A couple nights before country’s massive and rowdy CMT Music Awards on June 5, Billboard and CMT will be hosting another kind of show. It’s this year’s Billboard Live, and will feature performances by Caylee Hammack, Ingrid Andress, Lauren Jenkins and The Sisterhood Band.
The second annual Billboard Live with CMT’s Next Women of Country will be held in Nashville, in the Hutton Hotel’s vibey and intimate 300-person venue, Analog, on June 3 at 7 p.m. The show is free and open to the public, but space is limited. You must be 21 or older to attend.
The Next Women of Country series has been around since 2013, and was part of launching so many female artists’ rise to fame, like Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, Lauren Alaina, RaeLynn and Lindsay Ell.
More on this year’s line up:
Caylee Hammack: Soon she’ll be on the road with Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Brothers Osborne and will be hitting the major country fests, but on June 3, you’ll get to see and hear what all the buzz is about about her.
Must Listen: “Family Tree”
Ingrid Andress: She grew up playing piano and singing and writing songs at a very young age, then made her way to Nashville as a songwriter fresh out of Berklee College of Music in Boston. The result has been an honest and fresh way to tell stories about life and love.
Must Listen: “More Hearts Than Mine”
Lauren Jenkins: At just 15, Jenkins left home to pursue some kind of artistic career that would let her be the storyteller she knew she was. And once she found her way to Nashville, she knew she’d found a new home that would encourage her to be herself.
Must Listen: “Running Out Of Road”
The Sisterhood Band: Alyssa Bonagura and Ruby Stewart were both born with all kinds of music in their veins. Bonagura’s parents fronted the 80s country group Baillie & the Boys. And Stewart’s dad is iconic British rocker Rod Stewart. You can hear all of that influence in their latest batch of harmony-heavy music.
Must Listen: “Bullet”
“You can expect real stories from behind the songs,” Bonagura told Billboard. “Country used to have so many badass females. Now everybody is fighting for those slots. We shouldn’t be fighting for them, we should be supporting each other and lifting each other up. This event does that.”
