Named 2020 ACM Awards New Male Artist of the Year, Billboard describes Riley’s music as “accessible, winning songs” while American Songwriter proclaims his “storytelling talents shine bright.” Whiskey Riff further notes he is part of a small group who have “brought country back to its roots: the blue collar sounds for the working man, by the working man,” evident in his No. 1 GOLD-certified debut “There Was This Girl” and PLATINUM-certified ballad “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” In addition to his own successful headline dates, Riley has previously hit the road with Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley and Jon Pardi. He joins Dierks Bentley’s BEERS ON ME TOUR beginning August 13 in Salt Lake City, UT.

Morgan Wallen has staked his claim as Country music’s next superstar with over 4 BILLION on-demand streams, MULTI-PLATINUM certifications, and four consecutive chart-toppers. The SNL guest’s widely praised sophomore effort, Dangerous: The Double Album (Big Loud/Republic Records), debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and earned the biggest streaming week for a Country album in history. It includes another record-breaking achievement in one of TIME‘s Top 10 Songs of 2020, “7 Summers” – which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and inside the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 – as well as 3X PLATINUM Diplo collaboration, “Heartless,” and recent PLATINUM chart-topper “More Than My Hometown.” As “the most wanted man in country” (The New Yorker), the Tennessee native has stacked up the accolades, winning 2020’s CMA New Artist of the Year and iHeartRadio’s Best New Country Artist awards, reigning #1 atop Billboard’s 2020 year-end Country Airplay chart with “Chasin’ You,” plus high-profile features in The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, The Washington Post, Genius, GQ and more.

Big Loud Records’ booming upstart HARDY broke new ground in 2020 with acclaimed debut album, A ROCK, “an album that owes as much to AC/DC as George Jones” and “one of the most self-assured full-length debut albums in years” (Billboard). The project follows 2019’s countrified mixtape HiXTAPE VOL. 1, and career-launching EPs THIS OLE BOY and WHERE TO FIND ME. Nominated for three 2021 ACM Awards, one of CRS’ 2021 New Faces of Country Music, a CMA Triple Play award recipient and a Vevo DSCVR artist, the pride of Philadelphia, MS has earned his reputation as “Nashville’s most clever new redneck songwriter” (Rolling Stone). The 2020 AIMP Songwriter of the Year has co-penned EIGHT #1 singles since 2018: FGL’s 2X PLATINUM “Simple,” Chris Lane’s 2X PLATINUM “I Don’t Know About You,” Blake Shelton’s 4X PLATINUM “God’s Country,” Morgan Wallen’s 3X PLATINUM “Up Down” and PLATINUM “More Than My Hometown,” LOCASH’s GOLD “One Big Country Song,” Jameson Rodgers’ PLATINUM “Some Girls,” and his own first-ever #1, PLATINUM “ONE BEER.” The current single “GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL” is a hard-charged tribute to a fallen friend, making a statement as the most-added single of the week at Country radio upon launch. Set to serve as direct support on Jason Aldean’s upcoming BACK IN THE SADDLE TOUR this summer, HARDY has also shared the stage with FGL, Chris Lane, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, and more.

With more than 2 million albums sold and over 1.7 billion total streams, plus a legion of
passionate fans at his high-energy concerts across the globe, Chase Rice has established himself
as a powerful force in Nashville and beyond – yet he genuinely sees new release The Album, out
now, as the launching pad for music that says what he wants to say, how he wants to say it. With
songs such as his Platinum-certified Top 10 hit “Lonely If You Are” and current single with
Florida Georgia Line, “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.,” this is the same gravelly-voiced
Chase Rice fans first fell in love with years ago – but better. Freer. Unbeholden and uninhibited,
somehow capable of evoking Chris LeDoux and The Chronic, campfire singalongs, and stadium
anthems, all at once. The series builds upon the success of his sophomore album, Lambs &
Lions, which featured the Double-Platinum, two-week chart-topper “Eyes On You” – Rice’s first
No. 1 as an artist and the most-streamed song of his career (nearly 500M streams to date). Lambs
& Lions followed Ignite the Night, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums
and No. 3 on the all-genre chart, producing a pair of Top 5 hits; “Ready Set Roll” and “Gonna
Wanna Tonight.” In addition to supporting Kenny Chesney’s The Big Revival stadium tour, Rice
has consistently sold out 2,500-3,000 seat venues on his own headlining tours and is set to join
Kane Brown’s Blessed & Free Tour in early 2022.

For more information, visit www.ChaseRice.com and follow Rice on Twitter and Facebook
@ChaseRiceMusic and on Instagram @ChaseRice.

Corey Smith, the fan-made man, has sold over 1 million concert tickets, 1.5 million digital singles, and over 220,000 albums.  Corey’s Spotify channel has amassed over 5.76 million listeners with more than 73 million streams and is currently averaging over 1.13 million streams each month.

Smith has amassed an unfailingly devout fan base, not only in his native Southeast region but all around the nation, simply by telling it the way it is.  He has released 10 albums—including 2011’s Top 20 release “The Broken Record”.  Corey has written every word on every album and has produced 9 out of 10 of the records. In Summer 2015, Corey teamed up with producer Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band) for his album, “While the Gettin’ Is Good,” released on Sugar Hill Records.  Smith’s concerts, which were documented on his last live record, “Live in Chattanooga”, regularly sell out, with audiences singing along to such fan favorites as the coming-of-age anthem “Twenty-One,” the nostalgic time warp “If I Could Do It Again” and the group hug “I Love Everyone”.  Corey has a consistent touring history, usually hitting around 120 dates per year, but recently has taken a pause from touring to undergo a risky eye surgery.  During his time at home, Corey has begun releasing solo acoustic tracks every week, directly to his devoted fan base via his YouTube series Songsmith Weekly and all music streaming platforms.  These tracks, such as “Cellophane”, “Where I Wish I Was” and “Going Blind” have re-energized his fan base.  Corey is planning in compiling these releases in a more traditional album format later this year and is currently on tour. 

With over 165 million on-demand streams, believers at country radio and the support of over a dozen digital tastemakers – Spotify, Amazon Music and Pandora among them – Kameron Marlowe has exploded onto the country scene, emerging as the big-voiced authentic talent modern fans crave. But if you ask the humble everyman himself, he’ll tell you straight up: He never saw this coming.

“I didn’t think I had what it took to be an artist,” says the all-natural singer-songwriter, blessed as he is with a tender, dynamic vocal growl. “So, I took a different route at first.”

Lucky for everyone, all roads lead to destiny. Now singed to Columbia Nashville and standing on the verge of a bright future, the North Carolina native is right where he belongs – in the spotlight. It just took a few twists and turns to get here.

BEXAR (pronounced ‘bear’) is comprised of Chris Ryan (lead vocals/guitar) and Logan Turner (vocals/banjo/guitar). The band met during CMA Fest at a writing session in historic East Nashville and used Ryan’s hometown of Bexar County, TX, as the group’s namesake. They self-released their eponymous debut EP in 2018 and have accumulated over 25 million streams to date. Now signed to Warner Music Nashville, BEXAR has been in the studio with producers Ross Copperman and Luke Laird working on brand new music that’s set for release later this year.

Dylan Schneider has been active in the Country music scene since his teens. Drawn to the storytelling aspects of Country music, the Indiana native started performing and writing songs at the age of 14, after meeting Brett Eldredge and singing with him on-stage during a concert. After that, he began posting videos to his Facebook page, where he’d cover popular Country songs, gaining a devoted online following. Since then, Schneider has made a name for himself in the Country music community, forging a sound that merges modern Pop sensibilities with a down-home feel. He’s been named an “Artist to Watch” (Taste of Country, Sounds Like Nashville) and declared by Billboard as “Country Music’s Next Rising Star.” He’s toured with Florida Georgia Line, Granger Smith, Mitchell Tenpenny and Chris Lane, co-wrote Dustin Lynch’s most recent Top 5 hit song “Momma’s House,” accumulated over one million social media followers and banked upwards of 186 million on-demand streams (and counting). Now, older, wiser and signed to BBR Music Group, the 21-year-old is back in the studio, recording new songs that properly capture his irresistible Rock-n-Roll edge and unrestrained Pop-Country swagger. Combining passionate lyrics infused with surging instrumentals and compelling, emotive vocals, Schneider’s haunting debut track from BBR Music Group, “Lost In A Small Town,” released earlier this year. Boasting a bolder, deeper aesthetic and lyrical undertone, Schneider’s pensively nostalgic track “21 And Over” and driving, soulful groove “Right Girl” are out now.

Words like “groundbreaking” and “trailblazing” are often overused. But for Country star Lily Rose, they may actually be an understatement.

An emerging singer-songwriter with a fresh perspective and forward-looking sound, she’s one of Country’s most innovative new talents, literally breaking ground in a format defined by tradition – with her own spin on those very same traditions.

The modern expression of Country’s most treasured ideal – pure, unflinching honesty – her debut hit “Villain” has revealed Rose as a talent both 100-percent unique and utterly relatable. It’s just a new generation of fans who are relating, as she reaches the previously unreached.

A Georgia native and lifelong dreamer, Rose grew up surrounded by music, drawn to the stage and soon to the page by game-changers from Bruce Springsteen to Keith Urban and Katy Perry. She followed those dreams to Nashville in 2017, but it wasn’t until “Villain” that the world heard what it was missing.

A soul-on-her-sleeve depiction of being cast the bad guy in a breakup, both vulnerable and defiant, Rose dropped the track in late 2020 after exploding from obscurity on TikTok. With its boundary pushing Country-meets-R&B sound, “Villain” went on to hit Number One on the iTunes all-genre chart before becoming a standout on SiriusXM’s The Highway, even reaching the top of the Hot 30 Weekend Countdown. Fans and critics alike were intrigued by her bold self-possession and dynamic, groove-oriented vocal. And now, a new chapter begins.

Signed to Big Loud Records / Back Blocks Music and Republic Records, Rose follows up with the new project, Stronger Than I Am – seven songs that capture the full picture of a truly unique artist. Sometimes fun, often romantic and at times destroyed by love itself, Rose emerges with a signature set that’s just as relatable and honest as she is, but unlike anything else in country.

Stronger Than I Am features Rose’s bold mix of personal lyricism and distinctive language, plus the hooky sonics of a post-genre fanbase. As she builds on the success of “Villain” with her focus firmly on integrity, pure-Country confessions merge with hip-hop beats and R&B flow – alongside another aspect of her “groundbreaking” relatability: Representation where there was none before.

Featuring four co-written tunes and three expertly-crafted outside cuts, Stronger Than I Am now brings credence to that “groundbreaking” label, as Rose begins to mark a tipping point in Country tradition.

My name is Cooper Alan. I’ve been on this planet 25 years; born and bred in the beautiful state of North Carolina…Go Heels! In addition to 4 years at UNC Chapel Hill, I also played every bar, college campus, and Honky Tonk that would let my band and me play. Through this, we became the “go to” band for great music and a high energy, all night throw down performance.

After graduation, I packed up my guitar and moved to Nashville as fast as I could, where I had the incredible luck of meeting hit songwriter/producer Victoria Shaw who signed me within weeks to a publishing deal. I’m still pinching myself!

Most nights you can find me playing in and around Nashville (click on tour dates above). Most days, I have the great privilege of writing songs with incredible co-writers like Rivers Rutherford, Gary Burr, Seth Mosley, Matt Nolen, Skip Black, Leslie Satcher, Will Robinson, Kent Blazy, James Dean Hicks, Lee Thomas Miller, and of course, Victoria Shaw.

My newest single, “Can’t Dance”, is OUT NOW and available on all streaming platforms! Make sure to save it to your playlists, share it with your friends, and follow my social media accounts to stay up to date on all of the exciting music news!

Hailing from a tiny town called Sylva, deep in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, John Morgan knows exactly where Country music comes from. And after signing to BBR Music Group via Jason Aldean’s Night Train Records imprint, he’s got strong ideas about where it’s going.

With a style that’s defined by melodic grit and a craftsman’s approach to songwriting, John brings a blue-collar toughness to Country that’s pulled straight from the only life he knows. Because to him, it’s time the genre rediscovered its rugged side.

“I think Country is coming back,” he says with steely-eyed confidence, ready to challenge a mainstream gone soft. “I think people are looking for that organic Country feel and everything that goes with it. I love Pop Country, too, don’t get me wrong. But I think it had a big moment and now people are ready to hear something different.”

If he plays his cards right, John may just be that something different. He certainly started out that way. Growing up in the Appalachian foothills, he was surrounded by natural beauty and natural music – which add up to a time-honored way of life. Immersed in Bluegrass tradition from before he could hold a pick, John grew into a talented guitar player, and for him, music was just part of the culture.

“It’s kind of handed down, and there’s a lot of people who just grow up with it,” he explains. “They don’t play out or try to pursue it, it’s just something you do – you grow up playing guitar or banjo—it’s part of your family heritage.”

John, however, was one of those people who did pursue it. His guitar playing began at eight years old, and by 10 he was good enough to hold down the rhythm section of a family band. They toured the Bluegrass-festival circuit each summer, and even though he gave it up for a stint in college, music had a hold on him.

After John returned home he fell right back into his old ways, inspired by six-string legends from Tony Rice to John Mayer. His guitar-playing obsession intensified and he began writing songs—making regular trips to Nashville and falling more in love with Music City each time. But it was a conflicted time, since John was also laying down roots at home. He bought an acreage and even began fixing up an old house … and then everything changed.

“I remember, I was sitting up on the main beam of the house, putting a roof on and it hit me,” he recalls. “It was like God was trying to get my attention, and suddenly I was like ‘I don’t feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.’ I haven’t had many of those moments in my life, but I remember sitting there like ‘I’ve gotta move to Nashville.’”

John followed the calling. He sold his land and toiled in nine-to-five obscurity for more than a year, before an only-in-Nashville story involving Uber drivers and impressive demos led to a writing session with Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy, who are incredible songwriters and longtime bandmates of Country superstar Jason Aldean. The hard-rocking Country tastemakers immediately recognized John’s potential and Aldean agreed. After cutting several songs written by John, including his GRAMMY® nominated and ACM “Single of the Year” Award winning No. 1 smash hit with Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You,” Aldean signed John to Night Train Records.

Now, as John works toward his debut, he’s like an apprentice to Aldean and his crew, learning to fuse guitar-driven country muscle with heart-on-his-sleeve firepower – and a bit of his Bluegrass background. John’s sleek, electrifying style features a hint of danger inside its sonic beauty, standing like the musical embodiment of his upbringing: A rugged backbone of Appalachian roots. A knack for the dark vs. light emotional contrast of Bluegrass. Calloused hands and tender heart.

“It’s kind of inevitable, I did it so long and it’s so engrained in me, it’s hard not to have those rootsy influences,” he explains. “I think Country is probably one of the most accepting genres of music and I love how many different sounds you get in one place. My goal is to have that classic-Country vibe with some modernization.”

John’s debut track, “Coldest Beer in Town” was released in 2021 while John toured the nation as part of Aldean’s Back In the Saddle Tour. It seems his hard work and toughness is already paying off, John will be representing his home state of North Carolina on NBC’s new show American Song Contest which premieres this March.

“All I’ve wanted since I got to Nashville was to make a living and have my buddies come out on the road with me – that was the dream,” he says. “To be honest, it still is. But I never saw this happening the way it did, and now my goal is to headline stadium tours and become successful in a way that benefits everybody who got me here. I’ve still got a long way to go—I’ve never been the most talented guy in this town. But I will say this: ‘You can always outwork somebody.’”

Straight from a Country song – two guys meet and start a band, realize the same girl broke their heart, and then make a spur-of-the-moment decision to hop in a car fueled on neon dreams en route to Nashville – but no, this is the real-life story of LAKEVIEW.

Jesse Denaro and Luke Healy make up the Nashville-by-way-of-Pittsburgh duo, infusing Country soul, Rock scope, and Pop ambition, into a singular style rooted in old school storytelling and elevated by carpe diem attitude and edgy production under Photo Finish Records.

“We love writing and we have a ton of songs that are traditional Country, but it’s cool to push the envelope and see what we can get away with too,” admits Healy. “We want to disrupt and blur the lines even more.”

Their no regrets introduction to the genre comes by way of “work hard, play harder” anthem, “Poor Me,”  and red flag-raising knockout, “Eyes Closed” – both tagging Denaro and Healy as co-writers and co-producers. Cody Quistad (X) co-penned “Poor Me” with LAKEVIEW, as Kevin Bard (Dan + Shay’s #1 hit “How Not To”) joined the pair as a co-writer on “Eyes Closed.”

Lap steel vibrates beneath a steady beat as guitar builds from a hummable riff into an electrified solo on “Poor Me,” with their debut chanting, “Take one down, pass it around, so poor me, poor me up another round.”

Grinding it out between odd jobs to make a buck, like bartending, building pools, bouncing, and sleeping in vans on tour with cold SpaghettiOs as their main meal, “‘Poor Me’ is about our lives,” explains Denaro, before Healy adds, “We both worked manual labor jobs and have shoveled the shit of life – but when we’d get a day off, we’d go harder than anybody that made the little money we did.”

“Eyes Closed” hits just as hard, but is more of a sucker-punch to the heart, with told-you-so lyrics and a pumped-up verby electronic production fueled by a driving backbeat. “We worked the hardest on ‘Eyes Closed’ in the studio because we needed to make sure that it got its do justice,” recalls Healy. “We feel like it’s one of the strongest songs we’ve ever been a part of.”

Late nights and early mornings under the influence of a bottle and guitar, LAKEVIEW has the DNA of Country music coursing through its veins. “It’s America’s music – this is our genre, being a born-and-raised American,” states Healy. “No matter what elements are going on in the music as far as production, the stories hold true. Country is all about connecting.” Denaro adds, “We hope people relate to us on that same level.”

 Originally from just outside New York City, Denaro was raised by musicians – as his mom was a piano teacher and his dad played the drums. Taught the drums by age 3 and later mastering the keys, he began performing live at 12, including playing worship at church until he was 22 years old. Healy, a native of Pittsburgh, relates to the same homegrown love of music, claiming, “It’s really special how that played a huge role in my life and I didn’t even realize at the time that my dad was basically teaching me how to write Country music – when he didn’t write music at all.” Healy further explains, “Taking long trips, going up to the lake to fish, or working in the driveway on the car’s brakes, even splitting wood – hated that by the way – but, he would always play these Country mixtapes he made. As a little kid I was singing these songs all the time and I didn’t even know they were Country songs, but growing older, I’m like, ‘Man, these songs were so good and so relevant, and they’re still relevant today.’ Nothing will ingrain as deep as those songs did as a kid.”

With a career backbone in Metal, as Healy notched ten years with Facedown Records’ Those Who Fear and Denaro a part of Von Wolfe, plus a heartbeat pulsing to mixtapes of Country legends such as Randy Travis, Don Williams, Conway Twitty, with a ‘90s dash of Toby Keith, Big & Rich, and Brooks & Dunn, LAKEVIEW is unapologetic in their cutting-edge sound. “We’ve come to realize that one of us without the other isn’t a good mix,” details Denaro. And Healy agrees, “This is not a business arrangement, these songs are an outpouring of what’s important to us and who we are musically to the core.”

Teasing a not-yet-released EP on deck that they co-wrote all tracks and co-produced, and party-charged atmosphere when they hit the road, LAKEVIEW is grabbing the attention of critics with Country Now dubbing them the “next big act in Country music” and being featured on The Boot’s New Songs You Need to Hear list. And they’re just getting started.

Roman Alexander’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released music here on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.