Grammy-winning artist Maren Morris unveils a new Amazon Original live EP Maren Morris Live From Chicago today only on Amazon Music—listen here and watch live videos for each track here . The EP was recorded at the inaugural show of her GIRL: The World Tour on March 9, 2019, which was livestreamed globally by Amazon Music. The footage features performances of “GIRL,” “A Song for Everything,” “Common” and “The Bones.”

“Feeling so nostalgic for shows lately so here’s a few tracks from opening night of GIRL: The World Tour,” Maren says. 

In March, Maren received RIAA Gold certification for her critically-lauded album GIRL, which shattered the record for the largest ever debut streaming week for a country album by a woman, with 23.96 million streams in its first week. In addition, Maren played her biggest show to date for more than 60,000 fans at the Houston Rodeo—watch her exclusive interview with Anthony Mason for “CBS This Morning” here—and she leads the 2020 ACM Awards nominations this year with five nods including Female Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for GIRL. At the time of its release, GIRL broke global records for most first day streams and on-demand voice requests with Alexa than any other country album debut on Amazon Music. Her latest single, “To Hell & Back,” was the second most-added at country radio upon impact, with 41 first week stations.

Her Platinum-certified “The Bones” is spending its eighth week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. When the song first earned No. 1 on the chart in February—which followed the chart-topping stint of “GIRL” last summer—it marked the first time since 2016 that a solo country female artist had two No. 1’s from the same album. “The Bones” also achieved the longest post-peak run on the Country Aircheck/Mediabase radio chart in April, nine weeks following its second week at No. 1 in February, and was the first solo female back-to-back No. 1 since 2012. Additionally, “The Bones” reached the top 20 at Top 40 radio and No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs and Mediabase Hot A.C. in April. 

MAREN MORRIS—MAREN MORRIS LIVE FROM CHICAGO EP
1. Girl 
2. A Song for Everything
3. Common 
4. The Bones 

Amazon Music listeners will be able to hear some of the tracks from the new Live EP on Fresh Country, a playlist featuring new releases across the genre. Customers will also be able to simply ask, “Alexa play Maren Morris Live From Chicago” in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices. In addition to the Live EP, Amazon Music listeners can access hundreds of Amazon Originalsfeaturing both emerging and established artists across numerous genres, available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.

ACM, CMA and CMT Award-winning artist Luke Combs has released his new song, “Six Feet Apart,” today. Listen/share HERE. Co-written with Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder, Combs originally debuted the song last month during a livestream concert. 

Combs will continue his at-home concerts tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT—this time partnering with Miller Lite to help support out-of-work bartenders nationwide. Fans can watch the performance via Luke’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages and donate to Miller Lite’s #VirtualTipJar campaign by visiting virtual-tips.org.

The new song adds to a series of groundbreaking and historic years for Combs, who is nominated in three categories at the 55th ACM Awards: Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for his acclaimed global No. 1 record, What You See Is What You Get.

What You See Is What You Get—out now on River House Artists/Columbia Nashville (stream/purchaseHERE )— debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart as well as Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this past November with 172,000 equivalent units sold and also enjoyed the largest streaming week ever for a country album with 74 million on-demand streams. It also achieved the biggest first week of album streams ever for a country artist on Apple Music and was the first country album ever to hit No. 1 on the platform’s U.S. overall albums chart, while also setting a new global record for first-week streams for a country album at Spotify and breaking the Amazon Music record for more first-week streams than any other country album debut. Moreover, Combs made his debut as the musical guest on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” earlier this year with host JJ Watt performing two songs from, What You See Is What You Get: “Lovin’ On You” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” 

Produced by Scott Moffatt, What You See Is What You Get features 17 songs including the five tracks previously released via The Prequel EP last summer. The EP debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with all five tracks charting on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Top 25—a feat not accomplished by any artist in 60 years since Johnny Cash in 1959. Additionally, Combs’ last single, “Even Though I’m Leaving,” spent three weeks at No. 1 at country radio, making it Combs’ seventh consecutive No. 1—a first on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, while his current single, “Does To Me” featuring Eric Church, is already Top 10 at country radio. 

Adding to his landmark year, Combs’ debut album, This One’s For You, was recently certified RIAA Triple Platinum. Since its release in 2017, the album has spent 50 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart—tying the record for the longest reign atop the chart with Shania Twain’s Come On Over in 1997. This One’s For You was also the most-streamed country album of 2019. Moreover, several of Combs’ songs have also received new RIAA certifications: 4x Platinum “Beautiful Crazy,” 4x Platinum “When It Rains It Pours,” 2x Platinum “She Got The Best of Me” and Platinum “Must’ve Never Met You.”

Riser House/Columbia Nashville artist Mitchell Tenpenny has released a cover of Lewis Capaldi’s No. 1 hit, “Someone You Loved.” He previewed a clip of this recording during a recent Instagram live session. Next Tuesday, May 5, Mitchell will host another #TenpennyTuesdays, where he will perform “Someone You Loved” live on his Facebook and Instagram pages. Get the song HERE .

“I’m grateful for fans who share their input and tell us what they want to hear,” said Mitchell. “We received such great feedback when we played part of this song a couple of weeks ago. Y’all asked for it!”

 During the May 5 live social event, Mitchell will encourage his fans to participate in the “There’s Comfort in Giving” program, which Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®, Sony Music Nashville, and many of Mitchell’s labelmates have initiated to help donate meals to healthcare professionals in the HCA Healthcare system. For every $10.00 virtual gift card purchased online at crackerbarrel.com/comfort by May 12, 2020, the restaurant will donate up to 15,000 meals for the benefit of a hospital’s frontline workers. Mitchell has chosen the healthcare workers at TriStar Health in Nashville to receive meals.

Emerging singer, songwriter and musician Tenille Townes will release her highly anticipated debut album, The Lemonade Stand, June 26 via Columbia Nashville in partnership with RCA Records. 

Of the release, Townes shares, “The Lemonade Stand is a collection of songs that mean so much to me and are the way I see the world in this season of my life right now. I want this music to be like a gathering place, where people can come and be filled up. I hope this record reminds people of who they are, that they are not alone, and reminds them of their dreams. This record is the dream that I had when I was a seven-year-old kid singing along in the backseat of the car. She would really be freaking out right now.” 

Produced by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town), the new album consists of twelve songs all co-written by Townes including five tracks from her Road to the Lemonade Stand EP (stream/purchase here) as well as her latest release, “The Most Beautiful Things,” which Townes debuted earlier this month to critical acclaim. Of the track, Music Row declares, “She is a treasure. This touching ballad meditates about the glorious beauty that is all around us, but seldom noticed. Moving and meaningful.” 

On working with Joyce, Townes reflects, “Making this music with Jay Joyce was an adventure I will hold on to and smile at for the rest of my life. It was a process where I felt like I could be myself and felt encouraged to grow and step up to what these songs were calling for. We built these songs from the ground up, the way I would play them in a room with my guitar, and I had the most amazing time watching Jay create magic around them.” 

The new album also features “Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking),” which was recently Gold certified in Canada and reached No. 1 on the BDS Canada and Mediabase Canada country radio charts earlier this year—making it Townes’ second chart-topping single following her Canadian Platinum-certified “Somebody’s Daughter .” This accomplishment makes Townes the only female in Mediabase Canada history to achieve two No. 1 singles. Released to critical acclaim, Rolling Stone calls “Jersey,” “a stirring, full-bodied anthem about loss and faith,” while Taste of Country proclaims, “Townes continues to release music grounded in empathy…She aims for a higher brand of acclaim and satisfaction.” For more information on The Lemonade Stand and to pre-order album bundles, please visit tenilletownes.com.

THE LEMONADE STAND TRACK LIST 
1. “Holding Out For The One”
2. “Where You Are”  
3. “Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking)” 
4. “Lighthouse” 
5. “White Horse” 
6. “I Kept The Roses”
7. “When I Meet My Maker”
8. “Come As you Are”  
9. “The Way You Look Tonight” 
10. “Find You” 
11. “Somebody’s Daughter” 
12. “The Most Beautiful Things” 

Born and raised in the small town of Monterey, Louisiana, Ross Ellis moved to Nashville after graduating college. The Sony Nashville recording artist has been writing songs since he arrived in Music City, having penned tracks for some of country music’s biggest acts, including country superstar Tim McGraw. To showcase his expansive catalog of songs and offer fans some at home entertainment while we shelter in place to fight COVID-19, he launched “Ross Writes” on April 9. Performing daily at 6 pm CT on Facebook and Instagram Live, Ellis shares a different song he’s written during each performance. To check out past episodes and watch new ones, visit @RossEllisMusic onInstagram or Facebook.

“This is something I’d been thinking about for a while, but when this coronavirus mess broke out, I thought it’d be a great way to connect with fans until we can all be together again,” shares the man The Boot calls an “artist to watch.”  “I have written so many songs over the years since moving to Nashville. This is a great way to both showcase my ‘day job’ as a writer and highlight some of the incredible songwriters I go to work with every day.”

In the middle of recording his debut album for Sony Music Nashville when the “safer at home” order was released, the singer/songwriter has already notched 17 performances and shows no signs of stopping the daily sessions any time soon. 

“I have enough songs to take us all the way through 2025 if we have to,” Ellis laughs. “These live sessions have been great though…seeing the comments. Getting feedback from fans in real time will definitely help us decided what makes this album and what doesn’t!” 

“Ross Writes” To Date:
4/9/2020 — Ross Writes No. 1 “Shadows On The Wall”
4/11/2020 — Ross Writes No. 2 “2000 and You”
4/12/2020 — Ross Writes No. 3 “Forever to Me”
4/13/2020 — Ross Writes No. 4 “How Do You Sleep”
4/14/2020 — Ross Writes No. 5 “Love Blind,” “Without You,” “Barefoot Dancer,” “Other Side Of The Phone” & “Neon Church”      
4/15/2020 — Ross Writes No. 6 “Wish You Would”
4/16/2020 — Ross Writes No. 7 “While It Lasted”
4/17/2020 — Ross Writes No. 8 “This Road” and “White Picket Plans”
4/18/2020 — Ross Writes No. 9 “Old Fashioned”
4/20/2020 — Ross Writes No. 10 “Doin’ Alright”
4/21/2020 — Ross Writes No. 11 “Let Me Let You Go”
4/22/2020 — Ross Writes No. 12 “Mess We Make”
4/23/2020 — Ross Writes No. 13 “Let It Be Me”
4/24/2020 — Ross Writes No. 14 “Made For”
4/25/2020 — Ross Writes No. 15 “Last Place I Had It”
4/26/2020 — Ross Writes No. 16 “Before And After You”
4/27/2020 — Ross Writes No. 17 “

The series follows a number of powerful songs released from Ellis since moving to Nashville including, breakthrough song “Buy and Buy” which hit No. 1 on SiriusXM The Highway’s Top 30 Countdown. The song has continued to receive a strong response from listeners reaching over 2 million in consumption to date and averaging almost 2000 in weekly sales with superstar Thomas Rhett telling Nash Country Daily “…it’s one of the freshest songs on the radio.”

Other releases include “Home for the Weekend” in 2017, followed by his hauntingly powerful song, “Ghosts,” in 2018 which Rolling Stone named a “top song of the week” and his most recent release the soulful and uplifting track, “Home to Me.”

For more information, watch “Who is Ross Ellis?” and visit rossellismusic.com or follow on social media @RossEllisMusic.

4X AMA winner Kane Brown lands this week’s most-added single at country radio as “Cool Again” garners 103 combined Billboard and Country Aircheck/Mediabase stations, a career high for the 26-year-old entertainer. “Cool Again,” which officially impacted Thursday, April 23, also topped the Country Aircheck Today Top 5 that day and was the highest point-gainer of last week. The track is the latest in a hot streak for the RCA Nashville/Zone 4 star, whose last single, the Platinum-certified “Homesick,” marked his fifth consecutive No. 1 airplay hit. 

Critic’s praise for the multi-platinum singer’s latest release include:

“The jaunty track…will be a sure contender for song of the summer…” Billboard

“…Kane was cool before and is back and cooler than ever with his new cold shoulder country bop.”iHeartRadio

“…the propulsive track sways like a hammock in the tropical breeze.” Sounds Like Nashville

“The country crooner continues his genre exploration with this new single about longing for a lost love that finds him singing over a breezy dance beat. The wistful wishing for better days sure hits a little differently in the current climate…” E! News

“Cool Again,” co-written by Brown, Josh Hoge, Matthew McGinn, and Lindsay Rimes, and produced by Dann Huff and Lindsay Rimes, is available now on all streaming platforms and digital retailers. Earlier this month, Brown and 11X Grammy winner John Legend released “Last Time I Say Sorry,” their co-written song which they performed from their respective homes on the CBS special, ACM Presents: Our Country.

RCA Records Nashville’s rising star Rachel Wammack has released her impassioned new track, “When I Say Amen.” Written by Wammack, Matt Maher, and co-penned and produced by Sam Ellis, the song offers hope despite circumstances. Listen here.

Named a country artist to watch in 2020 by Paste Magazine, Wammack is singled out as a “much needed female voice” by Sounds Like Nashville. After appearing on several dates of Trisha Yearwood’s “Every Girl On Tour” and touring overseas as part of CMA’s “Introducing Nashville” series in 2019, Wammack plans to open select dates for Rascal Flatts and Reba McEntire this year.

Grammy-winning superstar Maren Morris makes history this week. Her Platinum-certified “The Bones” achieves the longest post-peak run on the Country Aircheck/Mediabaseradio chart, nine weeks following its second week at #1 in February. The song was also the first solo female back-to-back #1 since 2012. 

The monumental growth of “The Bones” also sees the song reach the top 20 at Top 40 radio this week, while last week the track rose to #1 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs and Mediabase Hot A.C. charts. Moreover, “The Bones” is spending its sixth week at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. When the song first earned #1 on the chart in February—which followed the chart-topping stint of “Girl ” last summer—it marked the first time since 2016 that a solo country female artist had two #1’s from the same album. “The Bones” was also #1 on SiriusXM The Highway’s Hot 30 in July.

2020 is off to an incredible start for Maren. Over the weekend she performed the duet version of “The Bones” with Hozier as part of Global Citizen’s special broadcast “One World: Together At Home,” marking her first performance since welcoming her first child in March. Watch here.

Also in March, Maren received RIAA Gold certification for her critically lauded album GIRL, which shattered the record for the largest ever debut streaming week for a country album by a woman, with 23.96 million streams in its first week. In addition, Maren played her biggest show to date for more than 60,000 fans at theHouston Rodeo—watch her exclusive interview with Anthony Mason for CBS This Morninghere —and she leads the 2020 ACM Awards nominations this year with five nods including Female Artist of the Year andAlbum of the Year for GIRL. And her latest single, “To Hell & Back,” was the second most-added at country radio upon impact, with 41 first week stations. 

Later this year Maren will embark on “RSVP: TheTour” throughout North America, including festival dates atJazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience and Railbird Festival and headline stops in Los Angeles,Atlanta, Colorado’s storied Red Rocks Amphitheatre and many more. Supporting acts James Arthur,Ryan Hurd and Caitlyn Smith are confirmed for select dates. The tour kicks off in June.

Tickets for “RSVP: The Tour” are currently on sale to the public. For more information please visithttps://www.marenmorris.com/.

Multi-Platinum, 4X AMA-winner Kane Brown premieres his new single, “Cool Again,” on country radio today. In the upbeat track, co-penned by Brown, Josh Hoge, Matthew McGinn, and Lindsay Rimes, and produced by Dann Huff and Lindsay Rimes, Brown reminisces about the good times of a past relationship.  “Cool Again” is the follow-up single to the Platinum-certified “Homesick” which recently became the RCA Nashville/Zone 4 recording artist’s fifth consecutive No. 1 airplay hit. Listen HERE.

“We wrote ‘Cool Again’ at a writing retreat when it was about 20 degrees outside,” Brown said. “At the time, it was about missing warm weather, but then it became so much more. It made us think about all the amazing memories of summer. We were really wanting to go back to that. I think that’s something people can really relate to in their own lives, especially right now.” 

The release of “Cool Again” builds on a landmark year for Brown who kicked off his North American “Worldwide Beautiful Tour” on Feb. 29, directly after a European stint with sold-out appearances in London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin earlier that month.  In March, Brown joined Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood as the only artists to achieve Platinum and Multi-Platinum certifications in 2020, as his self-titled debut album was certified 2X Platinum and critically acclaimed Experiment certified Platinum.

Earlier this month, Brown and EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) award winner John Legend released “Last Time I Say Sorry,” their co-written track that they performed together from their respective homes on the CBS special, “ACM Presents: Our Country.”

“Cool Again” Lyrics:

I’ve been thinkin’ about ya lately
Reminiscin’, going crazy
Miss the way your kiss would keep me up

Hey, wish that you were here tonight
Drinkin’ vodka soda, extra limes
And we could just get back to being us

‘Cause I just wanna be cool again, cool again, cool again
Like we were last summer
Want you again, you again, you again
To be stealin’ my covers
All tangled in each other, nights still playin’ back in my head
I just wanna be cool again, cool again, cool again, yeah

Do you ever think about
The days we couldn’t live without each other
Where the hell did we go wrong

Hey, how’d we go from that to this
How’d we let a good thing slip
Do we really have to go move on

Written by Kane Brown, Josh Hoge, Matthew McGinn and Lindsay Rimes

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® announced today the launch of ‘There’s Comfort in Giving’, a program to donate meals and pay-it-forward to healthcare professionals in the HCA Healthcare system fighting on the frontlines of COVID-19.

Over the next few weeks, Cracker Barrel will donate 5,000 meals to healthcare workers at select hospitals in partnership with Sony Music Nashville. Country music superstar Chris Young will kick off the program with a live stream performance on the Cracker Barrel Facebook page on Sunday, April 26. In addition to Young, who will remain involved throughout the campaign, participating Sony Music Nashville artists include Adam Doleac, Jameson Rodgers, Niko Moon, Matt Stell, Mitchell Tenpenny, Rachel Wammack, Robert Counts, Seaforth, and The Sisterhood Band . Many artists will host performances on their own social channels as well as engage on Cracker Barrel channels to help provide comfort and entertainment to those at home. Each Sony Music Nashville act has chosen specific hospitals that hold special meaning to them to receive meal donations.

“We’re humbled and honored to provide meals to those on the frontlines working so hard to protect us,” said Jeff Sigel, Vice President of Marketing for Cracker Barrel. “Thanks to a great partnership with Sony Music Nashville, we’re pleased to invite guests and fans to pay it forward.” 

Guests and fans will have the opportunity to join Cracker Barrel and Sony Music Nashville in paying it forward. When guests and fans give the virtual gift of a homestyle meal to someone they love, Cracker Barrel will give a meal to a frontline worker. With the purchase of every $10 in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® e-gift cards via crackerbarrel.com now through May 12, Cracker Barrel will donate one additional meal (up to 5,000 meals) to healthcare workers as a ‘thank you’ for their tireless efforts during these unprecedented times. The meals will go to caregivers at HCA Healthcare affiliated hospitals in the following locations: 

• Medical City Healthcare in Dallas, Texas
• HCA Houston Healthcare in Houston, Texas
• HCA Healthcare affiliated hospitals in Orlando, Florida
• HCA Healthcare affiliated hospitals in Tampa, Florida
• TriStar Health in Nashville, Tennessee

“I am glad to be teaming up with Cracker Barrel to give back to the doctors, nurses, and first responders who are pushed to the limit day in and day out fighting COVID-19,” said multi-platinum selling Sony Music Nashville recording artist, Chris Young. “My Dad is in the high risk category as a cancer survivor and missing part of his lung and I’m immensely grateful for everything our healthcare workers are doing to keep everyone safe.”

“We are deeply grateful to Cracker Barrel and Sony Music Nashville for generously honoring our healthcare heroes,” said Heather J. Rohan, President of TriStar Health. “Thank you for recognizing our dedicated caregivers who are giving their all everyday on the frontlines.”

Visit www.crackerbarrelcom/comfort for more information about Cracker Barrel’s ‘There’s Comfort in Giving’ program and/or to  purchase an e-gift card.