Carrie Underwood (CMA Fest-Joan Jett) OC: …off on me. :25
“I get to sing with Joan Jett, guys! Whooooo! (I’m) super excited. I feel like we’ve had connections and bumped into each other in various places, and the stars just aligned. It was kind of like, ‘What if Joan Jett came to CMA Fest?’ ‘Well, let’s ask her.’ So, she’s here. The coolness has arrived, and I’m hoping some of it rubs off on me.”

Carrie Underwood (CMA Fest-Joan Jett) 2 OC: …sing with me. :25
“Just hearing her songs on the radio and the more I got to know and see just how much of a trailblazer she was for, not just women in her genre of music, but women in music in general…I mean, I’m a fan on every level — personally, professionally, musically and honored that she’s heard my name before and agreed to come sing with me.”

Keith Urban (CMA Fest-Old Town Road) OC: …with him last night. :23
“I just loved the song when I heard it. I love the record too, you know? Those are sometimes very separate things – the song to the record — but I just loved it and wanted to do my little cover version of it on my ganjo. From that very spontaneous moment, Nas saw the piece that I did and really loved it apparently, and next thing you know, I’m playing with him (and Billy Ray) last night.”

Jon Pardi (Thomas Rhett song) OC: …short hair now. (laughs) :44
“So (claps), me and Thomas (Rhett) go back to the long hair days — two songwriters trying to figure out who they’re gonna be in country music. I was so happy when he texted me and asked me to be a part of this record, and I was like, ‘Of course! Like come on! What song?’ He sent me two and we decided to sing ‘Beer Can’t Fix,’ ’cause it’s an anthem. It’s a no-brainer. For two male artists to sing a song together, I think it’s perfect. it’s about, well, drinking a beer. It’s fun, and I would say there’s a full-circle (moment) for me and him to walk out on Nissan and sing, for the first time ever, this song together. I don’t know. I think it’s cool, and we have short hair now.” (laughs)

Brothers Osborne (Brooks & Dunn) OC: …of us both. :46
First we were asked, ‘Are you guys fans of Brooks & Dunn?’ I just thought it was a ridiculous question to ask if you’re not a fan of Brooks & Dunn, then you shouldn’t be in this genre. But, so then it was like, ‘What song are we gonna do?’ Then it was a little tough because Ronnie’s voice is so high and obviously, I have a baritone voice, of trying to get a song to work for both of our strengths, and then a song that lends itself to a lot of guitar parts and then ‘Hard Workin’ Man,’ it became pretty obvious that was a really great song, but that also took abandoning one of the guitar hooks in that song. It was just crazy, because we wanted to do it like Brooks & Dunn did it, because we just love the song, and they wanted to do it like we would do it. It was a really interesting thing. I think the way that it turned out was really great. I’m really proud of it, and I think it really is a perfect kind of mix of us both.”

“Hey Everybody! I’m Adam Hambrick, wishing you a very Happy Father’s Day.”

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

“Hey everybody! I’m Brandon Lay, wishing all you Fathers out there a very Happy Father’s Day.”

“Hey! This is TJ, and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne, wishing all you fathers out there a very Happy Father’s Day.”

“Hey y’all! This is Caylee Hammack. For all you Dads out there, Happy Father’s Day.”

“Hey! What’s up? This is Clare Dunn, wishing you a Happy Father’s Day.”

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

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

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

“Hey y’all, this is Jon Langston, wishing you a very Happy Father’s Day.”

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

“Hey! It’s Jon Pardi, wishing all the fathers out there a very Happy Father’s Day. Here’s to you,  Senior.  Insert beer can opening sample (sound effect). (laughs)

“Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you all a Happy Father’s Day.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey! This is Luke Bryan, wishing all the Fathers out there a very Happy Father’s Day. Here’s to you, Dad.”

“Hey everybody! I’m Maddie and I’m Tae, wishing all you fathers out there a Happy Father’s Day.”

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

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

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.”

Keith Urban (Eric Church-writer on We Were) OC: …cut that song. :23
“The great thing is I had no idea who wrote the song when I went in and recorded it. We recorded it last December. I went back in and re-sang it a few times. We had to do what they call label copies – you gotta go through and make sure the lyrics are right. So, I’m doing all that. So, I got sent a lyric sheet and it was the first time I saw the three writers’ names and I saw Eric there, so I texted him right away to let him know I cut that song.”

Keith Urban (We Were-calling Eric) OC: …yeah. (laughs) :16
“He obviously writes a lot of songs, ‘cause when I texted him and asked him, ‘Are you a writer on ‘We Were?’’ And he said, ‘Is that the one with something about a water tower skyline or something?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, that one.’ He said, ‘Yeah.’” (laughs)

Keith Urban (We Were writers) OC: …completely original. :28
“It made sense when I heard it, not only Eric, but Ryan and Jeff as well. The three of them together have a particular thing, you know?  I think they wrote ‘Springsteen,’ as well. They just have a good chemistry, the three of them. But Eric has such a knack for storytelling anyway and choosing images and lyrics that they seem like a thousand people must have used them before, and yet they’re completely original.”

Keith Urban (We Were-recording a great song) OC: …a great song. :03
“Yeah, I didn’t record it because he’s a buddy of mine. I recorded it because it’s a great song.”

“Hi! I’m Adam Hambrick. Take time to remember our fallen heroes this Memorial Day Weekend.”

“Hey guys, I’m Billy Currington. I just wanted to say thank you to all our servicemen and women and their daily service to our country.”

“Hey everybody! This is Brandon Lay taking time to remember all of our fallen heroes on this Memorial Day weekend.”

“Hey! What’s up guys? We’re Brothers Osborne. We just wanted to send our thanks to all you service men and women and the ones who’ve gone before you for sacrificing time with your families, sacrificing your own needs and even sacrificing your lives so we can be free to do what we want to do. It means more than you’ll ever know.”

“Hi Everyone! This is Carrie Underwood, please take time to remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice during this Memorial Day Weekend.”

“Hey everybody, this is Dierks Bentley. I just want to say thank you to the men and women in uniform on this day and every day.”

“Hi! I’m Jon Langston. Take time to remember our fallen heroes during this Memorial Day weekend.”

“Hey! It’s Jon Pardi. Please take the time to remember our fallen heroes this Memorial Day Weekend.”

“Hey-I’m Jordan Davis, taking time to remember all of our fallen heroes on this Memorial Day weekend.”

“Hey! This is Josh Turner. I just wanted to say thank you to all of our servicemen and women for what you do around the world.”

“Hi everyone, this is Keith Urban. Now please take time to remember all those who sacrificed their lives during this Memorial Day Weekend.”

“Hi! This is Little Big Town, take time to remember our fallen heroes during this Memorial Day Weekend.”

“Hey! It’s Luke Bryan. Please take time to remember our fallen heroes this Memorial Day.”

“Hey everybody—I’m Maddie, and I’m Tae, and we’re Maddie and Tae. Take time to remember our fallen heroes during this Memorial Day weekend.”

“Hey y’all—it’s Travis Denning. Take time to remember our fallen heroes during this Memorial Day weekend.”

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]