In May, twenty-year-old country music songstress Abi, released her breakout single “A Day Without” to critical acclaim. Upon its debut, “A Day Without” landed on Rolling Stone Country’s “10 Best Country and Americana Songs of the Week” and Taste of Country dubbed the track, “the kind of tightly-worded, universal artist statement a country newcomer needs to take a serious step forward.” The song’s strong connection to the passing of Abi’s father makes this debut especially appropriate.
Abi shares, “’A Day Without’ brings on a lot of different emotions for me. The sheer thought of losing someone is absolutely terrifying, as is the deep love you might have for a person with who you might feel like you cannot go on a day without them…I think that my father’s passing gave me a new perspective on life, and enabled me to channel much deeper emotions into my craft.”
For the video’s concept, Abi remained true to the song’s meaning in her own words, while leaving it open to the listener for interpretation. “We chose to focus on two themes of love and separation,” says Abi. “So we chose a mother sending her child off to college for the first time and a girlfriend sending her boyfriend off into the military. Emotionally, I’m definitely very connected with the idea of separation,” she adds.
Inspired by everything from the marvelous pop expanse of The Beatles and Shania Twain, to the “storytelling” of Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, Abi crafted her first song in third grade. She has since developed into a powerhouse vocalist and songwriter, with an impressive resume under her belt. In 2014, Abi joined Jesse McCartney’s North American tour and 2015 saw Kelly Clarkson handpick Abi to open her massive summer headline run, while she hit the road alongside Pentatonix a year later. In 2017, her single “Matches” independently caught fire; striking the sweet spot between simmering country soul, twanging guitars and a fierce hook – “Light me up ‘cause baby we’re matches” – CMT fanned the flames an early champion.
It has been nearly two and a half years since country singer-songwriter Rory Feek lost his wife and singing partner, Joey, to cancer. Now, as he’s started performing solo, Feek talks with Anthony Mason about singing again without her, his relationship with his daughters, and his life as a widower, in an interview for CBS SUNDAY MORNING to be broadcast Sunday, June 17 (
CMT and the PEDIGREE brand are teaming up for the first “Paws & Play” Music Festival in Nashville on Sunday, June 3. The free event is the official kickoff to “CMT Music Awards” week and celebrates the role four-legged family members play in making lives better. 
Multi-platinum selling artists MercyMe and TobyMac have garnered the most nominations for this year’s K-LOVE Fan Awards including four nods total in the major categories of Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Group or Duo of the Year, Song of the Year and Film Impact. Casting Crowns, Cory Asbury and Zach Williams each received three nominations spanning categories such as Group or Duo of the Year, Breakout Single of the Year, Worship Song of the Year and more. Among the eight categories is the Film Impact award which included nominees All Saints, I Can Only Imagine, Paul, Apostle of Christ, Same Kind of Different and Samson. Announced initially to fans this evening by co-hosts Mandisa and Matthew West via Facebook, listeners hold the power to vote for the winners in each category by visiting 
