Music

A new year marks a chance to focus on new goals, and for country stars, those goals often have to do with their music.

For example, Thomas Rhett says he wants to improve his vocal stamina so that his voice can still shine at the end of those three-day touring weekends.

“I think I want to learn, in the same way you would want to, like, get ripped in the gym, how to get your voice there, too,” he explains in an interview with his record label. “Thursdays and Fridays are always really easy for me, but Saturdays I tend to wake up kinda struggling.”

He adds,  “I just started doing vocal lessons a couple years ago, so I think I’ve got a lot of stuff left to learn.”

Meanwhile, Carly Pearce has never been shy about her fandom for the classic women of country — but in 2023, she wants to expand her brand the way artists like Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire have.

“I want to be the women that I love, the Dollys, the Rebas. They’re household names,” Carly points out. “So I want to figure out what is my version of that.”

She’s already got a head start: Carly hosted ABC’s CMA Country Christmas special to close out this year.

“You know, is that doing something outside of music? Is that just expanding and kind of stretching? I know I can do music, but what else can I do within that umbrella of just challenging myself?” the singer wonders.

Of course, she’s keeping her classic country sound heavily in the mix. Carly teased a snippet of audio from the studio this week, and from the sounds of it, her new material is twangier and more full of fiddle than anything she’s put out yet.

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Die-hard Scotty McCreery fans have known about his love for Elvis Presley dating all the way back to when he won the 10th season of American Idol in 2011. 

So it’s not exactly a surprise what the North Carolina native’s favorite holiday record is.

“The Elvis Christmas album has got to be the best ever made,” Scotty asserts. “And I know I’m biased, but I do love my Elvis. So ‘Blue Christmas,’ ‘Santa Claus is Back in Town,’ all that good stuff. For me, it’s Elvis.”

What is surprising, perhaps, is the yuletide song Scotty insists is stuck in his head practically every day of the year.

“The one Christmas song — I said I sing it all year long — I do. I think it’s the Drifters — The ‘White Christmas’ — that one,” he explains while imitating that version’s distinctive background vocals.

“Dude, I sing that song basically 365 days a year,” he continues. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s crammed in the back of my head somewhere and will not escape.”

“And the band is so tired of hearing it on the bus, my wife, everybody,” he admits. “But at some point during the day, [in] 24 hours, I will blurt that out.”

Scotty put out his own Christmas album, A Scotty McCreery Christmas, in 2012, though he didn’t cover his favorite version of the Irving Berlin classic. He does do “Santa Claus Is Back in Town,” however. 

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After touring in Eddie Vedder‘s solo band this year, Andrew Watt will be playing with another rock legend’s backing group when he joins Iggy Pop live for a run of shows in 2023. Speaking with ABC Audio, Watt reflects on his experience on the road with the Pearl Jam frontman.

“We’re all genuinely friends that love each other,” Watt says of the Vedder lineup, which also included Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and ex-RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. “We go on these tours, and we all go to dinner every night and go surfing and hang out.”

“We do it more for the hang, we just like to spend time together,” he adds. “It’s beautiful.”

In addition to touring with the Pearl Jam frontman and the Godfather of Punk, Watt produced their respective new albums: this year’s Earthling and the upcoming Every Loser. They joined an already impressive collection of collaborators who also include Ozzy Osbourne, whose Ordinary Man and Patient Number 9 records were produced by Watt.

Speaking specifically about Eddie and Ozzy, Watt describes them as “completely different artists.”

“They write in completely different ways, but they’re both fantastic singers,” Watt shares. “They also sing in completely different ways and record their vocals in completely different ways.”

Despite each artist’s unique traits, Watt’s role as a producer is always to get the best music out of them.

“There will be times where they wanna follow [your input] and times where they don’t like the idea,” Watt explains. “You gotta just ride the wave of the creativity and make sure that you’re helping get to a landing point that is what’s the best for the song.”

Pop’s tour launches in April, and will also feature Smith and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses.

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Taylor Swift is set to direct her first feature-length film, but has she always had her sights set on directing?

Taylor chatted with The Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh as part of Variety‘s Directors on Directors interview series. McDonagh opened the conversation by asking the hitmaker if directing was always a goal of hers.

“No, I always wanted to tell stories,” Taylor said. “I have always written stories, poetry, songs. And I think this just grew out of that storytelling. And the more I did it, the more I loved it.”

She revealed her directing “came out of necessity” when she specifically hoped to find a woman to direct her 2019 music video “The Man.” Said Taylor, “The few that I reached out to were fortunately booked … So I was like, ‘I could do it, maybe.’ And when I did direct, I just thought, ‘This is actually more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.'”

Although her start in directing was accidental, Taylor said she now has 10 music videos and one short under her belt. “I’m just inching my way along toward taking on more responsibility,” she said.

“Every aspect of my job as a singer has affected the way that I am as a director,” Taylor continued. “I definitely feel more free to create now. And I’m making more albums at a more rapid pace than I ever did before, because I think the more art you create, hopefully the less pressure you put on yourself.”

Added Taylor, “I’m happier when I’m making things more often … The more that I’m writing, the more those ideas come. I’m just going with it.”

It was revealed last week she partnered with Searchlight Pictures to make her directorial debut with an original script that she’s written.

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Muse‘s new album, Will of the People, features some of the band’s biggest and heaviest riffs, and the song “Kill or Be Killed” will compete for Best Metal Performance at next year’s Grammys. As frontman Matt Bellamy tells Classic Rock magazine, that kind of direction isn’t totally out of the blue.

“When we were growing up we were listening to bands like Iron Maiden,” Bellamy shares. “And though we connected more through Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and The Smashing Pumpkins, we always had this love for ’80s metal.”

Bellamy feels that Maiden in particular “felt a bit more punk rock in ways” from other metal bands of the era.

“The [Maiden] song ‘Phantom of the Opera’ doesn’t feel as bloated or overtly classical as other metal songs,” Bellamy says. “There’s still something quite angry and scary about it. That’s why Maiden are a band we’ve always looked up to.”

Bellamy previously told Apple Music 1 that some of the heavier moments on Will of the People were inspired by his son’s love of Slipknot.

Will of the People, which also features the singles “Won’t Stand Down” and “Compliance,” dropped in August. Muse will launch a U.S. tour behind the album in February with support from Evanescence, as well as Highly Suspect on select dates.

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Harry Styles has a cheeky new tattoo to celebrate his Brazilian fans — on his upper left thigh. He showed off his new ink on Instagram by unbuttoning his pants and posing in his undies. 

Speaking of Harry, he was named among Entertainment Weekly‘s Entertainers of the Year. His feature was penned by actor Nick Kroll, who co-starred with him in Don’t Worry Darling. “There wasn’t a day where he didn’t show up on set with coffee or donuts or extra vitamin C packets for people. He was always providing for people in a very nice way,” Kroll revealed.

Coincidentally, Sadie Sink was also named among EW‘s list, with Taylor Swift writing her op-ed. She revealed the argument scene in Swift’s “All Too Well” music video was from a rehearsal. “Sadie lit up that kitchen fight with ad-libbed lines, improvised twists and turns, and all with riveting nuance. The rehearsal is what ended up in the film, a one-shot battle that I didn’t have the nerve to cut down in the edit,” said Taylor. 

Ed Sheeran revealed he’s most inspired by Bruce Springsteen. His official Instagram fanpage shared a video of Ed answering the same question 10 years apart. Ed said he discovered The Boss in 2013 and has done a deep dive into the legendary rocker’s catalog.

Andrea Bocelli and his kids Matteo and Virginia have a busy Thursday ahead. They’ll start their day performing on Live with Kelly and Ryan, then move on to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon before a feature on a new short with The Simpsons — all in the same day, December 15. 

Lauren Daigle has donated $681,000 to community charities focused on arts and humanitarian causes via her organization, The Price Fund. Charities include Music Health Alliance and Colorado Healing Fund.  

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Doja Cat‘s “Vegas” from the Baz Luhrmann biopic Elvis has been deemed ineligible for an Oscar, Variety reports. Apparently, because the song sampled Big Mama Thornton‘s 1952 hit “Hound Dog,” it cannot compete for Best Original Song. Oscar nominations come out January 24.

Halsey has teamed up with Blizzard Entertainment to unveil the release date of Diablo IV. Halsey performed their song “Lilith” at The Game Awards and hinted this is just the beginning. “A lot of exciting things coming for Halsey fans, Diablo fans and the crossover; waiting for Lilith’s embrace,” they teased in a statement.

Harry Styles has a cheeky new tattoo to celebrate his Brazilian fans — on his upper left thigh. He showed off his new ink on Instagram by unbuttoning his pants and posing in his undies.

Speaking of Harry, he was named among Entertainment Weekly‘s Entertainers of the Year. His feature was penned by actor Nick Kroll, who co-starred with him in Don’t Worry Darling. “There wasn’t a day where he didn’t show up on set with coffee or donuts or extra vitamin C packets for people. He was always providing for people in a very nice way,” Kroll revealed.

Coincidentally, Sadie Sink was also named among EW‘s list, with Taylor Swift writing an op-ed for her. Swift revealed the argument scene in her “All Too Well” music video was from a rehearsal. “Sadie lit up that kitchen fight with ad-libbed lines, improvised twists and turns, and all with riveting nuance. The rehearsal is what ended up in the film, a one-shot battle that I didn’t have the nerve to cut down in the edit,” said Taylor.

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