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  • DARIUS RUCKER IS UP FOR A ‘GOOD TIME.’

    Audio
    Darius Rucker

    Darius Rucker is looking for a “good time”…on tour, that is. His Good for a Good Time Tour kicks off June 3rd in Tampa, Florida. The trek, which features opening acts Dan + Shay (who recently celebrated their first No. 1 single, “Nothin’ Like You,” and Michael Ray (who also had his own No. 1 single last year with “Kiss You in the Morning,” will run through September 11th.

    “When you do tours, the opening acts are so important ‘cause you want to put guys in the seats, but you also want to entertain your fans, you know the people who are there to see you,” says Darius. “And for me also, one of the prerequisites is I gotta have guys that I can hang out with and go sit down and have dinner with and maybe play a round of golf with or drink a beer with after the show and before the show. So, those guys fit all that perfectly.”

    As he did with his Southern Style Tour, Darius will present homes to deserving veterans and their families, along with Project Rebuild. The South Carolina native helped give away 14 homes last year.

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about his opening acts for his upcoming Good for a Good Time Tour.

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    Darius Rucker (Good for a Good Time Tour) OC: …and big. :33
    “When you do tours, the opening acts are so important ‘cause you want to put guys in the seats, but you also want to entertain your fans, you know the people who are there to see you. And for me also, one of the prerequisites is I gotta have guys that I can hang out with and go sit down and have dinner with and maybe play a round of golf with or drink a beer with after the show and before the show. So, those guys fit all that perfectly. They’re all doing so well. Dan + Shay just had a No. 1 and Michael Ray’s just doing so well. You know, I love having them help me, but I also love helping them just get on that stage and do something different and big.”

  • DARIUS RUCKER ONCE AGAIN HOSTS THE ACM LIFTING LIVES GOLF CLASSIC.

    Press
    Darius Rucker
    "LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 02: ACM board member Darin Murphy (L) and musician Darius Rucker attend the 2016 ACM Lifting Lives Golf Classic presented by G. Debbas Chocolatier and Cocoa Crate at the TPC Summerlin on April 2, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/ACM2016/Getty Images for dcp)"

    “LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 02: ACM board member Darin Murphy (L) and musician Darius Rucker attend the 2016 ACM Lifting Lives Golf Classic presented by G. Debbas Chocolatier and Cocoa Crate at the TPC Summerlin on April 2, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/ACM2016/Getty Images for dcp)”

    "LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 02: Musician Darius Rucker attends the 2016 ACM Lifting Lives Golf Classic presented by G. Debbas Chocolatier and Cocoa Crate at the TPC Summerlin on April 2, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/ACM2016/Getty Images for dcp)"

    “LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 02: Musician Darius Rucker attends the 2016 ACM Lifting Lives Golf Classic presented by G. Debbas Chocolatier and Cocoa Crate at the TPC Summerlin on April 2, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/ACM2016/Getty Images for dcp)”

    Darius Rucker hosted the ACM Lifting Lives® Golf Classic at TPC Las Vegas for the fifth consecutive year on Saturday (April 2nd). The ACM Lifting Lives® Golf Classic—the tenth held since 2004—brought together country music artistsHudson Moore and Drake White as well as other members of the music community in a scramble tournament to raise funds and awareness for ACM Lifting Lives’ Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund, which provides immediate relief to those in need in the music industry.

    The ACM Lifting Lives Golf Classic took place in conjunction with “The Week Vegas Goes Country®,” leading up to the 51ST ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS­, , co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, that will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

    Below please find links to download photos from the event, and the link to the ACM EPK. If you have any questions, or would like additional information/photos, please don’t hesitate to ask. Thank you in advance for considering coverage of this event!

    ACM Lifting Lives® is the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. Through partnerships with artists and strong ties in the music industry, ACM Lifting Lives develops and funds music-related therapy and education programs, and serves members of the community who face unexpected hardships through its Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund. Through generous donations and the support of artists and fans, ACM Lifting Lives is able to fund everything from disaster relief and helping communities in need, to music education in schools and music camps for those with disabilities and supporting programs that use music therapy as a means to help our veterans and wounded warriors ease back into life.  For more information, please visit www.ACMLiftingLives.org.

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Keith, Lady A, Darius, Sam, Kacey, Mickey, Canaan, Lauren, David, LBT

    Press
    Canaan Smith / Darius Rucker / David Nail / Kacey Musgraves / Keith Urban / Lady Antebellum / Lauren Alaina / Little Big Town / Mickey Guyton / Sam Hunt

    Keith Urban performed at a private 40th birthday celebration in L.A. on Saturday (March 19th) for Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon. He teamed up with Taylor Swift on her hit “Shake It Off,” and later accompanied Reese and the rest of the party-goers on a rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” the same title as her 2002 film. Other guests included Jennifer Aniston and her husband, actor Justin Theroux, Matthew McConaughey, Katie Hudson, Courtney Cox, Robert Downey, Jr. and Keith’s wife, Nicole Kidman.

    Lady Antebellum, Sam Hunt and Kacey Musgraves will perform during the Windy City LakeShake festival June 17th – 19th in Chicago. Joining them will be Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Thomas Rhett and Martina McBride, among others.

    Mickey Guyton, Canaan Smith and Lauren Alaina are featured in the new issue of NASH Country Weekly magazine in their Spring Fashion article. They, along with Granger Smith, modeled different looks for spring and talked about their style on and off-stage.

    Darius Rucker will host his seventh annual Darius and Friends benefit concert at the Wildhorse Saloon June 6th (as the unofficial start to the CMA Music Festival). Tickets for the show, with proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, go on sale Thursday (March 24th).

    David Nail was in South Carolina over the weekend for the NeedtoBreathe Golf Classic. NeedtoBreathe is a Christian Rock band, who’ve won numerous Gospel Music Awards and topped the Christian charts.

    The members of Little Big Town were apparently hanging out with superstar Justin Timberlake, writing songs . He shared a photo on his socials of him with LBT’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman and wrote, “NBD… Just writing with @littlebigtown This band is the truth!! So good!!!!”

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  • KEVIN SPACEY AND KRIS KRISTOFFERSON TURN COUNTRY STARS INTO SUPER FANS.

    Video
    Darius Rucker / Dierks Bentley / Lady Antebellum

    Many country stars were starstruck backstage at the Kris Kristofferson tribute show in Nashville on Wednesday night (March 16th). Actor Kevin Spacey (House of Cards, The Usual Suspects, etc.) was in attendance. Check out some of the photos below.

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    Life+Songs+Kris+Kristofferson+Show+4RaWbYaVo69l

    (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Essential Broadcast Media)

  • DARIUS RUCKER RETURNS TO HOST ACM LIFTING LIVES GOLF CLASSIC.

    Audio
    Darius Rucker

    Darius Rucker will return to host the ACM Lifting Lives® Golf Classic for the fifth consecutive year at TPC Las Vegas on Saturday, April 2nd. Presented by G. Debbas Chocolatier and Cocoa Crate, the “scramble” style golf tournament was created out of the need for a charitable event to connect fans, sponsors and donors with industry insiders and artists. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the ACM Lifting Lives’ Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund, which provides immediate relief to those in need within the music industry.

    Established by former Academy of Country Music and ACM Lifting Lives Board Chair Gayle Holcomb, in honor of her mother, the Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund responds quickly to unforeseen, immediate financial needs of music related organizations and individuals. Since its inception in 2007, the Fund has distributed more than $400,000 and supported 60+ cases covering a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality.

    The ACM Lifting Lives Golf Classic and the 4th Annual ACM Party for a Cause® Festival are just two events benefitting the charities during the highly-anticipated “The Week Vegas Goes Country®,” leading up to “Country Music’s Party of the Year®.” The 51st ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

    About ACM Lifting Lives®

    ACM Lifting Lives® is the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. Through partnerships with artists and strong ties in the music industry, ACM Lifting Lives develops and funds music-related therapy and education programs, and serves members of the community who face unexpected hardships through its Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund. Through generous donations and the support of artists and fans, ACM Lifting Lives is able to fund everything from disaster relief and helping communities in need, to music education in schools and music camps for those with disabilities and supporting programs that use music therapy as a means to help our veterans and wounded warriors ease back into life.  For more information, please visit www.ACMLiftingLives.org.

    Audio / Darius Rucker explains a couple of reasons why he loves to play 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.”

  • VALENTINE’S DAY AUDIO: AJ, Billy, Canaan, Darius, David, Dierks, Eric, Josh, LBT

    Audio
    Alan Jackson / Billy Currington / Canaan Smith / Darius Rucker / David Nail / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Josh Turner / Little Big Town

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

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

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

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

    Audio / Alan Jackson talks about his love for wife, Denise, over the years.

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    AJ (Valentine’s Day) OC: …continue to. :24

    “We got a lot of history together now, and we’re happier than we’ve ever been. So, she’s still beautiful, and she’s always inspired songs. I mean, one of my early hits was a song called ‘I’d Love You All Over Again,’ I wrote for her for our 10th anniversary. I mean, there’s been a zillion songs that have pieces of our good days and bad days inspired, and they continue to.”

    Audio / Billy Currington recalls his first real Valentine’s Day.

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    Billy Currington (Valentine’s Day memory) OC: …took off running. :21
    “Yeah, I remember my first girlfriend. I was in first or second grade, but anyway, I remember it was Valentine’s Day and your mom going, ‘You’ve got to give your girlfriend something, and you’ve got to go give it to her.’ I’ll never forget — we got her a box of chocolates or whatever it was. I remember going down to her classroom and knocking on the door, getting her to come to the door. I remember handing it to her, and then I took off running.”

    Audio / Canaan Smith says he tries to show his wife how special she is every day.

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    Canaan Smith (Valentine’s Day) OC: …get lucky. :25
    “I bet I’m just like 99.9% of the rest of the men in the world who could really care less about that holiday. I want my wife to feel special, so I’m gonna take part in it. I’m gonna do my part to make her feel special and loved, but is it necessary? Shouldn’t we do that every day? I mean, it kinda is just another way to get a bunch of money out of us, but oh well. We’ll go see a movie or something. Maybe I’ll get lucky.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker knew he would marry his wife, Beth, on their first date.

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    Darius Rucker (wife) OC: …her and country music saved my life. :43

    “I don’t know what it was about her. I mean, it was EVERYTHING about her. I knew, I told her I was going to marry her on our first date, [laughs] yeah. Beth’s a strong woman. It takes a strong woman to be married to a musician, especially a musician who was drinking and partying as hard as I was, and I think life for us is where we are now. It took a long time for us to get to where we are now, and we say to each other all the time, ‘I love us. I love our family. I love us.’ And I thank her every day for staying with me and being the strong woman she is, because with Hootie & the Blowfish, I could be gone for three months and then I’d come home for two days and then I’d be gone again for a month, and she put up with all that crap. You know, her and country music saved my life.”

    Audio / David Nail says his songwriting abilities sometimes work against him with his wife, Catherine, especially around Valentine’s Day.

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    David Nail (Valentine’s Day) OC: …line for me. :47
    “Very early on when we first started dating, the fact that I was a songwriter actually worked against me, because anytime I would say anything or write a letter, it was ‘Oh, you’re a songwriter. This just comes natural.’ So, I’ve always had to really watch what I say and how I say it and try to make it sound as genuine and regular Joe as possible. So, I definitely think as a creative person I have that romantic side that most creative people do. Sometimes I can get a little carried away and head into cheesy land a little too far, so I try to keep it as regular as possible. [Valentine’s Day] pretty traditional with us. She’s a big chocolate person, so you obviously can’t go wrong there, and a nice dinner. It’s pretty straight down the line for me.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about the love you have for your children.

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    Dierks Bentley (Valentine’s Day) 2 OC: …could before. :28

    “You get married and that’s a long-term, bigger image of what love can be. Then you have a child, and your heart gets spread so thin and it’s so vulnerable, like it’s a really tough, tough feeling, and it can kill you. It can really be painful at times, and at the same time, it’s so great. But it definitely stretches your heart…and it doesn’t change anything, it just makes your heart, I think it just makes it bigger. I think you just find that you can love more than you ever thought you could before.”

    Audio / Eric Church says his wife, Katherine, loves him in spite of everything.

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    Eric Church (Valentine’s) OC: …love song is. :48

    “True love to me is when you love a person in spite of all their fallibilities, and for me, I have a lot of ‘em. I’m definitely at times hard to love, and that’s what’s great about Katherine and the way she loves me. She loves me in spite of those things and really for those things.

    Audio / Josh Turner says his wife would call him a romantic, but now that they have four children, it takes a bit of work to make time for each other.

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    Josh Turner (Romantic) OC: …long time to come. :26
    “If you ask my wife Jennifer if I was a romantic, she would definitely say, ‘Yes,’ but she knows that sometimes my hectic schedule and our busy lifestyles can kind of interfere with the romantic side of things. But we do try to make efforts towards being together and having adult conversations and taking time away from the children and doing things that husbands and wives do, so we’ll definitely try to continue that for a long time to come.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman says falling in love with her husband, Stephen Schlapman, came as a big surprise.

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    Little Big Town (Kimberly falling in love) OC: …healed me. 1:20

    Kimberly: “Well, I wasn’t planning on falling in love, at all. I didn’t want to…I wasn’t sure that I ever would.  So, my husband now and I were just really good friends, and after my late husband died all my friends were calling me, all the time. Just checking up on me. He was just an old friends. We had known each other for about six years and he started calling me just like everybody else did.  But, he started calling me more than everybody else did [laughs]. We had both been through similar losses, he hadn’t lost a mate but he had lost a close friend, so we kind of bonded over that. I grieved, kind of, at him a lot. He took my grief, I had a lot of grief left, and he just took it and listened and accepted it and was so understanding and let me talk about my late husband all the time. We still talk about him a lot, and he’s totally fine with it. He says that, that made me who he fell in love with and he never minds if I bring anything from the past up which is just really sweet. I was shocked, I remember when I first realized that I was having feelings. I just thought, OK, this is so weird.  What is this?  I haven’t felt this in a long, long, time. This is weird. But, eventually I allowed myself and it’s been the most beautiful gift of my life. It pulled me out of the deepest hole that I’ve ever been in and healed me.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet was ready for love when he met Rebecca, his wife since 2007.

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    Little Big Town (Phillip – reasons fell in love) OC: …real love. :17

    “I think everything that I had gone through before had prepared me to be ready to see that there was genuine love there for me, and my Rebecca.  So, it was just a great time, I wouldn’t have been ready before I met her…Now it’s just been a really great journey to heal through the past and to know real love.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook had a chemistry performing together, but it wasn’t until they each found themselves single…at the same time…that sparks flew romantically. The pair, who wed in 2006, have a son, Elijah.

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    Little Big Town (Jimi & Karen fell in love) OC: (Kimberly) …to be together. :48

    JIMI: “We were in the band a long time before there was ever anything which is interesting. I think there was always something underlying there that we were kind of trying to ignore. And then when the opportunity came, when all of us, ended up single kind of at the same time, a very strange turn of events for the band in a lot of different ways. And those feelings, you were able to come out with them finally. It was like, we’re single. Let’s get together. And, you know, she has a beautiful heart and she’s absolutely gorgeous and I just love her dearly.”

    PHILLIP: “Get a room!” [laughs]

    KIMBERLY: “They’re a perfect match. They really are. They were meant to be together.”


  • VALENTINE’S DAY: Billy, Brothers O, Canaan, Charles, Clare, Darius, David, Dierks, Church, Paslay, Gary, Strait, Jon, Josh, Kacey, Keith, Kelleigh, Kip, LBT, Luke, Sam, Shania

    Billy Currington / Brothers Osborne / Canaan Smith / Charles Kelley / Clare Dunn / Darius Rucker / David Nail / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Eric Paslay / Gary Allan / George Strait / Jon Pardi / Josh Turner / Kacey Musgraves / Keith Urban / Kelleigh Bannen / Kip Moore / Little Big Town / Luke Bryan / Sam Hunt / Shania Twain

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey! This is Billy Currington. Hope you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey, this is T.J., and I’m John, and we’re Brothers Osborne. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Canaan Smith (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey, what’s up guys? I’m Canaan Smith, wishing you a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Charles Kelley (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey everybody! I’m Charles Kelley from Lady Antebellum. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Clare Dunn (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey! This is Clare Dunn, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Valentine’s Day)

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    “What’s up y’all? This is Darius Rucker, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER David Nail (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey, this is David Nail, wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey, it’s Dierks Bentley, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey! This is Eric Church, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Eric Paslay (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hi! This is Eric Paslay, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Gary Allan (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey, this is Gary Allan, wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER George Strait (Valentine’s Day)

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    “This is George Strait, wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hi! It’s Jon Pardi, and I hope you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Josh Turner (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey! This is Josh Turner, and I want to wish you and your sweetheart a Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Kacey Musgraves (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hi, this is Kacey Musgraves, and I hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. This is Keith Urban. Make the day special for your ‘Once in a Lifetime’ love.”

    Audio / LINER Kelleigh Bannen (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey y’all, it’s Kelleigh Bannen, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Kip Moore (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey! What’s happening, everybody? This is Kip Moore. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER LBT (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey! We’re Little Big Town. Happy Valentine’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hey y’all, it’s Luke Bryan. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Valentine’s Day) 2

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    “Hey y’all. It’s Luke Bryan. Happy Valentine’s Day. Make sweet love to your other.”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hi! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Shania Twain (Valentine’s Day)

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    “Hi, this is Shania Twain. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

  • SUPER BOWL 2016: Canaan, Darius, Easton, Lady A, LBT, Lady A

    Canaan Smith / Darius Rucker / Easton Corbin / Lady Antebellum / Little Big Town / Luke Bryan

    This Sunday (February 7th), millions of people around the world will be tuning in to the Super Bowl (the Big Game), including some of your favorite country artists. Some will be rooting for the Denver Broncos, while others will be pulling for the Carolina Panthers to win the Big Game. Canaan Smith, Darius Rucker, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Easton Corbin and Little Big Town are definitely fans of football.

    Sam Hunt will perform at the annual tailgate party preceding Sunday’s game, along with pop star Seal.

    Audio / Canaan Smith always has a good time watching the Super Bowl.

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    Canaan Smith (Super Bowl) OC: …It’s cool. :21
    “Super Bowl’s all about pizza and commercials. You gotta sit down, you gotta drink your beer, get a little buzz. It’s pepperoni and banana peppers for me and my family. We sit down, we have a a good time, we have friends over. We have a nice TV, plenty of space. We have a good time. Usually, when it’s all said and done, we have a little dance party afterwards too. It’s cool.”

     

    Audio / Darius Rucker is a HUGE football fan, as everyone probably knows by now. He even has a special man cave with probably six or seven (or more) televisions mounted on the wall to catch all of the games being played during the season. He explains why he loves football so much. SIDENOTE: He’s a huge Miami Dolphins fan, and word has it, just to be able to meet then Dolphins quarterback, Dan Marino, he asked him to be in a Hootie & the Blowfish video for “Only Wanna Be With You.”

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    Darius Rucker (football) OC: …football season. :20
    “Ever since I was five years old, I’ve loved football, and I love how physical it is. I love the chess match of the game. I love the speed of the game. I love college football, but for me watching pro football is better because the speed is so much more. For me, there’s two times a year, man — football season and waiting for football season.”

    Audio / Easton Corbin says you can’t go on the bus during football season without a game being on the television.

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    Easton Corbin (football) OC: …that’s on. :07
    “That’s all that’s on the bus on the weekends. That’s it, and we’ve got three TVs on the bus, so that’s all that’s on.”

    Audio / The members of Lady Antebellum reveal their favorite tailgate foods, just in time for the Big Game.

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    Lady A (tailgate food) OC: (Charles) …football watching. :21
    HILLARY: “Honestly, chips and salsa, salsa or cheese dip or something. That’s like what I always go for. I could eat that every meal. No joke.” DAVE: “Best tailgate food is a big ole burger soaked in Dale’s sauce. That’s all you need.” HILLARY: “Or bratwurst. I forgot that. Those are good.” CHARLES: “Cold beer! A couple of little finger foods, but without cold beer, it’s not football watching.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s beautiful and talented Karen Fairchild was a badass growing up when she was playing quarterback for her powder puff football team.

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    LBT (football story) OC: …my lip. :40
    “I was the quarterback to my powder puff team. I was running the ball and I came around the corner – this was in high school – and a foreign exchange student, I think her name was Inga (KIMBERLY: “Inga.”), and I didn’t want to fumble ‘cause my brother and my dad were there, and I come from this very athletic family, so I held onto the ball. I knew I was going to go down, so I let my head hit first and I bit all the way through, but I didn’t fumble and I had a hole in my face, though. The sad thing is that it was just flag football, but I left my flags on and cleats and everything, ‘cause it looked cool, and I had blood running all down my jersey. I went to the emergency room like that, and they sewed up my lip.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about some of the food he likes to have while watching the Super Bowl.

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    Luke Bryan (Super Bowl food) OC: …over again. :22
    “Definitely Super Bowl is like the queso, the Frito Lay scoops with the Ro-tel situation. I guess it’s like, what’s the black-eyed pea stuff too? All of that, just stuff that you can sit there and have lots of sodium, and then just, it’s like Thanksgiving all over again.”

  • NEWS & NOTES: LBT, Church, Dierks, Lady A, Darius, Sam, Chris

    Press
    Chris Stapleton / Darius Rucker / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Lady Antebellum / Little Big Town / Sam Hunt

    Little Big Town will perform the National Anthem and halftime show during Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals at Bank of America Stadium. Little Big Town, who will hit the road with Luke Bryan on the Kill the Lights Tour, are making their way up the country charts with “Pain Killer,” the title cut of their latest album.

    Little Big Town will perform during this year’s Grammy Awards. The group is nominated for Best Country Album for Pain Killer, as well as Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Girl Crush,” which is also up for Best Country Song and overall Song of the Year. The Grammys will air February 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.

    Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker are among the artists slated to perform at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena March 16th to honor Kris Kristofferson. The show will be filmed for a special, The Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson, which will be distributed worldwide. Grammy-winning producer and musician Don Was will serve as music director for the event. Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood and many more will also perform. Tickets go on sale Saturday (January 23rd).

    Sam Hunt and Chris Stapleton will perform at Bonnaroo this year, along with Pearl Jam, Ellie Goulding, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Death Cab for Cuite, Jason Isbell and Grace Potter. The 15th anniversary of the event will take place June 9th – 12th with tickets going on sale Friday (January 22nd).

    Sam Hunt and Lady Antebellum are scheduled to perform during the second annual Windy City Lake Shake festival in Chicago, June 17th – 19th. Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn and Thomas Rhett are also set to perform.

  • DARIUS RUCKER GIVES HIS PICKS FOR THIS WEEKEND’S NFL PLAYOFF GAMES.

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    Darius Rucker

    As you probably know by now, Darius Rucker is a HUGE football fan – college and NFL. He cheers loudest for his South Carolina Gamecocks and the Miami Dolphins. The man is the commissioner of a handful of fantasy football leagues, and his “man cave” at the house in Charleston, South Carolina is full of televisions playing nothing but football. So, we know he’s a professional when it comes to picking the winners of this weekend’s games.

    “I think the Panthers are gonna win. That home field advantage is huge, and I just think their defense is playing so well right now. I think it’s gonna be a high scoring game, but I think the Panthers are gonna do enough to outlast the Cardinals…the other game is a lot harder. I think, it’s hard to go against Tom Brady. It’s hard to go against Bill Belichick,” says Darius. “I think Belichick’s one of the two greatest coaches in NFL history, and Brady’s probably one of the four best quarterbacks to ever play…and so to go against them is hard, but I love Peyton, and Denver’s got like an all-time great defense. There’s no place on their defense that is not great. Like I said, it’s hard to go against Brady and Belichick, so I’m gonna go with the Patriots. I think it’s gonna be Patriots-Panthers for the championship.”

    Darius just announced his Good For a Good Time Tour, which will kick off June 3rd in Tampa, Florida. They go on sale January 29th.

    Audio / Darius Rucker gives his picks for this weekend’s NFL playoff games.

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    Darius Rucker (NFL playoffs 2016) OC: …the championship. :55
    “I think the Panthers are gonna win. That home field advantage is huge, and I just think their defense is playing so well right now. I think it’s gonna be a high scoring game, but I think the Panthers are gonna do enough to outlast the Cardinals…the other game is a lot harder. I think, it’s hard to go against Tom Brady. It’s hard to go against Bill Belichick. Those are two people I have so much respect for. I hate, because you know I’m a Dolphin fan, and I hate ‘em both, but I’ve got so much respect for ‘em. I think Belichick’s one of the two greatest coaches in NFL history, and Brady’s probably one of the four best quarterbacks to ever play…and so to go against them is hard, but I love Peyton, and Denver’s got like an all-time great defense. There’s no place on their defense that is not great. Like I said, it’s hard to go against Brady and Belichick, so I’m gonna go with the Patriots. I think it’s gonna be Patriots-Panthers for the championship.”