Billy Currington kicked off the Summer Forever Tour in his home state of Georgia and totally wowed the crowd with the Ray Charles‘ classic “Georgia On My Mind.”

Billy Currington is hitting the airwaves with his latest single, “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To,” which he co-wrote with a couple of buddies, Shy Carter and Cary Barlowe. It was just by circumstance the Georgia native ended up writing the song.

“A buddy of mine named Shy Carter called me up, he says ‘Well I’m over here with Cary Barlowe, here at your old publishing company, Major Bob”, the first company that gave me a publishing deal. He says, ‘Why don’t you stop by and say hello?’ So I pulled in, walked in, and we got to talking a little bit and it wasn’t long Cary started playing that guitar that you hear on the project,” says Billy. That melody, he started playing that melody. I don’t know what it was, I just started singing, singing lyrics, they just started coming out and Shy be like ‘Man, let’s write this down, let’s finish this’. Within a couple of hours we had finished the song and…I ain’t wrote a song in quite a while before that so it was nice to kinda get back into writing songs again and getting one on my own album.”

Billy just kicked off the current leg of the Summer Forever Tour over the weekend and will hit more than 20 cities before wrapping April 16th in Tampa, Florida.

Each year on February 14th, many people exchange cards, candy, gifts or flowers with their special someone. The day of romance we call Valentine’s Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century, but has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia.

Over 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. (This total excludes packaged kids valentines for classroom exchanges.) (Source: Hallmark research)

2.2 million marriages take place in the United States annually, which breaks down to more than 6,000 a day.

Sunday is Valentine’s Day (February 14th), and we’ve got some thoughts and feelings more about love, romance and marriage from several of your favorite country artists. Some are new and some have become our favorites over the years. Which country stars are romantic? Which ones aren’t? Which ones have a good reason to celebrate the holiday that’s all about love?

Billy Currington is gearing up for his 2016 tour. He’s set to launch his Summer Forever trek February 19th in San Antonio, Texas, and it’s currently set to wrap April 16th in Tampa. He’ll take along songstress Kelsea Ballerini as his opener on select dates.

The Georgia native says he starts getting pumped up for his shows before he even takes the stage. “When you first walk up to the steps that lead up to the stage, that’s when for me when the energy starts pumping, because you can kind of see over the stage,” says Billy. “They can’t really see you, but you can just see the excitement on people’s faces before they even see your face.”
Billy released his sixth studio album, Summer Forever, in June, and the first single from the album, “Don’t It,” became his 10th No. 1 single when it climbed to the top of the country charts.

Summer Forever tour dates:

2/19 — San Antonio, TX, San Antonio Rodeo
2/25 — Indianapolis, IN, Bankers Life Fieldhouse**
2/26 — Greensboro, NC, Greensboro Coliseum**
2/27 — Macon, GA, Macon Centreplex-Coliseum**
3/4 — Saint Louis, MO, TBD
3/11 — Fort Worth, TX, Billy Bob’s
3/12 — Houston, TX, TBD
3/24 — Hampton Beach, NH, Hampton Beach Casino**
3/25 — Amherst, MA, Mullins Center**
3/26 — Kingston, RI, The Ryan Center**
4/7 — Savannah, GA, Savannah Civic Center**
4/8 — Athens, GA, The Classic Center Theatre**
4/9 — North Myrtle Beach, SC, House of Blues
4/15 — St. Augustine, FL, St. Augustine Amphitheater**
4/16 — Tampa, FL, Ritz Ybor

**Kelsea Ballerini dates

Holiday liners from UMG Nashville artists, including Alan Jackson, Billy Currington, Brothers Osborne, Canaan Smith, Clare Dunn, Darius Rucker, David Nail, Dierks Bentley, Easton Corbin, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, Gary Allan, George Strait, Jon Pardi, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, Kelleigh Bannen, Kip Moore, Lady Antebellum, Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Mickey, Sam Hunt, Scotty McCreery and more!

[audio-player-5]]
“Hey! This is Clare Dunn, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!”

Halloween is Saturday, and the holiday has some of your favorite country stars getting into costumes, and they also recall memories of Halloweens past.

For many decades, Labor Day was seen as a day for workers to voice their complaints and discuss better working conditions and pay.

U.S. Congress declared Labor Day a national holiday in 1894, and on Monday, September 7th, we will once again celebrate the people in every occupation whose work and dedication make this nation great. Labor Day in the United States is a holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It is a celebration of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers.

Labor Day weekend also signals the unofficial end to summer, and many of the hottest country stars are taking a look back at some of the toughest jobs they had prior to making their mark in music or their dream job now.

AUDIO: Alan Jackson says that working man values have always been a part of his music.

AJ (working people songs) OC: … appreciate that. :28
“I’ve always written songs and recorded songs, other people’s songs, about workin’ people, and workin’, the workin’ life ’cause I mean, that’s where I’m from. I mean, I worked…I’d already had jobs and worked as a grown person before I ever even thought about bein’ in the music business, so I come from that background, and…although I hadn’t had a job in a long time (laughs), I still remember a lot about it, you know, and I remember what the lifestyle is, and I still appreciate that.”

Billy Currington recalls some of the jobs he had before landing his record deal in 2003.

Billy Currington (Labor Day) OC: …record deal. :40
“I started working like at [age] 12, landscaping. This was summer, every summers, and roofing. I started when I was about 16 roofing houses, and that was probably one of my toughest jobs because down there in south Georgia, it gets hot, so doing that every day all summer long. The pawn shop when I moved to Nashville was one of my favorites, even though it was one of my least favorites. The concrete job was my least favorite of all – six years of that, and I couldn’t take it no more. After that job, that was my turning point. Either I’m going to do something else for a living [laughs] or quit and try to really focus on music and get this record deal.”

Canaan Smith talks about the bad jobs he had before signing a publishing deal and later a record deal.

Canaan Smith (worst jobs) OC: …of that. [laughs] :54
“I’ve had some terrible jobs. I was a janitor for a while, and I mopped floors, vacuums all kinds of, picking up dog poop, taking out trash, just basically somebody’s beyatch [laughs], that was my job. I did that for two-and-a-half years before I signed a publishing deal. Before that, actually my very first job, I got fired from. It was some sort of candy/chocolate store. My mom dropped me off one time, and I went to work and I was like I think I can do this, and then two shifts later I just didn’t show up because I didn’t understand the concept of having to look at a schedule to see when you come in. I just didn’t show. I just thought they’d call me, ‘Hey, we need you to come in.’ I didn’t know. I was 15 years old, and never worked and that kind of stuff. I always cut grass when I was a kid and cleaned golf clubs – whatever I could do to make some money. But, yeah, I got fired from my first job. I’m pretty proud of that.” [laughs]

Darius Rucker recalls one of his worst jobs before turning to music.

Darius Rucker (Labor Day) OC: …pizza. :15
“I was fifteen, and I worked at a pizza place, and the guy decided that at fifteen, that I could not only clean the floors and wash the dishes, but I also had to make pizza. So, for two months, he taught me how to make pizza.”

David Nail recalls his first job at Dairy Queen.

David Nail (Labor Day) OC: …Dilly Bar. :32
“The first job that I ever had was working at Dairy Queen. One of my very best friends in the world’s mother purchased a franchise, so it was kinda a cool place to work. You put me in an ice cream place, it’s a recipe for disaster. So, Kathy Jeffers, her mother tends to tell people it was a ‘mutual separation,’ but I can vividly remember her saying that they were going to lose money if they continued to let me work, because I was eating more food than I was selling. But, it was a great two days that I spent there, and I had many a Dilly Bar.”

Dierks Bentley makes a living performing for his fans, and he can’t say enough about them.

Dierks Bentley (Labor Day) OC: …generosity. :26
“Personally, the fans give me amazement. That’s the only word to really sum it up. I look out in the crowd, you know, usually see a lot of faces and fans are cheering. I know each one of these like from the road-the signs are from California…Michelle and Kayla live up in the Ohio area. They’re all, I just see them, and I’m like, ‘Wow!,’ they’re all from different regions. You know when you’re in a different region of the country and you just see certain fans. These people are way more hard core than I am, and I’m just amazed by their generosity.”

Eric Church talks about one of his worst job.

Eric Church (Labor Day-odd jobs) OC: …bought at 2am. 1:27
“I had an awful job. I’ve had a lot of awful jobs…my worst one was when I first came to Nashville. I got a job at the Shop at Home Network. I worked midnight, graveyard, midnight to eight. That was bad enough but then I would work all night, go home, shower and then I had writing appointments all day because I was trying to get a career started. I’d go write songs and get meetings just trying to get signed. And end up getting done at 3 of 4 with all of that, I’d go home, take a shower or sleep for a little bit and then I had to be at work again at midnight. So the schedule was bad enough, however, what I had to do at the job…I sold knives from midnight to 7 or 8am. And, anytime somebody calls you at 3 or 4am and needs 200 knives for $19.95, it’s automatically an alarming situation. And I just, I was young and I’d been in a lot of these people’s shoes, I had done this…I knew they were drunk. I knew what they had done. They’d just come home from the bar, flipped on Shop at Home and said, ‘You know what? I need that.’ So the reason the job didn’t last long for me is that I was maybe the worst salesmen in history because I ended up talking a lot of these people out of it, I’d say, ‘I’ll tell you what man, go to bed, call me, I’ll be here in the morning. If you get up in the morning and want these knives you call me back.’ Because I knew what was going to happen, you know. They bought 200 knives for $19.95…first of all some of these people you didn’t know whether you should call the cops. What do you need 200 knives for? Even though I’m selling them…what do you need them for? So, it was awful doing that job. And then they got rid of me because, they were like, ‘You’re the worst. I can’t believe you’re talking people out of it.’ I was like, ‘Man I know…I’ve been there.’ [laughs] I’d want some to talk me out of buying some of the stuff I’ve bought at 2am.”

Eric Paslay talks about his first job…printing logos on fanny packs.

Eric Paslay (Labor Day) OC: …could print. :34
“My first official job was working at a screen printing place in Texas during the summer in a metal building that had no AC. We printed on fanny packs – really cool — and these other little bags. And it was eye doctors that, some company if you bought supplies through them, they’d put your logo on fanny packs for your customers to put in a drawer somewhere. Fanny packs are cool, if you like ‘em. You know, we’d like time ourselves to see how many fanny packs you could print.”

Jon Pardi talks about his worst job, which was at a grocery store.

Jon Pardi (Labor Day) OC: …so bored! :17
“The worst job I ever had was at Hometown Grocery Store. I didn’t want to work, I was 15, and I did not want to work at the grocery store. Bagging was fun, but they sent me down the aisles to pull up cans and turn ‘em around and face ‘em, and I would just get so bored!”

Kip Moore recalls his worst job…ever.

Kip Moore (Labor Day-worst job) OC: …than that. :21
“I’d have to say my worst job ever was laying sod in the south Georgia heat. There’s nothing than that, especially when somebody would think that you’re waiting for the next sod patch to be thrown to you and you got your back turned, and all of a sudden, that big ole piece of sod hits you right on the back. You got nowhere to clean up, and you’re just stuck with dirt on your back for the rest of the day. It doesn’t get any worse than that.”

Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum tells us what he used to do to make a buck before finding success as a musician.

Lady A (Labor Day) OC: …I had a lot of crummy jobs. :31
CK “I used to…” HS: “… knock out asbestos walls.” CK: “I did that for a long time. But even before that, I used to do lawn care every summer. Oh, man, I do not miss that. Just glad those days are over. I get out here and play music for a living. It’s a lot more fun. But yeah, I used to do that, and I used to work as a bag boy at a golf course once. I did that for a couple of summers. I had a lot of crummy jobs.”

Luke Bryan talks about the different jobs he worked in and around Leesburg, Georgia, before heading to Nashville to pursue a career in music.

Luke Bryan (Labor Day-jobs) OC: …Nashville… 1:07
“At age 12 thru 13, I worked at Rubos IGA Supermarket in Leesburg, GA. I worked during the summers on Monday and Tuesday. I stocked and cleaned up the produce.  They paid me under the table…I peeled off all of the brown lettuce. Let’s see, when I was 15, I was a cashier at K-Mart for two months. I worked at K-Mart for two months, and then I reverted back to Rubos because it didn’t really make sense for me to drive all the way into Albany and work for K-Mart. The benefits were great though-you’d get an hour-long on the blue light special. So I started back at Rubos, and then I quit Rubos and worked for my Dad-just awful just driving tractors through cotton all day, and spraying pesticides that eventually would turn your hair green. And then at some point, I started playing guitar. And well, after college I went back and worked for my dad and continued to spray and haul fertilizer around. And then I moved to Nashville…”

LINER Billy Currington (Labor Day)
Hey y’all! It’s Billy Currington, wishing you a very happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Brothers Osborne (Labor Day)
This is TJ, and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne, wishing you a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Canaan Smith (Labor Day)
Hey! What’s up, guys? I’m Canaan Smith. Have a great and work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Clare Dunn (Labor Day)
Hey! What’s up? This is Clare Dunn, and I hope you have a Happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Darius Rucker (Labor Day)
Hey! It’s Darius Rucker, and I hope you have a have a happy work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER David Nail (Labor Day)
Hey guys! It’s David Nail, wishing  you a very happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Eric Church (Labor Day)
Hey! It’s Eric Church, and I hope you have a have a happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Eric Paslay (Labor Day)
Hey! It’s Eric Paslay, and I hope you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Jon Pardi (Labor Day weekend)
Hey! It’s Jon Pardi, and I hope you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Kacey Musgraves (Labor Day weekend)
Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves, hoping you have a happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Keith Urban (Labor Day weekend)
Hi everybody! This is Keith Urban, wishing you a very happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Kelleigh Bannen (Labor Day)
Hi! I’m Kelleigh Bannen, and I hope you have a happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Kip Moore (Labor Day)
Hey—what’s happening guys? This is Kip Moore, wishing you a happy and work-free Labor Day Weekend.

LINER LBT (Labor Day)
Hi! We’re Little Big Town, hoping you have a work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Luke Bryan (Labor Day)
Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, and I hope you have a have a happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Sam Hunt (Labor Day)
Hey everybody! I’m Sam Hunt. Have a great and work-free Labor Day weekend.