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The Bandwagon Tour Rolls Into Jones Beach Theater

July 23, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

“We’ve been wanting to tour with Miranda Lambert for a very long time and we’ve been planning this tour for years and years and thanks to you we are here!” Little Big Town said during their set on Thursday night at Long Island’s Northwell Health Jones Beach Theater. The Bandwagon Tour kicked off just last week and tourmates Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town along with openers Tenille Townes and the Turnpike Troubadours took the oceanfront stage to entertain a packed crowd.

It’s no secret that the New York Country Swag team are huge fans of Canada native, Tenille Townes and we were thrilled to catch her live set for the first time. Standing on the stage just her and her guitar, Townes filled the theater with her remarkable voice and haunting lyrics from her debut EP the Living Room Worktapes. She told the audience that this was a dream come true to be on The Bandwagon Tour with Lambert and Little Big Town. Next up were the Turnpike Troubadours who brought a different vibe to the venue during their 25-minute set. Their traditional country sound and fiddle-heavy songs had the crowd clapping along to their boot stompin’ hits.

Little Big Town were the first of the two headliners for the show, singing their biggest hits from the past two decades including “Pontoon”, “Front Porch”, “Happy People” and “Tornado”. “What a gorgeous place to spend the night,” Kimberly Schlapman exclaimed. “We’ve heard all about you but this is our first time here and we are so happy to finally be here.” The picturesque venue of the sun setting and the smell of the ocean breeze lent well to the bands current single “Summer Fever” and one of our favorite album cuts from The Breaker, “Lost in California”.

As the Bandwagon Tour continued, Lambert took the stage lighting a fire under the crowd by opening with one of her very first singles “Kerosene” then sliding right into songs from her latest album The Weight of These Wings including “Highway Vagabond”, “We Should Be Friends” and “Vice”. She didn’t leave out the classics, knowing her loyal fans would want to hear “Gunpowder and Lead” and of course “Mama’s Broken Heart”. “I’m making my goal every time I walk on this stage to make you feel something before you leave here,” she said to the audience. “Sometimes in country music, feeling something means feeling sad and I do, so I wrote about it. Sing along if you know it; This one’s called ‘Tin Man’.” Lambert sang the emotional ballad with help from her biggest fans.

As the venue went dark, fans heard familiar notes of “Hell on Heels” as The Pistol Annies logo appeared on the giant screen, and for the first time in a few years, Angeleena Presley and Ashley Monroe joined Lambert on stage for a full-fledged reunion. As the ladies clicked onto the stage in their high heels, the screams were deafening. “Surprise, Jones Beach” Lambert smiled and the trio sang their biggest hit as well as “Takin’ Pills”.

The highlight of the night was when Little Big Town came back to the stage to join Lambert for a full 40 minutes to sing some of their smash singles as well as country music’s most popular songs. The biggest audience sing-a-long happened during Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” where Lambert stood front and center to trade off lines with Karen Fairchild. The group also sang the Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl” and closed the show with Bill Wither’s “Lean On Me”. It was an epic night of incredible harmonies and some of country music’s best songs. Check out the remaining tour dates below and make sure to get in early to catch opening act, Tenille Townes!

Thursday, August 2 – The Wharf Amphitheater, Orange Beach, Alabama
Friday, August 3 – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, Florida
Saturday, August 4 – Coral Sky Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, Florida
Friday, August 10 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, Texas
Saturday, August 11 – Dos Equis Pavilion, Dallas, Texas
Thursday, August 16 – Darien Lake Amphitheater, Darien Center, New York
Friday, August 17 – KeyBank Pavilion, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Saturday, August 18 – BB&T Pavilion, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thursday, August 23 – Budweiser Stage, Toronto, Ontario
Friday, August 24 –DTE Energy Music Center, Clarkston, Michigan
Saturday, August 25 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois

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Little Big Town: The Breakers Tour Sells Out Iconic Radio City Music Hall

February 28, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Photo Credit: Carl Scheffel

Little Big Town‘s The Breakers Tour kicked off a few weeks back and has made its way to the east coast. Tourmates Midland, Kacey Musgraves, and headliner Little Big Town sold out New York City’s legendary Radio City Music Hall Saturday night (Feb. 24), where fans of all ages gathered to listen to some of their favorite country music.

Kicking things off were Midland who hail from Texas and brought their traditional country flair to the big apple. Singing songs off their debut album, On the Rocks, including “Check Cashin’ Country”, “Burn Out” and of course their debut number 1 single, “Drinkin’ Problem” the boys brought the energy to the theatre. “This is pretty special for us to be playing at Radio City Music Hall, sometimes life will just trip you out a little bit,” Mark Wystrach, the lead singer stated in between songs. “This is really cool and we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our good friends, Little Big Town. I’m getting all emotional now so I’m just going to raise a toast to y’all.”

Next up, Kacey Musgraves took the stage wearing a blue faux fur coat under the most colorful and sparkly jumpsuit. Musgraves released new music on Friday and was excited to share her new songs with the audience. Alternating between songs off her first album, Same Trailer Different Park including “Merry Go Round” and “Follow Your Arrow” as well as four brand new songs off her forthcoming album Golden Hour including “Slow Burn”, “High Horse” and the recent release “Space Cowboy” and “Butterflies” the crowd got to understand the true versatility of the singer-songwriter.

Right at 9 o’clock on the dot, Little Big Town’s Karen, Jimi, Kimberly, and Phillip took the famed stage, opening with their version of Elton John’s “Rocket Man”. The band played songs from their 2 decade long career, including their very first number one song “Pontoon”. Packing their set with classic songs that the audience knew every word to including “Little White Church” and “Day Drinkin” to deep album cuts from their previous albums like “Save Your Sin” and “Sober”.

Photo Credit: Carl Scheffel

“We made it here! Radio City, sold out, holy freaking cow!” Karen Fairchild exclaimed. “Country fans are the greatest fans and you’ve been so so kind to us, thank you for coming tonight.”

A few highlights included “I’m With the Band” which is from their 2007 album A Place to Land, the group who has been together for neatly twenty years had old videos playing behind them from their early days together. Proving that sticking to your guns and recording music that you love will get you a long-lasting career in this business.

The acoustics at Radio City Music Hall lent perfectly to the group’s harmonies, especially on their tribute to Glenn Campbell. “We’ve lost a lot of heroes and icons recently, back during the CMA Awards we were honored to pay tribute to Mr. Glenn Campbell, we got to do a very special performance that night and we wanted to share that with you here tonight, this is ‘Witchita Lineman’,” Jimi Westbrook explained.

Closing the night with their second number one hit, “Girl Crush” the audience almost drowned out the band, singing every word back to them. (Video below) Their set was iconic, the mix of slower more emotional songs with absolute anthems made for an incredible night of country music.

The Breakers Tour heads to Pennsylvania this weekend and wraps up late April. Check out below for remaining tour dates.

March 2 – Reading, PA @ Santander Arena
March 3 – Washington, DC @ Anthem
March 15 – Green Bay, WI @ Resch Center
March 16 – Duluth, MN @ Amsoil Arena
March 17 – Grand Forks, ND @ Ralph Engelstad
March 22 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
March 23 – Cedar Rapids, IA @ U.S. Cellular Center
March 24 – Sioux City, IA @ Tyson Events Center
April 5 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
April 6 – Milwaukee, WI @ BMO Harris Bradley Ctr
April 7 – St. Louis, MO @ Chaifetz Arena
April 19 – Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
April 20 – Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena
April 21 – Atlanta, GA @ Infinite Energy Arena

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Classic Country Grammy Moments

January 25, 2018/in #TBT, Blog /by Christina Bosch

This weekend the Grammy Awards, deemed “Music’s Biggest Night” will take place live from New York’s famed arena, Madison Square Garden. With the event just days away, let’s take a look back at some incredible Grammy moments featuring some of our favorite country artists…

Known for their spectacular collaborations, this duet featuring Lady Gaga and Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland singing “You and I” is definitely a moment to remember.

Maren Morris, after a great year, took home the award for Best Solo Country Performance at the 2016 Grammys. Morris is nominated again this year for the same category for “I Could Use A Love Song”. Ironically, Thomas Rhett is the presenter here and is also nominated for his own Grammy for Best Country Album, Life Changes.

Another classic collaboration, Kelsea Ballerini and Lukas Graham mashed up their songs about never growing up, “Seven Years Old” and “Peter Pan” at least year’s award show.

Let’s not forget 2007’s Best New Artist, Carrie Underwood. Taking home the award, Underwood proudly exclaims, “I love Country Music, first of all!” A grateful Underwood thanks God first and foremost, then her parents and then anyone who had a hand in making her album.

Catch The Grammys Live on CBS this Sunday night January 28th at 8 PM ET.
Follow Us on Twitter while we live tweet the show!

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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

15 Songs We Wish Were Singles in 2017…

November 15, 2017/in Blog, New Music /by Christina Bosch

Sometimes, the songs buried deep in an artists’ album are even better than the singles sent to radio. Here are our Top 15 favorite cuts from albums’ released this year (so far), in the order that they were released.

Lauren Alaina’s “Three”

On her sophomore album, Alaina has plenty of songs that are raw and honest but “Three”, a real look at what you miss when you follow your dreams, is definitely a standout on the record.

Key Lyrics: “A lot of miles, a lot of tears / You’ve given me some of my best years / There’s so much I had to miss out on / Six years of missing home for three minutes on the radio”

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Brett Young “Olivia Mae”

A smooth vocal and powerful lyrics, Brett Young delivers on this love song from his self-titled debut album.

Key Lyrics: “Olivia Mae I hope it ain’t just me / From where I’m standing I can see / Us finding our own kind of meant to be / Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m right / But I just had to try / Olivia may I?”

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Little Big Town “Lost in California”

This melody is addicting and this entire album is incredible, but this song blends harmonies with soft simple imagery.

Key Lyrics: “Whisper in my ear, dreamin’ disappear, say you’ll take me / Where the world unwinds / Lost in California / Let’s chase the waves and let ’em take us under / On some deserted piece of virgin sand, yeah / Hold on to the freedom and the wonder / While we can”

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Sunny Sweeney “Bottle by My Bed”

This song is meaningful and touches on a topic that is usually not talked about, Sunny Sweeney’s voice along with a beautiful cello make this song one of the best on the album.

Key Lyrics: “I’d rather be in a carpool lane than this big cold limousine / I’d trade every pair of high heel shoes for a high chair in the dining room / Don’t even know you yet but I know I love you”

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Steve Moakler “Siddle’s Saloon”

Based on his grandfather’s bar, this song perfectly describes a local spot to find a rowdy good time. Take a listen and let this great tune get stuck in your head.

Key Lyrics: “It’s been a long week, and we’re glad you came by / The stories and punch lines and cold icy Lite / Well if you’re not here, we’ll be asking ’bout you / Come Saturday night at Siddle’s Saloon / Hey, hey, hey”

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Charlie Worsham “Southern By the Grace of God”

We love this tune from Charlie Worsham, simply put it sheds light on living life in the south in the best possible ways.

Key Lyrics: “I’m tellin’ y’all this delta drawl / Is stuck to me like buzz on a honeybee / Country is as country does and look here ’cause / You can’t out-country me / Hound dog howlin’ in front porch blues / Kids run ’round outside with no shoes or socks / Southern by the grace of God”

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Brett Eldredge “Castaway”

Closing out his most recent self-titled album, “Castaway” highlights Eldredge’s perfect tone and the melody will pull at your heartstrings.

Key Lyrics: “I’d be naive to ever think / You’re at your door waiting for me / So why do I always try / To run away from you / Please don’t say a castaway / Is what I was born to do / I guess I’ll always be lost without you”

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Old Dominion “Still Writing Songs About You”

On an album full of potential singles and number one hits, this song which we first heard at a writers round last summer in NYC is a highlight on Happy Endings.

Key Lyrics: “You on the sunny Santa Monica freeway / You on a bed and a mini bar three-day haze / With your hair and my heart all a mess in the morning / I’ve gotten drunk on whiskey and women / Woke up in places that we’ve / never been in / Spending all night and all day trying to say something new / But I’m still writing songs about you”

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Midland “More Than A Fever”

One of our favorite new acts out of Nashville, this trio is bringing back traditional country music and “More Than A Fever” is a great mid-tempo jam that’s all about love makin’.

Key Lyrics: “Your hands all over me like they were velvet / There’s no way to temper this desire / I’m on fire tonight / More than a fever / Girl, you’ve got the red line on the rise / More than a fever / And I don’t wanna break it tonight”

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Thomas Rhett “Life Changes”

The title track of Thomas Rhett’s latest album features one of many different vibes on the record, this particular song is more of R&B and spoken word than country but Rhett narrates his life story featuring his wife Lauren and the changes they have experienced with their growing family.

Key Lyrics: “I remember the day I told my Daddy and Mama you’re gonna have a grandkid, yep from Uganda, that’s right, we’re adopting / And she is the cutest little girl that you’ve ever seen / Well I was wrapping my head around being a dad, a bigger wrench got thrown in the plans we thought we’d had / Now Lauren’s showin’ and got one on the way / Yeah that’s two under two, hey, what can I say? / Ain’t it funny how life changes / You wake up ain’t nothing the same and life changes”

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Carly Pearce “Color”

With her debut single “Every Little Thing” currently sitting in the top spot on the country charts, Carly Pearce’s debut self-titled album is filled with beautiful love songs. One of our favorites is “Color”.

Key Lyrics: “Well, you’re the rock, you’re the steady / You need someone to push you in before you’re ready / Well, I’m the rush, I’m the crazy / But I’ll be circling the moon without you, baby / You be the lines, I’ll be the color”

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Russell Dickerson “Would You Love Me”

Russell Dickerson has said that his debut album Yours, is a 12 song love letter to his wife Kailey and “Would You Love Me” is no exception. This reggae infused jam will definitely be stuck in your head.

Key Lyrics: “Cause I’ma love you til the sun burns out / Love you til my heart breaks down / Listen baby ain’t no doubt that / I’ma love you, I’ma love you, I’ma love you / I’ma love you til we’re old and grey / Love you til we’re running out of days / Hear me, baby, when I say that / I’ma love you, I’ma love you, I’ma love you”

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Lee Ann Womack “Hollywood”

Off of her latest full-length LP, The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone, “Hollywood” has an ominous tone about a relationship falling apart.

Key Lyrics: “Like the silver screen, it’s a technicolor dream / We pretend it’s real, but it’s only make-believe / Lying in our bed in the middle of Act Two, We say, “goodnight, I love you” / We never miss our cue / I ask you if you mean it, you say, “Yes”, I knew you would / Well, either I’m a fool for asking, or you belong in Hollywood”

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Kelsea Ballerini “In Between”

Right in the middle of her sophomore album is this remarkable song about growing up and feeling stuck between a girl and a woman.

Key Lyrics: “Sometimes I’m my mother’s daughter, sometimes I’m her friend / Sometimes I play grown up and sometimes I play pretend / Sometimes I’m a princess dressed all curves / And sometimes I just wanna scream “I’m not a little girl!“ / Dumb enough to think I know it all / Smart enough to know I don’t / Young enough to think I’ll live forever / Old enough to know I won’t”

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Lee Brice “Songs in the Kitchen”

Also released earlier this month, Lee Brice’s self-titled album features his most vulnerable and personal songs. “Songs in the Kitchen” even mentions Lee and his brother Lewis (who is also an artist) singing in the car when they were kids.

Key Lyrics: “All my dreams came true, my songs took me far away / Now I’m singing them every night in these bright lights up on this stage / If you catch me, close my eyes every now and then, to tell you the truth / I’m probably just missing, songs in the kitchen”