• JOSH TURNER WILL CELEBRATE HIS 10TH ANNIVERSARY AS A MEMBER OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY.

    Josh Turner will celebrate his 10th anniversary of being a member of the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday (September 19th) with an extended performance and more. He says it means a lot to him being part of such a wonderful family, even though he felt the invitation to become a part of that family came too soon in his career.

    “It was kind of surreal because I didn’t feel like I deserved the membership side of it, because I felt like I needed to pay my dues more or be older, because at the time I was actually the youngest member inducted until Carrie [Underwood] was inducted later,” says Josh. “It tends to mean more and more to me being a member there and not only that, but just what it stands for. I think they’re really still trying to keep it current and keep it fresh, but at the same time they’re trying to preserve the purity of what our genre is all about, so I’m just happy to be a part of that. There’s such diversity in the membership there at the Opry, so you can’t say, ‘Aw, it’s just one kind of artist.’ It’s not. The thing that we have in common is that we’re all dedicated to preserving country music and keeping it alive for generations to come.”

    Josh was invited by Roy Clark, and the young South Carolina native thought was he was presenting an award to the legendary performer.

    “I think looking back on it, I think it was kind of a fake award, ‘cause Roy was in on it,” he recalls. “They totally fooled me, ‘cause I was out there thinking I was going to bestow this award upon Roy Clark and then come to find out there was an induction or an invitation letter I should say, on the back of the plaque that I handed him. I don’t even know why I didn’t even see it. So, he pulls the letter out the envelope and reads it and invites me to become a member of the Opry, and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. They just turned the tables on me.’ So, it was pretty much of a surprise.”

    In June, he celebrated his 150th performance on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry.

    Josh has hit the airwaves with his latest song, “All About You,” the follow-up to the No. 1 “Hometown Girl.”

    Audio / Josh Turner says being a member of the Grand Ole Opry means a lot to him.

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    Josh Turner (being a member of the Opry) OC: …generations to come. 1:02
    “It means a lot. It’s hard to believe I’ve been a member there [for 10 years]. You know, when I first started out, it was kind of surreal because I didn’t feel like I deserved the membership side of it, because I felt like I needed to pay my dues more or be older, because at the time I was actually the youngest member inducted until Carrie [Underwood] was inducted later. But as I’ve seen the changes happening in the business here, it tends to mean more and more to me being a member there and not only that, but just what it stands for. I think they’re really still trying to keep it current and keep it fresh, but at the same time they’re trying to preserve the purity of what our genre is all about, so I’m just happy to be a part of that. There’s such diversity in the membership there at the Opry, so you can’t say, ‘Aw, it’s just one kind of artist.’ It’s not. The thing that we have in common is that we’re all dedicated to preserving country music and keeping it alive for generations to come.”

    Audio / Josh Turner recalls the invitation he received to join the Grand Ole Opry.

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    Josh Turner (recalls Opry invitation) OC: …part of that family. :57
    “Honestly, I thought I was there to present an award to Roy Clark, which I was…sort of. [laughs] I think looking back on it, I think it was kind of a fake award, ‘cause Roy was in on it. They totally fooled me, ‘cause I was out there thinking I was going to bestow this award upon Roy Clark and then come to find out there was an induction or an invitation letter I should say, on the back of the plaque that I handed him. I don’t even know why I didn’t even see it. So, he pulls the letter out the envelope and reads it and invites me to become a member of the Opry, and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. They just turned the tables on me.’ So, it was pretty much of a surprise. Like I say, I was just bowled over at how young I was and how early into my career it was. It seemed premature from my perspective, but I’m glad it happened and I’ve been committed to showing them that I’m dedicated to the Opry and I’m going to continue to play there and be a part of that family.”

    Video / Josh Turner's invitation to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

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  • LUKE BRYAN ADDS OPENING ACTS TO THIS YEAR’S FARM TOUR.

    Four-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan has announced additional guests artists on his ninth annual “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2017” set to run September 28 to October 7.  Joining previously announced 2017 ACM New Male Vocalist Jon Pardi are Adam Craig, the Peach Pickers (Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson & Ben Hayslip) and Jon Langston plus DJ Rock. See more details on dates for Luke’s Farm Tour openers below. 

    “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2017”
    September 28  Lincoln, NE             Benes Farm                  Adam, Peach Pickers, Jon Pardi
    September 29  Baldwin City, KS     Don-Ale Farms            Adam, Peach Pickers, Jon Pardi
    September 30  Boone, IA                Ziel Farm                      Adam, Peach Pickers, Jon Pardi
    October 5       Fort Wayne, IN         Spangler Farms West   Jon Langston, Peach Pickers, Jon Pardi
    October 6      Edinburg, IL              Ayers Family Farm        Jon Langston, Peach Pickers, Jon Pardi

    October 7      Centralia, MO             Stowers Farm               Peach Pickers, Jon Pardi

     

    The “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2017” is sponsored by Cabela’s, Can-Am, Chevrolet, Miller Lite and Citi®. For additional information, including where to get tickets, stay tuned towww.lukebryan.com/farm-tour.

    Luke has once again partnered with CID Entertainment to offer Harvest Time VIP Experiences throughout the 2017 Farm Tour. Harvest Time VIP Experiences include an exclusive VIP viewing area, VIP only restrooms, private cash bar, charging station, a limited edition Luke Bryan Farm Tour mini bluetooth speaker (new in 2017!), and more. To view full package details, please visit CID Entertainment.
    About Luke Bryan
    Country music superstar Luke Bryan is a two-time Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, a five-time host of the ACM Awards and the 2017 Super Bowl LI National anthem performer. He has sold over 10 million albums, 40 million tracks and garnered three Billion music streams. Luke recently debuted a new single “Light It Up,” which is the first song off a new album due out later this year.

     

    Luke’s concert tours have consistently sold out shows across North America including many NFL Stadiums like the Patriot’s Gillette Stadium, Chicago’s Soldier Field, Cleveland’s First Energy Stadium, the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Denver’s Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Ford Field in Detroit, home of the Vikings at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field, and Levi Stadium in San Francisco. In the last three years, Luke has performed for 5.6 Million fans on tour and is currently touring across the U.S on his “Huntin’, Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day Tour” through October.

    Visit www.LukeBryan.com or follow Luke on Twitter@LukeBryanOnlineInstagram and Facebook.
  • BROTHERS OSBORNE ARE PRETTY CORNY.

    Brothers Osborne are the reigning CMA and ACM Duo of the Year, have earned a No. 1 single and play to thousands of people every night. One of their biggest rewards is having their image carved into a big cornfield.

    The guys are currently making their way up the country charts with their latest hit, “It Ain’t My Fault.”

  • BRANDON LAY UNVEILS COVER OF ‘HEADS CAROLINA, TAILS CALIFORNIA.’

    Newcomer Brandon Lay, who has hit the airwaves with his debut song “Speakers, Bleachers and Preachers,” recently sat down to do a different rendition of one of his favorite songs “Heads Carolina, Tails California.” The song was released by Jo Dee Messina in 1996.

    Video / Brandon Lay "Heads Carolina, Tails California"

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  • LITTLE BIG TOWN IS INDUCTED INTO THE MUSIC CITY WALK OF FAME.

    Keith Urban presented Little Big Town with their star on the Music City Walk of Fame on Thursday (September 14th).

    Prior to their ceremony, the members of the band performed during the public memorial service of Montgomery Gentry‘s Troy Gentry at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House. At the request of Troy’s wife Angie, LBT performed The Star-Spangled Banner.”

  • LUKE BRYAN WILL HELP HOUSTON’S FIRST RESPONDERS TAKE THEIR MINDS OFF THE DEVASTATION IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE HARVEY.

    Luke Bryan recently announced that he will coordinate with the Houston area authorities to make tickets available to members of Hurricane Harvey’s first responder teams to attend his Houston, Texas concert next Friday, September 22nd at Cynthia Woods Pavilion. Luke will donate concert proceeds to benefit the Houston Community Fund. 

    “Houston is a very special area for me,” says Luke. “The fact that we can bring some first responders to the show, take their minds off of what they’ve been going through and what they’ve seen and then you know, bring some fun and bring a good time to an area that’s been dealing with so much.”

    Luke, who is nominated for CMA Entertainer of the Year, is making his way up the country charts with his latest song, “Light It Up.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about helping out Houston's first responders in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

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    Luke Bryan (Houston Hurricane Relief concert) OC: …so much. :31
    “Houston is a very special area for me I mean, every year I had the opportunity to play the rodeo and then I had the opportunity to go back in and play amphitheater I mean it’s such a humbling experience that I get to do both venues. The fact that we can bring some first responders to the show, take their minds off of what they’ve been going through and what they’ve seen and then you know, bring some fun and bring a good time to an area that’s been dealing with so much.”

  • SAM HUNT WILL BE HONORED WITH THE FIRST-EVER ‘SONG OF THE YEAR’ AWARD AT THIS YEAR’S CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR SPECIAL.

    CMT today announced that country superstar Sam Hunt, along with co-writers Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, will be honored with the first-ever “Song of the Year” Award for mega-hit “Body Like A Back Road” at the 2017 CMT Artists of the Year, the year-end music celebration event premiering Wednesday, October 18th at 8pm ET/PT live from Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

    CMT will honor Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” after it shattered records for the most consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the longest No. 1 streak in history by a solo artist. “Body Like A Back Road” is the No. 1 most-downloaded country song of 2017 with 1.6M tracks sold, holding the weekly No. 1 download slot for 31 non-consecutive weeks and the song is the No. 1 most-streamed country song of 2017 with over 325M streams. This is the 31st consecutive week atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and it spent 16 weeks in the Top 5 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.

    “Body Like a Backroad is the clear choice for this inaugural award,” said Frank Tanki, General Manager of CMT and TV Land. “It’s a cross-genre smash that’s bound to become one of Sam Hunt’s signature songs in a growing list of chart-toppers.

    The “Artists of the Year” honorees include Chris Stapleton, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban and Luke Bryan as the five artists who collectively dominated the last 12 months in country music, ruling CMT’s platforms and country radio, scoring chart-topping album and singles, and selling out arenas across the country.

    The 90-minute special will also extend beyond music to honor the unwavering spirit of those impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and champion the many volunteers contributing to the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts. In addition, throughout the event, country’s biggest stars will encourage fans to continue supporting the extensive recovery over the next year.

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM’S HILLARY SCOTT DOES A GENDER REVEAL TIMES TWO ON HER SOCIALS.

    Lady Antebellum‘s Hillary Scott just revealed she is having twin girls, joining big sister Eisele, in February. She revealed the gender of her two babies on her socials Thursday morning (September 14th). Hillary wrote, “We are overjoyed to be having TWO more girls! Now we wait with great expectation (and many prayers) for them to get here safely!”

     

    Hillary celebrated National Bump Day on Wednesday (September 13th) with a shot of her own baby bump and urging other mothers-to-be to share their photos.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BY_dZHmgoYJ/

    In August, Hillary and her husband told fans they were expecting twins, while bandmate Dave Haywood also revealed his wife Kelli was pregnant with a baby girl in December.

  • KIP MOORE’S ROAD TO SLOWHEART IS DOCUMENTED IN PHOTOS.

    slowheart

    Kip Moore documented his journey to his new album, Slowheart, with music, experiences, a documentary and photos, including those you see on the album.

    It wasn’t his idea to have cameras follow him 24/7, but he soon realized what a special journey he was on and embraced the idea. The video and photos of Kip’s experiences over the last year were the brainchild of his buddy and filmmaker PJ Brown, who also captured Kip in moments and memories, which ended up on the cover of his new album.

    “It’s not me in a room doing a photo shoot for a record. These are actual moments that were taking place that he was able to capture,” says Kip. “So, yeah, they all mean something different to me. You’re gonna see a lot of the pictures. We’re gonna have a whole photo album that’ll be for sale on the [website]. It shows, it’s captured so many moments, a lot of them they haven’t seen. So, I can remember even taking the album cover – you know that’s the best ice-cold coke in Costa Rica at that place, so I was kind of sitting back. I was just hanging out. I didn’t have any plans that day. It was just kinda letting the day come, and PJ was able to capture me in a pretty natural element.”

    Kip is making his way into the Top 5 on the country charts with his latest song, “More Girls Like You.”

    Audio / Kip Moore says the documentation of his experiences over the last year also made the cover of his new album, Slowheart.

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    Kip Moore (album cover photos actual memories) OC: …natural element. :41
    “Actual memories. It’s not me in a room doing a photo shoot for a record. These are actual moments that were taking place that he was able to capture. So, yeah, they all mean something different to me. You’re gonna see a lot of the pictures. We’re gonna have a whole photo album that’ll be for sale on the [website]. It shows, it’s captured so many moments, a lot of them they haven’t seen. So, I can remember even taking the album cover – you know that’s the best ice-cold coke in Costa Rica at that place, so I was kind of sitting back. I was just hanging out. I didn’t have any plans that day. It was just kinda letting the day come, and PJ was able to capture me in a pretty natural element.”

  • LUKE BRYAN PERFORMS DURING A SPECIAL OPRY SHOW FOR COUNTRY CARES FOR ST. JUDE KIDS.

    20170913-9076

    The Grand Ole Opry® celebrated Country Cares for St. Jude Kids® during a special show this evening. Among the performers were Randy Owen of Country Music Hall of Fame group Alabama, four-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan, and Clare Bowen and Charles Esten of the hit series NASHVILLE.

    20170913-8848

    Luke Bryan, Kael and Nashville’s Clare Bowen

    Throughout the show, photos and videos of special moments from Country Cares for St. Jude Kids® were shared during artist performances. St. Jude patient Kael, who is five years old, took the stage as a special guest announcer for the night. After Kael presented Owen with a memento thanking him for 28 years of work with Country Cares for St. Jude Kids,® the Country Music Hall of Famer returned the favor and surprised him and his brother with their own Opry keepsakes.

    The month of September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and supporters are encouraged to help St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® in its efforts to end childhood cancer. St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent when the hospital opened in 1962 to more than 80 percent today.

     

    About Country Cares for St. Jude Kids
    St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® has been actively involved in radio event fundraising for 27 years, raising national awareness and more than $750 million to help St. Jude with childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Every year, approximately 1,000 country music industry leaders gather in Memphis every January for the Country Cares for St. Jude Kids® program to support the lifesaving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

    Luke is currently making his way up the country charts with “Light It Up,” the first song from his forthcoming, as-yet-untitled album.

     

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

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    Luke Bryan (Country Cares for St Jude Opry) OC: …special deal. :46
    “What St. Jude has done for childhood cancer, it’s an amazing organization and when you see St. Jude, whenever you see that name, you trust and you know that it’s just the best of all causes. It’s funny on the big telethon weeks and the big radio weeks when St. Jude has so much of a presence on country radio, it takes on a whole new form riding down the road and listening, when you have kids you find yourself crying along with the radio from the stories. So, it’s certainly something that a lot of parents out there…this organization helps the parents too. I mean from the children to the parents, it’s a special deal.”