• THANKSGIVING 2020

    The Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth, in the state that’s now known as Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. While initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival like this did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s. People now celebrate the holiday by giving thanks for their blessings over the past year, as well as feasting on turkey and other festive goodies.

    Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, November 26th, and this year will most likely be a little different from previous years due to the global pandemic. Most people might be enjoying time with a small group of their friends and families, including some of your favorite country stars, such as Adam Hambrick, Alan Jackson, Brandon Lay, Brothers Osborne, Caylee Hammack, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Jon Langston, Jon Pardi, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, Kip Moore, Little Big Town, Maddie & Tae, Mickey Guyton, Sam Hunt, Travis Denning and more. They share their thoughts of thanks this year, their lessons in gratitude, memories and favorite Thanksgiving dishes. (More audio will be added.)

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    Audio / Adam Hambrick says he’s very thankful to his family.

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    Adam Hambrick (Thanksgiving) OC: …I was raised. :32
    “I know this sounds very cheesy, but I am very thankful for my family. A lot of the good things that have happened in my life are just a result of being raised in a family with two parents that love each other, with sisters that I love and being raised in a community of people, even outside of my family, that’s just a lot of love and a lot of care. Those are the things that raise a person up to be successful, and I am a success because of the way I was raised.”

     

    Audio / Adam Hambrick says his Grandfather’s turkey and dressing and a special side dish signals Thanksgiving.

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    Adam Hambrick (Thanksgiving food) OC: …Thanksgiving. :21
    “Oh man. Give me Granddaddy’s turkey and dressing and just the friggin’ canned cranberry sauce, [laughs] like I’ll suck it down like a champ. There’s just something about the canned cranberry sauce with my Granddaddy’s turkey and dressing that will always taste like Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / Alan Jackson talks about his favorite Thanksgiving dish.

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    AJ (Thanksgiving) OC: …enjoy it. :19
    “My favorite Thanksgiving dish would be the homemade dressin’ that we, cornbread-based kind of dressin’ that we always have with turkey. That recipe is a kind of a combination of my mama, and Denise has taken it and perfected it over the years, so that me and my children really enjoy it.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay says 2020 has been a heck of a year, but the bright spot was the birth of his daughter, Lara June, earlier this year.

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    Brandon Lay (Thanksgiving) OC: …thankful for. :22
    “I tell you what, this year has been a crazy year. I mean 2020 will have an asterisk beside it for the rest of history, no doubt. My bright spot was my little girl being born in June right in the middle of all of this craziness. When I look around at all of the bad things that have happened, I look at her and realize how much I’ve got to be thankful for.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne talks about their annual Misfits Thanksgiving dinner.

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    Brothers Osborne (misfits Thanksgiving) OC: …going home. :45
    “What we’ve done the past several years is because it’s so hard to go home, we would have what we call the Misfit Thanksgiving dinner, and all the people in Nashville who aren’t able to go home to their families, we would just invite them over to our house and have a big potluck style Thanksgiving dinner. We’ll take like a couple of tables and throw them together and throw some sheets on it just to make it look nice. It’s a very redneck display of like tableware, because all the plates don’t match an d the forks and knives don’t match, but we don’t care. People will bring wine, and at the end of the day, we’ll probably have 12-15 people all sitting at dinner together that weren’t able to go home with their families, and just enjoy it with friends. It’s been really fun. Definitely a lot less stress than going home.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood says she and her family don’t have too many Thanksgiving traditions.

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    Carrie Underwood (Thanksgiving) OC: …the other one. :34
    “We don’t have too many set-in-stone Thanksgiving traditions. I find myself a lot of times working on or around Thanksgiving or unable to get home or whatever. We try to be together, but sometimes that just doesn’t work out. But yeah, I mean, I think it’s just about we eat. I eat a lot every year on Thanksgiving. [laughs] I never skip THAT tradition. But yeah, that’s the gist of it, and I’m kind of lucky. I get two Thanksgivings, because I also get to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with my husband’s family, so if I don’t hit one, I’ll definitely be able to get the other one.”

    Audio / Caylee Hammack says Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday, because she gets to just spend time with her family.

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    Caylee Hammack (Thanksgiving) OC: …favorite holiday. :27
    “Thanksgiving is the one holiday where we stay at home. We stay at my family’s house, and it’s just me, my mom and dad, my brother and sister and their families. We all sit around and just eat all day. And I love Thanksgiving because you don’t have to worry about getting gifts for people; you don’t have to worry about wrapping them. You just show up and you eat all day with the people you love. So, I absolutely love Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday.”

    Audio / Caylee Hammack talks about her favorite Thanksgiving dish.

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    Caylee Hammack (Thanksgiving eats) OC: …cranberry jelly. :15
    “My favorite Thanksgiving meal (dish) is definitely cornbread dressing. My mom makes the best, er, some people call it stuffing, but I’ve always called it dressing for some reason. But I love that with canned cranberry jelly.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about his favorite part of Thanksgiving.

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    Darius Rucker (favorite part of Thanksgiving) OC: …my family. :17
    “My favorite part of Thanksgiving is easy – it’s food. It’s eating. It’s hanging out with family and getting some great food, ‘cause that’s really what Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for all of the great things you’ve got, and I always give thanks for the greatest thing I’ve got and that’s my family.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker says Thanksgiving Day is a big sporting day for him.

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    Darius Rucker (Thanksgiving Day favorite sporting day) OC: …big for me. :10
    “Thanksgiving Day is my favorite sports day of the year. It’s crazy how much football you get to watch (laughs) on Thanksgiving Day, so I really like that a lot. Thanksgiving is big for me.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley, who is thankful for his wife, two daughters and son, talks about his Thanksgiving must-have! It’s an oldie, but a goodie!

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    Dierks Bentley (Thanksgiving must-have) OC: …for Thanksgiving. :34
    “You gotta have a big turkey. Thanksgiving is not possible without a turkey. We cook it traditionally, but when we’re in, a couple of Thanksgivings ago, we were here in Nashville, we did the whole fry the turkey up, and it was great. It just tasted so good; all those juices get locked in there, and I love that too. You really can’t, to me, cook a turkey wrong. I’m gonna eat it any way, and I have over the years. Trust me, I’ve played a lot of county and state fairs, where I’ve seen gigantic turkey legs, you know, I’ve had the flat meat. I’ve done turkey every way you could do it. I’m pretty good any way you want to cook it up, but you’ve got to have a turkey for Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / Eric Church talks about what he's thankful for during the crazy year that's been 2020.

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    Eric Church (Thanksgiving 2020) OC: …out with them. :38
    You know, this has been a helluva year, and one thing I’m most thankful for is my family, their health, you know, we’ve all, I think, grown closer during this. I’m looking forward to a more normal 2021. I don’t know if it’ll be normal, but it will be more normal and getting closer to that and then an absolutely normal 2022 is how I see the next two years. For me, I’m just thankful that I’ve been with my family and we’ve all stayed healthy and I’ve gotten to hang out with them.”

    Audio / Jon Langston talks about his Thanksgiving tradition.

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    Jon Langston (Thanksgiving) OC: …pretty cool. :21
    “We always watch football on Thanksgiving. It was pretty cool in high school. It was a big deal in high school if you had practice on Thanksgiving Day because you made third round of the playoffs. So, in high school we always had practice on Thanksgiving, so I guess that was pretty cool. Everybody’s waking up on a cold Thanksgiving morning going to football practice, but yeah, pretty cool.”

     

    Audio / Josh Turner shares his favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

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    Josh Turner (fave side dish) OC: …’em myself. [laughs] :24
    “Uh, deviled eggs! [laughs] Where I’m from in South Carolina, I don’t think I’ve tasted a bad deviled egg. It’s like everybody has their own twist on it, but they’re all good, but I always loved it when my mama made ‘em. I’m learning as I get older, making deviled eggs is no easy task. It’s more complicated than it looks, and so that’s probably why I never made ‘em myself.” [laughs]

    Audio / Josh Turner explains what he enjoys about the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

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    Josh Turner (holidays) OC: …the peace and quiet. :38
    “I love being outside in nature and the outdoors, and the holidays is a great time for me to go and partake in that part of my life. A lot of times, Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s a little cold to go fishing, but when it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s a great time to go hunting, especially in South Carolina, that’s when the temperatures are starting to drop and the conditions are getting right, and especially in November, kind of the tail end of the rut, as far as deer season. So, it’s a good time to get in the deer stand whether you kill anything or not, it’s just a great time to just get away from everything and get away from the noise and the lights and the diesel fumes [laughs] and just relax and just enjoy the peace and quiet.”

    Audio / Kassi Ashton talks about what she's most thankful for this year.

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    Kassi Ashton (Thanksgiving 2020) OC: …the new year. :32
    “Even though this year has basically put the music industry on pause and has been difficult for all of us, I think the thing I’m most thankful for is one, the people around me that I love so much; the relationships that keep me sane and I do the same for them in return. And a step back being able to refill my creative tank, focusing in on what I want to say, what I want to put out in the world and finding a way to take all that and move forward into the new year.”

    Audio / Keith Urban gives thanks for many things, including his wife and two daughters.

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    Keith (Thanksgiving) OC: …for me. :21
    “Thankful that, well, my marriage is just, it’s life-giving, not just life-changing, it’s been life-giving for me. And from there, we created life, and that’s just beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And the effect that all of that has had in my work, has given life to it too, given it a sense of purpose and really deepened the experience for me.”

    Audio / The members of Little Big Town love Thanksgiving since they get time off to be with their families.

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    LBT (Thanksgiving) 2 OC: (Kimberly) …and eat. :31

    KIMBERLY: “Thanksgiving—we love Thanksgiving, ‘cause we get to be with our families and we don’t often get to spend time with our families, our extended families, until the holidays. I love being around the table with my family and talking and laughing and cooking and eating…” JIMI: “And eating and eating and eating and eating…” PHILLIP: “The laughter around the eating, the good cheer, the celebration, the music…” JIMI: “The eating, going taking a nap, then coming back and eating.” KIMBERLY: “Go to bed with a full belly, take a nap, and then get up and eat.”

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    Audio / Mickey Guyton reveals her favorite Thanksgiving dish.

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    Mickey Guyton (favorite Thanksgiving dish) OC: …both so much! :39
    “My favorite Thanksgiving dish that has to, has to, has to be at Thanksgiving dinner is dessert. Dessert is my favorite Thanksgiving dish. I mean, it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s sweet. My mom actually makes an Italian cream cake that’s absolutely awesome. It’s homemade, and the entire family, that’s the first thing to go at Thanksgiving dinner. And my Grandma D, she makes a pecan pie that is awesome. She taught me how to make them when I was little, and I just love them, and that’s the other thing that I look forward to at Thanksgiving dinner, and I love them both so much!”

    Audio / Parker McCollum is very thankful for his family’s health this year with a global pandemic still raging.

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    Parker McCollum (Thanksgiving 2020) OC: …granted in 2020. :15
    “I would just say probably my family being healthy and alive more so, I know it’s kind of a cliché thing to say, but I think this year it kind of holds a little more weight, just with everything going on. To be alive and breathing is, don’t want to take that for granted in 2020.”

    Audio / One of Parker McCollum’s favorite dishes at Thanksgiving is his Aunt’s creamed corn.

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    Parker McCollum (Thanksgiving eats) OC: …creamed corn. Mmm hmmm. “04
    “My Aunt’s creamed corn is pretty bomb. I love creamed corn. Mmm hmmm.”

     

    Audio / Priscilla Block, who began 2020 as a struggling singer-songwriter trying to make ends meet and getting kicked out of her apartment to signing a record deal and having a bonafide hit on country radio, talks about how very thankful she is this year.

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    Priscilla Block (Thanksgiving 2020) OC: …grateful for that. :22
    “It is so crazy to even put what I’m thankful for into one thing, or the greatest thing, because this has been the best year of my life, the best and the worst year of my life. And I’m so thankful that the worst year of my life flipped upside down and it has been the best year, and I am forever grateful for that.”

    Audio / Priscilla Block describes a typical Thanksgiving holiday with her family.

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    Priscilla Block (Thanksgiving) OC: …so much. :34
    “Thanksgiving has always been chaos, actually any holiday that my entire family is there is straight chaos. But for Thanksgiving, we all try so hard to be together and it’s such a fun holiday to, my family’s a little cheesy. Like, we actually still go around the table and being like, ‘What are you thankful for?’ ‘What are you thankful for?’ So, that means a lot where it’s not about presents, it’s not about anything else. It’s just about truly being thankful, and that’s why I love Thanksgiving so much.”

     

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about his favorite Thanksgiving eats.

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    Sam Hunt (Thanksgiving eats) OC: …all disappears. :12
    “When I pile my plate up, it’s mostly turkey and then I’ll put a little dressing on the side, and I’ll usually go ahead and grab my dessert on the first run [laughs] and have it ready before it all disappears.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about what he’s thankful for this year.

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    Travis Denning (2020) OC: …for a living. :34
    “For Thanksgiving this year, I’m just most thankful that I’ve been able to have a career doing what I love. I mean this crazy time has totally put into perspective how fortunate I am to go play concerts, you know, go perform for people. I mean, it’s just such a crazy dream that sometimes it’s easy to get sucked into and not really stop and smell the roses, but God, now not being able to be on the road has really shown me how thankful I am that people come out to concerts and that’s what I do for a living.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about a typical Thanksgiving holiday growing up.

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    Travis Denning (typical Thanksgiving holiday) OC: …a lot of people. :22
    “A typical Thanksgiving growing up was essentially and the men of the family – Dad and Uncle Mike and my granddaddy — watching football, while grandmama and my mom pretty much yelled at each other in the kitchen the whole day. But they threw down and made the best food you could ever imagine, which you know is kind of how it is for a lot of people.”

     

     

  • THANKSGIVING LINERS 2020

    Audio / LINER Adam Hambrick (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey I’m Adam Hambrick, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

     

    Audio / LINER AJ (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hi! This is Alan Jackson. I hope y’all have a very happy Thanksgiving out there.”

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey Guys, I’m Billy Currington. Have a great Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all! This is Brandon Lay. Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! This is TJ, and this is John, and we’re wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Carrie Underwood (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hi! I’m Carrie Underwood, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Thanksgiving)

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    Hey y’all This is Caylee Hammack, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Chrissy Metz (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey–this is Chrissy Metz, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all! What’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! It’s Dierks Bentley! Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey folks! It’s Eric Church, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Gary Allan (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey guys! Gary Allan here. I just want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving, and have a Happy Holidays and make sure you’re safe out there. Drive safe. Party your butts off, but do it safe.”

    Audio / LINER George Strait (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hi! This is George Strait, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Hootie & the Blowfish (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody, what’s up? We’re Hootie & the Blowfish, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Langston (Thanksgiving)

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    Hey y’all, I’m Jon Langston, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! It’s Jon Pardi, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Jordan Davis (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey I’m Jordan Davis. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.”

    Audio / LINER Josh Turner (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all I’m Josh Turner, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    [[audio-player-19]

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Thanksgiving)

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    “Happy Thanksgiving everybody. It’s Keith Urban here. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all of you listening for your incredible love and support that I’ve received over the last year, and to wish you and all of your family all the very best for this holiday.”

    Audio / LINER Kip Moore (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey what’s up guys, this is Kip Moore wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Kylie Morgan (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all, this is Kylie Morgan, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! This is Lauren Alaina, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER LBT (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey, we’re Little Big Town. Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Maddie & Tae (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody! I’m Maddie, and I’m Tae, and we’re Maddie & Tae, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Mickey Guyton (Happy Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! It’s Mickey Guyton here, and I want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Parker McCollum (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody. I’m Parker McCollum, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Priscilla Block (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hi! This is Priscilla Block, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Travis Denning (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all! It’s Travis Denning, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

     

     

  • JOSH TURNER EARNS MULTI-PLATINUM ON CHART-TOPPERS.

    Multi-platinum-selling country music artist Josh Turner received an unexpected surprise this week when his wife Jennifer presented him with a two-time Platinum Certification plaque for his multi-week #1 singles Why Don’t We Just Dance” (from the album HAYWIRE) and “Would You Go With Me (from the album YOUR MAN). Turner was given the plaque during a special livestream event he performed at AJ’s Good Time Bar in Nashville this week to celebrate his critically acclaimed new album COUNTRY STATE OF MIND (MCA Nashville).  Fans can watch the livestream event here: https://umgn.us/JTCSOMLivestream

    https://twitter.com/joshturnermusic/status/1322240647701684224

     

    COUNTRY STATE OF MIND finds Turner paying homage to a cross-section of classic country music icons, including five legends whom he has called his “Mount Rushmore of Country Music”- Randy Travis, John Anderson, Johnny Cash, Vern Gosdin, and Hank Williams. Turner also invited a stellar group of guest artists to join him, from legends such as Randy Travis and Kris Kristofferson, to newer contemporary voices such as Chris Janson, Maddie & Tae and Runaway June.

  • JOSH TURNER TREATS FANS TO ALBUM LIVESTREAM EVENT WITH SPECIAL GUESTS RUNAWAY JUNE AND MADDIE & TAE FROM AJ’S GOOD TIME BAR IN NASHVILLE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29th.

    Multi-platinum-selling country music artist Josh Turner will treat fans to a livestream event from AJ’s Good Time Bar in Nashville this Thursday, October 29 at 5pm CT. The one-of-a-kind livestream event, hosted by Crook & Chase, will celebrate Turner’s critically acclaimed new album COUNTRY STATE OF MIND (MCA Nashville) and will feature Turner performing songs from the album. Special appearances by Runaway June and Maddie & Tae, both of whom performed with Turner on his new album, plus one very special surprise guest. Fans can to tune into the livestream performance via Facebook HERE and YouTube HERE.

    COUNTRY STATE OF MIND finds Turner paying homage to a cross-section of classic country music icons, including five legends whom he has called his “Mount Rushmore of Country Music”- Randy TravisJohn AndersonJohnny CashVern Gosdin, and Hank Williams. Turner also invited a stellar group of guest artists to join him, from legends such as Randy Travis and Kris Kristofferson, to newer contemporary voices such as Chris Janson, Maddie & Tae and Runaway June.

    www.JoshTurner.com | Facebook.com/JoshTurner | Instagram @JoshTurnerMusic  | Twitter @JoshTurnerMusic

     

  • HALLOWEEN 2020

    Halloween is Saturday, October 31st, and the holiday, which may be a little different this year with a global pandemic, has some of your favorite country stars getting into costumes, while others are recalling memories of Halloweens past.

    Audio / Adam Hambrick talks about one of his favorite Halloween costumes as a kid.

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    Adam Hambrick (Halloween) OC: …five-years-old. :10
    “My grandmother made me a Ghostbusters jumpsuit, and I had the proton backpack and I went as Peter Venkman, the Ghostbuster, when I was five-years-old.”

    Audio / Alan Jackson used to take his now grown daughters trick-or-treating when they were young children, but he recalls one costume that he hated. It was an infant costume that made one of the girls look like a little peapod.

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    AJ (Halloween) OC: …cute, but…[laughs] :17
    “Aww, I remember some, when they were infants, they had like these little, they looked like a little pea pod, you know, or something. It’s like a little green pea or something. And I thought man, that’s awful. But Denise liked it, and I guess it was cute, but…(laughs).”

    Audio / Billy Currington reminisces about his childhood Halloween memories.

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    Billy Currington (Halloween) OC: …Halloween. :17
    “You know, when I was a kid, I loved the trick and the treat. I loved dressing up. I was always wanting to be Dracula. That was my favorite guy. But, of course, who doesn’t love going door-to-door and getting these buckets of candy? [laughs] So, love, love Halloween.”

     

    Audio / Brandon Lay says since his father was a preacher, their Halloween activities were church-related.

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    Brandon Lay (Halloween) OC: …let Ryder do. :26
    “You know, my dad was a preacher, so Halloween for me (ha) was a little different than most kids. We always had something going on at church, so I think I was usually a character from the Bible and walk around the gym and just try to get as much candy as I can. It sounds a little weird, but I kinda was robbed of the trick-or-treating experience – thanks a lot Mom and Dad – but I’m not bitter about it or anything. We’ll see what we let Ryder do.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s TJ and John Osborne talk about dressing up like zombies for Halloween.

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    Brothers Osborne (zombie costume) OC: (John) …was so fun! :29
    TJ: “Literally, you can dress up like a zombie and drag your foot behind you all day and make weird noises, and everyone finds that completely acceptable.” [laughs] JOHN: “One year I dressed up as a ‘90s redneck zombie with a mullet wig and an Alan Jackson denim coat. I never once broke character. That’s part of the thing — you can actually not break character and get away with it. And everywhere I went, even when I ordered a drink, I ordered it like a zombie that was falling apart. [laughs] It was so fun!”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne talks about carving pumpkins with their dad when they were growing up.

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    Brothers Osborne (carving pumpkins) OC: …or something. :25
    “With our dad every year, we would go looking for pumpkins, and we would all get our own pumpkin to carve, and he would buy the biggest pumpkin that they had. It was huge. I mean, it was way too big for any one person, but he would love carving. He’s kind of an artsy guy. He was a great drawer and stuff, and he would carve the most terrifying, vicious looking, scary pumpkin you’d ever seen in your life, and it would be massive. It would be like on a 50-pound pumpkin or something.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne talk about their favorite Halloween candy.

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    Brothers Osborne (Halloween candy) OC: (John) …go stale. [laughs] :34
    TJ: “I would say, Snickers, Baby Ruth, Kit Kat and Reese’s too.” JOHN: “I always hated those houses that would give you bad candy, though. You’re like, ‘C’mon. Step it up.’ Spend the extra dollar on a bag, you know?” TJ: “A house when we were growing up used to give out whole candy bars. It was the best. You were like, ‘That house – that’s the honey hole of candy.’” JOHN: “I love it, and I love like at the end, like three or four days after Halloween you would see what candy was left, and it was always like those crappy cheap candies, and they would just go stale.” [laughs]

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne talks about one of his favorite childhood Halloween costumes.

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    Brothers Osborne (Halloween costume) OC: (TJ) …I love it. :37
    TJ: “There was a costume I had when I was a kid that my dad made. I was a caterpillar, no, you were a caterpillar and I was a spider. And so I don’t know if you’re familiar with pipe insulation? It’s like these black tubes, and so I had these little black pipe insulators as my legs.” JOHN: “There were strings attached to him that would hold some of the black pipe insulators under his hands, and he’d put working gloves on the end of them and so when he’d raise his arms, all of the little spider legs would raise up with it. [laughs] I’m telling you, our parents were total hippies. They were just…” TJ: “Artsy-fartsy hippies. I love it.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker loves Halloween, especially because it’s his kids’ favorite holiday.

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    Darius (Halloween) OC: …I’m into. :06
    “Halloween’s big for me, because the kids love it. It’s my kids’ favorite holiday, so anything they’re into, I’m into.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about the Halloweens of his childhood.

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    Dierks Bentley (Halloween) OC: … …around home. [laughs]  :23
    “Oh, when I was a kid, I was all into fireworks. Growing up in Arizona, we couldn’t get ’em, so we’d have ’em shipped in illegally. I still remember the name of the guy we’d call. His name was Joe, and he’d bring in, ship ’em in a package with no writing on ’em. We were all about M-80s in the mailboxes and bottle rocket wars. To me, as a kid, Halloween was fireworks, was blowing up stuff around home. [laughs]”

    Audio / Eric Church recalls his favorite Halloween costume.

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    Eric Church (Halloween) OC: …Franklin Street. 1:18
    “My favorite Halloween costume really came, I remember when I got a little older my first year of college, there’s this thing they do every year in Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Halloween on Franklin Street. We drove down from Boone, North Carolina. I had a bunch of friends that went to University of North Carolina, and we didn’t have costumes and didn’t realize until we were on the way that we had to have costumes. So, we stopped at a costume place in Greensboro, North Carolina. It’s Halloween, so there’s a run on everything and couldn’t find anything. And we end up getting sent around, driving  around town. We end up finding this hole in the wall place, but they had the full costume, Sesame Street outfits. The real deal. The real ones [with] feathers and fur. We were Elmo, Cookie Monster and I was Big Bird, and the Big Bird was the actual Big Bird. It’s about 7-foot-4, and yiou looked out of the body and then you had these straps that went on since the head was a lot higher. There’s a lot of beer involved in Franklin Street, so we get down there and as the night went on, my straps broke, so the head would pivot. And so, I would be walking one way and the head would be facing the other, and it just became this funny…I didn’t know the head was on backwards. I had no idea. I see out of the body, so I’m just kinda walking around and people were talking to my ass-end. [laughs] The whole time peiople’d come up and start talking and go, ‘Hey, turn around.’ And I’d turn around, and they’d go, ‘No turn around.’ It was a mess. That year, there was no other Big Bird on Franklin Street.”

    Audio / Jon Langston talks about his favorite Halloween show a few years ago when his band surprised him on stage.

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    Jon Langston (Halloween show) OC: …memorable Halloween. :59
    “So we played a show a few years ago in Baton Rouge and I go off stage and I come back on stage for the encore. I don’t know this until midway through the song, I’m just into the crowd, like I’m engaged. I’m in the zone, and I just see everyone, like everybody else behind me but me and I’m like what’s going on. I turn around and each of them has a different huge mask on, like one of those stuffed animal masks, like my drummer has a dinosaur head on. My guitar players, one of ‘em has monkey head on, the other has a unicorn head on. And my bass player has like a, I think a dog or cat head or something like that. I couldn’t finish the song I was laughing so hard just seeing them playing with these like oversized huge mask heads on Halloween night. That was funny. It was a good prank, so that was probably the most memorable Halloween.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi talks about his favorite Halloween costumes as a child.

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    Jon Pardi (Halloween) 1 OC: …the Superman. :15
    “Man, I went through phases of costumes – the Superman costume, then it was a ninja, then I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle one year. I remember rockin’ the Superman.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi reveals his favorite Halloween candy.

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    Jon Pardi (Halloween candy) OC: …during Halloween. :06
    “Man! The candy corn is pretty good, and that’s seasonal, so it only kinda pops out during Halloween.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT HIS FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES OVER THE YEARS.

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    Jordan Davis (Halloween) OC: …jet black. :49
    “I can remember being really big into Power Rangers. I always liked the Red Ranger. I remember being Red Ranger one Halloween. I remember me and my br4other being big into the Ninja Turtles. I was Donatello one year, which I think was the purple turtle. I think, though, my favorite Halloween was I was in college and I went as Luigi from Mario and Luigi, and I actually grew a legit mustache and dyed it jet black and ran into an ex-girlfriend at the costume shop and completely forgot I had the mustache on. So, when Is saw her, she was like, ‘So, you’re going with a mustache nowadays, huh?’ [laughs] I remember being like, ‘I swear this is part of my Halloween costume.’ [laughs] When I dyed my mustache, my top lip was black for a week. Like I really did dye it jet black.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT HIS FAVORITE HALLOWEEN CANDY.

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    Jordan Davis (Halloween candy) OC: …some Starbursts. :21
    “My favorite Halloween candy [is] probably Reese’s or M&M’s, although I love the variety of Starburst. It’s one that I feel like I only eat at Halloween, because I feel like at Halloween one of the popular ones is the two-piece Starburst things. So, probably Reese’s, M&Ms and throw in some Starbursts.”

    Audio / CANDY CORN IS A PRETTY POLARIZING CANDY THAT ONLY COMES OUT AROUND HALLOWEEN. SOME LOVE IT; SOME HATE IT AND NEITHER OPINION IS WRONG. JORDAN DAVIS SIDES WITH THE HATERS (DON’T BLAME HIM), SINCE HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO CANDY CORN.

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    Jordan Davis (no candy corn) OC: …they’re awful. :05
    “You know what I never got? The candy corns. I’ve never been a candy corn guy. I think they’re awful.”

    Audio / Josh Turner and his family (including wife Jennifer and their four sons) enjoy dressing up as a family for Halloween. The multi-platinum selling star says his favorite family costumes was a few years ago when they dressed up as Star Wars characters.

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    Josh Turner (Halloween costumes) OC: …pretty classic. :27
    “My favorite family costume was from a couple of years ago when I had my six-and-a-half-month-old beard going, and me and the whole family dressed up as Star Wars characters. So, I was a young Obi Wan Kenobi, Jennifer was Princess Leia, Colby and Marion were Storm Troopers, Hampton was Darth Vadar and Hawk was, I guess, pretty much still a baby, and he dressed up as Yoda. It was pretty classic.”

    [[audio-player-19]

    Audio / We all know Lauren Alaina loves to dress up, but she also loved to come up with costumes for her brother. She says one of her favorite costumes was when she dressed up her brother…as her.

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    Lauren Alaina (Halloween-brother) OC: …mad about that! :19
    “I always would dress my brother up too, and I’d say not my best costume, but his best costume when I put makeup all over him and made him, he looked JUST LIKE ME, but I put extensions in his hair and a little hat on his head and I put makeup on him and my cheerleading outfit. It fit him. I was so mad about that!”

    Audio / Luke Bryan says you can tell a lot about your neighbors from what kind of Halloween candy they hand out.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween) OC: …your teeth. :21
    “You can find out a lot about your neighbors by what kind of candy they put out. So, well, like full bars of Snickers bars, that’s what, and Reese’s cups, [but] the old chocolate popcorn ball of stuff, that’s no good either, like Dots – you get Dots one time of year and they pull your teeth.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about his Halloween traditions.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween) 2 OC: …with all that. :33
    “My tradition for Halloween is Caroline picks the outfit. I never know what I’m wearing. So that day, I’ll talk to the neighbors ‘cause I have a tractor back there and I’ll go get my tractor and get a big long trailer, and then I’ll run down to…a couple miles from the farm, we’ve got a big hay farmer that keeps hay and you run in there and pay him for his hay bales. And I’ll load the hay up and get the hayride ready and we’ll take all the kids behind the tractor and have a fun Halloween with all that.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan says his wife Caroline usually pick out his Halloween costumes....and if you follow her on Instagram, you know she's already been testing out new costumes.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween costumes) OC: …always has. :20
    “Me and Caroline did one year where I dressed up as the old lady, and she dressed up as, she called herself a dirty old man. So, she went around acting like an old man saying snide comments to everybody. That was a fun one. The main thing is Caroline is big, she loves Halloween and always has.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae sit on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to scary movies.

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    Maddie & Tae (Halloween) OC: …princesses. :24
    TAE: “Oooooh, Halloween [is] my favorite holiday. Anyone who knows me knows I love all things scary and gory, so especially on Halloween all the scary movies that come out in theaters, I am there every single time.” MADDIE: “And I never go with her because I hate scary things.” TAE: “You know what’s funny? As little girls, everyone wants to dress up as princesses, and I think I was a witch like six years in a row. I just wanted to be scary.” MADDIE: “Girl, I was like Jasmine and you know [other] princesses.”

    Audio / Mickey Guyton was raised in a very religious household, so she didn’t really celebrate Halloween and only went trick-or-treating one time.

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    Mickey Guyton (Halloween) OC: …the costumes. :50
    “Growing up, my parents were very, very conservative Christian, and so they viewed Halloween as a pagan holiday. BUT, I got to go trick-or-treating once in my life, and I dressed as a clown because my mom made me this clown suit and that was the best. We were in Moody, Texas. It was all three of my siblings and myself and we had so much candy that it lasted for months and months. My parents eventually had to throw it away because we had so much candy. And it was one of the most amazing, magical experiences I’ve ever had, because I never got to celebrate freaking Halloween. I tell you what, this son of mine is gonna definitely going to be celebrating trick-or-treating. Like I can’t wait to dress him up in all of the costumes.”

    Audio / Parker McCollum says his favorite Halloween candy is…Tootsie Rolls.

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    Parker McCollum (favorite Halloween candy) OC: …
    “What I can eat like 6,000 of are Tootsie Rolls. If I eat one Tootsie Roll, I’m gonna eat 30. Man, they’re so good.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about his favorite – and probably most embarrassing – Halloween costume.

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    Travis Denning (Halloween costume) OC: …Busch Light. :21
    “Honestly, I think one of my most proud and embarrassed Halloween costumes is I went as Terry from Reno 9-1-1. I had the roller skates, the short-shorts, the tied-up shirt. Looking back, it wasn’t the manliest thing I ever did, but it got a lot of laughs. And I think that year my favorite candy I ever had was Busch Light.”

  • HALLOWEEN LINERS 2020

    Audio / LINER Adam Hambrick (Halloween)

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    “Hey! This is Adam Hambrick. Happy Halloween.”

     

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (Trick or Treat)

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    “Trick or Treat, baby.”

    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (Halloween)

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    “Hey everybody! This is Brandon Lay, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Halloween)

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    “Hey! This is TJ, and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Carrie Underwood (Halloween)

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    “Hi! I’m Carrie Underwood, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Halloween) 1

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    “Hey y’all, I’m Caylee Hammack, wishing all of y’all a Happy Halloween. Boo!”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Halloween) 2

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    “Hey y’all! I’m Caylee Hammack, wishing all you goblins and gremlins out there a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Chrissy Metz (Halloween)

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    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Halloween)

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    “Hey! What’s up, y’all? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a very Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (Halloween)

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    “Hey! It’s Dierks Bentley, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Halloween)

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    “Hey! This is Eric Church, wishing you a very Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Langston (Halloween)

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    “Hey y’all! I’m Jon Langston. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Jordan Davis (Halloween)

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    “Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Josh Turner (Halloween)

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    “Hey Y’all, I’m Josh Turner, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Kacey Musgraves (Halloween)

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    “Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves, and I hope you have a Happy Halloween.”

     

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Halloween)

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    “Hey! What’s up, y’all? I’m Luke Bryan, wishing you a very Happy Halloween. Boo!”

    Audio / LINER Maddie & Tae (Halloween)

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    “Hi! We’re Maddie & Tae. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Parker McCollum (Halloween)

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    “Hey everybody, I’m Parker McCollum. Happy Halloween.”

    [[audio-player-19]

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Halloween)

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    “Hey everybody! This is Sam Hunt. Happy Halloween!”

    Audio / LINER Travis Denning (Halloween)

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    “Hey y’all, it’s Travis Denning. Happy Halloween.”

  • JOSH TURNER RELEASES MUSIC VIDEO FOR “I CAN TELL BY THE WAY YOU DANCE.”

    Multi-platinum-selling country music artist Josh Turner is taking fans on a journey back in time with the release today of his nostalgic new music video for his interpretation of the Vern Gosdin classic track “I Can Tell By the Way You Dance.”  The throwback music video embraces the heyday of classic country music TV dance program “Club Dance.”

    Turner, who has always been a fan of the song, hopes to introduce a new generation of fans to the country classic.  “I always felt that song was ahead of its time and never got the attention it deserved,” said Turner.  “I did it in my sets when I first started out, and I’ve always wanted to give it a modern spin. I’m so thankful I got to meet Vern a couple of times, and I hope I did him proud on this one.” The video is a great homage to both the song and the iconic country dance shows of the 80s and 90s such as Club Dance and the Wild Horse Saloon Dance Show.

    The new video, which was filmed at The Nashville Palace, finds Turner and his band, dressed in 90s era country style, performing the song in front of a crowd of enthusiastic dancers. Thanks to technology and old episodes of “Club Dance” classic images of the dancers (performing popular country dances of the time) were inserted into the video.  Club Dance, which was filmed in Knoxville, TN and aired on The Nashville Network from April 1991 to February 1999, captured the exuberance of country music’s danceable hits during that decade.

    The Vern Gosdin classic, along with eleven other tracks, are on Turner’s critically acclaimed new studio album COUNTRY STATE OF MIND, out now on MCA Nashville. The album celebrates a cross-section of classic country music icons, including five legends whom he has called his “Mount Rushmore of Country Music”-Randy TravisJohn AndersonJohnny CashVern Gosdin, and Hank Williams.

  • JOSH TURNER RELEASES HIS NEW ALBUM, COUNTRY STATE OF MIND, ON FRIDAY.

    Country State of Mind from Josh Turner arrives tomorrow! The 12 tracks on the album features music that is near and dear to Josh, and includes appearances from country legends, plus some of today’s hottest stars.

    The idea for the album first started last summer, and was inspired by the old Vern Gosdin song “I Can Tell By The Way You Dance”—a song that Josh Turner loves, but feels doesn’t get its proper recognition these days. Country State of Mind was not only a chance for Josh to record songs from artists on his own personal “Mount Rushmore of Country Music” but he sees it as a chance to introduce his fans to songs and artists that perhaps they aren’t too familiar with. Of course, he had the opportunity to test that theory early on after finishing the album with a very specific audience…his kids! Turns out they love the collection, and each have their own personal favorite, which is something that Josh thinks will translate to his fans as well.

    When looking for songs for the album, Josh combed through tracks that were very important to him personally and professionally, so one song he knew he had to include was Keith Whitley’s “I’m No Stranger To The Rain.” The track, which kicks off the album, is one that Josh says “I’ve always felt like this was one of those perfectly written country songs”, and still to this day as a writer inspires him when creating his own songs.

     

    Audio / Josh Turner talks about the song “I’m No Stranger To The Rain.”

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    Josh Turner (I’m No Stranger To The Rain) OC: …like that.
    “’I’m No Stranger to the Rain’ was originally done by Keith Whitley and Keith, to me, was one of the great country singers of our time, and you could hear the pain in his voice, and so when he sang a song like I’m No Stranger to the Rain, it was extremely believable and, and you really felt what he was feeling when he was singing a song like that.”

    Audio / Josh Turner explains how “I’m No Stranger To The Rain” inspires him.

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    Josh Turner (I’m No Stranger to the Rain) 2 OC: …moments.
    “Musically and lyrically, I’ve always felt like this was one of those perfectly written country songs, and it was something … and it still is something … as a writer that I try to aspire to, when I sit down to write a song. It’s like, if I can get anywhere close to the level that this song is, I’m doing pretty good, because like I say, it just … It was written by Sonny Curtis and Ron Hillard. And this has always been one of my favorite country songs. And so, when it came time to make this record I had to do it, because it has such an incredible message of just perseverance and endurance and determination and not letting the challenges in life keep you down. You have to continue to keep taking one step forward and just one step at a time and just powering through those rough moments.”

    Audio / Josh Turner shares the story of how the idea for his new album Country State Of Mind came about.

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    Josh Turner (How CSOM came about) OC: …modernized it.
    “My manager and I started talking about this…summer of last year. We had kind of kicked the idea around the label liked it. The first song that came to mind when we started talking about this record was ‘I Can Tell By The Way You Dance’ – the old Vern Gosdin song. I’ve always wanted to kind of give that song a rebirth, a new treatment. I’ve always felt like lyrically and melodically it’s just always timeless, but it’s always kind of bogged down in that 80s production. This new version, of mine, I feel like it could be a hit today, just really kind of modernized it.”

    Audio / Josh Turner’s kids love the new album, and have picked out their favorite songs, and Josh says that’s part of what this album is for…introducing new music to people.

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    Josh Turner (kids love album) OC: …my control.
    “That’s a first-hand reminder of what I wanted to accomplish with this record. I know that there’s going to be a lot of fans out there that are going to hear songs on this record and feel like ‘Man, I’ve never heard that song’ or ‘I’m not familiar with that artist’ or whatever, so I want to kind of use this record as an opportunity to introduce fans to maybe some stuff that they weren’t familiar with before. That’s always an objective of mine, whether of not I accomplish that (laughs) is kind of out of my control.”

  • FOURTH OF JULY 2020

    Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. The holiday is commonly associated with fireworks displays, parades, barbecues and concerts. This year with the pandemic still raging across the country, the holiday may look a little different for most people, including musicians. Some of your favorite country stars take time to remember their Fourth of July traditions, memories and what the holiday really means to them.

    For liners, click here.

    Lauren Alaina and Chrissy Metz will be among the performers on this year’s A Capitol Fourth this weekend. They’ll be joined by a slew of other famous faces, including hosts John Stamos and Vanessa Williams, as well as Trace Adkins, Brantley Gilbert, Patti LaBelle, John Fogerty and Yolanda Adams among others. Chrissy is set to sing “I’m Standing With You” from last year’s film, Breakthrough, as a tribute to first responders and frontline personnel. Celebrating a special 40th anniversary presentation, A Capitol Fourth will air Saturday (July 4th) at 8pm ET/7pm CT.

    Lauren will also perform on the iHeart Country 4th of July BBQ on Friday (July 3rd) at 8pm ET/7pm CT on The CW.

     

    Audio / Adam Hambrick has two things that make the Fourth of July spectacular.

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    Adam Hambrick (Fourth of July) OC: …July. :11
    “Fire up the grill and blow something up. Two things that are important for a good time on the Fourth of July – one (is) fire and meat. Those two things make a Happy Fourth of July.”

     

    Audio / Alan Jackson recalls one of the coolest Fourth of July memories he’s ever enjoyed.

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    AJ (fave 4th of July memory) OC: …very cool. :58
    Well, this one is hard to beat. A couple of years ago, maybe longer than that now, I had an old boat in Florida. It’s like an old antique motor yacht, and it was kind of a cool old boat. I had taken that boat, I’ve always wanted to take it up north like to New York and up in that area, up in the northeast where it’s so pretty. So, we took the boat up there and Denise and the girls, we all went up. They like going to New York City, which I don’t really care about going to the city. So, I got to stay in my boat there at the harbor tied up, which was cool anyway. So they spent time in the city a few days and then that was Fourth of July, and we went out in the Hudson River that night and they shot the fireworks off and we were anchored out in front of the Statue of Liberty and New York City was behind us, and the Statue of Liberty and the fireworks were going off sitting on that boat. That was the coolest thing and my girls still talk about that. I mean, that was the coolest thing on Fourth of July I can ever remember. I can’t top that one probably. It was emotional sitting there watching the Statue of Liberty and thinking about all that. It was very cool.”

     

    Audio / Billy Currington talks about his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Billy Currington (4th of July) OC: …of my life. :16
    “My best memories would be hanging out with my mom, brother and sister on the beach on Tybee Island right off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. We’d go there every year, and we’d light our own fireworks and watch the ones that they had for us. They were the best times, some of the best times of my life.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay recalls one of his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Brandon Lay (Fourth of July) OC: …good times. :47
    “I remember everybody hanging out at my grandmother’s and we would drive down the road to a fireworks stand off the side of Highway 45 out there in Jackson [Tennessee]. Just getting the bottle rockets and Black Cats and bringing ‘em back to the house, it felt like it was an eternity before it got dark. We just kept wanting to light ‘em and our parents would tell us it ain’t time, but just how exhilarating it was to see ‘em shoot up. We’re not talking big time fireworks here, but you would’ve thought that it was. It’s funny just how you remember things, but I just remember a screen door at my grandmother’s, running in and out, in and out, in and out and four wild little cousins running around. It was good times.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood recalls one of her favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Carrie Underwood (favorite Fourth of July memory) OC: …work out. :51
    “I think my favorite Fourth of July memory would be going to the fireworks stand and picking out which fireworks I wanted to do. I must’ve been like 7 or 8, and I came home and made a list of what order I wanted to do them in, because I wanted to put a show on for Mom and Dad, and of course I couldn’t wait until it was dark outside (laughs). So, I made my Mom and Dad get the lawn chairs and come out to the backyard and watch some not very dramatic fireworks at like six o’clock in the evening, but I was so proud of myself, and I was so proud of the show that I put on. So, I feel like that was a little training for what I do now – putting on shows, figuring out how it’s all going to work out.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about what the Fourth of July means to him.

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    Darius Rucker (4th of July) 1 OC: …in the world. :24
    “The Fourth of July to me is a day to celebrate freedom. We get to travel all over the world and see a lot of stuff, and I’ve been to a lot of countries that aren’t like ours and that’s when you really appreciate the fact that you can do whatever you want. As long as you’re willing to deal with the consequences, you can do whatever you want, you know?  [I] appreciate those soldiers who died for us to be sitting here doing this, and we live in the greatest country in the world.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker enjoys setting off fireworks.

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    Darius Rucker (fireworks) OC: …off once. :15
    “Oh, I love fireworks. We had the bottle rocket fights and all that good stuff. I was the typical little crazy kid, you know. In South Carolina, it was always legal, so we shot fireworks when it was legal. We did all that sort of stuff. I almost blew my hand off once.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley explains why he is so patriotic.

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    Dierks Bentley (4th of July-patriotic) OC: …all the time. :17
    “I’m extremely patriotic. I love this country, and I love the history of this country. I read books on this country. I spend my time on the road traveling physically throughout the country. The soldiers and their families are constantly on my mind. We work closely with the Wounded Warriors Project. We think about this stuff all the time.”

    Audio / Eric Church recalls his family activities on the Fourth of July holiday.

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    Eric Church (4th of July) OC: …freedoms. 1:17
    “The Fourth of July for me, growing up we would always go to the lake, we didn’t live on the lake but we would all go to the lake. Had a buddy who had a pontoon and we would always get on the pontoon and you go out and you’d tie all the pontoons together and just have a big time. This was before, I was younger then, the adults were having more fun than we were, you know it was just to go swim in the water and shoot off fireworks. Basically, water tailgating is what it was. And then as we got older, same thing…we would just, us younger kids had our own boat and we had as much fun as the adults.”

    Audio / Jon Langston talks about what he usually does on the Fourth of July,

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    Jon Langston (Fourth of July) OC: …either way. :17
    “The Fourth of July is usually different every year. We’re usually playing shows, or we’re out on the lake or at the beach, or sometimes I’ve said, ‘I’m staying at home,’ shooting fireworks off the back porch or something. That’s probably not the safest thing, but we have a good time either way.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT SOME OF HIS FAVORITE CHILDHOOD FOURTH OF JULY MEMORIES.

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    Jordan Davis (Fourth of July) 2 OC: …really cool. :17
    “Probably baseball games, firework shows at baseball games. We’d go to Shreveport Captains games, so yeah, we’d do that or barbecues and fireworks. I can remember being on the lake for a couple of Fourth of Julys. We’d take the boat out and we’d watch the downtown fireworks show from the boat, which was really cool.”

    Audio / Josh Turner talks about the fireworks “wars” his family would have when he was growing up.

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    Josh Turner (fireworks) OC: …of money. [laughs] :20
    “Yeah, we had fireworks around, especially my Daddy’s family. All the individual families had a lot of competition with each other and tried to outdo each other to try to see who had the biggest and baddest fireworks and all that. [laughs] My daddy, I think, was the smartest one. He just went out and bought maybe $25 worth of fireworks and let everybody else put on the big show, so he saved a lot of money.” [laughs]

    Audio / Keith Urban recalls coming over to America for the first time.

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    Keith Urban (coming to America 1st time) OC: …as I could. :39
    “1989 was the first year I came to the States, and it had always been my goal, but I had no plan on how to get here. It was just a case of keep playing, keep getting better at what you do, and then hopefully, somehow, some way I’ll end up over here. The guy who was managing me at the time, we just planned a trip over here – it was actually for the New Music Seminar in New York. And we came over for that, and then we did a trip down to Nashville, and I shopping my little demo around. I think I humored everybody more than anything else [laughs] with my tragic, ill-fitting demo for the time. So, I left there, but I was just so committed to coming back as quick as I could.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan recalls one of his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Luke Bryan (4th of July memories) OC: …we used to. :21
    “Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories were spent on Lake Blackshear down in Georgia with my family. I was always kind of in charge of driving home from Tennessee and picking up all the fireworks and my nieces and nephews always got excited when I rolled in because they knew I had all the fireworks. But, it was always a great memory, and I miss not getting to do that as much as we used to.”

    Audio / MADDIE & TAE TALK ABOUT THEIR FOURTH OF JULY TRADITIONS.

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    Maddie & Tae (Fourth of July) OC: …it’s perfect. :29
    TAE: “One of my favorite Fourth of July traditions – I’d say it’s a tradition ‘cause it happens every year, but I’m not always able to make it – is that we go to my grandparents in Oklahoma, and we all line up lawn chairs right in front of their garage and we just light fireworks. We always do it far away and then we light it, and we always run back and watch the fireworks, but that’s probably one of my favorite memories.” MADDIE: “My birthday is July 7th, so I always get built-in fireworks for my birthday, and sometimes we actually celebrate it on the 4th, because there’s fireworks everywhere, so it’s perfect.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about what he and his family did over the Fourth of July holiday when he was growing up in Georgia.

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    Sam Hunt (Fourth of July) OC: …good time. :39
    “My granddad on the other side of my family, he would always take a lot of pride…fireworks were actually, I’m from Georgia, and most of them were illegal, I’m pretty sure, growing up. But over in Alabama, that’s where all the firework stands were, and we only had to drive 10, 15 minutes to get to the Alabama line, so we could go get a bundle of fireworks pretty easy. But he would always take a lot of pride in going and finding all the good stuff, and coming back with a  big pile. He’d have his torch out there at the end of the driveway and we’d all eat homemade ice cream and put down towels on the driveway and he’d shoot off fireworks for 30-45 minutes. Such a good time.”

    Audio / TRAVIS DENNING TALKS ABOUT THE FOURTH OF JULY EVENTS HIS HOMETOWN OF WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA WOULD THROW EVERY YEAR.

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    Travis Denning (Fourth of July) OC: …will love. :51
    “Fourth of July in Warner Robins, Georgia is an event. It’s something else. In fact, forever they’ve thrown an Independence Day concert, and back in the day, it was huge. It was the biggest thing they did all year. They would actually have the concert in the MAC (McConnell-Talbert Stadium), which was the high school football stadium that Warner Robins and Northside and Houston County shared. I mean, one year they had Wynonna play and then they had Josh Turner one year, Darius Rucker. I mean it was like a big deal, and there’d be 15,000, 20,000 people there, and I think it’s so cool that there’s a little bit of a legacy of people coming together in that town and making something happen, you know? I’ll never forget going to those shows and thinking, I was more proud of what the city had done. I was like, ‘That’s just so cool that they could put together a show like this, an event that everybody will love.”

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  • JOSH TURNER PAYS TRIBUTE TO HIS “MOUNT RUSHMORE OF COUNTRY MUSIC” WITH NEW ALBUM, COUNTRY STATE OF MIND.

    Josh Turner invites fans to join him in scaling what the charismatic performer likes to call his “Mount Rushmore of Country Music” on his outstanding new studio album COUNTRY STATE OF MIND, scheduled for release August 21 on MCA Nashville.  The 12-song collection finds Turner in an enlightened “country state of mind” as he pays homage to a cross-section of classic country music icons, including five legends who have long held a firm place in his musical journey: Randy Travis, John Anderson, Johnny Cash, Vern Gosdin, and Hank Williams, “I’ve always said that any song you hear coming from my voice, you’re going to hear bits and pieces of those five guys,” says Turner. “They taught me how to be Josh Turner.”

    Earlier today, Josh Turner treated fans to an exclusive first look at COUNTRY STATE OF MIND during a special Facebook Live session-you can watch it HERE. Fans can pre-order COUNTRY STATE OF MIND HERE, listen to the title track HERE, as well as watch a video teaser for the album HERE.

    COUNTRY STATE OF MIND showcases Turner as a disciple of country music history, with the album spanning more than half a century of classic country music, encompassing both well-known standards and deep-catalog cuts, many of which hold deep personal meaning.  Turner also invited other stellar country voices — some heroes, some contemporaries — to join him in the studio as he crafted his celebration of classic country.

    The new rendition of the Randy Travis classic “Forever and Ever, Amen” marks Travis’ first recording session since an incapacitating 2013 stroke. “Randy has always been my hero. He was the reason I wanted to become a country singer,” recounts Turner.  “He’s an inspiring figure, not just to me but to a lot of people, so to have him sing on this record is pretty special.”  Early in his career, Turner often performed Vern Gosdin’s first chart-topping single, “I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You’re Gonna Love Me Tonight),” and has long dreamed of re-introducing it to a new generation of listeners, and he also teams up with John Anderson to reprise Anderson’s 1993 hit “I’ve Got It Made.” Turner also plays guitar for the first time on one of his albums on his renditions of Johnny Cash’s “The Caretaker” and Hank Williams’ “Alone and Forsaken” — the album’s oldest, and darkest, songs.  Country Music Hall of Famer Kris Kristofferson joined Turner to record a new version of his 1973 chart-topper “Why Me”.  Other standout tracks include the title track, originally a 1986 hit for Hank Williams Jr., which becomes a duet with fellow Grand Ole Opry member Chris Janson; the members of Runaway June take George Jones’ part on “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me,” and Maddie & Tae sing with Turner on “Desperately,” a 2004 single for George Strait and the album’s newest song.

     

     

    With his rich, deep voice and distinctive style, Josh Turner is one of country music’s most recognizable hit-makers.  Turner has scored recognition from the GRAMMY®, CMA, ACM, GMA Dove and Inspirational Country Music Awards. As one of the youngest members inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, Turner has sold more than 8.5 million units, topped more than 2.5 billion in global streaming, and populated radio with such memorable hits as “Hometown Girl,” “Would You Go With Me,” “Your Man,” “Time Is Love,” “Why Don’t We Just Dance” and “Long Black Train.”

     

    Audio / Josh Turner talks about his version of "Country State of Mind," and how he got Chris Janson to sing on it with him.

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    Josh Turner (Country State of Mind) OC: …is to it. 1:24
    “’Country State of Mind’ for me was part of that soundtrack of my life growing up in rural South Carolina. I could just relate to so many lines in this song. Hank Williams Junior’s music has always had a real attitude to it, and I’ve always loved that and just really felt like this record could use some of that, and so ‘Country State of Mind’ felt like a great choice. So, I had known Chris Janson for a little while, and then he and I ended up on a radio show in Augusta, Georgia. That night, Chris broke into ‘Country State of Mind,’ and usually when I’m doing a guitar pull type of show like that, I don’t sing along with other artists unless they ask me to. But that night, I couldn’t help myself. When he started singing ‘Country State of Mind,’ I was sitting right next to him and I just chimed in. I started singing harmony on it. He looked over like, ‘Holy crap. Let’s keep doing this.’ He was loving it, and the crowd went nuts. And I never forgot that, and so when I ended up deciding to do this song on the record, I was like I’ve got to have Chris come in and sing on this, you know? It’s just two good ‘ol country boys singing on a country song and having a good time. You know, that’s about all there is to it.”

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