Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Jon Pardi is finally seeing his dream of releasing his debut album come true on Tuesday (January 14th). Write You a Song features Pardi’s hit single, “Up All Night,” and his high-energy approach, perfected on stages throughout his native California and all over the nation, has its stamp all over his Capitol Records Nashville debut. 

The collection also features his previous Top 25 tune, “Missin’ You Crazy,” plus nine more previously unreleased tracks. Pardi co-produced the album, as well as co-wrote all but one of the 11 tracks on Write You A Song, making this release especially meaningful for the up-and-coming star. 

“It’s country. It’s rock and roll. It’s love songs. It’s beer drinkin’ songs,” says Jon. “We had a lot of songs we wanted on the album, but we just didn’t have enough room and these ones just made more sense. It was tough, but I’m so excited it’s coming out.”

Jon Pardi (excited for album to come out) OC: …coming out. :17
“It’s been four years of playing these songs and just playing ‘em and writing ‘em, and you know, picking what songs come on this album and it’s a big process. We had a lot of songs we wanted on the album, but we just didn’t have enough room and these ones just made more sense. It was tough, but I’m so excited it’s coming out.”

Jon Pardi (album) OC: …drinkin’ songs. :10
“That it’s awesome. They love it – that’s what I want them to go away with, but who knows? It’s country. It’s rock and roll. It’s love songs. It’s beer drinkin’ songs.”

The new season of FOX-TV’s American Idol returns this week with a nearly new panel of judges. Our own Keith Urban is the lone survivor from last season, while Jennifer Lopez, who was a judge on Season 10 and 11, returns with former mentor Harry Connick, Jr. Keith says working with the two other judges this season seems really natural.

“The very first day that J-Lo, Harry and I got on set, it just felt like we’d been doing it a long time,” says Keith. “In theory, it seemed like it was going to work, and for us, it worked perfectly. So, I hope it comes across that way, ‘cause…I’ve never had as much fun as we’re having this season, so that’s a good thing.”

The show will premiere over the course of two nights beginning Wednesday at 8pm ET/PT.

When he’s not hanging out with two other superstars and sending folks to Hollywood, Keith, who has hit the airwaves with his new single “Cop Car,” can be found on the road with the new leg of his Light the Fuse Tour. On Wednesday, he begins a run north of the border with a show in Vancouver.

Keith Urban (AI new season) OC: …good thing. :16
“The very first day that J-Lo, Harry and I got on set, it just felt like we’d been doing it a long time. And in theory, it seemed like it was going to work, and for us, it worked perfectly. So, I hope it comes across that way, ‘cause I’m certainly, I’ve never had as much fun as we’re having this season, so that’s a good thing.”

We’re just a little more than a week away from the release of Gary Allan‘s new album, Set You Free, which is set to arrive in stores January 22nd. Set You Free is not a song you’ll find on the new album, but it does appear on the album. “When you’re trying to name an album, so many people just use like song titles, and I have several times too…and you want to do something that captures the flavor of the album and doesn’t sound too cheesy and says what you want to say, and I think Set You Free did,” says Gary. “It wasn’t a song title, it was a line lifted out of the single [‘Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)’], which I thought made it cooler, and I think it’s very symbolic of where we’re at right now. Set You Free is the perfect title for us.”

“Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain),” which is closing in on the top of the country charts, was just certified gold by the R.I.A.A. for sales of over 500,000 downloads. The smash hit sold over 112,00 copies the first week of January alone.

AUDIO: Gary Allan talks about naming his new album, Set You Free.

Gary Allan (naming the album) OC: …title for us. :24
“You know, when you’re trying to name an album, so many people just used like song titles, and I have several times too. And you want to do something that captures the flavor of the album and doesn’t sound too cheesy and says what you want to say, and I think Set You Free did. And it wasn’t a song title, it was a line lifted out of the single, which I thought made it cooler. And I think it’s very symbolic of where we’re at right now. Set You Free is the perfect title for us.”

American Idol judges Keith Urban and Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest appeared on Late Night with Jay Leno on Thursday. They chatted about the show, which premieres January 16th, as well as addressed the other two judges, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj. Check out the photos and video clip below.

Keith Urban has long been a fan of the singing talent competition show, American Idol, and at a press conference earlier this week, he shared his reasons on why he decided to become a judge on the 13th season of the show. “I guess at the end of the day I love singers, I love musicians, I love creative people, and I love what this show can do for people that otherwise are trying to find a way in,” explains Keith. “You guys out there know who sing or play you’re just looking for a break you’re just figuring out ‘How can I get someone to listen to what I do?’ And this show does it on steroids [laughs].”    

Keith will be joined on the panel by Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Randy Johnson for the new season of American Idol, which will premiere Wednesday, January 16th. 

In other news, catch Keith’s appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday (January 14th).

AUDIO: Taking questions from fans all over the country, Keith Urban explains why he decided to become an Idol judge this year.

Keith Urban (Idol from press conference) 011013 OC: …on steroids. [laughs] :26
“I’ve watched ‘Idol’ for a lot of years. I guess at the end of the day I love singers, I love musicians I love creative people and I love what this show can do for people that otherwise are trying to find a way in. You guys out there know who sing or play you’re just looking for a break you’re just figuring out ‘How can I get someone to listen to what I do?’ And this show does it on steroids (laughs).”    

Easton Corbin has hit the airwaves with his brand-new single “Clockwork.” The song was written by Easton’s longtime producer, Carson Chamberlin as well as Ashley Gorley and Wade Kirby. “Clockwork” is the first song off Corbin’s third album due later this year on Mercury Nashville.

“[‘Clockwork’] is about this guy who’s tortured by this girl that, I don’t know if he necessarily loves her, but there’s some kind of attraction there,” Easton says. “It’s kind of like an addiction, I guess you’d say a little bit, that he can’t give it up, but he knows in the end it’s not gonna end well, but it feels good while it’s going on.”

In anticipation of the release of “Clockwork,” each day this week fans could visit www.EastonCorbin.com to watch snippets of a teaser video for “Clockwork” as they were revealed as well as the single artwork which was revealed piece-by-piece each day.

Today, fans can watch the entire “Clockwork” teaser video followed by a clip of “Clockwork” from the Florida native. Check it out below.

In other news — Easton began his leg of the We Are Pioneers World Tour with The Band Perry last night in Penticton, British Columbia. Over the next three months Easton will cover North America with The Band Perry, performing in 30 cities.

For more information on Easton Corbin and for a full list of tour dates visit www.EastonCorbin.com

Easton Corbin (Clockwork catchy) OC: …shall I say? :27
“Well, this song, it’s really catchy to the ear, I think. I think the song definitely has to have a little heartache to it, because that’s what it’s about. It’s about this guy who’s tortured by this girl that, I don’t know if he necessarily loves her, but there’s some kind of attraction there. It’s kind of like an addiction, I guess you’d say a little bit that he can’t give it up, but he knows in the end it’s not gonna end well, but it feels good while it’s going on, shall I say?”

Easton Corbin (Clockwork) 2 OC: …gonna hurt. :15
“As a guy, a single guy, a girl calling you up in the middle of the night saying, ‘Hey, can I come over?’ That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I don’t know. It’s kind of like drinking. It feels good. That buzz feels really great, but you know the next morning it’s probably gonna hurt.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 9, 2014) – Fans eagerly anticipating the upcoming Eric Church album The Outsiders are getting another taste of what’s to come on the much buzzed-about project. Church and EMI Records Nashville have released the album’s second single, “Give Me Back My Hometown.” The wistful song, written by Church and Luke Laird, is currently playing on radio stations across the country and available now for purchase at all digital retailers.

“Give Me Back My Hometown” follows first single and title cut “The Outsiders,” which Billboard magazine noted in a cover story on the ACM and CMA award winner, “Church was already at the vanguard of contemporary country’s rock movement… Like a modern-day Lynyrd Skynyrd, Church manages to be simultaneously more rock’n’roll and good-old-boy than anyone else out there – no easy task.” Rolling Stone named “The Outsiders” one of the “100 Best Songs of 2013” raving, “Leave it to the classic rock-loving Nashville badass to cook up the heaviest ‘country’ song in years – a radio hit that plays like some demon spawn of Def Leppard, Black Sabbath, and ‘Born to Be Wild.’” (RS hyperlink: http://rol.st/1cr1Gsl; Billboard hyperlink: http://bit.ly/1dheejC)

Church and longtime producer Jay Joyce once again collaborated on The Outsiders, which will be released on Feb. 11. Fans can pre-order album bundles directly from www.ericchurch.com, which include The Outsiders album and exclusive merchandise.

You can also download the new single, “Give Me Back My Home Town,” on iTunes here.

The Outsiders will be Church’s fourth studio album. It follows the Platinum-certified Chief, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, stayed atop the Billboard Country Albums Chart for two weeks, and received the Album of the Year Award from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Chief spawned five hit singles, including two No. 1 smashes: the Platinum-certified “Drink in My Hand” and Double Platinum-certified “Springsteen.”

For more information please visit www.ericchurch.com or follow on Facebook and Twitter @ericchurch.

Jennifer Nettles is hitting stores with her new solo album, That Girl, on Tuesday (January 14th), and she took a different approach to the recording process than she did with Sugarland’s releases.

“After working within – happily — the success of Sugarland for 10 years, I not only wanted the process to be different, I needed it to be different. I needed to push myself, I needed to play with my voice ways that in the nature of collaboration one really doesn’t get to always,” says Jennifer. “There are always parts of oneself that you never get to play with because it’s the nature of collaboration, you’re always influencing each other. So, I wanted to push myself and to see what would happen and to trust myself. This whole album to me was an exercise in trust.”

You’ll be able to catch her performing songs from her new album when she launches her That Girl Tour February 14th in Washington, DC.

Jennifer Nettles (different process) OC: …right person. 1:29
“After working within – happily — the success of Sugarland for 10 years, I not only wanted the process to be different, I needed it to be different. I needed to push myself, I needed to play with my voice ways that in the nature of collaboration one really doesn’t get to always. There are always parts of oneself that you never get to play with because it’s the nature of collaboration, you’re always influencing each other. So, I wanted to push myself and to see what would happen and to trust myself. This whole album to me was an exercise in trust. It was trust in myself as a songwriter. It was trusting myself as a singer enough to be able to say ‘Hey Rick, here are these songs that are pretty important to me, and this album is pretty important to me, and I’m gonna be really vulnerable and I’m just gonna say, ‘Okay, how do you see them?’ There were some times to where I was there sort of white-knuckled thinking like, ‘Oh my God! I think I wanna vomit because this really isn’t going the way that I wanted it to go, but I’m just gonna go with the process.’ Again, trust the process, and if I were going to trust anyone to take these songs and and to to push them to new places than I had envisioned. I felt that Rick was the right person.”