Author: Lauren Zimmerman

Luke Combs performed his new single, “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” on last night’s episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Watch/share HERE.

The performance celebrates the release of Combs’ new song, which premiered earlier this week worldwide at country radio and is now available to stream/purchase HERE. Additionally, watch the song’s official music video HERE . The release continues a monumental year for Combs, who is nominated for two awards at the 2019 CMT Music Awards: Video of the Year (“She Got The Best of Me”) and CMT Performance of the Year (“Beautiful Crazy” from CMT Crossroads with Leon Bridges). The awards ceremony will broadcast live on CMT from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, June 5 at 8:00pm ET/7:00pm CT.
 Additionally, Combs, who recently made history as the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboard country charts for multiple weeks: Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales (dated March 9, March 30 and April 6). Moreover, Combs’ 2x Platinum single, “Beautiful Crazy,” spent seven-straight weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart—tying the second longest run atop the chart since its launch in 1990. “Beautiful Crazy” is Combs’ fastest rising single to date (15 weeks) and makes Combs the first artist ever to send his first five singles to the top of Billboard ’s Country Airplay chart. “Beautiful Crazy” is also the first country single shipped to radio already platinum-certified since Taylor Swift’s “Red” in 2013 and has more than 370 million on-demand streams. In celebration of these milestones, Combs recently performed an acoustic version of the song during the 2019 ACM Awards live broadcast. Watch/share HERE. Of the performance, Billboard praises, “…a stirring version of the hit single…the arrangement breathed a second life into a song that many would have stated was perfect as is beforehand,” while Rolling Ston e declares, “…Combs showed why he’s one of the genre’s most promising young voices.”
 Continuing his landmark year, Combs sold out venues in 25 of the 29 cities on his newly confirmed “Beer Never Broke My Heart” fall tour in the first weekend tickets were on-sale. He broke records at Bozeman’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, Bloomington’s Grossinger Motors Arena and Bossier City’s CenturyLink Center for the fastest sell out times in venue history. Additional sold-out shows include Kansas City’s Sprint Center, Portland’s Moda Center, Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center, Phoenix’s Talking Stick Resort Arena, Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena among several others. Special guests throughout the tour include Morgan Wallen, The Cadillac Three and Jameson Rodgers. See below for complete tour details. 
 Since the release of his double Platinum certified debut album, This One’s For You, on June 2, 2017, the album spent a total of 33 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart—the longest reign for a solo male artist in over 25 years. The album also spent 16 weeks at No. 1 in 2018—making it the highest selling country album last year with 1.1 million equivalent album units sold and the only country album to surpass 1 million album units. It’s also the most-streamed country album of 2019 so far. Additionally, Combs was awards Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, and Top Country Album at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, New Male Artist of the Year at the 2019 ACM Awards, Country Artist of the Year at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards, New Artist of the Year at the 52nd Annual CMA Awards, was nominated for Best New Artist at the 61st GRAMMY Awards and was the recipient of a CMA Triple Play Award for writing three No. 1 songs in a 12 month period. 

Hailed for his stripped-down authenticity, RCA Records Nashville artist/songwriter Ryan Hurdhas been added to Old Dominion’s headlining arena “Make It Sweet Tour” this fall.

“I remember watching OD before they were even called that,” Hurd, said of the two-time and reigning ACM Group of the Year and reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year. “I’ve always looked up to them, first as songwriters and now as the premier band in our genre. I’m so excited about being a part of this tour and getting a chance to be with some great friends for the fall.” 

The Old Dominion tour comes on the heels of Hurd’s “To A Tour” with club and festival dates through August, which has found Hurd playing to capacity crowds at some of the most respected music rooms in the country including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Nashville.   

Saturday, Hurd performs at the annual BMI Key West Songwriters Festival in Florida. On May 16, the native of Kalamazoo MI will be in Grand Rapids followed by a stop in Rootstown, Ohio, on May 17.

With career streams exceeding 100 million worldwide, Hurd has a gripping point of view and an eager audience. His endearing, love letter “To A T” is moving up the country radio charts. The song already hit No. 1 on the SiriusXM The Highway’s Hot 30 Countdown and has caught the attention of entertainment tastemakers including men’s lifestyle playbook Esquire and Maxim.

Hurd co-wrote the sultry “To A T” with Laura Veltz and Nathan Spicer with attention-grabbing bass, sonic guitar work, and drop-you-in-your-tracks harmony from creative muse and wife Maren Morris.

Hurd’s ascension seems obvious. He was named the only country artist on Sirius XM’s all-genre “Future Five” for 2019. He was tapped by AOL as one of their country artists set for a breakout year, Amazon Music’s Best of 2018, and named an Artist to Watch by VEVO, Pandora, CMT, The Huffington Post, and Rolling Stone Country, which lauded him for “generating major buzz” and “making waves.”

The praise is earned. Hurd is one of Nashville’s most multi-dimensional young songwriters. He has had co-pen credits on some of the format’s biggest hits including “Lonely Tonight” (Blake Shelton), “You Look Good” (Lady Antebellum), and “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” (Luke Bryan).

Now he’s releasing his own music, including “Michigan For The Winter,” “To A T,” and “Diamonds Or Twine,” which is available on all digital retailers and streaming platforms (listen HERE). 

Ryan Hurd’s “To A T Tour” (Old Dominion dates in BOLD): 
May 11 – BMI Key West Songwriters Festival, Key West, FL
May 16 – Elevation, Grand Rapids, MI
May 17 – Dusty Armadillo, Rootstown, OH
May 31 – Innsbrook Pavilion, Glen Allen, VA
June 1 – PNC Waterside Pavilion, Solomons, MD
June 2 – Patriotic Festival, Virginia Beach, VA
June 6 – Taste of Country Music Festival, Hunter, NY
June 7 – Bottle & Cork, Dewey Beach, DE
June 9 – CMA Music Festival, Nashville, TN
June 13 – Battery Park at Hard Rock Hotel, Sioux City, IA
June 23 – LakeShake, Chicago, IL
July 13 – Raleigh County Memorial Airport, Beaver, WV
July 18 – Blame My Roots Festival, Belmont, OH
July 19 – Power Plant Live!, Baltimore, MD
July 24 – Olmsted Country Fair, Rochester, MN
July 26 – Red Willow County Fair, McCook, NE
Aug. 9 – Boots & Hearts Music Festival, Oro Station, Canada
Aug. 17 – Country Jam & Campout, Thornville, OH
Aug. 31 – Seven Peaks Festival, Buena Vista, CO
Sept. 27 – Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC  
Nov. 1 – Yuengling Center, Tampa, FL  
Nov. 3 – The Amp St. Augustine, St. Augustine, FL 
Nov. 8 – Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, RI 
Nov. 9 – The Oncenter War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, NY
Nov. 14 – BOK Center, Tulsa, OK 
Nov. 15 – CenturyLink Center, Bossier City, LA  
Nov. 16 – The Theater at Grand Prairie KSCS Country Fest, Grand Prairie, TX 
Nov. 21 – Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Nov. 22 – BB&T Arena at Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY
Nov. 23 – TaxSlayer Arena, Moline, IL
Dec. 4 – The Joint, Las Vegas, NV
**Schedule is subject to change and additional dates may be added.

For more on Ryan Hurd and to catch him on tour, visit visit www.RyanHurd.com.

Acclaimed country band Old Dominion add new dates and cities to their “Make It Sweet Tour.” Expanding on an already stacked schedule, the AEG powered outing adds over 30 cities in six countries throughout the end of summer, fall and winter with big names as special guests as Scotty McCreery joins for 8 shows, Michael Ray for 5 and Jordan Davis added to the international run. Morgan Evans, Ryan Griffin and Ryan Hurd are set to open on select dates. See full routing below with new dates in bold and click HERE for more info!

Register now for the Old Dominion presale and enter to win a meet & greet and autographed guitar! Link to presale: tnspk.co/Jfu_YFo

Last week, Old Dominion released their deeply personal new song “Some People Do.” The soul baring track, which begs the listener for redemption and second chances, was released following the band’s current single “Make It Sweet” going #1 on the Billboard Country Airplayand Mediabase charts.

Old Dominion made their return to Nashville over the weekend with a sold-out performance at Ascend Amphitheater following their performance on the mainstage at Stagecoach Country Music Festival. Click HERE to watch their performance of “Make It Sweet” from the festival!

Last month, Old Dominion won “Group of the Year” at the 54^th Annual ACM Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The award marks the band’s second consecutive win in this category and third ACM Award overall! Click HERE to view! Earlier this week, they were also nominated for “Group Video of the Year” at the upcoming 2019 CMT Music Awards.

Emerging singer, songwriter and performer Tenille Townes’ video for her single  “Somebody’s Daughter” is nominated for Breakthrough Video Of The Year at the 2019 CMT Music Awards. The awards ceremony will broadcast live on CMT from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, June 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT. 

The video was filmed in Nashville by Grammy Award nominated director, P.R. Brown (Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Lukas Graham) and produced by fellow nominee Steve Lamar (Carrie Underwood, Lukas Graham). Watch/share HERE. Of the video, Tenille comments, “It was so important to me to have this video shed a light on the beginning of everybody’s innocent story, as a kid at a lemonade stand. I think it makes us more compassionate to remember that and I’m grateful for the way this video came together!”

“Somebody’s Daughter” will appear on Townes’ debut Jay Joyce (Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, Eric Church) produced album, which is expected later this year on Columbia Nashville and is currently Top 30 at country radio. Previously released tracks “White Horse” and “I Kept The Roses” premiered alongside an Amazon Original cover of Keith Urban’s smash-hit, “ Stupid Boy.” Of the song, Rolling Stone praises, “she brings that intensity to her recording of the song, letting her unmistakable voice conjure the emotion of a woman who was held back and mistreated by when she and the titular ‘boy’ were together. When Townes hisses out the title, it actually stings.”

Townes is currently on the road supporting Dierks Bentley as part of his extensive “Burning Man Tour.” She’ll join Miranda Lambert on her “Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour” later this year for select dates. See below for complete tour details. 

Already receiving widespread attention, Townes has been named iHeartCountry’s “On The Verge” artist as well as Amazon Music’s “2019 Artists To Watch,” CMT’s “Next Women of Country,” iHeart Radio’s “Artists To Watch in 2019” and is included in The Bobby Bones Show’s “Class of 2019,” CMT’s “Listen Up” and the inaugural class of “Opry NextStage.” 

Canadian-born and Nashville-based, Townes first made her public appearance at age nine alongside Shania Twain after being invited to sing on stage at a concert she attended with her parents. In addition to her work as a musician and songwriter, Townes remains committed to charitable causes including her own initiative, Big Hearts For Big Kids, which has raised over $1.5 million to date benefiting a youth shelter in her hometown of Grande Prairie, Alberta. More information can be found at bigheartsforbigkids.com.

It’s a wide-open field for this year’s CMT Music Awards and Sony Music Nashville claims 22% of the nominations with Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs and Kane Brown among those receiving the most nods. LANCO, Old Dominion, Mitchell Tenpenny and Tenille Townes each received music video nominations as well. See the full list and voting information HERE. 

SMN’s 13 nominations are:

Video of the Year
Kane Brown – “Good As You”
Luke Combs – “She Got The Best Of Me”
Maren Morris – “GIRL”
 
Male Video of the Year
Kane Brown – “Lose It”
 
Female Video of the Year
Maren Morris – “GIRL”
Miranda Lambert – “Keeper Of The Flame”

Group Video of the Year
LANCO  –  “Born To Love You”
Old Dominion  – “Hotel Key”
 
Breakthrough Video 
Mitchell Tenpenny – “Drunk Me”
Tenille Townes – “Somebody’s Daughter”
 
Collaborative Video
Jason Aldean Featuring Miranda Lambert – “Drowns The Whiskey”
 
CMT Performance of the Year
Luke Combs and Leon Bridges – “Beautiful Crazy” From CMT Crossroads
Maren Morris and Brandi Carlile – “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman” From 2018 CMT Artists Of The Year

Nominations for the awards, to be held on June 5 in Nashville, Tennessee, were announced Tuesday and fan voting is now open at VOTE.CMT.COM . Grammy-winning act Little Big Town, who are nominated for two awards, are returning for a second year as hosts for the show airing live on CMT from Nashville, Tennessee.

Fourteen videos are in the running for video of the year, and the top five nominees in that category will be announced the morning of the show.

Luke Combs’ new single “Beer Never Broke My Heart” premiered this morning worldwide at country radio. Stream/purchase HERE. The song’s official music video will also debut today at 12:15 p.m. ET. Combs will be chatting with fans ahead of the video launch on YouTube Music starting at 12:00 p.m. ET. In celebration of the new music, Combs will perform the track on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” tomorrow, May 9. 

The release of “Beer Never Broke My Heart” continues an already monumental year for Combs, who is nominated for two awards at the 2019 CMT Music Awards: Video of the Year (“She Got The Best of Me”) and CMT Performance of the Year (“Beautiful Crazy” from CMT Crossroads with Leon Bridges). The awards ceremony will broadcast live on CMT from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, June 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT. 
 Additionally, Combs, who recently made history as the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboard country charts for multiple weeks: Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales (dated March 9, March 30 and April 6). Moreover, Combs’ 2x Platinum single, “Beautiful Crazy,” spent seven-straight weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart—tying the second longest run atop the chart since its launch in 1990. “Beautiful Crazy” is Combs’ fastest rising single to date (15 weeks) and makes Combs the first artist ever to send his first five singles to the top of Billboard ’s Country Airplay chart. “Beautiful Crazy” is also the first country single shipped to radio already platinum-certified since Taylor Swift’s “Red” in 2013 and has more than 360 million on-demand streams. In celebration of these milestones, Combs recently performed an acoustic version of the song during the 2019 ACM Awards live broadcast. Watch/share HERE. Of the performance, Billboard praises, “…a stirring version of the hit single…the arrangement breathed a second life into a song that many would have stated was perfect as is beforehand,” while Rolling Ston e declares, “…Combs showed why he’s one of the genre’s most promising young voices.”
 Continuing his monumental year, Combs sold out venues in 25 of the 29 cities on his newly confirmed “Beer Never Broke My Heart” fall tour in the first weekend tickets were on-sale. He broke records at Bozeman’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, Bloomington’s Grossinger Motors Arena and Bossier City’s CenturyLink Center for the fastest sell out times in venue history. Additional sold-out shows include Kansas City’s Sprint Center, Portland’s Moda Center, Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center, Phoenix’s Talking Stick Resort Arena, Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena among several others. Special guests throughout the tour include Morgan Wallen, The Cadillac Three and Jameson Rodgers. See below for complete tour details. 
 Since the release of his double Platinum certified debut album, This One’s For You, on June 2, 2017, the album spent a total of 33 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart—the longest reign for a solo male artist in over 25 years. The album also spent 16 weeks at No. 1 in 2018—making it the highest selling country album last year with 1.1 million equivalent album units sold and the only country album to surpass 1 million album units. It’s also the most-streamed country album of 2019 so far. Additionally, Combs was awards Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, and Top Country Album at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, New Male Artist of the Year at the 2019 ACM Awards, Country Artist of the Year at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards, New Artist of the Year at the 52nd Annual CMA Awards, was nominated for Best New Artist at the 61st GRAMMY Awards and was the recipient of a CMA Triple Play Award for writing three No. 1 songs in a 12 month period. 

The Billboard Music Awards were hosted by Kelly Clarkson on Wednesday, May 1^st.

Kane Brown presented with Becky G on the awards show.

LUKE COMBS

Top Country Artist:
Luke Combs

Top Country Male Artist:
Luke Combs

Top Country Album:
Luke Combs
This Ones For You

MAREN MORRIS

Top Dance/Electronic Song:

Zedd, Marren Morris & Grey “The Middle”

CMA and ACM Award-winning musician Luke Combs’ new single, “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” will premiere worldwide at country radio next Wednesday, May 8 at 9:00 AM ET. Pre-save/pre-add the song HERE. In celebration of the new music, Combs will perform the track on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” next Thursday, May 9.
 The release of “Beer Never Broke My Heart” continues a landmark year for Combs, who recently made history as the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboard country charts for multiple weeks: Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales (dated March 9, March 30 and April 6). Additionally, Combs’ current 2x Platinum single, “Beautiful Crazy,” spent seven-straight weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart—tying the second longest run atop the chart since its launch in 1990. “Beautiful Crazy” is Combs’ fastest rising single to date (15 weeks) and makes Combs the first artist ever to send his first five singles to the top of Billboard ’s Country Airplay chart. “Beautiful Crazy” is also the first country single shipped to radio already platinum-certified since Taylor Swift’s “Red” in 2013 and has more than 360 million on-demand streams. In celebration of these milestones, Combs recently performed an acoustic version of the song during the 2019 ACM Awards live broadcast. Watch/share HERE. Of the performance, Billboard praises, “…a stirring version of the hit single…the arrangement breathed a second life into a song that many would have stated was perfect as is beforehand,” while Rolling Ston e declares, “…Combs showed why he’s one of the genre’s most promising young voices.”
 Continuing his monumental year, Combs sold out venues in 25 of the 29 cities on his newly confirmed “Beer Never Broke My Heart” fall tour in the first weekend tickets were on-sale. He broke records at Bozeman’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, Bloomington’s Grossinger Motors Arena and Bossier City’s CenturyLink Center for the fastest sell out times in venue history. Additional sold-out shows include Kansas City’s Spring Center, Portland’s Moda Center, Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center, Phoenix’s Talking Stick Resort Arena, Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena among several others. Special guests throughout the tour include Morgan Wallen, The Cadillac Three and Jameson Rodgers. See below for complete tour details. 
 Since the release of his double Platinum certified debut album, This One’s For You, on June 2, 2017, the album spent a total of 32 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart—the longest reign for a solo male artist in over 25 years. The album also spent 16 weeks at No. 1 in 2018—making it the highest selling country album last year with 1.1 million equivalent album units sold and the only country album to surpass 1 million album units. It’s also the most-streamed country album of 2019 so far. Additionally, Combs was named New Male Artist of the Year at the 2019 ACM Awards, Country Artist of the Year at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards, New Artist of the Year at the 52nd Annual CMA Awards, was nominated for Best New Artist at the 61st GRAMMY Awards and was the recipient of a CMA Triple Play Award for writing three No. 1 songs in a 12 month period. 

Multi-platinum entertainer Chris Young today announced USAA as an Official Sponsor of the “Raised On Country Tour 2019.” USAA, a leading provider of insurance, banking and other financial services to members of the U.S. military and their families, will team with Chris Young to create memorable experiences for military, veterans and their families throughout the coast-to-coast headlining tour. Chris Young’s “Raised On Country Tour 2019” kicks off May 16 in Alpharetta, Georgia with over 25 shows through September.

With the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville, USAA, Official NFL Salute to Service Partner, kicked-off celebrations by hosting a special NFL Draft USAA Salute to Service event for invited military members stationed at Fort Campbell. The event, which took place earlier today at The Steps at WME, featured an acoustic performance by Chris Young and a Q&A session featuring NFL Legend Joe Thomas. Following the on-stage portions of the event, both Chris Young and Joe Thomas met with military members, signing autographs and posing for pictures.

“From performing for our service members at military installations around the world to my sister and brother-in-law’s own service in the U.S. Marines, I’ve seen firsthand the many sacrifices our military and their families make every day in service to our country,” said Chris Young. “I’m excited to have USAA on board for my 2019 tour and I’m looking forward to meeting our service members at all the shows.”

“Creating unique and memorable experiences for today’s service members is one way USAA shows our appreciation. We are excited to bring together Chris Young, a noted military supporter, and the NFL for a once-in-a-lifetime event at the start of a special year honoring and appreciating our true heroes,” said Army veteran and USAA Bank President Chad Borton. “Whether a memorable summer on tour with Chris Young, or personal interactions with NFL players and legends, or simply being there when our members need us, USAA continues its mission of serving our military, veterans and their families.”

Memorable experiences that USAA will work with Chris Young to create for military at all 2019 tour dates include access to premium tickets, meet & greets, and other VIP experiences to be announced.

For more information on how USAA honors and appreciates our military all NFL season long, please visitSaluteToService.com. For a complete list of tour dates, including additional Chris Young concert stops for 2019, VIP package details and to purchase tickets, please visit chrisyoungcountry.com.