Music Country

“There’s so much more going on in people’s lives than they show you,” says Kelsea Ballerini, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. “That’s true for me.” The 29-year-old country singer, who despite her perpetually cheery demeanor and aw-shucks personality, has been fighting some serious battles. “I’m experiencing that literally …

Once again, CMT has selected five artists that had monster years in country music for its annual CMT Artists of the Year ceremony. The 2022 honorees are Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, and Walker Hayes. Both Combs and Brown were celebrated at last year’s show, as well …

Before “Okie From Muskogee” became his signature song and before “If We Make It Through December” became his biggest crossover hit, Merle Haggard’s best-known song was the one where he came clean about his San Quentin past and told the world about growing up the son of a single mom. …

Margo Price will release her next album at the top of 2023. The singer-songwriter and performer has announced that Strays, her fourth studio full-length, will arrive Jan. 13 via Loma Vista Records and includes appearances by Sharon Van Etten and the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell. The project follows Price’s 2020 album …

After a summer where many music festivals felt anticlimactic and unfulfilling (Was standing on dirt or gravel for hours on end ever fun?), AmericanaFest 2022 delivered one of its most satisfying and diverse weeks in the history of the Nashville event. While the festival suffered a major blow with the …

Billy Strings and Allison Russell were two of the top winners at the 2022 Americana Honors & Awards, held Wednesday at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Strings won Artist of the Year for the first time, while Russell was awarded Album of the Year for her acclaimed solo debut Outside …

The world may have Vince Gill to thank for Chris Stapleton. As Stapleton points out just before performing a song of Gill’s for CMT Giants: Vince Gill, the Nineties star was an encouraging presence for younger songwriters like him when they were just getting started. “The greatest impact that you’ve …

Ashley McBryde’s known for making rich character studies out of her songs, but she’ll lean all the way in on the new album Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville, due out via Warner Music Nashville on Sept. 30. Among the guests on the multi-artist project are Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, and Aaron …

During a traffic stop in Centre, Alabama on Monday, bassist Teddy Gentry, a founding member of the country group Alabama, was arrested on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge. The 70-year-old musician was only slightly inconvenienced by the detour, spending 30 minutes in the Cherokee County Jail after being booked and …

Back in June, Luke Combs posted a photo to Instagram of himself wearing a T-shirt for the band 49 Winchester. It was a mark of validation for the Castlewood, Virginia, group, a sign that their brand of country, folk, and soul was breaking through and finding fans — including one …