Keith Urban is taking fans behind-the-scenes of the popular FOX-TV show, American Idol. He’s started a new video series showing what’s not on the show. Check out Episode One below. 

Watch Eric Church perform The Allman Brothers‘ “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” from the forthcoming All My Friends – Celebrating The Songs And Voice of Gregg Allman Blu-Ray/DVD/CD, available May 6th.

Eric is currently closing in on the top of the country charts with his latest single, “Give Me Back My Hometown.”

Bringing his tour to Australia in a couple of months, Keith Urban joins the Australian morning show, Today, to discuss what’s been happening in his life since he last toured Down Under. Check it out here.

Luke Bryan takes fans backstage at the 2014 ACM Awards in the latest installment of LBTV.

“Play It Again” Remix by @DJSkillzMusic 

Check out the story behind George Strait‘s ‘I Got a Car.’

SANTA MONICA, CA (April 10, 2014) – dick clark productions and Billboard, the ultimate authority in music and home of the iconic Billboard charts defining success in music, announced today the first group of musical performers at this year’s Billboard Music Awards. Billboard Chart toppers Luke Bryan, Imagine Dragons, John Legend and OneRepublic will all join previously announced Jason Derulo, as performers in the live awards show, airing on Sunday, May 18th, on ABC from 8:00 PM–11:00 PM ET, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

*Luke Bryan is a finalist in 6 categories this year, including Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Country Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Country Album and Top Country Song twice. Once for his hit “Crash My Party,” and again for “That’s My Kind Of Night.”

The full list of finalists can be found at http://www.billboard.com/bbma.

As part of Citi’s sponsorship of the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, Citi® ThankYou® cardmembers will have access to a ticket presale to the 2014 Billboard Music Awards Saturday, April 12 at 10 AM PST through Wednesday, April 16 at 10 PM PST at www.citi.com/thankyouevents. Citi cardmembers will be able to exclusively purchase tickets prior to the general public onsale, which begins April 17 at 9 AM local time on ticketmaster.com. The Citi ThankYou card rewards cardmembers for doing the things they love.  In addition to offering cardmembers more points for dining and entertainment purchases, Citi also offers cardmembers exclusive access to events across music, sports, comedy, dining and family entertainment.

Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the reporting period of March 11, 2013 through March 9, 2014.  Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of a musician’s success. The “2014 Billboard Music Awards” is produced by dick clark productions.  Allen Shapiro and Mike Mahan are Executive Producers.  Larry Klein and Barry Adelman are Producers.

2014 Billboard Music Awards sponsors and partners include Chevrolet and CITI.

For additional information on the “2014 Billboard Music Awards” visit us at www.billboardmusicawards.com or the Billboard hub at www.billboard.com/bbma.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 10, 2014) – Country music superstar Josh Turner will be at Lifeway Christian Store, located at 1725 Galleria Blvd. in Franklin, Tenn. (just outside Nashville), on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 from 6:15 pm – 7:15 pm to sign copies of his first book, Man Stuff: Thoughts on Faith, Family and Fatherhood.

Releasing nationwide April 29 with Thomas Nelson, an imprint of Harper Collins Christian Publishing, Man Stuff shares stories Turner has learned over the years as a son, brother, friend, husband and father.

“I was raised in a strong Christian family in a tight-knit community in rural South Carolina,” said Turner in the book’s introduction. “I was taught why being thoughtful, respectful, and considerate of others makes life more fulfilling, and why trusting God with your life’s decisions is wise. If all that sounds a little old-fashioned, well, that’s because it is. And I’m okay with that.”

Jase Robertson, star of A&E’s hit television series “Duck Dynasty,” provides the foreword for Man Stuff.  Last year, Turner sang a duet with Robertson’s wife Missy on the song “Why I Love Christmas” from the Platinum-certified holiday album, Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas.

The book signing begins at 6:15 pm and ends at 7:15 pm and is free and open to the public. 

About Josh Turner:
One of country music’s most recognizable hit-makers earning numerous CMA, ACM and GRAMMY nominations since the release of his debut album, Long Black Train, Josh Turner has sold more than five million albums (including the double-platinum certified Your Man), and garnered four No. 1 hits (including three multi-week chart-toppers): “Your Man,” “Would You Go With Me,” and “Why Don’t We Just Dance” (a four-week No. 1 that was named the most-played song of the year in 2010 by MediaBase). His song, “All Over Me,” from Haywire also reached the top spot on the charts, making him one of only seven country artists to have two No. 1 hits in 2010 and received BMI’s Song of the Year and ASCAP’s Top 5 Most played songs of 2011.

Celebrating one of his fastest-rising singles and Billboard’s year-end top country song, “Time Is Love,” Turner released his fifth studio album, Punching Bag (6/12) which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart. The Associated Press says, “With Punching Bag, Turner once again proves he ranks among the most effective — and most hard-core country — performers of his generation.” In August of that same year, he released his second live album exclusively with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®, Live Across America. This year Turner added author to his list of accomplishments.  His first book, Man Stuff: Thoughts on Faith, Family and Fatherhood comes out April 29, 2014 and his sixth studio album is expected to follow later this year.

A Hannah, S.C. native, and one of the youngest members to be inducted into the distinguished Grand Ole Opry, Turner has been songwriting and performing since he was a young child, and in support of music education, created The Josh Turner Scholarship Fund to assist students interested in pursuing a future in arts and music. As a high school student, he had very little access to music education, therefore realizes first-hand the importance of arts education in schools. For more information on Josh Turner including a list of his upcoming tour dates, visit www.JoshTurner.com.

Thomas Nelson is a world leading publisher and provider of Christian content and has been providing readers with quality inspirational product for more than 200 years. As part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the publishing group provides multiple formats of award-winning Bibles, books, gift books, cookbooks, curriculum and digital content, with distribution of its products in more than 100 countries. Thomas Nelson, is headquartered in Nashville, TN. For additional information visit www.thomasnelson.com.   

Go behind-the-scenes of the 2014 ACM Awards with Lady Antebellum in the latest installment of Webisode Wednesday. The clip includes the band hanging out with the legendary Stevie Nicks and Darius Rucker. 

Get “Golden” live with Stevie Nicks here: http://smarturl.it/c3gg37 

Twitter pitch: .@EricChurch will hit the road this summer on #TheOutsidersLive arena tour; tickets on sale beginning April 18^th

 NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (April 9, 2014) –Eric Church’s The Outsiders World Tour will launch in North America on September 11, 2014 with 31 arena dates being announced today. Tickets for the tour, which beings in Bossier City, Louisiana, will go on sale April 18 in select markets with additional information made available on EricChurch.com. Members of the Church Choir will have access to a pre-sale starting on April 15th. Church selected Dwight Yoakam as the special guest for the entire tour. Opening the tour on different dates throughout the first leg will be rising country music duo Brothers Osborne, critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Brandy Clark, or the hard rocking band Halestorm.

Hailed as a top entertainer by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, SPIN Magazine, and more, Church will bring his rip-roaring attitude when he performs at venues such as Madison Square Garden, Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the Sprint Center in Kansas City, the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Atlanta, Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, and FedExForum in Memphis, among others. Church will also return to the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. where he sold more than 15,000 tickets in 2012 as part of his headlining arena tour, The Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour—which Pollstar named a Top Tour of 2012.

While The Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour employed a succession of backdrops as the focus of the show, Church’s The Outsiders World Tour will use a much more high tech design and will offer fans a 360° view of the entertainer and his band.

On sale dates and ticket information for each market will be announced on EricChurch.com. The best seats on The Outsiders World Tour will once again be paperless so fans get them instead of scalpers.

A limited number of VIP tickets for each show will also be available for purchase. Each VIP ticket includes a premium ticket in the first 15 rows or in the general admission pit, an invitation to a pre-show party at The Outsiders Joint, a two song acoustic pre-show performance by Eric Church, a limited edition show poster, and a dedicated VIP concert concierge.

Fans have the chance to gain access to pre-sale tickets for each show by becoming a Standard or Premium member of the Church Choir. Join the Church Choir by visiting http://smarturl.it/churchchoir. 

Church’s current album, The Outsiders, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart and the Billboard Country Albums Chart earlier this year, and his current hit single “Give Me Back My Hometown,” is Top 5-and-rising. “Eric Church is working on a level that few other country artists of his generation can touch,” said Ken Tucker at NPR Music in his review of the album, continuing, “Shrewd, defiant, sly and funny, Eric Church has succeeded in what he set out to do: He’s using the power he’s accrued from making hit records to make exactly the kind of album he wants, heedless of industry approval. And this is how good he is: Now he’ll go out and — through the singles he’ll release, the touring he’ll do and the videos he’ll make — probably turn this personal project into a big commercial deal. The Outsiders deserves nothing less.”

The Outsiders is the follow-up to Church’s Platinum-certified album Chief, (named the 2012 Album of the Year by both CMA and ACM, and GRAMMY-nominated for Best Country Album) which featured five Top 20 singles: “Homeboy” (certified Platinum for sales in excess of one million singles); the Top 10 “Like Jesus Does” and the Top 5 “Creepin’” (both certified Gold for sales in excess of 500,000 singles each); and two No. 1 hits “Drink in My Hand” (certified Platinum) and “Springsteen” (certified Double Platinum for sales in excess of two million singles).  Church’s debut album, Sinners Like Me (2006) and his sophomore album Carolina (2009) are both RIAA Gold-certified. Carolina had three hit singles: the Top 10 “Hell on the Heart” as well as Top 20 hit “Smoke A Little Smoke” and Top 10 smash “Love Your Love The Most,” which were both certified Gold.  Sinners Like Me spawned three Top 20 singles: “How ‘Bout You,” “Two Pink Lines,” and “Guys Like Me.”

Dwight Yoakam has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide, placing him in an elite group of global superstars. Nearly 40 of Yoakam’s singles have charted, with 14 peaking in the Top 10, including the hits “Honky Tonk Man,” “Please, Please Baby,” “Little Ways,” “I Sang Dixie,” “It Only Hurts When I Cry,” and “Fast as You.” He is a 21-time nominated, 2-time GRAMMY Award winner. In celebration of his latest critically acclaimed album, 3 Pears, he received the Artist of the Year award at the 2013 Americana Music Honors & Awards ceremony, the most prestigious award offered by the organization. In 2014, Yoakam will appear as a recurring guest star in multiple episodes of the thrilling CBS series, “Under the Dome,” based on Stephen King’s best-selling novel of the same name. For more information, visit www.dwightyoakam.com.

For John (guitar) and TJ (vocals/guitar) Osborne, getting into music was unavoidable. Growing up in the water town of Deale, Maryland, their close-nit-family of seven spent most nights not in front of the television, but writing and playing songs. In April 2011, Warner Chappell/King Pen Music offered them a publishing deal. A year later, Capitol Records offered them a record deal. The Brothers Osborne are currently in the studio finishing their debut album, an album they describe as “aggressive, bold and fragile at times.”  Their current single is “Rum.” For more information, visit www.brothersosborne.com.

Brandy Clark’s debut album, 12 Stories, was released in October 2013 and has received tremendous critical acclaim.  When reviewing 12 Stories, Randy Lewis of The Los Angeles Times wrote, “This is the country debut of the year.” Clark was nominated for her first GRAMMY Award earlier this year for Best Country Song for “Mama’s Broken Heart,” which she co-wrote with Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert took to No. 1. That song also earned Clark her first CMA and ACM nominations, both for Song of the Year. Clark as been on tour with Jennifer Nettles. For more information visit www.brandyclarkmusic.com.

Upon its release, The Strange Case Of…, the second album from Atlantic Records artist Halestorm, shot to the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums chart. The first single, “Love Bites (So Do I),” marked the first song by a female fronted group to top the active rock chart, and earned the band a GRAMMY award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance.  The song was also the No. 1 song of 2012 on SiriusXM’s Octane. The band’s second single “Freak Like Me” also hit No. 1 on the Active Rock chart and their third single “Here’s To Us” saw incredible chart success as well. Halestorm also released their second covers EP last fall, ReAniMate 2.0: The CoVeRs eP, which saw the band putting their distinctive brand another eclectic collection of classic songs. In addition to releasing her own clothing and accessory line this past fall, “Scissor Happy,” frontwoman Lzzy Hale has also garnered national media attention appearing on the cover of Revolver’s “Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock” issue twice. The band has also performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Halestorm is currently on a sold-out European tour and working on their third studio album. For more information, visit www.HalestormRocks.com.

The first leg of the tour will take place throughout Sept.-Dec. in the U.S. and Canada and is exclusively promoted by Louis Messina of The Messina Group/AEG Live. The dates for the first leg of The Outsiders World Tour with special guest Dwight Yoakum (#TheOutsidersLive) are as follows:  

Sept. 11 | Bossier City, La. | CenturyLink Center*

Sept. 13 | St. Louis, Mo. | Scottrade Center*

Sept. 16 | Minneapolis, Minn. | Target Center*

Sept. 17 | Des Moines, Iowa | Wells Fargo Arena*

Sept. 18 | Omaha, Neb. | CenturyLink Center*

Sept. 25 | Louisville, Ky. | KFC Yum! Center*

Sept. 26 | Charleston, W.Va. | Charleston Civic Center*

Sept. 27 | Greensboro, N.C. | Greensboro Coliseum*

Oct. 9 | Grand Rapids, Mich. | Van Andel Arena*

Oct. 10 | Cleveland, Ohio | Quicken Loans Arena*

Oct. 11 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Consol Energy Center*

Oct. 16 | Charlottesville, Va. | John Paul Jones Arena**

Oct. 17 | New York, N.Y. | Madison Square Garden**         

Oct. 18 | Philadelphia, Pa. | Wells Fargo Center**

Oct. 23 | Manchester, N.H. | Verizon Wireless Arena**

Oct. 24 | Uncasville, Conn. | Mohegan Sun**

Oct. 25 | Uncasville, Conn. | Mohegan Sun**

Oct. 30 | Knoxville, Tenn. |Thompson-Boling Arena**

Oct. 31 | Memphis, Tenn.| FedExForum**   

Nov. 1 | Tulsa, Okla. | BOK Center**  

Nov. 13 | London, Ont. | Budweiser Gardens**

Nov. 14 | Hamilton, Ont. | FirstOntario Centre**

Nov. 15 | Ottawa, Ont. | Canadian Tire Centre**

Nov. 20 | Green Bay, Wis. | Resch Center

Nov. 21 | Peoria, Ill. | Peoria Civic Center***

Nov. 22 | Evansville, Ind. | The Ford Center***

Dec. 5 | Kansas City, Mo. | Sprint Center

Dec. 6 | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Denny Sanford Premier Center***

Dec. 11 | Atlanta, Ga. | The Arena at Gwinnett Center***

Dec. 12 | Lexington, Ky. | Rupp Arena***

Dec. 13 | Birmingham, Ala. | BJCC Arena***

All dates with special guest Dwight Yoakum

*denotes Brothers Osborne

**denotes Brandy Clark

***denotes Halestorm   

AUDIO: Eric Church says he wants his Outsiders World Tour to be a “unique experience.”

Eric Church (The Outsiders World Tour) OC: …from the stage. 1:04
“We’ve waited our whole career to make a record like The Outsiders. I felt like our entire career had been building up to that moment, to this record, and likewise with this tour. This tour, we’ve waited our career to put on this tour, and it’s gonna be one that a lot of thought goes in to. Anybody who’s ever seen us before, musically, because the amount of music we have, visually, and then as far as what we want to do sonically, I think it’s gonna be something that people will say is the best they’ve ever seen, and we still want to make it about the music. But at the same time, we have some other things to make sure that everybody — no matter what seat you’re in in the house, no matter where you are, front, back, side, top — we want to make sure that it’s a unique experience for everybody in there, and that everybody in there feels like they’re a part of the show and there’s not a bad seat in the house. And we’ve thought about that ad nauseam to make sure that regardless of where you are — without giving too much of it away surprise-wise — that you’ll be able to experience it and be a part of the show and share in that feeling from the stage.”

Nashville, TN – April 7, 2014 – Award winning singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley ascends to 40,000 feet with the release of his new single “Drunk On A Plane,” available at country radio now.  Written by Josh Kear, Chris Tompkins and Bentley, the track is country music storytelling at its best as the narrator is left standing alone at the alter but finds the strength to forge ahead on a hilarious solo trip to Cancun.

“I have never been jilted at the altar, but I have had a marriage proposal rejected….all you can do is pray there’s a good return policy for the ring, get drunk and carry on,” laughed Bentley.  “Whether I have the band with me on stage or it’s just me and my guitar, the fans love this song, and they catch on to the choruses immediately.  It’s a fun song, but when you really listen, there’s also an underlying lonesomeness which is what makes it different that a lot of the other uptempo songs I’ve put out.”

“In the middle of his new album ‘Riser’ comes Nashville’s freshest, funniest party song of the past two years. His fiancé bailed and he had two weeks of vacation and nonrefundable tickets for the honeymoon, so he’s getting mile-high drunk en route to Cancun.”  – Star Tribune

“Catchiest chorus Nashville has heard in a while.” – Billboard

“He’s released his share of party-friendly hits, and his new album Riser does feature a song called ‘Drunk on a Plane.’ But Bentley has always been more nuanced and reflective than his fellow country bros, and Riser’s best moments are heartfelt and personal. Even ‘Drunk on a Plane’ is full of regret…” – Las Vegas Weekly

“Bentley’s often shown a sly sense of humor, and it surfaces on the entertaining ‘Drunk on a Plane,’ which manages to turn a poignant portrait of heartbreak into a party song.”  – Associated Press

Country Weekly is giving fans a behind the scenes look at the making of “Drunk On A Plane” from the studio and on the road. To watch, click here.

“Drunk On A Plane” is the second single off Bentley’s No. one album RISER on Capitol Records Nashville, which has already seen its lead single “I Hold On” top the country radio charts, marking Bentley’s 11th career No. one as both an artist and songwriter. Next month, Bentley will kick off his headlining 2014 RISER TOUR on May 9th in Charlotte, NC. For more information on new music and upcoming tour dates, visit www.dierks.com.

Dierks Bentley (Drunk on a Plane) OC: …record or not. :47
“‘Drunk on a Plane’ I wrote with Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear, and went in to write with those guys, and had an idea. Josh threw that idea out, and he said, ‘I always wanted to write a song called ‘Drunk on a Plane.’ Of course, I’m obsessed with planes, so I’m like, ‘I love that! I’ve got to have a song called ‘Drunk on a Plane.’ Just thinking about the idea of being drunk on a plane and all the crazy things that could happen or do happen. It was really fun writing with those guys, just kind of creating this idea of this story of this guy who had been left at the altar, and just the ups and downs and the highs and lows of being on a plane and being drunk. I knew when I wrote it, it would go over great live. Like I could just take my guitar and go and play it in front of an audience that had never heard it before and get a laugh and entertain with that song, but I didn’t know if it’d make the record or not.”