Newcomer Zach John King is currently enjoying his very first hit on the Billboard Country Airplay chart with “Get to Drinkin’.” 

“The story behind ‘Get to Drinkin” is about a relationship that I had in the past that, after a few Jack & Cokes, I started to paint it with rose-colored glasses, started to act like it wasn’t my fault for letting things get so bad,” he says. “I think everybody feels that way at some point in a relationship.”

“It’s a song that covers a sad topic with really upbeat and fun music,” he adds.

While we wait for Zach’s debut album, he has some high-profile gigs on the horizon, heading out on tour with Morgan Wallen for a second year in a row on April 18. He will also open for Jon Pardi, Luke Bryan, Riley Green and Thomas Rhett. 

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Live Nation Urban has teamed with the Black Women Photographers organization for its fifth year of giving Black female photographers the paid opportunity to shoot at some upcoming festivals.

Festivals include Black on the Block in DC and Dallas; Keith Lee’s Familee Day; Roots Picnic in Philadelphia; A Roots Picnic Experience in LA; One Music Fest; and Broccoli City Fest.

“As a Black woman who continues to navigate the music industry, this work feels deeply personal to me,” Christina Woodson, Live Nation Urban’s tour and festival marketing manager, said in a statement. “Creating paid opportunities for Black women and non-binary creatives to shoot our festivals and concerts is about more than access — it’s about representation. This partnership ensures we are not only in the room but shaping the narrative and capturing our culture from within our own community.”

“Five years in, our partnership with Live Nation Urban continues to prove what’s possible when access meets intention. Together, we’ve opened doors for Black and African women creatives to not only enter the music industry, but to thrive within it,” Black Women Photographers founder Polly Irungu added. “The next time you’re at a show, take a look at who’s behind the lens — that visibility is impact in action. Together, we’re not just opening doors. We’re redefining the landscape of music storytelling.”

May 1 is the deadline to submit applications, which are reviewed on a rolling basis.

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Ever since The Format broke up in 2008, bandmates Nate Ruess and Sam Means have fielded questions about whether they would ever reunite. Even still, they didn’t expect the overwhelming reaction to their first show back in 2025.

“Surprised is an understatement,” Means tells ABC Audio. “We were just absolutely … our faces were melted by just, like, what was going on.”

That comeback show took place in a basketball arena in The Format’s hometown of Phoenix and marked the band’s biggest headlining performance of their career.

“I don’t even know if fun. ever played a headlining show that big,” Means laughs, referring to Ruess’ former band. “So it was wild to come back after so much time and play in a basketball arena. The energy that night was just unmatched.”

The Format had initially planned to reunite in 2020 for a run of shows, but those were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The five years in between allowed The Format to make a new album, Boycott Heaven, which marked their first record in 20 years.

“The 2020 stuff, I’m sad that that never happened,” Means says. “But in hindsight, I think, this is a much better situation.”

Boycott Heaven is out now, and The Format will launch a full reunion tour in support of it Thursday in Boston.

“We’re going to be playing a lot of new stuff, obviously playing a ton of old stuff, but we like to do a different set list every show,” Means says. “Nate is really famous for the last-second set list before the show, so people will get a good variety.” 

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Ella Langley’s hit “Choosin’ Texas” has been #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and has now broken a record set by Taylor Swift — but that may not be the most interesting thing about it.

“Choosin’ Texas” now holds the record for the most weeks ever spent at #1 on the Hot 100 by a song that was also #1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. The previous record was three, which Taylor held with 2012’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”

Now, for the interesting part. Ella co-wrote “Choosin’ Texas” with country superstar Miranda Lambert during a writers retreat. While there, she asked Miranda about something a mutual friend once told her: that Miranda used to own a kangaroo.

“As a fellow animal lover, I had so many questions about that,” Ella told ABC Audio. So after they’d written a song together, Ella said, “I was like, ‘Why don’t you tell me about that kangaroo?’ And she tells me the whole story.”

“At the end of the story, she got pulled over with the kangaroo in the passenger seat. [The] kangaroo got her out of a ticket, [it] really did,” Ella noted. 

After Miranda mentioned that she had Texas plates on her car at the time, Ella said, “I was like, ‘Well, he’s probably like, “She’s from Texas, I can tell.”‘”

“And just literally that right there, the melody kind of just fell out,” she continued. “I went, ‘She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way he’s two-stepping ’round the room.’ Just like that.”

“And she’s like, ‘She’s from Texas, like the one he went with!’ And, I mean, [within] 30, 45 minutes that song was written.”

She laughs, “People are like, ‘Where do you get your inspiration from?’ I’m like, ‘Baby, it comes from everywhere and anywhere.'” 

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Bruce Springsteen is set to kick off his Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour on March 31 in Minneapolis, but that won’t be his only performance in Minnesota.

The Boss has confirmed to the Minnesota Star Tribune that he will perform his new protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” at the No Kings rally, which is scheduled for Saturday at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul.

“You want to try to meet the moment,” Springsteen told the paper. “The No Kings movement is of great import right now.”

“When you have the opportunity to sing something where the timing is essential and if you have something powerful to sing, it elevates the moment, it elevates your job to another level,” he added. “And I’m always in search of that.”

Springsteen released “Streets of Minneapolis” on January 28, explaining that he wrote it “in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis.” He dedicated it to “the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” the two Minneapolis residents who were fatally shot by federal agents.

He previously performed the song live at Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello’s January 30 protest concert at First Ave, a downtown Minneapolis venue.

Also attending the No Kings rally in St. Paul on Saturday will be Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jane Fonda and singers Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers.

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