• NEWS AND NOTES: Darius, David, Easton, Chris, Luke

    Darius Rucker helped pay tribute to James Taylor at this week’s Kennedy Center Honors by performing a medley of some of the iconic singer-songwriter’s biggest hits, including “Sweet Baby James” and “Carolina in My Mind.” Rounding out the tribute, Darius, along with Garth Brooks and Sheryl Crow, performed ‘How Sweet It Is’ together. See videos of their performances below.

    David Nail’s “Good at Tonight” will play throughout the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Check it out, as well as the matchup between Alabama and Washington at 2p ET on ESPN.

    Easton Corbin performed the National Anthem at his alma mater, The University of Florida, before their first basketball game in their brand new arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Check it out in a post by Rare Country here.

    Chris Stapleton will be the special guest with Tom Petty at Wrigley Field on June 29th, as well as July 5th and 6th at the 50th Anniversary of Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

    Luke Bryan took his boys to the WWE Live Holiday Tour when it made its stop at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena this week. He went backstage to meet the legendary wrestler, Jon Cena.

     

    Video / Darius Rucker performs tribute to James Taylor

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    Video / Darius, Garth and Sheryl pay tribute to James Taylor

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  • NEWS AND NOTES: Chris, Lauren, Keith

    Chris Stapleton and Lauren Alaina are set to perform during Dolly Parton’s telethon to benefit the victims of the deadly wildfires in East Tennessee. The three-hour telethon, Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund, airs tonight (December 13th) at 8pm ET on GAC, AXS-TV, RFD and the Heartland Network, while also simulcasting on numerous radio clusters, including select iHeart Media stations, Cumulus’ NASH Nights Live and Country Roads on TuneIn. Reba, Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Hank Williams Jr., Chris Young, Amy Grant, Cyndi Lauper and Don McLean will also perform.

    Chris Stapleton will open three shows for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ 40th Anniversary Tour at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on June 29th and at Milwaukee’s Summerfest July 5th-6th.

    Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” is spending a third week at the top of the Canadian Country Singles Chart.

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Chris, Strait

    Chris Stapleton and his wife Morgane are scheduled to perform on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday (November 10th).

    George Strait is among the performers honoring Tom Petty as 2017’s MusiCares Person of the Year on February 10th. The event will be held in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, and will also feature performances by Jackson Brown, Foo Fighters, Don Henley, Norah Jones, Kings of Leon, Stevie Nicks and Elle King, among others. Proceeds will support the Recording Academy’s MusiCares Foundation, which provides assistance for members of the music community in need.

  • LITTLE BIG TOWN AND CHRIS STAPLETON ARE AMONG THE COUNTRY ARTISTS FEATURED IN THE LATEST COUNTRY EDITION OF MEAN TWEETS.

    If you haven’t seen the latest country edition of Jimmy Kimmel’s Mean Tweets, then we’ve got a treat (or tweet) for you. Check out Little Big Town and Chris Stapleton tweets, as well as Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Florida Georgia Line, Randy Houser and Cole Swindell, among others.

    Video / Mean Tweets, Country Edition 2

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  • CHRIS STAPLETON HAS AN INCREDIBLE CMA AWARDS NIGHT WITH WINS AND HEROES.

    Chris Stapleton had quite a few special moments at this year’s CMA Awards, and a couple of them were offstage. First, his video for “Fire Away” was named Music Video of the Year earlier in the day.

    The clip was directed by Tim Mattia and starred 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.

    He also took home the CMA Award for Male Vocalist of the Year for the second consecutive year. “What a wonderful night, I’ve gotten to be a fan tonight,” he said while accepting the award, saying that many of the legends in the crowd created “music I’ve grown up on…It means so much to get to be a part of country music, these are the best people in the world.”

    One of his favorite moments of the night was performing “Seven Spanish Angels” with Dwight Yoakam. The song was originally recorded by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson. Before stepping onstage, Chris took a moment to thank Dwight.

    “I looked at Dwight before walking onstage tonight, and he and I have gotten to know each other a little bit,” Chris told the press backstage. “We wrote a song a couple weeks ago and really hit it off. But I looked at him when we walked onstage tonight, and I try my best not to be a fan and freak people out, but I looked at Dwight and I said, ‘Man, I just want you to know you’re a hero, and I really appreciate you doing this.’ It got me, to get to do that.”

    Chris is currently sitting inside the Top 20 on the country charts with “Parachute” from his album, Traveller, which has been nominated for Favorite Country Album at the 2016 AMAs. The American Music Awards will air Sunday, November 20th at 8pm ET on ABC, Live from the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles.

    https://twitter.com/ChrisStapleton/status/794962111839563776

     

    Audio / Backstage at this year’s CMA Awards, Chris Stapleton talks about his CMA Award-winning Music Video of the Year, “Fire Away.”

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    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 / Backstage at this year’s CMA Awards, Chris Stapleton talks about his “alternate reality.”

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    Chris Stapleton (Dwight & heroes) OC: …reality. :39
    “I looked at Dwight before walking onstage tonight, and he and I have gotten to know each other a little bit. We wrote a song a couple weeks ago and really hit it off. But I looked at him when we were walked onstage tonight, and I try my best not to be a fan and freak people out, but I looked at Dwight and I said, ‘Man, I just want you to know you’re a hero, and I really appreciate you doing this.’ It got me, to get to do that. What a remarkable thing. It’s an alternate reality. My buddy J.T. Cure, the bass player in the band, we step off the bus sometimes, and we’re looking around at what we’re doing, and we just start laughing, because it really feels like an alternate reality.”

     

    Video / Chris Stapleton & Dwight Yoakam CMA Awards

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    Video / Fire Away video

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  • DIERKS BENTLEY AND CHRIS STAPLETON ARE ALREADY CMA WINNERS FOR MUSICAL EVENT AND MUSIC VIDEO.

    Even though the CMA Awards aren’t airing until tonight, a couple of awards have already been announced.

    Dierks Bentley picked up his first award of the day for Musical Event of the Year for their No. 1 hit, “Different for Girls,” featuring Elle King. The award is a first for Elle, and the third career win for Dierks. He previously won the Horizon Award (now New Artist of the Year) in 2005 and Music Video of the Year for “Drunk on a Plane” in 2014.

    He and Elle will perform together tonight at the CMA Awards.

    Chris Stapleton, who won four awards last year, takes home Music Video of the Year for “Fire Away.” The clip, directed by Tim Mattia and starring Ben Foster (Inferno, Lone Survivor, Six Feet Under) and Margarita Levieva (The Blacklist, Revenge) (pr. Le-vee-va), was used as a conduit to help bring mental health awareness to light. In the video, a young couple battle with the woman’s mental issues until it finally drives her to commit suicide.

    “It’s a subject matter that is very close to me and means a lot to me, and to be able to tell that story and to share it with so many people and to bring that character to life for me was tremendously important,” says Margarita. “So, as soon as I heard the whole outline and how we were going to shoot it and the story that we’re going to tell, I was immediately drawn and really looking forward to doing it.”

    Chris, who is also up for several other CMA Awards including Entertainer of the Year, is currently sitting inside the Top 20 on the country charts with his latest single, “Parachute,” a song from his CMA award-winning album, Traveller.

    The 50th annual CMA Awards will broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday (November 2nd) at 8pm ET on ABC.

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about having Elle King sing on the song, “Different For Girls” on his new album, Black.

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    Dierks Bentley (Elle King) OC: …new place. :36
    “Well, I love Elle King’s voice. I mean she has such a unique voice, and you never know if her voice is going to blend with your voice. I didn’t found out until I went down to the studio in Austin, and right away it was just a really natural sounding blend. Her voice just lifted up this song. The lyrics of this song are pretty strong and her voice on this particular song really takes the song to a whole other level. I really wanted to find a way for her not to just be background vocals. I wanted to find a way to really get her included in the song, so I gave her the second verse and made the song more of a conversation as opposed to just background vocals. And it really, it just took the song to a whole new place.”

    Audio / Elle King talks about the song “Different for Girls,” and how much she enjoyed singing with Dierks Bentley.

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    Elle King (Different for Girls) OC: …song with him. 1:08
    “The song itself, it’s an interesting take on a breakup or relationship song. I don’t know if this is why Dierks wanted me to sing on it, you know, besides just my voice, I think I take a really interesting writing approach with my songs about breakups, and I write often from the male perspective. And this song is really thinking about how different men and women are through a breakup, and so I was really excited to be a part of someone else’s song that’s kind of jumping outside the norm of a breakup song or a relationship song. I think it’s got a sweetness to it. The lyrics of this song are really smart, so I thought that it was kind of just a good fit, and I really do want to break out in the country world, because I love country music, not just because I play the banjo. I love country music, and I really love that he’s bringing like a lot of attitude, and I think comedy, to modern country. So, I was really excited to sing this song with him.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton talks about coming up with the concept of the music video for “Fire Away.”

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    Chris Stapleton (Fire Away video) OC: …grew from there. :25
    “The song is kinda about loving somebody unconditionally through not so easy times. The concept of the video kind of came to me as that would be the hardest possible space in which to love somebody. I’ve been a huge fan of Ben’s [Foster] for a long time and so we tried to track him down and he was kind enough to take the phone call. And then it kind of grew from there.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton explains why he wanted to make the video for “Fire Away.”

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    Chris Stapleton (Fire Away video) 2 OC: …in the world. :29
    “I wanted to get real actors and not spend a lot of time making it a promo video for me, and that was how I wanted to make a video, because I felt like that it was more artful and meaningful on the backend. That was the thing – it was just a notion, and then it became real and useful and something that can hopefully make the world a better place through putting the notion out in the world.”

    Video / Different for Girls

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    Video / Chris Stapleton Fire Away video

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  • THE STAGE IS SET FOR THE 50TH ANNUAL CMA AWARDS.

    Eric Church and Chris Stapleton, along with Maren Morris, top the list of final nominees for this year’s CMA Awards with five nominations each.

    Chris is technically nominated for six awards, which includes single and he could win as both artist and producer. Keith Urban technically is up for five as both artist and producer of his album, Ripcord. Dierks Bentley and Carrie Underwood received four nominations, while Luke Bryan and Brothers Osborne each picked up two nominations.

    Eric Church picked up five nominations for this year’s CMA Awards. The nods include Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for Mr. Misunderstood (produced by Jay Joyce and Arturo Buenahora, Jr., as well as Single of the Year for his recent No. 1 hit “Record Year,” Song of the Year for “Record Year,” which was written by Eric and Jeff Hyde and Music Video of the Year for “Record Year,” which was directed by Reid Long and John Peets. He now has a total of 22 career nominations since his first in 2011 for New Artist of the Year.

    After Chris’ breakout year in 2015 when he had three nominations and went home with four trophies for Album (including producer), Male Vocalist, and New Artist of the Year, he is back in 2016 with five nominations, including his first for Entertainer of the Year. His list of nods this year also includes Male Vocalist; Single of the Year for “Nobody To Blame,” which was produced by Stapleton and Dave Cobb and mix engineered by Vance Powell; Music Video of the Year for “Fire Away,” which was directed by Tim Mattia; and Musical Event of the Year with life and stage partner Morgane Stapleton (her first nomination) for “You Are My Sunshine.” Stapleton only receives one nomination for Single of the Year, but can receive an additional trophy as producer.
    Dierks, a 20-time nominee and two-time winner including the Horizon Award in 2005 (now New Artist of the Year) and Music Video of the Year in 2014 for “Drunk On A Plane,” will vie for Male Vocalist; Album for Black, which was produced by Ross Copperman and Buenahora; Music Video for “Somewhere On A Beach,” which was directed by Wes Edwards; and Musical Event of the Year for “Different for Girls” with Elle King (her first CMA Awards nomination).

    Keith, who has been a nominee every year since 2004, received four CMA Awards nominations in 2016 including Entertainer of the Year, which he won in 2005 when the show went to New York City. Urban’s other nominations include Male Vocalist; Album of the Year for Ripcord, which was produced by Urban, Dann HuffJeff BhaskerTyler Johnson, Greg WillsNile Rodgers, busbee, K-KovNathan Chapman, and Jonny Price; and Musical Event of the Year for “The Fighter,” featuring Underwood. Keith only receives one nomination for Album of the Year, but can receive an additional trophy as producer. Keith has won the Musical Event category four times including “Start A Band” with Paisley (2009); “Highway Don’t Care” with McGraw and Taylor Swift (2013); “We Were Us” with Miranda Lambert (2014); and “Raise ‘Em Up,” featuring Church (2015).

    Luke, who is the reigning Entertainer of the Year, is nominated again in 2016 (he received his first nomination in the category in 2013). He is also nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “Home Alone Tonight,” featuring Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town.

    Brothers Osborne are nominated for Vocal Duo and New Artist of the Year.

    Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum vie for Vocal Group of the Year.

    Kacey Musgraves, who won New Artist of the Year in 2013 and Song of the Year in 2014, is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year.

    Several of your favorite country artists – then, now and forever country – will take to the stage to perform at Wednesday night’s CMA Awards. Universal Music Group is representing with performances by George Strait, Alan Jackson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Vince Gill, Kacey Musgraves and Vince Gill.

    The 50th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday (November 2nd) at 8pm ET on ABC.

    The Final Nominees for “The 50th Annual CMA Awards” (by ballot category order):

    ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
    Garth Brooks
    Luke Bryan
    Chris Stapleton
    Carrie Underwood
    Keith Urban 

    SINGLE OF THE YEAR
    (Award goes to Artist, Producer(s), and Mix Engineer(s))
    “Die a Happy Man”
    Thomas Rhett
    Produced by Dann Huff and Jesse Frasure
    Mix Engineered by Justin Niebank
    The Valory Music Co. 

    “Humble and Kind”
    Tim McGraw
    Produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw
    Mix Engineered by Byron Gallimore
    Big Machine Records 

    “My Church”
    Maren Morris
    Produced by busbee and Maren Morris
    Mix Engineered by Dave Clauss and busbee
    Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

    “Nobody To Blame”
    Chris Stapleton
    Produced by Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton
    Mix Engineered by Vance Powell
    Mercury Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

    “Record Year”
    Eric Church
    Produced by Jay Joyce
    Mix Engineered by Jay Joyce and Jason Hall
    EMI Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

    ALBUM OF THE YEAR
    (Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))
    Black
    Dierks Bentley
    Produced by Ross Copperman and Arturo Buenahora, Jr.
    Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville

    Hero
    Maren Morris
    Produced by busbee, Maren Morris, and Brad Hill
    Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

    Mr. Misunderstood
    Eric Church
    Produced by Jay Joyce and Arturo Buenahora, Jr.
    EMI Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

    Ripcord
    Keith Urban
    Produced by Jeff Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Dann Huff, Greg Wells, Nile Rodgers, busbee, K-Kov, Nathan Chapman, Jonny Price, and Keith Urban
    Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

    Storyteller
    Carrie Underwood
    Produced by Jay Joyce, Mark Bright, and Zach Crowell
    19 Recordings/Arista Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

    SONG OF THE YEAR
    (Award goes to Songwriter(s))
    “Burning House”
    Camaron “Cam” Ochs, Tyler Johnson, Jeff Bhasker

    “Die a Happy Man”
    Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett, and Joe Spargur 

    “Humble and Kind”
    Lori McKenna 

    “My Church”
    busbee and Maren Morris

    “Record Year”
    Eric Church and Jeff Hyde 

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

    MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
    Dierks Bentley
    Eric Church
    Tim McGraw
    Chris Stapleton
    Keith Urban 

    VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
    Lady Antebellum
    Little Big Town
    Old Dominion
    Rascal Flatts
    Zac Brown Band 

    VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
    Brothers Osborne
    Dan + Shay
    Florida Georgia Line
    Joey + Rory
    Maddie & Tae 

    MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
    (Award goes to each Artist)
    “Different For Girls”
    Dierks Bentley feat. Elle King
    Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

    “Home Alone Tonight”
    Luke Bryan featuring Karen Fairchild
    Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

    “The Fighter”
    Keith Urban (featuring Carrie Underwood)
    Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

    “Think of You”
    Chris Young (duet with Cassadee Pope)
    RCA Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

    “You Are My Sunshine”
    Morgane Stapleton with Chris Stapleton
    Low Country Sound/Elektra Records 

    MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
    Jerry Douglas (Dobro/Lap Steel Guitar)
    Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar)
    Dann Huff (Guitar)
    Brent Mason (Guitar)
    Derek Wells (Guitar) 

    MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    (Award goes to Artist and Director(s))
    “Burning House”
    Cam
    Directed by Trey Fanjoy 

    “Fire Away”
    Chris Stapleton
    Directed by Tim Mattia 

    “Humble and Kind”
    Tim McGraw
    Directed by Wes Edwards 

    “Record Year”
    Eric Church
    Directed by John Peets and Reid Long 

    “Somewhere On A Beach”
    Dierks Bentley
    Directed by Wes Edwards 

    NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
    Kelsea Ballerini
    Brothers Osborne
    Maren Morris
    Old Dominion
    Cole Swindell 

    Video /

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  • NEWS AND NOTES: Brothers Osborne, Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley, Easton Corbin

    Brothers Osborne claimed Song of the Year at the 54th Annual ASCAP Awards on Monday night (October 31st) for “Stay a Little Longer.” Chris Stapleton was presented the Vanguard Award, which acknowledges the impact of an ASCAP member on musical genres that shape the future of American music.

    Dierks Bentley performs live on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning (November 2nd) in advance of the 50th Annual CMA Awards.

    Easton Corbin is set to perform during the 90th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will air on NBC.

    Video /

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  • NEWS AND NOTES: Chris, Keith, Jon, Eric

    Chris Stapleton is among the latest list of performers set for Wednesday night’s (November 2nd) CMA Awards. Chris has five nominations, including Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Music Video (for “Fire Away”), Single (for “Nobody to Blame”) and Musical Event of the Year with wife Morgane Stapleton for “You Are My Sunshine.” The 50th Annual CMA Awards will broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena November 2nd at 8pm ET on ABC.

    Keith Urban will perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tuesday night (November 1st). The show airs at 11:35p ET on ABC.

    Keith Urban’s “The Fighter,” featuring Carrie Underrwood, is nominated for Song of the Year at this year’s ARIA Awards. The trophies will be handed out November 23rd in Sydney, Australia.

    Jon Pardi and his band and crew dressed up as the cast of characters from Toy Story. Guess who Jon dressed up as? Yup-Woody!

    Eric Paslay performed his song “Angels in This Town” on NBC’s Today show earlier this week.

     

    Video / Jon Pardi Halloween

    Video / Eric Paslay Angels in This Town on Today.

  • LUKE BRYAN, CHRIS STAPLETON AND SHANIA TWAIN WILL BE HONORED AT THE CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR SPECIAL THURSDAY.

    The CMT Artists of the Year special airs Thursday (October 20th), and will include performances by Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, Kelsea Ballerini, Meghan Trainor, jill Scott and Zara Larsson. They’ll pay tribute to honorees Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood. Karen is expected to sing with Luke, while Kelsea, Meghan and Jill will honor Shania Twain, who will receive the Artist of a Lifetime Award.

    Taped live at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, the CMT Artists of the Year special will air Thursday (October 20th) at 9pm ET/PT on CMT.

     

    Video / CMT Artists of the Year promo

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