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About a decade ago, Nashville was breathlessly trying to find the next Chris Stapleton, who had just vanquished “bro country” and resurrected a more authentic country sound with his debut album, Traveller. Alex Williams, an Indiana native with a mesmerizing, Stapleton-like baritone and a steely gaze, found himself in the middle of that search.

Big Machine Records signed Williams in 2017 and issued his debut album, Better Than Myself, that same year. He played a sold-out showcase at Nashville’s Basement East and hit the road with Aaron Lewis, another Big Machine signee.

Kid Rock is taking aim at the concert-ticket industry, and plans to work closely with the person who may have the biggest say in the matter when the new administration takes over the White House in January.

The “American Bad Ass” recently met with president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, with plans to “open a can of whoop ass on the bots, scalpers, venues, ticketing companies, managers and artists alike who rip off and deceive the public.”

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As Consequence pointed out earlier this year, tickets today cost two to three times as much as inflation-adjusted tickets from a few decades ago. On top of that, there’s been a number of high-profile ticket fiascos in recent years, including fan frustration with Live Nation and Ticketmaster over Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” and complaints over “dynamic pricing” for Bruce Springsteen’s 2023 tour.

Kid Rock and Nickelback will headline the 2025 edition of the Rock the Country, a 10-date traveling music festival set to visit 10 small towns across the United States in the spring and summer. Additionally, the two acts will headline Pepsi Rock the South festival in Cullman, Alabama in June 2025.

The series of two-day Rock the Country concerts kicks off April 4th and 5th in Livingston, Louisiana, and runs through a July 25th-26th stop in Anderson, South Carolina. The three-day Pepsi Rock the South festival will take place in the middle of the itinerary, June 19th-21st in Cullman, Alabama.

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Tickets are available at the official Rock the Country website, where you can see the specific lineups for each city. For the Pepsi Rock the South fest, tickets can be purchased here.

Kid Rock and Nickelback will perform at all of the stops, headlining a lineup that also features Hank Williams Jr.,...

The traveling festival Rock the Country is expanding. Co-founder Kid Rock will headline the second iteration of the event with Nickelback in 11 cities across America between April and July 2025, up from seven cities during this year’s inaugural run. But it isn’t just the lineup of country music acts or tour stops that are expanding — so is Rock’s definition of the event.

“It’s this simple, Rock The Country isn’t just a music festival, it’s a movement,” he said in a statement. “It’s a place for hard working,...

With Beyonce’s recent snub at the CMA Awards, country music veteran Luke Bryan weighed in, giving his take on why the pop singer came up empty on a big night for country music.

Beyonce Flopped Hard At The Recent CMA Awards

Crossing over into country music seems to be the in thing to do for a lot of artists from other genres. It has worked out well for Aaron Lewis, Darius Rucker, and even Post Malone. While Beyonce may be a big draw when it comes to her forte of music, things have not translated as well with her foray into the country music space.

At the most recent CMA Awards, the pop star received no nominations, despite releasing her album, Cowboy Carter. Beyonce previously spoke out about not being accepted by the country community. For anyone looking for it, this recent CMA snub added more fuel to that fire.

Staind have announced a Spring 2024 US tour with direct support from fellow hard-rockers Seether. Saint Asonia (featuring former Three Days Grace singer Adam Gontier) and country rocker Tim Montana will also be on the bill.

Billed as “The Tailgate Tour,” the outing kicks off on April 18th in St. Augustine, Florida, and runs through May 15th in Pelham, Alabama. The majority of the newly announced dates fall in May.

A Live Nation ticket pre-sale for the new dates starts Thursday (November 16th) at 10 a.m. local time using the code Backstage. General ticket sales go live on Friday (November 17th) at noon local time via Ticketmaster. Fans can also look for deals or get tickets to sold-out dates via StubHub, where your purchase is 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s Fan Protect program.

“I’m really looking forward to being back on the road with my good friends Seether, Tim Montana, and Saint Asonia,...

Staind frontman Aaron Lewis apparently thought it was a good idea to spell out “Trump 24” on an open field using the carcasses of 32 coyotes that he and his friends apparently killed during a hunting excursion in Texas. Now, he’s getting some serious backlash for the stunt.

The singer has made no secret of his right-wing views over the years, leading a “Fuck Joe Biden” chant during a 2021 show, and even going so far as to diss American treasure Bruce Springsteen in the lyrics to his politically charged solo tune “Am I the Only One.”

But this new one might take the cake. Lewis posted the gruesome image on his Instagram while promoting his 2024 solo tour. “Successful morning in Texas. Presale for Afl 2024 dates starts today,” he captioned the disturbing photo.

Of course, some furious comments followed, with the top one being, “Those coyotes aren’t nearly as dead as...

Today, Godsmack and Staind announced a 25-city co-headlining 2023 tour, produced by Live Nation. The tour kicks off on July 18 at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St. Louis, Mo, with stops across the U.S. in Pittsburgh, Pa; Salt Lake City, Ut; Las Vegas, Nv, and more before wrapping up in Austin, TX, at Germania Insurance Amphitheatre on August 31. “Really looking forward to running on tour this summer with our old pals in Staind. For sure every night will be packed with great music and A Lot of fun memories! Don’t miss it!” Tickets: Tickets go on sale starting on Friday, March 31 at 10 Am Local Time at Ticketmaster.com “We’re really looking forward to being out with Sully and the guys this summer,” says Staind lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Aaron Lewis. “The first time we shared the stage with Godsmack was the 1998 Warped Tour and here we are 25 years later still going strong,...

Rock heavyweights Godsmack and Staind will hit the road together on a Summer 2023 US tour, running from mid July through late August.

The 25-date outing kicks off July 18th in St. Louis, Missouri, and wraps up with an August 31st show in Austin, Texas. A Godsmack pre-sale begins Wednesday (March 29th) at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster using the code Thesky, while a Live Nation pre-sale starts Thursday (March 30th) at 10 a.m. local time with the code Opener. General sales begin on Friday.

Alternatively, fans can check for deals or pick up tickets to sold-out shows via StubHub, where your order is 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program.

“Really looking forward to running on tour this summer with our old pals in Staind,” stated Godsmack. “For sure every night will be packed with great music and A Lot of fun memories! Don’t miss it!”

Staind’s Aaron Lewis commented,...

A new series from writer/actor Malachi Rivers is in development. ‘Moments’ includes Rutina Wesley (Queen Sugar) Sufe Bradshaw (Veep), Devere Rogers (Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul), Thomas Hobson (That Girl Lay Lay) and Desean Terry (The Morning Show).

Described as a weekly group therapy session gone wrong, the series plans to tackle various issues, including domestic violence, eating disorders, abandonment issues and more, all while the group is guided by a mind-reading therapist and time-traveling partner.

“I created ‘Moments’ during the heart of the pandemic,when I had to really hone my craft and create something I not only wanted to be a part of, but also wanted to see on TV” said Rivers.

‘Moments’ is directed by Aaron Lewis, and Tawan Bazemore serves at Dp. Carlton Jordan is executive producer and the series includes psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere.

Adeem Bingham just couldn’t abide the Aaron Lewis song “Am I the Only One.” The embittered tune, released in 2021, infamously name-checked Bruce Springsteen for being a disappointment to “real” Americans and moaned about the tearing down of Confederate monuments. Bingham, who performs as Adeem the Artist, wasn’t having it.

“It’s a terrible fuckin’ song,” Adeem, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, says. “I listened to it one time and it made me so angry.”

The Knoxville-based artist performed a parody version as a shit-stirring experiment,...

Vladimir Putin is ramping up his brutal assault on Ukraine, shelling civilians from Odessa to Kharkiv, and leveling the port city of Mariupol — leading President Joe Biden to denounce the Russian dictator as a “war criminal.” But if the initial days of the war were marked by some conservatives muting their admiration for the Russian state, a spate of notorious right-wing figures are now dropping the mask to defend Putin, and even claim his fight as their own.

Over the weekend, former Trump adviser Roger Stone, Maga media maven Cassandra MacDonald...

Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, who is featured in a Reelz documentary about the Warwick, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire, which killed some 100 attendees of a Great White concert in 2003, has released a new song to honor the victims called “Stand.”

The song, one of 12 from Snider’s new album, “Leave a Scar,” is featured in “America’s Deadliest Rock Concert: The Guest List,” which chronicles the events leading up to and after the tragedy through deeply personal stories of fans who were there.

The Feb. 20, 2003 fire was caused by illegal soundproofing materials and pyrotechnics — 100 people died and more than 200 were injured. Some of those fans had met Great White lead singer Jack Russell earlier that day at a local establishment, and he generously offered to put them on his personal guest list to see the show.

The film features interviews with a tearful Russell, family members, survivors, attorney John Barylick,...

Legacy Records has announced an expanded edition of Forever Words, the 2018 collaborative album that found artists like Chris Cornell and Elvis Costello setting poems and lyrics of Johnny Cash to music for the first time.

The deluxe version of Forever Words will be released to streaming services in four “waves,” pairing a total of 18 new songs with the album’s original 16 tracks. The first wave arrives today (Friday, October 23rd) with the songs “Big Hearted Girl” by Hard Working Americans and “I’m Comin’ Honey” by Shawn Camp, alongside the...

Ace Frehley has never been very open about his political leanings, but that changed in a recent interview with the Cassius Morris Show (via Blabbermouth) when his cover of the Cream song “Politician” from his new LP Origins, Vol. 2 came up.

“I don’t think politics and rock & roll mix — in my opinion,” said the former Kiss guitarist. “And I try to stay away from that as much as I can. I mean, once in a while, I’ll make a crack. I will say I’m a Trump supporter.

Staind frontman Aaron Lewis had another tough night on tour -- he couldn't get a handful of chatty spectators to shut their yap, so he stormed offstage ... again. The country-rock star was performing solo Saturday night in Oklahoma City, where he cut his set short toward the end of the show ... but not before laying into some members of the crowd with a good old-fashioned, "Shut the f*ck up!!!"  After some folks wouldn't abide by his demand,...

Staind frontman Aaron Lewis had a rough Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd, which he didn't help when he threw Latin Americans under the bus ... and walked off stage. Aaron was performing solo at the Pharr Events Center in Texas Saturday night, where eyewitnesses tell us he refused to play his final song on guitar because the audience wouldn't shut the hell up. It was an awkward scene ... like a parent chastising their kids.

Aaron Lewis will return with his third full-length country album in 2019. The Staind vocalist will release the follow-up to 2016’s Sinner, titled State I’m In, via Big Machine imprint Valory Music on April 12th.

Produced by Buddy Cannon, State I’m In features 10 tracks, six of which Lewis had a hand in writing. Songwriting collaborators on the album include Dan Tyminski, Keith Gattis and Waylon Payne, among others. There’s also a recording of “Burnt the Sawmill Down,” written by Jim Elliot with the late Keith Whitley. Preorders for the album begin Friday,...

Retro-country newcomer Dillon Carmichael salutes the King of Rock & Roll with an intimate cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” posted in honor of the late icon’s birthday. Presley would have turned 84 on January 8th.

Dedicating the performance to his grandfather Harold, who he says “taught me to sing with these songs” in the video’s description, Carmichael leans into his neo-traditional reputation, presenting the tender ballad in raw acoustic fashion. With his commanding baritone on full display, the Kentucky native delivers the whole track in one uncut take,...

Dillon Carmichael got one major country music milestone to his credit in August, when he made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. Now, in a new video presented by Opry Entertainment, Carmichael scales things back for an intimate performance of his song “Dancin’ Away With My Heart.”

Penned by Carmichael with Larry McCoy and Neal Coty, “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” appears on the Kentucky native’s 2018 LP Hell on an Angel. That collection, named one of Rolling Stone‘s 40 Best Country and Americana Albums of the year, showed Carmichael to be a gifted,...

There's always that one person shouting out song requests at concerts, but one heckler took it too far and totally Pissed Off Aaron Lewis ... so the singer started lighting up the guy and hitting him where it hurts. We've obtained video of the Staind frontman going off on a "f*cking rude" guest during his solo set Sunday night at 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis ... and it's a pretty wild scene. You see Aaron onstage, dropping...

Former attorney general Eric Holder pitched his investigative services to a roomful of Hollywood executives on Friday, urging them to get out in front of #MeToo allegations.

Holder, now a partner at Covington & Burling, gave a presentation to about 50 corporate leaders at the firm’s Los Angeles office. The former attorney general oversaw the firm’s extensive investigation of sexual harassment claims at Uber last year, which led to the ouster of the CEO, and is now seeking to expand the investigations practice in Hollywood.

It might seem like a tough sell: Hire us, and your CEO could get fired. But Holder and two other partners, Aaron Lewis and Lindsay Burke, are selling companies on the benefits of anticipating problems before they become national news.

“The lesson of Uber is it’s vastly better to look at these issues proactively rather than reactively,” Lewis told Variety in an interview before the meeting.

In news that is ripping your vinyl CD wallet apart, Staind’s Aaron Lewis and Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland are fucking going at it right now. It all started—well, it all started back in the late ‘90s, when Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst signed Staind to Flip Records, tying the mewling rap-metal imps with the barrel-voiced…

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Nominations for the 47th Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards¬, a star-studded event produced for television by dick clark productions, were announced this morning in a first-ever ACM digital press conference on the Academy’s Facebook and Twitter pages. The winners will be announced live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 1 on the CBS Television Network. As previously announced, Blake Shelton will join forces with country music star Reba to host the show for the second consecutive year.

This morning’s digital press conference began with a video introduction by Reba, followed by nomination announcements from music superstar Lionel Richie, who will be honored in this spring’s CBS special “ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends,” Beth Behrs of the CBS comedy series “2 Broke Girls,” Nancy O’Dell from “Entertainment Tonight” and television journalist Michael Ausiello from TVLine.

March is here, so I think some of you are supposed to be having days that resemble either lions or lambs. My day, on the other hand, is not at all wooly or fanged and in fact resembles most of the days we had last month. Which is to say, sunny and clear with a bit of a mild breeze. Sometimes people ask me if I miss seasons here in South Florida and I usually stare at them until they remember why that's a stupid question. And this time of year, the time when you're just aching for spring to show up for real and to be able to put your coat and boots away in anticipation of warmer weather and realizing you desperately need some Vitamin D before you either break down sobbing when the grocery store is out of your preferred flavor of yogurt or assault a pedestrian...

Can you believe it's already March? One-sixth of 2011 is already gone, and in those two months there have already been some great moments on late night television (mostly thanks to David Letterman's embrace of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models and Jimmy Fallon's insistence on booking Odd Future and Bel Biv Devoe in the span of a week). There will certainly be more on tap moving forward, starting with this week, which features a number of great actors and killer musical acts. You'll get some of everything on "The Tonight Show," including Matt Damon and musical guest Cake (Tuesday, March 1), Simon Cowell (Wednesday, March 2) and Jerry Seinfeld (Thursday, March 3). Over on "The Late Show With David Letterman," the host will sit down with "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Monday, February 28th), "Red Riding Hood" star Amanda Seyfried (Tuesday), "The Celebrity Apprentice" host Donald Trump (Wednesday) and...