Author: Lauren Zimmerman

Acclaimed 2-time CMA Vocal Group of the Year and 2-time ACM Group of the Year Old Dominion unveil previously unreleased tracks that were originally recorded for past projects. The three songs are “I’m On It,” which was recorded originally to be on the band’s debut album Meat And Candy, but ended but being replaced for their hit “Song For Another Time” last minute, “Can’t Get You,” the studio version that was replaced for a live version on their sophomore offering Happy Endings , and “Goes Without Saying” a song from an independent EP recorded before signing a record deal. The tracks are available digitally everywhere. Click HERE to listen. 

Frontman Matthew Ramsey said about the release (HERE), “We’re releasing NEW, old music. Three songs, previously unreleased but that were recorded for the our previous albums Meat And Candy, Happy Endingsas well as an EP we released before signing a record deal.”

Old Dominion, who most recently were notably the most nominated for the 2020 ACM Awards with 8, released the moving music video for their latest single “Some People Do .” The video was inspired by Jason Schneidman, celebrity men’s groomer, who also works with Old Dominion. Schneidman was previously homeless and, after overcoming drug addiction, turned his life around. In his spare time, he helps out the homeless of LA, providing haircuts as a means to connect with those who may be battling addiction issues, and funds scholarships to rehab centers. Back in early February 2020, the band joined him on the ground in Los Angeles to help out. The visuals, directed by Mason Allen, show the effect that if we all do a little, we can help out a lot. The song, with over 34.4 million streams, is the latest single off Old Dominion’s self-titled third studio album, which was released in the fall of 2019. 

Old Dominion’s previous single, “One Man Band” went to No. 1 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. With over 362 million streams, “One Man Band” marked the band’s 8th consecutive No. 1 and biggest song to date. The band recently received Platinum and Gold certifications for 5 of their other hit songs: “Written in the Sand” (2x Platinum), “Break Up With Him” (2x Platinum), “Hotel Key” (Platinum), “Make It Sweet” (Gold) and “Nowhere Fast” (Gold). 

ACM, CMA and CMT Award-winning artist Luke Combs’ current single, “Does To Me” featuring Eric Church, is the No. 1 song on both the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase/Country Aircheck charts this week. This is Combs’ eighth-consecutive No. 1 single—a first on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart—and extends his record-breaking streak at country radio. 

This achievement adds to a series of groundbreaking and historic years for Combs, who is nominated in three categories at the 55th ACM Awards: Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for his acclaimed global No. 1 record, What You See Is What You Get.
 
What You See Is What You Get—out now on River House Artists/Columbia Nashville (stream/purchase HERE )— debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart as well as Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this past November with 172,000 equivalent units sold and also enjoyed the largest streaming week ever for a country album with 74 million on-demand streams. It also achieved the biggest first week of album streams ever for a country artist on Apple Music and was the first country album ever to hit No. 1 on the platform’s U.S. overall albums chart, while also setting a new global record for first-week streams for a country album at Spotify and breaking the Amazon Music record for more first-week streams than any other country album debut. Moreover, Combs made his debut as the musical guest on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” earlier this year with host JJ Watt performing two songs from, What You See Is What You Get: “Lovin’ On You” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” 

Additionally, Combs recently performed his new song, “Six Feet Apart,” on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Watch the performance HERE. Co-written by Combs, Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder as a reflection on the COVID-19 pandemic, the song was released earlier this month to critical acclaim—Entertainment Weeklypraises, “The country hitmaker makes socially distanced lemonade out of quarantine lemons with this wistful track,” while The Tennessean declares, “on track to be the first major country hit written and recorded during the pandemic—and wholly inspired by it.”

Produced by Scott Moffatt, What You See Is What You Get features 17 songs including the five tracks previously released via The Prequel EP last summer. The EP debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with all five tracks charting on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Top 25—a feat not accomplished by any artist in 60 years since Johnny Cash in 1959. Adding to his landmark year, Combs’ debut album, This One’s For You , was recently certified RIAA Triple Platinum. Since its release in 2017, the album has spent 50 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart—tying the record for the longest reign atop the chart with Shania Twain’s Come On Over in 1997. This One’s For You was also the most-streamed country album of 2019. Moreover, several of Combs’ songs have also received new RIAA certifications: 4x Platinum “Beautiful Crazy,” 4x Platinum “When It Rains It Pours,” 2x Platinum “She Got The Best of Me” and Platinum “Must’ve Never Met You.” 

Columbia Nashville/River House Artists breakthrough performer Jameson Rodgers’ debut single “Some Girls” continues to make waves at country radio, hitting No. 24 on the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart this week. 

“I knew ‘Some Girls’ was a special song when I heard the demo several years ago,” said Rodgers. “It’s been amazing to see the life and journey of this song and I’m excited to see how far it can go. Thank you to my friends at country radio for all the support to get to this place.”

“Some Girls” has earned nearly 58 million on-demand streams and is acclaimed for its “mix of masculine rock grit, country storytelling, quick-hitting vocals and tasty electro-pop accents” (Rolling Stone). 

Meanwhile, the “stellar performer” (Spokesman-Review) debuted a live video for his newest release “Cold Beer Calling My Name,” which features his former tourmate Luke Combs. Watch here. The clip includes behind-the-scenes footage from Rodgers’ headlining GREW UP IN THE COUNTRY TOUR earlier this year, as well as his opening stint on Combs’ BEER NEVER BROKE MY HEART TOUR. Taste of Country praises “With its feel-good groove and uplifting lyrics, ‘Cold Beer Calling My Name’ sounds like a surefire summer hit” while Sounds Like Nashville echoes “just what you need to crack open a good time.”

While off the road, Rodgers has been keeping fans entertained with his “Saturday Nights Live” series streaming on Facebook. Watch the latest installment here. 

ACM, CMA and CMT Award-winning artist Luke Combs performed his new song, “Six Feet Apart,” yesterday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Watch/share HERE. 

Co-written by Combs, Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder as a reflection on the COVID-19 pandemic, the song was released earlier this month to critical acclaim—Entertainment Weekly praises, “The country hitmaker makes socially distanced lemonade out of quarantine lemons with this wistful track,” while The Tennesseandeclares, “on track to be the first major country hit written and recorded during the pandemic—and wholly inspired by it.” 

The new song adds to a series of groundbreaking and historic years for Combs, who is nominated in three categories at the 55th ACM Awards: Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for his acclaimed global No. 1 record, What You See Is What You Get.

What You See Is What You Get—out now on River House Artists/Columbia Nashville (stream/purchaseHERE )— debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart as well as Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this past November with 172,000 equivalent units sold and also enjoyed the largest streaming week ever for a country album with 74 million on-demand streams. It also achieved the biggest first week of album streams ever for a country artist on Apple Music and was the first country album ever to hit No. 1 on the platform’s U.S. overall albums chart, while also setting a new global record for first-week streams for a country album at Spotify and breaking the Amazon Music record for more first-week streams than any other country album debut. Moreover, Combs made his debut as the musical guest on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” earlier this year with host JJ Watt performing two songs from, What You See Is What You Get: “Lovin’ On You” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” 

Produced by Scott Moffatt, What You See Is What You Get features 17 songs including the five tracks previously released via The Prequel EP last summer. The EP debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with all five tracks charting on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Top 25—a feat not accomplished by any artist in 60 years since Johnny Cash in 1959. Additionally, Combs’ last single, “Even Though I’m Leaving,” spent three weeks at No. 1 at country radio, making it Combs’ seventh consecutive No. 1—a first on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, while his current single, “Does To Me” featuring Eric Church, is already Top 10 at country radio. 

Adding to his landmark year, Combs’ debut album, This One’s For You, was recently certified RIAA Triple Platinum. Since its release in 2017, the album has spent 50 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart—tying the record for the longest reign atop the chart with Shania Twain’s Come On Over in 1997. This One’s For You was also the most-streamed country album of 2019. Moreover, several of Combs’ songs have also received new RIAA certifications: 4x Platinum “Beautiful Crazy,” 4x Platinum “When It Rains It Pours,” 2x Platinum “She Got The Best of Me” and Platinum “Must’ve Never Met You.” 

Grammy-winning artist Maren Morris unveils a new Amazon Original live EP Maren Morris Live From Chicago today only on Amazon Music—listen here and watch live videos for each track here . The EP was recorded at the inaugural show of her GIRL: The World Tour on March 9, 2019, which was livestreamed globally by Amazon Music. The footage features performances of “GIRL,” “A Song for Everything,” “Common” and “The Bones.”

“Feeling so nostalgic for shows lately so here’s a few tracks from opening night of GIRL: The World Tour,” Maren says. 

In March, Maren received RIAA Gold certification for her critically-lauded album GIRL, which shattered the record for the largest ever debut streaming week for a country album by a woman, with 23.96 million streams in its first week. In addition, Maren played her biggest show to date for more than 60,000 fans at the Houston Rodeo—watch her exclusive interview with Anthony Mason for “CBS This Morning” here—and she leads the 2020 ACM Awards nominations this year with five nods including Female Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for GIRL. At the time of its release, GIRL broke global records for most first day streams and on-demand voice requests with Alexa than any other country album debut on Amazon Music. Her latest single, “To Hell & Back,” was the second most-added at country radio upon impact, with 41 first week stations.

Her Platinum-certified “The Bones” is spending its eighth week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. When the song first earned No. 1 on the chart in February—which followed the chart-topping stint of “GIRL” last summer—it marked the first time since 2016 that a solo country female artist had two No. 1’s from the same album. “The Bones” also achieved the longest post-peak run on the Country Aircheck/Mediabase radio chart in April, nine weeks following its second week at No. 1 in February, and was the first solo female back-to-back No. 1 since 2012. Additionally, “The Bones” reached the top 20 at Top 40 radio and No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs and Mediabase Hot A.C. in April. 

MAREN MORRIS—MAREN MORRIS LIVE FROM CHICAGO EP
1. Girl 
2. A Song for Everything
3. Common 
4. The Bones 

Amazon Music listeners will be able to hear some of the tracks from the new Live EP on Fresh Country, a playlist featuring new releases across the genre. Customers will also be able to simply ask, “Alexa play Maren Morris Live From Chicago” in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices. In addition to the Live EP, Amazon Music listeners can access hundreds of Amazon Originalsfeaturing both emerging and established artists across numerous genres, available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.

ACM, CMA and CMT Award-winning artist Luke Combs has released his new song, “Six Feet Apart,” today. Listen/share HERE. Co-written with Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder, Combs originally debuted the song last month during a livestream concert. 

Combs will continue his at-home concerts tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT—this time partnering with Miller Lite to help support out-of-work bartenders nationwide. Fans can watch the performance via Luke’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages and donate to Miller Lite’s #VirtualTipJar campaign by visiting virtual-tips.org.

The new song adds to a series of groundbreaking and historic years for Combs, who is nominated in three categories at the 55th ACM Awards: Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for his acclaimed global No. 1 record, What You See Is What You Get.

What You See Is What You Get—out now on River House Artists/Columbia Nashville (stream/purchaseHERE )— debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart as well as Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this past November with 172,000 equivalent units sold and also enjoyed the largest streaming week ever for a country album with 74 million on-demand streams. It also achieved the biggest first week of album streams ever for a country artist on Apple Music and was the first country album ever to hit No. 1 on the platform’s U.S. overall albums chart, while also setting a new global record for first-week streams for a country album at Spotify and breaking the Amazon Music record for more first-week streams than any other country album debut. Moreover, Combs made his debut as the musical guest on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” earlier this year with host JJ Watt performing two songs from, What You See Is What You Get: “Lovin’ On You” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” 

Produced by Scott Moffatt, What You See Is What You Get features 17 songs including the five tracks previously released via The Prequel EP last summer. The EP debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with all five tracks charting on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Top 25—a feat not accomplished by any artist in 60 years since Johnny Cash in 1959. Additionally, Combs’ last single, “Even Though I’m Leaving,” spent three weeks at No. 1 at country radio, making it Combs’ seventh consecutive No. 1—a first on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, while his current single, “Does To Me” featuring Eric Church, is already Top 10 at country radio. 

Adding to his landmark year, Combs’ debut album, This One’s For You, was recently certified RIAA Triple Platinum. Since its release in 2017, the album has spent 50 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart—tying the record for the longest reign atop the chart with Shania Twain’s Come On Over in 1997. This One’s For You was also the most-streamed country album of 2019. Moreover, several of Combs’ songs have also received new RIAA certifications: 4x Platinum “Beautiful Crazy,” 4x Platinum “When It Rains It Pours,” 2x Platinum “She Got The Best of Me” and Platinum “Must’ve Never Met You.”

Riser House/Columbia Nashville artist Mitchell Tenpenny has released a cover of Lewis Capaldi’s No. 1 hit, “Someone You Loved.” He previewed a clip of this recording during a recent Instagram live session. Next Tuesday, May 5, Mitchell will host another #TenpennyTuesdays, where he will perform “Someone You Loved” live on his Facebook and Instagram pages. Get the song HERE .

“I’m grateful for fans who share their input and tell us what they want to hear,” said Mitchell. “We received such great feedback when we played part of this song a couple of weeks ago. Y’all asked for it!”

 During the May 5 live social event, Mitchell will encourage his fans to participate in the “There’s Comfort in Giving” program, which Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®, Sony Music Nashville, and many of Mitchell’s labelmates have initiated to help donate meals to healthcare professionals in the HCA Healthcare system. For every $10.00 virtual gift card purchased online at crackerbarrel.com/comfort by May 12, 2020, the restaurant will donate up to 15,000 meals for the benefit of a hospital’s frontline workers. Mitchell has chosen the healthcare workers at TriStar Health in Nashville to receive meals.

Emerging singer, songwriter and musician Tenille Townes will release her highly anticipated debut album, The Lemonade Stand, June 26 via Columbia Nashville in partnership with RCA Records. 

Of the release, Townes shares, “The Lemonade Stand is a collection of songs that mean so much to me and are the way I see the world in this season of my life right now. I want this music to be like a gathering place, where people can come and be filled up. I hope this record reminds people of who they are, that they are not alone, and reminds them of their dreams. This record is the dream that I had when I was a seven-year-old kid singing along in the backseat of the car. She would really be freaking out right now.” 

Produced by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town), the new album consists of twelve songs all co-written by Townes including five tracks from her Road to the Lemonade Stand EP (stream/purchase here) as well as her latest release, “The Most Beautiful Things,” which Townes debuted earlier this month to critical acclaim. Of the track, Music Row declares, “She is a treasure. This touching ballad meditates about the glorious beauty that is all around us, but seldom noticed. Moving and meaningful.” 

On working with Joyce, Townes reflects, “Making this music with Jay Joyce was an adventure I will hold on to and smile at for the rest of my life. It was a process where I felt like I could be myself and felt encouraged to grow and step up to what these songs were calling for. We built these songs from the ground up, the way I would play them in a room with my guitar, and I had the most amazing time watching Jay create magic around them.” 

The new album also features “Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking),” which was recently Gold certified in Canada and reached No. 1 on the BDS Canada and Mediabase Canada country radio charts earlier this year—making it Townes’ second chart-topping single following her Canadian Platinum-certified “Somebody’s Daughter .” This accomplishment makes Townes the only female in Mediabase Canada history to achieve two No. 1 singles. Released to critical acclaim, Rolling Stone calls “Jersey,” “a stirring, full-bodied anthem about loss and faith,” while Taste of Country proclaims, “Townes continues to release music grounded in empathy…She aims for a higher brand of acclaim and satisfaction.” For more information on The Lemonade Stand and to pre-order album bundles, please visit tenilletownes.com.

THE LEMONADE STAND TRACK LIST 
1. “Holding Out For The One”
2. “Where You Are”  
3. “Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking)” 
4. “Lighthouse” 
5. “White Horse” 
6. “I Kept The Roses”
7. “When I Meet My Maker”
8. “Come As you Are”  
9. “The Way You Look Tonight” 
10. “Find You” 
11. “Somebody’s Daughter” 
12. “The Most Beautiful Things” 

Born and raised in the small town of Monterey, Louisiana, Ross Ellis moved to Nashville after graduating college. The Sony Nashville recording artist has been writing songs since he arrived in Music City, having penned tracks for some of country music’s biggest acts, including country superstar Tim McGraw. To showcase his expansive catalog of songs and offer fans some at home entertainment while we shelter in place to fight COVID-19, he launched “Ross Writes” on April 9. Performing daily at 6 pm CT on Facebook and Instagram Live, Ellis shares a different song he’s written during each performance. To check out past episodes and watch new ones, visit @RossEllisMusic onInstagram or Facebook.

“This is something I’d been thinking about for a while, but when this coronavirus mess broke out, I thought it’d be a great way to connect with fans until we can all be together again,” shares the man The Boot calls an “artist to watch.”  “I have written so many songs over the years since moving to Nashville. This is a great way to both showcase my ‘day job’ as a writer and highlight some of the incredible songwriters I go to work with every day.”

In the middle of recording his debut album for Sony Music Nashville when the “safer at home” order was released, the singer/songwriter has already notched 17 performances and shows no signs of stopping the daily sessions any time soon. 

“I have enough songs to take us all the way through 2025 if we have to,” Ellis laughs. “These live sessions have been great though…seeing the comments. Getting feedback from fans in real time will definitely help us decided what makes this album and what doesn’t!” 

“Ross Writes” To Date:
4/9/2020 — Ross Writes No. 1 “Shadows On The Wall”
4/11/2020 — Ross Writes No. 2 “2000 and You”
4/12/2020 — Ross Writes No. 3 “Forever to Me”
4/13/2020 — Ross Writes No. 4 “How Do You Sleep”
4/14/2020 — Ross Writes No. 5 “Love Blind,” “Without You,” “Barefoot Dancer,” “Other Side Of The Phone” & “Neon Church”      
4/15/2020 — Ross Writes No. 6 “Wish You Would”
4/16/2020 — Ross Writes No. 7 “While It Lasted”
4/17/2020 — Ross Writes No. 8 “This Road” and “White Picket Plans”
4/18/2020 — Ross Writes No. 9 “Old Fashioned”
4/20/2020 — Ross Writes No. 10 “Doin’ Alright”
4/21/2020 — Ross Writes No. 11 “Let Me Let You Go”
4/22/2020 — Ross Writes No. 12 “Mess We Make”
4/23/2020 — Ross Writes No. 13 “Let It Be Me”
4/24/2020 — Ross Writes No. 14 “Made For”
4/25/2020 — Ross Writes No. 15 “Last Place I Had It”
4/26/2020 — Ross Writes No. 16 “Before And After You”
4/27/2020 — Ross Writes No. 17 “

The series follows a number of powerful songs released from Ellis since moving to Nashville including, breakthrough song “Buy and Buy” which hit No. 1 on SiriusXM The Highway’s Top 30 Countdown. The song has continued to receive a strong response from listeners reaching over 2 million in consumption to date and averaging almost 2000 in weekly sales with superstar Thomas Rhett telling Nash Country Daily “…it’s one of the freshest songs on the radio.”

Other releases include “Home for the Weekend” in 2017, followed by his hauntingly powerful song, “Ghosts,” in 2018 which Rolling Stone named a “top song of the week” and his most recent release the soulful and uplifting track, “Home to Me.”

For more information, watch “Who is Ross Ellis?” and visit rossellismusic.com or follow on social media @RossEllisMusic.