Eric Church and his wife Katherine welcomed their second child, Tennessee Hawkins Church on Sunday (February 15^th). Hawk weighed in at 6 lbs. and 12 ounces and was 21 inches long.  He joins big brother Boone McCoy, who was born October 2011.

“I’m thrilled that Hawk and his mom are doing well,” Church says in a statement. “We aren’t sleeping very much, but we are enjoying every part of this incredible journey.  I’m very blessed and thankful.”

He originally hinted at the news during a stop on The Outsiders World Tour last Fall. Eric was performing his 2006 single “Sinners Like Me” in Louisville, Kentucky on September 25th, when he altered the lyrics to the song to reflect his growing family.

While the original lyrics read, “Well now maybe who knows one day I’ll settle down / Give my dad a grandson of his own,” Eric said in the second line, adding, “Give my dad another grandson!”

Lady Antebellum surprised an elementary school in Ontario, Canada this week with new music instruments. The band donated more than 35 instruments to staffers of Fitch Street Eleentary School backstage at their concert in Niagara Falls. It’s part of their Lady A 7FOR7 campaign, which started last fall granting wishes to fans.

Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban and Little Big Town are set to perform during the ACM Lifting Lives One Night, Two Cities, All Music benefit gala in Dallas and Forth Worth April 17th. The thing is they’ll be performing at different venues simultaneously. The event, hosted by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, will feature performances by Lady A and Hunter Hayes at the Omni Dallas Hotel, while Keith and LBT will perform from the Fort Worth Zoo. Proceeds from the event will go to Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids and the Child Life Zones in Children’s Health of Dallas and Cook Children’s of Fort Worth. It precedes this year’s ACM Awards, which will broadcast live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas April 19th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Little Big Town will perform their hit “Girl Crush” on the Ellen DeGeneres Show Tuesday (February 24th).

Billy Currington is set to tour with Tim McGraw on his Shotgun Rider Tour 2015, kicking off June 5th in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Billy Currington and Kacey Musgraves are among the artists who have been added to the lineup for the 24th Annual Country Jam in Grand Junction, Colorado. They’re joined by Eli Young Band, Thompson Square, Parmalee, Frankie Ballard, as well as the previously announced headliners Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw and The Band Perry. The four-day festival takes place June 18th through June 21st.

Dierks Bentley and his wife Cassidy led the Krewe of Orpheus parade in New Orleans on Monday (February 16th). He happened to run into and hang out with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump.

Dierks posted a photo with her, along with the caption: “y’all…today at #mardigras. thanks NO country fans. made a new friend on our #orpheus float @LisaVanderpump”

Ms. Vanderpump also joined Dierks on stage during his performance at the annual Lundi Gras Celebration in NOLA. She tweeted: “Had so much fun playing with you tonight on stage @DierksBentley,” along with a photo. She also admits, she might fancy the country singer. “Bow down my loyal subject @DierksBentleyhttp://img.ly/BgvZ  have to say it might be wrong,but I’ve a bit of a crush. #dontwannaberight”

Toby Keith has been announced as one of this year’s honorees to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Among the other inductees are Country Music Hall of Famer Bobby Braddock (“He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “Time Marches On,” “I Wanna Talk About Me,” “People Are Crazy”), pop star Cyndi Lauper, the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, as well as tunesmiths Robert Hunter, Willie Dixon and Linda Perry. Honorees will be inducted during a ceremony at New York City’s Marriott Marquis Hotel June 18th.

“I write songs every day. When someone writes their own things, to me, they release their character in their music and that character shines through in all their songs,” says Toby. “It is what I take the most pride in. I am honored to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. It means the world to me, and it is the only award that I will display on my desk…P.S. – And it was mostly hard rhymes.”

Toby has written most of his biggest hits, including his first No. 1 hit, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” as well as “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American),” “Beer For My Horses,” “I Love This Bar” and “As Good As I Once Was.”

He has had an astounding succession of hits to the tune of more than 85 million BMI performances.  He has been honored with the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s Songwriter/Artist of the Decade distinction and is a three-time BMI Country Songwriter/Artist of the Year. His albums have sold more than 40 million copies, and his tours have drawn more than one million fans each year for the last 14 years.

He is set to continue on the road with his Good Times & Pick Up Lines Tour presented by Ford F-Series this Spring.

Encino, CA (February 18, 2015) – The Academy of Country Music and Kohl’s Department Stores announced today that Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett and Cole Swindell have been named nominees for this year’s ACM New Artist of the Year Award Presented By Kohl’s. The winner will be announced during the LIVE broadcast of the 50^th Academy of Country Music Awards, co-hosted by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 8:00 PM – 11:30PM ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

Hunt, Rhett and Swindell were determined as the final three (3) nominees for the ACM New Artist of the Year Award via first round fan voting with partner CMT.com, combined with the ACM professional membership vote. The final round of fan voting for the New Artist of the Year Presented by Kohl’s begins on Wednesday, April 8 at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT with voting partner CBS.com at VoteACM.com, and will close at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT on Sunday, April 19 when the LIVE telecast begins. In selecting the winner, professional member votes will again be combined with fan votes to obtain the winner of the category.

Leading up to the show, CMT will premiere a special ACM-themed episode of its weekly series CMT Hot 20 Countdown featuring this year’s three nominees for New Artist of the Year, scheduled to air in conjunction with the second round of fan-voting beginning April 8^th.

About the Academy of Country Music Awards
The 50th Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry.  The show is produced for television by dick clark productions and will broadcast LIVE from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan, R.A. Clark and Barry Adelman are executive producers.  Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.

Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott has successfully integrated daughter Eisele into the road life with her and her husband, Lady A drummer Chris Tyrrell. It took some of her own preferences and the advice of other “road moms” such as Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman, to make it all work. Now, Hillary is passing on some advice of her own to expectant mom Carrie Underwood.

“She just asked me about like the bus setup, things I would change or things I loved about how we worked the way our bus is laid out for Eisele to sleep on it and be comfortable. It was just a really like honest expectant mom/new mom conversation,” says Hillary. “I was like, ‘If you have any questions I will get into as many details as you want,’ ’cause we’re like really good friends… it’s just nice to have a sounding board to make you feel like you’re not alone. It’s been fun to walk her through the season and she’s just gonna be an amazing mom and Mike (Fisher) a dad. I mean, she’s, she’s wonderful.”

Lady Antebellum is currently making their way up the country charts with their latest single, “Freestyle.”

Nashville, TN – Canaan Smith will release his highly anticipated debut EP March 24th on Mercury Records Nashville. The EP includes Canaan’s current radio single “Love You Like That” which has already sold an impressive 190,000+ tracks and continues to climb the country airplay charts, reaching No. 1 on SiriusXM’s the Highway Hot 45 countdown.

“No Surprise here – Indy loves Canaan! With a catchy hook and lyrics every woman gets, it’s no wonder ‘Love You Like That’ is a ripe hit!”
– Fritz Moser, PD WLHK Indianapolis

“This morning the first song I heard was ‘Love You Like That’ ……I just knew it sounded like a hit. The song sounds killer on the air”
– Nate Deaton, GM KRTY San Jose

The self-titled EP, produced by Brett Beavers and Jimmy Robbins, contains four additional brand-new tracks. Canaan’s EP will be available at all digital retailers, see below for the full track-listing.

The creation of music, the whole process, has been so close to me for so many years that I feel like I’ve developed my own sound. It’s not super predictable. It’s unique, progressive and edgy.” says Canaan.

CANAAN SMITH EP TRACK-LISTING:

1. Love You Like That (Canaan Smith, Brett Beavers, Jim Beavers)

2. Two Lane Road (Canaan Smith, Brett Beavers, Marv Green)

3. Mad Love (Canaan Smith, Brett Beavers, Aaron Goodvin)

4. Hole In A Bottle (Canaan Smith, Brett Beavers, Dan Couch)

5. Stuck (Canaan Smith, Brett Beavers, Vincent Hickerson)

2015 looks to be an exciting year for Canaan as he was named a 2015 Artist To Watch by The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Music, Spotify and Entertainment Tonight Canada. Fans are gravitating towards Canaan’s intriguing blend of rowdy thrill seeker and down to earth guy with a poet’s heart and pirate’s ambition.  His followers have racked up over 2.5 Million online video views and over 3 Million Spotify streams.

Canaan, who recently wrapped up touring with Kip Moore, will join Dan + Shay on the Where It All Began Tour kicking off in Knoxville, TN. on February 28^th. This summer, fans can catch him on Dierks Bentley’s Sounds of Summer Tour along with Kip Moore and Maddie & Tae.

Tickets and additional information can be found at www.CanaanSmith.com

Canaan Smith Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Sam Hunt is paying tribute to the ladies of the ‘90s during his Lipstick Graffiti Tour. He’s performing hits from such female hitmakers as Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

“A lot of the songs are songs that come from an era of country music that I grew up listening to, and just judging the fan base that we’ve had so far and the people who are coming out, they seem to have similar musical interests. It seems like they grew up probably listening to a lot of the same things I grew up listening to, and a lot of these female country singers doing their thing in the ‘90s when I was listening to country music,” says Sam. “It was kind of something I wanted to [do]; I don’t know if you’d call it a nod to that era and those great female artists who meant so much to me growing up, and to kind of acknowledge all that great music. And there’s gonna be some R&B we’ll do as well from some of the female artists that came up doing it in that genre.”

The next date on Sam’s Lipstick Graffiti Tour, featuring Native Run as openers, is Thursday (February 19th) in Knoxville, Tennessee, followed by shows in Myrtle Beach and Charleston.

Sam, who is up for ACM New Artist of the Year, is scaling the country charts with his latest single, “Take Your Time.”

The members of Lady Antebellum are getting packed and ready to head overseas for the unofficial kickoff of their Wheels Up Tour. The trek launches February 28th in Oslo, Norway, followed by shows in Sweden, Ireland, Scotland and London, before heading Down Under to Australia March 13th. The European leg will feature openers Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert and Kip Moore.

“It’ll be the only time ever that Jason Aldean opens up for us,” jokes Lady A’s Dave Haywood. “Because he’s coming over – I think it’s his first trip to Europe. But we were laughing. We were like, ‘This’ll never happen again – Jason playing before us.’”

The band does feel very comfortable with their crowds overseas. “We’ve been going over there for probably six years , and London and Dublin, I think especially, and then we’ve also had amazing shows in Norway too,” explains Dave. “Australia kind of feels, you know, a little more familiar, but the fans are just nuts. They know stuff from the first record that were just album cuts, and they sing it out loud in a big accent or whatever, and it’s a really cool thing.”

They’ll begin the North American leg on May 1st in Lubbock, Texas. The tour will continue through the fall with Hunter Hayes and red-hot newcomer Sam Hunt.

Lady A’s latest single, “Freestyle,” is making its way up the country charts. The song is from their recent album, 747.

Josh Turner has realized several dreams, including having a recording contract, No. 1 songs and being able to sing for a living. However, one of his biggest dreams to come true is that of father.

“It’s something that I’ve always desired. It’s something I’ve always wanted. Jennifer [my wife] and I both have always wanted children, and having the children now and having them be a part of your life and knowing that I’m responsible for them and their life and teaching them things, just a lot of different aspects of life, great for me,” says Josh. “It’s very fulfilling.”

Josh is the father of four boys — Hampton, Colby, Marion and Hawke (who was born in September).

Josh is currently climbing the country charts with his latest single, “Lay Low,” which is from his forthcoming album, due out later this year.

Lauren Alaina was among the artists doing surprise serenades on Valentine’s Day. Uber users in Music City could order a serenade on demand on Saturday, and it was all for a good cause.

“This is the best Valentine’s Day I ever had. I’m not kidding because love is what it’s all about and I feel like my heart is going to explode right now. So many people are smiling. I went to this church and sang. It was like the coolest day ever,” Alaina explained.  The singer also played at the VA hospital as part of the Uber deal.  The intimate performances only cost $30 and proceeds went to support Musicians On Call, an organization that brings music to hospital patients.

Love & Theft and Gavin DeGraw also performed for Musicians On Call, as well.