It’s been a minute since we’ve been able to see Katie Armiger perform, no thanks to her former label Cold Rivers trying to blacklist her from the industry. Armiger has found her path, is going to College and working on new music! She hasn’t stopped fighting for her voice or for her music. The road may be long, the battle tough, but in the end, the truth will prevail.
Armiger performed some of her older material, along with new songs like “Keep It All Together” and a cover of Camila Cabello‘s “Never Be The Same.”
It’s such a strength and a testimony to hear the new music and see the creations that have been pent-up for the last few years. This is just the beginning of another road, and although Armiger has released many albums in the past, we have a feeling that the future ones are going to be even better.
It’s been several years since Mallary Hope has made an appearance at CMA Fest, and this year she took us to church! Hope has changed paths from Country Music to Christian, but she was still invited to take part in Spotify/Opry’s Hot Country/Christian Brunch at Blake Shelton‘s new restaurant Ole Red.
We had other plans during the time slot, but once Hope announced her performance we knew we had to be there! It’s been awhile since we’ve gotten to see her perform and after all, she is one of our favorites! Hope has been busy raising two little girls with her husband, Ryan Dokke and performing on the Winter Jam tour that recently wrapped. She has been working on new music since releasing her self titled debut Christian EP Mallary Hope.
WATCH MALLARY HOPE PERFORM HER UPCOMING SINGLE “ME”
Hope has had a big impact on the Country Music scene, writing songs for the likes of Lauren Alaina, Jana Kramer, Katie Armiger and the cast of the show Nashville. She has been featured on two of Darius Rucker‘s albums and contributed background vocals on Miranda Lambert‘s Platinum album.
Hope was the first performance of the day and CMA Fest goers were waiting a long time to get inside to experience Ole Red and all it has to offer. She did not disappoint and engaged the crowd to clap and sing along as she performed familiar songs and new ones as well. Hope is celebrating her birthday today! Happy Birthday Mallary! Enjoy the photos from her performance!
There are so many exciting parts about CMA Fest and nothing was quite as exciting as getting to sit down with Natalie Stovall and share some laughs and talk about her new single “Can’t Love You No More.” Stovall has an infectious personality along with a big smile, bright eyes, and an incredible laugh. She has opened for the likes of Keith Urban (her favorite)and Bobby Bones.
Stovall recently competed on The Voice for #TeamBlake and has been releasing new music all year! She also told us about performing with Urban and what a champion he is of musicians. He even called her out on stage for an epic back and forth solo/duel during a recent performance!
Stovall’s latest single “Can’t Love You No More” which brings her back to her roots. “It’s uptempo, I’ve got my Gospel choir back on it.” She continued; “The last couple of songs that I’ve released have been a little more of the serious side. They’ve just been songs that have been on my heart and I’ve wanted to release for a long time. Now that we’re coming back into summer, I thought ok it’s time to do something that’s more like my live show.”
LISTEN TO “CAN’T LOVE YOU NO MORE”
Stovall also told us about a revival of the Three Girls Rock Into A Bar Tour with Kelleigh Bannen and Ruthie Collins, along with some headlining shows and launching The Red Balloon Tour which goes along with her new single “Can’t Love You No More.”
We chatted with Stovall about which show she would like to be a guest star on (FRIENDS), what she would like to be doing if she wasn’t in music (Counseling), a country she would like to visit she’s never been to and more! Check out our fun interview below.
One of the best parts of CMA Fest, is that almost every Country Music artist out there will come around for one glorious weekend, to meet fans, perform their music and spread joy to both longtime listeners and new. Jenny Tolman didn’t have to travel far for the biggest weekend in Country Music, as she is a native Nashvillian aka a Unicorn! (She told us that is what the natives are called since there are few and far between.) With such a diverse group of people coming together to create and write songs, Tolman’s latest “Something To Complain About” is one that touches the heart.
She told Variety Beat about the inspiration behind the single, stating that a friend of hers was having difficulty getting pregnant and how she heard other moms complaining about how difficult their kids are and how they no longer have time for themselves. She said: “I wish I had something like that to complain about.” Thus giving birth to the idea for the song, which shows how grateful we should be for the things we have.
It’s all too real and I find myself, with millions of things to do, no time to work on things that need to get done (like this article and many more like it) because my daughter says “I want to cuddle with you.” How can you say no? Sometimes it’s frustrating to never accomplish much, but I think about how fast time goes and how soon will the time be here where she probably will want to just stay in her room all day and no longer be asking to play hide-and-seek or tag. When I find myself getting crabby, I think about all the parents who have lost their children to cancer or other things, and how much they would long for just one more day. It really puts things into perspective and that’s another reason why this song is so special. It isn’t limited to one specific thing but applies to so many different scenarios; friendships, family, loss of opportunities or jobs, etc. The message is also just to be grateful for the things we do have and that message is something Tolman finds herself wanting to spread to everybody she meets and who listen to her music.
WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “SOMETHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT”
Being grateful is another thing Tolman likes to touch upon, as she shares on her social media sites every Sunday, something she’s grateful for and encourages others to leave comments saying what brings them Joy. #JennysJoyJar
Talking with Tolman, we discovered she is a big fan of Dolly Parton, Gluten-free baking and she’s hoping Ellen Degeneres never scares her with ______ if she is a guest on her show! Watch our interview to find out what scares her and more!
With CMA Fest approaching, CMA Fest has announced more stages See the lineup for the Close Up Stage Below!
Thursday, June 7th 2018
10:00am-10:45am Marine Corps band
11:00am-12:00pm Dierks Bentley (Artist of the day)
12:15pm-1:15pm Ricky Skaggs
1:30pm-2:30pm Song Suffaragettes
2:45pm-3:45pm The Making of Words with Sara Evans
4:00pm-5:00pm CMA Fest Match Game hosted by Adam Wurtzel
Friday, June 8th 2017
11:30am-12:30pm Luke Bryan (Artist of the Day)
1:00pm-2:00pm Good Ole Days With Storme Warren
2:15pm-3:00pm Bluebird Cafe Songwriters round featuring Jake Etheridge, Tenille Townes, Adam Hambrick
3:15pm-3:45pm TG Sheppard and Kelly Lang
Saturday, June 9th 2018
11:00am-12:00pm Dustin Lynch (Artist of the Day)
1:30pm-2:30pm Hunter Hayes
2:45pm-3:45pm From ABC to CMA With The Goldbergs’ Hayley Orrantia hosted by Mark Bright
4:00pm-5:00pm Song Suffragettes
Sunday, June 10th 2018
11:00am-12:00pm Kelsea Ballerini (Artist of the day)
12:15pm-12:45pm Bill Anderson and Bobby Bare – American Legends
1:00pm-1:45pm Ray Stevens Celebrating a 60 year career
2:00pm-3:00pm Restless Heart celebrating their 35th Anniversary
3:15pm-4:00pm Exile beating the odds surviving 55 years in music
4:15pm-5:00pm Naomi Judd – “How to survive anything”
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