Keith Urban and John Mellencamp are set to perform together during The 49^th Annual CMA Awards. Keith’s “Raise ‘Em Up” featuring Eric Church is nominated for Musical Event, a category Urban has won three times: “Start A Band” with CMA Awards host Brad Paisley (2009), “Highway Don’t Care” with Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift (2013), and “We Were Us” with fellow nominee Miranda Lambert (2014).

Winners of “The 49th Annual CMA Awards” will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible voting members of the Country Music Association. 

In anticipation of “The 49th Annual CMA Awards” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” will pave the road to the CMA Awards by welcoming some of the genre’s most notable stars. The lineup includes performances from Brett Eldredge, Kip Moore, Chris Young, as well as 2015 CMA nominees Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves, Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, and more. Jimmy Kimmel and Jill Leiderman serve as executive producers. Jason Schrift, Douglas DeLuca, Erin Irwin and David Craig serve as co-executive producers. “Jimmy Kimmel Live” is shot live in front of a studio audience and produced by Jackhole Industries in association with ABC Studios. (CLOSED- CAPTIONED) Enjoy “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on the web at abc.com/JimmyKimmeLive and at youtube/JimmyKimmelLive.

Fans can get more information on “The 49th Annual CMA Awards” and sign up for CMA emails and exclusives, as well as view a full list of announced performers, by visiting CMAawards.com.

John Mellencamp (aka John Cougar) is one of the inspirations behind Keith’s recent No. 1 hit, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.”

The CMA Awards will air live Wednesday, November 4th (8:00-11 PM/ET) from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on ABC.

**Suggested Tweet**: Catch @KeithUrban perform w/ @JohnMellencamp on the #CMAawards 11/4 on ABC! More: {Link URL}

Lady Antebellum’s leading lady, Hillary Scott, has been tapped to host Leadership Music’s Dale Franklin Awards honoring Jo Walker-Meador, Steve Buchanan and Reba McEntire on Monday, November 16, 2015.

Leadership Music will honor the three music industry luminaries at a gala cocktail reception, awards presentation and musical tribute beginning at 5:30 pm at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s CMA Theater.  Big Machine Label Group is the title sponsor for the 2015 event.  CMA’s legendary long-time Executive Director, Jo Walker-Meador, will receive a new award named for Leadership Music’s Founding Council; Steve Buchanan has been chosen as the recipient of the Brian Williams Ambassador Award, and Reba McEntire, award-winning musical artist, television personality and Broadway star will be honored with Leadership Music’s prestigious Dale Franklin Award.

“It’s always special to help recognize passionate people in our industry,” said Scott. “All three of these honorees have personally made amazing contributions not only in Nashville but have been part of sharing Country Music across the globe. I’m thrilled to have been asked to host and look forward to celebrating in a few weeks!”

The Leadership Music^® Dale Franklin Award, named for the first Executive Director of Leadership Music, was created in 2004 to recognize a music industry leader who exemplifies the highest attributes of leadership and leading by example. Previous Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award honorees Tony Brown (2004), Gerry House (2005), Emmylou Harris (2006), Frances W. Preston (2007), The Bradley Family: Owen (posthumously), Harold, Jerry, Connie and Patsy (2008), Garth Brooks, Jim Foglesong and Allen Reynolds (2009), Fred Foster, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson (2010), CMA (2011) and Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill and Alabama’s Randy Owen (2012).

Seven-time GRAMMY awarding-winner Hillary Scott serves as one-third of the world’s most popular groups Lady Antebellum, selling over 11 million albums worldwide and earning six PLATINUM singles. The three-time ACM and CMA “Vocal Group of the Year” recently wrapped their sold-out headlining WHEELS UP 2015 TOUR, which extended the group’s 7FOR7 initiative granting seven surprises for seven fans. Additionally, their multi-level organization LadyAID continues bring awareness and generate support for children locally, nationally and globally with Scott’s heart particularly drawn to serving in Haiti.  In addition to co-writing hits for Lady Antebellum, she has also penned songs for artists such as Blake Shelton and Sara Evan’s No. one hit “A Little Bit Stronger.” Additionally, as a former MTSU student, the singer recently started a scholarship at her alma mater for young women seeking a career in the music industry. For more information visit www.ladyantebellum.com

In the latest episode of Lauren Alaina‘s SWAK (Sealed With a Kiss) video series, she reveals tips to the ladies on how to catch a guy. Check it out below.

Sam Hunt leads the list of the country nominees for this year’s American Music Awards. The “Break Up in a Small Town” singer picked up three nominations, including overall New Artist of the Year, Favorite Male Country Artist and Country Album of the Year (for Montevallo).

Luke Bryan scores two nominations including overall Artist of the Year and Favorite Male Country Artist. The Artist of the Year nominees also include Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor and The Weeknd. The 10 nominees will be narrowed to five based on the votes received through NOVEMBER 11th at 11:59p (ET) and the winner will be determined by the total votes received throughout the entire voting period.

Voting opened today in all categories except for New Artist of the Year. Fans can vote for each category once per day, per platform in any (or many) of the below ways:

Via AMAvote.com

Posting a status on FACEBOOK that includes the nominee’s name and the category’s hashtag within the post(s).

Posting a tweet on TWITTER that includes the nominee’s name or TWITTER handle, the category name and #AMAs within the post(s).

Voting for New Artist of the Year Presented by KOHL’s and Collaboration of the Year Un-leashed by T-MOBILE will open on NOVEMBER 1st at 12:01a (ET).

Winners will be announced when Jennifer Lopez hosts the AMA ceremony, live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles November 22nd at 8pm ET on ABC. For more information, check out TheAMAs.com.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Bryan
Ariana Grande
Maroon 5
Nicki Minaj
One Direction
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
The Weeknd

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY KOHL’S
Fetty Wap
Sam Hunt
Tove Lo
Walk The Moon
The Weeknd

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST — COUNTRY
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Sam Hunt

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST — COUNTRY
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Carrie Underwood

FAVORITE DUO or GROUP — COUNTRY
Zac Brown Band
Florida Georgia Line
Little Big Town

FAVORITE ALBUM — COUNTRY 
Jason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt
Florida Georgia Line, Anything Goes
Sam Hunt, Montevallo

George Strait’s Cold Beer Conversation climbs to the top of the Country Album chart during its second week of release. Sold in only two places — at iTunes and Walmart – the collection is also sitting inside the Top 10 on Billboard’s overall Top 200 album chart, as well.

The new single from the project is “Cold Beer Conversation,” and George says the person he’d most like to have a cold beer conversation with his late father, John Byron Strait.

“I’d love to have a CBC with my dad, even though he never was a drinker,” George says. “I think it would have been so much fun. We had great conversations; it would be just awesome to be able to do that again.”

Strait’s new music has resonated not only with fans, but also with the “King of Country Music” himself as he prepares to launch an exclusive concert series at the Las Vegas Arena opening in April 2016. All six dates for his “Strait to Vegas” run are currently sold out, with more shows to be added to accommodate the overwhelming demand. GRAMMY, ACM and CMA Award-winning singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves will join Strait as support on all dates.

With 60 No. 1 singles and nearly 70 million records sold, Strait has more No. 1 songs than any other artist and is third only to Elvis Presley and The Beatles with the most Gold and Platinum albums in history. He is the most-nominated artist in CMA Awards history and was the first country music artist honored with Billboard’s “Legend Of Live” Award.

Cold Beer Conversation is available now at Apple Music and Walmart. For more information on “Strait to Vegas” dates and more, visit www.GeorgeStrait.com and www.StraitToVegas.com.

Brothers Osborne have released the video for their infectious single “Stay A Little Longer” with an exclusive Billboard debut – Watch HERE. Now available on all digital platforms, the brothers collaborated with director Peter Zavadil for the music video that highlights authentic couples and captures the different phases all relationships go through.

“It was an awesome day of shooting with great performances” says TJ Osborne “especially given they are actual, real-life couples.” “With this video, we’re trying to show that all relationships are the same” notes John Osborne “you have your trials and tribulations no matter who you are.”

The compelling piece centers on the theme that love is universal and showcases a broad spectrum of people and relationships from all walks of life. A single dolly shot through a series of spaces reveals these couples in various stages of the relationship cycle. To catch an inside look at the making of the powerful video, Paste Magazine will premiere unique behind-the-scenes footage on Wednesday, October 14.

Brothers Osborne, along with their good friend Shane McAnally, co-wrote “Stay A Little Longer,” a song that Rolling Stone describes as “epic, full of harmonics, finger taps and inspired picking that identify the Maryland natives as one of Nashville’s best.”

The catchy Top 20 track has already garnered almost 19 million total streams and just hit #7 on the Shazam Country Chart. The singer/songwriter duo was recently nominated for 2015 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year and has been named “One’s to Watch” by Rolling Stone, Billboard, Paste, Country Weekly, Nashville Lifestyles and Spotify.

Following the recently wrapped Southern Style tour with Darius Rucker, Brothers Osborne are currently on the road with Jon Pardi as part of the All Time High tour. Upcoming stops include Orlando, FL and Cincinnati, OH. For a full list of tour dates, news, images and more, visit www.BrothersOsborne.com

www.BrothersOsborne.com| facebook.com/BrothersOsborne| twitter.com/brothersosborne| instagram.com/brothersosborne

GRAMMY award-winning singer/songwriter Charles Kelley continues to map out plans for new music with the announcement of THE DRIVER TOUR picked up by Enterprise, with special guest Maren Morris. The 22-city club tour will make its first stop at House of Blues in Cleveland, OH ‪on November 28th and continue through the winter with tickets on sale ‪this Friday (10/16) at 10A local time on www.charleskelley.com.

“I’ve played some great shows at arenas and amphitheaters, but I’m definitely looking forward to getting into clubs with people grabbing on your legs and being able to see every face,” shares Kelley.  “I can’t wait to get right up there in it with the fans and try out some of this new stuff we’ve been working on. I’m pretty excited about just scrapping the set list and playing whatever we feel like playing.”

Ahead of the upcoming tour, Kelley will first navigate to New York City tomorrow to perform “The Driver” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (10/13 at 10:35P CT on NBC) with friends Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay who also lent their voices to the track. The Guardian describes the song as “driving the genre out of its summer party haze and into a welcome season of introspection. It was recently announced as the lead single from Kelley’s upcoming solo project and is now available at Country radio.

THE DRIVER TOUR Dates:

November 28 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues

November 29 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Stone Pony

December 1 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre

December 3 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore Charlotte

December 4 – Tallahassee, FL – The Moon

December 5 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle

December 10 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theatre

December 11 – Oklahoma City, OH – Diamond Ballroom

December 12 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant

December 17 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues

December 18 – Houston, TX – House of Blues

December 19 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues

January 7 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave

January 8 – Chicago – House of Blues

January 9 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s

January 16 – Washington, D.C. – The Fillmore Silver Springs

January 17 – Boston, MA – House of Blues

January 22 – Louisville, KY  Mercury Ballroom

January 23 – Springfield, IL  Boondocks

January 24 – Sioux City, IA  Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

January 26 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre

January 28 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues

Stepping outside of one of the world’s most popular groups, Charles Kelley explores new territory with a raw sound that pushes his vocals into a lower, grittier key than what listeners have been hearing from him in a group setting. “The Driver” serves as the lead single from his upcoming first-ever solo release and was born in a ratty studio in the back of producer Paul Worley’s office. His unmatched perspective of hours spent on the road pursuing a life-long dream is present through his impeccable voice. In addition to his success as part of seven-time GRAMMY award-winning trio Lady Antebellum, Kelley has also penned No. one hits recorded by Luke Bryan and Darius Rucker.

Columbia Nashville singer/songwriter Maren Morris has quickly established herself in Nashville’s music community with songwriting and vocal stylings that reflect her country, folk and pop influences, with Rolling Stone Country touting her “a stellar solo artist in her own right.” Currently on Spotify, songs from her self-titled EP, available here, have garnered critical acclaim and more than 2.5 million streams in little over a month, with 3 songs hitting Spotify’s US and Global “Viral 50” chart. Recently named as one of CMT’s Next Women of Country, Maren has been featured on select tour dates with Sam Hunt, Little Big Town and Chris Stapleton.

For a full list of upcoming performances and tour dates, and visit www.charleskelley.com

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) Singer, songwriter and entertainer Toby Keith has something special planned for the new single from his 35 mph Town album – something that’s been in the works for a long time. The song is “Beautiful Stranger” and it’s notable for two reasons, as radio listeners will find out when it’s released October 13th.

“That was written years ago and I kept saying I wasn’t putting it on an album until it had a shot at being a single,” Keith explains. Not only is the timing right for the tale of rekindled love – the recording is, too. “The vocal shows some range people probably don’t hear out of me a lot,” Toby says.

Sell-out crowds throughout North America have had the chance to hear his vocal range during his ongoing Good Times & Pick Up Lines Tour Presented by Ford F-Series. And independent of the tour, fans are finding plenty of ways to get their Toby fix.

Coming up October 16th, Keith is the subject of TBS’ Neighborhood Sessions series, which includes his hometown performance in Moore, Oklahoma. Filmed in September, the special focuses on those who inspire Keith and others in their local community. Proceeds from Neighborhood Sessions featuring Toby Keith Created by State Farm benefit the Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral pediatric cancer facility, soup kitchen and shelter program Food and Shelter Inc. and local volunteer organization Serve Moore.

Speaking of lending a hand, a television commercial Keith recently filmed for the Wounded Warriors Project’s “Believe In Heroes” campaign begins airing nationally October 24th. The spot features the Schei family, whose son Erik was shot by a sniper in Iraq in 2005 and continues to recover. His brother Deven, seeking to finish his brother’s mission of service, joined the Army and was wounded in Afghanistan in 2010. It also features retired Air Force Capt. Mary McGriff, who served in Iraq in 2005 and has received some help through Wounded Warriors Project with her treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. More here: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/believe-in-heroes.aspx.

In other news, Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW’s historic Soundstage series kicks off its new season with Toby. Taped in front of a live audience in September, the show’s air date is TBA.

Kip Moore has revealed “Running For You” will be the second single from his sophomore album WILD ONES. Co-written by Moore alongside Blair Daly and Troy Verges, the personal and emphatic track that Billboard heralded as “a career song from the album” is available at country radio Monday (October 12th).

Moore’s new single comes hot on the heels of his headlining 2015 WILD ONES TOUR kicking off tonight (10/8) in Bethlehem, PA.  Known for making a lasting impression at his live shows with Washington Post stating Moore “is a natural when he’s on stage,”  the list of advance sell-outs is stacking up including dates in Boston, MA, London, ON, Toronto, ON and a two night run in Chicago, IL. Moore is also partnering with Evan Williams Bourbon on the tour, the brand will be the “Official Bourbon” at each of the 25 stops.

“Just because a relationship doesn’t work out the way you hoped it would, it doesn’t mean you can’t wish that person all the best and that’s what I was drawing on in this song,” said Moore.  “Whenever we’ve played ‘Running For You’ in our set it always feels like a real ‘moment.’ We’ve had a couple weeks of downtime since our summer run and honestly we’re already just itching to get back out there and I’m looking forward to doing what we do on stage.”

Moore’s recently released sophomore album WILD ONES was received with critical praise with Huffington Post hailing it as “one heck of an album… set to produce hit after hit after hit” while The Guardian heralded it as “an impressively singular release from Music Row…unlike anything else in country music at the moment.”

For a full list of tour dates and more information visit www.kipmoore.net.

Luke Bryan and Eric Church, along with Carrie Underwood have been announced as headliners for the 2016 Stagecoach Country Music Festival April 29th and 30th and May 1st. The three-day event in Indio, California, will also include performances by Sam Hunt, Eric Paslay, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Chris Young, The Band Perry, Dustin Lynch, A Thousand Horses and Old Dominion.

Lauren Alaina was chosen as this year’s hottest bachelorette by Nash Country Weekly readers. Lauren’s self-titled EP is available now, and it includes her single “Next Boyfriend.”

Keith Urban joined Taylor Swift during her sold-out 1989 Tour stop in Toronto, to perform with the pop superstar. The pair collaborated on his 2002 No. 1 hit “Somebody Like You,” along with his most recent chart-topper, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.”

Lady Antebellum will perform at the NASH Presents Hearts Unsung – a special evening of music benefiting Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals. The event will take place November 9th at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center and will be part of the full-length feature film, Hearts Unsung in theaters nationwide January 21st.