LOCASH wraps up solid 2025 with NYE Party!

 If 2025 had a country duo quietly winning all year, it was LOCASH.

Without making a huge fuss about it, the duo wrapped up the year with some genuinely solid wins. “Hometown Home” finished comfortably in Country Aircheck’s Top 5 songs of the year, while “Wrong Hearts” earned its own spot in the Top 100. Both tracks live on Bet The Farm, an album that also happens to be the first release from their own independent label, which feels very on brand for a group that’s been doing things their own way for a while now.

Beyond radio success, LOCASH stayed busy where it really counts: onstage. Their year included packed tour stops, a surprisingly fun crossover with the Savannah Bananas, and a few “how did that happen?” moments like performing halftime at both the Banana Bowl and an Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football game at Gillette Stadium. Casual stuff.

They also slipped in a little holiday spirit before the year wrapped, releasing the original “Snow Angel” and a stripped-down cover of “O Holy Night,” both of which landed well with fans and added to an already big streaming year.

The momentum isn’t slowing down either. LOCASH is set to ring in the New Year with a December 31 show at Gilley’s in Park City, Kansas, and heading into 2026 with radio still in their favor and crowds showing up ready to sing along.

No grand declarations needed. 2025 was a good year for LOCASH, and it feels like they’re just warming up.

Trace Adkins announces headline tour to celebrate 30 years in country music!

 Thirty years in, Trace Adkins isn’t slowing down. If anything, he’s leaning in.

The country mainstay just announced his 30th Anniversary Tour, kicking off January 16 and stretching across much of 2026. The first leg alone hits 24 cities, with dates spread from the South and Midwest to the Mountain West and Mid-Atlantic. It’s a proper road run, not a nostalgia lap.

The tour marks three decades since Dreamin’ Out Loud first arrived in 1996, the album that launched a career built on unmistakable vocals, big hooks, and songs that somehow manage to feel both larger-than-life and deeply familiar. Fans can expect a setlist that pulls generously from across the years. Think barn-burners, slower sing-alongs, and a few of those songs you didn’t realize you still know every word to until the chorus hits.

Some stops feel especially fitting for an anniversary year. Two nights at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, a return to Billy Bob’s Texas, a Cheyenne Frontier Days appearance, and a mix of fairs, theaters, and classic country venues that match Adkins’ no-frills, road-tested style.

Between touring nonstop, releasing new music, and continuing to pop up on screens both big and small, Adkins has stayed busy even by veteran standards. But this tour feels less about checking boxes and more about celebrating the simple fact that he’s still out there doing it and people are still showing up.

Tickets are already moving, and if history is any indication, these shows won’t be quiet.

Thirty years deep, still standing tall, and still very much in motion.

Megan Moroney to headline TD Garden July 6 and 7!

 Boston, you’re very much on the map for this one.

Megan Moroney is taking her Cloud 9 Tour global in 2026, and New England gets a front-row moment with two nights at TD Garden on July 6 and 7. Not a fly-by, not a random weekday drop-in. Two full Boston shows, added because demand said “try again.”

The tour kicks off in late May and stretches well into the fall, winding through arenas across North America before hopping the Atlantic for dates in the UK and Europe. It’s Moroney’s biggest run yet, built around her upcoming album Cloud 9, and it feels very much like the point where “fast rise” turns into “full-on era.”

For local fans, the TD Garden stop stands out immediately. Big room, midsummer timing, and the kind of hometown energy Boston crowds tend to bring when they feel chosen. If you caught her on the Am I Okay? tour in smaller venues, this is the glow-up version.

The tour announcement landed with enough momentum to add second nights in cities like Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, and Nashville. That’s not subtle. Neither is taking an arena show international, with stops planned in London, Paris, Stockholm, and Glasgow.

All of this builds toward Cloud 9, due out in February, which Moroney has described as her most confident album yet. If the recent singles are any indication, these shows will land somewhere between emotional group therapy and screaming every word with your friends.

Bottom line for New England: July at TD Garden just got a little more pink, a little louder, and very hard to ignore.

Gabby Barrett performs at the National Christmas Tree Lighting

 If you missed it while getting buried under December chaos, here’s the festive catch-up.

Gabby Barrett took a very East Coast kind of spotlight this year, co-hosting and performing at the National Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington, D.C. The annual holiday tradition aired earlier this month and featured Barrett stepping into full holiday-moment mode right outside the White House.

She shared hosting duties with Matthew West and joined a stacked lineup that included The Beach Boys, Brett Young, Jon Pardi, and more. Barrett’s performance leaned classic and understated, delivering “Mary, Did You Know?” backed by the U.S. Navy Band Commodores Jazz Ensemble. It was polished, reverent, and exactly the right energy for a cold-night-in-December broadcast.

The performance spotlights her Carols and Candlelight (Deluxe) project, which quietly expanded her holiday catalog without trying to reinvent Christmas. If you’re the type who likes your seasonal music sincere rather than sparkly, this one fits nicely into the rotation.

The full special is streaming now on Great American Family via Pure Flix through the end of January, making it a solid post-holiday watch when New England winter is still very much doing its thing.

Country Thunder announces headliners Lainey Wilson, Brooks & Dunn, and Zach Top

 If winter starts feeling long around February, here’s your reminder that April exists.

Country Thunder Arizona is officially gearing up for 2026, and the lineup reveal makes a pretty convincing case for trading New England layers for desert sun. The festival returns to Canyon Moon Ranch in Florence, Arizona, April 9–12, with a bill that mixes current heavy-hitters, legacy names, and artists very much having a moment.

At the top: Lainey Wilson, Brooks & Dunn, Zach Top, and Gavin Adcock headline the weekend. It’s a lineup that manages to feel balanced instead of chaotic. A little throwback, a little right-now, and plenty in between.

Beyond the headliners, the festival fills out nicely with names like Scotty McCreery, Dasha, Jackson Dean, Lanie Gardner, Ian Munsick, and Lonestar, plus a deep bench of rising artists scattered across multiple stages. It’s the kind of schedule where you circle a few must-sees and then end up discovering someone new because you wandered over with a drink in hand.

Country Thunder Arizona has been doing this a long time. This marks its 30th year, and the setup leans hard into the full festival experience: carnival rides, late-night dance parties, songwriter showcases, local artist spotlights, and enough food and vendor tents to keep you distracted between sets.

For Boston-based fans, the appeal is obvious. Early April in Arizona means sunshine, open skies, and boots that aren’t soaked from melting snow. Flights are manageable, the timing is perfect for a spring reset, and the lineup makes it feel like an actual destination trip instead of just a show.

Tickets are already on sale, including a payment plan option that makes planning ahead a little easier. If you’ve been looking for a reason to escape New England winter energy and land somewhere that feels loud, warm, and very country, this might be it.

Drake White announces new single "Nights on Fire"

 Drake White is having one of those quietly powerful moments that sneaks up on you and then sticks.

Drake White just rolled out a new single, “Nights on Fire,” and it’s exactly the kind of song that feels better the louder you play it. The track leans warm and nostalgic, built on piano, slide guitar, and lyrics that glow with late-summer Southern imagery. It’s reflective without being heavy, soulful without trying too hard. Very Drake White.

The song made its international debut this week on BBC Radio 2, which feels fitting for an artist whose music tends to travel well beyond borders. “Nights on Fire” follows “Nuthin’ But a Smile,” continuing a stretch of releases that feel optimistic, lived-in, and rooted in joy.

Away from the studio, White has also been sharing a more personal project. Earlier this fall, he hosted an intimate premiere for his new documentary The Hunts the Healing at The Duck Blind in Nashville. The film explores healing, the outdoors, and mental wellness, and officially premieres later this month. It’s a natural extension of the work White has been doing offstage in recent years.

That mission continues this November with the return of his “Benefit For The Brain” concert at Ryman Auditorium. The event supports causes focused on brain health, PTSD, and neurological recovery, and last year’s show sold out while raising over a quarter-million dollars. Round two is set for November 17, with more details still to come.