Music Country

On September 7th, CMA Award-winning vocalist Kathy Mattea will release Pretty Bird, her first new album in six years. A sublime acoustic collection including a number of smartly chosen and heartfelt covers, the record marks something of a new era in Mattea’s 30-plus-year career. Over the past several years her …

Singer-songwriter David Nail is taking a left turn as the frontman of a new band, the Well Ravens. Trading in the slick production of his Number One country hits “Whatever She’s Got” and “Let It Rain” for more atmospheric rock sounds that wouldn’t be out of place on a late-Nineties …

Southern soul pioneer Candi Staton will be releasing her 30th album, Unstoppable, on August 24th. The album, which follows the 2016 gospel-dance collection It’s Time to Be Free, returns Staton to her roots with a mix of original material and covers steeped in her trademark blend of funk, disco, dance-based …

For Sugarland fans, the wait for a follow-up to 2010’s The Incredible Machine has been a long one. For the duo itself, the time between their new album Bigger, out Friday, and the start of their hiatus in 2012, was filled with both personal and universal changes. That includes the …

“It’s like taking your pants off and running through a field of daisies, with just a light mist and enough sunshine to keep you warm, and there’s also rainbow.” No, that’s not a pitch for a deodorant commercial. It’s Thompson Square‘s Keifer Thompson, sitting down alongside bandmate and wife Shawna …

Country Music Hall of Fame member Bobby Bare was welcomed back last month as a member of another Nashville institution – the Grand Ole Opry. Having been part of the long-running radio show’s cast in the Sixties, when he was charting with such classics as “Detroit City” and “500 Miles,” …

The first season of ABC’s American Idol reboot wraps up with Monday’s episode as the three contestants vying for the crown offer their final performances for the judges and the voting viewing audience. With Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie in the judges’ chairs, the finalists loaded the penultimate …

Elton John and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin’s wide-ranging influence on their fellow artists is being celebrated with a pair of tribute albums out next month. While Revamp collects covers by Lady Gaga, Ed Sheehan, Sam Smith, Miley Cyrus and more, a “Nashville Edition” titled Restoration includes country-flavored versions of the …

A quartet of superstar country acts and an Olympic ski champ are among the latest performers and presenters added to the lineup for the 53rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards. The list of performers now includes Entertainer of the Year nominee Keith Urban, as well as Kenny Chesney, Lady …

Luke Bryan trumpets diversity and inclusion in his new video for “Most People Are Good,” the optimistic second single from his sixth album, What Makes You Country. Directed by Wes Edwards, the clip finds a serious-looking Bryan performing from a black sound stage with a bank of digitally-added video screens …