Indianapolis, IN (March 16, 2014) – NCAA and Turner Live Events, alongside official NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Coca-Cola and Capital One® have announced all-star musical acts for the 2015 NCAA March Madness Music Festival in conjunction with the 2015 NCAA Men’s Final Four®.  The free, three-day music festival will be held at White River State Park in Indianapolis, IN and is produced by Turner Live Events.  The celebration is set to begin Friday, April 3 at the AT&T Block Party, with musical acts to be announced soon.  Multi-platinum artist Rihanna hits the Coke Zero™ Countdown Concert stage as headliner, with critically acclaimed band Bleachers also performing Saturday, April 4. A portion of Rihanna’s performance will air between that day’s semi-final games airing on TBS, TNT, TruTV, and via NCAA March Madness Live. Her new single “American Oxygen” is currently being used for March Madness promos, serving as the tournament’s musical backdrop. The weekend will close on Sunday, April 5 with Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum artists Zac Brown Band and Lady Antebellum along with Grammy Award-winning country star Kacey Musgraves at the Capital One JamFest.  Part of headliner Zac Brown Band’s performance, which will include music from their forthcoming album ‘JEKYLL + HYDE’ (out 4.28.15), will also be featured during Capital One Championship Central, the National Championship pregame show airing at 8:30 p.m. on CBS.

For the first time ever, the 2015 NCAA March Madness Music Festival will also live stream this year’s concerts, offering fans around the world unprecedented access to some of today’s hottest musical acts.  The footage will be live streamed at http://www.ncaa.com/musicfest. This site will be updated leading up to the festival with the latest announcements and details. Fans can also stay updated by following @FinalFour and @MarchMadness on Twitter.

This is a non-ticketed event open to the public on a first-come basis and will feature the following events:

Friday, April 3 – AT&T Block Party

• Performances from 3pm to 10pm  
• Performances and Highlights To Be Announced

Saturday, April 4 – Coke Zero™ Countdown Concert

• Rihanna
• Bleachers
• Live broadcast of the first semi-final game
• Performances from 12pm to 9:30pm
• Additional Performances and Highlights To Be Announced

Sunday, April 5 – Capital One JamFest

• Zac Brown Band
• Lady Antebellum
• Kacey Musgraves
• Performances from 2pm to 10pm
• Additional Performances and Highlights To Be Announced

Turner Sports and CBS Sports will provide live coverage of all 67 games from the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across four networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV. For the second year in the event’s 77-year history, the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship National Semifinals will be presented live across three networks – TBS, TNT and truTV – to provide fans with a variety of viewing options for this marquee event. For the 34^th consecutive year, CBS will broadcast the NCAA National Championship game in 2015.

“Capital One is once again excited to bring such great talent to this year’s Final Four,” said Roger Ferguson, Managing Vice President, Brand Advertising, Media and Sponsorships at Capital One. “Every year we look for unique opportunities to provide the ultimate experience to fans at the Final Four, whether that’s through music at our Capital One JamFest or through our presenting sponsorship of the NCAA Final Four Fan Fest. This year we’re offering exclusive benefits to our cardholders throughout Final Four weekend, including two free tickets to the NCAA Final Four Fan Fest and a separate VIP entry line for our cardholders at Capital One JamFest.”

“The Coke Zero™ Countdown Concert is a premiere experience for college basketball’s most passionate fans – where rivals come together in order to see their favorite artists and enjoy the biggest party of the NCAA Men’s Final Four,” said Ivan Pollard, SVP, Connections, Coca-Cola North America. “Coke Zero is proud to partner with the NCAA and Turner Sports to present a solid line up of musical talent that includes three acts famous for their individuality and energetic performances. With Coke Zero and these talented musicians, there’s no better way to build anticipation and work up a thirst for Saturday’s semifinal games.”

NCAA March Madness Music Festival has attracted hundreds of thousands of music fans to watch performers most recently including Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Jason Aldean, fun., Tim McGraw, The Killers and LL Cool J. Other past performers include Sting, Dave Matthews Band, Muse, The Kings of Leon, Jimmy Buffett, KISS, The Black Keys, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift among many others.  The NCAA March Madness Music Festival is an activation extension of the NCAA’s Corporate Champions and Partners marketing program, which Turner Sports and CBS Sports license and collaborate on as part of a 14-year multi-media agreement with the NCAA.
“We’re excited to bring a fabulous free concert like the March Madness Music Festival to Indianapolis so all fans, including those who may not have tickets to the games, are able to enjoy the fun and exciting atmosphere surrounding NCAA Final Four weekend,” said Keith Martin, NCAA Managing Director of Marketing and Broadcast Alliances.  “I want to thank AT&T, Capital One and Coke Zero for their support of Final Four weekend and the NCAA student-athletes who will compete in the semifinal games and the championship.”

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions of people and businesses around the globe stay connected through leading wireless, high-speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. We’re helping people mobilize their worlds with state-of-the-art communications, entertainment services and amazing innovations like connected cars and devices for homes, offices and points in between. Our U.S. wireless network offers customers the nation’s strongest LTE signal and the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network. We offer the best global wireless coverage*. We’re improving how our customers stay entertained and informed with AT&T U-verse^® TV and High Speed Internet services. And businesses worldwide are serving their customers better with AT&T’s mobility and highly secure cloud solutions.

Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at http://about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/att.

© 2015 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Reliability and signal strength claims based on nationwide carriers’ LTE. Signal strength claim based ONLY on avg. LTE signal strength. LTE not available everywhere.

*Global coverage claim based on offering voice and LTE data roaming in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier, and offering the most wireless smartphones and tablets that work in the most countries.

About The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands.  Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most valuable and recognizable brands, our Company’s portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands including, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, POWERADE, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia, Dasani, FUZE TEA and Del Valle.  Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks.  Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.9 billion servings a day.  With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate.  Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world’s top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates.  For more information, visit Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo, visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com or find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $205.5 billion in deposits and $308.9 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2014. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has branches located primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF” and is included in the S&P 100 index.Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the Capital One Bowl (formerly the Florida Citrus Bowl) in 2001. Since that time, Capital One has sponsored programs including the Capital One Mascot Challenge and Capital One Academic All-America Program. In 2010, it created the Capital One Cup to recognize the best men’s and women’s Division 1 College Athletics Programs in the country and awards a combined $400,000 in student-athlete scholarships. As an NCAA Corporate Champion, Capital One supports all 89 NCAA Championships. In 2014, Capital One became an official sponsor of the Capital One Orange Bowl and the new College Football Playoff.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 460,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.  The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions—AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola—and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—Allstate, Amazon (Kindle), Bing (Microsoft), Buffalo Wild Wings, Buick, Burger King, Enterprise, Infiniti, LG, Lowe’s, Nabisco, Northwestern Mutual, Reese’s (Hershey’s), Unilever and UPS.

NCAA, Final Four, March Madness and March Madness Music Festival are trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Little Big Town‘s hit single, “Girl Crush,” is making its way up the country charts. It’s the latest release from their current album, Painkiller. Go behind-the-scenes of the making of the song in the studio.

Go behind-the-scenes with the Today Show as Jenna Bush shadows Luke Bryan for the day during one of his two final Spring Break shows last week.

Luke is now in stores with his seventh and final Spring Break album, Checkin’ Out.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Saturday, March 14, 2015) — The George Strait Team Roping Classic (GSTRC) is the largest open Team Roping event in America and, now in its 33^rd year, the two-day event has awarded over $4 million in prize money to date. This year’s event was no exception drawing 685 teams of the greatest Team Ropers alive with over $740,000 awarded in cash prizes. After over 18 hours of competition, Clay Tryan of Lipan, Texas and Travis Graves of Morgan Mill, Texas roped 3-head in 13.95 seconds and were crowded winners and split $272,640 in prize money (full breakdown of rankings below). In addition, the pair also won 2015 Chevrolet Silverado Dually pickups from Cavender Chevrolet in Boerne, Texas and Bruton Strait Xtreme Trailers.

Friday’s festivities drew 1,370 ropers from all over the country, but eventually dwindled competitors down to the Top 50 teams leading into Saturday’s competition.

Saturday began with the Top 50 team finalists on horseback inside the arena alongside their host, George Straitwho addressed the arena attendees and participants and welcomed them back to the San Antonio Rose Palace. Before exiting and the festivities beginning, roper JD Yates rode in on a 4 year old American Quarter Horse, from owner Dean Tuffin, named DT Elenor Shine Whiz and, much to Strait’s surprise, was presented to Strait himself in recognition of his passion for the event over the years.

“It’s been 33 years of fun, and I had no idea we’d given away so much,” an always reverent Strait responded upon hearing the tally of the prizes bestowed to teams over the years. “Time flies when you’re having fun. This means so much to me, thank you!”

In between the 1^st and 2^nd Go, Lieutenant General Leroy Sisco, U.S. Army (Retired), joined Strait in the Arena for a very special moment and the two continued their tradition of presenting a home as part of the Military Warriors Support Foundation (MWSF) “Homes 4 Wounded Heroes” (H4WH). Corporal Leland Arledge, a purple heart recipient, and his wife Jennifer were recognized as 52^nd recipients from Strait, receiving a mortgage free home in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The presentation marked the MWSF’s 640^th home bestowal with over $150 million in homes presented to date through the non-profit.

Following the 3^rd Go, the scores were tallied and Tryan and Graves were determined champions. Strait was on hand for the event, and congratulated the winners and presented their awards.

George Strait Team Roping Classic Final Results

1^st        13.95   Clay Tryan and Travis Graves

2^nd       14.38   Cord Crowell and Camish Jennings

3^rd        15.16   Dustin Bird and Paul Eaves

4^th        15.35   Chad Masters and Travis Graves

5^th        15.52   Arky Rogers and Kyle Lawrence

6^th        16.12   Clayton Hass and Jory Levy

7^th        16.25   Adam Rose and Byron Wilkerson

8^th        16.33   Levi Simpson and Jeremy Buhler

 

Go Rounds

1^st Go 4.42 Dustin Bird and Kollin VonAhn

2^nd Go 4.68 Cale Markham and Buddy Hawkins

3^rd Go 3.89 Kaleb Drigger and Junior Nogueira

Friday Fast Time Overall (Buckle recipients)

4.26     Clay Smith and Paul Eaves

Friday Fast Time on 2 (Buckle recipients)

9.78     Levi Simpson and Jeremy Buhler

The event was originally conceived as a small family roping gathering by George Strait and his brother Buddy in 1982, is now one of the most prestigious open team roping competitions in the country and consistently attracts the biggest names in the sport.

About George Strait

George Strait is the undeniable “King of Country Music.”  His music career spans more than 30 years; includes 60 No. 1 singles, more than any other artist in any genre; and boasts 33 platinum or multi-platinum-selling albums, more than any country artist and third across all genres behind only The Beatles and Elvis Presley.  Strait is the only act in history to have a Top 10 hit every single year for over three decades.  Strait has sold more than 68.5 million albums and has earned more than 60 major entertainment industry awards including his most recent Entertainer of the Year sweep at both the Country Music Association Awards (Nov. 2013) and the Academy of Country Music Awards (April 2014). 

Strait, whose name has become synonymous with “real country” since his 1981 debut, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006.  He has since released four more albums, including the GRAMMY Award-winning Troubadour.  In 2013, Strait set out on The Cowboy Rides Away Tour, selling over 1,000,000 tickets to the record-breaking, two-year, cross-country final concert tour. Strait shattered the North American indoor concert attendance record by drawing 104,793 concert-goers to his June 7, 2014 tour finale at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

Strait continues to record new music for longtime label home, MCA Records Nashville.

For more information, please visit www.georgestrait.com.

Luke Bryan played his final Spring Break show Thursday night (March 12th), and the legacy he will leave will be of fun.

“When they’re having kids, they’re telling their kids how we used to go stand on the beach to see a free show that I put on, and that’s their memory,” says Luke. “That’s their time of their life where they’re having the most fun – they don’t know it’s the most fun period of their life – but it’s gonna be cool that forever if you were at any of those shows through any of those years, I think you can take away that day and that moment and remember being there forever, which is cool. That’s a great legacy. I think it doesn’t have to be really any more complex than, ‘Man, I was there, just being young and having fun. I met your mama there.’ [laughs]”

Luke covered Bruno Mars‘ “Uptown Funk” during his Wednesday show in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Luke just released his seventh and final Spring Break album, Checkin’ Out.

Alan Jackson has been announced as the headliner for this year’s Rock the South Festival June 19-20 in Cullman, Alabama. Brantley Gilbert, Blackberry Smoke, Travis Tritt, Tyler Farr and Sara Evans will also perform during the festival.

Sam Hunt once again tops Billboard’s Country Album chart this week with Montevallo. The record sold nearly 16,000 units this past week. Coming in second is Shania Twain’s new collection, Still the One: Live From Vegas.

Mickey Guyton will appear on Access Hollywood on Monday, March 30th as part of the program’s Access Breakthrough Week, which will spotlight a new artist each day. Her Good Morning America performance, which was set to air last week, was rescheduled for Monday (March 16th).

Keith Urban won International Artist of the Year and International Video of the Year for “Cop Car” at the 5^th Annual CMC Music Awards this week. He didn’t attend the awards, since he was in L.A. for the new season of American Idol. While Keith wasn’t there, a few of Nashville’s acts were attended and performed on the show, and they included Lady Antebellum, Kacey Musgraves, Lee Brice and Maddie & Tae.

Rising country star and outdoor enthusiast Jon Pardi has been chosen as NRA Country’s Featured Artist for March. The California native has received high praise for his debut album,Write You A Song, featuring hits “Up All Night” and “Missin’ You Crazy.” Pardi was hand-picked by country legend Alan Jackson to join him on his 25th anniversary Keepin’ It Country Tour this spring, hitting Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on April 11^th, presented by NRA. In between touring with Alan Jackson and selling-out his own headlining shows, Pardi is writing and recording music for his upcoming sophomore album.

“Outside of being on stage, my favorite place to be is outdoors. I grew up in rural Dixon, CA and I’ve been hunting with my father ever since I was a young boy,” says Pardi.  “He taught me how to hunt and shoot, firearm safety and have respect for the outdoors.”

As part of the NRA Country promotion, fans can check out an exclusive performance video starting today, with a new one premiering each Monday in March and register to win a Jon Pardi prize pack including a t-shirt, #pardianimal koozie, and an autographed Write You A Song cd.  Have a question for Jon? Pardi fans can personally chat with him on Wednesday, March 25^th at 6:00PM CT/7:00PM ET via Twitter. Tweet questions starting now @NRACountry using #NRACPardiChat. Visit www.nracountry.com to learn more!

As an NRA Country Featured Artist, Jon Pardi joins some of country music’s biggest artists including Florida Georgia Line, Lee Brice, Frankie Ballard, Love and Theft, Easton Corbin, Eric Paslay, Craig Morgan, Chase Rice, The Swon Brothers and many more, in teaming up to celebrate their support of our brave men and women in uniform, appreciation for the great outdoors, and love of family.

Learn more and get NRA Country Connected at www.NRACountry.com!  Fans can keep up with Jon Pardi by visiting his web site at jonpardi.com or by following him on Twitter @JonPardi.

About NRA Country: Respect. Honor. Freedom. It’s a lifestyle and a bond between the best and brightest in country music and hard-working Americans. NRA Country is powered by pride, love of country, respect for the military, and our responsibility to protect our great American lifestyle. NRA Country celebrates these values with concerts and events benefiting military and veteran services organizations, first responders, conservation organizations, firearm safety programs, and local charities making a difference in their communities. Get NRA Country Connected at www.nracountry.com and get the latest artist info and exclusive events on Facebook,  Twitter, Instagram, andPinterest.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – EMI Records Nashville’s Eric Paslay (pass-lay) premieres the video for his heartbreakingly beautiful single “She Don’t Love You” today on VEVO.  This is the third single from Eric’s self-titled album debut which also includes the No. 1 “Friday Night” and Top 15 “Song About A Girl”. Co-written with Jennifer Wayne, “She Don’t Love You” is currently Top 20 and climbing the country radio charts.

Paslay collaborated with director Wes Edwards again who directed the video “Song About A Girl.”  The “She Don’t Love You” video was shot at the Staar Theatre, a historic opera house in Pulaski, Tenn. and captures the gripping ballad’s introspective story of love lost.

View the official “She Don’t Love You” video here.

Paslay has celebrated five No. 1 singles as a songwriter including “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” (Eli Young Band), “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” (Jake Owen), “Angel Eyes” (Love & Theft), “Rewind” (Rascal Flatts) and “Friday Night” which was his first single from his self-titled debut album. The Texas native has made appearances on ABC’s Good Morning America, Fox & Friends and The Queen Latifah Show over the last year. Paslay has been nominated for a GRAMMY, ACM and CMA award for his songwriting on “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.”

Paslay is currently on his headlining Make Every Night Friday Night tour with upcoming stops in Grand Rapids, Mich., Cincinnati, Ohio and Breckenridge, Colo. He recently wrapped the cross-country Riser tour with Dierks Bentley and has previously shared the stage with Little Big Town, Thomas Rhett and Brantley Gilbert. For a full listing of tour dates, visit EricPaslay.com

“She Don’t Love You” Lyrics

She don’t love you, she’s just lonely

She wasn’t once upon a time

She used to dance when the band played

She used to be the trustin’ kind

She’s no stranger to the leaving

She’s heard all the best goodbyes

Fallin’ has a different meaning

To her, you’re just another guy

Chorus:

She don’t love you, she’s just lonely

She don’t know another way

To break free from what’s been broken

Too many cowboys rode away

So, forgive her if she’s distant

She can’t tell her heart to lie, no

You’ll never be her one and only

She don’t love you, she’s just lonely

You can hold her in the moonlight

You can give her all the stars

You can promise her forever

But you’ll never have her heart

Repeat Chorus

She don’t love you

She don’t love you, she’s just lonely

She wasn’t once upon a time

I remember her in the sunlight

I remember her when she was mine

Mine

EricPaslay.com | Facebook.com/EricPaslay | Twitter.com/EricPaslay