Scotty McCreery was only able to spend about four months on his debut album, Clear As Day, which has been certified platinum. He was chosen as the winner of Season 10 of American Idol at the end of May in 2011, and had his first album on store shelves in October 2011. For his new album, See You Tonight, which hits stores next month, he was able to spend a considerable amount of time writing and recording songs for it.

“The time we had for this album was incredible, especially compared to the first record, whereas we had the better part of the year if not more than a year to make this record,” says Scotty. “So, that gave me time to write – gave me the time to sit there and think about which songs I wanted to have on it, what I wanted to say throughout the songs. I got to be much more of an artist on this record.”

Scotty is currently climbing the country charts with his latest single, the title track of his new album, See You Tonight, due in stores October 15th.
 

Scotty McCreery (time for album) OC: …more real. :22
“The time we had for this album was incredible, especially compared to the first record, whereas we had the better part of the year if not more than a year to make this record. So that gave me time to write – gave me the time to sit there and think about which songs I wanted to have on it, what I wanted to say throughout the songs. I got to be much more of an artist on this record. It felt a lot more me, more real.”

Alan Jackson is set to release The Bluegrass Album on Tuesday (September 24th), a project he has wanted to make for years. This past spring, he jumped into the studio with several of the best players and singers in bluegrass, and just days later he emerged with a complete album. Alan wrote eight of the 14 songs on the collection, which was produced by Keith Stegall and Alan’s nephew, Adam Wright.

“I just am a fan of the music, and I didn’t want to do something that disappointed the bluegrass world. I didn’t want them to think I was just another country act wanting to make a bluegrass album,” says Alan. “I’ve always liked the music and wanted to do something in that vein and something I could be proud of.”

Some of the originals Alan wrote for the project include “Blacktop,” “Blue Ridge Mountain Song” and “Mary,” while some of the covers are John Anderson’s “Wild and Blue” and Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”

AJ (Bluegrass album) 2 OC: …this long. :45
“Oh, I probably started thinking about The Bluegrass Album in the mid-’90s sometime. You know, finally when Alison – I got Alison Krauss interested in working with me on an album, and that’s what I really thought we were going to do, and then when we got together and we started kicking stuff around, and ended up kinda going in a little different direction with it and it wasn’t bluegrass at all…which is fine. It was a very cool album that I’m proud of. But anyway, it kinda took me off the bluegrass path there for a while, but after that I just kinda put it on the back burner. And I think things happen when they’re supposed to. And this – when I finally got to it this winter, it just seemed like the right time in my career, in my life, in my head – everything. So, I’m glad we put it off this long.”

AJ (Bluegrass album) 3 OC: …music I heard. 1:09
“There wasn’t much live music around where I was from – country or bluegrass or anything. The earliest music – now looking back – that I realize was bluegrass was on…when I was a child watching The Andy Griffith Show and ‘The Darlings’ they called them on the show but it was The Dillards, which was a little more of a folky kind of bluegrass group. But they played some cool stuff on that show, and made an impression on me, I’m sure. And then at the same time The Beverly Hillbillies – Flatt & Scruggs did the theme song, and they actually were on the show a couple times, and I remember that clearly, you know, how that music sounded and affected me. And my daddy watched Hee Haw every Saturday, and they had a lot of banjo and bluegrass kind of stuff on there that I watched. And I’ve always loved the banjo – the sound of the banjo – for some reason. And when I was a teenager in the ’70s, there was a local group in town. I guess they played some bluegrass festivals in the Southeast. They actually made an album back then. It was…I had the album – I think somebody probably gave it to me. It was a big vinyl album, and I remember that thing – I loved it. I played it back then – it was a cool album. That was probably the earliest real local music I heard.”

Luke Bryan earned three CMA nominations this year, including the coveted Entertainer of the Year, as well as Male Vocalist and Musical Event of the Year for “The Only Way I Know” with pals Jason Aldean and Eric Church.

“Thank you so much for my 3 CMA nominations,” says Luke. “It’s unbelievable, obviously, to be up for Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist and Collaboration with Eric and Jason, but pretty awesome news. Love y’all!”

The 47th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena November 6th at 8pm ET on ABC.

Romantically-challenged filmmaker Tommy Wooldridge can’t get a girlfriend. But he’s got an idea. He’s going to use lyrics from today’s top artists as pick up lines, and document his musical pursuit of love for VEVO! Watch #VEVOLyricLines for his hilariously awkward attempts at wooing women…this time with Luke Bryan lyrics!

Might we see him when Luke co-hosts ABC’s The View?

Lady Antebellum‘s recent CMT Crossroads special with the legendary Stevie Nicks was one of the biggest highlights of the trio’s career. Check it out for yourselves below.

George Strait picked several special guests to join him as he makes his final trek on The Cowboy Rides Away Tour. His opening acts will include Eric Church, Vince Gill, Little Big Town, Jason Aldean, Sheryl Crow, Merle Haggard, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack, Chris Young, Ronnie Dunn and more. “Some of the acts I’d never worked with before, like Eric Church. I’ve worked with Jason [Aldean], but we wanted to get some guys who were really relevant right now to come out,” says George. “Merle Haggard – he’s been one of my main influences throughout my career, especially to start with. He got me into Bob Wills Western Swing music with his tribute album, The Wills, back in the day. And then others that we worked with throughout the years, we just wanted to get together one more time, you know, and do a final blast-off.”

The last leg of his final tour will kick off January 9th in Bossier City, Louisiana, and will hit 26 more dates before the tour bus is retired.

If you can’t wait until next year to see the King of Country, he is scheduled to perform at the star-studded George Jones Tribute Show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena November 22nd.

George Strait (special guests on final tour) OC: …final blast-off. :37
“It was difficult kind of, but some of the acts I’d never worked with before, like Eric Church. I’ve worked with Jason [Aldean], but we wanted to get some guys who were really relevant right now to come out, and I think it’s gonna be fun. Merle Haggard – he’s been one of my main influences throughout my career, especially to start with. He got me into Bob Wills Western Swing music with his tribute album, The Wills, back in the day. And then others that we worked with throughout the years, we just wanted to get together one more time, you know, and do a final blast-off.”

Keith Urban debuts at the top of both the country album and the Top 200 charts with his latest, Fuse. The new project, which contains his recent two-week No. 1 hit “Little Bit of Everything” and his current single, “We Were Us,” a duet with Miranda Lambert, sold nearly 100,000 copies to land at No. 1 overall. Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party is No. 2, followed by Sheryl Crow’s Feels Like Home.

“The first thing I wanted to do was work exclusively with people I had never worked with, and it started with the songwriters. That moved into the various producers that I worked with and then musicians in the studio too,” says Keith. “Everything for me had to be new and different and [that was] a big part of what I was trying to do with Fuse.”

Keith’s next performance is on Friday (September 20th) at the MGM Grand for the iHeart Music Festival. He’ll return to the road for his Light the Fuse Tour 2013 on Saturday (September 21st) in Mountain View, California.

Keith Urban (new & different) OC: …with Fuse. :20
“The first thing I wanted to do was work exclusively with people I had never worked with, and it started with the songwriters. That moved into the various producers that I worked with and then musicians in the studio too. Everything for me had to be new and different and [that was] a big part of what I was trying to do with Fuse.”

Kacey Musgraves has been in a Nashville rehearsal hall this week working on her Same Trailer, Different Tour, which kicks off Thursday (September 19th) in New York City. The trek will make stops in 13 cities, including New York and London, as well as Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin, Amsterdam and Dublin.

“We’re gonna be bringing our little trailer park across the pond and then back to the U.S., and it was just really something, if anything, a little self-indulgent for me,” says Kacey. “This for me was something I was really excited about doing and getting to go to, not only just amazing countries that I’ve never been to, and there’s so many great country fans over there. They have embraced me completely, and I just love spending time over there. But I also love playing in intimate, kind of smaller venues where you really feel the energy of people and you can really create a vibe, and that’s kind of my favorite part.”

In between some of the dates, Kacey will perform at this year’s Farm Aid in Saratoga Springs, New York on Saturday and the Southern Ground Music and Food Festival in Nashville.

Kacey Musgraves (Same Trailer, Different Tour) 1 OC: …favorite part. :52
“I’m so excited about Same Trailer, Different Tour. We’re gonna be bringing our little trailer park across the pond and then back to the U.S., and it was just really something, if anything, a little self-indulgent for me. I was coming off of huge, you know, a tour with Kenny Chesney, which was absolutely amazing. I had an awesome summer. It was a six-month long tour. I learned a lot and made a lot of great relationships, and this fall, I’ll be going back into another huge tour with Lady Antebellum. So, this for me was something I was really excited about doing and getting to go to not only just amazing countries that I’ve never been to, and there’s so many great country fans over there. They have embraced me completely, and I just love spending time over there. But I also love playing in intimate, kind of smaller venues where you really feel the energy of people and you can really create a vibe, and that’s kind of my favorite part.”

Billy Currington’s new album, We Are Tonight, hit stores this week, and the first single from the album “Hey Girl” is poised to hit the top of the charts in the coming weeks. While Billy didn’t write the song, he says it’s a pickup line he and his buddies used when they would try to pick up girls on the beach years ago. One of those buddies he also considers his “Wingman,” which is another song on his new album.

“I still have a guy named Jamie Day, my best friend in the whole wide world, and he’s my wingman, always will be; like he’s the guy when I explain where did ‘Hey Girl’ come from. ‘Hey Girl’ is what we used to say while we were walking down the beach when we didn’t know what else to say, and Jamie was always that wingman for me. If either one of us couldn’t come up with something, that was the one line we would use, and it would always start conversation. Every time,” says Billy. “I’ve known Jamie since the fifth grade. He ended up sitting in front of me, and we just became the two class clowns and got in a lot of trouble together, and it just kept going from there.”

Billy Currington (Wingman) 2 OC: …from there. :51
“I still have a guy named Jamie Day, my best friend in the whole wide world, and he’s my wingman, always will be; like he’s the guy when I explain where did ‘Hey Girl’ come from. ‘Hey Girl’ is what we used to say while we were walking down the beach when we didn’t know what else to say, and Jamie was always that wingman for me. If either one of us couldn’t come up with something, that was the one line we would use, and it would always start conversation. Every time. You would think they would look at us like, ‘You’re stupid. What are you saying?’… But yeah, Jamie Day, that’s my wingman. I’ve known Jamie since the fifth grade. He ended up sitting in front of me, and we just became the two class clowns and got in a lot of trouble together, and it just kept going from there.”

Dierks Bentley returns as host of the 2013 ACM Honors event in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium in the latest episode of DBTV. Not only did he crack the jokes and make artist introductions, but he also performed with the amazing Ricky Skaggs.