Do you follow us on instagram?! You should! If not, here’s a peek of Country Heartbeat‘s 9 most liked photos of 2016! I can’t wait to see what concerts and experiences 2017 brings!
Michael Ray
Happy Holidaze!
Happy Holidays from Country Heartbeat! Enjoy these holiday photos of Michael Ray and Parmalee that I took at WPOR’s Jingle Jam a couple weeks ago! Michael is wearing his Nana’s Christmas sweater for his performance, but when Parmalee took the stage, M. Ray came out dancing and wearing an ELF SUIT! He was such a good sport about it!
Then, check out the hilarious parody video that Parmalee made with Jake Owen singing about getting into the Christmas “spirits”. This video was released a couple days after Jingle Jam… I wish Parmalee had been wearing those outfits for our show!!!
And lastly, check out these awesome Christmas cards from BK & B.Cole and Hayley and Tyler, Florida Georgia Line and their wives! (And the Kelley’s 4 dogs. Sunday looks adorbs!)
Best wishes for a happy holiday season! Whatever you celebrate, I hope that it’s merry and bright!
Love, Jess
ACM Week – Day 4 – Party For A Cause
Saturday 4/2/16
Day 2 of the ACM Party For A Cause Festival was INSANE. Live country music from today’s top acts from noon to midnight! That’s twelve full hours of fun for myself and thousands of other country fans! It was a lot hotter in the desert today, and this Mainer was loving every minute of the heat!
Gates opened at noon and the Cabela’s Archery Tournament was finishing up inside the gates. Team Luke Bryan (consisting of Dustin Lynch, Eric Paslay and Kristy Titus) was competing against Team Justin Moore (consisting of Chase Rice, Chris Janson, Granger Smith and Wade Middleton)in a tic-tac-toe archery tournament. (Literally shooting arrows at the space where they wanted to place their “X” or “O”.) People were everywhere, trying to get the artists attention, waving their cameras and posters for them to sign. A few lucky groups got some selfies with Luke!
The only one that I was lucky enough to snag a photo with was Granger Smith (thank you for that Granger! Much appreciated!). I can’t wait to see where his career leads him after his first number one song, Backroad Song.
New Music Monday
Songs you should be listening to (and downloading!) right now:
Kelsea Ballerini, “Dibs”
Kelsea’s debut album, titled The First Time, came out last week… and I really hope that you all bought a copy! Kelsea is definitely the next big thing in the female country genre… you might know her from her first Top 10 Single, Love Me Like You Mean It. While her whole CD is amazing (even Taylor Swift thinks so!), I’m really liking this one right now. It screams girl power and confidence, knowing exactly what you want and going out to get it. I don’t see how anyone could not love Kelsea, she’s just so sweet and talented!
Michael Ray, “Run Away With You”
This song will always be special to me, because I got to hear the demo version back in October of 2013, way before it was released. I was at a bar in Nashville, hanging with some of Michael Ray’s band mates, and he let us listen to this song. My first thought was, “that’s totally going to be a big hit!” While Big & Rich cut it for their album, Gravity, you’ve got to hear Michael Ray’s original version, which I will always be partial to! (John Rich and Michael Ray wrote the song together.) Michael Ray’s version can be found on his EP which is ONLY available at Walmart! Get your copy here!
Drake White, “It Feels Good”
Just like the title suggests, this is really a “feel-good” song that perks you right up and makes you want to dance and/or stomp your boots! White combines some blues with his natural twang, and it’s nothing like all the other songs that you hear on the radio! This song has a very unique style and is sure to be a hit with both new-country and old-style country lovers! This is totally a fun-loving country summer jam! View the lyric video on YouTube!
Luke Bryan, “Kick The Dust Up”
I’ll always be partial to Luke, despite all of the cr@p he gets for his bro-country-hip-hop style. This song automatically had me bopping my head a long to the beat. Lyrically, it’s much like all of his other songs about partying in the middle of nowhere, moonshine, trucks burning up a back road, boots on, etc. Despite this, Luke knows what the radio stations want and he continues to deliver. It’s sure to be a summer hit! It’s definitely not my favorite Luke song, but I do love the guitar/banjo picking beat!
Outshyne, “Moonlight Crush”
This song is a bit older, being first released to Sirus/XM Radio in August of 2013. I’ve liked it since day one, but I’ve been really getting into it more lately with summer on it’s way. Boy meets girl, boy develops crush on girl. You know how you tend to love songs that you can relate to the lyrics? This song is magic to me for that reason. Everyone loves a good summer romance, right? 😉 Check out the music video!
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