Little Big Town score their third No. 1 single as “Day Drinking” climbs to the top of the Country Aircheck/Mediabase country chart. It’s the band’s first as co-writers (Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, along with Barry Dean and Troy Verges…Kimberly Schlapman was off filming her GAC-TV cooking show).

The song includes the band whistling throughout the song, and as Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild explains, “It was out of necessity.”

“We were writing, I think it was on a Monday, and I was still a little hoarse from the weekend,” recalls Karen. “So, when I wanted to sing that melody, I whistled it on ‘Day Drinking,’ and they were like, ‘That’s cool! We should leave that.’”

Little Big Town is in the midst of their Pain Killer Tour – featuring Brett Eldredge and Brothers Osborne – and the next stop on the trek is December 4th in Detroit, Michigan.

LBT (Day Drinking) 2 OC: (Karen) …of necessity. [Jimi laughs] :33
KAREN: “Sometimes when we come back from the road on a weekend, we’re a little road weary, and we’re vocally… (JIMI: “Trashed.”) …we’re a little trashed, ‘cause you sing, sing, sing, sing. And so we were writing, I think it was on a Monday, and I was still a little hoarse from the weekend. So, when I wanted to sing that melody, I whistled it on ‘Day Drinking,’ and they were like, ‘That’s cool! We should leave that.’” JIMI: “The hook should be, that should be another hook, the whistle.’ KAREN: “It was out of necessity.”

LBT (favorite day drink) OC: (Jimi) …drink for me. :38
PHILLIP: “My favorite day drink is typically a margarita with nice Riposotta tequila. [laughs]” JIMI: “If I day drank tequila, I’d need a day nap, always.” PHILLIP: “Kimberly’s day drink would be… (KAREN: “A Cuban.”) …or a pineapple mojito.” KIMBERLY: “Oooh, that sounds nice.” KAREN: “My day drink would probably be a glass of… (JIMI: “White Wine.”) …white wine. I like beach drinks, like legitimately beachy drinks.” PHILLIP: “A rum runner.” JIMI: “Rum, yes, rum drinks are good. I like [a] mai tai. That’s a good day drink for me.”

Luke Bryan will be clearing off more space on his mantle since he picked up the award for Favorite Male Artist: Country at Sunday night’s American Music Awards. Nashville’s Meghan Trainor (“All About That Bass”) presented Luke with the trophy.

“Pretty sure I have [on] red lipstick a little bit,” Luke said when he jumped onstage after kissing his wife Caroline. He went on to thank the AMAs for allowing him to be a part of a multi-genre night, as well as giving thanks to God, his fans, management, crew, band, label, his mama and his bus driver,  “Thanks for making my dreams come true. Thank you. Love you,” Bryan said before walking off stage with his new trophy. 

Darius Rucker recently released his first Christmas album, Home for the Holidays. He co-wrote two songs on the collection – the 2009 “Candy Cane Christmas,” which originally appeared on Now! That’s What I Call Christmas 4 and his new holiday single, “What God Wants for Christmas.” He teamed up with producer Frank Rogers and songwriter Monte Criswell.

“Monte Criswell had this great idea and this great thing he had come up with of ‘What God Wants for Christmas,’” says Darius. “We sat down and the first thing I did was I Googled ‘What God Wants for Christmas,’ and I couldn’t believe no one had ever written that…So, we sat down and just the whole time was so inspirational I think for all of us. We were sitting there writing the song and it was coming. Every line somebody said was a line we used and it was a great line. We wanted to write one of those songs that years from now people are still listening to and people are still – and it’s important to people. We wanted to put God back in Christmas, and that’s what we tried to do with that song.”

Home for the Holidays also features such classics as “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with Sheryl Crow, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Winter Wonderland” and “White Christmas,” among others.

Darius Rucker (What God Wants for Christmas) OC: …with that song. :57
“Frank and I had gotten with this guy named Steve Lesley. Frank Rogers and I got with Steve Lesley years ago when we wrote ‘Candy Cane Christmas’ which is a secular, cool, great song that we loved. And so we decided we were going to put that on the Christmas record, but we wanted to write a religious song too, and Monte Criswell had this great idea and this great thing he had come up with of ‘What God Wants for Christmas.’ He was like, ‘Let’s write this.’ I was like, ‘Cool. Let’s write that.’ We sat down and the first thing I did was I Googled ‘What God Wants for Christmas,’ and I couldn’t believe no one had ever written that. Of all the Christmas songs and all the ideas people have had no one had ever written ‘I Wonder What God Wants for Christmas’ and that was crazy to me. So, we sat down and just the whole time was so inspirational I think for all of us. We were sitting there writing the song and it was coming. Every line somebody said was a line we used and it was a great line. We wanted to write one of those songs that years from now people are still listening to and people are still – and it’s important to people. We wanted to put God back in Christmas, and that’s what we tried to do with that song.”

Eric Church has been added to the list of performers for the inaugural American Country Countdown Awards, along with Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood and Brett Eldredge. They join previously announced performers, including Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line and Miranda Lambert. The show will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Music City Center December 15th on FOX.

Little Big Town are among the stars featured in new episodes of the acclaimed PBS series Front and Center. The band’s show will be filmed at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works during the first week of December.

Lady Antebellum will perform at the inaugural pre-championship concert for college football’s final four during the CMT Ultimate Kickoff Party Live From the College Football Playoff National Championship show. The 90-minute TV special, also featuring Toby Keith, Brett Eldredge and Big & Rich, will air live from the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, beginning at 9pm ET on CMT.

Keith Urban was nominated for two awards for the 2015 Country Music Awards of Australia, taking place January 24th at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Conference Centre. He’s up for Single and Video of the Year for “Somewhere in My Car.” He’s also up for two ARIA Awards for Best Australian Live Act and Best Country Album for Fuse. The awards will be handed out November 26th in Sydney, Australia.

Vince Gill will team up with Lyle Lovett for a three-date acoustic tour kicking off January 27th in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Vince Gill and Lyle Lovett: Songs and Stories will feature the two musicians and vocalists accompanying each other. The trek will also hit Englewood, New Jersey January 28th and Charleston, South Carolina on January 30th.

Jennifer Nettles will serve as honorary chair and host of the 2015 Georgia 4-H Gala, which will benefit Georgia 4-H, which is University of Georgia Extension’s statewide youth development program. The black-tie event will take place August 8th at the Loews Atlanta Hotel. Jennifer was one a member of her 4-H’s state performing arts programs. She also achieved the title of Master 4-H’er, the highest award offered by 4-H, for her performing arts talents. She also achieved the title of Master 4-H’er, the highest award offered by 4-H, for her performing arts talents, as well as serving a camp counselor and as a district and state 4-H officer.

The Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth, in the state that’s now known as Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. While initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival like this did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s. People now celebrate the holiday by giving thanks for their blessings over the past year, as well as feasting on turkey and other festive goodies.

Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, November 27th, and most people will be enjoying time with their friends and families, including some of your favorite country stars, such as Alan Jackson, Brothers Osborne, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Easton Corbin, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, George Strait, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, Kip Moore, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Mickey Guyton, Sam Hunt and more. They share their thoughts, memories and favorite Thanksgiving dishes.

AJ (Thanksgiving) OC: …enjoy it. :19
“My favorite Thanksgiving dish would be the homemade dressin’ that we, cornbread-based kind of dressin’ that we always have with turkey. That recipe is a kind of a combination of my mama, and Denise has taken it and perfected it over the years, so that me and my children really enjoy it.”

Brothers Osborne (misfits Thanksgiving) OC: …going home. :45
“What we’ve done the past several years is because it’s so hard to go home, we would have what we call the Misfit Thanksgiving dinner, and all the people in Nashville who aren’t able to go home to their families, we would just invite them over to our house and have a big potluck style Thanksgiving dinner. We’ll take like a couple of tables and throw them together and throw some sheets on it just to make it look nice. It’s a very redneck display of like tableware, because all the plates don’t match and the forks and knives don’t match, but we don’t care. People will bring wine, and at the end of the day, we’ll probably have 12-15 people all sitting at dinner together that weren’t able to go home with their families, and just enjoy it with friends. It’s been really fun. Definitely a lot less stress than going home.”

Darius Rucker (favorite part of Thanksgiving) OC: …my family. :17
“My favorite part of Thanksgiving is easy – it’s food. It’s eating. It’s hanging out with family and getting some great food, ‘cause that’s really what Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for all of the great things you’ve got, and I always give thanks for the greatest thing I’ve got and that’s my family.”

Darius Rucker (Thanksgiving) OC: …still alive. :17
“Oh, the main thing I’m thankful for is my family, there’s no doubt about that. Thanksgiving is about family for us. If we’re in Jersey, getting together with family. If we’re in Charleston, getting together with family and just cooking and eating. Sitting around and talking and remembering and being thankful for where we are, you know. We’re all still alive.”

Dierks Bentley (Thanksgiving must-have) OC: …for Thanksgiving. :41
“You gotta have a big turkey. Thanksgiving is not possible without a turkey. My dad’s always been the one to cook and carve it, but in years here recently, I’ve been taking over those duties. Big responsibility. We cook it traditionally, but when we’re in, a couple of Thanksgivings ago, we were here in Nashville, we did the whole fry the turkey up, and it was great. It just tasted so good; all those juices get locked in there, and I love that too. You really can’t, to me, cook a turkey wrong. I’m gonna eat it any way, and I have over the years. Trust me, I’ve played a lot of county and state fairs, where I’ve seen gigantic turkey legs, you know, I’ve had the flat meat. I’ve done turkey every way you could do it. I’m pretty good any way you want to cook it up, but you’ve got to have a turkey for Thanksgiving.”

Easton (Thanksgiving) OC: …my grandma’s. :33
“Having family and being able to spend that quality time with them and obviously, the opportunity to do what I do. But absolutely during that time, being able to spend that time with family and your loved ones. We used to always go to my grandma’s, that’s Christmas and Thanksgiving. We’d go there for the big meal. I don’t get to go back much. A lot of times I’ll stay up [in Nashville] for Thanksgiving, and then go down during Christmas, but we’d always go to my grandma’s.”

Easton Corbin (Thankful 2014) OC: …what I do. :08
“Well, this year I think, as I think every year, I’m so thankful for my family and friends out there and being able to make a living at what I do.”

Eric Church (Thanksgiving) OC: …want to do it. :37
“A couple of things. I’m thankful for my family, my son, my wife and great health. And I’m thankful for from a career standpoint, I’m very thankful for the success we’ve had lately. I’m thankful for what the fans have done. I’m thankful that we’re starting to have some hit songs on the radio, I mean there’s a lot of stuff to be thankful for in that regard. And I’m thankful that I was given the opportunity to do it my own because I’m just not a guy, you know if we were having this success and I wasn’t able to do it my own, it wouldn’t be the same for me. I’m not one of those people that could keep doing that. Some people can, I can’t. I’d bail. So, I’m thankful that I’m going to get to keep doing this and do it the way that I want to do it.”

Eric Paslay (Turkey) OC: …really does. :09
“My favorite Thanksgiving food, I think, is the tryptophan turkey, ‘cause it really puts me to sleep. No [yawn], it really does.”

Eric Paslay (Thanksgiving) OC: …too much. :05
“My best Thanksgiving memory, I think, is just hanging out with family, watching football and eating too much!”

Josh Turner (Thanksgiving) OC: …holiday for me. :45
“Thanksgiving, in a lot of ways, has kind of bene one of my favorite holidays of the year, because I love that time of the year. I love the fall. That week has been the same ever since I was born. My birthday comes first, then the Clemson-South Carolina game and then Thanksgiving, and I’ve always kind of had time off during that time of the year. So, those three things, in that proper sequence, has always happened every single year of my life, so I can’t help for it to be a tradition. Like I say, it’s a fun time to get together with family and watch football and eat some good food and just enjoy the weather and the downtime, so it’s a fun holiday for me.”

Josh Turner (fave side dish) OC: …’em myself. [laughs] :24
“Uh, deviled eggs! [laughs] Where I’m from in South Carolina, I don’t think I’ve tasted a bad deviled egg. It’s like everybody has their own twist on it, but they’re all good, but I always loved it when my mama made ‘em. I’m learning as I get older, making deviled eggs is no easy task. It’s more complicated than it looks, and so that’s probably why I never made ‘em myself.” [laughs]

Josh Turner (thankful 2014) OC: …future holds. :19
“Well, obviously, I’m very thankful for our new son, Hawke, in the house, but I’m also thankful too that I have a single out on the radio and it’s doing so good, and we’re busy on the road. I still get to do what I love to do for a living, so I have a lot to be thankful for, and just looking forward to what the future holds.”

Josh Turner (holidays) OC: …the peace and quiet. :38
“I love being outside in nature and the outdoors, and the holidays is a great time for me to go and partake in that part of my life. A lot of times, Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s a little cold to go fishing, but when it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s a great time to go hunting, especially in South Carolina, that’s when the temperatures are starting to drop and the conditions are getting right, and especially in November, kind of the tail end of the rut, as far as deer season. So, it’s a good time to get in the deer stand whether you kill anything or not, it’s just a great time to just get away from everything and get away from the noise and the lights and the diesel fumes [laughs] and just relax and just enjoy the peace and quiet.”

Keith (Thanksgiving) OC: …for me. :21
“Thankful that, well, my marriage is just, it’s life-giving, not just life-changing, it’s been life-giving for me. And from there, we created life, and that’s just beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And the effect that all of that has had in my work, has given life to it too, given it a sense of purpose and really deepened the experience for me.”

Kip Moore (going home for Thanksgiving) OC: …do it more. :38
“Thanksgiving is huge for me, because I never get to see my family period. All of my nieces and nephews are growing up and my brothers and sisters; I’ve been gone from home since right when I turned 18, I’ve been a long ways away from home. And that’s the one bad part about it is knowing my family is growing up and they’re all experiencing things together and I don’t get to be included on it, because I’m off doing this. So, when I get together with them, it means a whole lot to me. Usually, we’ll try to go fishing together – me and my brothers, or my dad, we used to always go when we would go back home for Thanksgiving. So, yeah, just time to get to hang out with them is huge for me, and I hate that I don’t get to do it more.”

Lady A (Charles-Thanksgiving eating contest) OC: …five pounds! :25
“One of my most memorable Thanksgiving memories was probably the first year that me and my two brothers decided to start our annual eating contest where we ate throughout the whole day. We started that morning and weighed ourselves and at the very end of the night, we weighed ourselves out and all three of us equally gained five pounds. I wish we had a more accurate scale to decide the winner, but we all tied. Five pounds!”

Lady Antebellum (Dave-Thankful) OC: …with ‘em. :13
“I think all of us are definitely most thankful for our families. They have been a huge support of our career ever since we started, and Thanksgiving is a great time to be with them. We travel so much, and we always try to make sure we take off the Thanksgiving holiday so we can be home with them.”

Lady A (Hillary-Thanksgiving food) OC: …ever tasted. :12
“So, my favorite Thanksgiving food would have to be my grandmother’s sweet potato casserole. There’s just something she puts in it — probably all the love – that makes it better than anything I’ve ever tasted.”

LBT (Thanksgiving) 2 OC: (Kimberly) …and eat. :31
KIMBERLY: “Thanksgiving—we love Thanksgiving, ‘cause we get to be with our families and we don’t often get to spend time with our families, our extended families, until the holidays. I love being around the table with my family and talking and laughing and cooking and eating…” JIMI: “And eating and eating and eating and eating…” PHILLIP: “The laughter around the eating, the good cheer, the celebration, the music…” JIMI: “The eating, going taking a nap, then coming back and eating.” KIMBERLY: “Go to bed with a full belly, take a nap, and then get up and eat.”

Mickey Guyton (Thanksgiving plans) OC: …watch movies. :28
“My plans for Thanksgiving are to do absolutely nothing. I want to spend time with my family and watch movies. I want to watch Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving, and just sit and do absolutely nothing. That is what I want to do. It’s been a crazy nine weeks, and sometimes you just want to sit and not have to pack a suitcase, not have to worry about travel plans. I just want to sit and watch movies.”

Mickey Guyton (Thanksgiving traditions) OC: …Thanksgiving traditions. :17
“One of my Thanksgiving traditions is playing charades after Thanksgiving dinner. I’m not the most competitive person in the world, but as soon as you put some Charades in the picture, I am crazy, and you will definitely want to be on my team if we’re playing Charades. I’m just saying. So, that’s one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions.”

Mickey Guyton (favorite Thanksgiving dish) OC: …both so much! :39
“My favorite Thanksgiving dish that has to, has to, has to be at Thanksgiving dinner is dessert. Dessert is my favorite Thanksgiving dish. I mean, it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s sweet. My mom actually makes an Italian cream cake that’s absolutely awesome. It’s homemade, and the entire family, that’s the first thing to go at Thanksgiving dinner. And my Grandma D, she makes a pecan pie that is awesome. She taught me how to make them when I was little, and I just love them, and that’s the other thing that I look forward to at Thanksgiving dinner, and I love them both so much!”

Sam Hunt (Thanksgiving plans 2014) OC: …the family. :34
“I believe we have the day of Thanksgiving off, and we are playing in Florida the next day for the Florida-Florida State game. I’m from Georgia, so that’s pretty much en route. So, I think the guys are gonna load up on the bus, and we’re just gonna drive down, and I invited them all to have Thanksgiving with myself and my family down in Georgia. So, I believe that’s what we’re gonna do. We get together with my Dad’s folks for lunch and then my mom’s folks for dinner, so I’m gonna bring the guys down, and they’re just gonna be part of the family.”

Sam Hunt (Thanksgiving eats) OC: …glass of milk. :34
“When I pile my plate up, it’s mostly turkey and then I’ll put a little dressing on the side, and I’ll usually go ahead and grab my dessert on the first run [laughs] and have it ready before it all disappears. Those are the really the three things. It’s strange, but since I was very young, I’ve always loved drinking milk, my brothers too, we drank lots of milk. My cousins, who grew up down the road, they always looked at us funny when we wanted to drink milk with our Thanksgiving meal. They would have coke or whatever else. So, I still get turkey, dressing, a piece of pecan pie and a big ole glass of milk.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Wednesday, November 19, 2014) – MCA Nashville’s Sam Hunt returns to late night TV Monday night to perform his brand new single, “Take Your Time,” on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman.  “Take Your Time” is the follow-up single to Hunt’s Platinum-selling No. 1 smash, “Leave the Night On.” Both tracks are featured on Hunt’s album, MONTEVALLO, the No. 1 and best-selling country debut album since 2011.

Hunt recently announced his Lipstick Graffiti Tour launching in Jan. 2015.  The first ever headlining tour for the country newcomer sold out most markets within minutes of going on sale.  Limited tickets remain in select markets, and Hunt is exploring larger venues and second shows where scheduling permits. Check www.SamHunt.com for the latest touring news and ticket information.

Hunt’s “Take Your Time” impacts country radio Nov. 24.  For information, music, images, tour dates and more, visit www.SamHunt.com.

(Nashville, Tenn. – Nov. 17, 2014) – The Country Radio Broadcasters have announced Lady Antebellum as the recipient of the CRS 2015 Artist Humanitarian Award, to be presented during the opening ceremonies of Country Radio Seminar on Feb. 25, 2014.

The CRB Artist Humanitarian Award was created in 1990 by the organization’s board to honor those Country music artists who have exhibited exceptional humanitarian efforts during their career.  Past recipients of the annual award have included Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Trace Adkins, Randy Owen, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Reba, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks and Charlie Daniels, among others.

CRS President Charlie Morgan stated, “It is always humbling and inspiring to learn of the great work that Country Artists do behind the scenes to share the many blessings and gifts that come with fame and stardom.  I would argue no format has a more generous group of artists than we do and at CRS 2015 we will pay special tribute to one of the best, Lady Antebellum with our Artist Humanitarian Award.”

Since the beginning of their career, Charles, Dave and Hillary of Lady Antebellum have used their music and their likeness to make a difference in people’s lives. Whether it was their most recent week-long 7FOR7 campaign where they traveled across the country to surprise and fulfill seven wishes for seven fans in seven days; to taking on rebuilding a flood damaged elementary school in Kingston Springs or lifting the spirits of the community of Henryville, IN by performing at their high school after tornadoes ravaged the town, raising more than $240,000 for them; to raising money for at-risk youth, Lady Antebellum has been there to lend not only their voices and time, but also their hearts and money to make a difference.

In December of 2012, Lady Antebellum established LadyAID, through which they continue to raise money and support kids in need on a local, national and global level through Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Children’s Miracle Network, and myLIFEspeaks. Armed with this overwhelming passion to help kids everywhere, Hillary Scott has spent time in Haitian orphanages helping to rebuild and serve the children. Charles Kelley has hosted his own golf tournament to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and his father’s John W Kelley MD Cardiovascular Endowment at University Health Care Foundation.  And Dave, along with Charles and Hillary, established a ping-pong challenge called Ping Pong & Songs during CMA Music Fest to benefit the children supported through LadyAID (a component fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee).

In addition, Lady Antebellum will be featured panelists on “How 3 Become 1: Lady Antebellum.”  The panel, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 26 at 10 a.m., will discuss how the three balance their talents and creativity to form one song, one album, and ultimately, one band. The morning show hosts, PDs and OM/GMs in the seminar know how hard it can be to take a group of creative people and get them to work towards one goal. They will find out what Lady Antebellum does to achieve this every day. This is a rare opportunity to see how a group of very creative people successfully navigate this process and make decisions as one band.

Charlie Morgan adds about their panel participation, “Part of what makes CRS so powerful is the very unique relationship between radio and artists in the country format.  Nowhere does the interaction happen with more frequency and intensity than at CRS each year.  In 2015, Lady Antebellum will give us all rare access to their lives and their individual perspectives on being a part of one of the most successful bands in our format today”

For more information on Lady Antebellum, visit ladyantebellum.com. For more information on Country Radio Seminar, visit www.CountryRadioSeminar.com  

About Lady Antebellum:  Lady Antebellum recently released their fifth studio album, 747. The 11-song disc has already celebrated the PLATINUM certified multi-week chart-topping lead single “Bartender” and the brand new single “Freestyle.” The new music follows over 11 million albums sold worldwide, nine trips to No. one on the country radio charts, six Platinum singles, seven GRAMMY awards and “Vocal Group of the Year” honors from both the CMA and ACM’s three years in a row, and they are currently nominated for “Vocal Group Of The Year” and “Music Video Of The Year” at the upcoming 48th Annual CMA Awards. The trio’s headlining TAKE ME DOWNTOWN TOUR visited 80 cities in the US and Canada over the course of this year, delighting fans and critics with the Dallas Morning News declaring “Lady Antebellum shows off its warranted leap to superstardom.”  

Lady A (Lady AID) 2 OC: …to do it. :28
“There’s a lot of things we love to give to, but this was kind of the one umbrella organization that we can start as a band, and this will be the way that we can do a fundraiser, raise funds and then donate to these specific charities. After visiting the Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it’s really cool to be able to have an organization that we can give directly to them and directly to MyLifeSpeaks. And so, for us, this is a way that we can do it all in one place and have one kind of a joint effort to do it.”