August 14, 2026 was already shaping up to be a significant Friday for country music when Ashley Cooke dropped her self-titled sophomore album on Big Loud Records. We had it queued the moment it hit streaming, and two weeks later, we are still playing it on repeat. The album, simply called ashley cooke, is 15…
August is winding down and we have already been deep in the country music calendar for the next four months, mapping out what Central Florida fans should have on their radar. The fall and winter country music season in the Greater Orlando area brings a mix of national touring acts, regional showcases, and the building…
We pressed play on Kinsley's new single "Learn to Live" on a Thursday afternoon and had to stop what we were doing. The MCA Nashville signing has just announced her debut six-song EP of the same name, arriving September 25, 2026, and if the title track is any indicator of what the rest sounds like,…
Nineteen dates. Two openers. One of country music's most consistent live performers headed back out on the road this fall. We have been following Jon Pardi's 2026 touring plans since the announcement dropped in July, and the Gamblin' Man Tour is shaping up as one of the most focused arena runs of the country season.…
Drive thirty minutes northwest of downtown Orlando and you will find Apopka. A city of Spanish moss, morning mist, and clear spring water, famous for its fern nurseries and the wild beauty of Wekiva Springs State Park. Most people outside of Central Florida cannot place it on a map. By April 3, 2027, every country…
August 25, 2026 is a date every country music fan will carry with them forever. We were here at the Sunset Country Fest editorial desk when the news broke, and for a long moment, none of us could speak. Dolly Parton, the Queen of Country Music, the woman who built an empire out of rhinestones,…
Country critics have been saying the genre was about to cross over for three years running. In 2026, we stopped saying it and started watching it happen. The numbers are unlike anything we have seen in decades, the talent pool is deeper than it has been in a generation, and the conversation around country music…
We pulled up the Soundtrack To Life Tour page and counted nearly three dozen shows still on the calendar for Thomas Rhett, and somewhere around show number 20 we started asking ourselves why we had not been paying closer attention to this run. The answer, if we are being honest with ourselves, is that Rhett…
Sixteen tracks. That is what Carly Pearce is delivering this Friday when Honest Woman lands on August 28 via BBR Music Group, and after tracking every pre-release single she has put out over the past several months, we at the Sunset Country Fest editorial team are genuinely excited in a way that does not happen…
Pull up your streaming app and clear some space in the queue. Fall 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most stacked release seasons country music has delivered in years, and we have been tracking every announcement, every single drop, and every studio rumor to build you this short list. Five releases, albums…
We did a double-take scrolling through tour announcements this month, and honestly, we are still not over it. Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan are co-headlining stadium shows together on the Double Down Tour 2026, a joint run that puts two of country music's most proven live performers on the same stage for a stretch of…
There is a version of Dan + Shay that lives in every wedding playlist, every country radio countdown, and every streaming station built for slow dances. That version is real, beloved, and genuinely great at what it does. But the Dan + Shay who arrived on August 21, 2026, with their sixth studio album Young…