Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Newcomer Drake White is getting ready to hit the airwaves with his debut single, “The Simple Life.” Check out the video below as the first introduction to this charasmatic performer.

Get a preview of the fun new video for Darius Rucker‘s single, “Wagon Wheel,” and download the single here: http://smarturl.it/nojubb

Kacey Musgraves has been in rehearsals at a Nashville sound stage this week gearing up to play stadiums, arenas and huge venues on Kenny Chesney’s No Shoes Nation Tour. The Texas native just wrapped up her opening stint on Little Big Town’s Tornado Tour a couple of weeks ago, which played to sold-out crowds. She’s now getting ready to embark on Kenny’s trek, which includes a handful of huge stadiums that house 70,000 people or more. So, we asked her if she is prepared to hit the stage on Saturday (March 16th) at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.

“I don’t know if any amount of preparation could prepare me for getting out on stage in front of 70,000 people. I mean what human knows what to do with that at first? I don’t know,” says the “Merry Go Round” singer/songwriter. “I’m excited, though. That’s got to create a whole new level of energy that I’ve never been able to experience until now. I mean, taking what I do as a songwriter and figuring out how to apply that to such a massive scale is going to be a learning experience for me, but who better to learn from than such an entertainer, I mean, across all genres.”

Kacey is the only female on the road, since the other acts on the trek will include Eric Church, Zac Brown Band and the Eli Young Band.

Don’t forget to catch Kacey performing her Top 10 hit, “Merry Go Round” on NBC’s Today Show on Tuesday, March 19^th – the same day her new album, Same Trailer, Different Park

AUDIO: Kacey Musgraves just finished a run with Little Big Town a couple of weeks ago and is about to open up for Kenny Chesney on his No Shoes Nation Tour, which kicks off in Tampa on Saturday.

Kacey Musgraves (preparing for Chesney tour) OC: …hear me first. :55
“Oh my gosh. Well I don’t know if any amount of preparation could prepare me for getting out on stage in front of 70,000 people. I mean what human knows what to do with that at first? I don’t know. I’m excited, though. That’s got to create a whole new level of energy that I’ve never been able to experience until now. So yeah, I mean taking what I do as a songwriter and figuring out how to apply that to such a massive scale is going to be a learning experience for me, but who better to learn from than such an entertainer, I mean, across all genres. I don’t care if you listen to his music or not. There’s no denying the fact the he is an amazing entertainer on a grand scale. I’m just excited to be a part of something so big. I’m the only girl on the tour and I think that’s cool. So, I’m just excited. I hope his fans like it and are into it, and come early enough to get a little buzz going on and hear me first.”

Encino, CA (March 14, 2013) – The Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions announced today that Country Superstars Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum, along with International Music Sensation Pitbull have been added to the all-star lineup of artists scheduled to perform at the ACM PRESENTS: TIM McGRAW’S SUPERSTAR SUMMER NIGHT, taping Monday, April 8, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  These artists join previously announced performers Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift and Ne-Yo. The special will be broadcast at a later date on the CBS Television Network. 

Fifteen-time ACM Award winner Tim McGraw is spotlighting the hottest music of the summer and calling on his friends to help kick off the 2013 touring season. ACM PRESENTS: TIM McGRAW’s SUPERSTAR SUMMER NIGHT will feature high-octane performances and musical collaborations in a two-hour, star-studded concert event to benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music.

Dierks Bentley is an ACM Award-winning singer/songwriter who has forged his own brand of country music combining classic country songwriting, influences of bluegrass instrumentation and the energy of rock & roll. Bentley’s sixth studio album Home, released in 2012, debuted at #1 and has spawned three chart-toppings hits, marking 10 career #1 songs as a singer and songwriter. He is currently on the “Locked & Reloaded Tour” with longtime friend Miranda Lambert. On April 6, Bentley will headline the ACM Party for a Cause Festival, a two-day outdoor music festival during “The Week Vegas Goes Country®,” and on April 7, will perform at the ACM Fan Jam.

Keith Urban is a seven-time ACM Award winner, who has sold more than 15 million albums. This spring will bring the release of brand new music, his fourth annual All For The Hall benefit, a highly anticipated tour, which gets underway this July, and continued filming for American Idol.  He has celebrated 14 No. 1’s, including 28 Top 5 hits and has had five consecutive platinum or multi-platinum albums.  In 2010, he was given the Academy’s prestigious Jim Reeves International Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music worldwide.  

Lady Antebellum is an ACM award-winning trio comprised of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood. The band recently received their fourth ACM Award nomination for Vocal Group of the Year, an award they have won for three consecutive years.  Lady Antebellum’s current single, “Downtown” is the lead single off of their upcoming fourth Capitol Nashville release Golden, scheduled to come out May 7. The track hit big out of the gate, becoming the trio’s highest-charting debut on the Country radio charts.

Tickets for ACM PRESENTS: TIM McGRAW’s SUPERSTAR SUMMER NIGHT are on sale NOW at Ticketmaster, priced at $105, $155 and $205. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy, and an organization that McGraw was closely affiliated with during his last tour.

For more information, log onto www.ACMLiftingLives.org or www.ACMcountry.com or follow on Twitter at @ACMawards for more immediate updates.

About Tim McGraw
For 20 years, McGraw has been providing that kind of powerful connection with his audience. With Two Lanes of Freedom, his new album—and first release for Big Machine Records—the singer is covering his broadest emotional range yet, with a set of songs that looks forward and back, gets deep and gets loose, and reveals that even the biggest stars can continue to grow with consistency and maturity.

In his record-shattering career, McGraw has sold more than 40 million albums, and dominated the charts with 33 No. 1 singles. Since the release of his debut album in 1993, he has won three GRAMMYs, 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, 12 Country Music Association Awards, and 10 American Music Awards, while simultaneously maintaining a parallel career as a successful actor in such films as “The Blind Side,” “Country Strong,” and “Friday Night Lights”—as well as hosting Saturday Night Live, a rare honor for a singer in any genre. McGraw has never been afraid of breaking new ground; over the years, he has collaborated with musicians from Nelly to Tony Bennett to Def Leppard and Ne-Yo.

About ACM PRESENTS: TIM McGRAW’s SUPERSTAR SUMMER NIGHT 
ACM PRESENTS: TIM McGRAW’s SUPERSTAR SUMMER NIGHT will feature high-octane performances and musical collaborations in a two hour star-studded concert event to benefit ACM Lifting Lives. The special will be produced for television by dick clark productions and will be taped at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Monday, April 8, 2013 at 7:30 PM PT, with the broadcast airdate to be announced at a later time on the CBS Television Network.  Allen Shapiro, Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are executive producers.  Barry Adelman is producer, and Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music. 

Gary Allan’s new single, “Pieces,” is a unique and positive way to look at previous relationships. He co-wrote the song with Sarah Buxton and Odie Blackmon, which was the first time the three of them had written together.

“‘Pieces,’ that was Sarah [Buxton]’s hook. She came with a little bit of it written. I wrote it with Odie Blackmon and her…it was our first time we had written together, and it was a great write,” says Gary. “I love the song…and it is a song about taking something from everybody, and you do. You take things through life in every relationship, and that kind of spits you out as who you are.”

“Pieces” is the follow-up to his previous number-one single, “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain).”

AUDIO: Gary Allan talks about the song, “Pieces,” which he co-wrote with Sarah Buxton and Odie Blackmon.

Gary Allan (Pieces) 1 OC: …who you are. :20
“‘Pieces,’ that was Sarah [Buxton]’s hook. She came with a little bit of it written. I wrote it with Odie Blackmon and her…it was our first time we had written together, and it was a great write. I love the song, though. And it is a song about taking something from everybody, and you do. You take things through life in every relationship, and that kind of spits you out as who you are.”

Kacey Musgraves arrives in stores with her debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park, on Tuesday (March 19th). She wrote or co-wrote all 12 tracks on the project, which she also co-produced with celebrated tunesmiths Luke Laird (“Pontoon,” “Drink in My Hand,” “Take a Back Road”) and Shane McAnally (“Merry Go Round,” “Somewhere With You”).

The title of the album came her Top 10 hit “Merry Go Round,” and she says it’s one of her favorite lyrics. “All along I wanted the title to be something that stands out. I never wanted it to be one-dimensional or completely obvious — you know, Kacey Musgraves… Or even Merry Go Round, you know? I kind of love it when album titles make you think, and sometimes they don’t even have anything to do with the actual, it’s just an abstract idea,” says Kacey. “This came from a lyric in ‘Merry Go Round’ and it’s one of my favorite lyrics in the record. The lyric is ‘Same hurt in every heart/same trailer, different park,’ and it kind of just means we’re all kind of in this together. We’re all hurt the same way. We all feel the same way, although we’re all different.”

Catch Kacey perform her hit single on NBC’s Today Show on Tuesday — the same day her album hits stores!

AUDIO: Kacey Musgraves describes how she came up with the title of her debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park.

Kacey Musgraves (title of album) OC: …I love it. :40
“All along I wanted the title to be something that stands out. I never wanted it to be one dimensional or completely obvious — you know, Kacey Musgraves… Or even Merry Go Round, you know? I kind of love it when album titles make you think, and sometimes they don’t even have anything to do with the actual, it’s just an abstract idea. This came from a lyric in ‘Merry Go Round’ and it’s one of my favorite lyrics in the record. The lyric is ‘Same hurt in every heart/same trailer, different park,’ and it kind of just means we’re all kind of in this together. We’re all hurt the same way. We all feel the same way, although we’re all different. That’s why I love it.”

GEORGE STRAIT FANS AND FELLOW COUNTRY ARTISTS JOIN THE  “SIXTY FOR SIXTY” MOVEMENT
Current Single “Give It All We Got Tonight” Would Become Strait’s 60^th No. 1 Hit            

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Country music’s biggest stars and fans are helping to make history by joining the “Sixty For Sixty” movement (#60for60) which celebrates George Strait as he approaches the 60th No. 1 single of his career with “Give It All We Got Tonight,” before his 61st birthday on May 18th. “Sixty For Sixty” first started on Valentine’s Day when fans rallied together on Strait’s Twitter and Facebook pages encouraging local country radio to meet the challenge and spin the record.  It appears their efforts have paid off as “Give It All We Got Tonight” is the fastest certified Gold single of Strait’s career and currently sits in the Top 15 on the Country radio charts. It is the first single from his forthcoming album, due for release in late spring. 

As a tribute to Strait’s incredible career that includes more No. 1 singles than any artist in history, in any genre, fellow Country music artists including Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, among others, have joined the “Sixty For Sixty” movement, seen here: http://youtu.be/J0NBfNnuI-g.  By visiting www.sixtyforsixty.com, fans can learn how they can help the movement using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The website will continuously update as more artists, celebrities, and fans join this movement for “King George.”

With over 68 million albums sold, George has influenced and inspired Country music, fellow artists and fans for more than 32 years.  His current two-year final U.S. tour, The Cowboy Rides Away Tour recently debuted in the No. 1 slot of POLLSTAR’s “Concert Pulse,” topping Justin Bieber, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Dave Matthews Band, and The Who. So far, George has sold out 16 venues on the 2013 leg of The Cowboy Rides Away Tour within minutes, including record-breaking attendance figures in Knoxville, Tenn., Lexington, Ky., and in upcoming San Antonio and Houston markets.

Nashville, Tenn. – Capitol Records Nashville recording artist Darius Rucker will release his third country studio album, True Believers, on May 21.  Darius wrote ten of the twelve tracks on True Believers, produced by Frank Rogers, and the album features the Top 20-and-climbing critically-acclaimed single “Wagon Wheel” written by Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, based on a sketch by Bob Dylan.

“I’m very proud of this record,” Rucker reveals.  “The songs, the co-writes, the vibe – it’s all really different from what we’ve recorded and released on the past two albums, and I hope that difference resonates with the fans.”

Rogers, who also produced Learn To Live and Charleston, SC 1966, shares, “When we were recording True Believers, we had Darius record a lot of the vocals for this album in his hometown of Charleston. I think as a result of that relaxed setting he was more experimental vocally, and honestly, he sang better than ever before.”

Rucker’s first two country albums, Learn To Live and Charleston, SC 1966 both topped the Billboard Country album chart and produced five No. 1 singles including “Come Back Song,” “This,” “Alright,” “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.”

In 2009 Rucker was named New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards.  Most recently, he achieved a personal goal and childhood dream when he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on October 16, 2012.  Rucker will kick off his True Believers Tour on May 9 in Estero, Florida, visiting more than 20 cities across the U.S. before wrapping up in Clarkston, Michigan on June 30th.

True Believers Track Listing:  

1. True Believers (Darius Rucker, Josh Kear)
2. Miss You (Darius Rucker, Frank Rogers)
3. Wagon Wheel (Bob Dylan, Ketch Secor)
4. Love Without You (Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally)
5. Radio (Darius Rucker, Luke Laird, Ashley Gorley)
6. Lost In You (Darius Rucker, Mark Nesler, Phillip White)
7. I Will Love You Still (Darius Rucker, Josh Kear)
8. Take Me Home (Darius Rucker, Frank Rogers, Monty Criswell)
9. Shine (Darius Rucker, Frank Rogers)
10. Heartbreak Road (Darius Rucker, Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins)
11. Leavin’ The Light On (Darius Rucker, David Lee Murphy, Phil O’Donnell)
12. Lie To Me (Darius Rucker, Rodney Clawson, Bob DiPiero)

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

AUDIO: Darius Rucker says he was going for a slightly different sound for his new album, True Believers.

Darius Rucker (new album) OC: …going for. :46
“This third record we wanted to take a step different. We wanted to sound a little different – that was the big thing with me and [producer] Frank [Rogers]. The most important thing this time was the songs. This is the most important record of my career. This record is either going to make me a country superstar, or make me just another country singer. I mean, it’s really that simple, so we knew we had to go do something special. We had to have some songs that were going to connect with people and people are gonna want to hear over and over and over again and want to go buy, and so we took our time and we worked on it. I got the best compliment ever when I played three songs for friends of mine who are DJs down at country radio in Charleston. And the first question he asked me is who is my new producer? And I thought, ‘That’s a great question.’ I said the same guy. He said, ‘It doesn’t sound like it.’ That’s what we were going for.”