NASHVILLE MUSIC LINE

It’s raining babies! Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren Akins welcomed their third daughter last month. Her name is Lennon Love Akins, and she weighed 9lbs 2oz with a head full of dark hair and blue eyes. … Meanwhile, Thomas Rhett’s dad, Rhett Akins and his wife Sonya are expecting a boy in March… More baby news… Shay Mooney (Dan+ Shay) and wife Hannah welcomed their second child, another boy, named Ames Alexander on February 21st in Nashville. He joins big brother, three-year-old Asher James.

Billboard Hot Country Songs Top 5 for the week of March 14: (last week’s position in parentheses)

  1. (2) “The Bones” Maren Morris
  2. (1) “10,000 Hours” Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber
  3. (4) “Homesick” Kane Brown
  4. (3) “Kinfolks” Sam Hunt
  5. (5) “One Man Band” Old Dominion
  • “The Bones” is Maren Morris’s first Hot Country Songs No. 1. It topples “10,000 Hours” that reigned atop the chart for 21 weeks. It took 53 weeks on the chart for “Bones” to reach the top, a real nail-biter for Maren and her team at Columbia Nashville. Only “Tequila” by Dan + Shay took longer – 54 weeks – to land at No. 1.
  • The highest new entry on this weeks Hot Country Songs chart is “God Whispered Your Name” from Keith Urban that debuts at No. 21.

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“I Know Country” Q&A from www.IKnowCountry.com

QUESTION:  The 2005 movie, “Black Cloud,” starring Rick Schroder (also written and directed by him) featured which male country artist as the sheriff?

 ANSWER:  Tim McGraw played the sheriff. The plot involved a young Navajo mann striving to be part of the Olympic boxing team.

  • McGraw would later star in “Country Strong” with Gwyneth Paltrow.

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I am so proud of my European colleague, Christian Lamitschka, the publisher of Country Music News International (CMNI). I write album reviews and cover No. 1 parties for that publication, as well as submitting other news items from Music City. Now, Country Music News International Magazine with its weekly Newsletter and Radio Shows in English and German, joins Copenhagen FM Radio Station, Rødovrekanalen 105.9FM. Country Music News International will be part of the show “Roots & Country Klub” that airs twice a month on Wednesdays on the station and via the station’s website. Country Music News International was started 2011 with the goal of bringing country music news to the entire world.  The magazine quickly found readers from all over the world. Since its launch, CMNI has reached over 1.6 million readers in the U.S, almost half-a-million in Germany and hundreds of thousands in the U.K., Russia, France, and beyond. Follow the CMNI blog at http://countrymusicnewsinternational.blogspot.com

On this day in Country Music (Some No. 1 news from way back when)

March 11, 1970           No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart was “It’s Just A Matter of Time” by Sonny James. (It was a matter of a LONG time: It topped the charts for 14 weeks before being toppled by Merle Haggard’s “The Fightin’ Side of Me.”)

March 11, 1980           “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” by Willie Nelson was the No. 1 country song. The song was featured in the movie The Electric Horseman and was Willie’s eleventh No. 1 single.

March 11, 1990           “Chains” sung by Patty Loveless topped the Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart (as it was called then) for just one week. Patty was knocked from the top spot by Randy Travis who then held on to No. 1 for four weeks with “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart.”

March 11, 2000           “Smile” from Lonestar held the No. 1 spot for one week. It was the third single from their third album – and the first since the departure of John Rich.

This week’s Country Music Birthdays

March 9                       Mickey Gilley, 1936

Jimmy Fadden (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founding member), 1948

March 10                     Carrie Underwood, 1983

March 11                     Jimmy Fortune (Statler Brothers), 1955

March 14                     Michael Martin Murphey, 1945

Kristian Bush (of Sugarland with Jennifer Nettles), 1970


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