Some of Nashville’s biggest country stars are performing (remotely) throughout the day, Wednesday, May 20. CMT has joined forces with Feed the Front Line to help feed front-line workers and vulnerable ‘food-insecure’ people with an all-day TV marathon called Feed the Front Line LIVE, Presented By CMT. The funds raised will help to feed essential workers and those impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The live “at-home” performance will air roughly during mealtimes during the day: at 9:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (all times CST), via CMT’s Facebook and YouTube channels. In addition to artist performances, the live events will feature stories from front-line workers. There will be opportunities to make contributions throughout the live broadcasts.
The non-profit group Feed the Front Line uses donations to buy meals from struggling local restaurants for free distribution to those individuals needing a hot meal. Feed the Front Line operates in Charlotte, Nashville and Chicago as well as throughout Texas and Kentucky. Just in Nashville, they have delivered around 4,500 meals and provided $50,000 to local
Feed the Front Line LIVE, Presented By CMT will feature special at-home performances from the following (in alphabetical order): Avril Lavigne, Billy Ray Cyrus, Blanco Brown, Brad Paisley, Brett Young, Caitlyn Smith, Carly Pearce, Cassadee Pope, Caylee Hammack, Charlie Worsham, Chase Rice, Dustin Lynch, Grace Potter, Faith Hill, Hailey Whitters, Jimmie Allen, Jon Pardi, Jordan Davis, Kelsea Ballerini, Kenny Chesney, Kip Moore, Kylie Morgan, Lori McKenna, Rita Wilson, Russell Dickerson, Sam Williams, Scotty McCreery, Sheryl Crow, Tenille Townes, Tim McGraw, Tucker Beathard, and more surprise guests.
- Maggie McGraw, daughter of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, is vice-president of Feed the Front Line’s Nashville chapter.
Watch at https://www.facebook.com/cmt/ or go to www.youtube.com and search “CMT channel.” More about Feed the Front Line at https://www.ftfl.org/
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“I Know Country” Q&A from www.IKnowCountry.com
QUESTION: Whose first country single, “Don’t Think I Don’t Care About It,” was released to radio the week of May 20, 2008?
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Kip Moore has made a documentary about the weeks leading up to the release of his new album, Wild World, due out May 29. The documentary, titled 7 Days At The Rock, shows Moore in self isolation at his rock-climbing facility, named Bedrock, in Red River Gorge, Kentucky. In the documentary, Moore plays music and reflects on how the current pandemic affected him and the recording of his In The Wild Sessions acoustic series.
7 Days At The Rock will be available to watch on Outside TV on May 28 at 8 p.m. CT on all major streaming platforms and devices including The Roku Channel and Samsung TV Plus.
Moore has also released a single, titled “Red White Blue Jean American Dream,” from the album. Moore is set to join Sam Hunt on the Southside Summer Tour, when touring resumes. Tour dates and details about various Wild World packages at http://www.kipmoore.net/
Keith Urban brought back the Drive-In… sort of. On May 14, he performed for more than 200 doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians and other staff from Vanderbilt Health in Nashville. The audience was safely distanced: they were all watching the show from their cars at Stardust Drive-In Theater. performing in this environment, with everyone in their cars at a safe distance from one another, seems like an amazing opportunity for everybody to just let go and have fun….and I’m a musician, I have to play!”
Runaway June: A trio, a duo, a trio again. On May 14, Hannah Mulholland announced she was leaving the trio Runaway June. Naomi Cooke and Jennifer Wayne – the other two members of Runaway June – then announced that they would continue as a duo. That changed a couple of days later when they revealed they had recruited Natalie Stovall to replace Mulholland and are once again a trio. Runaway June were featured at this year’s CRS New Faces of Country Music during the 2020 Country Radio Seminar. Their current single, “Head Over Heels,” is currently rising on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. More at https://www.runawayjune.com/
Billboard Country Airplay Top 5 for the week of May 23 (last week’s position in parentheses)
- (2) “Chasin’ You” Morgan Wallen
- (4) “Does To Me” Luke Combs ft. Eric Church
- (3) “Nobody But You” Blake Shelton w/Gwen Stefani
- (1) “Beer Can’t Fix” Thomas Rhett ft. Jon Pardi
- (5) “After A few” Travis Denning
- “Chasin’ You” hits No. 1 on this week’s Country Airplay, and it’s Morgan Wallen’s third-in-a-row chart topper. Morgan co-wrote “Chasin’ You” with fellow Big Loud songwriters Craig Wiseman and Jamie Moore.
- Wallen’s new single, “More Than My Hometown” goes to country radio on May 27.
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“I Know Country” Q&A ANSWER: Darius Rucker, who had previously risen to fame as the lead vocalist with Hootie & the Blowfish. The song made Rucker the first solo African American artist to top the Country Singles chart since Charley Pride’s Night Games reached No. 1 in 1983. “Don’t Think I Don’t Care About It” was the first of eight songs that have topped the country singles chart for Darius Rucker.
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On this day in Country Music
May 20, 1950 George Jones married Dorothy Bonvillion (they divorced in 1951)
Number One country songs over the decades…
May 20, 1960 “Please Help Me I’m Fallin’” – Hank Locklin
May 20, 1970 “My Love” – Sonny James
May 20, 1980 “Gone Too Far” – Eddie Rabbitt
May 20, 1990 “Walkin’ Away” – Clint Black
May 29, 2000 “The Way You Love Me” – Faith Hill
This week’s Country Music Birthdays
May 18 Joseph Bonsall, Jr. (Oak Ridge Boys) 1948
George Strait, 1952
David Nail, 1979
May 19 Shooter Jennings (Waylon’s son), 1979
May 20 Jon Pardi, 1985
May 21 Cody Johnson, 1987
May 22 Dana Williams (Diamond Rio), 1961 – See below
The band Diamond Rio was founded in 1982 as an attraction for the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, and was originally known as the Grizzly River Boys, then the Tennessee River Boys. Not to be confused with Diamond REO, a hard rock band from Pittsburgh, PA. Opryland closed in 1997 to be replaced by Opry Mills shopping mall, sometimes referred to as “Shopryland.”
Preshias Harris is the author of “I Know Country” with 366 daily country music questions and answers. You can buy and instantly download your e-book copy at www.IKnowCountry.com.
Harris is also a music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Visit www.collegeofsongology.com for more details. Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com
