Brandon Lay (Memorial Day) OC: …without you. :37
“My dad was in the National Guard for six years, and his dad was in the Army and in North Africa during World War II. One of my good buddies, Dan Berry, is a captain at Fort Campbell. I’m incredibly humbled every time I’m around those guys, because it really just puts it in perspective. Memorial Day is a special time to remember and gain perspective that everything we enjoy comes with a price, and these guys have paid the ultimate price and so have their families. So, to anybody that’s served in the military, we salute you, and we couldn’t have the life we have without you.”

Dierks (Memorial Day) OC: …upon them. :37
“On the most basic level, I think, for me on the road, I just think about being gone two, three days at a time, maybe a couple of weeks at a time, you know. That seems like a long time when you have kids and family, but these soldiers, they’re gone for months and years at a time – they’re doing 12 to 15 to 18 months — and they have family back home. That, in itself, is such a huge sacrifice, and that’s just the beginning of it. That’s just scratching the surface of what these guys [and gals] are doing every day – preparing for battle, actually being in battle, being wounded in battle, sometimes dying in battle. So, this country obviously, we would not exist without those courageous men and women, and our future depends upon them.”

Eric Church (grandfathers in WW2) OC: …touching to me. :21
“Both of my grandfathers were World War II veterans. I mean, that’s something that’s very rare. I’m not unique, you know. There’s a lot of people out there like that that their grandfathers served. The way that I was raised was very much red, white and blue and very patriotic, and I think that it’s the fact that what they give up is the real thing that’s very touching to me.”

Eric Church (Memorial Day) OC: …those freedoms. “It’s about, especially the soldiers I come in contact with on the road. And not only that, to be able to make the music that I’m able to make, to say what I want to say, and that freedom to be able to do those things and to be in a country where we’re able to do that and to be in a country where we’re able to play that stuff on the radio. I don’t think you’re going to have any America argue that America isn’t the best place to live, and I’m certainly one of them. I’m very proud to be from here and very proud that we have the soldiers. I know there are a lot of other countries out there in the world that don’t want to live the way we do, and that’s fine, they can keep living the way they are, but I’m very proud of it. I think that’s a time to celebrate being proud to be an American and celebrate those freedoms…and celebrate the people that are over fighting for those freedoms.”

Jordan Davis (Memorial Day) OC: …gave it all. :29
“You know, both my grandparents were in the service; my cousin was also a Marine, so the military hits close to home. I mean I can’t say enough about ‘em. We live in the best country in the world, and it’s because of those guys and because of the people that came before ‘em. So, I can’t thank ‘em enough. I wish we had Memorial Day every day, but it is great to have one day to thank the men and the women that gave it all.”

Keith Urban (Memorial Day) OC: …families too. :35
“It’s one of the things I comment on fairly regularly when we’re playing concerts, especially outdoor festivals, where I look around and think it’s  just amazing freedom to be able to do this, and it doesn’t effortlessly just come, you know? A lot of people are devoting their life, their entire life, to going out and protecting and defending and honoring their own calling. So, I feel immensely grateful for all of the men and women in the military, all in the armed forces, all around the world. The sacrifice they make, especially their families too.

Sam Hunt (Memorial Day) OC: …those freedoms. :40
“My granddad was in World World II. He was on the USS Texas battleship, and he was over at Normandy and over near Japan and he spent a lot of time right in the thick of World War II. He really took pride in what that meant, and it was something I got to see it first hand, as somebody who got to experience that; somebody who had that galvanized American trait. It’s hard to describe it. It was just somebody who’s been through that, seen that and really appreciates what that means. I try to channel that into my life, because I haven’t fought in any war, but I have a ton of respect for folks who have, folks who’ve sacrificed, families who’ve lost lives and just sacrificed years of their own lives and time and effort to maintain those freedoms.”

Brothers Osborne (being nominated) OC: (TJ) …but it really is. :26
JOHN: “One of the things I love about the country music genre is “It sounds cliché to say it’s an honor, but it really is that it’s a family. We’re all really, really close. We’re all a bunch of misfits thrown together. We’re all a little different, but we love one another and respect one another, and I’m just honored for the both of us to be a part of this awesome family.” TJ: “I will say to add on that, it sounds cliché to say it’s an honor to be nominated, but it really is.”

Brothers Osborne (I Don’t Remember Me (Before You) 1:05
“There was a bit of the song that was a little on the nose. I don’t – it started the first tag (sings) which was an idea Shane had. He showed up that day and goes ‘I don’t remember my life before I had my babies.’ He said, ‘I literally can’t think of who I was. I don’t remember who I was before [my] husband Michael.’ And we thought man, that is a really interesting thing. An incredible idea. I’m sure it’s been done to some extent, but I can’t really recall that subject being said that way. And so, we were all about it. We loved the idea and the concept, but when Jay [Joyce] heard it, he goes, ‘Man, I think it would be really cool to save the ‘before you’ till the end of the song and I instantly was like, ‘Man, I think that’s a killer idea.’ John and I were all about it. And so, it ends now (sings) it kind of goes in a turn around. You don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. ‘I don’t remember me,’ you keep hearing this, and then at the end is the reveal ‘I don’t remember me before you,’ which I think is great. It also made it problematic [for] the title of the song.”

Dierks Bentley (Bros O on Burning Man) OC: …great hang. :26
“I’m a huge fan of those guys. They’re friends. We play in a side band together, a ‘90s country cover band called the Hot Country Knights with a K for anyone who wants to look us up. So, we’re just pals, and it’s like this song feels like something that they would sing, you know? It feels like if they’d got this one before I did, they probably would’ve cut it. It was so easy. I just called ‘em up and sent the song and got a huge ‘Yes’ back from both of them right away. They came into the studio like two days later. It was just a great hang.”

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

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

Kacey Musgraves (Rainbow) 1 OC: …make it through. :48
“The song ‘Rainbow’ was actually written a handful of years ago as sort of a little bit of a memo to myself. I think we can all get stuck in a mindset that things are never gonna improve or you can easily focus on kind of the bad parts of whatever you’re going through and not really realize that if you pulled your head above the water you’d see that the sun is actually shining and that everything’s actually okay. I think one of the reasons that people may relate to the song a lot is because, though it was written to myself, I think that it can take the shape of like whatever someone’s going through – whether it’s coming out and not having the support or just any kind of a situation that they don’t feel like they may make it through.”

Carrie Underwood (Love Wins) 3 OC: …one another. 57
“One of the things that I was very careful about when we were writing the song, I’m like I don’t want to make it sound too easy because it sounds so easy. ‘Let’s just all love each other and get along. Oh okay, I never thought of that. Let’s try that.’ I feel like it maybe there’s a song on the radio or somebody says something, and you have a conversation with somebody that maybe you’re like today I’m going to try seeing things from a different point of view, then you’re one step closer, even if it’s just a little step. We’re just one step closer to each other. So, I love the fact that I feel like this song is kind of saying no matter who you are, what you feel, what you think – we didn’t want it to be political. We didn’t want it to be polarizing. We wanted it just to acknowledge that we’re in a broken world. We’re all human beings. We all deserve love. We all deserve respect and we all should try to show that to one another.”

Maddie & Tae (Friends Don’t) OC: …likes it. [laughs] :22
“So, the story behind our song ‘Friends Don’t’ is actually my sister’s story. My little sister back home in Texas was kind of dating this guy and they’re kind of in the friend’s zone, but they like each other, but they really didn’t know what was going on. And so, Tae and I got inspired by her story and wrote it. She kinda gets frustrated when we write songs about her, but I know she secretly likes it.” [laughs]

Brandon Lay (Mother’s Day) OC: …comes from her. :2
“She works harder than anybody I’ve ever seen. She can outwork most 20-year-olds in the yard still. She grew up on a farm, and I think a lot of that just bulldog it and get it done attitude, I probably get from her. She’ll go from sunup to sundown, and she doesn’t complain, and that’s just so rare. I feel like the work ethic, as far as grind it out and get it done, that toughness comes from her.”

Caylee Hammack (Mother’s Day) 1 OC: …love fully. :53
“I love that my Mom is a no-nonsense woman. I love that she always speaks her mind and she’s super stubborn, because she handed it down to me and it’s come in handy, to be honest. She’s a great cook. I wish I was half the cook that she is. She’s obsessive about Tupperware and plates, which I used to hate, but now as an adult whenever I break a dish or something, I just call her, and I know that I have one on standby. I love that she loves random things so that I can squirrel them away and take them to Nashville sometimes. And I love that she loves big. She either gives all of her heart or nothing at all; she always gives all of her heart. She loves, you know, she has a bleeding heart, and I think that’s just one of the most beautiful traits in the world is to love fully.”

Carrie Underwood (having 2 boys) OC: …little brother. :49
“It’s kind of crazy to think, sometimes I’ll literally look at my husband and be like, ‘We have two sons. We have two kids. We’ve been married for almost nine years. We have two children. We live on a farm.’ Like it’s just weird to think how life turns out sometimes. Life is very different with two. We kind of got out of that baby stage with Isaiah. He’s much more self-efficient, and he can brush his own teeth and put his own clothes on, and he’s making decisions for himself, and then we start all over with the little squishy one again. It’s just kind of crazy. You forget how hard it is, to be honest, but you just figure your way through it. I am so blessed to have Isaiah who is super helpful and super sweet, and he loves his little brother.”

Carrie Underwood (Mother’s Day traditions) OC: …even more so. :40
“We don’t really have like any Mother’s Day traditions. I feel like I remember me and Dad making breakfast for Mom like once as a kid. I’m pretty sure we just made a giant mess in the kitchen and we never did that again, so. Being on the other side of things, I obviously don’t expect anything from my three-year-old, but my husband’s really good at getting presents from quote unquote Isaiah. It’s really sweet, because he likes to bring me things. He’s such a sweet little guy, and anytime he’s outside, he’ll pick me flowers and things. So, I’m like, ‘You’re learning. You’ve already got me wrapped around your finger, and then you do stuff like that, and it’s even more so.’”

Clare Dunn (Mother’s Day) OC: …in the world. :41
“She is unrelenting in her love and her support, and even when we’re crazy kids and we screw up, it doesn’t matter. Her love knows no bounds. And her undying devotion to her kids – to my sister and I – always believing in us a million percent, always backing us up a million percent and helping us navigate life and navigate our dreams and helping us go towards that goal – those are some of the qualities that I hope to have some day as a mother, you know? And I’m so grateful I have THE best mom in the WORLD!”

Darius Rucker (Mother’s Day) OC: …killed me. :17

“I think that’s the main reason I am how I am…an innate fear of disappointing my mom.  My mom’s not even alive, and I have a fear of her looking down from heaven and going, ‘Man I’m just disappointed in my son.’ She could have said anything in the world to me, but if she would have said, ‘Son, you just disappointed me,’ That would have killed me. It would have killed me.”

Darius Rucker (favorite memory of his mother) OC: …my Mom’s song. :34
“Oh goodness! A lot of great memories of her, but probably one of my favorite memories, I was a young kid, probably eight or nine, and she was in the kitchen cooking and listening to the gospel station and Shirley Caesar’s ‘No Charge’ came on and she was singing ‘No Charge.’ I just remember I ran into our living room which was adjoined to our kitchen and I just sat there and I just listened to her sing that song, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow! What an amazing voice.’ That’s just always a memory I’ve always had, and that song still to this day when I hear it just moves me because that was my mom’s song.”

Eric Church (Mother’s Day) OC: …as a man. :57
“My mom, even though my dad won’t like this, my mom is by far the toughest person that I’ve met. She’s tough. One of those people that’s been through a lot in her life, adversity wise and never complains, always really resilient with anything that’s happened to her. And it’s just that attitude, the positive attitude, regardless of what has happened that I think is the one thing that I got from her. With career, she’s always been a person that’s been really positive through times that I couldn’t find a positive streak, [laughs] and she was always really positive, and very much believes in tough it out, keep working hard, and that’s her motto with stuff like that. I’ve always been impressed with that stuff. Then musically, she’s where I get my talent from, musically. She sings great, always has, her mom sang great. I owe my musical chops to her. And she still sings some. So, career-wise, I owe her everything. And just in life-wise she’s given me a lot of the qualities that it has taken for me to get me where I am. Not only as a musician, but as a man.”

Jon Pardi (Mother’s Day) OC: …worrying about me. :29
“My mom’s always been there for me. First of all, she’s a great mom. She’s an angel. She takes care of people that aren’t even in the family. She’s always been like that, and she’s a great mother. She’s always proud, and she’s always there supporting and being a great mom. She’s just a good human being. There’s not one mean bone in her body. And she cries about every time I talk to her. She always worries about me. I have to tell her, ‘Stop worrying about me.’”

Jordan Davis (Mother’s Day) OC: …Mother’s Day. :30 [laughs]
“I’m a Mama’s Boy. I love my Mom, and it’s the way she finds the good in everything. With my Mom, as opposed to finding anything negative, she’s gonna find something positive first. That’s something I really hope I can be more like her on; one of the many things I wish I could be more like my mom on. My mom, she loves flowers, so we’ll get her flowers or take her to, we’re slowly getting her into sushi, so we love to take Mom out to sushi spots on Mother’s Day.” [laughs]

Kacey Musgraves (creative women) OC: …taking pictures. :16
“My mom’s an artist – all different kinds of mediums, paint, but she’s always working on something different. My Meemaw, she’s a soap maker. She makes soap and they’re beautiful and they smell really good and they’re all natural. My sister has an etsy store, and she’s constantly creating something, sewing pillows and taking pictures.”

Keith Urban (Nicole is extraordinary mother) OC: …to see. :45
“She’s an extraordinary mum, she really, really is. Those girls are very, very lucky, and I feel very lucky that the children I should have in this world happen to be with Nic. I don’t know anything about raising kids and Nic does, and that comes in extremely, um, it’s really made for an experience I wouldn’t have had without that. Her patience, her recognizing them as people and not just little kids is really extraordinary. Her attention to honoring their feelings and listening to them right from day one – really being attentive to that is not how I was raised at all, so it’s really beautiful to see.”

Lauren Alaina (Mom keeps her grounded) OC: …same for her. :19
“I honestly would not be able to do it without my mom. I get overwhelmed sometimes, and if she wasn’t there to comfort me or tell me, ‘Look just realize what you’ve got going for you,’ I’d be up the creek [without a paddle]. She’s got my back. My mom would walk through a fire pit for me, and I’d do the same for her.”

LBT (Mother’s Day) OC: …for my mother. :34
“Being a mother is a life-long dream for me. When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted to be is a mama. It took a long time. I wasn’t ever sure that I would be, but I am now, and it’s the greatest gift of my life. And as I’m a mother now, I see what my mother gave up and her sacrifices and her love and how she made us the most important thing in her life, and that’s what I strive to do for my little girl. It’s the most important job I have, and it’s the most responsibility that I have, and I try to live up to a great example that I had for my mother.”

LBT (Mother’s Day-Karen) OC: …every day. :23
“There isn’t anything that means more to me than sitting on the bench and eating a grilled cheese sandwich with this little guy who calls me Mama. There isn’t anything better than that. He’s just a little miracle. I went from dreaming about him to eating grilled cheese sandwiches and ketchup with him, and I could never have dreamed this up – how good it could be, and it just gets better every day.”

Maddie & Tae (Mother’s Day-Tae) OC: …was so fun. :25
TAE: “To this day one of the best surprises I’ve ever pulled off was on Mother’s Day three years ago. ‘Cause my mom’s birthday always tends to fall on Mother’s Day Weekend – it’s coming up – and my mom and dad were coming into Nashville and I was like, ‘Okay-this has got to be a big weekend. It’s Mother’s Day, her birthday and the weather was going to be beautiful, so I planned this awesome surprise where we would drive first – she wouldn’t know where we were going, and then we ended up going canoeing down the Harpeth River [located south of Nashville], and it was so fun.”

Maddie & Tae (Mother’s Day-Maddie) OC: (Maddie) …everything’s okay. :53
MADDIE: “She is so good at balancing is what I’m trying to say. My Mom is such a great balancer, but as I’m coming into our adulthood, and all that kind of stuff, she’s very conscious about when I’m trying to be perfect and have everything in order with everything. And she’s like, you can’t. You can’t do that. Life, you have to figure out how you’re going to deal with the curveballs that are thrown out you. Are you going to catch them and whine out about it or are you going to catch them and move on? Like you have to just go with what’s thrown at you. And my Dad’s been a really, really good supporter on just not letting life’s trials bring you down and letting them just be learning tools and all of that. But, most of the time, a Mama hug can really fix anything.” TAE: “Ahh…it’s the best.” MADDIE: “If my Mom hugs me while I’m crying, everything’s okay. There’s just something about it. I’m 23, grown, but, my Mom, if she hugs me, everything’s okay.”

Shania Twain (joy to be a parent) OC: …means everything. :14
“It’s such a joy to be a parent. So, I relate to all the mums out there who are getting all their love and appreciation from their kids, and I hope, when you’re a kid, a child of somebody, show your mum you love her, because it means everything.”

“Hey everybody, I’m Adam Hambrick, wishing all the mother’s a very Happy Mother’s Day. Love you, Mom.”

“Hey everybody, this is Brandon Lay, wishing all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day. Thanks, Mom.”

“Hey! What’s up guys! We’re Brothers Osborne, wishing all you mothers out there a very, very Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey y’all, this is Caylee Hammack, sending this out to my mom and all the other mothers out there – I hope all of you have a wonderful Mother’s Day.”

“Hi! It’s Chrissy Metz, wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey! What’s up? This is Clare Dunn, hoping you have a Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey y’all, what’s up? This is Darius Rucker, hoping you have a Happy Mother’s Day.

“Hey, y’all! This is Dierks Bentley, wishing all you mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey everybody! This is Eric Church, wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day, mom!”

“Hi! This is George Strait, wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey y’all, it’s Jon Pardi. I want to wish all the mamas out there a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day. Love ya, Mom.”

“Hi! This is Josh Turner, wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves. To all you mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day!”

“Hi everyone, it’s Keith Urban. Hoping all the mothers out there have a very, very Happy Mother’s Day. Love ya, Mom!”

“(ALL) Hi! This is Little Big Town. (KIMBERLY) We want to wish all you mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day. I love ya, Mama!”

“Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, hoping all you mothers out there have a Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey everybody. I’m Maddie & I’m Tae and we’re Maddie & Tae, wishing all you mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day. I love ya, Mom.”

“Hey! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day.

“Hi! This is Shania Twain. Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Hey y’all, it’s Travis Denning, wishing all the mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day. Love you, Mom.”

Eric Church (The Snake commentary) OC: …feel about ‘em. 1:20
“‘The Snake’ is really a song that was written about this political discourse, battle, Armageddon that I think everybody gets involved. It’s so interesting to me, full disclosure by nature I’m just not a very political person. I find it somewhat silly because I kind of get what is going on. I feel like in order to be a career politician, you have to keep your base riled up and the best way to rile up your base is to attack the other side, and the other side does the same thing. So, you have these two sides that are attacking each other vehemently and they’re doing it just so they can stay in office. They’re not doing it for any legitimate reason, so this song really came from whichever side you want to paint is a copperhead, and whichever other side you want to paint is a rattlesnake. I feel like that’s all they do all day, and in the meantime, the whole world’s burning down, because there’s not enough people in my opinion, there that actually want to do something; that actually want to accomplish something. They just want to stay in office. That’s rjeallly where this song came from, and at least the humorous part for me was calling them copperheads and rattlesnakes, ‘cause that’s exactly how I feel about ‘em.”