Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Luke Bryan and Eric Church have been added to the growing list of performers at this year’s 2012 CMT Music Awards. They join Toby Keith and Pistol Annies, as well as previously announced performers Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and the Zac Brown Band.

Toby and actress Kristen Bell (Couple’s Retreat, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl) have been tapped as co-hosts of the show, which will be broadcast live June 6th at 8pm ET on CMT.

Fans are able to vote at CMT.com through June 4th.

Both Luke and Eric are up for Male Video of the Year, along with Keith Urban and many more.

Luke Bryan was the guest of honor at a “tailgate” party to celebrate the platinum certification of tailgates & tanlines. The album, which has sold more than one-million copies, features the hits “Country Girl [Shake It For Me],” the two-week #1 “I Don’t Want This Night to End” and his Top 10 hit, “Drunk on You.” The party was held in the parking lot of LP Field, home to the Tennessee Titans, and featured food trucks serving bar-b-cue, pizza and ice cream. Luke and his band set up a stage and performed several of his hits, including “Rain is a Good Thing,” “Someone Else Calling You Baby” and “Drunk on You,” among others.

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about the party to celebrate tailgates & tanlines‘ platinum certification.

Luke Bryan (platinum album) OC: …very excited. :33

“Well, it’s just an amazing event, an amazing day to celebrate platinum, you know. It’s kind of like a college degree. When you get one, no one can take it from you, and when you get to say the rest of your life that you’ve got a platinum album, that really means something. And it’s a lot of hard work, a lot of effort, a lot of people that have worked hard and made this stuff happen; a lot of sacrifices. And today is the day that we all celebrate. I mean everybody here right now has seen it happen from the get-go, and it’s pretty amazing stuff. I’m very excited.”

Little Big Town’s “Pontoon” arrives exclusively at iTunes on Tuesday (May 22nd). It will then be available at all online retailers beginning May 29th. The song, which is the first release from their upcoming album set for release this fall, evolved in the recording studio. “I think that that little mandolin lick in the beginning was just a spur of the moment idea. It just happened in the studio, and then we kind of embellished upon it,” says LBT’s Phillip Sweet. “It was one of those times where it was just a really creative moment where people were kind of just contributing little musical things, and it was so much fun. We were having so much fun making this record.”  

The video for “Pontoon” should hit video outlets in the next few weeks.  

AUDIO: Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet and Karen Fairchild talk about the evolution of “Pontoon” in the studio.  

LBT (Pontoon mando-lick) OC: (Karen) …pontoony. [Jimi laughs] :44 

PHILLIP: “I think that that little mandolin lick in the beginning was just a spur of the moment idea. It just happened in the studio, and then we kind of embellished upon it.  It was one of those times where it was just a really creative moment where people were kind of just contributing little musical things, and it was so much fun. We were having so much fun making this record. It just sounds like it too.” KAREN: “That musical idea too, I think, the goal was to find something that’s as hooky as the chorus, but be musical. We liked mandolin or guitar, electric or something, and then somebody came up with that mando-lick, which sounds so kinda cool, and it’s also keyboard doing it at the same time. It sounds kinda freaky and…pontoony. [Jimi laughs]”

Lady Antebellum were named Top Country Artist at Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards. The trio has also been nominated in two categories for the 2012 Teen Choice Awards. Lady A received a nod in the overall Choice Music Group Category, as well as Choice Country Group. Luke Bryan also received a nomination in the Choice Country Male category. Fans can vote once a day at teenchoiceawards.com. The trophies will be handed out July 22nd at 8pm ET on FOX.  

In other Lady A news, the trio just announced they’re adding a Birmingham 02 Academy show on July 17th to their Own The Night 2012 World Tour this summer. The run of shows will also see them play headline gigs in London, Manchester and Glasgow. Lady Antebellum tickets for Birmingham will go on-sale Friday (May 25th). They kick off their UK tour July 13th in Glasgow.

The band is making its way up the country charts with their latest single, “Wanted You More,” from their Own The Night album. 

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley says they don’t take any concerts, nominations or awards for granted. 

Lady A (Charles-nothing for granted) OC: …it’s been fun. :10

“Moving into these arenas and stuff, man, we don’t take any of it for granted, because it’s been our dream our whole life. And to see this train keep moving, it’s been fun.”

From Charlottesville, VA NBC affiliate, WVIR:

Sunday night,  Alan Jackson made good on his promise to perform a benefit concert to help Louisa County recover from August’s earthquake.

Alan came to Mineral Sunday with a check that will help rebuild Louisa County High School. He also teamed up with companies that are helping to restock the area food bank.

Jackson stepped on to a makeshift concert stage to sing in front 6,000 fans packed into the parking lot between Louisa County’s high school and middle school. The crowds lined up to sing along with the performer whose show helped raise more than $150,000 for the Louisa Education Foundation.

Louisa County High School student Olivia Sword said, “We’re really excited that he’s here because a lot of things don’t happen in this town, because were such a small town.”

It is a small town that’s suffered and struggled to get back to normal after August’s earthquake damaged homes and closed two schools.

Sword said, “Seniors have started their year three times already from different schools. From the high school, then the middle school, and then the pods – so it’s been tough.”

Smithfield and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union will deliver 30,000 pounds of protein to the Feedmore Food Bank – to replenish the food distributed in the aftermath of the quake.

Dennis Pittman of Smithfield said, “To just see his commitment to coming here – it just made us want to be a part of it.”

It was a star-studded night to help a community rebuild. Jackson told the crowd, “Just sort of shows you what type of people are in America – take care of things like this when they need to. So we’re glad that we got to come here to Mineral, Virginia.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded $19 million to rebuild the Louisa County High School. Sunday’s concert will provide even more funds as Mineral continues to press forward after this national disaster.

Keith Urban has reached three-million fans on Facebook! www.facebook.com/KeithUrban Check out the superstar’s thank you video below.

Alan Jackson heads to Mineral, Virginia this weekend to put on a show in the Louisa County High School parking lot. Last year, Mineral won an online contest to be the site of a free Jackson concert — Mineral received more than 31,000 votes in the competition sponsored by eventful.com. Kansas City was in second place and Minot, N.D., was third. The town rallied to win the concert — taking place Sunday (May 20th) — following an August earthquake that did millions of dollars in damage to home and buildings in Louisa County.

Funds raised for the Louisa Education Foundation (LEF) will be used to assist the county public schools in their rebuilding efforts as a result of an August 2011 earthquake. The fund will help in the rebuilding of the Louisa County High School and be earmarked for replacement of the school’s extensively-used auditorium. The Louisa County High School is currently condemned after earthquake damage.

For more information on how you can help, go to musicformineral.com.

Alan is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest smash, “So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore,” which is from his forthcoming album, Thirty Miles West, due in stores (and online) June 5th. 

AJ (Mineral) OC: …little story. :45

“That thing just kind of grew into this crazy show that it’s become, because we had this contest going, I guess, at radio where every town could vote and whoever got the most votes, I’d come and do a free show for or something, I guess is how it started. And then when this town had the earthquake and damaged the school as well as other buildings in town and didn’t get much attention for it. Somebody in that town, I believe a fan, got on that internet and rallied all this together and got everybody around the country to vote for this little town to win this contest to do the show; that’s how it all started. And so, it’s kind of interesting that that much passion went into that and came together. I don’t think they said there’s about 400 people that live there, so it’ll be a small show…we’re gonna try to raise a little money to help ‘em, and I think it’s a pretty cool little story.” 

AJ (Mineral) 2 OC: …show like that. :16

“You know, I’ve played so many shows now from everything you could imagine, and when you walk out on stage at arenas and all, and it gets to be kind of routine. This’ll be a little different. It’ll be more, I don’t know, it’ll just be more charming, I think, is what I’m trying to say, and every now and then, it’s good to do a show like that.”