Carrie Underwood Releasing Christmas Album in 2020 – Carrie Underwood says she’s releasing a Christmas album in 2020. The country superstar delivered the good news on Wednesday (June 3), during a virtual fan club party that she hosted to replace the full-scale fan club party she would normally hold during this week during CMA Fest. Country Now reports that Underwood gave fans the news while sitting on her sofa at home, revealing that she’s been working on tracks for the project since she concluded her Cry Pretty Tour 360 in 2019. Underwood told fans she intends to release the project — her first full-length Christmas album — before the holiday season in 2020. The singer has yet to share any of the details about the project or the song selections in public. – Read more at Taste of Country
Republic Records to Cease Using ‘Urban’ Term – Along with the social-change efforts announced by its parent company Universal Music Group earlier this week, Republic Records has announced its own campaign — one aspect of which is that the company will cease to use the term “urban” to describe black music. “ ‘Urban’ is rooted in the historical evolution of terms that sought to define Black music,” the memo reads. “As with a lot of our history, the original connotation of the term urban was not deemed negative. Nearly 50 years ago Frankie Crocker coined the term ‘urban’ to define the sound of his radio station in an attempt to better represent his audience. “However, over time the meaning and connotations of ‘urban’ have shifted and it developed into a generalization of Black people in many sectors of the music industry, including employees and music by Black artists. While this change will not and does not affect any of our staff structurally, it will remove the use of this antiquated term.” – Read more at Variety
Julia Gargano on life after American Idol, Recording a new EP – “I felt a lot of pressure to keep my career going upward, she says, “Our college allowed us to go into the studio and now I have three new songs coming out this summer.” The Westerleigh, Staten Island resident just graduated from the College of Saint Rose in Albany and she’s been holed up at the communications center of the college recording tracks for her upcoming EP! The college gave her permission to use the studios with a small group of her former classmates, safely social distancing and out of that she now has an untitled EP set for release later this summer. Julia is keeping the tracks under wraps, but it is a completely different sound from what you heard her sing on ‘Idol.’ – Read more at WCBSFM
Exclusive: Louis Knight Releases “Maybe That” And Talks On Idol Journey – KP: Can fans expect the same theme (of heartbreak) from your upcoming music? LK: I think definitely a mixture. There’s always going to be heartbreak/love in there. There’s going to be some upbeat love songs too. *laughs* I think I’m always going to try to keep writing about prevalent issues in the world, as I did with “Change,” like suicide prevention and mental health awareness. I’m definitely going to write songs about that kind of stuff, like the crazy conditions that everyone is going through right now. – Read more at KnowPhilly
The Masked Singer’s Costume Designer Teases What We’ll See in Season 4 – The Masked Singer costume designer Marina Toybina breaks down how 8 of the show’s most memorable costumes came together from Seasons 1-3 and reveals her inspiration for the new costumes in the show’s upcoming Season 4. The Masked Singer airs on Fox.
