Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Luke Bryan is taking part in the third annual ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp this week June 18th-22nd in Nashville. The event is a residential program open to musically-talented individuals with developmental disabilities. The camp includes a visit in the studio by Luke Bryan and producer Paul Worley, and Luke says it will be a special moment for him. “I’m gonna stop by the studio and just pat ‘em on the back, get some hugs, get some pictures, and I’m looking forward to hearing the song,” says Luke. “I’m sure it’ll be great, and cheer ‘em on, and I can’t wait to see their performance and see them get out there and do what they do so well. And that really feels special, and they have such a great way of brightening our day.” 

The campers will also write a song with Brett Eldredge and David Lee Murphy, as well as dinner and karaoke with Lauren Alaina, a cookout with newcomer Jana Kramer and a performance at the Grand Ole Opry with Big & Rich. 

Luke is currently sitting near the top of the country charts with his latest smash hit, “Drunk on You.” 

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about taking part in this year’s ACM Lifting Lives event. 

Luke Bryan (ACM Lifting Lives) OC: …our day. :44

“The Lifting Lives campaign and charity is such a special moment of the ACM show, and seeing Chris Young and Darius do it the past few years, it’s such a heartwarming event when you see the kids on stage singing and you see the joy that it truly brings to them and their heart, and it brings that type of joy to us also. So, I’m gonna stop by the studio and just pat ‘em on the back, get some hugs, get some pictures, and I’m looking forward to hearing the song. I’m sure it’ll be great, and cheer ‘em on, and I can’t wait to see their performance and see them get out there and do what they do so well. And that really feels special, and they have such a great way of brightening our day.”

Little Big Town hit the road with Rascal Flatts on their Changed Tour. The trek, which also features the Eli Young Band and Eden’s Edge, kicks off Friday (June 15th) in Hartford, Connecticut. They’re expected to visit 60 cities on the tour, which is currently scheduled to wrap in mid-October. 

LBT’s Karen Fairchild is thrilled to check out both the crowds and their tourmates when they hit the road. ““I can’t wait to see what their crowd is like! I mean we’ve never toured with them, so I don’t even know, but [their fans are] fiercely loyal to them,” she says. “We’ve been friends of theirs forever, and we’ve never toured together. We’ve really only done two shows in a decade, I think, together.” 

Rascal Flatts recently told Country Weekly that they have teamed up with Little Big Town to record the Grand Funk Railroad classic “We’re An American Band,” which Gary says they will perform with Little Big Town during the encore of their shows during the show. 

LBT is currently making waves on the country charts with their latest single, “Pontoon.” 

AUDIO: Little Big Town talk about going on the road with Rascal Flatts. 

LBT (RF Tour) OC: (Karen) …exciting too! [laughs] :22 

KAREN: “I can’t wait to see what their crowd is like! I mean we’ve never toured with them, so I don’t even know, but [their fans are] fiercely loyal to them!” PHILLIP: “I, for some reason, expect a lot of energy, (KAREN: “Me too!”) a high-energy crowd. I mean, that’s exciting to us, I think.” KAREN: “I expect a lot of pretty girls…” PHILLIP: “That’s exciting, too!” KAREN: “…swooning over…(laughs) listen to Phillip, that’s exciting too! [laughs]” 

AUDIO: Little Big Town can’t wait to check out the Rascal Flatts show. 

LBT (RF Tour) 2 OC: …and again and again. :20

KAREN: “I can’t wait to see the Flatts’ show. We’ve been friends of theirs forever, and we’ve never toured together. We’ve really only done two shows in a decade, I think, together. (KIMBERLY: “Probably.”) And then CMA Fest last year when we did the collaboration, I think maybe that’s what inspired the whole thing was like, ‘This is fun. We should it do it again and again and again.”

Nashville, TN) – “The Year Of The Pardi” has begun. Last night (Wednesday) onstage during an outdoor concert at a local dive bar called Losers, Capitol Records Nashville newcomer Jon Pardi announced that he will be throwing a huge bash on December 21^st in Chicago at Joe’s Bar on Weed Street.  The concert will mark the so-called “end of the world,” according to the Mayan calendar, based on the notion that in the year 900 A.D the ancient Mayan civilization predicted the end of humanity on December 21, 2012.  On this date, doomsayers claim that the Earth will be ravaged by cataclysmic astronomical events. This being “The Year Of The Pardi,” Jon has decided that instead of preparing for the end of the world, he would play a big show for fans to have a fun, rowdy last hurrah. 

“Joe’s Bar is one of my favorite clubs to play and if the world really is going to end, I can’t think of a better place to spend what might be our last night on earth,” says Pardi of the event.  “But if we survive, we’ll party like there’s no tomorrow, all night long!” 

Jon also has a new website which features his webisode series called “My Name Is Jon: The Year Of The Pardi” at www.jonpardi.com. The ongoing series will feature the adventures of Jon and his band members as they take on wacky challenges, behind-the-scenes performance footage, and provide an inside view of what really goes on during the set up of a brand-new album. Visitors to the site can now view videos and photos, follow Jon on Twitter and Facebook, and check on upcoming events. Fans also have the ability to stream and purchase his current single, “Missin’ You Crazy” as well as listen to snippets of unreleased songs. 

Pardi is currently on the road promoting his debut single, “Missin’ You Crazy,” which is available for purchase on all digital retailers.

About “The Year Of The Pardi”:

“The Year Of The Pardi” will focus on the adventures of Jon Pardi as a new country artist breaking into the format with his new single “Missin’ You Crazy” from his upcoming debut album.  In addition to playing shows across the country with artists like Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, Jon and his band members will take fans behind-the-scenes, compete against each other in crazy challenges, and travel to country radio stations in the Pardi Bus.

Lady Antebellum take fans behind-the-scenes of last week’s CMT Music Awards, their performance with Hot Chelle Rae, on the red carpet and more in the new episode of Webisode Wednesdays!

Father’s Day is Sunday, and we have many of your favorite country stars talking about their own fathers or being fathers themselves. Thanks Dad!!!! (fyi–there are a couple of soundbites attached below that haven’t been transcribed — i.e. Luke Bryan, etc.)

AUDIO: Alan Jackson says he trusts his daughters when it comes to dating.

AJ (daughters & dating) OC: …all of ‘em. :15
“I’m not one of these daddies stands there with the shotgun or anything. I do like to know what’s going on, ’cause I know what I was like at that age, you know, but they’re good kids, and they’re smart, and they make good choices, and so you gotta trust them, and try to raise them well. I mean, my girls are very sweet…very proud of all of them.”

AUDIO: Alan Jackson, whose new album Thirty Miles West is now in stores, allows his three daughters to live and learn.

AJ (parenting style) OC: …what they did.  :19

“We try to be just not pushy hands on parents. We let them live and be their own way. I’m not stern with them. You know, I’m funny and light, and try to give them guidance and let them live and learn their own ways. And that’s something, I think, my parents did. It was accidental, but that’s what they did.”

AUDIO: Darius Rucker says his kids would said he was a fun dad, unless they did something wrong.

Darius Rucker (Father’s Day) OC: …loving dad. :41

“I think if you asked my kids what kind of Dad I was they would probably say…Danny would say that I was a fun Dad. My little daughter would say that I was a fun dad; she thinks I’m a lot of fun. I think if you caught them at the right moment they would say I was mean [laughs] because when I’m home I’m not afraid to discipline them. I’m all fun until it’s not fun anymore and then daddy’s not the fun guy. I think that they’d say that I was a fun Dad, I’m a loving Dad and I think they would say that. I’m gone so much that when I’m home, I just shower love upon my kids. I say ‘I love you’ probably fifty times a day. We hug, we kiss all the time. I’m always wanting them to know how much I love them. So I’d hope they’d say that I was a loving dad.”

AUDIO: Darius Rucker says he and his wife have tried to be laid-back when it comes to him leaving to go on the road.

Darius Rucker (balancing kids and career) OC: …daddy’s job. :25

“We balance it. The one thing we decided a long time ago when the kids were born was dad going away and coming back was not a big deal. Don’t bring a bunch of presents when you come home and don’t go, ‘Ah, I’m gonna miss you guys.’ Just go and then come back. And that has helped a lot with the kids because they’re cool with it. They sometimes may get upset when I’m only home for a day and leave the next day. They’re really cool with that, the way we’ve handled it is just, ‘It’s Daddy’s job.’”

AUDIO: Dierks Bentley talks about his daughter, Evie, and her love of music.

Dierks Bentley (Father’s Day-Evie) OC: …support her. :31

“My daughter Evie, she just loves being out and about and seeing stuff. She’s got a real gregarious personality and loves to be around music. It’s everywhere she goes … my daughter’s exposure to music in general is crazy. It’s always around. There’s just music everywhere. She loves it, and I’m not trying to turn her into my 401k package down the road, but if she wanted to get into the business, I’d support her.” 

AUDIO: Eric Church describes his father and the qualities he admires in him.

Eric Church (Father’s Day) OC: …always admired. :29

“My dad is a, I’m trying to find the right words to describe him. My dad is a great guy, honest guy, very call it like he sees it, which is where I get a lot of that. No BS. I’m gonna tell you how I feel whether you like it or not, I’m that guy, I’m me…My dad’s that way, so I get a lot of that from him. There’s also an honesty and an integrity that my dad carries himself with that I’ve always admired. I think the both of them combined, and they’ve been married for I think 40 years, to be together that long in this day and time is a feat in itself.”  

AUDIO: Keith Urban – father to daughters Sunday and Faith — says there are a number of things that are at the top of the list of being a dad. 

Keith Urban (Father’s Day) OC: …experience that. :36

“The first thing is probably just having someone call you dad. I’m like, ‘Omigosh! I’m her dad! That’s amazing.’ That’s probably the first thing to me. I don’t know, I mean, the different personalities that our two daughters have, that’s amazing. It’s such a long list I think. I always say…I think for the people that haven’t had kids – which I hadn’t for a long, long time. I didn’t have kids ‘til later on, and being around it is not the same as having them, you know? I realize that it’s not something that can be explained until you actually sort of have it, so I’m glad I got to experience that.” 

AUDIO: Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook says fatherhood is absolutely beautiful. He and wife Karen Fairchild became parents to Elijah Dylan on March 5, 2010.

Little Big Town (Jimi-Father’s Day) OC: …beautiful. :32

“It’s still such a new experience for us, and man, I’m telling you, people can tell you all day long how great it’s going to be, but it still never touches it. That little man looking back at me, it’s the most unbelievable feeling. And every day, for me who hates mornings [laughs], waking up to a slap in the face; he’s like pounding on me, then he’s like kissing on me and stuff. It’s unbelievable. It’s absolutely beautiful.” 

LINERS:

Hey! What’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a Happy Father’s Day.

Hey this is Eric Church wishing you a Happy Father’s Day.

Hi everyone, this is Keith Urban, wishing all you dads out there a Happy Father’s Day.

Hi, this is Little Big Town, wishing all you Fathers a Happy Father’s Day.

Darius Rucker has been in the studio putting the finishing touches on his next album, the follow-up to Charleston, S.C. 1966. He’s looking forward to getting the music into the hands of his fans, and he tells TasteofCountry.com that his third solo country album with be a bit “brighter.” “Hopefully it has a brighter sound with different songs,” says Darius. “We just try to do something a little bit different every time to sound a little bit different and to make records that people want to listen to. I don’t think [the process of making albums] ever gets easy, but it’s fun.”

ACCLAIMED NEW ALBUM SCORES BEST FIRST-WEEK SALES SINCE GOOD TIME 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 13, 2012) Country superstar Alan Jackson’s Thirty Miles West has debuted at the top of Billboard’s Top Country Albums sales chart, making it his 13^th album to debut in the #1 spot on release week. The album also bows at #2 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums sales chart that includes all genres of music, bested only by chart-blazing Adele’s 21. This is the best first-week sales for Jackson since the release of his platinum-selling Good Time in 2008. Released on June 5, Thirty Miles West is Jackson’s first new release on ACR (Alan’s Country Records)/ EMI Records Nashville; the album was produced by Keith Stegall. 

Thirty Miles West is already proving itself as an acclaimed recording. “Jackson handles both real-life drama and sly humor with laid-back grace – making Thirty Miles West another example of how to keep traditional country music relevant in modern times,” says the Associated Press, which also notes, “No other artist of his generation deserves this destiny more, for no other has better represented the traditions of country music than this Georgia native.” 

“Thirty Miles West is built on the twin pillars of Jackson’s trademark sound: country-soul ballads and twanging modern honky-tonk,” says the Chicago Tribune, adding, “He may be surrounded on the charts by a sea of Nashville pop and rock artists, but Jackson remains a country traditionalist to the bone.” 

The new album resonates with “the straightforward, down-to-earth style that has helped to make him, both artistically and commercially, such an enduring success,” says the Philadelphia Inquirer…People notes, “Thirty Miles West is a journey worth taking”…and the New York Times says, “Jackson does sublimely expressive things with the album’s lead single, ‘So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore,’ a fine, old-fashioned tear-jerker that captures a distinctly masculine blend of gallantry, taciturnity and martyrdom.” 

“So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore” continues to climb the country charts, residing inside the Top 25 this week. The music video for the song, filmed at Coney Island in New York, has topped the GAC Top 20 and become a Top 10 hit on the CMT Top 20 Countdown. 

Jackson wrote six of the 13 songs included on Thirty Miles West. Writing about the new album, Billboard reported, “Jackson is in an elite group of songwriters, including Paul McCartney and John Lennon, who’ve written more than 20 of their own chart-topping tunes. In the country format, he’s second only to Merle Haggard in terms of writing or co-writing number one hits that he’s also recorded.” 

Thirty Miles West is Jackson’s 14^th studio album; it’s the latest in an unbroken string of 20 albums that have reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart – that list also includes three hits collections, two holiday albums, and his acclaimed 2006 gospel album, Precious Memories, which remains one of the Top 3 best-selling Catalog Country Albums this week. 

About Alan Jackson

Alan Jackson is one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music. Jackson is one of the 10 best-selling artists since the inception of SoundScan, ranking alongside the likes of Eminem and Metallica. Jackson has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide, topped the country singles charts 35 times, and scored more than 50 Top-10 hits. He has written or co-written 25 of his 35 #1 hit singles. Jackson is a 17-time ACM Award winner, a 16-time CMA Award recipient, and a two-time Grammy-winning artist whose songwriting has earned him the prestigious ASCAP Founders Award and an induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as a 2011 Songwriter/Artist inductee.

Alan Jackson’s Thirty Miles West debuts at the top of the Billboard country albums chart. The album sold more than 73,000 copies to enter at No. 1 on the country chart and at No. 2 overall. It’s his best chart peak since Good Time debuted at No. 1 on the Top 200 in 2008. The collection features his current Top 25 single, “So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore,” as well as “Long Way to Go” and “Dixie Highway,” which features his fellow Georgian, Zac Brown. ““There’s some cool things on there. It’s kind of like most of my albums, just a mixture of uptempo and fun and serious things and heartache songs,” says Alan. “There’s ‘Dixie Highway’ — it’s a fun thing that’s just about kinda stuff I’ve written before about growing up in the South, and I got Zac Brown – he owed me a song since I sang with him on one, so he’s singing on it.” 

AUDIO: Alan Jackson talks about his new album, Thirty Miles West. 

Alan Jackson (new album) OC: …singing on it. :36

“There’s some cool things on there. It’s kind of like most of my albums, just a mixture of uptempo and fun and serious things and heartache songs…there’s a song I wrote, it’s kind of hard to sing or listen to, because I wrote it when Denise when she found out she had cancer a year or so ago. It just knocked me down, and it was really tough, and this song came out of it. [There’s] a lot of emotion in that song. Then there’s ‘Dixie Highway’ — it’s a fun thing that’s just about kinda stuff I’ve written before about growing up in the South, and I got Zac Brown – he owed me a song since I sang with him on one, so he’s singing on it.”