Dierks Bentley takes fans behind-the-scenes of his eighth annual Miles & Music ride and concert.

George Strait was honored Monday night (November 4th) with the Founders Award at the ASCAP Awards. Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack paid tribute to King George with song at the performing rights organization annual awards show. Garth performed a medley of Strait’s hits, featuring “Unwound,” “Amarillo by Morning” and “The Fireman,” while Alan sang “Let’s Fall to Pieces Together.” Lee Ann turned in a performance of “Troubadour.”

You can catch George on Wednesday night’s (November 6^th) CMA Awards, where he’s up for Entertainer of the Year. He’ll also perform a tribute to the late George Jones during the show as well.

Keith Urban is nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year at this year’s CMA Awards, and he’s set to perform his Top 5 hit, “We Were Us,” with Miranda Lambert. Keith says it’s really hard to “get into the zone” with a single song performance. “I just try and play. I try not to think about all the people sitting down in the front and that sort of thing,” says Keith. “TV is hard. TV’s just hard because it’s so run and gun. You don’t have time to check things, and you can do it at sound check and then it doesn’t sound anything like it on the night. It’s so quick and…I like being able to sort of get into the zone and you can’t do that in three minutes.”

The 47th Annual CMA Awards air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena next Wednesday (November 6th) at 8pm ET on ABC.

Keith Urban (CMA 2013 performance) OC: …three minutes. :25
“For me, I just try and play. I try not to think about all the people sitting down in the front and that sort of thing, you know. I find, for me, it’s more about… TV is hard. TV’s just hard because it’s so run and gun. You don’t have time to check things, and you can do it at sound check and then it doesn’t sound anything like it on the night. It’s so quick and it’s just like… I like being able to sort of get into the zone and you can’t do that in three minutes.”

CREDIT: Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Eric Church isn’t sure what reaction he’ll get when he plays his new single, “The Outsiders,” on Wednesday night during the Country Music Association Awards. It’s the first time he’ll play the song in front of the Music Row “establishment” and millions of fans who don’t follow him, and he’ll be pushing mainstream country music’s edge quite a bit further than folks are used to.

“Could be crowd-surfing, could be mosh pits,” Church said. “They could be throwing cans at me.”

Few country songs will be so polarizing as the title cut and first single from Church’s fourth album, “The Outsiders.” Church sat down recently to talk about his new album, set for release Feb. 11th, his upcoming CMA performance and the freedom he feels success has given him as he prepares to take the next step in his career.

Church’s last album, “Chief,” won the CMA and Academy of Country Music album of the year awards, sold 1.5 million copies and changed his career. The album’s success moved him from promising songwriter to arena-filling star. He did it by tapping into the growing hunger for hard rock sounds in country.

Instead of touring extensively this summer, the 36-year-old North Carolina native, who’s up for two CMA awards Wednesday, including male vocalist of the year, decided to focus on recording. He enlisted longtime producer Jay Joyce again and wrote 121 songs for consideration. They cut that down to the 11 or 12 that will appear on the new album, brought in Church’s band and started to bounce ideas off each other — not at all the way the typical country album is recorded.

“We’ve had the ability after every record to feel more emboldened by what we did on the last record,” Church said as he sat near a fire pit on his land in West Nashville with yellow jackets buzzing his Ray-Bans. “And I think with this one, with the success of ‘Chief,’ we were a little bulletproof.”

First up was “The Outsiders,” chosen for its invitation to fringe dwellers to join the circle. The Black Sabbath-influenced metal moments that mark the song’s mesmerizing last minute came during a jam with Church on Telecaster and resemble nothing you’ve heard on country radio.

“If you go past that, it’s a cliff,” Church said. “Sometimes I feel like we’re leaning over it.”

Some of the most striking moments would seem odd to your local program director. There’s a dark trilogy, for instance, that includes a dramatic recitation of the Shel Silverstein poem “The Devil and Billy Markham.” ‘’Roller Coaster Ride” actually feels just like one. And album-closer, “The Joint,” is an oddly affecting cross of Tom Waits and J.J. Cale.

At the same time, there are several cuts that would make that program director tap his foot. “Cold One” includes a hilarious twist, and there’s a run of three love songs in the middle of the album.

“They’re bold,” Church said. “I’m interested to see what people think about them. I always say the songs are mine till the moment we release them, then they’re the fans’ (songs). I’m very anxious. I have a lot of anxiety to see what people think about what we’ve done.”

The Robertson family is heading to the Big Apple and to the small screen on Thanksgiving as they’ll appear during the 87th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They’ll be joined at the parade by a host of other celebrities, including Jimmy Fallon, Kristin Chenoweth, Goo Goo Dolls, Gavin DeGraw, NFL legend Joe Namath and many more.

Their Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas was released last week, and looks like it will debut near the top of the Billboard Album chart. 

Miss Kay (favorite Christmas gift) OC: …was wonderful. :40
“My favorite Christmas memory is when Phil and I came back together after we had the hard time and we were separated, when we came back together that first Christmas, we were in a little bitty apartment and we were apart and then we were back together, and Phil gave me – had a big ole box under the tree, and of course I couldn’t wait to see what it was because he’s not a gift buyer, and it was a wonderful set of pots and pans. Anybody else would have said, ‘Well, that’s not personal,’ but it was very personal for me. And for Phil to give me a gift and even have it wrapped, I’m telling you, it was wonderful.”

Luke Bryan, the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year, is going into Wednesday night’s CMA Awards with three nominations, including the top honor, Entertainer of the Year. Luke is also up for Male Vocalist and Musical Event of the Year for “That’s the Only Way I Know” with his buddies, Jason Aldean and Eric Church. When the nominations were read back in August, he was actually on an airplane. “I knew the nominations were coming out while I was in the air, so when I turned my phone on, it just started blowing up,” recalls Luke. “And then I see, obviously, the three nominations, and I was on a plane fist pumping. I’m sure people were looking at me kinda crazy, but it was an amazing moment.”

OTHER LUKE NOTES:

• Luke will be performing on the CMA Awards on Wednesday night, which air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena at 8pm ET on ABC.
• Luke will kick off CMA Awards day with a performance on ABC’s Good Morning America.
• Luke just released his new single, “Drink a Beer,” which features Chris Stapleton, who also co-wrote the song. “Drink a Beer” follows his two previous singles, “Crash My Party” and “That’s My Kind of Night,” from his latest album.

Luke Bryan (CMA 2013 nominations) OC: …amazing moment. :16
“I knew the nominations were coming out while I was in the air, so when I turned my phone on, it just started blowing up. And then I see, obviously, the three nominations, and I was on a plane fist pumping. I’m sure people were looking at me kinda crazy, but it was an amazing moment.”

Luke Bryan (ride of a lifetime) OC: …so blessed. :09
“It’s totally the ride of a lifetime. To have No. 1s and things like this going on in my life, we’re certainly so blessed.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 4, 2013) – It’s been a record year for Darius Rucker. Arguably one of the most applauded singles of the year, “Wagon Wheel” has helped the platinum-selling entertainer earn multiple nominations from the CMA and ACA Awards. Fans of his third chart-topping country album, True Believers, can catch Rucker out on the road next year performing nationwide, featuring the Eli Young Band with special guest David Nail.

The tour will kick off January 29, 2014 in Champaign, Ill. at State Farm Center with tickets going on sale beginning Nov. 15. An exclusive pre-sale will be available beginning Nov. 7 on dariusrucker.com. Rucker is teaming up with Tickets-for-Charity and CMT One Country to offer premium seats to benefit the USO and Pattison’s Academy — available exclusively at www.ticketsforcharity.com. 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls Rucker’s live show “a killer set,” and The Morning Call hails him as “the best male performer in country music right now.”

“As an entertainer, there’s nothing like seeing the fans react to your music. I’ve been blessed to have country radio take six of our songs to No. 1, so we thought it was the perfect time to take the True Believers Tour on the road,” shares Rucker.  “It’s going to be an awesome show with some great entertainers as both Eli Young Band and David Nail deliver live.”

Rucker will perform during “The 47th Annual CMA Awards,” which airs live on Wednesday (November 6th), and on “CMA Country Christmas,” which will air on December 2nd. Both will air on the ABC Television Network.

True Believers Tour stops include the following:
Jan. 29 | Champaign, Ill. | Assembly
Jan. 30 | Ft. Wayne, Ind. | Memorial Coliseum
Jan. 31 | Ypsilanti, Mich. | Convocation Center
Feb. 13 | Hershey, Pa. | Giant Center
Feb. 14 | Albany, N.Y. | Times Union
Feb. 15 | Verona, N. Y. | Stone Event Center
Feb. 20 | Charleston, S. C. | Coliseum
Feb. 21 | Columbia, S. C. | Colonial Life Arena
Feb. 22 | Asheville, N. C. | US Cellular Center*
Feb. 27 | Erie, Pa. | Insurance Arena
Feb. 28 | Youngstown, Ohio | Coveli Center
March 1 | Roanoke, VA. | Civic Center
March 7 | Enid, Okla. | Convention Hall
March 8 | Salina, Kan.  | Bicentennial Center*
March 9 | Loveland, Colo. | Budweiser Events Center

*Eli Young Band will not be performing on these dates
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit DariusRucker.com.