Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Kip Moore isn’t concerned with the material aspects in life at this point in his career, since he’s solely focused on building his career and his fanbase. Even with two number-one songs under his belt, he doesn’t even have his own place. He crashes at his publishing company when he’s in Nashville.

“I think it drives my manager more crazy than it does anybody else. He’s like, ‘Man, let’s get you a place.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t need that right now,’” says Kip. “I’ll be honest – I’ve been writing like crazy for this new record, and part of me likes having that. My hot showers come when I go on the road. The studio building, the shower is a cold shower, so I’ll take cold showers in the morning. It might sound crazy, but it keeps my edge. It keeps me from getting comfortable, and that’s where I’m going to try to stay as long as I can for at least the next couple of years, because these are crucial years of building this thing, and I’m gonna have a lifetime of material from these times.”

Kip is making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Hey, Pretty Girl.”

AUDIO: Kip Moore says he is keeping himself “uncomfortable” in order to hone his craft.

Kip Moore (crashing at publishing co) OC: …wanting more. :50
“I’m crashing right now at my publishing house studio. It’s a tiny little room, and I’m [in Nashville] one or two days a week. And I think it drives my manager more crazy than it does anybody else. He’s like, ‘Man, let’s get you a place.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t need that right now.’ I’ll be honest – I’ve been writing like crazy for this new record, and part of me likes having that. My hot showers come when I go on the road. The studio building, the shower is a cold shower, so I’ll take cold showers in the morning. It might sound crazy, but it keeps my edge. It keeps me from getting comfortable, and that’s where I’m going to try to stay as long as I can for at least the next couple of years, because these are crucial years of building this thing, and I’m gonna have a lifetime of material from these times. So, I’m not comfortable living in a tiny little room. I’ve just got all my stuff crammed in there; I take cold showers. It keeps me wanting more.”

Las Vegas was a jam packed trip for Lady Antebellum! They got to catch up with some friends, make some new ones, and do an awesome performance on their latest hit, “Downtown,” on the ACMs stage.

Lady Antebellum’s latest single, “Downtown,” is poised to take over the top spot on the country singles chart, and the uptempo goodtime tune is also proving to be a hit in their live shows, as well. The trio is getting a good kick out of performing the song as Lady A member Hillary Scott progresses in her pregnancy. “The second verse, and it’s like [singing] ‘I’ve got some platforms sitting in the corner/ I wanna stroll on a city sidewalk/I’ve got a dress that’ll show a little unh-uh/but you ain’t gettin’ unh-uh if you don’t come pick me up.’ So, it’s like the belly is definitely showing off,” laughs Hillary. “Like the more pregnant I get the funnier it’ll be to perform that song every night. Hopefully, it’ll give everybody a good laugh.”

Hillary is due to give birth to a baby girl in July – it will be the first child for her and husband, Chris Tyrell.

The band is also about to give birth to their fourth studio album, Golden, on May 7th.

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum talk about performing their hit single, “Downtown,” as Hillary progresses in her pregnancy.

Lady A (Downtown-pregnant) OC: (Charles) …you downtown. [Hillary laughs] :28
HILLARY: “The second verse, and it’s like [singing] ‘I’ve got some platforms sitting in the corner/ I wanna stroll on a city sidewalk/I’ve got a dress that’ll show a little unh-uh/but you ain’t gettin’ unh uh if you don’t come pick me up.’ So, it’s like the belly is definitely showing off. Like the more pregnant I get the funnier it’ll be to perform that song every night. Hopefully, it’ll give everybody a good laugh.” CHARLES: “I don’t know why you don’t take me downtown-it’s because you’re pregnant, Hillary. That’s why we don’t take you downtown.” [Hillary laughs]

Go behind-the-scenes with Luke Bryan as he rehearses and hosts the ACMs, culminating in his winning the coveted Entertainer of the Year Award.

Eric Church has released his new live album, Caught in the Act, and the collection was sitting at number-one on iTunes the day of release. The North Carolina native, who picked up the ACM Award for Album of the Year for Chief on Sunday, says the title, Caught in the Act, perfectly describes how they recorded the album. “We wanted it to be as loose as it could be because that’s what our career has been. It’s been real,” says Eric. “I remember…like an hour before that first show of myself and the band, two hours maybe, we pulled out a sheet of paper and we took out a pen, and we went down and made a set list. We didn’t know what we were starting with. We didn’t know what we were finishing with. We just went down and said ‘Hey, what do you want to play? What do you want to play? Hey, man remember, we haven’t played this in a long time.’ There were songs that I thought there’s no way I’ll get through that but our sentiment was let’s try it. Let’s go for it.”

“I think that with the Caught In The Act, it was very much you had to catch it because it may or may not have happened. It was just one of those things that it was so by the seat of our pants and off the cuff that it may or may not have worked,” adds Eric. “We could have easily recorded this, filmed this and came to the end and went ‘This isn’t good.’ We could have done it. We treated it that way. It wasn’t overthought. It was let’s try to see if we can create this environment that the magic and the music can mesh together.”

The compilation includes selections from his previous three albums – Sinners Like Me, Carolina and Chief. Eric is currently heading up the country charts with his latest single, “Like Jesus Does.”

AUDIO: Eric Church explains why his live album was titled Caught in the Act.

Eric Church (title of live album) OC: …came from. 1:10
“With Caught In The Act we tried not to make too much of a deal about ‘Hey, we’re setting up here. We’re making a live record.’ We wanted it to be as loose as it could be because that’s what our career has been. It’s been real. I remember we have some footage like an hour before that first show of myself and the band, two hours maybe. We pulled out a sheet of paper and we took out a pen, and we went down and made a set list. We didn’t know what we were starting with. We didn’t know what we were finishing with. We just went down and said ‘Hey, what do you want to play? What do you want to play? Hey, man remember, we haven’t played this in a long time.’ There were songs that I thought there’s no way I’ll get through that but our sentiment was let’s try it. Let’s go for it. And I think that with the Caught In The Act, it was very much you had to catch it because it may or may not have happened. It was just one of those things that it was so by the seat of our pants and off the cuff that it may or may not have worked. We could have easily recorded this, filmed this and came to the end and went ‘This isn’t good.’ We could have done it. We treated it that way. It wasn’t overthought. It was let’s try to see if we can create this environment that the magic and the music can mesh together. And that’s where the title came from.”

Luke Bryan picted up the ACM Award for Entertainer of the Year on Sunday nght, and he was so overcome with emotion as evidenced by his acceptance speech during the show. Backstage, amid crews tearing down the stage, Luke recorded a special video message to his fans to thank them for voting.

Eric Church‘s live album, Caught in the Act, will be released on Tuesday (April 9th). The 17-track compilation includes several selections from his platinum-selling CMA Album of the Year, as well as hits and concert favorites from his previous two releases, Sinners Like Me and Carolina.

When asked the question why this was the right time to release a live album, the North Carolina native says,”We wanted to do it our whole career. We wanted to capture what happens live. But again, I think I did not want it to be a live record in this big place and all the people. I wanted to pay homage to where we came from. And we tried to find the smallest places. It just happened to be that the Tivoli was the right place, right location, right theatre, right environment to record it…It was just trying to find the right size to feel that intimacy, that connection that really turned into whatever we’ve become. That’s what that’s about. It’s the energy exchange. And I just didn’t want to get too far removed from it. I didn’t want to look back two or three years from now and be so far removed from our smaller venue days that we lost touch with that hunger, that we lost touch with that passion.”

You can catch Eric live when he plays at Country Thunder West April 12th in Florence, Arizona.

LAS VEGAS – Luke Bryan took time off from practicing his hosting duties for Sunday’s 48th annual ACM Awards on Saturday morning to host a different kind of event — ACM & Cabela’s Great Outdoors Archery Event for his tour sponsor Cabela.

Bryan’s friends and fellow country singers including Jason Aldean, Kix Brooks, Justin Moore, Thomas Rhett, Easton Corbin, Jon Pardi and Chris Jansen came out, bows in hand, to the Orleans to test their archery skills by shooting at faux wild animal targets made to look like turkeys, deer and bears.

Bryan told Nashville’s Tennessean before the tournament began that he wanted to host the event because “Cabela is my tour sponsor and my support and love for the company and them wanting to partner up and do this. Secondly, (I wanted to do this for the fans), and it’s just a chance to have some artist buddies come out and shoot and have a little fun.”

Bryan is also an avid hunter and said “99 percent of the hunting I do is archery hunting.”

“Anytime you can promote the outdoors through archery, it’s certainly my passion,” he said.

Pardi was so excited about the event, he showed up almost an hour early to practice his technique before festivities got under way. It’s probably a good thing he did – a few of the targets were set up near a pen holding livestock. An accident could have been disastrous.

Corbin is also a hunter, but he prefers larger game – elk being his favorite.

“Elk is a lot of fun,” he says. “We went out to New Mexico two years ago, and I go to Texas and hunt out there, too.”

Bryan says he’s likely a little more relaxed at his archery event than he will be sharing co-hosting duties of the 48th annual ACM Awards on Sunday with Blake Shelton.

“I’m a little nervous, but excited and ready to do it,” says Bryan, who will participate in the opening number as well as perform his new single “Crash My Party” on the show. “ I think it’s going to be an amazing, awesome show … Life is good and we’re excited to be out here and I’m excited about everything that’s going on.”

The 48th annual ACM Awards air 7 p.m. Sunday on CBS.

WHAT: The48^thANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, co-hosted by Luke Bryanand Blake Shelton, honors country music’s top talent, as well as the industry’s hottest emerging artists. It is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

Fans can watch ACM Red Carpet Liveon GAC with hosts Suzanne Alexander, Storme Warren and Nan Kelley’s lively interviews with many of the top ACM nominees and performers. ACM Red Carpet Live will air on Sunday, April 7^thfrom 3:30 PM – 5:00PM PT. GAC’s red carpet show will also stream live Sunday atACMCountry.combeginning at 3:00 PM PTand will move to the ACM Awards press room at 5:30 PM PTfeaturing press interviews with the winners. The live stream on ACMCountry.comis brought to you by Las Vegas.

WHEN: Sunday, April 7, 2013

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM PT GAC Red Carpet Live (also streaming at acmcountry.com)

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM PT ACM Awards Live Telecast on CBS

5:30 PM – 8:30 PM PT ACM Awards Press Room (streaming at acmcountry.com)

WHO: Performers include: Jason Aldean,Garth Brooks,Luke Bryan,Kenny Chesney,Eric Church, Kelly Clarkson,Hunter Hayes,Jewel,Miranda Lambert,Tim McGraw,Blake Shelton,George Strait,Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Stevie Wonder, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Pistol Annies andThe Band Perry.Brad Paisley will headline the 3^rdAnnual ACM Fan Jam, along with special guests Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes and John Mayer,and New Artist of the Year Presented by Kohl’s nomineesBrantley Gilbert, Jana Kramer andFlorida Georgia Line.

Presenters include: Country music artist Gary Allan,2 Broke Girlsstar Beth Behrs,Vegasstar Michael Chiklis, Grammy award-winner Sheryl Crow,The Big Bang Theory’sKaley Cuoco, music star John Fogerty,omg! INSIDERco-anchor Kevin Frazier,country music artist Faith Hill, San Francisco 49ersNFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, country music artists Miranda Lambert, Scotty McCreery and Kacey Musgraves, Entertainment Tonight co-anchor Nancy O’Dell ,country music artists Jake Owen, Reba, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood, Chris Young and Eli Young Band, and A&E’s Duck Dynasty starsWillie& Korie Robertson.

Day off between shows calls for a little stress relief for Luke Bryan and his crew. Luke’s band and crew hit a paintball course to blow off some steam in the latest episode of LBTV.