Keith Urban has been tapped to perform on this year’s CMA Awards. The “Long Hot Summer” singer, who is currently touring North America on his Get Closer 2011 World Tour, is nominated for both Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year. Keith was named Entertainer in 2005 and picked up three Male Vocalist awards (2004-2006). While he is extremely honored to be nominated, he looks forward to performing on awards shows. “I look forward to being able to perform on awards shows,” says Keith. “That is absolute moment that matters most to me is getting to play, because the other stuff is – I don’t know about the other stuff. I know about playing, and that’s the only thing I know about.”

• The 45th Annual CMA Awards, which will also feature performances by Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and Taylor Swift, will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena beginning at 8pm ET/PT November 9th on ABC.

AUDIO: Keith Urban, who is nominated for both CMA Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year awards, says he enjoys performing on awards shows.

Keith Urban (perf on awards shows) OC: …know about. :10

“I look forward to being able to perform on awards shows. That is absolute moment that matters most to me is getting to play, because the other stuff is – I don’t know about the other stuff. I know about playing, and that’s the only thing I know about.”

Early predictions from industry trades have Lady Antebellum’s latest album, Own the Night, debuting atop the Billboard Top 200 well past the 300,000 mark. The official totals will be released later this week. Songs on the trio’s third album seem to have different themes to them, however, they enjoy a collective them together. “The theme that I’ve kind of seen throughout it is a lot of these songs are about very specific moments in time,” muses Lady A’s Hillary Scott. “It’s not just an overall emotion or an overall feeling that’s portrayed in a song. It’s just very specific to moments that throughout your life end up defining who you are.” The second release from the album – “We Owned the Night” – is currently vaulting up the country charts. 

• If you go to Lady A’s official website, you can find out more about downloading an acoustic version of their recent No. 1 hit, “Just a Kiss.”
• Catch Lady Antebellum performing on CBS Sunday Morning next Sunday (September 25th).

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott discusses how Own The Night documents specific moments in life that shape one’s humanity.

Lady A (theme of OTN) OC: …who you are. :47

“The theme that I’ve kind of seen throughout it is a lot of these songs are about very specific moments in time. It’s not just an overall emotion or an overall feeling that’s portrayed in a song. It’s, I mean, even down to a song on the record called, ‘As You Turn Away,’ it’s literally about a 30-second window of time, saying goodbye to someone that you had been in a relationship with and knowing that things will never be the same in that you’ll never see them again. That’s literally about a 30-second window of time and an experience that happened, and then we wrote a four-minute song about it…and ‘Own The Night,’ it’s about one night. ‘Dancing Away With My Heart,’ it’s about one night. It’s just very specific to moments that throughout your life end up defining who you are.”

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley says writing songs for their new album, Own the Night, took them back to the past and made them reflect on the path that led them to where they are now.

Lady A (Nostalgic Songs) OC: …who you are. :42

“We tended to write a lot of nostalgic songs on this record, and so it kind of made us go back and look back at the road that’s gotten us here. I don’t think that was something we went into it consciously trying to do, but it just naturally kind of started coming out. And we’d start writing a song about, called it ‘Dancing Away With My Heart,’ and started kind of each sharing stories of our high school sweethearts, or prom, or whatever it may be. And it was fun to kind of go back and see that and know where you’ve been that all kind of led you to where you are and so … So, yeah. It was an interesting journey. I think it helps you appreciate what this life’s all about. And it is, it’s about all those experiences, good and bad, that make you who you are.”

Luke Bryan goes north of the border to perform and present at this year’s CCMAs (Canadian Country Music Awards). Check out all the action on LBTV!

From a recent interview with TasteofCountry.com, Eric Church reveals he shot a performance video for his new single, “Drink in My Hand.” Check out the article below.

Eric Church has had quite the year so far. He kicked off 2011 with an ACM trophy for Top New Solo Vocalist of the Year, been touring with such artists as Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert and Toby Keith, AND he delivered his first “baby” in July. The baby we’re referring to his album, Chief, which debuted at the top of the overall Billboard album chart with nearly 145,000 copies sold.

Now, he and his wife, Katherine, are in the last remaining weeks before the birth of their first child – a boy. The parents-to-be have already been getting their unborn child used to traveling on a bus. “We’re gonna strap him up, give him some headphones, and we’re going on the road. We’ve been trying to get him used to the bus, even though we haven’t had him yet,” explains the singer-songwriter. “Katherine’s been riding the bus a lot and [getting him] used to the shaking and the movements, so. It’s funny now – he’s a bit of a kicker and a puncher, and he’s fine if she’s moving. If she stops moving, he starts kicking and punching, which is ironic ‘cause I punch on stage. So, we’ll see what happens with that in a few years.”

Since Eric and Katherine discovered the sex of the baby, folks have been asking them what they’ve decided on for a name. “We’ve got a few names,” he reveals. “I think you need to look at a boy before you name him, though. I think you need to step back and see which name they look like. So, we’re going to take a few names in to the hospital, and we’ll see which one comes out.”

• Eric is scaling the country charts with his latest single, “Drink in My Hand” – the second single from Chief.
• Eric is still on the Locked and Loaded Tour with Toby, and he’s scheduled for shows up until the baby’s due date, which is in the middle of October.
• Eric has earned a nomination for CMA New Artist of the Year. The awards will be handed out Wednesday, October 9th.

AUDIO: Eric Church talks about preparing his unborn child for life on the road.

Eric Church (baby stuff) OC: …in a few years. [laughs] :34

“I want to be the dad my dad was. I think I have a great father, and [he’s] always been supportive. We kind of joke with our lifestyle, you know what we do and touring 200 days a year. We’re not going to give him much leeway. We’re gonna strap him up, give him some headphones, and we’re going on the road. We’ve been trying to get him used to the bus, even though we haven’t had him yet. Katherine’s been riding the bus a lot and used to the shaking and the movements, so. It’s funny now – he’s a bit of a kicker and a puncher, and he’s fine if she’s moving. If she stops moving, he starts kicking and punching, which is ironic ‘cause I punch on stage. So, we’ll see what happens with that in a few years. [laughs]”

AUDIO: Eric Church says he and his wife Catherine haven’t fully decided on a name for their first child.

Eric Church (baby names) OC: …comes out. :13

“We’ve got a few names. I think you need to look at a boy before you name him, though. I think you need to step back and see which name they look like. So, we’re going to take a few names in to the hospital, and we’ll see which one comes out.”

Follow Lady Antebellum as they perform the National Anthem on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and for the day of their new album release on September 13th.

Luke Bryan kicks off the 10th annual CMT on Tour Thursday (September 15th) in Huntington, West Virginia. The trek, which also features special guest Lee Brice, Josh Thompson and CMT’s Next Superstar winner Matt Mason, will play 22 shows before wrapping November 19th in Monroe, Louisiana. Nearly every single artist who has headlined the tour, such as Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and Jason Aldean, has gone on to superstardom, and Luke hopes it does the same for him. “It was a big deal for me,” says Luke. “Everybody kind of watches that tour. I mean, I remember thinking it was a wildly strange coincidence that everybody that does that tour goes on to be headlining very soon afterwards. I was always going, ‘It just can’t be that coincidental.’ It seems like a great little notch in the belt of things that help you get further down the road to becoming one of the premiere acts in country music. So certainly that was a big reason why we signed up.” Luke is currently climbing the country charts with his latest single, “I Don’t Want This Night to End,” the second release from his new album, tailgates & tanlines.

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about his CMT Tour, kicking off Thursday (September 15th).

Luke Bryan (CMT Tour) OC: …other artists. 1:31

“I will be beating the streets pretty hard this fall but we’re so excited. When we had CMT ask to join up with us and be a part of it, we were like, ‘Yes.’ It was a big deal for me. Everybody kind of watches that tour. I mean, I remember thinking it was a wildly strange coincidence that everybody that does that tour goes on to be headlining very soon afterwards. I was always going, ‘It just can’t be that coincidental.’ It seems like a great little notch in the belt of things that help you get further down the road to becoming one of the premiere acts in country music. So certainly that was a big reason why we signed up. You know CMT is just great to have their media on your side, and we’re drawing plans together for the semis to have my picture on the side of ‘em, all that stuff. I’m so excited about the fall and the promise of headlining. I moved to town to be where I’m at and to have to bridge into that headlining status one day. This is certainly the first step of it. We’re saying our prayers it goes off good and doing all our homework and working hard, and gonna do everything we can to make sure the fans enjoy it more than ever. And kinda uphold the integrity and the reputation of kinda what the tour has done for all the other artists.”

Luke Bryan (looking forward to tour) OC: …along to that. :18

“Well, I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing for people that you know are 100% is your crowd and they’re there to see you, and they’re pretty much going to know every song on your album and they’re going to know everything you’ve got going on. And that’s always fun when you can do album cuts and you have the whole crowd singing along to that.”

Eric Church fans have proven to be a very loyal bunch, turning out to purchase nearly 145,000 copies of his latest album, Chief, during its first week of release. They’ve also been quite the inspiration for a handful of songs on the album, including his current single, “Drink in My Hand.” “I was on the bus with a couple of co-writers of mine, and we had just walked offstage and saw the crowd, saw our fans and saw ‘em put their beers in the air,” recalls Eric. “You could just tell that they had worked all week and this was their moment to let all that wash away. And that was where the title was born from really. ‘Everything’s OK now, I’ve got a drink in my hand, and I’m relaxing and I’m chilling.’ That just became a really good song born from our fans.”

AUDIO: Eric Church talks about “Drink in My Hand,” a song from his new album, Chief.

Eric Church (Drink in my Hand) OC: …play that one. :42

“We were out on tour. I think we were on tour with Miranda [Lambert] at the time, and I was on the bus with a couple of co-writers of mine, and we had just walked offstage and saw the crowd, saw our fans and saw ‘em put their beers in the air. You could just tell that they had worked all week and this was their moment to let all that wash away. And that was where the title was born from really. ‘Everything’s OK now, I’ve got a drink in my hand, and I’m relaxing and I’m chilling.’ That just became a really good song born from our fans. They’re the ones that inspired that, and it was on tour. It was on a tour bus, and I’ll never forget it. I’m happy it turned out the way it did, and I think our fans are gonna love putting their beer, or whatever they’re drinking, up in the air when we play that one.”

Little Big Town has released their new video for the emotionally charged fan-favorite “Shut Up Train” through their website, littlebigtown.com. The black and white, vintage-inspired video was shot at Nashville’s Rocketown and the historic Union Station Hotel. “We really believe in this song and wanted to give it a visual so that it would have a chance to be seen and heard,” said LBT’s Kimberly Schlapman. “If you’ve ever wrestled with something that you can’t seem to let go of then you’ll understand ‘Shut Up Train’,” continued Karen Fairchild. “We watch the fans every night when we sing this song and you can tell they relate to the struggle.” The song was featured on AOL’s The Boot in May of this year in the No. 1 spot on the “Top 10 Country Songs That Aren’t Singles…Yet” list.

In other LBT news, Kimberly will join a handful of other country stars when she makes an appearance on GAC’s upcoming new series, Day Jobs. It’s being described as a show that follows country stars around as they return to their previous jobs before becoming famous. Can you guess Kimberly’s former gig? She was a waitress in her “former” life. The show is set to premiere Sunday, October 2nd, but if you can’t wait, a special sneak peek airs Wednesday (September 14th) at 8pm ET on GAC. 

Lady Antebellum has released their much-anticipated third album, Own the Night, the follow-up to the multi-platinum album, Need You Now. The trio wrote or co-wrote 10 of the album’s 12 tracks on the collection, which they co-produced with veteran producer Paul Worley. The new collection features their most recent multi-week No. 1 single, “Just a Kiss,” as well as their current single, “We Owned the Night.” “We’ve literally been working towards these next few weeks all year,” says Lady A’s Charles Kelley. “The anticipation of being able to FINALLY share these songs with our fans is killing us. Hopefully, those who have been with Lady A for a long time will see this as the next chapter for us as songwriters and performers; and the people who aren’t as familiar with us will check it out and maybe find something on the album they dig.”

Bandmate Hillary Scott says she hopes the album “makes an honest statement and one of just truly enjoying your life, every moment in it, whether it’s a heartbreaking moment or a moment where you’re about to float off the ground you’re so head-over-heels for someone. It’s really — embrace every single moment and choose to celebrate it.”

• For more information regarding the album, tour dates and Lady Antebellum news, go to their website, ladyantebellum.com.
• Following their appearances at last Thursday’s NFL kickoff in Green Bay and on Sunday performing the National Anthem on NBC prior to the Jets and Cowboys season opener, Lady A will also appear on NBC’s Today Show on Tuesday (September 13^th), The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Friday (September 16^th), CBS Sunday Morning (September 25^th) and NBC’s Saturday Night Live (October 1^st).
• Lady A will travel to Canada and Europe with more television appearances and fan events lined up over the course of the next month.
• Fans can catch Lady Antebellum on the upcoming first leg of their headlining Own The Night 2011 Tour beginning on November 11^th in Knoxville.  

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott discusses how the group’s tight bond shines through in every aspect of their careers.

Lady A (closeness of relationship) OC: …every area. 1:02

“We know each other so well. We’ve spent so much time together that, from a musical standpoint, and a personal standpoint, that it’s getting to the point where it’s almost instinctive. Like we just know each other. And one of the examples I use for that is when I was singing in harmony on ‘Singing Me Home,’ a song on this new album, and that Charles has lead on. And I didn’t even listen to his complete vocal take before I went in, and I didn’t study it at all before I went in to sing harmony on it. And there were points that I literally, instinctively knew where he was going without even hearing it. It’s just whenever you’re onstage, night after night, when you spend almost every single day with each other, you just learn each other inside and out from a creative standpoint and from a personal standpoint. It’s the same thing with I know when not to approach Charles about something if he needs space or if I need space. It’s just the closeness of our relationship. The closeness of our relationship I think shows in every area.”

AUDIO: Own The Night is the title of Lady Antebellum’s third album, and the band’s Hillary Scott explains what kind of statement she hopes the album makes.

Lady Antebellum (Title statement) 091211 OC: …celebrate it. :23

“Oh gosh. I mean, we hope that this album makes an honest statement and one of just truly enjoying your life, every moment in it, whether it’s a heartbreaking moment or a moment where you’re about to float off the ground you’re so head-over-heels for someone. It’s really — embrace every single moment and choose to celebrate it.”

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood describes Own The Night as a call-to-action.

Lady A (Own the Night) 091211 OC: …enjoy them. :50

“I mean, we wanted to have a call-to-action, sort of speak. I think for us, this on a lot of different levels, Own The Night applies to us — one being that we want to own these experiences that we’re going through right now, and all the exciting things that we get the opportunity to do, and we want to enjoy them. We don’t want these just to pass on by and look back and wonder what happen. We want to live in each and every single moment and enjoy these, and as well, when fans come out to see us, which we hope that they do this fall, we want people to have that experience and hopefully have something that they can look back on, as well, that they enjoy. So, we want, it’s that call- to-action to tell people to get out there. ‘Let’s own this experience, own this evening, own what you’re going through, whatever it is in your life, own it and enjoy it.’ Because life’s too short not to enjoy them.”