Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

George Strait To Be Honored With

CRB Career Achievement Award

(Nashville, TN – Feb. 6, 2013) – Country superstar George Strait will be honored with the 2013 Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. Career Achievement Award at the Country Radio Hall of Fame Induction on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m.

The CRB Achievement Award is presented to an individual artist or act that, through their creativity, vision, performance or leadership has made a significant contribution to the development and promotion of country music and country radio.

“George Strait has done a superb job promoting country music and country radio over the years. His dedication to the format and on-going contribution to the industry as a whole make him the perfect recipient for this award,” said Mike Culotta, CRS President.

With a career spanning more than 30 years, George Strait has the most number one singles of any artist in history including Elvis Presley.  He has sold nearly 69 million records and with 33 different platinum or multi-platinum albums, has the most RIAA platinum certifications in country music and the third in all genres behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley. Strait was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006. Strait is the only artist to have 85 out of 90 radio singles make it to Top 10 and 24 albums at the number one position on Billboard’s Country Music Album Chart, and has recently released “Give It All We Got Tonight” from his forthcoming 2013 album.

As previously announced, the evening will also feature Gaylan Christie being inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame and Dr. Don Carpenter, Crook & Chase, Eddie Edwards and Bill “Dex” Poindexter will be inducted in the Air Personality category. Bob Romeo will receive the 2013 Presidents’ Award.

Previous winners of this Award include Brooks and Dunn, Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire.

The Country Radio Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony unofficially kicks off Country Radio Seminar each year.

For more information on George Strait, visit www.georgestrait.com. 

AUDIO: George Strait has had a very long and successful career – more than 30 years since he released his first single, “Unwound.” King George explains what he believes has attributed to his long career.

George Strait (long career) OC: …do it all. :29
“It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, though to me until I look in the mirror. It’s been a long time. It’s been a great career and I think one of the reasons is I’ve always been fortunate enough to have good people around me and good people to work with. Very loyal people that I get good advice from and bounce ideas off of and know that I can count on. You know you can’t do it by yourself. You can do a lot, but you can’t do it all.”

With the release of their latest single to iTunes this week, Lady Antebellum talk about “Downtown,” which is the first single from their upcoming album due out later this year.

Gary Allan’s Set You Free remains atop the Billboard Country Singles Chart for a second week in a row. The disc sold nearly 34-thousand copies this past week to hold steady at number-one on the country chart and land at number-eight overall. Last week, the collection, containing his gold-certified, chart-topping single “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain),” debuted at the top of both the country and Top 200 charts with 106-thousand copies sold. “I sort of forced myself to stretch this time; one, because I had so much time, and I always feel like you have to do something new to reinvent yourself,” says Gary. “I think it’s my favorite album.”

The California native is not only celebrating a number-one single and album, but he’s also thrilled that his two shows at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium in April sold-out in 10-minutes each.

AUDIO: Gary Allan says there is a lot of diversity on his latest album, Set You Free, which debuted atop the Billboard Top 200 last week and is still sitting at number-one on the country chart.

Gary Allan (diversity of album) OC: …album too. :41
“I sort of forced myself to stretch this time; one, because I had so much time and I always feel like you have to do something new to reinvent yourself, and this time it was [with] producers. I did stuff with Jay Joyce, which I’ve never done. How we did it this time is I did five songs with Jay Joyce, five songs with Mark Wright, and then I did five songs with my band and engineer Greg Droman. I think if you cut everything at one time, if you cut 15 songs, usually it’s okay if you end up with an album cut or a couple songs that don’t make the record. But since we did it like that, we were all competing with each other. Like we only got five, so there was a lot less room for mistake. And I think the result is we just got better quality everything. I think it’s my favorite album too.”

Lady Antebellum had the honor of sharing of the CMT Crossroads stage with Stevie Nicks last week in LA. Rolling Stone was there to capture all of the amazing moments on and off the stage. To check out their exclusive gallery of behind-the-scenes photos, click here.

RYAN SEACREST, LITTLE BIG TOWN, THE BAND PERRY, BETH BEHRS,

SCOTTY McCREERY, NANCY O’DELL & ROB MARCIANO, AND MORE

TO ANNOUNCE NOMINEES FOR THE

48^TH ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS

COUNTRY MUSIC’S PARTY OF THE YEAR®

ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013 VIA

www.facebook.com/AcademyOfCountryMusic AND www.twitter.com/ACMAwards

COUNTRY MUSIC FANS INVITED TO ANNOUNCE ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR CATEGORY

& SPECIAL VIP GUESTS WILL ANNOUNCE CATEGORIES VIA VIDEO POSTS

Tweet: Join Ryan Seacrest, Little Big Town, The Band Perry, Beth Behrs & more announcing @ACMawards nominees! How? http://youtu.be/6A_400wmheM #ACMs

WHAT:                 The second annual ACM digital press conference, hosted by the Academy of Country Music, CBS Television and dick clark productions via ACM social media channels, to announce the nominees for the 48^th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, Country Music’s Party of the Year® to 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.   

WHO:                   The Band Perry, 2 Broke Girls star Beth Behrs, Little Big Town, Scotty McCreery, Ryan Seacrest, Entertainment Tonight hosts Rob Marciano and Nancy O’Dell and more surprise guests will announce categories via videos posted in real time to fans and media simultaneously.  The press conference will culminate with country music FANS announcing the nominees for Entertainer of the Year (see below).

WHEN:                 Wednesday, February 13, 2013

                                6:30 AM PST       Nominations announced via social media followed by a press release

posted on www.ACMcountry.com.

WHERE:               ACM Facebook Page:     www.facebook.com/AcademyOfCountryMusic

                                ACM Twitter Feed:         www.twitter.com/ACMawards

MORE:                  FANS ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS ONLINE EVENT!  Beginning TODAY, fans are invited to visit the ACM YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/acmcountry to learn how to post videos announcing the name of the artist(s) they would like to see receive an Entertainer of the Year nomination.  On Wednesday, February 13^th during the real-time digital press conference fans can watch to see if their video submission is used to announce their pick for the Academy’s biggest prize. And they’re in good company: Past participants in the ACM nominations press conferences have included Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Lionel Richie, Blake Shelton, Sugarland, Carrie Underwood and many more!

Kacey Musgraves co-produced her debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park, with hit songwriters Luke Laird and Shane McAnally. Kacey talks about some of the songs on the album, due out March 19th, below.

Kip Moore has been announced as the special guest on Toby Keith’s upcoming Hammer Down Tour, which is set to kick off June 8th in Ozark, Arkansas. “I am excited to go out with Toby, because I have heard so many stories about what the tours are like. I know that he has a big, big rowdy crowd, and I know he has a different kind of fan base than I probably do, which is why it’s going to be so fun to get in front of that fan base,” says Kip. “The guy has been at the top of his game for no telling how many years. I mean 10-15-20 years, so I know it’s definitely something I can learn a lot from, and I think it will better my career going out with him.”

Kip, who is currently on the road with Brantley Gilbert on the Hell on Wheels Tour, is scaling the country charts with his latest single, “Hey Pretty Girl,” the follow-up to back-to-back number-one singles – “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck” and “Beer Money.”

Hammer Down Tour dates:
6/8       Ozark, AR*
6/14     Cincinnati, OH
6/15     Pittsburgh, PA
6/22     Philadelphia, PA
6/28     Oshkosh, WI*
6/29     Cadott, WI*
6/30     Chicago, IL
7/19     Cleveland, OH
7/20     St. Clairsville, OH
7/21     Buffalo, NY
7/27     Cheyenne, WY*
7/30     Davenport, IA Mississippi Valley Fair *
8/2       Sweet Home, OR
8/6       Sturgis, SD*
8/14     Springfield, IL
8/24     Washington, DC
8/25     Hartford, CT
8/31     Allentown, PA
9/1       Essex Junction, VT
9/7       Indianapolis, IN
Dates with * = Kip Moore does not appear.

AUDIO: Kip Moore talks about going out on the road with Toby Keith.

Kip Moore (Toby Keith) OC: …out with him. :35
“I am excited to go out with Toby, because I have heard so many stories about what the tours are like. I know that he has a big, big rowdy crowd, and I know he has a different kind of fan base than I probably do, which is why it’s going to be so fun to get in front of that fan base. And it’s going to be a bunch of those outdoor amphitheaters, the sheds, which is always a lively good time. I mean, the guy has been at the top of his game for no telling how many years. I mean 10-15-20 years, so I know it’s definitely something I can learn a lot from, and I think it will better my career going out with him.”

Gary Allan‘s new album, Set You Free, debuted at number-one on the Billboard Top 200 chart last week, and we’ve got clips of him talking about a couple of cuts on the album — “One More Time,” “Sand in My Soul,” “Hungover Heart” and “It Ain’t the Whiskey.”

Lady Antebellum’s new hit, “Downtown,” is available on iTunes on Tuesday (February 5th), and the song reminds the group’s Hillary Scott of her college years at M.T.S.U. (Middle Tennessee State University). “I was in Murfreesboro at MTSU and Nashville is 40 miles away, like it’s not that far.  But, if you got asked on a date and he drove you to Nashville that was a big deal, you know, because that’s like you’re in college, paying for gas and all that stuff,” says Hillary. “It’s like a guy really liked you if he took you all the way to downtown Nashville.”

If you go to ladyantebellum.com, you can play to win all sorts of prizes, including handwritten lyrics, behind-the-scenes content and many other prizes. The online game is titled Downtown Go Round, and you can start playing now!

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott says “Downtown,” the band’s latest single, reminds her of dating when she was in college.

Lady A (Downtown-Hillary college) OC: …downtown Nashville. [laughs] :25
“I went to school, went to college before I met the boys. I was in Murfreesboro at MTSU and Nashville is 40 miles away, like it’s not that far.  But, if you got asked on a date and he drove you to Nashville that was a big deal, you know, because that’s like you’re in college, paying for gas and all that stuff. That’s the one thing I thought about, it’s like a guy really liked you if he took you all the way to downtown Nashville. [laughs]”

Alan Jackson and Keith Urba are among the artists featured on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty’s new album, Wrote a Song For Everyone. Alan is featured on “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” while Keith performs on “Almost Saturday Night.” Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert and Brad Paisley are also featured on the album, due out May 28th.

Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley have hit the links in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Celebrity Challenge in Monterey, California this week. Jake Owen, Clay Walker, Bill Murray, Huey Lewis, Wayne Gretzky, Ray Romano and Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers are also playing in the tourney running through February 10th.