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Spencer Hatcher’s “Turn This Town (Into a Honky Tonk)” Is a Fresh Start Anthem Built for Late Nights

Eric Alper
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Spencer Hatcher’s “Turn This Town (Into a Honky Tonk)” Is a Fresh Start Anthem Built for Late Nights

Spencer Hatcher has released “Turn This Town (Into a Honky Tonk)” via QHMG / Stone Country Records, and it lands exactly where his best work does: at the intersection of classic country instincts and a voice too distinctive to ignore. The single arrives with an official visualizer and is streaming everywhere now.

The track was produced by Jason Sellers, Ilya Toshinskiy, and Mickey Jack Cones, and written by Hatcher alongside Connor Hatcher, Nathan Woodard, and Tim Owens. It pairs small-town imagery with a driving country sound built for late nights and loud singalongs, leaning into the heartbreak-and-highway energy that has become central to Hatcher’s identity.

“‘Turn This Town’ is one of those songs that feels real to me because everybody has had a place or memory they needed to get away from at some point,” says Hatcher. “It’s about chasing peace, moving forward and trying to outrun the ghosts that keep pulling you backward.” That clarity of feeling runs straight through the recording.

Hatcher’s roots run deep. Raised on a farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, he was playing 5-string banjo in his family’s bluegrass band by age 11. He’s built his following the hard way, playing more than 150 shows a year in both 2023 and 2024, often setting venue attendance records. Nearly 1 million social media followers and over 60 million video views later, the audience has found him.

“Spencer has one of the most authentic voices in country music today,” says Benny Brown, Founder and CEO of Quartz Hill Music Group. “He brings honesty, musicianship and conviction to everything he records, and ‘Turn This Town’ continues to prove why so many people are connecting with him.”

The touring schedule running alongside this release is relentless. Hatcher crisscrosses the U.S. all summer with headlining dates and support slots alongside Hank Williams Jr., Josh Turner, Zach Top, Diamond Rio, Clay Walker, Ashley Cooke, and more.

Spencer Hatcher Tour Dates:

June 2 – Nashville, TN @ Losers Bar & Grill

June 4 – Nashville, TN @ Chief’s on Broadway

June 5 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre (w/ Hank Williams Jr. & Joe Nichols)

June 6 – West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre (w/ Hank Williams Jr. & David Lee Murphy)

June 12 – Knoxville, TN @ Open Chord Music

June 13 – Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic

June 27 – North Platte, NE @ Nebraskaland Days (w/ Zach Top & Diamond Rio)

July 3 – McGaheysville, VA @ Cave Hill Farms Brewery

July 4 – Ashland, KY @ Summer Motion Festival (w/ Craig Morgan)

July 24 – Buena Vista, VA @ Glen Maury Park

July 25 – Front Royal, VA @ On Cue Sports Bar and Grill

July 31 – Oak Hill, WV @ ACE Adventure Resort (w/ Josh Turner & Ward Davis)

August 7 – Bergton, VA @ Bergton Fair

August 11 – Harrisburg, VA @ Rockingham County Fair (w/ Clay Walker)

August 13 – Gaylord, MI @ Otsego County Fair (w/ Ashley Cooke)

August 14 – Shipshewana, IN @ Blue Gate Performing Arts Center (w/ Neal McCoy)

August 20 – Rochester, NY @ Kodak Center (w/ Josh Turner)

August 21 – Albany, NY @ Palace Theatre (w/ Josh Turner)

August 29 – Fallston, MD @ Fallston Barrel House

September 10 – Midland, TX @ Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center (w/ Josh Turner)

September 11 – Round Rock, TX @ Round Rock Amp (w/ Josh Turner)

Richie Kotzen Digs Into the Archive and Surfaces With Surprise New Single “Catch a Star”

Eric Alper
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Richie Kotzen Digs Into the Archive and Surfaces With Surprise New Single “Catch a Star”

Richie Kotzen came off the road with Smith/Kotzen planning to rest. Instead, he went back into the studio. The result is “Catch a Star,” a newly recorded single with an accompanying lyric video, released as a surprise digital drop for the fans who’ve followed him across decades of music.

The song had been sitting in his archives in semi-completed form, waiting. Coming back to it after the tour, something clicked. “While going through old archives, I rediscovered ‘Catch A Star’ in a semi-completed form and for whatever reason, the direction suddenly became obvious to me in a way it hadn’t before,” says Kotzen. “Once that happens as a writer, you must trust your instincts and follow the momentum.”

He played every instrument on the track himself, layering each part individually in the studio. Kotzen digs into his Philly musical roots throughout, building soaring verses, soulful melodies and choruses, and driving rhythms that push his guitar and bass work in directions he hasn’t fully explored before.

The arrangement reflects a deliberate choice. “The chorus arrives immediately, the arrangement stays intentionally simple, and the focus is really on the melody, lyric, and atmosphere,” he explains. That directness is precisely what gives “Catch a Star” its pull. Nothing is buried, nothing overstays its welcome.

Kotzen’s approach to releasing music has shifted. Rather than holding a track until a full album materializes, he’s moving in real time, sharing music as it arrives. “If it eventually leads to a full-length album, great,” he says, “and if it doesn’t, for now, that’s fine too.” It’s a creative posture that suits an artist whose output has always moved faster than any format can contain.

Aqua Says Goodbye to the Stage and Hello to the Theatre With a 2028 World Musical

Eric Alper
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Aqua Says Goodbye to the Stage and Hello to the Theatre With a 2028 World Musical

Aqua may have stepped away from music after 30 years, but their universe has a next chapter. The Danish-Norwegian Eurodance icons have announced ‘Aqua The Musical’, a full stage production premiering at the Royal Danish Opera House in Copenhagen in 2028, developed in collaboration with AHA Creations and built from the ground up with international ambitions.

The musical is being designed to travel. After Copenhagen, the production has its eyes on major stages in London, Hamburg, New York, and Dubai. Every major hit from the group’s catalog will be included, and Aqua themselves are deeply involved in the creative process. Casting is already underway.

The band shared the news directly with fans: “Our creative, colorful, and vibrant universe is set to live on in a brand-new format. In 2028, the spectacular new production Aqua The Musical will premiere at the Royal Danish Opera House in Copenhagen, before making waves on stages around the world.”

The spirit behind the project runs straight back to what made Aqua matter in the first place. “At its core, Aqua has always been about celebrating diversity and having the courage to be yourself,” they continue. “We are so proud that this exact spirit will be the heartbeat of the musical, welcoming both our amazing fans and theatre lovers worldwide into the world of our music.”

A catalog built around “Barbie Girl” and a run of global bubblegum pop hits translates naturally to the theatrical format, and the ambition behind this production reflects the scale of what Aqua actually built over 3 decades. The stage is a logical home for a band whose entire aesthetic was always bigger than a speaker could contain.

DragonForce Bring “Through the Fire and Flames” and a New Era to 22 Cities This Fall

Eric Alper
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DragonForce Bring “Through the Fire and Flames” and a New Era to 22 Cities This Fall

20 years ago, ‘Inhuman Rampage’ rewrote what heavy metal could sound like. This November and December, DragonForce take that album across 22 North American cities on their largest continental tour in more than 2 decades, with support from Ensiferum and Rhapsody of Fire. Tickets go on general sale today, May 29th, at 10 am local time.

The anniversary run carries extra voltage this time. Earlier this month, DragonForce announced Alissa White-Gluz as their new vocalist and first frontwoman, a move that sent the metal world into full attention mode. Festival appearances at Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple with White-Gluz at the helm were called “riotously received” by Metal Hammer and “epic” by Metal Injection. The fall tour delivers the full show.

‘Inhuman Rampage’ earned its place in heavy metal history fast. The album spent 23 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 and produced “Through the Fire and Flames,” the platinum-selling anthem that became the notoriously unbeatable final boss of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. 20 years later, it remains one of the most recognizable songs in metal.

The Grammy-nominated band has continued building on that foundation ever since, appearing in Despicable Me 4, Fortnite Festival, Brawl Stars, and Asphalt Legends, sharing stages with Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Slipknot, and Metallica, and pulling tens of millions of listeners into their orbit. Founded in 1999 and based between Los Angeles and London, DragonForce have spent their entire career rewriting the technical possibilities of heavy metal.

The fall run opens November 13 in San Diego and closes December 13 in Los Angeles, covering New York, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Denver, and more. Sets will draw from ‘Inhuman Rampage’ alongside an early preview of their forthcoming studio album. With White-Gluz now in the lineup, this tour marks the beginning of something new built on top of something already historic.

DragonForce Inhuman Rampage 20th Anniversary Tour:

November 13 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park

November 14 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues

November 15 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren

November 17 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues

November 18 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues

November 20 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues

November 21 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor

November 22 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Heaven)

November 24 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte

November 25 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring

November 27 – Worcester, MA @ Palladium

November 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia

November 29 – New York, NY @ Palladium Times Square

December 1 – Montreal, QC @ MTELUS

December 2 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY

December 4 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre

December 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Minneapolis

December 8 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium

December 9 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot

December 11 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades

December 12 – Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre

December 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern

Becky Hill Announces Third Album ‘Rebecca’ With BBC Radio 1 Hottest Record “More! More! More!”

Eric Alper
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Becky Hill Announces Third Album ‘Rebecca’ With BBC Radio 1 Hottest Record “More! More! More!”

Becky Hill has announced her third album, ‘Rebecca’, arriving September 25th via Polydor Records/Astralwerks. The two-time Brit Award winner launched it with new single “More! More! More!,” which premiered as BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record and arrives with a video directed by Joseph Delaney.

The track is pulsating, sharp, and self-aware, built around driving electronic production and a wry look at what it actually feels like to spend over a decade navigating the music industry. Hill’s writing locks onto the anxiety and relentless pressure of modern life with the kind of precision that comes from someone processing it in real time.

“The song is about the push and pull of never being happy, doing too much, but never feeling enough,” says Hill. “Ignoring how I feel and pushing myself in fear of losing the job I love more than anything in the world. It’s satirical and tongue-in-cheek, but still very much rooted in my lived experience.”

Delaney’s video makes that exhausting cycle visible. Body-cam shots track Hill through a day that starts at 10 am after falling into bed at 5:30 am, moving through boardrooms, glam sessions, and increasingly intense choreography before collapsing back into bed at 5:30 am to do it all over again. The visual and the song operate on the same frequency.

‘Rebecca’ was written during a period of deep personal and artistic reflection, with Hill examining ambition, identity, and the contradictions of her creative life with humor and brutal honesty. She describes the album as “curated chaos,” reconnecting with guitar influences alongside the dance and drum & bass foundations that built her career, blended with heavy electro production and euphoric electronics.

“I’ve always wanted to be the people’s artist,” Hill says. “But that doesn’t mean having to please everybody all the time. With this album, I needed to be headstrong and make something that fully reflected who I am creatively.”

A summer of live shows runs ahead of the September release, with Hill headlining major outdoor events and festivals including Creamfields and Poland’s BitterSweet Festival. Special formats include a fan edition CD digipak with an exclusive bonus track, a numbered limited-edition signed colored vinyl, black vinyl, and standard CD digipak.

Bebe Rexha and David Guetta Reunite on “Sad Girls,” the Dance Floor Anthem for Broken Hearts

Eric Alper
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Bebe Rexha and David Guetta Reunite on “Sad Girls,” the Dance Floor Anthem for Broken Hearts

Bebe Rexha and David Guetta are back together, and “Sad Girls” is the result. The new single arrives ahead of Rexha’s forthcoming visual album ‘Dirty Blonde’, out June 12th via Empire, her first release as a fully independent artist.

Guetta’s progressive house production drives the track with relentless momentum, all shimmering synths and a beat that won’t let up. Rexha channels heartbreak into something defiant over the top of it, declaring that sad girls don’t leave until the last song plays. The energy is euphoric and the emotional logic is airtight.

“‘Sad Girls’ is for anyone who has ever been on a dance floor with a broken heart and refused to let it win,” says Rexha. “You’re not okay, but you’re still dancing and showing up for yourself. That’s one of the most powerful things you can do in those moments.”

The video matches the song’s tone perfectly. Rexha lands in therapy after a breakup and reclaims her joy and power on the way out, delivering the kind of humor and irreverence she does better than almost anyone working in pop right now.

This collaboration carries serious history. Over the past decade, Rexha and Guetta have built one of global dance music’s most consistent partnerships, with “Hey Mama,” “Say My Name,” “One in a Million,” and “I’m Good (Blue)” all landing as major international moments. “I’m Good (Blue)” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and crossed 3 billion streams. The duo have earned 2 Grammy nominations for Best Dance/Electronic Recording along the way.

“Sad Girls” joins previously released tracks “I Like You Better Than Me,” “Çike Çike,” “Hysteria,” and global hit “New Religion,” the Faithless collaboration that reached No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. ‘Dirty Blonde’ arrives June 12th, built around Euro-influenced sounds, club-ready energy, and the kind of bold artistic freedom that comes from an artist fully in control of her own work.

Dasha Turns Post-Breakup Chaos Into a Dance Floor Anthem With Sarcastic New Single “Mad About It”

Eric Alper
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Dasha Turns Post-Breakup Chaos Into a Dance Floor Anthem With Sarcastic New Single “Mad About It”

Dasha’s new single “Mad About It” is out now via Warner Records, and the title pretty much gives the game away. Written by Dasha, Bardo Novotony, and Charlotte Sands, the track is upbeat, sarcastic, and built around the very specific experience of performing total fine-ness when you’re anything but.

The song lives in the comedy of post-breakup self-awareness, the part where you’re dancing through the drama with a smile you’re working hard to hold. “Mad About It” doesn’t dwell in heartbreak. It turns the whole performance into something you can move to, and that tonal precision is exactly what makes it land.

“While we were writing it, there was no pressure for ‘Mad About It’ to be a hit song; we were just genuinely having so much fun and laughing,” says Dasha. “We were joking about how petty can we make this song? How much sarcasm can we pour into this, and how much of my personality can be seen in these lyrics? We honestly had such a good time writing it, I think that’s where the magic of this song came from.”

That energy comes through clearly in the finished track. “Mad About It” showcases Dasha at her most self-aware, blending humor, attitude, and pop-country instincts into something that moves fast and hits with a grin. She premiered it during ACM Awards Week, giving it exactly the right stage for its debut.

The context around this release says everything about where Dasha stands right now. Her breakout single “Austin (Boots Stopped Workin’)” earned Female Song of 2024 at the People’s Choice Country Awards, landed her in Spotify’s Billions Club, and became one of the most-streamed country songs of the year. A 2026 ACM nomination for New Female Artist of the Year, an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Push Performance of the Year, and a headlining set on the Mane Stage at Stagecoach followed.

Next week, Dasha takes the Riverfront Stage at CMA Fest in Nashville, with a string of festivals running through the rest of the month. “Mad About It” arrives at exactly the right moment for a country star accelerating at this pace.

Cara Delevingne Arrives as a Recording Artist With a 7-Minute Double Shot of Fearless Pop

Eric Alper
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Cara Delevingne Arrives as a Recording Artist With a 7-Minute Double Shot of Fearless Pop

Cara Delevingne has signed with Warner Records and launched her music career with 2 interconnected songs, “I Forgot” and “Out of My Head,” that together run 7 minutes and refuse to sit still for a single second of it. A debut album follows this summer.

The opening of “I Forgot” sets the tone immediately. Delevingne’s voice arrives bare and exposed over the line “I forgot that the world was real,” before a massive wall of distorted instrumentation takes over. From there the tracks move through spare piano passages, lush synth textures, bass-heavy spaces, a trip-hop groove, and finally into the drum ‘n’ bass surge of “Out of My Head.” Genre doesn’t apply here. The music follows the emotional logic of the words, and it works completely.

Both tracks were co-produced by Delevingne with BJ Burton, whose credits include Bon Iver and Charli XCX. The production reflects that pedigree: experimental in structure, deeply expressive in execution, and genuinely surprising at every turn.

The accompanying short film was directed by Emmy-winner Jessica Lee Gagné (Severance). Gagné places Delevingne in a series of scenes that repeatedly break the fourth wall, pulling back the curtain on studio mechanics and action sequences only to reveal something more dramatic underneath. Delevingne fights, dances, sings, and screams her way through it. The visual and the music move together.

“Writing ‘I Forgot’ felt like a rebirth for me and ‘Out of my Head’ was like going to therapy,” says Delevingne. “Everything has felt like it’s led up to this point and I can’t wait for everyone to experience it.”

Music has been part of Delevingne’s life since childhood. She picked up the drums at age 9, has written lyrics as a private practice for years, and has appeared on Fiona Apple’s ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters’, St. Vincent’s ‘Masseduction’, and Dijon’s ‘Baby’. She wrote a song for Luc Besson’s 2017 film Valerian and later starred in the West End revival of Cabaret. The foundation was always there.

The tour is already selling. Both Los Angeles dates at Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever and both Brooklyn dates at Baby’s All Right are sold out. The run kicks off June 1 in Berlin and moves through Barcelona, London, Paris, Los Angeles, and New York before festival appearances at All Things Go NYC in September and Primavera Sound editions in Buenos Aires and São Paulo later in the year.

Cara Delevingne 2026 Tour Dates:

June 1 – Berlin, DE @ Silent Green

June 3 – Barcelona, ES @ La Nau (Primavera a la Ciutat)

June 5 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound Barcelona

June 7 – London, UK @ 26 Leake Street

June 8 – London, UK @ 26 Leake Street

June 10 – Paris, FR @ Main Room

June 11 – Paris, FR @ Main Room

June 22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever (SOLD OUT)

June 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever (SOLD OUT)

June 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right (SOLD OUT)

June 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right (SOLD OUT)

September 25 – Forest Hills, NY @ All Things Go 2026

November 28-29 – Buenos Aires, AR @ Primavera Sound Buenos Aires

December 5-6 – São Paulo, BR @ Primavera Sound São Paulo

Shinedown Drop ‘EI8HT’ and Premiere “Young Again” Video on a Record-Breaking Day

Eric Alper
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Shinedown Drop ‘EI8HT’ and Premiere “Young Again” Video on a Record-Breaking Day

‘EI8HT’ is out now via Atlantic Records, and Shinedown arrive at this moment holding more chart records than any rock act in history. The album lands during a genuine cultural high point for a band that has spent 2 decades building toward exactly this kind of momentum.

The numbers tell a specific story. Shinedown currently holds the records for the most No. 1 songs in the history of both Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart and the Mediabase Active Rock chart. Their most recent single, “Safe And Sound,” extended both records simultaneously, becoming their 23rd Billboard No. 1 and their 25th Mediabase chart-topper, for the 2nd consecutive week.

‘EI8HT’ was produced by bassist and co-songwriter Eric Bass at his own Big Animal Studio in Charleston. Bass has been the architectural force behind Shinedown’s sound for years, and the new album delivers the massive hooks, explosive energy, and genre-blurring ambition that have made the band global arena headliners.

To celebrate the release, Shinedown hosted a global livestream today at 12:30 pm ET, featuring a live Q&A with the band hosted by DJ Rock Feed, broadcast from Hard Rock Cafe in Tampa, FL. The official music video for new single “Young Again,” directed by Andrew Donoho, premiered immediately after at 1:30 pm ET.

“Young Again” captures the feeling of playing beneath streetlights and looking back on the moments that define us. It’s a track about the present tense, about embracing where you are before it becomes something you’re remembering. The video brings that feeling to life with the kind of visual craft that matches Shinedown’s scale.

This summer, the band takes ‘EI8HT’ on the road with the Dance, Kid, Dance Act II World Tour, covering 11 countries and more than 50 dates across North America, the UK, and Europe. Shinedown will donate $1 from every ticket sold to City of Hope, a leading cancer research and treatment organization, extending a philanthropic commitment that has run alongside their touring for years.

Jason Aldean Headlines Gulf Coast Jam 2027 as the Festival’s 15th Edition Takes Shape

Eric Alper
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Jason Aldean Headlines Gulf Coast Jam 2027 as the Festival’s 15th Edition Takes Shape

The announcement came in style. Minutes before Keith Urban took the stage on opening night of the 14th Annual Gulf Coast Jam Presented by Jim Beam, hundreds of lighted drones lit up the sky above Panama City Beach to reveal Jason Aldean as the first headliner for the 2027 edition. The 15th annual Country On The Coast festival runs June 3-6, 2027, and four-day passes are on sale now.

Night one drew over 25,000 fans to Frank Brown Park, with Urban headlining a lineup that included Jessie Murph, Wyatt Flores, Cooper Alan, Walker Montgomery, and Gannon Fremin & CCREV. The remaining nights feature Riley Green, Chris Stapleton, and Post Malone headlining nights two through four, joined by more than 15 additional artists across the week.

Gulf Coast Jam has pulled sellout crowds of 30,000 for 2 consecutive years, and Ticketmaster named it one of the Best Country Music Festivals to See in 2026. The 2027 edition adds Aldean to a legacy of headliners that has consistently drawn the genre’s biggest names to one of its most beloved settings.

Additional 2027 headliners will be announced in the coming weeks. Ticket and hotel packages are available now through Jampack, with payment plans offered across all pass levels.

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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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