BREAKING: Big Loud Nashville recording artist Morgan Wallen has been suspended from his label after a video surfaced showing the singer yelling a racial epithet. The 27-year-old singer’s music has also been pulled from radio stations and music video channels around the country.
The lead singer of Brothers Osborne has announced he is gay. T.J. Osborne made the revelation during an interview published Wednesday by Time. The Maryland native becomes the first active country music male with a hit-making discography to go public with his homosexuality.
Tim McGraw released his very first single to country radio, “What Room was the Holiday In,” in 1991. Coming in at the 20-year anniversary, a lot has changed about the music business and what is required or necessary to be a successful artist. Social media was definitely not part of the equation. Facebook and Twitter weren’t a thing until 2006. There were no live-stream concerts or interactive online chats, and streaming services like Spotify and Pandora didn’t launch until the mid-2000’s. 30 years into his career, which is as hot as ever, Tim says, “It’s been a learning art for me, and sometimes I enjoy it and sometimes I don’t. I think really, the through line for me, through all of the madness and the changes and all those things, is knowing yourself as an artist. Knowing who you are as an artist and knowing what you do well, and even more importantly, knowing what you don’t do well, that’s the consistency that you have.” Check out “Undivided,” Tim’s single with Tyler Hubbard, at https://www.timmcgraw.com/ or McGraw/Hubbard video link.
The latest album from Curb Records recording artist Lee Brice – Hey World – sets a very high bar even higher when it comes to music from this Country music superstar. The ACM and CMA Award winner, and GRAMMY nominee, is charting high at Country radio with his song of the summer, “One of Them Girls,” the follow-up to his No. 1 with Carly Pearce on “I Hope You’re Happy Now.” Hey World is a 15-track collection releasing in the middle of one of the most unique times in modern history, and who better to provide our soundtrack than Lee Brice. “We wrote the title-track from an introspective, truthful place, and probably what most people are actually feeling right now,” shares Brice. “With everything that is happening in the world currently, and how fast paced we are as a society, in general, sometimes you just want everything to stop – just to appreciate what we do have. People are suffering and it can’t be ignored.” Details at https://www.leebrice.com/#!/
DUO NEWS: Platinum-selling singer/songwriter Jimmie Allen is back with his latest single “Freedom Was A Highway” with his friend – and country music superstar – Brad Paisley. The breezy, windows-down tune impacts U.S. Country radio on February 1. Listen at https://jimmieallen.lnk.to/freedom. On “Freedom Was A Highway,” Allen and Paisley’s vocals pair to reminisce about the nostalgia and simplicity of more carefree, youthful days; the track also features a distinctive Paisley signature guitar solo. The song was co-written by Allen, Ash Bowers and Matt Rogers. “When I was writing this song with my co-writers, I imagined myself driving down my favorite roads in Delaware. This song takes me back to simpler moments such as an innocent, childhood crush on the next-door neighbor or feeling freedom in the wind as you drive with the windows down. I’ve loved this song from the creation,” Allen says of the track. “Freedom Was A Highway” was first featured on Allen’s album Bettie James, which has garnered more than 118 million streams and widespread critical acclaim since its July 2020 release via Stoney Creek Records/BBR Music Group. More info at https://www.jimmieallenmusic.com/
Preshias Harris is a freelance music journalist and music career development consultant with an emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com. Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com.
