Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

LINER AJ (Thanksgiving)
“Hi! This is Alan Jackson. I hope y’all have a very happy Thanksgiving out there.”

Nashville, Tenn. – Capitol Records Nashville recording artist and newest Grand Ole Opry member, Darius Rucker will be featured on Ram Country on Yahoo! Music on starting Wednesday, November 14 (http://music.yahoo.com/programs/ram-country/going-home-darius-rucker-000000499.html). The program follows Rucker as he returned to his alma mater, The University of South Carolina (USC), for a Gamecocks football game and a surprise performance during a tailgate event.  Rucker met fellow Hootie & the Blowfish band mates while attending USC and his love for the school and their sports program has remained strong. 

Rucker will release his third country studio album, True Believers, on January 22, 2013.  Darius wrote ten of the twelve tracks on True Believers including the title track and debut single which is currently Top 20 and climbing. 

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.”  

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

Keith Urban announced the first leg of his 2013 North American tour today in an online video short filmed with tour mates Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch. The tour will include shows in Cincinnati, Twin Lakes, Monticello, Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta, Detroit, Baltimore, Canadaigua, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Birmingham, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Mountain View, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tampa and West Palm Beach.

For more information on the tour and more, go to keithurban.net.

KEITH URBAN NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:

Little Big Town stopped by the local Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville on Tuesday afternoon to help stuff backpacks full of food for children to help raise awareness of the near-epidemic issue of hunger facing the nation. Nearly 17 million children – one in five – aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from. This is part of the band’s partnership with ConAgra Foods’ Child Hunger Ends Here campaign. The issue is important all year long, but especially during the holidays. “We’re all thinking about being with our family and being together and feasting and eating turkey and all these things, and to think that there are others that won’t have that beautiful gift, it’s not right,” exclaims LBT’s Phillip Sweet. “We’ve got to do something about that.”

Kimberly Schlapman agrees with her bandmate. “The sweetest and the saddest part of today is that we’re stuffing backpacks,” says Kimberly. “So, it’s great that we’re taking care of kids, but it’s so sad that we have to stuff backpacks for them to take food home. That shouldn’t be happening in our country, and that’s what we want to get out there. One in five kids are hungry. 17 million kids in our country, our very own country, are hungry. We can fix that. We have to!”

The band recently released a video of the Child Hunger Ends Here anthem, “Here’s Hope,” exclusively for ConAgra Foods.

AUDIO: Little Big Town talks about why they teamed up with ConAgra Foods and their trip to Nashville’s Second Harvest Food Bank on Tuesday.

LBT (Second Harvest) OC: (Kimberly) …we have to! 1:04
PHILLIP: “It’s important all year long, but even more so this time of year. And I think one good thing is to bring awareness to people’s minds about it, because we’re all thinking about being with our family and being together and feasting and eating turkey and all these things, and to think that there are others that won’t have that beautiful gift, it’s not right! We’ve got to do something about that.” KIMBERLY: “It’s the time of year for just abundance and our kids are making Christmas lists. And thank God there’s not food on those Christmas lists, but for some kids there are, because that’s not something they have on their shelves every day. Kids are out of school more now, and they will be [during] these holidays and they’re gonna need to be fed more than they are now because they won’t be at school. Oh, the sweetest and the saddest part of today is that we’re stuffing backpacks. So, it’s great that we’re taking care of kids, but it’s so sad that we have to stuff backpacks for them to take food home. That shouldn’t be happening in our country, and that’s what we want to get out there. One in five kids are hungry. 17 million kids in our country, our very own country, are hungry. We can fix that. We have to!”

Dierks Bentley is climbing the country charts with his latest single, “Tip It On Back.” When the performer feels the urge to “tip” one back, he will usually reach for a domestic, light and cold (trivia: “Domestic, Light and Cold” is a song from his debut album, Modern Day Drifter). “The smart thing for me to do is to just stick with beer, light beer, watered-down American beer,” says Dierks. However, he does like other adult beverages, as well. “I really don’t discriminate. I kind of like a little bit of everything, and there’s a lot of things you get good at over the years of playing the road and being able to appreciate the fine spirits, all of the spirits, is one of those things,” he laughs. “I appreciate ‘em all on certain levels.”

Dierks is set to perform at this year’s American Country Awards, which will air December 10th on FOX. Other performers include Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Luke Bryan. He’s also nominated for Album of the Year for Home. The ACAs are fan-voted, and TODAY is the last day for fans to vote for their favorites at theacas.com. Voting for Artist of the Year closes December 7th.

AUDIO: Dierks Bentley who has hit the Top 20 with his latest single “Tip It On Back,” says he prefers beer to any other adult beverage.

Dierks Bentley (prefers beer) OC: …certain levels. :19
“The smart thing for me to do is to just stick with beer, light beer, watered-down American beer, but I really don’t discriminate. I kind of like a little bit of everything, and there’s a lot of things you get good at over the years of playing the road and being able to appreciate the fine spirits, all of the spirits, is one of those things. [laughs] I appreciate ‘em all on certain levels.”

Scotty McCreery has been tapped as a spokesperson for Bojangles’ Restaurants, so you’ll be able to see him on TV and in-stores, as well as hear him on radio spots touting Bojangles’ famous chicken, biscuits and more (we’re getting hungry just thinking about it).

Beginning November 26th, Bojangles’ customers will be able to pick up a card with a unique code from the restaurant, which will be redeemable for a free song download from his new holiday album, Christmas with Scotty McCreery.

Check out the TV commercial featuring Scotty below! It’s Bo Time at Bojangles.

Lady Antebellum‘s video for “A Holly Jolly Christmas” debuted on Friday (November 9th) on VEVO, and it features a mischievious little boy looking to get a kiss from Lady A’s Hillary Scott. He enlists the help of the other Lady A’ers, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, in concocting the perfect scenario to make it happen.