Category: Country Daypop

HARDY’s third installment of his Hixtape series, HIXTAPE VOL. 2: DIFFTAPE, pays homage to the late great Joe Diffie, and the project’s tracklist includes some of Diffie’s best-loved songs, featuring original vocals from the late singer alongside some of the biggest country artists. Diffie died in 2020 due to complications of COVID; he is survived by his wife, Tara, and five children.

HARDY released HIXTAPE Vol 1 in 2019, and Vol. 2 in 2021; he shares of the latest edition: “I’m super excited about DIFFTAPE. I think it’s a one-of-a-kind project and we’re the first people to do something like this. Especially having the original recordings and the fact that we have his family’s blessing to do it, it’s all really special.”

HIXTAPE VOL. 2: DIFFTAPE features Joe Diffie alongside Clint Black, Larry Fleet, Randy Houser, Luke Bryan, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Lainey Wilson, Tracy Lawrence, Chris Young, Nate Smith, Mark Wills, ERNEST, Aaron Tippin, Randall King, Sammy Kershaw, Parker Diffie (Joe Diffie’s son), Hailey Whitters, Darius Rucker, Brooks & Dunn, Blake Shelton, Jake Worthington, Reba McEntire, Jack Ingram, Koe Wetzel, Luke Combs, Toby Keith, Kameron Marlowe, Lauren Watkins, and previously announced artists HARDY, Morgan Wallen, and Post Malone.

An article on Whiskey Riff quotes Hardy as saying that ‘Difftape’ is meant to be “a huge nod” to one of his musical heroes, and that fans won’t “believe the people that are on this”: “‘Difftape’ is all Joe Diffie songs and it’s just a huge nod, tip of the hat, if you will, to the icon that is Joe Diffie. Rest in peace, we all love you, we all miss you and we just wanted to do something special and different and cool. So this is the biggest ‘Hixtape’ ever, 30 of our best country friends and singers. You’re not gonna believe all the people that are on this… I’m so proud of all the people that said yes to this.”

To stream HIXTAPE: Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE, head here.

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Zac Brown Band are kicking-off the summer with the new single ‘Tie Up,’ posting on their social media: “Our new single “Tie Up” is available everywhere now. Turn it up and let us know what you think! Link in bio ”

Per a press release, “Tie Up” draws inspiration from frontman Zac Brown’s favorite spot to tie up on Lake Lanier in North Georgia. Brown, who co-wrote the song with Jonathan Singleton and Ben Simonetti, explained that “growing up fishing and being on that lake was a big part of my childhood. We wanted to give our fans the ultimate summer jam and are looking forward to playing it on the road.”

Brown said when he heard the start to the song that Singleton and Simonetti had, he thought, “That’s a smash. We got to write that one. We got to get it done.” He said it took about three hours to get part of it done, but “the bridge wasn’t happening. It took about three more months to finally sit down, (and) I was writing with another guy and played him the song and he had an idea… So it took probably, you know, three and a half, four months to get it finished . You know, finding great people to write with is a big part of the process,” he said. “And when you find good chemistry with people and you sit down and you’re productive things pop out and tie up was one of those things. Super happy to get it out there into the world. …I sat down with some buddies trying to figure out what a summer song would be. What’s classic ‘being out on the water?’ What are people going to want to jam to in summertime? And that’s how ‘Tie Up’ was chosen.”

Zac Brown Band will hit the road with Kenny Chesney on his headlining “Sun Goes Down Tour” this summer, also featuring Megan Moroney and Uncle Kracker.

Take a listen to ‘Tie Up’ – here.

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Little Big Town will embark on their 25th Anniversary tour in 2024, dubbed the ‘Take Me Home’ tour. Sugarland and The Castellows will appear as special guests on the tour, which marks Little Big Town’s 25th anniversary as a band. Little Big Town consists of Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook, while the duo of Sugarland is made up of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush.

Little Big Town shared on social media: “25 years of music and we can’t wait to celebrate it with you We will be hitting the road this fall as we celebrate #LBT25 with Sugarland and The Castellows on the Take Me Home Tour. Proud to share our cover of the legendary @officialphilcollins classic ‘Take Me Home’ out now.” Sugarland also shared the news on its social media.

Little Big Town and Sugarland celebrated the announcement by releasing a cover of the 1985 Phil Collins song “Take Me Home,” which both groups performed together at the CMT Music Awards. LBT said in a statement: “felt like a real homecoming for us and a full circle moment. When we toured with Sugarland last, we would all be backstage harmonizing different cover songs to try and surprise the audience every night,” Little Big Town said in a statement. “There’s something about this song that feels so nostalgic of that time. It really is like coming home.”  To stream “Take Me Home,” head here.

The ‘Take Me Home’ tour kicks off Oct. 24 in Greenville, S.C., and concludes Dec. 13 in Nashville. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

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Carly Pearce has dropped her latest single, “My Place,” the fifth single off her forthcoming album, hummingbird. Pearce previously dropped the tracks: “heels over head,” “country music made me do it,” and “we don’t fight anymore” (featuring Chris Stapleton), as well as the title track.

“My Place” is written by Pearce along with Lauren Hungate and Jordan Reynolds, and Carly shared of the track on social media: “I wrote this song about a dream I had long before the relationship I was in ended, but I knew that it would. It’s hard to watch people move on and realize your heart can’t live there anymore, but that realization is the beginning of the healing process.”

Take a listen to “My Place” – here.

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ERNEST has dropped his third studio album, ‘NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE’, featuring his collaboration with Jelly Roll called “I Went To College / I Went To Jail.” The album also includes all-star collaborations with his friends and label-mates Morgan Wallen and HARDY, as well as Lukas Nelson and Lainey Wilson.

ERNEST had previously announced the album release alongside a fictitious, mayoral campaign for the city of Nashville with endorsements from Koe Wetzel, Caleb Pressley, and more famous faces.  The Nashville hitmaker has also been teasing fans with samples off the album in recent months, including the song “Kiss of Death,” and his cover of John Mayer’s iconic single “Slow Dancing In a Burning Room.”

On social media this week, ERNEST shared that alongside the album drop he would be performing a free show in Nashville on Friday, writing: “FREE SHOW FRIDAY IN NASHVILLE”. Details can be found on ERNEST’s social platforms.

‘NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE’ is available to stream: here.

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Willie Nelson will release of his 75th studio album, The Border, on May 31. The Border will follow Nelson’s recent EP Bluegrass, which dropped in September 2023.

Nelson’s social media announced: “New Album, #TheBorder, will be available on May 31! This album will include 10 newly recorded Willie Nelson studio performances including four new Willie & Buddy Cannon compositions… Pre-order now and listen to the title track at the link in bio!”

The Border will include 10 tracks, four of which were co-written by Nelson and longtime collaborator Buddy Cannon. To pre-order, head here.

Nelson, 90, also shared the first single and title track on the album, which is a cover of Rodney Cowell’s 2019 song from his album, Texas.  To stream the title track to ‘The Border’, head here.

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The inaugural three-day Field & Stream Fest 2024 will take place on Friday, October 4-Sunday, October 6 in Winnsboro, South Carolina near Arrowhead Pavilion. Tickets for the festival are available via eTix.

Eric Church will serve as headliner of the three-day music festival along with Lainey Wilson, with an additional 30+ artists to be announced. Church recently purchased Field & Stream Magazine along with fellow country star Morgan Wallen, sharing in an announcement: “I can remember my grandfather kept a few of his favorite Field & Stream magazines on the dash of his truck. That truck took us on hundreds of outdoor adventures and I all but memorized every story and every picture on every page. They were my Bible. It is the honor of my life to make sure that legacy carries on.”

For more information on the festival, head here.   You can also follow the Field & Stream Music Festival’s official Instagram page for updates and information.

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Chris Young has shared the video for “What She Sees In Me,” off his ninth studio album,  Young Love & Saturday Nights.  The song was produced by Young and written by Young with Christian Davis Stalnecker, Kyle Fishman, Ray Fulcher and Josh Hoge.  The video, directed by Running Bear’s Alexia Stone and Stephen Kinigopoulos, sees Young as the main character in a set of black and white footage (per CountryNow).

The 18-track Young Love & Saturday Nights is Young’s first new album since 2021’s Famous Friends and also includes the tracks “Right Now,” “Double Down,” “Looking For You” and “All Dogs Go To Heaven.”  To stream Young Love & Saturday Nights, head HERE.

Take a look at the video for ‘What She Sees In Me’ – here.

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The Academy of Country Music and Dick Clark Productions announced the nominations for the 2024 ACM Awards, with Luke Combs leading the pack with eight nods, followed by Megan Moroney and Morgan Wallen, who are tied with six each. Lainey Wilson, Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton each earned five nominations apiece, followed by Jelly Roll and Jordan Davis with four nominations..

Combs’ nominations include entertainer of the year, male artist of the year, album of the year, song of the year, single of the year and music event of the year (alongside Riley Green for “Different ‘Round Here).”  Moroney ‘s six nods is the most for a female artist, with nominations including female artist of the year, new female artist of the year, song of the year, visual media of the year and music event of the year (alongside Old Dominion for “Can’t Break Up Now).”

The 59th annual awards ceremony will air live on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday, May 16 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Coverage of the official ACM Red Carpet will begin at 7 p.m. on Prime Video, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and Amazon Live.

Tickets to attend the ACM Awards are also available for purchase on SeatGeek.

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Billboard revealed that Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ has reached No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, making her the first-ever Black female artist to achieve the feat since the chart’s launch in January 1964. In February, Beyoncé became the first-ever Black female artist to top the Hot Country Songs chart with the album’s lead single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s eighth album, also reached the top spot on the Billboard 200, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Album Sales charts, having sold 407,000 equivalent album units in its first week of chart eligibility. Cowboy Carter claims the biggest week of 2024 and the largest since Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version), with 1.653 million units on the Nov. 11, 2023-dated list. The feat also marks Beyoncé’s biggest week by units, since her Lemonade album debuted at No. 1 with 653,000 units (mostly from traditional album sales) on the May 14, 2016, chart. The new effort also lands Beyoncé her biggest streaming week ever.

Cowboy Carter was released on March 29, and features “vocalists, musicians, and orators” including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Jon Batiste, Rhiannon Giddens, Nile Rodgers, Robert Randolph, Gary Clark, Jr., Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, Shaboozey, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. Additional collaborators on the project include The-Dream, Pharrell Williams, NO I.D., Raphael Saadiq, Ryan Tedder, Ryan Beatty, Swizz Beatz, Khirye Tyler, Derek Dixie, Ink, Nova Wav, Mamii, Cam, Tyler Johnson, Dave Hamelin and Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter.

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