That Nashville Sound Saturday Newsbytes: Drew Kennedy, Josh Grider, Kate Bowen, Tracy Lawrence, New EPs, New Music Videos & More

Welcome to That Nashville Sound this fine Saturday morning. I'd like to take a quick moment and just thank all of our readers for their continued support through coming to this site for the last 12 years. We're thankful and the opportunity to share in music that moves us is genuinely appreciated. There's lots to share this morning, so without further ado...

- Songwriter Kate Bowen (former Ella Mae Bowen) has traded her former Big Machine Records gig for a brand new music route and has a brand new EP that just came out this week. An accomplished songwriter, her song "I'll Go On" was included on Reba McEntire's chart-topping LP Love Somebody. Now, Bowen has found a new start as a writer and artist, penning a deal with Jay Joyce's Neon Cross Music and Warner Chappell Music. The project is called Waking Up From the American Dream and you can find all the details HERE.

New music videos:

- Aaron Watson - "Old Friend"
- Aaron Watson - "Riding with Red"
- Billy Ray Cyrus - "I've Been Around"
- Billy Ray Cyrus - "Guns, Gold & Guitars"
- Todd Snider - "Like a Force of Nature"
- Jimmie Allen - "Make Me Want To"
- Clare Bowen - "Let it Rain"

- Texan singer-songwriters and best friends Josh Grider and Drew Kennedy have unveiled both the album cover and the release date of their 6/14 album release together, Live at Main Street Crossing. Main Street Crossing, a great little non-profit venue that doubles up as a music hall and a Sunday-morning church, announced that they will be producing their first ever live record. This project will be a follow-up to the critically-acclaimed 2017 release At Home In The Big Lonesome by Kennedy and the terrific release last year by Josh Grider, Good People.

- CMA and ACM-award winner Luke Combs will release his highly anticipated new EP, The Prequel, June 7 via River House Artists/Columbia Nashville. Produced by Scott Moffatt, the EP features five new songs co-written by Combs including lead single, “Beer Never Broke My Heart, which recently premiered worldwide at country radio. The song is currently #2 on Billboard’s Country Streaming Songs chart with 11 million streams—setting the record for the best first week of streaming ever for a country song—and #1 on the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart.

- Maren Morris is also releasing a new EP, this one landing on May 31 called Maren Morris: Reimagined. It features reworked acoustic renditions of three of her biggest hits with influential Nashville producer Dave Cobb. Morris says on the project, "I think the mark of a good song is you can rearrange it up and it still is a very defining song. Dave you know, his production is so--rootsy and very soulful and Americana and he just understands that sound so intensely. I love the way it turned out."

- Tracy Lawrence will also be back with new music this summer, releasing Made in America on August 15, 2019. “I am extremely proud of my new album Made in America. It is possibly the most personal album I have ever released,” states Lawrence. “I co-wrote 8 out of the 12 songs, pouring my heart and soul in each of the songs. I feel it will resonate with my fans and country music lovers across this nation,” elaborates Lawrence. According to the press release,  "The album harkens back to authentic country music. Lawrence’s mixture of rock and blues, and by penning 8 of the 12 tracks himself, this album is one of his most personal and relatable to date." It should be noted that track number 8 is a song titled "Givin' Momma Reason's To Pray" written by none other than Chris Stapleton.

- Songwriter Glenn Martin passed away this month. Martin wrote top hits for such Country Music Hall of Fame members as Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Bill Anderson and George Jones. Among his best-known songs are Pride’s “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” (1970), Haggard’s “It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)” (1972) and Tammy Wynette’s “I Still Believe in Fairy Tales” (1975).

- The last recordings of Troy Gentry will be making it onto a new Montgomery Gentry EP being released on June 14 called Outskirts. The project was recorded in September of 2017 and marks a return to the duo’s signature southern rock sound. Among the tracks on the new album are the title track, which touts the virtues of small town living and common core values, Montgomery’s version of Merle Haggard’s “What Am I Going To Do With The Rest Of My Life,” and Gentry’s take on the Darrell Scott classic “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.” Writers contributing to the new project include Ashley Gorley, Darrell Scott, Dallas Davidson, Rodney Clawson, and more.

- Josh Abbott Band will release a new EP Catching Fire on June 28. The band released the first song from the EP, “Little More Of You.”  Produced by Marshall Altman (Marc Broussard, Frankie Ballard, Aaron Watson), the Catching Fire EP features "four songs of positivity, built on solid country textures and unified by Abbott’s congenial-but-experienced voice. The EP brings a sense of similarity back to JAB’s own foundation. It’s a return to the band’s sonic past, a revival of its bar-bred optimism and fiery individualism. And it’s a reflection of the group’s off-stage cycles as old chapters are closed and a renewed, upbeat storyline comes to life. Catching Fire captures a sense of personal renewal."

“We have a whole new refocused attitude on what we're gonna do now moving forward,” Abbott says. “Catching Fire is a reflection of what's happened over the last year and a half of my life.”