• CLARE DUNN GETS THE CHECKERED FLAG AT THE BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY.

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    MCA Nashville’s Clare Dunn attended her first ever NASCAR events over the weekend, performing a full band set in the Bristol Motor Speedway infield following Saturday’s XFINITY Series race and singing the National Anthem at Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Food City 500. While there, she was able to meet a few of NASCAR’s biggest names including Danica Patrick and Sunday’s race-winner, Carl Edwards.

    Clare shared the photo above on her socials saying, “So great meeting Carl Edwards after winning at Bristol Motor Speedway! Such an awesome day!!” While this may have been the first race for Clare, the dynamic up-and-comer declares it is “definitely not my last!”

    Clare is currently on tour with Lee Brice on the Life Off My Years Tour and the latest single off her self-titled EP “Tuxedo” is playing on country radio now.

    For more information, please visit www.ClareDunn.com.

    Photo credit: Clare Dunn (r) with Danica Patrick

    Photo credit 2: Clare Dunn (l) with winner Carl Edwards

  • CHARLES KELLEY COMPLETES FIRST WEEK OF THE DRIVER TOUR AND HAS THE MOST ADDED SONG AT COUNTRY RADIO!

    Taking “a gritty, more intimate experience” (The Times-Picayune) to the road, GRAMMY winning singer/songwriter Charles Kelley completes his first week of THE DRIVER TOUR picked up by Enterprise. As the “Lady Antebellum frontman stretches his solo wings and soars” (St. Louis. Dispatch), his new single “Lonely Girl” from his debut album THE DRIVER (Capitol Records Nashville) has grabbed audiences attention for its “emotional, a little raw 60s ultra-lounge vibe” (The Augusta Chronicle). Leaving critics and fans “amazed at the kind of rapport” (The Press Enterprise) Kelley has with his fans, the singer along with special guest Josh Kelley will head to the West Coast this weekend including a sold-out show at Los Angeles’ Troubadour (4/26).

    “There’s nothing like being right there in it with the fans at these clubs,” said Kelley. “You never really know how the night is going to go when you step up on stage, but the energy has been unreal. It’s been really cool to feed off what the crowd is feeling and just go with it from night to night.”

    Charles has hit the airwaves with his latest single, “Lonely Girl,” which was the Most Added single to radio this week. It follows 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. In addition to his success as part of seven-time GRAMMY award-winning trio Lady Antebellum, Charles has also penned No. one hits recorded by Luke Bryan and Darius Rucker. For more information on new music and for a full list of tour dates, visit www.charleskelley.com

  • EASTON CORBIN HELPS HONOR MILITARY FAMILIES.

    Easton Corbin has partnered with Eckrich, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and savory deli meats, and Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, to honor military families in various cities while he’s on tour this year, including stops on Carrie Underwood’s The Storyteller Tour.

    Corbin has already welcomed families in Oakland, CA, Auburn Hills, MI Phoenix, AZ backstage before his concert to surprise the families with a gift of $5,000 in free groceries, courtesy of Eckrich. There are more events scheduled through early summer. The families get to stay and enjoy Corbin’s performance during The Storyteller Tour headlined by Carrie Underwood.

    “It is an honor to be able to surprise and thank our military families with my partners at Eckrich,” said Corbin. “This is a really special campaign, and I’m really happy Eckrich asked me to a part of it.  It’s great to be able to give something back to them and I hope it helps ease the burdens of these families for everything they have already sacrificed.”

    These events are part of the ongoing campaign by Eckrich to honor, thank and support military families through its partnership with Operation Homefront. The families are supported by Operation Homefront’s Hearts of Valor® program, a network of caregivers for wounded, ill or injured service members. Operation Homefront supports these caregivers through annual retreats, support groups and online communities.

    Eckrich, in its fifth year of partnership with Operation Homefront, has donated more than $2 million to the organization since 2012.

    “We thank Easton Corbin for helping us honor our military families,” said Chuck Gitkin, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Smithfield Foods.

    For more information about Eckrich, please visit www.eckrich.com.


    About Operation Homefront

    A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 2,500 volunteers with nationwide presence who provide emergency and other financial assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors. Operation Homefront has provided assistance to thousands of military families since its inception in 2002. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity watchdog groups, nationally, 92 percent of Operation Homefront’s expenditures go directly to programs that provide support to our military families. For more information, go to www.operationhomefront.net.

    About Easton Corbin

    Mercury Nashville recording artist Easton Corbin is lauded for his traditional country sound, authentic lyrics and mastery of understatement. American Songwriter says, “Easton Corbin has one of those rare, glorious voices that was made—just made—for singing country music.” His self-titled debut album released in 2010 and spawned back-to-back hits “A Little More Country Than That” and “Roll With It;” making him the first country male artist in 17 years to have his first two consecutive singles reach No. 1.  In 2012 the Gilchrist County Florida native released his sophomore album, All Over The Road, which included the Top 5 hits “Lovin’ You Is Fun” and “All Over The Road.”  Corbin set a career-best debut on Country Airplay with his top 5 hit single, “Baby Be My Love Song,” from his No. 1 debuting album About To Get Real.  His current single “Yup” is climbing the country singles chart. Corbin is currently on tour with Carrie Underwood’s The Storyteller Tour.

  • THIS DATE IN HISTORY: April 18th (Dierks Bentley)

    On this date in history in 2003, Dierks Bentley made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. According to the Opry website, Dierks may be the only singer banned from the Grand Ole Opry before he even got to sing there. During his early days in Nashville, Dierks had a job as a researcher for The Nashville Network, which was located on the Opryland grounds. Dierks made sure to stay late on weekends so he could slip backstage at the Grand Ole Opry House to watch the show and visit the musicians. Dierks did this so often that Opry general manager Pete Fisher finally had to limit his access. He performed his first No. 1 single, “What Was I Thinkin’,” a song inspired by a girl he’d met backstage at the Opry during those early visits. Dierks was made a member of the famed institution on October 1st, 2005.

    Dierks is making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Somewhere on a Beach,” which is from his upcoming album, Black, due for release May 27th.

  • DARIUS RUCKER IS UP FOR A ‘GOOD TIME.’

    Darius Rucker is looking for a “good time”…on tour, that is. His Good for a Good Time Tour kicks off June 3rd in Tampa, Florida. The trek, which features opening acts Dan + Shay (who recently celebrated their first No. 1 single, “Nothin’ Like You,” and Michael Ray (who also had his own No. 1 single last year with “Kiss You in the Morning,” will run through September 11th.

    “When you do tours, the opening acts are so important ‘cause you want to put guys in the seats, but you also want to entertain your fans, you know the people who are there to see you,” says Darius. “And for me also, one of the prerequisites is I gotta have guys that I can hang out with and go sit down and have dinner with and maybe play a round of golf with or drink a beer with after the show and before the show. So, those guys fit all that perfectly.”

    As he did with his Southern Style Tour, Darius will present homes to deserving veterans and their families, along with Project Rebuild. The South Carolina native helped give away 14 homes last year.

    Audio / Darius Rucker talks about his opening acts for his upcoming Good for a Good Time Tour.

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    Darius Rucker (Good for a Good Time Tour) OC: …and big. :33
    “When you do tours, the opening acts are so important ‘cause you want to put guys in the seats, but you also want to entertain your fans, you know the people who are there to see you. And for me also, one of the prerequisites is I gotta have guys that I can hang out with and go sit down and have dinner with and maybe play a round of golf with or drink a beer with after the show and before the show. So, those guys fit all that perfectly. They’re all doing so well. Dan + Shay just had a No. 1 and Michael Ray’s just doing so well. You know, I love having them help me, but I also love helping them just get on that stage and do something different and big.”

  • DIERKS BENTLEY IS ASKING ‘WHAT THE HELL DID I SAY’ IN LATEST VIDEO INSTALLMENT.

    Dierks Bentley has released the second episode of his ongoing four-part series leading up to the release of his new album, Black, on May 27th. The new video is titled “What the Hell Did I Say” is the follow-up to “I’ll Be the Moon.”  Check it out below.

    Video / What the Hell Did I Say

  • KEITH URBAN RELEASES THE LYRIC VIDEO FOR ‘WASTED TIME.’

    Keith Urban has released the lyric video for his single, “Wasted Time.” Check it out below.

    “Wasted Time” is the third single from his upcoming album, Ripcord, which will be available May 7th. The previous two singles — “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and “Break on Me” — topped the country charts.

    Video / Wasted Time lyric video

  • JON PARDI RELEASES THE VIDEO FOR HIS SINGLE, ‘HEAD OVER BOOTS.’

    Jon Pardi just released the video for his latest single, “Head Over Boots,” which is sitting inside the Top 20 on the country charts.  The clip features Jon and his band through the decades, complete with stage costumes reminiscent of the ‘50s, ‘70s and current day. The California native is even seen sporting a great ‘stache in the new video. Check it out below.

    “Head Over Boots” is the first single from his upcoming sophomore album, California Sunrise, available June 17th.

    Video / Jon Pardi Head Over Boots

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  • NEWS AND NOTES: Brothers, Paslay, Canaan, Pardi, Dierks, Hillary, Chris, Clare

    Brothers Osborne, Eric Paslay, Canaan Smith, Jon Pardi and many others have been added to the lineup at the Riverfront Stage during this year’s CMA Music Fest, running Thursday, June 9th through Sunday, June 12th.

    Dierks Bentley held a surprise pop-up show in Knoxville, Tennessee over the weekend. The event, which took place at a local hotspot, The International, will be seen next month on CMT. The CMT Instant Jam with Dierks is set to debut May 28th at 9pm ET.

    Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott performed at the Stand Up to Cancer benefit, chaired by Reese Witherspoon and her husband Jim Toth, as well as MasterCard President and CEO Ajay Banga and his wife Ritu. The gala event over the weekend raised more than $42 million and also featured performances by Sheryl Crow, Tony Bennett and Jamie Foxx. Also in attendance were the event’s co-founder Katie Couric, Alec Baldwin, Joe Torre, Maura Tierney and Donna Karan. Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now.

    Chris Stapleton is featured (sort of) in Jake Owen’s new video for “American Love Song.” Jake is wearing one of Chris’ tour T-shirts in the clip.

    Clare Dunn recently shot the video for her single, “Tuxedo,” at a farm south of Nashville. The clip will hit the airwaves in the coming weeks.

  • SAM HUNT LEADS THE LIST OF COUNTRY NOMINEES FOR THIS YEAR’S BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS.

    Sam Hunt leads the list of nominated country artists at this year’s Billboard Music Awards with four nods. He’s nominated for Top Country Artist, Top Country Album for Montevallo and two nominations in the Top Country Song category for “Break Up in a Small Town” and “Take Your Time.”

    Luke Bryan and Chris Stapleton follow with a pair of nods, including Top Country Artist and Top Country Album for Kill the Lights and Traveller, respectively, while Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” is up for Top Country Song.

    The 2016 Billboard Music Awards will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas May 22nd.

    2016 Billboard Music Awards Nominations:

     

    Top Country Artist:
    Zac Brown Band
    Luke Bryan
    Sam Hunt
    Chris Stapleton
    Carrie Underwood


    Top Country Album:
    Chris Stapleton, Traveller
    Luke Bryan, Kill The Lights
    Sam Hunt, Montevallo

    Zac Brown Band, Jekyll + Hyde
    Carrie Underwood, Storyteller

     

    Top Country Song:
    Sam Hunt, “Break Up In A Small Town”
    Sam Hunt, “Take Your Time”
    Little Big Town, “Girl Crush”
    Thomas Rhett, “Die A Happy Man”
    Chris Young, “I’m Comin’ Over”