Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Early Friday morning (April 22nd), Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott sent out a letter to her fans via social media introducing her latest musical endeavor and describing the story behind her amazing first single, “Thy Will.” It’s the debut from the upcoming album, Love Remains, by Hillary Scott & The Scott Family, and it is being sent to both Country and Christian radio.

“I’m so excited the day is finally here that I get to share with you all what I’ve been up to,” says Hillary. “I have made a faith-based album entitled Love Remains. The best part about this collection of songs is that it is featuring my mom Linda Davis, my father Lang Scott and my little sister Rylee Scott, all produced by Ricky Skaggs. So ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you Hillary Scott & The Scott Family.”

“I wanted to first share ‘Thy Will.’ I wrote this song about a very recent experience that left me heart broken, asking why, and facing some of my most difficult days. This song is my letter to God. As I ask some really hard questions, I hold much of the story of my life that I can’t see, but that I still choose to trust Him.”

The music industry has suffered many iconic blows lately, with the loss of Merle Haggard, David Bowie, Glenn Frey and many, many more! Now comes word that Prince passed away earlier this morning (April 21st, 2016). Many of today’s country artists loved his music and some were even maybe influenced by him.

Prince’s body was discovered early Thursday morning at his Paisley Park complex located in Minnesota. The “1999” and “Little Red Corvette” singer sold more than 100 million records during his career and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for Purple Rain in 1985.

Keith Urban was one of the first artists to hit up social media with his comments. “Just heard about Prince ….can’t believe it …….” – KU  (NOTE: Soundbite included below)

Charles Kelley – “can’t believe we lost Prince. another music legend has left us.”
Darius Rucker often performs “Purple Rain” during his concerts. He says, “Once again Heaven’s band just got even more incredible. One of my absolute idols #Prince. Thank u for showing me what true GREATNESS is!!”

Kip Moore – “Sad I never saw him live…what an incredible talent. RIP Prince”
Shania Twain — “Sad beyond words that Prince is gone. To me he was one of the greatest music heroes – a true genius. There will never be another Prince.”
Lauren Alaina – “So bummed to hear about Prince. His legacy will live on forever. RIP”
Mickey Guyton “RIP to a legend. #Prince”
Canaan Smith – “We’ve lost a true rock legend today. Rest in peace ‪#‎Prince”

Brothers Osborne made their debut performance at the world-renowned Grand Ole Opry Tuesday night (April 19th). Performing their brand new single “21 Summer,” and the Gold-Certified, GRAMMY-nominated No.1 hit “Stay A Little Longer” off their debut album Pawn Shop, Brothers Osborne highlighted why critics and audiences alike have praised “TJ’s beguiling baritone and John’s nimble fretwork” (Boston Globe).

 “We fulfilled a lifelong dream last night,” says TJ. “Standing in that circle as many have done before was one of the highest honors we’ve ever been given.” John notes, “you could almost feel the ghosts resonating out of the oak. We will never take that night for granted.”

The Maryland natives will next perform at Jazzfest in New Orleans, LA before hitting the road as part of Miranda Lambert’s Keeper Of The Flame Tour. Additional upcoming notable appearances include Florida Country Superfest in Daytona, FL and Dylan Fest at the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN along with Emmylou Harris, Jason Isbell and Kacey Musgraves.

For a full list of tour dates, news, images and more, visit www.BrothersOsborne.com

www.BrothersOsborne.com| facebook.com/BrothersOsborne| twitter.com/brothersosborne|instagram.com/brothersosborne

On this date in country music history in 2012, Eric Church’s “Springsteen” is certified gold.

Eric is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Record Year.”

Four-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan, along with CID Presents, announces the third year of Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa, an all-inclusive concert vacation set for January 19-22, 2017 in Riviera Maya, Mexico. After two sold-out years, the hottest country music destination event is back for 2017. The Caribbean beach vacation features Luke headlining two of the four nightly concerts, with additional performers to be announced soon.

“This experience for my fans has more than exceeded our expectations,” said Luke. “From start to finish, everyone has the best time and it’s something my band, crew and I look forward to all year-long. We love kicking off the New Year this way!”

Fans can choose from eight tropical resorts including the newly added Dreams Tulum, Grand Velas and Secrets Akumal and enjoy royal treatment all weekend long – all-inclusive food and drink, 24-hour concierge service, daily onsite activities, offsite adventures like deep sea fishing, zip-lining, and ATV tours, excursions including day trips to Tulum, official Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa merchandise package, and more. To see highlights from 2016’s event go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tVifNAb1bY .

“We can’t wait to return to the beautiful coastline of Riviera Maya Mexico with the most passionate country music fans in the world for the third installment of Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa. Luke has been an incredible partner and co-producer for the past two years and we are looking forward to sharing what we have in store for 2017,” said Dan Berkowitz of CID Presents.

Citi is the official card of Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa. Citi cardmembers will have access to all-inclusive packages with presale tickets through Citi’s Private Pass Program beginning Monday, April 25 at 1pm EDT and tickets will be made available to the general public on Wednesday, April 27 at 1pm EDT. “We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Luke Bryan and offer Citi cardmembers early ticket access to these much anticipated live dates,” said Jennifer Breithaupt, Managing Director of Media, Advertising & Global Entertainment, Citi. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.

For more information about Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa 2017, how to book four or five night all-inclusive packages, and details on new payment plans, please visit: www.crashmyplaya.com.

About Luke Bryan:

Luke Bryan, named twice as Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and Country Music Association (CMA), debuted his first album in 2007 and has since placed 15 singles at No. 1 and sold eight million albums with 30 million digital tracks from his five studio albums. He is currently headlining his “Kill The Lights Tour” in promotion of his Platinum-selling, No. 1-debuting album, “Kill The Lights,” which became the best-selling country album of 2015 and the 10th biggest selling album on the all-genre Billboard Top 200 year-end list.

About CID Presents:

CID Presents is the boutique, end-to-end event production branch of CID Entertainment. CID Presents designs, produces and operates once-in-a-lifetime music destination events for super fans. The company maintains expansive entertainment industry ties and holds expertise in luxury guest services, hospitality, concert production and promotion. CID Presents seamlessly integrates concert and travel logistics into unparalleled music experiences. CID’s team of experts are passionate music fans who share in a vision of producing exclusive and intimate experiences where everyone is a VIP and no detail is overlooked. These multi-sensory, creative productions include: Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa, Phish: Riviera Maya, and the recently announced Mad Decent Beach Party. www.cidpresents.com

MCA Nashville’s Clare Dunn attended her first ever NASCAR events over the weekend, performing a full band set in the Bristol Motor Speedway infield following Saturday’s XFINITY Series race and singing the National Anthem at Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Food City 500. While there, she was able to meet a few of NASCAR’s biggest names including Danica Patrick and Sunday’s race-winner, Carl Edwards.

Clare shared the photo above on her socials saying, “So great meeting Carl Edwards after winning at Bristol Motor Speedway! Such an awesome day!!” While this may have been the first race for Clare, the dynamic up-and-comer declares it is “definitely not my last!”

Clare is currently on tour with Lee Brice on the Life Off My Years Tour and the latest single off her self-titled EP “Tuxedo” is playing on country radio now.

For more information, please visit www.ClareDunn.com.

Photo credit: Clare Dunn (r) with Danica Patrick

Photo credit 2: Clare Dunn (l) with winner Carl Edwards

Taking “a gritty, more intimate experience” (The Times-Picayune) to the road, GRAMMY winning singer/songwriter Charles Kelley completes his first week of THE DRIVER TOUR picked up by Enterprise. As the “Lady Antebellum frontman stretches his solo wings and soars” (St. Louis. Dispatch), his new single “Lonely Girl” from his debut album THE DRIVER (Capitol Records Nashville) has grabbed audiences attention for its “emotional, a little raw 60s ultra-lounge vibe” (The Augusta Chronicle). Leaving critics and fans “amazed at the kind of rapport” (The Press Enterprise) Kelley has with his fans, the singer along with special guest Josh Kelley will head to the West Coast this weekend including a sold-out show at Los Angeles’ Troubadour (4/26).

“There’s nothing like being right there in it with the fans at these clubs,” said Kelley. “You never really know how the night is going to go when you step up on stage, but the energy has been unreal. It’s been really cool to feed off what the crowd is feeling and just go with it from night to night.”

Charles has hit the airwaves with his latest single, “Lonely Girl,” which was the Most Added single to radio this week. It follows his first-ever debut track “The Driver” which earned a GRAMMY nomination for “Best Country Duo/Group Performance” ahead of the album’s release. Produced by Paul Worley, THE DRIVER  explores new territory with a raw sound that pushes his vocals into a lower, grittier key. In addition to his success as part of seven-time GRAMMY award-winning trio Lady Antebellum, Charles has also penned No. one hits recorded by Luke Bryan and Darius Rucker. For more information on new music and for a full list of tour dates, visit www.charleskelley.com

Easton Corbin has partnered with Eckrich, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and savory deli meats, and Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, to honor military families in various cities while he’s on tour this year, including stops on Carrie Underwood’s The Storyteller Tour.

Corbin has already welcomed families in Oakland, CA, Auburn Hills, MI Phoenix, AZ backstage before his concert to surprise the families with a gift of $5,000 in free groceries, courtesy of Eckrich. There are more events scheduled through early summer. The families get to stay and enjoy Corbin’s performance during The Storyteller Tour headlined by Carrie Underwood.

“It is an honor to be able to surprise and thank our military families with my partners at Eckrich,” said Corbin. “This is a really special campaign, and I’m really happy Eckrich asked me to a part of it.  It’s great to be able to give something back to them and I hope it helps ease the burdens of these families for everything they have already sacrificed.”

These events are part of the ongoing campaign by Eckrich to honor, thank and support military families through its partnership with Operation Homefront. The families are supported by Operation Homefront’s Hearts of Valor^® program, a network of caregivers for wounded, ill or injured service members. Operation Homefront supports these caregivers through annual retreats, support groups and online communities.

Eckrich, in its fifth year of partnership with Operation Homefront, has donated more than $2 million to the organization since 2012.

“We thank Easton Corbin for helping us honor our military families,” said Chuck Gitkin, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Smithfield Foods.

For more information about Eckrich, please visit www.eckrich.com.

About Operation Homefront

A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 2,500 volunteers with nationwide presence who provide emergency and other financial assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors. Operation Homefront has provided assistance to thousands of military families since its inception in 2002. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity watchdog groups, nationally, 92 percent of Operation Homefront’s expenditures go directly to programs that provide support to our military families. For more information, go to www.operationhomefront.net.

About Easton Corbin

Mercury Nashville recording artist Easton Corbin is lauded for his traditional country sound, authentic lyrics and mastery of understatement. American Songwriter says, “Easton Corbin has one of those rare, glorious voices that was made—just made—for singing country music.” His self-titled debut album released in 2010 and spawned back-to-back hits “A Little More Country Than That” and “Roll With It;” making him the first country male artist in 17 years to have his first two consecutive singles reach No. 1.  In 2012 the Gilchrist County Florida native released his sophomore album, All Over The Road, which included the Top 5 hits “Lovin’ You Is Fun” and “All Over The Road.”  Corbin set a career-best debut on Country Airplay with his top 5 hit single, “Baby Be My Love Song,” from his No. 1 debuting album About To Get Real.  His current single “Yup” is climbing the country singles chart. Corbin is currently on tour with Carrie Underwood’s The Storyteller Tour.

On this date in history in 2003, Dierks Bentley made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. According to the Opry website, Dierks may be the only singer banned from the Grand Ole Opry before he even got to sing there. During his early days in Nashville, Dierks had a job as a researcher for The Nashville Network, which was located on the Opryland grounds. Dierks made sure to stay late on weekends so he could slip backstage at the Grand Ole Opry House to watch the show and visit the musicians. Dierks did this so often that Opry general manager Pete Fisher finally had to limit his access. He performed his first No. 1 single, “What Was I Thinkin’,” a song inspired by a girl he’d met backstage at the Opry during those early visits. Dierks was made a member of the famed institution on October 1st, 2005.

Dierks is making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Somewhere on a Beach,” which is from his upcoming album, Black, due for release May 27th.

Darius Rucker is looking for a “good time”…on tour, that is. His Good for a Good Time Tour kicks off June 3rd in Tampa, Florida. The trek, which features opening acts Dan + Shay (who recently celebrated their first No. 1 single, “Nothin’ Like You,” and Michael Ray (who also had his own No. 1 single last year with “Kiss You in the Morning,” will run through September 11th.

“When you do tours, the opening acts are so important ‘cause you want to put guys in the seats, but you also want to entertain your fans, you know the people who are there to see you,” says Darius. “And for me also, one of the prerequisites is I gotta have guys that I can hang out with and go sit down and have dinner with and maybe play a round of golf with or drink a beer with after the show and before the show. So, those guys fit all that perfectly.”

As he did with his Southern Style Tour, Darius will present homes to deserving veterans and their families, along with Project Rebuild. The South Carolina native helped give away 14 homes last year.