Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Eric Church’s Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour is blowing everyone away—especially the fans! In fact, after his April 28th show in Bloomington, Illinois sold-out in less than 30-minutes, he decided to add a second show the very next night, which will feature opening acts Colt Ford and Blackberry Smoke. The fan club pre-sale for the April 29th show will begin on Tuesday (February 21st), while tickets will be available to the public on February 24th. 

• Eric has built his career and his live show one fan at a time, and while his early gigs may have topped out at 50 to 100 people, he’s now selling out big arenas on his Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour. He says his current success is due in large part to those early fans. “I wonder what they feel like when they think about the places [we played that] were about empty and they were standing there giving me all they had to turn around now and see all these other people there,” says Eric. “I just think it would just have to be a neat thing for them too, because they were there first, and they were the ones that discovered me, and they were the ones who told other people about it…They’re the reason I’m here.”
• Following his recent No. 1 single with “Drink in My Hand,” Eric has now hit the airwaves with what’s being forecasted as one of the biggest hits of his career, “Springsteen.” 

Eric Church (fans in crowd) OC: …up the hill. :51

“I recognize them in the crowds, and a lot of times, I know their names and talk to them. I mean, we come from…different people have different paths, but we directly came from being up close and personal with our fans, because of the places we’ve played. And I know a lot of ‘em and recognize even more of ‘em, you know, when they’re in the crowd. It’s always neat to see them out there. It’s just fun for me. I wonder what they feel like when they think about the places [we played that] were about empty and they were standing there giving me all they had to turn around now and see all these other people there. I just think it would just have to be a neat thing for them too, because they were there first, and they were the ones that discovered me, and they were the ones who told other people about it. And I think that there’s nothing cooler as a recording artist to have somebody that loves what you do and believes in what you do so much, that they make it their cause and champion it to go out there and push it on other people that maybe don’t know about it. They’re the reason I’m here. They’re the ones that picked up the flag and carried it up the hill.”

Luke Bryan will return to Panama City, Florida to put on his annual Spring Break concert at the Spinnaker Beach Club March 13th and 14th. He’ll perform songs from his Spring Break 4…Suntan City EP, which will be available beginning March 6th. You can catch the music video for “Suntan City” on CMT.com. The other tracks are “Spring Breakup,” “Little Bit Later On” and “Shake the Sand.” “Late February/first of March every year, we put four songs out exclusively on iTunes,” says Luke. “We kind of write ‘em with college kids and Spring Break and that whole party theme in mind.” 

• Luke’s ability to draw huge crowds in the Spring Break mecca caught the attention of the Panama City Convention & Visitors Bureau, who tapped Luke as a spokesperson.
• Luke has partnered with CMT to give away a one-week trip to Panama City Beach, along with tickets and meet & greet passes to one of his shows and a chance to join him onstage. Got to CMT.com to enter.
• Luke’s previous EP releases, which can all be found online at digital retailers, include 2009’s Spring Break…with All My Friends followed in 2010 with Spring Break 2…Hangover Edition and last year’s Spring Break 3…It’s A Shore Thing.
• Following his recent No. 1 single, “I Don’t Want This Night to End,” the Georgia native has hit the airwaves with his latest single, “Drunk on You.” 

AUDIO: Luke Bryan says it gets a little crazy when he’s in Panama City, Florida for his annual Spring Break concerts.  

Luke Bryan (Spinnaker) OC: …down there. :09

“We’ll be down there this year, and it’s fun. You know, we play at Spinnaker – a big, outdoor, beach club down there. It’s a pretty wild time. We enjoy going down there.” 

AUDIO: Luke Bryan enjoys putting together his Spring Break EPs. 

Luke Bryan (Springbreak EP) 2 OC: …from me. :27

“We do a Spring Break EP every year, and we release it around Spring Break. Late February/first of March every year, we put four songs out exclusively on iTunes, and we kind of write ‘em with college kids and Spring Break and that whole party theme in mind. I think it’s fun to put out songs that, you know, just to get some new music out there for fans and more opportunities for them to have different types of music from me.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn  (Feb. 17, 2012)  Country music superstar Alan Jackson will perform his new single, “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore,” on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Friday, March 30.  The heart wrenching single from his forthcoming album is now available for purchase at all online retail outlets.  The upcoming album is the first from the joint venture between ACR (Alan’s Country Records) and EMI Records Nashville. 

The video for the single, directed by award-winning Steven Goldmann, was shot at Coney Island in New York City and can be viewed at http://vevo.ly/yrfkrc.

Luke Bryan and his band hit the nation’s largest Honky Tonk, Billy Bob’s, for a sold-out show in the latest edition of LBTV 2012!

Darius Rucker helped raise more than $260,000 with his Big Band Showfor the Medical University of South Carolina’s Children’s Hospital.  Darius performed Frank Sinatra classics, along with an orchestra during the 90-minute benefit concert in Charleston on Monday (February 13th) night.

DIERKS BENTLEY SURPRISES MILITARY HERO WITH $50,000 CASH ON THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW

Nashville, TN – Feb. 15, 2012 – Multi-Platinum singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley teamed up with The Ellen DeGeneres Show today to surprise a military family with $50,000 to help with their financial struggles.  Sgt. Chad Sparks was actively serving when he lost a finger on duty and was forced to return home to care for his injury. He and his wife have been trying to make ends meet by selling their furniture, appliances and other personal items on Craigslist to help support their one-year-old daughter as Sgt. Sparks faces redeployment to Afghanistan.

Bentley’s current single and anchor title track off his new album HOME has touched fans across the country, sparking many stories of similar gravity. Billboard noted “Bentley has crafted a song that acknowledges the nation’s struggles, yet resonates with hopeful optimism about the future.” The ACM nominated Song of The Year’s relatable message also led Bentley to join forces with Believe in Heroes™, a Wounded Warrior Project™ (WWP) initiative last fall, aiming to support and honor wounded veterans who have sacrificed for our country. For more information and a full list of upcoming appearances, visit www.dierks.com.

Charles, Hillary, and Dave of Lady Antebellum are still so excited about their recent GRAMMY win this past weekend. They got to spend Valentine’s Day in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they talked all about their favorite parts of this year’s GRAMMY Awards during the meet and greet. Plus, they had a sold out show! Watch all the behind the scenes action in the latest episode of Webisode Wednesday!

Dierks Bentley takes the No. 1 position this week on Billboard’s Country Albums chart with his sixth studio album HOME, marking Bentley’s fourth career debut in the top spot. The new album’s poignant second single and title track also continues to climb into the Top 5 at radio and has already spawned the rowdy chart-topper “Am I The Only One.”

Music critics across the country are weighing in with glowing reviews of HOME all focused around one central theme – Bentley’s unique sound that combines his distinctive gravely vocals with a modern blend of acoustic and electric instruments.  Entertainment Weekly awarded that sound an A.

“Bentley has always been a big-picture guy, looking to pull together the different kinds of music he loves. On what may be his most cohesive album, he combines rustic sounds of crisp banjo and mandolin with a surging beat that falls between U2 and Waylon Jennings.” – USA Today

“Bentley always utilizes banjo, fiddle, mandolin and especially dobro in his music, but with a modern beat and energy that, along with his distinctive voice, gives him a compelling sound of his own.” – Associated Press

“Dierks Bentley’s new album is his most assured…like an actor playing a role, great country singers inhabit their songs and make them sound like they’re living it all right before your ears. When it works, it feels Oscar-worthy… Dierks Bentley is a great country singer.”  – Washington Post

“Home is packed with songs that showcase Bentley as a vocalist and that will feed his energy as a performer on stage.” – Tennessean

“It’s Bentley at his country-mainstream best.” – Philadelphia Inquirer

“Dierks Bentley has recorded what is undoubtedly the finest album of his career.” – CMT

“It leaves you the listener with the impression that Bentley has made something special here, not just his most consistent album and 2012’s first great country album, but a work that reminds us of the separate power that individual songs can have when they’re strategically placed together on an album.”  – PopMatters

Bentley will perform a song off the new album today on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and is set for the first show of his 2012 COUNTRY & COLD CANS Tour tonight in Vancouver, BC Canada.  For a list of upcoming appearances and tour dates in Canada, Australia and the US, visit www.dierks.com.

AUDIO: Dierks Bentley says his new album, Home, combines a variety of diverse songs that reflect who he is in a musical sense.

Dierks (diversity of songs) OC: …musically. :28

“What’s cool about this record, and one thing I try to capture on it is a diversity of the music, but it all falls within the confines of who I am as a country singer as far as loving the country sounds, the bluegrass sounds, loving some of the rock sounds and energy and mixing it all together on a record. I think it’s all there, so I think there’s a diversity of subject matter and sounds but in a way that it all kind of gels together pretty well, and it’s a good description of who I am musically.”

Eric Church closes each show on his Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour with his new single, “Springsteen.” He says the song, which might be his favorite track on Chief, takes him back to his own experience at a concert with a girl. “The interesting thing about this song is it has probably less to do with [Bruce] Springsteen than it is about what’s happening at this amphitheater up on the lawn. I had this experience,” says Eric. “If you’ve had this experience, no matter whether you stay together or don’t stay together, when you hear that person’s music whether it’s Springsteen or anybody else, you always think of the person you were with at that show.” 

• “Springsteen” is the latest single from Eric’s gold-certified/Grammy nominated album, Chief. It’s the follow-up to his recent No. 1 hit, “Drink in My Hand.”
• Eric is nominated for two Academy of Country Music Awards, including Album of the Year for Chief and Video of the Year for “Homeboy.”

AUDIO: Eric Church explains what the song, “Springsteen,” means to him.

Eric Church (Springsteen) 1 OC: …my favorites. :41

“The interesting thing about this song is it has probably less to do with [Bruce] Springsteen than it is about what’s happening at this amphitheater up on the lawn. I had this experience. If you’ve had this experience, no matter whether you stay together or don’t stay together, when you hear that person’s music whether it’s Springsteen or anybody else, you always think of the person you were with at that show. And I have that. I just thought it was an interesting story about two people falling in love at a concert, and for the rest of their life that’s the soundtrack. That artist is the soundtrack to their love, to that time. I just love that. It makes me feel 17 again every time I hear it, and I think that other people feel the same way. It’s just a track that I’m very, very proud of. It might be my favorite on the record.”

During Keith Urban‘s show in Austin over the weekend, he and Texas native Jack Ingram performed George Strait‘s No. 1 hit, “You Look So Good in Love” (1984).

The show helped to raise money for the Beyond Batten Disease Foundation, which helps bring awareness to the thousands of children suffering from fatal rare genetic disorders.