Country Beat Magazine - Spring 2019 by CountryBeatMagazine

TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume 2 • Issue 1 Spring 2019

PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Neal Nachman

DIRECTOR OF SALES AND PROMOTIONS: Liz Stokes GRAPHIC ARTIST: Neal Nachman

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DIRECTOR OF MULTI-MEDIA: Kenny Moore ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Liz Stokes LEGAL COUNSEL: Shobha N. Lizaso

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES: info@countrybeatmagazine.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Alanna Conaway Terry Canter Kelly Geist Marianne Horner Melissa Kucirek Liz Stokes PHOTOGRAPHERS: Neal Nachman Joe Orlando

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Brett Young Teams With Boyz II Men for “CMT Crossroads” Brett Young will team with Boyz II Men for an upcoming CMT Crossroads.

The one-hour show, which will be filmed at Studio A at the Grand Ole Opry House, will premiere on March 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT and will feature the artists collaborating on each other’s hits.

Since bursting on the scene in 2016, Brett has scored a number of No. 1 hits, including “In Case You Didn’t Know,” “Like I Loved You” and “Mercy.” He released his sophomore album, Ticket to L.A., in December 2018.

Over their 27-year career, Boyz II Men holds the distinction of being the best-selling R&B group of all time, having sold more than 64 million albums worldwide.

Chase Rice Joins Good Morning America’s “Strahan & Sara” For Television Debut Of “Eyes On You” Platinum-selling entertainer Chase Rice performed on Good Morning America’s “Strahan & Sara” yesterday, February 26, with the television debut of massive hit “Eyes On You,” described by People as “addictive” and Billboard as “the latest sign for Rice that things are 4

working.” In addition to the viral sensation which has now been streamed more than 120 million times, Rice also sat in as the house band for the full show, providing music throughout the hour.

“‘Eyes On You’ is about living in the moment, taking it all in, and since releasing it we’ve relived these moments of fans singing it back to us night-after-night. It’s wild and an incredible thing to witness when a song transcends its original meaning and people adopt it as their own,” shares the man ESPN characterizes as “a rarity.” “This is their song — your song, and my eyes are on you.”

While speaking with hosts Michael Strahan and Sara Haines before his performance, Rice pointed out a group of Long Island volunteer firefighters in the audience. Invited as his guests, the first responders were on hand in celebration of Rice’s recently announced partnership with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire to raise funds and awareness for the National Volunteer Fire Council, which supports and advocates for the 70% of firefighters who volunteer their time to keep us safe.

In addition to his Top 15-andclimbing single, “Eyes On You,” Rice also performed Platinumcertified Top 5 hits “Ready Set Roll” and “Gonna Wanna Tonight” as well as “Do It Like This” off his No. 1 debut album Ignite the Night, plus current album cuts “Three Chords & The Truth” and “On Tonight,” a re-imagined version of which will appear alongside three other deluxe tracks on Lambs & Lions (Worldwide Deluxe), Country Beat Magazine

available worldwide as the title implies this Friday, March 1.

Jason Aldean Sells Spectacular Rural Mansion for $7 Million Jason Aldean may be juggling some craziness at home at the moment, as he and wife Brittany just recently welcomed a new baby (daughter Navy). However, the singer knows he’s got to get return to business sooner or later. To that end, he seems to be back at work this week.

Aldean confirmed this on Tuesday (Feb. 19), posting a photo to social media noting that he’s in the studio currently “working on a new album”… with a little company from his buddy, son Memphis, who posed adorably with headphones on for the shot.

The album in progress will mark Aldean’s ninth full-length, and based on Memphis’ pleased expression, it must be coming along nicely.

Aldean is still coasting along on the momentum from his last album, 2018’s Rearview Town, which has spawned his 22nd career No. 1 hit, “Girl Like You.” as well as his hits “You Make It Easy” and “Drowns the Whiskey.” Aldean will kick off his 2019 Ride All Night Tour alongside special guests Kane Brown, Carly Pearce and Dee Jay Silver on May 3.

On the home front, Aldean and his

family are currently in quite a busy period. If juggling a newborn and a 1-year-old (Memphis celebrated his birthday in December) weren’t time-consuming enough for the parents, the clan is also currently hunkering down in a temporary housing situation while they finish up supervising all the special touches on their custom-built dream home, the construction of which is currently in progress.

Luke Bryan Lands 22nd Career #1 Single with “What Makes You Country” Four-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan claims the top spot on the MEDIABASE country singles chart this week with the title track of his What Makes You Country album. “What Makes You Country,” a platinum selling single written by Luke, Dallas Davidson and Ashley Gorley, becomes Luke’s 22nd career #1 single and the fourth consecutive #1 single from the album.

“We reminisced our childhoods and how we were raised when we got together to write this one,” shares Luke. “A small town upbringing learning work ethic, manners, how to hunt and fish. Just living and enjoying life. I’m proud to be country and that I’ve been able to follow all my dreams and still remain true to who I am.”

In celebration of the season premiere of American Idol, Luke, along with fellow judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, visited Good Morning America, they'll appear on Nightline followed by LIVE with Kelly & Ryan on Friday. On March 4, the judges will appear on The View.

Aaron Watson Releases Brand New Single “Kiss That Girl Goodbye” An authentic torchbearer for independent artists, Aaron Watson continues to be “one of country music’s biggest DIY success stories” (Forbes) with his latest effort, “Kiss That Girl Goodbye,” the solely self-penned lead single from his forthcoming studio album. The lyrically driven, up-tempo percussive stunner is the first glimpse into Watson’s brand-new studio project, Red Bandana. Slated for release in 2019 on his own BIG Label Records and distributed by ADA Worldwide, the album has already landed on “the most anticipated country albums of 2019” lists including Saving Country Music and The Boot.

“’Kiss That Girl Goodbye’ is my brand spanking new single and one of the twenty songs that I wrote for my upcoming album, Red Bandana,” says Watson. “I wanted to come out of the gates with a fast, fun, boot-stomper that sounds great on radio and gets the fans dancing. I actually wrote it late one night after meeting a girl at my show who was in tears after being stood up on a date. My little girl Jolee Kate loves it and says it has GIRL POWER! Thanks to all of you for supporting me, my music, and my family.”

“Kiss That Girl Goodbye” is being delivered to country radio and available now on all streaming services at hyperurl.co/zrrdlg. Watson is kicking off the first leg of his 2019 tour to ring in the new year! Announced coast to coast stops stretching from Tampa to Spokane and Anaheim, CA to New York City, spanning more than 40 dates through Memorial Day. Other highlights of the tour bring his “arena- ready country” live show to the AT&T Center (San Antonio Rodeo), Ryman Auditorium (Nashville), 9:30 Club (Washington, D.C.), and Toyota Stadium (Frisco). Check aaronwatson.com for the latest updates and information. Country Beat Magazine

Jillian Jacqueline Sets First-Ever Headline Run This Spring Charting new territory, JILLIAN JACQUELINE has announced her first-ever run of headline shows, hitting four major cities this May. Joining the razor-sharp singer/ songwriter for the trek is special guest Joy Oladokun.

Visit JillianJacqueline.com to purchase tickets for May 9 in Boston, MA and May 10 in New York, NY, on sale now. Mailing list members will receive presale access for the Atlanta, GA and College Park, MD dates from Tuesday (2/26) at 10:00 a.m. through Thursday (2/28) at 10:00 p.m. (local time). Subscribe to the mailing list at JillianJacqueline.com. Public on-sale begins Friday (3/1) at 10:00 a.m. local time.

Pushing full force with an exciting lineup of live shows, the announcement comes days after wrapping her run as a special guest on Devin Dawson’s STRAY OFF COURSE TOUR. People.com went behind-the-scenes with Jacqueline at the tour’s New York City stop at The Bowery Ballroom.

The buzzed-about performer will hit the stage this weekend (March 1 and 2) to open for Little Big Town in Canada. With high-profile shows set for overseas, she will then make her first appearance at the widely popular CMC Rocks festival in Australia (March 16 and 17) and join Kip Moore for a string of SOLD-OUT shows in the U.K. in May.

Jacqueline continues her whirlwind tour schedule following the release of her critically acclaimed EP, SIDE B. With its wide-ranging tracks described as “straight, dreamy folk-country” (The FADER), “brutally honest” (Idolator) and “powerful” (Taste Of Country). the versatile project was named one of Rolling Stone’s “10 Best Country EPs of 2018.” 5

Photo: Michael Gomez

By Liz Stokes

Josh Turner is a multi-platinum Country and Christian singer and songwriter. I was able to talk to him about his newly released Christian Album, "I Serve A Savior" and all things Josh Turner!

Josh tells me, "I've always wanted to do a gospel record, but it's never really been on my top priorities because I feel like God called me to be a country singer. So up until this point, my priority has been to establish myself as that, a country singer. Since I had my last country record out, Deep South, and how it was a success, and then I had a number one single off that record. I didn't really have anything big planned for 2018, and this opportunity came my way. I just felt like it was God's timing. Everything just kind of fell into place like it was supposed to. My fans have been wanting a record like this for a long time too, like I said, everything lined up perfectly and just had a great time doing it."

I asked Josh how has his fans reacted to it so far and he said, "Everybody that's heard it and bought it seems to like what

they've heard so far, which is always the test. I can go and make a record that I'm proud of and that I feel sounds great, but if the fans don't really care for it, it doesn't matter a whole lot. But yeah, everybody that I've heard from and talked to seems to really enjoy it."

Josh tells me what inspired him to write the song, "I Serve A Savior." He says, "I didn't even know this gospel project was going to happen. I actually wrote this song two years ago in 2016 with a buddy of mine. When he came in to write that day, I told him, "I have this title called I Serve a Savior, and it just has a good ring to it. I'd love to sit down and write like a modern-day hymn if we can." He loved the idea, so we went after it. I just really wanted to kind of paint the picture of what a true servant is, and what it means to serve a savior and even what Jesus said about what servitude is all about. So that's kind of the picture that we tried to paint with this song. Then a whole two years later, I'm sitting here trying to choose songs for a gospel record, and I got to thinking. I was like, 'I need to look Country Beat Magazine

back at my songs that I've written,' and that was the first song that I came across. I'm like, 'Man, this is perfect for this record.' So as we were compiling songs for this record, I just kept going back to that title. I'm like, 'This has got to be the record title.'

Josh's wife and son, who was 8 years at the time, wrote "The River of Happiness." And all of their boys sang on the album as well. Josh says, "It was very special. I wanted for there to be a moment on the record where they could perform or be a part of it. And when Jennifer had sent me this song, I remembered the song. I've heard them perform this song many times, but obviously they all four years older. Even my youngest son just turned four, so I don't even think he was around when this song was written, but to have him old enough to where he could get up there and sing some of the words was pretty precious. He and my oldest son, Nathan, and Jennifer wrote the song four years ago. I just felt like this song covered subject matter that none of the other songs on the record had covered until that point. So

Josh tells me how he chose the songs for the album and said, "I chose in a variety of ways. I tried to look at this record from a lot of different perspectives because when you say, 'Oh, I'm making a gospel record,' it's like well, you say the word gospel, especially musically, it just means so many different things. Obviously, I went after the standard hymns like How Great Thou Art, Great is Thy Faithfulness and Amazing Grace and stuff like that. Even Doxology, which is a song that I sang along with the congregation in my church growing up. Then obviously you've got the title track, which is an original song. You've got the one that Jennifer and Hampton wrote, and then I wanted to do a Negro spiritual, which I've always been a fan of. The one that has kind of always been my favorite has been Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. That's a song I just find myself singing to myself over and over again. I kind of took it upon myself to kind of write some new lyrics to it and kind of give it some new life and a freshness that it didn't have before, so that was a lot of fun and brought a lot of energy to the record."

"Then I started thinking, are there songs from country or bluegrass artists that were gospel type songs that I've always been a fan of? The first song I thought of was 'I Saw the Light,' by Hank Williams. In a moment of inspiration, I basically came up with the arrangement on that from start to finish, and really kind of took that song and just kind of

Photo: Michael Gomez

I felt like it would be a good addition to the record just by itself, because I felt like the song just stood on its own. But to have the four boys singing on it, and Jennifer singing on it and playing piano, Hampton was playing the mandolin on it; it was just kind of showcasing all of the different things that they do. But what's crazy is that all of my boys play instruments. We just decided to have the three younger ones just sing."

almost told a different story with it musically, because the guy in the song is really struggling. He's wandering. He's lost. He's searching for the truth. He's seeking out the light, and in order to recognize and see the light you have to be familiar with darkness and trials and challenges in your life. So, I felt like musically, this arrangement really expressed that. Then 'I Pray My Way Out of Trouble' is a song I learned from the Osmond Brothers, from a hymn record that they did back, I think in the late 60's. I invited Bobby Osmond to come in and sing on it, and at 86 years old, he's still going strong, and came in and just sang an incredible harmony part. I also found out that the song was actually written by Loretta Lynn and Teddy Wilburn, so the student of country music within me just loved the song has a special story to it. Obviously, I did a different version of Long Black Train and Me and God. I even have my favorite hymn on there, which is Country Beat Magazine

called Without Him." Josh says, "Fans can expect me to play and sing all the hits that everybody knows and loves. Beyond that, I'm going to be doing a few songs from the new gospel record. We bring our own set and lights and all that kind of stuff, so it's going to be a fun time."

And lastly, I asked Josh what does he consider to be his greatest musical accomplishment to date and he responded, "That's a tough question, I mean, obviously being a member of the Grand Ole Opry is a huge moment for me, but honestly I'd have to say just establishing myself as a country artist and proving that I could have hits, sell records and sell tickets, and all that. There's a lot of artists that haven't really been able to say that, and I consider myself very blessed. I don't take that for granted." Don't miss Josh Turner on tour and pick up his new album, "I Serve a Savior." 7

Photo by: Neal Nachman

Photo: Neal Nachman

Photo: Jeremy Cowart

By Melissa Kucirek

“Well let’s go somewhere beautiful like Florida.”

Truer words have never been spoken. While they haven’t been put into one of his songs, yet, Jerrod Niemann is describing the decision to film the video for “A Little More Love” featuring Lee Brice in Panama City.

“Well there’s a guy named Chase Lauer,” Niemann said during a recent phone interview. “He’s a director. He had never directed a music video, I guess, in his own words, for Nashville acts or I guess people that had put out music previously, but he’s done a lot of really cool other video pieces, so we said ‘Man, we want you to do it.’”

“So, we went to Panama City and just had a blast. That’s what’s great is when you get to hang out with your friends. You’re used to going out and having a beer or two, but when you around them in their element and see how talented they are, sometimes you forget. So that was definitely a great memory.”

“A Little More Love”, the lead single from Niemann’s 2017 This Ride (Curb Records) is just one notch in the Kansas-raised singer-songwriter’s 10

belt. For nearly 20 years, Niemann has released seven studio albums and received praise from critics and thousands of fans worldwide.

It’s in conversation that you start to realize that this fun-loving, music video superstar has channeled not only his own life experiences to song, but others’ duties and commitments in remarkable ways. Down to Earth and carefree, his moments of truth have paved the way for where he is today, and his focus is his strength.

Amongst his impressive resume of singles is the No. 1 “Lover, Lover”, “What Do You Want”, “Shinin’ on Me” and “Drink to That All Night.” Obviously proud of his accomplishments, it’s still his 2010 breakthrough album, Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury, that he likes to rest his hat upon.

“I had been through a couple of makeshift record deals that just kind of…at the time ruined my life and I put on like 60 pounds,” Niemann said. “I became like this hermit and didn’t even call my publishing company back for like a year. Then I just realized that if you’re gonna do something you gotta do it yourself. Country Beat Magazine

We’ve all heard that.”

He got to work. He went to the gym. His focused returned.

“I went to my buddy who had a studio and I said, ‘Man, I don’t really have much money, but I’ll make a deal with you if you just help me record this in your spare time. If it works out whatever you want you can have,’” he said. “So, he just, on a handshake deal, we just recorded this album probably from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., when he was done, and we laughed so hard. It was therapeutic and it changed my life.”

Niemann said he felt like everyone else had ‘just given up on me.’

“I just took it by the reins and the people that cared about me that hadn’t turned their back on me, we just…we created something that actually changed all of our lives,” he said. “If it wasn’t for that just mentality, then I really don’t know. I have no idea where I’d be.” Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury’s success catapulted to 2012’s Free The Music, 2013’s Yellow Brick Road and a comeback of sorts in 2014’s

High Noon. Niemann’s fifth studio album, High Noon, featured the No. 4 “Drink to That All Night” and also charted “Donkey” and “Buzz Back Girl.”

Another life-changing song and moment came to be with writing “Old Glory”. The song, released in October 2018, is derived from Niemann’s incredible experiences performing for United Services Organizations (USO). The focus on family, service and sacrifice touched his soul.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of a couple of USO tours,” he said. “The first one, I remember laying in bed for a couple months and I was like, ‘Man.’ I was nervous because I was like, “What’s my duty? How can I do my best for them?” Then I just realized man, just try to bring everybody home for a minute with music.”

Niemann said his first USO tour he traveled to Kosovo, Kuwait, Romania and Afghanistan. He felt so inspired and energized, his wife joined him on a second tour. Just before the planned trip over the holidays, news come that an American soldier had been ambushed and killed in Niger.

“I just started thinking about those young men and women that I’d met, and I just thought…they said they fought them for hours, never called in for support,” Niemann said. “Took on like 60 people, the few guys that we had over there all ended up dying and the last one that died, they found him 800 yards away with several different bullets in him from different guns, and I just think ‘Man. I hate for anybody to be like that.’”

The song came pouring out of him, Niemann continued. His emotions were focused, but he saved it to himself for some time before debuting it to an audience in Spain.

“I just got a reaction that I certainly wasn’t expecting,” he said. “I just kept playing it because it comes from a perspective of a soldier, so I didn’t

want to put words in anybody’s mouth without at least being a fly on a wall. So, it’s definitely my favorite song I’ve ever written, and the response is, also from our fellow civilians, has been really inspiring. “

Niemann has continued to team with the USO on his own charity, Free The Music (a nod to his sophomore major label album). He noticed that from years of performing in smaller fairs and even larger cities that children’s music program funding kept getting cut. He wanted to help, and his focus is also on helping young citizens have a stronger sense of community.

“You know sports is always gonna win out because we all love sports and it’s just kind of the thing,” Niemann said. “But what I don’t think these

communities realize, and that’s why I wanted to do this is to one, support these kids so they do have an opportunity to have these instruments, but also spread the awareness because of a lot of these kids that are introverted maybe just didn’t have a sense of…a sense of community.”

Free The Music also helps relieve financial burden for parents and even helps keep kids focused while their mom or dad is deployed overseas. Niemann shared that at a recent celebration at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, Free The Music donated five guitars. The goal now is to work with every base in the country that has a USO. “Real excited about that one,” he said.

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Photo by: Neal Nachman

By Melissa Kucirek

He could be called a bit of a Cinderella-man story if he hadn’t already proven himself. Like a true American story and the good guy that everyone seems to root for, David Lee Murphy has stuck around and not only paid his dues, there’s not one speck of dust on his prolific songwriting credits. It seems befitting that 23-years passed between a solo No. 1 release and last year’s No. 1 duet with Kenny Chesney; Murphy’s ride is geared up he’s ready for the ring.

Murphy might have always been on the outskirts of the ring, but now’s he’s back on the inside of the ropes. He may call it an ‘incarnation’ but to music fans, Murphy’s trek back to the top is ‘alright.’ No Zip Code is Murphy’s fifth studio album and came out in April 2018 via Reviver Records. It’s produced by Murphy, Chesney and Buddy Cannon. “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” reached No. 1 on the US Country Radio Chart. “I think if you get in this business 16

you've gotta be crazy enough to believe you still got a shot all the time,” Murphy said, calling from the road. “He (Chesney) produced my album, 'No Zip Code.' It was a perfect opportunity to be able to go and have fun, make music and here we are playing music.”

Fun indeed. So much so that the “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” garnered the 2018 Country Music Association’s Musical Event of the Year. Younger audiences might not have heard of Murphy’s previous chart topper, “Dust on the Bottle” nor did they probably know his previous songwriting credits included an avalanche of penned hits like “Big Green Tractor” (Jason Aldean), “Everything I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About” (Thompson Square) and a few of Chesney’s Number 1 hits like “Live a Little,” “Living in Fast Forward” and “Till It’s Gone.” Chances are, country music fans have gobbled up a Murphy song in the last two decades. Originally Country Beat Magazine

from Herrin, Illinois, Murphy moved to Nashville in 1983. It wouldn’t be until early 1995, that Murphy’s debut album, Out With A Bang (MCA) would be released; Bang sold over 500,000 united and achieved Gold Status.

Now at 60, the father of three, the switch to focusing more on songwriting and taking a bit of a hiatus from the industry had more to do with being a dad, than chasing stardom.

“I had kids that were in school and we get on tour buses like this, you can hear the motor running,” he said. “We get on tour buses and we ride all over the place and we’re gone a lot. So, my kids were growing up and I got to stay home with them. About 2006ish, I started writing songs. ‘Living Fast Forward’ was the first number one hit that I had written for somebody. That was Kenny. Then, I had songs recorded by Jason Aldean and Thompson Square, and more Kenny, more Jason, some Jake (Owens), there’s

a bunch of different people. It’ fun writing songs and all my buddies have been Nashville songwriters. We go and sit there, and we drink coffee and play guitars and talk about football and whatever and we get around to writing songs.” The nudging to get back to taking the lead vocals reigns can be traced back to Chesney.

“Oh, for sure,” Murphy said. “Yeah, I mean under this incarnation without Kenny we wouldn’t be doing it ‘cause it was…he called me one night and said ‘Hey, how long has it been since you made an album?’ ‘Cause, you know I would send him songs every now and then. Actually, one of the songs that I sent him that he called me about was my current single, ‘I Won’t Be Sorry.’ I sent him (that one) and a couple of other songs and he called me back, he goes ‘Man, these songs…somebody needs to hear this. You need to be singing this on the radio and making records’ and he goes ‘I know out of all the people that have bought your records and listened to your music all these years, they would love to hear you have an album.’ So, he’s responsible for that.”

Currently touring with Jake Owen, the fans Chesney knew would want to hear Murphy himself sing, are indeed craving songs like “Dust On the Bottle,” “Party Crowd,” “Every Time I Get Around You,” “Just Once,” “Out With A Bang” and “The Road You Leave Behind.”

“I got in trouble the other night,” he said. “I was in Seattle and some guys go, I was playing some of the songs that I have recorded by other artists, and they were going, ‘We don’t wanna hear those songs, we wanna hear your old songs.’ That actually made me feel good, ‘cause I was playing

some of Kenny and some Jason and stuff like that. They wanted to hear me sing my old stuff off of my old albums, that made me feel good that they wanted to hear those songs…we’ll do the old songs, we’ll do a bunch of the new songs, like “Everybody’s Gonna Be Alright’ and ‘I Won’t Be Sorry’ and some of the stuff off the new record, and then we’ll do some of the stuff…we have as much fun doing the Kenny and Jason and Jake and all those songs that people have recorded, we have fun doing those too, so we just mix it up.”

Touring with Owens will have Murphy criss-crossing the country, hearing the murmur of the wheels on the road. The two will hit the Midwest including Tulsa, Oklahoma, Forrest City, Iowa, Manhattan, Kansas, North Platte, Nebraska, with stints in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Calgary, Alberta, Canada inbetween. Stops include stadiums and clubs. “There’s just something about playing in a smaller little venue

where you can just have fun, relax and party with the crowd and enjoy playing music,” he said. “When you’re playing big shows, sometimes it’s so big that you can’t really enjoy all the people.” Murphy joked that he’d been in the witness protection program for about 15 years, but his career resurgence seems to be just like the lyrics in “Dust On The Bottle” –there might be a little dust on the bottle, but don’t let it fool ya about what’s inside, there might be a little dust on the bottle, it’s one of those things that gets sweeter with time.

Or maybe this comeback is just the latest David Lee Murphy accomplishment.

“Gosh, I don’t know,” Murphy said. “Just to be here tonight playing music, to me, is just…I mean, I’ve had hit songs and I’ve written number ones for different people and stuff like that, but really the main thing is that we’re still out here playing music and having fun. That’s the most important thing.”

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Photo by: Neal Nachman

Growing up in Orangevale, Calif., a town just outside of Folsom, singer-songwriter Devin Dawson looked up to the “Man In Black” himself, Johnny Cash. The vulnerability Dawson saw in Cash correlated to his own songwriting and Dawson’s debut record Dark Horse is one selection of the autobiographical journey the 30-year-old took while recording the 12-track Warner Brothers record in 2018. Belmont University, YouTube, Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw are just a few more chapters in Dawson’s promising musical career. “It’s pretty sweet that I get to travel the world with my best friends, and I get to see my family when I can, obviously that’s hard, and my girlfriend in Nashville,” Dawson said. “So, I don’t get to see her much as I’d like to, but these are the sacrifices that you make to be able to live your dream, cause when you’re living your dream, when you do what you love, you don’t clock out.” The four years Dawson spent at Nashville’s Belmont University 22

proved fruitful, with Dawson calling it an ‘incubation period.’ He said that he owes much of his success and his hustle to the university. It was there that a collaborative effort with fellow student, Louisa Wendorff, resulted in a mashup of Taylor Swift songs. The pair put it on YouTube and Swift herself shared on her own social channels. “Taylor’s made a name for herself for helping out new artists, so her just putting her brand, her stamp of approval on something, and for her to do that for us,” Dawson said. “Obviously incredibly grateful and it definitely helped, I guess, kickstart would be a good word. It helped propel a lot of us into the next stage of what we wanted to do for music in our careers.” Dawson, who asserts he’s never been one to perform covers, was surprised by the result and later in 2017, Warner Brothers signed the young artist. His first song “All on Me” from Dark Horse jumped to No. 6 on the US Country Chart and No. 2 on the Canadian Country Chart. His follow-up single, “Asking for a Country Beat Magazine

By Melissa Kucirek

Friend” has drawn comparisons to John Mayer. “I’m like the gateway drug to country music, that’s the way I look at it,” Dawson said. He believes that audiences have broaden their tastes. “And, ‘All On Me,’ I’d like to think it’s just a good song, regardless,” he said. “I know that what I do as an artist and a songwriter is, I feel accepted and I feel at home in country music. If you expand beyond something, it doesn’t mean you leave, you’re still centered in that, but hopefully we can all do things that are…I wanna write songs that can impact anybody no matter what they listen to…” Dawson wrote all of the tracks on Dark Horse and wanted each song to have its moment. “Your first album is just figuring out the songs that feel right, and then at the end you sift out that gold,” he said. “All the dirt flows away, and you have those 12 little things left….at the end of the day when you have your deadline, you gotta choose the 12

that are gonna represent that moment in time best. An album is from one point to another point in time. A song is immortal, but you will never feel that way again.” Outside of the studio, Dawson toured extensively in 2018 with McGraw and Faith Hill. In addition to being one of Dawson’s major influences, McGraw reminded Dawson to put in the work. “It was pretty crazy, man,” Dawson said. “I never thought when I was singing ‘Indian Outlaw’ as a kid that I would watch him sing it live, or that I would get to hang with him backstage, or jam with him, or play football with him, or eat lunch with him. These things that…but at the end of the day we’re all humans, but at the same time, it’s important to keep your heroes and keep your eyes wide open.” “He was big on saying, it’s not always about the best song. It’s not always about the best voice. It’s not always about the best looking person. It’s not always about the best manager or the best label. It’s all the in between stuff. Everything has to work together. It’s your work ethic, When talent doesn’t work or when talent doesn’t pay off, hard work does, or whatever the sentence is…he was really good about just being encouraging, and just explaining that it’s a long game, not a short game.” Since touring with McGraw and now labelmate, Brett Eldredge, Dawson says his education has continued. Supporting, or opening, for Eldredge has humbled him and his approach. “It’s one of those things where opening up is the point of learning from people, and what they do on stage, even if you’re subconsciously taking notes and doing it yourself one day,” Dawson said. “So, I will open up for as long as I can. That’s kinda what Brett did, and this is his first headlining tour, and to be a part of that is really cool to see Brett fans see what Brett does in Brett’s time on Brett’s dime. It’s his show. He can do it as long as he wants. They came for him…it’s

definitely the kind of fans I wanna play to. I think the music is a good match, it’s a good compliment, and it’s gonna be awesome.” The song “Prison” from Dark Horse is Dawson’s favorite song to perform live. He said he used to be in a metal band and the song allows him to “tap into those roots that I don’t ever want to hide from.” “It allows me to shed my skin a little bit and freak out and have fun a little bit,” he said. “We (also) have a song called “Secondhand Hurt” that I love. I’ve always been Country Beat Magazine

a sucker for a heartbreak song. Everyone wants that upbeat, party song. I just don’t do that, so I like catching people in a moment of enjoying a slow song. These dudes with their beers or whatever, I’m that guy at a show too, I wanna have fun and jump up, but you hit me with that ballad and not even a ballad, just hit me with something that has heart to it, and I’m like ‘Oh shit, this guy is real.’ I feel like if I can do that for somebody else, that’s what I like to do. I like to shake things up a little bit…” 23

Photo by: Neal Nachman

Photo by: Marshall Foster

by Melissa Kucirek

One of the two most important times words put to paper in singer-songwriter Radney Foster’s life didn’t come from his own pen. It came from his wife’s pen. The longtime Nashville resident and former member of Foster & Lloyd, songwriter for such diverse acts as Keith Urban, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Luke Bryan, Los Lonely Boys and Hootie & The Blowfish – is touring in support of For You To See The Stars, both a CD and book.

The idea to create the short stories came out of necessity in 2015 and a bit of urging from his wife.

“I got pneumonia and laryngitis so bad that I had completely coughed my voice gone,” Foster said. “I couldn’t speak for six weeks, and then had to have vocal therapy for about another six weeks. I was out for three months solid. That first part, it wasn’t like I knew like, ‘Okay, you’re going to have to shut up for six weeks and then you’ll be fine.’” 28

Foster said he would go back and forth to the specialists at the Vanderbilt Voice Clinic, not having spoken at all. They would tell him to come back the next week, still not using his voice. He said he wrote a note to his wife that he thought there could be a short story and a song that he’d like to write from the experience; to keep himself from going crazy, he wanted to write it, he scribbled to his wife.

“She didn’t speak to me, she just pulled the pen from my hand and wrote down, ‘You should because you’re driving me crazy,’” Foster said. “I so wish I still had that piece of paper. I don’t have it anymore, but it’s one of my favorite moments in life and I really, really wish I had that piece of paper. So, there you go.” The second most important time – in his own handwriting – came a bit earlier. He wrote his name and number in a matchbook. The number was the dorm hall at University of the South in Sewanee, Country Beat Magazine

Tenn. Foster had been playing in a band similar to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. One night an audience member asked about the three original songs he heard.

“My guitar player said, ‘You can’t get them our singer wrote them,’” Foster said. “He (the audience member) said ‘I don’t know anything about the music business, but I’ve got a friend who’s a producer, engineer and a songwriter who’s in Nashville.’ I’m like, sure you do.”

Two weeks later a message on Foster’s dorm room door said to ‘call Brown Bannister’ with a. Nashville “615” area code. Elliot “Brown” Bannister is the producer behind Amy Grant, Debby Boone, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith and many, many more.

“He said, ‘You’ve got to have a serious talk with your folks about doing this for a living,’” Foster said. “That’s how I got into the music business.” Choosing special moments and

achievements in a career that has spanned nearly 40 years, seems like a daunting task for a Texan like Foster. 2015’s pneumonia battle aside, the music industry might not have heard Foster’s voice directly, but it was always there. Behind such songs as Tanya Tucker and T. Graham Brown’s “Don’t Go Out” (1990), Holly Dunn’s “Love Someone Like Me” (1987) and Sara Evans’ “A Real Fine Place To Start” (1995), Urban’s “Raining on Sunday” (2002) to name a few. Foster & Lloyd’s stamp on country music is just as impressive – “Nobody Wins” spent an impressive 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks in 1993, peaking at No. 2. Foster’s solo debut, Del Rio, TX 1959 came out in 1992 and yielded the hits “Just Call Me Lonesome” and “Easier Said Than Done.”

He said Lloyd and him weren’t positive that “Nobody Wins” would have the reaction it did.

“I think we were both really happy about the song,” Foster said. “But it was in that odd part of the creating of it, where I was putting together all the songs that were going to go on that first album, and no one has any idea ... I mean, they can all tell you that they think somethings going to be a hit, or know it's going to be a hit, but you don't have any control. In many, many ways you have no control over that. So, I was very pleasantly surprised when that, and "Just Call Me Lonesome" and "Easier Said Than Done" all ended up becoming hit records. So, it was a cool time. It was a really cool time.” Sad times, too.

One touching song that Foster touts as one of his favorite works is the moving lullaby “God Speed.” Foster’s words “Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels’ wings, Godspeed sweet dreams” were intended for his oldest son, putting a little boy to

bed each night and tell him that love could cross the ocean – in another country (France) and that he could play the cassette to help him sleep.

“I didn’t see myself even recording that,” Foster said. “That was a year before I played it for anyone other than him. My manager and his wife were pregnant, and I said, ‘Hey, I’ll put this on a cassette for your baby. You can use it to sing him to sleep.’ He was just floored. He said, ‘Why have you been holding this back?’ I said, ‘I just didn’t think…it’s a kids’ lullaby. He goes, ‘It’s so much bigger than that Radney. It’s so much more important than that.”

GI’s serving in Afghanistan sang the song through the phone to their children back home, Foster shared. People have also asked to use the lyrics on a child’s gravestone and used in funerals. The song has been a milestone for many families and occasions. “I’ve been floored by how many, now the song’s old enough that, moms who come up and say, ‘I just married my 27-year-old son Country Beat Magazine

off and I sang that song to him all through his childhood,” Foster said. “That was our mother son dance at his wedding. I thought, well, ‘I didn’t see that coming.’”

Foster doesn’t shy away from anything either. For You To See The Stars is a 10-track album that is independent of the book, but both collectively explore, according to his biography, “various landscapes, both physical and emotional, from the story of a retired spy in New Orleans, to the tale of a Dallas lawyer wandering the Rocky Mountains in search of redemption, to a post-apocalyptic parable of a world in an endless war.” This is Foster’s 11th album and his command of the human condition is remarkably fresh. “All That I Require” has pressed buttons on both sides of the political spectrum. He observed during the elections of 2016 and now under current President Trump a ‘real and palpable, sort of threat of fascism and the knocking at the pillars of our democratic institutions.” “A free democracy and a functioning democracy for my children’s sake is important to me,” Foster said. 29

Photo by: Neal Nachman

By Liz Stokes

By Mark A. Stevens

Nostalgia often pulls us back to yesterday, and mixing nostalgia with music can be a potent force. Country music legend Sylvia has done just that with her latest album, “Second Bloom: The Hits Re-Imagined,” an album of 10 of her most beloved songs that she’s re-recorded, updated and tweaked. On Jan. 15, she was rewarded for her efforts at the 24th Annual Spirit Awards by winning Album of the Year for “Second Bloom” and Song of the Year for the album’s closing track, “You Can’t Go Back Home,” where nostalgia mixes with heartache. “I became intrigued with bringing those songs forward into today in the voice that I have now and with all my life experience,” the 62-year-old singer said in a telephone interview. “I wanted to give them a chance to bloom for a second time.” From the late 1970s through much of the ’80s, Sylvia was an explosive force in country music. She racked up two No. 1 hits, “Drifter” (1981) and the twomillion-seller and crossover smash “Nobody” (1982). And “Fallin’ In Love” (1985) and “Like Nothing Ever Happened” (1982) 32

both reached No. 2. The album also includes the hits “Tumbleweed,” “Cry Just a Little Bit,” “Snapshot,” “Sweet Yesterday” and “I Love You By Heart.” It’s rounded out with “You Can’t Go Back Home,” a fan favorite that was never released as a single. While Sylvia has kept recording over the years, she was somewhat sidelined from the forefront of country music in the late 1980s when her label, RCA, and other record companies began cutting rosters of female country singers. Dismissed were artists like Sylvia, who had sold more than four million albums, and Dolly Parton, who had undoubtedly sold tens of millions, as the industry turned to favor male singers like Garth Brooks and Clint Black. “I’ve continued to record and do concert dates,” she said, “but … the songs have evolved and so have I… Everything in your life shows up in your voice, whether you know it or not. So I have a lot of life experience in my voice now, and I became intrigued with bringing that music into today’s sensibilities and how I like to record now. “In the '80s, it was a fun decade, Country Beat Magazine

but there was a highly synthesized sound with a lot of ’80s recordings, including my own, and even definitely some disco-era influences.” To that end, “Second Bloom” has discarded the background disco beats that somehow meshed perfectly with the country-westernprairie songs from her debut album “Drifter,” released 38 years ago and fresh from a nation obsessed with the movie “Urban Cowboy.” Faded away, too, are subtle synthesizers that helped vault her 1982 album “Just Sylvia” to Gold and earned the singer a spot on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand.” With hit after hit, Sylvia found herself winning a number of accolades. The Academy of Country Music named her the Top New Female Vocalist in 1979, and the Academy rewarded her with the Female Artist of the Year in 1982. She was Billboard’s top country female singer, was nominated for a Grammy and even sang at a command performance for President Ronald Reagan. While three compilations of Sylvia’s best-known work have been released over the years,

“Second Bloom” is the first time Sylvia has opted to re-record her signature hits. She and her longtime producer, John Mock, recognized that her music was iconic to its era, but they also opted to translate the songs – and the stories they tell – for a “more contemporary dialect.” “We really looked back at every song that I had released as a single and considered which songs really suited the kind of instrumentation that I use today,” Sylvia said. “We looked at which songs really still resonate with me, have meaning to me and felt important to keep alive. “And those were the 10 songs that really came to the surface and felt like they needed a ‘second bloom’.” Recording the album, Sylvia said, “was a really nice challenge.” While updated and re-recorded, the songs retain their familiar sound and delivery. “We didn’t want to do anything crazy with the songs,” she said. “We’ve all heard re-recordings of songs and say, ‘What did they do to the song? It was so much better before!’ Well, I didn’t want that to happen, and I knew if I was happy with the way it was re-recorded, in today’s voice, then I was just going to trust that others would like it, too. “I wanted to honor the soul of the songs as they were originally recorded. If there was a signature lick in the song, if it was originally done with a synthesizer, we might want to do it with an electric guitar or something that’s more resonant with today.” Trusting her gut was the biggest challenge, she admitted. “I’m a big believer in just listening to the songs themselves,” Sylvia said. “What needs to happen just evolves and becomes clear. Does it need banjos? Does it need mandolins? The songs told us exactly what they needed. It was fun and inspiring and never a struggle.” Inspirational has often been used to describe Sylvia’s sudden stardom when she was in her early 20s. Hollywood couldn’t have written a

better script, in fact. After moving from Kokomo, Indiana, she was discovered after four years working as a secretary on Nashville’s famed “Music Row,” and making, she recalls with a laugh, “less than minimum wage.” “I went from working a 9-to-5 job, basically, to just feeling like I was working around the clock,” she said. “But everything I had ever dreamed of was coming true, so it was great. Not much sleep, but other than that, it was great.” In 1981 alone, Sylvia performed 323 dates. She describes her early days in the business as “a beautiful whirlwind.” “I was 21 or something when I signed with RCA,” she said, “and at that age I had tons of energy and my dreams were coming true. It all just felt magical.” During the summers in the early 1980s, Sylvia was one of the top performers at regional and state fairs across the U.S. Nearly four decades years later, the singer admits “it’s all a bit of a blur (from) waking up in a different town almost every day.” Being a singer-songwriter is really, Sylvia says, about being a storyteller. She’d like to see more of that from the stars of today. “I don’t know if I would say they’re storytellers,” she said. “Maybe celebrities that have amazing voices and can do a lot of things with those voices. I really love that, and I watch ‘The Voice’ and all those shows, but I feel there’s almost a dying breed of singers and artists and storytellers – in the public eye, at least. “There are a lot of us independently recording and making great records and singing great story songs, but it doesn’t seem to be what is relevant on country radio today. I miss that. … When you hear songs like Tammy Wynette’s ‘Apartment #9’ or ‘Your Good Country Beat Magazine

Girl’s Gonna Go Bad’ or Patsy Cline’s songs of heartbreak, that’s what inspired me to be a singer, and I’m not hearing a lot in the mainstream today. But now that will probably change, because everything does. For my own selfish reasons, I miss the great story songs. Those songs help us learn about our own life’s journey.” So maybe it’s appropriate that “Second Bloom” concludes with “You Can’t Go Back Home,” a melancholy story about the passage of time Sylvia first recorded in 1982. “I just feel like it was a wonderful, well-written, meaningful song,” she reflects. “At this point in my life … it’s a blessing that I get to sing that song with the life experience I have under my belt. It has deeper meaning now than it even did when was in my 20s. So I think it worked out great to put it on this record, because I believe that everything is right on time.” Find out more about Sylvia, her new album and tour dates at www.sylviamusic.com. (Mark A. Stevens is a former newspaper editor and publisher. He is the author of several books, including an Amazon top seller, “The Clinchfield No. 1: Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine.” He lives in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.) 33

Photo by: Neal Nachman

Photo: Robert Ascroft

By Melissa Kucirek

In the midst of a conference call with all four members of the Texas-based band, Copper Chief, it’s easy to get hung up on who said what, and who’s turn it is to talk. The talking over each other is strangely as it should be. Widely known for their stint in the USA Network Real Country television show (despite Travis Tritt championing Copper Chief, Jaida Dreyer was crowned), Copper Chief’s self-titled debut album is riddled with edgy guitars, whisky-laced vocals and boogie sing-along lyrics. With songs like “Down to the River” and “Jericho,” Copper Chief takes hold of its listeners in a whole new way once the group hits the live stage.

They are a band after all, and this interview is just example of their cohesion that further exemplifies

Copper Chief’s commitment to its own brotherhood. It’s a bit of a circus and it feels entertaining being in the same atmosphere as these characters. These guys actually enjoy each other in a sincere way, and outside of winning the lottery, are having the time of their lives.

Copper Chief is Mike Valliere (vocals, guitar), Rio Tripiano (vocals, lead guitar), Justin Lusk (vocals, bass) and John Jammall II (drums). Home for the band is peppered between Austin and the New Braunfels, Texas area, but you might as well just say home is on stage.

“‘We turn it on,’ when we get in front of a festival, we are hard to follow,” Tripiano said. “Because we get amped up and it ends up being a Country Beat Magazine

killer show. But we can do the same thing in a room. We were just out at the Blue Light in Lubbock and I think we toasted that space.”

Pinpointing the style of music is just as varied as the voices on the call. All are kind and enthusiastic, but some have a different tone or oaky timbre. Texas, too, plays a role in their music and general disposition. With 15 tracks, Copper Chief launches with the up-tempo rockin’ “Lonely Restless Heart” and clocks-in with the murky-guitar laced, high harmonies “Nothing to Do.” In between these tracks are hard hitting, rugged “Body Aches” (who hasn’t felt those lyrics “my body is just so damned tired”) and mesmerizing, racing like a horse stampede, “Dani 59.”

Photo: Robert Ascroft

“It’s cliché to say this, that we don’t have a genre, but truly feel like we don’t have one neat genre that personifies what we do,” Valliere said. “The quickest, sarcastic way for me to describe our music is to tell people, we’re quality,” Tripiano said. “There’s something about our stuff that is for everybody.”

Red Dirt Country isn’t the best categorization for Copper Chief, but it’s certainly part of its story.

“For me (Red Dirt Country) was almost the joining of that Oklahoma scene and the Texas country scene,” Valliere said. “It came to me, with this little bit of edge to it. It made me feel like there was maybe a place for me in country ‘cause I could have my rock n roll and my country… I found it while I was in high school because all I wanted to be was rock n roll.”

Like most musicians, the members of Copper Chief cut their teeth playing covers in various bands in Austin’s famed Sixth Street corridor. Valliere and Tripiano first collided and accrued a wealth of songs that would soon forge their way into Copper Chief’s set list with Lusk and Jammal on board. The key to surviving meant getting tips from well-known tunes. Getting to the point of actually playing original songs on stage started out with a bit of trepidation, but the band’s chemistry found its way.

“It’s organic. It surprised me how those songs came together,” Jammal said. “What you hear on the album is pretty much, or true to the album, the way we originally played it. When I say organic, this has been the easiest band for me to play in because the four of us are on the same page. There’s stage language and I could just read those guys and I think they can read each other.

“We’re more a trial by fire band, when the show shift happens, when you start to play more originals, to me it’s almost harder. I found myself to want to throw in more covers than we should have because you know what response you’re going to get with those,” Valliere, who believes playing

five to six times a week greatly made him a better guitarist, said. “It was hard sometimes at the beginning to remind myself hey, ‘play our songs,’ you already know they are going to like that one, give them our songs that’s why they’re here.” The debut album doesn’t include a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” but fans have rallied around the song after first hearing Copper Chief’s performance on Real Country. “Jolene” is available to stream or download via Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon. Each of the members cite a variety of influences - from Elvis Presley, George Strait, The Beatles, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, classical music, metal and secular music.

“AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Queen, Marshall Tucker Band, Allman Brothers Band, I won’t turn any of that off,” Lusk said.

“Everything around you and what you choose to search out influences a songwriter,” Valliere said. “If it wasn’t for the regional music scene I might not have ended where I am, I might not have ended up in music at all… Garth Brooks… he definitely taught us about showmanship. I’m Country Beat Magazine

going to have to get a better cardio regiment if I’m going to run around the stage like him though!” “Music itself is our constant.”

Real Country certainly helped build the band’s awareness, as have tours in Europe (Valliere said he personally enjoyed Ireland) and the continued hammering of Texas and Oklahoma markets. 2019 will see the band traverse to the Midwest, northern states and both the coasts. Copper Chief has come quite a ways from its days of “playing for survival” on Austin’s Sixth Street. The landscape looks open and bright for a band that is looking to keep growing and to be its best. As they sing in “Jericho” – “our feet in the water, our heads up in the stars,” Copper Chief’s songs offer life’s tender moments blanketed in buttery acoustic riffs and elevated percussions. Crisp, but not polished enough where it’s fake. Copper Chief has little cracks between the lines and a solid fellowship. “It ain’t worth it if you ain’t having fun,” Tripiano said. Added Jammal, “What’s doing it, if you aren’t doing it with your friends.” 41

Photo by: Neal Nachman