Darius Rucker will help set a romantic mood with his performance on ABC’s The Bachelorette Monday, June 17. Look for Darius to sing two songs from his latest album, True Believers, including “Lost in You” and the title cut.
This season’s Bachelorette, Desiree Hartsock, and a few special guests will be in the audience for Darius’s private concert. The Bachelorette airs Monday night at 8 ET on ABC.
Justin Moore‘s third album, Off the Beaten Path, is due out September 17 featuring his fastest-rising single to date, “Point at You.” The album comes two years after Justin released his sophomore project, Outlaws Like Me.
“I’m beyond excited to get these 16 songs out to our fans,” Justin says. “I will always remain true to who I am but there are a few curve balls that show my sense of humor and take our fans ‘off the beaten path.’ We want to step it up every time and I really feel like this collection of songs allows us to reach out in ways we haven’t yet.”
Justin also welcomes a pair of special guests on the new album. Miranda Lambert joins him on the song, “Old Habits,” and Charlie Daniels makes an appearance on “For Some Ol Redneck Reason.” Off the Beaten Path will be available in both a standard edition with 11 songs, and a deluxe edition featuring five additional songs.
Here’s the Off the Beaten Path track listing:
“Old Back in the New School”
“Lettin’ the Night Roll”
“Old Habits” (featuring Miranda Lambert)
“Point at You”
“I’d Want to Be Yours”
“This Kind of Town”
“Country Radio”
“That’s How I Know You Love Me”
“Off the Beaten Path”
“One Dirt Road”
“For Some Ol Redneck Reason”
ZacBrown Band went back to the beach for their latest video, “Jump Right In,” and this time they came armed with a human catapult. You can see people being thrown into the water by the contraption, which was built by the guys in front man Zac Brown‘s personal machine shop.
“We make knives and other stuff like human catapults,” Zac says. “I called them and told ’em that I needed a human catapult, and two weeks later, there it was.”
The idea for the catapult was born a few years ago when a then-unknown Zac performed on the weekends at his restaurant back in Georgia. In order to entice customers to come back and see his set, Zac promised patrons they’d have a human catapult to launch people into the lake that weekend.
He says, “It was kind of a joke, and then it came true.”
Having the power to just order up a human catapult for the “Jump Right In” video is a big milestone for Zac.
“There was a moment when I was standing out there launching people into the water thinking, ‘I’ve made it,'” he says with a laugh.
“Jump Right In” is the latest single from Zac Brown Band’s album, Uncaged, now in stores.
Show Dog-Universal’s Toby Keith will lead theOklahoma Twister Relief Concert Saturday, July 6 at the University of Oklahoma’s Memorial Stadium in Norman. Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood andRonnie Dunn are among the performers. All seats are $25 and tickets go on sale Friday, June 21. Proceeds benefit the United Way Of Central Oklahoma‘s May Tornadoes Relief Fund.
“I grew up in Moore, I live in Norman and I’ve got lots of family and friends who were directly affected,” Keith says. “I know these folks and they’re resilient, but we’re going to keep helping them any way we can. I’m proud to get together with some others from around here who are just as committed as I am to supporting these communities.”
“Once we got the news that the tornado had hit Toby’s hometown, Miss Yearwood and I told Toby we were at his service for whatever he chose to do,” Brooks says. “I am amazed at the human spirit the tornado victims have shown. I am humbled by the giving of the volunteers. It is an honor to get to be a part of this healing process.”
Updates for the event and to the lineup will be posted at tobykeith.com.
TraceAdkins‘ latest single, “Watch the World End with You,” features Grammy-winner Colbie Caillat on background vocals, but the two have never performed the song onstage together. That will change when Trace and Colbie team up on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno Wednesday for their first-ever televised performance of the song.
Trace chose Colbie to sing on the song because of her “feminine” yet “strong voice.” He says, “Colbie’s voice is pure, sultry and soulful all at the same time and I am honored that she could join me on this powerful song.”
While he’s at The Tonight Show, Trace will host a live chat at 3:00 p.m. ET Wednesday on CMT’s Facebook page. Fans can take part in the conversation using Facebook’s new Replies feature, which allows users to reply directly to comments and start a conversation thread on the Facebook page.
“Watch the World End with You” was written by country newcomer Brett Eldredge and appears on Trace’s album, Love Will…, now in stores.
Fresh off her appearance at last weekend’s CMA Music Festival, Miranda Lambert is enjoying a little downtime with her pets at home in Tishomingo, OK this week. She tweeted Tuesday, “It’s summer in Oklahoma. I guess me and the dogs should get some sun. They could use a tan!”
We’re sure Miranda is taking precautions so the dogs don’t overheat while catching some rays.
Miranda doesn’t have far to go for her next concert. She’s playing a show in Newkirk, OK on Thursday. Of note, all previously announced Pistol Annies shows this month will now be performed by Miranda solo due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
Brad Paisley hasn’t unleashed any of his legendary pranks on the opening acts on his Beat This Summer just yet. Instead, he’s been treating them to outings to the movies and trips to the go-cart track in the past few weeks. So, why is Brad being so nice to this year’s openers, including Lee Brice, Chris Young and The Henningsens?
He explains, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to tour and only get these acts out one time, and I like to try to make it really hard for another headliner to give ’em a better time, you know?”
Brad still remembers the artists who treated him well on the road, including Brooks & Dunn. The duo would rent out a club near the venue they were playing so they could just chill out and play music with the opening acts, including Brad and Rascal Flatts at the time.
“We would go out and jam,” Brad says. “We would all get up and just do everything from Mellencamp songs to George Jones songs. It was a real camaraderie.”
Brad wants to take his touring buddies out to see Man of Steel this weekend, so fans in Orange Beach, AL may want to head to their local movie theater after his shows there Saturday night.
Greg Bates will be in concert at the Lenora Jubilee Friday, June 14, 2013.
You could win tickets for the concert with 99 KZ Country.
Listen to Theresa Trapp in the morning Tuesday, June 11 and Wednesday, June 12 for a chance to win a pair of tickets and a CD of Greg Bates’ song, “Did it for the Girl.”
Winner of on air tickets: Kolin Klozenbucher and Brian Legleiter.
Winners of the online registration are Lucinda Smith and Judy Arnold!
Dierks Bentley and his wife, Cassidy, will welcome their first son this fall. The couple already has two daughters, so they’ hoping just to keep up with all the little ones that will soon be roaming around their house.
Dierks says, “A friend of mine said having three kids is like having a thousand, and I’m kind of starting to see how that’s probably gonna be true ’cause it’s already pretty crazy with two. But yeah, we’re pretty excited.”
Sometimes it’s still hard for Dierks to believe he’s turned into such a family man though.
“My short term memory is kind of not really that existent that much anymore,” he explains. “It seems like yesterday I was single and on the road playing bars and now I’m here, and I have a wife and two kids and a third one on the way. Life’s crazy like that.”
On the music front, Dierks’ new single, “Bourbon in Kentucky,” will be included on his upcoming album, Riser, due out later this year.
Darius Rucker gives fans an inside view into his songwriting process in a new one-hour special premiering June 20 on GAC. Songtellers with Darius Rucker: The Story of True Believers featuring the country star on stage with his pals who co-wrote his latest album, True Believers, with him. Writing with other people was a foreign concept to Darius back when he was the front man of Hootie & The Blowfish.
“I wrote by myself,” he explains. “I used to think I had to be inspired to write something, and I learned in Nashville that you can write whenever you want.”
The special was filmed at Nashville’s Belcourt Theatre and airs on GAC Thursday, June 20 at 10 p.m. ET.
Billy Currington‘s new album, We Are Tonight, is due out September 17 featuring his latest single, “Hey Girl.” Billy also covered Jack Johnson‘s “Banana Pancakes” and welcomed Willie Nelson to sing on the track “It’s Hard to Be a Hippie.”
We Are Tonight also marks the first time Billy has worked with multiple producers on a project. He says, “It wasn’t planned but just kind of happened that way. It was a great experience to be able to bring a different sound to this album and I hope the fans love it as much as I do.”
Billy is on the road this summer. Keep up with his tour dates at BillyCurrington.com.
Brantley Gilbert and Jana Kramer celebrated the one-year anniversary of the day they met with a trip to McDonalds. The now-engaged couple got acquainted a year ago at the CMT Music Awards, and after this year’s show, Jana tweeted a picture of the two getting fast food with the hashtag “CMT tradition.”
She also takes responsibility for Brantley taking a style detour on Wednesday. “He looks so cute,” she toldUs Weekly. “I picked his jacket out. This is the first time ever he’s wearing a color other than black on the red carpet!”
Brantley popped the question in January at the historic Ryman Auditorium, and Jana hints their upcoming nuptials may hold a few surprises. “Me and Brantley are very non-traditional,” she says. “It’s gonna be really country and fun and laid-back.”
The two have set a wedding date, even though they’re not revealing when it is.
The Voice keeps Blake Shelton out in Los Angeles quite a bit these days, but he made a point to get to Nashville Friday to celebrate his recent #1 hits, “Over” and “Sure Be Cool If You Did,” and put in a performance at the CMA Music Festival that night. Staying connected to the country music community is a priority for Blake even though he’s arguably the format’s most visible star.
He says, “Sometimes when I’m out there for long periods of time, I start thinking, ‘Man, I hope I’m not getting passed over. I hope that people aren’t forgetting about me, or that I’m that not in the club anymore,’ because it’s hard not to think about that sometimes, ’cause I spend a crap load of time out there doing the television stuff.”
Blake adds that he’s worked hard to shine a light on country music on The Voice, and it’s definitely paying off. Blake’s fellow coaches often choose country songs for their contestants to perform on the show. The critics seem to be noticing the country influence too.
Says Blake, “I read a few articles about people saying the whole format has kind of shifted country, and my answer to that is, ‘You’re damn right.'”
The final five contestants perform on The Voice Monday night at 8 ET on NBC.
Darius Rucker will help set a romantic mood with his performance on ABC’s The Bachelorette Monday, June 17. Look for Darius to sing two songs from his latest album, True Believers, including “Lost in You” and the title cut.
