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

Luke Bryan enjoyed many of his Spring Breaks in Panama City Beach when he was in high school and college, and today (Tuesday) marks his fourth trip to PCB to perform the first of two free shows at the Spinnaker Beach Club in support of his latest Spring Break EP, Suntan City. While young folks flock to the beach to catch country music’s latest superstar in action, it was a whole different time when the Georgia native and his buddies headed south a few years ago. “My Spring Breaks in high school, we’d hide beer in the woods, and we’d hid it under an old oak stump for a month and roll out to Panama City with a toolbox full of some old skunk-y beer after it had been sitting out in the woods for a month,” recalls Luke. “One of my buddies, I’ll leave all the names out, he got us banned from all of Thomas Drive down in Panama City. He threw a couple TVs out of the hotel room. If it wasn’t bolted down, he relieved it from the room. We had a great time Somehow we survived it.”

Luke is currently shooting up the country charts with his latest single, “Drunk on You,” the third single from his album, tailgates & tanlines.

AUDIO: Luke Bryan describes his high school Spring Break adventures.

Luke Bryan (Spring Break in high school) OC: …survived it. :43

“My Spring Breaks in high school, we’d hide beer in the woods, and we’d hid it under an old oak stump for a month and roll out to Panama City with a toolbox full of some old skunk-y beer after it had been sitting out in the woods for a month. We took it down to Panama City, and…one of my buddies – I’ll leave all the names out of it – he got us banned from all of Thomas Drive down in Panama City.. He threw a couple TVs out of the hotel room. Basically, if it wasn’t bolted down, he relieved it from the room. We had a great time, though. It was all a part of being a kid, all a part of growing up – kind of drinking and partying for the first time. And we, somehow we survived it.”

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about the creative freedom of making his Spring Break albums.

Luke Bryan (Spring Break album) OC: …creatively. :42

“This whole Spring Break album, I just started writing music without parameters that kind of controls with. But with Spring Break, if we wanna drop a little cuss word in there or something, we don’t sweat it, and that frees us up more creatively to where we don’t get too bound by what’s goin’ on when we’re in the writing room. My whole idea is that 10 years down the road, you know, we’ve done 10 Spring Break albums and two or three of those Spring Break songs went on to become big hits that were kind of quirky songs that were spawned from it, then this whole ride has been a success. It’s fun putting the songs out, so it’s a fun little thing to kind of free yourself up creatively.”

Lady Antebellum have been added to the growing list of performers at this year’s ACM Awards. They are joined by Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, Chris Young and The Band Perry. Previously announced performers include Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert and Tim McGraw. The 47^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Blake and Reba, will air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, April 1st at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Nashville, TN – March 12, 2012 – Multi-Platinum singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley scored his ninth career No. 1 hit today as the anthemic “Home” takes the top spot on both the Billboard and Mediabase charts. The title track off Bentley’s No. o1 album is also currently nominated for Song of the Year at the 47th Annual ACM Awards set to air April 1 on CBS at 8:00P ET.

“It’s been so cool to see fans reacting to this song on the road…the idea of ‘Home’ and what that means to different people has been really inspiring,” said Bentley from tour in Australia.  “I’m really proud to have written this song with my friends Brett Beavers and Dan Wilson, and it’s extra special for me personally to be part of Dan’s first No. one hit on the country charts!”
 
Early on, the track received critical acclaim from outlets like National Public Radio and earned Bentley an invitation to perform at The White House last fall.  Its universal message has resonated with fans in Canada where “Home” spent multiple weeks at No. one.  The poignant lyrics also prompted a partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project around Bentley’s tour dates, and inspired Ellen DeGeneres to team up with Bentley to surprise an active military family with $50,000 on her show.
 
“It’s a rarity in country music — a song about America that manages to be clear-eyed and unsentimental, while remaining deeply patriotic and moving.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
 
“The title tune undergirds images of the USA that unify rather than divide with acoustic guitar, bell sounds, sonorous piano chords and Edge-like guitar patterns.” – USA Today
 
“The title track – his own – is a patriotic heart-warmer that bucks the expected flag-waving to embrace the strength of our country’s differences.” – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
“Cinematic in its scope and unifying in its message, the secondsingle from Dierks’ forthcoming album succeeds at the difficult task of being patriotic without being overtly flag-waving. It is an anthem in the truest sense, full of chiming guitars and soaring choruses.”  – Country Weekly
 
Bentley is currently touring Australia on his 2012 Country & ColdCans Tour and will return to the states for its 20-city spring run beginning next month. For more a full list of upcoming tour dates and appearances, visit www.dierks.com.

Dierks Bentley’s “Home” has climbed to the top of both the Mediabase/Country Aircheck and Billboard country singles charts. Dierks wrote the song with pal Brett Beavers and new collaborator, Dan Wilson, and he said going into the writing session, they didn’t have a clue about what to write. When he had to leave for a brief time to assist his wife with a car issue, he came back and found that the other two had come up with a beautiful melody. However, when Dan suggested a patriotic song, Dierks was a bit apprehensive, but he soon changed his mind. “Dan had said something about America. He kept thinking, ‘This song feels like America,’” recalls Dierks. “And I was like, ‘Aw man, writing a patriotic song is so difficult. Let’s not do that. Those songs are too hard to write.’ Brett said something about ‘Home,’ and then I think I said something like, ‘the place we all call home.’ Maybe we could write a song about America that’s not overly in your face about it, you know, something that everyone could grab a hold of and feel inspired by.”

“Home” is the second single from Dierks’ latest album of the same name to hit the top of the charts. The previous single, “Am I The Only One,” also hit No. 1.

“Home” is nominated for “Song of the Year” at next month’s ACM Awards.

Dierks Bentley (writing Home) OC: …runs out, you know? :21

“You know, I wrote about 70 songs last year, and I feel like that’s one of those songs, those moments that you can’t calculate it. I came into that writing meeting with nothing. Brett [Beavers] had nothing. Dan Wilson had nothing. We were going to write for two days, so we figured that first day, let’s get to know each other and see what’s going on. I was kind of out of ideas. I mean, it’s hard to write that much throughout an entire year and listen to that many songs. The stockpile runs out, you know?”

Dierks Bentley (writing Home) 2 OC: …with this song. 1:06

“[So] we were hanging out for about an hour, getting to know each other, and my wife called, battery’s dead. Typical — that car of hers. I went over and jumped her car, came back over, and Brett and Dan had started this melody, and I thought it was beautiful. Dan had said something about America. He kept thinking, ‘This song feels like America.’ And I was like, ‘Aw man, writing a patriotic song is so difficult. Let’s not do that. Those songs are too hard to write.’ Brett said something about ‘Home,’ and then I think I said something like, ‘the place we all call home.’ Maybe we could write a song about America that’s not overly in your face about it, you know, something that everyone could grab a hold of and feel inspired by. The recession was in full board at this point a year ago, the political nature of this country was as bad as it’s ever been with, basically, Washington D.C. being turned into a football game between two sides and not caring about the fans, the voters, the public at all, just their own internal thing going on there. It’s about now, but it’s a little bit of a history lesson too about what we’ve been through. And at the end of the day, I think it’s inspiring and hopeful, and it’s been a real blessing of a song and one that none of us really could take too much credit for, just inspiration hit. You write that many songs over the course of a year, you might get one of those moments, and we got one with this song.”

Capitol Nashville’s Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan have been announced as the main headliners for the 2012 Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival, which takes place in Nashville at 10 different hotspots, March 27th – 31st. EMI NAshville’s Eric Paslay will perform at The Hard Rock Cafe with Rivers Rutherford and Radney Foster. Other notable songwriters, including Jimmy Webb, Natalie Hemby and Josh Kear, are also scheduled to take part in the event, sponsored by the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Eric Church has been added to the lineup on Metallica’s Orion Music & More concert event, June 23rd and June 24th. Also performing will be The Black Angels, Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold, Suicidal Tendencies and Modest Mouse.

Eric Church, who shot scenes for the music video of his latest single, “Springsteen,” last week,  will also take part in BamaJam 2012, taking place June 14th – June 16th in Enterprise, Alabama. Previously announced performers include Kid Rock, Tim McGraw and the Zac Brown Band.

Darius Rucker has a history of giving back to charity. He is now scheduled to headline a show on Sunday, May 13th at Grand Boulevard in Destin, Florida with proceeds going to the ANNIKA Foundation, which will implement SPARK, the nation’s leading children’s physical education program, into select northwest Florida elementary schools.

There is no doubt that Eric Church kicks serious you-know-what on stage night after night on his Blood, Sweat & Beers tour! He gives his fans his all during songs such as “Smoke a Little Smoke,” “How ‘Bout You,” “Drink in My Hand” and his latest single, “Springsteen.” But have you ever wondered what this badass on stage does when the show is over? Once in a while, it may surprise you! “We were playing South Haven, Mississippi, and we had 10,000 people. And you know, you walk offstage feeling like a rock star,” recalls Eric. “I went back up on the bus and [my son, Boone] had a dirty diaper. And I still had my ears [monitors] around my neck, I still had my hat and sunglasses on, and I changed a diaper. I wasn’t four minutes from walking off stage…I just think it’s funny that if they only knew that I was up there changing a diaper. And [Boone] didn’t care. He was just laughing the whole time. So, it was a funny, unique moment.”

Eric, whose single “Springsteen” is vaulting up the country charts, is up for two ACM Awards this year, including Album of the Year for Chief and Video of the Year for “Homeboy.”

AUDIO: Eric Church talks about his “glamorous” after-show activities.

Eric Church (diaper changing Chief) OC: …unique moment. :33

“We were playing South Haven, Mississippi, and we had 10,000 people. And you know, you walk offstage feeling like a rock star, and I went back up on the bus and [Boone] had a dirty diaper. And I still had my ears [monitors] around my neck, I still had my hat and sunglasses on, and I changed a diaper. I wasn’t four minutes from walking off stage. And the funniest thing about it is I remember when I used to go to shows, and you always wonder what that ‘Man, I wonder what that person’s doing.’ You’d be in the parking lot in traffic and you’re wondering what they’re doing. I just think it’s funny that if they only knew that I was up there changing a diaper. And [Boone] didn’t care. He was just laughing the whole time. So, it was a funny, unique moment.”

Keith Urban is back in the States after taping a number of episodes of Australia’s version of The Voice. Prior to beginning the show, he said he was looking forward to the blind auditions the most, because in picking his team, it will be about someone’s singing ability. Now that he’s taped some of those episodes, he says there were aspects of the blind audition process that threw him for a loop, as well. “I didn’t expect it to be as difficult when you’re not watching somebody sing, ‘cause even when you watch the television at home, you’re still watching people,” says Keith. “We have these little speakers in front of us on the floor that we’re hearing singers through with the band, and we can’t see them obviously, but we can see the audience, so we get really swayed by audience reaction or lack of, and it’s remarkable the difference. When you take the visuals out, it’s really remarkable the big difference.” Seal, Joel Madden and Deltra Goodrem join Keith on The Voice.

Keith has just come off a two-week No. 1 run with “You’re Gonna Fly,” and he says he has been writing up a storm for his next album. In addition to putting on the third annual All For the Hall event next month, the entertainer will be sprinting back-and-forth to Australia to continue his role as coach on The Voice.

Check out a new promo for The Voice below.

Keith Urban (blind auditions) OC: …shock to me. :40

“It’s a huge list of things I didn’t expect. [laughs] I didn’t expect it to be as difficult when you’re not watching somebody sing, ‘cause even when you watch the television at home, you’re still watching people. I think people at home would do well to close their eyes when the people walk out and start singing, so you’re in the exact same place as the four coaches. We have these little speakers in front of us on the floor that we’re hearing singers through with the band, and we can’t see them obviously, but we can see the audience, so we get really swayed by audience reaction or lack thereof. And it’s remarkable the difference. When you take the visuals out, it’s really remarkable the big difference. So, that was a big shock to me.”