[tps_title] 10. ‘Neon Christmas’ – Mitchell Tenpenny [/tps_title]

Neon Christmas is the lead-out track on Mitchell Tenpenny’s brand-new Christmas record Naughty List out everywhere now. It infuses the best of Tenpenny’s signature charm into a humble and polished country song with a Christmas twist.

The post Our 10 Favourite Country Christmas Songs appeared first on off the record.

Dan + Shay have released their brand new festive Christmas track, ‘Officially Christmas’ – a simply superb Christmas original, brimming with the joy of the season. The track follows the release of their original song, ‘Pick Out a Christmas Tree’ earlier this month exclusively with Amazon Original. The duo are currently nominated for the CMA Vocal Duo of the Year Award and are set to perform at the awards tonight at 8pm ET on ABC.

The duo released two original holiday songs last year – ‘Take Me Home for Christmas’ and ‘Christmas Isn’t Christmas’ – that earned nearly 100 million global streams. This track celebrates all the joy and love of the holiday, as the duo sing, ‘Everybody’s starting to feel it / Starting to feel it in the air / All of the sidewalks / All of the streetlights / Holiday magic everywhere / Then it hits me / It’s officially Christmas / And I’m officially yours / I’m officially wishing / For something not in a store / It’s already December / The snow’s falling too / Then all of a sudden, it’s true / It’s officially Christmas / Now that I’m with you / Waiting for Santa / Here by the fire / Listen for footsteps on the roof / “Jingle Bell” rocking / Over the speakers / Singing along just like we do / We’ve been counting down the days all year / Raise a glass, it’s finally here.’

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GRAMMY® Award winning superstars Carrie Underwood and Dan + Shay have released their much-anticipated collaboration “Only Us” as the next song to be unveiled from the Dear Evan Hansen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), releasing on September 24 through Capitol Records UK. Additionally, they’ve shared an in-studio performance video with footage from the film to accompany the track.

Underwood and Dan + Shay have come together for the first time for a powerful and passionate recording of this soaring ballad, produced by Dan (Smyers). They’ve ultimately delivered the collaboration audiences have clamoured for over the years—and are finally receiving now.  Also released today is the film version of “Only Us” performed by Kaitlyn Dever & Ben Platt.

The full lineup of artists has been revealed for the soundtrack, including Sam Smith with Summer Walker, SZA, Carrie Underwood and Dan + Shay, FINNEAS and Tori Kelly. Plus, the 16-track album features new recordings by the film cast of these beloved songs with music and lyrics by the Oscar^®, Grammy^®, and Tony^® winning songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman). Among the new songs, the Soundtrack also includes “A Little Closer” performed by Colton Ryan and “The Anonymous Ones” performed by Amandla Stenberg, who co-wrote the lyrics and music with Pasek and Paul. FINNEAS and SZA add their renditions of these originals to the soundtrack.

Last month, Universal Pictures & Interscope Records unveiled new renditions of the film’s iconic anthems “Waving Through A Window” and “You Will Be Found” performed by Tony^®, Grammy^® and Emmy^® winner Ben Platt, who originated the role of Evan Hansen on Broadway and reprises the role for the film. 

Pre-order the Dear Evan Hansen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) here.

Tracklist:

1.Waving Through A Window – Ben Platt & Dear Evan Hansen Choir

2.For Forever – Ben Platt

3.Sincerely Me – Colton Ryan, Ben Platt & Nik Dodani

4.Requiem – Kaitlyn Dever, Danny Pino & Amy Adams

5.If I Could Tell Her – Ben Platt & Kaitlyn Dever

6.The Anonymous Ones – Amandla Stenberg

7.You Will Be Found – Ben Platt, Amandla Stenberg, Liz Kate, DeMarius Copes, Isaac Powell, Hadiya Eshe’, Kaitlyn Dever & Dear Evan Hansen Choir

8.Only Us – Kaitlyn Dever & Ben Platt

9.Words Fail – Ben Platt

10.So Big / So Small – Julianne Moore

11.A Little Closer – Colton Ryan

12.You Will Be Found – Sam Smith feat. Summer Walker

13.The Anonymous Ones – SZA

14.Only Us – Carrie Underwood & Dan + Shay

15.A Little Closer – FINNEAS

16.Waving Through A Window – Tori Kelly

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[tps_title] 10. ‘Yours’ – Russell Dickerson [/tps_title]

Russell Dickerson’s breakout hit ‘Yours’ may be one of the ultimate country music wedding songs, celebrating his gratitude at being his lover’s partner in life – plus, did we mention his wife Kailey was behind the music video?

The post Our Top 10 Country Music Wedding Songs appeared first on off the record.

Two-time Grammy Award winners, Dan + Shay, have today shared their brand new single ‘Glad You Exist,’ following hot on the heels of their eighth number one country single – ‘I Should Probably Go To Bed.’ The new song is filled with hope and gratitude to their legions of fans, written by the duo alongside Ryan Lewis, Tayla Parx and Jordan Reynolds.

Dan + Shay announced ‘Glad You Exist’ with a special message:

“To us, ‘Glad You Exist’ is more than just a song. It’s a message of gratitude and hope. A message to everyone in our lives: our fans, our friends, our families, to remind them all how grateful we are to be on the planet at the same time. It’s truly remarkable when you think about it.

We’ve spent the majority of the past year, like many others, searching for answers and a sense of normalcy, but finding comfort in memories of better days (that we all know will return soon). Concerts, bonfires, road trips with friends, even the simple things like date night at a restaurant, or beers at a bar during a football game.

This song has taken on a new meaning not being able to see our loved ones in person, but throughout history, music has always had a special way of bringing people together, even when we are furthest apart. These words hold a special place in our hearts, and hopefully they will in yours too. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again (and again). We’re just so glad you exist. Every. Single. One of you.”

Dan + Shay have also recently been announced as Blake Shelton’s Battle Advisors on the American edition of ‘The Voice’ for the show’s milestone 20^th season, having completed multiple performances on the show, including last December with their original festive song ‘Take Me Home For Christmas’.

The 6 x Platinum ‘Tequila’ laid the groundwork for Dan + Shay’s enormous success. Their recent track ‘I Should Probably Go To Bed’ surpassed a million US track equivalent sales and over 210 million streams in five months. The duo shattered records with ’10,000 Hours’, their collaboration with Justin Bieber, which became the biggest first week streaming total in country music history. Accumulating over 1.5 billion global streams to date, the track was the fastest country song to reach over a million US track equivalents in 2019 and spent 21 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart (the 5^thlongest run in chart history).

Dan + Shay have earned multiple Grammy, CMA, ACM, American Music and Billboard Music Award wins and nominations, and are currently up for their third consecutive Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. In the seven years since they formed, Dan + Shay have surpassed seven billion global career streams (with over four billion in 2020 alone), accumulated 35 RIAA certifications and achieved eight #1 singles at country radio.

The post Dan + Shay Return With New Single ‘Glad You Exist’ appeared first on off the record.

Dan + Shay are finally back with their anthemic new single – “I Should Probably Go To Bed.” The single is available worldwide now (LISTEN HERE). The track was written earlier this year and entirely produced by the group’s Dan Smyers – every instrument was performed and recorded by Smyers at his home studio in Nashville, TN. The result is an incredible, empowering and anthemic track that sees Dan + Shay again change the game with their music.

“I Should Probably Go To Bed” follows on the heels of the duo’s multi-week No. 1 hit“10,000 Hours” (with Justin Bieber), which became the biggest first-week streaming total in country music history and was the fastest country song to reach one million U.S. track equivalents in 2019, earning over 3.1 million U.S. track equivalents to date, and more than one billion global streams. “10,000 Hours” is the first song by a country duo or group ever to debut in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 5, and spent 21 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs (4th longest run in chart history). The worldwide smash has achieved 2x Platinum certification in Australia and Canada, Platinum certification in the Netherlands, and Gold certification in four other countries.

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Announced this week, the nominees for the 2020 ACM Awards are in. The nominees were announced Thursday morning with Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett and Producer Dann Huff each receiving five nominations. Reigning Duo of the Year Dan + Shay earned four nominations. ACM Award-winning producer busbee was posthumously nominated for two awards. Urban who has won 15 ACM Awards in his time, will host the awards for the first time this year.

Entertainer of the Year
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Carrie Underwood

Yet another EOTY category where women are under-represented. We hope Carrie finally wins this one and gets what she deserves after that CMA snub. Still, this category has definitely been shaken up with 4/5 of the nominees not selected in 2019, and two (Combs and Rhett have never been nominated before).

Prediction: Luke Combs

Female Artist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

This is such a stacked category, yet there is one artist that was clearly snubbed, having won her first Grammys this year – Tanya Tucker. Still, we can’t think of any of these women we want removed from this list to give her space, so we’re going to let that one slide…

Prediction: Miranda Lambert

Male Artist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

There’s a few notable names snubbed from this list – including Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, yet this trio have been so heavily awarded in the past, it seems time to give the awards on to new nominees, still we would have loved to see Kane Brown on this list…

Prediction: Luke Combs

Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie and Tae

It’s been one hell of a year for all of these nominees, yet it feels like Dan & Shay have entered new territory with their latest record and collaboration with Justin Bieber.

Prediction: Dan + Shay

Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
The Highwomen

We are loving the fact that The Highwomen made their way onto their list. What we’re not loving? That Runaway June didn’t. It’s been a huge year for all of the bands on this list, releasing new records, tours and babies, still there’s one group we’re putting our money behind in shaking up the country landscape…

Prediction: The Highwomen

New Female Artist of the Year
Ingrid Andress
Gabby Barrett
Lindsay Ell
Caylee Hammack
Tenille Townes

When you look at this list, it seems incredible that country radio are still not supporting women. This list is full of the future of Nashville in powerful songwriting, vocals and vision, and if we’re honest, we want them all to win.

Prediction: Caylee Hammack

New Male Artist of the Year
Jordan Davis
Russell Dickerson
Riley Green
Cody Johnson
Morgan Wallen

This is another stacked list, and another it’s hard to differentiate one name from. We’d have loved to have seen Mitchell Tenpenny make this list..

Prediction: Morgan Wallen

Album of the Year
Center Point Road – Thomas Rhett
Girl – Maren Morris
Heartache Medication – Jon Pardi
What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs
Wildcard – Miranda Lambert

Dare we say it? We wish that Thomas Rhett’s record had been replaced by Lady Antebellum’s on this list, which feels like a notable snub to a body of work that we believed was so strong.

Prediction: Girl – Maren Morris

Single of the Year
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Rainbow” – Kacey Musgraves
“Rumor” – Lee Brice
“What If I Never Get Over You” – Lady Antebellum

Luke Combs’ material feels notably absent from this list, with the huge success of songs like ‘Beer Never Broke My Heart,’ colour us shocked. Still, there was one song that really hit home this year…

Prediction: “What If I Never Get Over You” – Lady Antebellum

Song of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“Girl Goin’ Nowhere” – Ashley McBryde
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Some of It” – Eric Church

Again, we’re shocked at the Luke Combs’ snubs, but there was one song that stood out at the CMAs and continues to stand out here.

Prediction: “God’s Country” – Blake Shelton

Video of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“God’s Country – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Remember You Young” – Thomas Rhett
“Sugarcoat” – Little Big Town

No words, just give the video a watch…

Prediction: “Remember You Young” – Thomas Rhett

Songwriter of the Year
Ashley Gorley
Michael Hardy
Hillary Lindsey
Shane McAnally
Josh Osborne

We’re shocked that Nicole Gallyon did not make the cut for this list, and we’re waiting for the day when Josh Kerr does.

Prediction: Ashley Gorley

Music Event of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“Dive Bar” – Garth Brooks feat. Blake Shelton
“Fooled Around and Fell in Love” – Miranda Lambert feat. Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack, and Elle King
“Old Town Road” – Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
“What Happens in a Small Town” – Brantley Gilbert feat. Lindsay Ell

It took the world by storm, so it wouldn’t seem right but to give the award to….

Prediction: “Old Town Road” – Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus

The 2020 ACM Awards will take place on April 4th.

The post 2020 ACM Awards Nominations: Our Thoughts, Predictions and Shocks appeared first on off the record.

The post Dan + Shay Launch New Single ‘10,000 Hours’ with Justin Bieber appeared first on off the record.

10. Drinkin’ Problem, Midland

Renowned for always having a drink in hand, it’s little surprise that Midland made this list. We’ve never heard as classy an admission of borderline alcoholism as this…

9. Bottoms Up, Brantley Gilbert

It’s all in the name… Brantley Gilbert delivers this stellar rock-edged single – a Friday night song if we ever did hear it.

8. Tequila, Dan + Shay

Perhaps a surprising choice, given its ballad-like nature, yet anyone who has ever heard ‘Tequila’ belted at karaoke will know this is in its rightful place.

7.  Beer Money, Kip Moore

Another one that should be served belted out by a live crowd, Moore delivers in true gritty fashion a world-class drinking anthem.

6. Day Drinking, Little Big Town

This might be the sweetest drinking song we ever heard, but it remains the most upbeat, day drinking song we’ve ever heard. The answer to the melody, yes? I mean Little Big Town did deliver a day drinking wine to prove just that.

5. Drinking Class, Lee Brice

Lee Brice makes us want to belong to the ‘Drinking Class’ in this anthem. Never gets old, even when someone accidentally presses that Spotify replay this one button…

4. Beer Never Broke My Heart, Luke Combs

Most people fell in love with this one before it was even released, Combs sings about the one thing that has never let him down – beer – and it’s a crowd pleaser every time (the hangover… not so much).

3. Beer In My Hand, Eric Church

This is one you’ve got to witness live, giving Church the perfect opportunity every time to raise one up and get the crowd to knock one back with him.

2. Drunk On A Plane, Dierks Bentley

We challenge you to watch this music video without smiling. Taken from Bentley’s seventh studio album, Riser, this is a party from the get go, talking about drowning his sorrows over a lost love on (yep you guessed it) a plane.

1. Boys ‘Round Here, Blake Shelton

Coupling up with Pistol Annies for this track, this is perhaps the most ‘bro-country’ of the songs on this list. Shelton effortlessly provides the anthem for men everywhere to raise one up.

The post The Top 10 Country Songs To Drink To… appeared first on off the record.

The past year for Dan + Shay has been transformative. Their latest, self-titled, album was a game-changer for the duo, with the leading single ‘Tequila’ picking up two Grammy nominations and garnering over 142 million streams on Spotify. From top to bottom the album was a masterpiece – a display not only in beautiful and touching songwriting, but a showcase in harmonising and of Shay Mooney’s exceptional vocal ability.

Dan + Shay are set as one of those country bands who have noticed the potential of the UK fan base – working hard to cultivate a fanbase this side of the pond. Every trip back to the U.K. results in a bigger, more epic show – upgrading from Bush Hall to Koko, a slot on the main stage at C2C in 2017 and finally now to Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Selling out the entirety of their headline tour, was therefore an indicator of just how large their UK fanbase are set to be – it would be no surprise to anyone if the Royal Albert Hall featured as a venue on their next tour. Anyone clued into country music in the UK would have noticed the anticipation building up to their last slot on the tour – with rave reviews for their performances on the European leg, including at Manchester, Cambridge and Birmingham – and so it was with improbably high expectations that I anticipated their sold-out London show.

From the starting drums on ’19 You + Me’ (their debut single) to the final notes of ‘Tequila’ this was a powerhouse of a set, the energy building to unprecedented levels, leaving every member of the audience radiant, reminding us of why we fell in love with country music in the first place.

The duo owned the stage. Dan Smyers’ energy was infectious, running around the stage like he was trying to reach a goal of 20,000 steps during the set, playing the guitar and interacting with the crowd without missing a beat of his backing vocals. Not to be outdone, however, Shay Mooney still provided plenty shimmying dance moves of his own, making the stage his own with his own cheeky, lovably relatable dance moves. The duo’s chemistry on stage is effortless, not putting a foot wrong, with an enviable camaraderie and jokey rapport between them. It’s shocking that this was their first performance at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, for the energy they brought to the stage would have befit artists on their third go-around.

Despite the high levels of energy though, the duo were still perfectly capable of providing those goosebump, emotional moments that make a performance memorable in their own way, such as in their stripped-back rendition of ‘My Side of the Fence’ and ‘Can’t Say No,’ counterbalanced by their band’s return for a personal favourite, the catchy and fun ‘Stupid Love.’ Frequently the duo appeared almost overwhelmed by the love they received from the crowd who bellowed back the entire back catalogue of their songs, including one moment where Shay appeared nearly on the verge of tears. Indeed, when the duo performed ‘From the Ground Up,’ the crowd sang along to every breath and gave the duo a mammoth standing ovation at the end – the applause continuing for an unprecedented amount of time. These kind of moments made them even more likeable – humble and relatable in equal measure; including when Shay recorded a video of the crowd shouting ‘Happy Birthday’ to his two-year old son Asher, remarking that his son would probably hate him for that in about ten years time…

Enough ink has already been spilled over Shay Mooney’s incredible vocals, but needless to say these were as faultless as ever – it is a testament to their power that ‘Keeping Score’ was sublime even without Kelly Clarkson’s exceptional vocals, as in the studio version.

The set was astutely composed, balancing their older tracks with the new. Perhaps where the shrewdness of their setlist was most evident was in the clever composition of their encore. The duo sandwiched their biggest tracks from their most recent album – ‘Speechless’ and ‘Tequila’ – with an incredibly energetic cover of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling.’ As if the entire audience had not had proof enough, their last performance of ‘Tequila’ left no doubt of both the ability of the duo to entertain and Shay Mooney’s vocals – with an unparalleled freestyle riff. To the rapturous reception of the track, the duo stopped mid-performance, jumping off the stage to finish the song in the middle of the crowded stalls, the audience bellowing along in their faces. It was one of those moments where music seemed to unite every person there in a truly magical atmosphere. On this performance alone. I would hasten to add that a CMA Entertainer of the Year award should be added to their trophy cabinet in the years to come.

It is quite some feat when an artist can leave the entire audience wanting more after a 95-minute set. When they said ‘can we just stay here forever?,’ I would venture to say that every person there would have been perfectly content to stay in the theatre for the entire night, given half the chance. I’m already anticipating their return to London to play the Royal Albert Hall – to say they deserve the slot would be an understatement.

Set List

1. 19 You + Me

2. Nothin’ Like You

3. Alone Together

4. All To Myself

5. Show You Off

6. All Nighter

7. Keeping Score

8. From the Ground Up

9. How Not To

10. Make or Break

11. What Keeps You Up At Night

12. My Side of the Fence

13. Can’t Say No

14. Stupid Love

15.I Like The Sound Of That (recorded by Rascal Flatts)

16. Lately

17. Speechless

18. Can’t Stop The Feeling (Justin Timberlake Cover)

19. Tequila

Stream the album here.

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