As Sam Hunt prepares to headline Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Friday, March 10, he says that he’s ditching the typical big production for an acoustic-leaning setup that’s apt for a “special” venue.
“In keeping with this sort of more traditional approach that I’ve lately been taking with the songwriting, even the production, I just like the idea of maybe stripping things down in town, and we haven’t gotten to do that in a while,” Sam shares.
While it’s been “maybe seven or eight years” since he’s performed at the Mother Church of Country Music, the “Water Under the Bridge” singer says he’s determined to not let stress creep in, instead focusing on delivering a personal show.
“[I’m] just looking forward to just really getting in there and not overthinking it, not scripting it out too much,” he reflects. “And in preparation for the summer tour, getting in there and trying some songs out, playing them maybe in some new ways. But more than anything, just have a more intimate experience.”
Tickets to Sam’s upcoming Ryman concert can be purchased at the venue’s website.
Ellie Goulding revealed she did more than advocate for conservation at West Sussex’s Wakehurst Kew Gardens last month — she performed a secret concert, which fans will soon be able to watch.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, the singer announced her concert special Monumental: Ellie Goulding at Kew Gardens will premiere on Amazon Freevee on March 31. The special was directed by Liz Clare, who previously helmed An Audience with Adele.
The singer described on Instagram how meaningful it was to perform at the botanical gardens, said to be the world’s largest and most diverse. She said she was honored to “perform exclusive songs from my new album Higher than Heaven among the giant succulents and lily pads.”
She added, “I can’t wait for you to share this magical experience.”
In addition to singing some new songs and fan-favorite hits, Ellie will provide an in-depth conversation about her new album, life as a mom and the importance of conservation.
Ellie previously spoke about her visit to the gardens on Instagram and stressed the importance of its Millennium Seed Bank, which is home to over 2.4 billion seeds from across the globe. According to the bank’s official website, its purpose is to preserve the billions of seeds for the future.
She had warned in her post, “We are experiencing the rapid extinction of plant diversity, faster than any other time in the past.”
The upcoming concert special will lead up to the release of Ellie’s new studio album, Higher Than Heaven, which arrives April 7.
The show must go on for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Despite the loss of their last founding member, guitarist Gary Rossington, last Sunday, it has been confirmed that the band will play Florida’s Strawberry Festival this Sunday as planned.
“Our Festival has lost a great friend, entertainer, and music icon,” Florida Strawberry Festival President Paul Davis shares, according to Planet Rock. “Our hearts go out to his entire family, all his fans and to the thousands of people whose lives he has enriched.”
He adds, “We know we will have a special guest and guardian angel watching over this performance.”
In addition to the Strawberry Festival, Lynyrd Skynyrd has several other shows on their schedule, including an upcoming summer tour with ZZ Top. A complete list of tour dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.
The Oscars producers are giving a glimpse into what to expect Sunday night.
The biggest question is if the show and its host Jimmy Kimmel will acknowledge last year’s Will Smith/Chris Rock slap, and at a news conference Wednesday, Executive Producer Molly McNearney — Kimmel’s wife — said they planned to “acknowledge it” and then “move on.”
“We don’t want to make this year about last year,” she continued, “but yeah, it’s certainly something that we will address in a comedic fashion.”
As for what’s keeping McNearney up at night just days away from the show? She said “just deciding which jokes are going to make it and which aren’t…we have a lot of great writers and a lot of great material, and it’s a real science and the rhythm of the monologue and figure out where to take the audience.”
Adds McNearney, “I think [me and Jimmy] fought over a joke while brushing our teeth last night. One that I wanted out, he wanted in, and you know, we’ll see how it goes.”
The presentation of the Best Actress category is usually done by the previous year’s winner for Best Actor, which would be Will Smith, but since he’s banned from the Oscars for 10 years, Executive Producer and showrunner Ricky Kirshner revealed some changes have been made.
“We’ve rethought the show, and we’ve put presenters together that makes sense for the categories and you’ll see Sunday night,” he explained.
Unlike last year’s telecast, which cut some behind-the-scenes categories from the telecast, Kirhsner says “we’re going to show what it takes [to make a movie] and honor the people that make those movies.”
“[T]here are hundreds of people that make movies and a lot of people across the country don’t know what it takes,” he adds.
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized following a fall at a Washington, D.C., hotel, his team told ABC News late Wednesday night.
“This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment,” McConnell’s spokesperson Doug Andres said.
At this time, his team is not providing any further information on the extent of McConnell’s injuries or how long he is expected to remain in the hospital.
The Republican leader, 81, who overcame polio at a young age, suffered a fall in early August 2019 where he fractured his shoulder.
McConnell has served as the Republican leader in the Senate since 2007 and became the longest-serving party leader in the history of the Senate earlier this year.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SPRING TRAINING
INTERLEAGUE
Baltimore 7, Pittsburgh 4
Detroit 2, Washington 1
St. Louis 4, NY Yankees 0
Arizona 2, Texas 0
LA Angels 4, Colorado 3
Dominican Republic 9, Atlanta 0
Chi Cubs 11, Canada 7
Milwaukee 8, Great Britain 2
Nicaragua 2, NY Mets 0
Miami 11, Israel 5
San Francisco 5, United States 1
Seattle 2, LA Dodgers 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota 7, Toronto 0
Kansas City 14, Chi White Sox 5
Cleveland 6, Mexico 0
Colombia 3, Oakland 2
Boston 9, Puerto Rico 3
Venezuela 9, Houston 8
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati 10, San Diego 9
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta 122, Washington 120
Boston 115, Portland 93
New Orleans 113, Dallas 106
Cleveland 104, Miami 100
Chicago 117, Denver 96
Phoenix 132, Oklahoma City 101
LA Clippers 108, Toronto 100
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Vancouver 3, Anaheim 2 (OT)
Minnesota 4, Winnipeg 2
Detroit 4, Chicago 3
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — The Senate on Wednesday voted by a lopsided margin to halt much debated changes to Washington, D.C.’s, century-old criminal code, a move supported by President Joe Biden but criticized by some local activists.
The Senate voted 81-14, with Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock voting present, to shut down the proposed changes. Thirty-three Democrats voted along with Republicans.
“It’s the opposite of good policy. It will make the crime wave even worse. It sends the wrong message that D.C. isn’t serious about violent crime,” the resolution’s lead sponsor, Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, said on the floor.
However, he told reporters, he was “open” to working with the city council to continue to update the criminal code.
“Most Americans from all over the country visit our nation’s capital each week to meet with their federal representatives and to enjoy our national history,” Hagerty said. “Congress has a constitutional obligation to make sure these visitors can walk down the sidewalk or enjoy a meal without fear of becoming victims.”
The new code would have reduced maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking, robbery and other offenses while increasing sentences for crimes including attempted murder. It would have also eliminated some mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes and would have expanded jury trials for certain misdemeanors.
The district’s city council initially passed the changes by a 13-0 margin, though Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, vetoed it. Her veto was overturned by a 12-1 vote, sending the legislation to the House.
Because of the district’s unique status, Congress has authority over its laws.
In the House, Republicans led a resolution to shut down the effort and were joined by 31 Democrats. After that February vote, President Biden said he would sign the GOP legislation, opening the floodgates for Senate Democrats to say they too supported stopping the changes to the criminal code.
The GOP-led measure to block the reforms from taking place sparked broad debate over Democrats’ messaging on crime, the best way to ensure public safety and how much autonomy the nation’s capital should have, with many Democrats — including Biden — having called for it to be a state.
Advocates of the new criminal code said the city deserves to be allowed to govern itself, noting that no Washington law has been overturned by Congress in three decades.
Supporters also cited how long the revisions were developed for a criminal code that hasn’t been updated to this degree in more than a century.
“The elected representatives of the District of Columbia, after exhaustive review made some decisions about criminal justice reform. I don’t agree with every single one of them they made, but I’ll tell you this: What they did is entirely defensible, and it certainly doesn’t rise to the level of the United States Congress for the first time in 30 years big-footing their decisions,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Wednesday.
“Think about how patronizing and paternalistic for this body not being any part of this process now suddenly saying they need adult supervision as if they are children,” added Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was raised in D.C.
Activists outside the Capitol rallied to push lawmakers to shut down the effort to scrap the changes, but to no avail.
Seventeen people were arrested, according to Capitol Police, including local elected officials who are members of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and advocacy organization leaders. At least 16 people were arrested for allegedly crowding, obstructing and incommoding another person and one was arrested for alleged defacement during a planned act of civil disobedience.
“We have come together today with one simple message for Congress, and President Biden. Keep your hands off D.C. You either support D.C. home rule or you don’t. There are no exceptions. And there is no middle ground on D.C.’s rights to self-government,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington’s only representative in Congress and who doesn’t get to vote on legislation, said at a protest.
Still, it was not enough to blunt the support for the legislation, particularly after Biden and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., said they supported it.
“I’m going to vote yes. It was a close question. But on the balance, I’m voting yes,” Schumer said Tuesday.
The White House defended Biden’s backing as a sign of his support for anti-crime efforts despite also endorsing home rule for the district.
“One thing the president believes in is making sure that the streets in America and communities across the country are safe,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week. “That includes D.C.”
(MICHIGAN) — The FBI is renewing its push as it searches for a Michigan woman who has been missing since December and may have been killed.
Heather Mae Kelley, 35, of Portage, has been missing since Dec. 10, according to the FBI, which is supporting local authorities in the investigation.
“There is evidence to suggest that she may have been the victim of a homicide,” the FBI said in a press release.
Kelley told family she was on her way to pick up an acquaintance from downtown Kalamazoo but has not been seen or heard from since, according to the Department of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
She last spoke to her children around 10:20 p.m. local time that night saying she should be home soon, authorities said.
Her vehicle was found abandoned in Comstock Township on Dec. 11, authorities said.
“The vehicle was set on fire and evidence of blood was found inside the vehicle,” Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller III said in a press briefing last month. Her clothing was found near the vehicle, Fuller said.
Authorities had identified an unnamed person of interest who was offering “limited cooperation” in the investigation, the sheriff said at the time.
Fuller said investigators believe at least one person may have helped with the burning of the vehicle and “the possible destruction of other evidence.”
No charges have been announced in the case.
Silent Observer is offering up to $5,000 for information that leads to Kelley’s location.
The early years of Iron Maiden are going to be the subject of a new picture book from Rufus Publications.
Iron Maiden – The Paul Di’Anno Years, the third title in the publisher’s Portraits series, will focus on the band’s years with frontman Di’Anno, which covers 1978 to 1981. The book features hundreds of never-before-seen photos, with the black-and-white pics covering the band rehearsing, recording, playing live and more.
The 240-page book comes with a fold-out poster and features a black slipcase with a gold foil logo. There will be 666 numbered copies of the main addition, along with limited leather and metal editions, with just 66 of each available.
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — During their first hearing investigating the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee sought Wednesday to evoke memories of the frenzied final days of the occupation, relying on emotional testimony from veterans who witnessed the evacuations and a deadly explosion outside of Kabul’s airport that killed 13 American service members along with scores of Afghans.
One of the witnesses at the hearing, Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, was badly injured by that blast — a suicide bombing carried out by the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K.
Through tears, Vargas-Andrews described in poignant detail the moment he was thrown 12 feet by “a massive wave of pressure.”
“I opened my eyes to Marines — dead or unconscious — lying around me,” he said. “A crowd of hundreds vanished in front of me, and my body was catastrophically wounded.”
Vargas-Andrews lost an arm and a leg in the explosion, but much of his testimony focused on the hours leading up to the attack — the moments when he believes he and his fellow Marines could have stopped it from ever happening. He testified that on Aug. 26, 2021, the day of the attack, the military had intelligence that a suicide bomber traveling with a companion intended to strike Abbey Gate, the entrance to the airport, as well as a description of their physical appearances.
His team spotted two men matching that description who were “consistently and nervously looking up at our position through the crowd,” Vargas-Andrews said, adding that the older of the two appeared to be coaching the younger one.
Although they sent photos to their higher ups and asked for permission to shoot them, Vargas-Andrews said the only answer they received from their battalion commander was “I don’t know.”
Shortly after, the blast came.
While tacticians and other experts might debate the merits of pulling the trigger on an unconfirmed target, Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, argued that the lack of clear answer from Vargas-Andrews’ superiors at the time was indicative of a broader issue — the Biden’s administration’s disorder.
In his opening statement on Wednesday, McCaul accused diplomats and the White House of ignoring grim intelligence assessments depicting the realities on the ground in Afghanistan as the Taliban crept closer to Kabul, eventually overtaking the city in August 2021. At the time, the final American troops were preparing to leave the country as part of what the president said then was a necessary if difficult end to a historically long conflict that had stretched far beyond its goal, costing too much in lives and money.
But in McCaul’s view on Wednesday, “We simply weren’t ready” to leave.
Another veteran, former Army Spc. Aidan Gunderson, spoke to the lack of preparedness. He recalled embarking on a rapid deployment to help secure the Kabul airport in 2021 while evacuations of American citizens and allies were underway, saying the only food they had was whatever they happened to stash in their rucksacks before departing the U.S.
“Not a single person on that plane was prepared for Kabul,” Gunderson said of his unit’s crossing into Afghanistan. “To say supplies were scarce is an understatement.”
Gunderson said that immediately upon landing in Kabul, the disorder and desperation was apparent. He vividly described seeing the airport swarmed with Afghans trying to flee and completely encircled by heavily armed Taliban fighters, who were permitting the withdrawal.
He also recalled the remains of those who had been so desperate to escape that they tried clinging to the landing gear of a plane as it took off.
“At this moment, I truly understood that the Afghans were risking everything — even death — to escape the Taliban,” he said, choking up. “I see the faces of all the people we cannot save — all those we left behind.”
Retired Army Special Forces Lt. Col. David Scott Mann, another witness, spoke to the trauma inflicted on the veteran community by the withdrawal, predicting the U.S. was on the “front end of a mental health tsunami.”
“We might be done with Afghanistan, but it’s not done with us,” he said.
Although Democrats listened attentively to the witnesses and expressed a desire to learn from mistakes made throughout the decades-long war, some of them accused Republicans of putting on a partisan show and unfairly pinning the blame solely on the Biden administration.
“Today’s hearing should be focused on examining the full scope of this conflict — its failures and its successes,” said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I. “I fear, however, that today’s hearing was not convened in that spirit but rather as an attempt to distract us from the full picture and even in some cases to try and score political points, which I believe dishonors the lives lost and the bravery of those who sit in front of this committee.”
Republicans disagreed.
Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry accused Democrats in turn of attempting to avoid accountability and called for a full hearing with “the folks at the top” — the secretaries of defense and state, as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
