In case you missed it...
The Grand Ole Opry - who, as an organization, knows a little something about talent - has chosen eight artists to be part of their NextStage program - and the list features some names people know, and the rest they should know. An indicator that the future of country music is in good hands, this year's class is the biggest the Opry has ever chosen. The 2023 class members are Ashley Cooke, ERNEST, Jackson Dean, Chapel Hart, Corey Kent, Kameron Marlowe, Megan Moroney and Ian Munsick. The Grand Ole Opry will officially introduce the new NextStage class with an Opry NextStage Live concert at Lava Cantina in Colony, Texas, on May 10 at 2:30 p.m., leading up to the 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on May 11. The Opry NextStage Live concert will air live on Circle Network. Tickets for the event will be available through an exclusive pre-sale beginning tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT. General public on-sale will begin Friday at 10 a.m. CT via Eventbrite.
Clay Walker and wife Jessica announced yesterday that the couple is expecting! The is baby #6 for the pair; Clay also has two adult daughters from a previous marriage. The new member of the family, already known to be a daughter, is due this fall. "We are beyond excited about having a little girl!" Walker wrote in a press release. "Her brothers and sisters are awaiting her arrival. God is great!" The couple's new addition will join sons Christiaan, 2, Ezra Stephen, 5, Elijah Craig, 10, and William Clayton, 14, and daughter Mary-Elizabeth, 13, plus Walker's adult daughters Skylor and MaClay.