Eric Church had certain family Christmas traditions, ones he wants to carry over into his immediate family, which includes his wife, Katherine, and two sons, Boone and  Hawk. One tradition, though, is very significant and puts everything into perspective for him and the rest of his family. “My grandmother, when she was alive, would always come over, and every year she would bring this Christmas story, and some of them were gut-wrenching. I’m not going to lie to you,” says Eric. “They were just heart-tugging stories…about a Christmas miracle…and she would always look all year long and find this story, and then we would have breakfast and she would read it, and it was just our family and we’ve carried that [tradition] on. My mom does that now and she’s kind of taken it and she finds the story, and that’s something I’m going to do with my family.”

The North Carolina native is spending time with his family before heading out on his Holdin’ My Own Tour, kicking off January 13th in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Darius Rucker released Home for the Holidays, his first Christmas album, in 2014, and it included several classic songs and even a couple of originals. One of them he recorded “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” was the first song he just knew he was going to put on the album.

“It was because I love it. For me, the Grinch cartoon, and even the movie now, but the Grinch cartoon growing up, before we had 152,000 channels, we had three channels and they showed all these cartoons once a year and the Grinch was one of those things,” says Darius. “I think we only bought the TV Guide in December, so we can know when the Grinch was coming on. It was in prime time and the whole family was sitting there watching it, and that song was always so cool.”

Darius also wanted to record, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” with Sheryl Crow, but it was because of the movie Elf. “I decided to do that for one reason, for Elf, for that movie and how great they did it when she’s taking a shower in the bathroom, and he comes and sits on the counter and he’s singing along with her. I thought it was just a great song,” he says.

Darius Rucker always looks forward to Christmas, not just because he gets a little downtime with his family after being on the road so much, but because he truly enjoys the holiday and all the magic that goes along with it.

He and his family – includes his wife and three children have a routine they pretty much stick to on the big day. “Christmas at the Rucker house is pretty laid-back,” says Darius. “Our kids wake up early – real early – and open their gifts and we hang out, have breakfast, go to church, come home and PLAY, play with toys and hang out and see family who comes by, and we go to see family. It’s just a pretty normal, fun Christmas Day.” Sounds like a great time! But if you happen to receive a gift from Darius, just know he wasn’t the one doing the wrapping! “I buy it and go, ‘Honey, wrap this!’ I don’t wrap, and it definitely doesn’t look like Dillards’ [wrapping],” he admits. “It would be frumpy is what it would be. [laughs]”

Darius loves to take it easy during the holidays after being on the road all year long. One way he winds down with his family is to watch Christmas movies…however, he can’t pick just one favorite.

“That’s such a hard question, favorite Christmas movie, because there are so many great movies that I can think of just off the top of my head that are great Christmas movies,” says Darius. “But it would be a tie between Miracle on 34th Street, which is still just great acting, great movie. I just love it. I love watching it. I watch it probably four times every Christmas and cry at the end every time. And I love Elf. I just think Elf is one of the absolute great stories and just funniest movies I’ve ever seen, and it just happens to be a Christmas movie. It’s one of my favorite movies.”

Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood have been spending the past couple of weeks touring Australia, and they’re wrapping up the trek Down Under this weekend. Every night, the pair would perform together, singing “The Fighter” from Keith’s Ripcord album, as well as the Stevie Nicks-Tom Petty duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”

“We’ve toured together before, but we’ve never had a song together to do, so it’s great that we get to do ‘The Fighter.’ It was actually released as a single in Australia quite a while back and was a hit down there, so people are gonna know that song,” says Keith. “It has all been a very organic thing about us going down together at the same time and touring together. We would’ve been doing it had we not had the song, but with the fact that we’ve got ‘The Fighter’ as well is excellent.”

Keith’s Ripcord World Tour is set to wrap in Brisbane on Saturday (December 17th).

Keith, whose latest single “Blue Ain’t Your Color” is sitting in the Top 5 on the country charts, will headline Nashville’s New Year’s Eve Celebration at Bicentennial Mall.

Tis the season for family, friends and festive cocktails. Toby Keith‘s Wild Shot Mezcal offers the perfect libation for cold nights and good times with two cocktail recipes tailored for Christmas and New Year’s – the new Wild Shot Baked Apple and the classic Wild Shot’s Red Solo Cup.

Wild Shot’s namesake certainly has plenty to celebrate as the year draws down. From his successful Toby Keith Interstates & Tailgates Tour Presented by Ford F-Series to an acclaimed new single “A Few More Cowboys,” 2016 has been another example of high-level consistency. And if that’s not enough to get in the spirit, there’s always “Red Solo Cup (Holiday Version).” Watch here.

With the rapid rise of mezcal in the United States, Wild Shot has become an unqualified success as the premium brand leading the market. Imported from San Luis Potosi, Mexico by Shaw-Ross International Importers, Keith’s signature spirit is quickly claiming market share. Recent additions include 36 stores in New Hampshire and a yet-to-be tamed growing popularity and presence across Toby’s native Oklahoma.

Fans who’ve already added Wild Shot to their adult beverage rotation or may be trying it for the first time can enjoy these festive concoctions:

Baked Apple

Served hot. Goes great with chestnuts … open fires … roasting, etc.

1.5 ounces Wild Shot Mezcal

1/2 cup Apple Cider

2 teaspoons Agave Nectar

Twist of Lemon

Garnish (optional): Apple slices + Cinnamon sticks

Red Solo Cup

Served cold. Excellent at New Year’s Eve parties. Let’s have a party. Proceed to party.

1.25 oz Wild Shot Silver Mezcal

0.5 oz Orange Liqueur

2 oz Fresh Lime juice

0.5 oz Agave Nectar

2 oz Cranberry juice

0.5 oz Grenadine

In other Wild Shot news, the brand is making a reappearance at February’s 2017 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, where more signature Wild Shot cocktails will be served. For more information please visit:  www.wildshot.com.

Tis the season for close-knit gatherings as the current two-time GRAMMY-nominated Hillary Scott & The Scott Family invite TODAY along to celebrate the holidays. From her home just outside of Nashville, TN, Hillary Scott sits-down with Jenna Bush Hager to recall favorite Christmas traditions and discuss the impact of the group’s GRAMMY-nominated “Best Contemporary Christian Music Album” LOVE REMAINS, which also received a “Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song” nod for its chart-topping single “Thy Will.” Fans can tune-in to watch Hillary alongside her mother Linda Davis, father Lang Scott and younger sister Rylee, next week on Dec. 21st (7:00A CT on NBC) as they join together around the piano to reprise their favorite carols and holiday stories.

The “tenderhearted family collaboration” (People) behind LOVE REMAINS is the mix of the rich, entwined voices of the Scotts, on “new co-writes, lesser-known oldies and time-honored gospel staples” (Rolling Stone). The 13-track collection of faith-based songs was produced by Ricky Skaggs and are a collection of songs that find the redemption in struggle, the peace in death and the joy in bonding with family members whenever times are tough. LOVE REMAINS follows more than 18 million album sales worldwide for Hillary Scott as one-third of the one of the world’s most popular groups, Lady Antebellum. The trio has made nine trips to No. one, earned seven GRAMMY awards and has been dubbed ACM and CMA “Vocal Group of the Year” three years in a row. For more information on new music, a full list of upcoming tour dates and more, visit www.hillaryscott.com.

Luke Bryan stopped by to thank the Spring Hill Fire Department on Friday (December 9th) during their annual Christmas lunch. He spent nearly an hour with the firefighters signing autographs, posing for photos and thanking them for their efforts in East Tennessee battling the fires in Sevier County.

Chris Stapleton and Lauren Alaina are set to perform during Dolly Parton’s telethon to benefit the victims of the deadly wildfires in East Tennessee. The three-hour telethon, Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund, airs tonight (December 13th) at 8pm ET on GAC, AXS-TV, RFD and the Heartland Network, while also simulcasting on numerous radio clusters, including select iHeart Media stations, Cumulus’ NASH Nights Live and Country Roads on TuneIn. Reba, Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Hank Williams Jr., Chris Young, Amy Grant, Cyndi Lauper and Don McLean will also perform.

Chris Stapleton will open three shows for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ 40th Anniversary Tour at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on June 29th and at Milwaukee’s Summerfest July 5th-6th.

Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” is spending a third week at the top of the Canadian Country Singles Chart.

Easton Corbin may not had snow on Christmas Day growing up in Florida, but he certainly had enough to get him into the holiday spirit. He reveals which soulful sounds got him into the holiday spirit. “I think the song that gets me, I guess, in the most Christmas spirit would probably be – since Merle Haggard is one of my heroes, ‘If I Make It Through December,’” says Easton.

His favorite gift would have to be a guitar. “My favorite Christmas gift probably as a kid would probably be the guitar my dad got me, the first electric guitar my dad got me one Christmas,” says Easton.

As we mentioned before, Brothers Osborne are showing us exactly why they were named CMA Vocal Duo of the Year and why their motto is “the show must go on.” For the second time in two weeks, the ceiling of a venue at one of their shows caved in, forcing them to cut the show short.

First on November 27th in Boise, Idaho, big pieces of the ceiling fell to the stage while they were playing. That show was cut short due to safety concerns. Then on Saturday night (December 10th), TJ and John Osborne’s show in Hanford, California was canceled because the ceiling collapsed right before John’s wife, the lovely and talented Lucie Silvas was to perform, so the guys moved the party outdoors in the rain…on the roof of their bus on the street in front of the theater. Armed with a PA system, a couple of acoustic guitars and a small drum kit, the duo performed for about 30 minutes, running through songs from their debut album, Pawn Shop.

The guys, who are about to hit the airwaves with their new song “It Ain’t My Fault,” called the impromptu show “one of the most memorable moments” of their career.

John and TJ felt they needed to make sure they took care of their fans who had already shown up to the show, even though it will be rescheduled at a later date.

“We didn’t want to leave all those people who had already shown up high and dry, so we thought, ‘What can we do to make this thing really cool for them?’ And our bass player jokingly said, ‘What if we just set up on the roof and played there?’ And then TJ and I looked at each other and we were like, ‘Dude that is the greatest idea I’ve ever heard!’ And we told our tour manager and our production manager, and they both thought we could make this happen,” says John Osborne. “Sure enough, 15 minutes later we had a PA set up on the roof, we had microphones, guitars, some lights, some rugs and it was wild man. We played for about 7 or 800 people. And it was one of the most surreal moments of our lives.”

Brothers O continue their Dirt Rich Tour are set to perform in Bakersfield, California at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace on Tuesday (December 13th).

The guys are up for a Grammy. They’re nominated in the category of Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “21 Summer.” The 59th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from the Staples Center in L.A. February 12th at 8pm ET on CBS.