Craig Campbell will release his sophomore album, Never Regret, on May 7. The project features “Outta My Head,” which is easily the sexiest single Craig has sent to radio yet. Craig first revealed the album cover and release date on his Facebook page Wednesday.

In other Craig news, he’s launching a Celebrity Cornhole Challenge to benefit the TJ Martell Foundation’s colon cancer research efforts. Craig’s father passed away from colon cancer at age 36.  Craig says, “This tournament will benefit colon cancer awareness and research, which I am very passionate about.”

The Cornhole Challenge is set for June 4 at the Public Square in downtown Nashville. Gloriana, Greg Bates, Jerrod Niemann and Love and Theft are among the stars already confirmed to participate.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Darius Rucker is climbing the country charts fast with his latest single, “Wagon Wheel,” a cover of the Old Crow Medicine show song that has become a honky tonk and frat house anthem in the past few years.  Darius’s version is selling about 75,000 downloads a week, and he’s getting an awesome reaction to the song in concert.

Darius tells ABC News Radio, “It’s really great to watch the people who are fresh out of college who know it just really freak out and have a great time and try to rush to the stage as fast as they can pushing through people.”

As popular as “Wagon Wheel” has become, Darius’s version is introducing it to a lot of people for the first time.

“The people that don’t know it just realize it’s such a great country tune,” Darius says of his concert crowds. “It’s so pure and so real.  It’s awesome to watch people, by the end of it, everybody’s singing it.  It’s that catchy.  It’s that kind of tune.”

Though he’s happy to hear “Wagon Wheel” on country radio, Darius loves just about everything else getting played these days as well.

He says, “I listen to so much country radio, and it’s so rare that I turn the channel ’cause there’s so much good stuff coming on.”

Darius is a big fan of Hunter Hayes‘ music, and Lady Antebellum‘s latest hit struck a big chord with him too.

Darius says of “Downtown,” ” I can’t get enough of it.  You know, I don’t buy things on iTunes, and after about the fifth time of hearing that, I said, ‘I gotta buy that song!'”

Darius Rucker’s fans will be picking up copies of his third country album, True Believers, when it lands in stores May 21.

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Brantley Gilbert was so inspired by his recent USO tour he wrote and released a demo of his song “One Hell of an Amen” on his Facebook page Thursday.  The finished track of the song will appear on Brantley’s upcoming album, and he describes it as “very dear to my heart.”

Brantley says to his fans, “For all the support y’all have given me, and being a part of this amazing movement we’re in together, I wanted y’all to hear this first.”

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Get well wishes go out to Charlie Daniels, who had a pacemaker installed at Nashville area hospital Thursday. Charlie was diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia and admitted to the hospital for a series of tests Monday. Those tests revealed that 76-year-old Charlie needed the pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat.  He expects to leave the hospital Friday and spend the next two weeks recovering at home.

Charlie says in a statement,  “I am feeling so much better and looking forward to spending Easter with my family.”

Charlie has been forced to postpone two shows in New Jersey and Ohio as a result of the surgery.  For a full list of upcoming dates, go to CharlieDaniels.com.

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Jason Aldean is at the top of his game right now selling out stadiums and arenas on his Night Train tour. Though he took a small acting role in the film Sweetwater this year, fans don’t have to worry about Jason straying too far from the concert stage.

He says, “At the end of the day, I’m a musician. That’s what I am, and I don’t really want to be anything other than that.”

That means Jason isn’t going to judge or participate in a reality show any time soon either. He’s seen what being a coach on The Voice has done for his pal Blake Shelton‘s career, but that kind of gig just isn’t for him.

“I never say never on things,” Jason explains. “I think you’ve got to take certain situations as they come. You know, so it’s hard to say. That show that Blake’s on, I’m sure nobody knew that that thing was gonna explode the way it did.”

The kind of time it takes to be on a reality show isn’t worth it for Jason.

He says, “I would be miserable if I wasn’t out on the road playing my shows. If I had to sit in a building and I had to focus more on doing a show like that versus going out and playing my shows live. I just, I wouldn’t be happy doing that.”

Jason’s live concerts are one of the many reasons he’s up for ACM Entertainer of the Year, and fan voting in that category is now underway at VoteACM.com. Jason will perform on the 48th Annual ACM Awards Sunday, April 7 on CBS.

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Blake Shelton doesn’t worry that his wife Miranda Lambert will believe tabloid rumors that he’s cheating on her. The couple has an open book policy in their marriage, literally: either one of them can go through and read the other’s texts and e-mails at any time.

“That’s the kind of trust we have,” Blake tells People Country. “There are no secrets. Go dig through my drawers or my phone or my computer if you feel like you need to. I have nothing to hide. And it’s been a really good thing because I don’t want her to ever have any doubt.”

As for talk of Blake and Miranda having a baby, Blake says that still a ways off, though he admits, “I do think if and when it happens, I’ll be pretty happy about it.”

For more insight into Blake’s life, pick up the new issue of People Country, out Friday.

 

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Kacey Musgraves takes the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Country Albums chart this week with her debut project, Same Trailer Different Park.  According to Nielsen Soundscan, the set moved 43,496 copies to come in second on the overall Billboard  200 chart behind Justin Timberlake‘s The 20/20 Experience.

You can learn more about Kacey when she’s featured in a profile on CBS Sunday Morning on April 7.  That night, Kacey will attend the 48th Annual ACM Awards,  where she’s up for Female Vocalist of the Year as well as Video of the Year for “Merry Go Round.”  The ACM Awards broadcast April 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

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Gordon Stoker, a member of The Jordanaires, the vocal group that performed on a number of Elvis Presley‘s recordings, died Wednesday. He passed away at his Brentwood, Tennessee, home after a long illness, according to The Tennessean. Stoker was 88.

Stoker initially joined The Jordanaires as a pianist in 1949 but subsequently became a singing tenor with the quartet. They can be heard on Presley’s “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight.” 

The Jordanaires, who were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, also performed on Jim Reeves‘ “Four Walls,” Patsy Cline‘s version of “Crazy,” and George Jones‘ “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”

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Alan Jackson builds on his 2006 gospel album, Precious Memories, with the release of a new album of traditional hymns, Precious Memories Volume II, on Tuesday.  He recorded the first album at the request of his mother, Ruth, and it became a big fan favorite.  Those fans always asked Alan about releasing another hymns album, so he and his wife, Denise, set to work choosing the songs to record a few months back.

Alan says, “We just kind of took it where we left off with the last one with all these songs we had, and tried to figure out a few more that would work.”

A lot of fans also pointed out that Alan didn’t actually include the hymn “Precious Memories” on the first Precious Memories album, but he says, “The truth is, we didn’t really sing that song in the Baptist Church.  I don’t think it was in the hymnal.  I don’t know why, but I love the song.”

Alan finally included “Precious Memories” on Precious Memories Volume II, and he adds,”Now it made sense to do it, I guess.  Kind of backwards.  But it’s a cool cut on there now.  I like it.”

Here’s the Precious Memories Volume II track listing:

“Amazing Grace”
“He Lives”
“Just As I Am”
“Love Lifted Me”
“O How I Love Jesus”
“Only Trust Him”
“There Is Power in the Blood”
“Precious Memories”
“Sweet Hour of Prayer”
“When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder”
“Wherever He Leads I’ll Go”

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