 Following the advice of a “Fortune Teller,” Amy Wilcox set her sights on pursuing a music career. Singing her her church’s choir and following in the footsteps of her father, who played guitar for his youth group, Amy has spent her life surrounded by music. Although putting music on the backburner in college to play soccer, Amy joined an acapella group. After getting injured, Amy found herself at a crossroads. Unsure of what to do next, Amy and her sister stopped by a fortune teller’s booth. Immediately, the fortune teller knew that Amy was full of creativity. With a clear mind, Amy chose to pursue a career in music.
Writing music of her own, Amy is pleased to announce that she has an EP in the works to be released this year. “Fortune Teller,” the first single off her EP is available now. Experimenting with her sound and storytelling, Amy’s music covers a range of topics. Now performing up and down the west coast, Amy is excited to share her story with others. You can find Amy performing at The Hotel Cafe on Wednesday, February 27th after opener and friend Rachel Reinhart performs. Ticket available now. Listen to “Fortune Teller” on streaming platforms everywhere and follow Amy on her social media pages at @AmyEWilcox.
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 Rising UK stars Ward Thomas released their eagerly anticipated album “Restless Minds,” on February 8th on WTW Music/Sony Music.
Hear the album here: http://smarturl.it/WardThomas_RMPV Ward Thomas’s new album “Restless Minds” features the radio hits “Lie Like Me,” “Never Know,” and “No Filter.” The album is a diverse 15 song collection written in Nashville, London, and Hampshire, with previous collaborators Jessica Sharman, Rebekah Powell and Martin Terefe (Shawn Mendes) in addition to Ed Drewitt (Little Mix), Rachel Furner (Craig David) and Steve Robson (Paloma Faith). The album was produced in London by Martin Terefe and Joe Rubel (Ed Sheeran). See the video for “No Filter” here: https://youtu.be/8pHHr-8mamY Lyrically the twins have tackled issues close to their hearts on the record, including pertinent observations on social media, the women’s movement, mental health and what ‘the truth’ means in 2018. “We couldn’t help but address social media and the subconscious competition it creates,” says Lizzy. “There’s a fake reality that everyone our age is falling for right now. Scroll down, see my page, look at my perfect life!”  SINGERS OF ALL AGES JOIN TOGETHER FOR A TRIBUTE TO DOLLY PARTON Miley Cyrus joined her godmother in a tribute to Dolly Parton’s success. Performing a variety of Parton’s top hits, she was later joined by Maren Morris, Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, and Little Big Town. The tribute ended with “9 to 5” and a standing ovation.  KACEY MUSGRAVES WON FOUR AWARDS INCLUDING ALBUM OF THE YEAR Before the show began, Kacey Musgraves was awarded as the winner for Country Song and Country Solo Performance. Also nominated for Country Album and Album of the Year for “Golden Hour,” Musgraves left the show with a total of four wins.  HOST ALICIA KEYS REMINDED US WHO RUNS THE WORLD Keys opened up the show addressing the crowd with an empowering statement saying, "music is what we all love. Music is what it's all about ... Music is what we cry to, it's what we march to, it's what we rock to, it's what we make love to. It's our shared global language. When you really want to say something, you say it with a song.” She preceded by inviting a number of female role models to the stage, including Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and a surprise appearance by Michelle Obama.  CAMILA CABELLO OPENS UP THE SHOW WITH A LATIN AMERICAN INSPIRED ACT Complete with a brightly lit stage and numerous dancers, Cabello’s “Havana” had the crowd riled up.  LADY GAGA CONTINUES TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR HER PERFORMANCE IN “A STAR IS BORN” Although Bradley Cooper wasn’t in attendance, Gaga accepted their award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. She later put on a mesmerizing performance of “Shallow,” which she is scheduled to perform again at the Oscars in two weeks.  AFTER TONIGHT YOU’LL REMEMBER THE NAME BRANDI CARLILE Starting off the show with the most nominations of any artist, Brandi Carlile quickly took the win for Best Americana Album, Americana Roots Song, and Americana Roots Performance. As the show went on, Carlile took to the stage for a tear jerking performance of her song “The Joke.”  DRAKE GETS CUT OFF FOR ACCUSING AWARD SHOWS FOR HOSTING A POPULARITY CONTEST Drake won Best Rap Song for “God’s Plan,” however his acceptance speech was cut short. Commenting on the lack of new artists awarded at the Grammys, Drake said, “we play in an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport.” He continued, “The point is, you’ve already won if you have people who are singing your songs word for word, if you’re a hero in your hometown. Look, if there’s people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain and snow, spending money to buy tickets to your shows, you don’t need this right here. You already won.” Before his microphone was cut off.  ALICIA KEYS PLAYS TWO PIANOS AT ONCE
Call us impressed as Alicia Keys sat down between two pianos and played them at once. Performing everything from Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up” to “Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Roberta Flack, Keys demonstrated her extensive vocal range. Later stating, “music is just, you know, those songs that just live inside of you. It lives inside of me. And you just love it so much because it was done so well that you wish you wrote it. That's how I feel about these songs. I wish I wrote them."  The 2019 Grammy Awards return to the Staples Center this Sunday, with host Alicia Keys, the first female host since 2005. After much backlash regarding the lack of female nominees, the Recording Academy claims that they reached out to more women and people of color about becoming members in attempt to diversify the show. To promote this image, the Recording Academy recently announced a campaign to place more “Women in the Mix.” The campaign encourages music labels and executives to hire an equal number of women.
This year five out of the eight nominees for Album of the Year are women and Brandi Carlile leads with the most nominations. The Recording Academy also announced a handful of female performers including Kacey Musgraves, Janelle Monae, Camila Cabello, Maren Morris and more. However, fans argue that major artists Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift were left out of the mix. Additional performances include a tribute to Dolly Parton by Kacey Musgraves, Katy Perry, and Little Big Town and a collaboration from Miley Cyrus, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Diana Ross to celebrate her music career. Making an appearance at the Grammys is film industry. Two films in particular, “Black Panther” and “A Star is Born” will be awarded throughout the night for their accompanying soundtracks. The show’s presenters will range from country music’s Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown to actress Anna Kendrick and Nina Dobrev. You can watch the 2019 Grammy Awards on CBS this Sunday, February 10th at 8 p.m. and listen to Times Up Radio for highlights throughout the show here.  Connecting with an even wider audience, critically-acclaimed country artist Kalie Shorr has released two singles in different genres at the same time: the title track off her latest country EP, “Awake” and the pop/EDM “Awake” featuring American Idol finalist Jonny Brenns.
In a first for both radio networks, Radio Disney Country premiered “Awake” while Radio Disney premiered the pop rendition of “Awake” on Thursday at 1pm PT/4pm ET. The two songs were concurrently added into the respective networks’ regular playlists. Says Phil Guerini, VP, Music Strategy Disney Channel & GM, Radio Disney Network, “We’re thrilled to deliver another Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country first with the simultaneous premiere of two different versions of the same song “Awake” from Kalie Shorr, one of country music’s most promising and undeniable talents whom we’ve supported since our launch in 2016.” On Friday, Billboard announced the release of both singles and featured the strategies that have “raised Shorr’s profile” in the last 12 months. CMT world-premiered the “Awake” music video on Friday with a feature article on CMT.com: “Kalie Shorr’s ‘Awake’ is a courageous reflection in the vulnerability of being an emotional support system for those who don’t deserve it.” Says Shorr, “It’s not a secret that I’m inspired by a wide variety of music. This past summer I spent some time in LA and wrote a lot of pop songs while I was out there. It was really freeing creatively and the perfect kind of challenge for me to grow as a writer. One of my collaborators, Matt Ferree, produced a track for a song we wrote and I loved his style. After a meeting with Phil and my management, we came up with the idea to release a reimagined version of ‘Awake’ with a whole new vibe. Calling Matt felt so obvious and I loved bringing in Jonny to sing from the male perspective. This song has been so special to me since I wrote it with Skip Black, and I’m looking forward to watching it have a whole new life.” Shorr played the Grand Ole Opry Friday night for the ninth time and will be announcing additional tour dates soon. Shorr currently co-hosts daily segments on Radio Disney Country called “Let The Girls Play” with fellow artist Savannah Keyes. You can find Shorr’s music on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music. As tour dates continue to be announced, you can stay current with Kalie on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to follow her on Youtube and visit www.kalieshorr.com. |
FOLLOW USABOUT MEI am currently a student at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles as a marketing major. Upon realizing that I wanted to change the way people perceive country music and to help women have a voice, I began The Women of Country in 2015 promoting new female artists and sharing their stories with the world. You can find me via Instagram @nicolemmarchesi or contact me via email at nextwomenofcountry@gmail.com ARCHIVES
February 2019
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