Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Sam Hunt‘s new smash, “Body Like A Back Road,” has shot to No. 1 on the digital sales and streaming chart and is already climbing country radio’s Top 15 in only four weeks. “Body Like A Back Road,” written by Sam, Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, has led the Billboard Hot Country chart for four weeks in a row and it continues to break its own record notching over 9.2 million streams per week across all platforms – the most of any other country song ever.

Sam writes a lot with Zach, Shane and Josh, and they’ve all developed a huge comfort level with each other, allowing them to be as artistic as they can be without any judgment.

“Creative freedom is something that is hard to find, especially when you’re working with other people, because it takes a while to get to know somebody well enough to really feel like you have creative freedom in the full sense of the phrase. You know, you can just say anything, good, bad or in-between, and they’re not gonna judge you for it,” says Sam. “That’s something that I appreciate about the people who I work with is that we’re on the same page with things, and we just kinda put it out there…thankfully, I have a creative team that helps bring the best out of me, I feel like, and that’s an important part of the equation”

Sam’s upcoming 15 In A 30 Tour, with special guests Maren Morris, Chris Janson and Ryan Follese, is one of summer’s most-anticipated tours, and Live Nation just announced an added show at “the world’s most famous arena,” Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 14th. Tickets go on sale Friday (March 10th) at 10am ET. The tour hits over 30 markets including Toronto, Chicago and Atlanta with multiple nights in Los Angeles, Denver and Nashville. Visit www.SamHunt.com for more details.

15 In A 30 Tour Dates:           

June 1              Cleveland, OH             Blossom Music Center

June 2              Indianapolis, IN           Klipsch Music Center

June 3              Cullman, AL                Rock the South

June 11            Hunter, NY                  Taste of Country Music Festival

June 15            Toronto, ONT              Budweiser Stage

June 16            Detroit, MI                   DTE Energy Music Theatre

June 17            Pittsburgh, PA              KeyBank Pavilion

June 23            Gilford, NH                 Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion

June 24            Hartford, CT                XFINITY Theatre

June 25            Holmdel, NJ                P.N.C. Bank Arts Center

July 7               St. Louis, MO              Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

July 8               Chicago, IL                  Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

July 9               Cincinnati, OH             Riverbend Music Center

July 13             Atlanta, GA                 Verizon Amphitheatre

July 14             Tampa, FL                   MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre

July 15             Miami, FL                    Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre

July 21             Bangor, ME                 Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion

July 22             Boston, MA                 Xfinity Center

July 23             Rochester, NY             Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center

July 27             Virginia Beach, VA     Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach

July 28             Raleigh, NC                 Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek

July 29             Charlotte, NC               PNC Music Pavilion

Aug 10             San Diego, CA             Sleep Train Amphitheatre

Aug 11             San Francisco, CA       Shoreline Amphitheatre

Aug 12             Sacramento, CA           Toyota Amphitheater

Aug 15             Los Angeles, CA          Greek Theatre

Aug 16             Los Angeles, CA          Greek Theatre

Aug 19             Phoenix, AZ                Ak-Chin Pavilion

Aug 21             Denver, CO                 Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Aug 22             Denver, CO                 Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Sept 2              Lexington, KY             Red, White & Boom

Sept 14            New York, NY            Madison Square Garden*

Sept 15            Philadelphia, PA          BB&T Pavilion

Sept 16            Washington, DC          Jiffy Lube Live

Sept 22            Nashville, TN              Ascend Amphitheater

Sept 23            Nashville, TN              Ascend Amphitheater

*On Sale March 10

Additional Dates To Be Announced

Live Nation is the official promoter of the 15 In A 30 Tour.

Since his 2014 Montevallo release, Hunt has accumulated over 2.53B streams and has earned an additional 10.5M in RIAA single certifications. Montevallo topped the Billboard Country Albums Chart in its first week and remains the best-selling debut album for a country artist since 2011. The album landed on multiple “Best of” lists including the Associated Press, Billboard, Country Weekly, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, SPIN Magazine, Village Voice and The Washington Post. It also produced a record-breaking four No. 1 singles and five Platinum and Multi-Platinum-selling hits including “Leave the Night On,” “House Party,” “Take Your Time,” “Break Up In A Small Town” and “Make You Miss Me.”

For information on Sam Hunt, his new single “Body Like A Back Road,” the 15 In A 30 Tour and more, visit www.SamHunt.com.

Little Big Town’s new album, The Breaker, debuted No. 1 today on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and No. 4 on the Billboard 200, marking the group’s fourth Top 10 project on the Billboard 200 chart.

Produced by Jay Joyce, The Breaker is the multi-platinum-selling country group’s follow up to Wanderlust (2016), the genre-defying musical project produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Pharrell Williams, and Pain Killer (2014), the platinum-selling album featuring the 13-week No. 1 (Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart), Grammy-winning crossover hit, “Girl Crush.”  “Better Man,” the hit lead single from The Breaker, recently spent two-weeks topping the country airplay charts (Billboard, MediaBase) and is the group’s second two-week No. 1 at country radio.

Having “expanded their audience beyond Tennessee” (USA Today) as well as “the definition of country music from the inside” (Newsday), Little Big Town continues to earn early critical praise for The Breaker, with the Los Angeles Times raving, The Breaker is an “excellent new album.” Hailed as “a 21st century revival of Fleetwood Mac” (Goldderby), critics have identified The Breaker as a sweet spot, with Paste noting the album as “the band’s wheelhouse…they sound great” and Entertainment Weekly sharing high praise for the band’s latest studio project, rating the album “A-” and noting, “Little Big Town soars with new album…LBT’s glistening harmonies beam.” Forbes also raves, “The Breaker is perhaps Little Big Town’s best album yet… they’ve always been great, but they seem to get even better with time.”

Little Big Town recently garnered their 23^rd career nomination with a nomination for ACM Vocal Group of the Year. The reigning CMA and ACM Vocal Group of the Year continues to make headlines with their historic, year-long artist residency at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium. Launched February 24, “Little Big Town at the Mother Church” marks the only time in the Ryman’s 125-year history to host a year-long artist residency. Upcoming dates for “Little Big Town at the Mother Church” include shows on May 19 & 20, July 28, 29 & 30, September 15 & 16, and November 27. Tickets for the concerts will be $90.50, $60.50 and $50.50. Each ticket purchased to see Little Big Town at the Ryman includes one (1) physical album of Little Big Town’s new album, The Breaker, released February 24, 2017 on Capitol Records Nashville. Visit www.littlebigtown.com/tour for more information.

Keith Urban celebrated the two-week No. 1 success of his recent smash, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” with a party at Nashville’s Basement East on Friday (March 3rd). The song, written by Hillary Lindsey, Steven Lee Olsen and Clint Lagerberg, was one Keith gravitated toward immediately.

“It was just an immediate reaction I had to that song,” says Keith. “I loved the lyric, the sentiment, the melody, everything about it. Yeah, it was beautiful.”

Taking the stage with all three co-writers, producer/guitarist Dann Huff and two of his bandmembers, bassist Jerry  Flowers  and drummer Seth Rausch, Keith performed the tune that spent two weeks at the top of the country charts, sharing vocals with Steven and Hillary

The song was originally going to go on Steven Lee Olsen’s record, but he told his publishing company the only artist he’d let record “Blue” was Keith, who is the reason the songwriter moved from Canada to Nashville.

“Blue Ain’t Your Color” is nominated for both Single and Song of the Year at this year’s ACM Awards. Keith is the leading nominee with seven, including Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. The 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, will be broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 2nd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Luke Bryan paired up with Jimmy Fallon against actors Octavia Spencer and John Lithgow in a game of Catchphrase on Thursday night’s episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. See how he does below.

Luke, who will co-host this year’s ACM Awards, also performed his latest hit single, “Fast” on the show.

Lauren Alaina and Sam Hunt are nominated for Radio Disney Music Awards. The “Road Less Traveled” singer is up for The Freshest! – Radio Disney  Country Best New Artist, while the Georgia native is nominated for The Bestest! – Radio Disney Country Favorite Artist. Voting is open now through April 9th at Disney.com/RDMA, the Radio Disney app, Google OneBox, and via Radio Disney’s Facebook and Twitter. Tickets for the RDMA are on sale now at AXS.com/RDMA. The 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards will take place at the  Microsoft Theater in L.A, with it airing April 30th at 7p – 9p ET across several Disney-branded platforms.
“The Bestest! – Radio Disney Country Favorite Artist”

Dan + Shay

Florida Georgia Line

Kelsea Ballerini

Maddie & Tae

Sam Hunt

“The Freshest! – Radio Disney Country Best New Artist”

Lauren Alaina

Maren Morris

Old Dominion

RaeLynn

Temecula Road

Kip Moore is reflecting on his recent extended break, premiering the insightful lyric video for his new single, “More Girls Like You” exclusively on Travel & Leisure today. Offering an unfiltered look into his trip to Costa Rica, Moore shares scenes of local life, surfing and enjoying impromptu jam sessions, with stunning surroundings playing as an instrumental backdrop.

“I love to travel and really embrace the surrounding culture wherever I am,” said Moore. “I never have much of a plan when I go, just the destination and am always open to meeting people and having memorable experiences.  My best friend PJ is an amazing videographer and photographer, and he was able to document a lot of this trip and we thought it would be an interesting way to show that other side of my life when I’m not on the road and touring non-stop.  I’ll be back on the road playing shows soon, but I may have a few more stops in the works before then.”

2017 is picking up momentum fast for Moore, with “More Girls Like You” debuting as most added at country radio last week, as well as the most added of his career to date. Co-written by Moore, the single is also receiving praise from critics such as Taste Of Country who notes the track “doubles down on a heavy, thumping formula he relied on to create one of the best country albums of 2015” and Entertainment Weekly declaring he “has made a name for himself weaving vignettes of Southern, blue-collar life and love into rollicking country anthems.”

As he “consistently serves up clever roots-rock riffs and rhythms” (Associated Press), the release of “More Girls Like You” follows the critical acclaim that surrounded Moore’s UNDERGROUND EP, a five-track collection that “strikes the defiant tone that’s been a part of his artistry” (Rolling Stone) as well as his sophomore album WILD ONES heralded as “an impressively singular release from Music Row” by The Guardian. Moore first turned heads with his debut album UP ALL NIGHT which was certified GOLD by the RIAA and spawned three No. One hit singles including GOLD certified “Beer Money,” PLATINUM certified “Hey Pretty Girl,” and the DOUBLE PLATINUM breakout hit “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck. For more information visit, visit kipmoore.net.

Jon Pardi is sitting inside the Top 5 on the country charts with his latest song, “Dirt on My Boots.” He said when he first heard the song, he knew it would sound great on the radio.

“I knew when I heard it, it was a hit. It had something about it that was familiar something, like it had that radio sound. The demo, I just heard the melody and lyrics, and I just felt like, man, I think this is really gonna be like a jam,” says Jon. “When we finished, I described ‘Dirt on My Boots’ as like the song that you pull up to the club or the party and you’ve got your windows down and you’re blaring ‘Dirt on My Boots.’ I always felt like that was what this song had. It has an attitude, it has a working man, it’s got taking out the girl and it’s got a great dance beat, and all those together, I knew it was gonna be a great song for radio.”

Jon is nominated for ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year. The 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, will be broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas April 2nd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Keith Urban will be honored by the Recording Academy with the Recording Artists’ Coalition Award at the annual GRAMMYS on the Hill Awards in Washington, D.C. on April 5th.

Keith’s continued commitment to numerous music education programs has not only served to inspire young musicians, it has provided thousands of greatly needed musical instruments to underserved programs across the country. Urban’s contributions to music education date back nearly a decade and have remained consistent ever since. Underscoring the need to support education-based initiatives that attract young people toward music and encourage their creative pursuits, Urban has volunteered for The Academy’s GRAMMY Camp ® music program, which offers high school students an interactive summer music experience. He has supported The Recording Academy’s grant-based education initiatives, which provide necessary funds to America’s public schools, helping to sustain local music education programs for youth. In addition, Urban has participated in the GRAMMY U Soundchecks ® program on multiple occasions.

“Through music education programs, Keith Urban has encouraged aspiring musicians by giving them the opportunity to perform and achieve their dreams,” said Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow. “An engaged member of the music community and The Recording Academy for many years, Keith is an outstanding music citizen and supporter of the future of music, so it is our great pleasure to honor and recognize his dedication at GRAMMYs on the Hill.”
“The opportunity to work with aspiring musicians and kids, who are just discovering music for the first time, really inspires me,” said Keith. “Creativity is at the heart of an innovative society – it brings people together and teaches children self-expression, creative confidence, and improvisational skills which are essential to their development. Being honored by The Academy, especially given the fact that they’re the ones that have given me the chance to be part of their work in this area, is humbling. It’s an incredible honor.”

Uniting the worlds of music and politics, GRAMMYs on the Hill also recognizes legislators who have improved the environment for music by advocating for music creators’ rights. Previously honored legislators include former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), and John McCain (R-Ariz.), and House Leaders Kevin McCarthy and Nancy Pelosi.

The awards take place at the Hamilton Live in Washington D.C., and will feature unique live performances and musical surprises. The GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards are sponsored by music rights GRAMMYs on the Hill organization SESAC.

The following day, April 6th, The Recording Academy will host the music community’s largest annual Washington, D.C. gathering, GRAMMYs on the Hill Advocacy Day, which sees hundreds of music professionals from across the country visiting lawmakers to discuss important issues facing today’s music creators.

Luke Bryan is set to release the video for his latest single, “Fast,” on Friday (March 3rd). Today, he released a portion of the clip showing him talking to his son Bo, who finally worked up the courage to ask out a girl.

Sixty seconds now feels more like thirty
Tick-tock, won’t stop, around it goes
Sand through the glass sure falls in a hurry
And all you keep trying to do is slow it down, soak it in
Keep trying to make the good times last as long as you can
But you can’t, man
It just goes too fast

The actual video will premiere on VEVO at midnight.

“Fast” follows five No. 1 hits on Luke’s current album, Kill the Lights.