• NEWS AND NOTES: Lady A, Dierks, Kacey

    Lady Antebellum will headline NBC’s Today Show Citi Concert Series this Friday (July 6th).

    If you missed it the first time and didn’t DVR his appearance, you can catch Dierks Bentley on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in a re-broadcast of the show Tuesday night (July 3rd).

    Kacey Musgraves appears on the July/August issue of American Songwriter. It hits newsstands July 10th.

    https://twitter.com/KaceyMusgraves/statuses/1013831280092475392

     

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM PREPPING FOR THEIR UPCOMING SUMMER PLAYS ON TOUR WITH PAL DARIUS RUCKER.

    Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker have been in rehearsals and production meetings for their upcoming Summer Plays On Tour, and they feel that the fans will definitely get their money’s worth when they come to see them on the road.

    “The one thing that I love about Darius is, not only is he a great guy, he’s a seasoned entertainer and we finally feel like too as a band, and we’ve been at this for almost ten years now, we feel we know how to hold a crowd and put on a really fun and entertaining show,” says Lady A’s Charles Kelley. “I just feel like when the crowds come, they’re gonna get over three hours-worth of music that is just straight singalongs, constantly, and that’s what we want. Darius is just such a great entertainer and we’re friends and we’re gonna have a lot of collaborative moments on it too, and obviously I’ll have my golf buddy there with me during the day.”

    The Summer Plays On Tour will launch July 19th in Toronto, Ontario, but first Lady A will headline Nashville’s Let Freedom Sing Fourth of July celebration, which features one of the largest fireworks displays in the nation.

    The members of Lady Antebellum are currently making their way up the country charts with “Heart Break,” while Darius, along with Charles Kelly, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, just released “Straight to Hell.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley can’t wait to go on tour with his pal Darius Rucker.

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    Lady A (Darius Tour) 1 OC: …during the day. :53
    “One of the biggest reasons that we, kind of together with Darius, approached this concept of touring again together was because we had so much fun last time. When was the last time we toured together, Dave? (Dave): 2012. 2012 and still to this day it’s the biggest tour we’ve ever had and it was just so much fun and the one thing that I love about Darius is, not only is he a great guy, he’s a seasoned entertainer and we finally feel like too as a band, and we’ve been at this for almost ten years now, we feel we know how to hold a crowd and put on a really fun and entertaining show. And I just feel like when the crowds come they’re gonna get over three hours-worth of music that is just straight singalongs, constantly, and that’s what we want. Darius is just such a great entertainer and we’re friends and we’re gonna have a lot of collaborative moments on it too, and obviously I’ll have my golf buddy there with me during the day.”

    Audio / LINER Lady A (SPO tour liner)

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  • FOURTH OF JULY 2018 SOUNDBITES

    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.

    Several artists will perform during Independence Day celebrations. Keith Urban will take part in the annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, along  with Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Ricky Martin, which will be broadcast July 4th at 8pm ET on NBC.

    Carrie Underwood will headline the Fourth of July Hot Country Live event, launching Spotify’s new live concert series based on the streaming services Hot Country Playlist. It will take place at the Seaport’s Rooftop at Pier 17 concert venue.

    Lady Antebellum will headline the free July 4th concert in downtown Nashville. The “Let Freedom Sing” concert event will also feature performances by Chris Janson and Lucie Silvas. Following the show, there will be a 30-minute fireworks show, which is touted as one of the biggest in the country and will be synchronized to a live performance from the Nashville Symphony.

    Lauren Alaina will perform during A Capitol Fourth, an annual Independence Day special on PBS. Luke Combs will also perform. A Capitol Fourth, hosted by John Stamos, will air live from the West Lawn of the White House on July 4th at 8pm ET on PBS.

    Audio / Alan Jackson recalls one of the coolest Fourth of July memories he’s ever enjoyed.

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    AJ (fave 4th of July memory) OC: …very cool. :58
    Well, this one is hard to beat. A couple of years ago, maybe longer than that now, I had an old boat in Florida. It’s like an old antique motor yacht, and it was kind of a cool old boat. I had taken that boat, I’ve always wanted to take it up north like to New York and up in that area, up in the northeast where it’s so pretty. So, we took the boat up there and Denise and the girls, we all went up. They like going to New York City, which I don’t really care about going to the city. So, I got to stay in my boat there at the harbor tied up, which was cool anyway. So they spent time in the city a few days and then that was Fourth of July, and we went out in the Hudson River that night and they shot the fireworks off and we were anchored out in front of the Statue of Liberty and New York City was behind us, and the Statue of Liberty and the fireworks were going off sitting on that boat. That was the coolest thing and my girls still talk about that. I mean, that was the coolest thing on Fourth of July I can ever remember. I can’t top that one probably. It was emotional sitting there watching the Statue of Liberty and thinking about all that. It was very cool.”

     

    Audio / Billy Currington talks about his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Billy Currington (4th of July) OC: …of my life. :16
    “My best memories would be hanging out with my mom, brother and sister on the beach on Tybee Island right off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. We’d go there every year, and we’d light our own fireworks and watch the ones that they had for us. They were the best times, some of the best times of my life.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay talks about his memories of the Fourth of July growing up in Jackson, Tennessee.

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    Brandon Lay (Fourth of July) OC: …good times. :47
    “I remember everybody hanging out at my grandmother’s and we would drive down the road to a fireworks stand off the side of Highway 45 out there in Jackson [Tennessee]. Just getting the bottle rockets and Black Cats and bringing ‘em back to the house, it felt like it was an eternity before it got dark. We just kept wanting to light ‘em and our parents would tell us it ain’t time, but just how exhilarating it was to see ‘em shoot up. We’re not talking big time fireworks here, but you would’ve thought that it was. It’s funny just how you remember things, but I just remember a screen door at my grandmother’s, running in and out, in and out, in and out and four wild little cousins running around. It was good times.”

     

    Audio / Clare Dunn and her family are usually in the midst of harvesting their crops during the Fourth of July holiday, but she says it's one of her favorite memories growing up since that was when they were all together as a family.

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    Clare Dunn (Fourth of July) OC: …with your family. 1:12
    “Fourth of July is probably one of the biggest memories for me, because it’s always during harvest time. And harvest time, being a farmer, is your most important time of the year. It’s always nine-o. It’s always busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, but we always go into town, depending on what field we’re at. A lot of my memories are South Grenada, Colorado, we farm just south of that town, and we go into town and get Mexican food, a great Mexican food place called Shorty’s, and we get tostados and enchiladas and we take them back out to the field. And everybody stops for a second and we eat on the hoods or the tailgates of pickups, and we’re just all out there in the field taking a brief moment to eat dinner and then get back to cutting. And if you’re lucky you’ll see some fireworks from town. Those are some of my favorite memories growing up because you’re all out there working. You’re together, and it’s just the moment of pride, of getting the harvest in and getting to be with your family.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker enjoys setting off fireworks.

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    Darius Rucker (fireworks) OC: …off once. :15
    “Oh, I love fireworks. We had the bottle rocket fights and all that good stuff. I was the typical little crazy kid, you know. In South Carolina, it was always legal, so we shot fireworks when it was legal. We did all that sort of stuff. I almost blew my hand off once.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley says the people of this country are what define America.

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    Dierks (people are America) OC: …all about. :17
    “The definition of America to me, you know, getting a chance to travel across the country on a tour bus, stepping upon stages whether it be county fairs, state fairs, arenas, rock bars, the Opry stage, anywhere across the country and looking out at that crowd and seeing people. The people, to me, are what America’s all about.”

    Audio / Eric Church recalls his family activities on the Fourth of July holiday.

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    Eric Church (4th of July) OC: …freedoms. 1:17
    “The Fourth of July for me, growing up we would always go to the lake, we didn’t live on the lake but we would all go to the lake. Had a buddy who had a pontoon and we would always get on the pontoon and you go out and you’d tie all the pontoons together and just have a big time. This was before, I was younger then, the adults were having more fun than we were, you know it was just to go swim in the water and shoot off fireworks. Basically, water tailgating is what it was. And then as we got older, same thing…we would just, us younger kids had our own boat and we had as much fun as the adults.”

    Audio / Jordan Davis talks about some of his favorite childhood Fourth of July memories.

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    Jordan Davis (Fourth of July) 2 OC: …really cool. :17
    “Probably baseball games, firework shows at baseball games. We’d go to Shreveport Captains games, so yeah, we’d do that or barbecues and fireworks. I can remember being on the lake for a couple of Fourth of Julys. We’d take the boat out and we’d watch the downtown fireworks show from the boat, which was really cool.”

    Audio / Josh Turner, who will perform in Demorest, Georgia on Independence Day, talks about the fireworks “wars” his family would have when he was growing up.

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    Josh Turner (fireworks) OC: …of money. [laughs] :20
    “Yeah, we had fireworks around, especially my Daddy’s family. All the individual families had a lot of competition with each other and tried to outdo each other to try to see who had the biggest and baddest fireworks and all that. [laughs] My daddy, I think, was the smartest one. He just went out and bought maybe $25 worth of fireworks and let everybody else put on the big show, so he saved a lot of money.” [laughs]

    Audio / Keith Urban recalls coming over to America for the first time.

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    Keith Urban (coming to America 1st time) OC: …as I could. :39
    “1989 was the first year I came to the States, and it had always been my goal, but I had no plan on how to get here. It was just a case of keep playing, keep getting better at what you do, and then hopefully, somehow, some way I’ll end up over here. The guy who was managing me at the time, we just planned a trip over here – it was actually for the New Music Seminar in New York. And we came over for that, and then we did a trip down to Nashville, and I was shopping my little demo around. I think I humored everybody more than anything else [laughs] with my tragic, ill-fitting demo for the time. So, I left there, but I was just so committed to coming back as quick as I could.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott talks about her favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Lady A (4th of July-Hillary) OC: …on my hand. :29
    “For many, many years in a row, we would be up at the lake for Fourth of July, and having those memories of being on the boat and going tubing and skiing and enjoying being out in the summertime, great weather on the water. But, then for me, Fourth of July was when [husband] Chris [Tyrell] proposed. So, I got proposed to on July 2nd up at the lake, the same lake I grew up going to, and so that’s probably the biggest highlight of Fourth of July to me – getting a rock on my hand.”

    Audio / Every year, Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood celebrates his birthday along with America’s big day.

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    Lady A (Fourth of July-Dave) OC: …and America. :45
    “July fourth is always, for me, my birthday week. My birthday is July 5th so we grew up going on family trips to the beach. We would always go to Hilton Head, South Carolina and always take trips for my birthday, so that’s always a fun time of the year…watch fireworks. I think my best memory would be my birthday party when I was 9 or 10 years old. We went to the batting cages and I remember I was swinging so hard, it was 100 degrees outside, I was swinging in the batting cage and ended up passing out right there in the batting cage. You’re trying so hard to hit the ball, you’re a kid and you really don’t realize how much water you should be drinking and [CHARLES: “Dave was that kid.”] I was that kid who was on the ground in the batting cage, people fanning and pouring water all over my face. Happy Birthday to me and America.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild talks about the big sacrifices the military AND their families make to keep this country free.

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    LBT (military) OC: (Karen) …whenever we can. (Kimberly: “Yeah.”) :22
    “It’s such a huge sacrifice what these men and women do for us, and not only the ones that are serving, but the families that are left here at home. I mean, it’s just a huge commitment that they make, and what an honor. We love to be able to sing for them and entertain them and to say thank you whenever we can.” (Kimberly: “Yeah.”)

    Audio / Luke Bryan recalls one of his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Luke Bryan (4th of July memories) OC: …we used to. :21
    “Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories were spent on Lake Blackshear down in Georgia with my family. I was always kind of in charge of driving home from Tennessee and picking up all the fireworks and my nieces and nephews always got excited when I rolled in because they knew I had all the fireworks. But, it was always a great memory, and I miss not getting to do that as much as we used to.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae talk about their Fourth of July traditions.

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    Maddie & Tae (Fourth of July) OC: …it’s perfect. :29
    TAE: “One of my favorite Fourth of July traditions – I’d say it’s a tradition ‘cause it happens every year, but I’m not always able to make it – is that we go to my grandparents in Oklahoma, and we all line up lawn chairs right in front of their garage and we just light fireworks. We always do it far away and then we light it, and we always run back and watch the fireworks, but that’s probably one of my favorite memories.” MADDIE: “My birthday is July 7th, so I always get built-in fireworks for my birthday, and sometimes we actually celebrate it on the 4th, because there’s fireworks everywhere, so it’s perfect.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about what he and his family did over the Fourth of July holiday when he was growing up in Georgia.

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    Sam Hunt (Fourth of July) OC: …good time. :39
    “My granddad on the other side of my family, he would always take a lot of pride…fireworks were actually, I’m from Georgia, and most of them were illegal, I’m pretty sure, growing up. But over in Alabama, that’s where all the firework stands were, and we only had to drive 10, 15 minutes to get to the Alabama line, so we could go get a bundle of fireworks pretty easy. But he would always take a lot of pride in going and finding all the good stuff, and coming back with a  big pile. He’d have his torch out there at the end of the driveway and we’d all eat homemade ice cream and put down towels on the driveway and he’d shoot off fireworks for 30-45 minutes. Such a good time.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about the Fourth of July events his hometown of Warner Robins, Georgia would throw every year.

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    Travis Denning (Fourth of July) OC: …will love. :51
    “Fourth of July in Warner Robins, Georgia is an event. It’s something else. In fact, forever they’ve thrown an Independence Day concert, and back in the day, it was huge. It was the biggest thing they did all year. They would actually have the concert in the MAC (McConnell-Talbert Stadium), which was the high school football stadium that Warner Robins and Northside and Houston County shared. I mean, one year they had Wynonna play and then they had Josh Turner one year, Darius Rucker. I mean it was like a big deal, and there’d be 15,000, 20,000 people there, and I think it’s so cool that there’s a little bit of a legacy of people coming together in that town and making something happen, you know? I’ll never forget going to those shows and thinking, I was more proud of what the city had done. I was like, ‘That’s just so cool that they could put together a show like this, an event that everybody will love.”

     

  • KIP MOORE AND LADY ANTEBELLUM’S HILLARY SCOTT GIVE ‘ONE VOICE’ TO ACM LIFTING LIVES.

    Kip Moore, Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott and Brandon Lay were among the country stars taking part in the 2018 ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp this past week. The artists work with the campers who have Williams Syndrome, a developmental disability, to create music and enjoy a wide variety of musical activities.

    Kip, along with songwriters Ross Copperman and Jon Nite, led the songwriting workshop in which they penned a song called “One Voice” with the campers.

    On Monday, the campers recorded the song at Oceanway Studio with producer and co-writer Ross Copperman, along with Hillary Scott. “It was such an unbelievable thing to witness,” she says. “My heart is full.”

    Hillary adds, “I’m a huge proponent for music in everybody’s life in some way and just the power of it and just how healing it can be and what an outlet it can be, so when I got asked to be a part of this – and I actually think I may have invited myself to the party, I was just so excited just to see the impact that music makes. But it’s not just the music, it’s their hearts and what they’re bringing to it. And to see that they wrote this song with Ross and Kip Moore and Jon Nite and just getting in that creative space with them had to be just life-changing. It’s the power of music.”

    Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley and Kelsea Ballerini are among the artists who have previously participated in the ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp.

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM AMPLIFIES TOP 15 AND CLIMBING SINGLE “HEART BREAK” WITH INNOVATIVE CONTENT VIDEOS FROM GENERO CREATIVE COMMUNITY.

    Lady Antebellum’s pulsating Top 15 and climbing single “Heart Break” tapped into the thousands of creators throughout the world in the Genero community as personalized videos were produced to highlight the title track of their No. One selling sixth studio album, HEART BREAK. The trio sifted through all submissions landing on grand prize winner GedMedia who earned $10,000 after parlaying the track’s independent-driven lyrics into a storyline of social media snapshots, becoming the multi-PLATINUM selling band’s official lyric video. Additionally the runner-up video produced by Brendan Huza shares distinct abstract visuals integrated by timeless and descriptive imagery into a standout message on the freedom of female empowerment.

    “With every submission you could just feel the passion and time that went into each video which made it extremely hard to narrow it down,” said Hillary Scott. “This was one of my favorite songs off the record that we collectively wrote and to see the effort it took to bring its lyrics to life makes us even more grateful to our fans.”

    To watch Lady A’s official lyric video for “Heart Break” produced by GedMedia click here: http://umgn.us/HBCreatorsEdit1

    Watch Brendan Huza runner-up “Heart Break” submission here: http://umgn.us/HBCreatorsEdit2

    Additional runner-up selections can be viewed on Lady A’s YouTube Play list here: https://bit.ly/2tpFRYT

    HEART BREAK  follows more than 18 million album units, nine No. One hits, ACM and CMA “Vocal Group of the Year” trophies three years in a row and countless other honors including seven GRAMMYs, Billboard Music Awards, People’s Choice Awardsand Teen Choice Awards. The multi-PLATINUM trio will team with Darius Rucker this summer for their co-headlining SUMMER PLAYS ON TOUR, kicking off July 19th. For more information visit www.ladyantebellum.com.

    Video /

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  • FATHER’S DAY LINERS 2018

    Father’s Day is Sunday (June 17th), and we have liners with many of your favorite country stars! 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 Brandon Lay (Father’s Day)

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

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Father’s Day)

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    “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.”

    Audio / LINER Clare Dunn (Father’s Day)

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

    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 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 father’s out there, 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 Jordan Davis (Father's Day)

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

    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.” [Hillary laughs]

    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 Maddie & Tae (Father’s Day)

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    “Hey everybody! I’m Maddie and I’m Tae, wishing all you fathers out there 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 Shania Twain (Father’s Day)

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

    Audio / LINER Travis Denning (Father’s Day)

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    “Hey y’all! It’s Travis Denning, wishing all you fathers out there a very Happy Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day, Diamond Dave.”

    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.”

     

     

  • MOTHER’S DAY 2018

    Mother’s Day is on Sunday (May 13th), and some of your favorite country artists are celebrating the mothers in their lives this weekend. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

    Here are some of your favorite country stars honoring all of the Moms out there with stories of their own.

    Audio / Brandon Lay says he probably gets his work-ethic from his Mom.

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    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.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood says she doesn't really have any Mother's Day traditions, but she sure enjoys being a Mom to Isaiah.

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    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.’”

    Audio / Clare Dunn talks about the support and undying devotion her mom has for her and her sister.

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    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!”

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about not disappointing his beloved mother, who passed away in 1992.

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    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.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker’s mother, who passed away in 1992, was always the singer’s biggest supporter.

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    Darius Rucker (Mother) OC: …in my corner. :44
    “My mom was just always great. She worked a lot. She was a nurse and she worked a lot. She took a lot of overtime and stuff to make sure we could live basically, but she always just so supportive, ever since I was a kid. I was always a music kid. Growing up in an African-American neighborhood, I was never that guy who was gonna be pigeonholed to let people say I could only listen to this and I could only do this, because I was African-American. She always supported whatever I wanted to do, whatever I wanted to listen to, wherever I wanted to go, she always had my back. Going to college and everything, she was my biggest supporter and never let my brothers and sisters knock me down or try to tell me I can’t do this or that. All of my success comes because my mother was always in my corner.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley recognizes and appreciates how much work goes into being a mother.

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    Dierks Bentley (Mother’s Day – Cassidy) OC: …to have her. :31
    “It’s the toughest job out there being a mom, and I know from my life with my wife Cassidy. We work as a team together when I’m home, and it takes everyone to get the job done, me and her, working together. So, when I go on the road, I just have so much respect for her because it’s hard to do it right, if you want to do it great, and she does a great job with it. It’s really rewarding, but it’s also very challenging. I’m so thankful that she takes it on the way she does, and our kids are very lucky to have her.”

    Audio / Eric Church says he’s learned quite a bit from his mom.

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    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.”

    Audio / Eric Paslay talks about his mother, Donna.

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    Eric Paslay (Mother’s Day) OC: …it’s good. :21
    “I wanna thank my mom for giving me faith, laughter and pride in the family I came from. She’d be the fun Mom, just goofing off in the sprinklers outside or we’d go out and play in the rain and all that stuff growing up. She’s always good to be around; always happy, and it’s good.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi says his mother, Shelly, is an angel.

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    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.’”

    Audio / Jordan Davis says he’s a “Mama’s Boy” and hopes he has her kindness and positive outlook.

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    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]

    Audio / Keith Urban explains why his wife Nicole Kidman is an extraordinary mother to their two children, Sunday and Faith.

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    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.”

    Audio / With Mother’s Day on Sunday, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley explains he and his brothers – Josh and John -- owe their mother a lot for all of their childhood antics.

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    Charles Kelley {Mother) OC: …playing music. :23
    “We were honestly, at times, pretty hard to handle, both of us. We used to play our music loud up above on the second floor [of the house], bang on the drums and the guitar. And my mom’s just one of those people, she’ll do anything for her family and she sacrificed a lot for us boys. Anytime we needed something, she made it happen. And so, we owe her a lot. She’s definitely the reason we’re playing music.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina says she can count on her mom for just about everything.

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    Lauren Alaina (Mom) 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.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild says being a mother to Elijah Dylan Westbrook is the best feeling in the world.

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    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.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae’s Tae Dye said she pulled off a great Mother’s Day surprise a few years ago.

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    Maddie & Tae (Mother’s Day-Tae) OC: …was so fun. :25
    “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.”

    Audio / Shania Twain says it’s such a joy to be a parent.

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    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.”

    Audio / Travis Denning talks about what he and his Mom have in common.

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    Travis Denning (Mother’s Day) OC: …like crazy. :29
    “You know, my favorite thing about my mom, especially as I get older, is realizing how much me and her have in common. I just love that she’s passionate about music. She loves it. I mean, she’s turned me on to a lot of artists, but at the core like she’s still Mom. She reminds me to do things and does these things which that I couldn’t live without. I love that we get to be friends, we get to be best friends, but at the same time, she’s still Mom and she still loves me and my sister like crazy.”

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Darius, Dierks, Lady A, Luke, Keith, Brothers O

    Darius Rucker (May 25th), Dierks Bentley (June 12th), Lady Antebellum (July 6th) and Keith Urban (August 2nd) have all been tapped to perform during the Today Show’s Citi Summer Concert Series this year.

    Luke Bryan will appear on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday (May 7th).

    Darius Rucker will perform during the Grand Ole Opry’s Salute the Troops show May 22nd. He will be joined by Trace Adkins, Craig Morgan, Kellie Pickler and Lee Greenwood.

    Brothers Osborne will perform at Bonnaroo festival again this year, as part of the Grand Ole Opry show on June 10th in Manchester, Tennessee. LANCO, Ole Crow Medicine Show, Bobby Bare and the Del McCoury Band will also perform.

    Keith Urban performed “Never Coming Down” and “My Wave” from his brand new album, Graffiti U, on Late Night With Seth Meyers last week.

    Video / Keith Urban performs "Never Coming Down" on Seth Meyers

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    Video / Keith Urban performs "My Wave" on Set Meyers

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  • LADY ANTEBELLUM PICK UP THEIR FIRST TONY AWARD NOMINATION.

    The members of Lady Antebellum have scored their first Tony nomination for their song “Chop to the Top” that appears in the Spongebob Squarepants musical that opened on Broadway in December. A few years ago, they were asked to write a song for a particular scene in the musical.

    “The Spongebob musical opportunity kind of came about randomly. We got approached if we could write a song for it and they gave us the scene and kind of a direction. We wrote the song called ‘Chop to the Top’ [laughs], and it was funny, we didn’t hear much about it for so many years,” says Charles. “Those musicals must take forever to put together, because we were like, ‘Well, I guess it fell through,’ and all of a sudden, years later it resurfaced that it’s coming out. So, I can’t wait to see it. It’ll be fun to take the kids.”

    Other artists who contributed original songs to the production include Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Yolanda Adams, Sara Bareilles, The Flaming Lips, John Legend and Cyndi Lauper, among others.

    The 72nd Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles, will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, at 8pm ET on June 10th.

    The trio is currently making their way up the country charts with their latest hit, “Heart Break.”

    Audio / LADY ANTEBELLUM TALK ABOUT THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MUSICAL.

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    Lady Antebellum (Spongebob musical) OC: …take the kids. :39
    CHARLES: “The Spongebob musical opportunity kind of came about randomly. We got approached if we could write a song for it and they gave us the scene and kind of a direction. We wrote the song called ‘Chop to the Top’ [laughs], and it was funny, we didn’t hear much about it for so many years. We wrote this…” DAVE: “It was before kids we wrote it.” CHARLES: “Yeah, way before kids.” HILLARY: “Eisele was a newborn. It was one of those first writing appointments we did after Eisele was born, ‘cause y’all came over to my basement.” CHARLES: “Those musicals must take forever to put together, because we were like, ‘Well, I guess it fell through,’ and all of a sudden, years later it resurfaced that it’s coming out. So, I can’t wait to see it. It’ll be fun to take the kids.”

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM IS CELEBRATING 10 YEARS SINCE THE RELEASE OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, AND WE’RE TAKING A LOOK BACK ALL WEEK: Need You Now

    The members of Lady Antebellum are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the release of their self-titled debut album. Today, we take a look back at their second No. 1 song, the international smash “Need You Now.” The band co-wrote the song with Josh Kear and produced it with Paul Worley. It was the lead-off single and title track for their second album, Need You Now, and was first released in the States in August 2009.

    “Need You Now” spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, won four Grammy Awards in 2011, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The song has been certified sextuple platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).

    The trio is currently making their way up the country charts with their latest, “Heart Break,” which they performed on Sunday night’s ACM Awards.

    Audio / In 2010, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley talks about the band’s career song, “Need You Now,” which topped the Billboard Country Charts for five weeks.

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    Lady A (Need You Now) OC: …proud of it. :32
    “I mean, I don’t think you could ever expect something like that. I mean, the response from the get-go was so big, and I remember even having some conversations with the label and people were like, ‘I hope they don’t get offended by ‘I’m a little drunk and I need you now.’ And I was like, ‘But that’s honest. We’re talking about country radio, right?’ It’s story-telling, and I tell you, though, it’s been a career song for us for sure. We thought ‘Run to You’ was our career song, but honestly, after ‘Need You Now’ came out and to see what it’s done for us, it’s been really, really huge for our career and we’re just really proud of it.”

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