All the Summer Fun, Pop-Up Shows, Ice Baths & No Shoes Nation

Having broken his own records at multiple stadiums, Kenny Chesney’s Here And Now 2022 tour blazed across America and played to 1.3 million fans in a single summer. Even more than the sheer energy that Chesney, his guitar-forward band and No Shoes Nation generated each night, there was a spirit of joy that permeated every moment of the tour from the load-in to the parking lot parties and the final extended play-offs in each market.

To celebrate, the man the Wall Street Journal called “The King of the Road” tapped his longtime stadium tourmates Old Dominion to record the raucous good-time anthem “Beer With My Friends.” They debuted the blaring rocker at the two-night tour-ending stand at Foxboro, MA’s Gillette Stadium.

Knowing this summer was unlike any other, Chesney had been documenting behind the scenes, onstage and in the parking lots. With “Beer With My Friends” having such strong, fun energy, what better way to create a moving scrapbook that serves as postcards from the road to the people of No Shoes Nation?

“I tried to tell friends how magical it was up on that stage, how good the vibe was out there,” Chesney marvels. “Not since we started doing those early Keg shows have I had that much fun doing a pop-up – maybe because Old Dominion was doing all the work! But it was just free, easy and I think everyone remembered who they were before the world got so heavy. Or maybe it’s just that music really does melt all the stress of the week away…

“No Shoes Nation is just an extension of my soul. When I was looking at all the footage, laughing to myself, I knew I needed to share some of this with everyone who came out all summer. So what better way to do that?”

In buses, on tiny stages, with an empty stadium and backstage, the camera sliced through Chesney’s world; ice baths, crazy dancing, private jokes, a fish named Marley, a cameo of his mom, island vistas; it’s all there. Plus, No Shoes Nation in the parking lot, the Sandbar, the packed stands; rocking out in all their glory.

“It’s hard to believe how fast the summer went,” Chesney continued. “If every picture is a million words, then every cut of this clip is a whole movie! Every shot means something to us, all those faces in the crowd, the stadiums… And to have Old Dominion, who’ve turned into real brothers of the road, up there with me, it shows not just this summer, but so many summers where we’ve dreamed even bigger than maybe anyone has a right to.

“So when you see me drinking that beer in the ice bath, just know: that beer I’m lifting’s for you… wherever you are, whoever you’re with! It’s all about ‘Beer With My Friends,’ from my whole road family, Old Dominion and beyond, to you!”

With an all-sing chorus meant for everyone in the house, “Beer With My Friends” is ready for bonfires, tailgates, corner bars and anywhere people are coming together. Now, with the video coming today, there’s a mini-movie to go with the soundtrack of pure unbridled fun.

Arkansas Native Surprised by Invitation from Country Icon Garth Brooks on CBS Mornings

While performing at the Grand Ole Opry a little over a year ago, current five-time CMA nominee and two-time winner Ashley McBryde shared with the audience, “I dream about joining the Opry and what that day will be like — Will I cry the entire time? Will I be seated? Who will ask me? I dream about that more than I dream about my wedding.” No longer dreaming about the special day, the Arkansas native has officially been invited to be the newest member of the revered Country institution by Garth Brooks on CBS Mornings. Watch the clip HERE.

“It would be the great joy and the great honor of my life,” McBryde answered through joyful tears. “There’s the GRAMMYs and there’s being a member of the Grand Ole Opry – they are the two greatest things that can happen to you as an entertainer. I’ve always said I will earn it, and this is a pretty surreal moment.”

On the heels of the release of critically acclaimed Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville, McBryde took to NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers last night, Oct. 5, to perform the Outsider-dubbed “perfect introduction to McBryde’s wild little town,” “Brenda Put Your Bra On,” joined by album collaborator Pillbox Patti. Watch the performance HERE.

Cited by NPR as a “glorious detour into downhome character studies,” the four-time GRAMMY nominee and her collaborators leaned all the way in on Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville, garnering applause from critics upon its debut.

Produced by John Osborne, Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville includes performances from McBryde, Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, Aaron Raitiere, Patti, Caylee Hammack and Benjy Davis, with Rolling Stone calling it a “wildly inventive” album “about a group of people all living in a little town just trying to get by,” as Billboard observes, “While the songs do center on life in a small town, the stories and characters in Lindeville dispel the idyllic nostalgia that permeates many songs currently staking their claims on the country charts.”

“McBryde and crew created detail-rich storylines with a John Prine level of empathy and compassion,” praises AP, while Variety notes, “The very existence of an album like Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville is enough to restore your faith in Nashville, however far afield it might have wandered,” making it “Country music’s most ambitious and oddball album in recent memory,” observes Esquire.

Celebrated by The New York Times as “a skilled curator, as well as a performer,” McBryde “has made abundantly clear over the course of her short but fruitful career, she is principally interested in peeling back the layers and speaking the truth,” boasts Vulture.

Summed up by Stereogum, “There’s a whole lot of beautiful writerly vision at work on Lindeville, but it wouldn’t matter if the songs weren’t great. Guess what? The songs are great… A lot of people put a lot of work into this record, and they made something that resonates on a deep, emotional level. Give it up for them.”

“When it comes out,” McBryde shared with Esquire, “I hope everybody laughs a little bit and I hope everybody says ‘What the f*ck?’ a little bit. Sometimes you look and realize, this town is such a mess, everybody here is a disaster. And in the same breath, in that same three minutes, everybody’s okay. And I love those times. Sometimes I wish I could make that stand still a little bit longer—we’re all a disaster, and it’s beautiful. And that’s true whether it’s a small town or a big city.”

Two-time GRAMMY® Award nominated and multiple ACM and CMA Award winning multiplatinum songwriter, producer and author Kelsea Ballerini debuts her fourth studio album, and one of the year’s most anticipated country albums, SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Listen to SUBJECT TO CHANGE  HERE.

The album marks her first full-length since 2020 when she unveiled the gold-selling kelsea and its acclaimed stripped-down companion ballerini. Kelsea is credited as a songwriter for all 15 songs and solo wrote track 14, “MARILYN.” The album also features the epic girl power collaboration “YOU’RE DRUNK, GO HOME” with fellow superstars Kelly Clarkson and Carly Pearce. Kelsea collaborated with co-producers Julian Bunetta [Harry Styles, Maroon 5] and Shane McAnally [Kacey Musgraves, Kenny Chesney] as well as Alysa Vanderheym[Lady A, Gone West] and Jesse Frasure [Kane Brown, Little Big Town] on select tracks. The lead single off the album, “HEARTFIRST,” continues to make waves as it is Top 25 and climbing at Country Radio and the single has amassed nearly 80M streams since its release.

Kelsea celebrated the album’s arrival with a performance on Good Morning America this morning. Watch her performance HERE. Additionally, she’s set to perform on The Late Late Show with James Corden on September 27th and is set to appear on The Kelly Clarkson Show on September 30th .

Kelsea is also set to kick off the highly anticipated HEARTFIRST TOUR tomorrow night, September 24^th, at the iconic Radio City Music Call in New York City with special guest Georgia Webster. As part of this 10 night only exclusive run, in celebration of her new album SUBJECT TO CHANGE (Black River), she’ll grace the stage of the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA on October 6th and visit major markets coast-to-coast.

Michael Martin Murphey, Reba McEntire, Florida Georgia Line, Train, Little Big Town,
Loudon Wainwright, George Strait, Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley,
Amy Grant, and More Offer Handwritten Lyrics of their Biggest Hits to Support the Music Community

Julien’s Auctions announced today the third annual online charity auction event HANDWRITTEN SONG LYRICS BENEFITTING MUSIC HEALTH ALLIANCE to take place exclusively at juliensauctions.com for advance bidding. The auction will open on Saturday October 1, 2022 and start closing in real time and in lot order for live bidding at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday, October 24, 2022. Proceeds will benefit Music Health Alliance, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides 100% free advocacy, support, and access to life-saving healthcare and financial resources for the music industry.

For the third consecutive year, the auction house to the stars partnered with a marquee lineup of some of the most legendary singers and songwriters from the 1970s through today, spanning country, pop, rock, gospel, folk, and alternative rock music, who personally donated handwritten lyrics of some of their biggest hits to this critical initiative to aid and support underserved music professionals in their time of need.

Highlighted handwritten song lyrics signed by the songwriter and/or recording artist include (estimates: $600-$2,000 unless otherwise indicated):

• Kelsea Ballerini, “Peter Pan” on a hand-painted and signed Epiphone acoustic guitar (co-written with Forest Glen Whitehead and Jesse Lee)
• Michael Martin Murphey, “Wildfire” on a signed black Yamaha acoustic guitar and in a separate lot, signed lyrics of his other greatest hit, “What’s Forever For” handwritten by songwriter Rafe Van Hoy
• “Meant To Be” recorded by Florida Georgia Line and BeBe Rehxa, signed by Brian Kelley, Tyler Hubbard, and Josh Miller (co-written by Josh Miller, David Garcia)
• Pat Monahan of Train, “Drops of Jupiter” on a stage-played Remo Emperor drumhead signed by all band members. (Recorded by Train)
• Signed by Carrie Underwood and Jason Aldean, co-writers Tully Kennedy and Lydia Vaughan handwrote “If I Didn’t Love You”
• ZZ Top/Billy Gibbons signed “Sharp Dressed Man”
• Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like” (co-written with Cameron Bartolini, Josh Jenkins, and Shane Stevens)
• Rob Crosby and Stephanie Bentley, “Concrete Angel” (Recorded by Martina McBride)
• Peter Frampton, “Do You Feel Like I Do” (co-written with John Siomos, Mick Gallagher and Rick Wills)
• Wood Newton, Michael Spriggs, Dan Tyler, Wood Newton, and Michael Noble “Twenty Years Ago” (Recorded by Kenny Rogers) In Memory of Kenny Rogers, Music Health Alliance was gifted these lyrics by the songwriters.  Handwritten by songwriter Wood Newton and signed by all four co-writers to honor Rogers’ legacy, coinciding with Julien’s three-day auction celebration “Property from the Estate of Kenny Rogers” taking place October 21, October 22 and October 23 with a portion of proceeds to benefit Music Health Alliance.

Founded in 2013 and based in Nashville, Music Health Alliance (MHA) has provided free healthcare advocacy and lifesaving support and resources to more than 18,000 music industry members across 49 states in the non-profit’s first nine years. MHA has supported songwriters, musicians, performers, producers, engineers, venue operators, artist managers, agents, publishers, business managers, and more by providing access to medicine, mental health resources, COVID-19 relief, diagnostic tests, lifesaving transplants, end of life care, and many other necessary services, saving more than $85,000,000 in healthcare costs for the nationwide music community in less than a decade. Entirely funded through grants and individual and corporate donations, financial support from the music community is critical to continue MHA’s advocacy and free services. For every $1 donation, MHA is able to provide $30 in life-saving healthcare resources to Heal The Music. MHA fights so those in our industry never have to feel alone in a health crisis and removes obstacles so patients can receive lifesaving care. All MHA services are free to any person who has worked in the music industry for three or more years or who has credited contributions to four commercially released recordings or videos. Spouses, partners, and children of qualifying individuals may also receive access to the non-profit’s services from birth to end of life. More info at www.musichealthalliance.com.

Adam Hood will be headlining Lightning 100’s Nashville Sunday Night this Sunday, Oct. 2 at 3rd & Lindsley in downtown Nashville. Joining Hood and opening the show will be southern rock singer and songwriter, Jobe Fortner. Doors open at 6 P.M. and the all-ages show will kick off at 8 P.M. Hood will be playing new music off of his recent critically-acclaimed record, Bad Days Better which came out Sept. 16. To purchase tickets, click here. For media RSVP, please contact jessica@117group.com.

About Adam Hood
Solo artist. Frontman. Behind-the-scenes songwriter. For more than 2 decades, Adam Hood has left his mark onstage and in the writing room, carving out a southern sound that mixes soul, country, and American roots music into the same package. It’s a sound that began shape in Opelika, Alabama. Raised by working-class parents, Hood started playing hometown shows as a 16 year-old, landing a weekly residency at a local restaurant. He’d perform there every Friday and Saturday night, filling his set list with songs by John Hiatt, Steve Warner, Hank Williams Jr, and Vince Gill. As the years progressed, the gigs continued — not only in Alabama, but across the entire country, where Hood still plays around 100 shows annually. These days, though, he’s no longer putting his own stamp on the songs of chart-topping country stars. Instead, many of those acts are playing his music. Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, Travis Tritt, Riley Green, Whiskey Myers, Anderson East, Frankie Ballard, Josh Abbott Band, Lee Ann Womack, and Brent Cobb are among the dozens of artists who’ve recorded Hood’s songs. An in-demand songwriter, while still maintaining a busy schedule of tour dates in support of his third solo release, Welcome to the Big World and Two years later, he continues the balancing act with his newest album, Somewhere in Between. And now in 2022, his fifth studio album, Bad Days Better, recorded at Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia with the help of members of Blackberry Smoke, and Brent Cobb in the producer’s chair will be released with 10 new songs. “It’s southern music,” he says, “That’s what it represents: the soulful side of southern music, the country side of southern music, the genuineness of southern culture, and the way I grew up. One of the t-shirts I sell at every show simply says ‘Southern songs’ and that’s a good summary of what I do. It’s what I’ve always done.”