Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

How does Luke Bryan and his band get ready for a show? It’s pretty serious stuff, especially when Luke’s videographer, Michael, steps out from behind the camera to accept a challenge Luke has laid down. Check out the latest episode of LBTV to find out about all of the shenanigans taking place on the road! Can anyone say “Jackass: Country Style?”

Luke Bryan and Eric Church are on the initial list of artists set to perform on next month’s Academy of Country Music Awards. The two are joined by Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert and Tim McGraw. The 47th Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards, co-hosted by Reba and Blake Shelton, will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, April 1st at 8p live ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Luke, who picked up the Top New Solo Vocalist and Top New Artist of the Year awards in 2010, is also scheduled to perform “Runnin’ With the Night” during the ACM PRESENTS: Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert taping April 2nd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The special airs April 13th on CBS. Luke, who just released his latest Spring Break EP — Suntan City, is also hitting the airwaves with his latest single, “Drunk on You,” from his hit album, tailgates & tanlines. You can currently find him on the road with Jason Aldean on the My Kinda Party tour.

Eric, who won the Top New Solo Vocalist of the Year last year, is nominated this year for Album of the Year for 2011’s Chief and Video of the Year for “Homeboy.” He is flying up the charts with his latest single, “Springsteen,” which follows his previous No. 1 hit, “Drink in My Hand.” He’s currently headlining his first arena tour, Blood, Sweat & Beers.

The two are throwing another performance in the mix – they’re both headlining the ACM’s free concerts at the Fremont Street Experience, May 30th (Luke) & 31st (Eric).

AUDIO: Luke Bryan is excited about his ACM Awards performance.

Luke Bryan (ACM 2012 performance) OC: …Lionel show. :17

“We got the news of my ACM [Awards] performance, which was really, really rewarding and flattering news. To not have a nomination out there, and you know to get a performance slot, we were super-excited. And [we’re] certainly very excited to be a part of the Lionel [Richie] show.”

AUDIO: Eric Church took the long way to have the success he’s currently enjoying, and it certainly wasn’t easy, by any means…but he says he’d do it all over again!

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.” 

Alan Jackson and Dierks Bentley are among the artists added to the growing list of performers for the nightly concerts at LP Field during this year’s CMA Music Festival, running June 7th – 10th in downtown Nashville. They join Blake Shelton, Brantley Gilbert and Scotty McCreery.

Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Faith Hill, Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band were previously announced as performing on the festival’s largest stage. More acts are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Tickets for CMA Music Festival are $125-$325 based on the level of seating at LP Field. They are available through at 1-800-745-3000.

Lady Antebellum‘s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood are trained snipers, thanks to tips from their instructor during their time on the shooting range at Fort Bening in Columbus, Georgia. All of this was captured during the group’s latest episode of Webisode Wednesday!

Lady Antebellum continue their reign at the top of the country album chart. Their latest collection, Own the Night, sold another 20,000 copies to hold their No. 1 spot on the country chart. “We tried to approach the record like always, like the first two. It’s all about the song. Let the song dictate it,” says Lady A’s Charles Kelley. “And when you listen to this record, there’s some very traditional-sounding songs and there’s also some much more contemporary-sounding songs. It’s whatever the song calls for.”

Own the Night includes their previous No. 1 hits, “Just a Kiss” and “We Owned the Night,” as well as their latest Top 10 smash, “Dancin’ Away With My Heart.”

Luke Bryan’s tailgates & tanlines, which features the hits “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” “I Don’t Want This Night to End” and “Drunk on You,” comes in at No. 2 on the country album charts.

AUDIO: Lady A’s Charles Kelley says the songs on their On the Night album dictate how they’re going to sound.

Lady A (approach to OTN) OC: …calls for. :26

“More than anything, you approach the record on how’s it gonna translate live, more than anything. Songs like ‘We Owned the Night,’ you know, when we were writing it, we thought, ‘Boy, this will be great live.’ That four on the floor and very anthemic. But we tried to approach the record like always, like the first two. It’s all about the song. Let the song dictate it. And when you listen to this record, there’s some very traditional-sounding songs and there’s also some much more contemporary-sounding songs. It’s whatever the song calls for.”

Eric Church is shooting up the country charts with his latest hit, “Springsteen,” and he is amazed by the response the song is getting from radio and fans alike. “This is the one that even that the friends in radio, all the friends I’ve had, that this is the song when Chief came out, number-one, across the board, said, ‘We can’t wait for ‘Springsteen,’ and they’ve responded,” says Eric of his favorite song on the album. “I’m blown away at the way it’s moving and at the way the fans are responding. You know, when they hear it played on the radio, they’re responding to that. They’re calling. They’re requesting. They’re tweeting. They’re doing all these things, and I think that just speaks to the passion they have about it.”

• Eric will be performing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on March 19th and you can win tickets on the Band Bench, which is immediately next to the stage. Click here to enter to win tickets to the show.
• He’s currently making his way across the nation on his Blood, Sweat & Beers tour. The next stop is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Thursday (March 8th).

AUDIO: Eric Church’s “Springsteen” is shooting up the country charts, and he says both radio and the fans responded quite positively to the song when it was released just a couple of weeks ago.

Eric Church (radio excited about Springsteen) OC: …amount of passion. :31

“This is the one that even that the friends in radio, all the friends I’ve had, that this is the song when Chief came out number-one, across the board, said, ‘We can’t wait for ‘Springsteen,’ and they’ve responded. You know, when we put ‘Springsteen’ out, I’m blown away at the way it’s moving and at the way the fans are responding. You know, when they hear it played on the radio, they’re responding to that. They’re calling. They’re requesting. They’re tweeting. They’re doing all these things, and I think that just speaks to the passion they have about it. It’s my favorite song [on the album], so I think it’s one that I have the same amount of passion.”

Lady Antebellum helped Oreo celebrate its 100th birthday with an impromptu acoustic concert at The Grove in Los Angeles. They also sang “Happy Birthday” to one of the nation’s favorite cookies, as well. It was followed by a small flash mob doing a dance for Oreo. 

The free show was one of seven parties staged in various cities including Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. Lady A are also participating in Oreo’s Facebook promotion ” Join The Movement,” which encourages FB followers to share their favorite Oreo moment.

Lady Antebellum will sing “Happy Birthday” to Oreo cookies as the classic kids’ treat celebrates its 100th year with a flash-mob-style party today at the Grove, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Organizers say the 11 a.m. (PT) event is the flagship of seven similar spontaneous celebrations across the country where kids (big and small) will enjoy Oreo-themed games, photos with the Oreo Man and the free concert.

“Kids don’t necessarily get time to have kid fun anymore,” said event spokeswoman Caroline Lainio. “Those spontaneous moments of fun that people don’t have on a daily basis — that’s what Oreo wants to create.”

Nabisco, which makes Oreos, has research to back up such a claim. The company conducted a global survey of more than 7,000 parents last year and concluded that the “spirit of childhood is at risk worldwide, as parents and kids alike yearn to be more carefree.”

So organizers hope a few Oreos and a large glass of milk will get people dunking, splitting and licking the cookies in a few brief moments of unadulterated fun. 

“It’s a testament to a cookie that’s so unique in its own right,” Lainio said. “It just has some special  appeal to it.”