There’s a brand new tv/competitors sequence coming this fall to CBS referred to as The Highway, and it has some actually cool, and actually uncool people concerned within the manufacturing, in addition to some names taking part within the competitors itself which can be thrilling to see get some recognition.
The sequence is being government produced by Taylor Sheridan, who for the uninitiated is the mastermind behind Yellowstone, Landman, and scores of offshoots and different initiatives. Yellowstone and now Landman have given large boosts to unbiased nation artists, and the exhibits have been integral to the unbiased nation revolution, particularly with the assistance of Music Supervisor Andrea von Foerster.
“There’s a revolution going down in nation music,” Taylor Sheridan says, and “constructing a platform … for the subsequent leaders of that revolution is an extremely thrilling enterprise.”
However to assist him construct that platform are some very established nation stars who in lots of respects symbolize the antithesis of that nation revolution. Co-producing the present with Sheridan and serving to host it’s Blake Shelton. The place the twelve up-and-coming nation hopefuls will carry out as a part of the competitors is opening exhibits for Keith City. Gretchen Wilson will act as “tour supervisor,” and assist select which contestants get to advance to the subsequent metropolis.
Virtually talking, for a serious community like CBS to greenlight a manufacturing like this, they in all probability insisted that some “noticeable names” be concerned. Overlook that Zach Prime and even Tyler Childers are multipliers extra in style in the mean time than somebody like Keith City, maybe the demographic that watches community tv would nonetheless discover City extra acquainted.
It’s who’s competing within the sequence that provides you essentially the most hope. The twelve contestants are Adam Sanders, Billie Jo Jones, Blaine Bailey, Briana Adams, Britnee Kellogg, Cassidy Daniels, Channing Wilson, Cody Hibbard, Forrest McCurren, Jenny Tolman, Jon Wooden and Olivia Harms.
Blaine Bailey is a Native American songwriter from Oklahoma whose debut album Dwelling was featured right here at Saving Nation Music in 2024 and have become a fan favourite. Channing Wilson is a hard-charging Outlaw nation performer and songwriter who’s had tracks recorded by Luke Combs and others. His 2023 album Useless Man was additionally a fan favourite right here at SCM. And Jenny Tolman’s 2022 album Married in a Honky Tonk could be the most effective combine of latest and conventional nation in years.
Different artists beforehand talked about right here at Saving Nation Music embrace Oregon’s Olivia Harms and Oklahoma’s Cody Hibbard. Unquestionably, whoever selected the expertise for this competitors had their ear to the bottom and located some deserving names to characteristic.
However in fact the large query is how will all of this play out, and can it truly be a springboard for these artists, or simply one other singing competitors that struggles to get traction for the artists past the present itself?
For instance, Bryce Leatherwood is a standard nation artist who received NBC’s The Voice in 2022. He simply launched a brand new self-titled album. Leatherwood presently has 133,000 month-to-month Spotify listeners, and his largest monitor on Spotify has been streamed 800,000 instances. Offbeat unbiased nation/roots artist Nick Shoulders has triple the quantity of Spotify month-to-month listeners, and his largest Spotify monitor “Reasonably Low” has practically 10 million spins. The thought these TV competitions can confer stardom is doubtful at greatest.
That doesn’t imply The Highway received’t be completely different. However it isn’t The Voice, American Idol, or America’s Acquired Expertise which can be the kingmakers today. It’s social media, it’s virality, and it’s real expertise rising from obscurity. A present like The Highway might maybe help that course of, however provided that one of many contestants or the eventual winner has that unmistakable “it” issue versus merely being adept at navigating the pains of the competitors. In any other case, a 30-second snippet of a music positioned throughout a key sequence of Landman may very well be an even bigger alternative.
Both means, The Highway shall be an attention-grabbing factor to maintain up with this fall with some worthy expertise hopefully receiving a higher highlight by the brand new present. In spite of everything, Sheridan productions have confirmed to have a knack for launching nation careers, and fairly a number of of the participates have careers deserving to be launched.
No premier date for the sequence is offered simply but, however it can air on Sunday evenings, with episodes additionally accessible on Paramount+.
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