JP Saxe has joined forces with reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Maren Morris for his new single, a duet titled Line by Line. You can listen to the track here or watch the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]dgmjeMo_pDY[/wpdevart_youtube] Grammy Award nominated JP Saxe wrote the song with Morris and Jimmy Robbins, with the Canadian singer-songwriter hoping the track will hit the same highs as his previous duet – If the World Was Ending, featuring Julia Michaels. Speaking about the song, Saxe praised Morris as one of his favourite artists, while Morris opened up about the song meaning and how everything came together. “My first thought about this song is that it’s surreal I get to be sharing it with one of my favourite artists ever,” Saxe said. “Regarding what it’s about…as songwriters, we spend a lot of our lives trying to bottle up a feeling into a song, and often, the biggest feelings, the best ones… the complicated, detailed, messy, incredible ones… just aren’t going to fit. “Line by Line is our recognition of that… of how one song just isn’t enough to capture it all, but how we’re just going to keep writing, futilely and lovingly, anyway.” “I have always loved being contemplative of the artist vs. muse relationship in songs,” Morris added. “Line by Line acts as a promise that I’ll never be done writing about my muse in this life because he can’t be summed up in one song. “Writing that day with JP was the most fluid, inspiring session. He’s a lyrical faucet. He threw out the line ‘immortalising my sincerity’ and it blew my mind. I think all in all, we wrote the whole song in an hour and immediately recorded it”

Maren Morris has revealed that she has pretty much written her third record and will be heading into the studio very soon to start recording it. The as for now untitled third record is greatly anticipated as it follows in the footsteps of 2019’s ‘GIRL’, which won a CMA Award for Album of the Year and also spawned the huge hit The Bones. Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Morris explained that she is pretty much there in terms of having the album written, while also going on to say that she found the positives in having to cancel her tour due to the pandemic. “I have got, I would say, mostly a full record written,” Morris said. “And I’m leaving in a couple of weeks to start recording with Greg Kurstin. It (cancelling her tour) was definitely sad, but at the same time, I’ve never had this much time to myself to write and not have an end point or some sort of time lock on it. “With my second record, I feel like I had to write that so quickly. And I’m not trying to disparage it by any means — I just think now, I’m just so excited to have some space to write.” Maren Morris recently won Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year (The Bones) and Song of the Year (also The Bones) at the 2020 CMA Awards.

Garth Brooks has started his 2021 well after it was announced that he would be a recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor, along with a number of notable musicians. Alongside Brooks will be Debbie Allen, Joan Baez, Midori and Dick Van Dyke, as the Kennedy Center seek to award those most prominent in their musical genres over many years. Speaking about the induction, Kennedy Center Chairman, David M. Rubenstein, said that given Brooks’ achievements within the genre for three and a half decades is unprecedented and that in line with how the Kennedy Center Honors work, Brooks was a certainty. “The Kennedy Center Honors serves as a moment to celebrate the remarkable artists who have spent their lives elevating the cultural history of our nation and world,” said Rubenstein. “Garth Brooks heightened country music’s profile like no other singer before him; with an international presence for over 35 years.” Garth Brooks is one of country music’s biggest names and has been consistently at the top of his game for many decades. Throughout his career, Brooks has won 22 ACM Awards, 20 CMA Awards, two Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Last year, Brooks was also presented with the Billboard Icon Award, which was given to him by Cher.

Everything Lee Brice has touched recently has turned to gold, with his last three singles going to No. 1, in addition to recently picking up a CMA Award. Maverick found out his secrets while discussing his new album, ‘Hey World’ As the saying goes, you make your own luck in the world. If you keep plugging away and doing all the right things, eventually things will fall into place for you. To say that Lee Brice would only be benefitting now from doing the hard yards his whole career would be completely false, given the copious amounts of success he’s had, but this moment feels very different. This is very much his time. Brice’s last three singles – Rumor, I Hope You’re Happy Now with Carly Pearce and One of Them Girls have all hit Number One. Of those three, I Hope You’re Happy Now has just won a CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year. Going by this run, it’s not out of the question that his latest single release Memory I Don’t Mess With eventually climbs to the summit, as well. Another classic saying is when it rains, it pours – and it’s certainly pouring right now. However, there was no magic wand moment or anything like that, with Brice explaining that all he has done is work exceptionally hard with his team and stay true to himself in his musical application, all while making the very most of the stars aligning in his favour.  “I just kind of feel that…not just me, but everyone around me has worked so hard and will continue to do so, so we didn’t do anything different,” Brice says. “I didn’t want to go down the road of putting a song out or writing a song because it would be a hit and I put so much emphasis on the lyrics and the emotion and what I wanted. “It matters more in the long run as all my songs I’ve done, I feel they will be around for a while because they went slow on the charts. But even the ones that didn’t go Number One, they are still huge. They are still huge around radio and everywhere else and it shows. “I feel like most of it is just good timing and things have lined up, but for this record coming up, if the success continues on, it’s because I’ve really kind of taken that line and blurred the lines in a positive way. I’m hopeful I’ve made stuff that people want to hear and that’s easy to listen to, but also still having the depth of the songs that I always fight for.” A positive of lockdown One factor for the songs having the depth that they do have on ‘Hey World’ is the national lockdown that was enforced. While Brice – like everyone else – found it incredibly frustrating at times, it did allow him to take more time when it came to the recording process and slow everything down, to the point that he wasn’t rushing anymore and could really get exactly what he wanted from each individual track. As a result of this, Brice believes that the album has possibly turned out better than what he would’ve previously been able to release. “Lockdown was challenging, but truth is when I look back on it, it slowed down the process, which enabled me to dissect things a little bit more. I think that little things like the parts here and the parts there, as far as the actual record itself, I think they were better because I was able to have even less going on and take my time because it was like, ‘okay we’re going to do one instrument at a time, drummer, bass player, bring it back, I want to change some of the base I mess around with it’ etc. “It was a little challenging and at first a little frustrating, because we were like, ‘I want to get this done, we’re on a deadline’, but we got it done and now looking back, it even helped the process and maybe the record even turned out better because of it.” Delving deeper There are some tracks in particular which have given Lee Brice this feeling and these aren’t limited to tracks like I Hope You’re Happy Now, although another one of his favourites is indeed his most recently released single in Memory I Don’t Mess With. There is a deeper cut on the album though that Brice sees as a really special song, for which he was inspired to write on the basis of a family bereavement, which subsequently took him to a certain state of mind.  “Memory I Don’t Mess With is such a reminder of my high school years and probably the most quintessential Lee Brice song on the record – that’s what people would expect from me and when I was writing songs as a kid, that’s the kind of stuff I would write. But there’s also another song called Save the Roses that was inspired by a death in the family of one of my cousins that I grew up with, so it kind of took me back to a certain mindset and a place, but it also says a lot. “The song isn’t preaching to anybody, but it sure says some things and gets you thinking. Those two are my favourites on the record and are a couple of special songs, but there’s other stuff I want people to hear too because it’s got the country side of me.” Touring the UK The plan was for people to hear these tracks in a live setting before they got released, including a stint over in the UK, but alas the pandemic meant that this was put on the backburner. Lee Brice has managed to reschedule his UK dates for next year, which is something he is desperately hoping takes places as he is incredibly excited to not only play to UK audiences, but to also explore the UK as

Ed Bruce, known for his classic country hit Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys, has sadly passed away at the age of 81. The Arkansas born artist, also famed for his Number One song You’re the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had, has been a staple in country music for many years, writing songs for the likes of Willie Nelson, Tanya Tucker and Crystal Gayle. Bruce’s musical career started when he was 17 back in 1957 and grew to a huge point, with Bruce contributing to a plethora of chart hits either for himself or for other artists. His first was in 1962 when he wrote Save Your Kisses for pop star Tommy Roe and his last came several decades later in 1987, with Quietly Crazy getting into the Top 40. Away from music and Bruce was also a keen actor, with the incredibly talented individual playing second lead on ‘Maverick’, which was a 1957 show that was revived in the 1980s. In addition, Bruce also did voiceovers for commercials. On June 3, Ed Bruce was honoured with the Arkansas Country Music Award for “Lifetime Achievement” at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He sadly passed away from natural causes on January 8, 2021.

Florida Georgia Line have whipped up further anticipation ahead of their upcoming new album by releasing their latest single New Truck. You can listen to the song here or watch the lyric video below. [wpdevart_youtube]RPr1gyEJn48[/wpdevart_youtube] The duo – made up of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley – will be releasing their fifth studio album ‘Life Rolls On’ on February 12, with New Truck featuring on the 16 track record. Speaking about the song, Florida Georgia Line said that it’s a song that has a different edge to it with a lot of fun attached to it, while they also feel that it is a song designed to be played in a truck. “With New Truck we were like, ‘Man, this feels good. I just want to ride around in my truck, listen to this, and have a song to jam to,’” Hubbard said. “When any of our buddies get a new truck now, we can send it to them and say, ‘Yo, bump this in the truck!’” “It feels really different and fresh,” Kelley added. “It’s got a fun innocence about it, too.” The track listing by ‘Life Rolls On’ by Florida Georgia Line is as follows: 1. Long Live 2. Life Looks Good 3. Countryside 4. Always Gonna Love You 5. I Love My Country 6. Hard To Get To Heaven 7. Long Time Comin’ 8. Interlude 9. Ain’t Worried About It (Album Version) 10. Beer:30 11. New Truck 12. Eyes Closed 13. Second Guessing (From Songland) 14. Good To Me 15. U.S. Stronger 16. Life Rolls On

Runaway June’s newest member Natalie Stovall had a Christmas to remember for very different reasons, as the singer battled COVID-19 for the festive period. While the other members of the ever rising female trio in Naomi Cooke and Jennifer Wayne both got engaged over the same time period, Stovall – who replaced Hannah Mulholland last year – was quarantining. Speaking about her experience on her Instagram, Stovall opened up on the symptoms she felt and also stated that she is very grateful that it was just a mild case, while also encouraging her fans to stay safe. “We’ve had a full on Covid Christmas round these parts,” Stovall said. “I tested positive a few weeks ago and hunkered down with lots of grocery deliveries.  So thankful it was a mild case. Just achy, exhausted and so strange not to taste or smell! “But I have been cleared by Vanderbilt and am immune/ not contagious for at least 90 days. Guess that’s the silver lining here. I know so many people hurting and affected by this awful disease. “James and I are definitely counting our blessings. Stay safe and healthy out there, y’all. Here’s to getting back to normalcy ASAP.” Runaway June’s first project with Natalie Stovall as a member was a Christmas EP in ‘When I Think About Christmas’, which was their first project since 2019 debut album ‘Blue Roses’.

Dolly Parton has lifted the lid on the nature of a secret song that has been hidden in Dollywood, which can’t be played until 2045. Upon the opening of the DreamMore Resort on 2015, it was put to Parton that she should record a song that she then put in a box and then left unopened until 30 years after opening. Writing in her new book ‘Songteller: My Life in Lyrics’, Parton explained how the idea came about and said that while she will be very close to 100 when 2045 comes around, she hopes to be there to premiere the track. “It would be a song that will never be heard until 30 years from the time we opened the resort,” Parton said. “They said, ‘You’ll be long dead’ and “I said, ‘well, maybe not. I’ll be 99. I’ve seen people live to be older than that.’ “That’s like burying one of my kids, putting it on ice or something and I won’t be around to see it brought back to life. It’s just burning me up inside that I have to leave it in there. “Anyway, it’s kind of weird or strange that they would ask me to write this mystery song. I don’t know if I want to live to be 100 or not. But you never know. I might and if I do, I’m going to be at that opening.” Parton did say however that the song will definitely be accessible – it is on a CD and Parton has also put a CD player in the box with it, with the icon writing “there’s no telling what music is going to be by then.” Moving away from music and Dolly Parton has been very busy on humanitarian issues, with the money that she gave to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville for research purposes going a long way to helping them with the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19, which has a 95% protection rate.