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Zac Brown Band to launch 2022 Out in the Middle Tour: “We’re so excited”

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Zac Brown Band is returning to the road this April. They just announced plans for their headlining 2022 Out in the Middle Tour, which begins with a stop in Greenville, South Carolina.

The sweeping, 34-stop trek will keep ZBB busy well into the fall, with shows across the U.S. and a couple of Canadian dates, too. The run will wrap in November with a show in Phoenix, Arizona.

“Performing in front of millions of fans around the world is one of the most electrifying and humbling things,” says frontman Zac Brown. “We’re so excited to go back out on the road and keep the unbelievable momentum going from The Comeback Tour. It’s been such an incredible year for the band, debuting some of the best music we’ve ever made, and we are thrilled to continue playing live for our amazing fans.”

Touring isn’t something the band takes for granted these days: They were among the first acts to wipe their 2020 calendars clean when the COVID-19 pandemic first ramped up in the U.S., and earlier this year, they had to pause their Comeback Tour after Zac tested positive for the virus.

Still, it’s been an exciting year musically for ZBB. Their 2021 album, The Comeback, was a big hit with their fan base, and its single, “Same Boat,” topped the country radio charts.

Joining ZBB on tour will be Caroline Jones, who was also an opening act on The Comeback Tour. The Robert Rudolph Band is also joining the bill, along with more opening acts that ZBB will reveal at a later date.

Tickets for the 2022 Out in the Middle Tour go on sale on January 21.

Julie Bowen shoots her shot with Harry Styles: “Look at him!”

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Modern Family star Julie Bowen says she’s on a hiatus from the dating world — but there is one person for whom she’d make an exception.

Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Julie revealed that she fancies Harry Styles and would relish the opportunity to cozy up with him.

The 51-year-old actress remarked that she is “very single” but has taken a sabbatical from dating because she hasn’t been impressed by the list of available bachelors. “I did go on some dates and this guy was like ‘You have to come to my house because I have a dog.’ And I was like, ‘I’m getting a dog, that’s the trick.’ Now it’s on my terms,” she laughed, adding that her new pooch is a “retirement gift.”

When teased by guest host Adam Devine about her secret crush on the British pop star, Julie readily admitted she’d give up the single life for him in a heartbeat. “You’re asking me if I’d come out of [dating] retirement for Harry Styles? Oh, hell yeah. Him? Look at him,” she gushed, calling him “gorgeous and sexy.”

Referring to the 27-year-old’s summertime hit, Julie added, “He’s just bringing the joy and the light and the “Watermelon Sugar”. You just feel good about the whole experience.”

Unfortunately, she will have to wait her turn because Harry is in a reported relationship with actress Olivia Wilde.

‘Where We Started’: Thomas Rhett’s next album includes collabs with Katy Perry, Riley Green and more

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Thomas Rhett is putting the “we” in Where We Started as he announces new collaboration details about his next studio project. The track list includes duets with Riley Green, Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard, Russell Dickerson and pop superstar Katy Perry.

Katy lends her voice to the title track, which is the last on the 15-song set. Tyler and Russell join Thomas for a song called “Death Row,” while Riley — Thomas’ fishing buddy and frequent collaborator — appears on “Half of Me.”

The new project — which comes in between Thomas’ Country Again: Side A and Side B — was inspired by his post-pandemic shutdowns return to the road, he says.

“For me, getting into the entertainer headspace and back onstage was euphoria,” the singer says. “When you go a year and a half without it, then feel it for the first time again, it’s the coolest thing in the world. That’s really where my brain has been and where these songs came from.”

Thomas dropped two tracks off the album on Friday: The turbo-charged ballad “Angels” and rootsy party track, “Church Boots.” The full song set will come out April 1.

Slash & the Conspirators drop new song, “Call Off the Dogs”

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Slash and his solo band Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators have premiered a new song called “Call of the Dogs.”

The track, which is available now for digital download, will appear on the group’s upcoming album 4. It’s the third cut to be released from the record, following “The River Is Rising” and “Fill My World.”

4, the aptly titled fourth Conspirators effort, will arrive in full on February 11.

Slash and company will hit the road in support of 4 on a U.S. headlining tour kicking off February 8 in Portland.

Katy Perry appears on country superstar Thomas Rhett’s new album

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Last month, Katy Perry released “When I’m Gone,” a collaboration with Swedish dance DJ and producer Alesso. Now comes word that she’s going country.

Katy appears on the title track of Where We Started, the new album from country music superstar Thomas Rhett. According to The Tennessean, the song is “a roots-style duet that offers a sentimental, honest and autobiographical reflection on the romance” between Rhett and his wife Lauren, who will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary this year.

Rhett told reporters recently that Katy got involved because someone on his team asked if they could send the song to her people and see if she wanted to sing on it. He wasn’t convinced he’d ever hear back, but he said sure.

“Literally within 24 hours Katy responded and said, ‘I love this. I resonate with this so well,'” he continued. “When she put her vocal on it…I feel like it really came to life.”

Of course, this isn’t Katy’s first foray into country. In the past, she’s sung with Darius Rucker, Dolly Parton and Kacey Musgraves, among others.

Where We Started comes out April 1. Meanwhile, “When I’m Gone” has become Katy’s fourth top 10 on Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic songs chart. Who says she can’t do it all?

Wordle takes the internet by storm

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) – The first big viral trend of 2022 is here, and it’s a colorful word game called Wordle.

Players who visit Wordle’s website have six chances to guess a five-letter word, which has been randomly selected from a database. With each try, the game tells you how close your letters are to the “word of the day.” If the letters you pick are in the word but in the wrong order, Wordle highlights them in yellow. If the letters are in the word and placed correctly, they get highlighted in green. Gray-highlighted letters means they don’t appear in the word of the day.

“It’s a good, fun game,” says Gizmodo Executive Editor Andrew Couts. “It only takes a couple of minutes, and it’s something to talk about with your friends.”

Wordle was created by New York software engineer Josh Wardle this past fall, but Couts says the game really became popular in late December and early January, and now boasts more than three hundred thousand daily players.

“It seemed after the holidays, everybody seemed to be playing this game and sharing it on Twitter, sharing it all over social media,” says Couts, adding that Wordle’s distinct visual style is key to its success.

“It creates kind of a cool little pattern that the game makes it really easy to share on social media…so you can show people how well you did on the word of the day. And I think that’s one of the big things that has made this game take off.”

Wordle 209 6/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Took me all morning….

— Rob Hawley (@robertlhawley) January 14, 2022

While the game’s rules are simple, Couts says there are a few strategies to maximize your chances of Wordle glory.

“Picking words with a bunch of vowels, and picking words with common consonants like S’s or T’s or K’s is a good way to kind of get the word of the day quickly.”

That simplicity cuts both ways – which could open up the game to people who are willing to increase their odds through shadier means.

“It’s also a very simple website and it’s very easy to cheat if you really wanted to,” says Couts. “You can look at the source code of the website, for example, and see the entire list of the words of the day. So you can know them in advance. But that kind of takes all the fun out of it.”

And after all, Couts says, now is just the right time for some innocent, online fun.

“It’s actually a nice thing on the internet for once, so that’s very welcome.”

Hear ABC News Radio’s Michelle Franzen report on the latest viral craze:

Cash It In: Whitesnake’s David Coverdale sells music publishing rights

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Maybe he should rename his band “Goldsnake” now that Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale has joined the ranks of artists who have sold off their music publishing rights.

Coverdale has struck a deal with Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited, which — according to Billboard — has acquired the “music publishing, master rights and master rights royalties” for the veteran rock singer’s catalog. Also as part of the agreement, the company will help oversee income generated from performance of songs in the catalog.

The deal not only includes songs by Whitesnake, which Coverdale founded in 1978 and continues to lead, but material from his mid-1970s stint with Deep Purple, solo releases and various other projects.

Among the notable songs included in the acquisition are Deep Purple’s “Burn” and “Stormbringer,” and Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again,” “Is This Love,” “Still of the Night” and “Slow an’ Easy.” The deal also includes “The Last Note of Freedom,” a song David co-wrote with Billy Idol and Hans Zimmer for the film Days of Thunder.

“I am thrilled beyond words to joyfully announce that my existing catalog of works, both songs and master recordings, which I have been involved in creating for over 50 years, is now in exceptionally safe hands with the fine people at Round Hill,” Coverdale says in a statement. “I look forward immensely to working together with [CEO] Josh Gruss and all at Round Hill to ensure the legacy of my existing works for future generations to enjoy.”

While monetary terms of the deal weren’t announced, Billboard estimates that the income streams in the package are worth $35 million.

Other artists that have inked music-publishing agreements with Round Hill Music include Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, Randy Bachman, Rob Thomas, Tesla, Triumph, Goo Goo Dolls‘ Johnny Rzeznik and many more.

In Brief: ‘Degrassi’ going to HBO Max; NBC jumps in with ‘Quantum Leap’ reboot, and more

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

HBO Max is moving forward with Degrassi, the latest iteration of the beloved teen drama franchise, according to Variety. The 10-episode series will follow “the painful high school experience of self-discovery by following a group of Toronto students and faculty coping with events that both bring them together and tear them apart.” Degrassi is set to debut in 2023. In the meantime, HBO Max will stream all 14 seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation, beginning this spring…

NBC has given a pilot order to a reboot of Quantum Leap, the 1990s sci-fi series, which starred Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, the network announced on Thursday. The reboot is set 30 years after Dr. Sam Beckett, played by Bakula, vanished after stepping into the Quantum Leap accelerator. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Bakula is not attached to reprise his role in the new Quantum Leap, but has discussed possibly getting involved, according to Deadline. Bakula’s co-lead on the original series, Dean Stockwell, died in November at age 85…

The Producers Guild of America has postponed the 33rd Producers Guild Awards due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant, the guild announced on Thursday, according to Deadline. The awards ceremony was originally scheduled for Feb. 26 but will now take place on March 19 at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The Guild will work closely with government officials and health experts to protect all staff and attendees of the ceremony. At this time, attendees will be required to be fully vaccinated with a booster, if eligible, and they must also provide a negative COVID-19 test. The new PGA Awards date now places it the same weekend as the Writers Guild Awards, which are set for March 20. The Directors Guild Awards are currently set for March 12…

David Ramsey is returning to the Arrowverse. The actor will reprise his role as Arrow’s John Diggle/Spartan in the upcoming drama Justice U, currently in development at the CW, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Per the logline for Justice U, “After spending years fighting alongside masked heroes, John Diggle embarks on a new mission to recruit five young meta humans to live undercover as freshmen at a prestigious university. There he will oversee their education and train them to become the heroes of tomorrow.” Ramsey will direct the pilot should The CW opt to move forward with the script…

Epix has renewed its drama series Godfather of Harlem for a third season, the network announced on Thursday. The series follows the true story of Harlem crime boss Bumpy Johnson — played by Forest Whitaker — who, after serving 10 years in jail, returns to his hood to find it run by the Italian mob. Vincent D’Onofrio, Ilfenesh Hadera, Nigél Thatch, Lucy Fry and Antoinette Crowe-Legacy also star. The show’s third season will consist of 10 episodes, with production set to begin in New York this summer…

Paul Simon’s self-titled post-Simon & Garfunkel solo album celebrates 50th anniversary today

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Fifty years ago today, Paul Simon released his first post-Simon & Garfunkel solo album, a self-titled effort that arrived almost two years after the lauded folk-rock duo’s final full-length record, Bridge over Troubled Water.

Paul Simon featured two hits singles, the reggae-flavored “Mother and Child Reunion” and the catchy, samba-influenced “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” which reached #4 and #22, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album itself peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell more than a million copies in the U.S.

Simon wrote 10 of the album’s 11 songs by himself, while one tune, “Hobo’s Blues,” was co-written with legendary jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli, who also plays on the track.

The song “Duncan” features the Paris-based Andean folk group Los Incas, which also contributed to the 1970 Simon & Garfunkel hit “El Condor Pasa (If I Could).” “Duncan” was issued as the Paul Simon album’s third and final single, but stalled at #52 on the Hot 100.

Paul Simon landed at #425 on Rolling Stone‘s 2020 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” As the magazine noted, “Simon’s first solo effort after the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel had plenty to prove, and it did, with a tour de force of songcraft, virtuosic guitar picking, upper-register vocal dazzle, and vivid storytelling.”

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Mother and Child Reunion”
“Duncan”
“Everything Put Together Falls Apart”
“Run That Body Down”
“Armistice Day”
“Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”
“Peace Like a River”
“Papa Hobo”
“Hobo’s Blues”
“Paranoia Blues”
“Congratulations”

Listen to new Jack White song, “Love Is Selfish”

January 14, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Jack White has premiered a new solo song called “Love Is Selfish.”

The acoustic track, which is available now for digital download, is accompanied by a self-directed video showing the White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather rocker giving an intimate performance for an empty bar at an American Legion post. You can watch that streaming now on YouTube.

“Love Is Selfish” will appear on White’s upcoming album Entering Heaven Alive, one of two solo records he’s releasing this year. The other, Fear of the Dawn, features the more raucous single “Taking Me Back,” suggesting it’ll be the more electric counterpart to the folksier Entering Heaven Alive.

Fear of the Dawn drops April 8, while Entering Heaven Alive arrives July 22.

White will launch a solo tour in support of both albums this year beginning April 8 in Detroit.

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