FOCUS on the 615
Nashville's premier entertainment blog including album, song and show reviews and exclusive artist interviews.
Brett Eldredge just released the music video for his new single “Don’t Ya.” The infectious new single is quickly becoming a favorite with fans and on country radio. Pick up your copy of “Don’t Ya” HERE.
Check out our interview with Brett about the song and his upcoming tour with Taylor Swift here!
Newcomer Drake White is getting ready to hit the airwaves with his debut single, “The Simple Life.” FOCUS on the 615 had the opportunity to hear him perform the song at Country Radio Seminar (CRS) a couple weeks ago. Pay attention to this guy! Check out the video below as the first introduction to this charismatic performer.
Current Single “Give It All We Got Tonight” Would Become Strait’s 60th No. 1 Hit
Country music’s biggest stars and fans are helping to make history by joining the “Sixty For Sixty” movement (#60for60) which celebrates George Strait as he approaches the 60th No. 1 single of his career with “Give It All We Got Tonight,” before his 61st birthday on May 18th. “Sixty For Sixty” first started on Valentine’s Day when fans rallied together on Strait’s Twitter and Facebook pages encouraging local country radio to meet the challenge and spin the record.
It appears their efforts have paid off as “Give It All We Got Tonight” is the fastest certified Gold single of Strait’s career and currently sits in the Top 15 on the Country radio charts. It is the first single from his forthcoming album, due for release in late spring.
As a tribute to Strait’s incredible career that includes more No. 1 singles than any artist in history, in any genre, fellow Country music artists including Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, among others, have joined the “Sixty For Sixty” movement, seen below:
Capitol Records Nashville recording artist Darius Rucker will release his third country studio album, True Believers, on May 21. Darius wrote ten of the twelve tracks on True Believers, produced by Frank Rogers, and the album features the Top 20-and-climbing critically-acclaimed single “Wagon Wheel” written by Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, based on a sketch by Bob Dylan.
“I’m very proud of this record,” Rucker reveals. “The songs, the co-writes, the vibe – it’s all really different from what we’ve recorded and released on the past two albums, and I hope that difference resonates with the fans.”
AXS TV and Big Machine Label Group will broadcast a special two-hour concert event on Saturday, April 6, from Las Vegas. Platinum-selling sibling trio The Band Perry will headline Outnumber Hunger Live! and will be joined by labelmates Brantley Gilbert, Justin Moore, Florida Georgia Line, Greg Bates and Cassadee Pope.
Big Machine Label Group, General Mills and Feeding America have teamed-up for a second consecutive year for Outnumber Hunger, a campaign that helps fight hunger in local communities. Music fans will have an opportunity to support the initiative, which raises awareness and helps Feeding America—the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization—secure meals for local food banks. More information on how to make a difference in your local community with Outnumber Hunger is available at www.OutnumberHunger.com.
L to R: Mark Robinson, VP Business Affairs, WMN, Justin Luffman, VP Brand Management, WMN, Ashley Monroe, John Grady, Manager, Crush Management, Tree Paine, SVP Publicity, WMN
Ashley Monroe celebrated her solo record, Like A Rose, debuting Top-10 today on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart while performing at the SXSW music festival in Austin, TX. Monroe performed to an excited crowd at the MTV/VH1/CMT Edge Stage two days ago, where the Los Angeles Times raved that the “gifted country singer from Tennessee…brought an audience…to a respectful hush with her song ‘Used.’” People Magazine also recently gave Like A Rose 3 ½ of 4 stars, naming Monroe their Buzz Artist of the Week and noting that her “thorn-sharp wit – and country traditionalism – also bloom on…Rose,” while the Wall Street Journal compares Monroe to country greats saying, “Monroe’s songs prove as matter-of-factly direct and daring in today’s as Loretta Lynn’s were in the 1960s.” SPIN Magazine also proclaims Ashley Monroe’s Like A Rose as one of its essential new albums, giving it 9 of 10 stars and Paste Magazine truthfully states that “Like A Rose is no fairy tale.”
“I am completely surprised and overwhelmed by the response to my album,” said Ashley when asked of her achievements. “Thank you guys for always sticking by me and never giving up. We did it!!”
The Valory Music Co., BMI and ASCAP hosted a party Tuesday evening to celebrate Justin Moore’s third #1 single “Til My Last Day” and his two GOLD albums – Justin Moore and Outlaws Like Me – which have collectively sold over one million copies to date.
Industry, family and friends gathered at Honky Tonk Central in downtown Nashville to honor songwriters Justin Moore, Jeremy Stover, Brian Maher; publishers Big Machine Music, Sony/ATV/EMI and Bigger Picture and The Valory Music Co. promotion team. This song marks the second chart-topper for the songwriter trio – Moore’s debut single, “Small Town USA,” was the first.
The celebration was a perfect send off for Moore, who will begin his first headlining tour in Pikeville, KY tonight (3/14).
Nashville Fashion Week is proud to announce the initial list of designers that will be showing collections during the series of events, which take place April 2-6, 2013 in locations across the city. In addition, the 2013 schedule is now live and tickets are on sale at www.NashvilleFashionWeek.com.
This year’s festivities will kick off on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 with runway shows at The Pinnacle at Symphony Place featuring womenswear collections from Kal Rieman and Red Doll, two lines based in NYC. The Official Nashville Fashion Week Kick-Off Party sponsored by Opry Mills and Williams Edge Salon will take place at The Southern immediately following those runway shows.
The Wednesday night runway shows on April 3, 2013 will take place in the courtyard space at the Trolley Barns of Rolling Mill Hills overlooking downtown Nashville. That evening will feature collections from T. Rains, who will headline that night of shows and Kat Seaton as well as Tuft, Pink Elephant Designs and Black by Maria Silver, all three of which were featured in 2012 in the Emerging Designers Showcase and have since gone on to create full collections that will walk the runway in 2013. Wednesday daytime events include industry panels from fashion professionals that will take place at Emma’s Bistro, also located in the Trolley Barns at Rolling Mill Hills. (Look for a separate release with full details on the industry panels coming soon.)
Luke Bryan’s Spring Break…Here to Party debuted atop the Billboard Top 200 album chart with nearly 150,000 copies sold. The songs included in the collection are from his previous four Spring Break releases — 2009’s Spring Break…With All My Friends, 2010’s Spring Break 2…Hangover Edition, 2011’s Spring Break 3…It’s A Shore Thing and last year’s Spring Break 4…Suntan City – as well as two new songs, “Just a Sip” and “Buzzkill.”
“We’re just proud that we started a little idea and that it’s grown into something,” says Luke. “We just felt that it was time to put a physical CD together that people can go purchase in all kinds of all environments.”
Sheryl Crow recently released “Easy,” the single from her upcoming country album! Watch the video above to hear the new song!
