Luke Bryan was named the NSAI Songwriter-Artist of the Year during Monday night’s (October 23rd) Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Gala at the Music City Center. The Georgia native was celebrated with his first such NSAI award for songs including “Fast,” “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day” and “Move,” three of six hits to reach the top of the country chart from his Kill the Lights album.

“To win the NSAI Artist-Writer of the Year Award is, I mean it’s the top echelon of awards, in my opinion. It’s a huge honor,” says Luke. “Early in my songwriting endeavors, for ‘Good Directions’ I won Top 10 Songs I’d Wished I’d Have Written. And now years into my career and having never won one since then, I understand it’s such an important award. It’s an important night, and it’s a special night for me and a huge honor.”

Luke also performed Vern Gosdin’s 1988 chart-topper “Set ‘Em Up Joe” in tribute to the late country legend who was one of five inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Luke is sitting inside the Top 10 on the country charts with “Light It Up,” the first release from his brand-new album, What Makes You Country, available December 8th.

In the meantime, you can catch the CMA Entertainer of the Year nominee (he’s won the CMA Entertainer Award twice) on the road with his Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day Tour. The trek makes stops Wednesday (October 25th) in San Diego, followed by Phoenix on Thursday (October 26th) and San Bernadino on Friday (October 27th).

Eric Church has released the video for his latest hit, “Round Here Buzz.”

The music video for “Round Here Buzz” again features lead Mickey Smay, the teenager from the “Mr. Misunderstood” music video as well as Church’s “Record Year.” The music video was directed by Reid Long who received an ACM Award for Video of the Year for “Mr. Misunderstood.”

Eric is nominated for three CMA Awards, including Entertainer, Male Vocalist and Musical Event of the Year (for “Kill a Word”) with Rhiannon Giddens. The 51st Annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena November 8th at 8pm ET on ABC.

Tyminski made his solo television debut this week on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. He performed the title track of his new album, Southern Gothic.

With over 50 first-week stations, reigning ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year and CMA New Artist of the Year-nominee Jon Pardi sends his brand-new single “She Ain’t In It” to country radio today as the most-added song of the week. Billboard calls the Clint Daniels and Wynn Varble-written tune, “a stone-cold weeper that would make George Strait nod with approval.” “She Ain’t In It” is Pardi’s fourth single off his critically-acclaimed, Gold-selling sophomore album, California Sunrise.

“‘She Ain’t In It’ is a great country song,” shares Pardi. “The first time I heard it, I had to listen to it over and over again. I was like ‘This has to be on the record. It is just pure country.’ It’s got that heartbreak to it. It’s got that moving on. Great lyrics and a great melody and it’s one of my favorites to ever call mine.”

“She Ain’t In It” follows Pardi’s three consecutive No. 1 hits with his Platinum-selling “Head Over Boots,” the three-week chart-topper “Dirt On My Boots,” and most-recently, “Heartache On The Dance Floor.” “Dirt On My Boots” is currently nominated for CMA Song of the Year and it earned Pardi his first-ever American Music Award nomination for Favorite Song-Country. In addition to a CMA New Artist of the Year nomination, Pardi is nominated for CMA Single of the Year for “Dirt On My Boots.”

Pardi is currently out on his sold-out headlining tour, the CMT ON TOUR: Jon Pardi’s Lucky Tonight Tour, before he hits the road next year with Miranda Lambert for the Livin’ Like Hippies Tour.

Upcoming shows include Worcester, Mass.; Silver Spring, Md. and North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Fans can also tune in to the 51^st CMA Awards airing live from Nashville Nov. 8 at 8pm ET on ABC, and voting is now open for AMA’s Favorite Song-Country with results airing live from Los Angeles Nov. 19 at 8pm ET on ABC.

For audio and liners on the song, click here.

For more information, images, music and tour dates, please visit www.JonPardi.com.

When Eric Church announced 61 Days in Church, a collection of live recordings currently streaming on Apple Music, fans demanded physical releases of the music. On October 27, demand will be met. 61 Days in Church limited-release will be available as a massive 15-LP box set, along with a commemorative tour book and an original poster encased in a custom road case. With the initial shipment on December 15, fans will receive the road case with the book, poster and the first three LP’s, which will include music from the first 12 shows of Church’s 2017 Holdin’ My Own Tour. The remaining 12 pieces of vinyl will be shipped out once a month starting in January of 2018, signing purchasers up for a Church “record club” for the year. Church Choir members, Eric’s die-hard fan club, will exclusively have the option to add-on a t-shirt, at no additional charge with their order. The box set will be released direct to consumers and can only be purchased at 61daysinchurch.com.

Additionally, the Church Choir gets the exclusive first look at the music video for Church’s fourth single from his album Mr. Misunderstood, “Round Here Buzz,” today. Fan club members will receive an email with details on how to view. The video will premiere worldwide on Vevo Tuesday, Oct. 24.

The music video for “Round Here Buzz” again features lead Mickey Smay, the teenager from the “Mr. Misunderstood” music video as well as Church’s “Record Year.” The music video was directed by Reid Long who received an ACM Award for Video of the Year for “Mr. Misunderstood.”

The 61 Days in Church collection was recorded on Church’s 2017 Holdin’ My Own Tour, which was a record-breaking five-month, two-set show where Church played more than 200 hours of music–foregoing an opening act—across 61 stops. The 61 Days in Church compilation will hold songs from each city that include a variety of catalogue cuts and singles as well as cover songs inspired by each tour stop. Church has already released some of these covers on the 61 Days in Church including a Memphis medley that combines Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis” with Bobby Bare’s “How I Got to Memphis” and a cover of “Screw You, We’re From Texas” featuring the song’s originator, Ray Wylie Hubbard.

With 60 songs already released via streaming from the 61 Days in Church, releases in batches of 30 songs will continue, exclusively with Apple Music for a two-week window before going wide to all streaming platforms, until the full 100+ song project is complete.

Church’s Holdin’ My Own Tour sold 930,000 tickets at the end of its run notching his as Pollstar’s top music tour in the first quarter of 2017, but as Dave Brooks of Billboard Magazine noted, “Fans will remember that tour by another metric: the marathon three-and-a-half hours Church played nightly as he crisscrossed the United States and Canada.”

Information on 61 Days in Church can be found here: 61daysinchurch.com.

GRAMMY-winner Keith Urban will headline Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville (#NashvilleNYE) for a second year in a row, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp announced today. Urban will lead a diverse lineup that includes CMA New Artist of the Year Maren Morris, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Cheap Trick, 2017 country music breakout artist Carly Pearce, R&B artist Jonny P and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The event at the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park is free and open to the public.

“We are thrilled to have Keith return to headline our New Year’s Eve show with a lineup that represents the great diversity of music genres thriving in Music City,” said Beth Seigenthaler Courtney, chairman of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp and president of DVL Seigenthaler. “We look forward to welcoming tens of thousands of visitors in the crowd of 100,000, who will fill up hotel rooms, eat and shop across Davidson County and generate substantial economic activity.”

Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, added, “With the tragedy in Las Vegas still fresh on our mind, as always we are taking the necessary precautions and refining our security plan with partners at the federal, state and local levels, including our full-time security team and the Metro Nashville Police Department. We moved to Bicentennial Mall last year to accommodate the growth of the event and to enhance our safety measures, and we will continue our efforts to provide the most comprehensive security possible.”

Gates will open at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31, and the raising of the Music Note will take place at 6:15 p.m. with the concert to follow. The event will include the traditional Music Note Drop and accompanying fireworks display to ring in the New Year against the backdrop of the iconic State Capitol building and unique view of the Nashville skyline. Storme Warren and Kelly Sutton will serve as emcees.

Nashville is scheduled to be a featured location as part of CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.”

New for 2017 are exclusive party and celebration packages with three different options to choose from. Details can be found at visitmusiccity.com/nyepackages.

• Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville Celebration Package: Choice of hotel, commemorative event t-shirt and Music City Midnight Party Pack.
• Music City Gold Circle Party – Ticket: Ticket only to the Exclusive Party, Viewing Area and special amenities.
• Music City Gold Circle Party Package: Choice of hotel plus ticket to the Exclusive Party, Private Viewing Area and special amenities.

Limited Gold Circle Party tickets are available so purchase early before they sell out. All ticket and hotel package options available for purchase by calling 1-800-657-6910 or purchase online at visitmusiccity.com/nyepackages.

Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville is produced by the NCVC for the city of Nashville and presented by Jack Daniel’s. Partners include Advance Financial, Tennessee Highway Safety Office: Booze It & Lose It, Carl Black Chevrolet, Anderson Benson Insurance, Dr Pepper Cherry, Korbel, Budweiser, Bud Light, Fetzer and Uber.

Follow the NCVC on social media for event updates, information and answers to your #NashvilleNYE questions:

Twitter: @VisitMusicCity – http://twitter.com/visitmusiccity

Instagram: @VisitMusicCity – http://instagram.com/visitmusiccity

Facebook: Visit Music City – http://facebook/nashvillemusiccity

Keith Urban

2017 has proven to be a successful year for Keith Urban and his album RIPCORD, which was released in 2016 and continued its incredible run this year. He has earned five nominations for the 2017 CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year, and was the most awarded artist at the 2017 CMT Music Awards with four wins. A groundbreaking album for Urban, RIPCORD marked the second time that one of his albums debuted simultaneously atop the all-genre charts in the United States, Canada and Australia. He is the only male country artist to achieve this mark. RIPCORD produced five No. 1 songs including “Wasted Time,” “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and “The Fighter,” which is Urban’s 23^rd No. 1 song and his seventh consecutive. It continued his streak as the artist with the most consecutive Top 10 songs on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart (38) — a streak that started in August, 2000. Following the breakthrough success of RIPCORD, which has continued worldwide, Urban took to the road for his “ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016.”  The tour played more than 70 shows on four continents in front of more than 1 million people, further solidifying Urban’s already established reputation as one of the most electrifying and dynamic live performers. In 2001, the Country Music Association honored Urban with its Horizon Award. He was the first in history to go on to win the CMA’s Male Vocalist of the Year, a title he’s captured three times, and the coveted Entertainer of the Year. Since then, Urban’s career has seen a long list of groundbreaking firsts and accomplishments reserved for the music industry’s elite. The 2015 CMA Awards brought Urban his third win for Vocal Event of the Year (“Raise ‘Em Up” featuring Eric Church) that marked the first time in history that any artist has received the award in three consecutive years. Besides his four GRAMMY Awards, Urban has won 10 Country Music Association Awards, 11 Academy of Country Music Awards, a People’s Choice and an American Music Award.  He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Urban’s reputation as a premier songwriter, vocalist, musician and virtuoso guitarist has afforded him the opportunity to collaborate with the likes of The Rolling Stones, John Mayer, Steven Tyler, Miranda Lambert, John Mellencamp, Alicia Keys, Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift, Vince Gill and Eric Church. Urban has long supported numerous charities. His “All For The Hall” benefit concerts for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum© have raised more than $3.4 million.  He is the first Ambassador of the CMA Foundation, is an advisory board member at the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and is a longtime supporter of The Mr. Holland’s Opus Fund and The GRAMMY Foundation. KeithUrban.net

Alan Jackson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday (October 22nd), alongside the late Jerry Reed and songwriter Don Schlitz.

The iconic Loretta Lynn inducted the Georgia native into the Hall of Fame in what she said was her first outing after she suffered a stroke in May. “I love you and I am so proud of you,” she said. “You deserve to be here.”  “Loretta Lynn said I should be here,” Alan said. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

Alan began his career as the lead singer of local Newnan band Dixie Steel, holding down numerous odd jobs while touring and writing songs. His wife, Denise, a flight attendant at the time, had a chance meeting with Glen Campbell. Campbell suggested Alan get in touch with his music publishing company. Within two weeks of the meeting, the Jacksons packed up and moved to Nashville to follow his dreams and Alan eventually signed with the worldwide star’s publishing company.

“I wrote what I knew about, and that was cars,” he says. “My daddy was a mechanic. I grew up in a garage. That’s all I cared about. That’s the reason I came to Nashville to be a singer because I loved cars, and I couldn’t really buy any. [crowd laughs] So, I didn’t have much going on, and I didn’t see much of a future of any direction that would help me buy a lot of cars, and being a singing star looked like the only shot I had.”

He honed his craft and was eventually signed by executive Tim DuBois as the flagship artist at Arista Nashville in 1989. Jackson saw almost immediate success with his first album, Here in the Real World. It yielded his first Billboard No. 1 single, “I’d Love You All Over Again,” and made Jackson an instant — and instantly recognizable — star. He was nominated for four awards at the 1990 CMA Awards and, over the course of his career, would become the second most-nominated artist in CMA Awards history with 81 nominations, following only close friend and fellow Hall of Fame member George Strait. He still owns the record for most nominations in a single year with 10, set in 2002, the year he swept Song and Single of the Year with his poignant 9/11 tribute “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” The track also was nominated for all-genre Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards and won the Best Country Song Award, his first golden gramophone.

Jackson released four studio albums in the first five years of his recording career. Here in the Real World, Don’t Rock the Jukebox, his best-selling A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ‘Bout Love), and Who I Am sold more than 20 million albums during that period and included some of his most memorable and important tracks, including “Midnight in Montgomery” and “Chattahoochee,” a winner of CMA Single and Song of the Year in 1993-94, respectively.

Jackson has released more than 20 albums and collections — including forays into gospel and bluegrass — nine of which went multiplatinum with 2 million or more in sales. Those albums have led to one of Country Music’s most decorated careers with three CMA Entertainer of the Year Awards (1995, 2002, 2003); two Grammy Awards; and membership in the Grand Ole Opry, the esteemed Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. He was given the first ASCAP Heritage Award (2014) by the performance rights organization, recognizing him as the most performed Country Music songwriter-artist of the last 100 years. Jackson has charted more than 30 No. 1 hits, sold nearly 60 million albums, and is among the genre’s most decorated and respected figures, with more than 150 awards.

During the ceremony, Lee Ann Womack performed his first Top 10 hit “Here in the Real World,” Alison Krauss sang “Someday,” while friend George Strait performed his hit “Remember When.”

As a finale to the entire evening, Alan, Loretta and George, along with Connie Smith sang “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” which is performed at the end of every Hall of Fame Medallion ceremony.

Late last week before this weekend’s induction, Alan released a new song, “The Older I Get.”

With the premiere of Season 8 of The Walking Dead on Sunday (October 22nd), we had to ask Darius Rucker if he’d ever binge-watched the show (he’s currently in the middle of The Tudors – more on that later). He and his son, Jack, tried to watch the show for the first time, but couldn’t get through the first episode of Season 1.

“Jack, my son, wanted to get into The Walking Dead, so I said, ‘Yeah, dude. I’ll watch it with you.’ So, we were going to binge-watch the first couple of seasons, and it was the first episode, and we were sitting in my man cave, and it was the first episode and I’m sitting there,” Darius recalls. “People who watch it will know the scene I’m talking about it. It’s the little girl that’s facing away and they’re slowly panning into the little girl. I thought, ‘That’s cool. Boy, I’ll watch it.’ They pan and she turns around and I got up and ran out of the room. I mean, I pushed Jack down and I ran out of the room, and I said, ‘I cannot watch this television show!’ That was the end of it for me. That little girl freaked me out so much I couldn’t watch any more Walking Dead. I haven’t watched it since. True story. I ran out of the room. Aaaaaahhhhh I’m screaming. It was awful.” [laughs]

The Walking Dead, which stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Melissa McBride and many others, premieres Sunday (October 22nd) on AMC at 9pm ET/8pm CT.

Darius is currently making his way up the country charts with “For the First Time,” which is from his brand-new album, When Was the Last Time.

Catch Darius as he makes the media rounds this week. He’ll perform live on NBC’s Today Show on Tuesday (October 24th), The View on Wednesday (October 25th) and The Chew on Friday (October 27th).

Kip Moore has hit the top of the Country Aircheck/Mediabase country chart with his smash hit, “More Girls Like You.” The song, which he co-wrote with Steven Olsen, Josh Miller and David Garcia, is from his new album, Slowheart, which was released last month and also features “Plead the Fifth,” “Blonde,” “Bittersweet Company” and “The Bull,” among others.

Thank u country radio, promo team, management, and all the amazing fans for getting More Girls Like You to #1. Very grateful…

— Kip Moore (@KipMooreMusic) October 22, 2017

“I wanna always make records that depict where I’m at at that particular place in my life. This is where I’m at in my life now where, I’m still a wildcard. I’m still aloof and I’m still like, might be a little ways away from that, but as I’ve traveled and I’ve been around and seen so many different walks of life and so many cultures, and it’s this constant thing,” says Kip. “I’ve watched dads being enamored of their daughters and I look forward to that now. I’m a lot more open to that now. So, that’s what the song is finding that person that you find so amazing that you hope they turn out like that amazing person does. It’s just a song that I, as I was writing it down, you know ‘I’ve been living like a wild old mustang/out in Montana fields.’ It’s like that’s just 100 percent to a T, that was the first line I said, where it was like we’re all on board; we know where it’s going, and the reason why I connect to it is I feel it 100 percent.”

Kip just launched his Plead the Fifth Tour, which is set to stop in Pittsburgh (October 26th), Grand Rapids (October 27th) and Cincinnati (October 28th).

With no signs of slowing down this year, Moore will also hit the road with Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen for a limited run this December as part of a special solo acoustic stint dubbed TALL TALES AND THE TRUTH TOUR.  The singer/songwriters will take the stage together each night, performing and sharing the intimate stories behind their songs, for a one-of-a-kind experience. Kicking off in Denver, CO on 12/7, they will also stop in Lincoln, NE (12/8), Washington D.C. (12/13) and wrap in New York City on 12/14. Tickets will go on sale starting 10/27 at 10am CT here.

Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie were in Nashville late last week as American Idol stopped in Music City to hold auditions for the first season of the talent competition on ABC.

This was the third city on their national trek to find the next big superstar, and it seems like the trio have really become a cohesive team.

“[Luke’s] one of those guys you meet and you swear he’s been a part of your life forever,” says Lionel. “I’m going back to check my yearbook. I’m going back to check The Commodores; I know he was in the band somewhere, but he’s got that personality.”

Luke is getting into a groove and feels comfortable now stating his opinion in front of the other two judges. “To be on this ride with them and to see how serious they take it and how important it is. It’s an undertaking and a challenge that, when I started saying my opinion on the first day and they started agreeing with it, I was like, ‘Hell yes, I’m gonna be okay. We’re on the same page,’” he says. “I was very flattered that I could come in and be the ole country boy voice. But back to them, I mean obviously huge fans of everything that they’ve done from the word go.”

Adding, “I haven’t ever even told Katy this. I remember the first time I heard ‘I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It,’ like I was just starting touring and I got my band guys on the bus and I was like, ‘Guys, this is what a huge ass pop hit sounds like.’ We’re sitting there jamming to [sings] ‘I kissed a girl,’ and obviously, that was Katy’s first endeavor.”

Katy appreciates the benefit of having three different and distinct artists on the panel. “We all have our strengths and I think that we are a very diverse panel and I think we all can give a different perspective. Lionel tells a lot of incredible stories and people come in singing Whitney and Prince, and he’s like, ‘Oh, well, those are my homies,’” she says. “We have a lot of fun, obviously, but we are really looking for talent and talent is presenting itself. It’s funny because I kept on saying I think that everything’s been discovered, every stone has been turned, every diamond has been polished, and I feel like actually we’re finding pretty great stuff.”

Luke is also getting a few pointers from Lionel on the piano.

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Luke has climbed into the Top 10 on the country charts with “Light It Up,” the first release from his upcoming album, What Makes You Country, available December 8th.

The Georgia native, who is nominated for this year’s CMA Entertainer of the Year (an award he’s won twice), is also busy on the road with his Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day Tour, which makes stops in San Diego on Wednesday (October 25th), Phoenix on Thursday (October 26th) and San Bernadino on Friday (October 27th).

https://twitter.com/LionelRichie/status/921518547204956160

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