Siska Set to Sing the National Anthem in Advance of the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Race
at Darlington Raceway on Labor Day Weekend

People say that in music, it all begins with a song. True as that may be, naturally gifted storytellers like Josiah Siska prove that it starts with having something to say and doing it in a way that captivates. Siska accomplishes this with his debut EP, Three Chords at a Time (Black River), available now.

Today, fans can watch the broadcast premiere of the “3 Tequila Floor” music video on CMT Music. Featuring a cast of characters, this song and cinematic clip, directed by Nathan Meckel, and co-directed by Michael Gomez, is quickly becoming a fan favorite!

“Getting to see the song I love come to life in the music video gave me goosebumps,” he said to CMT. “I can’t wait for everyone else to get to see this video. It’s a lot of fun.”

Tune in to CMT Music for 24/7 music videos and catch “3 Tequila Floor” at one of the following times in the EASTERN time zone: 6:33 am, 9:33 am, 12:34 pm, 2:31 pm, 5:35 pm, 7:29 pm, 9:42 pm and 11:35 pm.

Yesterday (8/29), Darlington Raceway announced rising country music entertainer Josiah Siska is set to sing the National Anthem in advance of the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the 73rd running of the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, Sept. 4, 6:00 pm ET. NASCAR tickets are available for purchase via phone at 866-459-7223 or online at darlingtonraceway.com.

Digitally available now, tracks from Three Chords at a Time, including “3 Tequila Floor,” are now playing on top playlists, including Apple Music‘s New in Country, CMT’s The Roundup; Amazon Music‘s Breakthrough Country; Spotify‘s New Music Friday – Country, Fresh Finds – Country, Traditional Country and CMT’s The Roundup; Tidal‘s Pure Country (Cover); YouTube Music‘s Country’s New Crop, Country Rock, Good Friends, Cheap Whiskey, Mudding’ and Truckin’, and New Americana and more. 

MONARCH Stars Anna Friel, Trace Adkins, Joshua Sasse, Beth Ditto and Susan Sarandon

COUNTRY SUPERSTARS SHANIA TWAIN, MARTINA McBRIDE, LITTLE BIG TOWN AND TANYA TUCKER
TO MAKE SPECIAL APPEARANCES THROUGHOUT THE PREMIERE SEASON

MONARCH, the upcoming Texas-sized, multi-generational musical drama about America’s leading family of country music, starring Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon (“Feud,” “Thelma & Louise”), multi-Platinum country music star and three-time Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award winner Trace Adkins (“Old Henry”) and Golden Globe nominee Anna Friel (“Pushing Daisies”) also will include special appearances by some of the most legendary names in country music today.  Grammy Award winner Shania Twain, multi-Grammy Award nominee Martina McBride, Grammy Award winners Little Big Town and Grammy Award winner Tanya Tucker are set to guest-star throughout the season.

Watch/Share the all-new trailer for MONARCH, featuring a first look at these country superstars’ guest appearances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNaImsJ3Khk

MONARCH debuts with a special two-night event, beginning Sunday, Sept. 11, immediately following the FOX NFL doubleheader (8:00-9:00 PM ET, and simultaneously to all time zones). It then makes its time period premiere Tuesday, Sept. 20 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), following the Season Six debut of THE RESIDENT (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

In MONARCH, the Roman family is headed by the insanely talented, but tough-as-nails Queen of Country Music DOTTIE CANTRELL ROMAN (Sarandon) and her beloved husband, “Texas Truthteller” ALBIE ROMAN (Adkins). Dottie and Albie have created a country music dynasty. But even though the Roman name is synonymous with authenticity, the very foundation of their success is a lie. And when their reign as country royalty is put in jeopardy, heir to the crown NICOLETTE “NICKY” ROMAN (Friel) will stop at nothing to protect her family’s legacy, while ensuring her own quest for stardom.

Middle child LUKE ROMAN (Joshua Sasse, “Galavant”) is the CEO of the family’s business, Monarch Entertainment. Luke is the apple of his mother’s eye, but he has a troubled relationship with his father, whose approval he can never get, no matter how hard he tries. Youngest daughter GIGI TUCKER-ROMAN (singer/songwriter Beth Ditto, “On Becoming a God in Central Florida”) is very close to her older brother and sister, but in a family of superstars, Gigi has always felt like a bit of an outcast, in spite of her incredible singing voice. Gigi is married to KAYLA ROMAN-TUCKER (Meagan Holder, “Dave,” “Pitch”), a successful music manager who keeps turning down Luke’s offers to join forces with the family company. Outside business, Kayla’s relationships with the Romans reflect a complicated history, and a secret she is keeping could destroy her marriage to Gigi. ACE GRAYSON (Hollywood newcomer and Filipino recording artist Inigo Pascual) also is part of the family. He is a talented and sensitive 18-year-old who was adopted from an orphanage by Nicky and her husband, struggling British actor CLIVE GRAYSON (guest star Adam Croasdell, “Preacher,” “Reign”). Ace is a phenomenal singer with real swagger on stage, and dreams of being a country star like his Grandpa Albie. And just when the Romans’ world couldn’t get more chaotic, enter CATT PHOENIX (Martha Higareda, “Into The Dark: Culture Shock”), the stunning and unpredictable mother of 17-year-old ANA PHOENIX (Emma Milani, “Solve”), a talented, wide-eyed young singer who is trying to get signed to the Roman family’s record label.

MONARCH is 100% owned and produced by FOX Entertainment. Screenwriter Melissa London Hilfers serves as creator, writer and executive producer. Jon Harmon Feldman (“Designated Survivor”) serves as executive producer and showrunner. Gail Berman and Hend Baghdady (The Jackal Group), Michael Rauch (“Instinct,” “Royal Pains”) and top music manager Jason Owen (Sandbox Entertainment) also serve as executive producers. Jason Ensler (“The Passage”) directed the series premiere, on which he also served as an executive producer. The series will feature original music and covers.

A COLLECTION OF TIMELESS SONGS FROM THE SEVENTIES FEATURING ICONIC ARTISTS INCLUDING WILLIE NELSON, SMOKEY ROBINSON, JACKSON BROWNE, TIM MCGRAW, ELVIS COSTELLO, KEITH URBAN, LESLIE ODOM JR, JOSH GROBAN, VINCE GILL AND JIMMIE ALLEN

With her breathtaking new album Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets, Rita Wilson solidifies her place as a major force in today’s musical landscape. Her fifth studio album, Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets was co-produced by Rita and GRAMMY Award-winning producer Matt Rollings and will be released on September 27^th. The project sees Wilson return to exploring her gift as an interpretive singer, as she revisits the songs that made her fall in love with music. A collection of classic, timeless songs from the Seventies, each track has been newly and lovingly arranged as a duet showcasing Rita’s crystalline vocals alongside some of the greatest male singers of our time spanning genres including pop, country and rock. Pre-order the album HERE.

A set of true modern standards, Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets sees Rita singing alongside giants including WILLIE NELSON, SMOKEY ROBINSON, JACKSON BROWNE, TIM MCGRAW, ELVIS COSTELLO, KEITH URBAN, LESLIE ODOM JR, JOSH GROBAN, VINCE GILL AND JIMMIE ALLEN, illustrating the high regard in which she is held by her peers.

For Wilson the album is a tribute to the songs that made her discover music, and the melodies and stories that defined a generation. “I wanted to honor where I came from with songs from the Seventies,” she says. “It was really about showing enormous appreciation for the songwriting of that period—how these songs are still relevant even though they’re fifty years old.” Rita adds, “This album is really a continuation of sharing who I am musically, and what it is that I want to say.”

The project is an idea that Wilson had been considering for several years.  When the pandemic shut down the world, she reached out to producer Matt Rollings, hoping that musicians spending time off the road would be longing to make music. “And that’s exactly what happened,” she says. “It all fell together incredibly smoothly.”

The first single to be unveiled from the album was Fleetwood Mac’s classic “Songbird” with Josh Groban. Upon its release, A Taste of Country raved, “Wilson and Groban don’t crowd the song with lots of instruments, opting to keep it simple… their two voices wrap delicately around one another as if the listener has stumbled across a private moment between lovers.” Watch Rita and Josh perform “Songbird” live on stage captured at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall earlier this year HERE, and listen to the single HERE.

The first person to jump on board the project was no less than Willie Nelson, for a version of Paul Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away.” Others followed, including Smokey Robinson, with an impassioned rendition of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s “Where is the Love,” a blistering vocal from Elvis Costello on Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire” (popularized by the Pointer Sisters), and a majestic performance on “Massachusetts” by Leslie Odom, Jr. The album also includes not-to-be-missed, inspired interpretations of the stirring Van Morrison track “Crazy Love” with Keith Urban, the moving ballad “If” with Tim McGraw (originally performed by Bread), the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” with Jimmie Allen and Badfinger’s “Without You” with Vince Gill (also covered by Harry Nillson). Watch Rita and Jackson Browne team up on The Everly Brothers classic, “Let It Be Me” HERE.   See below for complete tracklisting.

Rita has established herself as a prolific, authentic, and widely admired singer/songwriter who has fully immersed herself in her passion for music. Upon the release of her debut album, The New York Times raved about her “recapturing the spirit of that California sound” and that “she writes in a voice that is mature and forthright,” and later commented on the “catch in her voice that conveys yearning.” She’s released four studio albums, a series of three inter-connected EP’s entitled Trilogy, and a steady flow of singles includes the moving, “Everybody Cries,” from the film The Outpost, which won the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Outstanding Song for Independent Film. Her music has been hailed as “inspiring” by Rolling Stone, “uplifting” by USA Today, and “powerful” by Newsweek among other accolades. She has performed on some of the world’s greatest stages—the Grand Ole Opry, Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Ryman and the Sydney Opera House to name a few. Now a festival fixture, she has appeared at Stagecoach, Tortuga and CMA Fest among many others.

Her additional notable collaborations include the single “PINK,” with Dolly Parton, Monica, Sara Evans, and Jordin Sparks, guest vocals on the GRAMMY-nominated Blues Traveler album covering the Gnarls Barkley hit “Crazy,” and her infectious, viral turn on Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray” during lockdown. Rita has written with some of the top songwriters in the business, including Lindy Robbins (Demi Lovato), Liz Rose (Taylor Swift, Chris Stapleton), Nathan Chapman (Keith Urban, Taylor Swift), Kara DioGuardi (Kelly Clarkson, Pink), Mozella (Miley Cyrus, Pink) and Kristian Bush of Sugarland (who she also toured with).

RITA WILSON NOW & FOREVER: DUETS TRACKLISTING

“Crazy Love” with Keith Urban
“Where Is The Love?” with Smokey Robinson
“Slip Slidin’ Away” with Willie Nelson
“Let It Be Me” with Jackson Browne
“Massachusetts” with Leslie Odom Jr.
“Fire” with Elvis Costello
“If” with Tim McGraw
“I’ll Be There” with Jimmie Allen
“Without You” with Vince Gill
“Songbird” with Josh Groban

Members of the Nashville Supergroup — Joined by Special Guests Luke Sheets, Cheyenne Medders and Lisa Torres
Deliver Music and Goodwill to the Balkan Country

Pictured L-R: Cheyenne Medders, Lisa Torres, Jamie L. Harpootlian (U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia), Nicole Witt, Michael Logen, and Luke Sheets at Wild West Fest On Fire

Nicole Witt and Michael Logen of the Six One Five Collective, along with special guests Luke Sheets, Cheyenne Medders and Lisa Torres, traveled to Slovenia as United States Cultural Ambassadors. They worked closely with the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana, Slovenia, making an appearance on local TV and performing six shows all over the country, acting as creative goodwill ambassadors.

“The incredible food, the Venetian architecture and the small towns and villages were amazing to visit and breathe in the local culture,” says Nicole Witt. “With visits to Murska Sobota, Wild West Fest on Fire at Lake Zbilje, Lake Bled, the Cultural Center in Trbovlje, the Noordung Space Center in Vitanje & Celje, Slovenia we got to see a lot of what this beautiful country has to offer. Ultimately though it was the people we met and the spirit of Slovenia that we’ll carry with us.”

The program was implemented in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, The U.S. Embassy in Slovenia, and American Voices.

Public Engagement Specialist Mateja Jurič (Public Affairs Office, U.S. Embassy Ljubljana, Slovenia), says, “Cultural programs like the one we just did with Six One Five Collective in Slovenia are extremely important and crucial as they foster mutual understanding between the United States and Slovenia. Music helps bring people together and has the unique ability to represent a culture as a whole, especially in times of uncertainties. It was a true pleasure and a great honor to work and spend time together with such an amazing group of musical talents and wonderful people. A profound thank you to Nicole, Michael, Lisa, Luke and Cheyenne, on my behalf and on behalf of the U.S. Embassy in Slovenia, for making the Six One Five Collective tour around Slovenia such a success. In one of their songs they sing: ‘share a little kindness, share a little light.’ Well, from the reactions we received from everyone who had met them, it is clear that Six One Five Collective shared a lot of kindness and a lot of love around Slovenia! Najlepša hvala (thank you very much)!”

Chargé d’Affaires Melania Arreaga says, “What an awesome opportunity to spend an afternoon with Six One Five Collective at the Wild West Fest in Slovenia. From seeing all the enthusiastic line dancers on the dance floor it was clear that I wasn’t the only one. Music unites the global citizens of the world under one rhythmic flag. The U.S. Embassy in Slovenia is proud to have supported this creative endeavor, especially during these challenging times when we need unity and mutual understanding more than ever.”

“To host the Six One Five Collective at the festival Izrekanja this year was an immense pleasure and great honor,” says Kristian Koželj, who hosted the Six One Five Collective in Celje, Slovenia. “Since the festival’s main goal is to explore and present the ways poetry connects to other arts and resonates through them, the experience of Six One Five Collective music was an overwhelming journey into poetic language that presents itself in the form of lyrics. The authenticity and genuinity of Nicole’s, Lisa’s, Michael’s, Luke’s and Cheyenne’s art is a shiny reflection of its creators and their warm and humble characters. It’s as if their performance on the opening night of the festival opened the hearts of everyone present and that feeling expanded throughout all following days. They made the festival and everyone attending it better with their music. Thank you, Six One Five Collective, we can’t wait to have you back!”

Now stateside, Witt and Logen will celebrate the Six One Five Collective’s upcoming single “Coastin’” (Sept. 9) with a show at Nashville’s 3rd and Lindsley on Sept. 1 — tickets available here.

Pop-Up Single Drops to DSPs and Radio Tonight –
LIVE Debut Friday Aug. 26 @ Gillette Stadium’s Closing Double

 It took three stops, countless routings and re-routings, two names and a whole lot of patience; but in the end, Kenny Chesney’s record-shattering Here And Now 2022 Tour was one coast-to-coast stadium-sized revival. Having shared the stadium experience with the reigning five-time Academy of Country Music and four-time Country Music Association Group of the Year Old Dominion, Chesney thought their multiple stadium summers should be celebrated.

“There are people you meet and just click,” Chesney says of the five-piece who share his good vibes feel. “Matt (Ramsey) and Brad (Tursi) have been singing ‘Save It for a Rainy Day’ with me on all these tours, and that’s always – every single night – one of the highlights of the show for me. You can feel the energy, so I started thinking we better catch that while we can.”

“Beer With My Friends” embodies that kicking back, letting go reality with a thumping back beat and the kind of savor-the-revel chorus that’ll have fans singing along from the second round. Opening with a big electric guitar riff, Chesney and Old Dominion directly drop into a gang-chorus to kick-off what’s destined to be a working class, whistle blowing anthem.

“We’ve all been there,” Chesney offers with a laugh. “It doesn’t matter if it’s four years or yesterday, there’s nothing like hitting that local bar with your friends. That’s what this whole tour has felt like – every city, every face, every song – as we’ve taken it back out to No Shoes Nation. It’s so much more than a show or a concert, it’s really letting go –  and I wanted to capture that in a song. ‘Beer With My Friends’ is all of it.”

With fist-pumping exuberance, the David Lee Murphy/Shy Carter/Bryan Simpson industrial shuffle promises, “We’re gonna get that old jukebox working hard / Before it’s over I’ll know everybody in this bar…” as it slides into the happiest kind of happy hour. Life affirming, the opening verse stacks all the good things in life, but when the chorus swings around, Chesney confesses, “Sometimes I need to slip away and get a different view / There’s really something to that honky tonk attitude / It pulls me out of that everyday sinking sand…”

Ramsey gets his own turn to witness to the redemptive glories of drinking with buddies, confessing, “After I work my poor fingers down to the bone / Last thing I wanna do is go home and drink alone.” Then the all-sing chorus swoops back in, as the tourmates raise their voices in praise of fun, fellowship and a few cold ones.

With Chesney showing up semi-regularly at Old Dominion’s surprise pop-up shows along the Here And Now 2022’s stadium cities, “Beer With My Friends” was almost inevitable. More than the memories, jamming onstage and backstage mischief, “Beer With My Friends” distills coming together, hanging out and forgetting about what bothers you – the feel that’s defined this entire summer’s reality.

“I’ve never seen anything like this summer,” Chesney marvels. “Before it’s over, I wanted to give everyone something to remember it by, a song that we can all sing wherever we are – and know there’s nothing like these moments we’ve shared. All you gotta do is put it on, turn it up and we’ll all be right back there; bringing OD in reinforces it all. So, here’s to kicking it all off at Gillette Stadium this weekend.”