LOCASH a bro-country hoot of album

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Bieber puts music on hold

Locash, “Brothers” (Wheelhouse Records/BBR Music Group)

If there’s a such a thing as Bingo for country song references, go ahead and spin the latest LOCASH album and brace yourself. You’ll get a whole lot of trucks, jeans, dogs, back roads, mom’s cooking,  and weekend parties. And that’s just the first few tunes.

The vocalist duo of Chris Lucas and Preston Brust may seem comfortable around lyrical cliches but thank goodness they know a good tune, too, because “Brothers” is a bro-country hoot, filled with catchy, poppy tunes.

What’s really refreshing is that it’s clear everyone’s invited. Right out of the gate is “One Big Country Song,” which opens its arms wide, something some country songs don’t. “A city boy, a country boy, yeah we all just tryna survive,” the lyrics go. “Everybody’s got holes in their blue jeans/If you bought ‘em that way or not.” This is welcome-all party country, not afraid to add dashes of rock, dance, pop or some guitar solos.

The bulk of the 11-track “Brothers” is produced by Lindsay Rimes, who has worked with such artistes as Kane Brown, Thomas Rhett and Dylan Scott. The songwriters include Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure, Corey Crowder, Jordan Schmidt and Chris DeStefano.

Lucas and Brust contribute songwriting to three songs – the really nice title track, the throwaway “Feels Like a Party” and the first-class rocker “Secret Weapon.” A sunny, optimistic tone runs through the album, reaching a high with “Summer in a Truck,” an infectious ode to curly fries and wearing no shoes. You can try and hate on it but that’s like hating on a Lab puppy.

The duo get religious in ‘Thing” – but always grateful and in awe; they’re not the hellfire kind – and are heartfelt in the album’s outstanding power ballad “Kissing,” a superb bit of song-crafting that traces a romance from a “couple kids playing grown-ups” to being a daddy.

It’s a deeply moving tune but LOCASH don’t dwell on it. The album closes where it began – with friends, alcohol and an embrace of good will on “ … to Catch up On.”

Also:

LOS ANGELES: Teen hearthrob Justin Bieber has told fans he is putting new music on hold while he struggles with “deep rooted issues” that he hopes will stop him from falling apart.

Bieber, 25, said in a lengthy Instagram post for his 106 million followers, that “music is very important to me but nothing comes before my family and my health.”

“I am now very focused on repairing some of the deep rooted issues that I have as most of us have, so that I don’t fall apart, so that I can sustain my marriage and be the father I want to be,” the Canadian singer wrote on Monday.

Bieber’s posting follows an admission on Instagram earlier this month that he had been “struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird.”

The “Sorry” singer, who shot to fame as a baby-faced 15-year-old, married model Hailey Baldwin last September in a New York civil ceremony. They have no children.

In 2017 he abruptly pulled out of his “Purpose” world tour, citing the need for rest.

Bieber has not released an album since 2015’s “Purpose” although he came out with single “No Brainer” in July 2018 with DJ Khaled and other artistes, and a remix of Spanish language global hit “Despacito” in 2017 with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn: The ACM Awards will feature collaborations between pop star Khalid and Kane Brown, three-time Grammy-winner Brandi Carlile with Dierks Bentley and pop star Kelly Clarkson pulling double-duty with performances with both Jason Aldean and Dan + Shay.

The awards show airing on CBS on April 7 is also bringing back its flashback performance slots, this time with upcoming Country Music Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn and new male artist winner Luke Combs, who sing together on Brooks & Dunn’s upcoming duets album “Reboot.” Miranda Lambert, the most awarded ACM artist with 32 wins, will perform with 24-time ACM-winner George Strait, as well as sing a medley of her own hits.

Eric Church will perform with new female artiste winner Ashley McBryde, while Aldean, who is receiving the ACM Artist of the Decade award, will also perform with Florida Georgia Line. Maren Morris will perform with Brothers Osborne.

Reba McEntire, who is set to host the awards show from Las Vegas, will also perform, as well as Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Thomas Rhett and newly announced group of the year winners LANCO. Stapleton and Dan + Shay lead the nominations with six apiece while Grammy album of the year winner Kacey Musgraves has five nomination

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LOS ANGELES: Childish Gambino and Twenty One Pilots will join the already-announced Paul Simon as headlining acts at the 2019 Outside Lands Festival, taking place at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Aug 9 to 11. Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly, and Starr Hill made the announcement on Monday, releasing the festival’s lineup as key art of a different sort, with the marquee names positioned along the side as opposed to in the biggest font towards the top.

The three-day event will also feature performances by artistes spanning multiple genres, including Flume, Kacey Musgraves, the Lumineers, Ella Mai, Kygo, Anderson.Paak & the Free Nationals, Lil Wayne, Hozier, Bebe Rexha and more.

In 2018, Another Planet celebrated 15 years of curating the live music experience in the Bay Area. (Agencies)

By Mark Kennedy

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