Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Keith Urban appears on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday (October 11th), and in addition to performing his new single, “You Gonna Fly” — the follow-up to his current No. 1 hit, “Long Hot Summer” — Keith and Ellen decide to appear in a, um, “commercial” for the entertainer’s new men’s cologne, PHOENIX by Keith Urban. Check it out!

Keith Urban performs his new single, “You Gonna Fly” — the follow-up to his current No. 1 single, “Long Hot Summer” — on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

It looks like the small town of Mineral, Virginia — population 490 — and the center of the August 23rd earthquake, has won a free concert by Alan Jackson. Mineral received nearly 32,000 votes in the competition sponsored by eventful.com. Kansas City was in second place with more than 8,200 votes, followed by Minot, North Dakota in third with more than 6,000. This is good news for the town, since they received word last week that the state did not secure FEMA aid to help it rebuild after the 5.8 earthquake, which is still causing almost daily aftershocks. Details on the concert should be announced soon.

DIERKS BENTLEY’S “MILES & MUSIC FOR KIDS” RAISES OVER $144,000 FOR

CHICAGO’S CHILDREN’S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Nashville, TN – Oct. 10, 2011 — Multi-platinum country music star Dierks Bentley’s “Miles & Music for Kids” stopped in Chicago, IL yesterday for a motorcycle ride and outdoor block party that sold out two weeks in advance and raised over $144,000 for Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital. The event capped off the first weekend of Bentley’s Country & Cold Cans Tour, which also sold out.

Over the series’ five-year history, Bentley has raised over $1.7 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In 2009, Bentley joined forces with Nationwide Insurance, CMT ONE COUNTRY and the Children’s Miracle Network to expand the successful “Miles & Music for Kids” first held in Nashville across the country, visiting Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, Seattle, Atlanta, Columbus and now Chicago. The sixth annual Nashville event is scheduled for this Sun., Oct. 16. For more information, visit www.dierks.com.

Keith Urban’s “Long Hot Summer” has climbed to the top of both Mediabase/Country Aircheck and Billboard country singles charts, marking the CMA Entertainer of the Year nominee’s 13th No. 1 song. The singer-songwriter co-wrote the song with Richard Marx, the same team behind Keith’s hits “Better Life” and “Everybody.” “I love writing with Richard [Marx]. We wrote a bit for the last record and nothing sort of eventuated from it, and it frustrated me. I thought, ‘We need to go at it again. I know we can write a song,’” recalls Keith. “And so, he came to Nashville and we had just under a few hours to try to come up with something, and lo and behold, this song came out of the session.”

• The guitar-slinger will tape an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today (October 10th), for broadcast tomorrow (October 11th). He’s set to perform his new single, “You Gonna Fly,” as well as promote his new cologne, PHOENIX by Keith Urban.
• Keith will wrap up his Get Closer 2011 World Tour October 15th in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Keith is nominated for both Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year at next month’s CMA Awards.

AUDIO: Keith Urban talks about getting together with Richard Marx to write “Long Hot Summer.”

Keith Urban (Long Hot Summer) OC: …thank goodness. :23

“We hadn’t written together for a while, and I love writing with Richard [Marx]. We wrote a bit for the last record and nothing sort of eventuated from it, and it frustrated me. I thought, ‘We need to go at it again. I know we can write a song.’ And so, he came to Nashville and we had just under a few hours to try to come up with something, and lo and behold, this song came out of the session…fairly easily, thank goodness.”

Alan Jackson, who is climbing the country charts with “Long Way to Go,” doesn’t have a long way to go to get away from it all. He can walk to his garage and pick out one of his beloved vehicles and take a drive. “At certain times of the year, you know like up here in the fall when it’s really pretty and the temperature’s cooled off, I’ll get out just about every day that I can and take a little drive, run an old car out in the country,” says Alan. “That’s some of the most relaxing times for me.” Alan got the love of cars from his father, who worked at the local Ford plant in Georgia. For his first car – a white 1955 convertible Thunderbird – he began saving up for it when he was just 12 years old, and his love for anything with four wheels has not dissipated over the years. “There’s just something about cars, especially old cars that are just like a work of an art to me and the way they sound and smell and just certain looks.”

AJ (driving) OC: …for me. :14

“At certain times of the year, you know like up here in the fall when it’s really pretty and the temperature’s cooled off, I’ll get out just about every day that I can and take a little drive, run an old car out in the country. That’s some of the most relaxing times for me.”

AJ (cars) OC: …enjoy that, you know? :16

“It’s in my blood ‘cause I grew up with it and there’s just something about cars, especially old cars that are just like a work of an art to me and the way they sound and smell and just certain looks. And when you’re just out driving, it’s just a feeling, I don’t know, maybe it’s a little nostalgic or something, but I just enjoy that, you know?”

Darius Rucker kicked off his first solo headlining tour on Thursday (October 6th) in Glen Falls, New York. “I haven’t headlined a tour since Hootie [& the Blowfish], so to say I’m excited is an understatement.” His opening acts on select dates include Rodney Atkins, Justin Moore, Thompson Square and Brett Eldredge. One song we know he’ll perform is his latest Top 20 hit, “I Got Nothin’,” which he co-wrote with Clay Mills. “Everybody’s been there,” Darius says about the song. “Most people in their adult lives have been there where either they said something to keep it going when they know they shouldn’t have or they didn’t, and let it go. It’s one of those things where people just feel it, because they’ve been there.” Darius is taking his trek to Indiana, Pennsylvania on October 7th and Syracuse, New York on October 8th.

AUDIO: Darius Rucker talks about his latest single, “I Got Nothin’,” from his album, Charleston, SC 1966.

Darius (I Got Nothin’) OC: …been there. :17

“I think for me, ‘I Got Nothin’’ is kind of like ‘Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It’ – everybody’s been there. Most people in their adult lives have been there where either they said something to keep it going when they know they shouldn’t have or they didn’t, and let it go. It’s one of those things where people just feel it, because they’ve been there.”

Dierks Bentley will roar into Chicago on Sunday for his latest Miles & Music for Kids charity motorcycle ride and concert. Dierks’ Country & Cold Cans tourmates, Jerrod Niemann and Eli Young, will take part in the benefit with proceeds being donated to the Chicago-based Children’s Memorial Hospital. The ride will end in front of the famous Joe’s Bar, where an all-star concert will take place. His next Miles & Music event, featuring Eli Young Band and Josh Thompson, will take place October 16th in Nashville.

AUDIO: Dierks Bentley talks about his Miles & Music benefit.

Dierks (Miles & Music 2011) OC: …in Chicago. :29

“It’s the people behind the scenes that make it happen. You’ve got to find artists that want to take off a Sunday and come and play for free, you know, in Chicago. That’s not high on everybody’s list [laughs] of who wants to come home on Sunday. And yeah, all the money goes to the Children’s Hospital in Chicago, and the Children’s Miracle Network. So, it’s been cool. I think expanding was tough, because it’s one thing if you’re in Nashville where you can find friends to come out and be a part of it. But it’s hard to do it other cities when you’re trying to get some other acts to come out. And it’s amazing how gracious people are with their time and willing to do it. We have a great lineup in Chicago.”

Luke Bryan’s third album, tailgates & tanlines, has been certified gold. During his Farm Tour show in Statesboro, Georgia, Luke was surprised in front of a crowd of more than 8,000 fans with a plaque signigying his current album has been certified by the RIAA for sales of 500,000. The singer-songwriter’s previous single, “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” has also been certified platinum. Luke co-wrote it with pal, Dallas Davidson.

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about how he has grown as an artist from his first album to his third.

Luke Bryan (third album) OC: …coming out. 1:18

“When you get into your third album, and you’re lucky enough to get to a third album, you just get more seasoned and a little more calm about the experience. You take the things you did right and wrong from your other two, and you make mental notes and try to do, you know, do all the things that you liked and roll into this album. You know, there were times on my first two albums. We were really pressured and up against the wall to get it done, so a lot of times I would go in and sing and my voice wouldn’t really feel as good as I wanted it to that day. But on this album, if I went in and it wasn’t happenin’, you know, I would just turn around and walk down, and I was like, ‘We’ll get it when it’s time.’ Little things like that that you learn, you know. I was able to take some songs that didn’t make ‘Doin’ My Thing’ and kind of hold them because I knew there was a proper time for them to come out and we’d put them on this album. And like I said, you get a little smarter about all of the, all of the aspects of making an album. You can, you can go back and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes twice and, um, and you know, I mean I know it even with the success with Doin’ My Thing, you know, there are little things I wanted to change about it and I made sure on this album I didn’t do it again and it makes the, I look back and I’m like, ‘Man, there isn’t one song that I would want to take off this album.” Everything had its place and that’s exciting, that’s what makes it fun to have recorded the album and now even more fun it is coming out.

Luke Bryan will join his friend and fishing buddy, Jason Aldean, on the My Kinda Party tour next year. The only date that has been announced so far is at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on February 24th, which sold out in just minutes. The two have previously toured together a couple of times before, and the Georgia natives became fast friends during their first tour of duty. “We’d roll into town and I’d have a fishing trip or something planned, and I would just get off the bus and go fishing or something,” says Luke recalls of their first tour. “I’d get back, and he’d be like, ‘Where have you been?’ I said, ‘I’ve been fishing,’ and he’s like, ‘You ain’t going to call me next time?’ Now I’ve learned that if I plan some off-site activity, if I don’t let him in on it, he gets a little mad. He wants to be in there fishing, too.” (AUDIO BELOW)

• Luke, whose single “I Don’t Want This Night to End” is quickly climbing the country charts, is in the midst of both his annual Farm Tour, as well as his first headlining tour for CMT. The trek, also featuring Josh Thompson and Lee Brice, is scheduled to wrap November 19th in Monroe, Louisiana.

FIRST ANNOUNCED CITIES ON THE 2012 MY KINDA PARTY TOUR:

Cedar Falls, IA

Champaign, IL

Charlottesville, VA

Dayton, OH

East Rutherford, NJ

Fayetteville, NC

Green Bay, WI

Greenville, SC

Huntsville, AL

Jonesboro, AR

Kansas City, MO

Nashville, TN

Oklahoma City, OK

Orlando, FL

St. Paul, MN

Tupelo, MS

Wichita, KS

AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about his first tour with buddy, Jason Aldean. The two reunite early next year to do it again.

Luke (Jason Aldean) OC: …hit it off. :35

“Jason’s a more quiet and reserved guy until you get to hanging out with him. It was funny, we’d roll into town and I’d have a fishing trip or something planned, and I would just get off the bus and go fishing or something. I’d get back, and he’d be like, ‘Where have you been?’ I said, ‘I’ve been fishing,’ and he’s like, ‘You ain’t going to call me next time?’ Now I’ve learned that if I plan some off-site activity, if I don’t let him in on it, he gets a little mad. He wants to be in there fishing, too. So, we just got a lot of hang time on the first tour. We just had a great time. We hit it off.”