• CHRISTMAS 2015: Josh Turner

    With the addition of his fourth son, Hawke, a year ago, Josh Turner and his wife Jennifer say it’s easier for their extended families to come to them rather than traveling during the holidays. However, since the boys are used to being on the road throughout the year, it wouldn’t be a huge burden to travel during the holidays either.

    “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 to this place and that place,” says Josh. “It’s definitely a lot easier when people come to us, but we have no problem going somewhere too.”

    One thing he’s got to have on the table wherever he is celebrating Christmas is his father’s fried turkey. ““My favorite food to eat at Christmas time is probably the fried turkey that my daddy makes every year,” He says. “He started that several years back, and it became a hit with our family, and so he ended up doing it.”

    Audio / Josh Turner says he wants his four boys to grow up having memories of Christmas in their own house.

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    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.”

    Audio / Josh Turner, a father of four boys, talks about his favorite Christmas food.

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    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.”

  • CHRISTMAS LINERS 2015: AJ, Billy, Bros O, Canaan, Clare, Darius, David, Dierks, Easton, Church, Paslay, Gary, Strait, Pardi, Josh, Keith, Kelleigh, Kip, Lady A, Lauren, LBT, Luke, Sam, Scotty, Toby and more!

    Holiday liners from UMG Nashville artists, including Alan Jackson, Billy Currington, Brothers Osborne, Canaan Smith, Clare Dunn, Darius Rucker, David Nail, Dierks Bentley, Easton Corbin, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, Gary Allan, George Strait, Jon Pardi, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, Kelleigh Bannen, Kip Moore, Lady Antebellum, Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Mickey, Sam Hunt, Scotty McCreery and more!

    Audio / LINER AJ (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (Happy Holiday Season)

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

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Canaan Smith (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Clare Dunn (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER David Nail (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Easton Corbin (Happy Holidays)

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

     

    Audio / LINER Easton Corbin (Merry Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Eric Paslay (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Eric Paslay (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Gary Allan (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER George Strait (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (Merry Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Josh Turner (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Kacey Musgraves (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Holiday season)

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

    Audio / LINER Kelleigh Bannen (Merry Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Kip Moore (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Kip Moore (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Lady A (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Lady A (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER LBT (Christmas)

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

     

    Audio / LINER LBT (Very Merry Christmas)

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


    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Mickey Guyton (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Scotty McCreery (Happy Holidays)

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

    Audio / LINER Shania Twain (Christmas)

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

    Audio / LINER Toby Keith (politically correct holiday liner)

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    “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.”

  • THANKSGIVING 2015: AJ, Bros. O, Clare, Darius, David, Dierks, Easton, Eric, Josh, Kip, Lady A, LBT, Mickey, Sam, Scotty (UPDATED)

    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.

    Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, November 26th, and most people will be enjoying time with their friends and families, including some of your favorite country stars, such as Alan Jackson, Brothers Osborne, Canaan Smith, Clare Dunn, Darius Rucker, David Nail, Dierks Bentley, Easton Corbin, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, Josh Turner, Kip Moore, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Mickey Guyton, Sam Hunt, Scotty McCreery and more. They share their thoughts, 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’s John Osborne talks about their annual Misfits Thanksgiving dinner.

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    Brothers Osborne (misfits Thanksgiving) OC: …going home. :45
    “What we’ve done the past several years is because it’s so hard to go home, we would have what we call the Misfit Thanksgiving dinner, and all the people in Nashville who aren’t able to go home to their families, we would just invite them over to our house and have a big potluck style Thanksgiving dinner. We’ll take like a couple of tables and throw them together and throw some sheets on it just to make it look nice. It’s a very redneck display of like tableware, because all the plates don’t match and the forks and knives don’t match, but we don’t care. People will bring wine, and at the end of the day, we’ll probably have 12-15 people all sitting at dinner together that weren’t able to go home with their families, and just enjoy it with friends. It’s been really fun. Definitely a lot less stress than going home.”

    Audio / Clare Dunn reveals her favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

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    Clare Dunn (Thanksgiving dish) OC: …like hers. :21
    “I think my favorite Thanksgiving dish [is] my mom makes the best mashed potatoes in the world. I mean, they’re crazy. They’re like garlic and butter and all the good stuff, so that’s probably my favorite Thanksgiving dish. Oh, and she makes great stuffing too, and I’m not a stuffing person, but I like hers.”

    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 / 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 / Easton Corbin explains what he’s thankful for this year.

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    Easton Corbin (Thankful) OC: …what I do. :08
    “Well, this year I think, as I think every year, I’m so thankful for my family and friends out there and being able to make a living at what I do.”

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

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    Eric Church (Thanksgiving) a 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 / Eric Paslay loves him some turkey for Thanksgiving.

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    Eric Paslay (Turkey) OC: …really does. :09
    “My favorite Thanksgiving food, I think, is the tryptophan turkey, ‘cause it really puts me to sleep. No [yawn], it really does.”

    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 / Kip Moore talks about his annual Thanksgiving plans to go home to visit with his family.

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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 / Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley talks about the annual eating contest he and his two brothers – Josh and John -- have over the Thanksgiving holiday.

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    Lady A (Charles-Thanksgiving eating contest) OC: …five pounds! :25
    “One of my most memorable Thanksgiving memories was probably the first year that me and my two brothers decided to start our annual eating contest where we ate throughout the whole day. We started that morning and weighed ourselves and at the very end of the night, we weighed ourselves out and all three of us equally gained five pounds. I wish we had a more accurate scale to decide the winner, but we all tied. Five pounds!”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott describes her favorite Thanksgiving dish.

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    Lady A (Hillary-Thanksgiving food) OC: …ever tasted. :12
    “So, my favorite Thanksgiving food would have to be my grandmother’s sweet potato casserole. There’s just something she puts in it — probably all the love – that makes it better than anything I’ve ever tasted.”

    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 / 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 / Sam Hunt talks about his favorite Thanksgiving meal.

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    Sam Hunt (Thanksgiving eats) OC: …glass of milk. :34
    “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. Those are the really the three things. It’s strange, but since I was very young, I’ve always loved drinking milk, my brothers too, we drank lots of milk. My cousins, who grew up down the road, they always looked at us funny when we wanted to drink milk with our Thanksgiving meal. They would have coke or whatever else. So, I still get turkey, dressing, a piece of pecan pie and a big ole glass of milk.”

    Audio / Scotty McCreery talks about what he’s most thankful for this year.

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    Scotty McCreery (most thankful) OC: …thankful for her. :28
    “[I’m] most thankful for, I’d probably say my girl back home could be. I don’t talk about her too much, because she strives to stay out of the limelight, but with a guy like me who travels as much as I do and I’m away from home, she puts up with a lot. She’s stuck by me and has been my rock, so she’s something to be thankful for every day and Thanksgiving’s just a reminder of that. Somebody like that really keeps me going in life when things get rough and tough and I get tired on the road, she just keeps me going. I’m really thankful for her.”

    Audio / David Nail says he's most thankful this year for the impending birth of twins.

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    David Nail (Thanksgiving 2015) OC: …without a doubt. :19
    “Without a doubt, the thing I’m most thankful for is the fact that we’re on the verge of, my wife and I, having not only our first child, but our first two children. We are expecting twins; should be here any minute now. So, that is definitely thing that I’m most thankful for, without a doubt.”

    Audio / David Nail usually goes back home to Missouri for Thanksgiving, but this year, since his wife Catherine is due to give birth to twins any day now, they’ll stay home in Tennessee.

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    David Nail (Thanksgiving 2015) 2 OC: …next year. :25
    “Due to the fact that we’re expecting twins, we will not be able to go back home to Missouri and visit and have Thanksgiving with my grandfather. Last Thanksgiving was the first without my grandmother, and so it was a very emotional time. But I know he understands the situation, and we will definitely be there with bells on next year.”

    Audio / Canaan Smith says his favorite Thanksgiving dish is pumpkin pie.

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    Canaan Smith (pumpkin pie) OC: …Thanksgiving. :14
    “Pumpkin pie is where it’s at. My mom makes the best. She got it from her mom, my Nanny. It’s so good. It’s made from scratch. Everything about it, it’s just mouthwatering. I love it. I can’t get enough. If I could get fat, it’d be from pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.”

  • JOSH TURNER RECRUITS BAND AND CREW FOR ‘NO SHAVE NOVEMBER.’

    josh turner beard

    MCA Nashville’s Josh Turner was recently announced as this year’s Chairman of the Beard for the annual “No Shave November” campaign to raise awareness and funding for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

    In addition to music industry participants, country radio and fans nationwide, Turner has recruited his band and crew to his team, The Backwoods Boys. However, there is still time to join Turner and The Backwoods Boys before the official “No Shave November” kickoff this Sunday, Nov. 1.

    With a $30 donation, good-hearted, clean-shaven individuals can register to enter the challenge. It begins with a date-stamped “before” picture posted on the event Facebook page, and ends with a wild and wooly “after” shot. The month-long event concludes at the annual Beard Bash in Nashville – prizes are awarded and a St. Jude “No Shave November” Champion is crowned.

    What began as a light-hearted wager is now an annual event and valuable fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the first and only national cancer center devoted solely to children and one of the world’s premier research and treatment centers for childhood cancer. In only three years, “No Shave November” has resulted in over $500,000 for the patients of St. Jude. This year’s goal for the non-profit is $200,000.

    Join Turner and The Backwoods Boys team HERE.

    Pictured L-R:  Riq Lazarus, John Shaw, Kevin Haynie, Turner, David Spires, Jim Mayo

    Not Pictured: Mark Easley, David Turner, Jim VanCleve, T.J. Wilder

     

    #NSN4SJK

  • NEWS AND NOTES: KIP, KACEY, JOSH, SAM, MICKEY

    Kip Moore, Kacey Musgraves, Brett Eldredge, Thomas Rhett, Chris Young, Kelsea Ballerini and Carrie Underwood, among others, are set to perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live, as part of the road to the CMA Awards. The 49th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena November 4th at 8pm ET on ABC.

    Josh Turner has been named the 2015 Chairman of the Beard for No Shave November, an initiative in Music City to help raise funds and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. So far, the beard-growing campaign has raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars during its four years.

    Sam Hunt has been named one of Men’s Fitness magazine’s Game Changers of 2015. He talks about how playing and creating music during his college years at the University of Alabama Birmingham transformed him and “brought a lot of balance into my life.” Vin Diesel, Oliver Hudson, Matt Bomer, Calvin Harris and Michael B. Jordan are also on the list.

    Mickey Guyton has put out a lyric video for her song, “Somebody Else Will.” The song is from her recent EP, which also features her first single, “Better Than You Left Me.”

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Kacey Musgraves, Josh Turner, Luke Bryan

    Darius Rucker is set to perform during NBC’s Today Show Summer Concert Series on Friday (August 28th).

    Lady Antebellum will take over CMT this weekend, starting with CMT Hot 20 Countdown on Saturday (August 29th) at 9am ET. Cameras caught the trio at Virginia Beach on their Wheels Up 2015 Tour with opening acts Sam Hunt and Hunter Hayes. Then at 12pm ET, CMT will premiere the band’s third live DVD release. The full-length program will be available on DVD and blu-ray, with a deluxe version at Walmart, November 13th.

    Kacey Musgraves and Josh Turner have been added to the list of performers at the 9th Annual ACM Honors at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Tuesday (September 1st).

    Luke Bryan and Lady Antebellum will be among the famous faces honoring Lionel Richie as the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year on February 13th in Los Angeles, prior to the Grammy Awards later that week.

    Jon Pardi took to his Twitter to announce the newest addition to his family, Augustus. The pup, otherwise known as “Gus,” joins Jon’s other dog, “Cowboy.” The two dogs are actually related — Gus is Cowboy’s nephew.

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  • FOURTH OF JULY AUDIO: AJ, Billy, Canaan, Darius, Dierks, Easton, Church, Josh, Kip, Lady A, Lauren, LBT, Luke, Sam, Scotty

    Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. The holiday is commonly associated with fireworks displays, parades, barbecues and concerts. Some of your favorite country stars take time to remember their Fourth of July traditions, memories and what the holiday really means to them.

    Video / Alan Jackson Fourth of July

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  • JOSH TURNER HELPS A FATHER REALIZE HIS DREAM ON THE TODAY SHOW.

    To help a father — Lewis Lusk — celebrate Father’s Day, NBC’s TODAY Show surprised him with the gift of recording his own original track at the iconic Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. And Lusk got a little help from a new friend: country singer Josh Turner.

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 18, 2015) – Country superstar Josh Turner teamed up with NBC’s TODAY Show for a very special Father’s Day “Make Your TODAY.” Turner and the TODAY Show set the scene for Tennessee native Lewis Lusk at the famed SUN Studio in Memphis.

     

    Lusk had early dreams of being a country singer, but as life took a different path and he became a single parent and an adoring father of two young boys, he put his family first and his musical aspirations aside.

     

    Lusk’s now grown sons turned to the TODAY Show’s Al Roker to help make their father’s dream come true. After successfully luring Lusk to SUN Studio, where legends like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash recorded some of their biggest hits, Lusk learned he was going to record his very own original song, “Sally & Jack,” with guidance from his new friend, the multi-Platinum-selling Grand Ole Opry member, Josh Turner.

     

    Turner expresses, “It was such a special day for me to get to share this with Lewis. As a father myself, I respect the sacrifices parents make for their children. In this case,” Turner continues, “Lewis put his dreams on a shelf for the sake of his boys, and to have a hand in helping make that dream come true for him here is something I won’t forget.”

    Video / Josh Turner Today Show for Father's Day.

  • FATHER’S DAY LINERS: Billy, Canaan, Darius, Easton, Church, Paslay, Gary, Jon, Josh, Kacey, Keith, Lady A, Lauren, LBT, Sam, Scotty, Shania, Vince

    Father’s Day is Sunday (June 21st), and we have liners with many of your favorite country stars! See and download below.


    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (Father’s Day)

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    “Hey everybody! I’m Billy Currington, wishing you a very Happy Father’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER Canaan Smith (Father’s Day)

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

    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Father’s Day)

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    “Hey! What’s up? This is Darius Rucker wishing you a Happy Father’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Easton Corbin (Father’s Day)

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    “Hey! This is Easton Corbin. Happy Father’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Father’s Day)

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

    Audio / LINER Eric Paslay (Father's Day)

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    “Hey! This is Eric Paslay. To all you fathers, Happy Father’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER Gary Allan (Father's Day)

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    “Hey! This is Gary Allan, and I want to wish all the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (Happy Father’s Day)

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    “Jon Pardi here. Happy Father’s Day to all you father’s out there.”

    Audio / LINER Josh Turner (Father’s Day)

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    “Hey y’all! This is Josh Turner, and I just want to wish all you father’s out there a Happy Father’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER Kacey Musgraves (Father's Day)

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    “Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves. Happy Father’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Father's Day)

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    “Hey everyone! It’s Keith Urban, wishing all you Dads out there a Happy Father’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Lady A (Father's Day)

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    “What’s up all you Dads out there? It’s Lady Antebellum, and we just wanted to wish you all a good, Happy Father’s Day. Thanks for being great dads. Hope you get pampered and you don’t have to barbecue. And we hope you get some good ties this year.”

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (Father's Day)

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    “Hey! It’s Lauren Alaina. Happy Father’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER LBT (Father's Day)

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    “Hi! This is Little Big Town, wishing all you father’s a Happy Father’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Father's Day)

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    “Hey! This is Sam Hunt. To all you fathers out there, Happy Father’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER Scotty McCreery (Father's Day)

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    “Hey! This is Scotty McCreery. Happy Father’s Day!”

    Audio / LINER Shania Twain (Father's Day)

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

    Audio / LINER Vince Gill (Father's Day)

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    “Hey everybody! It’s Vince, and I just wanted to wish you a Happy Father’s Day. Wish mine was still around.”

  • CMA MUSIC FEST 2015: Darius, Dierks, Easton, Church, Paslay, Josh, Keith, Lady A, LBT, Luke, Scotty

    It’s that time again! The CMA Music Festival begins this week in Nashville, and the stars are ready to come out to perform and check in with their fans!

    Audio / Darius Rucker is making a couple of appearances during this year’s CMA Music Festival. On Monday (June 8th), he hosts his 6th annual Darius and Friends concert at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon and his golf tournament. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Darius is also set to perform at LP Field (home of the Tennessee Titans) on Sunday, June 14th where he will entertain the crowd with his list of hits.

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    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.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about the lengths that fans will go to show their appreciation.

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    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]”

    Audio / Easton Corbin says his fans are very important to him.

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    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. And I even have people come here that I know every time, in this meet-and-greet lines or maybe at that fence over there by the fence where 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 I appreciate them being here.”

    Audio / Eric Church, who’s performing at LP Field (home of the Tennessee Titans) on Sunday (June 14th), says CMA Music Festival is special and unique to country music.

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    Eric Church (CMA Music Fest) OC: …to see. :32

    “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 because country music is really the one format that the fans…the music is really about them. And we’re them; we’re not different than them. You got a lot of 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.”

    Audio / Eric Paslay recalls the first autograph he ever received.

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    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 to me. I didn’t know who he was until we saw him, but he tore the place down playing the “Orange Blossom Special.”

    Audio / Josh Turner recalls one of the weirdest things he’s ever had to sign from one of his fans.

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    Josh Turner (weirdest thing he’s been asked to sign) 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.”

    Audio / Keith Urban, who is performing Sunday night (June 14th) at LP Field (home of the Tennessee Titans), says he loves attending CMA Music Festival.

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    Keith Urban (CMA Music Fest) OC: …always love it. :25
    “I love it! It’s like summer camp. I mean, it is! It’s just 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 whole town just explodes, and what it is we love about this genre and the community aspect of it. I always love it.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum, who are scheduled to perform at LP Field on Friday (June 12th) in front of a sold-out crowd, talk about performing on the big stage during CMA Music Fest.

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    Lady Antebellum (Music Fest) 1 OC: …over the world. :14

    “The electricity in LP Field every year for that, you can’t really beat it. It’s so much fun to be there, and to have a stadium full of the most die-hard country fans you could ever imagine, from all over the world.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott talks about her early Fan Fair (now CMA Music Festival) memories.

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    Lady A (Fan Fair Memory – Hillary) OC: …extra special. :23
    “I have been raised as being at the fairgrounds with no air conditioning and actually helping take photos of the fans with my mom. I would like stand and take everybody’s camera, so I was a part of it. And actually in high school, I volunteered at the City of Hope, the softball game, for a couple of years. So, I mean, born and raised in Nashville, this has been a part of my life, my whole life, so now to be a part of it as an artist is extra special.”

    Audio / Little Big Town recall their first appearance at Fan Fair (aka CMA Music Festival). The group will be making several appearances, including their performance at LP Field on Saturday (June 13th).

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    Little Big Town (CMA Music Fest) OC: (Phillip) …the best, man. 1:43
    KIMBERLY: “We played at the fairgrounds. I guess it was the last year at the fairgrounds. We had just gotten our record deal.” PHILLIP: “I remember we were just about to walk out on stage, and we had to play acoustic. I mean there was no backing band.” KIMBERLY: “We were at Mercury. They wanted us to play before Wynonna sang.” PHILLIP: “I remember, my hair was short and Wynonna walked by and tuffed my hair and was like, ‘Oh that’s cute…cute red hair boy.’ [laugh] I was like, ‘Oh great.’ Like little puppy dog, ‘You’re gonna be OK, kid.'” KIMBERLY: “We were nervous.” KAREN: “Oh my gosh, were so nervous. We were so green.” KIMBERLY: “We didn’t have many songs at that point. Maybe three songs, which is what we sang. It was all we knew at the time which is what we had worked up. Because literally we got our record deal in May, and that was June.” KAREN: “And they were like, ‘Why don’t you guys sing a couple songs?’ And, we’re like, ‘Good, because a couple is what we know.’ That was fun. And then moving form that to the stadium shows, to me that the most fun you can ever have…CMA Fest, Stadium shows. It is an energy unlike anything else. It was over the top and I could just come out of my skin at those moments. KIMBERLY: “Me too.” KAREN: “It’s like you just want to float.” PHILLIP: “And it’s like the best country crowd you could ever compile. Every country fan from all over the world wants to be there. That’s like the crux of country music awesomeness. I’m telling you it is the best fun.” KAREN: “It’s the best feeling out there.” KIMBERLY: “They let them line up and all come across the stage so you have all these people that are so giddy, crazy giddy, because they get to walk up close to the stage.” PHILLIP: “And they’re waving and their arms are about to fall off. They’re just so excited. It’s the best.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan, who performs at Nashville’s LP Field on Friday (June 12th), explains the name of his fan club.

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    Luke Bryan (fan club name) OC: …words, you know. :13
    “That’s the name of my fan club – the Nut House, because they’re nutty and my Daddy’s a peanut farmer. I figured I spent my whole life hauling around peanuts, I would name…just a play on words, you know.”

    Audio / Scotty McCreery talks about his fans.

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    Scotty McCreery (fan support) OC: …back to us. :31
    “My fans are incredible. I tell them that every night on stage, and a lot of artists say thanks to the fans and ‘you’re the reason I’m here,’ but for me, it’s literal because they voted me through (American Idol), they’ve been with me since then. They’ve helped make the album platinum, the album gold, come to my concerts. In a sense, I really owe all this to them. They’ve really kind of helped make me who I am. I enjoy the chance to go out there and make music for them. I enjoy going out there to sing a concert for them. The biggest thing for me is when I look out and see the fans and they’re smiling, having a good time. Dancing, singing the songs back to us.”