Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

NASHVILLE, TENN. (July 2, 2012) – “I was going to find a way to make it work,” Eric Church says of his career plans in Origins: Eric Church, premiering Sunday, July 8, 9:00 pm ET on Great American Country (GAC). “And if it didn’t work, I was still going to be able to sleep at night. I stuck to my guns, right or not.“  After a slow, steady, focused build over more than seven years, it most certainly did work for the chart-topping singer/songwriter. 

Church’s story begins in Granite Falls, NC, and is told in this special by his parents, sister, wife, producer, manager, agent and former label president.  Upon moving to Nashville, there were struggles to get heard followed by countless rejections before landing a record deal with Capitol Records Nashville.  “It’s always been about him and the music,” said Mike Dungan, former CEO/president of Capitol Records Nashville.  “He’s just an incredible craftsman and comes to the table with maybe 40, 50 songs for every record he makes.” 

He chose an unconventional path, opting to tirelessly hit the road and perform more than 200 dates per year in an effort to build a fan base.  “You go out and you build it on the road before you get any of that other success.  I mean, I still feel like all acts should have to do that,” he notes.  One particular show that stands out in his memory is Amarillo, TX, where eight people – including the wait staff – were in attendance.  “Our plan’s always been different,” says Church.  “It was along the way that I think I found myself as a performer because I had to.  We planted seeds with the music that turned to passion, which ended up turning into these crops down the line.”  Defying the norm became his norm. 

Viewers will also enjoy live performances of several of Church’s hits including “Drink In My Hand,” (a recent No. 1), “Springsteen,” (a two-week No. 1) “Smoke a Little Smoke,” “Homeboy,” “These Boots,” and “Like Jesus Does.”  “Because he’s believed in something different and stayed on that path, he’s brought people to him,” longtime producer Jay Joyce says. “Instead of pandering to them and losing himself in the process.”

AUDIO: Eric Church says he’s worked hard to be successful.

Eric Church (worked hard) OC: …stayed hungry. :40

“It’s never been about awards, and it’s not about money either, because I would have done it differently. There are ways, I understand, you can make easier money, you can put out safer songs. You can run songs up and down the chart. I just don’t think people are going to know who you are in 10 years doing it that way. So, it’s been a longer path. You know, when you make the decision to go play clubs and honky tonks for a whole 500-600 people, two-hour shows, 100 degrees in there…you’re workin’ at that and it’s a long hard road. Somebody asked me the other day, would I do it again? And the answer is always, ‘Yes, absolutely!’ But, boy…it’s a tough road. It’s a hard road, you have to be younger. You have to really be hungry and we stayed hungry.”

CMT TO DEBUT MINI-MOVIE “MIXTAPE,” INSPIRED BY ERIC CHURCH’S HIT SONG “SPRINGSTEEN”
ON SATURDAY, JULY 7

Short Film to Air Commercial-Free on CMT and Reveals the Backstory to “Springsteen”

Church to Host Watch and Win Contest at www.ericchurch.com

             NASHVILLE – July 2, 2012 – Eric Church will reveal the emotional backstory to his hit song and video “Springsteen” with the premiere of MIXTAPE on CMT Saturday, July 7 at 10:15 a.m., ET/PT (repeats Sunday, July 8 at 8:15 a.m. ET/PT).  The 30-minute short film will air commercial-free and was the basis for his video of the two-week #1 hit single, “Springsteen.”  Fans can watch MIXTAPE on demand at CMT.com following the network premiere.

            “I am very excited to share MIXTAPE with everyone.  I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the music video, asking about the actors, where did the scenes come from, what did they pertain to?  Well, this movie will clear everything up,” said Church.  “Peter Zavadil crafted an art representation that adds a whole new emotional element to the song and video.  In fact, it essentially inspired the video.  I’m honored to show it on CMT.”

            “We were thrilled when Eric approached us to air his mini-movie,” said Leslie Fram, SVP of Music Strategy, CMT.  “He essentially created a movie first and then captured that story into a video.  Like Eric, we want to push the boundaries so we jumped at the opportunity to share this with CMT fans.  Eric Church WILL be one of the big music stories of 2012!”

            In conjunction with the premiere, Church will host an online contest for one lucky fan to win two tickets to see and meet him live on his BLOOD, SWEAT & BEERS tour.  Fans must watch to win, making note of the full list of songs and instrumental tracks in order as they appear in MIXTAPE.  For rules and details on how to enter, visit Church’s website at www.ericchurch.com or his Facebook page.  (Hint: fans will hear a never-before-released track).

            MIXTAPE was written by Peter Zavadil and Roger Vaughn, and produced by Taillight TV.  Zavadil has worked with Church on numerous videos in addition to “Springsteen,” including “Drink In My Hand,” “Homeboy,” “Smoke A Little Smoke” and “Two Pink Lines.”

            Eric Church co-wrote his two-week #1 hit “Springsteen,” which is the third single and second #1 from his Platinum-certified album CHIEF.  

“It’s just the saddest thing. I’m just heart broke about all the fires out here,” Jackson told the audience from the stage. “We really appreciate all the great people that have been helping them out here. They sold some of the seats down here on a special deal to try and raise some money to help fight that battle – whoever bought those, that was mighty nice of y’all and I really appreciate it.” 

Donations for wildfire disaster relief efforts can be made by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or by visiting the Colorado chapter’s website at www.coloradoredcross.org. 

Jackson will be performing tonight at the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, TX and tomorrow night will kick off the Fourth of July celebration early for members of the military and their families at Polo Field in Fort Sill, OK.

The music video for reigning CMA and ACM Vocal Group of the Year Lady Antebellum’s new single “Wanted You More” from their GRAMMY winning album OWN THE NIGHT premieres today (Friday) across VEVO, the world’s leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform. Directed by Noble Jones and shot in Nashville last month, the dynamic video artistically reflects some of life’s struggles that ultimately result in a moment of realization. 

“Noble did such a great job of capturing the emotion of this song and used some really cool special effects,” said Lady A’s Hillary Scott. “The last scene was crazy…the adrenaline was definitely pumping, I knew I had only one chance to get that shot!” 

The trio will wrap the US leg of their OWN THE NIGHT 2012 WORLD TOUR tomorrow night in Milwaukee, WI before heading overseas for dates scheduled in Europe and Australia. For a full list of upcoming tour dates, visit www.ladyantebellum.com.

Country superstar Luke Bryan is adding some extra heat to the hot summer months and doesn’t show signs of cooling down anytime soon.  The singer has been tapped to perform during Good Morning America’s “Summer Concert Series” on Friday, July 13th.  Now in its fourth year, the series features music’s biggest names, with performances held in New York City’s Central Park.  Fans can catch Luke’s performance between 7:00-9:00am on ABC.  

“I have a big smile on my face every time I talk about being on Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series,” says Bryan. “Life’s good. To be a kid from Leesburg, Georgia, and to now be at the point in my career where I’m performing on Good Morning America in the heart of New York City at one of the most recognizable places in the world makes me super excited. It’s gonna be fun.” 

The concert is free and open to the public. Viewers interested in joining “GMA” in Central Park are encouraged to arrive at Rumsey Playfield via the 72nd street entrance on Fifth Avenue at 6:00am when the park opens. For more information on how to attend, click on the “GMA” web site at gmaconcerts.com. 

Bryan is also celebrating his fifth #1 single this week, as “Drunk On You” tops the country radio chart.  The single follows his two-week #1 Platinum smash “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” and Platinum hit “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” both from his Platinum-certified tailgates & tanlines album.  “Drunk On You” has also been the #1 most downloaded country single for five consecutive weeks.

 For more information, be sure to visit www.lukebryan.com.

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about performing on Good Morning America‘s Summer Concert Series.

Luke Bryan (GMA) OC: …be fun. :42

“To be a part of Good Morning America Summer Concert Series, just found the news out that we were going to have the opportunity to be a part of that, and we’re just super-excited. A big smile is on my face every time I talk about it. And you know, we found out we were going to do it in Central Park, you know, I fell on a skateboard in Central Park, and now I’m performing in Central Park, it’s pretty good. Life’s good. To be a kid from Leesburg, Georgia, and at some point in my career, life has brought me to where I’m performing on Good Morning America in the heart of New York City at one of the most recognizable places in the world, and I’m just excited. It’s gonna be fun.”

AUDIO: Luke Bryan enjoys taking country music to the Big Apple.

Luke Bryan (GMA-taking country to NYC) OC: …on TV. :14

“City folks, and certainly every time we’ve played this city, they’re like, ‘We love coming to see a country act, because we don’t get to see it as much as all of the other music.’ So, I love bringing that to New York City, and obviously, I love having it on TV.” 

Alan Jackson is set to perform at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on Saturday (June 30th) as an early Fourth of July celebration for members of the military and their families. Alan will be joined by Easton Corbin and Gloriana, and the show will be open to the public.

Alan just released his new album, Thirty Miles West, and will be performing a few selections from the collection, including his latest single “So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore,” when he performs Thursday at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. The holiday is commonly associated with fireworks displays, parades, barbecues and concerts. Some of your favorite country stars take time to remember their Fourth of July traditions, memories and what the holiday really means to them.

AUDIO: Darius Rucker explains what the Fourth of July holiday means to him.

Darius Rucker (4^th of July) OC: …in the world. 1:45

“Fourth of July to me is a day to celebrate freedom. We get to travel all over the world and see a bunch of stuff, and I’ve been to countries that aren’t like ours and that’s when we really appreciate that we can do whatever we want. As long as you’re willing to deal with the consequences, you can do what you want. I like to tell the story when we were playing Dubai, and when you play countries like this you get to really see how great our country is. We went to Dubai, and there was this guy that got in to this altercation with our drummer, with the Hootie drummer on the plane, that was probably 6 or 7 months before this happened. So we went to Dubai and we get a phone call at our offices and this guy is in Dubai and he’s from there and his friends are there, he tells us that his friends are mad, and he won’t do anything but he doesn’t know what his friends are going to do. So we’re in the country and one of our security guys comes up to us, and we’re on the golf course, and the security guy comes up and tells us this. And I happen to be playing with a guy that’s the former chief of police, not even the chief of police today, former chief of police I’m playing golf with. So I go, ‘We should probably tell him and see what he says.’ So we go and tell him the story and he goes, ‘Alright, give me a second.’ He makes one phone call and he comes back to us and says, ‘You all want him arrested or deported?’ We were like, ‘He didn’t do anything.’ And the guy looks us straight in the guy and goes, ‘We’re just gonna deport him.’ Ten minutes later he was on a plane out of the country. And you go, ‘Wow, wow that’s crazy.’ And that’s never gonna happen, you’re not gonna kick an American out of the country for nothing. This guy got kicked out of the country for just making a phone call. And it’s like, ‘Wow! We live in a great country, man.’ And stuff like that makes you really appreciate the Fourth of July, and really appreciate those soldiers that died for us to be sitting here and doing this. And, we live in the greatest country in the world.”

AUDIO: Darius Rucker enjoys setting off fireworks.

Darius Rucker (fireworks) OC: …off once. :15

“Oh, I love fireworks. We had the bottle rocket fights and all that good stuff. I was the typical little crazy kid, you know. In South Carolina, it was always legal, so we shot fireworks when it was legal. We did all that sort of stuff. I almost blew my hand off once.”

AUDIO: Dierks Bentley says the people of this country are what define America.

Dierks (people are America) OC: …all about. :17

“The definition of America to me, you know, getting a chance to travel across the country on a tour bus, stepping upon stages whether it be county fairs, state fairs, arenas, rock bars, the Opry stage, anywhere across the country and looking out at that crowd and seeing people. The people, to me, are what America’s all about.”

AUDIO: Dierks Bentley explains why he is so patriotic.

Dierks Bentley (4^th of July-patriotic) OC: …all the time. :17

“I’m extremely patriotic. I love this country, and I love the history of this country. I read books on this country. I spend my time on the road traveling physically throughout the country. The soldiers and their families are constantly on my mind. We work closely with the Wounded Warriors Project. We think about this stuff all the time.”

Eric Church (4th of July) OC: …freedoms. 1:17

“The Fourth of July for me, growing up we would always go to the lake, we didn’t live on the lake but we would all go to the lake. Had a buddy who had a pontoon and we would always get on the pontoon and you go out and you’d tie all the pontoons together and just have a big time. This was before, I was younger then, the adults were having more fun than we were, you know it was just to go swim in the water and shoot off fireworks. Basically, water tailgating is what it was. And then as we got older, same thing…we would just, us younger kids had our own boat and we had as much fun as the adults.”

AUDIO: Eric Church feels we sometimes forget what the Fourth of July is really all about.

Eric Church (real reason for 4th of July) OC: …those freedoms. :44

“I think sometimes we forget what the holiday is about because it can be about a party, and it’s really not. It’s about, especially the soldiers I come in contact with on the road. And not only that, to be able to make the music that I’m able to make, to say what I want to say, and that freedom to be able to do those things and to be in a country where we’re able to do that and to be in a country where we’re able to play that stuff on the radio. I don’t think you’re going to have any America argue that America isn’t the best place to live, and I’m certainly one of them. I’m very proud to be from here and very proud that we have the soldiers. I know there are a lot of other countries out there in the world that don’t want to live the way we do, and that’s fine, they can keep living the way they are, but I’m very proud of it. I think that’s a time to celebrate being proud to be an American and celebrate those freedoms…and celebrate the people that are over there fighting for those freedoms.”

AUDIO: Keith Urban recalls coming over to America for the first time.

Keith Urban (coming to America 1^st time) OC: …as I could. :39

“1989 was the first year I came to the States, and it had always been my goal, but I had no plan on how to get here. It was just a case of keep playing, keep getting better at what you do, and then hopefully, somehow, some way I’ll end up over here. The guy who was managing me at the time, we just planned a trip over here – it was actually for the New Music Seminar in New York. And we came over for that, and then we did a trip down to Nashville, and I shopping my little demo around. I think I humored everybody more than anything else [laughs] with my tragic, ill-fitting demo for the time. So, I left there, but I was just so committed to coming back as quick as I could.”

AUDIO: Keith Urban, who’s climbing the charts with his single “For You” from the Act of Valor soundtrack, defines patriotism.

Keith Urban (patriotism) OC: …the unity. :24

“It’s common, shared beliefs and identity. And I think at its core, it’s an incredibly strengthening, vital thing for our people to have, and it’s particularly gratifying in the midst of so much separating of ideas that it can get fractious. And it’s kind of nice that a sense of patriotism can remind everybody of the unity.”

AUDIO: Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild talks about the big sacrifices the military AND their families make to keep this country free.

LBT (military) OC: (Karen) …whenever we can. (Kimberly: “Yeah.”) :

“It’s such a huge sacrifice what these men and women do for us, and not only the ones that are serving, but the families that are left here at home. Kimberly and I met a young girl that, she’s 21 years old and she has a third baby and her husband has served multiple times overseas. She’s raising these children at home, and doing a great job and the best she can, and he’s serving his country. And he’s making a monstrous sacrifice, but so is she and so are those children, and we just can’t take it for granted. I mean, it’s just a huge commitment that they make, and what an honor. We love to be able to sing for them and entertain them and to say thank you whenever we can.” (Kimberly: “Yeah.”)

AUDIO: Luke Bryan recalls one of his favorite Fourth of July memories.

Luke Bryan (4th of July memories) OC: …we used to. :21

“Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories were spent on Lake Blackshear down in Georgia with my family. I was always kind of in charge of driving home from Tennessee and picking up all the fireworks and my nieces and nephews always got excited when I rolled in because they knew I had all the fireworks. But, it was always a great memory, and I miss not getting to do that as much as we used to.”

AUDIO: Luke Bryan explains his definition of what it means to be an American.

Luke Bryan (American) OC: …we want. :17

“I think the definition of an American is somebody who stands up during the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ and stands up when ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is being sung and just appreciates what all the fallen heroes and soldiers have done to keep us living in a country that’s free where we have the right to do anything we want.”

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about a couple of his favorite summertime activities.

Luke Bryan (favorite summer activities) OC: …the family. :11

“My favorite summer activity is definitely the opportunity to go fly-fishing out West when I’m out there touring, or really just fly-fishing anytime. And obviously getting a week off down at the beach with the family.”

LINER AJ (4^th of July)

“Hey! This is Alan Jackson, wishing you a happy and safe Fourth of July.” 

LINER Darius (4^th of July)

“Hey y’all, what’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a very, very happy Fourth of July!” 

LINER Eric Church (4^th of July)

“Hey this is Eric Church, wishing you a very happy Fourth of July.” 

LINER Jon Pardi (4^th of July)

“Hi, it’s Jon Pardi, wishing you a happy Fourth of July.” 

LINER Keith Urban (summer)

Hey everybody, Keith Urban here, wanting to wish you all a fantastic and safe summer. Enjoy the sunshine. Hopefully, you’ll get to spend some time with the ones you love, and hopefully, we’ll also get to see you out on the road.” 

LINER Lady A (4^th of July)

“Hi! This is Charles, Hillary and Dave of Lady Antebellum, wishing you a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend. 

LINER LBT (4^th of July)

“Hey! We’re Little Big Town. Happy Fourth of July!” 

LINER Luke Bryan (4^th of July)

“Hey! This is Luke Bryan, wishing you a very happy Fourth of July.