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Apple Launches Apple Music Country Radio Featuring All-Star Line-Up

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Over the years, radio has been a staple in all of our lives. Although there has been many changes and a metamorphosis in the music industry with streaming and new radio programming, music still remains at the forefront of everyone’s lives.

Apple recently announced two new live global radio offerings on Apple Music, joining the flagship global radio station ‘Beats 1,’ which was just renamed ‘Apple Music 1.’ The two new stations include ‘Apple Music Hits” and ‘Apple Music Country.’ The latter spotlights country music and all the great acts that we have grown to love over the years.

Apple Music’s global creative director and host, Zane Lowe shared the excitement in a recent press release, “Apple Music is home – it’s home to artists, it’s home to fans, and it’s home to incredible music.” We are so excited that country music gets to be at the forefront of the new wave of streaming and radio.

Radio remains a part of the fabric of country music culture, and Apple Music Country continues that for the country music fan. The new station has a wide range of country music’s on-air personalities, including hosts Kelleigh Bannen, Ty Bentil, and Ward Guenther, just to name a few. Mainstream artists such as Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Morgan Evans, and Morgan Wallen will also present new exclusive shows on-air, fostering the unique relationship between the artist and the listener.

Each of the shows that are part of the country music forum will feature different and unique content. For Ty Bentil’s show, fans can expect to learn more about who Bentil is as an avid supporter of country music, as well as, get a deeper look into what makes a song relatable, “For me, I am all about making he bond of music a little bit more accessible to people,” he shared about what his playlists will look like.

We cannot wait to see how fans react to the addition of Apple Music Country, and we are so excited to say how this evolves into a deeper understanding of the power of country music.

Fans can enjoy Apple Music radio wherever they listen to Apple Music, including iPhone, iPad, iPod, CarPlay, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac, HomePod, and on the web at music.apple.com. They can also ask Siri to play “Apple Music 1,” “Apple Music Hits,” or “Apple Music Country.”

 

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Jimmie Allen Swag

NYCS Swag Spotlight: Jimmie Allen

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Jimmie Allen Swag

Since we last caught up with this week’s Swag Spotlight and one of our Artists to Watch in 2018,  Jimmie Allen we find he has made his way across the country on a radio tour and has his very first single on country radio.  In a recent chat, he explained his appreciation for the incredible team he has surrounding and supporting him and the story behind his first radio single “Best Shot”.

During our conversation, Allen was in LA visiting the radio stations on the west coast. Although he is traveling all around the country, they really only get to see the inside of radio stations so he makes the best of it. He loves not only meeting the program directors and DJs but everyone who works there and the local listeners. “I feel like they are the heartbeat of the station…the way they have responded to me has been nothing short of amazing,” he says. He does try and see the cities he is visiting at night or on the weekends, taking it all in day by day. “I love it, it is grueling but for me, it keeps me focused on staying positive and the opposite alternative which is not traveling or doing music,” he explains.

His voice beams with pride when discussing his very first radio single and how on its very first day it was added to rotation by a whopping 58 stations, the second most added song that day. He truly understands that his incredible team and the relationships they have built over the years has helped to catapult his song to country radio and how grateful he is for their support. “Nobody has gotten where they are without someone believing in them and people around them working towards the same goal,” he humbling explains.  “It’s a great win for all of us and it continues to prove if you have something that is halfway good and you have a strong team around you that believes in it you can make some things happen.”
Speaking of the new single, “Best Shot” Allen tells us was written with his friends JP Williams and Josh London over the course of a few weeks and four or five writing sessions to get the vibe just right. Recording the song three times and still not loving how it was turning out he decided to strip it down to play the song at The Bluebird Cafe one night at a songwriter round. “It’s easy to cover a song with guitars and drums and bass and fiddle and you can kind of smother it, you don’t hear the lyrics and the production sounds like everything else that’s out,” Allen says.  After his producer heard that version he knew to focus on the vocal performance to get the result that ended up on the radio today.

 As he finishes up his radio tour, Allen is gearing up to play some pretty big festivals, including Taste of Country up at Hunter Mountain, NY, and CMAFest in Nashville. He is also playing the ACM Tailgate Party in Las Vegas and heading to his very first award show right after.  Ending our conversation on a personal question, we wanted to know if he could go back in time ten years and give himself some advice what would it be.  He delicately explained, “I would tell him to keep going, trust yourself, don’t allow the noise of everyone else’s opinions of who you should be, drown out your own voice of who you know you are.”
We can’t wait to continue to support and champion Jimmie Allen as his career reaches new heights and more and more people discover what an incredible artist he is.  Be sure to be following all of his adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Smithfield Live

NYCS Exclusive: “Hey Whiskey” – Smithfield (LIVE)

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Jennifer Fielder and Trey Smith who make up country duo, Smithfield stopped by The Barrel Room at Park Avenue Tavern to perform their latest single “Hey Whiskey” for a New York Country Swag Session.  The intimate setting and incredible acoustics made for quite the moment, highlighting the duo’s beautiful harmonies.  The song, written by Jennifer and Trey along with their friends, Casey Derhak and Adam Wood, decided to put a new spin on the same old drinking songs.

 

 

The song is going to country radio this week as Smithfield joins Granger Smith on his winter tour.  The tour kicks off at Irving Plaza tomorrow night, Thursday, January 18th.  Grab your tickets here.

If you like what you hear, make sure to share this on your socials and let us know what you think! Follow Smithfield on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.

 

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Thanks for supporting Country Music in NYC!

Click Here to learn more about NYCountry Swag
+ Follow our Country Music Adventures on Instagram, @NYCOUNTRYSWAG!

– Team NYCountry Swag