• NEWS AND NOTES: Luke Bryan, Reba McEntire, Maddie & Tae, Keith Urban

    Luke Bryan will appear on ABC’s Live With Kelly and Ryan on Friday (August 6th). He will chat about his new imdb.com docuseries, Dirt Road Diaries.

    Reba McEntire is joined by buddies Brooks & Dunn for their final shows in Las Vegas this December. Tickets go on sale for the December 1st – 15th shows at The Colosseum this Friday.  “I can’t wait to be back in Vegas with my buddies @BrooksAndDunn  for our final shows at the @ColosseumatCP  Dec 1-15! Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 AM PT. Don’t miss your last chance to see us #TogetherInVegas!

     

    Join Maddie & Tae as they rate their past red carpet looks in their latest YouTube video.

     

    Keith Urban graces the new issue of Rolling Stone Australia, which will hit newsstands Down Under September 6th. Keith, who is sitting inside the Top 10 on the country charts with “One Too Many” feat. P!nk, rejoins The Voice Australia as a coach, premiering this weekend.

  • MADDIE AND TAE RELEASE THE VIDEO FOR THEIR LATEST SINGLE, “WOMAN YOU GOT.”

    Maddie and Tae just released the music video for their latest single, “Woman You Got.” The clip features their real-life husbands, Jonah Font (Maddie) and Josh Kerr (Tae). Check it out below.

     

     

  • FOURTH OF JULY 2021 AUDIO

    Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. The holiday is commonly associated with fireworks displays, parades, barbecues and concerts…and with restrictions easing up all across the nation, celebrations are coming back in force, although a few may still be virtual. Some of your favorite country stars take time to remember their Fourth of July traditions, memories and what the holiday really means to them.

    Alan Jackson and Mickey Guyton are set to perform during A Capitol Fourth on the Fourth of July (Sunday) on PBS beginning at 8pm ET. Vanessa Williams, Gladys Knight, Jimmy Buffett, Jimmie Allen and Train are also among the stars performing during the special.

     

    Reba McEntire is set to perform during this year’s Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular. The special, which will also feature performances by the Black Pumas, Coldplay and One Republic, among others, will air Sunday, July 4th from 8-10pm ET with an hour-long encore presentation at 10pm ET.

    Priscilla Block will perform during Nashville’s Fourth of July celebration, Let Freedom Sing!. The free event will take place in downtown Nashville on lower Broadway and will also feature performances by Lilly Hiatt, Regi Wooten and Friends, the Nashville Symphony and headliner Brad Paisley.

    Parker McCollum will perform on the Fourth of July at the WhiteWater Amphitheater in New Braunfels, Texas.

    Click here to access liners.

     

    Audio / Adam Hambrick has two things that make the Fourth of July spectacular.

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    Adam Hambrick (Fourth of July) OC: …July. :11
    “Fire up the grill and blow something up. Two things that are important for a good time on the Fourth of July – one (is) fire and meat. Those two things make a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / Alan Jackson recalls one of the coolest Fourth of July memories he’s ever enjoyed.

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    AJ (fave 4th of July memory) OC: …very cool. :58
    Well, this one is hard to beat. A couple of years ago, maybe longer than that now, I had an old boat in Florida. It’s like an old antique motor yacht, and it was kind of a cool old boat. I had taken that boat, I’ve always wanted to take it up north like to New York and up in that area, up in the northeast where it’s so pretty. So, we took the boat up there and Denise and the girls, we all went up. They like going to New York City, which I don’t really care about going to the city. So, I got to stay in my boat there at the harbor tied up, which was cool anyway. So they spent time in the city a few days and then that was Fourth of July, and we went out in the Hudson River that night and they shot the fireworks off and we were anchored out in front of the Statue of Liberty and New York City was behind us, and the Statue of Liberty and the fireworks were going off sitting on that boat. That was the coolest thing and my girls still talk about that. I mean, that was the coolest thing on Fourth of July I can ever remember. I can’t top that one probably. It was emotional sitting there watching the Statue of Liberty and thinking about all that. It was very cool.”

    Audio / Billy Currington talks about his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Billy Currington (4th of July) OC: …of my life. :16
    “My best memories would be hanging out with my mom, brother and sister on the beach on Tybee Island right off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. We’d go there every year, and we’d light our own fireworks and watch the ones that they had for us. They were the best times, some of the best times of my life.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay talks about what he and family would do over the Fourth of July holiday.

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    Brandon Lay (Fourth of July) OC: …good times. :47
    “I remember everybody hanging out at my grandmother’s and we would drive down the road to a fireworks stand off the side of Highway 45 out there in Jackson [Tennessee]. Just getting the bottle rockets and Black Cats and bringing ‘em back to the house, it felt like it was an eternity before it got dark. We just kept wanting to light ‘em and our parents would tell us it ain’t time, but just how exhilarating it was to see ‘em shoot up. We’re not talking big time fireworks here, but you would’ve thought that it was. It’s funny just how you remember things, but I just remember a screen door at my grandmother’s, running in and out, in and out, in and out and four wild little cousins running around. It was good times.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood recalls one of her favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Carrie Underwood (favorite Fourth of July memory) OC: …work out. :51
    “I think my favorite Fourth of July memory would be going to the fireworks stand and picking out which fireworks I wanted to do. I must’ve been like 7 or 8, and I came home and made a list of what order I wanted to do them in, because I wanted to put a show on for Mom and Dad, and of course I couldn’t wait until it was dark outside (laughs). So, I made my Mom and Dad get the lawn chairs and come out to the backyard and watch some not very dramatic fireworks at like six o’clock in the evening, but I was so proud of myself, and I was so proud of the show that I put on. So, I feel like that was a little training for what I do now – putting on shows, figuring out how it’s all going to work out.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker enjoys setting off fireworks.

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    Darius Rucker (fireworks) OC: …off once. :15
    “Oh, I love fireworks. We had the bottle rocket fights and all that good stuff. I was the typical little crazy kid, you know. In South Carolina, it was always legal, so we shot fireworks when it was legal. We did all that sort of stuff. I almost blew my hand off once.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley says the people of this country are what define America.

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    Dierks (people are America) OC: …all about. :17
    “The definition of America to me, you know, getting a chance to travel across the country on a tour bus, stepping upon stages whether it be county fairs, state fairs, arenas, rock bars, the Opry stage, anywhere across the country and looking out at that crowd and seeing people. The people, to me, are what America’s all about.”

    Audio / Eric Church recalls his family activities on the Fourth of July holiday.

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    Eric Church (4th of July) OC: …freedoms. 1:17
    “The Fourth of July for me, growing up we would always go to the lake, we didn’t live on the lake but we would all go to the lake. Had a buddy who had a pontoon and we would always get on the pontoon and you go out and you’d tie all the pontoons together and just have a big time. This was before, I was younger then, the adults were having more fun than we were, you know it was just to go swim in the water and shoot off fireworks. Basically, water tailgating is what it was. And then as we got older, same thing…we would just, us younger kids had our own boat and we had as much fun as the adults.”

    Audio / Jon Langston talks about what he usually does on the Fourth of July,

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    Jon Langston (Fourth of July) OC: …either way. :17
    “The Fourth of July is usually different every year. We’re usually playing shows, or we’re out on the lake or at the beach, or sometimes I’ve said, ‘I’m staying at home,’ shooting fireworks off the back porch or something. That’s probably not the safest thing, but we have a good time either way.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT SOME OF HIS FAVORITE CHILDHOOD FOURTH OF JULY MEMORIES.

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    Jordan Davis (Fourth of July) 2 OC: …really cool. :17
    “Probably baseball games, firework shows at baseball games. We’d go to Shreveport Captains games, so yeah, we’d do that or barbecues and fireworks. I can remember being on the lake for a couple of Fourth of Julys. We’d take the boat out and we’d watch the downtown fireworks show from the boat, which was really cool.”

    Audio / Josh Turner talks about the fireworks “wars” his family would have when he was growing up.

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    Josh Turner (fireworks) OC: …of money. [laughs] :20
    “Yeah, we had fireworks around, especially my Daddy’s family. All the individual families had a lot of competition with each other and tried to outdo each other to try to see who had the biggest and baddest fireworks and all that. [laughs] My daddy, I think, was the smartest one. He just went out and bought maybe $25 worth of fireworks and let everybody else put on the big show, so he saved a lot of money.” [laughs]

    Audio / Keith Urban recalls coming over to America for the first time.

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    Keith Urban (coming to America 1st time) OC: …as I could. :39
    “1989 was the first year I came to the States, and it had always been my goal, but I had no plan on how to get here. It was just a case of keep playing, keep getting better at what you do, and then hopefully, somehow, some way I’ll end up over here. The guy who was managing me at the time, we just planned a trip over here – it was actually for the New Music Seminar in New York. And we came over for that, and then we did a trip down to Nashville, and I shopping my little demo around. I think I humored everybody more than anything else [laughs] with my tragic, ill-fitting demo for the time. So, I left there, but I was just so committed to coming back as quick as I could.”

    Audio / Kip Moore says he’s very proud of the U.S. military and can’t imagine having to do what they do to protect the United States.

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    Kip Moore (Fourth of July-soldiers) OC: …every day. :32
    “I’m a very, very patriotic person, proud of the country that I live in, and I’m very proud of what those guys do for us each and every day, and I don’t take it for granted one bit. My grandparents were in the military, fought wars, and I’ve seen the battle that they go through, just the horror of remember things. When I start to think that I’m half-way tough, I realize how I’m not one bit when I talk to soldiers when I’m out and realize the things that they go through. I can’t imagine facing what those guys face every day.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan recalls one of his favorite Fourth of July memories.

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    Luke Bryan (4th of July memories) OC: …we used to. :21
    “Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories were spent on Lake Blackshear down in Georgia with my family. I was always kind of in charge of driving home from Tennessee and picking up all the fireworks and my nieces and nephews always got excited when I rolled in because they knew I had all the fireworks. But, it was always a great memory, and I miss not getting to do that as much as we used to.”

    Audio / MADDIE & TAE TALK ABOUT THEIR FOURTH OF JULY TRADITIONS.

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    Maddie & Tae (Fourth of July) OC: …it’s perfect. :29
    TAE: “One of my favorite Fourth of July traditions – I’d say it’s a tradition ‘cause it happens every year, but I’m not always able to make it – is that we go to my grandparents in Oklahoma, and we all line up lawn chairs right in front of their garage and we just light fireworks. We always do it far away and then we light it, and we always run back and watch the fireworks, but that’s probably one of my favorite memories.” MADDIE: “My birthday is July 7th, so I always get built-in fireworks for my birthday, and sometimes we actually celebrate it on the 4th, because there’s fireworks everywhere, so it’s perfect.”

    Audio / Parker McCollum talks about his favorite Fourth of July memories. NOTE: Do NOT try this at home.

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    Parker McCollum (Fourth of July) OC: …days of my life. :23
    “My favorite Fourth of July memories growing up are actually kind of dangerous now that I think about it, but we used to have fireworks wars where we’d shoot like roman candles and bottle rockets. We’d always go to my grandma’s house, pop fireworks and we’d end up shooting ’em at each other and having wars; no eye protection, no nothing, just shooting bottle rockets at each other’s faces. But it was so fun; some of the best days of my life.”

    Audio / Priscilla Block says the Fourth of July is one of her favorite holidays.

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    Priscilla Block (Fourth of July) OC: …we get crazy. :26
    “I love Fourth of July. I usually always have a Fourth of July party. It is known that there is a slip-n-slide at my house on Fourth of July. You know, it’s such a great holiday to just bring friends together and, I don’t know, we get wild on the Fourth. We get crazy.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about what he and his family did over the Fourth of July holiday when he was growing up in Georgia.

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    Sam Hunt (Fourth of July) OC: …good time. :39
    “My granddad on the other side of my family, he would always take a lot of pride…fireworks were actually, I’m from Georgia, and most of them were illegal, I’m pretty sure, growing up. But over in Alabama, that’s where all the firework stands were, and we only had to drive 10, 15 minutes to get to the Alabama line, so we could go get a bundle of fireworks pretty easy. But he would always take a lot of pride in going and finding all the good stuff, and coming back with a  big pile. He’d have his torch out there at the end of the driveway and we’d all eat homemade ice cream and put down towels on the driveway and he’d shoot off fireworks for 30-45 minutes. Such a good time.”

    Audio / TRAVIS DENNING TALKS ABOUT THE FOURTH OF JULY EVENTS HIS HOMETOWN OF WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA WOULD THROW EVERY YEAR.

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    Travis Denning (Fourth of July) OC: …will love. :51
    “Fourth of July in Warner Robins, Georgia is an event. It’s something else. In fact, forever they’ve thrown an Independence Day concert, and back in the day, it was huge. It was the biggest thing they did all year. They would actually have the concert in the MAC (McConnell-Talbert Stadium), which was the high school football stadium that Warner Robins and Northside and Houston County shared. I mean, one year they had Wynonna play and then they had Josh Turner one year, Darius Rucker. I mean it was like a big deal, and there’d be 15,000, 20,000 people there, and I think it’s so cool that there’s a little bit of a legacy of people coming together in that town and making something happen, you know? I’ll never forget going to those shows and thinking, I was more proud of what the city had done. I was like, ‘That’s just so cool that they could put together a show like this, an event that everybody will love.”

     

  • FOURTH OF JULY LINERS 2021



    PLAYER ERROR

    Audio / LINER AJ (4th of July)

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    “Hey! This is Alan Jackson, wishing you a happy and safe Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Billy Currington (4th of July)

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    “Hey guys! I’m Billy Currington, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (Fourth of July)

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    “What’s up, everybody? This is Brandon Lay, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Bros Osborne (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey y’all! I’m John, and I’m TJ, and we are Brothers Osborne, wish you a very Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Carrie Underwood (Fourth of July)

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    “Hi! This is Carrie Underwood wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey y’all! This is Caylee Hammack wishing you a safe and Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Independence Day)

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    “Hey y’all! This is Caylee Hammack. Happy Independence Day, everybody!”

    Audio / LINER Chrissy Metz (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey! This is Chrissy Metz, wishing you a safe and Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Darius (4th of July)

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    “Hey y’all, what’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a very, very happy Fourth of July!”

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (4th of July)

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    “Hey everybody! This is Dierks Bentley, wishing you a Happy and safe Fourth of July.

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (4th of July)

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    “Hey this is Eric Church, wishing you a very happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Gary Allan (4th of July)

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    “Hey! This is Gary Allan. Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Langston (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey y’all, this is Jon Langston wishing you a safe and Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (4th of July)

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    “Hi, it’s Jon Pardi, wishing you a happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Jordan Davis (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (summer)

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    Hey everybody, Keith Urban here, wanting to wish you all a fantastic and safe summer. Enjoy the sunshine. Hopefully, you’ll get to spend some time with the ones you love, and hopefully, we’ll also get to see you out on the road.”

    Audio / LINER Kylie Morgan (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey y’all. This is Kylie Morgan, wishing you a safe and Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Lauren Alaina (4th of July)

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    “Hey! It’s Lauren Alaina. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER LBT (4th of July)

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    “Hey! We’re Little Big Town. Happy Fourth of July!”

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (4th of July)

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    “Hey! This is Luke Bryan, wishing you a very happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Maddie & Tae (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey everybody! I’m Maddie, and I’m Tae and we’re Maddie & Tae, wishing you a safe and happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Mickey Guyton (4th of July)

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    “Hey! This is Mickey Guyton, wishing you a Happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Parker McCollum (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey everybody. I’m Parker McCollum, wishing you a Happy and safe Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Priscilla Block (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey, it’s Priscilla Block, wishing you a safe and Happy Fourth of July.”

     

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey everybody! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a safe and happy Fourth of July.”

    Audio / LINER Travis Denning (Fourth of July)

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    “Hey y’all! It’s Travis Denning, wishing you a safe and Happy Fourth of July.”

     

  • MADDIE & TAE SCORE DOUBLE PLATINUM WITH “DIE FROM A BROKEN HEART.”

    Award-winning duo Maddie & Tae recently earned RIAA Double Platinum status on their record-breaking No. 1 smash hit “Die From A Broken Heart.” On hand to help celebrate and present the plaques to Maddie Font and Taylor Kerr were their longtime friends and bandmates Colton Thomas, Jeremy Little, Shane Smith and Dave Lapsley.

    It was especially a treat to be able to share this success with the band. “These guys have been on this wild ride with us and they believed in us even when we may have doubted ourselves,” says Tae. “We are a family!”

    “Die From A Broken Heart” resonated with audiences immediately, and when it topped the country airplay charts, Maddie & Tae became the first and only female twosome with multiple No. 1s. The exquisite tune was named one of Billboard’s Top 10 Country Songs of 2020 and was a standout track on the pair’s critically acclaimed sophomore album The Way It Feels.

    Maddie & Tae’s brand-new song “Woman You Got” is “clever, upbeat and summer-ready” (Sounds Like Nashville). Revealing their “imperfections” using humor and charm while still showcasing their often-celebrated signature harmonies, “Woman You Got” is playing now on country radio.

     

    Audio / MADDIE MARLOW FROM MADDIE & TAE TALKS ABOUT THE OVERWHELMING REACTION THE DUO HAS RECEIVED FROM FANS FOR THEIR SONG, "DIE FROM A BROKEN HEART."

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    Maddie & Tae (reaction to DFABH) OC: …they’re there. :51
    “The reaction to ‘Die From A Broken Heart’ was completely unexpected. We didn’t even realize that song was gonna have the life that it is having. It excites me. I can’t even tell you how much it excites me to hear our fans relate to this because it’s so our story and so real and true of what we’ve been through. Like for example, there was a mom that said, ‘My daughter’s going through her first heartbreak, and he wasn’t good for her anyways. She doesn’t realize that now, but that song is getting her through it.’ And that just gives us so much purpose and just like keeps us going just knowing that we’re doing something for people. Just being a Mom and listening to that song, you are right there with your kid, and that’s what the goal is with writing. You want to put people right in that song and make them feel like they’re there.”

  • FATHER’S DAY 2021

    Father’s Day is Sunday (June 20th), and we have audio with many of your favorite country stars! Download the soundbites below.

     

    For 2021 Father’s Day liners, click here.

     

    Audio / Adam Hambrick explains what he most admires about his father.

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    Adam Hambrick (Father’s Day-Dad) OC: …about my dad. :45“When I was a kid, my dad always included me on what he was doing. I feel like I learned a lot from watching go about life and watching him treat people well and with kindness. My dad is a pastor and I watched, my whole growing up, I just watched him serve other people, like put other people’s needs in front of himself and show up in the hospital when Sister Jeanette had surgery or whatever that thing was like any given day, it could be anything. I watched him tile floors in a new Sunday School building. I watched him do literally everything for a ton of different people in a really selfless way. That’s one of the things I admire most about my dad.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay is a father of two – Ryder and Lara June – and it was a bit of transition from one to two kids.

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    Brandon Lay (father of two) OC: …embrace. :26
    “Oh man! Now that I’m a father of two, it’s really it goes from more than just keeping one little guy alive and still having more me and Nicole time to wow, I’m actually a father. We’ve got a party of four now, not that I wasn’t before a father, but you know what I mean. I’m reaching real dad status. It’s a weird feeling, but it’s one I embrace.”

    Audio / BROTHERS OSBORNE GREW UP IN A MUSICAL FAMILY – BOTH THEIR PARENTS WROTE AND PERFORMED MUSIC. THEIR FATHER LISTENED TO A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT ARTISTS WHICH GAVE THEM THEIR OWN FOUNDATION.

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    Brothers Osborne (Dad’s music) OC: (John) …anything else. :34
    “Our dad listened to everything from Hank Williams to Willie Nelson to even pop music like Mariah Carey and Tom Petty to Bob Seger. You name it and he listened to it, so we really didn’t think about specific genres. We really just kind of soaked it all in, so we listened to it all at one time. It was just music to us. Th ere wasn’t a day in our house without the radio on or there wasn’t a weekend at our house that there wasn’t a party and people had their guitars out, so music to us is like eating and breathing. It’s just as essential as anything else.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood talks about her own father and her husband Mike Fisher, who's a father to two young boys.

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    Carrie Underwood (Father’s Day) OC: …guy all around. 1:18
    “Well, I am very lucky in my life to have two incredible fathers – my own father and then I get to watch my husband be a father to our boys – strong, amazing men, I am very lucky to be around them. Mike as a dad is just super involved in our boys’ lives, very hands on. It takes a team, definitely, to be able to support my crazy life and Mike’s always running around doing a lot of charity things and he’s always meeting with people and he’s on different boards and stuff like that, so we’re very much switching off duties as far as taking boys here and there to school and  sports and to all the extra-curricular activities. I just love that I feel like we’re such a great team. I love it that he gets to now work with Isaiah on sports and things like that, and I know he loves it too. So, I think that’s one of my favorite qualities about Mike is just how hands on of a father he is and very willing to pick up the slack when I’m crazy busy. Obviously, he’s just a very Godly father, as well. He keeps God as the center of our family and gets to teach our boys all about that, as well. So, he’s just a great guy all around.”

    Audio / Caylee Hammack says her father is a good man.

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    Caylee Hammack (Dad) OC: …forget that. 1:19
    “My dad has this really unnerving ability to be able to build anything at all just by thinking of it. He can look at something and build it in his mind and build it by hand, and it always works. I’ve always respected him for that. He’s a very hard worker.  He’s worked every day of his life. He’s also kind, even when he doesn’t have to be. He’s the type of guy who always gives money at the light to whoever it is on the street. One of my favorite moments with my dad was when we were driving to Macon, Georgia. I was playing a show that night, and we were driving up and we saw this dog and I could tell she was a mama dog. I could tell she had babies somewhere that she was trying to nurse, and she was so skinny. And I’m a bleeding heart. I get it from my Mama, and I just start crying, and I’m like, ‘That poor dog. She’s starving trying to feed her babies.’ I thought, ‘Poor dog.” And my dad doesn’t say anything, goes up two more blocks and pulls into the McDonalds. And he goes through and he asks me if I wanted anything, and I say no. I just think he’s hungry. He goes and he buys three or four burgers, and then he goes back to that block and he drives around until we find that dog to feed it to ‘em. I just remember looking at him, being like this is what a man is; this is what a good man does, and I’ll never forget that.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker says his kids would say he was a fun dad, unless they did something wrong.

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    Darius Rucker (Father’s Day) OC: …loving dad. :41
    “I think if you asked my kids what kind of Dad I was they would probably say…Dani would say that I was a fun Dad. My little daughter would say that I was a fun dad; she thinks I’m a lot of fun. I think if you caught them at the right moment they would say I was mean [laughs] because when I’m home I’m not afraid to discipline them. I’m all fun until it’s not fun anymore and then daddy’s not the fun guy. I think that they’d say that I was a fun Dad, I’m a loving Dad and I think they would say that. I’m gone so much that when I’m home, I just shower love upon my kids. I say ‘I love you’ probably fifty times a day. We hug, we kiss all the time. I’m always wanting them to know how much I love them. So I’d hope they’d say that I was a loving dad.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker says his mother made him a good father to his three children.

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    Darius Rucker (mother’s qualities makes him a great father) OC: …my mom. :45
    “She had a lot great qualities, but she was always, family was first for her. She was always a rock and making sure she took care of us and making sure we had things we needed to have to survive – food and clothes and a home – and seeing that and seeing how hard she worked and all the things she did just really made me the father that I am today. I mean, I’m so crazy and hands-on with my kids. I think it all comes from watching my mom have to struggle so much to support us. And so now, I don’t want me or my wife to ever have to struggle, and I don’t want my kids to ever want or wonder where I am or where there mom is. I want them to always know where we are and always be taken care of, and that all comes from my mom.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley enjoys being both dad – to daughters Evie and Jordan and son Knox – and country music performer.

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    Dierks Bentley (dad & performer) OC: …to do both. :28
    “When I get home, it’s a totally different reality that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Just hanging with my girls and doing the things we do and seeing life through their eyes, it’s incredible. It takes a man to do it. It’s not a boys’ game. It takes a man to do it. I love the juxtaposition to be able to be that man and to also go on the road and act like I’m 13 years old and play video games all afternoon waiting for the fans to show up. So, it’s really a blessing to be able to do both.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley, the father of three, is very grateful to his own dad for turning him on to country music as a kid.

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    Dierks (Father’s Day) OC: …that’s for sure. :10
    “My dad was my biggest influence in country music because my dad loved country radio. So, we always drove around listening to country radio and George Strait, Hank Williams and Randy Travis and all these guys, so. Without him, I wouldn’t be doing this, that’s for sure.”

    Audio / Eric Church describes his father and the qualities he admires in him.

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    Eric Church (Father’s Day) OC: …always admired. :29
    “My dad is a, I’m trying to find the right words to describe him. My dad is a great guy, honest guy, very call it like he sees it, which is where I get a lot of that. No BS. I’m gonna tell you how I feel whether you like it or not. I’m that guy, I’m me…My dad’s that way, so I get a lot of that from him. There’s also an honesty and an integrity that my dad carries himself with that I’ve always admired.”

    Audio / ERIC CHURCH ADMIRES HIS FATHER, AND WILL PASS ALONG SOME OF THOSE QUALITIES HE’S LEARNED TO HIS OWN CHILDREN, SONS BOONE AND HAWK.

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    Eric Church (his father’s influence) OC: …same thing. :32
    “My daddy’s always preached, and it’s something that rung true, he’s always preached authenticity. He’s always preached being honest and being true. My daddy’s from a small town, you know it’s a blue collar town, and he’s just always been pretty even-keeled; never too high and never too low. He’s always been honest and authentic. I think it’s a good template. It has been for me thus far, especially with this industry, ‘cause it’s really easy to get high and low. So, I think just keeping everything in perspective and trying to be real, and I think people can sense that, and I certainly will tell my kids the same thing.”

    Audio / Jon Langston looks up to his father and hopes to become just like him.

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    Jon Langston (Father’s Day) OC: …just fine. :16
    “My Dad has been my hero all my life. He’s the man I want to be one day when I grow up. I’m thankful for all he’s done for me and the sacrifices he’s made for our family. If I’m half the man he is one day, I’ll be just fine.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS SAYS HE LOVES GETTING HIS DAUGHTER UP IN THE MORNINGS.

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    Jordan Davis (fatherhood 2020) OC: …here myself. :46
    “Fatherhood is something, it really is tough to put into words, but one of my favorite things to do is to go in and get Eloise up in the mornings, and I just see this little bundle of joy. She is just so happy. She’s got a smile just like Kristen, and so it really is just crazy to go in in the morning. She could be crying, screaming and then you walk in, and the second she sees you, it’s all smiles and laughs. I don’t know. I think the coolest thing with a kid like her age is just the innocence. You see just how happy she is to be here, and I’m very happy she’s here myself.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT HIS FAVORITE QUALITIES OF HIS DAD.

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    Jordan Davis (Father’s Day) OC: …my music. :45
    “The thing I love most about my Dad is just his overall love of life. He’s a guy that’s worked hard and is now at a point where he can enjoy it, and he’s living every day to the fullest. That’s something that I’m very thankful that I’ve seen my Dad do and something to learn from. So, that’s probably my favorite quality about the old man, and just the hard work too. My dad ran a furniture business in Shreveport for a long time with his Dad. It was great to grow up and see a guy work hard and helped his Dad build a business from the ground up to a very successful business, and that’s something that I even try to carry over into my music.”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS TALKS ABOUT HOW HIS LIFE HAS CHANGED SINCE HE'S BECOME A FATHER.

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    Jordan Davis (fatherhood and impending fatherhood) OC: …ever happened to me. :30
    “I’m very blessed to have Eloise and to have another baby coming in September. It’s tough to put into words the change of becoming a dad. It really is an instant change in just your outlook on everything. I think it’s been amazing for me just to come home and see Eloise be so excited. It puts a lot of things into perspective. I think it’s helped with my music. It’s helped with every aspect of my life. Becoming a dad, it’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

    Audio / PROUD DAD OF FOUR (HAMPTON, COLBY, MARION, HAWKE), JOSH TURNER TALKS ABOUT HOW HIS THREE OLDEST SONS ARE LEARNING THE FAMILY TRADE.

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    Josh Turner (Father’s Day) OC: …one of ‘em.  1:05
    “As far as talent and potential, my oldest three, especially, they could do anything they wanted to do if they put their mind to it and their heart was there. My oldest [Hampton] is incredible at playing mandolin. Colby, we kind of noticed him turn the corner lately with the fiddle, and Marion is actually playing a ukulele that’s tuned like the top four strings on a guitar, so in essence, he’s learning how to play guitar. They’ve just kind of started incorporating some singing into some playing, so they’re starting the whole singing and playing at the same time kind of thing, and not only that, they’re even learning to play songs together on their individual instruments. So, it’s amazing to see how much they can learn in such a short amount of time. It makes me realize how much I missed out on when I was that age, ‘cause I did take some music lessons growing up and everything, but I think they feed off of each other honestly. I think that’s why they’re getting so good is because they’re all doing it, not just one of ‘em.”

    Audio / Keith Urban – father to daughters Sunday and Faith -- says there are a number of things that are at the top of the list of being a dad.

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    Keith Urban (Father’s Day) OC: …experience that. :36
    “The first thing is probably just having someone call you dad. I’m like, ‘Omigosh! I’m her dad! That’s amazing.’ That’s probably the first thing to me. I don’t know, I mean, the different personalities that our two daughters have, that’s amazing. It’s such a long list I think. I always say…I think for the people that haven’t had kids – which I hadn’t for a long, long time. I didn’t have kids ‘til later on, and being around it is not the same as having them, you know? I realize that it’s not something that can be explained until you actually sort of have it, so I’m glad I got to experience that.”

    Audio / Kip Moore talks about his late father’s influence on his music career, and how he’d play classics on their fishing trips.

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    Kip Moore (Father’s Day-dad’s influence) OC: …of us singin’ ‘em. :29
    “He would just play all those classic records – Little River Band, Jackson Brown, Springsteen, Seger, Willie Nelson, the Red-Headed Stranger, Kristofferson, Sam Cook – like classic music. He’d be singing the songs and telling us why it was such good music. And I looked up to him so much, that’s the music I gravitated towards and that’s what I continue to listen to. Whenever I think about those old fishing trips, that’s what I think about is on the way down there, him singing those songs and all of us singin’ ‘em.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina enjoys Father's Day so she can celebrate, along with her brother, how much he means to her.

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    Lauren Alaina (Father’s Day best friend) OC: …my brother and I. :29
    “My dad is one of my best buds. I absolutely adore him. He is hilarious, and every bit of my personality came from my father directly. (laughs) He is awesome and I’m lucky to be his daughter, and I’m thankful for Father’s Day so that I can celebrate him and show him how much he means to my brother and I.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about the life lessons his father taught him.

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    Luke Bryan (Father’s Day-life lessons) OC: …live by that. :46
    “Well, my dad was, I always just go back to the life lessons that always started either in a fishing boat or hunting somewhere, and that’s why I’ve always kind of been a champion of those types of behaviors certainly with your boys and your children because you get to spend time and hand down values. My dad was always big on just hard work and being good to people and a handshake is the contract. A handshake is your bond, your word. His famous saying always was, ‘Do something right the first time and you won’t have to go back and do it over again.’ I won’t say I batted a thousand perfectly on that, but I’ve kind of tried to live by that.”

    Audio / MADDIE MARLOW TALKS ABOUT HER FATHER’S FAVORITE GIFT SHE’S EVER GIVEN HIM FOR FATHER’S DAY.

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    Maddie & Tae (Father’s Day) OC: …for Father’s Day. :26
    “So, for Father’s Day, I made my Dad – I think it was right before I moved to Nashville – I made my Dad this little photo book where it had like his quotes that have stuck with me my whole life and then some pictures, and it was really funky. It looks horrible. It’s not put together, but that’s one of his favorite gifts that he’s ever gotten, and I cherish that ugly photo book thing that I made for him for Father’s Day.”

    Audio / Travis Denning says his father is his best friend.

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    Travis Denning (Father’s Day) OC: …for sure. :43
    “My dad – I call him ‘Diamond Dave’ and a lot of other people do too. Honestly, I don’t know if I drink more with anybody else more than my Dad. I think a super cool thing now is getting older and knowing that I’m starting to get more and more sustained as a human that it’s like my parents get to be friends now with me and my sister, which is such a cool thing. And so, yeah, me and my Dad – we love music and we love heavy metal and we love all that. We get to go to concerts and football games and drink beer and just enjoy that cool part of a father and a son and a mother and a son where now we get to be friends and it’s really cool. My Dad is my best friend, for sure.”

    Audio / Vince Gill talks about the qualities he hopes for his children.

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    Vince Gill (Father’s Day) OC: …feels like. :33
    “Kindness-hopefully make them kind and that’s all we got. Five great kids, a couple of grandkids. Those grandkids are the complete light of my life. You know, they just show up and the rest of the world can kiss my you-know-what. (laughs)  I say, ‘We’re just gonna go swing in the backyard; we’re gonna wrestle on the bed; we’re gonna eat those Goldfish (crackers), you know? And nothing else kind of seems to matter. And then I think what I love seeing, more than anything, for my kid to finally understand what it means to love, and it’s awesome to see my kid finally get it what that unconditional love really looks like and feels like.”

     

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Alan, Mickey, Vince, Chris, Luke, Jordan, Maddie & Tae, Taylor

    Alan Jackson, Mickey Guyton and Vince Gill will perform during the National Memorial Day Concert airing May 30th on PBS at 8pm ET. The 90-minute special, hosted by actors Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds) and Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Truman, CSI: NY), will feature all-star performance and tributes from Washington, D.C. and around the nation honoring our American heroes. Others set to perform or appear include Gladys Knight, Sara Bareilles The Four Tops, Army Veteran Colin L. Powell, actors Steve Buscemi, Kathy Baker and Mary McCormack, among others.


    Chris Stapleton
    and Luke Bryan are among the headliners performing at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The three-weekend event, taking place September 2-4, 9-11 and 16-18, will also include performances by Jordan Davis, Maddie & Tae, Sheryl Crow, Zac Brown Band, Dylan Scott Scotty McCreey, Brett Eldredge, Jake Owen, Jimmie Allen, as well as Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Ludacris, Nelly, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Diplo, and many others.

    Taylor Swift has made history once again. She will receive the Global Icon Award at the 2021 Brit Awards making her the first female recipient of the honor. The Global Icon award is “the highest accolade given and is reserved for truly exceptional artists” and Swift will be the fourth recipient after Elton John (2014), David Bowie (2016) and Robbie Williams (2017). She is being honored for “her immense impact on music across the world and incredible repertoire and achievements to date” and is also up for the International Female Solo Artist Award at the ceremony, which is taking place Tuesday (May 11th).

     

  • MOTHER’S DAY 2021 AUDIO

    Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 9th, and some of your favorite country artists are celebrating the mothers in their lives this weekend.

    NOTE: In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

    Audio / Alan Jackson lost his sweet Mama a few years ago, and he wrote a song for her funeral, “Where Her Heart Has Always Been,” which is now included on his new album Where Have You Gone (out May 14th).

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    Alan Jackson (song for mother)…really, really sweet. :51
    “I think one song on there, especially I wrote my mama died three or four years ago, four years ago maybe.  I don’t remember now. But I wrote it for her funeral, that’s “Where Her Heart Has Always Been.”  And I really love that track.  It’s just really – I tried to write it in a way that I know she would appreciate it. And then after we had cut it and we were just about to finalize the record, my sister sent a recording of mama reading from the Bible for a Christmas story or something from a few years ago that I hadn’t heard, or I don’t remember if I had ever heard it.  And I thought that would be cool to put that on there.  So, we tried to pick a little piece of that that didn’t sound so Christmasy and put on there on the front end and that made it really, really sweet.”

    Audio / Brandon Lay says he probably gets his work ethic from his mother.

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    Brandon Lay (Mother’s Day) OC: …comes from her. :2
    “She works harder than anybody I’ve ever seen. She can outwork most 20-year-olds in the yard still. She grew up on a farm, and I think a lot of that just bulldog it and get it done attitude, I probably get from her. She’ll go from sunup to sundown, and she doesn’t complain, and that’s just so rare. I feel like the work ethic, as far as grind it out and get it done, that toughness comes from her.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood talks about now being a mother to two boys.

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    Carrie Underwood (having 2 boys) OC: …little brother. :49
    “It’s kind of crazy to think, sometimes I’ll literally look at my husband and be like, ‘We have two sons. We have two kids. We live on a farm.’ Like it’s just weird to think how life turns out sometimes. Life is very different with two. We kind of got out of that baby stage with Isaiah. He’s much more self-efficient, and he can brush his own teeth and put his own clothes on, and he’s making decisions for himself, and then we start all over with the little squishy one again. It’s just kind of crazy. You forget how hard it is, to be honest, but you just figure your way through it. I am so blessed to have Isaiah who is super helpful and super sweet, and he loves his little brother.”

    Audio / Carrie Underwood says she doesn’t really have any Mother’s Day traditions.

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    Carrie Underwood (Mother’s Day traditions) OC: …even more so. :38
    “We don’t really have like any Mother’s Day traditions. I feel like I remember me and Dad making breakfast for Mom like once as a kid. I’m pretty sure we just made a giant mess in the kitchen and we never did that again, so. Being on the other side of things, I obviously don’t expect anything, but my husband’s really good at getting presents from quote unquote Isaiah. It’s really sweet, because he likes to bring me things. He’s such a sweet little guy, and anytime he’s outside, he’ll pick me flowers and things. So, I’m like, ‘You’re learning. You’ve already got me wrapped around your finger, and then you do stuff like that, and it’s even more so.’”

    Audio / Caylee Hammack describes the qualities she most admires in her mother.

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    Caylee Hammack (Mother’s Day) 1 OC: …love fully. :53
    “I love that my Mom is a no-nonsense woman. I love that she always speaks her mind and she’s super stubborn, because she handed it down to me and it’s come in handy, to be honest. She’s a great cook. I wish I was half the cook that she is. She’s obsessive about Tupperware and plates, which I used to hate, but now as an adult whenever I break a dish or something, I just call her, and I know that I have one on standby. I love that she loves random things so that I can squirrel them away and take them to Nashville sometimes. And I love that she loves big. She either gives all of her heart or nothing at all; she always gives all of her heart. She loves, you know, she has a bleeding heart, and I think that’s just one of the most beautiful traits in the world is to love fully.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about not disappointing his beloved mother, who passed away several years ago.

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    Darius Rucker (Mother’s Day) OC: …killed me. :17

    “I think that’s the main reason I am how I am…an innate fear of disappointing my mom.  My mom’s not even alive, and I have a fear of her looking down from heaven and going, ‘Man I’m just disappointed in my son.’ She could have said anything in the world to me, but if she would have said, ‘Son, you just disappointed me,’ That would have killed me. It would have killed me.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker recalls one of his favorite memories of his mother.

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    Darius Rucker (favorite memory of his mother) OC: …my Mom’s song. :34
    “Oh goodness! A lot of great memories of her, but probably one of my favorite memories, I was a young kid, probably eight or nine, and she was in the kitchen cooking and listening to the gospel station and Shirley Caesar’s ‘No Charge’ came on and she was singing ‘No Charge.’ I just remember I ran into our living room which was adjoined to our kitchen and I just sat there and I just listened to her sing that song, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow! What an amazing voice.’ That’s just always a memory I’ve always had, and that song still to this day when I hear it just moves me because that was my mom’s song.”

    Audio / DARIUS RUCKER’S MOTHER, WHO PASSED AWAY IN 1992, WAS ALWAYS THE SINGER’S BIGGEST SUPPORTER.

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    Darius Rucker (Mother) OC: …in my corner. :44
    “My mom was just always great. She worked a lot. She was a nurse and she worked a lot. She took a lot of overtime and stuff to make sure we could live basically, but she always just so supportive, ever since I was a kid. I was always a music kid. Growing up in an African-American neighborhood, I was never that guy who was gonna be pigeonholed to let people say I could only listen to this and I could only do this, because I was African-American. She always supported whatever I wanted to do, whatever I wanted to listen to, wherever I wanted to go, she always had my back. Going to college and everything, she was my biggest supporter and never let my brothers and sisters knock me down or try to tell me I can’t do this or that. All of my success comes because my mother was always in my corner.”

    Audio / DIERKS BENTLEY RECOGNIZES AND APPRECIATES HOW MUCH WORK GOES INTO BEING A MOTHER.

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    Dierks Bentley (Mother’s Day – Cassidy) OC: …to have her. :
    “It’s the toughest job out there being a mom, and I know from my life with my wife Cassidy. We work as a team together when I’m home, and it takes everyone to get the job done, me and her, working together. So, when I go on the road, I just have so much respect for her because it’s hard to do it right, if you want to do it great, and she does a great job with it. It’s really rewarding, but it’s also very challenging. I’m so thankful that she takes it on the way she does, and our kids are very lucky to have her.”

    Audio / Eric Church says he’s learned quite a bit from his mom.

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    Eric Church (Mother’s Day) OC: …as a man. :57
    “My mom, even though my dad won’t like this, my mom is by far the toughest person that I’ve met. She’s tough. One of those people that’s been through a lot in her life, adversity wise and never complains, always really resilient with anything that’s happened to her. And it’s just that attitude, the positive attitude, regardless of what has happened that I think is the one thing that I got from her. With career, she’s always been a person that’s been really positive through times that I couldn’t find a positive streak, [laughs] and she was always really positive, and very much believes in tough it out, keep working hard, and that’s her motto with stuff like that. I’ve always been impressed with that stuff. Then musically, she’s where I get my talent from, musically. She sings great, always has, her mom sang great. I owe my musical chops to her. And she still sings some. So, career-wise, I owe her everything. And just in life-wise she’s given me a lot of the qualities that it has taken for me to get me where I am. Not only as a musician, but as a man.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi says his mother, Shelly, is an angel.

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    Jon Pardi (Mother’s Day) OC: …worrying about me. :29
    “My mom’s always been there for me. First of all, she’s a great mom. She’s an angel. She takes care of people that aren’t even in the family. She’s always been like that, and she’s a great mother. She’s always proud, and she’s always there supporting and being a great mom. She’s just a good human being. There’s not one mean bone in her body. And she cries about every time I talk to her. She always worries about me. I have to tell her, ‘Stop worrying about me.’”

    Audio / JORDAN DAVIS SAYS HE’S A “MAMA’S BOY” AND HOPES HE HAS HER KINDNESS AND POSITIVE OUTLOOK.

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    Jordan Davis (Mother’s Day) OC: …Mother’s Day. :30 [laughs]
    “I’m a Mama’s Boy. I love my Mom, and it’s the way she finds the good in everything. With my Mom, as opposed to finding anything negative, she’s gonna find something positive first. That’s something I really hope I can be more like her on; one of the many things I wish I could be more like my mom on. My mom, she loves flowers, so we’ll get her flowers or take her to, we’re slowly getting her into sushi, so we love to take Mom out to sushi spots on Mother’s Day.” [laughs]

    Audio / Kacey Musgraves comes from a very creative family, and here she talks about the women in her immediate family and their talents.

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    Kacey Musgraves (creative women) OC: …taking pictures. :16
    “My mom’s an artist – all different kinds of mediums, paint, but she’s always working on something different. My Meemaw, she’s a soap maker. She makes soap and they’re beautiful and they smell really good and they’re all natural. My sister has an etsy store, and she’s constantly creating something, sewing pillows and taking pictures.”

    Audio / Keith Urban explains why his wife Nicole Kidman is an extraordinary mother to their two children, Sunday and Faith.

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    Keith Urban (Nicole is extraordinary mother) OC: …to see. :45
    “She’s an extraordinary mum, she really, really is. Those girls are very, very lucky, and I feel very lucky that the children I should have in this world happen to be with Nic. I don’t know anything about raising kids and Nic does, and that comes in extremely, um, it’s really made for an experience I wouldn’t have had without that. Her patience, her recognizing them as people and not just little kids is really extraordinary. Her attention to honoring their feelings and listening to them right from day one – really being attentive to that is not how I was raised at all, so it’s really beautiful to see.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina says she can count on her mom for just about everything.

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    Lauren Alaina (Mom keeps her grounded) OC: …same for her. :19
    “I honestly would not be able to do it without my mom. I get overwhelmed sometimes, and if she wasn’t there to comfort me or tell me, ‘Look just realize what you’ve got going for you,’ I’d be up the creek [without a paddle]. She’s got my back. My mom would walk through a fire pit for me, and I’d do the same for her.”

    Audio / Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman says she always dreamed of being a mother…and her dream came true nearly 13 years ago when she gave birth to daughter, Daisy (July 27, 2007). In 2017, she and her family welcomed daughter Dolly Grace.

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    LBT (Mother’s Day) OC: …for my mother. :34
    “Being a mother is a life-long dream for me. When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted to be is a mama. It took a long time. I wasn’t ever sure that I would be, but I am now, and it’s the greatest gift of my life. And as I’m a mother now, I see what my mother gave up and her sacrifices and her love and how she made us the most important thing in her life, and that’s what I strive to do for my little girl. It’s the most important job I have, and it’s the most responsibility that I have, and I try to live up to a great example that I had for my mother.”

    Audio / MADDIE & TAE’S TAE DYE SAID SHE PULLED OFF A GREAT MOTHER’S DAY SURPRISE A FEW YEARS AGO.

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    Maddie & Tae (Mother’s Day-Tae) OC: …was so fun. :25
    TAE: “To this day one of the best surprises I’ve ever pulled off was on Mother’s Day three years ago. ‘Cause my mom’s birthday always tends to fall on Mother’s Day Weekend – it’s coming up – and my mom and dad were coming into Nashville and I was like, ‘Okay-this has got to be a big weekend. It’s Mother’s Day, her birthday and the weather was going to be beautiful, so I planned this awesome surprise where we would drive first – she wouldn’t know where we were going, and then we ended up going canoeing down the Harpeth River [located south of Nashville], and it was so fun.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae’s Maddie Marlow says her mother is great at balancing life and that a hug from her mother can fix almost anything.

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    Maddie & Tae (Mother’s Day-Maddie) OC: (Maddie) …everything’s okay. :51
    MADDIE: “She is so good at balancing is what I’m trying to say. My Mom is such a great balancer, but as I’m coming into our adulthood, and all that kind of stuff, she’s very conscious about when I’m trying to be perfect and have everything in order with everything. And she’s like, you can’t. You can’t do that. Life, you have to figure out how you’re going to deal with the curveballs that are thrown out you. Are you going to catch them and whine out about it or are you going to catch them and move on? Like you have to just go with what’s thrown at you. And my Dad’s been a really, really good supporter on just not letting life’s trials bring you down and letting them just be learning tools and all of that. But, most of the time, a Mama hug can really fix anything.” TAE: “Ahh…it’s the best.” MADDIE: “If my Mom hugs me while I’m crying, everything’s okay. There’s just something about it. I’m grown, but, my Mom, if she hugs me, everything’s okay.”

    Audio / Parker McCollum says he hopes he got some of his mother's qualities.

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    Parker McCollum (Mother’s Day) OC: …those from her. :20
    “I mean, she’s just a fantastic woman who went above and beyond for us as kids to always make sure, probably even when we weren’t able to have things, she still made those happen. Everybody says I look like her. She’s just an incredibly caring and very, very sincere person, so I would hope I got those from her.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt says he's lucky and blessed to have his mother.

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    Sam Hunt (Mother’s Day) OC: …with my mom. 1:10
    “I knew I had a great mother, and I was blessed and lucky to be born into my family, but until I got out into the real world, I didn’t realize how unique and rare and how much I really hit the lottery with her. She’s raised in the South, and she is all the things that a lot of Southern women are, the good things, but selfless is the word that comes to mind right off the bat. Her life has been devoted to me, my brothers and our family for as long as I can remember her. So, her life revolved around us and that was something that the love that she showed us through those sacrifices has been, I know, a huge part of my ability to go out into the world and cope with all the things that come my way. I’m standing on firm ground, I know, because I grew up in a loving household and that started with my mom.”

    Audio / Shania Twain says it’s such a joy to be a parent.

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    Shania Twain (joy to be a parent) OC: …means everything. :14
    “It’s such a joy to be a parent. So, I relate to all the mums out there who are getting all their love and appreciation from their kids, and I hope, when you’re a kid, a child of somebody, show your mum you love her, because it means everything.”

    Audio / TRAVIS DENNING TALKS ABOUT WHAT HE AND HIS MOM HAVE IN COMMON.

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    Travis Denning (Mother’s Day) OC: …like crazy. :29
    “You know, my favorite thing about my mom, especially as I get older, is realizing how much me and her have in common. I just love that she’s passionate about music. She loves it. I mean, she’s turned me on to a lot of artists, but at the core like she’s still Mom. She reminds me to do things and does these things which that I couldn’t live without. I love that we get to be friends, we get to be best friends, but at the same time, she’s still Mom and she still loves me and my sister like crazy.”

     

     

  • CARRIE, CHRIS, MADDIE & TAE AND SAM NOMINATED FOR BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS.

    The nominations for this year’s Billboard Music Awards have been announced, and Carrie Underwood has four nominations including Top Country Female Artist, Top Country Album for My Gift, Top Christian Album for My Gift and Top Christian Artist.

    Chris Stapleton is up for three BMAs including Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Country Album for Starting Over.

    Sam Hunt is nominated for Top Country Album for Southside, while Maddie &Tae are up for Top Country Duo/Group.

    The show will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles May 23rd at 8pm ET on NBC.

     

    Top Country Artist

    Gabby Barrett

    Kane brown

    Luke combs

    Chris Stapleton

    Morgan Wallen

     

    Top Country Album

    Gabby Barrett – Goldmine

    Sam Hunt – Southside

    Chris Stapleton – Starting Over

    Carrie Underwood – My Gift

    Morgan Wallen – Dangerous: The Double Album

     

    Top Country Male

    Luke Combs

    Chris Stapleton

    Morgan Wallen

     

    Top Country Female

    Gabby Barrett

    Maren Morris

    Carrie Underwood

     

    Top Country Duo/Group

    Dan + Shay

    Florida Georgia Line

    Maddie & Tae

     

    Top Christian Artist

    Casting Crowns

    Elevation Worship

    For King & Country

    Carrie Underwood

    Zach Williams

     

    Top Christian Album

    Bethel Music – Peace

    Elevation Worship – Grave Into Gardens

    Carrie Underwood – My Gift

    We The Kingdom – Holy Water

    Zach Williams – Rescue Storm

     

     

    Audio / CARRIE UNDERWOOD EXPLAINS WHY SHE WANTED TO RECORD A CHRISTMAS ALBUM.

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    Carrie Underwood (why she wanted to record a Christmas album) OC: …we did it. :17
    “I love these songs. I love singing about Jesus. I love Christmas as a whole, as a time of year. So, I have always wanted to make an album like this, so I did. (laughs) I always wanted to, so we did it.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt reacts to his Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Country Album for Southside.

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    Sam Hunt (Billboard Music Award nom) OC: …that recognition. :47
    “It’s awesome to be acknowledged and recognized especially at a time when there’s so much good music out there and especially without like the new factor. I still feel like I’m just now getting into this, but I’ve been around now for a few years and this is my second record, technically, and it took me a little longer than I planned or hoped to get new music out after that first record, but I’d always heard your sophomore record is really hard to get finished and a lot of times you’re judged by that record more than your first record because it’s like was the first one just a fluke kind of thing. But yeah, I’m just happy to be acknowledged. It’s really cool to get that recognition.”

     

  • MOTHER’S DAY LINERS 2021

    Here are some Mother’s Day liners from UMG Nashville artists, including Adam Hambrick, Brandon Lay, Brothers Osborne, Carrie Underwood, Caylee Hammack, Chrissy Metz, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, George Strait, Jon Langston, Jon Pardi, Jordan Davis, Josh Turner, Kacey Musgraves, Kassi Ashton, Keith Urban, Kip Moore, Kylie Morgan, Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Maddie & Tae, Mickey Guyton, Parker McCollum, Priscilla Block, Sam Hunt, Shania Twain, Travis Denning and more!

     

    Audio / LINER Adam Hambrick (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey everybody, I’m Adam Hambrick, wishing all the mother’s a very Happy Mother’s Day. Love you, Mom.”

    Audio / LINER Brandon Lay (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey everybody, this is Brandon Lay, wishing all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day. Thanks, Mom.”

    Audio / LINER Brothers Osborne (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey! What’s up guys! We’re Brothers Osborne, wishing all you mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Carrie Underwood (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey everyone. I’m Carrie Underwood, wishing all you mothers out there a very, very Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Caylee Hammack (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey y’all, this is Caylee Hammack, sending this out to my mom and all the other mothers out there – I hope all of you have a wonderful Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Chrissy Metz (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hi! It’s Chrissy Metz, wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Darius (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey y’all, what’s up? This is Darius Rucker, hoping you have a Happy Mother’s Day.

    Audio / LINER Darius (Mother’s Day) 2

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    “Hey! What’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing all you mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Dierks (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey, y’all! This is Dierks Bentley, wishing all you mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Mother’s Day) 1

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    “Hey everybody! This is Eric Church, wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Eric Church (Mother’s Day) 2

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    “Hey everybody! This is Eric Church, hoping you have a Happy Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.”

    Audio / LINER George Strait (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hi! This is George Strait, wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Jon Langston (Mother’s Day)

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    Hi, I’m Jon Langston, wishing all the mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day. Love ya, Mom.

    Audio / LINER Jon Pardi (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey y’all, it’s Jon Pardi. I want to wish all the mamas out there a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Jordan Davis (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day. Love ya, Mom.”

    Audio / LINER Josh Turner (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hi! This is Josh Turner, wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Kacey Musgraves (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves. To all you mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day!”

     

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hi everyone, it’s Keith Urban. Hoping all the mothers out there have a very, very Happy Mother’s Day. Love ya, Mom!”

    Audio / LINER Kylie Morgan (Mother’s Day)

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    Hey y’all, this is Kylie Morgan, wishing all of you mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER LBT (Mother’s Day)

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    “(ALL) Hi! This is Little Big Town. (KIMBERLY) We want to wish all you mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day. I love ya, Mama!”

    Audio / LINER Luke Bryan (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, hoping all you mothers out there have a Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Maddie & Tae (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey everybody. I’m Maddie & I’m Tae and we’re Maddie & Tae, wishing all you mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day. I love ya, Mom.”

    Audio / LINER Parker McCollum (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey everybody, I’m Parker McCollum, wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Priscilla Block (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey, it’s Priscilla Block wishing all you mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Sam Hunt (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Shania Twain (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hi! This is Shania Twain. Happy Mother’s Day.”

    Audio / LINER Travis Denning (Mother’s Day)

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    “Hey y’all, it’s Travis Denning, wishing all the mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day. Love you, Mom.”