from people.com:

There’s been no time off for Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet of award-winning country music group Little Big Town, who spent the better part of 2013 on tour with Keith Urban and are now opening for George Strait this coming weekend. 

“Sober” is the fourth single off Tornado, which is the group’s fifth studio album and has already delivered the hits “Tornado” and “Pontoon.” It was the latter that led to the band’s first Grammy award, in 2013. 

The “Sober” video, shot throughout their tour last year, includes intimate behind-the-scenes footage of the group, and the song hits especially close to home for Schlapman, whose first husband died of a heart attack in 2005. 

“I have experienced what it means to lose the love of your life,” Schlapman tells PEOPLE. “And I’ve experience what it feels like to love again after great loss, so this song touches me so deeply in my heart.” 

Fairchild, who is married to bandmate Westbrook says, ” ‘Sober’ reminds of me when Jimi and I first fell in love.” 

Little Big Town – who’ve already started working on their next album – are the reigning ACM Vocal Group of the Year. They are also again nominated for the honor at this year’s ACM Awards, to be held April 6th in Las Vegas. 

Check out the video below!

Eric Church hits stores and all online retailers with his latest album, The Outsiders, on Tuesday (February 11th). Produced by Jay Joyce, his fourth studio collection features his latest hit, “Give Me Back My Hometown,” as well as the title track and much more.

The Outsiders is the follow-up to Church’s 2011 album, Chief, which has sold 1.5 million copies so far and produced five hit singles, two of which hit No. 1 (“Drink in My Hand” and “Springsteen”).

Eric says he made a “conscious effort” to challenge himself on this new project. “We were at a point in our career where I understand that we had two choices. I could’ve continued to do what ‘Drink in My Hand,’ ‘Springsteen,’ ‘Creepin’,’ I know how to do those things,” says Eric. “I know how to continue the career that way. I think we made a conscious effort to challenge ourselves artistically and to do something…that was artistic. That’s what we did…That’s what we chose on this album. We made it that way.”

Eric Church (conscious effort to challenge himself) OC: …it that way. :28
“We made a conscious effort when we started this album, we were at a point in our career where I understand that we had two choices. I could’ve continued to do what ‘Drink in My Hand,’ ‘Springsteen,’ ‘Creepin’,’ I know how to do those things. I know how to continue the career that way. I think we made a conscious effort to challenge ourselves artistically and to do something…that was artistic. That’s what we did…That’s what we chose on this album. We made it that way.”

Eric Church (played most of guitar) OC: …it’s different. :12
“Jay and I probably played, I know Jay did, but I mean, I did too, we played most of the guitar work on the album, and that’s never happened before, ever, and I think it sets it up as a different vibe and a different feel. Sonically, it’s different.”

Reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan takes the top spot on the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart and spends a second week at the top of the Billboard country chart with “Drink A Beer,” marking his ninth career No. 1 single.  The song, written by Chris Stapleton and Jim Beavers, has spent the last 11 weeks as a Top 5 download on Nielsen’s Country Digital Song chart, five of which were spent at No. 1. The multi-week chart topper is the third consecutive No. 1 single from Luke’s Crash My Party album which was certified Platinum in just six weeks.

Crash My Party debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Country sales charts with 527,783 units sold, making it the biggest sales debut for a Country male artist since 2004. 

Luke’s “That’s My Kind of Night Tour,” which has sold out all dates on its first leg this year, will also include his first-ever headline stadium shows this summer- June 21 in Pittsburgh, Penn. at Heinz Field,  Lincoln Financial Field on August 15 in Philadelphia, Penn. and on August 31 in Chicago, Ill. at Soldier Field.

Luke currently has three ACM Award nominations, Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for Crash My Party.  Luke will co-host the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards with Blake Shelton on Sunday, April 6th at 8pm live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. 

Luke Bryan (9th No. 1) OC: …never get tired of it. :43
“It’s very humbling, and I’m so proud of this song, because I know it’s affecting people in a really, really amazing way out there, and anytime that you can have a song that goes No. 1 and has that type of an impact, it’s a bonus on all levels. To realize that, I came to this town just with dreams and now that I’ve had 9 No. 1’s, it’s amazing. It’s flown by…still having a blast with it. Still love getting up every morning and getting on stage and writing songs and still trying to figure this crazy business out. So, it’s a huge honor to keep having No. 1’s. You never get tired of it.”

Dierks Bentley takes his music seriously, as a songwriter and a singer. How seriously? “My job is to be a poet for the common man. That’s what Merle Haggard is,” he says. “He sings [and] does things in ways that [make] you [think], ‘Man, I wish I could say that same thing to someone that means something.’” Dierks aspired to do the same in his current Top 10 hit, “I Hold On.” “I think on this song, I was able to really use some common images…in explaining why I’m never going to walk out…never going to leave…that’s just not who I am as a person.”

Hear more of Dierks’ musical poetry when his new album, Riser, is released at the end of the month (February 25th).

AUDIO: Dierks Bentley says he aimed high with the imagery and message of his latest hit, “I Hold On” (from his soon-to-be-released album, Riser).

Dierks Bentley (poetry in song) OC: …a person. :33
“My job is to be a poet for, you know, the common man. That’s what Merle Haggard is, you know? He sings [and] does things in ways that [make] you [think], ‘Man, I wish I could say that same thing to someone that means something.’ You know, to my girlfriend, my wife. He just has such a great way of singing that feels so…like it just rolled off his tongue, but it’s like really poetry. I think on this song, I was able to really use some common images of a truck and a guitar…and faith, love and freedom to wrap that all in explaining why, you know, I’m never going to walk out on you, never going to leave you. You know, that’s just not who I am as a person.”

Anyone who’s a fan of Gary Allan’s music can hear that it’s rooted in tradition…but you can also hear a bit of an edge that sets him apart. And that may be traced – in part – to the concert that he says “changed” his life. It was a performance by the mid-‘80s lineup, The Highwaymen – a sort of “supergroup” made up of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. “I’d seen lots of shows…but it was so ‘hard core,’” he remembers. And Gary really was no stranger to country concerts – his music-loving father had taken him to plenty. But this one was different. “They were just up there with guitars, just singing songs. And it was so cutting to me,” he explains. To this day, Gary admits, “I’ve always loved the deep, deep songs…I love all those guys, and I just love powerful music.”

Gary’s latest hit is “It Ain’t the Whiskey” – a powerful song in its own right – from his Set Your Free album.

AUDIO: Gary Allan recalls a concert that “changed” him – a performance by the legendary group, The Highwaymen. 

Gary Allan (Highwaymen concert) OC: …powerful music. :26
“It was the first one that really ‘changed’ me. I mean, I had been to lots of country – my dad was a huge fan of Ernest Tubb and people like that, and I’d seen lots of shows. But that’s the first one that I went to and it was…like…I don’t want to say punk rock, but it was so ‘hard core.’ And all it was was words. I mean, they were just up there with guitars, just singing songs. And it was so cutting to me. And I’ve always loved the deep, deep songs…and I love all those guys, and I just love powerful music.”

As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And there’s the one that reads, “If you’re good at something, stick with it.” Either could apply to Eric Church and the approach he took to writing songs for his new album, The Outsiders. As he did for Chief – which gave Eric his first chart-topping hits, was certified platinum, earned him Grammy nomination, and was named CMA and ACM Album of the Year – Eric and his co-writers sequestered themselves a bit as they were working on songs for the new album. “I do better when I separate myself,” he explains. “I just do better when I completely stop everything else and my daily motivation is writing a song – morning, noon and night. Constant.”

As he did for Chief, Eric spent several weeks at a favorite cabin working on songs…but some tracks on The Outsiders were also written on the road, while others originated during a month spent in Florida. “The more I write, the sharper my tools get,” Eric says. “I just have to take the time to do that.” Eric did observe one difference this time around, though – “We wrote probably twice as many songs, so we had a lot more content to pull from.”

The Outsiders – featuring Eric’s latest hit, “Give Me Back My Hometown” – is being released on Tuesday (February 11th).

Catch Eric on CBS Sunday Morning With Charles Osgood this Sunday at 9am ET.

Kacey Musgraves’ Same Trailer Different Park returns to the top of the Billboard Country Album chart this week, with 27,288 albums sold, marking a 177% increase in sales. The collection, featuring “Follow Your Arrow,” “Blowing Smoke” and “Merry Go ‘Round,” debuted at the top of the country album chart and at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 when the album was released last March.

The impressive sales increase is accredited to Musgraves’ two GRAMMY wins from the 56^th Annual Grammy Awards for BEST COUNTRY SONG (“Merry Go ‘Round) and BEST COUNTRY ALBUM (Same Trailer Different Park), as well has her performance of “Follow Your Arrow” during the telecast on CBS.

“Follow Your Arrow” also received a nice lift with a 98% increase this week with sales of 56,359 tracks making it the No. 2 Country track this week raising the total song downloads of “Follow Your Arrow” to 325,377 according to Soundscan.

Also, Musgrave’s first single and GRAMMY-winning song, “Merry Go ‘Round,” received a 84% increase this week with sales of 15,155 to a total of 820,215 according to Soundscan.

To cap off this week, Kacey’s performance on the long-running PBS series, Austin City Limits, will air as the season finale this Saturday, February 8th. Click here to check your local listings for air time.

By the way, Jennifer Nettles’ That Girl is at No. 2 on the country album chart, followed by Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party at No. 3!

Kacey Musgraves (fans will hopefully identify with album) OC: …that, too. :25

“Well, hopefully when people hear Same Trailer, they will…obviously love it, but also I hope they walk away with just knowing that I’m influenced by so many different kinds of things, and I hope they just connect in some way. I mean, if I can make somebody feel something then I feel like I’ve done my job as a songwriter. So, that’s my favorite part — just being inspired by something I went through and seeing other people say, ‘I get it, like I went through that, too.’”