Indie Country Artists Make the Best Of An Uncertain Coronavirus Shutdown

The musician says he attempted to receive testing for symptoms a month ago

Country superstar Sam Hunt has sung about being a homebody. But now that the global coronavirus pandemic has forced him to quarantine indoors, he’s feeling a little restless.

Welcome to Emerging Country, a Billboard series where we highlight an up-and-coming act who is making a splash in the genre. This month’s pick is country singer-songwriter Parker McCollum, who is introducing himself to country radio with his debut single “Pretty Heart” on MCA Nashville.For the past five years Parker McCollum has spent his weekends on the road.

Entertainment One (eOne) has named Maria Alonte to the newly-created role of senior vp, creative integration, music, the company announced Tuesday (April 7).

Ingrid Andress ascends to No. 1 on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart (dated April 11), becoming the top emerging act in the U.S.

He was hospitalised last month

In addition to the countless tours and festivals that have been halted by the COVID-19 outbreak, the music industry's biggest professional conferences have also taken a hit.

These are dark times as the world combats the global coronavirus pandemic, but Thomas Rhett brightened the mood a little bit when he performed his new song, "Be a Light," during the ACM Presents: Our Country special on Sunday (April 5).

Before singing "Wasted Time" from his Nashville studio, 2019 ACM entertainer of the year Keith Urban – the first artist to deliver a remote performance during Sunday (April 5) night's ACM Presents: Our Country broadcast on CBS – stated what we're all thinking: "This is a very strange time."Urban sent thanks, support and respect from himself, wife Nicole Kidman and their daughters to "all the first responders out there, everybody in the healthcare field and the public safety officers as well."

The CMT Music Awards will be pushed from June 3 to Oct. 14 because of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, the network announced Friday.

Carrie Underwood and her husband, Mike Fisher, are encouraging everyone to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Taylor Swift hasn’t been spotted casually browsing in record stores over the years quite as often as LP shop-aholic Elton John, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have an equal interest in keeping them open and thriving. Grimey’s, an independent store in her hometown of Nashville, confirmed Thursday that Swift had quietly made a contribution to help out employees during the shop’s coronavirus-related closure.

A few hours after Leslie Fram discussed how the COVID-19 outbreak might affect the entertainment industry — and talked about bringing DIY hand sanitizer to victims of the deadly March 3 tornado that devastated Middle Tennessee — the Nashville-based exec found out she had her own brush with the virus.

Joe Diffie: In a post-modern world, he was the perfect old-school hillbilly singer. Like George Jones, there was no interest in going uptown, no need for turbo-sophistication. Give him a Manuel cowboy shirt, some clever wordplay, a hot band… and Joe, with that craggy, bluegrass-honed voice and the ability to twist notes like balloons at a kiddie party, was good to go.

Jan Howard, country singer and songwriter and longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry, died on Saturday in Gallatin, Tennessee. She was 91.

The late Kenny Rogers is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart for the first time since 1986, as The Best of Kenny Rogers: Through the Years debuts atop the tally.

Jan Howard, country singer and songwriter and longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry, died on Saturday (March 28) in Gallatin, Tenn., at the age of 91.Howard, born Lula Grace Johnson, began her career in music by singing on demos written by then-husband Harlan Howard that were recorded by Nashville acts like Kitty Wells and Charlie Walker, and had her first own country hit with "The One You Slip Around With" in 1960.Other notable singles she released as a solo artist -- which made Billboard's Hot

By Mike Fleming Jr

Following our Billboard staff-picked list of the 100 greatest songs of 2000, we're writing this week about some of the stories and trends that defined the year for us. Here, we look back at a relatively sunny, tranquil period in country music history -- before Nashville, like the rest of the world, was changed by global events the following year. 

Florida Georgia Line just dropped their new track “I Love My Country”.