Alan Jackson (CMA Music Fest) OC: …all about. :28 [NOTE: There’s a slight buzz underneath audio.]
“My daughter – three daughters – and about 10 friends every year, we have to pack into vans and get ‘em out here. They come every night. They come every night, not to see me, they come see everybody else. So, it has become more of a local event, and of course it evolved tremendously since I first started when it was Fan Fair at the old fairgrounds and signing autographs in a hot buildings. But the fans are the same, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Darius Rucker (CMA Music Fest) OC: …awesome. :48
“Music Fest is like nothing else. I say all the time that country music is the only genre that could have something like that. It’s truly amazing, when I come that weekend, people are everywhere and they want to be your best friend. It’s always cool and I love coming here. The thing that always gets me is the show. The fact that you can get that many superstars at one show all playing for free, for the same goal, to entertain those people that are in that stadium that come here for the whole week from all over the world. They come here for one week to see country music, and it’s amazing that those artists say on Friday and Saturday night, this is country music come on out. That’s awesome.”

Dierks (fans) OC: …commitment. [laughs] :22
“I know a lot of the early fans by name, because we played a lot of shows at a lot of small venues where we’d be around a lot after the shows. I’m not gonna say her name ‘cause I don’t know if she’d want me to or not, but she has like a dog print of Jake, my dog’s Jake, but she has this dog print on her shoulder with my name in the middle of the tattoo. So, tattoos are always, that’s a big deal when somebody gets your name tattooed on part of their body or something. It’s kind of a scary thing, because it’s kind of a lifelong commitment. [laughs]”

Dierks Bentley (signing a baby’s head) OC: …child’s brain. :13
“A baby’s head with a sharpie. Yeah, like a two-week old baby. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to do it. The woman was like, ‘Please.’ I was like, ‘Alright.’ The head at that point is so vulnerable, transparent, so I’m just hoping they didn’t get any ink in the child’s brain.”

Easton Corbin (CMA Music Fest) OC: …wouldn’t work. :25
“CMA Music Fest, it’s a great opportunity to hang out with your fans and stuff. The great thing about the country genre is it’s one of the only genres that really has a festival dedicated to their fans, and I think that’s great because without the fans we wouldn’t be here. They’re the ones that make it work. Without the fans to buy records and listen to the radio and come to the shows, it just wouldn’t work.”

Easton Corbin (fans) OC: …being here. :24
“My fans mean a great deal to me, especially the fans that come out to the shows and the ones that make it to every show around their home or in that vicinity. I even have people come here every time, in these meet-and-greet lines or maybe at the fence over there by the when you’re getting off the red carpet, I try to always make it a point to recognize those fans and just let them know how much that I care and how much I appreciate them being here.”

Eric Church (CMA Music Fest) OC: …to see.
“Well, I think it’s what makes country music unique. Find me another format that happens in, it’s just not something that happens. I think it’s about what we were talking about earlier; country music is the one for mat where the fans…the music is really about them. And we’re them; we’re not different than them. We’re not a lot of the rock stars and a lot of the other guys where they’re their own person, they’re their own agenda…they’re not like the people that are listening to them. It’s different in country, we are. We come from there, we are that. I think it’s just a great thing for them to be able to come to our town and to get just this barrage of music. We’ve always tried to do it a little different when we’ll have different events, a couple years ago we made the fans find us…they had to find clues around town of where we were playing and then when they found out they could post it and tell people and then that night we had a full show. We started that day with no people, we didn’t advertise, we said, ‘We’re playing, find us.’ We called it ‘Midnight Church.’ So at midnight we played the Rutledge. They found us, and they were out the door, and they found us there. It was really cool to have some fun in our town and just do stuff like that every year. I’ve done, last year I did a show where I did 3 nights in a row at a place. The first night was me and my band, the second night was an acoustic show, and the last night was me and the songwriters that helped me write this record all sitting up there playing songs and telling stories. It was three different takes on basically the same songs. Just unique. It’s my favorite thing about doing it, is when people come to town, we able to do some shows that we’re not able to do throughout the year because we’re touring a certain way. This is a chance for us to have a little more freedom, creatively, and give the fans something maybe they don’t get to see.”

Eric Paslay (1st autograph) OC: …first autograph. :42
“The first autograph that I ever got was in Branson, Missouri, and it was Shoji Tabuchi, and he’s a great fiddle player, and I always remember that, you know if you go to Branson, you know who he is. But I was a 9, 10 year old kid, and I always remember that. Every time I meet a kid, I don’t know if it’s their first concert. It could be their 100-thousandth, but whenever I sign an autograph for a kid, I really make sure it’s special and memorable, and with anybody, but especially with kids. I still have that Shoji Tabuchi autograph, you know? Because it meant that much. I didn’t know he was until we saw him, but he tore the place down playing the “Orange Blossom Special.”

Jon Pardi (performing live) OC: …really loud. :19
“To get up on stage, it feels like home. It’s like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to be.’ I’d rather be there than a lot of places. I love just getting up on stage not matter where it is. It’s fun to get up and entertain people and have a good time, make everybody feel a part of the show and get up there and play my guitar really loud.”

Josh Turner (weirdest things he’s signed) OC: …Sharpie, though. :10
“A toothpick; an unused toothpick, let me throw that out there, an unused toothpick. It was quite challenging, actually, and it didn’t look anything like my autograph. It took a really small Sharpie, though.”

Keith Urban(CMA Music Fest) OC: …love it. :25
“I love it! It’s like summer camp. I mean, it is! It’s a chance to obviously see a lot of people I don’t normally see. I don’t know. It’s just palpable. Since Fan Fair, it’s just been that sort of week-plus of energy; the town just explodes, and what it is we love about this genre and the community aspect of it. I always love it.”

Kip Moore (favorite thing about performing live) OC: …it gets. :17
“I’d say that my favorite thing about being on the road is the fact that I get to play music each and every night with my best friends. There’s nothing better than that than playing with your best buddies and seeing the joy that you bring to other people’s faces playing the music that you love to play. I mean that’s the best it gets.”

Lady Antebellum (Music Fest) 3 OC: …really cool. :25

“When you see the same fans, these die-hard fans that camp out outside the radio remotes and the hotels, and all of these places, and you start recognizing them, I think that’s when you start going ‘Wow, this is a special and unique industry.’ You talk to them by name and give them a hug. I can’t think of any other genre that has that kind of connection. The people that come back the same time every year, you know where they are going to be. It’s really kind of a fun thing. It’s really cool.”

Lauren Alaina (fans) OC: …me wrong. :30
“My fans helped me grow as a person in lots of different ways. I grew up in front of them. I was 15 on American Idol, so they watched me grow up and kind of helped me mold into who I am, because I worked at CiCi’s Pizza, and now I’m traveling all over the place. It’s like I learned responsibility through all of it. I learned who I am as a person, ‘cause my fans have made me stronger, they’ve made me more responsible, they made me believe in myself 10 times more, because I thought I was going home every week on American Idol, and they proved me wrong.”

Luke Bryan (CMA Music Fest) OC: …for this week. :33
“It’s a great week. I truly love this week for hundreds of reasons. I always remember my first ones and starting out and doing River Stages and always dreaming of coming over here and performing at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) and all of the stuff building the fan base early in the week. It’s an amazing week for Nashville, and it’s a great week for me. And then I get to be home and do all this stuff. It’s always been a fun week for me. A lot of my family always comes in for this week.”

Josh Turner (Hometown Girl) 1 OC: …no-brainer. :42
“The first time I heard ‘Hometown Girl,’ I was kind of excited, because, first of all, it sounded like a hit to me. It just had that hit chorus and it just had that vibe that didn’t really lose you. It held your attention. But honestly, it was different for me, and that’s kind of what I was looking for. I was looking for those songs that I felt like that would be different for me that or things that I hadn’t done really yet, but still had those Josh Turner ingredients, which is basically a lyric that tells a story that has a good message and just has a melody that caters to my voice. It had all that, and so it was just kind of a no-brainer.”

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

“Hey! What’s up, guys? I’m Canaan Smith. 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!”

“Hey! This is Eric Paslay. Happy Mother’s Day to all you awesome Mom’s out there.”

“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.”

“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!”

“Hi! I’m Kelleigh Bannen, hoping you have a Happy Mother’s Day.”

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

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

Vince Gill (Haggard nut) OC: …occasions. :12
“I‘ve been a  Haggard Nut my whole life. And I’ve played country music, recorded country music my whole life, and I’ve tried to emulate what I loved about Merle Haggard on a lot of occasions.”

George Strait (Merle Haggard) OC: …it’s just huge. :41
“You know, Merle was huge in my career. When he did ‘Okie from Muskogee’ back in the 70’s, I think it was, you know I kinda got hooked then on Merle and country music.  When I was in the Army and stationed at Schofield barracks in Hawaii, you know Merle came there, and he played Conroy Bowl.  And I remember I was playing an NCO club that night, and before my little gig, I got to run over there and I kinda snuck in and saw Merle and it just blew me away. That’s what I wanted to be like, you know, I wanted to be like the Hag. And so, I can’t tell you how big of an influence he was on me, just huge.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHILLIP: “Get a room!” [laughs]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey, what’s up guys? I’m Canaan Smith, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey! I’m Clare Dunn, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

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

“This is David Nail, wishing you a Happy New Year’s Day.”

“Hey, it’s Dierks Bentley. Happy New Year!”

“Hey everybody! I’m Easton Corbin, wishing you a Happy New Year!”

“Hey! It’s Eric Church, hoping you have a Happy New Year.”

“10-9-8-7—6-54321, Happy New Year, y’all. It’s Eric Church, and it’s time to put a drink in MY hand!”

“Hi! I’m Eric Paslay, wishing you a Happy New Year!”

“Hey everybody! I’m Gary Allan. Happy New Year!”

“Hi! I’m Jon Pardi, wishing you a Happy New Year!”

“Hey! I’m Josh Turner. Happy New Year!”

“Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves, hoping you have a safe and Happy New Year!”

“Hey everyone! This is Keith Urban. Have a safe and happy New Year.”

“Hey there! It’s Kelleigh Bannen, wishing you a very Happy New Year.”

“It’s Kip Moore, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“This is Lauren Alaina, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey! We’re Little Big Town. Happy New Year!”

“Hey! This is Luke Bryan, hoping you have a Happy New Year.”

“Hey! This is Mickey Guyton, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey everybody! I’m Sam Hunt. Happy New Year!”

“Hi! This is Shania Twain. Happy New Year!”

Josh Turner (Christmas kids) OC: …somewhere too. :19
“We have kind of made it a point to be at home at Christmas, ‘cause we want the boys to grow up with memories of being at home for Christmas, instead of traveling around going from this place to that place. It’s definitely a lot easier when people come to us, but we have no problem going somewhere too.”

Josh Turner (favorite Christmas food) OC: …favorite food. :15
“My favorite food to eat at Christmas time is probably the fried turkey that my daddy makes every year. He started that several years back, and it became a hit with our family, and so he ended up doing it. He’s been doing it every year since, so that’s always been my favorite food.”

“Hi! This is Alan Jackson, and I’m wishing y’all a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hi! Billy Currington here, wishing you and your family a safe and Happy Holiday Season.”

“Hey! This is T.J., and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hey! What’s up guys? I’m Canaan Smith, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hey! What’s up? This is Clare Dunn, hoping you have a Merry Christmas.”

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

“Hey! This is David Nail, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hey! This is Dierks Bentley, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.

“Hey everybody! It’s Dierks Bentley, wishing you a very Happy Holiday season.”

“Hey everybody! This is Easton Corbin, wishing you and your family a Happy Holidays.”

“Hey everybody! This is Easton Corbin, wishing you a Merry Christmas.”

“Hey everybody! It’s Eric Church, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hi! I’m Eric Paslay. Hope you have a Merry Christmas.”

“Hi! I’m Eric Paslay, wishing you a very Happy Holiday Season.”

“Hey! This is Gary Allan. Merry Christmas.”

“Hey everybody! This is George Strait, wishing you and your family a Happy Holiday season.”

“Hey! This is Jon Pardi, wishing you a Merry Christmas!”

“Hey! I’m Josh Turner, wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season.”

“Hey! This is Kacey Musgraves, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hi folks, this is Keith Urban, wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hi everyone, this is Keith Urban, wishing you and all your family the very best this holiday season.”

“Hey y’all, it’s Kelleigh Bannen, and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hey guys, this is Kip Moore, wishing you a Merry Christmas.”

“Hey y’all, it’s Kip Moore. Happy Holidays!”

“Hey everybody! We’re Lady Antebellum, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hey everybody! We are Lady Antebellum. Happy Holidays.”

“Hey! This is Lauren Alaina, wishing you a Merry Christmas.”

“Hey! We’re Little Big Town, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hey! We’re Little Big Town, and we just want to say Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas.”

“Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, wishing you a Merry Christmas.”

“Hey! It’s Luke Bryan. Happy Holidays!”

“Hey! It’s Mickey Guyton, wishing you a Merry Christmas.”

“Hey everybody! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Hey everybody! I’m Sam Hunt. Happy Holidays!”

“Happy Holidays everyone. It’s Scotty McCreery, and go easy on that eggnog!”

Hi! This is Shania Twain, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.

“Hey! It’s Toby Keith with the gift of politically correctness. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah, or Bah Humbug. Whatever way you celebrate, I hope it’s a good one.”