[tps_title] 10. Ashland Craft – Travelin’ Kind [/tps_title]

Ashland Craft’s debut album Travelin’ Kind was a tour de force of a record, showcasing her impeccable, raspy vocal infused with a hefty country-rock production.

Read our full review here.

Stand-out Track: Your Momma Still Does

The post The Top 10 Best Country Albums of 2021 appeared first on off the record.

Best Country Solo Performance 

“Forever After All” – Luke Combs

“Remember Her Name” – Mickey Guyton

“All I Do Is Drive” – Jason Isbell

“Camera Roll” – Kacey Musgraves

“You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance 

“If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood

“Younger Me” – Brothers Osborne

“Glad You Exist” – Dan + Shay

“Chasing After You” – Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd

“Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” – Miranda Lambert and Elle King

Best Country Song

“Better Than We Found It” – Jessie Jo Dillon, Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz, songwriters (Maren Morris)

“Camera Roll” – Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves and Daniel Tashian, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)

“Cold” – Dave Cobb, J.T. Cure, Derek Mixon and Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)

“Country Again” – Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley and Thomas Rhett, songwriters (Thomas Rhett)

“Fancy Like” – Cameron Bartolini, Walker Hayes, Josh Jenkins & Shane Stevens, songwriters (Walker Hayes)

“Remember Her Name” – Mickey Guyton, Blake Hubbard, Jarrod Ingram & Parker Welling, songwriters (Mickey Guyton)

Best Country Album 

“Skeletons” – Brothers Osborne

“Remember Her Name” – Mickey Guyton

“The Marfa Tapes” – Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram and Jon Randall

“The Ballad of Dood and Juanita” – Sturgill Simpson

“Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton

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The Country Music Association has announced the first round of performers for “The 55th Annual CMA Awards.” Featuring first-time nominees taking the CMA Awards stage, as well as reigning CMA Awards winners, this year’s performances will include Jimmie Allen, Brothers Osborne, Eric Church, Dan + Shay, Mickey Guyton featuring Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards, Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde, and Blake Shelton. Hosted by Country Music superstar and “American Idol” judge Luke Bryan, Country Music’s Biggest Night broadcasts LIVE from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 10 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on ABC.

CMA New Artist of the Year nominee and current “Dancing With The Stars” contestant Allen will perform his hit “Freedom Was A Highway.” Three-time CMA Awards nominated group this year Brothers Osborne will deliver a deeply personal performance from their CMA Album of the Year-nominated Skeletons. Reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year and five-time nominee this year including Entertainer of the Year again, Church will perform his song “Heart on Fire” from his CMA Album of the Year-nominated Heart. Reigning and two-time consecutive CMA Vocal Duo of the Year Dan + Shay, nominated again in the same category this year, will perform their hit “I Should Probably Go To Bed.”

CMA New Artist of the Year nominee Guyton will welcome rising artists Spencer and Edwards for a collaboration not to be missed from Guyton’s debut album, Remember Her Name. Two-time nominee this year Pearce and three-time nominee this year McBryde will perform their heart-wrenching duet “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.” And 10-time CMA Awards winner Shelton will bring his “Come Back as a Country Boy” to the CMA Awards stage.

Additional performers and presenters for “The 55th Annual CMA Awards” will be revealed in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to CMAawards.com for more details.

Winners of “The 55th Annual CMA Awards” will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible voting CMA members. The third and final ballot is open now for CMA members, with voting for the CMA Awards final ballot closing Wednesday, Oct. 27 (6:00 PM/CT).

The application for media opportunities with “The 55th Annual CMA Awards” is now available on CMApress.com. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, Oct. 27 (5:00 PM/CT).

“The 55th Annual CMA Awards” is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the Executive Producer, Alan Carter is the Director and David Wild is the Head Writer.

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The post INTERVIEW: Mickey Guyton on New Album appeared first on off the record.

Mickey Guyton is finally getting her turn in the spotlight. After years of grafting in Nashville, today she finally releases her debut album Remember Her Name that charts her journey chasing a dream in a city that has remained largely closed to black voices for centuries, beginning with false starts, obstacles and disappointments. Finally, finally it seems that Guyton’s voice is getting the recognition that it deserves, after the phenomenal success of her song ‘Black Like Me,’ released following Guyton’s personal turmoil in the wake of the murder of Breana Taylor and George Floyd. Remember Her Name is a tour de force of an album that will not only change Guyton’s career, but arguably the face of country music itself – moving away from the tropes of small towns and trucks to social justice and empowerment. Of the record, Guyton shares, ‘Remember Her Name is a culmination of the last ten years of my life in Nashville… This album is the closing of a chapter.  All those years ago, I set out to create music that would make people feel self-empowered, loved, and comfortable with being themselves and this album holds true to all of that. I hope everyone who listens finds something that connects and speaks to them.’

Remember Her Name does all that and more, offering a mirror and light for those who feel side-lined in the narrow country music landscape – a source of hope exploring themes of racial and social justice interweaved with love, understanding and joy. Sonically, the record is a gem, allowing Guyton to showcase a simply extraordinary vocal, full of raw emotion that she handles delicately. The record opens with the powerful title track, an anthem about finding strength through hard times. ‘Remember the fire / Remember her face / She felt the storm and danced out in the pouring a rain / Remember her laughing / Through all the pain / Remember the girl that didn’t let anything get in her way / Remember her name.’ It’s a mammoth track about the importance of self-worth and perseverance, a glorious opener. Not to be out done, on ‘All American,’ Guyton provides an inclusive anthem celebrating all the things that make America ‘America.’ ‘We’re the stars in a Texas sky / And the jukebox vinyl… We’re different in a million ways / But at the end of the day / Ain’t we all … all American.’ It’s a moving love letter to her country, yet also a yearning cry for universal inclusivity.

‘Different’ is a catchy, driving and fun track, celebrating being different, couched in a 90s-tinged funky production. It’s a stonking beat that showcases another side to Guyton’s artistry, as does later track ‘Rose,’ that brings levity to the project, along with the spicier track ‘Smoke’ – a woozily moving track, building off the idea of where there’s smoke there’s fire.

Guyton is not one to shy away from hard topics. Nowhere is this more evident than in ‘Love My Hair,’ that should be a necessary listen for all as one of the most powerful tracks on the record, an acknowledgement of something that has been historically incredibly difficult for Black women. It’s incredibly tender, a love letter to her own body that is immensely moving. ‘I’m tired of trying to justify my skin / I used to think that what God gave me wasn’t fair / I’d braid it all, just to hide the curls up there / I found my freedom, but I learned not to care / Now I’m not scared to love who I am.’ It’s so delicately done, shining a light on a vital topic, whilst still being delivered as a flawless track. Of course, ‘Black Like Me’ will inevitably be the defining track on Remember Her Name, a muted and stripped back piano ballad about life growing up as a black kid in America, with the enduring line ‘If you think we live in the land of the free / you should try to be black like me.’ It’s incredibly vulnerable and real, which makes it one of the most compelling tracks we have heard in country music of recent years. Proof of Guyton as an artist of incredible lyrical depth is only hammered home further on ‘What Are You Gonna Tell Her?’ about life as a black woman in America. ‘She thinks life is fair and / God hears every prayer / And everyone gets their ever after / She thinks love is love and if / You work hard, that’s enough / Skin’s just skin and it doesn’t matter.’ The track is devastating in its ability to get straight to the heart of the matter – a gut-wrenching call for change.

In the central part of the record, Guyton lays her heart bare in a collection of love songs, beginning with ‘Lay It On Me.’ This track offers a palpably sharp reminder – if you needed one – of the staggering immensity of Guyton’s vocal as she sings about wanting to know everything about her lover. ‘I want to show you that you’re worth it / Lay it on me tonight.’ A stunning strings part elevates the track, before moving into the gospel-infused, passionate ‘Higher’ that is as uplifting as they come, a driving anthem about love bringing her ‘higher.’ ‘Dancing in the Living Room’ offers a more sultry and romantic slow-coasting track as Guyton sings ‘Turn the lights down low, we can take it slow, dancing in the living room.’ 

‘Do You Really Wanna Know’ on the other hand shows Guyton questioning if people really want to know how she is. Everyone can relate to this track. ‘If I tell you the truth / Will your heart be big enough to hold it… Will you believe it or see it as weakness?’ Lyrically, the track is genius and again shows Guyton step into ideas and concepts that so many people feel, yet do not put into verse, making it yet the more compelling and positing Guyton as a unique artist. The ideas of this track are hammered home on later track ‘Words’ that offers a searing indictment on the power of words and the impossibility of just brushing them off. ‘Sometimes I ain’t bulletproof / Sticks and stones will never break your bones, but words still hurt me.’

From one listen to Remember Her Name by Mickey Guyton, you are just left with the question – why have we not heard this sooner? It’s a phenomenal, thoughtfully-created and more than anything else, important, record that has long deserved to be heard. Let us hope that the second is as long in coming as the first. Guyton is an artist in full possession of herself as an artist and voice of a generation.

The post ALBUM REVIEW: Remember Her Name – Mickey Guyton appeared first on off the record.

Capitol Nashville’s Mickey Guyton has released new track, “Love My Hair” from her forthcoming debut album Remember Her Name out September 24. Written by Mickey with Anna Krantz, the personal “Love My Hair” continues the theme of self-acceptance and embracing differences that is a thread throughout Remember Her Name.

If I could go back to twelve

I would tell myself

That straight up or down

Baby, that’s your crown

Whoever made up those rules

They don’t apply to you

Straight up or down

Turn the world around

“I wrote ‘Love My Hair’ after seeing a video of a little Black girl who was sent home from school because she was told that her hair was too distracting,” shares Mickey.  “Seeing this young girl’s embarrassment and agony brought me back to my own struggles with self-love and I wanted to write a song to this little girl facing adversity because of what God gave her. I want her and anyone facing similar struggles to feel seen.” The track continues to show Guyton as an artist with full command of her own artistry and vision, with superb results.

 Mickey earned her first ever CMA nomination yesterday for New Artist of the Year, adding to the incredible year that has seen her co-hosting the 56^th Academy of Country Music Awards in April with labelmate Keith Urban, a historic performance and nomination for “Black Like Me” on the 63^rd GRAMMY Awards in March and “Black Like Me” being named a Top 5 song of 2020 (all genre) by NPR and The Associated Press.

Billboard recently featured Mickey on their cover and The New Yorker also profiled her in a recent issue.  Over the last year she has been featured in American Songwriter, BBC News, CBS This Morning, Disney+ Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts, Ebony, Elle, Entertainment Weekly, Essence, HITS, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine’s Vulture, New York Times, PEOPLE, Pollstar, Rolling Stone, Today Show, USA Today, Variety, VIBE, Vogue, Washington Post and many more.

Today, Mickey also has her rendition of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” available as part of The Metallica Blacklist celebrating the band’s 30^th anniversary celebration reissue of The Black Album. Listen HERE

For more information visit www.mickeyguyton.com

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Capitol Nashville artist Mickey Guyton has released a new song, All American from her album Remember Her Name which will be released on September 24th. Mickey co-wrote the song with Victoria Banks, Emma-Lee and Karen Kosowski, the same songwriting team who wrote the critically acclaimed “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” The track yet again showcases the formidably unique power of Guyton’s vocal and her extraordinary ability to imbue meaning into her tracks and petition for unity through music.

“I wrote ‘All American’ with my dream team of incredible female writers,” explains Mickey. “This song embodies everything that makes America special. From a Texas sky to New York City lights and daisy dukes to dookie braids, despite all our differences, we are all American.” 

We got the same stars, the same stripes

Just wanna live that good life

Ain’t we all, ain’t we all

All American

Mickey is coming off an incredible year that saw her co-hosting the 56^th Academy of Country Music Awards in April with labelmate Keith Urban, a historic performance and nomination for “Black Like Me” on the 63^rd GRAMMY Awards in March and “Black Like Me” being named a Top 5 song of 2020 (all genre) by NPR and The Associated Press. Like Black Like Me, ‘All American’ is another display of the unique voice of Mickey Guyton, both lyrically and sonically.

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Capitol Nashville’s Mickey Guyton released the title track today from her album, Remember Her Name.  The song written by Guyton, Parker Welling, Black Hubbard and Jarrod Ingram and produced by Karen Kosowski is an anthem about finding strength through hard times.

Remember the fire

Remember her face

She felt the storm and danced out in the pouring a rain

Remember her laughing

Through all the pain

Remember the girl that didn’t let anything get in her way

Remember her name

“‘Remember Her Name’ is a song for anyone who has ever felt less than, forgotten or up against impossible obstacles,” shares Guyton. “I hope this song is a reminder of the importance of self-worth and the power of persistence and perseverance.” The track showcases the power and range of Guyton’s vocal that rivals that of the greats, from Mariah Carey to Celine Dion, simply flawless lyrically and sonically.

Mickey is coming off an incredible year that saw her co-hosting the 56^thAcademy of Country Music Awards in April with labelmate Keith Urban, a historic performance and nomination for “Black Like Me” on the 63^rdGRAMMY Awards in March and “Black Like Me” being named a Top 5 song of 2020 (all genre) by NPR and Associated Press.

On July 28, Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts premiered on Disney+ including an episode featuring Mickey, Jamie Lee Curtis and Billie Jean King. Mickey was also recently featured on the cover of Billboard and profiled in The New Yorker.  Over the last year she has been featured in American Songwriter, BBC News, CBS This Morning, Ebony, Elle, Entertainment Weekly, Essence, HITS, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine’s Vulture, The New York Times, PEOPLE, Pollstar, Rolling Stone, Today Show, USA Today, Variety, VIBE, Vogue, Washington Post and many more.

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Mickey Guyton has announced that she will release her album, Remember Her Name, on September 24th.  Mickey co-penned 15 of the 16 songs on the album. Remember Her Name follows the release of her critically acclaimed EP Bridges which included “Black Like Me” for which she went on to receive a historic GRAMMY nomination.  Her performance on the prestigious GRAMMY show was the first by a Black female country artist and was touted by NPR as “the night’s most affecting live performance.”

“Remember Her Name is a culmination of the last ten years of my life in Nashville,” shares Guyton.  “This album is the closing of a chapter.  All those years ago, I set out to create music that would make people feel self-empowered, loved, and comfortable with being themselves and this album holds true to all of that. I hope everyone who listens finds something that connects and speaks to them.”

Mickey is coming off an incredible year that saw her co-hosting the 56^th Academy of Country Music Awards in April with labelmate Keith Urban, a historic performance and nomination for “Black Like Me” on the 63^rd GRAMMY Awards in March and “Black Like Me” being named a Top 5 song of 2020 (all genre) by NPR and The Associated Press.

Mickey Guyton’s Remember Her Name

Track List

Remember Her Name (Mickey Guyton, Parker Welling, Blake Hubbard, Jarrod Ingram)

Produced by Karen Kosowski 

All American (Mickey Guyton, Victoria Banks, Emma-Lee, Karen Kosowski)

Produced by Karen Kosowski 

Different (Mickey Guyton, Emma-Lee, Karen Kosowski)

Produced by Karen Kosowski 

Love My Hair (Mickey Guyton, Anna Krantz)

Produced by Karen Kosowski with additional production by Johnny Simmen 

Lay It On Me (Mickey Guyton, Jaden Michaels, Gavin Slate)

Produced by Karen Kosowski and Gavin Slate 

Higher (Mickey Guyton, Nathan Chapman, Fraser Churchill, Preston Glass, Narada Walden)

Produced by Nathan Chapman 

Dancing In The Living Room (Mickey Guyton, Karen Kosowski, Victoria Banks, Emma-Lee)

Produced by Karen Kosowski 

Do You Really Wanna Know (Mickey Guyton, Melissa Fuller, Andy Skib)

Produced by Andy Skib 

Black Like Me (Mickey Guyton, Emma Davidson-Dillon, Fraser Churchill, Nathan Chapman)

Produced by Nathan Chapman and Forest Whitehead 

Words (Mickey Guyton, Abbey Cone, David Kalmusky)

Produced by David Kalmusky 

What Are You Gonna Tell Her? (Mickey Guyton, Karen Kosowski, Victoria Banks, Emma-Lee)

Produced by Karen Kosowski 

Smoke (Mickey Guyton, Nathan Chapman, Balewa Muhammad)

Produced by Karen Kosowski 

Rosé (Mickey Guyton, Karen Kosowski, Victoria Banks)

Produced by Karen Kosowski and Forest Whitehead 

Indigo (Mickey Guyton, Jimmy Robbins, Laura Veltz, Mozella)

Produced by Jimmy Robbins 

If I Were A Boy (Toby Gad, Brittany Jean Carlson)

Produced by Karen Kosowski 

Better Than You Left Me (Fly Higher Version) (Mickey Guyton, Nathan Chapman, Jennifer Hanson, Jenn Schott)

Produced by Johnny Simmen 

For more information visit www.mickeyguyton.com

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