• NEWS AND NOTES: Brothers Osborne, Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Travis Denning

    Brothers Osborne will perform at the SEC Championship Concert in Atlanta on December 3rd beginning at Noon ET.

    https://twitter.com/brothersosborne/status/1593632869280276480

    Little Big Town will perform during The 24th Annual A Home For The Holidays at The Grove L.A. television special December 23rd at 8pm ET/7pm CT on CBS.

    Dierks Bentley and his partner Phil Keoghan, the Emmy-winning host of “The Amazing Race,” were crowned the champions of the first annual pickleball tournament “Pickled,” which aired last Thursday (November 17th) on CBS. They received their trophy — the Colbert Cup — when they appeared later that night on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

     

     

    Keith Urban and Tim McGraw are among the headliners at next years Boots and Hearts Festival, taking place August 10th-13th at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte, Ontario, Canada. Travis Denning, Hardy and many more will also perform. Tickets are on sale now at bootsandhearts.com.

     

  • DIERKS BENTLEY JOURNEYS FORWARD TO HIS 10TH STUDIO ALBUM WITH THE RELEASE OF BLUEGRASS INFLUENCED “HIGH NOTE” FEATURING BILLY STRINGS.

    Multi-Platinum and Award Winning singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley has always encompassed the values and sounds that have defined his authentic two-decade career. Those many strains of Country music he’s mastered and cultivated span the arena shaker to the barroom weeper to the bluegrass fireballer. Today, he releases “High Note” featuring Billy Strings, a witty track about weed that taps Bentley’s passion for and experience with bluegrass that finishes in a super-jam featuring legends Jerry Douglas on dobro, Sam Bush on mandolin and guest guitar stars Billy Strings and Bryan Sutton. “High Note” helps set the stage for Bentley’s tenth LP, arriving early next year. To listen, click here or watch the music video here.

    “Bryan Sutton first tipped me off to Billy Strings about seven years ago mentioning that the future of bluegrass was in good hands,” said Bentley. “I was totally blown away the first time I saw him. I’ve cut songs like these since my first record, and I knew I wanted to have him on this one, I’m such a huge fan. It was a lot of fun to have him, Jerry, Sam and Bryan all passing licks around – having them all on this record means a lot to me personally.”

    Produced by Bentley alongside Ross Copperman, Jon Randall and F. Reid Shippen, the new track follows the lead single from his 10th studio album “Gold,” where he “cranks up the energy and learns to enjoy the ride” (Rolling Stone). Last night, Bentley performed “Gold” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert here, after he sat down with the host to discuss wining the first-ever Colbert Cup during Pickled, the CBS special celebrity pickleball tournament to benefit Comic Relief US featuring other celebrities like Will Ferrell, Sugar Ray Leonard, Emma Watson and Tig Notaro. Fans can watch the interview portion here.

    That 10th album landmark speaks to how time has flown in Bentley’s unique, 21st-century career. He landed his first publishing deal in 2001 and released his debut album in 2003, producing an instant No. One single. The years since have revealed a rare consistency that’s fueled longevity – eight more albums that reached the top of the Country sales charts, resulting in 21 No. One songs, 6.4 billion streams, three CMA Awards, 14 GRAMMY® nominations and membership into the Grand Ole Opry. Trendy sounds have ebbed and flowed around him over these two decades, but fans have relied on Bentley for something more nourishing and individual. He also has created professional endeavors outside of the music with his Flag & Anthem lifestyle collection Desert Son, along with his “Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row” franchise hosting four locations. For more information, visit www.Dierks.com.

     

  • THANKSGIVING 2022

    The Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth, in the state that’s now known as Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. While initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival like this did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s. People now celebrate the holiday by giving thanks for their blessings over the past year, as well as feasting on turkey and other festive goodies.

    Some festive fun facts about Thanksgiving:

    • President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3rd, 1863.
    • Harry Truman is often credited with being the first president to pardon a turkey, but that’s not quite true. He was the first to receive a ceremonial turkey from the National Turkey Federation – and he had it for dinner. John F. Kennedy was the first to let a Thanksgiving turkey go, followed by Richard Nixon who sent his turkey to a petting zoo. George H.W. Bush is the president who formalized the turkey pardoning tradition in 1989.
    • The average number of calories consumed on Thanksgiving is 4,500.
    • Butterball answers more than 100,000 turkey-cooking questions via their Butterball Turkey Hotline each November and December.
    • The tradition of football on Thanksgiving began in 1876 with a game between Yale and Princeton. The first NFL games were played on Thanksgiving in 1920.
    • The Wednesday before Thanksgiving has become known as “Drinksgiving.” Bars experience a huge boom the night before the holiday.

    Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, November 24th, and most people might be enjoying time with a group of their friends and families, including some of your favorite country stars, such as Alan Jackson, Brothers Osborne, Carrie Underwood, Catie Offerman, Caylee Hammack, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Jon Langston, Jon Pardi, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, Kip Moore, Little Big Town, Maddie & Tae, Mickey Guyton, Parker McCollum, Priscilla Block, Reba McEntire, Sam Hunt, Travis Denning, Tyler Hubbard and more. They share their thoughts of thanks this year, their lessons in gratitude, memories and favorite Thanksgiving dishes.

    Audio / Alan Jackson talks about his favorite Thanksgiving dish.

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    AJ (Thanksgiving) OC: …enjoy it. :19
    “My favorite Thanksgiving dish would be the homemade dressin’ that we, cornbread-based kind of dressin’ that we always have with turkey. That recipe is a kind of a combination of my mama, and Denise has taken it and perfected it over the years, so that me and my children really enjoy it.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne talk about their favorite Thanksgiving tradition – a Misfits Thanksgiving -- that they started when they moved to Nashville because they couldn’t afford to go home for the holiday.

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    Brothers Osborne (Misfits Thanksgiving) OC: (TJ) …Happy holidays, y’all. 1:02
    “What’s up, y’all? It’s Brothers Osborne here. And a Thanksgiving tradition that we did for so many years. John and I would host what we would call a Misfits Thanksgiving, and we would have everyone, I mean we must’ve done this for 15 years or so and it really started because we didn’t have enough money to go back home to see our family, so we would hang out in Nashville. And so everyone that was kind of in our same shoes, we’d all end up at our house, and it really turned into really blossoming some of our most cherished relationships. We would be there with Kacey Musgraves. It was the first time I really got to hang out with Mickey Guyton (JOHN: “Maren Morris.”) Maren Morris. They would come over and we just became like family to each other because we couldn’t get home to see our own families. And that’s a Thanksgiving tradition that we still to this day try to keep, and it’s a revolving door of who’s there or who’s not there, but yeah, it’s a wonderful tradition. And let me tell you, spending it with our friends in Nashville, there’s a little less arguing than back home. (laughs)” JOHN: “We’re still arguing, but we get over it faster.” (laughs) TJ: “Anyways, Happy Holidays, y’all.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood says she and her family don’t have too many Thanksgiving traditions.

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    Carrie Underwood (Thanksgiving) OC: …the other one. :34
    “We don’t have too many set-in-stone Thanksgiving traditions. I find myself a lot of times working on or around Thanksgiving or unable to get home or whatever. We try to be together, but sometimes that just doesn’t work out. But yeah, I mean, I think it’s just about we eat. I eat a lot every year on Thanksgiving. [laughs] I never skip THAT tradition. But yeah, that’s the gist of it, and I’m kind of lucky. I get two Thanksgivings, because I also get to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with my husband’s family, so if I don’t hit one, I’ll definitely be able to get the other one.”

    Audio / Catie Offerman explains what she's most thankful for this holiday.

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    Catie Offerman (Thanksgiving) OC: …what I do. :17
    “I am so thankful for a lot of things. I think my family, the gift of being able to put music out this year has been huge for me. I think that’s something I’ve waited on for a really long time, and I’m so thankful for that. I’m thankful for my health and just being able to keep playing music and doing what I do.”

    Audio / Caylee Hammack says Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday, because she gets to just spend time with her family.

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    Caylee Hammack (Thanksgiving) OC: …favorite holiday. :27
    “Thanksgiving is the one holiday where we stay at home. We stay at my family’s house, and it’s just me, my mom and dad, my brother and sister and their families. We all sit around and just eat all day. And I love Thanksgiving because you don’t have to worry about getting gifts for people; you don’t have to worry about wrapping them. You just show up and you eat all day with the people you love. So, I absolutely love Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday.”

    Audio / Caylee Hammack talks about her favorite Thanksgiving dish.

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    Caylee Hammack (Thanksgiving eats) OC: …cranberry jelly. :15
    “My favorite Thanksgiving meal (dish) is definitely cornbread dressing. My mom makes the best, er, some people call it stuffing, but I’ve always called it dressing for some reason. But I love that with canned cranberry jelly.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about his favorite part of Thanksgiving.

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    Darius Rucker (favorite part of Thanksgiving) OC: …my family. :17
    “My favorite part of Thanksgiving is easy – it’s food. It’s eating. It’s hanging out with family and getting some great food, ‘cause that’s really what Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for all of the great things you’ve got, and I always give thanks for the greatest thing I’ve got and that’s my family.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker says Thanksgiving Day is his favorite sporting day.

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    Darius Rucker (Thanksgiving Day favorite sporting day) OC: …big for me. :10
    “Thanksgiving Day is my favorite sports day of the year. It’s crazy how much football you get to watch (laughs) on Thanksgiving Day, so I really like that a lot. Thanksgiving is big for me.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley, who is thankful for his wife, two daughters and son, talks about his Thanksgiving must-have! It’s an oldie, but a goodie!

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    Dierks Bentley (Thanksgiving must-have) OC: …for Thanksgiving. :34
    “You gotta have a big turkey. Thanksgiving is not possible without a turkey. We cook it traditionally, but when we’re in, a couple of Thanksgivings ago, we were here in Nashville, we did the whole fry the turkey up, and it was great. It just tasted so good; all those juices get locked in there, and I love that too. You really can’t, to me, cook a turkey wrong. I’m gonna eat it any way, and I have over the years. Trust me, I’ve played a lot of county and state fairs, where I’ve seen gigantic turkey legs, you know, I’ve had the flat meat. I’ve done turkey every way you could do it. I’m pretty good any way you want to cook it up, but you’ve got to have a turkey for Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / Eric Church says he’s thankful for his family as well as for his fans.

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    Eric Church (Thanksgiving) OC: …want to do it. :23
    “A couple of things. I’m thankful for my family and great health. And I’m thankful for from a career standpoint, I’m very thankful for the success we’ve had lately. I’m thankful for what the fans have done. I mean there’s a lot of stuff to be thankful for in that regard. And I’m thankful that I was given the opportunity to do it my own way. I’m thankful that I’m going to get to keep doing this and do it the way that I want to do it.”

    Audio / Jon Langston talks about his Thanksgiving tradition.

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    Jon Langston (Thanksgiving) OC: …pretty cool. :21
    “We always watch football on Thanksgiving. It was pretty cool in high school. It was a big deal in high school if you had practice on Thanksgiving Day because you made third round of the playoffs. So, in high school we always had practice on Thanksgiving, so I guess that was pretty cool. Everybody’s waking up on a cold Thanksgiving morning going to football practice, but yeah, pretty cool.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi lists all of the things he’s thankful for, including the fans, his wife and country radio.

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    Jon Pardi (Thanksgiving) OC: …miss them. :31
    “I’m so thankful for all the fans that showed up at my concerts this year. There was a lot of concerts. There was a lot of fans. We always had a good time. I know the crowd did. It was a tough year, but we made it through it and that’s something to celebrate. And also my amazing wife Summer – thankful for her. And just being a part of country music. I’m thankful for that too, and country radio…and all the people at UMG that I don’t get to see a lot, but I still miss them.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis talks about his childhood Thanksgiving traditions.

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    Jordan Davis (Thanksgiving) OC: …lot of football. :12
    “When I was growing up at Thanksgiving, we just got all the family together. You know, did the traditional turkey, ham, all the sides, but it was always at either one of my grandparents’ house. Just a lot of family, a lot of food and a lot of football.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis says his favorite Thanksgiving side dish is green bean casserole.

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    Jordan Davis (Thanksgiving side dish) OC: …look forward to. :12
    “favorite side dish for Thanksgiving is green bean casserole, just the regular green beans from a can, nothing fancy, just do it the old-fashioned way. But that’s the thing I most look forward to.”

    Audio / Josh Turner shares his favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

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    Josh Turner (fave side dish) OC: …’em myself. [laughs] :24
    “Uh, deviled eggs! [laughs] Where I’m from in South Carolina, I don’t think I’ve tasted a bad deviled egg. It’s like everybody has their own twist on it, but they’re all good, but I always loved it when my mama made ‘em. I’m learning as I get older, making deviled eggs is no easy task. It’s more complicated than it looks, and so that’s probably why I never made ‘em myself.” [laughs]

    Audio / Josh Turner explains what he enjoys about the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

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    Josh Turner (holidays) OC: …the peace and quiet. :38
    “I love being outside in nature and the outdoors, and the holidays is a great time for me to go and partake in that part of my life. A lot of times, Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s a little cold to go fishing, but when it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s a great time to go hunting, especially in South Carolina, that’s when the temperatures are starting to drop and the conditions are getting right, and especially in November, kind of the tail end of the rut, as far as deer season. So, it’s a good time to get in the deer stand whether you kill anything or not, it’s just a great time to just get away from everything and get away from the noise and the lights and the diesel fumes [laughs] and just relax and just enjoy the peace and quiet.”

    Audio / Keith Urban gives thanks for many things, including his wife and two daughters.

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    Keith (Thanksgiving) OC: …for me. :21
    “Thankful that, well, my marriage is just, it’s life-giving, not just life-changing, it’s been life-giving for me. And from there, we created life, and that’s just beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And the effect that all of that has had in my work, has given life to it too, given it a sense of purpose and really deepened the experience for me.”

    Audio / Kip Moore says he usually goes home to Georgia for Thanksgiving.

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    Kip Moore (Thanksgiving) OC: …with them. :11
    “I [usually] go home for Thanksgiving. I love going home to see all them. I have five brothers and sisters and it’s a blast to go home and just catch up on their lives. I get so wrapped up in all this that I lose touch sometimes, and it’s cool to hear everything going on with them.”

    Audio / The members of Little Big Town love Thanksgiving since they get time off to be with their families.

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    LBT (Thanksgiving) 2 OC: (Kimberly) …and eat. :31
    KIMBERLY: “Thanksgiving—we love Thanksgiving, ‘cause we get to be with our families and we don’t often get to spend time with our families, our extended families, until the holidays. I love being around the table with my family and talking and laughing and cooking and eating…” JIMI: “And eating and eating and eating and eating…” PHILLIP: “The laughter around the eating, the good cheer, the celebration, the music…” JIMI: “The eating, going taking a nap, then coming back and eating.” KIMBERLY: “Go to bed with a full belly, take a nap, and then get up and eat.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about how thankful he is and his plans for the Thanksgiving holiday.

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    Luke Bryan (Thanksgiving) OC: …and family. :30
    “Thanksgiving every year I go to my farm in Georgia, and we float on the Flint River and bass fish, and we do some quail hunting, but most importantly, we’re together as a family. I’m thankful every year to have the ability to go be with my family and reflect on another great year in the business, and I’m so thankful for health and I’m so thankful that I’ve been able to enjoy this career for so many years with so many friends and family.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae talk about their Thanksgiving traditions.

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    Maddie & Tae (Thanksgiving) OC: (TAE) …I do. :41
    MADDIE: “I love Thanksgiving because I get to see my family, and it’s not as much pressure as Christmas I feel like because there are no gifts exchanged. It’s just all about quality time and I love quality time. My favorite dish is some broccoli-cheese casserole and Tae’s favorite dish, I know, is cranberry sauce, just plain. Just plain ole cranberry sauce, no turkey, just cranberry sauce.” TAE: “She knows.” MADDIE: “That’s it.” TAE: “I genuinely feel there’s something wrong with me. (MADDIE: “Out of the can.”) out of the can. My parents know just to have cranberry sauce for me, like no one else can touch it. There’s a home video where my brother Mason tries to eat it, and I’m like, ‘What are you doing? This is mine.’” MADDIE: “She eats it out of the can.” TAE: “I do.”

    Audio / Mickey Guyton talks about one of her favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

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    Mickey Guyton (Thanksgiving traditions) OC: …Thanksgiving traditions. :17
    “One of my Thanksgiving traditions is playing charades after Thanksgiving dinner. I’m not the most competitive person in the world, but as soon as you put some Charades in the picture, I am crazy, and you will definitely want to be on my team if we’re playing Charades. I’m just saying. So, that’s one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions.”

    Audio / Mickey Guyton reveals her favorite Thanksgiving dish.

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    Mickey Guyton (favorite Thanksgiving dish) OC: …both so much! :39
    “My favorite Thanksgiving dish that has to, has to, has to be at Thanksgiving dinner is dessert. Dessert is my favorite Thanksgiving dish. I mean, it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s sweet. My mom actually makes an Italian cream cake that’s absolutely awesome. It’s homemade, and the entire family, that’s the first thing to go at Thanksgiving dinner. And my Grandma D, she makes a pecan pie that is awesome. She taught me how to make them when I was little, and I just love them, and that’s the other thing that I look forward to at Thanksgiving dinner, and I love them both so much!”

    Audio / Parker McCollum talks about his family’s Thanksgiving tradition.

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    Parker McCollum (Thanksgiving tradition) OC: …go there. :27
    “I mean, my parents have been split up for a long time, but they’re all from the same town. My mom and dad went to high school together and all that stuff and all the family still lives back there on both sides. So, we kind of do a Thanksgiving with my dad’s side of the family, but all my life, we’ve always gone to my mom’s parents’ house on Thanksgiving, and they got a big ole house and a bunch of property and it’s really where I grew up is right there. That’s kind of home for me, so that’s kind of our thing. We always go there.”

    Audio / One of Parker McCollum’s favorite dishes at Thanksgiving is his Aunt’s creamed corn.

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    Parker McCollum (Thanksgiving eats) OC: …creamed corn. Mmm hmmm. :04
    “My Aunt’s creamed corn is pretty bomb. I love creamed corn. Mmm hmmm.”

    Audio / Priscilla Block describes a typical Thanksgiving holiday with her family.

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    Priscilla Block (Thanksgiving) OC: …so much. :34
    “Thanksgiving has always been chaos, actually any holiday that my entire family is there is straight chaos. But for Thanksgiving, we all try so hard to be together and it’s such a fun holiday to, my family’s a little cheesy. Like, we actually still go around the table and being like, ‘What are you thankful for?’ ‘What are you thankful for?’ So, that means a lot where it’s not about presents, it’s not about anything else. It’s just about truly being thankful, and that’s why I love Thanksgiving so much.”

    Audio / Reba McEntire shows gratitude for her life every day.

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    Reba McEntire (Thankful) OC: …happy camper. :39
    “Omigosh I wake up in the morning grateful that I can, that I’m alive, I can breathe, I can move, I can get out of bed on my own. (I’m) very grateful for the lifestyle that I have and if anybody needs help, please Lord please, direct me in what you want me to do. Just grateful for getting Rex in my life, my family being healthy and happy, my friends being healthy and happy. I’ve got a great job and people I love and get to work with, and I’ve got a huge faith. So, no matter what happens to me, I know where I’m going, so I’m a happy camper.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about his favorite Thanksgiving eats.

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    Sam Hunt (Thanksgiving eats) OC: …disappears. :12
    “When I pile my plate up, it’s mostly turkey and then I’ll put a little dressing on the side, and I’ll usually go ahead and grab my dessert on the first run [laughs] and have it ready before it all disappears.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about a typical Thanksgiving holiday growing up.

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    Travis Denning (typical Thanksgiving holiday) OC: …a lot of people. :22
    “A typical Thanksgiving growing up was essentially and the men of the family – Dad and Uncle Mike and my granddaddy — watching football, while grandmama and my mom pretty much yelled at each other in the kitchen the whole day. But they threw down and made the best food you could ever imagine, which you know is kind of how it is for a lot of people.”

    Audio / Travis Denning lists his Thanksgiving must-haves.

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    Travis Denning (Thanksgiving menu) OC: …then beer. :17
    “The ideal Thanksgiving menu to me is a little bit of turkey, but definitely prioritizing ham. I’m a firm believer in ham at Thanksgiving. Squash casserole, broccoli casserole, stuffing and then beer.”

    Audio / Tyler Hubbard explains why he’s so grateful this Thanksgiving.

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    Tyler Hubbard (Thanksgiving 2022) OC: …blessing for sure. 1:13
    “I’m just super thankful to kind of be in a place of, I guess I feel like we’ve made it through the thick—we kept calling it, ‘Man, we’re in the thick of it.’ We had a rough last couple of years, you know, my wife and I and family, getting through the pandemic, injuries, we had our third baby, the big transition career-wise – so everything at once, it felt like our world was somewhat collapsing. So now we’re in this stage of the rebuild, and not only can we see the light at the end of the tunnel, it almost feels like we’re there. So, I just look around every day lately and I’m just so grateful to be able to be back on tour, able to play shows, my kids are healthy, we’re all happy and in a good place and getting into a rhythm and having a good balance in our life between work and family and just feeling really good. So, as I’m approaching Thanksgiving here, I’m just really kind of looking back and reflecting on this last year and how different it was last year and even the year before that, and just how grateful I am to be able to be making music and doing what I love and also being really present as a dad and getting to watch these kids grow up. It’s really a cool blessing for sure.”

    Audio / Tyler Hubbard talks about his favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

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    Tyler Hubbard (Thanksgiving) OC: …I love it. :22
    “Favorite Thanksgiving tradition for me is probably just getting together with family, having a big meal and watching a little football and taking a nice long nap. I mean, we didn’t reinvent the wheel with Thanksgiving by any means. But my Nanny (grandmother) does make a pretty mean sweet potato casserole, so that’s one of my favorites that I look forward to and I don’t know if that’s a tradition or not, but in my head it is. I love it.”

  • THANKSGIVING 2022 LINERS

    Audio / LINER AJ (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hi! This is Alan Jackson. I hope y’all have a very happy Thanksgiving out there.”

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey Guys, I’m Billy Currington. Have a great Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! This is TJ, and this is John, and we’re wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Carrie Underwood (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hi! I’m Carrie Underwood, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Catie Offerman (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all, it’s Catie Offerman, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Thanksgiving)

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    :Hey y’all This is Caylee Hammack, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Chrissy Metz (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey, This is Chrissy Metz, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all! What’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (Thanksgiving) 1

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    “Hey! It’s Dierks Bentley! Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey folks! It’s Eric Church, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER George Strait (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hi! This is George Strait, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Hootie & the Blowfish (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody, what’s up? We’re Hootie & the Blowfish, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Langston (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all, I’m Jon Langston, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! It’s Jon Pardi, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Jordan Davis (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey I’m Jordan Davis. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.”

    Audio / LINER Josh Turner (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all I’m Josh Turner, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Kacey Musgraves (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Thanksgiving)

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    “Happy Thanksgiving everybody. It’s Keith Urban here. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all of you listening for your incredible love and support that I’ve received over the last year, and to wish you and all of your family all the very best for this holiday.”

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Thanksgiving) 2

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    “Hey everyone, this is Keith Urban, wanting to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Kip Moore (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey what’s up guys, this is Kip Moore wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER LBT (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey, we’re Little Big Town. Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!”

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Happy Thanksgiving)

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

    Audio / LINER Maddie & Tae (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody! I’m Maddie, and I’m Tae, and we’re Maddie & Tae, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Mickey Guyton (Happy Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey! It’s Mickey Guyton here, and I want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Parker McCollum (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody. I’m Parker McCollum, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Priscilla Block (Thanksgiving)

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    “ Hi! This is Priscilla Block, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Reba McEntire (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody! This is Reba McEntire, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey everybody! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

    Audio / LINER Travis Denning (Thanksgiving)

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    “Hey y’all! It’s Travis Denning, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

  • DIERKS BENTLEY GETS “PICKLED” ON TV.

    Dierks Bentley is taking part in the new CBS TV Special, Pickled, hosted and produced by Stephen Colbert. The two-hour special will feature 16 celebrities playing in a charity pickleball tournament with proceeds benefitting Comic Relief US, which strives to end poverty in the U.S.

     

     

    https://twitter.com/CBS/status/1591506114616741890

     

    Dierks and his band and crew started playing pickleball on the road to pass the time between soundcheck and the show. “We would just put some masking tape, duct tape, down on the parking lot behind the busses and start playing and got into it – fun thing to do out there on the road,” says Dierks.

    Apparently, while Stephen Colbert was putting together this special, he reached out to Dierks to take part in this new special. “Since then, I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me about starting a pickleball team or being part of pickleball specials, and one of the cool things is doing this Stephen Colbert TV special. It involved playing pickleball with a bunch of great people like Will Ferrell, Jimmie Allen, so fun, and we had microphones. We were mic’d up, so I’m not sure what I said in the middle of a competitive sport. Hopefully, I didn’t make a fool out of myself, but definitely it’s been a fun thing to do out there on the road.”

    The tournament, which will air Thursday (November 17th) beginning at 9pm ET on CBS and Paramount +, will also feature Jimmie Allen, comedian/actor Will Ferrell, The Neighborhood’s Max Greenfield, actor Luis Guzman, actor Daniel Dae Kim, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, singer Kelly Rowland, Grace and Frankie’s June Diane Raphael, actress Emma Watson (Harry Potter) and many others.

    Dierks is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest single “Gold.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about playing pickleball and being a part of the CBS

    Download

    Dierks Bentley (Pickled) OC: …on the road. :41
    “We started playing pickleball on the road, I guess, this year like a lot of other people did, as well. We would just put some masking tape, duct tape, down on the parking lot behind the busses and start playing and got into it – fun thing to do out there on the road. Since then, I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me about starting a pickleball team or being part of pickleball specials, and one of the cool things is doing this Stephen Colbert TV special. It involved playing Pickpeball with a bunch of great people like Will Ferrell, Jimmie Allen, so fun, and we had microphones. We were mic’d up, so I’m not sure what I said in the middle of a competitive sport. Hopefully, I didn’t make a fool out of myself, but definitely it’s been a fun thing to do out there on the road.”

  • CMA AWARDS 2022

    The 56th Annual CMA Awards take place on Wednesday (November 9th), and UMG Nashville will be represented in many of the night’s categories, including Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist, Male Vocalist, Group, Duo, Single, Song, Musical Event and New Artist.

    The evening will begin with a tribute to the late Loretta Lynn, which will include performances by Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert. Performers announced for the show include Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson, HARDY, Marcus King, Miranda Lambert, Carly Pearce, Carrie Underwood, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson and Zac Brown Band.

     

    Alan Jackson will receive the 2022 CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi, Carrie Underwood and Lainey Wilson will take the CMA Awards stage for an all-star tribute to the Country Music Hall of Fame member. The CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award is for an iconic artist who has attained the highest degree of recognition in Country Music. The award recognizes an artist who has achieved both national and international prominence and stature through concert performances, humanitarian efforts, philanthropy, streaming numbers, record sales and public representation at the highest level. The artist receiving this award has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of the genre throughout a course of years that have proven to have an unprecedented historical impact on fans and industry alike.

    Chris Stapleton has five nominations including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Music Video of the Year (“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)”), Single and Song of the Year for “You Should Probably Leave.” With this year’s five nods, Stapleton has amassed 39 career nominations. He is a six-time nominee for Entertainer of the Year and an eight-time nominee for Male Vocalist, a category he has won five times. “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” collects Stapleton his third nomination for Music Video, a category he won in 2016. The video is directed by Lively and is performed with 27-time nominee Taylor Swift. “You Should Probably Leave” marks Stapleton’s fifth nomination for Single of the Year and third nomination for Song. He is a two-time winner in both categories, claiming both trophies in 2018 and 2021. Stapleton co-produced the single with Dave Cobb and it was mixed by Vance Powell. He co-wrote the song with Chris DuBois and Ashley Gorley.

    Carrie Underwood earned three nominations including Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of the Year for “If I Didn’t Love You” with Jason Aldean. With this year’s nominations, Underwood has garnered 40 career nods since 2006. This year marks her 16th nomination for Female Vocalist, a trophy she’s claimed five times. She is a four-time nominee for Musical Event, earning a nod this year for “If I Didn’t Love You,” a duet with Jason Aldean produced by Michael Knox. She collects her fifth nomination for the night’s most coveted trophy, Entertainer of the Year.

    Jordan Davis has two CMA nominations for Single of the Year for the multi-week No. 1 single “Buy Dirt” featuring Luke Bryan (who is also nominated); and for Song of the Year for “Buy Dirt,” which he wrote with his brother Jacob Davis (who earned his first CMA nomination), along with Matt and Josh Jenkins.

    Jon Pardi has a pair of nominations for his collaboration with Midland on “Longneck Way To Go” for Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year. The song also appears on Jon’s brand-new album, Mr. Saturday Night.

    2020’s Entertainer of the Year Eric Church is nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year, while Little Big Town has a nomination for Vocal Group of the Year, a category which they’ve won SIX times!

    Reigning CMA Vocal Duo of the Year Brothers Osborne and Maddie & Tae are up for Vocal Duo of the Year.

    Dierks Bentley is nominated along with BRELAND and HARDY for Musical Event of the Year for the trio’s chart-topping tune, “Beers On Me.”

    Parker McCollum earns his first CMA nomination for New Artist of the Year

    The 56th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, will broadcast LIVE from Nashville November 9th at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC.

     

    CMA PERFORMERS INCLUDE:
    Luke Bryan – “Country On”
    Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi, Carrie Underwood and Lainey Wilson – All-Star tribute to Alan Jackson
    Carrie Underwood – “Hate My Heart”
    Brothers Osborne and The War & Treaty – “It’s Only Rock & Roll (But I Like It)”
    Caylee Hammack and John Osborne (Brothers Osborne) join Ashley McBryde, Brandy Clark and Pillbox Patti — “When Will I Be Loved”
    Chris Stapleton with Patty Loveless — “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive”
    A special performance from Reba McEntire

    Other artists who will take the stage to perform include Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Brandy Clark, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Combs, HARDY, Cody Johnson, Elle King, Marcus King, Miranda Lambert, Carly Pearce, Katy Perry, Cole Swindell, The Black Keys, Thomas Rhett, Morgan Wallen and Zac Brown Band.

    CMA PRESENTERS INCLUDE:
    This year’s CMA Awards presenters include two-time World Series champ, MVP and Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts, CMA Musical Event of the Year nominee this year, BRELAND, from the much-anticipated upcoming limited series, “George & Tammy,” Academy Award winner, Jessica Chastain, two-time CMA nominee this year, Jordan Davis, Apple TV’s “Amber Brown” and Lifetime’s “Reindeer Games Homecoming,” Sarah Drew, “Yellowstone” star Cole Hauser, multi-platinum and award-winning songwriter/artist Tyler Hubbard, five-time Grammy winner, Country Music Hall of Fame Member, and one-half of the legendary duo, The Judds, Wynonna Judd, CMA Vocal Group of the Year nominee this year, Lady A, CBS’s “Young Sheldon” and ABC’s “Big Sky” actor Rex Linn, multiple CMA Award-winning band and Vocal Group of the Year nominee this year, Little Big Town, CMA New Artist of the Year nominee this year, Parker McCollum, six-time CMA Awards winner and Country Music Hall of Fame member, Reba McEntire, stars of the hit HGTV shows “HomeTown” and “HomeTown Takeover,” Ben and Erin Napier, 55-year Grand Ole Opry member with over 5,000 performances, and the third female Country artist to win a Grammy, Jeannie Seely, from the much-anticipated upcoming limited series, “George & Tammy,” Academy Award nominee, Michael Shannon, and six-time CMA nominee this year, Lainey Wilson.

    The 56th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and NFL great Peyton Manning, will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on November 9th at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC.

     

    CMA AWARDS NOMINATIONS:

    ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

    • Luke Combs
    • Miranda Lambert
    • Chris Stapleton
    • Carrie Underwood
    • Morgan Wallen

    ALBUM OF THE YEAR
    Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s) 

    • Growin’ Up – Luke Combs
      Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
      Mix Engineers: Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews
    • Humble Quest – Maren Morris
      Producer: Greg Kurstin
      Mix Engineer: Serban Ghenea
    • Palomino – Miranda Lambert
      Producers: Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, Mikey Reaves
      Mix Engineer: Jason Lehning
    • Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ – Lainey Wilson
      Producer: Jay Joyce
      Mix Engineer: F. Reid Shippen
    • Time, Tequila & Therapy – Old Dominion
      Producers: Shane McAnally, Old Dominion
      Mix Engineer: Justin Niebank

    SINGLE OF THE YEAR
    Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer  

    • “Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
      Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
      Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley
    • “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (feat. Kenny Chesney)
      Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins
      Mix Engineer: Dan Grech-Marguerat
    • “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
      Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
      Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore
    • “’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
      Producer: Trent Willmon
      Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
    • “You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton
      Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
      Mix Engineer: Vance Powell

     

    SONG OF THE YEAR
    Award goes to Songwriter(s) 

    • “Buy Dirt”
      Songwriters: Jacob Davis, Jordan Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins
    • “Never Wanted To Be That Girl”
      Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce
    • “Sand In My Boots”
      Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Josh Osborne
    • “Things A Man Oughta Know”
      Songwriters: Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton, Lainey Wilson
    • “You Should Probably Leave”
      Songwriters: Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, Chris Stapleton

    FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

    • Miranda Lambert
    • Ashley McBryde
    • Carly Pearce
    • Carrie Underwood
    • Lainey Wilson

    MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

    • Eric Church
    • Luke Combs
    • Cody Johnson
    • Chris Stapleton
    • Morgan Wallen

    VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

    • Lady A
    • Little Big Town
    • Midland
    • Old Dominion
    • Zac Brown Band

    VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

    • Brooks & Dunn
    • Brothers Osborne
    • Dan + Shay
    • LOCASH
    • Maddie & Tae

    MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
    Award goes to Artist(s) and Producer(s)  

    • “Beers On Me” – Dierks Bentley with BRELAND & HARDY
      Producers: Dierks Bentley, Ross Copperman
    • “If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood
      Producer: Michael Knox
    • “Longneck Way To Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi)
      Producers: Dann Huff, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
    • “Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson)
      Producer: Zach Crowell
    • “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
      Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

    MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
    Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)  

    • “I Bet You Think About Me” (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault) – Taylor Swift (featuring Chris Stapleton)
      Director: Blake Lively
    • “Longneck Way To Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi)
      Director: Harper Smith
    • “Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson)
      Director: Michael Monaco
    • “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
      Director: Alexa Campbell
    • “’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
      Director: Dustin Haney

    NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

    • HARDY
    • Walker Hayes
    • Cody Johnson
    • Parker McCollum
    • Lainey Wilson

    MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

    • Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle
    • Paul Franklin, Steel guitar
    • Brent Mason, Guitar
    • Ilya Toshinskiy, Banjo
    • Derek Wells, Guitar

     

     

    Audio / Luke Bryan says when hosting the CMA Awards, it's best to just be yourself and be relaxed.

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    Luke Bryan (CMA hosting 2022) OC: …help me too. :47
    “What I’ve learned is just be comfortable, be yourself, and just walk out there and be yourself. That’s the main thing. Be natural, be fun. If you want to go off the script a little bit, don’t be scared to. If something in the moment happens or something in the room happens that you want to go down that path for a minute, obviously stick to the script, stick to the show, but don’t be afraid to just have fun and relax. I think if you’re relaxed as the host, then the whole night takes a different shape and form. But Peyton’ll do great. He’s been in some pretty high-profile moments in his life, so he can always call an audible and help me too.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about co-hosting the CMA Awards with Peyton Manning.

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    Luke Bryan (co-hosting CMAs with Peyton) OC: …stress away. :50
    “The thing about co-hosting with Peyton is all gloves are off. We can cut up with one another, have a little fun, roast each other a little bit, but it takes a little pressure off during the night – even if I’ve got a performance, then Peyton can do one of the segments while I get a little more time to get ready for the performance and coming back in and out. But the bottom line is it’s gonna be a fun thing to share with Peyton, it’s gonna be fun to be backstage, kind of toasting right before we go out and he’s a pro and hopefully I’m a pro at this point. I still try to be a kid about all this, but I do have to take it serious now and then. But, yeah, I think having someone else to share some of the duties takes a little bit of the stress of it all being all on me, takes a little bit of the stress away.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan, who is nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “Buy Dirt” with Jordan Davis, talks about hosting this year’s CMA Awards.

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    Luke Bryan (hosting the CMA Awards) OC: …chance to do. :31
    “To be a representative of the music that I love, to be someone to carry on a tradition and to be the host and conduct this show with elegance, class, humor, reverence, to really make the show an example of country music and to represent the show to the best of my ability to the people watching at home is a big task and it’s something I’m so honored to have the chance to do.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton says he’s always grateful for the moment of recognition.

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    Chris Stapleton (grateful for awards) OC: …grateful for the moment. :30
    “Well I’ll take ’em home with me I guess once they send ’em Yeah I guess you have to at some point, but it still is a very… I’m thankful for it and it’s very nice and there’s a lot of great people doing a lot of great things making a lot of great music and working really hard and so when you get this kind of a thing going, I don’t think anybody deserves it. It’s a lot of luck and a lot of stars lining up so, I’m grateful for the moment.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton talks about being nominated for Single and Song of the Year at the CMA Awards.

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    Chris Stapleton (CMA Single & Song) OC: …out there. :15
    “To be recognized as a songwriter and to be recognized in a, I guess, commercial sense from the single of the year standpoint – those are two things that are pretty hard to get because there’s a lot of great songs and there’s a lot of great singles out there.”

    Audio / Backstage at last year’s CMA Awards, Chris Stapleton talked about winning Male Vocalist of the Year.

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    Chris Stapleton (CMA Male Vocalist 2021) OC: …recognized for that. :17
    “It’s special every time you win something, and I do like, I feel like when you win that award, people are appreciating your talent as a singer. And I do partially pride myself on being a pretty good one, so it’s nice to be recognized for that.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood talks about her CMA Entertainer of the Year Award nomination.

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    Carrie Underwood (CMA Entertainer 2022 nod) OC: …that category. :47
    “It is, I mean, obviously such an honor to be nominated in Entertainer of the Year. Obviously, that’s such a tough category to be in, ‘cause there’s just so, I don’t even want to call it competition, there’s just so many hard working artists out there that are just you know pouring themselves and their time and their energy and their love and their artistry into what they do. You know, obviously just to even be in the final category is just absolutely amazing and hopefully, above all, we can all just remember that it’s a celebration of a great year in country music and in our careers as artists, so we’ll just see what happens, but definitely excited to be in that category.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood talks about her CMA Female Vocalist of the Year nomination.

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    Carrie Underwood (CMA Female Vocalist) OC: …incredible ladies. :34
    “I feel so blessed to be a female in country music. I love country music so much, and I feel like we have so many talented, gorgeous, amazing females in our genre of music. So, just to be a female in country music is amazing in and of itself, and obviously to be in the female vocalist category at the CMAs is pretty darn special. You know, I feel like, especially with this group of ladies, everybody just lifts each other up, roots for each other and supports each other, so I’m very blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible ladies.”

     

    Audio / Carrie Underwood talks about her CMA nomination for Musical Event of the Year with Jason Aldean.

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    Carrie Underwood (CMA Musical Event nod) OC: …what happens. :36
    “I absolutely love ‘If I Didn’t Love You.’ I love being able to work with Jason Aldean and record this song and perform this song. It’s been such a huge smash for both of us. We knew it was special, and we knew it was going to be good, but I feel like it exceeded any and all expectations that either one of us had and it’s been so much fun to just watch people love the song. So, to be included in the Musical Event category for the CMAs is really awesome. I’ll definitely be holding my breath for that one, ‘cause I just love the song so much. So, we’ll see what happens.”

    Audio / DIERKS BENTLEY TALKS ABOUT WORKING WITH HARDY AND BRELAND ON HIS RECENT NO. 1 HIT, "BEERS ON ME."

    Download

    Dierks Bentley (BOM working with Hardy and Breland) OC: …on the radio. :47
    “It’s really been a dream to get to work with Hardy and BRELAND, and it came about so organically. I wrote ‘Beers On Me’ with Hardy and some other people, and I just asked Hardy if he’d take a verse on it. It seemed like a natural song for a duet. But the cool thing is I was in the studio working on the third verse, and I took a break, and I was reading an article in the paper about a guy named BRELAND. And it just hit me maybe I should invite this guy in to sing the third verse. And so, I got his number and called him, and he came in the next day. He rewrote the verse entirely – totally different verse – made the song a hundred times better and then sang on it with the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard. So, it’s just been a really awesome collaboration, totally organic, just kind of a meant-to-be thing, and so excited seeing this song do as well as it has on the radio.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about writing "Beers On Me."

    Download

    Dierks Bentley (BOM backstory) OC: …is all about. :30
    “I had so much fun writing this song ‘Beers On Me’ with my friends HARDY, Ashley Gorley, Ross Copperman and Luke Dick. It took five of us to write this song, and then I got in the studio with HARDY and then Breland came in and wrote a whole nother verse to it. So, there’s actually six guys writing this song, but we had so much fun doing it. One of my favorite songs I’ve written in a long time. I love the idea of just buying everybody a beer. We all have problems that we’re going through, but on a Saturday night or Thursday night or Friday night, whatever night I’m on the road, we’ve got no problems and that’s what this song is all about.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis says the success "Buy Dirt" has enjoyed is pretty special.

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    Jordan Davis (Buy Dirt success is special) OC: …more special. :13
    “It just means a lot more. I wrote it with my brother (Jacob) and two my best friends (Josh and Matt Jenkins) in town and just the content of it. It comes from a really, really honest place. So, when you have songs that mean that much and you get to see them have success like ‘Buy Dirt’ is having, it’s a little bit more special.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi explains how he ended up on Midland’s “Longneck Way To Go,” which he also put on his album, Mr. Saturday Night.

    Download

    Jon Pardi (Longneck Way To Go) OC: …love the guys. :27
    “Well, this one I recorded with Midland and Rhett Akins and the boys wrote it, and Rhett played it for me a long time ago, and I loved it and didn’t even mention singing it with Midland. And then fast forward, we get a call from Midland’s manager like, hey we want you on the song. I was like, ‘Is it ‘Longneck Way To Go?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah. How’d you know?’ I said, ‘Cause I love that song. I’ve been rockin’ out to it.’ So, here it is. We’re all together, and I love the guys.”

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Mickey Guyton, Vince Gill

    Carrie Underwood is set to perform “Crazy Angels” from her new album, Denim & Rhinestones, at this year’s American Music Awards. The awards show takes place November 20th at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC.

    Carrie Underwood was announced as the first performer at next year’s CMT Awards, which will be held in Austin, Texas for the first time. Hosted by Kelsea Ballerini, the CMT Awards will take place at the Moody Center in Austin on April 2nd on CBS.

    https://twitter.com/CMT/status/1588176674591543296

    The video for Carrie Underwood‘s new single, “Hate My Heart,” is available exclusively on Facebook right now.

    Dierks Bentley is getting “pickled.” He’s set to take part in the two-hour pickleball special, titled Pickled, airing Thursday, November 17th, beginning at 9pm ET on CBS and Paramount +. The “Pickled” tournament will be hosted by late-night personality Stephen Colbert and include appearances from Jimmie Allen, Will Ferrell, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and many other famous faces.

    Mickey Guyton is featured on the new episode of Sesame Street.  Joined by Elmo, Big Bird, Abby, Cookie Monster, and more, Mickey performed a song about the importance of community. Catch the full episode on HBO.

     

    Vince Gill will be inducted in the Musicians Hall of Fame later this month. He’s part of the 2022 class, which also includes Marty Stuart (and his band The Fabulous Superlatives), Ray Stevens, singer-songwriter Don McLean, producer Jim Guercio and recording engineer George Massenburg. They’ll be inducted during a special ceremony at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium on November. 22nd.

     

     

     

  • HALLOWEEN 2022

    Halloween is Monday, October 31st, and the spooky, eerie holiday has some of your favorite country stars getting into costume, while others are recalling their favorite Halloween candy or memories of Halloweens past.

    Click here to download Halloween liners.

    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 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 / Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne talks about one of his favorite childhood Halloween costumes.

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    Brothers Osborne (Halloween costume) OC: (TJ) …I love it. :37
    TJ: “There was a costume I had when I was a kid that my dad made. I was a caterpillar, no, you were a caterpillar and I was a spider. And so I don’t know if you’re familiar with pipe insulation? It’s like these black tubes, and so I had these little black pipe insulators as my legs.” JOHN: “There were strings attached to him that would hold some of the black pipe insulators under his hands, and he’d put working gloves on the end of them and so when he’d raise his arms, all of the little spider legs would raise up with it. [laughs] I’m telling you, our parents were total hippies. They were just…” TJ: “Artsy-fartsy hippies. I love it.”

    Audio / BROTHERS 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 / 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 / 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 people’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 Langston talks about his favorite Halloween show a few years ago when his band surprised him on stage.

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    “So we played a show a few years ago in Baton Rouge and I go off stage and I come back on stage for the encore. I don’t know this until midway through the song, I’m just into the crowd, like I’m engaged. I’m in the zone, and I just see everyone, like everybody else behind me but me and I’m like what’s going on. I turn around and each of them has a different huge mask on, like one of those stuffed animal masks, like my drummer has a dinosaur head on. My guitar players, one of ‘em has monkey head on, the other has a unicorn head on. And my bass player has like a, I think a dog or cat head or something like that. I couldn’t finish the song I was laughing so hard just seeing them playing with these like oversized huge mask heads on Halloween night. That was funny. It was a good prank, so that was probably the most memorable 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 / 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 / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT HIS FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES OVER THE YEARS.

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    Jordan Davis (Halloween) 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 ex-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 / A few weeks ago, Jordan Davis told us they were going shopping for Eloise and Lochlan's costumes.

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    Jordan Davis (Halloween 2022) OC: …this Halloween. :35
    “We actually just figured out Eloise’s Halloween costume, because we’re going Halloween shopping this afternoon. So, she’s probably going to pick out the same exact thing as she did last year. She’s heavy into PAW Patrol, so she’s either going to be Skye or Rubble. Locklan, he’s still fighting the walking thing, so he’s crawling everywhere. And I actually found a spider suit for him, where he has like all these legs and he truly is going to look like a spider crawling on the ground. So, those are our two (laughs), we’re gonna have a PAW Patrol and we’re gonna have a spider this Halloween.”

    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 FOLKS WHO DON’T APPRECIATE THE SUGARY SWEET (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 / Josh Turner and his family (including wife Jennifer and their four sons) enjoy dressing up as a family for Halloween. The multi-platinum selling star says his favorite family costumes was a few years ago when they dressed up as Star Wars characters.

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    Josh Turner (Halloween costumes) OC: …pretty classic. :27
    “My favorite family costume was from a couple of years ago when I had my six-and-a-half-month-old beard going, and me and the whole family dressed up as Star Wars characters. So, I was a young Obi Wan Kenobi, Jennifer was Princess Leia, Colby and Marion were Storm Troopers, Hampton was Darth Vadar and Hawk was, I guess, pretty much still a baby, and he dressed up as Yoda. It was pretty classic.”

    Audio / JOSH TURNER REVEALS HIS FAVORITE HALLOWEEN CANDY.

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    Josh Turner (Halloween candy) OC: …can’t beat ‘em. :09
    “My favorite Halloween candy…hmmmm…that’s a tricky one. I’m going to have to go with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Can’t beat ‘em.”

    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 traditions.

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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.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan says his wife Caroline usually pick out his 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 a big, she loves Halloween and always has.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae sit on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to scary movies.

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    Maddie & Tae (Halloween) OC: …princesses. :24
    TAE: “Oooooh, Halloween [is] my favorite holiday. Anyone who knows me knows I love all things scary and gory, so especially on Halloween all the scary movies that come out in theaters, I am there every single time.” MADDIE: “And I never go with her because I hate scary things.” TAE: “You know what’s funny? As little girls, everyone wants to dress up as princesses, and I think I was a witch like six years in a row. I just wanted to be scary.” MADDIE: “Girl, I was like Jasmine and you know [other] princesses.”

    Audio / Mickey Guyton was raised in a very religious household, so she didn’t really celebrate Halloween and only went trick-or-treating one time.

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    Mickey Guyton (Halloween) OC: …the costumes. :50
    “Growing up, my parents were very, very conservative Christian, and so they viewed Halloween as a pagan holiday. BUT, I got to go trick-or-treating once in my life, and I dressed as a clown because my mom made me this clown suit and that was the best. We were in Moody, Texas. It was all three of my siblings and myself and we had so much candy that it lasted for months and months. My parents eventually had to throw it away because we had so much candy. And it was one of the most amazing, magical experiences I’ve ever had, because I never got to celebrate freaking Halloween. I tell you what, this son of mine is gonna definitely going to be celebrating trick-or-treating. Like I can’t wait to dress him up in all of the costumes.”

    Audio / Parker McCollum says his favorite Halloween candy is…Tootsie Rolls.

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    Parker McCollum (favorite Halloween candy) OC: …
    “What I can eat like 6,000 of are Tootsie Rolls. If I eat one Tootsie Roll, I’m gonna eat 30. Man, they’re so good.”

    Audio / Priscilla Block says she’s not a huge candy/sweet person, but instead, give her all the carbs.

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    Priscilla Block (Halloween) OC: …you’re cooking. :52
    “You know what’s so funny about me? I’m not a huge candy girl. Is that shocking? Hit me with all the carbs! Hit me with all the pasta! Don’t love treats. It’s really crazy. I’m not a huge chocolate girl. I would say my favorite candy is a Cow Tail. I love to get them from the gas station. Yeah, it’s usually in a little long package and there’s like cream on the inside. Love it! That’s my favorite candy. Give me that and a piece of pizza. Trick or Treat do you have any pizza ‘cause it smells like pizza in this house. 9laughs) That’s me going to the door. It smells like steak. Don’t want the Twizzler. Want the steak that you’re cooking!”

     

    Audio / Reba McEntire, who is selling out shows all over the place on her current tour, says her Halloweens as a child involved lipstick, walking, milk, cookies and her brother scaring the daylights out of her and her sisters.

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    Reba McEntire (Halloween as a child) OC: …right there. :35
    “The way we used to celebrate it when we were kids – we were out in the country; our nearest neighbor was a couple of miles away from us, so we’d gotta get dressed up and put on lipstick or whatever we could. We didn’t have Halloween costumes, and we’d walk down in the dark to Mr. and Mrs. Winslet’s house, and she’d feed us cookies and milk and then we’d walk back up in the dark. But Alice, Susie and I weren’t attentive enough to realize that Pake wasn’t with us in the group, and Pake would get up on the road going to the house and crawl up in a tree and scare the crap out of us. So, that was my Halloween memories right there.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about his favorite – and probably most embarrassing – Halloween costume.

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    Travis Denning (Halloween costume) OC: …Busch Light. :21
    “Honestly, I think one of my most proud and embarrassed Halloween costumes is I went as Terry from Reno 9-1-1. I had the roller skates, the short-shorts, the tied-up shirt. Looking back, it wasn’t the manliest thing I ever did, but it got a lot of laughs. And I think that year my favorite candy I ever had was Busch Light.”

    Audio / Tyler Hubbard reveals his favorite Halloween candy.

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    Tyler Hubbard (Halloween candy) OC: …of childhood. :20
    “Ooooohhh—I’m a chocolate guy, so I do love just a good ole Reese’s or a good ole Snickers, but when it comes to classic Halloween candy, I still, I like ole candy corn. I do. I like candy corn. Well, it only comes around once or twice a year, well I guess once a year. Maybe it’s nostalgic, all that sugar, a couple of good cavaties, remind you of childhood.”

    Audio / Tyler Hubbard talks about his favorite family Halloween costume, and he reveals what they're going to dress as this year.

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    Tyler Hubbard (Halloween 2022) OC: …Here we go. :30
    “For Halloween, one of my favorite costumes – I have a family and three kids, so we can kind of be something together. I think it was last year, no the year before, we were Toy Story, so I was Woody, and that was, I don’t know, I just think of that picture of us sitting on the front porch, all of our costumes. Anyways, it’s quite a trip. And this year, we’re actually, the kids want to be Peter Pan. For some reason, they love Peter Pan, the old throwback classic, so we’re all gonna be Peter Pan. I think I’m going to be Captain Hook, and Happy Halloween. Here we go.”

     

  • DIERKS BENTLEY SETS THE SCENE FOR ‘LIFE ANTHEM’ IN NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “GOLD” OUT NOW.

    Dierks Bentley today releases the scenic music video for “Gold.” With an emphasis on looking at life from a different perspective, Bentley traces the treasures that can be found in everyday moments outlined in the “jangling country-rock tune” (Rolling Stone).  “Gold” is available at all digital retailers here.

     

     

    “The treatment for this music video almost wrote itself,” Bentley said. “’Gold’ is an optimistic reality check. I think we all wrestle with trying to get through the rocky parts of life and on to the next thing, but there are lots of special moments to cherish even in the middle of the tough stuff.”

    Directed by Wes Edwards, the video was shot across the state of Tennessee and reiterates Bentley’s admiration for the outdoors. Backed by his six-string touring ensemble including Charlie Worsham, Bentley intertwines a jam session fitting for “a life anthem that perfectly melds heart-on-sleeve lyrical candor with an infectiously jaunty melody” (Taste of Country). The Top 25 and climbing “cheery, big-sounding single with a valuable philosophical observation delivered in a unique way” (Billboard) sets the stage for his tenth LP, arriving early next year.

  • HALLOWEEN LINERS 2022

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (Trick or Treat)

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    “Trick or Treat, baby.”

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Halloween)

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

    Audio / LINER Carrie Underwood (Halloween)

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

    Audio / LINER Catie Offerman (Halloween)

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    “Hey everybody, this is Catie Offerman, wishing you a very Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Halloween) 1

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    “Hey y’all, I’m Caylee Hammack, wishing all of y’all a Happy Halloween. Boo!”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Halloween) 2

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    “Hey y’all! I’m Caylee Hammack, wishing all you goblins and gremlins out there a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Halloween)

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

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (Halloween)

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

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Halloween)

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

    Audio / LINER Jon Langston (Halloween)

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    “Hey y’all! I’m Jon Langston. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Jordan Davis (Halloween)

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

    Audio / LINER Josh Turner (Halloween)

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    “Hey Y’all, I’m Josh Turner, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Kacey Musgraves (Halloween)

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

     

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Halloween)

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    “Hey everyone, this is Keith Urban, wishing you a very spooky, happy Halloween. Boo!”

     

    Audio / LINER Kylie Morgan (Halloween)

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    “Hey y’all, this is Kylie Morgan, wishing you a Happy Halloween. BOO!”

     

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Halloween)

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

    Audio / LINER Maddie & Tae (Halloween)

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    “Hi! We’re Maddie & Tae. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Parker McCollum (Halloween)

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    “Hey everybody, I’m Parker McCollum. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Priscilla Block (Halloween)

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    “Hey y’all, this is Priscilla Block, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Reba McEntire (Halloween)

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    “Hey everybody, this is Reba McEntire. Happy Halloween. Ooooooh”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Halloween)

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

    Audio / LINER Travis Denning (Halloween)

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    “Hey y’all, it’s Travis Denning. Happy Halloween.”

    Audio / LINER Tyler Hubbard (Halloween)

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    “Hey y’all, it’s Tyler Hubbard, wishing you a Happy Halloween.”