Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

LINER Darius Rucker (Labor Day)
Hey! It’s Darius Rucker, and I hope you have a have a happy work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Eric Church (Labor Day)
Hey! It’s Eric Church, and I hope you have a have a happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER Eric Paslay (Labor Day)
Hey! It’s Eric Paslay, and I hope you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Jon Pardi (Labor Day weekend)
Hey! It’s Jon Pardi, and I hope you have a happy and work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Kelleigh Bannen (Labor Day)
Hi! I’m Kelleigh Bannen, and I hope you have a happy Labor Day weekend.

LINER LBT (Labor Day)

Hi! We’re Little Big Town, hoping you have a work-free Labor Day weekend.

LINER Luke Bryan (Labor Day weekend)
Hey! It’s Luke Bryan, and I hope you have a have a happy Labor Day weekend.

Nashville, Tenn. – Capitol Records Nashville’s Darius Rucker debuted his new single “True Believers” at country radio this week. “True Believers” is the first single from Rucker’s upcoming third solo country album which is produced by Frank Rogers and will be released in early 2013.

Rucker admits that as a songwriter, the melody and the lyrics really come to him at the same time during the process. “Josh [Kear] brought the general idea of ‘True Believers’ into the writing sessions, and to me, it was so exactly what I wanted to say. It’s such a defiant song for me – the message that ‘My life works for me, whether it’s what you agree with or not’ – and it’s something I am really proud of as a singer and a writer. With this record as a whole, we wanted to do something a little different,” shares Rucker. “It’s really all about the songs, and I think ‘True Believers’ is a great sample of what’s to come from my third album.”

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.

The track is now available on iTunes.

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

AUDIO: Darius Rucker talks about his new single, “True Believers.”

Darius Rucker (True Believers) OC: …very disappointed. :20

“‘True Believers’ is real different. I mean, for me even singing it, you know, I’ve never sung a song like that. And it’s such a defiant song for me. It’s just a song of, ‘I’m gonna make my life work no matter what you all say or think,’ and I’ve lived my life like that for 46 years now. Singing that was awesome. When we were done with that one, I was very disappointed.”

LUKE BRYAN TO APPEAR ON LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON AND
GOOD MORNING AMERICA

 Appearances Set for Wednesday, September 5 and Thursday, September 6

             Nashville- (August 28, 2012) –  Country music superstar Luke Bryan will head to the Big Apple next week to make appearances on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and Good Morning America on Sept. 5^th and Sept. 6^th respectively.  Luke will perform his new co-written smash hit single “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” from his Platinum-selling album tailgates & tanlines. 

In addition, Luke will also be in town promoting the ABC Television Special “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night To Rock,” which Luke co-hosts with Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry.  The special
will air on Monday, Sept. 17th, 8:00-11:00 PM ET.

Luke Bryan recently scored his third consecutive Platinum single with “Drunk On You” from his
Platinum-certified album, tailgates & tanlines.  The single joins previous Platinum tracks “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” and the two-week #1 hit “I Don’t Want This Night To End.”

Luke is currently on the “My Kind of Party Tour” with Jason Aldean and also headlining his own shows this summer and fall.  In October, Luke will embark on his fourth-annual “Farm Tour” 2012 with eight concerts planned through several southern states, including five in his home state of Georgia.

Little Big Town has announced a new contest for fans on their website, inspired by the star-studded video getting their groove on to LBT’s hot single, “Pontoon.” The band wants their fans to make their own video to “Pontoon,” and the group’s favorite clip will win two tickets and meet-&-greet passes to a Little Big Town show of their choice.

Calling all a cappella groups! Lady Antebellum wants you to be a part of special event with them in Nashville this December. That’s right, your a cappella group could have the chance to be flown to Nashville and perform with Lady A. Start your vocal warm ups, grab a video camera and get your group together for an a cappella version of any Lady A song. Submit your video and YOUR a cappella group could be performing with Lady Antebellum! Click here for more information!

With songs like “Remember When,” “Drive (for Daddy Gene),” “Where I Come From” and “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” Alan Jackson is one of today’s most prolific songwriters, in addition to being one of the best country singers around. He has written/co-written 24 of his 35 No. 1 hits, which places him second only to Merle Haggard in country music history as artists who have written or co-written No. 1 songs they’ve also recorded. Even with all of that success, he doesn’t quite know where the inspiration originates. “I’ve never understood where a lot of the inspirations come from, or all of a sudden a line or a melody will just come out of nowhere, so you wonder where it comes from…whether it’s gonna stop or get better,” says Alan. “And I have had spells where I don’t write. I think it’s mainly what kind of mind frame you’re in.”

On Monday (August 27th), Alan hits the airwaves with his latest single, “You Go Your Way,” which is from his No. 1 album, Thirty Miles West.

AUDIO: Alan Jackson, who’s written hundreds of songs over the years, revealed that he doesn’t quite know where the inspiration for his songs comes from.

AJ (inspiration) OC; …appear somehow, yk? :31
“I’ve never understood where a lot of the inspirations come from, or all of a sudden a line or a melody will just come out of nowhere, so you wonder where it comes from…whether it’s gonna stop or get better. And I have had spells where I don’t write. I think it’s mainly what kind of mind frame you’re in – if you’re busy in your life and you’ve got a lot going on. I learned a long time ago if you’re not looking for song titles, you can’t hear ‘em or see ‘em. If I want to find something to write about, then I’ll hear a phrase or see it in a movie or on a sign, it’ll appear somehow, yk?”

Jon Pardi and the boys hit the road! See behind-the-scenes footage of the “Pardi” on the road in the latest episode of the webisode series, My Name is Jon. Catch Jon trying to pawn off some tickets and meet Jon’s dad!

Eric Church and Dierks Bentley will join some of music’s most revered musicians in celebrating the talent and legacy of the late Levon Helm at the “Love For Levon,” benefit concert at the Izod Center in Rutherford, NJ on Wednesday, October 3, 2012.  

“I can’t possibly overstate what Levon Helm meant to my music or my life.  He was a giant.  A man among boys.  I miss him personally, but that pales in comparison to how much music will miss his presence,” says Church.  

The event will also feature collaborations and performances by Gregg Allman, Marc Cohn, Patty Griffin, Warren Haynes, John Hiatt, Bruce Hornsby, Jorma Kaukonen, Ray LaMontagne, John Mayer, Robert Randolph, Mavis Staples, Joe Walsh, Lucinda Williams, My Morning Jacket, The Levon Helm Band and many more. 

Tickets go on sale to the general public Wednesday, August 29 at 11 a.m. EDT at Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at (800) 745-3000 and at select Ticketmaster locations. Proceeds from the concert will support Levon’s estate and his Midnight Ramble concerts.

Keith Urban has been in the studio working on the follow-up to his 2010 Get Closer album, and undoubtedly, he’s writing and recording many songs that will be huge hits! The singer still gets a thrill when he hears his songs on the radio, and even recalls his first time. “I was in a place called Tamworth…and I was in the hotel getting ready to go and play a show, and I heard my single, my new single, on the little clock radio in the room, and just, gol’ man…what an amazing feeling!” In 1991, Keith released a self-titled debut album in Australia and charted four singles before moving to the United States the following year.

His latest hit, “For You,” is certainly being played quite often on radio stations across the country. The single, from the Act of Valor soundtrack, is currently heading up the charts to Top 5.

AUDIO: Keith Urban recalls the first time he heard one of his songs on the radio.

Keith Urban (1^st time on radio) OC: …amazing feeling. :26

“It was awesome! I was in a place called Tamworth, which is sort of the capitol of country music in Australia, at least for one month a year when they have the country music festival down there in January. And I was in the hotel getting ready to go and play a show, and I heard my single, my new single, on the little clock radio in the room, and just, gol’ man…what an amazing feeling!”

Luke Bryan’s “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” has been certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.) for more than two-million downloads. The song, which he co-wrote with pal Dallas Davidson, is a big part of his live shows, even having guys come up on stage and “shake it” for the crowd. “It’s not going to change the world, but people are never going to get tired of hearing it and getting up and dancing and having a big old time to it,” says Luke. “It’s fun to have it go this way and to be a big old fun up tempo song that people are wanting to go dance and make up dance routines and party down and have fun with it. It shows.”

Another one of Luke’s hit singles, “Rain is a Good Thing,” was certified platinum for sales of one-million. He also co-wrote the No. 1 hit with Dallas Davidson, as well. “The song came about strictly from an old saying that me and my co-writer, in college, we’d have something planned and we’d get bummed out by the rain,” he explains. “We’d be like, ‘Well, rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey,’ and we had never even said the ‘frisky’ line. We actually made that up in the writing session.”

Luke is currently playing both hit songs, plus his current single “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” and more, during his dates on the road with Jason Aldean. Luke will be in Virginia Beach, Darien Center (New York) and Bethel (New York) this weekend.

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about the success of “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” – the first single from his platinum album, tailgates & tanlines.

Luke Bryan (Country Girl) OC: …It shows. :59

“That’s the most amazing part out of the business is to get a song idea and to write it and dream it up to become this big fun thing that you pray it’s gonna be. For it to happen that way is such a pleasure. Me and one of my best friends, Dallas Davison wrote it and we kind of felt like it was going to be what it is. I think that the song, I kind of compare it to ‘I Like It, I Love It.’ It’s not going to change the world, but people are never going to get tired of hearing it and getting up and dancing and having a big old time to it. And that’s what the song’s about, I felt like when we recorded it, I felt like it was always going to need to be the first single. And it’s fun to have it go this way and to be a big old fun up tempo song that people are wanting to go dance and make up dance routines and party down and have fun with it, it shows.” 

AUDIO: Luke Bryan explains how he came up with the song, “Rain is a Good Thing.” 

Luke Bryan (Rain) OC: …writing session. :19

“The song came about strictly from an old saying that me and my co-writer, in college, we’d have something planned and we’d get bummed out by the rain. We’d be like, ‘Well, rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey,’ and we had never even said the ‘frisky’ line. We actually made that up in the writing session.”