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Nashville’s BIG BASH Announces Final Star-Studded Lineup for New Year’s Eve

Eric Alper
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Nashville’s BIG BASH Announces Final Star-Studded Lineup for New Year’s Eve

The final star-studded performers have been announced for the five-hour TV special, NEW YEAR’S EVE LIVE: NASHVILLE’S BIG BASH, airing live on Wednesday, December 31, on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+. The massive broadcast will feature performances from Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts, Riley Green, Marcus King, Megan Moroney, Zach Top, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Stephen Wilson Jr., and Dwight Yoakam from venues and clubs across Nashville. These newly announced performers join previously confirmed headliners Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson, and Bailey Zimmerman, who will be performing live from Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.

The special will air across multiple time zones, including the traditional countdown at midnight Eastern and the renowned Nashville Music Note Drop and celebratory firework display at midnight Central time. The official in-person watch party for NASHVILLE’S BIG BASH will take place at Luke Combs’ Category 10, featuring a live performance from Dwight Yoakam with newly added Marcus King and special appearances by Cody Alan and Caylee Hammack. The watch party is free and open to fans 21 and older on a first-come, first-served basis.

Counterglow Releases Debut Album ‘echoes of self’ and Announces Hamburg Headlining Show

Eric Alper
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Counterglow Releases Debut Album ‘echoes of self’ and Announces Hamburg Headlining Show

The Hamburg-based alt-pop duo counterglow, the collaborative project of indie artists Lauren Goodley and Jonas Grell, is thrilled to announce the release of their debut album, ‘echoes of self’, alongside their first headlining show on December 18 in Hamburg, Germany. The duo crafts a signature sound that feels like floating through a cosmic dreamscape, blending dream-pop, indie-soul, modern psychedelia, lush synth textures, and jazzy grooves with soft, echoing vocals. What began as carefree late-night experiments and exploration quickly revealed a unique creative identity, with the resulting 11-track album becoming an emotional roadmap of early adulthood, reflecting on pressures, self-doubt, finding love, and ultimately realizing, as the band puts it, “you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

‘echoes of self’ was never meant to be an album, but the first track they wrote, “soon,” solidified the project and led to the creation of counterglow. Though inspired by artists like Tame Impala and Beach House, the final record spans ethereal dreamscapes and atmospheric grooves that are resolutely their own. The album captures key personal themes—the pressures of success, anxiety, loneliness, growth, and acceptance—and is a compelling entry into a sound universe where emotion, imagination, and atmosphere intertwine with a magic uniquely their own.

IGNESCENT Unveils New Single “Light Up The Night” From Upcoming Album ‘Eternal’

Eric Alper
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IGNESCENT Unveils New Single “Light Up The Night” From Upcoming Album ‘Eternal’

Female-fronted Chicago rockers IGNESCENT are excited to unveil their new single, “Light Up The Night,” along with a visualizer video, taken from their powerful upcoming studio album, ‘Eternal’, out on March 20, 2026, via Frontiers Music Srl. Frontwoman Jennifer Benson notes that the track is a worship song about the light Jesus brings at Christmas, co-written alongside Christopher Marvin of The Spark, whose recent work features Ledger of Skillet. The band is beyond excited for the new record, declaring it a “battle cry – for faith, for hope, for forever,” showcasing a fierce contemporary metal sound reminiscent of Flyleaf, Evanescence, and Skillet, blending raw emotion with driving riffs and soaring melodies.

‘Eternal’, produced by Jeremy Valentine and Brandon Wolfe, features a collection of modern metal anthems, including “Fearless,” co-written with Sameer Bhattacharya of Flyleaf, and “Chariot Of Fire,” featuring Clint Lowery of Sevendust. Over the course of their career, IGNESCENT has made a notable impact on the rock scene; their single “Remnant” climbed to #46 on the Billboard Rock Charts, and their debut EP was produced by four-time Dove Award-winning and Grammy-nominated producer Travis Wyrick. The band is more than just a rock act; they are powerful storytellers who draw from real-life struggles with anxiety and depression to offer a powerful message of hope, resilience, and connection.

‘Eternal’ Track List:

    1. “Joker”
    1. “Scream”
    1. “Fight For Me”
    1. “Fearless”
    1. “Shame Shadow”
    1. “Our Love Dies”
    1. “Light Up The Night”
    1. “In The Dark”
    1. “Chariot Of Fire”
    1. “Eternal”

Bardcore Artist Jonas Wolf Records A 16th Century A Cappella Cover of “Stayin’ Alive”

Eric Alper
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Bardcore Artist Jonas Wolf Records A 16th Century A Cappella Cover of “Stayin’ Alive”

Bardcore musician Jonas Wolf and Tabea Bös performed the Bee Gees song “Stayin’ Alive” as a mesmerizing a cappella song reimagined for the 16th Century. The pair accompanied themselves with hauntingly beautiful harmonies, creating a surprisingly apt and multilayered experience that references the era of bubonic plague recurrences.

Mr. Mister’s Original Lineup Reunites to Record “Broken Wings” Live

Eric Alper
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Mr. Mister’s Original Lineup Reunites to Record “Broken Wings” Live

The four original members of the incredible band Mr. Mister—Richard Page, Steve George, Pat Mastelotto, and Steve Farris—recently reunited at the Thrak Shack Studios in Austin in September 2025. They recorded a fantastic new live version of their massive 1985 hit song “Broken Wings.” This special, emotional performance was also a celebration of two major milestones: the 40th anniversary of the track itself, and Mastelotto’s 70th birthday.

JEHRY ROBINSON Unveils Video for “Gates” Featuring Country Rapper Struggle Jennings

Eric Alper
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JEHRY ROBINSON Unveils Video for “Gates” Featuring Country Rapper Struggle Jennings

Strange Music recording artist and genre-bender Jehry Robinson has released the official video for his latest single, “Gates,” featuring country rapper Struggle Jennings. The track, which Folk N Rock praised for its harmonies that “add an extra lift” to the chorus, is pulled from Robinson’s expansive 16-track album, Hella Highwater (September 2025). The album has been widely hailed as Robinson’s most ambitious and emotionally resonant work to date, with Big Takeover noting that he “doesn’t merely blur genres to tick boxes or court trends” but makes music that enables us to “see the bigger picture.” From the deeply personal “Better” to the rowdy singalong “Whiskey Water,” the project blends raw honesty with his signature genre-fusing style, furthering a career built on relentless perseverance that has taken him from independent New York roots to Billboard-charting albums and sold-out arena tours with artists like Jelly Roll and Tech N9ne.

MORGANS MILL Delivers Honest Southern Rock on Debut Album ‘Songs for the Modern Day Man’

Eric Alper
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MORGANS MILL Delivers Honest Southern Rock on Debut Album ‘Songs for the Modern Day Man’

Morgans Mill, the group built around Dylan Young and AJ Hawkins, has released their first full-length album, ‘Songs for the Modern Day Man’, an 11-track collection that mixes southern rock, country grit, and honest storytelling. The record, produced by Matt McQueen at Gem City Studios, looks at what it feels like trying to stay grounded in today’s world, drawing influences from classic artists like Merle Haggard and modern sounds like Blackberry Smoke. The album kicks off with the forward-moving “Right Kind of Good Woman” and includes the reflective title track “Modern Day Man,” which builds into a big, guitar-driven section. Closing out the record is “Blessed Assurance,” a classic hymn delivered through the band’s signature southern-rock style, ensuring that this deeply personal album, in their words, contains everything they are about somewhere between “track 1 and 11.”

André 3000 Shares Stunning Video for 26-Minute Concept Track From Red Hot’s ‘TRAИƧA’

Eric Alper
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André 3000 Shares Stunning Video for 26-Minute Concept Track From Red Hot’s ‘TRAИƧA’

Storied activist and music production non-profit Red Hot, who last year released the acclaimed concept album ‘TRAИƧA’, has unveiled the music video for André 3000’s expansive contribution, the 26-minute track “Something Is Happening And I May Not Fully Understand But I’m Happy To Stand For The Understanding.” The visual is a dense tapestry weaving together 2D and 3D landscapes with organic and digitally composed subjects. Drawing deep inspiration from Édouard Glissant’s ‘Poetic Intention’ and the opaque aesthetics of fifth-generation console games, the video investigates what it means “to conceive the world as a relation” and “as a poetics of alterity.”

André 3000’s track sits at the helm of ‘TRAИƧA’s’ “Awakening” chapter, guiding a process of expansion alongside the listener. The piece marks a new era for the artist of composing without bars; stretching nearly a half-hour, its mystical chatter and unfolding ceremony become a new kind of language—a tongue for hearing. The track features a host of collaborators, including Carlos Niño, Deantoni Parks / Technoself, and Nate Mercereau, with additional contributions from Diego Gaeta, Maia, Matthewdavid, Shabaka, and V.C.R., showcasing a true collective of daring musical imagination.

‘TRAИƧA’ marks one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by Red Hot, involving over 100 artists in a spiritual journey across eight chapters and 46 songs. The sprawling collection, which began production in 2021, spotlights the gifts of many of the most imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today. Beyond the lengthy André 3000 piece, the album features the first Sade song in six years, along with contributions from ANOHNI, Sam Smith, Laura Jane Grace, Hunter Schafer, Teddy Geiger, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, and Julien Baker, among many others.

The necessity of the album’s presence in the world became acutely crystallized for producers Dust Reid and Massima Bell as the political climate grew reactionary, with legislation denying trans people rights and book bans proliferating globally. Bell, a trans person from Iowa, noted, “The stakes have never been higher,” emphasizing the severity of the anti-trans hate and vitriol spreading across the United States. Rooted in both devotion to nature and galvanized by the passing of pathbreaking electronic producer SOPHIE, the album serves as a vital piece of art offering comfort and inspiring genuine empathy in a terrifying time.

MIT Climate Machine Releases First Total Emissions Report for Live Music in U.S. and U.K.

Eric Alper
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MIT Climate Machine Releases First Total Emissions Report for Live Music in U.S. and U.K.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Climate Machine, with crucial support from Coldplay, Warner Music Group (WMG), Live Nation, and Hope Solutions, has released the first comprehensive annual carbon emissions calculation of the live music industry in the U.S. and U.K. The study analyzes data from over 80,000 events, capturing greenhouse gas emissions across all major impact areas, including fan travel, food and beverage consumption, trucking, and energy. While the live music sector accounts for a relatively small percentage of total national emissions—0.2% in the U.S. and 1.1% in the U.K.—its cultural reach is vast, giving industry decisions the power to set trends and inspire broader climate action among a global audience.

Grounded in rigorous, peer-reviewed research, the report provides an unprecedented, data-driven view of live music’s environmental impact and identifies key areas where both industry players and fans can take measurable steps to reduce emissions. The overwhelming finding reveals that fan travel is the largest driver of live music emissions, accounting for 77% in the U.K. and 62% in the U.S. across nearly all event types, underscoring the necessity for scalable, long-term change in public transportation options. Food and beverage is the next largest contributor, and the report highlights that a simple shift toward plant-based menus could reduce those emissions by 40% or more.

When fan travel is excluded from the calculation, trucking and freight emerge as major contributors to emissions, with trucking making up 14% of U.S. emissions and air freight accounting for nearly 35% in the U.K. This granular data guides a set of recommendations that point toward a new era of sustainability practices. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that large-format shows—such as festivals and stadium tours—generate a disproportionate share of total emissions, positioning them as powerful catalysts for scalable climate innovation.

Industry leaders emphasized the importance of this new data. Professor John Fernández and Dr. Norhan Bayomi of the MIT Climate Machine stated that this “detailed accounting of emissions sources and amounts guides a set of recommendations that point to a new era of emissions reductions and sustainability practices across all of live music.” Madeleine Smith, Senior Director, ESG at WMG, echoed the sentiment, committing the label to “turning insights into measurable action” to build resilience across the ecosystem.

For Live Nation, this research is a call to coordinated action. Lucy August-Perna, Head of Sustainability at Live Nation, commented that “for the first time, the live music industry has a clear picture of where our collective impact lies,” empowering the company to continue taking smarter, more coordinated action in partnership with artists, venues, and fans to ensure a strong future for the genre and the communities that support it. Luke Howell, Founder and Director of Hope Solutions, concluded that the study helps signal the need for practical, forward-thinking solutions that empower all industry players to focus on measurement and meaningful action.

AJR Announces Live Album and Hollywood Bowl Livestream on Veeps

Eric Alper
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0
AJR Announces Live Album and Hollywood Bowl Livestream on Veeps

Today, multi-platinum chart-topping band AJR announced AJR: Live From The Hollywood Bowl, the band’s first-ever live concert album available on both Gold Royalty Vinyl and CD, and Somewhere In The Sky Tour: Live From The Hollywood Bowl, a livestream of their first first-ever Hollywood Bowl performance, airing on Veeps on Saturday, January 3. Captured during their sold-out October show, the livestream preserves a milestone moment in the band’s career and offers fans around the world a front-row vantage point to AJR’s sky-high celebration at one of the world’s most legendary venues. Watch the concert trailer HERE.

AJR’s Hollywood Bowl performance served as the triumphant finale to their spectacular Somewhere in the Sky Tour, which brought their celebrated live show to amphitheaters and outdoor venues across the U.S. and Canada this summer. Filmed under the open Los Angeles sky, the show captures the band’s signature fusion of theatrical production and emotionally charged alt-pop anthems, culminating in an unforgettable encore featuring the USC Trojan Marching Band. From towering stage design and surreal digital moments to intimate conversations with the crowd, this Hollywood Bowl performance stands as one of the band’s most ambitious and heartfelt milestones.

Ticket buyers will also have a one-time-only chance to pre-order a limited-edition Gold Royalty LP of AJR: Live From The Hollywood Bowl, available exclusively through Veeps. For more information and tickets, please visit https://veeps.events/ajr. 

This summer, AJR released What No One’s Thinking, a five-song EP that stands as one of the most personal, introspective projects of their career. Produced and written entirely by the band, the EP showcases AJR’s inventive production and clever lyricism while delving into the quiet, often unspoken corners of everyday emotion. The EP, which emerged from a spontaneous conversation that unearthed a wave of grief, change, and pressure the band had been silently carrying, is a raw, honest, and emotionally open collection that stands as their most vulnerable work to date. Listen to the EP HERE.

The EP features standout singles “Betty,” which the band debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this summer, and “The Big Goodbye,” a poignant reflection on the bittersweet nature of success. “The Big Goodbye” continues to surge across platforms, amassing nearly 20M global streams and becoming a fan favorite on TikTok, where it has generated 500M views to date. The song is also approaching Top 25 at Top 40 radio where it has reacted in a big way with over 110,000 Shazam tags to date due to the continued radio growth.

Next week, AJR will hit the stage for two stops on the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour Presented by Capital One, performing Monday, December 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia and Tuesday, December 16 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. AJR will join a star-studded lineup, including Alex Warren, Laufey, Jelly Roll, Olivia Dean, Zara Larsson, BigXThaPlug, and more. The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour stops will be part of the exclusive network special airing December 17 on ABC and next day on Hulu.

AJR are also set to ring in the new year live from Las Vegas with a performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on Dec. 31 on ABC. The special, which will air live across the US on New Year’s Eve, will also feature performances by Mariah Carey, Chappell Roan, Demi Lovato, 50 Cent, Post Malone, and more. 

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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