Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS JULY 6, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 22 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
[email protected] Bryan Has ‘One’ What’s New? HARDY, McCollum, Quick ‘Margarita’ >page 4 Hammack Prep National Debut Projects Charlie Daniels Anyone who thinks country music occupies a narrow band in exhibiting a country tone and spunk that compare favorably Remembered the stylistic universe would do well to check out some of the to Carly Pearce and Jana Kramer. Ellis has dropped one self- >page 12 new artists on the way in the last half of 2020. funded EP prior to her forthcoming Nashville label debut, and Rock-edged HARDY and Tim Montana, pop-leaning Noah she also landed a cut on the Teen Wolf soundtrack. Schnacky, Texas-bred Parker McCollum and emotionally raw • Filmore (Curb) — Percolating rhythms and old-school Caylee Hammack comprise a good chunk of the next group pop melodies are the norm for Filmore and his passionate Jimmie Allen Gets of acts with their first albums or EPs for a major label or top tenor. A Wildwood, Mo., native, he honed his chops while Paired Up indie on the way. working the college circuit and built an online presence >page 14 Many of the sounds arriving at the moment might not have on his way to a Curb deal. His first full album for an estab- been accepted in another age, though the genre is constantly lished label, State I’m In, is expected Oct. 30, following a new evolving, reflecting the changing single mid-August. influences of its artists and its audi- • Ryan Griffin (Altadena/ ACM Wine Party With ences.