None of us ever forget those big “firsts” that occur in our lives. You know the ones – your first crush, your first kiss, your first car. And Darius Rucker is no exception. His first car was a yellow Volkswagen Rabbit that his mother purchased for him when he was in college…but he doesn’t have years of fond memories and adventures attached to it, like many of us might. “It lasted for six weeks,” he recalls with a laugh. “The fuel pump died…we tried to fix it…and the fuel pump was worth more than my car was worth, so we just let it die.” Believe it or not, Darius didn’t own another car until almost 10 years later…when he and the guys of Hootie and the Blowfish hit it big. “Even then, I didn’t get a car till the second year we made it, because with all my first money I paid off my student loans!”

These days, it’s safe to say that Darius is doing a little better for himself. He just won his first solo Grammy Award (for his number-one hit “Wagon Wheel”), and now he’s climbing the charts with a new single, “Miss You,” from his True Believers album.

AUDIO: Darius Rucker remembers his first car. 

Darius Rucker (first car) :27
“The thing I remember about my first car is, I was in college and my mom bought me my first car. It was like [an] 800-dollar yellow Volkswagen Rabbit, and it lasted for six weeks. The fuel pump died. And we tried hard to fix it, and the guys told me the fuel pump was worth more than my car was worth, so we just let it die. And I didn’t have another car again until I was like 27 – when Hootie [and the Blowfish] made it was the next time I got a car.”

This Sunday (February 2nd), millions of people around the world will be tuning in to the Super Bowl, including some of your favorite country artists. Some will be rooting for the Denver Broncos (especially with their connection to QB Peyton Manning), while others will be pulling for the Seattle Seahawks to win the Big Game. Darius Rucker, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Easton Corbin, Kip Moore, Keith Urban and Little Big Town are definitely fans of football… Check out all the action on the field on Sunday at 6:30pm ET on FOX.

Darius Rucker (football) OC: …football season. :20
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve loved football, and I love how physical it is. I love the chess match of the game. I love the speed of the game. I love college football, but for me watching pro football is better because the speed is so much more. For me, there’s two times a year, man — football season and waiting for football season.”

Luke Bryan (Super Bowl 2014) OC: …gonna be fun. :4
“My Super Bowl pick is, Seattle, I love you, but I’m just pulling for Peyton [Manning] on this one. I got to meet Peyton last year, and he’s a great guy. I did a charity concert for him for a hospital and hung with him and I’d love to see Peyton get him one more ring. I truly feel like Seattle is a powerhouse. I mean, I’m excited just to watch the Super Bowl and have a reason to cheer, certainly,’ for Peyton, but if Seattle wins, I’m gonna be like, ‘Hey! Congrats!,’ because they’re just an awesome football team. I’m excited because I have the Saturday off before the Super Bowl, so I get home and kinda get my bearings off the road and get pumped up before the Super Bowl. It’s gonna be fun.”

Luke Bryan (Super Bowl 2014) 2 OC: …we go. :05
“We’ll have some friends over, cook some ribs or something, drink a lot of beer. Here we go.”

Keith (Nicole and football) OC: …new to me. :04
“She’s a big NFL fan, and she sort of turned me on to it.”

Easton Corbin (football) OC: …that’s on. :07
“That’s all that’s on the bus on the weekends. That’s it, and we’ve got three TVs on the bus, so that’s all that’s on.”

Lady A (tailgate food) OC: (Charles) …football watching. :21
HILLARY: “Honestly, chips and salsa, salsa or cheese dip or something. That’s like what I always go for. I could eat that every meal. No joke.” DAVE: “Best tailgate food is a big ole burger soaked in Dale’s sauce. That’s all you need.” HILLARY: “Or bratwurst. I forgot that. Those are good.” CHARLES: “Cold beer! A couple of little finger foods, but without cold beer, it’s not football watching.”

LBT (football story) OC: …my lip. :40
“I was the quarterback to my powder puff team. I was running the ball and I came around the corner – this was in high school – and a foreign exchange student, I think her name was Inga (KIMBERLY: “Inga.”), and I didn’t want to fumble ‘cause my brother and my dad were there, and I come from this very athletic family, so I held onto the ball. I knew I was going to go down, so I let my head hit first and I bit all the way through, but I didn’t fumble and I had a hole in my face, though. The sad thing is that it was just flag football, but I left my flags on and cleats and everything, ‘cause it looked cool, and I had blood running all down my jersey. I went to the emergency room like that, and they sewed up my lip.”

This year’s ACM nominations were revealed Wednesday morning (January 29th) via digital press conference with Duck Dynasty‘s Willie and Korie Robertson, Katy Perry, Darius Rucker and 2 Broke Girls star Beth Behrs making the announcements.

Keith Urban is up for six nominations, including Male Vocalist, Vocal Event (“We Were Us” with Miranda Lambert and “Highway Don’t Care” with Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift), Single (“Highway Don’t Care”) and Video of the Year (“Highway Don’t Care”). Kacey Musgraves has five nominations including Female Vocalist, Album (Same Trailer Different Park), Song (“Mama’s Broken Heart”), Video of the Year (“Blowin’ Smoke”).

Luke Bryan picks up three ACM nominations for Entertainer, Male and Album of the Year (Crash My Party).

Gary Allan earned an ACM Award nomination for Song of The Year for “Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain).” Allan co-wrote and self-produced the #1 hit, making the nomination all the sweeter.

Allan was in the middle of a writing session when his manager John Lytle called with the news.  Allan said “It’s always nice to be recognized for what you do. While we were writing the song, we knew we had something special. I’m glad to hear that our peers agree.”

The 49th Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton will air live on CBS April 6th at 8pm ET.

ACM Awards Nominees:

Entertainer of the Year
Luke Bryan
Miranda Lambert
Blake Shelton
George Strait
Taylor Swift

Male Vocalist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Lee Brice
Luke Bryan
Blake Shelton
Keith Urban

Female Vocalist of the Year
Sheryl Crow
Miranda Lambert
Kacey Musgraves
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Duo of the Year
Big & Rich
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Love and Theft
Thompson Square

Vocal Group of the Year 
Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band

Album of the Year
Blake Shelton — Based on a True Story…
Luke Bryan — Crash My Party
Florida Georgia Line — Here’s to the Good Times
Kacey Musgraves — Same Trailer Different Park
Tim McGraw — Two Lanes of Freedom

Song of the Year (Award to Songwriter)
“Every Storm Runs Out of Rain” — Gary Allan (Gary Allan, Hillary Lindsey, Matthew Warren)
“I Drive Your Truck” — Lee Brice (Jimmy Yeary, Connie Harrington, Jessi Alexander)
“Mama’s Broken Heart” — Miranda Lambert (Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves)
“Mine Would Be You” — Blake Shelton (Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington, Deric Ruttan)
“Wagon Wheel” — Darius Rucker featuring Lady Antebellum (Bob Dylan, Ketch Secor)

Single Record of the Year

Florida Georgia Line — “Cruise”
Tim McGraw featuring Taylor Swift and Keith Urban — “Highway Don’t Care”
Lee Brice — “I Drive Your Truck”
Miranda Lambert — “Mama’s Broken Heart”
Darius Rucker featuring Lady Antebellum — “Wagon Wheel”

Vocal Event of the Year
Blake Shelton featuring Pistol Annies and Friends  — “Boys ‘Round Here”
Florida Georgia Line with Nelly — “Cruise (Remix)”
Tim McGraw featuring Taylor Swift and Keith Urban — “Highway Don’t Care”
Darius Rucker featuring Lady Antebellum — “Wagon Wheel”
Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert — “We Were Us”

Video of the Year
The Band Perry — “Better Dig Two”
Kacey Musgraves — “Blowin’ Smoke”
Tim McGraw featuring Taylor Swift and Keith Urban — “Highway Don’t Care”
Lee  Brice — “I Drive Your Truck”
Miranda Lambert — Mama’s Broken Heart”
Carrie Underwood — “Two Black Cadillacs”

Luke Bryan (ACM 2014) OC: …Love it! :2
“We just got ACM nominations. [I’m] very, very excited. Entertainer of the Year nominee, that’s amazing. Album and Male Vocalist, I’m very, very excited about that. It’s gonna be another busy ACM fun [time], me and Blake hosting, and nothing is better than going out there with some amazing nominations. I want to thank the fans for making that happen, and everybody at the ACMs. It was great, great news. Love it!”

Luke Bryan (ACM Album of the Year nom) OC: …ever done. :53
“I’m so excited, obviously, about Crash My Party getting nominated. I really do feel as a whole that Crash My Party from Track 1 to the last track, it’s the best body of work I’ve ever done. I’m most proud that I wrote some of the songs and a lot of the songs are [from] Nashville’s finest songwriters, and I think that’s why the album is doing so well – closing in on double-platinum, which is unbelievable to announce, and it’s been an amazing album to have out. All of the songs that we’re singling are doing what we want them to do in my career – they’re moving the needle. The songs that we’re planning on singling next and coming out with, we’re so excited about. I’ve always wanted to make albums where any song can be a single, and I think this album is the best definition of that that I’ve ever done.”

Keith Urban (We Were Us-Miranda) 1 OC: …backing vocalist. :46
“Miranda, of course, she opened for a us a lot of years ago. She’s just the real deal. I just love her. I love her artistry. Her voice is awesome. She would get up and play with us when we were touring with her, and I just felt like our voices went together really well. So, it was another person that I always had in the back of my mind and was hoping I could find a song for us one day. The song called ‘We Were Us’ came along and it’s actually written as a duet, but the girl sings first, so I thought ‘Let’s do it! Let’s call Miranda up.’ She liked the song, came and sang it, and various people were going ‘Well you can’t have her singing first!’ Why not? It sounds fine! Again, it was always just about how the song works best. The song just works best that way. It’s a duet. She’s not a backing vocalist.”

A surprise proposal in Bozeman, Montana leads to a special acoustic moment from Lady Antebellum in the latest edition of Webisode Wednesday. The band performed “When You Got a Good Thing” from their multi-platinum album, Need You Now, for the couple backstage prior to their show.

When Eric Paslay’s self-titled debut album is released next week (February 4th), fans will find there’s a lot more to the man behind the hit, “Friday Night.” A highlight of the new album is “Country Side of Heaven,” a song that features additional vocals by the members of Little Big Town. The group’s Kimberly Schlapman was one of the first to hear the song – Eric played it for her when he made a guest appearance on her GAC cooking show, and he’ll never forget her reaction. “We just stood there with our hands in our pockets just looking at the speaker,” Eric recalls. “I know that she has lost really close people in her life,” he continues, explaining, “That’s what music is for…it somehow can get you through your tough stuff.”

Give it a listen for yourself when Eric Paslay is available in stores and online next week!

Eric Paslay (Country Side of Heaven) 3 OC: …on this album. :45
“I was on Kimberly’s cooking show and afterwards, I got to play ‘Country Side of Heaven’ for her. As typical fashion, we just stood there with our hands in our pockets just looking at the speaker playing, but it was cool. I know that she has lost really close people in her life, and I think that’s what music is for. It’s one of the best medicines, even if you’re completely broken-hearted, it somehow can get you through your tough stuff. I know that’s definitely true to my life, how music can help you overcome things. I think ‘Country Side of Heaven’ is one of those special songs. I am glad that it moved Kimberly and it moves me. I’m glad it got to be on this album.”

The video for Keith Urban‘s “Cop Car,” premiered on E! News and Eonline.com on Monday. It features a real life couple as the main characters. Check out the clip for “Cop Car” below, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the video.

David Nail’s “Whatever She’s Got” vaulted up to the top of both the Billboard and Country Aircheck country singles charts, marking his second career No. 1.

The No. 1 hit and RIAA certified GOLD single is the first song from David’s forthcoming album, I’m a Fire. David recorded the Jimmy Robbins and Jon Nite-penned song for his wife Catherine, admitting “I still to this day don’t know what she has, but I know that I like it….whatever it is.”

David says with the release of “Whatever She’s Got,” he feels like a new artist, even though he’s been a recording artist for several years and had a previous No. 1 song with “Let It Rain.”
“[It’s] been a big song for us, and it’s been fun the last few months to kind of watch it take off,” says David. “In a lot of ways I feel like a new artist. I feel like I’m getting a new start, and just really thrilled with what this song’s done and with the record that we have and excited to get it out there.”

David, who will be hitting the road on Darius Rucker’s True Believers Tour at the end of the month, is set to release his new album, I’m a Fire, March 4th.

TIDBIT: Keith Urban apparently had “Whatever She’s Got” on hold, and David says he was “kind enough” to let him have the song.

David Nail (excited over WSG) OC: …it out there. :17
“[It’s] been a big song for us, and it’s been fun the last few months to kind of watch it take off. In a lot of ways I feel like a new artist. I feel like I’m getting a new start, and just really thrilled with what this song’s done and with the record that we have and excited to get it out there.”

David Nail (Whatever She’s Got success) OC: …biggest song. :39
“Most of my songs have taken a while, and then it’s six or seven months before we get back on the radio. So, I had forgotten, I think, what it felt like to be on the radio, to get in your car every day and not know, you know, just that anticipation that you may or may not hear your song. So, it feels really good. This song I believed in it the first moment that I heard it. It came to me at the perfect time, and it was actually just a rush to see who could record it first, and I won the battle. In the last three or four months, people can’t seem to get enough of it. And even though I had a No. 1 with ‘Let It Rain,’ this is by far my biggest song.”

Kacey Musgraves was a big winner at Sunday Night’s Grammy Awards, taking home the award for Best Country Song for “Merry Go ‘Round” and Best Country Album for Same Trailer, Different Park.

Kacey Musgraves (album well-rounded) OC: …ON THERE. :27
“I love observing things, whether it’s myself or other people. It’s kind of my favorite to just like find inspiration and zone in on that and figure out the little facets in that idea. I’m just inspired by emotions of every kind. I want the record to reflect just well- rounded emotions. I didn’t want the overall tone to be angry or sad .I think there’s elements of everything on there.”

Kacey Musgraves is taking home the Grammy Award for Best Country Song for her hit, “Merry Go ‘Round.” She not only recorded the song for her Grammy-nominated album, Same Trailer, Different Park, but she also won as a co-writer on the song, along with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.

Kacey Musgraves (Merry Go Round) 1 OC: …observing. :47
“I’m so thankful for this song. I wrote it with Josh Osbourne and Shane Macanelli. One of my favorite writing combos, and God, I’m just so thankful that it was the first thing that I kind of got to say to the music world. A lot of it was inspired by the surroundings I had growing up- as in just being from a tiny little Bible Belt town in a conservative area. But, really, it’s just about life and I feel like no matter what size town you’re from- big or small- or if you’re wealthy or poor. We’re all just sort of driven by the same emotions; interactions, And, too, I feel like when people are kind of scared to branch out of their comfort zones, they tend to settle a little and that’s never good for anybody. It leads to regret and you know, it’s just something that happens in life, and it’s just something that I’m observing.”