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  • COUNTRY STARS REACT TO THE TRAGIC SHOOTINGS IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA.

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    Brothers Osborne / Charles Kelley / Darius Rucker / Eric Paslay / Jon Pardi / Josh Turner / Kacey Musgraves / Keith Urban / Lady Antebellum / Little Big Town / Luke Bryan / Mickey Guyton

    The tragic massacre in Orlando, Florida has stunned the entire world, including the country music community. Many country artists took to social media to share their shock, sadness and healing thoughts and prayers. Backstage at the CMA Music Festival this past weekend, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban and Little Big Town shared their thoughts with members of the media. Little Big Town performed “Miracle” with Pharrell during their set for Orlando.

    During Luke’s set and most specifically his song “Drink a Beer,” he asked the 70,000+ crowd to take a moment of silence for the victims and their families affected by the shootings in Orlando.“Something has been real heavy on my heart tonight,” he said. “I want us to take a brief moment of silence and think about all those families that have been affected in Orlando, Florida in our great nation last night. Let’s take a moment of silence and pray for all the families there.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about a couple of tragic events over the weekend – the killing of The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie and the mass shooting in Orlando.

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    Luke Bryan (tragic events) OC: …an American. :21
    “It’s amazingly tragic on all levels and its… Well if you think like a true American does and I’m sure we all do in this room and other places but when you hear these two instances this week (signs) I think it’s important for the American spirit to keep trying to live that type of life as an American.”

    Audio / Backstage at this weekend’s CMA Music Festival, Keith Urban talked about the tragic shootings in Orlando.

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    Keith Urban (Orlando shootings) OC: …today. :10

    “Everybody’s in the same boat we’re all trying to live our life, you know live our life as well so we’re as vigilant as we can be but my heart goes out to all the families down in Orlando today.”

    Audio / Little Big Town performed "Miracle" with Pharrell from their Wanderlust album at this weekend’s CMA Music Fest last night to honor those lost in the Orlando, Florida shootings. Backstage before they performed, LBT’s Karen Fairchild said they would perform in life, love and harmony.

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    LBT (Orlando shootings) OC: …tonight. :26
    (Karen) “Music is the ultimate hear and we will not let the haters destroy what we love and enjoy and we will not live in fear of this and tonight is gonna be a celebration of life and love and harmony. And we’re going to remember those lives that were lost and we’re gonna celebrate them tonight.”

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  • CMA MUSIC FEST 2016: AJ, Darius, Dierks, Easton, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, Jon, Josh, Keith, Lady A, Lauren, Luke and more

    Alan Jackson / Charles Kelley / Darius Rucker / Dierks Bentley / Easton Corbin / Eric Church / Eric Paslay / Jon Pardi / Josh Turner / Keith Urban / Kip Moore / Lady Antebellum / Lauren Alaina / Luke Bryan

    It’s that time of the year again! The 2016 CMA Music Festival begins this week in Nashville, and the stars are coming out to perform and check in with their fans!

    Audio / Backstage at last year’s CMA Music Festival, Alan Jackson talked about CMA Music Fest and how it’s become a family affair. Alan is set to perform at ACME in downtown Nashville on Tuesday, as well as at the Grand Ole Opry on Friday.

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    Alan Jackson (CMA Music Fest) OC: …all about. :28 [NOTE: There’s a slight buzz underneath audio.]
    “My daughter – three daughters – and about 10 friends every year, we have to pack into vans and get ‘em out here. They come every night. They come every night, not to see me, they come see everybody else. So, it has become more of a local event, and of course it evolved tremendously since I first started when it was Fan Fair at the old fairgrounds and signing autographs in a hot buildings. But the fans are the same, and that’s what it’s all about.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker will host his 7th annual Darius and Friends concert at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon Monday (June 6th) during this year’s CMA Music Festival. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Darius is nominated for a CMT Music Award – CMT Performance of the Year – for “Alright” from the show, Instant Jam.

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    Darius Rucker (CMA Music Fest) OC: …awesome. :48
    “Music Fest is like nothing else. I say all the time that country music is the only genre that could have something like that. It’s truly amazing, when I come that weekend, people are everywhere and they want to be your best friend. It’s always cool and I love coming here. The thing that always gets me is the show. The fact that you can get that many superstars at one show all playing for free, for the same goal, to entertain those people that are in that stadium that come here for the whole week from all over the world. They come here for one week to see country music, and it’s amazing that those artists say on Friday and Saturday night, this is country music come on out. That’s awesome.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley is making a few appearances during CMA Music Festival week, including performing his latest single, “Different for Girls,” on this year’s CMT Music Awards with Elle King. He’ll also perform during the nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium (home of the Tennessee Titans) on Thursday (June 9th). Dierks Bentley talks about the lengths that fans will go to show their appreciation.

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    Dierks (fans) OC: …commitment. [laughs] :22
    “I know a lot of the early fans by name, because we played a lot of shows at a lot of small venues where we’d be around a lot after the shows. I’m not gonna say her name ‘cause I don’t know if she’d want me to or not, but she has like a dog print of Jake, my dog’s Jake, but she has this dog print on her shoulder with my name in the middle of the tattoo. So, tattoos are always, that’s a big deal when somebody gets your name tattooed on part of their body or something. It’s kind of a scary thing, because it’s kind of a lifelong commitment. [laughs]”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley recalls the weirdest thing he has signed.

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    Dierks Bentley (signing a baby’s head) OC: …child’s brain. :13
    “A baby’s head with a sharpie. Yeah, like a two-week old baby. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to do it. The woman was like, ‘Please.’ I was like, ‘Alright.’ The head at that point is so vulnerable, transparent, so I’m just hoping they didn’t get any ink in the child’s brain.”

    Audio / Easton Corbin, who has hit the airwaves with his latest single “Are You With Me,” talks about CMA Music Festival.

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    Easton Corbin (CMA Music Fest) OC: …wouldn’t work. :25
    “CMA Music Fest, it’s a great opportunity to hang out with your fans and stuff. The great thing about the country genre is it’s one of the only genres that really has a festival dedicated to their fans, and I think that’s great because without the fans we wouldn’t be here. They’re the ones that make it work. Without the fans to buy records and listen to the radio and come to the shows, it just wouldn’t work.”

    Audio / Easton Corbin talks about his fans.

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    Easton Corbin (fans) OC: …being here. :24
    “My fans mean a great deal to me, especially the fans that come out to the shows and the ones that make it to every show around their home or in that vicinity. I even have people come here every time, in these meet-and-greet lines or maybe at the fence over there by the when you’re getting off the red carpet, I try to always make it a point to recognize those fans and just let them know how much that I care and how much I appreciate them being here.”

    Audio / Eric Church, who’s making his way up the country charts with his latest single “Record Year,” says CMA Music Festival is special and unique to country music. Eric is set to perform at Nissan Stadium on Friday (June 10th).

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    Eric Church (CMA Music Fest) OC: …to see.
    “Well, I think it’s what makes country music unique. Find me another format that happens in, it’s just not something that happens. I think it’s about what we were talking about earlier; country music is the one for mat where the fans…the music is really about them. And we’re them; we’re not different than them. We’re not a lot of the rock stars and a lot of the other guys where they’re their own person, they’re their own agenda…they’re not like the people that are listening to them. It’s different in country, we are. We come from there, we are that. I think it’s just a great thing for them to be able to come to our town and to get just this barrage of music. We’ve always tried to do it a little different when we’ll have different events, a couple years ago we made the fans find us…they had to find clues around town of where we were playing and then when they found out they could post it and tell people and then that night we had a full show. We started that day with no people, we didn’t advertise, we said, ‘We’re playing, find us.’ We called it ‘Midnight Church.’ So at midnight we played the Rutledge. They found us, and they were out the door, and they found us there. It was really cool to have some fun in our town and just do stuff like that every year. I’ve done, last year I did a show where I did 3 nights in a row at a place. The first night was me and my band, the second night was an acoustic show, and the last night was me and the songwriters that helped me write this record all sitting up there playing songs and telling stories. It was three different takes on basically the same songs. Just unique. It’s my favorite thing about doing it, is when people come to town, we able to do some shows that we’re not able to do throughout the year because we’re touring a certain way. This is a chance for us to have a little more freedom, creatively, and give the fans something maybe they don’t get to see.”

    Audio / Eric Paslay will be all over the place during CMA Music Fest. On Tuesday morning (June 7th), he’ll take part in the Tug McGraw Sporting Clay Event at the Nashville Gun Club. He’s also set to perform at Riverfront Stage Friday (June 10th), followed by booth signings and Behind the Music Listening Event at the Music City Center, as well as a performance at the HGTV Lodge. Here he talks about getting his first autograph.

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    Eric Paslay (1st autograph) OC: …first autograph. :42
    “The first autograph that I ever got was in Branson, Missouri, and it was Shoji Tabuchi, and he’s a great fiddle player, and I always remember that, you know if you go to Branson, you know who he is. But I was a 9, 10 year old kid, and I always remember that. Every time I meet a kid, I don’t know if it’s their first concert. It could be their 100-thousandth, but whenever I sign an autograph for a kid, I really make sure it’s special and memorable, and with anybody, but especially with kids. I still have that Shoji Tabuchi autograph, you know? Because it meant that much. I didn’t know he was until we saw him, but he tore the place down playing the “Orange Blossom Special.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi, whose new album California Sunrise comes out June 17th, will be all over town during CMA Music Fest. On Tuesday (June 7th), he’ll be at 5th and Demonbreun at Noon with Wrangler signing and chatting with fans, then later that night, he’ll be at the Cannery Ballroom performing during the Musicians On Call event. On Thursday (June 9th), he’ll be in the UMG booth at the Music City Center signing from 3p – 4p, followed by a performance at the Riverfront Stage beginning at 12:15p.

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    Jon Pardi (performing live) OC: …really loud. :19
    “To get up on stage, it feels like home. It’s like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to be.’ I’d rather be there than a lot of places. I love just getting up on stage not matter where it is. It’s fun to get up and entertain people and have a good time, make everybody feel a part of the show and get up there and play my guitar really loud.”

    Audio / Josh Turner, who just released his new single “Hometown Girl,” recalls the weirdest item he’s ever been asked to sign.

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    Josh Turner (weirdest things he’s signed) OC: …Sharpie, though. :10
    “A toothpick; an unused toothpick, let me throw that out there, an unused toothpick. It was quite challenging, actually, and it didn’t look anything like my autograph. It took a really small Sharpie, though.”

    Audio / Keith Urban, who’s sitting inside the Top 10 with his current single “Wasted Time,” will be making a couple of appearances at this year’s CMA Music Fest. First, he’ll play the HGTV Lodge Thursday (June 9th) and at Nissan Stadium (home of the Tennessee Titans) on Sunday (June 12th). Keith will also perform during the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday (June 8th), where he’s up for Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.”

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    Keith Urban(CMA Music Fest) OC: …love it. :25
    “I love it! It’s like summer camp. I mean, it is! It’s a chance to obviously see a lot of people I don’t normally see. I don’t know. It’s just palpable. Since Fan Fair, it’s just been that sort of week-plus of energy; the town just explodes, and what it is we love about this genre and the community aspect of it. I always love it.”

    Audio / Kip Moore fans will get a chance to see him a couple of times this week. He’ll perform during the Pandora Country Music event at Marathon Music Works Tuesday evening, and then you can catch him at the HGTV Lodge downtown on Thursday afternoon. He tells us about his favorite thing about performing live. You’ll definitely get to hear him play his latest hit single, “Running for You,” which is from his Wild Ones album.

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    Kip Moore (favorite thing about performing live) OC: …it gets. :17
    “I’d say that my favorite thing about being on the road is the fact that I get to play music each and every night with my best friends. There’s nothing better than that than playing with your best buddies and seeing the joy that you bring to other people’s faces playing the music that you love to play. I mean that’s the best it gets.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley will participate in Fan Fair X, part of the CMA Music Festival bringing fans and artists together. Hillary, along with her family, will be the artist of the day on Thursday (June 9th) showcasing their upcoming faith-based album with performances and a Q&A, while Charles will give fans an up close and personal look into his solo album, The Driver, on Sunday (June 12th).

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    Lady Antebellum (Music Fest) 3 OC: …really cool. :25

    “When you see the same fans, these die-hard fans that camp out outside the radio remotes and the hotels, and all of these places, and you start recognizing them, I think that’s when you start going ‘Wow, this is a special and unique industry.’ You talk to them by name and give them a hug. I can’t think of any other genre that has that kind of connection. The people that come back the same time every year, you know where they are going to be. It’s really kind of a fun thing. It’s really cool.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina says she owes it all to her fans, and she starts this year’s CMA Music Festival on Tuesday with the City of Hope Softball Game. On Wednesday evening, she’s set to perform a late-night set downtown in HonkyTonk Alley, and on Thursday morning, Lauren will perform an acoustic set on the Disney Stage at the Music City Center, followed by a signing at the UMG booth. On Friday, she’ll perform in the park at the city’s Walk of Fame, and on Sunday, she’ll perform at the Music City Center.

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    Lauren Alaina (fans) OC: …me wrong. :30
    “My fans helped me grow as a person in lots of different ways. I grew up in front of them. I was 15 on American Idol, so they watched me grow up and kind of helped me mold into who I am, because I worked at CiCi’s Pizza, and now I’m traveling all over the place. It’s like I learned responsibility through all of it. I learned who I am as a person, ‘cause my fans have made me stronger, they’ve made me more responsible, they made me believe in myself 10 times more, because I thought I was going home every week on American Idol, and they proved me wrong.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan, who is set to perform at Nissan Stadium on Sunday (June 12th), enjoys CMA Music Fest Week. Luke is nominated for a pair of CMT Music Awards, including Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for “Strip It Down.”

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    Luke Bryan (CMA Music Fest) OC: …for this week. :33
    “It’s a great week. I truly love this week for hundreds of reasons. I always remember my first ones and starting out and doing River Stages and always dreaming of coming over here and performing at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) and all of the stuff building the fan base early in the week. It’s an amazing week for Nashville, and it’s a great week for me. And then I get to be home and do all this stuff. It’s always been a fun week for me. A lot of my family always comes in for this week.”

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Luke, LBT, Lady A, Chris, Brothers O, AJ, Kacey, Kip, Canaan, Jon and more.

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    Alan Jackson / Brothers Osborne / Canaan Smith / Charles Kelley / Chris Stapleton / Kacey Musgraves / Kip Moore / Lady Antebellum / Little Big Town

    Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, Chris Stapleton and Brothers Osborne are among the artists performing during the Country 500 three-day concert event taking place on the infield of the Daytona International Speedway, during Memorial Day Weekend. Also known as “The Great American Music Fest at Daytona,” the Country 500 is the first huge music festival inside the grounds of one of the most iconic motorsports venues.

    During Jimmy Buffett‘s recent show at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater, Alan Jackson surprised the crowd to perform their huge hit, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.”

    Brothers Osborne     and Kacey Musgraves are set to play alongside bands like Violent Femmes and Better Than Ezra at the second annual Pilgrimage Music & Culture Festival September 24 and 25 in Franklin, Tennessee.

    Kip Moore revealed to Us Weekly a rock playlist that “inspire him and get his blood pumping.” Some of the tracks include Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” and The Killers’ “Shot at the Night.”

    Canaan Smith will take part in the 4th Annual Cornhole Challenge, hosted by Craig Campbell on Tuesday, June 7th during this year’s CMA Music Festival. Proceeds will benefit the fight against colorectal cancer.

    Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley won $10,000 for their Lady Aid children’s charities at the KNCI Golf and Guitars event.

    Jon Pardi’s upcoming album, California Sunrise, is now available for pre-order. The album is available beginning June 17th.

    Little Big Town was recently named the Artist of the Year by the Music Business Association.

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM SET TO HOST THE 10TH ANNUAL ACM HONORS.

    Press
    Lady Antebellum

    The Academy of Country Music® announced today ten-time ACM Award-winning group, Lady Antebellum will host the 10TH ANNUAL ACM HONORS™, an evening dedicated to celebrating the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards. For the first time ever, ACM Honors will be produced for television by dick clark productions and broadcast at a later date on the CBS Television Network. The 10th Annual ACM Honors will be held on Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. ACM Honors performers and airdate for the primetime special will be announced in the coming weeks.

     

    Honorees include Special Awards recipients Glen Campbell, Crystal Gayle, Eddie Rabbitt(awarded posthumously), Tanya Tucker, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Jeff Walker (awarded posthumously), Jimmy Webb, Little Big Town and The Statler Brothers. Studio Recording Awards recipients include Jim ‘Moose’ Brown, Dave Cobb, Shannon Forrest, Paul Franklin, Justin Niebank, Danny Rader, Michael Rhodes and Derek Wells. In addition, Ross Coppermanwill be honored as Songwriter of the Year. For more information on specific awards, please visitwww.acmcountry.com.

     

    Ticket on-sale information to be announced soon!

     

    For more information on the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC and the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, please visit www.acmcountry.com. For information on ACM LIFTING LIVES, please visit www.acmliftinglives.org.

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Keith, Chris, Kacey, Vince, David, Church, Lady A, Kip and more

    Press
    Chris Stapleton / David Nail / Eric Church / Kacey Musgraves / Keith Urban / Kelleigh Bannen / Kip Moore / Lady Antebellum / Vince Gill

    Don’t forget to catch Keith Urban perform on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (11:35p ET) on Friday (May 6th), the day his new album, Ripcord, is released. Keith will also be profiled on CBS Sunday Morning this Sunday (May 8th).

    Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves and Willie Nelson are set to headline the 15th Annual Austin City Limits Music Festival, taking place over two consecutive weekends – September 30th – October 2nd and October 7th – 9th – at Austin’s Zilker Park.

    Vince Gill and David Nail are among the artists taking part in the 26th Annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game during this year’s CMA Music Festival. The players will put on their gloves June 7th at 3pm and play against each other at the new First Tennessee Park in Nashville. Tickets for the game are available at Ticketmaster. More names will be announced in the coming weeks. Proceeds will benefit City of Hope’s mission to eradicate cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

    This year’s Faster Horses Festival will feature performances from Eric Church, Lady Antebellum and Jason Aldean on the main stage. The lineup for the second stage includes Kelleigh Bannen, Haley Georgia, Aubrie Sellers, LanCo, Mo Pitney and many others. The festival is taking place July 15th – 17th in Brooklyn, Michigan.

    It seems Kip Moore may have gone back into the studio following his European trek to lay down some cool lyrics and funky beats. Check out his Instagram video below. In the meantime, he’s making his way up the country charts with his latest hit, “Running for You.” Kip is set to go on the road on Miranda Lambert’s Keeper of the Flame 2016 Tour, along with Brothers Osborne, in just a couple of weeks.

    Video / Kip Instagram video in the studio

    Gettin funky with the slowhearts

    A video posted by kipmooremusic (@kipmooremusic) on

  • LADY ANTEBELLUM’S HILLARY SCOTT REVEALS DEBUT SINGLE ‘THY WILL’ FROM FORTHCOMING FAITH-BASED COLLECTION.

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    Lady Antebellum

    Early Friday morning (April 22nd), Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott sent out a letter to her fans via social media introducing her latest musical endeavor and describing the story behind her amazing first single, “Thy Will.” It’s the debut from the upcoming album, Love Remains, by Hillary Scott & The Scott Family, and it is being sent to both Country and Christian radio.

    “I’m so excited the day is finally here that I get to share with you all what I’ve been up to,” says Hillary. “I have made a faith-based album entitled Love Remains. The best part about this collection of songs is that it is featuring my mom Linda Davis, my father Lang Scott and my little sister Rylee Scott, all produced by Ricky Skaggs. So ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you Hillary Scott & The Scott Family.”

    “I wanted to first share ‘Thy Will.’ I wrote this song about a very recent experience that left me heart broken, asking why, and facing some of my most difficult days. This song is my letter to God. As I ask some really hard questions, I hold much of the story of my life that I can’t see, but that I still choose to trust Him.”

    Audio / Hillary Scott talks about the story behind her new single, “Thy Will,” the debut from the forthcoming faith-based project with her family.

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    Hillary Scott (story behind “Thy Will”) OC: …for not. 1:17
    “The most personal song on the record is the first single, and it’s called ‘Thy Will’… and that song is about questioning God, and that it’s okay to do that, but to know that ultimately his plan is what’s best. And when I think about the things that have happened in my life, you don’t fully, one hundred percent, with all of your being, appreciate blessings, unless you have gone through struggle. And like the song says, like ‘you are God, and I am not. You see the big picture…and I believe that, but I’m not gonna lie to you that this really…is hard.’ This is a real, hard thing to walk through and I need you to help me. It’s that big ask of ‘Why God? But I wouldn’t have written this song if I hadn’t gone through it, and I think that I want, other people to hear my story and know that you can keep stepping every day, you can breathing you can keep living and never forgetting and never getting over what happened but you can keep living in the midst of it. And so that’s what this song is. This song is hopefully giving people the freedom to know that it’s okay to question, but don’t forget that, He’s for you, He hears you, He sees you, and ultimately it won’t be for not.”

    Video / Lyric video for Thy Will

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    Video / Watch the trailer for Love Remains, the upcoming album from Hillary Scott (of Lady Antebellum) and the Scott Family.

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  • NEWS AND NOTES: Brothers, Paslay, Canaan, Pardi, Dierks, Hillary, Chris, Clare

    Press
    Brothers Osborne / Canaan Smith / Chris Stapleton / Clare Dunn / Dierks Bentley / Eric Paslay / Jon Pardi / Lady Antebellum

    Brothers Osborne, Eric Paslay, Canaan Smith, Jon Pardi and many others have been added to the lineup at the Riverfront Stage during this year’s CMA Music Fest, running Thursday, June 9th through Sunday, June 12th.

    Dierks Bentley held a surprise pop-up show in Knoxville, Tennessee over the weekend. The event, which took place at a local hotspot, The International, will be seen next month on CMT. The CMT Instant Jam with Dierks is set to debut May 28th at 9pm ET.

    Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott performed at the Stand Up to Cancer benefit, chaired by Reese Witherspoon and her husband Jim Toth, as well as MasterCard President and CEO Ajay Banga and his wife Ritu. The gala event over the weekend raised more than $42 million and also featured performances by Sheryl Crow, Tony Bennett and Jamie Foxx. Also in attendance were the event’s co-founder Katie Couric, Alec Baldwin, Joe Torre, Maura Tierney and Donna Karan. Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now.

    Chris Stapleton is featured (sort of) in Jake Owen’s new video for “American Love Song.” Jake is wearing one of Chris’ tour T-shirts in the clip.

    Clare Dunn recently shot the video for her single, “Tuxedo,” at a farm south of Nashville. The clip will hit the airwaves in the coming weeks.

  • UMG NASHVILLE ARTISTS REACT TO THE PASSING OF THE LEGENDARY MERLE HAGGARD

    Audio
    Alan Jackson / Billy Currington / Brothers Osborne / David Nail / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Gary Allan / George Strait / Jon Pardi / Josh Turner / Kacey Musgraves / Keith Urban / Kip Moore / Lady Antebellum / Luke Bryan / Mickey Guyton / Vince Gill

    Country Music has lost a legend. Merle Haggard, who turned 79 today, died Wednesday (April 6th) in California, surrounded by friends and family. The Country Music Hall of Famer had been in failing health for quite some time, diagnosed with double pneumonia in December, which led to the cancellation of several dates, including a two-night stand at the Ryman Auditorium.

    Haggard had 40 No. 1 songs, including “Mama Tried,” “Workin’ Man Blues,” “Okie From Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me” and wrote many classics, some of which had been recorded by folks such as Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill, who is a lifelong fan of the iconic entertainer.

    “I‘ve been a [Merle] Haggard nut my whole life,” says Vince Gill, who along with his pal Paul Franklin released Bakersfield album in 2013 (a collaborative tribute of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens songs). “And I’ve played country music, recorded country music my whole life, and I’ve tried to emulate what I loved about Merle Haggard on a lot of occasions.”

    Many of country music’s brightest stars took to Twitter to offer their thoughts:

    For Eric Church, he wrote and recorded “Pledge Allegiance to the Hag” for his Sinners Like Me album. The song also featured the subject of the song, Mr. Merle Haggard.

    Eric Church ‏@ericchurch 
    Rest in peace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00IEK9KdWgE …

    Alan Jackson ‏@OfficialJackson 
    “We lost one of the greatest singer/songwriters since Hank Williams. Inspiration to millions, great American, thank you Merle. I’ll miss you.”

    Luke Bryan ‏@LukeBryanOnline 
    “A true hero was lost today. Thank you for your contribution to not only country music but all music. @merlehaggard”

    Keith Urban ‏@KeithUrban 
    “One of the gr8 concert memories I have is seeing Merle and the Strangers at the Ryman in Nashville. We had a ‘live’ album of his when I was growing up and I felt like I’d fallin’ inside my Dad’s stereo speakers. One of my all time favorite voices – and a master songwriter. Blessings to your soulful spirit Merle & all of you family & loved ones.” – KU

    Hillary Scott ‏@HillaryScottLA
    “You are a cornerstone of country music @merlehaggard…u will be missed greatly. Praying for the Haggard family.”

    KACEY MUSGRAVES ‏@KaceyMusgraves 
    “I think I’ll just stay here and drink.”

    Billy Currington ‏@billycurrington 
    “rip @merlehaggard thank you for all the great music u blessed us with. we will play it forever.”

    Dierks Bentley ‏@DierksBentley 
    “Literally just fell to the floor. can’t believe we lost the hag. rip merle haggard.”

    CfYkrqMUMAE6MX-
    Toby Keith ‏@TobyKeithMusic 
    “The greatest singer songwriter of my lifetime is gone. Thanks for the music and friendship. R.I.P. Hag. – T”

    GaryAllan ‏@GaryAllan 
    “Merle was my all-time hero. Today we lost one of the greatest songwriters of country music and I will always regret not recording with him. He was a legend and I was honored whenever we got the chance to share a stage with him. Thank you for the inspiration, the advice and for always being you. I, as well as the entire music community, will miss you Merle.”

    Darius Rucker ‏@dariusrucker
    “Heaven’s band just got better! RIP to the LEGENDARY @merlehaggard. Your music will never die!”

    Jon Pardi ‏@JonPardi 
    “Sad day today @merlehaggard has passed. RIP to a true songwriter, a pioneer of California Country, and country music.”

    Kip Moore ‏@KipMooreMusic 
    “RIP Merle…you paved the way for so many. You had what we all hope for…a voice that matters and survives the ever changing trends.”

    Josh Turner ‏@joshturnermusic  5m5 minutes ago
    “Pains me to say that country music icon @merlehaggard has passed away. So honored to have known him and shared the stage with him. Thanks Merle for all you’ve done for us!”

    Mickey Guyton ‏@MickeyGuyton 
    “RIP Merle Haggard. Heaven’s choir just got a heck of a lot better.”

    For David Nail, seeing Merle in concert was a life-changing experience. “The night I saw Merle At the Golden Nugget, it was the single greatest combination of seeing an artist/venue/city together, that I’ve ever witnessed.  It was a spiritual experience.  I looked at my buddy multiple times in disbelief that we were actually there.  I teared up on a few songs.  I knew the greatness I was seeing/hearing.”

    George Strait was a huge fan of Merle Haggard’s. He says, “When I was in the Army and stationed at Schofield barracks in Hawaii, you know Merle came there, and he played Conroy Bowl.  And I remember I was playing an NCO club that night, and before my little gig, I got to run over there and I kinda snuck in and saw Merle and it just blew me away. That’s what I wanted to be like, you know, I wanted to be like the Hag. And so, I can’t tell you how big of an influence he was on me, just huge.”

    Strait also posted a reaction on his socials: “It’s a very sad day for all of us Hag fans. He was a true icon of the music world and it’s hard to believe we won’t be able to see him anymore. I honestly think that had it not been for him, I would not have chosen the path that I chose.” – G

    Audio / During a recent interview for his new album, Down to My Last Bad Habit, Vince Gill says he’s always been a huge fan of Merle Haggard.

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    Vince Gill (Haggard nut) OC: …occasions. :12
    “I‘ve been a  Haggard Nut my whole life. And I’ve played country music, recorded country music my whole life, and I’ve tried to emulate what I loved about Merle Haggard on a lot of occasions.”

    Audio / George Strait talks about the huge influence Merle Haggard had on him and is career.

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    George Strait (Merle Haggard) OC: …it’s just huge. :41
    “You know, Merle was huge in my career. When he did ‘Okie from Muskogee’ back in the 70’s, I think it was, you know I kinda got hooked then on Merle and country music.  When I was in the Army and stationed at Schofield barracks in Hawaii, you know Merle came there, and he played Conroy Bowl.  And I remember I was playing an NCO club that night, and before my little gig, I got to run over there and I kinda snuck in and saw Merle and it just blew me away. That’s what I wanted to be like, you know, I wanted to be like the Hag. And so, I can’t tell you how big of an influence he was on me, just huge.”

     

     

    Video / Vince Gill -- with Paul Franklin -- on Merle Haggard

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    Video / Brothers Osborne "Natural High"

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  • NEWS AND NOTES: Keith, Lady A, Darius, Sam, Kacey, Mickey, Canaan, Lauren, David, LBT

    Press
    Canaan Smith / Darius Rucker / David Nail / Kacey Musgraves / Keith Urban / Lady Antebellum / Lauren Alaina / Little Big Town / Mickey Guyton / Sam Hunt

    Keith Urban performed at a private 40th birthday celebration in L.A. on Saturday (March 19th) for Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon. He teamed up with Taylor Swift on her hit “Shake It Off,” and later accompanied Reese and the rest of the party-goers on a rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” the same title as her 2002 film. Other guests included Jennifer Aniston and her husband, actor Justin Theroux, Matthew McConaughey, Katie Hudson, Courtney Cox, Robert Downey, Jr. and Keith’s wife, Nicole Kidman.

    Lady Antebellum, Sam Hunt and Kacey Musgraves will perform during the Windy City LakeShake festival June 17th – 19th in Chicago. Joining them will be Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Thomas Rhett and Martina McBride, among others.

    Mickey Guyton, Canaan Smith and Lauren Alaina are featured in the new issue of NASH Country Weekly magazine in their Spring Fashion article. They, along with Granger Smith, modeled different looks for spring and talked about their style on and off-stage.

    Darius Rucker will host his seventh annual Darius and Friends benefit concert at the Wildhorse Saloon June 6th (as the unofficial start to the CMA Music Festival). Tickets for the show, with proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, go on sale Thursday (March 24th).

    David Nail was in South Carolina over the weekend for the NeedtoBreathe Golf Classic. NeedtoBreathe is a Christian Rock band, who’ve won numerous Gospel Music Awards and topped the Christian charts.

    The members of Little Big Town were apparently hanging out with superstar Justin Timberlake, writing songs . He shared a photo on his socials of him with LBT’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman and wrote, “NBD… Just writing with @littlebigtown This band is the truth!! So good!!!!”

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  • KEVIN SPACEY AND KRIS KRISTOFFERSON TURN COUNTRY STARS INTO SUPER FANS.

    Video
    Darius Rucker / Dierks Bentley / Lady Antebellum

    Many country stars were starstruck backstage at the Kris Kristofferson tribute show in Nashville on Wednesday night (March 16th). Actor Kevin Spacey (House of Cards, The Usual Suspects, etc.) was in attendance. Check out some of the photos below.

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    (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Essential Broadcast Media)