 1981), Hank Williams Jr. didn’t do much settling down. It was on that date that his single “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)” soared to the top of the charts. “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)” was the first single released from Williams Jr.’s The

For a few freewheeling days in June of 1970, Elvis Presley assembled some of Nashville’s best sessions players to jam in RCA Studio B on Music Row. Elvis chose the songs himself, everything from Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Bob Wills’ “Faded Love” to Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” and

In recent months, Sean Watkins has felt like every day is trash day. His work schedule as a musician stalled due to the novel coronavirus quarantine, the weeks have simultaneously dragged on and flown by, he explains, giving him deja vu every time his scheduled, once-per-week garbage pickup day rolls around. “I would go to take

Dan + Shay turn a white Christmas blue in their plaintive new song, “Christmas Isn’t Christmas.” The sentimental tune finds Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney’s harmonies glowing over a cinematic melody. Mooney takes the lead as they convey the lonely feeling of not being able to spend the holiday with the ones you love, the festive occasion becoming

Happy birthday to Dierks Bentley! It was on this day (Nov. 20) in 1975 that Bentley was born in Phoenix, Ariz. Bentley’s parents are Leon and Catherine Bentley. His father was a bank vice president who served in World War II; he passed away in 2012. Bentley also has a sister, Vanessa, and a brother, Fife. The future country

Florida Georgia Line addressed rumors they were breaking up on Thursday, telling SiriusXM host Storme Warren they were still a team and “feeling stronger than ever.” The speculation about a rift between duo members Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley began around the Presidential election, when Kelley was regularly posting content that suggested the pandemic and

Several country music greats have set a high bar for “Please Come Home for Christmas,” but there’s one in particular that Laine Hardy had in mind when recording and performing his live version of the song. Hardy says his family listened to a lot of Christmas music growing up in Louisiana, but his performance of ”Please

Miranda Lambert surprised fans with new music on Thursday (Nov. 19), in the form of a song from the podcast she’s executive producing. “Champion” is part of the Make It Up As We Go podcast soundtrack. The soundtrack was released in its entirety on Thursday, and it features a song from Lindsay Ell as well.

Miranda Lambert has been selected for the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021. The country star and Texas native is one of five inductees who will join the hall in April. Lambert is the only musician in the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame’s 2021 induction class, but she’s not

For the country singer Justin Moore, veterans are not a foreign concept. Both of the songwriter’s grandfathers served in the military (“one Air Force and one Navy,” says the singer), so when Moore was searching for songs for his 2019 album Late Nights and Longnecks, he knew he wanted to include a tribute to fallen

The year 2020 has been a difficult one for most, but the hopefully-brighter holiday season is nearly here. With it, just like clockwork, comes the annual CMA Country Christmas television special. This year, country stars will converge once again for a night of festive performances, dazzling holiday decor and all the magic of the Christmas season:

Steve Earle is honoring his late son, fellow musician Justin Townes Earle, with his next album. Earle and his band the Dukes will release a record of his son’s songs, J.T., in early 2021. J.T. takes its name from Justin Townes Earle’s childhood nickname, his father explains in a press release. “Justin was never called anything

Lee Brice felt fine immediately after testing positive for COVID-19, but a few hours later, he took a turn for the worse. The singer shares that he fought through a week of mild symptoms after one really bad night. “I literally woke up wet,” Brice tells People. “I wasn’t shivering and I don’t think the fever

Dolly Parton has reaffirmed her living-saint status with the news on Tuesday that she may be partly responsible for helping supply some hope during the Covid-19 pandemic. In April, the Country Music Hall of Fame member donated $1 million to Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center toward Covid-19 research, funding that, through an early-stage trial, ultimately

The possibility of a full-scale return of live music in 2021 is still a big ol’ question mark, thanks to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped artists and fans from starting to fill their calendars with plans for festivals in the new year. The already-announced events promise both fun and safe ways to see

Rascal Flatts singer Gary LeVox has been hinting for a while now that he’s thinking about dropping a solo country album. On Friday (Nov. 13), he kicked off that new chapter with the release of a holiday original, “Christmas Will Be Different This Year.” LeVox penned his forlorn new tune with Natalie Hemby and composer Stephan Moccio,

Scooter Braun, the music executive who acquired Big Machine Music Group in June of 2019, has sold the master rights to the six albums that country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift recorded during her deal with the record label. Variety reports that while the buyer is an unknown “investment fund,” the sale earned Braun a sky-high sum of more

Whether it’s coming out of Nashville, New York, L.A., or points in between, there’s no shortage of fresh tunes, especially from artists who have yet to become household names. Rolling Stone Country selects some of the best new music releases from country and Americana artists. Joy Oladokun, “Look Up” Joy Oladokun follows her 2020 album In Defense

At long last, Garth Brooks‘ 12th studio album is coming soon. The country star has been teasing the project for years, but by the end of 2020, it will officially be in fans’ hands. Brooks has been keeping his fans in the know about his new music through his Facebook Live series Inside Studio G. It’s how

Award-winning songwriter Luke Dick teams up with Dierks Bentley on “Blazer,” the newest release to come off of Dick’s upcoming project, Music From the Documentary Red Dog.  “Blazer” is a groovy earworm dedicated to living a road-dog life that never goes out of style — just like an old-fashioned Chevrolet Blazer truck. Bentley and Dick trade

Twenty-six years ago today, on Nov. 16, 1994, Garth Brooks made history: It was on that date that Brooks’ third studio album, Ropin’ the Wind, which was released in 1991, was certified for sales of 10 million copies. The feat made Brooks the first country artist to have two albums earn diamond status. Prior to Ropin’

Chris Stapleton sings of a Covid Christmas in a pisser of a sketch on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Dressed in a gaudy Christmas sweater and full PPE — mask, face-shield, and gloves — the country singer plays guitar and delivers Yuletide parodies about Chlorox wipes, contactless curbside pickup, and that gift everyone wants to find underneath

Americana duo Surrender Hill returned to the site of a memorable gig for their new Guest Room Sessions performance. Joined by friend, fellow musician and local lawmaker Tom Crawford, the husband-and-wife pair sing their song “Waiting on a Dream” at Ellijay, Ga.’s Chateau Meichtry Family Winery. Originally solo artists, Robin Dean Salmon — raised in

Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell‘s new “The Problem” music video is as intimate as the song itself. The collaborators and real-life couple address each other, face to face, in the simple, yet emotional clip. Directed by Becky Fluke, Shires and Isbell’s “The Problem” video perfectly captures the conversation that the song chronicles, using live vocals

Seventeen years ago today (Nov. 15, 2003), Toby Keith earned his 12th No. 1 single with “I Love This Bar,” but chances are good that he had no idea just how much the song would affect his life. Written by Keith and Scotty Emerick, “I Love This Bar” describes the patrons of a local bar, who include

The 2020 CMA Awards were held earlier this week, pandemic be damned, with several tributes to country legends that were lost this year, including a Charlie Daniels medley, renditions of Joe Diffie and Kenny Rogers songs, and a Mac Davis’ “In the Ghetto.” Notably absent were mentions of the late John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker,

Eric Church knows it might come as a surprise to some fans that his next batch of music — including his single “Stick That in Your Country Song“ and “Hell of a View,” “Crazyland,” “Bad Mother Trucker” and more — was actually all written and recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “We made this project, we

Chris Stapleton‘s new song “Watch You Burn” addresses the shooter who killed dozens and injured hundreds more at the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nev. The haunting track wishes for a different outcome in the tragedy, and cautions both the man who opened fire on the country music festival and all those

Chris Stapleton‘s new song about his late dog Maggie is a certified tearjerker. The multi-Grammy-winner and his wife Morgane bid farewell to their beloved dog in 2019, when she died at the age of 14. Her death and memory, however, serve as the inspiration for the appropriately titled “Maggie’s Song,” in which Stapleton chronicles her