Dierks Bentley is prepping for his first run at being a host of the ACM Awards this year, along with his buddy, Luke Bryan, who’s been at it for a few years now. He says traditionally his favorite part of attending an awards show is the performances.

“My favorite thing about awards shows really are the performances. I mean, it’s awesome to be nominated. It’s just a huge honor. Getting nominated for any award show IS a win,” says Dierks. “It’s just a fun night for me and my wife and I get a chance to go in there and hang out and see old friends and cut up a little bit, but then sit down and watch the performances, you know? Just see who’s doing what, what the collaborations are, the production ideas, the singing, the musicianship, and I feel like the ACMS, every year they just get better and better, where it’s just great performances.”

As a co-host this year, Dierks says he’ll enjoy getting a behind-the-scenes look at all of the cool performances. “I’m really looking forward, obviously, to being a host on that show and getting kind of a behind-the-scenes look at some of the rehearsals and what goes into the performances.”

In addition to his role of co-host, Dierks is also nominated for Male Vocalist and Video of the Year (for “Riser”).

The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET/PT delayed on CBS.

• Dierks’ new album Black, which features his Top 10 single “Somewhere on a Beach,” will be released May 27th.

Chris Stapleton is going into Sunday night’s ACM Awards already a winner. He picked up the award for New Male Vocalist of the Year. He’s also up for numerous other awards, including Male Vocalist, Album of the Year for Traveller, Song of the Year for “Nobody to Blame” (as both artist and songwriter) and Vocal Event of the Year for “Hangover Tonight” with Gary Allan.

He’s experienced such a huge wave of success over the past year – heck, the past six months – with three CMA Awards, a huge CMA performance with Justin Timberlake, and through it all, he trusted his instincts where his music is concerned.

“I always just listen to myself, hopefully to a fault. And sometimes if I ever catch myself not listening to what I want to do musically or personally or anything, it always puts me in a bad spot,” says Chris. “So, hopefully, I’ve learned to follow my own instinct of what I need to do or want to do. It always just kind of works out for me musically and as a job path.”

“The best example I can give [is] I was in a band called The Steel Drivers. Choosing a career in bluegrass isn’t exactly like, it doesn’t sound like job security to most people, but I was in that band for a few years and out of that, those recordings and those records that I made with that band, a song was recorded by Adele. That’s not a path that you would take to get a song recorded by Adele. No one would ever tell you to be in a bluegrass band, [with] a country rhythm, make a few records with them and you’ll get a cut by the biggest pop star in the world. Those are things that just happen I think when you (A) get really, really lucky and (B) try to follow your path, and whatever that path may be. Sometimes you just don’t know why you have to do those things, and if you listen to yourself enough, you just go do it and figure out what it’s for later.”

Chris is set to perform on the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards, which will air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET/PT delayed on CBS.

Keith Urban has been announced as one of the most recent performers at Sunday night’s (April 3rd) ACM Awards. He’ll perform alongside Miranda Lambert and ZZ Top on their classic hit “Tush.” This year’s recipient of the Mae Boren Axton Award will also perform his new single, “Wasted Time,” which debuted at radio this week.

Previously announced performers include ACM co-hosts Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, as well as Eric Church, Sam Hunt, Little Big Town, Charles Kelley, Chris Stapleton, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini featuring Nick Jonas, Cam, Kenny Chesney, Brett Eldredge, Tim McGraw, Dolly Parton with Katy Perry, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Trombone Shorty, Carrie Underwood, Chris Young with Cassadee Pope, Florida Georgia Line and Old Dominion.

Presenters include Kip Moore, ACM Female Vocalist nominee Kacey Musgraves, Miss America Betty Cantrell, Tom Hiddleston (I Saw the Light, The Avengers), Chris Janson, Jana Kramer, Martina McBride, Nancy O’Dell, Jake Owen, Chase Rice, Kiefer Sutherland, Cole Swindell and Maddie & Tae.

The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET/PT delayed on CBS.

Dierks Bentley is getting ready to release his eighth studio album, Black, May 27th. It’ll be available for digital pre-order this Friday (April 1st).

Black is personal – after all, it’s named after his wife Cassidy’s maiden name, but it’s really a record about the human heart — not any particular human. It explores breakups, hookups, mess-ups and everything in-between, shining a light on the things that happen after the sun goes down.

“It’s a relationship album that covers the ups and downs of the journey and ends with some self-realization and evolvement,” says Dierks. “The song ‘Black’ helps set all of that in motion at the top of the album by guiding you into the darkness and the shadows of the night. The same guy who sings ‘Somewhere On A Beach’ winds up growing and having enough perspective to sing something introspective like ‘Different for Girls.’ By the last song, he’s taking a look back on love and life.”

Produced by Ross Copperman and executive producer Arturo Buenahora Jr., the slow-smoked grit of Bentley’s voice keeps the album rooted in country music, while it also appeals to audiences far beyond the boundaries with fresh sonic textures that flourish on the edge of arena rock.

Black will also feature some of today’s hottest female voices, including Maren Morris, Elle King, Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey and Jessi Alexander. Never before has a Bentley album contained so much input from the opposite sex.

“Having a female perspective on this record really made the album more than just music,” added Bentley. “It makes it a conversation between a guy and a girl. Sometimes it’s harmonious and sometimes it’s two people clashing, but it’s always there.”

BLACK TRACK LIST:

1. Black
2. Pick Up
3. I’ll Be The Moon (feat. Maren Morris)
4. What The Hell Did I Say
5. Somewhere On A Beach
6. Freedom
7. Why Do I Feel
8. Roses And A Time Machine
9. All The Way to Me
10. Different for Girls (feat. Elle King)
11. Mardi Gras (feat. Trombone Shorty)
12. Light It Up
13. Can’t Be Replaced

Dierks’ latest single, “Somewhere on a Beach,” has climbed into the Top 10 on the Billboard country chart.

This week, Dierks  preps for his first-ever co-hosting duties at the 51st Annual ACM Awards on Sunday (April 3rd) at 8pm ET/7pm CT on CBS, where he is also nominated for “Male Vocalist of The Year” and “Video of The Year.” The forthcoming album’s Top 10 lead single “Somewhere On A Beach” continues to breeze up the radio charts as it serves as the fastest moving single of Bentley’s career. The “format superstar” (Entertainment Weekly) will set out on his 2016 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH TOUR with Randy Houser, Cam and Tucker Beathard beginning May 12 in Holmdel, NJ, following a string of dates overseas this month. For more information on new music, upcoming appearances and tour dates, visit www.dierks.com.

Little Big Town and Charles Kelley, along with previous host Blake Shelton, and newcomers Old Dominion, have been added to the list of performers at Sunday night’s ACM Awards.

Kip Moore and Kacey Musgraves have been announced as presenters, along with Martina McBride, Jake Owen, Jana Kramer Cole Swindell and actor Kiefer Sutherland (24), among others.

Previously announced performers include Dierks Bentley, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Brett Eldredge, Sam Hunt, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Tim McGraw, Cam, Kenny Chesney, Dolly Parton with Katy Perry, Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, Chris Young with Cassadee Pope and Florida Georgia Line.

The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET/PT delayed on CBS.

Keith Urban’s eighth studio album Ripcord, due out on May 6th, has already produced two No. 1 hits, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and his 20th No. 1 song, “Break On Me.”  Tomorrow will see the release of Ripcord’s third single “Wasted Time,” which will also be followed by the song’s network television debut, a performance on FOX’s American Idol on Thursday (March 31st) (8:00-10:00pm ET live/PT tape-delayed).

“Wasted Time” was co-written by Greg Wells, J. Hart and Keith and was co-produced by Urban and the Grammy Award winning Producer of the Year Greg Wells (Adele, Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, etc.).

“I worked with a lot of new people on Ripcord, and Greg (Wells) was one I’d wanted to work with for a long time,” said Keith.  “He’d been writing a lot with J (James) and so the three of us spent a couple days at Greg’s studio to jam and see if we clicked.  Greg had this cool chord progression and I grabbed my guitar and started singing a melody.”

“J suggested the title, and before we knew it, we were talking about growing up and all the things you do, no matter where you are in the world, and the song just took off from there.”

Ripcord is set for release on Friday, May 6th  It coincides with the June 2nd launch of the four-time Grammy Award winner’s ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016 with Brett Eldredge and special guest Maren Morris.

For more Keith Urban news and information go to www.keithurban.net.

Luke Bryan just launched a new mobile game. If you like Huntin’, Fishin’, and Lovin’ Every Day (see what we did there?), you can now hunt big game alongside Luke.

The Georgia native and member of Buck Commander partnered with the makers of the hit mobile game, Deer Hunter 2016 on an exclusive month-long event. Deer Hunter 2016 is available for FREE on the App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore.

Named ‘Huntin’ 32 Bridge’ after Luke’s line with Cabela’s, the event takes place across the North American back country, including Texas, Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, Louisiana, North and South Dakota, and even parts of Canada.

Luke worked with Glu Mobile developers on the artwork and context of the game event. Check out the ‘Luke Bryan 32 Bridge’ event in Deer Hunter 2016 now; it’ll be up and running for the next 4 weeks.

Eric Church sat down with his producer, Jay Joyce, and his band to talk about the song, “Mixed Drinks About Feelings,” from his latest album, Mr. Misunderstood. He reveals that Jay used an unexpected instrument on the song, which he wasn’t too sure about at first.

Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley are co-hosting this year’s ACM Awards. The pair have been friends a long time, they’re on the same record label (Capitol Records Nashville) and they’re both up for a handful of awards. They took a few minutes to ask questions and reveal a few tidbits of info about each other.

The 51st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.