Joey Hyde‘s debut single, “Get It On,” is being added today (June 30th), and in the latest video installment, the singer reveals the band rules on tour.

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. The holiday is commonly associated with fireworks displays, parades, barbecues and concerts. Some of your favorite country stars take time to remember their Fourth of July traditions, memories and what the holiday really means to them.

David Nail (singing God Bless America at World Series) OC: …a drink. :55
“It was as nervous as I’ve ever been in my entire life. The lady, we were actually sitting in the stands, and the lady said, ‘Well, we’ll come and get you in the sixth inning.’ I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, like you need to come get me in the fourth inning. I’ve got to get prepared. I’ve got to warm up.’ She was like, ‘Well, we can’t have you underneath the stadium for that long.’ So, I’m just sitting there. Normally, when you’re, especially for a Cardinals fan, you’re watching the World Series and the game just flies by because you’re so into the game. It just seemed like every inning was an hour, and you just had more and more time to think about how many people are getting ready to hear you sing. I just went out there and prayed I remembered the words and prayed that I wasn’t trying to do anything special or anything fancy. I was just trying to get through it. I remember the weight that was lifted off of my shoulders. I cared who won the game, but there was part of me who didn’t care who won the game, I was ready to go have a drink.”

Kip Moore (Fourth of July-soldiers) OC: …every day. :32
“I’m a very, very patriotic person, proud of the country that I live in, and I’m very proud of what those guys do for us each and every day, and I don’t take it for granted one bit. My grandparents were in the military, fought wars, and I’ve seen the battle that they go through, just the horror of remember things. When I start to think that I’m half-way tough, I realize how I’m not one bit when I talk to soldiers when I’m out and realize the things that they go through. I can’t imagine facing what those guys face every day.” 

[[4]]AUDIO: Sam Hunt talks about what he and his family did over the Fourth of July holiday when he was growing up in Georgia.

Sam Hunt (Fourth of July) OC: …good time. :39
“My granddad on the other side of my family, he would always take a lot of pride…fireworks were actually, I’m from Georgia, and most of them were illegal, I’m pretty sure, growing up. But over in Alabama, that’s where all the firework stands were, and we only had to drive 10, 15 minutes to get to the Alabama line, so we could go get a bundle of fireworks pretty easy. But he would always take a lot of pride in going and finding all the good stuff, and coming back with a  big pile. He’d have his torch out there at the end of the driveway and we’d all eat homemade ice cream and put down towels on the driveway and he’d shoot off fireworks for 30-45 minutes. Such a good time.”

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. The holiday is commonly associated with fireworks displays, parades, barbecues and concerts. Some of your favorite country stars take time to remember their Fourth of July traditions, memories and what the holiday really means to them.

Billy Currington (4^th of July) OC: …of my life. :16
“My best memories would be hanging out with my mom, brother and sister on the beach on Tybee Island right off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. We’d go there every year, and we’d light our own fireworks and watch the ones that they had for us. They were the best times, some of the best times of my life.”

Darius Rucker (fireworks) OC: …off once. :15
“Oh, I love fireworks. We had the bottle rocket fights and all that good stuff. I was the typical little crazy kid, you know. In South Carolina, it was always legal, so we shot fireworks when it was legal. We did all that sort of stuff. I almost blew my hand off once.”

Dierks (people are America) OC: …all about. :17
“The definition of America to me, you know, getting a chance to travel across the country on a tour bus, stepping upon stages whether it be county fairs, state fairs, arenas, rock bars, the Opry stage, anywhere across the country and looking out at that crowd and seeing people. The people, to me, are what America’s all about.”

Dierks Bentley (4^th of July-patriotic) OC: …all the time. :17
“I’m extremely patriotic. I love this country, and I love the history of this country. I read books on this country. I spend my time on the road traveling physically throughout the country. The soldiers and their families are constantly on my mind. We work closely with the Wounded Warriors Project. We think about this stuff all the time.”

Eric Church (4th of July) OC: …freedoms. 1:17
“The Fourth of July for me, growing up we would always go to the lake, we didn’t live on the lake but we would all go to the lake. Had a buddy who had a pontoon and we would always get on the pontoon and you go out and you’d tie all the pontoons together and just have a big time. This was before, I was younger then, the adults were having more fun than we were, you know it was just to go swim in the water and shoot off fireworks. Basically, water tailgating is what it was. And then as we got older, same thing…we would just, us younger kids had our own boat and we had as much fun as the adults.”

Josh Turner (fireworks) OC: …of money. [laughs] :20
“Yeah, we had fireworks around, especially my Daddy’s family. All the individual families had a lot of competition with each other and tried to outdo each other to try to see who had the biggest and baddest fireworks and all that. [laughs] My daddy, I think, was the smartest one. He just went out and bought maybe $25 worth of fireworks and let everybody else put on the big show, so he saved a lot of money.” [laughs]

Keith Urban (patriotism) OC: …the unity. :24
“It’s common, shared beliefs and identity. And I think at its core, it’s an incredibly strengthening, vital thing for our people to have, and it’s particularly gratifying in the midst of so much separating of ideas that it can get fractious. And it’s kind of nice that a sense of patriotism can remind everybody of the unity.”

Lady A (4th of July-Hillary) OC: …on my hand. :29
“For many, many years in a row, we would be up at the lake for Fourth of July, and having those memories of being on the boat and going tubing and skiing and enjoying being out in the summertime, great weather on the water. But, then for me, Fourth of July was when [husband] Chris [Tyrell] proposed. So, I got proposed to on July 2nd up at the lake, the same lake I grew up going to, and so that’s probably the biggest highlight of Fourth of July to me – getting a rock on my hand.”

LBT (military) OC: (Karen) …whenever we can. (Kimberly: “Yeah.”) :
“It’s such a huge sacrifice what these men and women do for us, and not only the ones that are serving, but the families that are left here at home. Kimberly and I met a young girl that, she’s 21 years old and she has a third baby and her husband has served multiple times overseas. She’s raising these children at home, and doing a great job and the best she can, and he’s serving his country. And he’s making a monstrous sacrifice, but so is she and so are those children, and we just can’t take it for granted. I mean, it’s just a huge commitment that they make, and what an honor. We love to be able to sing for them and entertain them and to say thank you whenever we can.” (Kimberly: “Yeah.”)

Luke Bryan (4th of July memories) OC: …we used to. :21
“Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories were spent on Lake Blackshear down in Georgia with my family. I was always kind of in charge of driving home from Tennessee and picking up all the fireworks and my nieces and nephews always got excited when I rolled in because they knew I had all the fireworks. But, it was always a great memory, and I miss not getting to do that as much as we used to.”

Luke Bryan (American) OC: …we want. :17
“I think the definition of an American is somebody who stands up during the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ and stands up when ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is being sung and just appreciates what all the fallen heroes and soldiers have done to keep us living in a country that’s free where we have the right to do anything we want.”

Jennifer Nettles will headline this year’s Southwest Freedom Over Texas concert and celebration.

[[20]]LINER Willie Robertson (4^th of July)
“Hey! It’s Willie Robertson from Duck Dynasty. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July.”

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.”