As part of Gaylord Opryland Resort’s 38^th annual A Country Christmas event, Universal Music Group Nashville is hosting Parade of Trees, a display where their world-renowned artists have come together to showcase Christmas trees decorated by Grand Ole Opry members Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Josh Turner, Keith Urban and Reba McEntire, along with Eric Church, George Strait, Luke Bryan and Mickey Guyton.

For downloadable images of all the artist trees, click HERE

Along with their trees, country music’s biggest stars have each donated “Once in a Lifetime” VIP experiences (fly-aways, VIP concert experiences, exclusive merchandise and more) all to benefit First Responders Children’s Foundation. Proceeds raised will provide scholarships and mental health services to children who have lost a parent in the line of duty.

The Parade of Trees is on display in the resort’s Garden Conservatory now until January 2, 2022 as a self-guided tour of the Christmas trees decorated specifically to the artist’s style or album theme, and each VIP experience will be available for bid online at www.CharityStars.com/ParadeOfTrees until January 12, 2022. Some of the themes and experiences include Carrie Underwood’s white tree celebrating her Christmas album, My Gift (Special Edition), as well as a trip to Las Vegas for her upcoming REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency; Eric Church’s two trees representing his albums Heart and Soul, colored red with an American theme and blue with a rock n’ roll theme respectively (and accompanying East and West Coast VIP Experiences); Mickey Guyton’s “Indigo” tree (and Ultimate NYC Thanksgiving VIP Experience, which includes front row Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade viewing) and Luke Bryan’s camo-themed tree (and Live In Las Vegas flyaway, including pre-show margarita toast with Luke).  Other artist packages include VIP festival experiences, exclusive numbered prints, signed guitars, custom toy packages from Mattel, and more.  The complete listings can be viewed at www.charitystars.com/paradeoftrees.  Guests visiting Opryland can scan QR codes at each tree location to donate and gain access to win the designated artist’s VIP prize package, and fans can also bid on the sweepstakes online.

Additional performers have been announced for this year’s CMA Awards. Taking the stage will be Carrie Underwood with Jason Aldean to perform their chart-topping collaboration “If I Didn’t Love You.” Chris Stapleton, 10-time CMA Awards winner and five-time CMA nominee this year including Entertainer of the Year, performs “Cold” from his CMA-nominated Album of the Year Starting Over. Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion, Chris Young and Kane Brown will also perform.

They join previous announced performers Jimmie Allen, Brothers Osborne, Eric Church, Dan + Shay, Mickey Guyton featuring Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards, Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde, and Blake Shelton. Additional performers and presenters for the CMA Awards will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The 55th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan, will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena November 10th at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC.

Josh Turner just released his first-ever Christmas album, King Size Manger. The collection features some classic Christmas tunes, as well as a few original songs. Growing up in South Carolina, Josh looks back at the holiday and remembers having great times with his family on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

“We lived about a half a mile from my momma’s parents and probably three or four miles from my daddy’s parents, and so it was the same every year. Christmas Eve night we would go to my daddy’s parent’s house and daddy was one of six children. So once that family got big, we couldn’t do everything in the house. So we ended up in my grandparent’s garage. And so, we literally like… we would have a mountain of presents in the middle of the garage and there would be a circle, like folding chairs all the way around the edge of the garage. And so there would be one person designated every year to hand out the presents and so whoever that person was, would hand out one present at a time and everybody was focused on that person opening their presents. And there was this tradition that got started probably by daddy’s older brother, my Uncle Buck. Every time somebody would like actually open up their present everybody could see it, the whole crowd, the whole family of… I don’t know however many there were 40 or 50 of us, you know… they would all in unison go, “WOOOooo!” you know, and so it was like every present, we go around down the line and didn’t leave anybody out. And it was you know, just some fun times and once all the presents were open, actually, we would eat and then we would do the presents and then if the presents were open, everyone would go out and you know everybody would have a fireworks competition. So, you had the biggest fireworks display and, and all that and the more sensitive ones in the family that couldn’t stand the cold or the noise of the fireworks, they would huddle up in the bedroom and look and watch from a bedroom window. So that would always happen Christmas Eve night and then we would come home, open one present and then we would get up next morning, do our Christmas at home. And then we would go to my mom’s parent’s house and eat. And then we would do presents there with that side of the family. And then we usually end up at home the rest of the day playing with what we got for Christmas. So it was that way, every year.”

Having four sons now (Hampton, Colby, Marion, Hawke), Josh  and his wife Jennifer say it’s easier for their extended families to come to them rather than traveling during the holidays. Some of the annual traditions they enjoy are watching all of their favorite Christmas movies.

“We’ve always had to be flexible as a family. You know, early on right after we got married, you know, we would alternate going back and forth to Georgia and South Carolina and all that. And then when we started having children, we felt strongly about spending Christmas Day here at home because we wanted them to have Christmas memories of being at home and so that’s kind of turned into watching our list of Christmas movies,” says Josh. “We have to try to fit them all in before Christmas comes and then we usually try to go out and see lights whether it’s at the Opryland Hotel or, you know, driving through a drive thru light place, Beyond that, it’s just we try to spend as much time with family as we can. We try to spend time at home. We try to have a big, nice fancy Christmas meal and then we’ll always open one present on Christmas Eve night and then we get up on Christmas morning and open all our presents. And then we eat a big breakfast and just kind of you know, spend the rest of the day just chillin’ Nothing too outlandish.”

Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa experienced the fastest sell-out in its seven-year history back in April, and today the event has announced the full lineup of performers joining Luke in Riviera Cancún, Mexico for this special destination vacation event taking place January 19th-22nd, 2022.

Dustin Lynch will return in 2022 for his seventh Crash My Playa – this time as a first-time headliner, rounding out the two previously announced headline nights with Luke and one with Jason Aldean. Ashley McBryde, Riley Green, Jimmie Allen, LoCash, Jameson Rodgers, Lainey Wilson, Caitlyn Smith, and Whitney Duncan along with DJ Rock complete the lineup of artists. Plus, Kendell Marvel will return with a special late-night performance.

Crash My Playa 2022 will feature four nights of country music on a private stretch of white sand beach in Riviera Cancún, Mexico as well as daily pool parties, activities and local adventures. The event will be hosted at the spectacular AAA Four Diamond Awarded, Moon Palace Cancún. This oceanfront sanctuary offers magnificent rooms, gourmet all-inclusive food and drink, 24-hour room service as well as plenty of activities on both land and sea, including the luxurious AWE-Spa and a 27-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course.

CID Presents continues to closely monitor relevant recommendations and guidelines imposed by local authorities and The World Health Organization to ensure a safe experience for all guests. For more information regarding Health & Safety plans, please click here. Additionally, Purely Palace protocols will be in place at all times throughout the resort. Purely Palace goes beyond the already stringent quality controls and health measures in place, with the implementation of more than 250 preventive actions to assure guests health and safety, including a Purely Palace health certification in every room on arrival, guaranteeing its complete disinfection.

For more information about Crash My Playa 2022 please visit: www.crashmyplaya.com

About Luke Bryan

Since his debut, Luke Bryan has garnered 27 #1 hits and has more RIAA certified digital singles than any other country artist with 68.5 million, has 15.6 billion streams worldwide, and has sold nearly 13 million albums. His headline concert tours have played sold-out shows for 12 million fans inclusive of 36 stadium concerts, Farm Tours, Spring Break shows, and seven sold-out ‘Crash My Playa’ destination concert events. Luke has won over 50 major music awards including five wins as Entertainer of the Year. His third and most recent Entertainer win was awarded by the Academy of Country Music this April, and he also holds two Entertainer honors by the Country Music Association. Additional awards include six recognitions as a CMT Artist of the Year, NSAI Artist/Songwriter of the Year, the first-ever recipient of the ACM Album of the Decade Award for Crash My Party, seven CMT Music Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, and four American Music Awards – as well as being named Billboard’s Top Country Artist of the 2010s, the ‘Most Heard Artist of the Decade’ by Country Aircheck, and the ‘Artist Humanitarian Recipient’ by the Country Radio Broadcasters this February. Luke is set to return as a celebrity judge for a fifth season, alongside Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, on ABC’s American Idol in 2022. Airing now, fans can see Luke’s original five-part docuseries Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary, on IMDb TV, Amazon’s premium free streaming service.

Alan Jackson has collaborated with daughter Mattie Jackson Selecman on a new song that’s being released today (November 16) in conjunction with her first book.

“Racing the Dark,” co-written by the father and daughter and recorded by the Country Music Hall of Famer, is available now – the same day that Selecman’s Lemons on Friday (Thomas Nelson/W Publishing Group) arrives everywhere books are sold.  In the humble and inspiring book, Selecman shares her journey of facing the most heartbreaking loss of her life – the sudden and tragic passing of her husband Ben from a traumatic brain injury just 11 months into their marriage.

“I’m really surprised how well she was able to handle all that. I know I couldn’t have done what she’s done,” Jackson says. “One day she came to me with this piece of paper and said, ‘I wrote this song…the lyrics,’ and asked me to put it to music. So, I wrote the melody for it, and it turned out to be a very sweet song.”

In addition to the companion song, Lemons on Friday features a foreword by Alan and wife Denise Jackson, a New York Times best-selling author herself. The couple details their perspective of Mattie’s love story, the pain she faced, and the renewed hope they see in her.

In Lemons on Friday, Selecman carries readers through the early weeks of her grief and the many questions that followed. She also touches on how, through her pain, she found new purpose in NaSHEville, a company she co-founded that benefits orphans, human trafficking victims and widows.

“Racing the Dark” marks the first songwriting collaboration by Jackson and his oldest daughter, but she – and her sisters – have been the inspiration behind several of his songs. His most recent album, Where Have You Gone (released in May) featured two songs written for his daughters’ weddings – “You’ll Always Be My Baby” and “I Do.” Mattie and her siblings also came to life in such classics as “Drive (for Daddy Gene),” “Remember When” and the fan-favorite “Job Description.”

“It’s a beautiful song. And it’s well-written, lyrically,” Jackson says. “She told a little more of her story in it…so I’m anxious for my fans to get to hear this.” “Racing the Dark” is streaming now; a special lyric video can be viewed HERE. Selecman appeared earlier today (November 16) on NBC’s TODAY, where she was interviewed by Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager about Lemons on Friday – watch HERE.

ABOUT ALAN JACKSON:
A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and an inductee to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Alan Jackson’s membership among music’s all-time greats is part of a long line of career-defining accolades that include three CMA Entertainer of the Year honors, 30 years of membership in the Grand Ole Opry, a Billboard ranking as one of the Top 10 Country Artists of All-Time, induction to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Heritage Award as the most-performed country songwriter-artist of ASCAP’s first 100 years.

The man from rural Newnan, GA has sold nearly 60-million albums worldwide, ranks as one of the 10 best-selling male vocalists of all-time (rock, pop and country). He has released more than 60 singles – registering 50 Top Ten hits and 35 #1s (including 26 Billboard chart-toppers). He has earned more than 150 major music industry awards – including 19 Academy of Country Music Awards, 16 Country Music Association Awards, a pair of Grammys and ASCAP’s Founders and Golden Note Awards.

Jackson – one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music – just released his latest album, Where Have You Gone, in May. The 21-track collection, which topped the country album chart, features 15 songs penned solely by the music icon. He’s also the man behind one of Nashville’s most-popular tourist stops, AJ’s Good Time Bar, a four-story honky-tonk in the heart of downtown featuring daily live music and a rooftop view of Music City.

ABOUT MATTIE JACKSON SELECMAN:
Mattie Jackson Selecman is a certified sommelier and previously owned a wine bar in Nashville. She also has a degree in creative writing from the University of Tennessee. Tragically, she lost her husband of less than a year, Ben Selecman, in September 2018 after he suffered a traumatic brain injury while on vacation in Florida. Despite her grief, Mattie is pushing forward and has dedicated herself to helping others. Mattie and her business partner, Brooke Tometich, started a philanthropic merchandise brand dubbed “NaSHEville” in order to help women and children in need—specifically orphans, widows, and trafficked women.

Dierks Bentley announced details today (October 27th) behind the winter run of his 2022 BEERS ON ME TOUR. After wrapping the first leg this past weekend that “kept the audience on a collective high” (Oakland Press), Bentley will continue that momentum with a 21-city run launching January 6th in London, Ontario. The tour will include openers Jordan Davis along with Tenille Arts and Lainey Wilson. Produced by Live Nation, tickets go on sale to the public beginning Friday, November 5th at 10a Local Time at www.dierks.com.

“People think we are crazy to go to Canada and the Northwest in January, but we’ve learned from previous tours that it’s a great time to bring a party up there,” Bentley said. “For me personally, I don’t mind that there is plenty of ice, snow, and mountains for some adventure between shows.”

Also launching today is the official music video for the single by the same name. Bentley, HARDY and BRELAND ambushed unsuspecting bystanders across Nashville with free beer and plenty of high fives and selfies. To watch the feel-good music video for “Beers On Me” click here: https://umgn.us/BeersOnMeMusicVideoPR

2022 BEERS ON ME TOUR DATES:
01/06/2022    London, ON – Budweiser Gardens*
01/08/2022    Oshawa, ON – Tribute Communities Centre*
01/09/2022    Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre*
01/13/2022    Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre*
01/14/2022    Saskatoon, SK – SaskTel Centre*
01/15/2022    Regina, SK – Brandt Centre*
01/19/2022    Lethbridge, AB – ENMAX Centre*
01/20/2022    Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome*
01/21/2022    Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place*
01/28/2022    Kelowna, BC – Prospera Place*
01/29/2022    Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena*
02/04/2022    Missoula, MT – Adams Center**
02/05/2022    Billings, MT – MetraPark**
02/10/2022    Yakima, WA – SunDome**
02/11/2022    Eugene, OR – Matthew Knight Arena**
02/12/2022    Tacoma, WA – TacomaDome**
02/24/2022    Columbus OH – Nationwide Arena**-
02/25/2022    Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena**
03/03/2022    Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena**
03/04/2022    Bloomington, IN – Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall**
03/05/2022    Toledo OH – Huntington Center**-

*with Jordan Davis and Tenille Arts
**with Jordan Davis and Lainey Wilson
– On sale 11/19 at 10:00A Local Time

Dierks Bentley continues to be a dominant voice for the genre with over 6.4 billion streams and 20 No. One hits, while his new single “Beers On Me” with BRELAND and HARDY races up the radio charts. Reaching a new creative high while “making music designed to challenge” (New York Times), Bentley co-wrote 10 of 13 tracks on his latest full-length release THE MOUNTAIN, which earned him the highest debut sales of his career and became his seventh chart-topping release. This summer, Bentley’s surprise LIVE FROM TELLURIDE collection was touted as “a gift that Country music fans didn’t know they needed” (The Tennesseean). Having amassed countless nominations from the ACM’s, CMA’s, Billboard Music Awards and more while also earning 14 GRAMMY nominations, Bentley also celebrated his 15 year anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He also created professional endeavors outside of the music with his Flag & Anthem lifestyle collection Desert Son, along with his “Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row” franchise hosting four locations. For more information, visit Dierks.com.

In 2018, Jordan Davis released his Gold-certified debut album, HOME STATE, which features his three consecutive No. One hits: Platinum-Certified “Slow Dance In A Parking Lot,” the Double Platinum-Certified “Singles You Up” and Platinum-Certified “Take It From Me. In May 2021, Davis released his new eight song EP, BUY DIRT, co-writing every song on the EP except for the John Prine inspired “Blow Up Your TV.” The EP features country superstar, Luke Bryan, who lends his vocals on the vulnerable title track and centerpiece of the EP.  “Buy Dirt” received a nomination for Musical Event of the Year on the upcoming 55th Annual CMA Awards, which marks the first of his career.

Carrie Underwood has been hard at work rehearsing for her first-ever residency Reflection at The Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas. Her headlining engagement begins Wednesday (December 1st), and the remaining shows scheduled for December are 3, 4, 8, 10 and 11. Earlier this year due to high demand, she added six additional dates for next year.

• March 2022: 23, 25, 26, 30
• April 2022: 1, 2

Carrie is super excited for her residency in Vegas. “When you think about Las Vegas, you do think about incredible shows, and to be a part of that legacy is exciting.”

3 days to #REFLECTION! It has taken a lot of preparation to get here and can’t wait for you all to see it! #CUinVegas #CountdownToReflection 🎫: https://t.co/sui4n4ddYP pic.twitter.com/gPuRbYcSvL

— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) November 28, 2021

Finally got to see the theater at @ResortsWorldLV for the first time this past week, and all the team’s hard work in action! It’s all happening! 2 days to #REFLECTION…#CountdownToReflection #CUinVegas 🎫: https://t.co/sui4n4uOQn pic.twitter.com/q0HFPrfUmM

— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) November 30, 2021

She joins global music stars Celine Dion, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan as the founding headliners at the Strip’s highly-anticipated new 3,500-room luxury destination.

Of the title of her residency, she says of “Reflection,” “We want to do our hits. We want to reflect upon all the things that we’ve been so blessed to be able to have accomplished over the past few years and that I’ve been lucky enough to do this,” she says. “And then obviously when you think about a staging standpoint, Reflection is, you can do a lot with that visually. So, it just seemed like a great concept as far as what we could do with it on stage and also having that kind of personal reflection being able to look back on all of the things that we’ve been able to do.”

Additionally, $1 from each ticket sold for REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency will be donated to Make-A-Wish Foundation of America (https://wish.org), which grants life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Carrie has been involved with the organization for more than 15 years, granting wishes since the beginning of her recording career.

Kacey Musgraves performed “breadwinner” from her album star-crossed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Monday night (October 18th). Check out the performance below.

It’s time! @KaceyMusgraves performs “breadwinner” from her new album “star-crossed” on The Late Show! #LSSC pic.twitter.com/ZDTkrC1tBw

— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) October 19, 2021

Kacey will headline a 15-city tour, star-crossed: unveiled, beginning January 19th in St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information on tour dates, go to kaceymusgraves.com/tour.

Brothers Osborne picked up their fourth Duo of the Year trophy at last week’s CMA Awards. The pair have had a few days to reflect on the win and what it means to them, and John and TJ Osborne feel even more grateful for the award after the year they’ve had.

“It was so incredible winning It was a huge surprise to both of us. And it did, I said it in the speech, it really did feel like love won at that time,” says TJ. “I feel like today in this day and age with all of the hate out there – at least that’s the way the headlines would like you to believe – that to actually get to witness a very beautiful, loving moment at the CMA Awards and feel that, feel the love, it was incredible. Certainly, a highlight of my life.”

John agrees. “Winning that CMA Award was, it was incredibly unexpected, as it is every year, but especially this one. I mean Dan + Shay have had a great run and they’re still doing incredibly, and we never would have ever, ever expected to hear our names but this one in particular was a shocker to us and we couldn’t be more grateful.”

The guys, who are making their way up the country charts with “I’m Not For Everyone,” wrap their We’re Not For Everyone Tour on Saturday (November 20th).

Eric Church is taking fans behind-the-scenes of his music video for “Heart On Fire” and how they created the whirlwind journey down memory lane by going back through many of his previous music videos, including “How ‘Bout You,” “Smoke a Little Smoke,” “Homeboy,” ‘Drink in My Hand,” “Springsteen,” “and “Record Year,” among others.

Reid Long directed the video which included a lot of video special effects, similar to Deepfake, a type of technology used to manipulate images. The crew shot Eric singing each portion of the song and matched the lens, camera position and angle of Eric’s head with the original content, plus doing some digitally de-aging and adding more or less facial hair depending on the era of the older video. In other words–a lot of technology, time and energy was involved in the making of the “Heart On Fire” video.

Eric, the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, is on the road with his Gather Again Tour, which is making stops in Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington this weekend.