In ‘Stoned Cold Country,’ Nashville Stars Like Eric Church and Lainey Wilson Prove the Rolling Stones Weren’t Only Rock ‘n’ Roll: Album Review

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The verdicts on the new Broadway musical-comedy “Shucked” are in, and the critics have asked you to lend them your ears — so to speak — as they’ve cobbled together their reactions to the possible sleeper hit. (Sorry, but once you’ve seen the production, it may take you six months or longer to stop speaking in puns.) Variety’s critic wrote that “with its exuberance, heart and non-stop yucks, ‘Shucked’ is the surprise delight of the Broadway season.” The New York Post’s notice trumpeted it as “Broadways’s best and funniest new musical.” Time Out said the show leaves theatergoers “gorged to satisfaction on a big, tasty bag of Broadway puff.” Entertainment Weekly wrote that “its refreshing embrace of diversity and unapologetically corny sincerity can definitely put a smile on your face.” Even one of the minority that was harder on it, the New York Times’ Jesse Green, begrudgingly admitted of the parade of laughs: “forced into submission,,” he wrote, “you eventually give in.”

Sticking to her roots. Lainey Wilson showed off her acting chops as musician Abby on Yellowstone season 5, but her acting debut isn’t enough for the country star to give up her one true passion.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Tanya Tucker, Patty Loveless and Bob McDill will be the Country Music Hall of Fame’s three 2023 inductees, it was announced in a news conference at the hall’s museum in Nashville Monday morning. Tucker will be inducted into the hall in the “Veterans Era Artist” category, while Loveless will get her entree in the “Modern Era Artist” category. McDill is to be inducted in the “Songwriter” category, which is in rotation with the “Recording and/or Touring Musician” and “Songwriter” categories, each coming up every three years. Cheers went up at the announcement ceremony as well as around Nashville, as all three have long been favored for induction, and Tucker and Loveless particularly talked up as should-be shoo-ins for their historical importance as leading women in the genre.

The CMT Music Awards 2023 proved to be a big night for Jelly Roll who topped the night as the most-awarded artist taking home three trophies.

star Lainey Wilson and Ian Bohen both told ET they haven't heard many updates on the recently-confirmed news that Matthew McConaughey will star in a new franchise spinoff. «We'll go back this summer,» Bohen told ET's Cassie DiLaura from the red carpet of Sunday's CMT Music Awards but added that «mums the word» on whether he'd seen any scripts yet. «I haven't got a call yet,» Wilson said about filming the rest of season 5, «but as far as I know they don't even know when they're going to be filming.» Wilson added she was feeling positive about the show's future. «I have a really good feeling that if they do finish things in a way that, you know, they're planning, I will be back in it,» she said.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic A couple of members of a fresh generation of country music — Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson — came away as the top victors at Sunday night’s CMT Music Awards, broadcast live from Austin for the first time. But the biggest winners may have been CMT and CBS, putting the three-hour telecast on the map as a show packed with enough performance firepower that it does merit having made the move from a cable platform to major broadcast premiere as of last year. However much the official winners may delight a core country crowd happy to see young radio and streaming favorites get rewarded, the big draw for the CBS audience was likely a series of collaborations between country stars and their pop or rock counterparts, as has been the custom for years on the rival CMA Awards. Most notable were the all-female collabs that had Carly Pearce dueting with Gwen Stefani on No Doubt’s “Just a Girl,” or Alanis Morissette trading lines with a slate of young female artists that included Lainey Wilson, Ingrid Andress, Morgan Wade and Madeline Edwards. The all-star teamings spread to those who presented, too, with Megan Thee Stallion providing the most enthusiastic introduction imaginable for “my new besty,” Shania Twain.

Lainey Wilson is a first-time winner at the CMT Music Awards!The country singer took home her first-ever CMT award on Sunday, winning in the Collaborative Video of the Year category for the HARDY-led track, «wait in the truck.»«Man, it's so hard not to cuss,» HARDY began, kicking off their acceptance speech. «This is incredible. I remember the day that Jordan Schmidt, who I wrote the song with, sent me back the demo for this song.

Country music stars focused on fashion while walking the red carpet ahead of the 2023 CMT Music Awards Sunday in Austin, Texas. Kelsea Ballerini wore Dolce & Gabbana to make her red carpet debut with boyfriend Chase Stokes before hosting the show.

Alanis Morissette is about to take over the 2023 CMT Music Awards with an epic performance!

A post shared by YITTY (@yitty)The announcement was made by the company on Instagram, where it shared a photo of Lizzo and several models wearing what appears to be items from the upcoming line.The caption reads, “When we say we support every body, we mean it. We believe in radical self-love for people of all gender identities—including the trans, non-binary, gender-fluid, and gender non-conforming communities that have been chronically underserved.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Madonna is adding eight extra dates to the second leg of her U.S. tour this coming winter. The additional shows were revealed in an announcement that put a special emphasis on a show she’s added for Nashville on Dec. 22, where she plans to put the spotlight on the state of Tennessee’s recent wave of LGBTQ+-targeted bills. The additional dates announced for this coming December and January represent a mixture of Madonna returning to cities where she already is playing concerts earlier in 2023, like New York City and Los Angeles, along with a few cities that are completely fresh additions to the “Celebration Tour” routing, like Nashville, Philadelphia, Palm Springs and Sacramento.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Guitarist Wayne Swinny, a founding member of the rock band Saliva, died Wednesday at age 59 after suffering a brain hemorrhage the previous day in the midst of a tour by the group. Swinny was the only current member to have been with the nu-metal outfit since its first album in 1996. Over the intervening 27 years, Saliva had released 11 albums, been nominated for a hard rock Grammy, and reached No. 1 on Billboard’s alternative rock chart with the outfit’s biggest song, 2002’s “Always.” The band announced Swinny’s death hours after first going on social media Wednesday to reveal that the longtime lead guitarist had been in the ICU since being “discovered in medical distress” Tuesday morning.

Aphex Twin and Erykah Badu are heading up the line-up for this year’s Forwards Festival.The “festival for forward thinkers” will return to Bristol’s Clifton Downs from September 1-2 after making its debut last year.Bonobo, RAYE, Confidence Man, Olivia Dean, Biig Piig and Wesley Joseph are set to perform on the Friday, with Aphex Twin topping the bill. Meanwhile, the Saturday will see the likes of Primal Scream, Arlo Parks, Leftfield and Amyl and the Sniffers play.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic A cast of mostly Nashville-based stars, including Maren Morris, Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Yola, Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell — plus one key out-of-towner, the Irishman Hozier — joined up with a host of Tennessee drag artists Monday night in Nashville to protest recent state legislation aimed at cross-dressing performers, trans youth and same-sex marriage. The four-hour “Love Rising” benefit, which filled Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena with fans and LGBTQ+ community members and their allies, was also livestreamed to an international audience via the Veeps platform. No one received more of a hero’s welcome than Morris, who recently went out on a limb by standing up for trans youth and their families in a headline-making online debate with fellow country star Jason Aldean’s wife, Brittany Aldean, while most mainstream stars held their tongues. It was quickly evident that Morris has not turned into any shrinking violet as a result of the backlash she experienced from country fans on the right in the dust-up with the Aldeans, appearing on stage with a touch of androgyny in a look that combined legginess with formal black-tie. Morris performed her crossover hit “The Middle” while drag queen Alexia Noelle Paris accompanied her in an interpretive dance.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “Love Rising” is looking to combat the deeply risible. Nashville-based musicians are coming together in a big way — a Bridgestone Arena-sized way — tonight for the show of that name, a benefit concert to raise awareness and funds for the LGBTQ community and its allies in the face of Tennessee legislation that is seen as targeting the rights of gay and trans people generally and drag performers specifically. The generously star-packed show is also being livestreamed internationally via the Veeps platform, with $14.99 tickets available here for a show that begins at 7:30 Nashville time, aka 8:30 ET/5:30 PT. The wide-ranging bill of rock, country, pop, indie and Americana performers includes Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Sheryl Crow, Maren Morris, Brothers Osborne, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Yola, Brittany Howard, Hozier, Adeem the Artist, Julien Baker, Joy Oladokun, Jake Wesley Rogers and Mya Byrne, along with co-organizer Allison Russell. Late additions to the show since it was first announced include a greater contingent of non-binary and, yes, drag artists from Tennessee on top of the nationally known names.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Miranda Lambert announced Wednesday that she is leaving Sony Music Nashville, the company she’s been with since the beginning of her almost two-decade recording career. She did not say where she might be landing after her departure — only that she “can’t wait” to see what comes next. “Since I was 19 years old, Sony has been my home in Nashville,” Lambert said in a social post. “Over the last 20 years together we have released albums that allowed me to share my story with the world, and we’ve reached heights I’d never even dreamed were possible. “I’m so thankful for our time together and everything they made possible for me,” Lambert continued, “yet I wouldn’t be true to myself if I wasn’t constantly looking for the next challenge and a new way to stretch my creativity. With that in mind, I’ve decided to say goodbye to my Sony family. I can’t wait to see what the next adventure holds.”

Last year, red carpet outfits saw a particular absence of statement jewellery. Celebs were avoiding accessorising and choosing to let their clothes do the talking instead. However, the 95th Academy Awards saw the return of statement necklaces adorning the necks of plenty of actors, models, and singers as they took to the award ceremony’s champagne-coloured carpet.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The upcoming Apple TV+ competition series “My Kind of Country,” executive-produced by Kacey Musgraves and Reese Witherspoon, is not just going to be a genre-specific knockoff of “American Idol” or “The Voice,” it’s clear from a first trailer released Friday. (Watch the new preview, below.) Fostering inclusiveness of every sort looks to be as high on the agenda as finding unknown talent, as is made apparent not just from the YouTube teaser but the previously known trio of celebrity talent scouts — Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and Orville Peck — plus a just-released rundown of the dozen competing aspirants. “The people that i love in country music, they don’t look like me,” one contestant, Camille Parker, a Black woman from North Carolina, is seen as saying. “I’m ready to show people what they’ve been missing.”

during their marriage with the “Flowers" lyrics, but the lyrics to “Muddy Feet” seem pretty specific. The release of “Flowers,” the first single off of Cyrus's new album Endless Summer Vacation, and its attendant music video was greeted with an immediate flood of and that Cyrus was alluding to the (alleged) cheating in the lyrics. Some of the rumors seemed a little far-fetched (he supposedly slept with how many women?), and it wasn't until the full album dropped on March 10 that fans who believed the cheating rumors got a little vindication. To be specific, on the ninth track on the album, “Muddy Feet (featuring Sia),” Cyrus sings, “And you smell like perfume that I didn't purchase/Now I know why you've been closing the curtains (Uh-uh)/Get the fuck out of my house.” Well, yes, that does seem a bit more direct than in “Flowers” when she sings, “I can buy myself flowers/Write my name in the sand.” Social media has taken this story and run with it—but not everything is based in fact.By Other telling lyrics on “Muddy Feet” include the second verse, which goes, “Back and forth/Always questioning my questioning/Get thе fuck out of my head with that shit,” and the second pre-chorus, “You've watered the weeds and you killed all the roses/Worthy arrives when the other door closes.” Drag him, Miley. And “Muddy Feet” and “Flowers” aren't the only tracks on Endless Summer Vacation that seem to reference a certain failed relationship.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Country music is about to get its fourth major annual awards show. NBCUniversal announced Thursday that a program honoring country’s most popular artists will be spun off from its “People’s Choice Awards,” with a two-hour telecast dubbed “People’s Choice Country Awards” set to debut in September on the NBC broadcast network and the Peacock streaming service. The host venue for the event will be Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House, which was used as a location by the Academy of Country Music Awards for a couple of years during the pandemic but has never been the principal ongoing location for any kudocasts in the past. The partnership is a result of the Opry’s parent company, Ryman Hospitality Properties, having struck a deal in April 2022 to sell a 30% stake in its entertainment operations to NBC Universal and the investment firm Atairos.