Thompson Square won their first vocal duo of the year trophy last year at the ACM Awards, and the duo’s Keifer Thompson tells ABC News Radio he’s still not used to seeing that award sitting next to their other trophies on his mantle.

“You look at those awards, and you’re like, those aren’t real,” Keifer says. “Those can’t be ours, you know?”

Though Keifer and his wife and duo partner, Shawna Thompson, are hoping for a repeat win in the vocal duo category at this Sunday’s ACM Awards, they plan on making the most of their time in Las Vegas for the show regardless.

Says Keifer, “We never thought in a million years we’d have one of those, so, we’re just going to relax and just have fun this year.”

Look for Thompson Square on The 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards this Sunday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan are set to co-host the broadcast.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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The Band Perry‘s Pioneer album premiere show in Greeneville, TN last weekend was a big success with an estimated crowd of about 25,000 people. Some of those folks traveled from Iowa, Texas and even Canada.

Lead singer Kimberly Perry tells ABC News Radio, “It was a really precious thing to see our whole town come together to pull this event together. And really it was the spirit behind Pioneer — lots of people coming together to do good things.”

Now that Pioneer is in stores and online, Kimberly looks forward to seeing which songs their fans like the best.

“It’s really a neat thing to see what the fans are going to make their own soundtrack,” Kimberly says. “So, I can’t wait to see that this week.

Though Pioneer is now in the hands of the fans, Kimberly admits she and her brothers Neil and Reid Perry would still be making changes to the album if they could. She doesn’t have any regrets about the choices they made in the 18 months writing and recording Pioneer.

Kimberly says, “We did have the opportunity to try out all of our ideas. We wrote some wild songs that ultimately weren’t in the final 12. But we got to just really break our own boundaries, which was exciting.”

Look for The Band Perry to perform on Sunday night’s 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS at 8 p.m. Eastern. They’re up for vocal group of the year honors.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Kacey Musgraves made a splash by taking an honest look at small-town life in her debut hit, “Merry Go Round.” Now she’s offering up another slice of honesty with the follow-up single, “Blowin’ Smoke.” Look for Kacey to premiere the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show April 10.

Kacey is nominated for Female Vocalist and Video of the Year for “Merry Go Round” at the ACM Awards this Sunday night on CBS. Her debut album, Same Trailer Different Park, recently debuted at the top of Billboard‘s Country Albums chart.  Kacey is the first solo female act in five years to pull off that feat.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Wynonna‘s husband and drummer Cactus Moser began walking on his own this week for the first time since losing one of his legs in a motorcycle accident last August.  The couple has been waiting eight months for this moment, and Wynonna tells People, “It freaked me out because I’ve seen him in a wheelchair and using a walker, and he just walked towards me and I was like, ‘Wow.’  I was so stunned.  I saw the wreck, I saw him lose the leg.” 

Wynonna is now competing on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, and her fellow contestant and reality TV star Lisa Vanderpump was one of the first people to walk with Cactus.

Wy says of her husband, “He’s so positive.  I call him Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky.  It’s really irritating, because sometimes I just want to complain or act tired about dancing, and he’ll say, ‘But you’re moving and you’re looking so great.'”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Little Big Town has four ACM Awards nominations going into Sunday night’s show including album of the year for Tornado. While they have their fingers crossed about taking home a trophy or four, Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman tells ABC News Radio they’re just as excited to see Luke Bryan make his debut as Blake Shelton‘s new co-host on the show. Luke replaces Blake’s longtime co-host, Reba, who is often credited with reining in Blake’s racy sense of humor. Kimberly’s not sure if Luke is up for that task.

“They’re gonna have to put, like a 15-second delay on the show,” she says. “How in the world will they keep them in check? And it’ll be hilarious. It’ll be so entertaining and so much fun.”

Since Luke and Blake’s brand of humor may have the network censors up in arms, Kimberly adds with a laugh, “Reba will be back next year.”

Look for Little Big Town to perform on The 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Brad Paisley‘s new album, Wheelhouse, doesn’t come out until April 9, but you can listen to the entire project now streaming on iTunes.  While listening, fans can pre-order the album along with Brad’s first interactive book, Building a Wheelhouse, which tells the story of how Brad created the new project.

Wheelhouse features Brad’s #1 hit “Southern Comfort Zone” and “Beat This Summer” as well as collaborations with LL Cool J, Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes and Charlie Daniels.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Eric Church is the sole country act on the bill for this year’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, coming up August 2 through 4. Eric is slated to perform on Saturday, August 3.  Most of the acts playing the festival are rock or alternative acts, like Mumford & Sons, The Killers and The Cure.

The Lollapalooza gig is one of a few select dates Eric has on the books this summer. He’s also playing stadiums with Kenny Chesney on the No Shoes Nation trek.

Eric is also writing songs for his next studio album these days. Look for his first-ever live album, Caught in the Act Live, to land in stores April 9.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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The Band Perry’s sophomore album, Pioneer, is now in stores.  The sibling trio is out to expand people’s perception of that word, “pioneer,” beyond covered wagons and bonnets.  That’s why they’re dressed in cutting edge clothes on the cover, and you might also notice they’re leaning forward in that cover photo too.

The group’s Neil Perry tells ABC News Radio, “There’s so much to be discovered still.  And if you look at the cover as well, we’re kind of leaning forward.  So, we wanted to point out that there’s a forward motion with The Band Perry.  We’re marching on.”

That pioneering spirit showed up in the musical choices The Band Perry made on the album too.  Lead singer Kimberly Perry describes their style as “modern throwback,” and the acoustic sound that marked hits like “You Lie” and “If I Die Young” is still represented on Pioneer.  But some tracks push the envelope a little more, incorporating the Perrys’ shared love for rock and roll.  One track, “Forever Mine Nevermind,” features Brad Paisley on guitar as well as high harmonies from the Perry boys inspired by the rock group Queen.

“This very modern output of music from us probably also has the most amount of teeth of anything that we’ve had,” Kimberly says of their new musical direction.  “Most aggression.  Multiple electric guitars.  Some very bold musical moments.”

Finding that new direction wasn’t easy for The Band Perry, and they had a lot of questions about where to go next after scoring a huge hit with “If I Die Young.”  They address that early confusion with the title track, “Pioneer.”

Speaking of that track, Reid Perry explains, “It asks, ‘Where are we going?  What will become of us?’  It in itself is a question, and the question we were asking, and we didn’t have a lot of the answers.  Only that there was this unknown that we were marching into, but that we just had to put one foot in front of the other.  So, that, for us, is what Pioneer is.”

Pioneer has already produced another #1 hit for The Band Perry with “Better Dig Two.”  The video for the second single, “DONE.,” hits Vevo Tuesday.  Look for The Band Perry to talk about their new album on ABC’s Nightline Tuesday night.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Kacey Musgraves just topped Billboard‘s Country Albums chart with her debut album, Same Trailer Different Park, but she had multiple ACM Awards nominations before that project was ever released. Kacey is up for Female Vocalist of the Year and Video of the Year for performing and producing her clip for “Merry Go Round.”

She says, “Just a nomination even is the ultimate compliment from people that you work with in the business. It just makes me feel like I’m doing something right, and I’m just, I’m thankful.”

Kacey is a long shot to win the Female Vocalist trophy since she’s up against Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift.

“These girls that have been doing this longer than I have in the public eye,” Kacey says of her fellow Female Vocalist nominees. “I don’t consider myself a vocalist. I mean I like to convey my message with my voice, but just to even be included in such a category is just unreal.”

As for her Video of the Year nomination, Kacey chalks it up to the magic of the do-it-yourself trend happening these days. She made the video using stock footage from the internet spliced in with footage she shot on her iPhone.

Kacey says, “It was just kind of different, kind of real, and that’s, I feel like, what the song needed.”

The 48th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live from Las Vegas Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Luke Bryan has topped the charts and sold out show after show on his Dirt Road Diaries tour, but this Sunday, Luke takes his stardom to a new level by hosting the ACM Awards with Blake Shelton.

Luke knows how big an opportunity this hosting gig is, and he plans to make the most of it. He’s been hosting countdown shows on TV and radio for years now, and Luke says, “I think it all puts feathers in your cap to hopefully prepare yourself for these moments, and I think you have to learn ’em over time.”

While Luke is hosting a major awards show on CBS, he’s still a country boy from a peanut farm in Georgia. Making the leap to network TV is something Luke would never do without his management team behind him to make sure he looked good on camera.

“Nothing’s more icky than watching something icky on TV,” Luke says. “So, I think I’m gonna try to do that and have fun with it. I mean, I’m ready for it. I think preparation and prayer ought to get you ready for anything.”

Luke’s pal Jason Aldean has predicted Luke will get tongue-tied at some point during Sunday night’s show, and Luke has no doubt he’s going to flub a line here and there. Luke knows he can look down at Jason to help him laugh it off.

He says, “When I do start getting tongue-tied, I’ll have to look down at him. I’m sure he’ll wink at me and be bent over laughing in his chair. So yeah, it’ll be a funny moment.”

The 48th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live from Las Vegas Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.

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Brantley Gilbert‘s first-ever USO tour put him in front of thousands of U.S. troops in Italy and Kuwait over eight days. Brantley is a big supporter of the military, and he was “honored and humbled” to get the opportunity to entertain those serving in the armed forces.

“It means so much to me knowing that I was able to bring them a distraction and to take their minds off all the things they are missing back home, even if just for a few hours.”

Brantley is now back home in the United States gearing up for the ACM Awards, Sunday, April 7 in Las Vegas.  He’s up for New Artist of the Year, and fan voting in that category is now going on at VoteACM.com through the day of the show.  The 48th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live on CBS at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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