Spring is “in the air” & make no mistake about that. For many across the USA this welcome change of season is being embraced with open arms, especially for those that have been hit with the worst weather in years. It’s also that time of year when the new music starts in full bloom. Artists and bands are already thinking of their Summer tour plans and they are getting their music out there by leaps and bounds. All you have to do is look at this week’s charts to see just what we are talking about – they are jammed packed with new singles and many from new artists that are breaking at radio.

We are also still recovering from this year’s CRS (Country Radio Seminar) and what a great time it was. New Music Weekly was on hand to interview rising stars of music and that kept us all quite busy. We have enough news and information about artists and bands first hand that we will be able to share with you for the rest of 2015. This has become quite a pivotal event for Country artists and for Mainstream artists as well as programmers and radio stations from all over the country and the world were there in full force.  For those that say the music industry is dying out, we can tell you first hand that after our week-long visit to this year’s CRS, that you are dead wrong.

One of the many highlights of CRS 2015 had to have been the UMG lunch held at the Ryman. There was a line around the block to get into this event even if you were a registered guest. What was very cool about the show they put on is that it was all acoustic,   which was quite appropriate for the room. Artists were also limited to just two songs which meant that they had to put their best foot forward. One of the best moments came with young rising star Kasey Musgraves performing hew new “Biscuits” single. There were also  stellar performances from Josh Turner, Eric Church among others, and that made it something extra special.  We had to bail out and get back to interviewing artists but what we managed to catch was quite inspiring and we hope they do more of that next time out.

The New Faces show once again provided a spotlight on many of the rising starts of Country music. We really loved watching the young and talented Frankie Ballard. He put on quite an electric show and proved that you can do a lot to a crowd even though he’s only had one top hit so far.  We expect some great things ahead for this super talented young man. Newcomer Sam Hunt showed us just how much Country is changing. Armed with his two big hits “Leave The Light On” & “Take Your Time”, it was like watching a rapper doing his own rendition of Country.

Maddie and Tae, who shot to virtual overnight stardom with the chart-topping success of their debut single, the anti-bro-country anthem “Girl in a Country Song ” where quite delightful and showed some great promise.  Eric Paslay‘s set kicked off with “Song About a Girl” and ran through a strong rendition of “She Don’t Love You”.  Cole Swindell wrapped up the night with a high-energy performance that began with “Hey Ya’ll” and ripped through “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight,” “Chillin’ It” and his current hit, “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey.”  It was a pretty solid night of performances with CRS awards sprinkled through-out the evening.

The final Friday night of CRS 2015 ended on a bit of a sad note for many of us. It was the very last time that the infamous Bridge Bar would hold court for nighttime festivities as the event changes hotels next year.  Before we wrap us here, we’d like to give a shout out to the “winners” for this year’s New Music Awards. In this issue you will read a little more about them and we could not be more proud for all the winners and nominees.