Luke Bryan and Eric Church are scheduled to perform at this year’s CMT Music Awards at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena June 4th. They’re joined by Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line and Miranda Lambert.

Josh Turner will perform at The Grand Ole Opry as the famed institution will salute heroes of the U.S. military with a red carpet arrival parade. The MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band will make its Opry debut on May 20th.

On this date in 1991, Alan Jackson released his Don’t Rock the Jukebox album, which produced four No. 1 singles – the title track, “Someday,” “Dallas” and “Love’s Got a Hold on You,” as well as the Top 3 “Midnight in Montgomery.”

The video for David Nail’s “Kiss You Tonight” will have its online premiere on Esquire.com on Thursday (May 15th) and its broadcast premiere on CMT Friday (May 16th).

Kip Moore, along with Frankie Ballard, will headline the Country Weekly Kick-off Party June 3^rd to celebrate the beginning of this year’s Country Music Festival week. Proceeds from the event will benefit Musicians on Call, which provides music to hospital patients.

Here’s the official live video for Kelleigh Bannen‘s hit song, “Famous.” Get it on iTunes here: http://smarturl.it/dkf14m

Keith Urban interviews the Idol music supervisors and band leader. Watch this episode of Idle Chatter to find out who chooses the songs the contestants sing, and what happens to the contestants after American Idol wraps.

Nashville, TN – May 12, 2014 – Seven-time GRAMMY award winning trio Lady Antebellum dropped the lead single “Bartender” off their upcoming fifth studio album today. The swampy, sultry breakup anthem is available at Country Radio now and will be available for purchase at digital retailers on May 20th.

Written by Lady A’s Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and co-writer Rodney Clawson, the trio enlisted Nathan Chapman to co-produce the new single featuring Scott’s lead vocal and the trio’s signature harmonies.

“For this new stuff, we wanted keep the core of Lady A, while also experimenting with new sounds and ideas,” said Kelley. “Nathan was really instrumental in pushing us to try different harmonies and new songs that were a little out of the box for us. There’s a lot of energy that comes with those changes and ‘Bartender’ is just of taste of what we’ve been working on.”

Rather than the late night drunk-dial approach of the band’s international smash hit “Need You Now,” these lyrics are poised to become a female anthem centered around washing an ex’s memory away with whiskey on a wild girls’ night out.

“I love this song because there’s something empowering about not going for the rebound or just moping around over a guy,” said Scott. “There are those times in your life when you need to feel sorry for yourself and be sad, but this song is all about hitting the dance floor with your girlfriends and just forgetting him.”

“We’ve been crazy busy writing, and when we’re this deep into it, we get so excited about new music that we can’t wait to get it out,” added Dave Haywood. “We’ve been outdoors playing amphitheaters and are loving the energy that the fans bring to those outdoor shows. So, when we sat down to write with Rodney for the first time, we really wanted some new stuff to keep fans on their feet.”

The trio is set to perform the new single when they kick off Good Morning America’s summer concert series live from Central Park on May 23rd. From New York City, the trio will continue on their headlining 2014 TAKE ME DOWNTOWN TOUR. For more information on new music and upcoming tour dates, visit: www.ladyantebellum.com.      

Lady A (Bartender) 1 OC: …for ‘Bartender.’ :36
“The song, ‘Bartender,’ [sound of a glass tinkling] actually started with a title Charles had on his phone, and a little idea I had on my phone, and we pulled ‘em all out. It was one of the last writing sessions we had on the road for this record. You know, we want to have songs that people can get lost in and come out and get lost in the noise of the crowd and these kinds of songs, and it just feels like one of those songs that can stand up in a big venue. We wanted to try to create something like that, and it’s fun. I think anybody’s been out  where you want to go out and get lost because of something you’ve been going through and forget about what’s been going on, and so that’s part of the inspiration too for ‘Bartender.’”

Nashville, TN – May 12, 2014 – Coming off opening weekend of the 2014 RISER Tour, Dierks Bentley is taking fans on a wild ride in the new music video for “Drunk On A Plane.”  In collaboration with Will Ferrel and Adam McKay’s Funny or Die, the comedy website debuted the mile-high video this morning making it the first time a country music video has appeared on the popular site.
 
Directed by Wes Edwards and filmed at Air Hollywood in Los Angeles last month, Bentley enlisted a quirky cast of characters that included comedians, actors, band members and friends to help nail his vision. 

“We added some of this footage to the screens for tour, and I have a hard time not turning my back to the crowd to watch it myself…so many hilarious moments,” said Bentley.  “There are a few subplots working underneath the main story that totally crack me up…if you watch it a couple times, you start to pick up on more funny details. Wes did an incredible job…again!”

To watch the video, click here: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d30b1dcb07/dierks-bentley-gets-drunk-on-a-plane
 
“Drunk On A Plane” is flying up the radio charts just a few weeks after release and follows 11 chart-topping hits for Bentley as a singer and songwriter.  The track is already a fan-favorite on his new 2014 RISER TOUR, which continues on to Virginia Beach, VA; Bristow, VA and Holmdel, NJ this weekend. For more information and for a full list of tour dates, visitwww.dierks.com.

Also check out the behind-the-scenes video below.

Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood and his wife Kelli are welcoming their first child – a boy – in September. Sweet Dave is definitely raising the bar for first-time fathers out there as he is planning on giving his wife her first Mother’s Day gift on Sunday.

“I’ve got a little something for my wife, actually, this year because she’s pregnant. So, this’ll be her first Mother’s Day,” says Dave. “I’ve got something lined up for her, ‘cause this’ll be a first, a special moment for us.”

This will be bandmate Hillary Scott’s actual first Mother’s Day this Sunday, as she gave birth to daughter Eisele in July.

Lady A (Dave-first mother’s day) OC: …moment for us. :14
“I’ve got a little something for my wife, actually, this year because she’s pregnant. So, this’ll be her first Mother’s Day…you can still count Mother’s Day when you’re pregnant, right?” HILLARY: “Yeah. Oh Lord yeah! You’re carrying the thing. [laughs]” DAVE: “Just making sure. So, anyways, I’ve got something lined up for her, ‘cause this’ll be a first, a special moment for us.”

Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban and Luke Bryan are among the artists performing during Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series this year. Lady A is set to kick off the series May 23rd, while Keith will perform July 11th.  Luke will ‘Play It Again’ August 8th. Brad Paisley and Florida Georgia Line, Robin Thicke, Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez, Kings of Leon, Demi Lovato and 50 Cent are among the other acts playing the Summer Concert Series on ABC’s Good Morning America.

For more information, go to ABC News here.

(New York, NY May 7, 2014) – Shania Twain today announced a new role in her extraordinary career, as a big cat conservationist with the world’s leading cat conservation organization, Panthera. Twain, international superstar, and the world’s best-selling female country artist of all time is the Global Ambassador for Panthera’s newly launched leopard conservation initiative, Project Pardus.

The leopard has the widest range of all the big cats, as well as one of the most instantly recognizable and evocative appearances in the animal kingdom. It is the most global of the big cats, with a range from southern Africa to far eastern Russia. Not surprisingly, the magnificent fur of the leopard – “pardus” in Latin – is one of the most widely emulated images in the global fashion industry. Ironically, however, less widely known is the tragic fact that the leopard is now the world’s most persecuted big cat. Project Pardus is the first program to be established by any conservation organization to highlight the leopard’s perilous state and to stop the widespread killing of leopards by people across its range. Twain intends to use her global platform to make the connection between the cat’s renowned beauty and its plight in the wild.

“The image and spirit of the leopard is an inspiration to millions around the world, including myself,” said Shania. “That it is also the most oppressed of the big cats is almost unknown. If we’re to save this animal in the wild, we have to get ahead of the curve before it suffers the same fate as so many other species that we once felt to be secure in their numbers. I feel privileged to give back to a creature that depends for its future on what we do now to save it…and I urge the wider world to join Panthera and me in this mission.”

A long-time and passionate animal lover, Twain’s support comes at a critical time. Leopards are threatened by the relentless destruction of habitat, and are being killed in the thousands by livestock herders, unsustainable trophy-hunting and poaching for their skins and body parts. Panthera’s work already encompasses the African leopard as well as the endangered Persian or Caucasian leopard of Central Asia and the highly persecuted Indian leopard. With Project Pardus, the organization will launch new conservation initiatives that target other highly endangered sub-species including the Arabian leopard and the Sri Lankan leopard.

“The leopard is an amazingly versatile cat, able to live in habitats ranging from tropical rainforests to the Kalahari Desert,” said Dr. Luke Hunter, Panthera’s President and one of the world’s authorities on leopards. “However, that adaptability has meant the species has been largely ignored by conservationists. We are delighted and honored that Shania will help put the leopard onto the conservation radar. With her help, the leopard will receive the urgent attention it needs.”

Shania Twain is one of the most successful artists of all time. Her 1995 album The Woman in Mebrought her fame, and her 1997 album Come On Over became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician and the best-selling country album of all time. With more than 75 million albums sold worldwide, she is the top-selling female country artist of all time; has multi-platinum album sales in 32 countries; has the eighth-biggest selling album of all time in the U.S. and 18 top ten songs, eight of which reached #1. Her iconic leopard-print outfit and beautiful images of leopards appear in her current show Shania: Still the One at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. She first learned of Panthera’s leopard program through a fortuitous meeting with Dr. Thomas Kaplan, Panthera’s Founder and Chairman, with whom he found an immediate connection in leopard conservation:

“Shania got the nature of the challenge, and embraced the mantle, immediately. She has now become a role model…yet again. Shania’s passion for nature is an integral part of who she is, and her empathy for wildlife is inspirational. What Shania has done to translate her charismatic identification with the leopard, and to join with Panthera to raise the red flags regarding the leopard’s future, is a huge breakthrough for our cause. Moreover, by “giving back” to an animal that has a “global brand but not a copyright”, she is leading the way in showing that all who benefit from and indeed enjoy the iconic image of the big cats should welcome the opportunity to save them.”
 
Dr. Kaplan continued, “Shania’s timing in giving her voice to the voiceless is pitch perfect. Because of their adaptability and intelligence, the future of the leopard is often taken for granted…but the complacency about the leopard must end now before it encounters the fate of its cousins. A century ago it was impossible to imagine that the tiger would face extinction in the wild and that sub-species like the Caspian, Bali and Javan tigers would blink out entirely. Just last month, Panthera revealed that the once flourishing lion population is nearly gone from West Africa. The last Asiatic cheetahs, also once a thriving population, now number in the dozens. Even with leopards today, the Amur leopard is nearly gone, the Arabian leopard resides in the smaller and smaller range, and the Persian leopard is measured in the hundreds. If we don’t raise the alarm now, our children will look back upon man’s treatment of these glorious creatures more in shock than in awe.”

Panthera’s work on leopards includes the highly innovative Furs for Life Leopard Project, which provides high quality faux leopard fur capes to members of the Shembe Baptist Church in southern Africa. The Shembe have worn real leopard fur as religious regalia since the early 1900s, but have enthusiastically adopted Panthera’s capes as a sustainable alternative. Project Pardus will also launch the first GPS radio-telemetry research on rainforest leopards in Gabon. The leopard is the top carnivore of the African rainforest, and the groundbreaking new work will use the leopard as a ‘landscape detective’, to reveal the movement corridors between important populations across northeast Gabon. The work comes at a time that large-scale industrial logging and mining in the region threatens to leave leopards and other large mammals including forest elephants stranded in isolated, protected parks.

Elsewhere in the leopard’s range, Project Pardus will focus on the heavy toll taken by people killing leopards as a perceived danger to life and livestock, as well as the pernicious trade in leopard furs and body parts. Despite the outlawing of trade in spotted cat fur decades ago, the species is still heavily trafficked especially in the Middle East and Asia, key geographies for the new initiative. In India – ground-zero for leopard-human conflict – Project Pardus is devising methods to foster co-existence of leopards with rural communities. Leopards have an astonishing ability to live close to villages, but fear and ignorance of the big cats frequently leads to pre-emptive killing. Pardus will train and equip local community members – Leopard Guardians – to monitor leopards and help their villages avoid conflict with leopards in the first place. Under Project Pardus, the methods pioneered by the Leopard Guardians will be transferred throughout the species’ range, wherever conflict and persecution is killing off the big cat.

                                                                         # # #

Click here for more information about Project Pardus.

Mother’s Day is an annual holiday celebrated on the second Sunday each May. Most, if not all, of your favorite country artists will be honoring their moms and/or wives, or rejoicing over the fact that they are mothers on Sunday (May 12th). Check out Mother’s Day memories and moments from our artists, including Darius Rucker, Eric Church, Keith Urban, Lady A, Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town and Shania Twain, among many others.

Darius Rucker (Mother’s Day) OC: …killed me. :17
“I think that’s the main reason I am how I am…an innate fear of disappointing my mom.  My mom’s not even alive, and I have a fear of her looking down from heaven and going, ‘Man I’m just disappointed in my son.’ She could have said anything in the world to me, but if she would have said, ‘Son, you just disappointed me,’ That would have killed me. It would have killed me.” 

Eric Church (apology to mom) OC: …I’m sorry. [laughs] :15
“Probably too much [laughs]. If I’ve gotten away with it this long I’m not about to…I’m not letting it out now I’ve made it. The guilt is even gone now, I’m good [laughs]. So probably, but I’m not going to admit any of it. I’ll say I’m sorry, just blanket I’m sorry [laughs].”

Eric Paslay (Mother’s Day) OC: …it’s good. :21
“I wanna thank my mom for giving me faith, laughter and pride in the family I came from. She’d be the fun Mom, just goofing off in the sprinklers outside or we’d go out and play in the rain and all that stuff growing up. She’s always good to be around; always happy, and it’s good.”

Keith Urban (Nicole is extraordinary mother) OC: …to see. :45
“She’s an extraordinary mum, she really, really is. Those girls are very, very lucky, and I feel very lucky that the children I should have in this world happen to be with Nic. I don’t know anything about raising kids and Nic does, and that comes in extremely, um, it’s really made for an experience I wouldn’t have had without that. Her patience, her recognizing them as people and not just little kids is really extraordinary. Her attention to honoring their feelings and listening to them right from day one – really being attentive to that is not how I was raised at all, so it’s really beautiful to see.”

Lauren Alaina (Mother’s Day) OC: …same for her. :19
“I honestly would not be able to do it without my mom. I get overwhelmed sometimes, and if she wasn’t there to comfort me or tell me, ‘Look just realize what you’ve got going for you,’ I’d be up the creek [without a paddle]. She’s got my back. My mom would walk through a fire pit for me, and I’d do the same for her.”

LBT (Mother’s Day) OC: …for my mother. :34
“Being a mother is a life-long dream for me. When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted to be is a mama. It took a long time. I wasn’t ever sure that I would be, but I am now, and it’s the greatest gift of my life. And as I’m a mother now, I see what my mother gave up and her sacrifices and her love and how she made us the most important thing in her life, and that’s what I strive to do for my little girl. It’s the most important job I have, and it’s the most responsibility that I have, and I try to live up to a great example that I had for my mother.”

LBT (Mother’s Day-Karen) OC: …every day. :23
“There isn’t anything that means more to me than sitting on the bench and eating a grilled cheese sandwich with this little guy who calls me Mama. There isn’t anything better than that. He’s just a little miracle. I went from dreaming about him to eating grilled cheese sandwiches and ketchup with him, and I could never have dreamed this up – how good it could be, and it just gets better every day.”

Shania Twain (joy to be a parent) OC: …means everything. :14
“It’s such a joy to be a parent. So, I relate to all the mums out there who are getting all their love and appreciation from their kids, and I hope, when you’re a kid, a child of somebody, show your mum you love her, because it means everything.”