Warner Music NashvilleEven though William Michael Morgan happens to have the number-one song in the country right now, he’s still not too busy to give back. While in town for this week’s Circle in the City performances at New York’s Bryant Park, he and label mate RaeLynn also took time to sing for patients at Lenox Hill Hospital in the Big Apple.
In a partnership between the nonprofit Musicians on Call and the Grand Ole Opry, the “I Met a Girl” hitmaker and the former contestant on The Voice both performed on a six-foot replica of the iconic circle of wood found on the Opry stage.
Tonight, WMM steps onto the real thing, taking the stage at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium for the Thursday night Opry Country Classics show.
ABC RadioToday, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. Wednesday in Nashville, the superstar couple celebrated with their induction into the Music City Walk of Fame. Reba did the honors, welcoming Tim and Faith as the 73rd and 74th stars added to the park across from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
“I’ve known her forever,” Reba shared, “and I thought, ‘Well, shoot, I know everything about Faith.’ And I thought, ‘Ew, well, wait a minute! Just in case I don’t…’ I went to Wikipedia and I did find out that she worked at McDonald’s before. I didn’t know that!” she added, as the crowd laughed.
Faith later admitted that her employment in the fast food industry lasted exactly two weeks — a topic that came up again once her husband gave his acceptance speech.
“The best thing that happened to me is in 1996,” Tim recalled. “I went on a tour called the Spontaneous Combustion Tour, and I had a really hot chick on the road with me! And I fought and I fought and I fought to stay away from her, as long as I could. And that lasted about as long as her job at McDonald’s,” he said, as the crowd roared. “I’m not gonna go into detail, but it was a great tour, I can tell you that!”
Pre-sales for Tim and Faith’s upcoming Soul2Soul The World Tour 2017 start this Friday.
UMGNearly a year after his career-making turn at last year’s CMA Awards, Chris Stapleton will be stepping up to accept another honor. ASCAP will give him its Vanguard Award at its 54th annual ceremony in the days leading up to the 50th CMA celebration.
ASCAP bestows the Vanguard title on an artist whose impact is so large it helps shape the future of American music. Stapleton will pick up his trophy on the same night the performing-rights organization honors Ricky Skaggs with its Founders Award.
The 54th ASCAP Country Music Awards are set to take place Monday, October 31 at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium.
Mark TuckerHurricane Matthew is forcing Garth Brooks to further alter his schedule of concerts this weekend in Orlando, Florida. The country superstar already moved his Thursday night show to Sunday at 3 p.m. Now, he’s rescheduling his Friday night show as well. It’s now set for Saturday at three in the afternoon.
That means Garth and wife Trisha Yearwood will do two shows at Amway Center on both Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting.
Capitol NashvilleLuke Bryan’s Farm Tour: Here’s to the Farmer EP debuts at number one on Billboard’s country albums chart this week, after more than 32,000 fans picked up a copy in its first week of release. That’s enough for the five-song collection to also land at number four on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
Though this is his first set released to coincide with his farm trek that starts this week, the CMA Entertainer of the Year has previously put out seven in his Spring Break series.
ABC RadioRocker Elle King visited Music City on Tuesday, celebrating the chart-topping success of her CMA-nominated duet with Dierks Bentley, “Different for Girls.” But the number-one luncheon at Nashville hot spot Moto wasn’t the only reason she was in town. The “Ex’s & Oh’s” hitmaker had a Tuesday-night date to make her debut on the legendary Grand Ole Opry.
“It means the world to me,” Elle revealed. “I don’t know if people know how much I grew up loving country music and a lot of my heroes did that, you know? I can’t even really get my words out about it, because I’m nervous and really mainly very excited… I’ve got an awesome outfit too!” she added.
“That means a lot to me, that I get to play a little role in that,” her duet partner Dierks chimed in.
“You give me a lot of firsts and I always like secretly cry after, so I’m just gonna like find a corner and cry,” she joked.
Elle has a shot at another first on November 2, when “Different for Girls” could take home the CMA trophy for Musical Event of the Year.
ABC RadioIf you were keeping count Tuesday at Faith Hill and Tim McGraw’s first-ever concert together at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the numbers go something like this: four duets, a half-dozen hits apiece, and two country music superstars who couldn’t be more thrilled to be back on stage together.
From the moment the husband and wife burst onto the platform from opposite sides singing “It’s Your Love,” there was only one word for their mood — exuberant. Looking every bit as glamorous as you’d hope, Faith wore a bedazzled black mini-dress, while Tim sported a coordinating V-neck and slacks fitted to show off his physique.
The two wasted no time confirming the buzz: They’ll hit the road in 2017 on a new incarnation of their Soul2Soul set. Tim then exited with a warning — “The blonde’s gonna kick it in the a**!”
The “Mississippi Girl” lived up to his promise, blazing through a string of hits that included “This Kiss,” “Cry,” “Stronger” and “Piece of My Heart,” plus an especially memorable version of Aretha Franklin’s “Dr. Feelgood.” Faith herself described it as “nasty.”
The Mrs. stuck around to lend harmony to Tim’s “Angry All the Time.” He thanked her with a playful spin and a kiss as she left and he launched into “Something Like That.”
“Thank y’all for being here. Whoo son, I’m nervous,” he confessed, before delivering “Shotgun Rider.” Tim whipped the capacity crowd at the Mother Church of Country Music into a revival-like furor, before lapsing into a thoughtful version of “Humble and Kind.” “Here Tonight” and “Real Good Man” rounded out his solo set.
A smoldering “Like We Never Loved at All” set up a fire-y Kenny Rogers/Sheena Easton-inspired take on Bob Seger’s “We’ve Got Tonight,” with a seated version of “I Need You” wrapping up the night.
Becky Fluke; Courtesy of Tim and Faith. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are hitting the road together in 2017.
During a performance at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville Tuesday night, the married couple announced the Soul2Soul The World Tour 2017. It will take them to 65 cities, beginning with New Orleans on April 7.
“We have the best fans in the world, who have been with us through our entire journey and we are so excited to celebrate with them by going back on the road and showcasing an exciting new show,” McGraw and Hill said in a statement. “It’s always great when we get to work together and it’s been a while since we got to do that.”
The trek will come a decade after their Soul2Soul II tour, the highest-grossing multi-year country music tour of all time. It’ll also mark Hill’s first tour since 2007.
A pre-sale for tickets for the tour begins this Friday. Tickets for certain dates will go on sale to the public beginning October 14.
The tour wasn’t the only news to come from the couple Tuesday night. They also revealed that they’ll serve together as key advisers during the knockout rounds phase of NBC’s The Voice airing later this month.
Here’s a list of tour dates:
4/7/17–New Orleans, LA, Smoothie King Center 4/9/17–Tupelo, MS, BancorpSouth Arena 4/20/17–N. Charleston, SC, N Charleston Coliseum 4/21/17–Birmingham, AL, Legacy Arena at the BJCC 4/22/17–Atlanta, GA, Philips Arena 4/27/17–St. Louis, MO, Scottrade Center 4/28/17–Louisville, KY, KFC Yum! Center 4/29/17–Indianapolis, IN, Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5/4/17–Newark, NJ, Prudential Center 5/5/17–Uncasville, CT, Mohegan Sun 5/6/17–Uncasville, CT, Mohegan Sun 5/11/17–Tulsa, OK, BOK Center 5/12/17–Lincoln, NE, Pinnacle Bank Arena 5/13/17–Oklahoma City, OK, Chesapeake Energy Arena 5/18/17–Spokane, WA, Spokane Arena 5/19/17–Bozeman, MT, Brick Breeden Fieldhouse 5/25/17–Boise, ID, Taco Bell Arena 5/26/17–Portland, OR, Moda Center 5/27/17–Tacoma, WA, Tacoma Dome 5/30/17–Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena 6/2/17 Calgary, AB, Scotiabank Saddledome 6/3/17 Edmonton, AB, Rogers Place 6/4/17 Saskatoon, SK, SaskTel Centre 6/7/17 Winnipeg, MB, MTS Centre 6/9/17 Sioux Falls, SD, Denny Sanford Premier Center 6/10/17–Des Moines, IA, Wells Fargo Arena 6/15/17–Grand Rapids, MI, Van Andel Arena 6/16/17–Milwaukee, WI, BMO Bradley Harris Arena 6/17/17–Moline, IL, iwireless Center 6/22/17–Ottawa, ON, Canadian Tire Centre 6/23/17–Toronto, ON, Air Canada Centre 7/7/17–Boston, MA, TD Garden 7/14/17–Los Angeles, CA, STAPLES Center 7/21/17–Glendale, AZ, Gila River Arena 7/23/17–San Diego, CA, Valley View Casino Center 7/28/17–Sacramento, CA, Golden 1 Center 7/29/17–San Jose, CA, SAP Center 8/1/17–Denver, CO, Pepsi Center 8/3/17–Little Rock, AR, Verizon Arena 8/4/17–Nashville, TN, Bridgestone Arena 8/17/17–Cleveland, OH, Quicken Loans Arena 8/18/17–Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center 8/24/17–Fargo, ND, Fargodome 8/25/17–St. Paul, MN, Xcel Energy Center 8/31/17–Chicago, IL, Allstate Arena 9/2/17–Cincinnati, OH, US Bank Arena 9/7/17–Columbus, OH, Nationwide Arena 9/8/17–Detroit, MI, The Palace 9/14/17–Knoxville, TN, Thompson Boling Arena 9/16/17–Jacksonville, FL, Veterans Memorial Arena 9/21/17–Wichita, KS, INTRUST Bank Arena 9/22/17–Omaha, NE, CenturyLink Center 9/23/17–Kansas City, MO, Sprint Center 9/27/17–Salt Lake City, UT, Vivint Smart Home Arena 9/29/17–Fresno, CA, Save Mart Center 9/30/17–Bakersfield, CA, Rabobank Arena 10/5/17–San Antonio, TX, AT&T Center 10/6/17–Houston, TX, Toyota Center 10/7/17–Dallas, TX, American Airlines Center 10/12/17–Pittsburgh, PA, PPG Paints Arena 10/13/17–Washington, DC, Verizon Center 10/14/17–Greensboro, NC, Greensboro Coliseum 10/19/17–Sunrise, FL, BB&T Center 10/20/17–Tampa, FL, Amalie Arena 10/26/17–Buffalo, NY, KeyBank Center 10/27/17–Brooklyn, NY, Barclays Center
CMTShania Twain will be the first female ever honored with the Artist of a Lifetime Award during the 7th annual CMT Artists of the Year special later this month in Music City. Last year, CMT marked the career accomplishments of Kenny Rogers with the award. In 2014, they honored the late Merle Haggard.
The Canadian superstar joins Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini, who are already set to be celebrated during the 90-minute extravaganza from Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
You can catch the show Thursday, October 20 starting at 9 p.m. ET on CMT.
Capitol NashvilleHurricane Matthew is interfering with Luke Bryan’s Farm Tour. The CMA Entertainer of the Year has been forced to cancel the first date on his eighth annual trek, which was to be Wednesday at Culler Farms in Gaston, South Carolina.
According to Luke’s website, evacuation orders for the coastal parts of the state will affect the traffic routes to the venue. Ticket-holders will be given refunds, with email notifications going out in the next 72 hours.
Luke’s set to carry on with the Farm Tour Thursday at Maple Lane Farms in Greenback, Tennessee.
Warner Music NashvilleEven though William Michael Morgan happens to have the number-one song in the country right now, he’s still not too busy to give back. While in town for this week’s Circle in the City performances at New York’s Bryant Park, he and label mate RaeLynn also took time to sing for patients at Lenox Hill Hospital in the Big Apple.
