EventMakers - USA announced today that the After Hours Concert Series will move to The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County, Virginia.  The 2021 season, which is expected to include at least 30 shows, kicks off in May with three concerts including Jamey Johnson on May 14th, New Faces of Country featuring Jimmie Allen, Matt Stell and more on May 21st and Chase Rice on May 22nd.

For five years running, musician/author/playwright/activist Steve Earle has been gathering a group of world-class friends and performers for a one-night-only concert which raises money for The Keswell School, an educational program for children and young adults with autism.

Steve Earle, Bobbie Gentry, Kent Blazy, Brett James and Spooner Oldham have been elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, according to an announcement made today by Sarah Cates, chair of the organization’s board of directors.

Legendary rock musician Ann Wilson has returned with her first release in two years. “The Revolution Starts Now” is available today on Ann’s official YouTube Channel and for digital download on AnnWilson.com.

STREAM “THE REVOLUTION STARTS NOW”

Steve Earle & the Dukes announced today that they will be recording an album of songs written by Justin Townes Earle with 100% of artist advances and royalties going to a trust for Justin's daughter, Etta St. James Earle. It is expected that the album will be recorded in October and released in January, 2021, around the time of what would have been Justin's thirty-ninth birthday. More details to be announced shortly. 

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass announces its second round of musicians in this year’s Let The Music Play On, led by music legends and festival veterans Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Steve Earle & the Halfgrass Dukes (feat. Tim O’Brien and Dennis Crouch) and returning artist The War and Treaty and first-timer Amythyst Kiah.

Steve Earle & The Dukes will release their anticipated Ghosts of West Virginia tomorrow via New West Records.  The album centers on the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed twenty-nine men in that state in 2010, making it one of the worst mining disasters in American history. Its first seven songs were written for and performed by Earle in Coal Country, a play with music about the disaster. Opening to critical acclaim on March 3rd at the Public Theater in NYC, the production was postponed after only two weeks due to COVID-19.

Steve Earle & The Dukes will release Ghosts of West Virginia on May 22nd, 2020 via New West Records. In support of Independent Retailers, Earle has announced a virtual in-store performance for Friday, March 15th at 8pm Eastern. The private, solo performance will be pre-recorded from Grimey’s Records in Nashville, TN. Earle stated, "Now is the time for artists to step up and support indie stores who have supported them — in any way we can."

Steve Earle is set to perform a special live stream this Sunday, April 5th beginning at 3pm  Eastern via his Official Facebook page as well as the Sirius XM Outlaw Country Official Facebook page as well.

Steve Earle & The Dukes will release Ghosts of West Virginia on May 22nd, 2020 via New West Records. The album was produced by Steve Earle and engineered by Ray Kennedy at Jimi Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The 10-song set is Earle’s 20th studio album and was mixed entirely in mono, lending a sonic cohesion and punch. In recent years, Earle has experienced partial hearing loss in one ear and can no longer discern the separation that stereo is designed to produce.