NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On June 9th, Universal Music Group Nashville will release Now That’s What I Call Country Vol. 8, the latest installment in the popular NOW series. Country music fans can hear hits by some of their favorite artists including Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Eric Church, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Cole Swindell, Lady Antebellum and more.

Now That’s What I Call Country Vol. 8 includes 14 No. 1 hits and 18 total tracks from today’s country music superstars and exciting new artists:

1. Luke Bryan                                         Roller Coaster
2. Jason Aldean                                     Just Gettin’ Started
3. Sam Hunt                                           Leave The Night On
4. Darius Rucker                                   Homegrown Honey
5. Florida Georgia Line                         Sun Daze
6. Jake Owen                                          Beachin’
7. Brantley Gilbert                                  Bottoms Up
8. Eric Church                                         Give Me Back My Hometown
9. Lady Antebellum                               Bartender
10. A Thousand Horses                          Smoke
11. Cole Swindell                                     Ain’t Worth The Whiskey
12. Keith Urban                                       Somewhere In My Car
13. Miranda Lambert                             Automatic
14. Brad Paisley                                       Perfect Storm
15. Tyler Farr                                           A Guy Walks Into A Bar
16. Lee Brice                                            Drinking Class
17. Chris Young                                       Lonely Eyes
18. Eric Paslay                                          She Don’t Love You

The project is a joint venture from Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. This release is part of the multi-platinum NOW That’s What I Call Music! compilation series, the world’s best-selling multi-artist albums with sales topping 250 million worldwide and 94 million in the U.S.  The seven previous NOW That’s What I Call Country releases have debuted in the Top 3 of the Billboard Country albums chart.  Now That’s What I Call Country Vol. 8  is distributed by Universal Music Group. NOW and NOW That’s What I Call Music! are registered trademarks of Universal Music Group and its affiliates.

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Sam Hunt performed “Fast as You” with Dwight Yoakam for the ACM Presents: Superstar Duets television special, premiering Friday night (May 15th), and he said it was an honor just to meet him, much less perform one of his hits with Dwight.

“Getting to meet him was awesome, and we got to hang a little bit before getting on stage to play. As much as I loved being on stage and playing with him, my favorite part was just getting to hang with him a little bit before we got there,” says Sam. “It was just cool to be a part of that event. It’s phenomenal to think that I’m a part of the same genre as Dwight and all of the other great artists that have come before me.”

In addition to Sam and Dwight’s performance, the two-hour special will also feature performances by Keith Urban and John Anderson, Luke Bryan and Ronnie Milsap, Dierks Bentley with Kip Moore and Ashley Monroe, Lady Antebellum and Brandy Clark, Darius Rucker and Sara Evans, Clint Black and Joe Nichols, Brett Eldredge and Hunter Hayes, Miranda Lambert and Patty Loveless, Reba and Brooks & Dunn, as well as Alabama and Eli Young Band, among others.

ACM Presents: Superstar Duets premieres at 9pm ET on CBS on Friday.

New York, N.Y. – May 1, 2015 – Darius Rucker and Jennifer Nettles will host the 2015 iHeartRadio Country Festival, bringing together Country music’s biggest superstars all on one stage at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas on Saturday, May 2nd. This year’s incredible lineup will feature Darius, Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, Sam Hunt, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Brantley Gilbert, Justin Moore, The Band Perry and Tyler Farr, as well as special guest appearances by Bobby Bones, Big & Rich, Cody Alan, Brooklyn Decker, Craig Robinson, Eric Decker and Jessie James Decker.

The iHeartRadio Country Festival will video stream live exclusively on Yahoo Live, where fans have the freedom to stream the concert for free wherever they are through the Yahoo Screen App for iOS and Android, and on connected devices including Apple TV, Roku, XBox, Tivo and www.yahoo.com/iheartcountry.  It will also broadcast live on iHeartMedia Country radio stations across the U.S. on Saturday, May 2nd at 7 p.m. CT. NBC will televise the iHeartRadio Country Festival on NBC Wednesday, May 27th from 9-11 p.m. ET/ 8-10 p.m. CT.

“I am thrilled to host the iHeartRadio Country Music Festival and celebrate our beautiful country community of music and musicians,” said Nettles.  “I’m excited to share the stage with some of the biggest names in country music. It’s going to be a wonderful night in the great town of Austin and I look forward to being a part of it.”

“Growing up in South Carolina, I would lay in bed at night listening to all kinds of music and commentary from deejays on the air. It actually led me to go into sports broadcasting in college, so I have always wanted an opportunity to try my skills at being one of those commentators. I can’t think of a better opportunity to talk directly to the fans — and bring them some great music — than co-hosting this fantastic night with some really awesome friends,” said Rucker.

Proud partners of this year’s event include Bud Light, Firestone®, Mtn Dew® DEWshine™, NBC, State Farm® and Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

Tickets are on sale now at TexasBoxOffice.com and for more information visit iHeartRadio.com/countryfestival. The iHeartRadio Country Festival is an iHeartMedia Production.

Sam Hunt’s “Take Your Time” has taken over the top spot on both the Country Aircheck and Billboard country charts. The Georgia native says this song is really a pivotal point in his career.

“It’s a song that when I wrote it, I really found like I found my direction as an artist, as opposed to writing songs for potentially other artists,” says Sam. “Hopefully, it can solidify a lot of the things that we’ve had going for us over the last several months and help us really go forward and put out more music from Montevallo and really help solidify the opportunity to make a second record here in the next couple of years. It’s a really pivotal point, I feel like.”

It’s now his second straight No. 1 single, following “Leave the Night On” from his Gold-certified debut album, Montevallo.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 17, 2015) – Country music standout Sam Hunt released his debut album MONTEVALLO in October 2014, when it became the No. 1 and best-selling debut album from a country artist since 2011.  MONTEVALLO remains the best-selling country album of 2015 and is now RIAA Gold-certified with sales topping 500,000.  Hunt is the fastest debut country artist to earn a Gold album since 2012, and the first debut country artist to reach the benchmark since 2013.

MONTEVALLO includes Hunt’s Platinum-selling, No. 1 hit “Leave the Night On” and his current smash, “Take Your Time.”  In an impressive 12-week run, “Take Your Time” remains the No. 1 country download in the nation and is now Hunt’s second consecutive Platinum-selling single. “Take Your Time” also leads the Hot Country Songs chart for its tenth week becoming only the 16^th single of all time to hold the No. 1 slot for at least ten weeks since the chart’s inception in October 1958.

In addition to his impressive sales stats, Hunt continues to make waves in the digital space racking up over 175 million streams across all partners since his debut, more than any other new country artist.
Hunt is nominated for New Artist of the Year and will be performing on this year’s 50^th Academy of Country Music Awards airing live on CBS this Sunday, April 19 at 8/7c.

For information, music, images, tour dates and more, visit www.SamHunt.com.

Audio / Sam Hunt explains what he hopes for when people listen to his new album, Montevallo.

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Sam Hunt (Montevallo expectations) OC: …makes them feel. :43
“I hope that people, if the give the full album a chance, will have the ability to see what I want to represent as an artist, they will be able to get out of this music what I get out of music that I love, you know? The record is hopefully diverse enough to reach people of several different tastes. If there is something I could say to someone that was about to listen to this record for the first time, I would hope that they could put aside any preconceived notions or any direction that whatever they have stumbled across before has given them, they could open their mind and just listen to the music with an open mind and open heart and just see how they feel about it; see how it makes them feel.”

Sam Hunt used to watch the ACM Awards when he was growing up at home in Georgia. Now, he is able to attend the awards show live…AND he’s nominated for New Artist of the Year…AND he’s performing, as well. One of his favorite moments was when the Entertainer Award was handed out.

“I remember staying up and waiting for the Entertainer of the Year award. That was always a big moment that I would wait for as kind of the climatic moment of the show,” says Sam. “But just always enjoyed seeing all of the folks that I listened to on the radio, see them not in person, but see them perform live on TV, ‘cause I didn’t really get a chance to see a lot of those guys perform in concerts growing up. So, seeing ‘em on the ACM Awards was second best.”

Sam, who is poised to hit the top of the country charts with his single “Take Your Time,” is nominated for ACM New Artist of the Year (VoteACM.com). The 50th Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, will be broadcast live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas at 8pm ET on CBS.

As an ACM New Artist of the Year nominee, Sam Hunt will perform during Sunday night’s (April 19th) show. He’s thrilled to be a part of the show, which he watched growing up.

“I’m looking forward to playing for such a big audience, not only there in the stadium, but the TV audience – the folks who are watching at home,” says Sam. “It’s such a huge awards show, and it’s a show I grew up watching and seen so many artists that I have grown up listening to perform on that show. So, to be a part of that group is going to be really special.”

The Georgia native has been so busy on the road that he hasn’t had a chance to catch up with any of his friends, but he hopes to remedy that when he’s in Dallas for the ACMs.

“We got my folks coming out with me to hang out, and I’m gonna see a lot of friends from Nashville that I really haven’t gotten to see a lot in a while, because we’ve been out on the road and been so busy for the past several months,” he adds. “So, there are several things that I’m looking to about the ACM Awards this year.”

You can vote for Sam, who is poised to take over the top spot on the country charts with his latest single “Take Your Time,” by going to VoteACM.com. The 50th Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, will be broadcast live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas at 8pm ET on CBS.

Sam Hunt definitely knows the ladies. He does a set of songs by such ladies as Reba, Trisha Yearwood, Bonnie Raitt, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, and he put this knowledge about them to a test when he recently played Diva Trivia with Entertainment Tonight. See how well he did below.

Sam, who is closing in on the top of the country charts with “Take Your Time,” is nominated for New Artist of the Year at this year’s ACM Awards, which air Sunday (April 19th) at 8pm ET on CBS.

Checkout http://hunt4acm.com/ for exclusive childhood photos of Sam with a new photo revealed daily.

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Encino, CA (April 9, 2015) – The Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions announced the full lineup of country music luminaries and chart-topping artists who will perform together on “ACM Presents: Superstar Duets” and make up the evening portion of the 3^rd Annual ACM Party for a Cause Festival.  Performances at the two-day outdoor music festival celebrating the 50^th ACM Awards will begin at 7:30pm on Friday, April 17th and continue Saturday, April 18th on the Main Stage inside of Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX. A two-hour special including performances from the event will air on Friday, May 15th on the CBS Television Network.

Friday’s lineup will include special collaborations by Alabama & Eli Young Band, Brooks & Dunn & Reba, Darius Rucker & Sara Evans, Dierks Bentley & Kip Moore & Ashley Monroe, Dwight Yoakam & Sam Hunt, and Luke Bryan & Ronnie Milsap, along with a special performance by Brantley Gilbert.

Saturday’s lineup will include duet performances by Alan Jackson & Cole Swindell, Clint Black & Joe Nichols, Eric Church & Marty Stuart, Florida Georgia Line & David Lee Murphy, Hunter Hayes & Brett Eldredge, Keith Urban & John Anderson, Lady Antebellum & Brandy Clark, Miranda Lambert & Patty Loveless, and The Band Perry & Deana Carter along with special performances by Kenny Chesney and Jake Owen.

Ticket packages to the ACM Party for a Cause Festival INCLUDING the 50^th ACM Awards are available NOW at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets to the 50^TH ACM Awards sold out last spring in a record 18 minutes but as staging changes became final for the ACM Awards, seats to the previously SOLD OUT Awards show and festival are now available.
lease see a full lineup of tentatively scheduled performances below for “ACM Presents: Superstar Duets” listed by order of appearance and subject to change. For additional updates please visit www.ACMcountry.com.

 Friday, April 17, 2015 (Listed in Order of Appearance)

·         Brantley Gilbert

·         Dwight Yoakam & Sam Hunt

·         Darius Rucker & Sara Evans

·         Alabama & Eli Young Band

·         Brooks & Dunn & Reba

·         Dierks Bentley, Kip Moore & Ashley Monroe

·         Luke Bryan & Ronnie Milsap

 Saturday, April 18, 2015 (Listed in Order of Appearance)

·         Clint Black & Joe Nichols

·         The Band Perry & Deana Carter

·         Lady Antebellum & Brandy Clark

·         Hunter Hayes & Brett Eldredge

·         Jake Owen

·         Kenny Chesney

·         Alan Jackson & Cole Swindell

·         Miranda Lambert & Patty Loveless

·         Keith Urban & John Anderson

·         Eric Church & Marty Stuart

·         Florida Georgia Line & David Lee Murphy

The 3^rd Annual ACM Party for a Cause Festival, beginning at 12:00 PM on April 17-18, 2015, will include multiple stages for ongoing LIVE country music performances, interactive experiences, a family-friendly country marketplace with food trucks and vendors from around the country, and much more, all leading up to the 50^th Academy of Country Music Awards, which will be broadcast LIVE for the first time ever from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. Proceeds from the event will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music and military philanthropies including Folds of Honor Foundation, Wounded Warrior Project, Navy SEAL Foundation, and Task Force Dagger Foundation.

ACM Presents: Superstar Duets is produced for television by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan and R.A. Clark are executive producers.  Mark Bracco, Barry Adelman and Tom Forrest are co-executive producers. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.

Sam Hunt’s “Take Your Time” is poised to take over the top spot on the country charts. He co-wrote the song with Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally – the same team that crafted Sam’s first single, the No. 1 “Leave the Night On.”

While the music video depicts an emotional and heart-wrenching scenario, one can also envision the song as a man-interested-in-woman story. The guy is throwing out these lines to show he’s sincerely interested in this woman, and Sam hopes that the honesty of the lyrics shines through.

“I think those interactions between strangers, in terms of a guy going up and pursuing a lady or introducing himself or expressing his interest, that can get cliché at times. It can get kind of sleazy and shallow at times when you think about it, especially if it’s in a bar or a place that may not be necessarily as romantic as the next,” says Sam. “Hopefully, the singer in this song and what he’s saying overcomes some of those stereotypes, and you can see past just a surface attraction and you can see that he’s genuinely interested in this girl, who has just completely gotten his attention in whatever circumstance you want to see this song play out in.”

Sam is nominated for ACM New Artist of the Year. Fan voting is open through Sunday, April 19th at VoteACM.com. The 50th Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, will be broadcast live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas at 8pm ET on CBS.