Morgan Wallen Archives - Nashville Music Line

Your Inside Track on Music Row, November 2024

Hot new Country singles and albums tour updates and more

By Preshias Harris

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “Undeniably, I’m a country singer; I’m a country songwriter. But I feel like I make country music for people who like country music and for people who don’t.” – Kasey Musgraves

BIBLE VERSE OF THE MONTH: My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. – Psalms 57:7

Can it be November already? With Thanksgiving fast approaching and Christmas just around the corner?! SO much to get to in this edition of ‘Inside Track on Music Row,’ the longest continuously-running monthly country music column in the USA. Scroll down to check out a whole bunch of new albums and singles to listen to, plus tour updates, Opry news, songwriter pub deals, Christmas music and a lot more. As always, my heartfelt thanks to the artists and songwriters and their reps who keep me in the loop about what’s new with you! So let’s kick off with a roundup of some albums you need to know about…

ALBUM NEWS

KELSEA BALLERINI: When you write songs from your own life, it takes a lot of living to come up with something special. Thankfully, for multiple Grammy nominee and Country Music Association award winner Kelsea Ballerini, a 30-something who never stops, inspiration is never hard to come by. Having created a deep dialogue with her fans, a lot has happened since the Grammy-nominated Rolling Up The Welcome Matand Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good).

Teaming with producer and longtime collaborator Alysa Vanderheym, Ballerini opted for an all-girl approach to PATTERNS. Crystalizing after a songwriting retreat with Vanderheym, Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Hillary Lindsey, GRAMMY Songwriter of the Year nominee Jessie Jo Dillon and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, the honey blond superstar decided to create an album that focused on female friendship, being vulnerable and honest, owning one’s jagged spaces and the way relationships really are, not the way they look on Instagram.

“There was an unpresumed feeling of knowingness that happened on that retreat,” Ballerini reports. “I felt safe, so then I was able to feel honest, and then more so, creative. We were all, as songwriters, in tandem but more so as women just in a real heart flow of it all. Having these heroes and friends champion the process and the guts of it all has been one of the joys of my career.” Pre-order exclusive PATTERNS on vinyl and CD here via Black River Entertainment. Listen/download the single “First Rodeo” here, and watch the evocative music video here. #KelseaBallerini

MEGAN MORONEY: The much-anticipated release of Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine) — the deluxe edition of Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records singer/songwriter Megan Moroney’s widely acclaimed sophomore album – dropped in early October. Featuring three brand-new tracks, the newly expanded version of Am I Okay? arrives just months after Moroney scored the year’s third-biggest Billboard 200 debut from a female Country artist. Listen to Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine) here.

Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine) includes a selection of songs she’s recently teased during her must-see live show and on social media. Both written by Moroney, David “Messy” Mescon, Rob Hatch, and Ben Williams, “Break It Right Back” and “I’ll Be Fine” offer the latest evidence of her enormous talent for penning truly unforgettable heartbreak ballads. To that end, “Break It Right Back” takes the form of a piano-laced stunner about the shattered hopes of falling for someone too good to be true (inspiring over 22k creates after Moroney teased it on TikTok), while “I’ll Be Fine” serves as a heavy-hearted response to the album’s wildly hopeful and Country radio-dominating title track.

Moroney will soon release Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine) on vinyl on December 13. Pre-order the vinyl here. Tour/ticket updates at Megan’s website and more on social media. #MeganMoroney

GEORGE JONES: Fans of George Jones are in for a treat with the announcement of the new album, George Jones: The Lost Nashville Sessions set to release on November 15 on Country Rewind Records. Preorder / stream the album here. Originally recorded for radio airplay in the 1970s, these tracks have been enhanced, capturing Jones’ signature sound by bringing the audio quality up to twenty-first-century standards. This was achieved by subtly adding instrumentation and background vocals beneath Jones’ voice where needed.

Nominees and show hosts named for CMA Awards

Lainey Wilson to join Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning

By Preshias Harris

The Country Music Association (CMA) has announced the nominations for the upcoming CMA Awards. The 58^th CMA Awards presented by the Country Music Association will take place Wednesday, November 20 and will be broadcast 8/7CT on ABC-TV from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The show will stream on Hulu the next day.

Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning will reprise their hosting duties for the show, this time joined by co-host Lainey Wilson, as announced in this video directed by George Flanigan.

Read my full story about the upcoming CMA Awards at Center Stage Mag here, where you can also link to a list of the entire roster of nominations, in case you want to follow along as you watch the show.

Those with the most nominations include Morgan Wallen (seven nods; four as collabs with Post Malone), while Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton are both nominated for five awards. Find the details at Center Stage Mag here where you can also catch up on previous stories posted under the Preshias On The Row header.

Preshias Harris is an advocate for songwriters and a music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com. Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com. @PreshiasHarris #PreshiasHarris

It’s August! Here’s this month’s Inside Track

Inside Track on Music Row for August 2024

by Preshias Harris

Scroll down to read a LOT of news about HARDY, Reba McEntire, Megan Moroney, Jake Owen, Opry Country Christmas, Chris Tomlin, Nu-Blu, Lauren Watkins, Bobby Marquez, Ashley McBride, Alex Miller, Morgan Wallen, Allie Colleen, Justin Moore and much more!

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “I’ve ended up as a songwriter. This is my job. How did I get this lucky? What a great job!” – Paul McCartney, in an interview with Annie Clark (St. Vincent) on Instagram Live. [reported in American Songwriter, April 16, 2021]

BIBLE VERSE OF THE MONTH: Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! – Psalm 100: 1-2

ALBUM NEWS: Acclaimed singer-songwriter Amos Lee will release his eagerly awaited new album, Transmissions, available Friday, August 9 on his own Hoagiemouth Records via Thirty Tigers. Lee’s 11th studio album and first new collection of original songs in more than two years, Transmissions is heralded by the premiere of the graceful first single, “Hold On Tight,” available everywhere now. Listen now at Play MPE and watch the official video here.

Transmissions sees Amos Lee continuing to expand his sonic range while sharpening his closely observed lyrics that squarely address death, aging, and love. Self-produced by Lee for only the second time in his chart-topping, RIAA Gold-certified career (following 2013’s Spirit), the Philadelphia, PA-based artist returned to an old-school style of recording, working with his longtime band in a studio in rural Marlboro, NY, built by drummer Lee Falco and his dad out of reclaimed wood from an old church. Playing live on the floor for long hours in close quarters, Lee and his fellow musicians were able to capture the album’s twelve songs in less than a week. Lee augmented his band’s soulful, folk-funk sound with arrangements that extend the scope of songs, from autobiographical to upbeat and jam-powered. Music, tour dates and more at Amos Lee’s website. Pre-order Amos Lee’s Transmissions here. #AmosLee

ALBUM NEWS Part Two: Megan Moroney’s Am I Okay? debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 — the definitive all-genre chart for U.S. album sales. Released on July 12 to widespread acclaim, the Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records singer/songwriter’s sophomore LP also shot to the No. 3 spot on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart — a feat that makes Am I Okay? the fifth-biggest Country debut of 2024 and the year’s third-biggest debut from a female Country artist (after Beyoncé and Kacey Musgraves). Go here to stream/download Am I Okay? now. With nearly 43K in consumption units in its first week — including 37.6 million streams — Am I Okay? has earned massive praise from many of the music world’s leading publications, including Rolling Stone, Variety, The Tennessean and the print editions of American Songwriterand The New York Times.

Also lauded by Billboard, MusicRow, and more, Am I Okay? turned up on coveted lists like “New Music Friday: The best albums out July 12” from NPR’s All Songs Considered. In addition, Associated Press declared that “[y]ou’d be hard-pressed to find a more relatable voice in contemporary country music for young women” and hailed Am I Okay? as “a heartbreak-filled rollercoaster ride of a sophomore album, filled with quotable kiss-offs and evolved compositions.” Moroney has earned nearly 1.5 billion total global streams to date. More at Megan Moroney’s website and on social media. #MeganMoroney

AMERICANA NEWS: The Americana Music Association has announced its performers for the 23rd annual Americana Honors & Awards, taking place in Nashville on Sept. 18 at the famed Ryman Auditorium. This year’s Honors & Awards will deliver performances from award-winning legends, buzzworthy new artists, and longtime fan favorites including Blind Boys of Alabama, Brandy Clark with SistaStrings, Charles Wesley Godwin, Dave Alvin, Dwight Yoakam, Fantastic Negrito, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Jobi Riccio, Kaitlin Butts, Larkin Poe, The Milk Carton Kids, Noah Kahan, Sarah Jarosz, Shelby Lynne, Sierra Ferrell, Turnpike Troubadours, The War And Treaty, Waxahatchee with MJ Lenderman, and Wyatt Flores.

In addition to the annual “Of the Year” awards presented during the program (view the nominees here), the 2024 Honors & Awards will include this year’s Lifetime Achievement Honorees: Blind Boys of Alabama, Dave Alvin, Don Was, Dwight Yoakam, Rev. Gary Davis, and Shelby Lynne. Rev. Gary Davis (honored posthumously) will receive the Legacy Award in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music and will be recognized with a performance by Fantastic Negrito. Additionally, the program will be filmed for broadcast on PBS in the Austin City Limits time slot in November. Tickets to the Americana Honors & Awards are on sale now here. For more information on the association or to purchase passes to AMERICANAFEST, visit www.americanamusic.org.

Inside Track on Music Row July 2024

Inside Track on Music Row July 2024… right here and ready to read!

Due to a technical glitch, Nashville Music Guide was unable to publish my column this month. So… here it is in full! Apologies to my readers and to the labels and artists’ representatives who share their news with me so I can bring it to you in this, the longest continuously running country music column in America!

Scroll down for news about George Strait, Morgan Waller, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Luke Combs, HARDY, Brantley Gilbert, Phil Vassar, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, Jelly Roll and many more!

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “I didn’t know if it would be a successful one, or what the stages would be, but I always saw myself as a lifetime musician and songwriter.” – Bruce Springsteen

BIBLE VERSE OF THE MONTH: I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly, I will sing your praises. – Psalm 22:22

ACOUSTIC VERSION NEWS: After putting fans first with the social media-driven Find Another Bar Tour: College Edition, multi-Platinum artist Chris Lane delivers another surprise with the release of From Where I’m Sippin’ (Deluxe) (Red Street Records/Voyager Records). Listen to From Where I’m Sippin’ (Deluxe) here. Watch Chris Lane’s performance video for “Mistake (Acoustic)” here. “I’ve always been a big fan of stripped-down versions of songs, and how the track can take on a new life while also giving me a new connection to it,” shares Lane. “I’m excited to add three acoustic versions to the From Where I’m Sippin’ EP, and hope y’all enjoy them.”

Lauded by Billboard as “veering slightly from hip-hop infused, polished pop-country to a sound with a ragged rock edge, while still residing squarely in his musical wheelhouse” with his new music, From Where I’m Sippin’ poured five fresh-Country concoctions – four of which were co-written by the top-shelf hitmaker – produced by Derek Wells with additional production from Michael Lotten. Now serving up three brand-new acoustic versions with the 2023 EP release, Lane adds an intimate element to stripped-down renditions of fan-favorites “Mistake,” “Way to Go Girl,” and current chart-rising single “Find Another Bar” – that’s nearing Top 35 at Country radio. Music and tour info at Chris Lane’s website. #ChrisLane

ALBUM NEWS: Country superstar Luke Combs’ new full-length album, Fathers & Sons, is out now on Columbia Nashville. Stream/purchase here. A collection of 12 poignant tracks, Fathers & Sons was recorded entirely live and features Combs most personal songwriting to date, as he reflects on his own experiences being a dad to his two sons and the unique bond between parents and their children. Ahead of the release, Combs unveiled new song, “The Man He Sees In Me,” which The Tennessean says is “redefining his level of superstardom.”

The album adds to yet another landmark year for Combs, who recently released his new radio single, “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” which will be featured on the soundtrack for the new Twisters movie (out July 19) and is the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opening July 11. The exhibit, entitled Luke Combs: The Man I Am, will feature a variety of photographs, childhood memorabilia, instruments, set lists and more from throughout Combs’ life and career. Combs has also partnered with Opry Entertainment Group to open a massive multi-level entertainment complex in downtown Nashville later this summer. Music and tour updates at Luke’s websiteand socials. #LukeCombs

Luke Combs tops Airplay chart, Morgan Wallen’s album debuts at No. 1

Country update from Preshias

Here’s a quick roundup of what’s happening this week on Music Row and in Country Music!

Luke Combs logs his tenth No. 1
Morgan Wallen debuts on both Billboard’s Top 200 and Top Country Album charts
HARDY set to “Give Heaven Some Hell”
Parker Millsap is “The Real Thing”
Loretta Lynn and Willie Nelson roll up their sleeves for vaccine
GigTours™ wants you to say “I’m With the Band”
Plus an “I Know Country” Q&A and more. Scroll down to read all these country music news items

Luke Combs does it again. Luke has logged his tenth consecutive No. 1 song atop the Billboard Country Airplay chart for the week of Jan 23. Titled “Better Together,” the song was co-written by Combs with Dan Isbell and Randy Montana and is the fifth single from Luke’s album What You See Is What You Get.

Dangerous! Morgan Wallen’s new 30-track double album

Preshias talks country music with Y’all Show host Jon Rawl

Another busy week on Music Row. @PreshiasHarris and Jon discuss a bunch of topics on this week’s livestream that you can watch now on the Ya’ll Show website or the Y’all Show YouTube channel. Among the topics:

Morgan Wallen’s new double album includes collaborations with some of Nashville’s biggest writers and artists
Terry McBride – of McBride & the Ride – releases a new album, and the Ride’s entire catalog is now available on Spotify
Tim McGraw and FGL’s Tyler Hubbard are “Undivided” on a new heartfelt song of unity
Three sad losses for Nashville: the passing of Ed Bruce, Jamie O’Hara and Misty Morgan
Thomas Rhett launches Dos Primos tequila and joins the list of country artists in the wine and liquor business
Lady A’s “Champagne Night” takes the charts by storm after Songland TV show
Plus an “I Know Country” Q&A, some country artists celebrating birthdays this week, the Top 5 Country Airplay songs and more. Scroll down to read the program notes, and watch the livestream at the Y’all Show website or the Y’all Show YouTube channel.

Morgan Wallen raises a toast with “Whiskey Glasses”

Happy heartbreak song written by Ben Burgess and Kevin Kadish honored at No. 1 party

By Preshias Harris

Some songs just hit you right away, and that’s how it was for Morgan Wallen when he heard the demo for “Whiskey Glasses.”

“I heard it and we were like, Hell yeah!” said Morgan during the media meeting prior to the presentations. He and the song’s two writers, Ben Burgess and Kevin Kadish were at the Sutler in Nashville on Monday, July 29 to celebrate the chart-topping success of “Whiskey Glasses.” The song is the third single from Morgan’s debut album, If I Know Me, produced by Joey Moi. The celebration was hosted by ASCAP and BMI.

(L to R): Kevin Kadish, Morgan Wallen, Ben Burgess. Photo: Steve Lowry

Morgan received national attention when he competed on season 6 of The Voice in 2014 where he joined Team Usher and was later ‘stolen’ by Team Adam Levine. Although Morgan was ultimately eliminated in the Playoffs, his performance led to a record deal with Big Loud Records and the album If I Know Me.

Morgan knocked Blake Shelton from No. 1 spot

Continue reading “Morgan Wallen raises a toast with “Whiskey Glasses””

Stars thrill crowds at Day Two of CMA Fest

Thomas Rhett, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood and more bring their best

Rain didn’t stop the music

Jordan Davis entertains at the Chevy Riverfront Stage. Photo credit: Catrina Engelby

The Firestone Country Roads Stage at Ascend Amphitheater was packed with fans at a sold-out show headlined by Brett Young. Meanwhile, Chevy Riverfront Stage was filled with capacity crowds for three back-to-back performances. These included Jordan Davis, The Voice alumni Morgan Wallen and Hunter Hayes’ set.

Elvie Shane performs at the Chevy Riverfront Stage. Photo credit: Catrina Engelby

More Enthusiastic fans were cheering on Elvie Shane (BBR’s newest signee) and former American Idol alumni and country sweetheart Lauren Alaina. Fans were singing along to their favorite songs throughout the sets.

LOCASH also had the crowd singing along at the Radio Disney Country Stage and CMA KixStart Artist Scholarship recipient Travis Denning brought the energy to the Chevy Breakout Stage at Walk of Fame Park.

“Beer Can’t Fix” Thomas Rhett, Jon Pardi

Continue reading “Stars thrill crowds at Day Two of CMA Fest”