Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

NASHVILLE, TN – Known for their distinctive styles of music, Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley announce their 2013 Locked & Reloaded Tour. Set to kick-off January 17th, Miranda and Dierks bring to the stage scores of # 1 singles, chart topping albums and trophies from The Grammy’s, CMA’s ACM’s and CMT’s.

“Making music for our fans is the best job in the world,” says Miranda.  “It’s especially great being able to take to that music on the road with someone I respect as an artist and human being. This will be a tour of ‘epic badassery,’” she laughed.  

Dierks Bentley added, “Some of my favorite times on tour over the years were with Miranda and her crew. We have a lot in common musically and our fans do too.  It’s going to be a killer year.”

Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert is the reigning two-time CMA and reigning three-time ACM Female Vocalist of the Year. Her current album, Four The Record, made history when it debuted atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, making Miranda the first country artist in the 47-year history of the chart to have each of her first four albums debut at # 1. Four The Record won the ACM Album of the Year Award and garnered rave reviews. Her headlining ‘On Fire’ Tour played to more than one million fans this year. Miranda dedicates much of her time to her MuttNation Foundation which has raised more than $700,000 to fund no-kill animal shelters, pet adoption, spay and neutering of pets and much more.

Multi-platinum selling singer/songwriter, Dierks Bentley has forged his own brand of country music combining classic country songwriting, influences of bluegrass instrumentation and the energy of rock‘n’roll.  Bentley’s sixth studio album HOME, released earlier this year, debuted at No. one and has spawned three chart-toppings hits, marking 10 career No. one songs as a singer and songwriter. HOME is also currently nominated for three 2012 CMA award nominations for “Album of the Year” and “Single” and “Song of the Year” for its title track. His five previous studio albums have sold more than five million copies and earned him an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry. 

Columbia, SC

Knoxville, TN

Roanoke, VA

Baltimore, MD

Reading, PA

Atlantic City, NJ

Dekalb, IL

Dayton, OH

Huntington, WV

Ames, IA

Champaign, IL

E Lansing, MI

Rochester, NY

Albany, NY

Portland, ME

Wichita Falls, TX

Oklahoma City, OK

Kansas City, MO

Macon, GA

Jacksonville, FL

Estero, FL

Bossier City, LA

Springfield, MO

Tulsa, OK

Syracuse, NY

Hershey, PA

Uniondale, NY

San Diego, CA

Irvine, CA

Las Vegas, NV

Phoenix, AZ

Albuquerque, NM

Denver, CO

In the latest Urban Chat, Keith Urban wanted to share with his fans a BEAUTIFUL view during his morning walk! You can almost smell the salt air wafting up from the ocean waves crashing against the rocks.

The online and social response from the fans to Lady A’s a cappella contest has been so fantastic! The Top Five finalists, Breath of Soul, Rubyfruit, OSA Vocal Rush, Shot in the Dark and Acappella, have rallied around their performances and received some incredible support from the online community. Charles, Hillary and Dave have been watching the progress of this contest and couldn’t be more excited about how it has all come together. So much so, that they will be announcing the winning a cappella group, along with the special event they will be a part of in Nashville on Friday, October 19th!

The votes, Tweets, Facebook posts, and online shout outs have been so helpful to Lady A throughout this contest, and Charles, Hillary and Dave are set to choose the winner.

Check out the five finalists here!

Lady Antebellum are ready to release their much-anticipated Christmas album, On This Winter’s Night, Monday (October 22nd). The trio, who co-produced the album with Paul Worley, wrote the title track and arranged two other tracks – “The First Noel” and “Silent Night (Lord of My Life).”

Lady A’s Charles Kelley says his perfect “winter’s night” would be to have his family all together. “As you get a little older and everybody has their jobs and then families and kids, it definitely becomes a harder and harder thing to get everybody together at once,” says Charles. “I think that’s one thing that I kind of yearn for is a time to get all the family together at one time…it would be pretty special to have everybody in the room and almost kind of get back to where we were as kids — all waking up at Christmas morning and walking down and having that tradition.”

The 12-song collection also features such classics as “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home),” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “This Christmas,” “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Blue Christmas” and “Silver Bells.”

Lady A are set to perform during the ABC-TV special, CMA Country Christmas, when it tapes Saturday, November 3rd at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley describes his perfect winter’s night.

Lady A (Perfect Winter’s Night-Charles) OC: …that tradition. :48
“The perfect winter’s night for me would be just all the family together. As you get a little older harder thing to get everybody together at once…I think that’s one thing that I kind of yearn for is a time to get all the family together at one time. We always have about half of them, and it’s all a matter of just getting everybody down at the same time. But it would be pretty special to have everybody in the room and almost kind of get back to where we were as kids, you know, all waking up at Christmas morning and walking down and having that tradition.”

Three-time CMA Award nominee and Platinum-selling group Little Big Town has topped the Billboard Country Albums chart for the fifth consecutive week with their critically-acclaimed new album Tornado. The album features the two-week #1 smash “Pontoon,” as well as their current single “Tornado.” After just 3 weeks at country radio, “Tornado” is already #32 on the BDS/Billboard AirPlay chart and is their fastest rising single to date.

Little Big Town is set to perform on LIVE With Kelly And Michael on October 24th and ABC’s Dancing With The Stars on October 29th. As previously announced, the band will also perform on the 46th Annual CMA Awards on November 1st, where they are nominated for three awards – Vocal Group Of The Year, Single Of The Year and Video Of The Year for their two-week #1 hit “Pontoon.”

Luke Bryan headlined the fifth annual Capitol Street Party on Wednesday night (October 17^th), playing a free concert for the massive crowd gathered on Lower Broadway in Nashville. Luke surprised the audience with an appearance by pal Dierks Bentley, and the pair covered Brooks & Dunn’s “My Next Broken Heart.” Luke also performed numerous hits, including “Rain is a Good Thing,” “Do I,” “All My Friends Say,” “Drunk on You,” “I Don’t Want This Night to End” and “Country Girl (Shake It For Me).”

Labelmates Kelleigh Bannen and Jon Pardi roped in some new fans as they kicked off the night with their own spectacular performances. Different reports have the crowd estimated at between 20-25,000 people strong, taking up nearly three city blocks, rooftops and restaurants. Seen in the crowd were Kip Moore (“Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck,” “Beer Money”) and Dustin Lynch (“Cowboys & Angels”).

Confetti cannons and a huge fireworks display lighting up the night signaled the end to the show…and just in time, too, since a huge storm, featuring gusty winds, rain and possible threat of tornados, blew in town after the show was over.

AUDIO: Prior to Wednesday night’s Capitol Street Party, Luke Bryan said he’s thrilled to be able to make music in Nashville.

Luke Bryan (headlining street party) OC: …it’s fun. :19
“I moved to Nashville, rode [the] 4-40 loop looking at the skyline years ago and dreamed of making a difference in this town. To be in the heart of it bringing music to Music City and making it a fun experience for tourists and people in Nashville, that are always like, ‘We want more country shows in Nashville,’ so it’s fun.”