Meet The Cast Of Eric Church's New Video

The video for Eric’s “Creepin’,” (click his website to watch it) has its terrifying moments, especially for the leading man in the clip, who is played by actor Jared Sullivan. “I'm in this relationship I can't get out of and the train is a metaphor for this relationship, and I can't escape and I'm running through the train,” explains Jared. “I'm walking, and I'm coming across these people that symbolize the failing aspects of my relationship.”

Jared is originally from Durant, Oklahoma, and he moved to Nashville last year, where he’d planned to continue doing merchandising for various bands. However, that all changed when he decided to take acting classes and got booked in a principal role in a PSA for the Armed Forces Network. He’s also had a few roles in some independent films, as well, before being booked as the lead character in Church’s “Creepin’” video.

Eric is currently out on his Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour, which is scheduled to wrap December 15th in Sunrise, Florida.  "Creepin'" is from Eric's CMA Album of the Year, Chief.

By the way, if you were wondering who the red-headed woman is in the “Creepin’” video, her name is Melissa Core, and she’s a choreographer, dancer and model originally from Australia.

Lady A’s Webisode Wednesday Gets Crazier

Could it possibly have something to do with that glass in "her" right hand?

Blake Smiles, 152,128 "The Voice" Viewers Download

Cassadee Pope is the #1 ranked country digital download this week according to Nielsen BDS. 

The sales figures are driven by the TV show replay on You Tube (click to watch it).

Lots of folks seem to enjoy hearing her sing and Blake Shelton smile.

Win a Meet and Greet with Mark Wills or Jimmy Wayne

Several lucky Country Music Hall Of Fame members will win a meet and greet with either Mark Wills or Jimmy Wayne!

Check out Wills' public autograph signing in the Museum Store on Saturday, December 8 at 1:00 p.m. and Wayne's signing later that day at 3:00 p.m.

To Enter the Drawing:   Reply by Sunday, December 2 at 5:00 p.m. CST with your name and contact information. The winners will be contacted on Tuesday, December 4. The winners must reply within 24 hours of notice to redeem prize.

Tim McGraw Invites Fans To Watch Them Film His "One Of Those Nights" Video

In a web first, Tim is inviting fans to watch the making of his music video as it happens for his brand new single. 

This afternoon (11/27) starting at 3:30 PM CST, McGraw will offer a live feed with the help of Ustream from the filming of the music video at its location in Nashville.   McGraw will be able to interact with fans and chat with them periodically throughout the shoot while giving them the chance to see how the video process works.  Tune in for the live feed here and follow on Twitter at @TheTimMcGraw

"It's crazy that 25 years into my career, this single and this album represent a lot of firsts for me," explains McGraw. "

There's a renewed feeling of creativity and excitement, and I want the fans to be part of it every step of the way. The technology that's out there today provides some cool new ways to connect with music fans, so it'll be fun to give everyone a real look at what happens on the video shoot.  I hope we can do more stuff like this as things get even busier.

Carrie Underwood "Two Black Cadillacs" (Trailer)

Carrie Underwood's new video won't appear in full until after Christmas, but she's offering fans and advance look at a bit of it right now.

Jake Owen Welcomes Olive Pearl Owen on Thanksgiving

Jake Tweeted the news:  "Today is the greatest day of my life. Welcome Olive Pearl Owen. 6lbs 3 oz Turkey Baby!!! Happy Thanksgiving."

Tulsa World: Miranda Goes Hog Hunting With Blake Shelton

On Sunday, the Texas native tweeted a photo of herself and listed what is required if you're going hog hunting.

"All the important things for hunting.. Bow. Camo. Binoculars. Pink cup. lip gloss!" she tweeted via @Miranda_Lambert.

Earlier that day, she tweeted: "Baby it's time we got back to the basics of love"...first time in the woods this season. & with BS!” as @katnissforever and posted the photo.

No word on whether she actually bagged a wild hog using her compound bow.

"BS" is, of course, her husband country music star and "The Voice" coach Blake Shelton with whom she lives on a ranch near Tishomingo.

Rascal Flatts Takes Full Credit For Blake Shelton's Success

... with tongue firmly in cheek on Chelsea Lately.

Carrie, Lady A and Luke at AMA's

Carrie Underwood took home Favorite Country Album for "Blown Away" while Luke Bryan received Male recognition and Lady Antebellum nabbed Favorite Country Group.

This week, starting Thursday Nov. 22 through Monday Nov. 26th, Lady A will taking over hosting duties for Blair Garner on After Midnite.

Charles, Hillary and Dave will be talking about their favorite Thanksgiving memories and traditions as they ring in the holiday season.

Taylor Swift Wins 5th Consecutive AMA For Favorite Country Female

"This is unreal. I want to thank the fans. You guys are the ones who voted on this," she said in accepting it.

Swift gave a masquerade-themed performance of the pop song "I Knew You Were Trouble." She sang onstage in a light dress while dancers wore mostly black. But then she changed into a red corset and black skirt, matching their dark mood. She even danced and sang on the floor as lights flickered throughout the performance.

When you are as busy as Swift is, there’s no telling where you’ll spend the holidays. For instance, this Thanksgiving, Taylor will be in Tokyo. 

She admits, “It’s gonna be interesting trying to find turkey there.” But she doesn’t mind that she sometimes has to skip tradition for her career. “That’s kinda how my life goes. I’m just like, you know, wherever I’m gonna be I’m gonna be,” she says.

Florida Georgia Line Has A Lot To Be Thankful For

With “Cruise” becoming their first #1 in Canada and also a top five single and selling over a million copies to be certified platinum in the USA, Florida Georgia Line definitely has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 

They’ve been working non-stop this year but they will take some time to spend the holiday with their family. 

Tyler says, “I always go to Alabama. That’s where my….besides my mom and sister, that’s where the rest of my family is so we always go to Alabama and always have growing up, and we have a big dinner, lunch or dinner. Usually both.” 

Tyler and Brian both agree on one of their favorite dishes to see on the Thanksgiving table … sweet potato casserole. “If there’s not any sweet potato casserole its not Thanksgiving,” says Tyler. 

Brian says, “I would second that. My mom makes really good sweet potato casserole.” Tyler says his grandma’s sweet potato casserole is so good, “I can do without the turkey even. It doesn’t really bother me but I need to have some of those good rolls with a lot of butter on it and some sweet potato casserole.”

Beer With Jesus & Turkey With Family

As the single makes its premiere on CMT’s Big New Music Weekend, Nashville newcomer Thomas Rhett spoke to Dan Van, Albright & O'Malley & Brenner Radio Content/Audio Producer Coordinator, about keeping Thanksgiving close to home, especially when you're newly married.

 (click to hear it)

Watch his new video HERE.

Blake Shelton Hangs Sign for Miranda's Store

Miranda Lambert is getting ready to open her new store "The Pink Pistol" in Tishomingo, OK on Black Friday (November 23).

"We're having the grand opening the day after Thanksgiving, on Black Friday, only we're calling it 'Pink Friday,'" said Miranda "We're going to make it a tradition to turn the block pink every year at that time. 'Pink Friday' will be country fun with some glitz. Tishomingo is the epitome of a great, small American town, and I am excited to dress it in my favorite color 'pink.'"

The inventory has been selected by Miranda including handmade boots and belts from Corral, Farmboy and Farmgirl and clothing, jewelry and accessories from Junk Gypsy. "It's antiques, gifts, boots, jeans and pretty much everything you can imagine," said Lambert.

Blake was on hand, preparing for the Grand Opening, which will include "Pink-aoke" for people to sing their favorite song, marching bands and the 1st Annual Pink Pistol Princess Pageant. Entrants will be judged on their creative use of pink in their costumes as well as their spunky attitudes and sass.

Jerrod Niemann And Lee Brice Team Up

Here's the story behind "Only God Could Love You More" from the singer-songwriter.

ABC-TV's "Nashville" Gets A Full Season

ABC-TV has ordered nine additional episodes of Nashville, bringing it to a full-season of 22.

Big Machine will release the show's soundtrack Dec. 11.

The album features music performed by the cast, which so far has sold more than 500,000 digital downloads.

The cover of Lady Antebellum’s new Christmas CD, "On This Winter’s Night," looks too perfect to be real, but it is!!

The trio went to Park City, Utah to shoot the album artwork in several feet of snow. “We wanted to get the cover right,” says Lady A’s Dave Haywood. “If you’re gonna do a Christmas record, you might as well be in four feet of snow.”

The one thing they had to make sure to do is to dress warmly, even if it meant it wasn’t as fashionable as the band’s stylist would’ve liked. “We’re getting dressed for the snow, and our stylist starts putting on these really nice shoes, and I said, “No, no, no, no. That won’t work,’” recalls Charles Kelley. “So, we got these big ole wader snow boots, and they were all the same ones, and I still got a ton of snow that had gotten inside my boot, and kept having to change socks every hour.”

Lady A will perform during the ABC-TV special, A CMA Country Christmas, December 20th (9p-11p ET) and December 23rd (4p-6p ET).

Greg Bates "Must Have Gum"

When you spend as much time on the road as Bates (click to hear audio) does, promoting his song “Did It for the Girl” and touring with Brantley Gilbert on the Hell on Wheels Tour, there are certain things that become must have items. 

Greg says for him, it’s gum. "I’m a huge gum fanatic. And I always have to have… I’ll make ‘em stop four, five times during a week when we’re out just to like, 'I’m out of gum, guys.'"

And it doesn’t have to be any certain kind. “Just whatever I can find at the time,” says Greg. “I mean, I’m not picky about it.”

Kenny Chesney Accepts Billboard Touring Awards

The magazine's Andrew Hampp writes:  "Kenny Chesney ... appeared on-stage three different times -- twice to accept awards for Top Package and Road Warrior, and then third to present Billboard's Ray Waddell with a special Legend of Scribe award (after 25 years of covering the touring business)."

An eight-time winner of the Top Package award, this was Chesney's first appearance at the Touring Awards.

"It was ironic that before I came up here they had 'Dancing In The Dark' playing, and I have a lot of heroes that have busted down the door for guys like me that help me make music like I make it and tour like I tour," Chesney while accepting his Road Warrior award. "And Bruce is one of those. I met Neil Diamond, it was an honor to meet someone like Neil Diamond who continues to have focus and record music and go out and entertain people. To be able to do that in my life is one of the biggest honors and thrills that I have."


(Photo: Michael Seto)

Eric Church Joins "Fans Come First"

The Fans First Coalition was established in May of 2011 in an effort to change and improve the ticket-purchase experience for fans by fighting for greater access to face-value tickets and enhanced protection against fraudulent business practices. The coalition is primarily supported by Ticketmaster and includes over 200 industry members, venues, teams and artists who are committed to standing with fans against scalpers. 

"Our goal is to ensure that fans get what they deserve — a good event experience, from ticket purchase through the final out or encore. To learn more about what we believe in, check out our mission statement: Standing with Fans."

 
Joining Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, The Dixie Chicks, Rascal Flatts and Sugarland in the coalition yesterday was Church, who says: 

"We kept the ticket prices low. What we didn’t expect was for all these big ticket brokers to join our fan club, infiltrate our system, take advantage of our system, and buy up all these tickets. We’re not the ones charging $200, $300, $400 dollars a ticket; the scalpers are the ones placing that value on them and, in turn, walking away with fans’ money. We’re not asking for a ban on scalping, but there have to be rules in place that protect the fans and prevent them from getting ripped off like this.”

The coalition brings together fans like you, your hometown theaters, industry leaders, artists and sports teams and prominent voices in entertainment.

Watch Faith Hill's New Video

 It's her first in five years.  Click to watch backstage clips from the filming.

Kenny Chesney's "No Shoes Nation" Tour

For all dates and locations, click here.

Chesney, McGraw, Owen, Aldean, Bryan, Alaina, Swift, Hayes, Gokey Top Concert Tour Packages

Tonight in New York Billboard will honor the industry’s top artists, venues and professionals of the year at the annual Billboard Touring Awards reception.

Country is represented by three finalists:

• Brothers of the Sun, featuring Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Grace Potter and Jake Owen
• My Kinda Party, featuring Jason Aldean with Luke Bryan, Lauren Alaina
• Speak Now, featuring Taylor Swift with Needtobreathe, Hunter Hayes, Danny Gokey

These awards are based primarily on the Billboard Boxscore chart, recognizing true box office success and industry achievement between October 1, 2011 – September 30, 2012.

Faith Hill To Release Her First Video In Five Years

Take a look behind the scenes of Faith's new video for "American Heart:"

The video was shot in Nashville and features 10 year old TJ Jones as Faith's dancing sidekick.

Sammy Kershaw OK After Bus Accident

This past weekend, Kershaw, his band and crew were involved in a roadway accident while on tour in Texas.

 

On Friday night after hitting the road following a concert in Nocona, Texas, Kershaw’s bus was struck by another passenger vehicle.  The bus was impacted at a high speed, causing major damage, leaving the vehicle inoperable.  The driver of the vehicle that struck Kershaw’s bus was taken to hospital with injuries.  Kershaw, his band and crew were shaken and sore but not seriously injured.

 

“My guys and I are a little sore today… the third day is always the worst,” says Kershaw.  “Eleven people were involved in the accident and no one was killed.  It could have gone the other way.  Buses and cars can be replaced but people can’t.  I’m so thankful that the other driver, my band and crew are all still here.  We had a guardian angel."

 

Kershaw has not canceled any concerts and will use alternate means of transportation until his bus is repaired.

Miranda and Blake On People's Cover

"We won't go more than two weeks without seeing each other," says Lambert, 28, in PEOPLE's new issue.

But sometimes, not seeing each other works wonders too. If they spend too much time together, says Shelton, 36, "we'll kill each other!"

Despite their busy schedules, which Lambert has said meant they've spent only about 150 days together since they exchanged vows under an arch of antlers in her native Texas in May 2011, the couple has recently been able to hunker down in their rented home in Hollywood (where Shelton tapes The Voice).

"Most Played Artist" Tim McGraw

McGraw’s impact on the country music radio format over the past two decades was solidified this week at the superstar’s "ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS" invite-only event and A&O's Becky Brenner was in the house for it. 

Nielsen-BDS’ Josh Bennett and Mediabase’s Robin Rhodes were on-hand to present the superstar with airplay honors, celebrating McGraw’s successes from his 1992 chart debut to his Big Machine debut single, and 50th top 10 hit, “Truck Yeah”. 

Nielsen-BDS certified McGraw as the most-played Country artist of the past 20 years (1992-2012) with more than 10 million spins detected. 

Mediabase recognized McGraw as the most-played Country artist in the history of their 24/7 tracking service.

ABC Sweeps Thursday Night with its Broadcast of “The 46th Annual CMA Awards”

With its broadcast of “The 46th Annual CMA Awards,” ABC won Thursday night, beating out runner-up CBS by 7% in Total Viewers (13.6 million vs. 12.7 million) and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 3.2/9).  ABC ranked No. 1 in 5 of 6 half-hours of the night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.  In fact the Network swept the evening, finishing No. 1 in Viewers and all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), while standing as the highest-rated broadcaster in Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

Please note: ABC’s “CMA Awards” telecast moved from its traditional Wednesday night airing to Thursday this year.  Also, due to the ongoing impact of Sandy with continuing power outages and preemptions in the east, year-to-year comparisons for the “CMA Awards” are not valid apples-to-apples comparisons.

ABC marked its most-watched non-sports Thursday in well over 3 years and delivered its top non-sports Adult 18-49 number on the evening in nearly 2-1/2 years – since 9/24/09 and 5/20/10, respectively.

The Net scored its highest Adult 18-49 number on any night this season.

A note about increasing DVR penetration (you can watch the whole show online) and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 46% currently, from 43% at the same point in 2011. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next-day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings, 11/01/12.

Contacts: Jeff Lindsey (818) 460-5095 jeffrey.s.lindsey@disney.com / Salima Merchant (818) 460-6847 salima.merchant@disney.com / Pons Rongavilla (818) 460-5615 ponciano.rongavilla@disney.com

CMA Awards 2012 Winners

Entertainer of the Year - Blake Shelton
Female Vocalist - Miranda Lambert
Male Vocalist - Blake Shelton
New Artist - Hunter Hayes
Vocal Group - Little Big Town
Vocal Duo - Thompson Square
Single of the Year - Pontoon/Little Big Town
Album of the Year - Chief/Eric Church
Song of the Year - Over You/Miranda Lambert/Blake Shelton
Musical Event - Feel Like a Rock Star/Tim McGraw & Kenny Chesney
Video of the Year - Red Solo Cup/Toby Keith

For more click here.

Miranda Puts On A Milk Mustache

Miranda Lambert is the new celebrity to be a "Got Milk?" spokesperson.

Billboard quotes her:  "It's universal. I like to do things that appeal to everybody and anybody can relate to," Lambert tells Billboard. "I was part of the cotton campaign and this one too felt all-American. So many different celebrities from different genres have done it, and I  really felt like it was a good fit. I'm a country girl. I grew up on a farm and I grew up drinking milk and I still do. It felt perfect."

The ad shows Lambert with a tall glass of milk, a bowl of cereal and her guitar. The ad copy reads: "Fine tune your morning. Got milk? Nourish every day."