Welcome to Feel-Good Friday, a weekly roundup of heartwarming stories, lighthearted videos, and inspiring country news that reminds us all there is still good in the world.
Carly Pearce featured in Kentucky Music Hall of Fame
Carly Pearce has been chasing after her dreams of a music career since she was a child. Now fans can see a glimpse into those early years in an exhibit in the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum.
“When I was in 4th grade, I won my school talent show singing ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’ in this costume my mom made for me,” Pearce writes on Instagram with a photo of the new exhibit. “Today, I unveiled my exhibit in the Kentucky Hall of Fame & that costume was part of it. So many blessings. I wish I could tell that 4th grader what was coming….”
Dolly Parton gets her COVID-19 vaccine
Dolly Parton gets a dose of her own medicine and shares the process of getting her vaccine. Earlier this week Parton got her first dose of the Moderna vaccine, which she helped fund by donating $1 million to researchers at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center last April. “I’m finally going to get my vaccine,” Parton says in a video message. “I’ve been waiting a while. I’m old enough to get it and I’m smart enough to get it. I wanted to tell everybody that you should get out there and do it too.”
Jake Owen goes chasing waterfalls with his daughter
Jake Owen shares a sweet image while exploring his farm with youngest daughter Paris. In the snap, he is holding Paris’ hand as she nears a waterfall.
“One of my favorite things is watching children experience things for the first time,” Owen captions the image on Instagram. “Paris pulled me over there because she just had to touch it.”
Lindsay Ell writes a song with 4th graders
March is Music in Our Schools Month and Lindsay Ell, this month’s CMA Foundation Artist Ambassador, joined Zoom with Nashville’s Mt. View Elementary fourth grade students to help the children craft a song together. In a clip, Ell explains the craft of songwriting while students share song ideas with her. Several students continued working on the song following the class, performing the song they had written together on their pianos.
New albums from Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett are coming
Dierks Bentley is back in the studio working on his 10th album while Miranda Lambert announced her The Marfa Tapes, a collaboration with longtime co-writers Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, drops May 7. Thomas Rhett also has a double album coming with Country Again: Side A releasing April 30.
“Country Again: Side A is everything I wanted to say when I was 19 years old, but hadn’t lived enough to know how to say any of those things yet,” Thomas Rhett says in a release. “It’s about the crazy journey that took me out into the world over the last ten years and ultimately brought me back home, more centered and content than ever, with a deep understanding for what’s important in life. I’ve had a blast sharing some of these songs in their acoustic form during quarantine and am blown away by the reaction the fans have already shown.”