• DIERKS BENTLEY AND KEITH URBAN WILL ANNOUNCE THE NOMINEES FOR THIS YEAR’S CMA AWARDS.

    Dierks Bentley and Keith Urban, along with newcomer Cam, will reveal the final nominees for this year’s CMA Awards live from the Grand Ole Opry House on ABC’s Good Morning America Wednesday (August 31st).

    The location of this year’s announcement adds to the already auspicious occasion as the Grand Ole Opry House served as home to the CMA Awards from 1974 until 2004, making it the longest running backdrop of the Awards and home to some of its most iconic moments. Bentley and Urban, with a combined 50 nominations and 12 wins across 8 CMA Awards categories, will be live with Cam from the Opry House stage adding another special moment to that history.

    Following the announcements on GMA, the remaining categories will be revealed live on GoodMorningAmerica.com, as well as via Good Morning America’s Facebook page through Facebook Live.

    CMA will then release the full list of CMA Awards nominees.

    The full list of nominees will be available at CMAawards50.com immediately following announcement.

    The 50th Annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville November 2nd at 8pm ET on ABC.

  • SAM HUNT’S ‘MAKE YOU MISS ME’ TOPS THE COUNTRY CHARTS.

    Sam Hunt has taken over the top of both the Billboard and Country Aircheck country charts with his latest single, “Make You Miss Me.” The song is the fourth No. 1 hit from his debut album, Montevallo; his previous chart-toppers are “Leave the Night On,” “Take Your Time” and “House Party.”

    “That title just came out, out of being in a relationship with a girl with a lot of those personality traits,” says Sam. “It just sort of popped into my head one day, and I realized it was a song I needed to write, and it came together pretty quickly. It’s still one of my favorites.”

    Sam wrapped up his dates on Kenny Chesney’s Spread the Love Tour over the weekend. The next dates he has will be October 19th and 20th as part of the Carnival Cruise live event in Cozumel.

    Audio / Sam Hunt says “Make You Miss Me” was a song he needed to write.

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    Sam Hunt (Make You Miss Me) 2 OC: …my favorites. :18
    “That title just came out out of being in a relationship with a girl with a lot of those personality traits. It just sort of popped into my head one day, and I realized it was a song I needed to write, and it came together pretty quickly. It’s still one of my favorites.”

  • GARY ALLAN SURPRISES ONE OF HIS BIGGEST FANS!

    From Tasteofcountry.com:

    Gary Allan gave one of his biggest fans a memory to last a lifetime backstage at a concert in Kansas on Friday night (Aug. 26).

    Renee is from Pinson, Tenn., just outside of Jackson. She first met Allan 19 years ago, when the then-aspiring star was opening for David Lee Murphy and Mark Chesnutt on his first-ever tour. She and her sister, Tammy, were huge Murphy fans who followed him to shows.

    “She used to make this David Lee Murphy Chex mix, with peanuts and crackers and stuff like that, and she started bringing it to us, and baked us cakes every time she saw us,” Allan recalls to Taste of Country.

    After meeting Renee and her sister several times, Allan told them he would steal them and turn them into Gary Allan fans. That prediction came true  … and then some. Renee has seen Allan in concert 300 times since then, traveling as far away as Washington State to attend shows. Once she even got into an accident on the way to a show, but still managed to make the gig. She has met Allan and his band many times, and when Allan got wind that Friday’s gig at the Cotillion Ballroom in Wichita was her 300th show, he decided to do something special in return.

    I can probably only name the things on one hand that I’ve done 300 times.”

    In the video above, he and his team surprise Renee with a cake from Cheri’s Bakery backstage at a special meet and greet, and Allan — who is a talented jeweler as well as a singer-songwriter — presents her with a ring that he made by hand for her.

    “It was cool! She was super surprised,” he says. “She didn’t expect anything. It was really sweet.”

    “We weren’t sure if we should celebrate her, or have her arrested,” he jokes, adding, “She’s actually a great fan. She’s always very polite. We always enjoy seeing her.”

    Allan finds it astonishing to be the object of that kind of devotion.

    “I can probably only name the things on one hand that I’ve done 300 times,” he says with a laugh. “I love that she’s such a great concert-goer … It’s totally flattering.”

    He calls the occasion “a magic moment for all of us. It’s great getting to know our fans like that, and it’s great being aware that they’ve been around so much. I just think it’s wild that someone could come to see me 300 times.”

     

    Video / Gary Allan surprises a fan!

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  • DIERKS BENTLEY IS DUBBED COUNTRY MUSIC’S ‘MOST RELATABLE STAR.’

    Between the fan-packed walls of St. Louis’ Vintage Vinyl to the roaring crowd at the nights’ amphitheater show, Esquire profiles Dierks Bentley’s unparalleled career. The inside look celebrates the release of Bentley’s No. One and critically acclaimed album BLACK (Capitol Records Nashville) on vinyl before his 2016 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH TOUR stop, ultimately revealing that the “attention to detail has dominated Bentley’s career and made him one of country’s most relatable stars.” 
     
    Known for “traveling his own path,” Esquire uncovers how Bentley continues “balancing robust record sales and heavy radio play with acclaim from even those critics who had seemed allergic to Nashville’s output in the past.”
     
    Bentley explores the most intimate and sometimes darkest corners of his relationship history with his No. One selling and critically acclaimed album BLACK (Capitol Records Nashville). Its Top 5 single “Different For Girls” follows the multi-week No. One Platinum summer anthem “Somewhere On A Beach.” The multi-faceted entertainer’s seven previous studio albums have sold more than 7 million copies, notched 14 chart-topping singles, earned 13 GRAMMY nominations, countless CMA, ACM and CMT nominations, a membership to the Grand Ole Opry for more than a decade and hosting duties for the 2016 ACM Awards. Bentley’s 2016 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH TOUR has extended the run with additional arena dates through the end of October with Randy Houser. For more information and a full list of tour dates, visit www.dierks.com.
  • KIP MOORE PERFORMS ‘WILD ONES’ ON THE LATE SHOW.

    Watch Kip Moore perform “Wild Ones,” the title track from his latest album on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Wednesday night (August 24th).

    Video /

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  • JOSH TURNER EXPLAINS SOME HOMETOWN SAYINGS IN THE LATEST EPISODE OF ‘UNSCRIPTED.’

    Josh Turner explains some hometown sayings in the latest episode of his video series Unscripted.

    Josh is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Hometown Girl.”

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  • DIERKS BENTLEY EXPLAINS WHY HE GOT ‘OILSPOTTED’ ON TOUR LAST WEEKEND.

    How in the world does a tour headliner and superstar get left behind on tour? Well, it happens, and Dierks Bentley found out the hard way this past weekend. It seems Dierks got caught up talking to a couple of his buddies and totally missed his entire Somewhere on a Beach Tour leave him behind in Maryland Heights, Missouri. He actually had to call his tour bus driver to come back and pick him up.

    http://twitter.com/DierksBentley/status/764358041168936960/photo/1

    “[For] 12, 13 years, and I’ve never been oilspotted. Oilspotted is when you walk back out to where your ride is supposed to be and you look down and all you see is oil on the ground – oilspotted,” says Dierks. “So, I was on a bus with my buddy Brian O’Connell and Randy Houser was on there and my booking agent, Jay Williams, was on there, and then at some point it was just me on there with Brian. We were just talking, talking, talking, and I walked off the bus and looked out, and it was a parking lot. All the seven semi-trucks were gone and all the busses were gone, and it was just crickets. I was like, what is going on? I called my bus driver, and he was about a half hour down the road, and I was like, ‘You’ve got to come back and get me. I’m not riding on Brian’s bus. He’s not even going to where I need to go.’ So, I started walking down the service road and trying to make the drive back for my bus driver a little shorter. He picked me up and we went on to the next gig.”

    At his next gig, everyone, including band and crew, got into the act of making fun of him. “The next day on tour, people had made T-shirts and there were signs posted all around that said, ‘Missing.’ It made for some good tour stories, for sure,” said the dad of three. “This was the first time it had happened for me, and at some point in everyone’s career on the road, they’re gonna get oilspotted, so it took me a while to reach that spot, but I’m officially in the club now.”

    http://twitter.com/DierksBentley/status/764540232276533248/photo/1

    The next stop on Dierks’ tour, which also features Randy Houser, Cam and Tucker Beatherd, is in Mountain View, California September 9th.

    Dierks is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Different for Girls,” featuring Elle King.

    Audio / Dierks Bentley explains how he got left at his tour date this past weekend.

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    Dierks Bentley (being left on tour) OC: …the club now. 1:10
    “Yeah, you know, 12, 13 years, and I’ve never been oilspotted. Oilspotted is when you walk back out to where your ride is supposed to be and you look down and all you see is oil on the ground – oilspotted. So, I was a bus with my buddy Brian O’Connell and Randy Houser was on there and my booking agent, Jay Williams, was on there, and then at some point it was just me on there with Brian. We were just talking, talking, talking, and I walked off the bus and looked out, and it was a parking lot. All the seven semi-trucks were gone and all the busses were gone, and it was just crickets. I was like, what is going on? I called my bus driver, and he was about a half hour down the road, and I was like, ‘You’ve got to come back and get me. I’m not riding on Brian’s bus. He’s not even going to where I need to go.’ So, I started walking down the service road and trying to make the drive back for my bus driver a little shorter. He picked me up and we went on to the next gig. It was really funny. The next day on tour, people had made T-shirts and there were signs posted all around that said, ‘Missing.’ It made for some good tour stories, for sure. This was the first time it had happened for me, and at some point in everyone’s career on the road, they’re gonna get oilspotted, so it took me a while to reach that spot, but I’m officially in the club now.”

  • DIERKS, TOBY AND KEITH WILL PAY SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO GLEN CAMPBELL AT THIS YEAR’S ACM HONORS.

    The Academy of Country Music® (ACM) announced that Dierks Bentley, Toby Keith, Blake Shelton and Keith Urban will take the stage at the 10TH ANNUAL ACM HONORS™ for a special tribute to Glen Campbell, who as previously announced will be honored with the ACM Career Achievement Award. The country music luminaries will perform an all-star medley of Campbell’s greatest hits, culminating to an ensemble performance of the iconic “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Kim Campbell will accept the award on behalf of her husband (of 35 years).

    Toby Keith and Blake Shelton join previously announced performers Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Cam, Maren Morris, Cole Swindell, Keith Urban and hosts Lady Antebellum. Additional performers and presenters will be announced.

    The 10TH ACM Honors™ is an evening dedicated to celebrating the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards. Hosted by multi-ACM Award-winning group Lady Antebellum, the two-hour special will tape on Tuesday, August 30 at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, and make its television debut on Friday, September 9 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Tickets for the special taping are available for purchase to the general public now at Ticketmaster.com.

    For more information on the Academy of Country Music and the ACM Honors, please visit www.acmcountry.com.

    About ACM Honors™
    ACM Honors™ is an evening dedicated to recognizing the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Special Awards, Studio Recording Awards and Songwriter of the Year Award winners. The 10th Annual ACM Honors takes place Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and – for the first time ever – will be produced for television by dick clark productions to be broadcast on Friday, September 9 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan, R.A. Clark, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are executive producers. Tiffany Moon is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music. Tickets to ACM Honors are priced at $60 and $100 and will go on sale to the general public at Ticketmaster.com and the Ryman box office at 10:00 AM CT on Wednesday, August 10, 2016. For more information, visit www.ACMcountry.com.

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about being a part of the Glen Campbell tribute at this year's ACM Honors.

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    Dierks Bentley (Glen Campbell tribute) OC: …part  of it. 1:05
    “He’s got some ties to Arizona and someboy who spent some time there, and when I moved to Nashville and got into bluegrass music and I discovered ‘Gentle on My Mind’ was a big song that John Hartford had written, so he had a little bit of world in the bluegrass community. But some of these bigger hits are so good and so classic and they’re so different than anything else out there. And he just has a way of performing that I’ve always felt like he’s one of those guys that if all of the power went out and there was no PA system and no band behind you and it just had to be just you and a guitar, he could entertain that crowd just as well as if they had all of the lights and production, and it’s Glen. He’s such a great singer, great musician and so funny, and such a great storyteller. He really carved out his niche. There’s no one that’ll ever sound like him – a classic legend. I’m honored to get the chance to perform on this tribute show for the ACMs [Honors], to be a part of this tribute. I’ve always felt connected to his music, grew up listening to it. I’m honored to be a part of it.”

  • ALAN JACKSON TO OPEN GOOD TIME BAR ON LOWER BROADWAY IN NASHVILLE.

    Alan Jackson is set to open his own honky tonk, titled AJ’s Good Time Bar on historic Broadway in downtown Nashville. The country superstar purchased the 6,000 square foot property, formerly known as The Wheel, which closed this past Saturday night (August 21st). The newly renovated club will undergo renovations, which is said to include a rooftop patio.

    AJ  is also partners in the popular hangout Acme Feed and Seed located on the corner of Broadway and 1st Avenue South.

     

    Video /

  • KIP MOORE WILL PERFORM ON THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT ON WEDNESDAY (August 24th).

    Kip Moore is gearing up for his headlining fall tour with a national TV performance of fan-favorite track “Wild Ones” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert tomorrow (8/24) at 10:35pm CT on CBS.  “Wild Ones” is taken from Moore’s critically-acclaimed sophomore album of the same name, that Entertainment Weekly raves “reaches for the stadium’s nosebleeds” and Huffington Post proclaims as “one heck of an album… set to produce hit after hit after hit.”
    Known as “one of country music’s most impressive headline acts” (Sounds Like Nashville), Moore recently announced dates for his headlining ME AND MY KIND TOUR kicking off on 9/29 in Houston, TX.  While Moore continues to be “met with more deafening applause” (CMT), the headlining tour will see Moore visit cities across the US and Canada through early December and includes red-hot newcomer Jon Pardi. Fans can currently catch Moore out on the road as part of Miranda Lambert’s Keeper Of The Flame Tour. Moore’s sophomore album WILD ONES, that Country Weekly declares “matches the energy of his live show,” follows Moore’s debut album UP ALL NIGHT which was certified GOLD by the RIAA and spawned three No. One hit singles including GOLD certified “Beer Money,” PLATINUM certified “Hey Pretty Girl,” and the DOUBLE PLATINUM breakout hit “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck.” For more information and a full list of tour dates visit kipmoore.net.