Country Daypop Archives

Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour hit Nashville on Saturday, Aug. 25 and the singer chose to honor her country roots by performing one of her classics: her 2006 debut single, “Tim McGraw.”  To add to the crowd’s excitement, Swift actually brought out Tim McGraw, along with his wife, Faith Hill, o sing the tune with her.  “How do you say thank you to the city of Nashville?” Taylor said, mid-set. “I came here at 11 years old with a CD of karaoke music and my mom drove me up and down Music Row. I would scamper into record labels and say, ‘Please, call me.’ This is the city where I learned how to write songs. Every single thing I do, I learned in Nashville.” Swift’s Reputation tour has netted $191 million to date, which breaks her own previous record set for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman (her 1989 Tour, in 2015). Swift will be touring through November this year, wrapping things up in Japan. Watch the clip below to see Taylor, with Tim and Faith, performing!

Singer Randy Houser announced he will release his fifth studio record, Magnolia, on November 2. The debut single, “What Whiskey Does,” from Magnolia was released earlier this summer. Houser co-wrote all of the songs on Magnolia, teaming up with hit tunesmiths like Gary Nicholson, John Osborne, Dallas Davidson and Hillary Lindsey, the latter whose vocals also appear on “What Whiskey Does.” Houser will kick off his Magnolia Tour on October 12 in Porterville, Calif. More dates will be announced shortly. Pre-order for the record, as well as a list of all of Houser’s upcoming shows can be found at RandyHouser.com.

The Academy of Country Music hosted the 12th annual ACM Honors ceremony on Aug. 22 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to recognize the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 53rd ACM Awards. The show was hosted by Lauren Alaina and Jon Pardi and paid tribute to a number of artists for their specific achievements, including Alan Jackson, Dierks Bentley, Sam Hunt, Darius Rucker, Matraca Berg, Mickey and Chris Christensen, Eddie Miller, Rhett Akins, Rob Potts, Matraca Berg and Norro Wilson. Performers included Chris Stapleton, Lauren Alaina, Kassi Ashton, Cam, Deana Carter, Morgan Evans, Dustin Lynch, Ashley McBryde, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jon Pardi, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip. Check out some of the highlights and pictures below.

Keith Urban debuts the brand-new music video for his latest single GRAFFITI U’s “Never Comin’ Down,” which follows his 24th #1 song “Coming Home.” According to Urban, Never Comin’ Down “captures the energy and spirit of being at a show – lost in the music, along with everyone else that’s there, whether you know them or not. That’s the feeling that I wanted to capture in the video.”
Urban is currently in the midst of his 62-city “GRAFFITI U WORLD TOUR 2018”  and is scheduled to perform in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena tonight.  Check out his new video below.

More than 15 months after suffering a stroke in May 2017, Loretta Lynn has announced plans to release her new studio album, Wouldn’t It Be Great, on Sept. 28. The album was originally slated to drop in August 2017, but her recovery delayed the release date. All of the tunes on the new 13-song offering were penned or co-penned by Loretta. Wouldn’t It Be Great was mainly recorded at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tenn., with producers Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash. The album’s title track, which is the last song Loretta wrote for her late husband, Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, can be heard below.