• CHECK OUT THE ‘BAKING’ OF BISCUITS, KACEY MUSGRAVES’ LATEST SINGLE.

    Check out the ‘Baking’ of “Biscuits,” Kacey Musgraves new single below. It’s the first release from her forthcoming album, Pageant Material, which will be available June 23rd.

    Video / Baking of Biscuits

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  • LUKE BRYAN CELEBRATES EXHIBIT AT COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM.

    f4cfdf6cb8fc11fb393fdf4f_280x186

    NASHVILLE, Tenn., – May 20, 2015 – Luke Bryan and the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum celebrated the soon-to-be opened summer exhibit, Luke Bryan: Dirt Road Diary presented by Citi, tonight with a special event held for the music industry, friends and family of the ACM/CMA Entertainer of the Year. The exhibit opens May 22nd and runs through November 8th. For the exhibit, Bryan has loaned the museum a wealth of artifacts to represent his life and career. Highlights include:

    Little League baseball uniform and glove

    Second grade school backpack and denim jacket

    First guitar, which his parents gave him when he was fourteen

    A script from his high school production of Annie Get Your Gun, in which he starred

    Handwritten lyrics to his 2014 chart-topping single, “I See You”

    Stage props from his Spring Break concerts

    Tour posters

    Stage clothes worn by Bryan at concerts and awards shows

    Music awards, including trophies for his ACM and CMA Entertainer of the Year wins

    Bow and arrows used by Bryan on the Outdoor Channel reality series Buck Commander: Protected by Under Armour.

    For more information about the exhibit including photos and video, click here. Follow @countrymusichof on Twitter and join the conversation using #ThisIsLukeBryan.

    Suggested Tweet: Luke Bryan: Dirt Road Diary opens May 22 @countrymusichof Step inside his story: http://bit.ly/1EGtmJ7  #ThisisLukeBryan

    Photo credit:
    Jason Davis/Getty Images for CMHOF

    Audio / Luke Bryan explains what he was most excited to do when he heard he was getting a big exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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    Luke Bryan (CMHOF exhibit) OC: …my youth. :37
    “I was excited to go seek out my old instruments and stuff. I think one thing that was amazing was that we found the very first song I wrote and performed for my church, and something had spilled on the lyrics and you can’t see half the lyrics, so I remember that day singing that song, and we were able to find that song in my piano bench. So, yeah, going and getting all of the instruments, but then when you find out it’s also a life piece. It’s named kind of ‘Dirt Road Diary’ to tell the whole story of me and my youth.”

  • KEITH URBAN THANKS FANS WITH NEW ONLINE VIDEO FOR ‘COME BACK TO ME.’

    Keith Urban’s FUSE is one of the four-time Grammy Award winner’s most successful album releases to date.  It marked the only time in history that a male Country artist had captured the #1 all-genre album chart simultaneously in the U.S., Canada and Australia, spawned four #1 songs, including Urban’s 18th #1 “Raise ‘Em Up,” extended his historic streak of Top 10 singles to thirty-three and garnered nearly two dozen Award nominations from around the globe.

    “I wanna say a massive thank you to all of you that made FUSE the most extraordinary ride,” said Urban.  “As we toured around the last couple years, you guys always asked if we’d ever shoot a video for “Come Back To Me” and well, we did, and here it is…and it’s all yours!!!

    “Come Back To Me” will debut exclusively with Keith Urban’s fan club, The ‘Ville, this Wednesday, May 20th at 9am ET at keithurban.net. The video will be made available wide on Thursday, May 21st at 9am ET and can be viewed here at that time: http://smarturl.it/comebackvid.  The video was shot last December in Nashville and was directed by Chris Hicky.  “Come Back To Me” was written by Shane McAnally, Brandy Clark and Trevor Rosen and was co-produced by Butch Walker and Urban.

    Keith is also set to make a return to HSN on May 24th.

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

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM AND BILLY CURRINGTON TALK ABOUT DAVID LETTERMAN ON THE DAY OF HIS LAST SHOW.

    David Letterman ends his 33-year reign as nighttime’s premier talk show hosts on Wednesday (May 20th), and throughout the years, many of your favorite country artists have graced his stage performing their hits.

    Lady Antebellum is one of those artists who performed on Letterman’s show a few times. Lady A’s Hillary Scott feels Letterman gave a chance to numerous musicians who might not have had a chance to be heard if not for him. “He’s not afraid to showcase a lot of up and coming artists and the one’s that are a little bit more grass roots a little more underground,” Hillary explains. “I think that’s an amazing thing about him he’s got a lot of variety to his musical tastes, and we’re sad to see him go.”

    Lady A’s Charles Kelley remembers how cold it was in the studio. “That’s what I’ll remember from it, it is the coldest, he likes it really cold, so the entire building, I mean you have to wear like a winter jacket in there.”

    Billy Currington is another artist who performed on the show, and it was because of a request of the host. In 2010, Billy appeared to sing his hit “People are Crazy,” reportedly one of Letterman’s favorite songs. (check out the clip of the show below – make sure to stay until the end.)

    Letterman’s final show will air Wednesday on CBS at 11:30pm ET. Stephen Colbert will take over Letterman’s show this fall, with the first episode airing on September 8th.

    Audio / Lady Antebellum were lucky to perform on the Late Show with David Letterman a few times, and each of the members share a memory of the show.

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    Lady A (Letterman) OC: (Hillary) …see him go. :41 MUST CREDIT: Albright & O’Malley & Brenner (Dan Vanlandingham)
    (DAVE) “I love it. That’s what I grew up on. For me, that was the bucket list show. Growing up, I’d sneak up stairs and watch Letterman late at night and see who’s performing.  You’re watching bands like Nirvana, all these cool rock bands and country music artists perform, so definitely one of those buck list moments.” (Charles) “That’s what I’ll remember from it, it is the coldest, he likes it really cold, so the entire building, I mean you have to wear like a winter jacket in there.” (Hillary) “He’s not afraid to showcase a lot of up and coming artists and the one’s that are a little bit more grass roots a little more underground. I think that’s an amazing thing about him he’s got a lot of variety to his musical tastes, and we’re sad to see him go.”

    Audio / Billy Currington said he always wanted to be on Letterman’s show.

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    Billy Currington (Letterman) OC: …part of. :03
    “Ever since I got into the business, that was one of the shows that I wanted to be a part of.”

    Video / Lady A performing American Honey on Letterman

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    Video / Billy Currington performing People Are Crazy on Letterman

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  • SCOTTY McCREERY GOES ‘OUT TO THE BALL GAME’ WITH THE METS AND CARDINALS.

    NEW YORK – (May 20, 2015) – Country music superstar Scotty McCreery performed “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the Seventh Inning Stretch of the New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals game at New York City’s Citi Field on May 19th.
    This is sure to be one of the sports topics that the ACM and CMT Music Award winner will discuss when he appears live today (May 20th) on “SI Now,” the daily online Sports Illustrated news show broadcast at SI.com between 1:00-1:30 PM/ET.

    The singer/songwriter, who has been in the studio recently working on new music, will also appear on the “Road Trip with Anna Kooiman” segment of “FOX and Friends” which will air on May 28 at 7:40 AM/ET on the FOX News Channel. Kooiman visited McCreery and his band during their soundcheck and performance in Fargo, North Dakota earlier this year to learn how to be his guitar tech. Viewers can see how well she handled the job when the segment airs next week.

    McCreery will be the special guest on the upcoming Rascal Flatts RIOT Tour 2015 this summer, beginning May 30 in Noblesville, IN at the Klipsch Music Center. The tour will also feature opening act RaeLynn.

    The Mercury Nashville / 19 / Interscope Records recording artist scored two consecutive Top 10 hits (“See You Tonight” and “Feelin’ It”) from his sophomore album See You Tonight, which debuted at No. 1 on theBillboard Country Albums chart.  That album’s title song, co-written by the singer, was one of three singles from the “American Idol” champion that were certified Platinum by the RIAA in the same week (the other two being “The Trouble with Girls” and “I Love You This Big” from his Platinum-certified first album Clear as Day, which debuted at No. 1 on the BillboardTop 200 Albums chart).  For more information and tour dates, visit www.ScottyMcCreery.com.

  • JON PARDI HEADS DOWN SOUTH FOR A SAFARI TRIP.

    Jon Pardi turns 30 on Wednesday (May 20th), and he’s celebrating by heading over to South Africa on a special hunting trip with his father, who’s been to the country a few times. The trip will also be featured on the Sportsman Channel TV series, Safari Hunter’s Journal.

    Jon’s a little wary about the misconceptions of hunting in South Africa, saying he doesn’t want to shoot what he calls “Disney characters,” making reference to The Lion King, but he will go to this 55,000 acre preserve to hunt the plains animals, which number in the millions. Everything they kill will go to feed undernourished folks.

    “There’s so much good stuff you can do in South Africa. And then when I got the chance to go on a TV show and go there, it was like, ‘Hey! Come here. There’s a game preservation and we’ve got all kinds of animals and we’ll go hunt the plains game.’ I was always like, ‘Well, I can’t be shooting Disney characters and stuff. Let’s just keep it to the herd animals where we get to go feed people with ‘em.’ So, we planned it out, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun,” says Jon. “We’re gonna really talk about [how] people don’t really understand hunting and how it helps them manage. I don’t know everything about it, but I’m gonna learn so much about what they do and how they keep it. This place I’m going to has put more animals in South Africa through hunting and management, so now there’s more African animals in this whole preserve than there was in the 1800s. They just have so much care for what they’re doing.”

    Jon just released a new EP this week, The B-Sides, 2011-2014, featuring six previously unreleased songs.

    Audio / Jon Pardi talks about heading to South Africa for a safari and a hunting trip.

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    Jon Pardi (So. African safari) OC: …eco-system. 1:18
    “My dad’s been to South Africa twice. He’s told me it’s the most beautiful, awesome majestic place to just sit and be at and also hunt and work. He built campsites with a motor grader and runways. He tracked down poachers. There’s so much good stuff you can do in South Africa. And then when I got the chance to go on a TV show and go there, it was like, ‘Hey! Come here. There’s a game preservation and we’ve got all kinds of animals and we’ll go hunt the plains game.’ I was always like, ‘Well, I can’t be shooting Disney characters and stuff. Let’s just keep it to the herd animals where we get to go feed people with ‘em.’ So, we planned it out, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun. We’re gonna really talk about [how] people don’t really understand hunting and how it helps them manage. I don’t know everything about it, but I’m gonna learn so much about what they do and how they keep it. This place I’m going to has put more animals in South Africa through hunting and management, so now there’s more African animals in this whole preserve than there was in the 1800s. They just have so much care for what they’re doing. It’s cool to be able to go to a place like that to hunt and see like their own little eco-system.”

  • MEMORIAL DAY LINERS: Billy, Brothers, Darius, Easton, Church, Paslay, Jon, Josh, Keith, Lauren, LBT, Luke, Sam

     

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (Memorial Day)

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    LINER Billy Currington (Memorial Day)
    “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.”

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Memorial Day)

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    LINER Brothers Osborne (Memorial Day Wkend)
    “Hey! What’s up guys? We’re Brothers Osborne, wishing you a very happy Memorial Day Weekend.”

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Memorial Day) 2

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    LINER Brothers Osborne (Memorial Day) 2
    “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. Happy Memorial Day!”

    Audio / LINER Darius Rucker (Memorial Day Weekend)

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    LINER Darius Rucker (Memorial Day Weekend)
    “Hey y’all, it’s Darius Rucker, hoping you have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.”

    Audio / LINER Easton Corbin (Memorial Day)

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    LINER Easton Corbin (Memorial Day)
    “Hey everybody! It’s Easton Corbin here, wishing you a happy and safe Memorial Day, and I also want to send a special thanks out to our men and women in our Armed Forces.”

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Memorial Day)

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    LINER Eric Church (Memorial Day)
    Hey everyone, this is Eric Church hoping you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

    Audio / LINER Eric Paslay (Memorial Day Weekend)

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    LINER Eric Paslay (Memorial Day Weekend)
    “Hey! This is Eric Paslay, hope you have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day Weekend.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (Memorial Day Weekend)

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    LINER Jon Pardi (Memorial Day Weekend)
    “Hi! It’s Jon Pardi, hoping you have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.”

    Audio / LINER: Josh Turner (Memorial Day)

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    LINER: Josh Turner (Memorial Day)
    “This is Josh Turner, wishing you a safe and Happy Memorial Day holiday.”

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Memorial Day)

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

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (Memorial Day)

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    LINER Lauren Alaina (Memorial Day)
    “Hey! This is Lauren Alaina, wishing you a Happy Memorial Day Weekend.”

    Audio / LINER LBT (Memorial Day)

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

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Memorial Day)

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    LINER Luke Bryan (Memorial Day)
    “Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, hoping you have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Memorial Day)

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    LINER Sam Hunt (Memorial Day)
    “Hey everybody! This is Sam Hunt, with hopes for a happy Memorial Day Weekend.”

     

  • LUKE BRYAN ANNOUNCES HIS NEW ALBUM, KILL THE LIGHTS, ON THE ELLEN DeGENERES SHOW.

    Luke Kill the Lights

    NASHVILLE, TN – (May 19, 2015)  – Reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today and announced the news his next album, KILL THE LIGHTS, is set for release on Friday, August 7th.  Luke also performed the first single from the album, “Kick The Dust Up,” which debuted at country radio today and is available now at digital retailers. Tonight he will perform the single on the season finale of The Voice.

    “We’ve been performing the new song on tour this spring, using it to open the shows,” shares Luke. “We love the crowd reaction to it and I cannot wait to be able to share more new music this summer.  It’s been two years since we’ve had a new album and I don’t think I’ve been this eager yet to get it out to the fans.”

    Luke will perform on Good Morning America on album release day, August 7th, as part of their 2015 Summer Concert Series at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, home of the SummerStage.

    The eagerly anticipated KILL THE LIGHTS album is the follow up to Luke’s most successful project to date, CRASH MY PARTY, which contains six consecutive No. 1 singles, is certified Double Platinum and has currently sold over two million copies with eight million digital downloads.

    Since the debut of his first album in 2007, Luke Bryan has placed 12 singles at No. 1 and sold nearly seven million albums with 27 million digital tracks from his four studio albums.  He has been named Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music (twice) and the Country Music Association.  In 2014, Luke achieved the best touring year of his career with 1.7 million fans attending his concerts.  In early 2015, Luke played his first-ever shows in Europe and this Friday, The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will launch a summer exhibit, “Luke Bryan: Dirt Road Diary.”

    Luke’s new concert tour, “Kick The Dust Up Tour,” will continue through October and includes seven stadium dates.

    Visit www.LukeBryan.com or follow Luke on Twitter @LukeBryanOnline, Instagram and Facebook.

    Video / Kick the Dust Up

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    Video / Luke Bryan on Ellen DeGeneres Show history trivia

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Luke, Keith

    Luke Bryan will perform his brand new single, “Kickin’ the Dust Up,” on both the Ellen DeGeneres Show and on NBC’s The Voice on Tuesday (May 19th).

    Keith Urban will participate in NBC’s star-studded event, Red Nose Day, Thursday (May 21st). The three-hour special, airing at 8pm ET, will raise money and help fight childhood poverty (among other children’s charities), while entertaining the masses. Keith will partner with John Mellencamp to perform “Pink Houses” on the show. Blake Shelton, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon, Jodie Foster, Robert Pattinson, Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, Christina Aguilera, Pharrell, Adam Levine, Paul Rudd, Anna Kendrick, One Direction, Richard Gere and many others are also schedule to appear.

  • JON PARDI READIES THE ‘B-SIDES’ FOR RELEASE.

    Jon Pardi is set to release a six-track EP, The B-Sides, 2011-2014, which he says is a precursor to his sophomore album that he’s currently working on in the studio. The EP includes six songs that were in consideration for his debut album, and many of his fans already know the songs by heart since he’s been playing most of them during his live shows.

    “It’s always really humbling when somebody comes up and they would say those titles. I’m not expecting anything crazy out of the EP,” says Jon. “I’m just putting new music out that’s been lying around that I think deserves to be heard and on iTunes, and for people to listen to. I’m excited about the EP, and here’s something you can listen to while I’m in the workshop trying to get this thing perfectly right for the sophomore release.”

    The B-Sides is available on Monday (May 18th).

    Audio / Jon Pardi talks about The B-Sides EP he’s releasing on Tuesday (May 19th).

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    Jon Pardi (The B-Sides EP) OC: …It’s fun. :33
    “It’s always really humbling when somebody comes up and they would say those titles. I’m not expecting anything crazy out of the EP. I’m just putting new music out that’s been lying around that I think deserves to be heard and on iTunes, and for people to listen to. I’m excited about the EP, and here’s something you can listen to while I’m in the workshop trying to get this thing perfectly right for the sophomore release. It’s fun to see the reaction on Twitter, like ‘I can’t wait! I’m countin’ down the days’ or ‘This is so cool that you’re putting out more music. People are amped up, man. It’s fun.”