Dierks Bentley gives fans an update on his single, “I Hold On” and his forthcoming Miles & Music for Kids event in the latest DBTV episode (see below).

Luke Bryan is “High on Summertime” as he takes possession of his new Sanger boat. Check Luke out below as he tests the waters in the latest episode of LBTV.

Billy Currington is getting ready to hit stores with his brand new album, We Are Tonight, on September 17th. The collection features his hit single, “Hey Girl,” as well as the title track and “Hard to Be a Hippie” with special guest Willie Nelson. You can pre-order the collection now at iTunes–click here for more information.

In the meantime, check out the making of the album below.

Nashville, TN – Aug. 29, 2013 – Multi-Platinum singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley is gearing up for his eighth annual Miles & Music for Kids celebrity motorcycle ride and concert, taking place Sunday, November 3rd in Nashville. The event, which benefits Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, will feature special guests Jake Owen and Easton Corbin.

Presale tickets are available beginning Wednesday, September 4th on www.dierks.com and general public tickets go on sale Friday, September 6th, at 10am CT through Ticketmaster. 

“This is honestly the most fun day of my year, and it brings the whole community together for a great cause,” said Bentley. “We got rained out last year for the first time, so I want to make up for it in a big way. The lineup is going to be killer, and it’ll be a fun way to kick off a big week that celebrates country music with the CMA Awards just a few days later.”

Since first hitting the pavement in 2006, Bentley has visited seven cities to raise over $2 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals across the country. This year’s annual event will begin at the Harley Davidson of Columbia (1616 Harley Davidson Blvd., Columbia, TN) for an hour-long ride that ends downtown at Nashville’s Riverfront Park. From Riverfront, Bentley will take the stage for a family-friendly day of music with a lineup that will continue to grow as the event approaches.   

Fans can purchase a combo ticket for the ride and concert for $50 or individual concert tickets for $30. Special VIP packages are also available. All proceeds from the event will benefit Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. For more ticket info, visit www.dierks.com.  

About Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt:
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, a freestanding hospital dedicated to serving only children, is nationally recognized as a leading provider of pediatric health care services. Experts treat and work to prevent all health issues ranging from common childhood conditions to serious, advanced diseases. Featuring Centers of Excellence for the treatment of diabetes and congenital heart disorders, Children’s Hospital also operates the region’s only level 1 pediatric trauma unit and a neonatal intensive care unit with the highest designated level of care. In addition, Children’s Hospital is a top-level teaching and research facility. No child is denied care on basis of limited ability to pay.

Dierks (Motorcycle) OC: …great feeling. :22
“You know, for me, like on the road, it’s funny. You’re on the road, then you get off the road and the first thing I want to do is get on a motorcycle and go back out on the road. But it’s a totally different feeling to be like a few feet off the asphalt and be all alone. It’s kind of a modern-day version of being an outlaw on a horse. You’re on a motorcycle, you’re alone and all you’ve got with you is the bare necessities. And really just being on the bike and being out there by yourself is a great feeling.”

Keith Urban has been tapped to perform during NBC’s Today Show Summer Concert Series September 10th – the same day his album, Fuse, arrives in stores.

Keith Urban has launched a new fan club, called The ‘Ville. Members will get first access to tickets for the superstar’s Light the Fuse Tour, as well as a chance to meet Keith backstage at the show.

Don’t forget to catch the new GAC special, Introducing: Kip Moore on Sunday (September 1st) at 11:30pm ET. The show offers a rare, intimate glimpse into his life and career and is chronicled by his best friend. Moore, his manager, producer and best friend weigh in on the journey that has taken him from unemployed Hawaiian surfer to platinum-selling rising country star with three consecutive No. 1 hits off of his debut album. The special re-airs Monday (September 2nd) at 3:30am ET and Tuesday (September 3rd) at 8pm ET.

Luke Bryan and Darius Rucker are among the artists appearing during the 48th Annual MDA Labor Day Telethon this weekend. The annual show will also feature appearances by Backstreet Boys, Lee Ann Womack, Kenny Loggins, Enrique Iglesias, Paula Abdul, Ryan Seacrest and many more. The telethon will air Sunday (September 1st) at 9pm ET on ABC.

Eric Paslay will hit the road with his buddies, Eli Young Band, on their Drunk Last Night Tour kicking off October 3rd in Kansas City, Missouri, and running through the end of the year.

Nashville, TN (August 29, 2013) – Last night, nearly 700 guests were treated to a very special evening honoring George Strait at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Invited guests were music industry professionals, George’s family and friends, as well as songwriters from all of Strait’s No.1 singles, and all members of every past and present MCA Nashville promotion team. The event, hosted by Lon Helton, publisher of Country Aircheck and host of Country Countdown USA, highlighted George’s long list of tremendous accomplishments and acknowledged a career that is far from over.

The celebration opened with recognition of all of Strait’s No.1 hits, including “Give It All We Got Tonight,” the most recent history-making 60^th No.1 single, a feat no artist except Strait has come close to achieving.

An “in the round” acoustic performance of some of George’s biggest hits followed, performed by Jim Lauderdale, Tim James, Phil O’Donnell and Dean Dillon – songwriters who have been mainstays within Strait’s song catalogue throughout his career.

Next in the program were remarks of Strait’s incomparable touring achievements through the years by longtime tour promoter Louis Messina, President of the Messina Group. Messina noted the emotional impact for the Country genre as Strait prepares to embark on the final leg of his record-breaking U.S. tour, The Cowboy Rides Away Tour. Since 1999, as a headline act, George has sold close to five million tickets for a gross of over $300 million, and currently holds attendance records in 19 of the largest arenas/stadiums in the country.  In November, Billboard Magazine will honor Strait with their Legend of Live Award at the Billboard Touring Awards in New York City, making him the first-ever country music singer to receive the award.

There were two people who were not present but sent messages to pay their respects to King George— a letter from his friend George Bush Sr., as well as a special congratulatory video from Merle Haggard, George’s hero. 

The big announcement of the night came from Mike Dungan, Chairman and CEO of UMG Nashville, who revealed that George and MCA Nashville are extending their recording contract for five additional albums. 

“George Strait— the artist, the performer, the personality, the man— simply defines Country music, yesterday, today, and tomorrow,” remarked Dungan.  “I can’t tell you what a pleasure and a privilege it is to work with this artist, and what an honor it is to represent the man and the music.  We know the best is yet to come.” 

George has called only MCA Nashville home for 32 years, since he signed on the dotted line back in February of 1981, and created a partnership that would change the course of Country music forever. In his career, Strait has released an outstanding 40 studio albums on MCA Nashville, including his most recent May 2013 release, Love Is Everything. 

“It seems like yesterday I signed with MCA.  I was homeless, so to speak, back then, as far as the music business goes and MCA gave me a home,” said Strait.  “I’ll always appreciate that.  I still have a home, and I’m looking forward to a whole lot more.”

The evening concluded with a performance by George, who played some of his biggest hits: “Troubadour,” “Amarillo By Morning,” and “The Chair” with his Ace In The Hole band. 

The final song of the night was Strait’s current single “I Believe,” a song he wrote with his son, Bubba, and Dean Dillon after learning about the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT last December.  Joining him on stage were some very special guests— a children’s choir from Eakin Elementary School. The school is a beneficiary of “Keep the Music Playing,” CMA’s music education program which has donated more than $7.6 million and purchased more than 5,000 instruments for Metro Nashville Public Schools since 2006. The song was arranged for the choir by Strait’s longtime producer and friend, Tony Brown, who rehearsed with the children at their school last week.

George Strait (music) OC: …gonna do. :19
“I still really enjoy singing, and that’s really who I am. I love to fish and I love to do all these other things, but my love has been and still is country music and singing. So, as long as I can keep doing it, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party remains at the top of the album chart, thwarting John Mayer’s new release, Paradise Valley, which landed at No. 2. Crash My Party sold 159,000 copies this week to remain at No. 1 on both the Country and Billboard 200 albums charts.

Luke’s new offering debuted at No. 1 with more than 527,000 sales last week, making it the third fastest selling album of 2013, behind Justin Timberlake The 20/20 Experience (968,000) and Jay-Z Magna Carta Holy Grail (528,000).

Luke is currently vaulting up the country charts with his latest single, “That’s My Kind of Night.”

Luke Bryan (hopes for fans for CMP) OC: …my albums. 1:07
“When the fans are listening to the album, I want them to be smiling and getting ready to hear me do them live and be out on the lake jamming to them. And then I want them to be – nothing is more surreal than when a fan comes up to you and says ‘We played your song at a funeral,’ or ‘your song got me and my husband through a tough time and it kind of got us back going.’  So, I just want my fans to live with it and enjoy it and enjoy each track as how it pertains to their life and what they’re dealing with and what they’re not dealing with. The main thing is just get out there and live with it and enjoy it and let them understand that hey they’ve got a voice, and I’m the voice and I’ve been there with them and still there with them in a lot of ways and what I’m trying to record and sing is honest as I can be. No matter how big or small I get as an artist, there’s still an underlying theme of country that I hope it always shines through and is undeniable in my albums.”

Alan Jackson performed a special concert in Nashville Tuesday night (August 27th) at the Station Inn.

Excited fans started camping out Sunday just for a chance to get in the door. Tickets went on sale Monday. About 175 lucky people packed into the small venue for the performance,” reports Nashville’s NewsChannel5.

Tuesday night’s show was all about the Bluegrass music for Jackson. He performed songs off his soon-to-be released “Bluegrass Album.”

Jackson wrote eight out of the 14 songs on the album which is scheduled to be released September 24th.

Nashville, TN (August 27, 2013) —Scotty McCreery has announced the title of his highly anticipated sophomore album, See You Tonight, which will be in stores on October 15th.

McCreery gradually revealed the cover of the album yesterday on www.scottymccreery.comby challenging fans to uncover the image by sharing the page on Twitter and Facebook. Fans who participated in the challenge also have the opportunity to win a special flyaway package to an album launch event in New York. 

See You Tonight is produced by Frank Rogers (Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker) and features several tracks co-written by McCreery, including the album’s title track, which is also his current single. This is the first album where McCreery had a hand in writing some of the songs.

“This album is a big step from where we were. I have been writing for a long time now, since I was a kid, but these are the first songs I’ve had a chance to record and release to the public and I’m excited,” says McCreery. “I was lucky to have my first single off the record be one that I co-wrote.  I am excited about letting folks hear it. We have been working on this for the better part of a year now, so it’s a long time coming.”

“I grew up loving old-school country, and you’ll hear those things come out on this record,” he continues. “You will hear the contemporary country, but you will always hear the steel guitar and fiddle and those little nuances that make the older country what it was. I definitely am trying to stay true to my tastes as an artist on this album.”

See You Tonight is the follow up to McCreery’s Platinum-selling album Clear As Day, which topped the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country charts, earning him a spot in the Guinness World Records Book for being the youngest male in history to score a #1 album on the all-genre chart with a debut release. Clear As Day also garnered the highest sales of any country solo album released that year, and held the # 1 spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for six weeks. To date, McCreery has sold over 1.6 million albums in two years. The Garner, NC native has also earned both a Platinum and Gold album as well as two Gold Singles.

McCreery has been staying busy on the road with his first headline tour, The Weekend Roadtrip Tour 2013, which will continue to make stops around the country through the rest of the year.

See You Tonight Track Listing:

1.         NOW – Written by Scotty McCreery, busbee and Frank Rogers
2.         SEE YOU TONIGHT  – Written by Scotty McCreery, Ashley Gorley and Zach Crowell
3.         GET GONE WITH YOU – Written by Ross Copperman, Lynn Hutton and Tammi Kidd Hutton
4.         FEELIN’ IT -Written by Frank Rogers and Matthew West
5.         FEEL GOOD SUMMER SONG -Written by J. T. Harding, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne
6.         BUZZIN’ -Written by busbee and Frank Rogers
7.         CAN YOU FEEL IT -Written by Scotty McCreery, Ashley Gorley and Zach Crowell
8.         THE DASH  -Written by Kyle Jacobs and Preston Brust
9.         BLUE JEAN BABY -Written by Matt Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and Matt Jenkins
10.       FORGET TO FORGET YOU -Written by Casey Beathard and Michael Dulaney
11.       I DON’T WANNA BE YOUR FRIEND -Written by Scotty McCreery, Frank Rogers and David Fanning
12.       CAROLINA MOON -Written by Jon Randall Stewart and Ronnie Stewart
13.       SOMETHING MORE -Written by Scotty McCreery and Frank Rogers

For more information, be sure to visit www.scottymccreery.com.  

Scotty McCreery (recording songs) OC: …about me. :12
“I wouldn’t cut a song that wasn’t me. That’s what I wanted to accomplish on this album — do something and create something that really showed who I am as a person and I think every single song on this album speaks to a little bit about me.”