• MOTHER’S DAY 2017: Chris, Clare, Darius, Dierks, Church, Paslay, Jon, Kacey, Lady A, LBT, Shania

    Mother’s Day is on Sunday (May 14th), and some of your favorite country artists are celebrating the mothers in their lives this weekend.

    In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

    Audio / Chris Stapleton says his wife Morgane is a great mother.

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    Chris Stapleton (Mother’s Day) OC: …great mom. :
    “She’s a great mother. Just like she is with all people, she’s kind and generous with her time, and she’s also, she’ll make you tow the line too, but all great moms are that way. So, yeah, she’s a great mom.”

    Audio / Clare Dunn talks about the support and undying devotion her mom has for her and her sister.

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    Clare Dunn (Mother’s Day) OC: …in the world. :41
    “She is unrelenting in her love and her support, and even when we’re crazy kids and we screw up, it doesn’t matter. Her love knows no bounds. And her undying devotion to her kids – to my sister and I – always believing in us a million percent, always backing us up a million percent and helping us navigate life and navigate our dreams and helping us go towards that goal – those are some of the qualities that I hope to have some day as a mother, you know? And I’m so grateful I have THE best mom in the WORLD!”

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about not disappointing his beloved mother, who passed away in 1992.

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    Darius Rucker (Mother’s Day) OC: …killed me. :17
    “I think that’s the main reason I am how I am…an innate fear of disappointing my mom.  My mom’s not even alive, and I have a fear of her looking down from heaven and going, ‘Man I’m just disappointed in my son.’ She could have said anything in the world to me, but if she would have said, ‘Son, you just disappointed me,’ That would have killed me. It would have killed me.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker’s mother, who passed away in 1992, was always the singer’s biggest supporter.

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    Darius Rucker (Mother) OC: …in my corner. :44
    “My mom was just always great. She worked a lot. She was a nurse and she worked a lot. She took a lot of overtime and stuff to make sure we could live basically, but she always just so supportive, ever since I was a kid. I was always a music kid. Growing up in an African-American neighborhood, I was never that guy who was gonna be pigeonholed to let people say I could only listen to this and I could only do this, because I was African-American. She always supported whatever I wanted to do, whatever I wanted to listen to, wherever I wanted to go, she always had my back. Going to college and everything, she was my biggest supporter and never let my brothers and sisters knock me down or try to tell me I can’t do this or that. All of my success comes because my mother was always in my corner.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley recognizes and appreciates how much work goes into being a mother.

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    Dierks Bentley (Mother’s Day – Cassidy) OC: …to have her. :
    “It’s the toughest job out there being a mom, and I know from my life with my wife Cassidy. We work as a team together when I’m home, and it takes everyone to get the job done, me and her, working together. So, when I go on the road, I just have so much respect for her because it’s hard to do it right, if you want to do it great, and she does a great job with it. It’s really rewarding, but it’s also very challenging. I’m so thankful that she takes it on the way she does, and our kids are very lucky to have her.”

    Audio / Eric Church says he’s learned quite a bit from his mom.

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    Eric Church (Mother’s Day) OC: …as a man. :57
    “My mom, even though my dad won’t like this, my mom is by far the toughest person that I’ve met. She’s tough. One of those people that’s been through a lot in her life, adversity wise and never complains, always really resilient with anything that’s happened to her. And it’s just that attitude, the positive attitude, regardless of what has happened that I think is the one thing that I got from her. With career, she’s always been a person that’s been really positive through times that I couldn’t find a positive streak, [laughs] and she was always really positive, and very much believes in tough it out, keep working hard, and that’s her motto with stuff like that. I’ve always been impressed with that stuff. Then musically, she’s where I get my talent from, musically. She sings great, always has, her mom sang great. I owe my musical chops to her. And she still sings some. So, career-wise, I owe her everything. And just in life-wise she’s given me a lot of the qualities that it has taken for me to get me where I am. Not only as a musician, but as a man.”

    Audio / Eric Paslay talks about his mother, Donna.

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    Eric Paslay (Mother’s Day) OC: …it’s good. :21
    “I wanna thank my mom for giving me faith, laughter and pride in the family I came from. She’d be the fun Mom, just goofing off in the sprinklers outside or we’d go out and play in the rain and all that stuff growing up. She’s always good to be around; always happy, and it’s good.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi says his mother, Shelly, is an angel.

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    Jon Pardi (Mother’s Day 2015) OC: …worrying about me. :29
    “My mom’s always been there for me. First of all, she’s a great mom. She’s an angel. She takes care of people that aren’t even in the family. She’s always been like that, and she’s a great mother. She’s always proud, and she’s always there supporting and being a great mom. She’s just a good human being. There’s not one mean bone in her body. And she cries about every time I talk to her. She always worries about me. I have to tell her, ‘Stop worrying about me.’”

    Audio / Kacey Musgraves comes from a very creative family, and here she talks about the women in her immediate family and their talents.

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    Kacey Musgraves (creative women) OC: …taking pictures. :16
    “My mom’s an artist – all different kinds of mediums, paint, but she’s always working on something different. My Meemaw, she’s a soap maker. She makes soap and they’re beautiful and they smell really good and they’re all natural. My sister has an etsy store, and she’s constantly creating something, sewing pillows and taking pictures.”

    Audio / With Mother’s Day on Sunday, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley explains he and his brothers – Josh and John -- owe their mother a lot for all of their childhood antics.

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    Charles Kelley (Mother) OC: …playing music. :23
    “We were honestly, at times, pretty hard to handle, both of us. We used to play our music loud up above on the second floor [of the house], bang on the drums and the guitar. And my mom’s just one of those people, she’ll do anything for her family and she sacrificed a lot for us boys. Anytime we needed something, she made it happen. And so, we owe her a lot. She’s definitely the reason we’re playing music.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina says she can count on her mom for just about everything.

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    Lauren Alaina (Mom) OC: …same for her. :19
    “I honestly would not be able to do it without my mom. I get overwhelmed sometimes, and if she wasn’t there to comfort me or tell me, ‘Look just realize what you’ve got going for you,’ I’d be up the creek [without a paddle]. She’s got my back. My mom would walk through a fire pit for me, and I’d do the same for her.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman says she always dreamed of being a mother…and her dream came true nearly 10 years ago when she gave birth to daughter, Daisy (July 27, 2007).

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    LBT (Mother’s Day) OC: …for my mother. :34
    “Being a mother is a life-long dream for me. When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted to be is a mama. It took a long time. I wasn’t ever sure that I would be, but I am now, and it’s the greatest gift of my life. And as I’m a mother now, I see what my mother gave up and her sacrifices and her love and how she made us the most important thing in her life, and that’s what I strive to do for my little girl. It’s the most important job I have, and it’s the most responsibility that I have, and I try to live up to a great example that I had for my mother.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild says being a mother to Elijah Dylan Westbrook is the best feeling in the world.

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    LBT (Mother’s Day-Karen) OC: …every day. :23
    “There isn’t anything that means more to me than sitting on the bench and eating a grilled cheese sandwich with this little guy who calls me Mama. There isn’t anything better than that. He’s just a little miracle. I went from dreaming about him to eating grilled cheese sandwiches and ketchup with him, and I could never have dreamed this up – how good it could be, and it just gets better every day.”

    Audio / Shania Twain says it’s such a joy to be a parent.

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    Shania Twain (joy to be a parent) OC: …means everything. :14
    “It’s such a joy to be a parent. So, I relate to all the mums out there who are getting all their love and appreciation from their kids, and I hope, when you’re a kid, a child of somebody, show your mum you love her, because it means everything.”

     

     

  • CHRIS STAPLETON GIVES THE TONIGHT SHOW SOME ‘LEGS’ AND A SONG FROM A ROOM.

    Chris Stapleton appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday (May 8th). He teamed up with Jimmy, the host of the show, and actor-musician Kevin Bacon for a sketch as ZZ Top titled “First Draft of Rock” in a remake of the trio’s hit, “Legs,” using alternate lyrics as sort of the first draft of the song.

    She’s got hands / She knows how to wave them / She’s got eyebrows / She knows how to raise them / She’s got nostrils / She knows how to flare them / She’s got a butt cheek / She’s actually got a pair of them.

     

    Chris also performed “I Was Wrong,” a song from his new album, From A Room, Volume 1. He also just released his new single, “Either Way,” which was the most added song at country radio this week.

    Video / Chris in Tonight Show skit, First Drafts of Rock

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    Video / Chris Stapleton I Was Wrong on Tonight Show

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  • NEWS AND NOTES: Chris, Shania, Dierks, Keith, Kip, Lauren, Lady A

    Chris Stapleton will appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday (May 8th) and Howard Stern on Tuesday (May 9th).

    Chris Stapleton and Shania Twain will perform during NBC’s Today Show summer concert series. Shania will take the stage in Rockefeller Plaza June 16th, while Chris, who just released his album From A Room, Volume 1, is scheduled to perform July 18th. Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley, Thomas Rhett, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran are also scheduled to perform throughout the summer.

    Dierks Bentley appears on ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday (May 9th) to announce the lineup for this year’s GMA Summer Concert Series.

    Keith Urban earned platinum certification for several of his albums, including Ripcord, Fuse, Get Closer and Greatest Hits-18 Kids.

    Kip Moore and Lauren Alaina will take part in the fourth annual Georgia on My Mind concert, hosted by the Peach Pickers (songwriters Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip), on May 16th at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The event is a fundraiser for the Georgia Music Foundation and will also feature performances by Michael Ray and Chris Janson.

    Lady Antebellum will take part in a multi-artist episode of CMT Crossroads featuring Earth, Wind & Fire. The latest installment will film in downtown Nashville during this year’s CMA Music Festival.

  • CHRIS STAPLETON RELEASES NEW ALBUM AND NEW SINGLE.

    Chris Stapleton releases his much-anticipated new album, From A Room: Volume 1 today. The collection of nine songs will be followed by a second volume following later this year.

    He re-teamed with producer Dave Cobb (Traveller) and recorded the project at RCA Studio A, and it will feature eight songs he co-wrote, as well as a cover of “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning,” originally recorded by Willie Nelson for his 1982 album, Always On My Mind. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard country chart.

    All of the songs on the album were written before the release of his last record, the double-platinum Traveller. “None of these songs are new. None of these songs were written in the last two years. They all pre-date the last record,” says Chris. “They’re all dipping out of the  [same] well, much like Traveller was with the exception of ‘Traveller’ itself. So, the process is very much the same.”

    The album takes its name from Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, where it was recorded during the winter of 2016-17. Other highlights from the album include “Second One To Know,” which Stapleton recently premiered at the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards as well as the album’s first single, “Either Way.”

    In addition to Stapleton on vocals and guitar and Cobb on acoustic guitar, the album features Morgane Stapleton on harmony vocals as well as longtime band-members J.T. Cure on bass and Derek Mixon on drums and musicians Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Robby Turner pedal steel and Mike Webb on keys.

    Chris also releases his new single, “Either Way,” which he wrote with Tim James and Kendall Marvel and is one of his wife’s favorite songs. “I wrote that song over 10 years, so I couldn’t recall the day or all those things, but I’m sure I t went something like I walked into the room with Tim James and Kendall Marvel, one of them had this idea,” recalls Chris. “It seemed really tragic and sad, so we tried to do that to the best of our ability, but also to put truth in it and honesty in it, and when you can do that, then truth and honesty are going to find somebody inside a song.”

    The release of Volume 1 comes exactly two years to the day since the release of Traveller. Released to immediate widespread critical acclaim, the album had one of the best-selling first weeks by a debut country artist in 2015. Following a historic turn on the 49th Annual CMA Awards—where Stapleton became the first artist to win Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year at the same awards – Traveller became the first album to re-enter the Billboard 200 all-genre album chart at No. 1, where it stayed for two straight weeks. The critically acclaimed album went on to win multiple Grammy and ACM Awards and was the #1 selling Country album of 2016 and the fourth-highest selling album of 2016 across all genres.

    Coming off a sold-out Canadian tour last month, Stapleton is currently in the midst of an extensive U.S. tour. “Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show” will span throughout 2017 and includes stops at L.A.’s The Forum, Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre and New York’s Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater and will feature Brothers Osborne, Lucie Silvas, Anderson East, Brent Cobb, Margo Price and Marty Stuart as special guests. Seven new dates were recently added to the tour itinerary, which go on-sale at LiveNation.com this Friday (April 7th) at 10:00am local time.

    From A Room: Volume 1 track list:
    1. “Broken Halos” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    2. “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning” (Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar)
    3. “Second One to Know” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    4. “Up to No Good Livin'” (Chris Stapleton and Casey Beathard)
    5. “Either Way” (Chris Stapleton, Tim James and Kendall Marvel)
    6. “I Was Wrong” (Chris Stapleton and Craig Wiseman)
    7. “Without Your Love” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    8. “Them Stems” (Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Stewart and Shawn Camp)
    9. “Death Row” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)

    Audio / Chris Stapleton reveals that the songs he recorded for From A Room, Volume 1 pre-date his double-platinum album, Traveller.

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    Chris Stapleton (From A Room, Volume 1) OC: …wanted to play. :50
    “None of these songs are new. None of these songs were written in the last two years. They all pre-date the last record. They’re all dipping out of the  [same] well, much like Traveller was with the exception of ‘Traveller’ itself. So, the process is very much the same. We evaluated songs and some of these songs were probably even on the short list to cut last time, not that they got picked over…we take the studio at a very kind of ‘What do you feel like doing now?’ kind of way, and that’s what we did this time as well. It’s like, ‘What are you in the mood to do?’ We eat dinner, have a cocktail and start playing and ‘Let’s play this one. Hey! Okay. It’s on the list. Let’s do it.’ And that’s really, not that we didn’t think about it, but we very much followed the muse of the room and moment and trying to play songs that we wanted to play.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton talks about his new single, “Either Way.”

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    Chris Stapleton (Either  Way) OC: …I can. 1:07
    “I wrote that song over 10 years, so I couldn’t recall the day or all those things, but I’m sure I t went something like I walked into the room with Tim James and Kendall Marvel, one of them had this idea. It seemed really tragic and sad, so we tried to do that to the best of our ability, but also to put truth in it and honesty in it, and when you can do that, then truth and honesty are going to find somebody inside a song. Little pieces of yourself are gonna get in there, whether you know it or not, you can think something’s fiction and find out years later it’s not, but that’s a whole other conversation. As far as recording that song, you know my wife always loved that song, which should worry me, but she just loves really slow sad songs and she always wanted me to play that song So, I felt led to do it and if I’m gonna sing something, I’m gonna sing it with every ounce of belief and try to put every bit of believability in a lyric that I can.”

    Audio / LINER Chris Stapleton (Either Way)

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  • CHRIS STAPLETON RELEASES A NEW TRACK FROM HIS FORTHCOMING ALBUM, ‘FROM A ROOM, VOLUME 1.’

    Chris Stapleton has released another “instant grat track” from his forthcoming album, From a Room: Volume 1. He covered Willie Nelson’s “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning,” which the Red-Headed Stranger had a hit with in 1982. You can get the song immediately if you pre-order the album.

    From a Room, Volume 1 takes its name from Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, where it was recorded during the winter of 2016-17. Once again produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Dave CobbVolume 1 features “Second One To Know,” which Stapleton recently premiered at the 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards as well as the album’s first single, “Either Way.”

    The highly anticipated full-length record is the first new music from Stapleton since 2015’s breakthrough double Platinum solo debut Traveller and will be followed by From A Room: Volume 2—coming later this year.

    From a Room, Volume 1 will be released May 5th.

    Video / Chris Stapleton 'Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning'

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  • CHRIS STAPLETON RELEASES “BROKEN HALOS” IN PREPARATION FOR THE RELEASE OF HIS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW ALBUM, ‘FROM A ROOM: VOLUME 1.’

    Chris Stapleton’s new song, “Broken Halos,” is premiering today (listen/share HERE). The song is the first instant grat track unveiled from Stapleton’s highly anticipated new album, From A Room: Volume 1, which will be released May 5th on Mercury Records Nashville and is now available for pre-order digitally and with physical bundles. Each digital pre-order comes with an instant download of “Broken Halos.”

    The highly anticipated full-length record is the first new music from Stapleton since 2015’s breakthrough double Platinum solo debut Traveller and will be followed by From A Room: Volume 2—coming later this year.

    The album takes its name from Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, where it was recorded during the winter of 2016-17. Once again produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb, Volume 1 features eight original songs as well as a rendition of “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning,” written by Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar and made famous by Willie Nelson. Additional album highlights include “Second One To Know,” which Stapleton recently premiered at the 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards as well as the album’s first single, “Either Way.”

    In addition to Stapleton on vocals and guitar and Cobb on acoustic guitar, the album features Morgane Stapleton on harmony vocals as well as longtime band-members J.T. Cure on bass and Derek Mixon on drums and musicians Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Robby Turner pedal steel and Mike Webb on keys.

    The May 5 release of Volume 1 comes exactly two years to the day since the release of Traveller. Released to immediate widespread critical acclaim, the album had one of the best-selling first weeks by a debut country artist in 2015. Following a historic turn on the 49th Annual CMA Awards—where Stapleton became the first artist to win Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year at the same awards – Traveller became the first album to re-enter the Billboard 200 all-genre album chart at No. 1, where it stayed for two straight weeks. The critically acclaimed album went on to win multiple Grammy and ACM Awards and was the #1 selling Country album of 2016 and the fourth-highest selling album of 2016 across all genres. Additionally, in the past two years, Stapleton has performed on multiple national TV shows including “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and was profiled on “CBS News Sunday Morning.”

    Coming off a sold-out Canadian tour last month, Stapleton is currently in the midst of an extensive U.S. tour. “Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show” will span throughout 2017 and includes stops at L.A.’s The Forum, Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre and New York’s Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater and will feature Brothers Osborne, Lucie Silvas, Anderson East, Brent Cobb, Margo Price and Marty Stuart as special guests. Of a recent performance, the Seattle Times declares, “…Stapleton dazzled the sold-out crowd with a barrage of songs that defy easy categorization while receiving the kind of deafening cheers reserved for superstars.” See below for complete tour details.

    FROM A ROOM: VOLUME 1 TRACKLIST

    1. Broken Halos (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    2. Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning (Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar)
    3. Second One To Know (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    4. Up To No Good Livin’ (Chris Stapleton and Casey Beathard)
    5. Either Way (Chris Stapleton, Tim James and Kendall Marvel)
    6. I Was Wrong (Chris Stapleton and Craig Wiseman)
    7. Without Your Love (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    8. Them Stems (Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Stewart and Shawn Camp)
    9. Death Row (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)

      “CHRIS STAPLETON’S ALL-AMERICAN ROAD SHOW” 

    April 20—Roanoke, VA—Berglund Center† (SOLD OUT)

    April 21—Pikeville, KY—East Kentucky Expo Center† (SOLD OUT)

    April 22—Pikeville, KY—East Kentucky Expo Center† (SOLD OUT)

    April 27—Columbia, MO—Mizzou Arena‡ (SOLD OUT)

    April 28—Cape Girardeau, MO—Show Me Center‡ (SOLD OUT)

    April 29—Bloomington, IL—U.S. Cellular Coliseum‡ (SOLD OUT)

    May 5—Alpharetta, GA—Verizon Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 6 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 11—Virginia Beach, VA—Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at VA Beach§

    May 12—Raleigh, NC—Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 13—Charlotte, NC—PNC Music Pavilion§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 18—San Diego, CA—Mattress Firm Amphitheatre§

    May 19—Phoenix, AZ—Ak-Chin Pavilion§

    May 20—Los Angeles, CA—The Forum§

    May 23—Denver, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 24—Denver, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

    June 1—Fresno, CA—Save Mart Center at Fresno State§

    June 2— Mountain View, CA—Shoreline Amphitheatre§

    June 3—Wheatland, CA—Toyota Amphitheatre§

    June 9—Southaven, MS—BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove#

    June 10—Birmingham, AL—Oak Mountain Amphitheatre# (SOLD OUT)

    June 11—Nashville, TN—CMA Music Fest

    June 15—Charleston, WV—Charleston Civic Center# (SOLD OUT)

    June 16—Cincinnati, OH—Riverbend Music Center#

    June 17—Indianapolis, IN—Klipsch Music Center#

    June 22—Tulsa, OK—BOK Center#

    June 23—Manhattan, KS—Country Stampede

    June 24—North Platte, NE—Nebraskaland Days

    June 29—Chicago, IL—Wrigley Field†† (SOLD OUT)

    July 5—Milwaukee, WI—Summerfest††

    July 6—Milwaukee, WI—Summerfest††

    July 14—Mansfield, MA—Xfinity Center#

    July 15—Hartford, CT—The XFINITY Theatre#

    July 16—Darien Lake, NY—Darien Lake Performing Arts Center#

    July 20—Holmdel, NJ—P.N.C. Bank Arts Center#

    July 21—Wantagh, NY—Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater#

    July 22—Bristow, VA—Jiffy Lube Live#

    July 28—George, WA—Watershed Festival (SOLD OUT)

    July 29—Central Point, OR—Country Crossings Music Festival

    July 30—Mountain Home, ID—Mountain Home Country Music Festival

    August 3—Duluth, MN—AMSOIL Arena** (SOLD OUT)

    August 4—Prairie Du Chien, WI—Country on the River

    August 5—St. Louis, MO—Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre**

    August 10—Hershey, PA—Giant Center**

    August 11—Pittsburgh, PA—KeyBank Pavilion**

    August 12—Philadelphia, PA—BB&T Pavilion**

    August 17—Toronto, ON—Budweiser Stage**

    August 18—Cleveland, OH—Blossom Music Center**

    August 19—Clarkston, MI—DTE Energy Music Theatre** (SOLD OUT)

    August 25—Gilford, NH—Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion**

    October 6—Des Moines, IA—Wells Fargo Arena**

    October 7—St Paul, MN—Xcel Energy Center**

    October 19—Baton Rouge, LA—Raising Cane’s River Center Arena+ (SOLD OUT)

    October 20—San Antonio, TX—AT&T Center+

    October 21—Bossier City, LA—CenturyLink Center+

    October 26—Austin, TX—Austin360 Amphitheater+

    November 4—Grand Rapids, MI—Van Andel Arena+

    *with special guest Maren Morris

    †with special guest Brent Cobb

    ‡with special guest Lucie Silvas

    • with special guests Brothers Osborne and Lucie Silvas

    #with special guests Anderson East and Brent Cobb

    **with special guests Margo Price and Brent Cobb

    ††with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

    +with special guests Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb

  • LUKE, CHRIS, KEITH, LBT, DIERKS, ERIC, VINCE AND HILLARY SCOTT & THE SCOTT FAMILY ARE NOMINATED FOR BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS.

    The nominees for the 2017 Billboard Music Awards were announced and several of your favorite country artists are up for awards. Luke Bryan is nominated in the all-format fan-voted Billboard Chart Achievement category, as well as for Top Country Tour.

    Keith Urban has several BBMA nods, including Top Country Album for Ripcord and Top Country Song for “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” as well as a nomination for Top Country Artist.

    Chris Stapleton is up against Keith as Top Country Artist, as well as Top Country Album for Traveller.

    Little Big Town’s “Better Man” is up for Top Country Song, while Dierks Bentley’s “Different for Girls” featuring Elle King, Eric Church’s “Kill a Word” with Rhiannon Giddens and Vince Gill’s appearance on Chris Young’s “Sober Saturday Night” are up for Top Country Collaborations.

    Hillary Scott & the Scott Family have three BBMA nominations, including Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Album for Love Remains and Top Christian Song for “Thy Will.”

    The Billboard Music Awards will air on May 21 at 8PM on ABC.

    Billboard Chart Achievement Award Presented by Xfinity:
    Luke Bryan
    Nicki Minaj
    The Chainsmokers
    The Weeknd
    Twenty One Pilots

    Top Country Artist:
    Florida Georgia Line
    Blake Shelton
    Keith Urban
    Chris Stapleton
    Jason Aldean

    Top Country Tour:
    Luke Bryan
    Kenny Chesney
    Dixie Chicks

    Top Country Album:
    Jason Aldean, They Don’t Know
    Florida Georgia Line, Dig Your Roots
    Blake Shelton, If I’m Honest
    Chris Stapleton, Traveller
    Keith Urban, Ripcord

    Top Country Song:
    Kenny Chesney Featuring Pink, “Setting The World On Fire”
    Florida Georgia Line, “H.O.L.Y.”
    Florida Georgia Line Featuring Tim McGraw, “May We All”
    Little Big Town, “Better Man”
    Keith Urban, “Blue Ain’t Your Color”

    Top Country Collaboration:
    Dierks Bentley Featuring Elle King, “Different For Girls”
    Kenny Chesney Featuring Pink, “Setting The World On Fire”
    Eric Church Featuring Rhiannon Giddens, “Kill A Word”
    Florida Georgia Line Featuring Tim McGraw, “May We All”
    Chris Young Featuring Vince Gill, “Sober Saturday Night”

    Top Christian Artist:
    Lauren Daigle
    Hillsong Worship
    Hillary Scott & the Scott Family
    Skillet
    Chris Tomlin

    Top Christian Album:
    Casting Crowns, The Very Next Thing
    Lauren Daigle, How Can It Be
    Joey + Rory, Hymns
    Hillary Scott & The Scott Family, Love Remains
    Skillet, Unleashed

    Top Christian Song:
    Lauren Daigle, “Trust In You”
    Hillary Scott & The Family, “Thy Will”
    Skillet, “Feel Invincible”
    Ryan Stevenson Featuring GabeReal, “Eye Of The Storm”
    Zach Williams, “Chain Breaker”

  • CHRIS STAPLETON REVEALS DETAILS ABOUT HIS NEW ALBUM.

    CStapleton_A-Room_VOL.1-608x608

    Chris Stapleton has revealed the title and track list for his much-anticipated new album, From a Room: Volume 1. The collection of nine songs will be released May 5th, with a second volume following later this year.

    He re-teamed with producer Dave Cobb (Traveller) and recorded the project at RCA Studio A, and it will feature eight songs he co-wrote, as well as a cover of “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning,” originally recorded by Willie Nelson for his 1982 album, Always On My Mind. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard country chart.

    The album takes its name from Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, where it was recorded during the winter of 2016-17. Other highlights from the album include “Second One To Know,” which Stapleton recently premiered at the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards as well as the album’s first single, “Either Way.”

    In addition to Stapleton on vocals and guitar and Cobb on acoustic guitar, the album features Morgane Stapleton on harmony vocals as well as longtime band-members J.T. Cure on bass and Derek Mixon on drums and musicians Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Robby Turner pedal steel and Mike Webb on keys.

    The May 5th release of Volume 1 comes exactly two years to the day since the release of Traveller. Released to immediate widespread critical acclaim, the album had one of the best-selling first weeks by a debut country artist in 2015. Following a historic turn on the 49th Annual CMA Awards—where Stapleton became the first artist to win Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year at the same awards – Traveller became the first album to re-enter the Billboard 200 all-genre album chart at No. 1, where it stayed for two straight weeks. The critically acclaimed album went on to win multiple Grammy and ACM Awards and was the #1 selling Country album of 2016 and the fourth-highest selling album of 2016 across all genres.

    Coming off a sold-out Canadian tour last month, Stapleton is currently in the midst of an extensive U.S. tour. “Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show” will span throughout 2017 and includes stops at L.A.’s The Forum, Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre and New York’s Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater and will feature Brothers Osborne, Lucie Silvas, Anderson East, Brent Cobb, Margo Price and Marty Stuart as special guests. Seven new dates were recently added to the tour itinerary, which go on-sale at LiveNation.com this Friday (April 7th) at 10:00am local time.

    From a Room is now available for pre-order digitally and with physical bundles.

    From A Studio: Volume 1 track list:
    1. “Broken Halos” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    2. “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning” (Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar)
    3. “Second One to Know” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    4. “Up to No Good Livin'” (Chris Stapleton and Casey Beathard)
    5. “Either Way” (Chris Stapleton, Tim James and Kendall Marvel)
    6. “I Was Wrong” (Chris Stapleton and Craig Wiseman)
    7. “Without Your Love” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    8. “Them Stems” (Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Stewart and Shawn Camp)
    9. “Death Row” (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)
    CHRIS STAPLETON’S ALL-AMERICAN ROAD SHOW” 

    April 6—Columbus, GA—Columbus Civic Center* (SOLD OUT)

    April 8—Ft. Lauderdale, FL—Tortuga Music Festival

    April 20—Roanoke, VA—Berglund Center† (SOLD OUT)

    April 21—Pikeville, KY—East Kentucky Expo Center† (SOLD OUT)

    April 22—Pikeville, KY—East Kentucky Expo Center† (SOLD OUT)

    April 27—Columbia, MO—Mizzou Arena‡ (SOLD OUT)

    April 28—Cape Girardeau, MO—Show Me Center‡ (SOLD OUT)

    April 29—Bloomington, IL—U.S. Cellular Coliseum‡ (SOLD OUT)

    May 5—Alpharetta, GA—Verizon Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 6 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 11—Virginia Beach, VA—Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at VA Beach§

    May 12—Raleigh, NC—Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 13—Charlotte, NC—PNC Music Pavilion§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 18—San Diego, CA—Mattress Firm Amphitheatre§

    May 19—Phoenix, AZ—Ak-Chin Pavilion§

    May 20—Los Angeles, CA—The Forum§

    May 23—Denver, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

    May 24—Denver, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

    June 1—Fresno, CA—Save Mart Center at Fresno State§

    June 2— Mountain View, CA—Shoreline Amphitheatre§

    June 3—Wheatland, CA—Toyota Amphitheatre§

    June 9—Southaven, MS—BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove#

    June 10—Birmingham, AL—Oak Mountain Amphitheatre# (SOLD OUT)

    June 11—Nashville, TN—CMA Music Fest

    June 15—Charleston, WV—Charleston Civic Center# (SOLD OUT)

    June 16—Cincinnati, OH—Riverbend Music Center#

    June 17—Indianapolis, IN—Klipsch Music Center#

    June 22—Tulsa, OK—BOK Center#

    June 23—Manhattan, KS—Country Stampede

    June 24—North Platte, NE—Nebraskaland Days

    June 29—Chicago, IL—Wrigley Field†† (SOLD OUT)

    July 5—Milwaukee, WI—Summerfest††

    July 6—Milwaukee, WI—Summerfest††

    July 14—Mansfield, MA—Xfinity Center#

    July 15—Hartford, CT—The XFINITY Theatre#

    July 16—Darien Lake, NY—Darien Lake Performing Arts Center#

    July 20—Holmdel, NJ—P.N.C. Bank Arts Center#

    July 21—Wantagh, NY—Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater#

    July 22—Bristow, VA—Jiffy Lube Live#

    July 28—George, WA—Watershed Festival (SOLD OUT)

    July 29—Central Point, OR—Country Crossings Music Festival

    July 30—Mountain Home, ID—Mountain Home Country Music Festival

    August 3—Duluth, MN—AMSOIL Arena** (SOLD OUT)

    August 4—Prairie Du Chien, WI—Country on the River

    August 5—St. Louis, MO—Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre**

    August 10—Hershey, PA—Giant Center**

    August 11—Pittsburgh, PA—KeyBank Pavilion**

    August 12—Philadelphia, PA—BB&T Pavilion**

    August 17—Toronto, ON—Budweiser Stage**

    August 18—Cleveland, OH—Blossom Music Center**

    August 19—Clarkston, MI—DTE Energy Music Theatre** (SOLD OUT)

    August 25—Gilford, NH—Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion**

    October 6—Des Moines, IA—Wells Fargo Arena** (ON-SALE 4/7)

    October 7—St Paul, MN—Xcel Energy Center** (ON-SALE 4/7)

    October 19—Baton Rouge, LA—Raising Cane’s River Center Arena+ (ON-SALE 4/7)

    October 20—San Antonio, TX—AT&T Center+ (ON-SALE 4/7)

    October 21—Bossier City, LA—CenturyLink Center+ (ON-SALE 4/7)

    October 26—Austin, TX—Austin360 Amphitheater+ (ON-SALE 4/7)

    November 4—Grand Rapids, MI—Van Andel Arena+ (ON-SALE 4/7)
    *with special guest Maren Morris

    †with special guest Brent Cobb

    ‡with special guest Lucie Silvas

    • with special guests Brothers Osborne and Lucie Silvas

    #with special guests Anderson East and Brent Cobb

    **with special guests Margo Price and Brent Cobb

    ††with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

    +with special guests Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb

  • ACM AWARDS 2017

    Keith Urban leads list of ACM Awards nominations with seven in five categories, including his seventh nod for Entertainer of the Year and 10th nod for Male Vocalist of the Year. Keith is nominated twice, as both artist and producer, in the Album of the Year category for Ripcord.  He received an additional two nominations, for both artist and producer, in the Single Record of the Year category for “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” which is also nominated in the Song of the Year category.

    ACM Awards co-host Dierks Bentley received three nominations, including his fourth nomination in the Male Vocalist of the Year category.  Also, Dierks received his third nod in the Album of the Year category for Black, and his second nod in the Vocal Event of the Year category for “Different For Girls,” featuring Elle King, which the pair won at last year’s CMA Awards.

    Reigning ACM Male Vocalist of the Year Chris Stapleton is nominated in three categories. Once again, Stapleton is nominated in both the Male Vocalist of the Year category, and the Song of the Year category with “Tennessee Whiskey.”  Also, Stapleton received a nod in the Video of the Year category for “Fire Away,” which stars actors Ben Foster (Lone Survivor, Inferno) and Margarita Levieva (Revenge, The Blacklist). The video concept, which Chris envisioned, centered on mental health issues and helped raise awareness for the Campaign to Change Direction. The video has also picked up an award in the same category at last year CMA Awards.

    Luke Bryan and Keith Urban are among the Entertainer of the Year nominees, along with Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean.

    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.

    Following is the list of final nominees and find audio with many of the nominees below.
    ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
    Jason Aldean
    Luke Bryan
    Florida Georgia Line
    Carrie Underwood
    Keith Urban

    MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
    Jason Aldean
    Dierks Bentley
    Thomas Rhett
    Chris Stapleton
    Keith Urban

    FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
    Kelsea Ballerini
    Miranda Lambert
    Kacey Musgraves
    Maren Morris
    Carrie Underwood

    VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
    Big & Rich
    Brothers Osborne
    Dan & Shay
    Florida Georgia Line
    Maddie & Tae

    VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
    Eli Young Band
    Lady Antebellum
    Little Big Town
    Old Dominion
    Rascal Flatts

    NEW MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY T-MOBILE — WON

    Jon Pardi
    NEW VOCAL DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY T-MOBILE — WON

    Brothers Osborne
    ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

    Black – Dierks Bentley

    Dig Your Roots – Florida Georgia Line
    HERO – Maren Morris

    Ripcord – Keith Urban

    The Weight of These Wings – Miranda Lambert

    Single Record of the Year [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

    Blue Ain’t Your Color – Keith Urban

    H.O.L.Y. – Florida Georgia Line

    Humble And Kind – Tim McGraw

    My Church – Maren Morris

    Vice – Miranda Lambert

    SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

    Blue Ain’t Your Color – Keith Urban
    Songwriters: Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey, Steven Lee Olsen

    Die A Happy Man – Thomas Rhett
    Songwriters: Thomas Rhett, Sean Douglas, Joe Spargur

    Humble And Kind – Tim McGraw
    Songwriter: Lori McKenna

    Kill A Word – Eric Church Featuring Rhiannon Giddens
    Songwriters: Eric Church, Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde

    Tennessee Whiskey – Chris Stapleton
    Songwriters: Dean Dillon, Linda Hargrove

    Vice – Miranda Lambert
    Songwriters: Miranda Lambert, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

    Video of the Year PRESENTED BY XFINITY [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]

    Fire Away – Chris Stapleton 


    Forever Country – Artists of Then, Now & Forever

    Humble And Kind – Tim McGraw
    Peter Pan – Kelsea Ballerini

    Vice – Miranda Lambert

    Vocal Event of the Year [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

    Different For Girls – Dierks Bentley Featuring Elle King

    Forever Country – Artists of Then, Now & Forever

    May We All – Florida Georgia Line Featuring Tim McGraw

    Setting The World On Fire – Kenny Chesney Featuring P!nk

    Think Of You – Chris Young Featuring Cassadee Pope

    Audio / Keith Urban, who is nominated for Entertainer of the Year, says he loves playing live.

    Download

    Keith Urban (ACM Entertainer of the Year) OC: …extraordinary. :20
    “I’ve always loved putting on concerts and tours and shows and really trying to put on something that’s incredibly entertaining and engaging, so I probably obsess about that part of what I do equal to making records, for sure. So, to get that nomination, along with the Album at this point, is extraordinary.”

    Audio / Keith Urban’s Ripcord is nominated for Album of the Year at this year’s ACM Awards, and he says he loves making records.

    Download

    Keith Urban (what made Ripcord) OC: …made Ripcord. :17
    “I love making music I love making records. I really do, and I’m curious and passionate and hungry about where my art can go. That’s really what drives me completely and it’s what made Ripcord.”

    Audio / Keith Urban explains the first time he heard his multi-week No. 1 song, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” which is nominated for both ACM Single and Song of the Year.

    Download

    Keith Urban (1st time he heard Blue) OC: …in the studio. :31
    “I just know when I heard ‘Blue Ain’t Your Color’ for the first time, it just struck me as one of those rare songs that encompass so many things in it. I couldn’t even label what it was, what style it was. It’s got a bit of soul, it’s got a bit of blues, it’s got a bit of country, it’s got just a big mix of all good things. Lyrically, it’s just an incredible song, incredible song. [It’s got] great melody, great lyric. I was so hopin’ I could do the song justice when we got in the studio.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about being named Entertainer of the Year from both the ACM Awards and CMA Awards.

    Download

    Luke Bryan (Entertainer wins) OC: …got it right. :49
    “The title is what it is, you know? I mean, my focus in life when I’m on stage is entertaining these fans. If it’s my smile and my demeanor, if it’s my song that does it, if it’s me picking up a child out of the audience and letting them sing, it’s not being so premeditated that you can see it from a mile away. I mean, my main thing is be a fan up there that just gets to sing. That’s kind of how I’ve always approached it, and being called the Entertainer of the Year makes me want to do that to the best of my ability every night for the rest of my life as long as I’m on stage. I want people to leave my shows and go, ‘You know what? Whoever’s voting him Entertainer of the Year, they got it right.’”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley says his ACM-nominated album, Black, shows a lot of growth and maturity.

    Download

    Dierks Bentley (growth in album) OC: …understand it. :56
    “The record when people listen to it, they’re gonna hear right away that it’s about relationships and hopefully, project their own history and storyline and relationships into this particular album. For me, it has a thread of this guy who starts off in this one place with the song ‘Black,’ kind of in the moment with this one girl and then the cracks and the fissures start to show themselves. The next song, ‘Pick Up,’ you have this desperation and then ‘I’ll Be the Moon,’ there’s some deception going on, and then it just kind of goes from there. It’s a real story about just the highs and lows and really the maturity that I guess I go through, this singer goes through, throughout the album. You know the same guy that’s singing ‘Somewhere on a Beach,’ by the end of the record is singing a song called ‘Different for Girls,’ where he’s obviously matured enough to see that there is a different way that girls and guys handle breakups sometimes and there’s also a stereotype that goes along with that unfortunately, as well, too. A lot of growth throughout the record, but it’s all about relationships and this one person’s journey through love and trying to understand it.”

    Audio / Eric Church is nominated for Song of the Year for his recent Top 5 single, “Kill a Word,” Featuring Rhiannon Giddens. He cowrote the song with Luke Dick and Jeff Hyde, and it strikes a chord with how the world is today.

    Download

    Eric Church (Kill a Word) OC: …positive way. :34

    “‘Kill a Word’ is as proud I’ve ever been as a songwriter, not only because of a turn of phrase and the way the lyrics are, but just the message. I think that the society that we live in today, if you don’t hear this song and look around and see how it relates to the world we live in, then I can’t help you, because it’s so true with everything that’s going on. It’s one of those songs that strikes a chord that I know in my career we’ve never struck, and I hope it strikes something for a lot of people in a positive way.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton explains why he recorded his ACM-Nominated Song of the Year, “Tennessee Whiskey,” which appears on his double-platinum album, Traveller.

    Download

    Chris Stapleton (Tennessee Whiskey) OC: …version of it. :41
    “‘Tennessee Whiskey’ is a song that I love, you know I love great country songs and songwriters, and this is certainly one that is a great country song written by great country songwriters and performed by a great country artists. Certainly, if you try to cover a George Jones or David Allan Coe, you can’t try to out-George Jones George Jones or anything like that. So, if you’re gonna cover something like that, you need to try to move away from that and hopefully make it your own. We kind of happened upon this way of playing this song and had fun with it live and felt like it was something to record that was a good tip of the hat to things we grew up on and loved. I think it’s a unique and interesting version of it.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton talks about his ACM-nominated Music Video of the Year, “Fire Away.”

    Download

    Chris Stapleton (Fire Away CMA video) OC: …the video. 1:03
    “The label kept asking me if I was going to do a video for the record, and they kept asking what I wanted to do. We were in this meeting hall at the label, and I said, ‘Here’s what I want to do. Here’s the idea,’ and I got dead silence out of it, and they thought I was a crazy man for a minute. Then they went back and thought about it and everybody got on board with it and we found Tim who was a remarkable director to direct, and I had this crazy idea to get Ben Foster in the video and I didn’t know him at all [laughs] at the time, and he was kind enough to do it. He brought in the actual reason for doing it, which was to raise the awareness. I had the idea for a storyline, and then everything happened very organically with that video and he brought Margarita in to play the female role in that video. It became something hopefully that has value beyond just being a video for the sake of doing a video. That’s what I liked about the video.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley said he and his bandmates will never take an awards nomination for granted.

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    Lady Antebellum (Charles happy to be nominated) OC: …means a lot. :31

    “Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean you can’t take that for granted. There’s always going to be a new crop of groups and musicians that … and there should be. That’s what the music business is about. That’s what fans want. I mean, I always want something new. I’m always craving it, and so hopefully all this stuff kind of as groups and as artists helps motivate you to be creative and come up with something unique and different. So we never take it for granted because there will be a time when we won’t be in those categories and you know, so, you’re still in the game; you’re still playing on a pretty high level and so that means a lot.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood talks about "Forever Country," which is nominated for ACM Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year.

    Download

    Carrie Underwood (Forever Country song) OC: …without her. :35
    “Well, I think the all three song choices were perfect. When I kind of first heard the idea of them mashing up ‘I Will Always Love You,’ ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’ and ‘On The Road Again’ I was like, ‘How’s that gonna work?,’ because they’re three very different songs by three very different artists. I’m honored to be a part of it and to be singing parts on ‘I Will Always Love You,’ which I actually do in my tour set. So, it’s perfect. And it’s perfect…it’s perfect that Dolly ends it too. It wouldn’t have been right for us to do it without her.”

    Audio / Kacey Musgraves talks about the ACM-nominated "Forever Country."

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    Kacey Musgraves talks about being a part of “Forever Country.”

    Kacey Musgraves (Forever Country song) OC: …pretty special. :30
    “This project is crazy. I really respect the roots of the genre, the traditions of it. I just really love it.  So it’s been really fun for me to take that, which inspires me, and mix it with my own new ideas, and me as a 27-year-old girl in 2016 and make it my own thing. So, being a part of this song, a song with my peers but also with these amazing icons and legends is pretty special.”

  • 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