Keith Urban celebrated the recent two-week No. 1 success of his most recent single, “You Gonna Fly,” with a party at a local Nashville eatery on Wednesday (April 11th). The tune is his 14th chart-topper, and it was written by the LoCash Cowboys‘ Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, as well as pal Jaren Johnston — all three were enjoying their first No. 1 song.

The writers comedically recalled meeting Keith, and they presented him with a 24-karat gold whistle (download audio below) to commemorate the “best use of a whistle in a song.” Keith took to the mic to thank the duo for allowing him to record their song and to thank others involved in helping him climb to No. 1 in just 19 weeks — one of the fastest-rising singles of his career.

Now, Keith is starting to hit the airwaves with his latest single, “For You,” which he originally wrote and recorded for the Act of Valor fim soundtrack.

Last night, Lady A performed at All For The Hall with Keith Urban, Vince Gill and many other great country artists to support The Country Music Hall of Fame. It was an amazing night of music and support in Nashville. Watch all the highlights from the show and performances in today’s webisode below

Little Big Town will perform a pair of songs at Tuesday night’s (April 10th) All for the Hall benefit, with backup guitarist and show host, Keith Urban as well as co-host, Vince Gill. One is a new song, ‘Front Porch Thing,’ from their upcoming album, due out later this fall, while the other song will be ‘Boondocks,’ a song Keith showcased during his Get Closer World Tour. Check out the Associated Press‘ coverage of rehearsals below…at the end, you’ll see another hit group rehearsing for the show.

Little Big Town are among the bands taking the stage for Tuesday night’s All for the Hall benefit, hosted by Keith Urban and Vince Gill. Proceeds from the show will go to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, which has a special place in the heart of LBT’s Kimberly Schlapman. “When I was 14 we took a family trip and came up to the Hall of Fame which was down here on Demonbreun. And it’s one of the family trips in my whole life that stands out the most. I know what I wore and everything,” explains Kimberly. “It was just so special and so important, and of course, at 14 I had no idea what my life would bring. But country music is important, not only to our community, but to families all over our country who want to see what Nashville is all about.” 

• The event, officially titled All Together Now: Groups Give Their All for the Hall, will also feature performances by Alabama, Lady Antebellum, Diamond Rio, Exile, The Oak Ridge Boys, Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry, Pistol Annies and Thompson Square, among others.
• Little Big Town have finished their upcoming album, featuring their new single, “Pontoon,” which will be released April 30th.

AUDIO: Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman talks about why the Country Music Hall of Fame is so important to her and the rest of the band. 

LBT (Country Music Hall of Fame) OC: …all about. :33

“I think the Country Music Hall of Fame is so important to the whole world of country music. When I was 14 we took a family trip and came up to the Hall of Fame which was down here on Demonbreun. And it’s one of the family trips in my whole life that stands out the most. I know what I wore and everything. It was just so special and so important, and of course, at 14 I had no idea what my life would bring. But country music is important, not only to our community, but to families all over our country who want to see what Nashville is all about.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  (April 9, 2012)  Country music superstar Alan Jackson will release his much anticipated album Thirty Miles West on June 5.  It is his debut album on ACR (Alan’s Country Records)/EMI Records Nashville and is produced by long-time producer and friend, Keith Stegall.  Jackson’s current single from the album is “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore.” 

When asked about the unique album title Jackson responds, “There’s this highway that’s been in existence for forever now – it’s called the Dixie Highway and it runs from north of Michigan all the way down to South Florida, and I wrote a song about it that’s on the album. I grew up on Highway 34 outside of Newnan, Georgia, and that’s where we came up with Thirty Miles West. I think we were about thirty miles west of the official part of the Dixie Highway that runs through Georgia.”

 About Alan Jackson

Alan Jackson is one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music.  He is in the elite company of Paul McCartney and John Lennon among songwriters who’ve written more than 20 songs that they’ve recorded and taken to the top of the charts.  Jackson is one of the 10 best-selling artists since the inception of SoundScan, ranking alongside the likes of Eminem and Metallica.  

Jackson has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide, topped the country singles charts 35 times, and scored more than 50 Top-10 hits.  He has written or co-written 25 of his 35 #1 hit singles.  Jackson is a 17-time ACM Award winner, a 16-time CMA Award recipient, and a two-time Grammy-winning artist whose songwriting has earned him the prestigious ASCAP Founders Award and an induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as a 2011 Songwriter/Artist inductee. 

Last week, at the 47^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, Keith Urban debuted “For You”, his song written specifically for the #1 motion picture Act Of Valor. His performance of the song, which concluded with an emotional and rousing standing ovation, paid tribute to our Navy SEALS.  “For You” co-written with Monty Powell and played during the closing credits of the film, will be released today.  It will be the follow up to “You Gonna Fly”, Keith’s third consecutive #1 (“Without You” and “Long Hot Summer”) from his latest CD Get Closer.  (“For You” appears on the Act Of Valor Soundtrack.)

“I felt so privileged and honored to have been given the opportunity to be a part of Act Of Valor and to shine a different kind of light on the work that the SEALS do,” said Urban. 

Urban will donate all of his artist and publishing royalty’s to the Navy SEAL Foundation (http://nswfoundation.org/) which serves to support SEAL families and their parent commands by easing financial burdens, establishing support networks, and funding command sponsored activities. “For You” can be purchased through Urban’s website (www.keithurban.net) and on iTunes and Amazon.   

Urban said previously of “For You”, “I loved the challenge of writing for a film. I’ve never done that before. After seeing Act of Valor, my co-writer (Monty Powell) and I wanted to capture the essence of not only what these men and women do so extraordinarily, but how that relates to all of us. ‘Valor’ shows us what they are willing to give their all for, which made me wonder, ‘what am I willing to give my life for?’ ‘For You’ is intended to allow the listener to define who that is for them.” 

Urban’s third annual “We’re All for the Hall” benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will take place on Tuesday (April 10^th) at The Bridgestone Arena. It will feature performances from Urban, Vince Gill and some of the most popular and best loved bands in country music including Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum, The Band Perry, Little Big Town, Thompson Square, Miranda Lambert’s trio Pistol Annies, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Alabama, The Oak Ridge Boys, Exile, Diamond Rio, and Blue Sky Riders (Kenny Loggins and Nashville songwriters Gary Burry and Georgia Middleman).  

For more official Keith Urban news and information go to KeithUrban.net. To see the official music video for “For You” click here.

Little Big Town are gearing up to hit the road with Rascal Flatts for the Changed Tour in June. The band had dinner with member Jay DeMarcus while in Las Vegas for the ACM Awards earlier this month and talked about what they’re looking forward to on tour. One topic was music, with both bands having new albums (Rascal Flatts’ Changed hit stores last week, while LBT’s new album will be released this fall). The other topic was what might happen backstage when the groups hit the road this summer. “I think we quoted almost every line of Anchorman, because I guess they love it as much as we do,” says LBT’s Karen Fairchild. “We talked about having an Anchorman party backstage one night and big plasma TVs and margaritas.” 

• The Changed tour is set to kick off June 15th in Hartford, Connecticut and hit numerous cities before it wraps October 27th in West Palm Beach, Florida. In addition to Rascal Flatts and Little Big Town, the trek will also feature the Eli Young Band and Eden’s Edge.  

AUDIO: Little Big Town talk about what could take place backstage when they hit the road with Rascal Flatts. 

LBT (Anchorman party) OC: (Karen) …it’ll be fun. :30

KAREN: “I think we quoted almost every line of Anchorman, because I guess they love it as much as we do.” KIMBERLY: “There’s a sequel coming.” JIMI: “Yes, there is a sequel coming.” KAREN: “We talked about having an Anchorman party backstage one night and big plasma TVs and margaritas and you know the Little Big Town ‘Ritas. So, we were just laughing about that, and we did talk about music of course, ‘cause their record comes out and then ours, so he was wanting to know – we were eating dinner with Jay [DeMarcus] — and he was wanting to know about our record, so it’ll be fun.”

This week’s Urban Developments takes you backstage for Keith Urban‘s soundcheck at the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards where he performed his new single, ‘For You,’ from the Act of Valor soundtrack.

Eric Church’s latest single, “Springsteen,” has hit the Top 15 on the country charts, and the song has a personal connection for the singer-songwriter. “I was 16-years-old [at] this first concert I went to with a girl in a group as my date. We sat up on the lawn, you know, we had a blanket and all that stuff,” recalls Eric. “The interesting thing is I remember the relationship lasting maybe two weeks, and to this day when I hear that music, I still think of her, and I wonder if she still thinks of me, you know, because that artist became the soundtrack to our relationship as short as it was.” 

Eric is certainly performing his hit single during his Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour; next stop is Thursday (April 12th) in Tupelo, Mississippi. 

AUDIO: Eric Church says he has been the guy he sings about in his latest single, “Springsteen.”

Eric Church (Springsteen personal) OC: …that regard. :29

“I had that happen. I was 16-years-old this first concert I went to with a girl in a group as my date. We sat up on the lawn, you know, we had a blanket and all that stuff. The interesting thing is I remember the relationship lasting maybe two weeks, and to this day when I hear that music, I still think of her, and I wonder if she still thinks of me, you know, because that artist became the soundtrack to our relationship as short as it was. And I just love the power of music in that regard.”