Author: Brennen Kelly

Hailing from the Chicagoland area, Brennen graduated from Valparaiso University with a BA in Communication and a minor in Cinema and Media Studies. After covering Arts & Entertainment at his university's newspaper, he began writing for Country Chord in March of 2023. Known for his love of independent country and authentic songwriters, Brennen has a long-history of championing the likes of Zach Bryan, Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers and many others.

Another day, another record. Just six days after Luke Combs became the first-ever country artist to have two separate songs reach a billion streams on Spotify, Zach Bryan has officially just tied the “When It Rains It Pours” singer. Today, Bryan and Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy-winning “I Remember Everything” reached the billion-stream mark, making the Oklahoma native just the second country artist to achieve this exclusive record. Bryan became just the third country artist to have a solo song (“Something in the Orange”) reach a billion streams back on August 29, 2024. “I Remember Everything” becomes just the ninth country song…

Read More

Fresh off his sixth #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with “Liar,” Jelly Roll appeared on today’s episode of Will Compton and Taylor Lewan’s highly popular Bussin’ With The Boys podcast alongside ERNEST. Discussing everything from his weight loss journey and current health to his transition from rap to country and his song selection process, the “I Am Not Okay” singer covered a lot of ground with the former NFL players. On the topic of Super Bowl performances, Jelly Roll had an interesting suggestion: instead of having a singular artist perform, he wants an ensemble cast like the halftime show…

Read More

At this point, Morgan Wallen’s infamous chair incident at Eric Church’s bar, Chiefs, hardly needs an introduction. On April 7, 2024, Wallen was arrested on three counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon/reckless endangerment and 1 count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct for throwing a chair off the rooftop of the “Springsteen” singer’s Nashville venue. After a lengthy legal battle and pushback from multiple Nashville council members publicly condemning the “Last Night” singer, Wallen had the three felonies dropped and instead pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment without a weapon. Alongside the misdemeanor charges, Wallen served seven…

Read More

After announcing their brand-new festival last month, St. Pete Country Fest is coming out of the gate swinging with a stacked lineup featuring the likes of The Red Clay Strays, Parker McCollum and Treaty Oak Revival as headliners in their first-ever event. Minutes ago, St. Pete took to Instagram to announce the festival’s full lineup: St. Pete Country Fest will be held at Vinoy Park, which sits on the downtown waterfront of Saint Petersburg, Florida, on November 21-23 and will feature over 30 acts across its two stages. As previously mentioned, the festival will feature Parker McCollum, The Red Clay…

Read More

History. Less than two weeks after scoring his first-ever billion-stream song on Spotify with “When It Rains It Pours,” Luke Combs has made history with his 2018 #1 hit, “Beautiful Crazy,” also reaching the billion-stream mark today. With this achievement, Combs is now the first country artist in history to possess two separate billion-stream songs on Spotify. “Beautiful Crazy” becomes the eighth country song overall and the sixth solo track to reach the highly exclusive billion streams mark, joining the likes of Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange.” A full list…

Read More

It’s becoming more and more apparent by the day that Zach Top is here to stay as a star in country music. Between scoring a CMA Best New Artist nomination and earning an all-genre Billboard chart placement with “I Never Lie,” the Washington Native has quickly risen as the new “it” artist in the genre. Appearing on Dale Brisby’s podcast, Rodeo Time, back in January, Top talked about everything from life as a touring musician and his current success to his musical upbringing and influences on his patented 90s sound. Discussing influences, Brisby brought up the fact that the “I…

Read More