Ernest Releases New Country Single, “Kiss Of Death”

Author Lauren Hoffman

October 30th, 2023 2:07 PM

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 24: ERNEST performs during the 15th Annual Academy Of Country Music Honors at Ryman Auditorium on August 24, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images for ACM)

Ernest has returned with a new single that will have you automatically turning up the radio. His latest track, “Kiss Of Death,” is a taste of what’s to come in the country singer’s next chapter of music.

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With a pairing of traditional country and Enerst’s signature sound, “Kiss Of Death,” was produced by Joey Moi and co-written by Andy Albert and Ryan Vojtesak.

“I’m digging deeper into some of the stuff I was cutting my teeth on as a real young kid with a banjo and a dream,” ERNEST shares. “The folk / bluegrass influences that I absorbed from such a young age…. I’ve been playing ‘Kiss Of Death’ and some other new ones on the road already, and seeing our crowd’s reactions to the new music is priceless.”

Earlier this year, Ernest dropped the deluxe edition of his sophomore album, Flower Shops, which follows his 2019 debut, Locals Only. Most recently, fans were given the ultimate surprise with the release of live performance audio, ERNEST & The Fellas Unplugged, featuring “What Have I Got To Lose,” “Miss That Girl,” and more.

Ernest is currently on the road for his 2023 headlining “This Fire Tour” with special guests Jake Worthington, John Morgan, and Cody Lohden on select dates. The tour will conclude with two nights at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on November 28 and 29.

The singer-songwriter also has one final stop this year while supporting Morgan Wallen‘s “One Night At A Time World Tour” in Atlanta, Georgia on November 11. He will join the 2024 run of the tour starting in May.

“Cuz I feel like dancing with the devil / Take my heart and rip it out my chest / When I’m with you I’m good as gone girl / My angel in a fire red dress / My kiss of death / Kiss me, kill me”

Listen to Ernest’s “Kiss Of Death” below.

Five 2023 CMA Male Vocalist Nominees: Who Will Win?

The CMA Awards’ Male Vocalist category has existed since the CMA Awards began in the 1960s. During that decade, winners of the award included Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell. In the 1970s, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers, and Ronnie Milsap won the Male Vocalist Award. Milsap took home the honor three times, and Pride won it twice in that decade. The 1980s saw names like George Jones, Ricky Skaggs, Randy Travis, and George Strait win the honor. Vince Gill dominated the Male Vocalist category at the CMAs in the 1990s, winning the trophy five times.

The 2000s saw Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, and Brad Paisley take home the award. Blake Shelton won Male Vocalist five times in his career from the CMA beginning in 2010.

Flash forward to the late 2010s and the 2020s, and Chris Stapleton dominates the category with six wins, including a win for Male Vocalist last year (2022). Chris said when he won the honor for the sixth time. “Well, okay. Man, thank you so much for this. It means so much to get an award from my friends back here. I was sitting over there, and all the guys in the category all deserve this award. Everybody’s killin’ it. I am so honored to be a member of the country music community.” He then wished his daughter Ada a happy twelfth birthday. There’s a good chance Stapleton could win his seventh award in the category at the award show next month.

The 2023 CMA Awards is only weeks away, and we will know who takes home Male Vocalist in 2023. The nominees are Chris, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, and Morgan Wallen. We take a look at each nominee in this year’s category to shed some light on who may walk away with the Male Vocalist prize this time.

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Luke Combs
Luke has won this award twice in his career from the CMA already in 2019 and 2020. At the top of his game, Combs has already won the Entertainer of the Year from the CMA twice in 2021 and 2022. Luke’s voice and popularity make him a shoo-in to win this honor once again. It would be no big surprise if he walked away with the honor again in 2023.

Below is his first win for Male Vocalist presented by Trisha Yearwood, who noted before she gave out the award that Male Vocalist fifty years ago went to the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash.
Jelly Roll
This is Jelly Roll’s very first nomination in the Male Vocalist category for the CMA. With the on-fire year that Jelly has had in 2023, he very well could win. Jelly has yet to perform at the CMA Awards and will undoubtedly do so this year. In June, he made his debut performance on the CMA Fest stage and said that he was “trembling” when he performed, being nervous about stepping onto the stage that he has watched all of his life as a Nashville native.
Cody Johnson
This is Cody Johnson’s second Male Vocalist nomination at the CMA Awards. A win in this category would be so important to the Texan who is lighting up country music and releasing his much-anticipated “Leather” album a couple of days before the CMA Awards are to be handed out this year on November 8. Cody performed his CMA winner for Single of the Year in 2022, “Til You Can’t,” at last year’s CMA Awards.
Chris Stapleton
Chris has won twenty-five CMA Awards in his career so far, including six Male Vocalist wins in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022. Known as one of country music’s best vocalists ever, Stapleton has also won the Album of the Year award three times.

When he won last year, he wished his daughter Ada a Happy Birthday as he promised her he would if he won.
Morgan Wallen
This Male Vocalist nod is Morgan’s second nomination in the category. With his amazing success and selling out multiple nights at stadiums this past summer, a win for Morgan here would be no surprise. Although he has been nominated for eight CMA awards to date, including a nomination for the Entertainer of the Year this year (2023), he has only won a CMA once. He won the New Artist Award in 2020.