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News

LADY ANTEBELLUM’S CHARLES KELLEY WILL HOST THIS YEAR’S ACM LIFTING LIVES GOLF CLASSIC.

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The Academy of Country Music® announced today that for the first time Charles Kelley, of multi-platinum trio Lady Antebellum and eleven-time ACM Award winner, will host the ACM Lifting Lives® Golf Classic at TPC Las Vegas on Saturday, April 1, 2017. The “scramble” style golf tournament, being held for the sixth consecutive year at TPC Las Vegas, was initially created to meet the need for a charitable event to connect fans, sponsors and donors with industry insiders and artists. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the ACM Lifting Lives’ Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund, which provides immediate relief to those in need within the music industry.

Established by former Academy of Country Music and ACM Lifting Lives Board Chair Gayle Holcomb, in honor of her mother, the Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund responds quickly to unforeseen, immediate financial needs of music related organizations and individuals. Since its inception in 2007, the Fund has distributed more than $500,000.

“I’ve been able to participate in the ACM Lifting Lives Golf Classic tournament for the past couple of years, so I’m looking forward to stepping back up onto green again this year,” said Kelley. “Getting together with my buddies to play a round in Vegas is always the perfect way to head into the award show, especially when it’s also for a good cause.”

Lady Antebellum will perform at the the 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, and will be broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas April 2nd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS. The trio is nominated for ACM Vocal Group of the Year.

KEITH URBAN, SAM HUNT AND CHRIS STAPLETON HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE LIST OF PERFORMERS AT THIS YEAR’S ACM AWARDS.

Keith Urban, Sam Hunt and Chris Stapleton have been added to the list of performers for this year’s ACM Awards. They’re joined by Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Reba McEntire, Cole Swindell, Rascal Flatts and Contemporary Christian singer Lauren Daigle.

Previously announced performers include ACM co-hosts Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, as well as Jon Pardi, Brothers Osborne, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris and Florida Georgia Line with the Backstreet Boys.

Additional acts and presenters will be announced in the coming days.

The 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, will be broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas April 2nd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Video / Keith Urban announcing he will perform on the ACM Awards

NEWS AND NOTES: Keith, Jon, Darius, Toby, The Band Perry, Sam

Keith Urban will appear on the talk show Harry on Wednesday (March 22nd), reuniting with his friend and fellow American Idol judge. [Check local listings]

Jon Pardi will perform his No. 1 hit, “Dirt on My Boots,” on ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday (March 23rd). The ACM New Male Artist of the Year has dates in Tallahassee, Fort Myers and Las Vegas, before stepping on the stage of this year’s ACM Awards next week to perform and accept his award.

Darius Rucker will appear in Thursday night’s (March 23rd) episode of CMT’s Sun Records, playing singer Johnny Bragg, the leader of the doo-wop group, The Prisonaires, from behind bars at the Tennessee State Prison. Check out the clip of Sun Records below and watch the show Thursday at 10pm ET on CMT.

LITTLE BIG TOWN RELEASE THEIR NEW SINGLE, ‘HAPPY PEOPLE.’

Little Big Town released their new single, “Happy People,” this week. The song was written by Lori McKenna and Hailey Whitters, and LBT’s Karen Fairchild says it’s the ideal song for what’s happening in the world today.

“‘Happy People’ is the perfect sentiment for what’s going on in the world right now and the things that are important to us anyway,” she says. “I hope it brings happiness to people right now in what feels like a very chaotic time.”

The song is the follow-up to their recent No. 1 single, “Better Man,” from their new album, The Breaker.

Little Big Town is nominated for ACM Vocal Group of the  Year and are set to perform on this year’s ACM Awards. The 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, will be broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas April 2nd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Audio / Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild talks about the band’s brand new single, “Happy People.”

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LBT (Happy People) OC: …chaotic time. :18
“Happy People’ is the perfect sentiment for what’s going on in the world right now and the things that are important to us anyway. I hope it brings happiness to people right now in what feels like a very chaotic time.”

Audio / LINER LBT (Happy People) 1

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LUKE BRYAN JOINS BLAKE SHELTON ON NBC’S ‘THE VOICE,’ AND THEY’VE MISSED EACH OTHER TERRIBLY.

Luke Bryan joined his pal Blake Shelton as an advisor during the battle rounds on Monday night’s episode of NBC’s The Voice. The two have clearly missed hanging out with each other. In the video below, they reminisce about meeting each other over 10 years ago.

Video / The Voice mentors, including Luke Bryan and Celine Dion.

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JOSH TURNER SCORES A NO. 1 ALBUM WITH DEEP SOUTH.

Josh Turner hits the top of the Billboard country album chart as Deep South bows at No. 1. The collection, which has been five years in the making, features the title track, as well as his Top 10 single “Hometown Girl.”

Josh says he hopes his fans are excited about the new music. “I…want them to hear the maturity and how I’ve grown as an artist and as a person through this record,” he says. “I want to give them a sense of hope and joy and peace after hearing it. I’m proud of this record, and I’m proud of the packaging and how it all came together. It’s got a youthful, fresh kind of feel to it, but like I say it’s got a maturity to it at the same time. I think it’ll appeal to a lot of different kinds of people.”

Turner wrote five of the 11 tracks on the well-crafted album and he is impressing fans and critics alike. Rolling Stone declares that Turner, with his “river deep baritone,” delivers an “eagerly awaited album from a country purist.” PEOPLE Magazine says the “Nashville veteran flaunts his deep bass” on Deep South and thatthe album is “an ode to down-home staples, from finding that perfect love on ‘Hometown Girl’ to savoring the laid-back life on the title track.”

Josh takes his album to  Austin, Texas on Tuesday (March 21st).

Audio / Josh Turner explains his hopes for his new album, Deep South.

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Josh Turner (hopes for Deep South) OC: …kinds of people. :42
“I want them to be excited about the record, first and foremost, but I want them to listen to the record and I want that excitement to continue after they’ve heard it and lived with it for a while. I also want them to hear the maturity and how I’ve grown as an artist and as a person through this record. I want to give them a sense of hope and joy and peace after hearing it. I’m proud of this record, and I’m proud of the packaging and how it all came together. It’s got a youthful, fresh kind of feel to it, but like I say it’s got a maturity to it at the same time. I think it’ll appeal to a lot of different kinds of people.”

JON PARDI SPENDS A SECOND CONSECUTIVE WEEK AT THE TOP OF THE BILLBOARD COUNTRY CHART.

Jon Pardi spends a second week at the top of the Billboard country chart with “Dirt on My Boots.” The song, which was written by Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure and Ashley Gorley, is from Jon’s sophomore album, California Sunrise.

“I saw my 22-year-old self getting off a tractor and going to take a shower and putting his work boots back on and going and hanging out with a girl and having a good time dancing or something,” says Jon. “I really connected to the lyrics of it.”

Jon won the award for ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year. The 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, will be broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas April 2nd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Audio / Jon Pardi talks about “Dirt on My Boots.”

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Jon Pardi (Dirt on My Boots) OC: …that track. :31
“I saw my 22-year-old self getting off a tractor and going to take a shower and putting his work boots back on and going and hanging out with a girl and having a good time dancing or something. And I really connected to the lyrics of it. It’s very country lyrics. It has tractors. It has cutting a rug. My favorite [line] — ‘I can get cleaned up, but I can only get so fancy,’ and I loved it. It was a great written country lyric, and I really think we made it more of a traditional feel with a modern flare to it, and I was really proud of that track.”

Video / Jon Pardi Dirt on My Boots

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KEITH, DARIUS, BROTHERS O, CLARE PAY TRIBUTE TO THE LATE CHUCK BERRY.

Several members of the country music community are mourning the loss of Rock’n Roll pioneer Chuck Berry over the weekend. According to the New York Times, Berry, who died at his home in Wentzville, Missouri on Saturday at the age of 90, “did as much as anyone to define rock ’n’ roll’s potential and attitude in its early years.”

Keith Urban was eloquent in his remembrance of Chuck Berry, citing one of his biggest hits, “RIP Chuck Berry !!!! Thank you for the poetry, the passion and the potency! GO JOHNNY GO. – KU”, while Darius Rucker said, “Legend isn’t a big enough word for you sir!!”

Brothers Osborne paid tribute to his guitar playing skills, saying “This man invented rock guitar as we know it. Thanks for everything, Chuck.” Guitar slinger Clare Dunn said, “Pioneer, game changer: those words barely start to describe . We miss you and the world will never be the same.”

 

LUKE BRYAN PLAYS TO BIGGEST CROWD AT THE HOUSTON RODEO WITH OVER 75,000 IN ATTENDANCE.

ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee and four-time show co-host Luke Bryan performed at the Houston Rodeo tonight as the biggest country act to play this year with a crowd of 75,500 screaming fans. Tonight marked Luke’s fifth consecutive year at the rodeo with 75,000 fans in attendance.

“It continues to be an honor to play here at the  Rodeo,” shared Luke. “The fans are so energetic and make this such an incredible night. This is one I always look forward to doing!”

Luke will wrap his “Kill The Lights Tour” this weekend with two sold out shows in Orange Beach, Alabama. The tour launched in February 2016.

Coming up, Luke will appear as the adviser for friend Blake Shelton’s team on NBC’s The Voice March 20 & 21 and March 27 & 28.

Luke is set to co-host the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards with pal Dierks Bentley. The show will be broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas April 2nd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

 

ABOUT LUKE BRYAN

Country music superstar Luke Bryan is a two-time Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year. He has hosted the ACM Awards for four consecutive years and will return this year to co-host the show on Sunday, April 2. Since the debut of his first album in 2007 he has placed 17 singles at No.1, sold over 10 Million albums, sold more than 40 million tracks with three Billion music streams. His Platinum-selling fifth studio album, Kill The Lights, debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard Top 200 (his third to do so) and Top Country Albums charts, and contains five consecutive No 1 hits- so far.

Luke’s concert tours have consistently sold out shows across North America including many NFL Stadiums like the Patriot’s Gillette Stadium where he played back-to-back sold out concerts last summer. Luke has also sold out 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 to nearly five Million fans on tour.  On May 5 and 6, Luke will launch a brand new tour, “Huntin’ Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day Tour,” kicking off in Music City at Bridgestone Arena.

For a one-stop shop for everything Luke Bryan, his community of fans have unparalleled access to his life through Luke Bryan’s official App. Launched in June 2015 in partnership with Disciple Media, the app offers everything from exclusive live streams to updates from the road, competitions to video premieres, exclusive merchandise and more. The App is available now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Visit www.LukeBryan.com or follow Luke on Twitter @LukeBryanOnline, Instagram and Facebook

JOSH TURNER INVITED SOME SPECIAL GUESTS FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE OF HIS ‘UNSCRIPTED’ SERIES.

Josh Turner turned to some young kids to ask them some questions in his Unscripted series. Check out their answers below.

Josh just released his new album, Deep South, which features his hit “Hometown Girl.”

Video / Unscripted

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Photos

  • Alan Jackson with WUSN/Chicago’s Jeff Kapugi and Marci Braun, as well as UMG Nashville’s Mike Dungan and Steve Hodges.