• CMT MUSIC AWARDS: LBT, Stapleton

    Little Big Town picked up their very first CMT Music Award during last night’s show for Group/Duo Video of the Year for their huge hit “Girl Crush.”

    Chris Stapleton also picked up his very first CMT Music Award for “Fire Away,” which was named Breakthrough Video of the Year.

    Audio / Chris Stapleton explains why he wanted to make the video for “Fire Away.”

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    Chris Stapleton (Fire Away video) 2 OC: …in the world. :29
    “I wanted to get real actors and not spend a lot of time making it a promo video for me, and that was how I wanted to make a video, because I felt like that it was more artful and meaningful on the backend. That was the thing – it was just a notion, and then it became real and useful and something that can hopefully make the world a better place through putting the notion out in the world.”

    Video / Backstage at the CMT Music Awards, LBT thanks their fans.

  • GARY ALLAN RAISES MORE THAN $25,000 AT HIS FAN CLUB PARTY.

    Last night (June 7th), Gary Allan performed to over 1,000 adoring fans at his annual Fan Club Party. The event took place at Rocketown and an intimate performance, requests from the audience, and a touching moment in memorium of a dear friend.

    In the middle of his performance, Allan stopped the show to remember his longtime friend, the late Sharon Eaves. Eaves, who passed away in October of last year was the President of Allan’s Fan Club for almost twenty years and a well-respected music row veteran and humanitarian. Allan took a moment to explain what Sharon meant to him and what she meant to so many people, including those touched by her work at St. Jude Children’s Hospital. He was then joined by Bob Parks’ Dale Nichols who took on the task of auctioning off the first ring Gary designed from beginning to end for his new jewelry line. The silver skull designed ring featured three diamonds and Gary’s initials inside the band. The lucky winner got the ring for $7500. In addition to the live auction at the Fan Club Party, Allan also hosted an online auction in Sharon’s honor last week wherein he auctioned off early admittance and front row seats, a signed guitar, a signed drum head as well as meet & greets at Allan’s shows for a year. Through the generosity of his fans, the event raised over $25,000 for St. Jude in Sharon’s honor.

    In addition to the auction and taking requests from the audience, Allan performed a two-hour set that included chart-toppers “Watching Airplanes” and “Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain).” He also performed several selections from his new studio album, including the first ever live performance of his new single, “Do You Wish It Was Me?,” which will be available for digital on-sale this Friday, June 10th.

  • KEITH URBAN KICKS OFF HIS RIPCORD WORLD TOUR.

    Seven tour buses, carrying 96 crewmembers, nine semis housing, amongst other things, an 8’ by 66’ high definition video screen, enough wiring to crisscross the United States (twice) and more than two dozen guitars, rolled into Kansas City, St. Louis and Indianapolis this past weekend for the debut of Keith Urban’s “ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016.”  If the weekend’s performances, all of which received rave reviews, are any indication, “ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016” will be one of the hottest concert tours of the year.

    Keith’s two-hour plus set featured live performance premieres of new songs, collaborations with both Brett Eldredge (“Somebody Like You”) and Maren Morris (“We Were Us”), an all-new, state-of-the-art stage production, stinging guitar solos and “in-audience performances” which only added to the party-like atmosphere that is synonymous with all Keith Urban concerts.

    Keith rocked through a set that featured 16 Top 5 songs, including nearly a dozen #1s, as well as brand new songs from his recently released #1 album RIPCORD.  The album, Urban’s fifth #1, debuted simultaneously in the top spot on the U.S., Canada and Australia album charts, the second consecutive time that the four-time Grammy Award winner has achieved the historic milestone – something that no other male Country artist has done (even once).

    For more official keith urban news and information go to www.keithurban.net or follow him on www.facebook.com/keithurban or @keithurban

  • CHARLES KELLEY SOARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER THE BACHELORETTE APPEARANCE.

    Immediately following the television premiere of “The Only One Who Gets Me” on ABC’s The Bachelorette last night (6/6), seven-time GRAMMY winner Charles Kelley has become one of the most buzzed about topics on social media. As his debut solo record THE DRIVER (Capitol Records Nashville) jumped to the Top 10 on iTunes Country Albums chart, its autobiographical track simultaneously skyrocketed into iTunes’ Top 5 on the Country Songs chart where it continues to be a trending search.

    Written about his wife, the track features Kelley’s signature gritty vocals in this stripped-down version of “The Only One Who Gets Me” here: http://bit.ly/215ww1e

    As Kelley “continues to stay true to himself — all while telling stories” (Albuquerque Journal), the singer/songwriter’s latest single “Lonely Girl” has been praised for its “soulful direction” (Rolling Stone). It succeeds his first-ever debut track “The Driver” which earned a GRAMMY nomination for “Best Country Duo/Group Performance” ahead of the album’s release. Produced by Paul Worley, THE DRIVER explores new territory with a raw sound that pushes his vocals into a lower, grittier key. Along with his success as part of multi-Platinum award-winning trio Lady Antebellum, Kelley has also penned No. one hits recorded by Luke Bryan and Darius Rucker. It’s Lady Antebellum’s universal appeal that continues to resonate across the globe, as they continue to headline festivals throughout the summer on the LADY ANTEBELLUM 2016 SUMMER TOUR. For more information on new music and for a full list of tour dates visit www.charleskelley.com

  • LUKE BRYAN ANNOUNCES HIS EIGHTH FARM TOUR AND A FARM TOUR EP.

    CMA Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan announces his eighth annual “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2016” set to run October 5th to October 15th.  This year, for the first time, Luke will also release a Farm Tour EP to be released this Fall. During last year’s tour, Luke performed for over 110,000 fans during the eight-city run. A portion of the ticket proceeds are granted for local college scholarships (“Luke Bryan Farm Tour Scholarship”) to students from a farming family within the communities the tour plays.

    The “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2016” is sponsored by Bayer, Citi®, CID Entertainment, Miller Lite, Cabela’s and Polaris.

    “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2016”

    October 5        Gaston, South Carolina            Culler Farms

    October 6        Greenback, Tennessee            Maple Lane Farms

    October 7        Elizabethtown, Kentucky          Highland Farms

    October 8        Monroeville, Indiana                 Spangler Farms

    October 12       Batesville, Mississippi              FT Farms

    October 13       Prairie Grove, Arkansas          Ogden Ranch

    October 14       Centralia, Missouri                  Stowers Farm

    October 15       Effingham, Illinois                    Mid America Motorworks

    “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2016” ticket presale will begin for Luke Bryan’s Fan Club, the Nut House, on June 21 at 10AM local time for all shows.  Citi® cardholders will also be able to purchase presale tickets during this time exclusively.  Additional presale tickets will be available through the tour’s sponsors via their digital platforms on June 22, and the public on sale will begin on June 24.

    Citi® is the official credit card of the “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2016.” Citi® cardmembers will have access to presale tickets through Citi’s Private Pass Program beginning June 21. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.

    Luke Bryan has once again teamed up with CID Entertainment to offer Harvest Time VIP Experiences throughout the 2016 Farm Tour. Experiences include early concert admission, access to a private viewing area, limited edition merchandise, in addition to premium amenities including parking, air conditioned restrooms, and a private cash bar. More details available here: http://www.cidentertainment.com/events/luke-bryan-farm-tour-2016/

    For additional “Bayer Presents Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2016” information, including where to get tickets, stay tuned to www.lukebryan.com/farmtour.

    About Luke Bryan

    Since the debut of his first album in 2007, Luke has placed 15 singles at No. 1 and sold nearly eight million albums with 30 million digital tracks from his five studio albums. He has twice been named Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. His fifth studio album, Kill The Lights, debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard Top 200 (his third to do so) and Top Country Albums charts and closed 2015 with the best-selling country album of the year and the 10th biggest selling album on the all-genre Billboard Top 200 Year-End list. In Luke’s stellar 2015 year, he performed for 1.5 million fans in concert, had three albums on the Top 15 Year-End Country Albums list- Kill the Lights (#1), Spring Break…Checkin’ Out (#10) and Crash My Party (#15), was the most streamed artist of 2015, placed six songs in the Year-End Top Country Streaming Tracks list, had his own exhibit at The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (“Luke Bryan: Dirt Road Diary”), performed live during halftime at the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving and wrapped up the year with a live Times Square performance on ABC’s “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” Luke recently co-hosted the ACM Awards for a fourth consecutive year and is performing in venues and stadiums across the U.S. on his “Kill The Lights Tour” through this fall.

    Audio / Luke Bryan enjoys putting on his annual Farm Tour and helping out communities.

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    Luke Bryan (Farm Tour) 1 OC: …for the fans. :59
    “Farm Tour is just fun to me, and it’s something that anytime you can start something that starts small and grow it. We never want to make it this really ginormous thing that we can’t control, but we want to make sure it’s on our terms and we love doing it. And then we want to make sure that the communities that we partner up with from the sheriff’s office to the highway patrol guys to the colleges to the college kids, we want to make sure it’s a positive thing  at the end of the day for the communities. Therefore, that’s why we do the scholarships and we hope that we leave these places better than we found ‘em, and we hope people continue to want us back. And we hope we feel like we’re a positive thing for the local economies for these small towns, which wouldn’t necessarily have 15, 20-thousand people converging on ‘em. I hope it’s a positive thing for ‘em and not a negative. I enjoy being out there [performing in] the field and playing for the fans.”

  • JON PARDI EARNS SOME HEAVY METAL AS HIS HIT SINGLE, ‘HEAD OVER BOOTS,’ IS CERTIFIED GOLD.

    As Jon Pardi prepares for the June 17th release of his sophomore album California Sunrise (Capitol Records Nashville), his Top 15 and climbing lead single “Head Over Boots” surpasses 500,000 in sales and consumption, and is officially RIAA-certified GOLD. Following the Top 10 hit “Up All Night” off of his celebrated debut album Write You A Song, “Head Over Boots” marks Pardi’s second GOLD-selling single. Written by Pardi and Luke Laird, the catchy “Head Over Boots” is also Pardi’s fastest-rising single of his career and it has quickly won over audiences across the country. View an impressive clip of Pardi with his fans at his Sacramento show over the weekend HERE.

    California Sunrise pre-sale is available now with early-birds receiving three instant tracks off the album – “Head Over Boots,” “She Ain’t In It” and title track “California Sunrise.” Fans also have the option to purchase exclusive merchandise along with the album including a custom T-shirt, a California Sunrise vinyl, and an autographed guitar. Click HERE for more information.

    This week in Nashville, Pardi joins country music’s top stars and its most enthusiastic fans for the 2016 CMA Music Festival. Pardi will be meeting with fans, signing autographs and performing throughout the week beginning tomorrow night with Kelsea Ballerini at the tenth annual NASH Country Kick Off Party benefiting Musicians On Call– More information and tickets available HERE.

    To listen to Pardi’s current single, “Head Over Boots,” and more songs that inspired California Sunrise, click HERE or use the playlist embed code found HERE.

    For information, images, tour dates and more, please visit www.JonPardi.com.

    Audio / Jon Pardi talks about his new gold certified single, "Head Over Boots."

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    Jon Pardi (Head Over Boots gold) OC: …is pretty cool. :51
    “When you go gold, it’s amazing, you know? It is a show of fans really there for you, country radio really there for you, your record label behind you, and it’s a plaque that says, ‘Here’s to all your good hard work that you put out there.’ It’s almost like the fans give you that. It really is kind of cool ’cause they go on iTunes and they buy the single and they go and they stream it. It’s like our trophies as like they would say, and it’s country music radio coming together. Gold records are amazing, and it’s my second gold record. I swear it was like it was never going to come again and now it’s here. It’s amazing, and it feels really great. This is my first one that’s actually still going, which is pretty cool.”

  • BROTHERS OSBORNE ARE GEARING UP TO PERFORM ON THEIR FIRST AWARDS SHOW.

    Brothers Osborne have been added to the list of performers at Wednesday night’s CMT Music Awards. The pair are up for Group/Duo Video of the Year, as well as Breakthrough Video of the Year for their poignant clip for the No. 1 single, “Stay a Little Longer.”

    The guys are excited and maybe a little nervous about their first awards show performance. “We’ve had a couple really intense performances with late night and playing on the Today Show, but this is our first in the arena awards show that’s happening live. So, we’re definitely anxious and nervous in a really great way,” says TJ Osborne. “We’re gonna try to show everyone as much as we’ve got to offer in that little bit of time. So, there will definitely be a guitar solo in there.”

    The brothers, who are on the road with Miranda Lambert and Kip Moore on the Keeper of the Flame Tour, are making their way up the country charts with their latest single, “21 Summer.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne talk about their first awards show performance on the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday (June 8th).

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    Brothers Osborne (CMT Music Awards 2016) OC: …guitar solo in there. [laughs] :31
    “This will be our first awards show performance. You know, we’ve had a couple really intense performances with late night and playing on the Today Show, but this is our first in the arena awards show that’s happening live. So, we’re definitely anxious and nervous in a really great way. And so, we just want to get out there, you know, unfortunately we only get like a quick little 30-45 second clip, but we’re gonna try to show everyone as much as we’ve got to offer in that little bit of time. So, there will definitely be a guitar solo in there.” [laughs]

  • CHARLES KELLEY APPEARS ON THE BACHELORETTE TONIGHT.

    Charles Kelley will take the stage tonight (June 6th) on ABC’s hit romance reality series The Bachelorette (8pm ET) while the newest Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher and her date enjoy an outdoor one-on-one date in Los Angeles. From his debut solo record THE DRIVER, Kelley will perform the autobiographical “The Only One Who Gets Me,” which is the first song specifically written for and about his wife.

    As Kelley “continues to stay true to himself — all while telling stories” (Albuquerque Journal) the singer/songwriter’s new single “Lonely Girl” has been praised for its “soulful direction” (Rolling Stone). It succeeds his first-ever debut track “The Driver” which earned a GRAMMY nomination for “Best Country Duo/Group Performance” ahead of the album’s release. Produced by Paul Worley, THE DRIVER explores new territory with a raw sound that pushes his vocals into a lower, grittier key. Along with his success as part of multi-Platinum award-winning trio Lady Antebellum, Kelley has also penned No. one hits recorded by Luke Bryan and Darius Rucker. It’s Lady Antebellum’s universal appeal that continues to resonate across the globe, as they continue to headline festivals throughout the summer on the LADY ANTEBELLUM 2016 SUMMER TOUR.

    Charles is currently making his way up the country charts with his single, “Lonely Girl.”

    For more information on new music and for a full list of tour dates visit www.charleskelley.com.

  • DIERKS BENTLEY’S ‘BLACK’ BOWS AT NO. 1.

    Dierks Bentley’s new album, Black, has debuted at the top of the country album chart. The new collection, featuring the two-week No. 1 song “Somewhere on a Beach,” sold more than 101-thousand copies to land at No. 1 on the country chart and No. 1 on the Billboard Top Album chart.

    The album started with the title track, “Black,” which is also his wife’s maiden name. Dierks says he truly didn’t have time to celebrate or honor his life-changing moments on his last record, Riser, which included the death of his father and the birth of his son, Knox. He also passed a milestone with his wife Cassidy – his 10th wedding anniversary.

    “Whenever I’m moving forward into a new album, I’m definitely looking for a new sound, some new idea to kind of like start writing to wrapping the album around. So, it’s either a sonic thing or a lyrical thing or an idea. These last two records have really gone into that, on a pretty blank piece of paper – not sure what it’s gonna be or where it’s gonna come from,” he says. “On the last record it really came from, I had some personal stuff going on in my life with people passing away and people being born. On this record, it really came from the song ‘Black,’ which is the album title. Just these milestones were passing me by and I didn’t really get a chance to celebrate them or honor them. My wife and I had our 10 year anniversary, and it just kinda came and went, so I kind of started thinking about that and relationships in general and how crazy it is to be with someone for 10 years. And that really sparked the idea for the song ‘Black,’ and really from there that’s kind of the cornerstone of the record, that song, and that’s where the idea for this kind of relationship-based record came from and trying to do it in a way that’s a little bit different than just a love song, all love song-based album.”

    Dierks has just hit the airwaves with his latest single, “Different for Girls,” featuring Elle King from his new album, Black. The pair will perform the song on the CMT Music Awards, which will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday (June 8th) at 8pm ET.

    Audio / Dierks Bentley says his new album, Black, is a relationship record.

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    Dierks Bentley (Black album) OC: …like that. 1:22
    “Whenever I’m moving forward into a new album, I’m definitely looking for a new sound, some new idea to kind of like start writing to wrapping the album around. So, it’s either a sonic thing or a lyrical thing or an idea. These last two records have really gone into that, on a pretty blank piece of paper – not sure what it’s gonna be or where it’s gonna come from. On the last record it really came from, I had some personal stuff going on in my life with people passing away and people being born. On this record, it really came from the song ‘Black,’ which is the album title. Just these milestones were passing me by and I didn’t really get a chance to celebrate them or honor them. My wife and I had our 10 year anniversary, and it just kinda came and went, so I kind of started thinking about that and relationships in general and how crazy it is to be with someone for 10 years. And that really sparked the idea for the song ‘Black,’ and really from there that’s kind of the cornerstone of the record, that song, and that’s where the idea for this kind of relationship-based record came from and trying to do it in a way that’s a little bit different than just a love song, all love song-based album. I think ‘Black’ is the closest thing I have to a love song on the entire record. So, it’s a little bit more of a mysterious, a look at the mysterious elements and the growth through a long-term relationship.”

  • CMA MUSIC FEST 2016: AJ, Darius, Dierks, Easton, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, Jon, Josh, Keith, Lady A, Lauren, Luke and more

    It’s that time of the year again! The 2016 CMA Music Festival begins this week in Nashville, and the stars are coming out to perform and check in with their fans!

    Audio / Backstage at last year’s CMA Music Festival, Alan Jackson talked about CMA Music Fest and how it’s become a family affair. Alan is set to perform at ACME in downtown Nashville on Tuesday, as well as at the Grand Ole Opry on Friday.

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    Alan Jackson (CMA Music Fest) OC: …all about. :28 [NOTE: There’s a slight buzz underneath audio.]
    “My daughter – three daughters – and about 10 friends every year, we have to pack into vans and get ‘em out here. They come every night. They come every night, not to see me, they come see everybody else. So, it has become more of a local event, and of course it evolved tremendously since I first started when it was Fan Fair at the old fairgrounds and signing autographs in a hot buildings. But the fans are the same, and that’s what it’s all about.”

    Audio / Darius Rucker will host his 7th annual Darius and Friends concert at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon Monday (June 6th) during this year’s CMA Music Festival. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Darius is nominated for a CMT Music Award – CMT Performance of the Year – for “Alright” from the show, Instant Jam.

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    Darius Rucker (CMA Music Fest) OC: …awesome. :48
    “Music Fest is like nothing else. I say all the time that country music is the only genre that could have something like that. It’s truly amazing, when I come that weekend, people are everywhere and they want to be your best friend. It’s always cool and I love coming here. The thing that always gets me is the show. The fact that you can get that many superstars at one show all playing for free, for the same goal, to entertain those people that are in that stadium that come here for the whole week from all over the world. They come here for one week to see country music, and it’s amazing that those artists say on Friday and Saturday night, this is country music come on out. That’s awesome.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley is making a few appearances during CMA Music Festival week, including performing his latest single, “Different for Girls,” on this year’s CMT Music Awards with Elle King. He’ll also perform during the nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium (home of the Tennessee Titans) on Thursday (June 9th). Dierks Bentley talks about the lengths that fans will go to show their appreciation.

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    Dierks (fans) OC: …commitment. [laughs] :22
    “I know a lot of the early fans by name, because we played a lot of shows at a lot of small venues where we’d be around a lot after the shows. I’m not gonna say her name ‘cause I don’t know if she’d want me to or not, but she has like a dog print of Jake, my dog’s Jake, but she has this dog print on her shoulder with my name in the middle of the tattoo. So, tattoos are always, that’s a big deal when somebody gets your name tattooed on part of their body or something. It’s kind of a scary thing, because it’s kind of a lifelong commitment. [laughs]”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley recalls the weirdest thing he has signed.

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    Dierks Bentley (signing a baby’s head) OC: …child’s brain. :13
    “A baby’s head with a sharpie. Yeah, like a two-week old baby. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to do it. The woman was like, ‘Please.’ I was like, ‘Alright.’ The head at that point is so vulnerable, transparent, so I’m just hoping they didn’t get any ink in the child’s brain.”

    Audio / Easton Corbin, who has hit the airwaves with his latest single “Are You With Me,” talks about CMA Music Festival.

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    Easton Corbin (CMA Music Fest) OC: …wouldn’t work. :25
    “CMA Music Fest, it’s a great opportunity to hang out with your fans and stuff. The great thing about the country genre is it’s one of the only genres that really has a festival dedicated to their fans, and I think that’s great because without the fans we wouldn’t be here. They’re the ones that make it work. Without the fans to buy records and listen to the radio and come to the shows, it just wouldn’t work.”

    Audio / Easton Corbin talks about his fans.

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    Easton Corbin (fans) OC: …being here. :24
    “My fans mean a great deal to me, especially the fans that come out to the shows and the ones that make it to every show around their home or in that vicinity. I even have people come here every time, in these meet-and-greet lines or maybe at the fence over there by the when you’re getting off the red carpet, I try to always make it a point to recognize those fans and just let them know how much that I care and how much I appreciate them being here.”

    Audio / Eric Church, who’s making his way up the country charts with his latest single “Record Year,” says CMA Music Festival is special and unique to country music. Eric is set to perform at Nissan Stadium on Friday (June 10th).

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    Eric Church (CMA Music Fest) OC: …to see.
    “Well, I think it’s what makes country music unique. Find me another format that happens in, it’s just not something that happens. I think it’s about what we were talking about earlier; country music is the one for mat where the fans…the music is really about them. And we’re them; we’re not different than them. We’re not a lot of the rock stars and a lot of the other guys where they’re their own person, they’re their own agenda…they’re not like the people that are listening to them. It’s different in country, we are. We come from there, we are that. I think it’s just a great thing for them to be able to come to our town and to get just this barrage of music. We’ve always tried to do it a little different when we’ll have different events, a couple years ago we made the fans find us…they had to find clues around town of where we were playing and then when they found out they could post it and tell people and then that night we had a full show. We started that day with no people, we didn’t advertise, we said, ‘We’re playing, find us.’ We called it ‘Midnight Church.’ So at midnight we played the Rutledge. They found us, and they were out the door, and they found us there. It was really cool to have some fun in our town and just do stuff like that every year. I’ve done, last year I did a show where I did 3 nights in a row at a place. The first night was me and my band, the second night was an acoustic show, and the last night was me and the songwriters that helped me write this record all sitting up there playing songs and telling stories. It was three different takes on basically the same songs. Just unique. It’s my favorite thing about doing it, is when people come to town, we able to do some shows that we’re not able to do throughout the year because we’re touring a certain way. This is a chance for us to have a little more freedom, creatively, and give the fans something maybe they don’t get to see.”

    Audio / Eric Paslay will be all over the place during CMA Music Fest. On Tuesday morning (June 7th), he’ll take part in the Tug McGraw Sporting Clay Event at the Nashville Gun Club. He’s also set to perform at Riverfront Stage Friday (June 10th), followed by booth signings and Behind the Music Listening Event at the Music City Center, as well as a performance at the HGTV Lodge. Here he talks about getting his first autograph.

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    Eric Paslay (1st autograph) OC: …first autograph. :42
    “The first autograph that I ever got was in Branson, Missouri, and it was Shoji Tabuchi, and he’s a great fiddle player, and I always remember that, you know if you go to Branson, you know who he is. But I was a 9, 10 year old kid, and I always remember that. Every time I meet a kid, I don’t know if it’s their first concert. It could be their 100-thousandth, but whenever I sign an autograph for a kid, I really make sure it’s special and memorable, and with anybody, but especially with kids. I still have that Shoji Tabuchi autograph, you know? Because it meant that much. I didn’t know he was until we saw him, but he tore the place down playing the “Orange Blossom Special.”

    Audio / Jon Pardi, whose new album California Sunrise comes out June 17th, will be all over town during CMA Music Fest. On Tuesday (June 7th), he’ll be at 5th and Demonbreun at Noon with Wrangler signing and chatting with fans, then later that night, he’ll be at the Cannery Ballroom performing during the Musicians On Call event. On Thursday (June 9th), he’ll be in the UMG booth at the Music City Center signing from 3p – 4p, followed by a performance at the Riverfront Stage beginning at 12:15p.

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    Jon Pardi (performing live) OC: …really loud. :19
    “To get up on stage, it feels like home. It’s like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to be.’ I’d rather be there than a lot of places. I love just getting up on stage not matter where it is. It’s fun to get up and entertain people and have a good time, make everybody feel a part of the show and get up there and play my guitar really loud.”

    Audio / Josh Turner, who just released his new single “Hometown Girl,” recalls the weirdest item he’s ever been asked to sign.

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    Josh Turner (weirdest things he’s signed) OC: …Sharpie, though. :10
    “A toothpick; an unused toothpick, let me throw that out there, an unused toothpick. It was quite challenging, actually, and it didn’t look anything like my autograph. It took a really small Sharpie, though.”

    Audio / Keith Urban, who’s sitting inside the Top 10 with his current single “Wasted Time,” will be making a couple of appearances at this year’s CMA Music Fest. First, he’ll play the HGTV Lodge Thursday (June 9th) and at Nissan Stadium (home of the Tennessee Titans) on Sunday (June 12th). Keith will also perform during the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday (June 8th), where he’s up for Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.”

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    Keith Urban(CMA Music Fest) OC: …love it. :25
    “I love it! It’s like summer camp. I mean, it is! It’s a chance to obviously see a lot of people I don’t normally see. I don’t know. It’s just palpable. Since Fan Fair, it’s just been that sort of week-plus of energy; the town just explodes, and what it is we love about this genre and the community aspect of it. I always love it.”

    Audio / Kip Moore fans will get a chance to see him a couple of times this week. He’ll perform during the Pandora Country Music event at Marathon Music Works Tuesday evening, and then you can catch him at the HGTV Lodge downtown on Thursday afternoon. He tells us about his favorite thing about performing live. You’ll definitely get to hear him play his latest hit single, “Running for You,” which is from his Wild Ones album.

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    Kip Moore (favorite thing about performing live) OC: …it gets. :17
    “I’d say that my favorite thing about being on the road is the fact that I get to play music each and every night with my best friends. There’s nothing better than that than playing with your best buddies and seeing the joy that you bring to other people’s faces playing the music that you love to play. I mean that’s the best it gets.”

    Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley will participate in Fan Fair X, part of the CMA Music Festival bringing fans and artists together. Hillary, along with her family, will be the artist of the day on Thursday (June 9th) showcasing their upcoming faith-based album with performances and a Q&A, while Charles will give fans an up close and personal look into his solo album, The Driver, on Sunday (June 12th).

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    Lady Antebellum (Music Fest) 3 OC: …really cool. :25

    “When you see the same fans, these die-hard fans that camp out outside the radio remotes and the hotels, and all of these places, and you start recognizing them, I think that’s when you start going ‘Wow, this is a special and unique industry.’ You talk to them by name and give them a hug. I can’t think of any other genre that has that kind of connection. The people that come back the same time every year, you know where they are going to be. It’s really kind of a fun thing. It’s really cool.”

    Audio / Lauren Alaina says she owes it all to her fans, and she starts this year’s CMA Music Festival on Tuesday with the City of Hope Softball Game. On Wednesday evening, she’s set to perform a late-night set downtown in HonkyTonk Alley, and on Thursday morning, Lauren will perform an acoustic set on the Disney Stage at the Music City Center, followed by a signing at the UMG booth. On Friday, she’ll perform in the park at the city’s Walk of Fame, and on Sunday, she’ll perform at the Music City Center.

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    Lauren Alaina (fans) OC: …me wrong. :30
    “My fans helped me grow as a person in lots of different ways. I grew up in front of them. I was 15 on American Idol, so they watched me grow up and kind of helped me mold into who I am, because I worked at CiCi’s Pizza, and now I’m traveling all over the place. It’s like I learned responsibility through all of it. I learned who I am as a person, ‘cause my fans have made me stronger, they’ve made me more responsible, they made me believe in myself 10 times more, because I thought I was going home every week on American Idol, and they proved me wrong.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan, who is set to perform at Nissan Stadium on Sunday (June 12th), enjoys CMA Music Fest Week. Luke is nominated for a pair of CMT Music Awards, including Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for “Strip It Down.”

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    Luke Bryan (CMA Music Fest) OC: …for this week. :33
    “It’s a great week. I truly love this week for hundreds of reasons. I always remember my first ones and starting out and doing River Stages and always dreaming of coming over here and performing at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) and all of the stuff building the fan base early in the week. It’s an amazing week for Nashville, and it’s a great week for me. And then I get to be home and do all this stuff. It’s always been a fun week for me. A lot of my family always comes in for this week.”