• LABOR DAY 2018 LINERS: Billy, Brandon, Brothers, Carrie, Clare, Darius, Eric, Jon, Jordan, Kacey, Keith, Kip, LBT, Luke, Maddie & Tae, Sam, Travis

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

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    LINER Brandon Lay (Labor Day)
    Hey y’all! This is Brandon Lay, wishing you a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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    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.

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    LINER Carrie Underwood (Labor Day Weekend)
    Hey everyone! I’m Carrie Underwood, hoping you have a happy Labor Day weekend.

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

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

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

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

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

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    LINER Jordan Davis (Labor Day)
    Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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

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

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

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

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

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    LINER Maddie & Tae (Labor Day)
    Hey everybody! I’m Maddie, and I’m Tae, and we’re Maddie & Tae, hoping you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

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

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    LINER Travis Denning (Labor Day)
    Hey y’all. It’s Travis Denning, hoping you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM AND DARIUS RUCKER PREP A SHOW YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS ON THEIR SUMMER PLAYS ON TOUR.

    Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker launch their Summer Plays On Tour Thursday night (July 19th) in Toronto, Ontario, and there will be lots of collaborations between the two superstar acts, especially since they’ve recorded and written together.

    “We have a lot of things together,” says Lady A’s Charles Kelley. “I don’t know if many people know this – we sing on ‘Wagon Wheel.’ We sing the backgrounds on ‘Wagon Wheel’ together, and we just have a really strong relationship together. I actually co-wrote ‘Homegrown Honey’ with him. So, we’ll have a lot of fun, collaborative moments.”

    Those moments and many others you’re not going to want to miss. You might want to take a potty break or invest in adult diapers before either of them hit the stage…just in case.

    “I think more than anything, we just feel like this is gonna be a great ticket together. We really do,” adds Charles. “I mean I think people are looking for a night where they come, and we want them to like have to literally hold their bladder, like they’re afraid to go to the bathroom ‘cause they might miss something, and that’s what it’s gonna be. If you go to the bathroom or you go get a beer, you might miss your favorite song and I love that! I want you to pee your pants when you come to see Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum.”

    The members of Lady Antebellum are currently making their way up the country charts with “Heart Break,” while Darius, along with Charles Kelly, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, has hit the airwaves with “Straight to Hell.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley says the Summer Plays On Tour with them and Darius Rucker will be a show you won’t want to miss.

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    Lady Antebellum (Darius Tour) 2 OC: …and Lady Antebellum. :42
    “We have a lot of things together. I mean, we actually – I don’t know if many people know this – we sing on ‘Wagon Wheel.’ We sing the backgrounds on ‘Wagon Wheel’ together, and we just have a really strong relationship together. I actually co-wrote ‘Homegrown Honey’ with him. So, we’ll have a lot of fun, collaborative moments, but I think more than anything, we just feel like this is gonna be a great ticket together. We really do. I mean I think people are looking for a night where they come, and we want them to like have to literally hold their bladder, like they’re afraid to go to the bathroom ‘cause they might miss something, and that’s what it’s gonna be. If you go to the bathroom or you go get a beer, you might miss your favorite song and I love that! I want you to pee your pants when you come to see Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum.”

  • LABOR DAY 2018: AJ, BILLY, BRANDON, CARRIE, CLARE, DARIUS, DIERKS, ERIC, JON, JORDAN, KEITH, KIP, LADY A, LUKE, MADDIE & TAE, TRAVIS

    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 3rd, 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 talking about their dream job now.

    For Labor Day Liners, click here.

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

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    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.”

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

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    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.”

     

    Audio / Brandon Lay says he’s always enjoyed the Labor Day Weekend.

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    Brandon Lay (Labor Day) OC: …a good one. :13
    “You know, I can’t complain too much about Labor Day, ‘cause usually doing landscaping and it had slowed down a little, but the water’s still warm enough to hit the river. I’ve gotten to spend some time out on the lake for Labor Day, so Labor Day’s a good one.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood talks about the jobs she had growing up and her best job -- performing for her fans.

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    Carrie Underwood (Labor Day) OC: …born to do. :59
    “I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad job. I’ve had hard jobs. I’ve had jobs that worked random hours. My first job was at a gas station, and that was a lot of fun actually. While I was working at the gas station, I took another job at a hotel down the street. There was nobody else working there. I had one day of training and then the next day I came in, and the lady that had worked there the longest and was training me just didn’t show. So, the second day at work I was now in charge ‘cause I was now the senior member that was working at the hotel. So, I feel like that one was really challenging to figure my way through it, but I did. My best job is definitely what I do now. I really like being on stage. I really like performing for people and just having fun and singing, because that’s what I feel like I was born to do.”

     

    Audio / Clare Dunn gets emotional when talking about driving a silage truck in Texas to make enough money to move to Tennessee to follow her dream.

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    Clare Dunn (Labor Day) OC: …had to do. 1:05
    “I was coming for school. I remember I was two weeks late for school [at Belmont], because I had stayed in Texas longer to drive a silage truck for harvest. Harvest was still going on and I needed the money, so I stayed down there. I called all my professors. I explained what I was doing. I said, ‘I’m not going to be there for the first two weeks.’ They all were very, I told them why, and they were all very accepting of that. So, I got home. I was worn out from driving this truck in Texas, and I remember getting home in like the morning or the night before and I left the next day. I literally just chucked as much stuff in a U-haul as I could, and my family was helping me get it all ready while I was on the truck. I remember, everybody cried. I’m probably gonna cry just talking about it, because it was so many unknowns, and I just drove myself out to Tennessee. It was very emotional for me, obviously, just seeing that Tennessee state line sign and being scared to death, but knowing that’s what I had to do.”

     

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

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    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.”

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

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    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.”

    Audio / Eric Church talks about one of his worst job.

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    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.”

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

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    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!”

    Audio / Jordan Davis, whose debut single is making its way up the country charts, talks about his worst job.

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    Jordan Davis (Labor Day) OC: …worst job. :41
    “[My] worst job was probably whenever I got out of school I started working for an environmental group in Baton Rouge, and I was doing actual environmental work at first. I went to my boss probably about four months in and told him that I was going to move to Nashville and write songs. Luckily enough, he let me stay on, but I became the weedeater guy for the landscaping side of the business. I seriously weedeated eight hours a day. The only break I would get would be in-between yard to yard. So, like we would be in the car and I would try to doze off for like 10 minutes. I was covered in grass in the middle of the summer in Baton Rouge. It was awful. That was definitely the worst job.”

    Audio / Keith Urban talks about performing for fans.

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    Keith Urban (Labor Day) OC: …amazing. :22
    “Seeing people connect to the music is absolutely, hands-down the biggest reward for me, especially when you go to a place you’ve never been to before and it’s all these people, I mean lots of people out there. You’ve never met a single one of ‘em and they’re singing every word, and you realize that it’s not just a pretty melody and everything, but they get the songs. It’s amazing.”

    Audio / Kip Moore recalls his worst job...ever.

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    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.”

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

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    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.”

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

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    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…”

    Audio / Travis Denning has never had another job other than playing music.

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    Travis Denning (Labor Day) OC: …right for it. :13
    “I’ve always played music. I mean, my first gig was when I was 16-years-old. That was what I did. And as soon as I found out I could make money doing it, I thought I’d much rather make money doing this than anything else, so I went right for it.”

  • DARIUS RUCKER SCORES A HOLE-IN-ONE!

    Darius Rucker just scored his fourth hole-in-one on Friday (July 13th). He was playing at Old Natchez Golf Course in Franklin, Tennessee.

    Golf is one of Darius’ favorite pastimes and passions, which he began when he was just 14 years old, when a friend’s father invited him to go along with them to the golf course to play a round. He’s been hooked ever since.

    Getting outside and playing against a course are the reasons why he enjoys playing golf. “First of all, I love being outside. I get outside so little, you know, really when you look at the whole thing. I just love me against the course. I love that.”

    Last year, the avid golfer began a monthly radio show called On Par with Darius Rucker, which airs on the SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio channel.

    Darius is climbing the country charts with his all-star collaboration, “Straight to Hell,” featuring Luke Bryan, Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum and Jason Aldean.

    The South Carolina native will embark on his co-headline Summer Plays On Tour with pals Lady Antebellum on Thursday (July 19th) in Toronto.

    Audio / Darius Rucker gives a few reasons why he loves playing golf.

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    Darius Rucker (Golf) OC: …love that. :09
    “First of all, I love being outside. I get outside so little, you know, really when you look at the whole thing. I just love me against the course. I love that.”

     

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Brandon, Kip, Darius, Luke

    Brandon Lay, who is making his way up the country charts with “Yada Yada Yada,” will make his Grand Ole Opry debut on September 29th!

    Kip Moore, Darius Rucker and Jewel have been added to the list of performers at the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) annual Nashville Songwriter Awards. The event, which will also feature previously announced performers Brothers Osborne, Thomas Rhett, Old Dominion, Brantley Gilbert, Blake Shelton, Scott McCreery and others, will take place September 19th at the Ryman Auditorium.

    Luke Bryan appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America for the second time this week. On Tuesday, he helped announce the CMA nominees from his bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink, along with Dan + Shay and Sugarland. On Wednesday (August 29th), he took GMA anchor Paula Faris for a tour around the bar, where they talked about his upbringing, peanuts, family and his multi-week No. 1 smash “Most People Are Good.” Check out the interview here.

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM AND DARIUS RUCKER CELEBRATE OPENING WEEKEND OF THEIR “SUMMER PLAYS ON TOUR.”

    After years of friendship and months of preparation, three-time GRAMMY award-winner Darius Rucker and seven-time GRAMMY award-winning trio Lady Antebellum launched their co-headlining Summer Plays On Tour to a deafening welcome in Toronto, Ont. (7/19) and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (7/20) this past weekend. With what The Plain Dealer called “one of the biggest mainstream country pairings of the summer,” Cleveland Country Magazine noted that it is “hard to imagine who’s having more fun at the show — the fans or the acts on stage” with a playlist-worthy set spanning over 20 No. 1 hits between the two.

    Today, PEOPLE.com shares an exclusive behind the scenes photo gallery highlighting Rucker and Lady A’s opening weekend as the run continues thrilling audiences across the U.S. all summer long.

    “Charles, Hillary and Dave have been such good friends to me over the years – we even toured together once before during the summer of 2012,” explained Rucker. “It’s always exciting to be out on the road with our fans, but I knew it would be even more special with Lady Antebellum being part of the tour too. If the rest of the shows are as much fun as this past weekend, we’re in for a great summer!”

    “We’ve been itching to get back on the road with Darius for a while now and we couldn’t have asked for a better opening run,” said Lady A’s Dave Haywood. “You could just feel the energy between all the bands, crews and fans. The crowds made a lasting impression on us and we can already tell there are a lot of memories to be made this year.”

    For a behind-the-scenes look at the launch of the Summer Plays On Tour exclusively through PEOPLE.com, clickHERE.

    Rucker took the stage first, bringing fans to their feet with chart-toppers such as “Alright” and recent No. 1 “For The First Time” before Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum joined him for their collaborative “Straight To Hell,” the current single off Rucker’s latest album, When Was The Last Time. Lady Antebellum continued the musical celebration with hits of their own, including 6x Platinum “Need You Now” and current Top 15-and-climbing single “Heart Break,” with both acts uniting for a group encore that included a lively singalong of Rucker’s Hootie & the Blowfish classic “Hold My Hand.”

    In addition to the critically acclaimed co-headliners, Triple Tigers Records newcomer Russell Dickerson opened the show with a punch of energy, treating fans to a dynamic set which included his chart-topping power ballad “Yours.”

    After wrapping the first two nights of the Summer Plays On Tour, Rucker and Lady A temporarily parted ways as the trio headlined the Darien Lake Amphitheater in Darien Center, N.Y. (7/21) where the Buffalo News noted that from “the lawn to the front row, a crowd jammed into the venue.” Meanwhile, Rucker reunited with his Hootie & the Blowfish bandmates for a one-night only performance in Atlanta, Ga. The tour continues Thursday, July 26 in Bethel, N.Y. at the site of the famed Woodstock festival, with 29 additional dates through October.

    Remaining stops on the Summer Plays On Tour:
    Thursday, July 26, Bethel, N.Y. – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
    Friday, July 27, Gilford, N.H. – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
    Saturday, July 28, Hartford, Conn. – XFINITY Theatre
    Thursday, August 2, Columbia, Md. – Merriweather Post Pavilion
    Friday, August 3, Holmdel, N.J. – PNC Bank Arts Center
    Saturday, August 4, Wantagh, N.Y. – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
    Thursday, August 16, Mountain View, Calif. – Shoreline Amphitheatre
    Friday, August 17, Sacramento, Calif. – Toyota Amphitheatre
    Sunday, August 19, Auburn, Wash. – White River Amphitheatre
    Thursday, August 23, Phoenix, Ariz. – Ak-Chin Pavilion
    Friday, August 24, Irvine, Calif. – FivePoint Amphitheatre
    Saturday, August 25, San Diego, Calif. – Mattress Firm Amphitheatre
    Friday, August 31, Welch, Minn. – Treasure Island Resort & Casino
    Saturday, September 1, Milwaukee, Wis. – American Family Insurance Amphitheatre
    Sunday, September 2, Mount Pleasant, Mich. – Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
    Thursday, September 6, Cincinnati, Ohio – Riverbend Music Center
    Friday, September 7, Clarkston, Mich. – DTE Energy Music Theatre
    Saturday, September 8, Pittsburgh, Pa. – KeyBank Pavilion
    Thursday, September 13, Saint Louis, Mo. – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
    Friday, September 14, Indianapolis, Ind. – Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
    Saturday, September 15, Tinley Park, Ill. – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
    Thursday, September 20, Virginia Beach, Va. – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
    Friday, September 21, Camden, N.J. – BB&T Pavilion
    Saturday, September 22, Mansfield, Mass. – Xfinity Center
    Thursday, September 27, Alpharetta, Ga. – Verizon Amphitheatre*
    Friday, September 28, Tampa, Fla. – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
    Saturday, September 29, West Palm Beach, Fla. – Coral Sky Amphitheatre
    Thursday, October 4, Raleigh, N.C. – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
    Friday, October 5, Charlotte, N.C. – PNC Music Pavilion
    Saturday, October 6, Bristow, Va. – Jiffy Lube Live
    * denotes the show is Lady Antebellum only

     

    Audio / Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum talks about opening weekend of the Summer Plays On Tour.

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    Charles Kelley (Summer Plays On opening weekend) OC: …not going to be me. 1:02
    “It’s crazy fun. You know, you forget how many hits that Darius Rucker has. It’s between all his hits as a solo artist, and he gets to pull all these amazing hits like ‘Hold My Hand’ and ‘Let Her Cry’ from the Hootie & the Blowfish days. And then with our set too, I mean, we’ve finally gotten to that point where it’s an hour and a half full of radio hits. It’s fun, you know. So, we’ve got Russell Dickerson starts the night, who he’s on fire, so he starts the night then Darius goes up and plays his set and then we play our set. There’s a little interaction that goes on between the sets, and then at the end we do this giant jam together. It’s really spontaneous too. I want people to see it. I mean, it’s a true collaborative night, you know? It’s three, four hours of just no one knows what’s coming up next, and I think that’s what is really exciting about it. But we’ve had a blast, and we’ve already gotten a little golf in. I can say that I’ve already gotten into Darius’ pocket, so I’m excited about that. We’re gonna do a little running tab and at the end of the tour, somebody’s cutting a check, and I hope it’s not gonna be me.”

  • DARIUS RUCKER DECIDED TO RECORD ‘STRAIGHT TO HELL’ AFTER SPENDING SOME HANG TIME WITH LADY A’S CHARLES KELLEY.

    Darius Rucker has released his new single, “Straight to Hell,” a remake of the 1989 Drivin’ ‘N Cryin’ hit, featuring his famous friends Luke Bryan, Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum and Jason Aldean. Darius recorded the favorite bar singalong once Charles talked him into it, and he enlisted even more star power once he decided to take it into the studio when working on his new album, When Was the Last Time.

    “It came out in ’89 when I was just playing clubs with Hootie [& the Blowfish]. It was a big song to us. It was a big song to everybody around us. It was a big Southern song, and I always thought it was a country song,” says Darius from the set of the video for “Straight to Hell.”

    “I wanted to cut it and Charles told me I should cut it one day, and I just started calling my friends. I called Charles. I called Jason. I called Luke, and I said, ‘Hey man, I’m doing this song.’ They all loved the song, and we got to do a video for it.”

    “It was funny. We were sitting around one night — ‘cause we hang out all the time, we play a lot of golf — we were drinking and listening to Drivin’ ‘N Cryin’ and ‘Straight to Hell’ came on and I was like, ‘Dude, you could do ‘Straight to Hell,’ recalls Charles. “I was like, man, it kind of reminded me a little bit kind of the phenomenon of ‘Wagon Wheel,’ how big that song is. We had the crazy idea of like, ‘Dude you should do this.’ And he goes, ‘If I’m gonna sing it, you’ve got to be on it.’ And so the next thing you know, we start talking and he goes, ‘We need some other people.’ Literally, I think he reached out to Luke, and the next thing you know – I can’t remember how it all happened – but I think Jason was like, ‘Why didn’t you call me and ask me?’ And so all of a sudden, we have this little foursome, The Troublemakers as Darius likes to call it.”

    Darius will kick off his co-headline Summer Plays On Tour with Lady Antebellum July 19th in Toronto, Ontario.

    Audio / On the set of the video for “Straight to Hell,” Darius Rucker explains how the collaboration all came together.

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    Darius Rucker (STH) OC: …great day. :30
    “This is an old Drivin’ ‘N Cryin’ song. It came out in ’89 when I was just playing clubs with Hootie [& the Blowfish]. It was a big song to us. It was a big song to everybody around us. It was a big Southern song, and I always thought it was a country song. Drivin’ ‘N Cryin’ is a big rock band, and I always thought it was a country song. I wanted to cut it and Charles told me I should cut it one day, and I just started calling my friends. I called Charles. I called Jason. I called Luke, and I said, ‘Hey man, I’m doing this song.’ They all loved the song, and we got to do a video for it. This is really cool, man. It’s been a great day.”

    Audio / On the set of the video for “Straight to Hell,” Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum talks about how The Troublemakers got together for the song.

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    Charles Kelley (STH idea) OC: …call it. :58
    “It was funny. We were sitting around one night — ‘cause we hang out all the time, we play a lot of golf — we were drinking and listening to Drivin’ ‘N Cryin’ and ‘Straight to Hell’ came on and I was like, ‘Dude, you could do ‘Straight to Hell.’ I said, ‘It’s one of those songs that was such a big regional hit, kind of in the Southeast, you know. I went to the University of Georgia, and it was a huge bar band, cover band type of song. But like people like my wife, who went to Arizona State, never had heard of the song. I was like, man, it kind of reminded me a little bit kind of the phenomenon of ‘Wagon Wheel,’ how big that song is. We had the crazy idea of like, ‘Dude you should do this.’ And he goes, ‘If I’m gonna sing it, you’ve got to be on it.’ And so the next thing you know, we start talking and he goes, ‘We need some other people.’ Literally, I think he reached out to Luke, and the next thing you know – I can’t remember how it all happened – but I think Jason was like, ‘Why didn’t you call me and ask me?’ And so all of a sudden, we have this little foursome, The Troublemakers as Darius likes to call it.”

    Audio / On the set of the video for “Straight to Hell,” Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum says it’s “fitting” that the four of them finally do a song together.

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    Charles Kelley (STH idea) 2 OC: …together. :13
    “You know, we kinda started this whole thing. It’s really fun. I hope it leads to something else too. We’ve been laughing…we’ve been such close friends, the four of us, for so many years that I think it’s only fitting that we finally do a song together.”

    Audio / On the set of the video for “Straight to Hell,” Luke Bryan talks about taking part in the vocal collaboration with Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley.

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    Luke Bryan (STH idea) OC: …and Charles. :16
    “Darius called me up and asked me to be a part of this song. When I was in college, I’m Going ‘Straight to Hell’ was one of the biggest college anthems that there was, and I was honored to be a part of this with Darius and Jason and Charles.”

    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Straight to Hell) 1 1

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    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Straight to Hell) 2

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    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Straight to Hell) 3

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    Video / Straight to Hell video

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  • FOURTH OF JULY 2018 SOUNDBITES

    Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. The holiday is commonly associated with fireworks displays, parades, barbecues and concerts. Some of your favorite country stars take time to remember their Fourth of July traditions, memories and what the holiday really means to them.

    Several artists will perform during Independence Day celebrations. Keith Urban will take part in the annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, along  with Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Ricky Martin, which will be broadcast July 4th at 8pm ET on NBC.

    Carrie Underwood will headline the Fourth of July Hot Country Live event, launching Spotify’s new live concert series based on the streaming services Hot Country Playlist. It will take place at the Seaport’s Rooftop at Pier 17 concert venue.

    Lady Antebellum will headline the free July 4th concert in downtown Nashville. The “Let Freedom Sing” concert event will also feature performances by Chris Janson and Lucie Silvas. Following the show, there will be a 30-minute fireworks show, which is touted as one of the biggest in the country and will be synchronized to a live performance from the Nashville Symphony.

    Lauren Alaina will perform during A Capitol Fourth, an annual Independence Day special on PBS. Luke Combs will also perform. A Capitol Fourth, hosted by John Stamos, will air live from the West Lawn of the White House on July 4th at 8pm ET on PBS.

    Audio / Alan Jackson recalls one of the coolest Fourth of July memories he’s ever enjoyed.

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    AJ (fave 4th of July memory) OC: …very cool. :58
    Well, this one is hard to beat. A couple of years ago, maybe longer than that now, I had an old boat in Florida. It’s like an old antique motor yacht, and it was kind of a cool old boat. I had taken that boat, I’ve always wanted to take it up north like to New York and up in that area, up in the northeast where it’s so pretty. So, we took the boat up there and Denise and the girls, we all went up. They like going to New York City, which I don’t really care about going to the city. So, I got to stay in my boat there at the harbor tied up, which was cool anyway. So they spent time in the city a few days and then that was Fourth of July, and we went out in the Hudson River that night and they shot the fireworks off and we were anchored out in front of the Statue of Liberty and New York City was behind us, and the Statue of Liberty and the fireworks were going off sitting on that boat. That was the coolest thing and my girls still talk about that. I mean, that was the coolest thing on Fourth of July I can ever remember. I can’t top that one probably. It was emotional sitting there watching the Statue of Liberty and thinking about all that. It was very cool.”

     

    Audio / Billy Currington talks about his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Billy Currington (4th of July) OC: …of my life. :16
    “My best memories would be hanging out with my mom, brother and sister on the beach on Tybee Island right off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. We’d go there every year, and we’d light our own fireworks and watch the ones that they had for us. They were the best times, some of the best times of my life.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay talks about his memories of the Fourth of July growing up in Jackson, Tennessee.

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    Brandon Lay (Fourth of July) OC: …good times. :47
    “I remember everybody hanging out at my grandmother’s and we would drive down the road to a fireworks stand off the side of Highway 45 out there in Jackson [Tennessee]. Just getting the bottle rockets and Black Cats and bringing ‘em back to the house, it felt like it was an eternity before it got dark. We just kept wanting to light ‘em and our parents would tell us it ain’t time, but just how exhilarating it was to see ‘em shoot up. We’re not talking big time fireworks here, but you would’ve thought that it was. It’s funny just how you remember things, but I just remember a screen door at my grandmother’s, running in and out, in and out, in and out and four wild little cousins running around. It was good times.”

     

    Audio / Clare Dunn and her family are usually in the midst of harvesting their crops during the Fourth of July holiday, but she says it's one of her favorite memories growing up since that was when they were all together as a family.

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    Clare Dunn (Fourth of July) OC: …with your family. 1:12
    “Fourth of July is probably one of the biggest memories for me, because it’s always during harvest time. And harvest time, being a farmer, is your most important time of the year. It’s always nine-o. It’s always busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, but we always go into town, depending on what field we’re at. A lot of my memories are South Grenada, Colorado, we farm just south of that town, and we go into town and get Mexican food, a great Mexican food place called Shorty’s, and we get tostados and enchiladas and we take them back out to the field. And everybody stops for a second and we eat on the hoods or the tailgates of pickups, and we’re just all out there in the field taking a brief moment to eat dinner and then get back to cutting. And if you’re lucky you’ll see some fireworks from town. Those are some of my favorite memories growing up because you’re all out there working. You’re together, and it’s just the moment of pride, of getting the harvest in and getting to be with your family.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker enjoys setting off fireworks.

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    Darius Rucker (fireworks) OC: …off once. :15
    “Oh, I love fireworks. We had the bottle rocket fights and all that good stuff. I was the typical little crazy kid, you know. In South Carolina, it was always legal, so we shot fireworks when it was legal. We did all that sort of stuff. I almost blew my hand off once.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley says the people of this country are what define America.

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    Dierks (people are America) OC: …all about. :17
    “The definition of America to me, you know, getting a chance to travel across the country on a tour bus, stepping upon stages whether it be county fairs, state fairs, arenas, rock bars, the Opry stage, anywhere across the country and looking out at that crowd and seeing people. The people, to me, are what America’s all about.”

    Audio / Eric Church recalls his family activities on the Fourth of July holiday.

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    Eric Church (4th of July) OC: …freedoms. 1:17
    “The Fourth of July for me, growing up we would always go to the lake, we didn’t live on the lake but we would all go to the lake. Had a buddy who had a pontoon and we would always get on the pontoon and you go out and you’d tie all the pontoons together and just have a big time. This was before, I was younger then, the adults were having more fun than we were, you know it was just to go swim in the water and shoot off fireworks. Basically, water tailgating is what it was. And then as we got older, same thing…we would just, us younger kids had our own boat and we had as much fun as the adults.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis talks about some of his favorite childhood Fourth of July memories.

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    Jordan Davis (Fourth of July) 2 OC: …really cool. :17
    “Probably baseball games, firework shows at baseball games. We’d go to Shreveport Captains games, so yeah, we’d do that or barbecues and fireworks. I can remember being on the lake for a couple of Fourth of Julys. We’d take the boat out and we’d watch the downtown fireworks show from the boat, which was really cool.”

    Audio / Josh Turner, who will perform in Demorest, Georgia on Independence Day, talks about the fireworks “wars” his family would have when he was growing up.

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    Josh Turner (fireworks) OC: …of money. [laughs] :20
    “Yeah, we had fireworks around, especially my Daddy’s family. All the individual families had a lot of competition with each other and tried to outdo each other to try to see who had the biggest and baddest fireworks and all that. [laughs] My daddy, I think, was the smartest one. He just went out and bought maybe $25 worth of fireworks and let everybody else put on the big show, so he saved a lot of money.” [laughs]

    Audio / Keith Urban recalls coming over to America for the first time.

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    Keith Urban (coming to America 1st time) OC: …as I could. :39
    “1989 was the first year I came to the States, and it had always been my goal, but I had no plan on how to get here. It was just a case of keep playing, keep getting better at what you do, and then hopefully, somehow, some way I’ll end up over here. The guy who was managing me at the time, we just planned a trip over here – it was actually for the New Music Seminar in New York. And we came over for that, and then we did a trip down to Nashville, and I was shopping my little demo around. I think I humored everybody more than anything else [laughs] with my tragic, ill-fitting demo for the time. So, I left there, but I was just so committed to coming back as quick as I could.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott talks about her favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Lady A (4th of July-Hillary) OC: …on my hand. :29
    “For many, many years in a row, we would be up at the lake for Fourth of July, and having those memories of being on the boat and going tubing and skiing and enjoying being out in the summertime, great weather on the water. But, then for me, Fourth of July was when [husband] Chris [Tyrell] proposed. So, I got proposed to on July 2nd up at the lake, the same lake I grew up going to, and so that’s probably the biggest highlight of Fourth of July to me – getting a rock on my hand.”

    Audio / Every year, Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood celebrates his birthday along with America’s big day.

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    Lady A (Fourth of July-Dave) OC: …and America. :45
    “July fourth is always, for me, my birthday week. My birthday is July 5th so we grew up going on family trips to the beach. We would always go to Hilton Head, South Carolina and always take trips for my birthday, so that’s always a fun time of the year…watch fireworks. I think my best memory would be my birthday party when I was 9 or 10 years old. We went to the batting cages and I remember I was swinging so hard, it was 100 degrees outside, I was swinging in the batting cage and ended up passing out right there in the batting cage. You’re trying so hard to hit the ball, you’re a kid and you really don’t realize how much water you should be drinking and [CHARLES: “Dave was that kid.”] I was that kid who was on the ground in the batting cage, people fanning and pouring water all over my face. Happy Birthday to me and America.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild talks about the big sacrifices the military AND their families make to keep this country free.

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    LBT (military) OC: (Karen) …whenever we can. (Kimberly: “Yeah.”) :22
    “It’s such a huge sacrifice what these men and women do for us, and not only the ones that are serving, but the families that are left here at home. I mean, it’s just a huge commitment that they make, and what an honor. We love to be able to sing for them and entertain them and to say thank you whenever we can.” (Kimberly: “Yeah.”)

    Audio / Luke Bryan recalls one of his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Luke Bryan (4th of July memories) OC: …we used to. :21
    “Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories were spent on Lake Blackshear down in Georgia with my family. I was always kind of in charge of driving home from Tennessee and picking up all the fireworks and my nieces and nephews always got excited when I rolled in because they knew I had all the fireworks. But, it was always a great memory, and I miss not getting to do that as much as we used to.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae talk about their Fourth of July traditions.

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    Maddie & Tae (Fourth of July) OC: …it’s perfect. :29
    TAE: “One of my favorite Fourth of July traditions – I’d say it’s a tradition ‘cause it happens every year, but I’m not always able to make it – is that we go to my grandparents in Oklahoma, and we all line up lawn chairs right in front of their garage and we just light fireworks. We always do it far away and then we light it, and we always run back and watch the fireworks, but that’s probably one of my favorite memories.” MADDIE: “My birthday is July 7th, so I always get built-in fireworks for my birthday, and sometimes we actually celebrate it on the 4th, because there’s fireworks everywhere, so it’s perfect.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about what he and his family did over the Fourth of July holiday when he was growing up in Georgia.

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    Sam Hunt (Fourth of July) OC: …good time. :39
    “My granddad on the other side of my family, he would always take a lot of pride…fireworks were actually, I’m from Georgia, and most of them were illegal, I’m pretty sure, growing up. But over in Alabama, that’s where all the firework stands were, and we only had to drive 10, 15 minutes to get to the Alabama line, so we could go get a bundle of fireworks pretty easy. But he would always take a lot of pride in going and finding all the good stuff, and coming back with a  big pile. He’d have his torch out there at the end of the driveway and we’d all eat homemade ice cream and put down towels on the driveway and he’d shoot off fireworks for 30-45 minutes. Such a good time.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about the Fourth of July events his hometown of Warner Robins, Georgia would throw every year.

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    Travis Denning (Fourth of July) OC: …will love. :51
    “Fourth of July in Warner Robins, Georgia is an event. It’s something else. In fact, forever they’ve thrown an Independence Day concert, and back in the day, it was huge. It was the biggest thing they did all year. They would actually have the concert in the MAC (McConnell-Talbert Stadium), which was the high school football stadium that Warner Robins and Northside and Houston County shared. I mean, one year they had Wynonna play and then they had Josh Turner one year, Darius Rucker. I mean it was like a big deal, and there’d be 15,000, 20,000 people there, and I think it’s so cool that there’s a little bit of a legacy of people coming together in that town and making something happen, you know? I’ll never forget going to those shows and thinking, I was more proud of what the city had done. I was like, ‘That’s just so cool that they could put together a show like this, an event that everybody will love.”

     

  • FATHER’S DAY 2018

    Father’s Day is Sunday (June 17th), and we have many of your favorite country stars talking about their own Father’s Day memories and wishes below!

    Audio / Clare Dunn recalls one her father’s favorite gifts he received for Father’s Day.

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    Clare Dunn (Father’s Day gift) OC: …one year. :35
    “[My Dad] loves the weather, so we gave him a weather machine one year, and that was…well, he’s a farmer so he has to watch the weather all the time. And we gave him this weather gadget-gizmo that sits on top of the horse barn and gives him his own read-out of the weather. ‘What’s the temp? What’s the pressure? What’s the humidity?’ Well, there is no humidity in Colorado, or Southeast, but I think that was probably the biggest gift. My mom, I think, she gets all the credit for that, but I think we all collectively did that for Father’s Day one year.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker says his kids would say he was a fun dad, unless they did something wrong.

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    Darius Rucker (Father’s Day) OC: …loving dad. :41
    “I think if you asked my kids what kind of Dad I was they would probably say…Dani would say that I was a fun Dad. My little daughter would say that I was a fun dad; she thinks I’m a lot of fun. I think if you caught them at the right moment they would say I was mean [laughs] because when I’m home I’m not afraid to discipline them. I’m all fun until it’s not fun anymore and then daddy’s not the fun guy. I think that they’d say that I was a fun Dad, I’m a loving Dad and I think they would say that. I’m gone so much that when I’m home, I just shower love upon my kids. I say ‘I love you’ probably fifty times a day. We hug, we kiss all the time. I’m always wanting them to know how much I love them. So I’d hope they’d say that I was a loving dad.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker says his mother made him a good father to his three children.

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    Darius Rucker (mother’s qualities makes him a great father) OC: …my mom. :45
    “She had a lot great qualities, but she was always, family was first for her. She was always a rock and making sure she took care of us and making sure we had things we needed to have to survive – food and clothes and a home – and seeing that and seeing how hard she worked and all the things she did just really made me the father that I am today. I mean, I’m so crazy and hands-on with my kids. I think it all comes from watching my mom have to struggle so much to support us. And so now, I don’t want me or my wife to ever have to struggle, and I don’t want my kids to ever want or wonder where I am or where their mom is. I want them to always know where we are and always be taken care of, and that all comes from my mom.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley enjoys being both dad – to daughters Evie and Jordan and son Knox – and country music performer.

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    Dierks Bentley (dad & performer) OC: …to do both. :28
    “When I get home, it’s a totally different reality that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Just hanging with my girls and doing the things we do and seeing life through their eyes, it’s incredible. It takes a man to do it. It’s not a boys’ game. It takes a man to do it. I love the juxtaposition to be able to be that man and to also go on the road and act like I’m 13 years old and play video games all afternoon waiting for the fans to show up. So, it’s really a blessing to be able to do both.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley, the father of three, is very grateful to his own dad for turning him on to country music as a kid.

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    Dierks (Father’s Day) OC: …that’s for sure. :10
    “My dad was my biggest influence in country music because my dad loved country radio. So, we always drove around listening to country radio and George Strait, Hank Williams and Randy Travis and all these guys, so. Without him, I wouldn’t be doing this, that’s for sure.”

    Audio / Eric Church describes his father and the qualities he admires in him.

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    Eric Church (Father’s Day) OC: …always admired. :29
    “My dad is a, I’m trying to find the right words to describe him. My dad is a great guy, honest guy, very call it like he sees it, which is where I get a lot of that. No BS. I’m gonna tell you how I feel whether you like it or not. I’m that guy, I’m me…My dad’s that way, so I get a lot of that from him. There’s also an honesty and an integrity that my dad carries himself with that I’ve always admired.”

    Audio / Eric Paslay says his father taught him how to work hard and to do a lot of things himself, such as electrical work and other handyman tasks.

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    Eric Paslay (Father’s Day) OC: …ceiling fan. :23
    “He just taught me that working hard and sticking it out, even when you know things aren’t right, that if you stick it out, it’s worth it in the end. And he just taught me to work hard, and there’s a lot of things that you don’t have to pay someone else to do, and it feels more rewarding when you’re able to put in new light fixtures or paint your own walls or put in a new ceiling fan.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis talks about his favorite qualities of his dad.

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    Jordan Davis (Father’s Day) OC: …my music. :45
    “The thing I love most about my Dad is just his overall love of life. He’s a guy that’s worked hard and is now at a point where he can enjoy it, and he’s living every day to the fullest. That’s something that I’m very thankful that I’ve seen my Dad do and something to learn from. So, that’s probably my favorite quality about the old man, and just the hard work too. My dad ran a furniture business in Shreveport for a long time with his Dad. It was great to grow up and see a guy work hard and helped his Dad build a business from the ground up to a very successful business, and that’s something that I even try to carry over into my music.”

    Audio / Keith Urban – father to daughters Sunday and Faith -- says there are a number of things that are at the top of the list of being a dad.

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    Keith Urban (Father’s Day) OC: …experience that. :36
    “The first thing is probably just having someone call you dad. I’m like, ‘Omigosh! I’m her dad! That’s amazing.’ That’s probably the first thing to me. I don’t know, I mean, the different personalities that our two daughters have, that’s amazing. It’s such a long list I think. I always say…I think for the people that haven’t had kids – which I hadn’t for a long, long time. I didn’t have kids ‘til later on, and being around it is not the same as having them, you know? I realize that it’s not something that can be explained until you actually sort of have it, so I’m glad I got to experience that.”

    Audio / Kip Moore talks about his late father’s influence on his music career, and how he’d play classics on their fishing trips.

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    Kip Moore (Father’s Day-dad’s influence) OC: …of us singin’ ‘em. :29
    “He would just play all those classic records – Little River Band, Jackson Brown, Springsteen, Seeger, Willie Nelson, the Red-Headed Stranger, Kristofferson, Sam Cook – like classic music. He’d be singing the songs and telling us why it was such good music. And I looked up to him so much, that’s the music I gravitated towards and that’s what I continue to listen to. Whenever I think about those old fishing trips, that’s what I think about is on the way down there, him singing those songs and all of us singin’ ‘em.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley says since becoming a father to Ward, it’s really put his life and outlook into perspective.

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    Charles Kelley (being a father) OC: …wife Cassie. :38
    “Gosh! I mean, being a father, it really puts a lot of things into perspective about making sure you do shut off that side of your brain, that work side of your brain and focus on what matters most. I think n the past, I think I’ve always had it in the back of the mind – work, and once you have a kid, you see something that you love more than yourself. I don’t know. It just really is making me realize how fast time moves and to really and try to enjoy these little moments with my little son and my wife, Cassie.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood says his father was a big influence both personally and musically, and he wants to pass along those qualities to his own children.

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    Lady A (Father’s Day-Dave) OC: …like that. :39
    “My dad was a really hard worker growing up and was always great, however hard he worked, he’d always make important time for family, important time to be home for dinner and be there for a lot of special moments for us growing up. For all the money he would make, he would always give a portion of it back to charity or to the church, and so that was always important for me to watch. We had a great relationship growing up. My dad plays guitar; he’s very musical. I learned how to play acoustic guitar with him playing ‘Day Tripper’ by the Beatles and all these old songs we’d play together when he’d show me how to play these James Taylor songs and things like that. So, definitely want to pass along music, of course, to my children, as well, like that.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott says her father is a great communicator.

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    Lady A (Father’s Day-Hillary) OC: …my children. :33
    “I definitely got my Type-A personality from my dad. He’s the same way, but one thing I’m so appreciative of – especially from a father-daughter relationship – my dad always, always talked to me, even when I didn’t want to talk to him. He would force me to communicate and talk through things, and not always the easy stuff, which is such a rare quality in a man, truthfully. And so, I am very, very thankful for that. I think it helped me find the right husband for me, and I also know that it will help me be that much of a better communicator to my children.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina’s father has been sober for nearly five years, and she says their relationship has gotten a lot stronger since he quit drinking.

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    Lauren Alaina (Father’s Day) OC: …always has been. :50
    “Oh my gosh. My dad’s the best. I’m really proud of my daddy. “October 6th will be his five-year anniversary of being sober. So that’s a big one for us. And it’s been really amazing the last few years with his recovery. Our relationship was a little rocky before he went into rehab and now we talk every single day. And he is my daddy and I’m so proud of him. He’s the hardest worker I know, and that’s why I work so hard because I grew up watching him do it. I’m proud of him and he moved to Alabama for work and he loves it, and he’s like 30 minutes from the beach. So, I’m trying to hit that beach up every minute I can. But I’m really proud of him, and he’s a great dad and he always has been.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about last year’s Father’s Day and what he WON’T be doing this year.

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    Luke Bryan (Father’s Day 2018) OC: …air conditioning.
    “Last year, my Father’s Day was Caroline was perfect in asking me what I wanted for Father’s Day, and I said I want to go camping with the boys on a little trout stream thing. So, I went and borrowed, I knew a buddy who had like a pull-behind trailer, you know, camper; get the camper hooked up, get to the campsite, it’s 98 degrees. I had loaded a lawn mower in the back of my truck. By the time I got done mowing an acre of four-foot tall grass for the campsite, mosquitos, couldn’t get the camper – you know, the camper never works like you want it to. It may just be a day around the pool at the Bryan house. I hadn’t really put my mind together for what I want for Father’s Day, but I won’t be mowing an acre of grass for the RV moment. But I will tell you I made a last-minute call and got my tour bus driver. I said, ‘Please just bring the tour bus so we can sleep in some air conditioning.’”

    Audio / Maddie Marlow talks about her father’s favorite gift she’s ever given him for Father’s Day.

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    Maddie & Tae (Father’s Day) OC: …for Father’s Day. :26
    “So, for Father’s Day, I made my Dad – I think it was right before I moved to Nashville – I made my Dad this little photo book where it had like his quotes that have stuck with me my whole life and then some pictures, and it was really funky. It looks horrible. It’s not put together, but that’s one of his favorite gifts that he’s ever gotten, and I cherish that ugly photo book thing that I made for him for Father’s Day.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt says his father taught him a lot about being a man and knowing how to do the right thing.

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    Sam Hunt (Father’s Day) OC: …he’s great. :27
    “I’m obviously biased about my parents, but I’ve been around a lot of great men of integrity, but he is by far the best man that I know. He’s just taught me so much about being a man, doing the right thing, knowing the difference between right and wrong. And even though I don’t always follow his lead, I definitely know better because of him, and that means a whole lot to me. I was just really fortunate to have him as a dad, and he’s great.”

    Audio / Travis Denning says his father is his best friend.

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    Travis Denning (Father’s Day) OC: …for sure. :43
    “My dad – I call him ‘Diamond Dave’ and a lot of other people do too. Honestly, I don’t know if I drink more with anybody else more than my Dad. I think a super cool thing now is getting older and knowing that I’m starting to get more and more sustained as a human that it’s like my parents get to be friends now with me and my sister, which is such a cool thing. And so, yeah, me and my Dad – we love music and we love heavy metal and we love all that. We get to go to concerts and football games and drink beer and just enjoy that cool part of a father and a son and a mother and a son where now we get to be friends and it’s really cool. My Dad is my best friend, for sure.”

  • FOURTH OF JULY 2018 LINERS

     

    Audio / LINER AJ (4th of July)

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    “Hey! This is Alan Jackson, wishing you a happy and safe Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (4th of July)

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    “Hey guys! I’m Billy Currington, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

     

    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (Fourth of July)

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    “What’s up, everybody? This is Brandon Lay, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

     

    Audio / LINER Bros Osborne (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey y’all! I’m John, and I’m TJ, and we are Brothers Osborne, wishing you a very Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Clare Dunn (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey! This is Clare Dunn, wishing you a very Happy Fourth of July.”

     

    Audio / LINER Darius (4th of July)

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    “Hey y’all, what’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a very, very happy Fourth of July!”

    Audio / LINER Darius (Happy Birthday, America)

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    “Happy Birthday, America!”

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (4th of July)

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    Hey everybody! This is Dierks Bentley, wishing you a Happy and safe Fourth of July.

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (4th of July)

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    “Hey this is Eric Church, wishing you a very happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Eric Paslay (4th of July)

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    “Hey! This is Eric Paslay, wishing you a very happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Gary Allan (4th of July)

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    “Hey! This is Gary Allan. Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (4th of July)

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    “Hi, it’s Jon Pardi, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Jordan Davis (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (4th of July)

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    “Hey! It’s Lauren Alaina. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER LBT (4th of July)

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    “Hey! We’re Little Big Town. Happy Fourth of July!”

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (4th of July)

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    “Hey! This is Luke Bryan, wishing you a very happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Maddie & Tae (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey everybody! I’m Maddie, and I’m Tae and we’re Maddie & Tae, wishing you a  safe and happy Fourth of July.”

     

    Audio / LINER Mickey Guyton (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey! This is Mickey Guyton, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey everybody! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a safe and Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Travis Denning (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey y’all! It’s Travis Denning, wishing you a safe and Happy Fourth of July.”