• DIERKS BENTLEY IS THANKFUL FOR HIS ‘WOMAN, AMEN.’

    Dierks Bentley is poised to enter the top of the country charts with his latest song, “Woman, Amen,” which is from his new album, The Mountain. Every day he thanks his wife for helping him navigate life.

    “My wife’s dragged me through all sorts of dark ages and phases that I thought I knew what I was doing or [thought] I was right and it’s like, ‘C’mon, dummy. Follow me. I’ll lead you towards where you want to be,’ whether that was kids, like starting that train, which I wasn’t really sure I was ready to start or having kids and trying to be a more conscious parent,” says Dierks. “I’ve learned a lot from her. This song definitely, it’s just an honest lyric, and hopefully a lot of people can connect to it.”

    The Mountain will be available on Friday (June 8th). Dierks is set to perform the entire album on Thursday (June 7th) at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

    Preorder The Mountain now at http://strm.to/TheMountain.

    Audio / Dierks Bentley hopes his song "Woman, Amen" connects with his fans.

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    Dierks Bentley (Woman, Amen) OC: …connect to it. :40
    “Hopefully it connects, you know? I think any guy who’s semi-conscious and trying to move down the evolutionary chain needs to listen to women. My wife’s dragged me through all sorts of dark ages and phases that I thought I knew what I was doing or [thought] I was right and it’s like, ‘C’mon, dummy. Follow me. I’ll lead you towards where you want to be,’ whether that was kids, like starting that train, which I wasn’t really sure I was ready to start or having kids and trying to be a more conscious parent. I’ve learned a lot from her. This song definitely, it’s just an honest lyric, and hopefully a lot of people can connect to it.”

    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (available June 8th)

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    Audio / LINER Dierks Bentley (available this week)

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  • MADDIE MARLOW OF MADDIE & TAE IS ENGAGED!

    Maddie & Tae’s Maddie Marlow got engaged to her boyfriend, Jonah Font, late last month, they confirmed to PEOPLE.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjf8VHXD0hq/?taken-by=maddiemarlow

     

    “He is my best friend, and I’m truly engaged to my dream guy!,” Maddie tells PEOPLE. The couple met during her sophomore year of high school in Texas. “I love that we’ve been together for so long before we got engaged because we know everything about each other. We’ve learned how to really love each other, how to communicate and how to be a rock for the other person,” she says.

    Her engagement ring has a special significance. “The center stone on my ring is the diamond from my mom’s original engagement ring. My parents have been married 25 years!” explains Marlow. “My dad bought her a new ring a while back, so she kept her original diamond to pass down to me or my sister someday. It is so special having an heirloom ring because I will get to pass it down one day too.”

    For more on how Jonah proposed to Maddie, click here.

    Maddie & Tae are making their way up the country charts with their new song, “Friends Don’t.”

  • DIERKS BENTLEY CANCELS SHOW DUE TO WEATHER.

    Dierks Bentley had to cancel his Mountain High Tour show in Cincinnati on Thursday night (May 31st) due to a major power outage causing three grids to go out and over 40,000 homes and business to lose power. Dierks took to his socials to express his apologies for having to postpone the show due to weather. He was able to reschedule for Sunday (June 3rd).

    Fans should hold on to their tickets as they will be honored for the the new date.

    Brothers Osborne, who are on the road with Dierks, also took to their socials to express their disappointment over having to cancel the show, as well.

    Dierks is closing in on the top of the country charts with “Woman, Amen,” the first release from his upcoming album, The Mountain, due June 8th.

     

  • KEITH URBAN’S GRAFFITI U HAS A LOT OF FREEDOM AND ‘SPIRIT.

    Keith Urban began working on his new album, Graffiti U, in January of last year and thought he may have it done within a short period of time. However, as he continued to write and record, the project didn’t come together until months later.

    “The album felt like it started coming together maybe eight months later. It was crazy how long it took of writing and recording songs and feeling like, ‘Oh yeah. I’m gonna have an album in the middle of the year. This is great.’ And then the more I wrote, the more it started moving in a different direction and the more I found myself feeling freer in the process,” recalls Keith. “I don’t know how to articulate that, because it’s not to say I haven’t felt that way on other records, but somehow this one just became more liberated.”

    His home studio may have had a little bit to do with the feel of the album. “I do think recording a lot at home in my studio that has big windows with lots and lots of natural light started to influence the spirit of the record,” he says. “There’s a lot of spirit in the album.”

    Keith will kick off his Graffiti U Tour June 15th in St. Louis, Missouri. If you can’t wait that long, watch him perform Thursday night (May 3rd) on NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers.

    Audio / Keith Urban started working on his new album, Graffiti U, last January, but it wasn’t until eight months later when it all started to come together as a cohesive project.

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    Keith Urban (Graffiti U started coming together) OC: …in the album. :44
    “The album felt like it started coming together maybe eight months later. It was crazy how long it took of writing and recording songs and feeling like, ‘Oh yeah. I’m gonna have an album in the middle of the year. This is great.’ And then the more I wrote, the more it started moving in a different direction and the more I found myself feeling freer in the process. I don’t know how to articulate that, because it’s not to say I haven’t felt that way on other records, but somehow this one just became more liberated. I do think recording a lot at home in my studio that has big windows with lots and lots of natural light started to influence the spirit of the record. There’s a lot of spirit in the album.”

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (available now)

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    Video / Keith Urban performing Coming Home on Jimmy Kimmel Live

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  • KEITH URBAN RELEASES THE VIDEO FOR ‘COMING HOME.’

    Today marks the release of the brand-new music video for Keith Urban’s “Coming Home,” which features one of the song’s co-writers Julia Michaels.  It’s the newest single from the four-time Grammy Award winner’s #1, ninth studio album GRAFFITI U.  Urban, who has won countless awards, for his music videos worked with the award-winning director Andy Hines (Logic featuring Khalid and Alessia Cara, Big Sean featuring Kanye West and John Legend, Kali Uchis, Jim James, etc.) – the first time that the two have collaborated.

     

    The groundbreaking, surreal creation, seamlessly delivers Urban from one scene to another and is both visually striking and creatively adept. Whether moving through a window from a bedroom to an open field or a cab headed for a makeshift “Little Tokyo” or performing side by side with Julia Michaels, while watching, “Coming Home’ is a visual treat.

     

    “The concept for the video was really Andy Hines’ idea,” said Urban.  “He suggested the heightened reality that we see in the video, which keeps it more like a dream – an idea, more than an actuality.  It was also important to have Julia there – she’s great energy to be around and I love singing with her, so I wanted us to be on stage at the same time to capture that.”

     

    “Being on set with Keith was magical. He’s a rare person on and off set- full of love and positive energy.  He surrounds himself with likeminded people such as his band who were incredible as well. I’m grateful to be a part of this video and grateful to be able to call this kick ass human, a friend.”

     

    ““Coming Home started with an idea I had of using the intro of one of my favorite Haggard songs “Mama Tried,” said Urban. I took the idea to J.R. Rotem and he put some chords around it. I jotted down the first words that the music made me feel, jumped on a mic and sang the chorus.”

     

    “Hearing that rolling Haggard guitar lick sparked memories of my childhood – and my dream to come to America.” added Urban.  “I knew right then the story (of the song) was about the struggles of being in a city where your dreams have brought you, but far from your home –  wherever, whomever and whatever that is for each of us.”

     

    Urban is currently in production rehearsals in Nashville, readying himself for his 62-city “GRAFFIT U WORLD TOUR 2018,” which kicks off on June 15th at St. Louis’s Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.  Before that, he’ll perform June 9th at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium as part of this year’s CMA Music Fest.

    “Coming Home” was written by Urban, J.R. Rotem, Julia Michaels, Merle Haggard and Nicolle Galyon and was co-produced by Rotem and Urban.

    For more official Keith Urban news and information go to www.keithurban.net.

    Check out the clip below.

     

    Video / Coming Home video

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  • CHRIS STAPLETON EARNS SOME HEAVY METAL.

    Chris Stapleton got some great news this week. His 2015 album, Traveller, was just certified triple platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), while From A Room: Volume 1 has been certified platinum and From A Room: Volume 2 has gone gold.

    When making albums, Chris wants them to be good, from top to bottom. “We’re all incredibly fortunate that out on the road that the people who come out to the shows dig that deep. It sure is a powerful thing when you can pull out an album cut and have everybody sing along and have somebody be excited about it or watch that be somebody’s song they were hoping you were going to play that night,” he says. “I care about the album, quite a bit, and I kind of learned that from Tom Petty. He made my favorite record of all time, which was Wild Flowers, and that album really made me appreciate the album, top to bottom. I try to think about that record a lot when I’m making records, and that’s the way I feel about albums. I want them to be good, top to bottom.”

    The ACM and CMA Male Vocalist of the Year (among other awards) recently released his latest song, “Millionaire,” which is featured on his newly minted gold album, From A Room: Volume 2.

    Chris will hit the road with his 2018 All-American Road Show Tour, featuring Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb, beginning June 16th in Brandon, Mississippi. He’s also set to do a few shows before then, including CMA Music Fest, as well as a handful of shows with The Eagles.

    Audio / Chris Stapleton talks about making records.

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    Chris Stapleton (making records) OC: …top to bottom. :3
    “We’re all incredibly fortunate that out on the road that the people who come out to the shows dig that deep. It sure is a powerful thing when you can pull out an album cut and have everybody sing along and have somebody be excited about it or watch that be somebody’s song they were hoping you were going to play that night. I care about the album, quite a bit, and I kind of learned that from Tom Petty. He made my favorite record of all time, which was Wild Flowers, and that album really made me appreciate the album, top to bottom. I try to think about that record a lot when I’m making records, and that’s the way I feel about albums. I want them to be good, top to bottom.”

  • LUKE BRYAN KICKS OFF HIS XL STADIUM TOUR WITH SAM HUNT, JON PARDI AND MORE.

    Luke Bryan launches an extra-large tour, or XL for short, this week. The Georgia native is set to headline 13 stadium shows for his What Makes You Country Tour Xl Stadium Sized Tour, kicking off Thursday (May 31st) in Toronto, Ontario. By the end of October, Luke will headline some of the North America’s biggest and best sports stadiums in New York City, Cincinnati, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Boston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles (the first country concert to ever be held in Dodgers Stadium), Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Vancouver and wrapping the trek in Detroit at Ford Field on October 26th.

    Sam Hunt joins the tour as the special guest on all stadium shows along with Jon Pardi. Additional openers include Morgan Wallen (May-August), Carly Pearce (September & October) and DJ Rock. A full tour schedule is available on www.lukebryan.com.

    “What Makes You Country Tour” is named after Luke’s recently released album that debuted at #1 on both the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country Albums charts. It became his third consecutive album to debut at #1 on the Top 200 and his fifth #1 debut on the Top Country Albums Chart.

    Luke just released “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset,” the follow-up to his recent No. 1 hit, “Most People Are Good.”

    Audio / LUKE BRYAN TALKS ABOUT HIS UPCOMING STADIUM DATES ON HIS WHAT MAKES YOU COUNTRY TOUR.

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    Luke Bryan (WMYC Stadium Tour) OC: …line up like this. :46
    “I want fans to be able to come to a show and ‘A’ I want them to hear an artist with big ole crazy hits. I just love to see the fans out there singing these big hits that they’re hearing on the radio, and I think when they can come out and see artists in that setting, I just enjoy trying to make the best fan experience. The fact that we can all come together and create a package for fans and at the end of the day I get so excited to put these guys in the best scenario possible to showcase what they are and where they’re going and what they’re going to be. And when I found out we could put this together, we got on the phone and started booking stadiums, and we were like, ‘Let’s go after this thing.’ So, it’s just exciting to go in with a line up like this.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt talks about playing shows on Luke Bryan's What Makes You Country XL Stadium Sized Tour.

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    Sam Hunt (on the road with Luke’s stadium tour) OC: …the good time. :22
    “The venues are really cool, being a baseball fan. Not playing as many shows, you can really…there’s an anticipation that starts to build during the week when you’re sitting at home and you know you got a show that weekend. By the third or fourth or fifth day of not playing a show and just coming off the high of the last one, you’re excited and ready to go in full speed ahead. So, I’ll be fresh-faced for all these shows and I feel like that’ll help the good time.”

     

  • ERIC PASLAY DROPS OFF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS TO A LOCAL CINCINNATI SCHOOL.

    Eric Paslay was in Cincinnati on Wednesday (May 2nd) on behalf of the CMA Foundation. He, along with Sara Evans, Trent Harmon and songwriter Rob Hatch, were able to pass out instruments to children. He tweeted a video (see below) and said, “inspiring to see schools and teachers that care so much for their students and music education!”

    Eric is currently making his way up the country charts with “Young Forever.”

  • LITTLE BIG TOWN WILL RELEASE A NEW SONG, JUST IN TIME FOR ‘SUMMER.’

    GRAMMY, CMA, CMT, and ACM award-winning country supergroup, Little Big Town, is set to release the song of the summer, “Summer Fever,” Wednesday, June 6th to Country radio and all digital service providers.

    LBT’s Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook will open the 2018 CMT Music Awards that same day with a performance of “Summer Fever” and continue as the night’s hosts for the duration of the show.

    The track, co-written by Fairchild, Jesse Frasure, Cary Barlowe, and Sam Romans features Fairchild on lead vocals and encapsulates the spirit of summertime with an infectious melody and nostalgic guitar tones set against the group’s famous four-part harmonies.  “Summer Fever” was co-produced by Frasure and Shane McAnally and mixed by Spike Stent in Los Angeles.

    “It’s always amazing when a song seems to just wait for its own perfect timing,” said Frasure. “Getting the chance to bring this song to life in the writing room with my co-writers, and through the opportunity to co-produce with my friend Shane McAnally has been a dream come true.  I can’t wait to hear this song coming out of a rolled down window this Summer.”

    Photo Credit: Williams + Hirakawa

    Summer Fever Creative: Milkglass

     

  • SAM HUNT IS LOOKING FORWARD TO PERFORMING AT THE INDY 500 THIS WEEKEND.

    Sam Hunt is set to headline the fifth annual Firestone Legends Day concert on Saturday (May 26th), and he’s looking forward to performing for the crowds gathered for the Indianapolis 500.

    “The race is the draw, but when you have people together in a good mood for a common cause and you can come in and provide entertainment during the down time, it’s like you’re already ahead when you start playing,” says Sam. “There is something about having people come out to a show and specifically come out to see you, but there’s also something about getting a bunch of people together to have a good time and playing some music and that’s what we’ll be doing at the race. I’ve never been to this style of race and I’ve never been in this environment before. I’ve gone to some races back around the house at Talladega, which is just down the road from my [old] house, and they’re just so festive. The race culture is unique and specific, and I can get in there and mix it up with ‘em.”

    This will be the first live performance of his new hit, “Downtown’s Dead,” which he just released last week. It’s the follow-up to 2017’s smash hit, “Body Like a Back Road.”

    He joins Luke Bryan for his What Makes You Country XL Stadium Tour May 31st in Toronto.

    Audio / Sam Hunt is looking forward to performing ahead of the Indianapolis 500 race this weekend.

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    Sam Hunt (Indy 500) OC: …up with ‘em. :41
    “Obviously, I’m not the draw. The race is the draw, but when you have people together in a good mood for a common cause and you can come in and provide entertainment during the down time, it’s like you’re already ahead when you start playing. There is something about having people come out to a show and specifically come out to see you, but there’s also something about getting a bunch of people together to have a good time and playing some music and that’s what we’ll be doing at the race. I’ve never been to this style of race and I’ve never been in this environment before. I’ve gone to some races back around the house at Talladega, which is just down the road from my [old] house, and they’re just so festive. The race culture is unique and specific, and I can get in there and mix it up with ‘em.”

    Audio / Sam Hunt is looking forward to playing the Firestone Legends Day concert at the Indy 500 this weekend.

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    Sam Hunt (Indy 500) a OC: …exciting. :14
    “I’m really excited to play the Firestone Legends Day concert at the Indy 500. This’ll be my first time at the race, and I know everybody’ll be in good spirits, all the race fans. I’m hoping to provide a little entertainment during the down time, so it’s gonna be exciting.”