This Week’s Guest Host: Craig Morgan
Craig Morgan is this week’s guest host on Shawn Parr’s Backstage Country (January 15-19).
“Craig will be joining us in the studio this week to talk about all the exciting news from his busy 2023. We love his album, Enlisted, which features re-recordings of his top songs with guest artists, coming off of his tour “God, Family, Country”, and of course, fans being surprised as he was sworn into the US Army Reserves at the Grand Ole Opry,” Parr posted on Instagram.
The country singer released his Enlisted EP in October 2023 and brought some friends along for the ride. The six-track project features Trace Adkins, Luke Combs, Gary LeVox, Jelly Roll, Blake Shelton, and Lainey Wilson.
As for the track “Almost Home,” featuring Jelly Roll, it is one of four reimagined songs on the EP. The song was originally released in 2002 and included in Morgan’s sophomore album, I Love It.
Morgan tells Parr that while creating this project, it was “not forced” and that “everything was natural.”
“There’s a common denominator on all of these songs, and you’ll see every one of these people that join me. They’re all wonderful, beautiful, kind, caring, real people. There’s nothing put on or fake about any one of them,” said Morgan.
Check back all week to see more from Craig Morgan on Shawn Parr’s Backstage Country. For more information, visit craigmorgan.com and follow Craig Morgan on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to see more.
15 Country Albums Turning 10 In 2024
It’s hard to believe these 15 country albums are turning 10 in 2024 but here we are. In my opinion, we were gifted with an amazing list of releases that year.
While researching the albums listed below, it brought me back through a whirlwind of emotions. Throughout 2014, we had new albums from Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Lady A, Eric Church, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, and more.
For several of the names on this list, the music released captured career-defining moments, while others achieved No. 1 hits, among other accolades. Country music was the gift that kept on giving in 2014 with the numerous fan-favorite tracks featured on these albums.
On November 5, 2014, Lambert’s fifth studio album, Platinum, garnered her the CMA Award for Best Country Album. Her fellow nominees in the category included Bentley’s Riser, Church’s The Outsiders, Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party (2013), and Keith Urban’s Fuse (2013) album.
Lambert’s Platinum album featured her lead single “Automatic,” followed by “Something Bad” featuring Carrie Underwood, “Little Red Wagon,” and “Smokin’ And Drinkin’.” The country superstar wrote or co-wrote eight of the sixteen tracks on her album, which is now certified Platinum by the RIAA. and landed her the Grammy win in 2015 for Best Country Album.
Fast forward to February 25, 2014, Bentley releases his seventh studio album, Riser. It includes “Bourbon In Kentucky,” the certified platinum hit, “I Hold On,” the fan favorite and anthemic “Drunk On A Plane,” “Say You Do,” and the title track, “Riser.”
“There’s a lot of really intense material on this record, but there’s also a lighter side that is equally important in telling the story of the last two years of my life. When I first started writing for this album, I was in a place of grief over the loss of my dad, but over the course of the next 18 months, my wife and I had our son Knox, and I ended in a place of real joy and gratefulness,” Bentley said of his 2014 album in a press statement.
Take a scroll below to reminisce on the 15 albums that are turning the big 10 in 2024. Plus, let us know which album or song from these country albums was your favorite back in the day.
