Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

George Strait (still enjoys making music) OC: …I’m gonna do. :
“I still really enjoy singing, and that’s really who I am. I mean, 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, you know, for as long as I can keep doing it, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Sam Hunt (Outskirts catching steam) 2 OC: …on the road. :10
“Crowds have been singing it louder and louder at the shows, so I’m always happy to hear folks connecting with a song. So, I appreciate country radio playing it, ‘cause I’ve really been able to measure that on the road.”

Brothers Osborne (Mother’s Day) OC: (TJ) …here without you. (LAUGHS) :35
TJ: “You know, Mother’s Day-I feel like Moms, you guys always get it the hardest, it seems. You know, everyone’s hard on their moms and everyone’s like, I think the last thing I wanted for most of my life was like, ‘Gah, I don’t want to be like my mom,’ and then you get older, and I’m like, I do. I want to be like my mom. She’s got a lot of very strong qualities, a lot of qualities that we had growing up I think that have made us us and successful in who we are, are from her. So, you know, here’s to all you mothers out there. You guys, I don’t know…(JOHN: “We couldn’t be here without you.” LAUGHS) Literally…we literally wouldn’t be here without you.” (LAUGHS)

Carrie Underwood (Mother’s Day traditions) OC: …even more so. :38
“We don’t really have like any Mother’s Day traditions. I feel like I remember me and Dad making breakfast for Mom like once as a kid. I’m pretty sure we just made a giant mess in the kitchen and we never did that again, so. Being on the other side of things, I obviously don’t expect anything, but my husband’s really good at getting presents from quote unquote Isaiah. It’s really sweet, because he likes to bring me things. He’s such a sweet little guy, and anytime he’s outside, he’ll pick me flowers and things. So, I’m like, ‘You’re learning. You’ve already got me wrapped around your finger, and then you do stuff like that, and it’s even more so.’”

Caylee Hammack (Mother’s Day) 1 OC: …love fully. :53
“I love that my Mom is a no-nonsense woman. I love that she always speaks her mind and she’s super stubborn, because she handed it down to me and it’s come in handy, to be honest. She’s a great cook. I wish I was half the cook that she is. She’s obsessive about Tupperware and plates, which I used to hate, but now as an adult whenever I break a dish or something, I just call her, and I know that I have one on standby. I love that she loves random things so that I can squirrel them away and take them to Nashville sometimes. And I love that she loves big. She either gives all of her heart or nothing at all; she always gives all of her heart. She loves, you know, she has a bleeding heart, and I think that’s just one of the most beautiful traits in the world is to love fully.”

Dalton Dover (Mother’s Day) OC: …dream about. :21
“So, my mom, man, my mom’s a trooper. I mean she’s always been a soldier for me, my brother and my sister. I saw my mom work two jobs and struggle to even buy us Christmas presents on Christmas, you know. She’s definitely taught me a lot in my life – definitely one of the biggest ones is patience. She’s taught me that patience is a virtue, learn from my mistakes and just never give up on something that I love and dream about.”

Darius Rucker (Mother’s Day) OC: …killed me. :17

“I think that’s the main reason I am how I am…an innate fear of disappointing my mom.  My mom’s not even alive, and I have a fear of her looking down from heaven and going, ‘Man I’m just disappointed in my son.’ She could have said anything in the world to me, but if she would have said, ‘Son, you just disappointed me,’ That would have killed me. It would have killed me.”

Darius Rucker (favorite memory of his mother) OC: …my Mom’s song. :34
“Oh goodness! A lot of great memories of her, but probably one of my favorite memories, I was a young kid, probably eight or nine, and she was in the kitchen cooking and listening to the gospel station and Shirley Caesar’s ‘No Charge’ came on and she was singing ‘No Charge.’ I just remember I ran into our living room which was adjoined to our kitchen and I just sat there and I just listened to her sing that song, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow! What an amazing voice.’ That’s just always a memory I’ve always had, and that song still to this day when I hear it just moves me because that was my mom’s song.”

Darius Rucker (Mother) OC: …in my corner. :44
“My mom was just always great. She worked a lot. She was a nurse and she worked a lot. She took a lot of overtime and stuff to make sure we could live basically, but she always just so supportive, ever since I was a kid. I was always a music kid. Growing up in an African-American neighborhood, I was never that guy who was gonna be pigeonholed to let people say I could only listen to this and I could only do this, because I was African-American. She always supported whatever I wanted to do, whatever I wanted to listen to, wherever I wanted to go, she always had my back. Going to college and everything, she was my biggest supporter and never let my brothers and sisters knock me down or try to tell me I can’t do this or that. All of my success comes because my mother was always in my corner.”

Dierks Bentley (Mother’s Day – Cassidy) OC: …to have her. :
“It’s the toughest job out there being a mom, and I know from my life with my wife Cassidy. We work as a team together when I’m home, and it takes everyone to get the job done, me and her, working together. So, when I go on the road, I just have so much respect for her because it’s hard to do it right, if you want to do it great, and she does a great job with it. It’s really rewarding, but it’s also very challenging. I’m so thankful that she takes it on the way she does, and our kids are very lucky to have her.”

Eric Church (Mother’s Day) OC: …as a man. :57
“My mom, even though my dad won’t like this, my mom is by far the toughest person that I’ve met. She’s tough. One of those people that’s been through a lot in her life, adversity wise and never complains, always really resilient with anything that’s happened to her. And it’s just that attitude, the positive attitude, regardless of what has happened that I think is the one thing that I got from her. With career, she’s always been a person that’s been really positive through times that I couldn’t find a positive streak, [laughs] and she was always really positive, and very much believes in tough it out, keep working hard, and that’s her motto with stuff like that. I’ve always been impressed with that stuff. Then musically, she’s where I get my talent from, musically. She sings great, always has, her mom sang great. I owe my musical chops to her. And she still sings some. So, career-wise, I owe her everything. And just in life-wise she’s given me a lot of the qualities that it has taken for me to get me where I am. Not only as a musician, but as a man.”

Jon Pardi (Mother’s Day) OC: …worrying about me. :29
“My mom’s always been there for me. First of all, she’s a great mom. She’s an angel. She takes care of people that aren’t even in the family. She’s always been like that, and she’s a great mother. She’s always proud, and she’s always there supporting and being a great mom. She’s just a good human being. There’s not one mean bone in her body. And she cries about every time I talk to her. She always worries about me. I have to tell her, ‘Stop worrying about me.’”

Jon Pardi (Mother’s Day-Summer 2023) OC: …you know? :41
“Summer’s been a great Mom. She was meant to be a Mom, really. She popped that baby out in like 45 minutes. It was crazy. Everybody was like, ‘Aw, 12 hour labor.’ And it was just like, boop, popped right out. She looks great. She’s definitely tired all the time, but it’s been fun. It’s been fun. It’s been easy, ‘cause Summer does all the work. I’m ready for the truck rides and the conversations and that stuff. (But) I do change the diapers and whatever

Jordan Davis (Mother’s Day) OC: …Mother’s Day. :30 [laughs]
“I’m a Mama’s Boy. I love my Mom, and it’s the way she finds the good in everything. With my Mom, as opposed to finding anything negative, she’s gonna find something positive first. That’s something I really hope I can be more like her on; one of the many things I wish I could be more like my mom on. My mom, she loves flowers, so we’ll get her flowers or take her to, we’re slowly getting her into sushi, so we love to take Mom out to sushi spots on Mother’s Day.” [laughs]

Jordan Davis (Kristen as a mother) OC: …pretty cool. :34
“I would say I admire her (Kristen) most the way she manages time with the kids. Kristen is so good at making sure that every kid gets that one-on-one time with her every day. That’s something that I’m working on as far as like, you know, me and Eloise have like our breakfast dates on Saturdays when I’m home and me and Locke will go play dump truck or whatever he wants to play. And then Eli, you know, it’s just like, you’re just kinda holding him. (laughs) He’s still, he’s still kinda just, he’s still figuring things out, but Kristen is so good at making sure all those kids get time with mom and dad, so it’s pretty cool.”

Kylie Morgan (Mother’s Day) OC: …that she is. :56
“So, my mom was actually a singer when she was my age, as well, and she decided to be a mama instead. So, when I told her what I wanted to do for a living, she was at first a little, a little scared for me, because it’s a hard road and you have to have a thick skin, but she also is the reason that I am where I am, because she told me I could make it, and I damn sure think I’m going to because of her. And so, every single karaoke contest and every single show that I was playing to no one, she would be there, and she would give me my compliments and then she’d give me my critiques. That’s what I love about her is because she was always there for me no matter what. And that sounds so cliché to say sometimes, like, ‘You’re always there for me,’ but truly in every single moment that I needed someone to be there whether it was a phone call or she was sitting right next to me, she knew exactly what to say and exactly who to be in the situation, which I just hope to be half the woman that she is.”

LBT (Mother’s Day) OC: …for my mother. :34
“Being a mother is a life-long dream for me. When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted to be is a mama. It took a long time. I wasn’t ever sure that I would be, but I am now, and it’s the greatest gift of my life. And as I’m a mother now, I see what my mother gave up and her sacrifices and her love and how she made us the most important thing in her life, and that’s what I strive to do for my little girl. It’s the most important job I have, and it’s the most responsibility that I have, and I try to live up to a great example that I had for my mother.”

Maddie & Tae (Mother’s Day-Tae) OC: …was so fun. :25
TAE: “To this day one of the best surprises I’ve ever pulled off was on Mother’s Day three years ago. ‘Cause my mom’s birthday always tends to fall on Mother’s Day Weekend – it’s coming up – and my mom and dad were coming into Nashville, and I was like, ‘Okay-this has got to be a big weekend. It’s Mother’s Day, her birthday and the weather was going to be beautiful, so I planned this awesome surprise where we would drive first – she wouldn’t know where we were going, and then we ended up going canoeing down the Harpeth River [located south of Nashville], and it was so fun.”

Maddie & Tae (Mother’s Day-Maddie) OC: (Maddie) …everything’s okay. :51
MADDIE: “She is so good at balancing is what I’m trying to say. My Mom is such a great balancer, but as I’m coming into our adulthood, and all that kind of stuff, she’s very conscious about when I’m trying to be perfect and have everything in order with everything. And she’s like, you can’t. You can’t do that. Life, you have to figure out how you’re going to deal with the curveballs that are thrown out you. Are you going to catch them and whine out about it or are you going to catch them and move on? Like you have to just go with what’s thrown at you. And my Dad’s been a really, really good supporter on just not letting life’s trials bring you down and letting them just be learning tools and all of that. But, most of the time, a Mama hug can really fix anything.” TAE: “Ahh…it’s the best.” MADDIE: “If my Mom hugs me while I’m crying, everything’s okay. There’s just something about it. I’m grown, but, my Mom, if she hugs me, everything’s okay.”

Mickey Guyton (being a mom) OC: …miracle worker. :39
“Being a mom, now that I am one, is literally one of the hardest…let’s be honest. There is nothing glamorous about it. It’s hard, but it is also so amazing and find your people, and find those people that will take care of you. And you don’t have to take it all on your own, and you can give it to somebody else just because it is so hard. And sometimes, you just need a minute, and that’s okay. Thank you. Thank you for what you’re doing, because this is not, you know, for the faint at heart. So, what you’re doing and raising your kid, you did it. You’re a miracle worker.”

Parker McCollum (Mother’s Day) OC: …those from her. :20
“I mean, she’s just a fantastic woman who went above and beyond for us as kids to always make sure, probably even when we weren’t able to have things, she still made those happen. Everybody says I look like her. She’s just an incredibly caring and very, very sincere person, so I would hope I got those from her.”

Priscilla Block (Mother) OC: …game over. :24
“My mom is very talented. She can still play guitar, so yeah, I think I get a lot from here. I was forced to sing at church with my mom every Sunday…my dad had a church so me and my mom would sing worship. That’s how it all kind of started, and then one day I picked up the guitar, and it was game over.”

Sam Hunt (Hannah as a mother) OC: …powerful to watch. :49
“She’s a very spiritual person, no doubt, and she grew up, her dad was a pastor. She grew up in a very spiritual environment, very protected from a lot of things in the world, she didn’t have to engage with a lot of that as a young person, so this spiritual strength, this nurturing intuition that is just, just comes naturally to her, and she is a fantastic mother to our kids. She has a heart full of God, and she is very connected to nature, and like I said, it’s just that spiritual element I think just guides her. That’s where, I think, our deepest wisdom lies, especially when it comes to being a father or a mother, and her connection to that is as strong as anybody I’ve ever seen, so I see her channeling that to our little kids and it’s powerful to watch.”

Sam Hunt (Mother’s Day) OC: … with my mom. 1:10
“I knew I had a great mother, and I was blessed and lucky to be born into my family, but until I got out into the real world, I didn’t realize how unique and rare and how much I really hit the lottery with her. She’s raised in the South, and she is all the things that a lot of Southern women are, the good things, but selfless is the word that comes to mind right off the bat. Her life has been devoted to me, my brothers and our family for as long as I can remember her. So, her life revolved around us and that was something that the love that she showed us through those sacrifices has been, I know, a huge part of my ability to go out into the world and cope with all the things that come my way. I’m standing on firm ground, I know, because I grew up in a loving household and that started with my mom.”

Shania Twain (joy to be a parent) OC: …means everything. :14
“It’s such a joy to be a parent. So, I relate to all the mums out there who are getting all their love and appreciation from their kids, and I hope, when you’re a kid, a child of somebody, show your mum you love her, because it means everything.”

The War And Treaty (Tanya as a Mom) OC: …that’s an instinct. :40
MICHAEL: “I come from some great mothers, whether it’s my mother, my grandmother, my godmother, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that Tanya is at the top of this list for me in the Mount Rushmore of motherhood. She teaches me every day how to have that motherly sacrifice, that instinctive parenting skills that she has, and even in how she takes care of me. She often calls me ‘the spoiled one.’ But what I admire most about Tanya is how she knows how to press pause and deal with our son or our daughters or our big boy. That’s a quality that you can’t teach. That’s an instinct.”

Travis Denning (Mother’s Day) OC: …like crazy. :29
“You know, my favorite thing about my mom, especially as I get older, is realizing how much me and her have in common. I just love that she’s passionate about music. She loves it. I mean, she’s turned me on to a lot of artists, but at the core like she’s still Mom. She reminds me to do things and does these things which that I couldn’t live without. I love that we get to be friends, we get to be best friends, but at the same time, she’s still Mom and she still loves me and my sister like crazy.”

Tyler Hubbard (Mother’s Day) OC: …cool to see. :42
“I’d say my own Mom I respect and really appreciate how she, she knows what she believes and she stands for it, you know? And she has her boundaries, and she knows what she believes and I just respect that. I think that’s really cool, and I’ve always looked up to her for that. As far as my wife being a mother, it’s incredible to watch her be a mom. I would say the first thing that would come to mind is patience. I think she’s a really patient person, and with three little kids, patience really is a virtue and it’s definitely a virtue that I don’t have a lot of and so I respect and admire it even more in her and try to learn from her. But, yeah, I’d say patience is one of her greatest qualities and gifts, and as a mom, especially, it’s really cool to see.”

Luke Bryan (Farm Tour 2023) OC: …year after year. :24
“The beauty of Farm Tour is we’re out there on the farm. We’re helping people feed Americans. We’re giving out scholarships. You’ve got 20,000 people piling into an alfalfa field, corn field, hay field, it doesn’t matter. It’s a field. But when you put that many people out there in the Fall where the temps are kinda getting a little cool at night, nothing is more special than Farm Tour and that’s why I keep doing it year after year.”

Jordan Davis (competitive on the road sports) OC: …so yes (I’m competitive). :37
“When it comes to – don’t get it twisted – we are playing pickleball half for exercise, because nobody wants to go do cardio, so you might as well play something while you’re getting cardio in. The other half is I am trying to absolutely crush every other person on the other side of that net. I, I am. I am competitive. I like to win. I don’t like to lose, and it boils over sometimes. We have to have some sitdowns in the greenroom and be like, ‘Hey-I didn’t really mean that.’ It boils over on the golf course. If I’m gonna do something, I want to win at it. It’s pretty competitive out there (laughs), so yes (I’m competitive).”

Parker McCollum (Things I Never Told You) OC: …a great song. :59
“This song, it’s the only song on the record I didn’t write. I wanted to cut one outside song for this record. People send me songs all the time and very, very, very rarely does one ever really catch my attention and stand out, and my buddy Taylor Phillips sent this song to me one day. He wrote it with Lynn Hutton and Monty Criswell and just one time through…I didn’t even listen to the whole song, but halfway through after the first chorus, I said, ‘I’m in. I’m singing that song.’ It reminded me so much of my mom and I knew she would love to hear it. I didn’t tell her anything about it. I had her come to one of tour rehearsals this year and played it for her there, full band with the whole production and everything and the empty amphitheater. It was kind of cool. But I cut that just for her and thought it was such an amazing song. There’s a line in it that said, ‘I kept a well-hidden can of Skoal in the console of my Chevy.’ I actually really did in high school. I had a secret compartment in the center console of my Chevy truck that I kept a can of dip in. So just it kind of hit home and it’s just a great song.”