• HALLOWEEN 2017 AUDIO

    Audio / Billy Currington reminisces about his childhood Halloween memories.

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    Billy Currington (Halloween) OC: …Halloween. :17
    “You know, when I was a kid, I loved the trick and the treat. I loved dressing up. I was always wanting to be Dracula. That was my favorite guy. But, of course, who doesn’t love going door-to-door and getting these buckets of candy? [laughs] So, love, love Halloween.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne talks about carving pumpkins with their dad when they were growing up.

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    Brothers Osborne (carving pumpkins) OC: …or something. :25
    “With our dad every year, we would go looking for pumpkins, and we would all get our own pumpkin to carve, and he would buy the biggest pumpkin that they had. It was huge. I mean, it was way too big for any one person, but he would love carving. He’s kind of an artsy guy. He was a great drawer and stuff, and he would carve the most terrifying, vicious looking, scary pumpkin you’d ever seen in your life, and it would be massive. It would be like on a 50-pound pumpkin or something.”

    Audio / John and TJ Osborne talk about their favorite Halloween candy.

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    Brothers Osborne (Halloween candy) OC: (John) …go stale. [laughs] :34
    TJ: “I would say, Snickers, Baby Ruth, Kit Kat and Reese’s too.” JOHN: “I always hated those houses that would give you bad candy, though. You’re like, ‘C’mon. Step it up.’ Spend the extra dollar on a bag, you know?” TJ: “A house when we were growing up used to give out whole candy bars. It was the best. You were like, ‘That house – that’s the honey hole of candy.’” JOHN: “I love it, and I love like at the end, like three or four days after Halloween you would see what candy was left, and it was always like those crappy cheap candies, and they would just go stale.” [laughs]

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s TJ and John Osborne talk about dressing up like zombies for Halloween.

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    Brothers Osborne (zombie costume) OC: (John) …was so fun! :29
    TJ: “Literally, you can dress up like a zombie and drag your foot behind you all day and make weird noises, and everyone finds that completely acceptable.” [laughs] JOHN: “One year I dressed up as a ‘90s redneck zombie with a mullet wig and an Alan Jackson denim coat. I never once broke character. That’s part of the thing — you can actually not break character and get away with it. And everywhere I went, even when I ordered a drink, I ordered it like a zombie that was falling apart. [laughs] It was so fun!”

    Audio / Canaan Smith says his Halloweens of today have changed dramatically since he was a child.

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    Canaan Smith (Halloween) OC: …cornfields. :37
    “I grew up in a Christian family. We went to a private Christian school for a while, so they didn’t allow us to celebrate Halloween like I do now. We did what was called a Hallelujah Party instead, and you still dress up and still get all the candy, but you go to the high school gym. You play games, you just do, like cornhole and the dunking booth and all kinds of stuff and win prizes, but it was nothing ever scary. I think they had like rules about what outfits you could and couldn’t wear. But now I just love freaking myself out and going to, I love going to haunted houses and haunted cornfields.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker loves Halloween, especially because it’s his kids’ favorite holiday.

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    Darius (Halloween) OC: …I’m into. :06
    “Halloween’s big for me, because the kids love it. It’s my kids’ favorite holiday, so anything they’re into, I’m into.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about the Halloweens of his childhood.

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    Dierks Bentley (Halloween) OC: … …around home. [laughs]  :23
    “Oh, when I was a kid, I was all into fireworks. Growing up in Arizona, we couldn’t get ’em, so we’d have ’em shipped in illegally. I still remember the name of the guy we’d call. His name was Joe, and he’d bring in, ship ’em in a package with no writing on ’em. We were all about M-80s in the mailboxes and bottle rocket wars. To me, as a kid, Halloween was fireworks, was blowing up stuff around home. [laughs]”

    Audio / Easton Corbin says one of his favorite costumes as a kid was made by his grandmother.

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    Easton Corbin (Halloween) OC: …pretty warm. :26

    “My grandma made a werewolf outfit for me, and I wore that one year. She got this fake hair and glued it to sweatpants and a sweatshirt. That was a hot outfit. I mean, it got pretty warm.”

    Audio / Eric Church recalls his favorite Halloween costume.

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    Eric Church (Halloween) OC: …Franklin Street. 1:18
    “My favorite Halloween costume really came, I remember when I got a little older my first year of college, there’s this thing they do every year in Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Halloween on Franklin Street. We drove down from Boone, North Carolina. I had a bunch of friends that went to University of North Carolina, and we didn’t have costumes and didn’t realize until we were on the way that we had to have costumes. So, we stopped at a costume place in Greensboro, North Carolina. It’s Halloween, so there’s a run on everything and couldn’t find anything. And we end up getting sent around, driving around town. We end up finding this hole in the wall place, but they had the full costume, Sesame Street outfits. The real deal. The real ones [with] feathers and fur. We were Elmo, Cookie Monster and I was Big Bird, and the Big Bird was the actual Big Bird. It’s about 7-foot-4, and yiou looked out of the body and then you had these straps that went on since the head was a lot higher. There’s a lot of beer involved in Franklin Street, so we get down there and as the night went on, my straps broke, so the head would pivot. And so, I would be walking one way and the head would be facing the other, and it just became this funny…I didn’t know the head was on backwards. I had no idea. I see out of the body, so I’m just kinda walking around and people were talking to my ass-end. [laughs] The whole time peiople’d come up and start talking and go, ‘Hey, turn around.’ And I’d turn around, and they’d go, ‘No turn around.’ It was a mess. That year, there was no other Big Bird on Franklin Street.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi reveals his favorite Halloween candy.

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    Jon Pardi (Halloween candy) OC: …during Halloween. :06
    “Man! The candy corn is pretty good, and that’s seasonal, so it only kinda pops out during Halloween.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi talks about his favorite Halloween costumes as a child.

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    Jon Pardi (Halloween) 1 OC: …the Superman. :15
    “Man, I went through phases of costumes – the Superman costume, then it was a ninja, then I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle one year. I remember rockin’ the Superman.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis talks about his favorite Halloween costumes over the years.

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    Jordan Davis (Halloween costumes) OC: …jet black. :49
    “I can remember being really big into Power Rangers. I always liked the Red Ranger. I remember being Red Ranger one Halloween. I remember me and my br4other being big into the Ninja Turtles. I was Donatello one year, which I think was the purple turtle. I think, though, my favorite Halloween was I was in college and I went as Luigi from Mario and Luigi, and I actually grew a legit mustache and dyed it jet black and ran into an e-girlfriend at the costume shop and completely forgot I had the mustache on. So, when Is saw her, she was like, ‘So, you’re going with a mustache nowadays, huh?’ [laughs] I remember being like, ‘I swear this is part of my Halloween costume.’ [laughs] When I dyed my mustache, my top lip was black for a week. Like I really did dye it jet black.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis talks about his favorite Halloween candy.

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    Jordan Davis (Halloween candy) OC: …some Starbursts. :21
    “My favorite Halloween candy [is] probably Reese’s or M&M’s, although I love the variety of Starburst. It’s one that I feel like I only eat at Halloween, because I feel like at Halloween one of the popular ones is the two-piece Starburst things. So, probably Reese’s, M&Ms and throw in some Starbursts.”

    Audio / Candy Corn is a pretty polarizing candy that only comes out around Halloween. Some love it; some hate it and neither opinion is wrong. Jordan Davis sides with the haters (don’t blame him), since he’s just not that into candy corn.

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    Jordan Davis (no candy corn) OC: …they’re awful. :05
    “You know what I never got? The candy corns. I’ve never been a candy corn guy. I think they’re awful.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood recalls one of his most embarrassing Halloween costumes.

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    Lady A (Dave Haywood costume memory) OC: …50 feet. :20
    “I was a die (1/2 of a pair of dice) for Halloween. I had a big cardboard box that I had painted white and had the polka dots and stuff. And I remember I was walking up this hill to go to this hill and literally fell back down the entire hill [laughter], rolling in this giant cardboard box that I couldn’t do anything about, because I rolled down about 50-feet.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan says wife Caroline always picks out their Halloween costumes.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween costumes) OC: …always has. :20
    “Me and Caroline did one year where I dressed up as the old lady, and she dressed up as, she called herself a dirty old man. So, she went around acting like an old man saying snide comments to everybody. That was a fun one. The main thing is Caroline is big, she loves Halloween and always has.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan says you can tell a lot about your neighbors from what kind of Halloween candy they hand out.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween) OC: …your teeth. :21
    “You can find out a lot about your neighbors by what kind of candy they put out. So, well, like full bars of Snickers bars, that’s what, and Reese’s cups, [but] the old chocolate popcorn ball of stuff, that’s no good either, like Dots – you get Dots one time of year and they pull your teeth.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about his Halloween tradition.

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    Luke Bryan (Halloween) 2 OC: …with all that. :33
    “My tradition for Halloween is Caroline picks the outfit. I never know what I’m wearing. So that day, I’ll talk to the neighbors ‘cause I have a tractor back there and I’ll go get my tractor and get a big long trailer, and then I’ll run down to…a couple miles from the farm, we’ve got a big hay farmer that keeps hay and you run in there and pay him for his hay bales. And I’ll load the hay up and get the hayride ready and we’ll take all the kids behind the tractor and have a fun Halloween with all that.”

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Shania, Darius, Luke, LBT, Sam, Dierks, Jon, Church, Strait, Stapleton, Kacey

    Darius Rucker will appear on ABC’s The View on Wednesday (October 25th).

    Shania Twain is featured on CBS’ The Talk on Wednesday (October 25th).

    Luke Bryan is a special guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday (October 26th).

    During the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame celebration earlier this week, the NSAI presented the 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written Awards. The honorees included Little Big Town’s “Better Man (written by Taylor Swift), Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” (written by Sam, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally and Zach Crowell), “Different for Girls” by Dierks Bentley, featuring Elle King (written by JT Harding and Shane McAnally), Jon Pardi’s “Dirt on My Boots” (written by Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure and Rhett Akins) and Eric Church’s “Kill a Word,” which he co-wrote with Jeff Hyde and Luke Dick.

    George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town and Kacey Musgraves have been announced as performers at next year’s Bayou Country Superfest. The festival will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Oreleans over the Memorial Day weekend. Tickets go on sale next Thursday (November 2nd).

  • HALLOWEEN LINERS 2017: Billy, Brandon, Brothers O, Canaan, Carrie, Clare, Darius, Dierks, Easton, Church, Paslay, Kacey, Lady A, Luke, Sam

    Audio /

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    LINER Billy Currington (Trick or Treat)
    “Trick or Treat, baby.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Brandon Lay (Halloween)
    “Hey everybody! This is Brandon Lay, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Brothers Osborne (Halloween)
    “Hey! This is TJ, and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Canaan Smith (Halloween)
    “Hey! What’s up guys? I’m Canaan Smith. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Carrie Underwood (Halloween)
    “Hi! I’m Carrie Underwood, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

     

    Audio /

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    LINER Clare Dunn (Halloween)
    “Hey! This is Clare Dunn, wishing you a very Happy Halloween.”

     

    Audio /

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    LINER Darius Rucker (Halloween)
    “Hey! What’s up, y’all? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a very Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Dierks Bentley (Halloween)
    “Hey! It’s Dierks Bentley, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Eric Church (Halloween)
    “Hey! This is Eric Church, wishing you a very Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Eric Paslay (Halloween)
    “Hey! This is Eric Paslay, wishing you a very Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Jordan Davis (Halloween)
    “Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Kacey Musgraves (Halloween)
    “Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves, and I hope you have a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio /

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    LINER Lady A (Halloween)
    “Hey everybody! We are Lady Antebellum. Have a safe and Happy Halloween.”

     

    Audio /

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    LINER Luke Bryan (Halloween)
    “Hey! What’s up, y’all? I’m Luke Bryan, wishing you a very Happy Halloween. Boo!”

    Audio /

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    LINER Sam Hunt (Halloween)
    “Hey everybody! This is Sam Hunt. Happy Halloween!”

    Audio /

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    LINER Tyminski (Halloween)
    “Hey everybody! I’m Tyminski, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

  • DARIUS RUCKER ‘TRIED’ TO WATCH ‘THE WALKING DEAD.’

    With the premiere of Season 8 of The Walking Dead on Sunday (October 22nd), we had to ask Darius Rucker if he’d ever binge-watched the show (he’s currently in the middle of The Tudors – more on that later). He and his son, Jack, tried to watch the show for the first time, but couldn’t get through the first episode of Season 1.

    “Jack, my son, wanted to get into The Walking Dead, so I said, ‘Yeah, dude. I’ll watch it with you.’ So, we were going to binge-watch the first couple of seasons, and it was the first episode, and we were sitting in my man cave, and it was the first episode and I’m sitting there,” Darius recalls. “People who watch it will know the scene I’m talking about it. It’s the little girl that’s facing away and they’re slowly panning into the little girl. I thought, ‘That’s cool. Boy, I’ll watch it.’ They pan and she turns around and I got up and ran out of the room. I mean, I pushed Jack down and I ran out of the room, and I said, ‘I cannot watch this television show!’ That was the end of it for me. That little girl freaked me out so much I couldn’t watch any more Walking Dead. I haven’t watched it since. True story. I ran out of the room. Aaaaaahhhhh I’m screaming. It was awful.” [laughs]

    The Walking Dead, which stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Melissa McBride and many others, premieres Sunday (October 22nd) on AMC at 9pm ET/8pm CT.

    Darius is currently making his way up the country charts with “For the First Time,” which is from his brand-new album, When Was the Last Time.

    Catch Darius as he makes the media rounds this week. He’ll perform live on NBC’s Today Show on Tuesday (October 24th), The View on Wednesday (October 25th) and The Chew on Friday (October 27th).

    Audio / Darius Rucker tried to watch The Walking Dead with his son, Jack, but couldn't get through the first episode.

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    Darius Rucker (couldn’t watch The Walking Dead) OC: …it was awful. [laughs] :48
    “Jack, my son, wanted to get into The Walking Dead, so I said, ‘Yeah, dude. I’ll watch it with you.’ So, we were going to binge-watch the first couple of seasons, and it was the first episode, and we were sitting in my man cave, and it was the first episode and I’m sitting there. People who watch it will know the scene I’m talking about it. It’s the little girl that’s facing away and they’re slowly panning into the little girl. I thought, ‘That’s cool. Boy, I’ll watch it.’ They pan and she turns around and I got up and ran out of the room. I mean, I pushed Jack down and I ran out of the room, and I said, ‘I cannot watch this television show!’ That was the end of it for me. That little girl freaked me out so much I couldn’t watch any more Walking Dead. I haven’t watched it since. True story. I ran out of the room. Aaaaaahhhhh I’m screaming. It was awful.” [laughs]

     

    Video / Little Girl scene in The Walking Dead [WARNING: Very graphic!!!!!]

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  • DARIUS RUCKER RELEASES THE VIDEO FOR HIS LATEST HIT, ‘FOR THE FIRST TIME.’

    Darius Rucker released the video for his latest hit, “For the First Time,” the second single from his brand-new album, When Was the Last Time, on Friday (October 20th). “For the First Time,” which was written by Darius, Derek George and Scooter Carusoe, is the follow-up to his recent No. 1, “If I Told You.”

    Darius is making the media rounds to promote his new album over the next couple of weeks. You can catch him on CBS Sunday Morning (October 22nd), NBC’s Today Show on Tuesday (October 24th), The View on Wednesday (October 25th), The Chew on Friday (October 27th) and Harry Connick Jr. on November 1st.

    Check out the video below.

    Video / Darius Rucker's 'For the First Time' video

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  • DARIUS RUCKER HAS A FEW THINGS TO CROSS OFF ON HIS ‘FOR THE FIRST TIME’ BUCKET LIST.

    Darius Rucker is getting ready to release his new album, When Was the Last Time, which is a line taken from his new song, “For the First Time.”

    “When was the last time you did something for the first time?
    Yeah, let yourself go, follow that feeling
    Maybe something new is what you’re needing
    Like a real life, let your hair down, feel alive
    When was the last time you did something for the first time?”

    Darius has experienced a lot of firsts in his lifetime, but there are still a few things he’d like to experience “for the first time.”

    “I wanna go back to Africa, I wanted to see [Paul] McCartney, I want to see, I’ve never seen U2. It’s one of my favorite bands in the world. I want to see U2,” says Darius. “I’ve been lucky. I’ve gotten to do a lot of stuff that I’ve wanted to do. I’ve lived a really blessed life, but then I started thinking about it. There’s so much stuff, I’ve never been to Iceland, stuff like that that I want to do that I’ve never took the time to do, and I think now is the time to start doing that stuff.”

    He’s already crossed off a couple of things on his list – seeing Paul McCartney live in concert was at the top and he was able to do that earlier this year. He also visits a psychic for the first time, which you can see for yourself below.

    When Was the Last Time will be released October 20th.

    Audio / Darius Rucker lists off a handful of things he’s never done.

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    Darius Rucker (When Was the Last Time bucket list) OC: …doing that stuff. :32
    “No. 1 was see [Paul] McCartney [laughs] and I got to do that this year, and that was awesome. That was awesome. But I wanna go back to Africa, I wanted to see McCartney, I want to see, I’ve never seen U2. It’s one of my favorite bands in the world. I want to see U2. I’ve been lucky. I’ve gotten to do a lot of stuff that I’ve wanted to do. I’ve lived a really blessed life, but then I started thinking about it. There’s so much stuff, I’ve never been to Iceland, stuff like that that I want to do that I’ve never took the time to do, and I think now is the time to start doing that stuff.”

    Video / Darius Rucker at a psychic reading

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  • COUNTRY STARS REACT TO THE HORRIFIC TRAGEDY IN LAS VEGAS.

    Words are still hard to come by, emotions and unfamiliar feelings are flooding our hearts and souls and trying to process the horrific tragedy at the Rt. 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night (October 1st) is still something that we can’t quite do and which will affect us the rest of our lives. The Country Music family, community, fans and friends around the world have been shaken to the core by the devastating carnage from Sunday night.

    It has taken days for me to post the following:

     

    Eric Church performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Wednesday night (October 4th) and spoke eloquently and passionately about Sunday’s shooting in Las Vegas. He was one of the headliners at the Route 91 Harvest Festival and painted the picture of the fans who attended the festival. He dedicated “Why Not Me,” a song he wrote this week, to Sonny Melton, the Paris, Tennessee man who died protecting his wife from the bullets that were being sprayed into the crowd of festivalgoers. Check out the videos below.

     

    While he performed “Here On Earth” the other morning for a national radio show, he’s also healing folks by talking to them and really listening to them, as well as giving much needed blood to the American Red Cross.

    Heartbroken for all the victims and families involved in #LasVegas. Still in disbelief. I love you all

    A post shared by Eric Paslay (@ericpaslay) on

    https://twitter.com/ladyantebellum/status/915894375963549697

    #prayforlasvegas

    A post shared by Luke Bryan Official (@lukebryan) on

    There are no words. Praying for all the victims and their families affected by the tragedy in Vegas.

    A post shared by Easton Corbin (@eastoncorbin) on

    https://twitter.com/KaceyMusgraves/status/914749315712786432

    Our hearts are so heavy this morning… sick to our stomachs.

    A post shared by Maddie & Tae (@maddieandtae) on

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BZw4F-PA725/?taken-by=canaansmith

    https://twitter.com/MickeyGuyton/status/914793405917605888

    Psalm 91/Route 91

    A post shared by Sam Hunt (@samhuntmusic) on

    Lord be near (Route 91) Psalm 91

    A post shared by Sam Hunt (@samhuntmusic) on

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BZroEAlFpFr/?taken-by=karenfairchild

    …And the greatest of these is LOVE. ❤️ 1 Corinthians 13 #prayersforvegas

    A post shared by Kimberly Schlapman (@ohgussie) on

    On the worst day ever. It got even worse. #nowords #prayforvegas #musicisawesome #tompettyandtheheartbreakers

    A post shared by jonpardipics (@jonpardipics) on

    At a loss for words over what happened in Vegas last night…My prayers are with everyone involved.

    A post shared by J O R D A N D A V I S (@jordandavisofficial) on

     

    Audio / Before performing “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” at Monday night’s Candlelight Vigil at Nashville’s Ascend Theater, Keith Urban offered hope and prayers from his family to everyone who was affected by Sunday night’s horrific tragedy in Las Vegas.

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    Keith Urban (Candlelight Vigil) OC: …in the world. 1:23
    “I I want to firstly offer the prayers and love of my whole family to everybody affected by last night’s horrific tragedy. I started this morning by finding out about it, and being shell-shocked all morning getting my kids ready for school. And our nine-year-old, as I was driving her to school this morning, said to, ‘Dad, you seem quiet.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it was a lot of people killed last night.’ She said, ‘Did you know any of them?’ I said, ‘Not that I know of.’ Then she said, ‘Well, why are you so sad?’ I said, ‘Well, first of all, these were innocent people horrifically taken. Secondly, they’re like family.’ It’s the one thing about country music that’s always been at the center of it. It is community. It’s about community. So, I did know those people in that way, and it just really hit me. I feel very grateful for this moment tonight to be able to put some light in the world.”

     

    Audio / Before performing "Go Rest High On That Mountain" at Monday night's Candlelight Vigil in Nashville, Vince Gill gave his thoughts to the horrific events of Sunday night.

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    Vince Gill (Candlelight Vigil) OC: …innocent people. :17
    Thank you for the opportunity to come and lift up 58 families who lost somebody last night. An honor to be here as a voice for the innocent. May we never lose our voice for innocent people.”

     

    Audio / Vince Gill's wife, Amy Grant, led a prayer at Monday night's Candlelight Vigil in Nashville to honor those who lost and risked their lives Sunday night in Las Vegas.

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    Amy Grant (Candlight Vigil) OC: …each other. Amen. 2:21
    Father in Heaven, thank you for the gift of each other. Thank you that none of us is born alone or dies alone. But you go before us and beneath us and beside us and within us. Thank you for loving arms that were there to catch every fallen child, man and woman. Thank you for your presence that never leaves us. Thank you for word said over and over again, ‘Fear not.’ ‘Fear not.’ Father, in silence, we lift up, we just imagine all of the people rebuilding their lives. Broken. Grieving. And as a group, I don’t even know how to imagine lifting them all up, but I’m just picturing us almost like slinging them on our backs, lifting them up in our arms to the light of your love. We lift them up now, God, in silence. We lift up grieving spouses, God. We lift up moms and dads grieving the loss of a child, a son and a daughter. We lift up the doctors and nursing attending to the hundreds of people recovering. Give us the grace, God, every day, to see each other. To see each other. To see our differences. To see our similarities. To observe. To learn rather than judge. Fill our hearts with courage to not be afraid. To love, love, love. Thank you that you began this story that we’re all a part of, and you will finish it. And it began in love, and it will end in love. Thank you for the gift of each other. Amen.”

    Video / Eric Church performs "Why Not Me" on the Grand Ole Opry.

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    Video / Eric Church honors the victims and heroes and fans at Sunday night's horrific tragedy in Las Vegas.

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  • DARIUS RUCKER ANNOUNCES HIS FIRST HEADLINING DATE AT NEW YORK’S FAMED APOLLO THEATER.

    Throughout his groundbreaking, multi-genre, multi-platinum music career, Darius Rucker has achieved many of the most illustrious goals for a performer: becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry, winning GRAMMY Awards in both pop and country categories, and touring the world with sold out shows at the O2 and Red Rocks. As the “For The First Time” singer prepares to release his fifth country album on Capitol Records Nashville on October 20, Rucker reaches for another “first” as he announces today his October 19 concert at New York’s famed Apollo Theater.

    Seeing their name on the Harlem concert hall’s iconic marquee has been a commemorative milestone for generations of African-American music legends, from Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington to Gladys Knight, James Brown and Lauryn Hill, and Rucker joins their ranks as one of only a handful of country artists to ever grace the historic stage. Tickets to Darius Rucker at the Apollo Theater go on sale Friday, September 29 at 10am ET.

    “I have so much respect and awe for the history and traditions this stage represents,” explains Rucker. “To perform at the Apollo as I prepare to release this album which means so much tome,feels like the perfect way to commemorate this album.”

    The first single from WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME“If I Told You” has already achieved chart-topping success, and second single “For The First Time,” co-written by Rucker with Derek George and Travis Hill, is available digitally now and currently climbing the country charts.

    Rucker has introduced another track from the album, “Don’t,” to his fans during his live shows this summer, which he recently revealed will be offered as an instant grat download to exclusively to fans who preorder the new album.

    Complete track listing for WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME:
    1. “For the First Time” (Darius Rucker, Derek George, Scooter Carusoe)
    2. “Bring It On” (Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson)
    3. “Life’s Too Short” (Copperman, Jon Nite, Jaren Johnston)
    4. “If I Told You” (Copperman, Shane McAnally, Nite)
    5. “Don’t” (Adam Doleac, A.J. Babcock, Pete Good)
    6. “Twenty Something” (McAnally, Nite, Zach Crowell, Josh Osborne)
    7. “Straight to Hell” with Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Charles Kelley (Kevin Kinney)
    8. “Count the Beers” (Rucker, Dean Dillon, Josh Thompson)
    9. “Another Night With You” (Rucker, Dillon, Josh Thompson)
    10. “Hands On Me” (Copperman, McAnally, J.T. Harding)
    11. “She” (Chris Tompkins, Rodney Clawson)
    12. “Story to Tell” (Copperman, Gorley, Rucker)

    For more information about new music, appearances and tour dates, please visit www.dariusrucker.com.

  • DARIUS RUCKER CELEBRATES THE NO. 1 SUCCESS OF HIS RECENT HIT ‘IF I TOLD YOU.’

    Darius Rucker celebrated the chart-topping success of “If I Told You” at the new Top Golf location in Nashville on Thursday night (September 21st). Joined by songwriters Ross Copperman (“Break on Me,” “Lose My Mind,” “Drunk on Your Love,” “Don’t It”), Shane McAnally (“Leave the Night On,” “Body Like a Back Road,” “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” “Different for Girls”) and Jon Nite (“Break on Me,” “We Were Us,” “Strip It Down,” “Tip It On Back”), Darius explained why the song hit him so hard as it described his life in detail that he had to reach out to Shane to ask why he wasn’t in the writers’ room while that song was being crafted.

    “I was blown away. From the opening line, I thought this is my life. I remember the first time it got to that chorus, you know, I said, ‘Stop it. Let’s cut it right now!’ And it was really a song I thought was written for me,” says Darius. “For me, ‘what if I told you about my little nothing town/the two-room house where I came from/the man that I got my name from/I don’t even know where he is now,’ when I heard that line, I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ The thing about that song is it shocked me how many people reached out to me and said, ‘This is my life.’”

    Darius is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest song, “For the First Time,” which is the second release from his upcoming album, When Was the Last Time, which will be released October 20th.

    You can preorder When Was the Last Time now and receive three songs instantly, including the No. 1 “If I Told You,” “For the First Time” and “Don’t.” Preorder here.

    Audio / Darius Rucker and songwriter Shane McAnally, along with Ross Copperman and Jon Nite, talk about how the No. 1 song “If I Told You” truly relates to people, even though it contains some very personal scenarios.

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    Darius Rucker (If I Told You No. 1) OC: (Shane) …to show ‘em. :59
    DARIUS: “I was blown away. From the opening line, I thought this is my life. I remember the first time it got to that chorus, you know, I said, ‘Stop it. Let’s cut it right now!’ And it was really a song I thought was written for me.” SHANE: “What’s funny is being that specific ‘cause we feel it’s about our lives too.” DARIUS: “And that was why I reached out to you, as I said for me, ‘what if I told you about my little nothing town/the two-room house where I came from/the man that I got my name from/I don’t even know where he is now,’ when I heard that line, I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ The thing about that song is it shocked me how many people reached out to me and said, ‘This is my life.’ [SHANE: “Yeah, exactly.”] So many people.” SHANE: “It is so specific, but I mean it is specific, but it’s the truth and it is how a lot of us were raised and a lot of us feel. We’re so used to like, when we fall in love with people in not showing those parts, because we really want to… [ROSS: “Save face.”] Yeah, exactly, when the truth is those are probably the things that make someone love you if you’re brave enough to show ‘em.”

     

  • GEORGE STRAIT, CHRIS STAPLETON, DARIUS RUCKER, LUKE BRYAN AND KIP MOORE JOIN TOGETHER TO HELP RAISE MONEY FOR HURRICANE RELIEF.

    Tuesday Night’s Hand in Hand telethon for Hurricane Relief was a star-studded affair with broadcasts from four cities, including San Antonio, New York, Nashville and Los Angeles. The hour-long special was closed out with a performance by Country Music Hall of Famer George Strait, along with Chris Stapleton, Lyle Lovett, Miranda Lambert and Robert Earl Keen. Strait went on to perform with appearances by his special guests for an additional two hours after the live telecast ended.

    SAN ANTONIO, TX - SEPTEMBER 12: (L-R) In this handout photo provided by Hand in Hand, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, George Strait, Lyle Lovett and Robert Early Keen perform onstage during George Strait's Hand in Hand Texas benefit concert at the Majestic Theatre on September 12, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Hand in Hand/Getty Images)

    SAN ANTONIO, TX – SEPTEMBER 12: (L-R) In this handout photo provided by Hand in Hand, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, George Strait, Lyle Lovett and Robert Early Keen perform onstage during George Strait’s Hand in Hand Texas benefit concert at the Majestic Theatre on September 12, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Hand in Hand/Getty Images)

    SAN ANTONIO, TX - SEPTEMBER 12: In this handout photo provided by Hand in Hand, George Strait performs onstage during George Strait's Hand in Hand Texas benefit concert; Strait and special guests Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, Lyle Lovett and Robert Early Keen perform in concert at the Majestic Theatre on September 12, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Hand in Hand/Getty Images)

    SAN ANTONIO, TX – SEPTEMBER 12: In this handout photo provided by Hand in Hand, George Strait performs onstage during George Strait’s Hand in Hand Texas benefit concert; Strait and special guests Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, Lyle Lovett and Robert Early Keen perform in concert at the Majestic Theatre on September 12, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Hand in Hand/Getty Images)

    George Strait also revealed they’re selling a special T-shirt with proceeds going to help Hurricane victims. He’s working with the Rebuild Texas Fund, created by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the OneStar Foundation, to rebuild Texas after Hurricane Harvey. All donations will be matched by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation up to $10 million.

     

    Additional performers at the Grand Ole Opry House included Darius Rucker with Demi Lovato, Brad Paisley and CeCe Winans, as well as Blake Shelton with Usher.

     

    Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi, Kip Moore and other country stars showed their support by answering phones and taking donations (Luke and Dierks were in Nashville, along with Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Angie Harmon, Nashville Predators PK Subban, while Kip was in the Big Apple, answering phones near the likes of Julia Roberts, George Clooney and many others.

     

    Luke appeared with Amy Grant to ask folks to donate whatever they could. “In too many places for too many people, it’s going to take years for the effects of these storms to pass. So, let’s help these folks,” he said.

    https://twitter.com/PKSubban1/status/907798673509281793

     

    At the end of the telecast, more than $14 million had been raised in the course of the one-hour show.