Billy Currington celebrated his recent No. 1 single, “Hey Girl,” with a party in Nashville on Tuesday night (December 3rd), and he brought a very special date…his 84-year-old grandmother, Evelyn. Billy says it was her first No. 1 party.

“We brought her up last night from Georgia,” says Billy. “She’s a big fan of Opryland Hotel, you know, with all of the lights? I took her there a few years ago one time. She just loves it and just been talking about it for years since then, and so we snuck one on her. I think she had other plans, but we said, ‘Wouldn’t you rather go see the Opryland Christmas lights?’ [laughs] So, that’s really all she thought she was going to do, and then we brought her in today. She’s having a great time.”

Billy has hit the airwaves with his new single, “We Are Tonight.”

Billy Currington (No. 1 grandmother) OC: …first No. 1 party. :33
“My grandmother’s here. We brought her up last night from Georgia. She’s a big fan of Opryland Hotel, you know, with all of the lights? I took her there a few years ago one time. She just loves it and just been talking about it for years since then, and so we snuck one on her. I think she had other plans, but we said, ‘Wouldn’t you rather go see the Opryland Christmas lights?’ [laughs] So, that’s really all she thought she was going to do, and then we brought her in today. She’s having a great time. She loves this town. It’s her first No. 1 party.”

Jon Pardi will be in the Christmas spirit, even though he’s had to make alternate plans for Christmas this year.

“This year for Christmas…I’m going to get knee surgery. I have to get my meniscus repaired, and I have to get some clean-up from a previous surgery on my ACL. So, I’m going to go with Dr. Elrod. He does the Titans, and it’s…one of the only chances before next year starts up,” says Jon. “I’ll be spending it at my house. I’m going to get my own Christmas tree and I’m gonna get some Christmas tree lights, and I’m going to play some Christmas music, and I’ll probably Facetime my family, and just make the best of it and get all my friends and roommates who’ll be here and we’re gonna have a Christmas party.”

This will be the first Christmas he won’t be home in California with his mom. “It’s gonna be sad that I won’t get to make it home [to California] for Christmas,” he says. “It’ll be the first time ever I have not been there for my mom, and she is super sad.”

Jon is currently riding high on the charts with his single, “Up All Night,” which is from his debut album, Write You a Song, due in stores January 14th.

Jon Pardi (Christmas plans) OC: …super sad. :46
“This year for Christmas, it’s really not that cool, not that cool at all, because I’m going to get knee surgery. I have to get my meniscus repaired, and I have to get some clean-up from a previous surgery on my ACL. So, I’m going to go with Dr. Elrod. He does the Titans, and it’s a good chance, one of the only chances before next year starts up. And so, I’ll be spending it at my house. I’m going to get my own Christmas tree and I’m gonna get some Christmas tree lights, and I’m going to play some Christmas music, and I’ll probably Facetime my family, and just make the best of it and get all my friends and roommates who’ll be here and we’re gonna have a Christmas party. It’s gonna be sad that I won’t get to make it home [to California] for Christmas. It’ll be the first time ever I have not been there for my mom, and she is super sad.”

Keith Urban is scheduled to perform during the sixth annual Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night on Friday (December 6th) at 8pm ET. He’ll be joined by such performers as Taylor Swift, Robin Thicke, Drake, Ryan Lewis and host LL Cool J. The 56th Annual Grammy Awards will be held live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26th.

Kacey Musgraves’ Same Trailer Different Park (#28) and Keith Urban’s Fuse (#39) were chosen as two of Rolling Stones 50 Best Albums of 2013. Others on the list include Ashley Monroe, David Bowie, Artic Monkeys, Paul McCartney and John Fogerty.

The cast of A&E’s Duck Dynasty are included in Barbara Walters’ 2013 list of the Most Fascinating People of the Year, along with Miley Cyrus, actress Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games), Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the Royal Baby, Prince George, and Kimye (the celebrity couple of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West). But who will be No. 1? You’ll have to tune in to Barbara’s 90-minute ABC special December 18th at 9:30pm ET.

Tickets for the final stop of George Strait’s Cowboy Rides Away Tour 2014 will go on sale this Friday (December 6th) at 10am CT. Visit the official site – georgestrait.com – for more information.

If you missed Scotty McCreery’s Christmas special last year or just want to see it again, you’ll be able to catch it this week. On Tuesday (December 3rd), Christmas With Scotty McCreery & Friends, with special guests Brett Eldredge, Gloriana and Jana Kramer, airs at 8pm ET on GAC. It will also re-air on Wednesday (December 4th) at 11am ET.

Luke Bryan will return to host the 49th Annual ACM Awards with pal Blake Shelton April 6th on CBS! The boys did such a great job this past year hosting together, that they have been asked back. Luke really enjoys hanging out with Blake, so the ACM gig just gives him a good excuse. “A lot of people in our world have told us that we’re essentially brothers from another mother whole-deal. Anytime we’ve been around each other, we wind up cracking each other up and drinking too long into the night,” says Luke. “So, we’ll get out there, and…I think [we] keep it fun and have a great time with it.” 

Catch the reigning Entertainer of the Year in two TV specials this week. First, he joins pal Willie Robertson to sing “Hairy Christmas” on the CMA Country Christmas on ABC tonight (Monday) at 9pm ET. You can also find him as part of CMT’s Artist of the Year show on Tuesday (December 3rd) at 8pm ET.

Luke is currently scaling the country charts with his latest single “Drink a Beer.” 

Luke Bryan (Blake & ACMs) OC: …time with it. :29
“Me and Blake, and a lot of people in our world, have told us that we’re essentially brothers from another mother, whole-deal. Anytime we’ve been around each other, we wind up cracking each other up and drinking too long into the night. So, we’ll get out there, and I think there’s a fine line of keeping it fresh and fun and keeping it funny. And I think [we] keep it fun and have a great time with it.” 

Once everyone gets #SOBER, lets all do a little#DAYDRINKING. Spring 2014.

Hmmmmm….

The Christmas spirit is alive and well in the country music community, and it is represented by several artists in the new ABC special, CMA Country Christmas.
Jennifer Nettles hosts the show, which features performances by Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Willie Robertson, Jake Owen, Trace Adkins, Rascal Flatts and more.

CMA Country Christmas airs Monday (December 2nd) at 9pm ET/8pm CT.

Lady A (Christmas Tradition-Dave) OC: …this year. :30
“I think a tradition I would love to carry on is kind of a funny one. My dad on Christmas Eve, he would actually read The Christmas Story. Very predictable, I know, but after The Christmas Story, he would always give his famous Christmas test. And he would have this long test and he would ask us about the Three Wisemen… the entire Christmas story. So, I’m gonna have to get the copy of it from him because he never gives us the full answers, but I’d love to get that test from him and be able to pass that along. I’ll quiz my wife this year.”

Willie (favorite Christmas tradition) OC: …pretty fun. :21
“My favorite Christmas tradition is actually we do a big like karaoke the night before believe it or not and sing all kinds of songs and all the kids perform and it’s fun watching them.  They’ll prepare for it all year so it’s pretty cool.  Each family does a performance so it’s pretty fun.”

Check out a unique acoustic version of Lady Antebellum‘s song “And The Radio Played” on the tour bus… jamming between cities!

“And The Radio Played” is featured on the new Golden Deluxe album!

Luke Bryan took time out to visit with Ellen DeGeneres following his big win at the recent American Music Awards. He performed his current single, “Drink a Beer,” and talked about the viral video of him shaking it. Check it out below.

Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas remains at the top of the Country Album Chart for a fourth straight week! The collection sold more than 60,000 copies to hold onto the top spot on the country chart and the No. 4 spot on the overall Billboard Top 200.

Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party comes in at No. 2 on the country chart, while Lady Antebellum’s Golden rounds out the Top 5.

Willie Robertson says it took a bit of convincing to get his father, Phil, to be a part of the album. “I would’ve thought we could’ve gotten George Strait to sing on our album faster than we could’ve gotten Phil sing on this album, who is not a big fan of this thing, this idea,” says Willie. “I’m used to him shooting down my ideas, like Duck Dynasty, the internet, the website, these are all things that he thought would never work; buying the warehouse. So, when we said Christmas album, he said, ‘Well, that’s the worst idea you’ve had yet,’ which actually made me feel good. I thought this’ll probably work then because he thinks it’s such a terrible idea.”

Phil warmed up to the idea of a Christmas album, and now that it’s out, he’s really proud of it. “He listens to it every day, and so my mother says that everybody that comes through the house, Phil makes ‘em listen to the entire album,” laughs Willie. “The house cleaner, the carpenters, I mean, anybody that comes through, he sits them down and says, ‘You gotta hear this,’ from top to bottom while he sits and watches your reaction.”

Ducks (Phil & Strait) OC: (Willie) …terrible idea. :49
KORIE: “To have Phil and George Strait together, I mean, it’s like, Phil is like a legend in the duck call business. I mean, he’s my father-in-law, but he is in the duck call and hunting business and industry, and George Strait, of course, is a legend in country music. So, to have them do something together was the perfect thing…” WILLIE: “But actually I would’ve thought we could’ve gotten George Strait to sing on our album faster than we could’ve gotten Phil sing on this album, who is not a big fan of this thing, this idea. I’m used to him shooting down my ideas, like Duck Dynasty, the internet, the website, these are all things that he thought would never work; buying the warehouse. So, when we said Christmas album, he said, ‘Well, that’s the worst idea you’ve had yet,’ which actually made me feel good. I thought this’ll probably work then because he thinks it’s such a terrible idea.”

Ducks (Phil loves Christmas album) OC: (Willie) …of it. :53
WILLIE: “And then when we actually finished the thing, and he’s so excited. He listens to it over and over and over, and he calls Sadie to congratulate her.” KORIE: “He never calls.” WILLIE: “No, he doesn’t.” KORIE: He doesn’t call people. He called Sadie to tell her how much he loved her song, ‘Away in a Manger.’ And it’s so funny, because when he hung up, he said he loved her. He said, ‘I love you,’ and Sadie was in such shock. She didn’t even know what to say back. [WILLIE LAUGHS] Because Phil is just, I mean, he’s an awesome granddad, and the kids spend a lot of time with him, but he’s not real lovey and complimentary necessarily. He’s not that kind of granddad. So, Sadie was kind of shocked.” WILLIE: “And he listens to it every day, and so my mother says that everybody that comes through the house, Phil makes ‘em listen to the entire album. The house cleaner, the carpenters, I mean, anybody that comes through, he sits them down and says, ‘You gotta hear this,’ from top to bottom while he sits and watches your reaction.” [WILLIE LAUGHS] KORIE: “I think he’s proud.” WILLIE: “So, he ended up proud of it.”

Gary Allan is getting ready to release the video for his latest single, “It Ain’t the Whiskey,” on Black Friday (November 29^th). The clip was shot at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, which is a National Historic Landmark.

“It was a lot of fun to shoot. We shot it in Nashville, and I believe if the story is right, the building was like a Confederate hospital. It’s really cool,” says Gary. “It’s a church now, and it’s got like artist lofts above it. I was able to get the band in there…I think you guys are gonna like it.”

Click below to watch an exclusive preview of the video.

Gary Allan (It Ain’t the Whiskey video) OC: …like it. :22
“I can’t wait for you to see it. It was a lot of fun to shoot. We shot it in Nashville, and I believe if the story is right, the building was like a Confederate hospital. It’s really cool.It’s a church now, and it’s got like artist lofts above it. I was able to get the band in there. I thought T.K. did a great job of telling the story. I think you guys are gonna like it.”