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Honky Tonk Mariachi Pioneer Stephanie Urbina Jones Releases “Falling Fearlessly” Featuring Vince Gill

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Stephanie Urbina Jones made a promise stick. When Vince Gill first heard her Honky Tonk Mariachi sound at Nashville’s 3rd & Lindsley more than a decade ago, he told her he’d be honored to sing with her on a future recording. That moment arrives on “Falling Fearlessly,” out now, with the official music video premiering alongside it.

The song comes from Urbina Jones’ album ‘Manuel’s Destiny’ and was co-written with Peggy Lynn Marchetti, daughter of country legend Loretta Lynn. The two writers found the song during a late-night writing retreat in Mexico, working under a full moon beside the Caribbean Sea. They came back to Nashville knowing they’d captured something that wouldn’t let go.

Gill’s background vocals add a warm emotional layer to a track already built around surrender and courage. It’s a love song that asks something of the listener, not just to feel the sentiment, but to recognize what it takes to follow it. “The heart has no borders,” Urbina Jones says. “It loves who it loves. When it calls you, follow it, it always knows the way.”

The official music video was filmed in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico by Cinnetica Films. Centered on a love story between a Hispanic man and a white woman, reflecting Urbina Jones’ own family heritage, the visual brings in dancers Hannah McCarthy and Arturo Jimenez Cano from Nashville and Mexico. The result is what Urbina Jones calls a “theater of love,” a cross-cultural story told with passion and without apology.

Urbina Jones is a No. 1 Texas Country Radio Artist and No. 1 Billboard Country Songwriter who made history as the first artist to perform with a mariachi ensemble on the Grand Ole Opry stage. She’s shared stages with Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, and The Time Jumpers, and has toured internationally throughout her career. Her Honky Tonk Mariachi sound draws from classic country, Americana, and mariachi traditions, rooted in her San Antonio and Nashville background and shaped by her deep admiration for Linda Ronstadt’s fearless movement across genres.

Yellowstone Star Luke Grimes Delivers His Most Personal Work Yet on Sophomore Album ‘Redbird’

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Luke Grimes made ‘Redbird’ the way country albums used to get made. Recorded primarily at Georgia May Studio in Savannah and Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, the 10-track sophomore album is out now via Range Music/MCA, produced by Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb, and built around Grimes’ steady baritone and emotionally direct songwriting.

“Making Redbird was a cathartic experience in many ways,” Grimes says. “Sometimes the highs and lows of life are too much to express with words, so song becomes necessary. As deeply personal as it is, the themes are simple and universal: love, loss, and learning along the way.”

Classic country foundations and organic instrumentation run through every track. Grimes co-wrote the majority of the album and contributed acoustic guitar, percussion, and drums throughout the sessions alongside Cobb and collaborators including Jessie Jo Dillon and Natalie Hemby. The production favors space over decoration, letting the songwriting carry the weight.

The album moves through a range of emotional territory with precision. “Drink Drink Drink” and “Haunted” wrestle with self-doubt and reckoning. “Without You,” “A Little More Time,” and lead single “Love You Now” sit with commitment, loss, and the discipline of staying present. It’s a record that rewards close listening.

Grimes grew up in Ohio playing music in church, listening to Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings. After years in Los Angeles and Montana during the filming of Yellowstone, he landed in Nashville and built a catalog that has now crossed 200 million global streams. His debut single “No Horse to Ride” debuted in the Top 10 on the Country Songs Sales Chart. ‘Redbird’ is the natural next step from an artist who knows exactly what kind of music he wants to make.

Audiences know Grimes best as Kayce Dutton on Paramount Network’s Yellowstone. He now stars in the leading role of CBS series MARSHALS, currently airing. The dual career isn’t a distraction. It’s context for an artist whose work across both screens and studios consistently comes back to character, storytelling, and restraint.

‘Redbird’ is out now via Range Music/MCA.

‘Redbird’ Tracklisting:

  1. High Rise Jeans
  2. Come Home
  3. Love You Now
  4. Hummingbird
  5. Drink Drink Drink
  6. Love Me That Way
  7. I’m Not Gonna Leave You
  8. Without You
  9. Haunted
  10. A Little More Time

The War And Treaty Bring Gospel Soul Power to Amazon’s ‘The Gray House’ With Diane Warren’s “If This Day”

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The War And Treaty have recorded some powerful music over the years, but “If This Day” lands in a different category entirely. Written by 17x Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren and performed by Michael and Tanya Trotter with their full gospel-rooted intensity, the track is out now as part of ‘The Gray House Original Soundtrack’ on Amazon Prime Video.

Warren wrote the song for ‘The Gray House,’ Amazon’s limited series about four women who run an Underground Railroad network that evolves into a wartime espionage ring. Executive produced by Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, and Lori McCreary, the series places music at the center of its emotional architecture, and “If This Day” is one of the soundtrack’s most significant pieces.

“‘If This Day’ is not only about these brave women of The Gray House,” Warren says. “It also applies to us all, to look at ourselves and ask did we do all we could do, did we stand up for those we needed to stand up for, did we live enough, love enough, forgive enough.”

Produced by Desmond Child, Marti Frederiksen, and Leslie Greif, the song pairs sweeping orchestration with the Trotters’ voices carrying both strength and vulnerability across every bar. Tanya Trotter described the moment Warren played it for them in her studio: “Michael and I were immediately captured by the lyrics.” Michael added, “Every day we all need to ask ourselves the questions asked in this song. It’s our way of staying humble and always in the posture of servanthood.”

The War And Treaty are two-time GRAMMY nominees, multiple ACM and CMA nominees, and Americana Honors & Awards Duo/Group of the Year. They’ve performed at the Grand Ole Opry and on the Super Bowl pregame stage. The New York Times noted that “love and connection is vital to the War and Treaty’s mission.” That description fits “If This Day” precisely.

The soundtrack opens with Willie Nelson’s “Heart Of America” and builds outward from there. The full roster includes Lainey Wilson, Yolanda Adams, Shania Twain and Drake Milligan, Killer Mike featuring Lena Byrd Miles, Larkin Poe, Adrienne Warren, and Scott Stapp. The War And Treaty appear twice, also contributing “Blood In the River.”

‘The Gray House Original Soundtrack’ is out now across all platforms.

Tracklisting — The Gray House (Original Soundtrack From the Amazon Series):

The War And Treaty — “Blood In the River”

Adrienne Warren — “Unholy Water”

Yolanda Adams — “Love Will Rescue Me”

The War And Treaty — “If This Day”

Scott Stapp — “Red, White, & Blue”

Lainey Wilson — “Dead End Red Dirt Road”

Larkin Poe — “The Devil’s Boat”

Killer Mike Featuring Lena Byrd Miles — “Smiling Eyes (Smiling Faces)”

Shania Twain and Drake Milligan — “I’ll Be Here With You”

Willie Nelson — “Heart Of America”

21-Year-Old Country Rising Star Dylan Conrique Bares Her Soul on Confessional New Single “Polaroid”

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Dylan Conrique traded Los Angeles for Nashville, and the adjustment wasn’t seamless. “Polaroid,” her first new music of 2026, documents exactly what that transition felt like, the self-doubt, the comparison spiral, and the slow work of talking yourself back to solid ground. It’s out now, along with an official visualizer directed by David OD.

Written with Tom Mann and Nicole Beaubien and produced by Brett Truitt, “Polaroid” is a slow-building country ballad anchored by tender acoustic guitar and harmonies that give the song a genuinely soothing quality. Conrique wrote it as a reminder to herself during a period of real confusion, and that origin shows in every line.

“When I first moved to Nashville, I felt so inspired by the city, but reality hit me hard,” Conrique explains. “I went through a phase of thinking, ‘I wish that could be me’ and ‘When will it be my time?’ When I wrote this song, I wrote it as a reminder that I’m okay, that everyone’s timing is different, and that nothing good comes from comparing myself to others. It’s been such a healing song for me.”

The visualizer, shot in black-and-white, places Conrique alone in a bedroom, away from the outside world. It captures the song’s interior mood without overplaying it. The final seconds, a quiet smile, land with more impact than anything louder could have managed.

“Polaroid” follows “How To Lose The Girl,” a fall 2025 release that landed on Billboard’s “5 Must-Hear New Country Songs” roundup. Before that came “Written In Stone,” a love song about the fear of losing someone irreplaceable. Taken together, the three singles reflect a songwriter building something with real depth and intention.

The backstory matters here. Conrique grew up on a farm in Northern California with country music as a constant, moved to Los Angeles young to pursue acting, earned a recurring role on ABC’s The Rookie, made her music debut at 15, went GOLD with the viral pop single “birthday cake,” collaborated with super-producer Max Martin, and headlined an international tour. Then she walked away from pop entirely and moved to Nashville to start over as a songwriter.

That’s not a pivot taken lightly, and “Polaroid” makes clear it wasn’t without cost. What Conrique has found on the other side of that discomfort is a sound rooted in her own experience, quiet, gently commanding, and built to last longer than a viral moment.

16-Year-Old Country Hitmaker Maddox Batson Takes His Live Worldwide Tour Across Europe This Month

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Maddox Batson is a 16-year-old wrapping up a 44-date worldwide headline tour. The Nashville-based country artist has spent 2026 crossing North America and now takes his Live Worldwide Tour into Europe this month, his first-ever headline run across Ireland, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

The tour arrives on the back of “If I See Her Again,” out now via Warner Records/Prosper Entertainment. Written with Grant Averill, Dave Cohen, and Jackson Foote, the track is an upbeat, groove-driven song about a missed connection and the moment you wish you’d said something. Batson puts it plainly: “You never get that time back. I think everyone can relate.”

The LA Times called him “a country Justin Bieber in the making.” He’s the youngest male to appear on Billboard’s 21 Under 21. Forbes, USA Today, American Songwriter, NBC Nightly News, and PEOPLE have all taken notice. A Grand Ole Opry debut and a Stagecoach festival appearance landed in 2025, alongside support dates on Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind Tour.

2026 has been Batson’s most ambitious year by a wide margin. Beyond the tour, he secured the first-ever artist collaboration in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s 150-year history, and won Good Good Golf’s Desert Open in Tempe, Arizona alongside Garrett Clark and Marissa Wenzler. More new music is also on the way.

“If I See Her Again” follows “Any Other Night,” a coming-of-age track combining smooth vocal flow, clean guitars, and a laid-back digital beat. Both singles point toward a young artist building a catalog with real range and consistent commercial instinct.

Tickets for all remaining shows are available now at MaddoxBatson.com.

Live Worldwide Tour 2026, European Dates:

12 May — Dublin, IE — 3Olympia Theatre

13 May — Glasgow, UK — SWG3 Galvanizers

15 May — Manchester, UK — Manchester Academy 2

16 May — London, UK — O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

19 May — Cologne, DE — Club Volta

20 May — Amsterdam, NL — Tolhuistuin

21 May — Hamburg, DE — Bahnhof Pauli

23 May — Oslo, NO — Vulkan Arena

24 May — Stockholm, SE — Fryshuset Klubben

Rick Monroe and The Hitmen Bring Crowd-Sourced Heart to New Country-Rock Single “Our Love”

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Rick Monroe and The Hitmen didn’t just make a song about community. They built the visual around it. “Our Love,” out now via Asylum 1212 Records/TLG/Virgin Music Group, arrives with an official lyric video crowd-sourced entirely from fan and friend submissions, candid real-life photos from the people who’ve followed Monroe throughout his career.

The song itself draws from 1970s country-rock with warm harmonies, ringing guitars, and emotionally grounded storytelling. The Eagles and Jackson Browne are the obvious reference points, but Monroe’s vocal delivery carries its own weight, unhurried and lived-in, the kind of voice that makes a lyric feel like something that actually happened.

“‘Our Love’ is about staying grounded when life pulls you in every direction,” Monroe says. “It’s about choosing love, even when it isn’t perfect, and seeing how fans connected to that message made this release even more meaningful.”

The Hitmen didn’t exist before the pandemic. Monroe had spent years as a solo act running through Nashville’s rotating cast of hired players. When the world shut down in 2020 and a planned West Coast tour evaporated, Monroe, Bobby Perkins, and Alan Beeler stayed together instead of scattering. Live streams from basements and garages kept them connected, and a standing Tuesday writing session between Monroe and Beeler eventually became the foundation of their current album.

Producer Malcolm Springer came in through mutual connections, and when he brought Jason Bohl into the studio, the band’s sound locked into place. The name came from a joke one night about how well everything was working. Someone said “The Hitmen” and it stuck.

Multi-Platinum Country Hitmaker Dierks Bentley Takes the “Off The Map Tour” to Amphitheaters This Summer

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Dierks Bentley has a specific idea of what a summer show should feel like. The “Off The Map Tour” runs through June and July across a limited run of amphitheaters, and the lineup he’s assembled around it reflects exactly that thinking.

Bentley hand-picked every act on the bill. Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder join on select dates, as do Kaitlin Butts, Cole Goodwin, Owen Riegling, and Mountain Grass Unit. It’s a roster built from genuine admiration, not obligation. “I am big fans of theirs,” Bentley says. “Can’t wait to get out there and watch their shows before we get to go out and do our thing.”

The tour follows stadium dates with Luke Combs this spring and arrives on the heels of Bentley’s newest album BROKEN BRANCHES. That record extends a catalog that includes eight No. One albums, 22 No. One songs, over 9.5 billion global streams, and 15 Grammy nominations. Membership in the Grand Ole Opry sits alongside all of it.

Bentley described the tour’s namesake song plainly: “Off The Map is about going to that place where you take a break from it for a little bit, whether it’s a bar stool sipping something cold, or a back porch down a back road.” The shows are built around that same release. Two hours away from everything else.

Beyond the road, Bentley runs four locations of his gastropub and live music venue Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, a Flag & Anthem lifestyle collection called Desert Son, and recently released a third expression of ROW 94, a Kentucky Straight Bourbon made with “three ingredients and the truth” at Green River Distilling Co. He also launched the Broken Branches Fund with Music Health Alliance, providing mental health support for music industry professionals.

Tickets are on sale now at Dierks.com.

Off The Map Tour Dates:

12 Jun — Rogers, AR (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Owen Riegling)

13 Jun — Kansas City, MO (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Owen Riegling)

25 Jun — Bonner, MT (w/ Mountain Grass Unit, Cole Goodwin)

26 Jun — Airway Heights, WA (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Cole Goodwin)

2 Jul — Colorado Springs, CO (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Cole Goodwin)

9 Jul — Gilford, NH (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Kaitlin Butts)

10 Jul — Bridgeport, CT (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Kaitlin Butts)

11 Jul — Canandaigua, NY (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Kaitlin Butts)

16 Jul — Wilmington, NC (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Cole Goodwin)

17 Jul — Charleston, SC (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Cole Goodwin)

18 Jul — St. Augustine, FL (w/ Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Cole Goodwin)

Dark Electronic Breakout ghostbells Arrive Fully Formed With Debut EP ‘Catacouture’

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ghostbells didn’t ease into this. The dark electronic duo launched their debut EP ‘Catacouture’ on Out of Line Music with nearly two albums’ worth of material already written, a label deal already signed, and a live debut at Poland’s Castle Party Festival under their belt, all before most people had heard a single note.

‘Catacouture’ is six tracks of icy new-wave melodies, 90s EBM pulse, pulsing basslines, reverb-drenched guitars, and hypnotic synth textures. It’s the kind of debut that sounds like a band who knew exactly what they were building before they let anyone else in the room.

The EP opens with “Darkness Saves,” ghostbells’ debut single, a track built on 80s-inspired melodies and 90s EBM energy where surrender becomes the whole point. From there, ‘Catacouture’ moves through melancholic romance, wrath, longing, and cinematic atmosphere across every track. Amplify The Noise described it as moving “with a predator’s grace through the neon-slicked alleyways of the modern club scene.”

ghostbells signed to Out of Line Music in June 2025 after spending nearly two years writing, recording, and producing visuals before approaching any label. Their release strategy since then has been deliberate, a new single and video every six weeks, building a global audience through touring and immersive visual storytelling. The UK tour supporting Ashbury Heights and a direct support run with industrial pioneers Die Krupps on their 45th anniversary U.S. tour have sharpened the band’s live presence considerably.

The upcoming schedule keeps ghostbells moving across multiple continents. Berlin’s Out of Line “The Weekender” Festival arrives May 7, followed by Pacific Northwest dates in Portland and Seattle in June. Manchester’s Infest Festival lands in August, and a Miami date closes out the year in November.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

7 May — Berlin, Germany — Out of Line “The Weekender” Festival

12 Jun — Portland, OR — The Coffin Club

13 Jun — Seattle, WA — Central Saloon

23 Aug — Manchester, UK — Infest Festival

14 Nov — Miami, FL — Las Rosas

Yorkshire Singer-Songwriter Fiona-Lee Confronts Rape Culture Head-On With ‘Every Woman’ EP

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Fiona-Lee writes songs that demand a response. ‘Every Woman,’ her second EP via Gravity/Capitol Records, is out now, and the Yorkshire songwriter isn’t interested in making anyone comfortable. The title track addresses sexual assault directly, calling out rape culture and the systemic failure to hold perpetrators accountable.

“‘Every Woman’ is about sexual assault, a subject that remains dangerously silenced,” Fiona-Lee says. “I want women to hear it and feel anger, not as something to suppress, but as something validating and energising. And I want men to hear it and know this song is addressing them, and calling on them to take responsibility.”

The track delivers on that intent. Frenetic guitars, biting vocals, and a call-to-arms structure make it one of the most direct pieces of songwriting she’s put her name to. Produced by Thom Lewis, the architect behind Sam Fender’s ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ and ‘Seventeen Going Under,’ the recording matches the weight of the writing.

Dork Magazine called her “East Yorkshire’s answer to PJ Harvey.” DIY Magazine drew comparisons to Florence Welch. Rolling Stone UK described her simply as “a very special artist.” BBC Radio 1’s Sian Eleri put it more bluntly: “An arresting voice that will stop you in its tracks. I love her so much.” These aren’t throwaway quotes. They reflect a songwriter consistently earning serious attention.

Fiona-Lee has already supported CMAT and Miles Kane, sold out a headline show in Leeds, and earned airplay across BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, and BBC 6 Music with Huw Stephens and Steve Lamacq. The press trail runs through The Telegraph, Clash, Rough Trade, Wonderland, and The Line Of Best Fit. The foundation is already there.

The live schedule keeps building. A support slot with Paul Weller at Ludlow Castle in July sits alongside summer festival appearances at Neighbourhood Weekender, Big Feastival, and Victorious Festival. Fiona-Lee is moving fast and the music is keeping pace.

‘Every Woman’ is out now via Gravity/Capitol Records on all digital platforms.

‘Every Woman’ EP Tracklisting:

  1. Erin
  2. Every Woman
  3. Imposter
  4. Not My Friends
  5. Rational
  6. Victim

Upcoming Tour Dates:

23 May – Neighbourhood Weekender, Warrington (UK)

17 Jul – Ludlow Castle, Shropshire (UK) w/ Paul Weller

28 Aug – Big Feastival, Kingham (UK)

30 Aug – Victorious Festival, Cornwall (UK)

Soul-Psych-Funk Nonet The Sh-Booms Drop First New Music in Six Years With “This Is a Test”

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Six years is a long time to wait. The Sh-Booms have ended it with “This Is a Test,” the title track from their new EP ‘This Is a Test,’ out now digitally and on limited 12″ vinyl. It’s the Orlando nine-piece’s first recorded music since 2019, and it lands with a sound that’s moved well past where they left off.

The single runs over six and a half minutes. Bandleader and bassist Alfred Ruiz describes it as “a sci-fi vision of two astronauts on a collision course in the cosmic ocean,” where euphoric intergalactic love collides with a mission that threatens everything. It’s a premise that sounds ambitious on paper, and the track earns it.

New Wave textures, post-punk lock-grooves, funk-driven vocoder passages, and widescreen space-rock builds all share space inside one song. There’s dancefloor urgency running underneath cinematic scale, and the combination works. Flood Magazine put it plainly, drawing comparisons to Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse, and Alabama Shakes.

Production came from Grammy-nominated engineer Alan Armitage (Boyz II Men) at his Orlando studio The Snake Arcade. Grammy Award-winner Emily Lazar (Beck, Vampire Weekend, Minus the Bear) handled mastering at The Lodge in New York. The technical pedigree behind this record is serious.

The Sh-Booms formed out of Orlando’s underground scene with Ruiz pushing the band toward a sound built around movement and communal energy. Vocalist Brenda Radney, previously signed to Justin Timberlake’s Tennman Records, joined in 2015 and shifted the band’s trajectory sharply upward. Festival appearances followed, along with shared stages with The Roots, Of Montreal, KRS-One, and a mini-tour with The B-52’s.

When 2020 shut everything down, the band regrouped at The Snake Arcade and went deeper. Soul foundations got layered with psychedelia, post-punk, New Wave, synth textures, and art-pop experimentation. ‘This Is a Test’ is what came out of that process, and it reflects every bit of that stretch.

The EP is out now digitally. The limited 12″ vinyl is available now everywhere. Pre-save and streaming at https://thesh-booms.hearnow.com

‘This Is a Test’ EP Track Listing:

Side A

  1. Love of a Ghost (Shivvvers)
  2. This Is a Test

Side B

  1. Broken Open
  2. Sin & The City (Heavy Weather)