Little Big Town premiered the video for their latest hit, “Day Drinking,” this week, and it looks like they had a blast. They filmed the clip in Miami with director DeClan Whitebloom (Taylor Swift, Sugarland, One Direction, The Band Perry), and at first the forecast was predicting less than sunny weather.

“We thought it was gonna rain. Like, all week it had said 60 percent chance of rain, 75 percent chance of rain,” says LBT’s Jimi Westbrook. “And even that morning when we got up, it was supposed to be, but it turned out perfect and beautiful.”

“The night before when we had supper with DeClan Whitebloom, the director, somebody said, ‘OK, what are we gonna do if it rains tomorrow? He wouldn’t even entertain the thought,” recalls Kimberly Schlapman. “He was like, ‘I can’t think about that. That’s not gonna happen. That’s not gonna happen.’ And it didn’t.”

Catch Little Big Town performing “Day Drinking” on NBC’s Today Show on Tuesday (July 1st).

AUDIO: The members of Little Big Town talk about shooting their new video for “Day Drinking.”

LBT (Day Drinking video) OC: …El Dorado. :47
JIMI: “We went down to Miami [Florida], and it was a perfect, beautiful day. We thought it was gonna rain. There was, like, all week it had said 60 percent chance of rain, 75 percent chance of rain. And even that morning when we got up, it was supposed to be, but it turned out perfect and beautiful.” PHILLIP: “Spending a day on the beach is not a bad way to shoot a video.” JIMI: “Not a bad day’s work.” KIMBERLY: “The night before when we had supper with DeClan Whitebloom, the director, somebody said, ‘OK, what are we gonna do if it rains tomorrow? He wouldn’t even entertain the thought. Did you notice? He was like, ‘I can’t think about that. That’s not gonna happen. That’s not gonna happen.’ And it didn’t.” [laughter] PHILLIP: “It was fun…the traffic part of it, it was interesting. That was the hardest we worked all day.” KIMBERLY: “In that car, in that beautiful old…(EVERYONE) El Dorado.”

David Nail is enjoying a lot of success, especially with his latest album I’m a Fire, which has already produced a No. 1 hit with “Whatever She’s Got,” and has another hit, “Kiss You Tonight,” making its way up the country charts. However, at a time when he was between record labels and not having any hits on the radio, a friend tapped him to help him coach some high school baseball players.

“When I was in-between record deals — kind of the beginning of the dark David Nail times — a buddy of mine, I guess, probably recognized that and asked me to help out with him and this summer team he was just getting started,” says David. “He was recruiting a lot of kids out from Mt. Juliet, and they had a really, really strong baseball program, and still do. So, I went out to help him and just fell in love with all of the kids and really just credit that with getting me through that period of time.”

David, who once aspired to be a major league baseball player, got a call this week to let him know one of them has made it to the Big Leagues.

“It’s neat to see some other people, especially something that’s so difficult and the odds are so against you in that, I guess, business, to see them work their rears off from the very, very low rungs of the minor leagues and to climb that ladder and to achieve that dream,” he says. “It’s one of those things where you can say you’re a ‘big leaguer,’ and nobody can ever take it away.”

Former Mt. Juliet High School baseball standout Taylor Hill was just 16 when David started working with him, and he just got called up to the major leagues by the Washington Nationals this week. A right-handed pitcher who played at Vanderbilt University (this year’s National Champions), he reeled off a 9-2 record so far this season for Triple A Syracuse. He joined the Nationals in Milwaukee on Wednesday (June 25th). He was also named the Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year in 2007.

“I looked at my wife and said, “We’re gonna have to start recording National games, because I want to see when he trots out there the first time.’”

David Nail (major baseball player friend) OC: …the first time. 1:12
“When I was in-between record deals — kind of the beginning of the dark David Nail times — a buddy of mine, I guess, probably recognized that and asked me to help out with him and this summer team he was just getting started. And he was recruiting a lot of kids out from Mt. Juliet, and they had a really, really strong baseball program, and still do. So, I went out to help him and just fell in love with all of the kids and really just credit that with getting me through that period of time. So, to keep in touch with those kids as a lot of them achieve their dream of playing at Vanderbilt who’ve become a power in the SEC, to then get drafted and kind of work their way through the minor leagues. Obviously, there’s a little bit of living vicariously through them because there was a long part of my life where I felt like that was something that I would’ve done and was a dream of mine. But to get that call and immediately google it and see that he was in fact on the roster. I looked at my wife and said, “We’re gonna have to start recording National games, because I want to see when he trots out there the first time.’”

 David Nail (baseball player majors) OC: …take it away. :22
“It’s neat to see some other people, especially something that’s so difficult and the odds are so against you in that, I guess, business, to see them work their rears off from the very, very low rungs of the minor leagues and to climb that ladder and to achieve that dream. It’s one of those things where you can say you’re a ‘big leaguer,’ and nobody can ever take it away.”

Kacey Musgraves recently wrapped up a tour with Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss and is now in the midst of an overseas tour once again. On Saturday (June 28th), she’ll perform at the Glastonbury Festival, a five-day event in England featuring such acts as Dolly Parton, Metallica, The Black Keyes, Lily Allen and Sam Smith, among others. From there, she heads to Amsterdam , Stockholm (Sweden), Oslo (Norway), Orvieto (Italy), London, Glasgow before wrapping up July 10th in Dublin (Ireland).

By the way, Kacey, who’s climbing the country charts with “Keep It To Yourself,” appeared Friday morning on one of the UK’s top mid-day TV shows on ITV1, Lorraine, which features more than one-million viewers. 

Watch here: http://www.intelligentmedia.com/viewmedia/25af1046-e80e-47bc-85e0-dc49e0009a51_3077_15t.html

If you happen to catch Billy Currington in concert, you’ll notice he enjoys performing without any shoes on, and that goes back to his childhood when he wasn’t required to wear shoes at all.
“I don’t ever wear shoes, unless I have to, ‘cause where I grew up in the town itself, anywhere you went you didn’t have to wear shoes,” says Billy. “So, I got used to that as a kid and most of my life.”

He even goes running without shoes, as well. “I’ve been running barefoot for so long, not all the time, but probably half the time, you know, eight, 10 miles, and so my feet, they’re used to it.”

Billy is currently running up the charts with his latest hit single, “We Are Tonight,” which is now sitting inside the Top 10. 

A little tidbit – “We Are Tonight” was written by newcomer Sam Hunt, along with Mark Beeson and Josh Osborne.

Billy Currington (bare feet) OC: …shoes on. :31
“I don’t ever wear shoes, unless I have to, ‘cause where I grew up in the town itself, anywhere you went you didn’t have to wear shoes. And so, I got used to that as a kid and most of my life. I don’t know. I’ve definitely been some places in the past few years barefoot, where they’re like, ‘Hey man, [laughs], you got some shoes or you’re not coming in.’ So, I just don’t go in…winter time, if we’re outside, or maybe even inside, after summer’s over, I might throw some shoes on.” 

Billy Currington (running barefoot) OC: …used to it. :09
“I’ve been running barefoot for so long, not all the time, but probably half the time, you know, eight, 10 miles, and so my feet, they’re used to it.”

New Capitol recording artist Joey Hyde talks about recording his debut album.

Sam Hunt’s debut single, “Leave the Night On,” has made it into the history books! It’s the highest debut – at No. 36 – for a new artist in Country Aircheck. The song is the first release from his forthcoming as-yet-untitled album.

The Georgia native explains that “Leave the Night On,” is a good representation of the rest of his album. “‘Leave the Night On’ is a song that sort of represents the album as a whole. I feel like it captures all of the elements in one song,” says Sam. “As far as a song that could represent what the whole album is about, I think that’s just a good choice.”

The song was released on iTunes and sold more than 22,000 digital downloads during its first week.

In other news, Sam will hit the road with Kip Moore on the CMT On Tour September 25^th in New York, New York. In the meantime, he’s playing fairs, festivals and on select days opening for Little Big Town and Hunter Hayes.

Sam Hunt (Leave the Night On represents album) OC: …the project. :15
“‘Leave the Night On’ is a song that sort of represents the album as a whole. I feel like it captures all of the elements in one song. As far as a song that could represent what the whole album is about, I think that’s just a good choice. It’s a good front of the boat for the project.”

David Nail recently celebrated his fifth wedding anniversary with wife Catherine, and she’s been more of an inspiration to him these days than ever before. His struggles with depression have been well-documented, and the support he received from his wife has received its fair share of press, as well. However, David says that their relationship has grown stronger and the love he feels for her goes even deeper than before.

“I’ve definitely gone through some phases in my life where I wasn’t, not only an easy person to love, but just an easy person to be around, and she’s been a trooper,” says David. “She definitely has some opportunities where she could’ve bit the bullet and ran, but she chose to kind of stick around. And I think that when you kind of come out of those bad times and you look to your side and you see that person stuck beside you, it creates a whole new respect for ‘em, a whole new love.”

David is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Kiss You Tonight.” He’ll perform the song when he hits the stage in Nebraska on Friday with Lady Antebellum.

David Nail (whole new love) OC: …whole new love. :44
“You know, I got married a little late. I was 30, and I grew up in a small town and most people graduate high school and off to college, and you meet somebody in college and you get married and you come back and you start having kids. I’ve been a late bloomer. She is a fantastic lady. I’ve definitely gone through some phases in my life where I wasn’t, not only an easy person to love, but just an easy person to be around, and she’s been a trooper. She definitely has some opportunities where she could’ve bit the bullet and ran, but she chose to kind of stick around. And I think that when you kind of come out of those bad times and you look to your side and you see that person stuck beside you, it creates a whole new respect for ‘em, a whole new love.”