Exclusive chat with Randy Travis, analyzing Garth Brooks’ big news & more

Plus, a heavy metal band pays tribute to late southern rocker Charlie Daniels

These are your weekend notes for August 1st, 2020.

Our top story this week, Garth Brooks addressed a variety of topics during a 75 minute press conference. Among them, the postponement of the rest of this year’s Stadium Tour dates to 2021, and his withdrawal from consideration for the CMA’s coveted Entertainer of the Year award. The latter, he says, was in part due to backlash after his win last year. Here’s Garth in his own words.

Lollapalooza will commemorate this year’s festival weekend with Lolla2020, a free four-night broadcast taking place this weekend. The broadcast will air exclusively live on YouTube beginning at 6 pm ET each night. The four night event will include more than 150 performances and appearances, featuring fan-favorite sets from previous festivals, and original performances from artists all over the world.

Don McLean is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his hit “American Pie” by telling its story with a feature length documentary, stage play, and book.. The singer-songwriter has announced plans for “The Day The Music Died: The Story Behind Don McLean’s American Pie,” a feature length documentary about the iconic opus set for release at the end of 2021, along with a children’s book. A new stage play that will also revolve around McLean’s deep catalog — which includes “Vincent,” “Castles in the Air” and “Wonderful Baby.”

Guns N Roses has rescheduled their 2020 North American tour dates due to COVID-19. The trek has been pushed to summer 2021, kicking off July 10th in Milwaukee’s Summerfest. It now wraps in Los Angeles on August 19th. The band shared that some of the dates next year had to be canceled due to scheduling issues.

A&E’s Biography series will premiere a new documentary special celebrating one of rock’s biggest stars. Featuring exclusive interviews and archival footage, Biography: The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne delves into the many lives and incredible career of the man who has personified rock and roll rebellion for decades. The doc will premiere on Labor Day Monday, September 7th, at 9 pm Eastern.

Randy Travis has released his second single since a stroke took his voice in 2013. “Fool’s Love Affair” is a never-before-heard song that was written by SiriusXM host Charlie Monk, Milton Brown and Keith Stegall. The waltz impacted country radio this week. We had the chance to speak with Randy and his wife Mary about the unearthed single.

Continuing celebrations around the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury Festival this year, R.E.M.’s historic headline set from the Pyramid Stage in 1999 will be released globally next Thursday, August 6th. Fans can tune in for the YouTube premiere at 3 pm EST. The concert will only be available for viewing for 72 hours.

And finally, Korn is paying tribute to country and southern rock great Charlie Daniels, who passed away earlier this month, with a cover of his signature track “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” The track also features YelaWolf, and has been released via BandCamp.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com