Maren Morris has achieved her third US Country Airplay Number One as ‘GIRL’ single The Bones made its way to the chart summit. You can watch the video for the song below. [wpdevart_youtube]gvPMVKUI9go[/wpdevart_youtube] The song follows in the footsteps of I Could Use a Love Song and GIRL  in hitting top spot in the airplay charts and was written with Laura Veltz and Jimmy Robbins. Taking to her social media to comment on the news, Morris expressed her gratitude for the song doing so well in the charts, but will be holding off on celebrating the achievement until after she has given birth to her son. “The bones are good,” Morris tweeted. “Thank you so much for my third number 1 song. And I will be having the party for it after I have this baby so I can drink all the margaritas.” The last few months have proved to be hugely successful for Maren Morris, with the announcement of her pregnancy taking centre stage, though she was also recognised for her musical ability in the form of awards. At the 53rd CMA Awards, Morris took home Album of the Year for ‘GIRL’ and was also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year (GIRL), Song of the Year (GIRL) and Musical Event of the Year (All My Favourite People ft Brothers Osborne). Morris will also be playing the Houston Rodeo in Texas, despite being nine months pregnant. The Texas born singer accepted the offer before she found out she was pregnant, but is very much looking forward to the event on March 7.  

Chase Rice has continued his promo push for his new record ‘The Album Part 1’ by releasing a video for his latest single Lonely If You Are. You can watch the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]HLjg0Bw-Ado[/wpdevart_youtube] The video, directed by Reid Long, puts a twist on live concert footage as young aspiring musicians take centre stage in place of Rice and his band at a tour stop in Michigan. Even the crowd are children, while Rice makes a few cameo appearances as a photographer and to help out backstage. Speaking about the video, Rice said that the video was shot this way as when he and his band were kids, all they would have dreamed about is performing in the way that they do now. “Performing on the road for a sold-out crowd is something our childhood selves dreamed about, so it’s cool to see ‘mini versions’ of us living out those moments in the video,” explains Rice. “We wanted to highlight how much fun it really is getting to play shows all over the world and how fortunate we are to share these moments with our fans.” ‘The Album Part 1’ by Chase Rice was released on January 24 and just before his headline date at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Rice spoke to Maverick about the project – which you can read about here.  

Upcoming Welsh country artist Shannon Hynes has released another new single from her upcoming EP, this time in the shape of Comfort. You can listen to the track here. The track follows in the footsteps of Off Guard, which was the first piece of music Hynes had released in 11 months when she shared it in November 2019 and it seems that she’s fully gearing up for the EP release, as and when that may be. Speaking about the song, the London based artist said that it has been in her live setlist for over a year now and that she wanted to capture more of a live feel in production, before explaining the meaning of the song. “I have been playing this track live for over a year now, I was desperate to get it recorded and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned it out,” Hynes said. “We went very traditional with this track and we’ve stuck to a more live feel, so it doesn’t sound very produced at all. That typical honky tonk country bass style and the drums are very laid back and it’s covered in pedal steel and harmonies.  “Comfort is simply about being with someone who you don’t love, no matter how much you might want to and at the end of the day, love is all any of us want in life. Love can be exciting, scary, adventurous, tumultuous and so it should be…but above all, I believe it should be comfortable.” As of yet, there is no release date for the upcoming EP, though the release of new music indicates it may not be that far away.

The second wave of artists to be announced for Black Deer Festival have been revealed, with the likes of Saving Grace, Jade Bird and Imelda May added to the bill. Tickets are available here. Black Deer Festival, now in its third year, have really gone for it this year, having booked Saving Grace – made up vocally of Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and Suzi Dian – as well as Shooter Jennings, Wildwood Kin, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Sam Duckworth from Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. In addition to those acts, Shovels & Rope, Birds of Chicago, Wade Bowen, William Prince and The Goat Roper Rodeo Band have also been added. Speaking about the lineup, legendary singer Plant said that he recognises a lot of people on the bill having worked with them in years gone by and that he is very much looking forward to the weekend at Eridge Park. “This looks like a great bill,” Plant said. “I’ve worked alongside most of these people in recent times over here or over there…there’s power and beauty. I’m looking forward to it.” The Black Deer Festival lineup so far is: (First Wave) Wilco, The Waterboys, The Dead South, The Milk Carton Kids, Courtney Marie Andrews, The Felice Brothers, The Secret Sisters, Jack Broadbent Irish Mythen, Madison Violet, The East Pointers, Midnight Skyracer, Amy Montgomery, Native Harrow (Second Wave) Saving Grace ft. Robert Plant and Suzi Dian, Imelda May, Jade Bird, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Sam Duckworth, Shovels & Rope. Shooter Jennings, Birds of Chicago, Wildwood Kin, Wade Bowen, William Prince, Josh Okeefe, The Goat Roper Rodeo Band  

Temecula Road made their debut performance in Grand Opry House one to remember as they performed their brand new song Take Back. The trio – made up of Dawson Anderson and sisters Emma and Maddie Salute – made their Opry debut back in November, but this was their first time in the Opry House as that performance was held in the Ryman Auditorium. Take Back was something of a treat for those in attendance and watching on TV as it isn’t actually due for release for a fair few weeks yet, but it is due for release in the early part of 2020. The song was written by Anderson along with Ava Suppelsa and Steven Martinez, while it was produced by Andrew DeRoberts. The second song that Temecula Road performed on the night was their stripped back cover of the Eagles classic Desperado, which was received very warmly when they visited the UK in October for Country Music Week – and again when they supported Scotty McCreey later that evening. The group will be back in the UK very shortly for C2C 2020, with the group performing a number of sets over the course of the weekend. You can read our review of their October performance at CMW here.

The rest of the C2C 2020 line-up has been revealed, with the likes of Catherine McGrath, Austin Jenckes, Tenille Arts and Katy Hurt being announced. Tickets are available here. The names for the Town Square, Big Entrance CMW Hub in All Bar One, Icon Stage and the new Garden Stage have all been announced and there are some big names on the list, as well as a raft of up and coming artists from both the UK and the US. There will be additional sets from some of the Spotlight Stage artists too, with Twinnie, Niko Moon, Kyle Daniel, Mitchel Tenpenny, Gabby Barratt and Caylee Hammack all doing more than one performance over the weekend, while of course Kassi Ashton, Tenpenny and Willie Jones will be doing the C2C official aftershow parties at indigo. Also, The Shires will be in attendance in some capacity, as they will be hosting the Spotlight Stage on the Saturday in London, while there will also be a special album playback and Q&A in the O2 Blueroom. The full lineup for C2C 2020 is as follows: Main Stage (headliners in italic) Eric Church, The Cadillac Three, Charles Esten, Abby Anderson, Eric Paslay, Tenille Townes, Darius Rucker, Old Dominion, Old Crow Medicine Show, Runaway June, Luke Combs, Brett Young, Tanya Tucker, Jordan Davis Spotlight Stage Mitchell Tenpenny, Kyle Daniel, Gabby Barratt, Niko Moon, Kassi Ashton, Twinnie, Willie Jones, Caylee Hammack, Noah Schnacky BBC Radio 2 Stage at indigo A Thousand Horses, Catherine McGrath, Caylee Hammack, Filmore, Gabby Barrett, Jackson Michelson, Kassi Ashton, King Calaway, Kyle Daniel, Mitchell Tenpenny, Noah Schnacky, Robert Counts, Seaforth, Tebey, Temecula Road, Tenille Arts, Willie Jones C2C Official Aftershow Parties at indigo Mitchell Tenpenny, Kassi Ashton, Willie Jones, DJ Hish The Saloon – All Bar One by Night Kyle Daniel, A Thousand Horses, Robert Counts Town Square A Thousand Horses, Alex Hall, Angie K, Caylee Hammack, Everette, Filmore, Haley & Michaels, Holloway Road, Jackson Michelson, King Calaway, Kylie Morgan, Laura Oakes, Lisa McHugh, Niko Moon, Robert Counts, Seaforth, Tebey, Temecula Road, The Luck, Tim Hicks, Una Healy Big Entrance Stage Alex Hall, Angie K, Danny McMahon, Everette, Haley & Michaels, Jess Thristan, Joe Bucks, Kaitlyn Baker, Katy Hurt, King Calaway, Leslie Stevens, Matt Lang, Stuart Landon, Tebey, Temecula Road, The Luck, Tim Hicks, Una Healy CMW Hub – All Bar One Alex Hall, Austin Jenckes, Catherine McGrath, Filmore, Gabby Barrett, Kylie Morgan, Leslie Stevens, Niko Moon, Noah Schnacky, Tenille Arts, Twinnie Icon Stage Danny Burns, Haley & Michaels, Hayley McKay, Izzie Walsh, Jess Thristan, Joe Buck, Kaitlyn Baker, Laura Oakes, Lucy Grubb, Mabel & Huck, Matt Lang, Reverie Lane, Stuart Landon, The Luck, The Orange Circus Band, The Remedy Club Garden Stage Austin Jenckes, Catherine McGrath, Danny Burns, Danny McMahon, Hayley McKay, Holloway Road, Izzie Walsh, Jackson Michelson, Kaitlyn Baker, Katy Hurt, Leslie Stevens, Lisa McHugh, Lucy Grubb, Mabel & Huck, Matt Lang, The Luck, The Orange Circus Band, The Remedy Club, Tim Hicks O2 Blueroom The Shires album playback and Q&A, CMA Kixstart in conversation: Angie K, Everette, Kylie Morgan  

Old Dominion have shared their latest single Some People Do from their self-titled third album, just before they return to the UK for C2C 2020. You can listen to the song here. Some People Do follows in the footsteps of Make It Sweet, One Man Band and Never Be Sorry from the critically acclaimed third record, as the recent CMA Award winning Vocal Group of the Year step up their plans for their first C2C appearance since 2018. Speaking about the song, frontman Matthew Ramsey said that it is about trying to be the best person that you possibly can be for this closest to you, even though you know that despite that, you are still going to unintentionally hurt them at some stage. “It’s a breaking-point kind of song,” Ramsey said. “I think inherently we’re all good people and want to be good people, but no matter who you are, sometimes you hurt the ones you love. It’s about that desire to be the best person you can be for those people.” Old Dominion are made up of Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung and Brad Tursi and were in the UK as recently as October, where they embarked on their biggest headline tour to date this side of the Atlantic, including an appearance at the Eventim Apollo in London. Ironically, Jordan Davis was their support for that tour and he will also be appearing at C2C this year, albeit on a different day to Old Dominion.

UK singer/songwriter Rumer will be releasing her fifth studio album ‘Nashville Tears’ on April 24, with the album being released on the label Cooking Vinyl. You can pre-order the album here. The album itself will be a cover album of sorts, with all 15 songs being written by Hugh Prestwood – a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer –and some of the tracks that are included are songs written by Prestwood, but never saw the light of day. Speaking about the record, Rumer said that she hopes that her new album will introduce people to a huge influence on her career and that she has every faith that they will appreciate that. “I can’t wait for more music lovers to discover Hugh Prestwood’s magnificent catalogue,” Rumer said. “I know without a doubt they’ll be as grateful as I am to have found him.” In addition to releasing the album, Rumer will be heading out on a brief tour to support ‘Nashville Tears’, which is only four dates in length but will see her perform in two countries and there is expected to be a bigger tour announced later this year. Rumer will be playing: May 14 – Town Hall, Birmingham, England May 16 – The Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England May 17 – Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, England May 19 – Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland Tickets will go on sale to the public on February 7.