NASHVILLE, TN – March 16, 2012 – Luke Bryan’s career continues to heat up as he performed for a total of 80,000 fans in two shows in Panama City Beach, Florida earlier this week in promotion of his new EP release, “Spring Break 4…Suntan City.”  Concert goers attended the fourth annual performances at Spinnaker’s and the local sheriff’s office confirmed the crowd attendance with a helicopter fly-over, showing spring breakers spilling over from the stage area outside the club onto the beach.

Eric Church is selling out shows left and right on his first arena headlining trek, Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour. In fact, with the news that is May 19^th performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado has sold out, Church has officially sold out 21 shows! “I’m blown away,” says Eric. “It’s like all of a sudden in the last six months, we’ve had so many things happen that we’ve been waiting on for a long time. It’s like it’s happened all at once. But when you put out a record or when you put a tour on sale, you never really know. It’s a leap of faith. And we’ve always really trusted our fans to be there for us, and especially in this case, it’s far exceeding the expectations I had for ticket sales!” The trek kicked off in Fort Smith, Arkansas on January 19th, and will continue to crisscross the country.

Eric just released “Springsteen,” the third single from his gold-certified album Chief, and the fastest-rising single of his to date; the song is already Top 20!

Eric will perform “Springsteen” when he appears on NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Monday (March 19th).

AUDIO: Eric Church says his Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour has exceeded all expectations.

Eric Church (Beers tour exceeding expectations) OC: …right now. :28

“I’m blown away. This whole year, you know, since Chief, has come out – I’ve been doing this a while – to have it all kinda, I don’t know, it’s like all of a sudden in the last six months, we’ve had so many things happen that we’ve been waiting on for a long time. It’s like it’s happened all at once. But when you put out a record or when you put a tour on sale, you never really know. It’s a leap of faith. And we’ve always really trusted our fans to be there for us, and especially in this case. It’s far exceeding the expectations I had for ticket sales, and it’s just crazy right now.”

From WTVR (Richmond, Virginia’s NBC-TV affiliate):

MINERAL, Va. (WTVR) – The town of Mineral has announced details of a concert country music star Alan Jackson promised to perform.

The mayor of Mineral, Pam Harlowe, said the concert will take place Sunday, May 20th at 8pm in the Louisa County High School parking lot.

Harlowe said not all of the 6,000 available tickets will be free and that the county will sell some of them to raise money.

Even though Jackson waived his fee, Harlowe said the county still needs to raise $200,000 for other expenses. They’re trying to accomplish this by getting companies and businesses to sponsor the event.

Harlowe said that any profits made from the concert will go to rebuilding and other small projects to help repair earthquake damage in the county.

Additionally, no alcohol will be allowed at the concert since it will be on school grounds.

There were no details available on when or how the tickets will be distributed.

Last year, Mineral won an online contest to be the site of a free Jackson concert — Mineral received more than 31,000 votes in the competition sponsored by eventful.com. Kansas City was in second place and Minot, N.D., was third.

The town rallied to win the concert following an August earthquake that did millions of dollars in damage to home and buildings in Louisa County.

The video for Keith Urban’s “For You” had a lot going on – scenes from the film, Act of Valor, performances and explosions!! In the clip, Keith and his band are in a desert performing the song he wrote for the film’s soundtrack, and at cool, key moments, explosions go off behind them and in front of them. So, we asked if he felt any shrapnel raining down on him during the making of the video. “I think my drummer got a little bit of [shrapnel] every now and then,” recalls Keith. “And actually, I think in the video there’s one scene where they go off, and you can see my drummer’s head go forward a little bit…it’s so loud. Those things going off is just insanely loud and stuff goes everywhere.” Keith and his band were never in any real danger, however. “They were set a long way back from us, but there’s a lot of force going on.”

• Keith performed at the Grand Ole Opry over the weekend, and then zipped back to Australia to continue his role as coach on the Down Under version of The Voice. He’ll pair up teams for the battle round of the popular show.

AUDIO: Keith Urban talks about the music video for his Act of Valor song, “For You.”

Keith Urban (For You video) OC: …force going on. :24

“I think my drummer got a little bit of [shrapnel] every now and then. And actually, I think in the video there’s one scene where they go off, and you can see my drummer’s head go forward a little bit…it’s so loud. Those things going off is just insanely loud and stuff goes everywhere. They were set a long way back from us, but there’s a lot of force going on.”

Lady Antebellum are spending another week at the top of the country album chart. Their latest collection, Own the Night, sold another 108,000 copies to hold their No. 1 spot on the country chart and at No. 4 on the overall Billboard Top 200 chart. Rounding out the Top 3 are Luke Bryan’s Spring Break 4…Suntan City at No. 2, followed by Luke’s tailgates & tanlines in third place.

• Own the Night includes their previous No. 1 hits, “Just a Kiss” and “We Owned the Night,” as well as their latest Top 10 smash, “Dancin’ Away With My Heart.”
• Lady A have just been announced as one of the performers at this year’s ACM Awards. The band has five nominations, including Vocal Group, Album of the Year (as artists and producers) for Own the Night, as well as Song and Video of the Year for “Just a Kiss.” The 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, April 1st at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.
• Lady A have also been tapped to perform during the special concert honoring Lionel Richie the day following the ACM Awards. The trio will join an all-star lineup, which also includes Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride and more for the ACM Presents: Lionel Richie & Friends Concert on April 2nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

AUDIO: Lady A’s Charles Kelley says the band writes songs about their experiences and real life.

Lady A (write what we know) OC: …relate to, you know? :09

“We just write about what we know, you know. We don’t know much about changing the world or politics, so we stick to love songs. And I think it’s stuff everybody can relate to, you know?”

It’s no secret that out on the road, Lady A is always writing and playing music together. And in today’s webisode they’re giving you a behind the scenes look into their Dressing Room Jams. Today’s choice, their own twist on the hit song Good Life.

courtesy of thecountryvibe.com:

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman recently attended the Kuwait-America Foundation gala in Washington D.C. where Nicole received the humanitarian award for her work as a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations UN Women.  In the Washington Post’s reporting of the event, what struck them the most was how genuinely happy and in love Keith and Nicole seemed to be.  They noted that although the couple was out of the glare of the spotlight and there weren’t a bunch of cameras pointed at them they were affectionate and attentive to one another.  Our favorite part of the article was the description of Nicole and Keith.  “In person, she’s pretty much what you expect — tall, elegant, reserved. Urban was the one who had everyone uttering the word, “adorable”: A head shorter, cute as a button and chatty with everyone who approached.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

ERIC CHURCH FANS TAKE THE BLOOD, SWEAT & BEERS TOUR TO NEW HEIGHTS

May 19 Show at Legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO is a Sell-Out Totaling 21 Sold-Out Shows To-Date

Church Returns to NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Monday, March 19

NASHVILLE, Tenn.– Multi-ACM and GRAMMY-nominated country arena headliner Eric Church will take The Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour under the blood red sky approximately 6,450 feet above sea level to perform at the infamous open-air Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Morrison, CO) for a sold-out crowd on May 19. This marks his twenty-first sold-out show on the tour, including his performance in New York City on Wednesday, March 14 at Hammerstein Ballroom. “It’s so surreal. I don’t know what the hell happened in a year and a half post-CHIEF [current RIAA Gold-certified album], but it’s great. My fans have a passion for this music, I have a passion for it and we’ve both believed in it, and this is what has happened,” Church told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer in a recent interview.

He will also perform on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in support of his current single  “Springsteen,” on Monday, March 19. The song is currently No. 20 on the Country Billboard chart after just six weeks — by far his fastest-rising radio single to-date.

The Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour, which kicked off on January 19 in Fort Smith, AR, is Church’s first-ever headlining arena tour, a giant step up since performing in rock bars just a year ago to roughly 2,000 fans on a good night. Now, Church’s shows average 7,500 tickets sold.

Scott McLennan of The Boston Globe assumed the role of one of those fans at the Tsongas Center March 2 and remembers, “Church began with ‘Country Music Jesus,’ and 90 minutes later it seemed that country’s savior wears a ball cap and mirrored shades, not a cowboy hat.” Jim Harrington of the Oakland Tribune adds, “Arguably the hottest artist in country music these days.”

The show at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre follows a jam-packed spring tour schedule including stops in Tallahassee, FL, Las Vegas, NV, Columbus, OH, Lexington, KY,  Nashville, TN and more. VIP Packages that include an intimate backstage performance and meet-and-greet are also available for purchase on the site. Fans can also become a member of the Church Choir fan club to become eligible for exclusive news and prizes here: www.EricChurch.com/join.

The Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour Upcoming Dates:

3/14 | New York, NY | Hammerstein Ballroom

3/15 | Binghamton, NY | Broome County Arena

3/16 | Reading, PA | Sovereign Center

3/17 | Atlantic City, NJ | Etness Arena

3/22 | Estero, FL | Germain Arena

3/23 | Orlando, FL | UCF Arena

3/24 | Tallahassee, FL | Tallahassee Civic Center

3/31 | Las Vegas, NV | Freemont Street (ACM Awards)

4/12 | Tupelo, MS | BancorpSouth Arena

4/13 | Bossier City, LA | Centurylink Center

4/14 | Auburn, AL | Alpha Psi Rodeo

4/19 | Evansville, IN | Ford Center

4/20 | St. Louis, MO | Chaifetz Arena

4/21 | Pikeville, KY | Eastern Kentucky Expo Center

4/26 | Columbus, OH | Nationwide Arena

4/27 | Lexington, KY | Rupp Arena

4/28 | Bloomington, IL | US Cellular Coliseum

5/3 | Springfield, MO | JQH Arena

5/5 | Nashville, TN | Bridgestone Arena

5/10 | Toledo, OH | Huntington Center

5/11 | Hoffman Estates, IL | Sears Centre

5/12 | Youngstown, OH | Covelli Center

5/17 | Minneapolis, MN | Target Center

5/18 | Topeka, KS | Landon Arena

5/19 | Morrison, CO | Red Rocks Amphitheatre

5/26 | Baton Rouge, LA | Bayou Country Superfest

6/1 | Buffalo, NY | Coca Cola Field

6/9 | Chattanooga, TN | Riverbend Music Festival

6/9 | Nashville, TN | CMA Music Festival at LP Field

6/10 | Sparta, IL | World Shooting and Recreation

6/14 | Enterprise, AL | Bamajam

6/23 | Atlantic City, NJ | Metallica’s Orion Festival

6/30 | Bluefield, WV | Mitchell Stadium