In January…

• On January 6th, Jake Owen announced his headlining Days of Gold Tour. Set to launch on March 20th, the 55-city-plus tour would feature openers Eli Young Band (select dates), Parmalee (select dates), Thomas Rhett (select dates), and The Cadillac Three.
• On January 8th, Brad Paisley performed his hit, “The Mona Lisa,” as part of the CBS broadcast of the People’s Choice Awards 2014.
• Chris Young released the second single from his A.M. album, the song “Who I Am with You.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On January 29th, Brad Paisley returned for his second guest cameo on ABC’s hit series, Nashville.

  Chris Young  talks about his song, “Who I Am with You.” (:45)
“The first time I heard this song, I fell in love with it. And I know that’s kind of cliché because it is a love song, but it was just so powerful, and I immediately was like, ‘I have to put this on my record. I have to have this song.’ And so I’m glad it’s the second single off the record. We led with a song in ‘Aw Naw’ that really is uptempo, rockin’, party — it’s kind of different from what I’ve done in the past, and this song, ‘Who I Am with You,’ while it does still have some of those rock elements of the production side, it’s a straight-down-the-middle love song. It’s the song I want people to play when they’re doin’ a first dance at a wedding, or you know, when they’re thinkin’ about somebody that’s really, really special to ‘em, and that person, they’re just head over heels for, that’s really what this song speaks to.”

  Chris Young says that being able to personally connect with a song is important to him, and often to the fans, as well. (:24)
“I think a lot of people look for that in songs. You know, they really…when they turn on the radio, they want to hear not only somethin’ that they think is really cool and that they can sing along with and that they love the lyrics and the melody, but it’s also somethin’ that they can relate to, that they can go, ‘That’s me’ or ‘I’ve been there’ or ‘I am there,’ and you know, ‘Who I Am with You’ is definitely, I think, one of those songs.”

In February…

• Brad Paisley and Pharrell provided vocals as they teamed with The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil show for a performance of “Here Comes the Sun” for the CBS special, The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute to The Beatles, which aired on February 9th, exactly 50 years after the band’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
• The Swon Brothers traveled to Russia, where they performed their debut single, “Later On,” as part of NBC’s Today show Winter Olympics coverage on Valentine’s Day, February 14th.
• On February 19th, Carrie Underwood was presented with the Country Radio Broadcasters’ 2014 Artist Humanitarian Award. The award celebrates country artists “who have exhibited exceptional humanitarian efforts during their career.”
• The Doobie Brothers announced their upcoming album, slated to be a collection of their biggest hits, all newly recorded as collaborations between the Doobies and some of country music’s top stars.
• Miranda Lambert released “Automatic,” the first single from her album, Platinum. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Miranda Lambert talks about her single, “Automatic.” (:40)
“‘Automatic’ is a song about the good life. It’s about slowing down and remembering to take a breath, and what it’s like to be a little bit more simple, and not really about changing and going back there, but just reminiscing about what it was like to live in the days where there was a laundry line, and there was, you know, my dad teaching me how to drive my ’55 Chevy that I still have and don’t drive near enough. And you know, just every time I listen to it, even in the writing process, it just really brought back good memories, and when I hear it, it reminds me to take a deep breath and think about those good memories and try to instill them in my hectic life right now.”

In March…

• The Swon Brothers’ “Later On” exploded onto the country airwaves as the number-one most-added song on the Mediabase tally and achieved the most one-week radio adds of any debut single in the history of music trade publication Country Aircheck! (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Sara Evans released her new album, Slow Me Down, on March 11th. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On March 20th, Jake Owen launched his headlining Days of Gold Tour 2014.
• On March 25th, Jerrod Niemann released his High Noon album, kicked off by the smash first single, “Drink to That All Night.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Jerrod Niemann announced the launch of his Free the Music USA charity, with a mission to collect and provide musical instruments to children who might not otherwise be able to afford them. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  The Swon Brothers’ Colton Swon hopes that the duo’s sound will be something that’s distinctive on the radio. (:24)
“Some of the best artists of our generation are on the radio right now, but I think what’s gonna separate us is when you hear our songs on the radio, you’re gonna know it’s The Swon Brothers. It’s gonna be, without a doubt, identifiable, and you’re gonna say, ‘Yep, that’s The Swon Brothers.’ And I think that harmony…that harmony, classic sound is gonna cut some ears in a good way.”

  Sara Evans says that one of the rewarding things about making music is being able to listen to a finished album and feel that it’s what she wanted it to be. (:38)
“I can listen to my album as a fan, and I don’t mean that weird, like I’m my own fan, but absolutely loving what it became, but the things that I listen to are probably not what most people listen to. Like, I’m listening to incredible drum rolls, incredible bass parts, incredible guitar solos, harmonies, and arrangements and just feeling like, ‘Oh, my gosh, we accomplished what we wanted.’ I mean, it’s doing what I wanted it to do, and that is, it’s making me feel this way on this song and this way on this song, and you know, so I absolutely love listening to the finished project.”

  Jerrod Niemann shares some of his feelings on the release of his album, High Noon. (:28)
“I imagine every artist probably has many, many different thoughts run through their mind, but for me, you know, really, the more, I guess…the heavy lifting is done when we’re in the studio, and we know we try to leave no stone unturned to make the best music, at least, I know that me and the guys are capable of making. I tried to record an album that definitely is meant to make you smile. It’s not one to bring you down, and I figured that if I want to see bad news, I’ll just turn on the TV, but if I want to hear good news, I turn on country radio.”

  Jerrod Niemann listens for a particular type of song when he’s making an album. (:26)
“Oh, I think every songwriter would be lyin’ if they didn’t say there were many ideas and songs that you would, you know, say, ‘Aw, why didn’t I think of that?’ or ‘Why didn’t I write that?’ And when I’m listenin’ to make an album and lookin’ for outside songs, a lot of times people will send you songs that you possibly could have written. I mean, it’s just in the same vein of what you do. But that’s not what catches my ear. What catches my ear is when I hear songs that I wish I would have written.”

  Jerrod Niemann talks about his Free the Music USA charity. (:28)
“Free the Music is a charity that I’m excited to announce that we’re basically going to be collecting instruments — and purchasing them — from, you know, anywhere. Anybody that’s kind enough to, you know, say, ahh, I’ve had that clarinet or guitar or whatever up in the attic for 15 years, just…you know, and hopefully, some kids out there will be excited to receive it. So I can’t wait to get in there, see what we receive, get ‘em fixed up, and get ‘em in the hands of some kids that will definitely put them to use.”

  Jerrod Niemann hopes that musical instruments from Free the Music USA will be a constructive and rewarding thing for children. (:26)
“You know, you always hear growin’ up that kids should definitely, you know, have activities to do, and it’s so true. If I look back, and you take sports and music out of my life, who knows where I’d be, or what…(laughs)…who knows what I’d be into? So I’m just very thankful to have had that good direction growin’ up, and I just hope that some of these kids, maybe, hopefully, it’ll change their lives, and maybe they’ll even get a college education out of it, or maybe even share the stage someday with us.”

In April…

• On April 6th, Miranda Lambert made history at the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, becoming the first artist ever to be named ACM Female Vocalist of the Year five times in a row! The evening included two additional wins for Miranda, who took home Single Record of the Year for “Mama’s Broken Heart,” as well as Vocal Event of the Year for “We Were Us,” an honor she shared with the night’s other top winner, Keith Urban, also with three trophies. Miranda also performed her hit single, “Automatic,” on the show. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On April 10th, Carrie Underwood joined Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, and Sheryl Crow to perform together in tribute to Linda Ronstadt on her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• On April 12th, The Swon Brothers made their debut on the Grand Ole Opry. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Sara Evans was on the radio with the hit title track from her new album, Slow Me Down. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Jerrod Niemann hit number-one with his smash single, “Drink to That All Night.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• The great Ronnie Milsap was announced as one of the 2014 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees. A member of the RCA Records family for 20 years, Ronnie earned the first of his 40 RCA number-one singles back in 1974 with “Pure Love” and went on to record such chart-topping favorites as “It Was Almost Like a Song,” “Smoky Mountain Rain,” “Any Day Now,” “Still Losing You,” and many more. Credited with album sales of more than 35 million, Ronnie’s rich and prolific career dates from the early 1960s to the present and includes an array of awards, including six GRAMMYs® and CMA Entertainer of the Year.
• Carrie Underwood was the only country artist featured in TIME magazine’s 2014 list of The 100 Most Influential People in the World. TIME chose guest contributors to offer tributes to the honorees, with Carrie’s tribute written by her good friend, Brad Paisley. Carrie later headlined a performance as part of the TIME 100 Gala, held on April 29th at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Among the TIME 100 honorees in attendance were such notables as Amy Adams, Seth Meyers, Rupert Murdoch, Rand Paul, and Christy Turlington. The full list of this year’s 100 also includes Hillary Clinton, Jeff Bezos, Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Robert Redford, President Barack Obama, and many more.

  Miranda Lambert says that songs like “Automatic” can be a reminder to appreciate the present, as well as the past. (:30)
“It’s very fast paced, this life that I’m livin’ right now — and the life that we’re all livin’, and so some songs…I feel like those are the ones where you sort of take a minute and just slow down for a second, you know, and enjoy what’s happening because it’s always about the next: the next place, the next, you know, show, the next event, whatever’s happenin’, and it’s never about right now or what we did five years ago. It’s like, ‘Remember that time…’ It’s…I feel like I just want to make sure I’m enjoyin’ this, and it’s kind of like a mental scrapbook in a way.”

  The Swon Brothers’ Zach Swon recalls sharing the duo’s Opry debut with their parents. (:29)
“Before we went on stage, we were kind of in shock, and we just…I remember lookin’ at each other and sayin’, ‘What are we doin’ here? This is crazy!’ And one thing that we did: our parents got to come in — we haven’t seen them in a while — and in the middle, we kind of impromptly brought them out on stage and just gave ’em a big thank-you. We wanted them to see what it looked like from our eyes, ’cause they’ve driven us to Nashville, you know, a thousand times (laughs) when we were little, and so that was a pretty good moment to be able to do that.”

  Sara Evans talks about her hit single, “Slow Me Down.” (:44)
“With country music being the way that it is right now in terms of there are so many men that are dominating, it’s such an honor and, like, just makes me feel so great to know that I’m one of the females that they are playing. And ‘Slow Me Down’ I think is just phenomenally written. Just the fact that it…the hook line says, ‘hurry up and slow me down,’ and they combine this great lyric with a phenomenal melody, and it’s just all coming together perfectly and makes this song really, really emotional. She’s wanting to leave, and she’s trying to say, ‘I’m going to go, but I want you to stop me. I want you to chase after me,’ and really, that’s what most women want — in my opinion.”

  Jerrod Niemann recalls hearing “Drink to That All Night” for the first time. (:32)
“My buddy Lance Miller said, ‘Hey, man, I sent you a song,’ and I looked at the e-mail, and it said, ‘Drink to That All Night,’ and I was like, ‘Man, come on! Just ’cause it’s a drinkin’ song doesn’t mean you have to send it to me! I mean, surely how different can it be?’ And then I listened to it, and I thought, ‘Whoa! This is somethin’ else.’ I mean it was…it instantly just put me in a mood to just have a good time, and I listened to it probably like ten times in a row. And I just sent it to my producer, and I just said, ‘Hey, man, what do you think of this?’ And we both just fell in love with the song, and man, I’m just so glad that they saved it for me and didn’t pitch it to somebody else.”

  Jerrod Niemann says that his first and second number-one singles are both equally special to him. (:41)
“When ‘Lover, Lover’ came out, and I was lucky enough to get to number-one, it was one of those moments where I knew in my life that, okay, there’s a lot of things that can be taken away from me — or any of us — but that can’t be. You know, once the country music fans and country radio give you that opportunity to get to the top of the charts, it’s a gift that I forever get to keep. And so, ‘Lover, Lover’ bein’ the first number-one, I mean, has just such a special place in my heart, but ‘Drink to That All Night’ and ‘Lover, Lover’ — I couldn’t compare the two. They both mean the world to me because they mean somethin’ to a lot of people. And so I just…man, very grateful for both, but they both have two completely different places in my mind and in my soul.”

In May…

• On May 6th, newcomer Josh Dorr released his four-song RCA Nashville collection, Josh Dorr – EP, to digital retailers. Featuring three songs co-written by Josh, the EP introduced fans to Josh’s lyric-driven, rock-edged brand of country.
• On May 8th, Brad Paisley made a cameo in the season finale of the long-running hit series, Two and a Half Men — an appearance made all the more fun with Brad’s wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, also in the episode in a recurring role.
• On May 16th, Brad Paisley launched his Country Nation World Tour presented by KRAFT Cheese, which would play to more than 40 cities in the U.S. and Canada all summer with special guests Randy Houser, Charlie Worsham, Leah Turner, and Dee Jay Silver.
• May 16th marked the opening of the Miranda Lambert: Backstage Access exhibit at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. The exhibit offered a snapshot of Miranda’s career in 2013, including stage costumes, awards, and much more, with Miranda’s own tweets through the year helping to tell the story. The exhibit continued through November 9th. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• ABC announced the launch of a new talent competition, Rising Star, featuring Brad Paisley, Kesha, and Ludacris as the expert panel for the show, hosted by Josh Groban. The series would debut on June 22nd.
• On May 17th, Kenny Chesney played a special, one-hour acoustic show at the House of Blues in New Orleans, with all proceeds to benefit the charities of two of his best friends: actor Matthew McConaughey’s Just Keep Livin’ Foundation and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees’ The Brees Dream Foundation.
• On May 18th, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood performed together on the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, making the television debut of their duet, “Somethin’ Bad.”
• Carrie Underwood was named the fan-voted winner of the Milestone Award at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, with the all-genre award “given to an innovative artist who has achieved a notable chart milestone over the past year.”
• On May 20th, Carrie Underwood performed on the Academy of Country Music military tribute special, ACM PRESENTS: AN ALL-STAR SALUTE TO THE TROOPS. Carrie made the television debut of a new song called “Keep Us Safe,” which she co-wrote specifically for the show. Coinciding with the performance, the song became available for sale digitally, with proceeds benefiting ACM Lifting Lives®, the charitable arm of the Academy.
• Brad Paisley joined President Barack Obama and a small group of his advisers for an unannounced visit to Bagram Airfield, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, where Brad performed an hour-long acoustic show for approximately 3,000 U.S. troops. The Memorial Day weekend trip began when Brad joined the President and his staff on Air Force One on Saturday night, May 24th, for the overnight flight. The entire trip was kept secret until the plane landed. Quoted from the stage, Brad called the event “the honor of my life.”
• Billboard revealed its list of the top 25 live performance artists since 1990, and based on Billboard Boxscore reporting, Kenny Chesney was ranked as the number-one country artist, and number-nine overall, behind such icons as the top three: The Rolling Stones, U2, and Bruce Springsteen. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert hit number-one on Billboard’s Country Digital Songs sales chart with their duet, “Somethin’ Bad,” from Miranda’s June 3rd album, Platinum. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Miranda Lambert talks about having an exhibit in the Country Music Hall of Fame. (:24)
“It’s just crazy that a little girl or a little boy who wants to sing will come here with his family and visit the Hall of Fame, and I’ll be one of the exhibits there. They’ll see my road cases and my corsets and guitars on display, and it’s like, ‘I’ll be in here one day,’ and…just like I thought when I was little, and there I am already. I mean, just for a time, but still, I can say I’ve been in the Hall of Fame now!” (laughs)

  Kenny Chesney reflects on being on Billboard’s list of the top 25 live performance artists since 1990. (:44)
“You know, when I think about being on that list of, you know, one of the top 10 live acts of the last 25 years, a lot of things ran through my head when I saw that. It was…first of all, a lot of my heroes are on that list. Second of all, I thought of all the people that did it with me. And when I say that, I think of my band, and I think of all the truck drivers, and I think of my crew, and I think of all my buddies that I grew up with dreaming this dream with. We all been down a lot of roads together. But, more importantly, I think of all the faces that I’ve seen, and it’s a lot of people that have come to the show because they cared, and they loved the music, and the music that we made somehow made a difference, and it touched them, and that’s the most important thing: that’s the thing I’m most proud of.”

  Kenny Chesney says that if the list could measure fun, he just might be at the top. (1:21)
“Yeah, the stats are great, and trust me, being in the top 10 with a lot of those people in the last 25 years, I’m very proud of that. But the music that we made and the people that we touched along the way, that’s the thing I’m most proud of — and that’s the thing that lasts. The fact that we went into the studio with certain songs and recorded them and took ‘em out on the road and threw it at the people as hard as we could, and the fact that they responded and cared and kept coming back, that’s why we’re in the top 10. And I’m glad that we paid attention to that detail. But, you know, I tell ya, I think we were number nine on that list, but if they could measure that in the amount of fun that we had, I think we’d be pretty close to the top, because we have taken advantage of everything that God has given us. I’m telling ya now, we’ve had an absolute blast doin’ this, and that’s the thing I’m the most proud of. I’ve said that a couple of times, but the thing I’m most proud of is the fact that we really do enjoy what we do, and we really do enjoy getting out there and playin’ music and the fact that we have music in our lives and that we get to share it with so many people and make so many people smile and happy. That’s the thing that I’m the most proud of. And my gosh, we have had a absolute blast doin’ it. So if they could measure that, I think we’d be pretty close to the top up there.”

  Miranda Lambert talks about her excitement surrounding the recording of “Somethin’ Bad” with Carrie Underwood. (:41)
“This is actually gonna happen. Like, two blonde chicks are gonna sing a rock & roll song for country music. This is gonna happen! And so, she came in the studio, and we were all so nervous. I mean, everybody: the producers, musicians, everybody was kind of like jittery and nervous ’cause she’s, you know, she’s Carrie. I was like in the mirror that morning, I was like, ‘All right, now you better sing your butt off,’ to myself (laughs) you know, like givin’ myself a pep talk! But she’s so cool and, like, just hangin’ out and excited, and we were talkin’ about video ideas and if we ever got to, and it was just cool to have a girl in there, dreaming with her because we’re at the same kind of level in our careers where we can have fun and we can do it together.”

In June…

• On June 3rd, Miranda Lambert released her fifth album, the 16-song collection, Platinum. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Miranda Lambert was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone’s “The Country Issue.”
• On June 4th, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood performed “Somethin’ Bad” on the 2014 CMT Music Awards.
• Carrie Underwood took home the top prize at the 2014 CMT Music Awards, winning Video of the Year for “See You Again,” with director Eric Welch. It was her third consecutive win in the category, making her the first artist ever to win three in a row, in addition to being the show’s all-time most-awarded artist, now with 10 trophies to her credit. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Miranda Lambert won Female Video of the Year for “Automatic” at the 2014 CMT Music Awards. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Kenny Chesney was part of an all-star roster of guest artists performing at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on June 7th, 2014: a momentous day for country music fans as the final date of what George Strait announced as his farewell to the road: The Cowboy Rides Away Tour. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Chris Young was on the mend following a June 6th surgery to repair damaged tendons after accidentally cutting his left hand with a kitchen knife at home the previous night. With a complete recovery anticipated, Chris was released from the hospital on June 7th, but as a result of the injury and surgery, he was unable to play the LP Field main stage later that evening at the CMA Music Festival.
• Miranda Lambert earned the seventh country airplay chart-topper of her career as “Automatic” hit number-one. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Miranda Lambert’s Platinum debuted as the number-one album in the nation, with a whopping 180,000 albums sold in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Miranda not only topped the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, but also became the first artist in the 50-year history of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart to see each of her first five albums debut at number one! (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Kelly Clarkson and husband Brandon Blackstock celebrated the June 12th birth of their daughter, River Rose Blackstock.
• Kenny Chesney released his song, “American Kids.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Miranda Lambert talks about her album, Platinum. (:45)
“There’s not really a word that encompasses — or really one phrase — that encompasses this record to me. Really, the best reference I have is Revolution (laughs), because it’s the most like that record that I’ve done, but it’s still nothing like Revolution. I mean, it’s kind of like each song could be on its own album. You know? But somehow, together, all of these songs — all 16 of them (laughs) — make up this puzzle that goes together. It’s like a picture you hang on the wall, but without one of those pieces, one of those songs, it would just kind of look like abstract art. You’re goin’, ‘What is it?’ But together it makes a picture. But I don’t ever have…when people say, ‘What’s this album like?’ I’m like, ‘Really, you just have to hear it.’” (laughs)

  Miranda Lambert says that she didn’t mean to sound presumptuous in naming her album Platinum. (:43)
“Picking Platinum for a title sounds absolutely ridiculous, I realize. (laughs) People go, ‘Are you serious?’ And it’s not presumptuous at all. I mean, it’s almost like, you know, you speak it into the world, like, I’m gonna say it’s platinum because I’m hoping it will be! (laughs) But it’s actually named after a song, and it just happens to be called ‘Platinum.’ And hopefully people outside of the industry, you know, aren’t thinking, ‘She named it Platinum ’cause she thinks she’s gonna sell a million albums.’ It’s actually named after one of my favorite songs on the record. Platinum is my hair color, and it’s my diamond ring and the color of my Airstream and one of my favorite beers. And so (laughs), you know, and so, it’a a…it’s just a whole kind of lifestyle, not necessarily about a number.”

  Carrie Underwood talks about her music video for “See You Again.” (:39)
“We tried to just get a giant range of emotions. You know, there’s the obvious ‘you’ve been away for a long time, I’ll see you again,’ you know, we had graduation in there, passings, someone passing. To me, that one was really important because I truly do believe that we will be reunited with the people that we love. So, you know, it’s been a really amazing response, and I feel like we really did a great job with the video, especially using, like, real-life moments, real people, real surprise on someone’s face, real emotion, and of course, mix that with things that looked pretty, too, so it helped tell the story, but I’m really proud of this video.”

  Miranda Lambert talks about the CMT Music Awards. (:27)
“Well, the CMT Awards are just like a…it’s like a party. I mean, it’s just a…it’s a big fan party. I mean, that’s what it is, celebratin’ country music. And it’s always during CMA Fest, so that’s what that whole week is about. And I think it’s a great time to have it, too, because it’s what we’re all there to do is celebrate our genre of music and celebrate the fans. So, it’s a really good feelin’, you know? It’s like low stress and more about just havin’ fun.”

  Kenny Chesney says that performing on George Strait’s final tour date meant a great deal to him. (1:13)
“George is a hero; he’s a friend. He’s someone that has inspired me. He’s someone that has taught me a lot, indirectly, by just watching him, his song sense, his stage charisma — you name it. George has, in so many ways, influenced me as an artist, as a person. And like I said, just pickin’ songs. When I was new in this business, my God, I was like everybody else. We wanted to be as successful as George was, you know, and I learned pretty quickly by studying him that it all starts with the songs. And those songs that George cut and performed all these years will live forever. I mean, they just will. They’re songs that never go out of style because they touch people’s lives. And to be a part of, you know, his career, and doing two years with him on the road — and the first time I did stadium shows was with George, you know, and I was the first guy on…actually the second. And that’s where I learned how to do that. So, to be a part of his career has been one of the biggest highlights of my career and my life. And like I said, he’s taught me a lot about music, a lot about friendship, and I’m very excited to be a part of his last show, and to be up there singin’ a couple of songs with him, and to watch him say good-bye.”

  Miranda Lambert talks about her smash single, “Automatic.” (:44)
“When we were writin’ this song, it felt like somethin’ was special about it. I just get chills every time I sing these words because all of it’s true. I mean, I literally had a clothesline growin’ up, and I got my ’55 out of the garage the other day and drove it around, and I had to push it out of the garage ’cause I couldn’t remember reverse ’cause I hadn’t driven it in a while! (laughs) I was like, ‘Oh, gosh, I don’t want to run into the wall.’ But it’s just…you know, it’s really…it really is what I’m about. I’m really kind of an old soul. I like simple things. I live very simply. I really do. We don’t have fancy cars, and I ride horses at home, and I’m just really a country, simple girl, and I think this song brings it back to that.”

  Miranda Lambert says that her chart-topping Platinum album is very much a reflection of her. (:27)
“I’m kind of moving through life and embracing the good and the bad, and I think that all of that is reflected on this album and in the lyrics and the vulnerability of these lyrics and also in the fun part of it and the sarcasm and a song like ‘Platinum’ and a song like ‘Two Rings Shy.’ There’s still this attitude, but it’s also not so chip-on-my-shoulder. It’s just kind of livin’ in the moment of bein’ 30 and where I am and what I’ve been through and where I’m going.”

  Kenny Chesney shares his thoughts about his song, “American Kids.” (2:05)
“You know, I knew within the first 30 seconds of listening to ‘American Kids’ that it was something pretty different for me. The cadence and the phrasing of the lyrics and the way the melody wraps itself around those lyrics in the song… it just felt so unique, and I knew as soon as I heard it that it was a song that had the potential to be pretty special for those reasons. The song, to me, felt like it took its time building, and it’s got a lot of twists and turns to get to where it’s eventually gonna end up. But for me, that was all a part of the unique ride that this song and the journey that this song takes us all on. To me, the song ‘American Kids’ also says something very real, and it captures I believe the real essence of my audience, who I believe are very smart, they’re wild, they’re a lot of free spirits, and they love pushing the limits in their own life, and I see that every night when I go up on stage. I see in our audience a lot of heart, I see in our audience a lot of soul and passion, and I see a lot of people who play hard, I see a lot of people who love hard, and people who work hard to make ends meet. And I also see kids out there that are loving that time in their life, but they’re unsure of where their life is headed, and if they’re anything like me — and I think I see that from the stage — I believe that all these people lean on music to help them figure it all out. And to me, that’s what ‘American Kids’ is all about. It’s about who we are, how we grew up, how we’re growing up, the things that matter the most in our life. The more I listen to it, I believe that ‘American Kids’ is postcards from real life. You know, this song, we hear a lot of songs on the radio, and everybody’s tryin’ to turn it up louder than everybody else, right? So (laughs), that’s all well and good, I like…sometimes I crank it up with ‘em, but this song isn’t about fantasy, and it’s not a big party. I believe ‘American Kids’ is a song about life as it happens, and it’s a celebration of all the things that define us — a celebration of all the details that shape our lives and make us who we are.”

In July…

• Sara Evans was among the performers helping to celebrate our nation’s 238th birthday as part of the Fourth of July festivities and fireworks of A Capitol Fourth on PBS. Hosted by Tom Bergeron, the 90-minute special also featured Frankie Valli, Patti LaBelle, Michael McDonald, Jordin Sparks, Broadway’s Kelli O’Hara, and many others, broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
• Jake Owen scored his fifth number-one single as “Beachin'” topped the country airplay charts. The Gold-certified single marked the latest hit from Jake’s Days of Gold album.
• On July 10th, Miranda Lambert kicked off her Crystal Light Presents Platinum Tour.
• At a July 10th press conference in Nashville, Garth Brooks announced that he had signed a recording contract with Sony and would be releasing an all-new album later in the year, as well as confirming that a world tour would also be forthcoming this year. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Brad Paisley contributed two songs to the big-screen, animated adventure-comedy, Planes: Fire & Rescue, with Brad also providing a voice cameo as a pick-up truck in the family-friendly film.
• Tyler Farr earned the second number-one hit of his career with his RIAA Gold-certified “Whiskey in My Water,” from his Redneck Crazy album. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Brad Paisley was climbing the charts with “River Bank,” the first hit from his August 25th album, Moonshine in the Trunk. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Chris Young’s “Who I Am with You” topped Rolling Stone Country’s readers’ poll of “The 10 Best Country Songs of 2014 So Far.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Chris Young earned his sixth number-one single with “Who I Am with You,” from his A.M. album. (AUDIO INFO BELOW) 
• Jerrod Niemann released a new single from his High Noon album, the song “Buzz Back Girl,” which was co-written by Jerrod’s great friend, Lee Brice. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Garth Brooks says that it was a thrill to get back into the recording studio for his upcoming album. (:40)
“Steppin’ back in the studio was a dream for me for a lot of reasons. The most important probably was just getting to play music again. You know, when we retired around 2000, 2001, I truthfully thought that was it. I mean, I thought I was gonna go home, raise my babies, and then the window would be closed. And I’m not saying that the window’s open, but I’ve been given an opportunity to see what’s on the back half of this. And walkin’ in the studio and seein’ those guys that I hadn’t seen in years, that were my brothers that I just loved to death that we made all the early records with was a wonderful feeling. And I think that translates into the music and onto the record. I think you hear it when you hear the songs from this record.”

  Tyler Farr felt like he had something special with his hit, “Whiskey in My Water.” (:38)
“‘Whiskey in My Water’ is one of those songs that, when I wrote it, I just knew there was somethin’ special about it, and it was gonna be somethin’ everyone can relate to, ’cause A., it’s about whiskey, and A., it’s (laughs) 2 A’s, double-A, and B., it’s about…it’s about women. It’s about a girl that you think hung the moon, and she likes what you’re all about, and you are just…this girl…you’re just in love with this woman, or maybe not in love, maybe just think she is the best thing since sliced bread, and she’s the whiskey, she’s the moon, and it says ‘she’s the moon in my shine, the whiskey in my water,’ and that’s what, you know, the song’s about.”

  Brad Paisley says that his smash, “River Bank,” finds a lot of its joy in his own love of the water. (:35)
“I grew up maybe a thousand yards from the Ohio River, if that, and that was where we spent every day when it was nice. My family had a boat; I learned to ski on that river. My favorite memory of all time as a kid are the mornings at our boat with my dad and my grandpa. There’s something about that as being in my opinion the answer to happiness. And this song was sort of my take on what makes for a great time, really any time of year, but I think when you strip it all down, for me, that’s what it would be. As a kid that grew up as a river rat, that was our destination.”

  When his career was just getting started in Nashville, Brad Paisley says that time on the river was his go-to source of relaxation. (:52)
“When I wrote ‘River Bank,’ I had this idea because I can remember the first writing deal I had when I was livin’ in a little condo in Nashville. I didn’t have two dimes to scrape together, but I had a friend with a bass boat. It was about a 16-footer. It was enough for two guys to go out on the lake. And we would meet up every day that was nice and save up, buy any kind of tackle we could afford, and just head up to the…either the Cumberland River or Percy Priest, and…really, it was an interesting time in my life. I had these huge dreams. I really wanted to be a country music singer. But at the same time, it was a great lesson in making the most of…really, I had nothing; I had no family here, I had no girlfriend at the time, for sure, as much as I was trying. But it was the release for me. I would work all the time, write songs all the time, and then I’d go to the river.”

  Chris Young says that his hit “Who I Am with You” offers a powerful portrayal of a great love. (:30)
“Really, one of the things that ‘Who I Am with You’ speaks to, more than anything, is…there’s a line in there sayin’, you know, ‘Who I am with you is who I really want to be.’ It’s the kind of relationship where not only are you totally and completely just head over heels for the other person, but you feel like just bein’ around them makes you a better person. And everybody I think’s had that feeling, or still has that feeling, if you’re currently in a relationship or married or in love, and it’s just a really powerful song.”

  Chris Young knew he had a winner the first time he heard “Who I Am with You.” (:38)
“‘Who I Am with You,’ I actually got this song from a [music] publisher, and I sent him an e-mail, and I said, ‘Hey, man, here’s what I want. I want a straight-up, simple love song. That’s all I want is like perfect relationship, what you want to say when you’re in that relationship with somebody that just makes you absolutely the best, you know, person you think you can be ’cause they’re around. It’s just perfect.’ And this was the first song he sent me, and I immediately sent him back: ‘Cutting it!’ And I wish I ‘d written this one. It’s another one of those, you know, beautifully simplistic songs, and I just really, really, really love this one.”

  Jerrod Niemann talks about his song, “Buzz Back Girl.” (:34)
“‘Buzz Back Girl’ was a song that was sent to me, and the irony of it all is right when I hit ‘play,’ who’s the voice I hear singin’? Lee Brice. So, I knew it was meant to be whenever my friends at the record label were pitchin’ me my best friend’s songs. You know? So, I actually started laughin’, and I called Lee, and I said, ‘Man, this is a great song. Are you not gonna record this?’ And he said, ‘Man, the album that I’m makin’ now, it honestly doesn’t fit,’ and he said, ‘I probably would record it in the future, but if you want it, it’s all yours.’ And so I was very excited to get this song and to get in the studio and try to put my own stamp on it.”

In August…

• Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood were announced to host the CMA Awards for a seventh year in a row.
• Jake Owen hit the airwaves with his new single, the powerful song, “What We Ain’t Got,” from his Days of Gold album. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Kenny Chesney performed his free Flora-Bama-Jama concert on August 16th at the Flora-Bama Lounge, a bar with a beach on Perdido Key, where Orange Beach and Gulf Shores meet on the border of Alabama and Florida. The venue inspired the song “Flora-Bama” on Kenny’s September 23rd album, The Big Revival. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Chris Young released his single, “Lonely Eyes,” a song that he was disappointed that he didn’t get to write! (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Tyler Farr was new on the radio with “A Guy Walks into a Bar,” the first single from his upcoming 2015 album. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On August 19th, Trisha Yearwood announced a new record deal with Sony.
• On August 25th, Brad Paisley released his new album, Moonshine in the Trunk. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• In an interview and feature on Brad Paisley and his Moonshine in the Trunk album, The Washington Post said, in part, “His music doesn’t just chronicle the America we live in. It envisions the America he wants to live in. … He’s the closest country music has come to Norman Rockwell.”

  Jake Owen talks about his song, “What We Ain’t Got.” (:40)
“It’s just myself and a piano and a steel guitar, but it’s the kind of song that like will pull your heart strings. It makes you realize that we all want somethin’ more than what we have at that moment. I go through it; I have everything I could ever want right in front of me right now with my wife and my child and a great career and tour buses and a family that’s healthy and great, but I still find that I want more, ’cause I’m competitive. And sometimes it just takes takin’ a minute to sit there and realize that what we have right in front of us is just as satisfying as anything that we could ever want — and sometimes it takes a little three-minute song like this one to make you remember that.”

  Kenny Chesney talks about the venue for his Flora-Bama-Jama concert and the song that the venue inspired on his upcoming album, The Big Revival. (2:04)
“You know, the Flora-Bama is special for a lot of reasons, other than just where it sets. It’s right on the Florida Alabama line, but to me, the reason that the Flora-Bama is special is the people. It’s the atmosphere. It’s the history. It’s all the music that’s been played there and all the memories that have been made there and all the relationships and friendships that have been born there. You know, and all that stuff, to me, mixed together with (laughs) fried food and rum and the smell of spilt beer and all the wonderful, free-spirited souls who love music, life, and that choose to let that place help them let life roll off their shoulders. And to me, that’s what I love about the place. And I love places like that. You know, I feel like this song could in a way be the national anthem to No Shoes Nation. I really do (laughs) because it seems to really wrap its arms around the spirit of it all and the spirit of this place. And it describes, to me, all the people in my audience: the wonderful, eclectic, passionate fans to a tee that we have that make up No Shoes Nation. And it’s been a great place also for creative people to hang out. You know, when I first moved to Nashville and there was a lot of songwriters that would go down there and play. They’d have these songwriting events at the Flora-Bama, and a lot of my heroes would go down there and play and still do. So many years have come and gone. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Flora-Bama. And so a lot of years have come and gone, but the one thing that remains the same is the feeling that you get when you walk in that place. You know, that feeling is the same. And that’s a feeling I love in my life, and I’m glad to share it with everyone in No Shoes Nation through this song. And it might not be a single on the radio; it may be too regional for that, but this kind of song will be a part of that culture for a while, you know? (laughs) And I’m proud of that.”

  Chris Young explains how he came to find his song “Lonely Eyes.” (:24)
“I missed writing this song by one day. I came in to write with my buddy, Johnny Bulford, and he was hummin’ this as I was walkin’ down the hallway. I could hear him playin’ this chorus and kinda mumblin’ through words, and I was like, ‘Man, please tell me that’s what we’re writing today,’ and he goes, ‘Dude, I wrote this yesterday.’ So, I told him I hated him and that I wanted the song. So that’s (laughs)…that’s how I ended up with the song ‘Lonely Eyes’ on the record, and I just love it. I think it’s a great song.”

  Tyler Farr was sold on his hit, “A Guy Walks into a Bar,” the first time he heard it. (:44)
“I’ve heard a couple of times, you know, people said, ‘So, a guy walks into a bar…no, this is not a joke, here’s the song by Tyler Farr.’ That’s the old, ongoing joke, but I didn’t know what to expect when I heard the song. I actually didn’t hear the title before I heard the song. I was in a bar, and I did walk into it (laughs), and Jonathan Singleton, one of the writers on the song, was doing a writers’ round playin’ it. And he just goes into the first verse and hits the chorus, and after the first chorus I was already sold. And I was like, ‘What a well-crafted song.’ It was one of those that I’d say, you know, ‘God, I wish I wrote that.’ And it’s hands down, by far my favorite single I’ve ever recorded.”

  Brad Paisley says that he sees his fans — and himself — in his new album, Moonshine in the Trunk. (:27)
“This is the record where I am seeing the faces of the people I look at every night on these songs. I’m looking at the coolest fan base. And this album I think describes them. I know it describes me to a T, in many ways, you know? This is an album that doesn’t necessarily ignore the trials and tribulations of living in 2014, but what it really says is, ‘Okay, things aren’t perfect, but it’s Friday.’”

  Brad Paisley says that Moonshine in the Trunk is very much a feel-good kind of record. (:12)
“It’s a very positive album. I call it a ‘Mason jar half full’ kind of record, where it’s the positive, bright side of life, and every song on here should be easy to love.”

In September…

• Carrie Underwood surprised her fans with a Labor Day tweet revealing that she and hubby Mike Fisher are expecting their first child!
• Garth Brooks released “People Loving People” to country radio on September 3rd, one day prior to the Chicago launch of his new world tour. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On September 3rd, The Swon Brothers — Zach and Colton — were thrilled to earn their first CMA Awards nomination as Vocal Duo of the Year.
• Miranda Lambert was the the most-nominated artist at this year’s CMA Awards, earning a whopping nine nods! Miranda tied her 2010 record for CMA nominations, which was already the most for any female artist in CMA history.
• Garth Brooks announced the launch of GhostTunes, founded by Garth as an innovative new full-service digital music store and also marking the digital distribution debut of Garth’s catalog of music, including his upcoming albums, as well as millions of songs and products, and featuring music from some of the world’s biggest record labels.
• Carrie Underwood was announced among the executive producers behind an upcoming FOX six-hour, limited-event series based on her smash single, “Two Black Cadillacs.”
• Brad Paisley released his single, “Perfect Storm,” from his Moonshine in the Trunk album.
• On September 7th, Carrie Underwood returned for a second season as the voice behind primetime television’s number-one program, NBC’s Sunday Night Football, singing the theme song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Kenny Chesney scored the 25th number-one single of his career when “American Kids” hit the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Miranda Lambert opened her Tishomingo, Oklahoma, bed & breakfast, The Ladysmith, a renovated, historic structure dating back to 1901.
• Trisha Yearwood released her single, “PrizeFighter,” featuring Kelly Clarkson. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• The Swon Brothers were presenters and performers at the ACM Honors in Nashville, where they presented the Gene Weed Special Achievement Award to their friend and fellow Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood, as well as singing a medley of Carrie’s hits “Wasted” and “See You Again.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On September 17th, the music world was mourning the passing at the age of 77 of Grand Ole Opry star and longtime RCA recording artist George Hamilton IV, who suffered a heart attack the previous Saturday. From 1961 through 1974, Hamilton recorded for RCA, where he amassed more than 30 chart singles — including eight that hit the Billboard country Top 10 — one of which was his signature song, 1963’s four-week number-one classic, “Abilene.”
• On September 23rd, Kenny Chesney released his album The Big Revival, featuring his number-one smash, “American Kids.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On September 26th, Carrie Underwood appeared on NBC’s Today show where she announced that on December 9th, she’ll be releasing her first hits collection, titled Greatest Hits: Decade #1, launching with the September 29th release of the first single, “Something in the Water.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On September 27th, Carrie Underwood was among the artists headlining the third annual Global Citizen Festival, a free, ticketed concert staged on the Great Lawn in New York City’s Central Park. In addition to Carrie, this year’s concert headliners included JAY Z, No Doubt, fun., The Roots, and Tiësto.
• Kenny Chesney hit the airwaves with his new single, “Til It’s Gone,” from his album, The Big Revival.
• The Henningsens’ lead singer Clara Henningsen announced her pregnancy, with her first child due in March of 2015.

  Garth Brooks talks about his song, “People Loving People.” (:10)
“I love ‘People Loving People.’ I love the feel of it; I love how modern it feels, but yet it feels like Garth. And my favorite thing about ‘People Loving People’ has to be the message.”

  Carrie Underwood talks about her duet with Miranda Lambert on the song “Somethin’ Bad.” (:52)
“The song ‘Somethin’ Bad,’ I mean I remember when Miranda sent me an e-mail kind of asking if I wanted to maybe be in on this really cool song she heard. And I don’t check my e-mail on a daily basis (laughs); it took me a couple days to actually get back to her. But I was…I love the song. It started out as kind of a guy/girl duet, so obviously we both knew that there had to be some lyric changes goin’ on. But I love the song. It’s such a rockin’ vibe and something that I could just really easily imagine us being in the studio and being on stage together and really just making something special out of it and having fun with the audience and just having fun with it. It’s not, you know, anything heavy and serious, which we definitely could have gone that way, and may still in the future some day, but I think we both just wanted to kind of just go have fun and be two strong women on stage singin’ together.”

  Carrie Underwood loves being a part of Sunday Night Football. (1:11)
“I was so excited a year ago when I got the call from Sunday Night Football to be the opener, to get to sing ‘Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.’ I got to go into the studio and kind of put my own spin on the song, and shooting the opener was so much fun. And I was so excited, of course, when they asked me to come back for a second year and do it this year. I love the care and the effort and the excitement that everybody has about the opening. They really put a lot of love into it, so I definitely try to do the same — everything from wardrobe and hair and make-up to tryin’ to work my way around the stage and interact with the audience, and I just love the way it turns out, and I love so much that I feel like I’m a part of this game, of America’s game, of football. I’ve watched football my entire life and been a fan, and I love country music, I love football; it was, I guess, only a matter of time (laughs) before I got to do everything, all that, all at once! So I definitely hope that’s something that I get to do for many years, many years to come, ’cause it’s just so much fun, and I love seein’ it every Sunday night.”

  Kenny Chesney talks about his number-one smash, “American Kids,” from his album, The Big Revival. (:33)
“I felt that it was the perfect choice to be the first single off The Big Revival, to be the first song that represented this record, and hopefully sets the table for everything that’s gonna come after ‘American Kids,’ which is a lot of fun — it’s gonna be really high energy, but it’s also gonna make ya think, and it’s also gonna make ya want, and it’s gonna make ya be better than you are. And to me, that’s what The Big Revival is all about. And ‘American Kids’ was the absolute perfect first single for this album and one of my favorite lead singles for a record that I think that I’ve had since ‘Young.’”

  Trisha Yearwood sees a great deal of meaning in her single, “PrizeFighter.” (:51)
“When I heard it, I just wanted to sing it. It gave me chills all over my body, you know, before I ever even went in the studio with it. I saw so many things in my head: I saw…I did see Rocky Balboa, you know, fightin’ it out in the first movie; I saw my mom battling breast cancer and how classy she was and how incredibly strong she was; I saw the guys I visited at Walter Reed, who, you go in and they’ve just come through bein’ blown up by an IED, and they’re facing a prosthetic, and all they want to do is…they’re just sayin’, ‘I was just doin’ my job; I just want to get back to my unit.’ And then I know a couple of young girls who are struggling with feeling accepted and feeling…and even being bullied at school by other girls. I have a couple of friends whose daughters are going through that right now. I’m like, ‘I want them to hear this song,’ you know, I just…it’s not just an anthem for girls or women or for one group. I see so many things in my head, and it’s why I wanted to sing it.”

  Trisha Yearwood says that she couldn’t think of anybody who could sing the kind of harmony that Kelly Clarkson delivered on “PrizeFighter.” (:22)
“Kelly Clarkson — to me, it needs that high harmony, and I can’t think of anybody I know that can sing like that. I couldn’t have sung that harmony if I had to. I mean, it was ridiculous. You know, she just walked in the door, and her warm-up is killin’ ya, you know (laughs), you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m just…,’ you know, there’s a love-hate thing there. It’s like, ‘Man, I feel pretty good about myself until I hear you sing, and then I just want to go home!” (laughs)

  The Swon Brothers’ Zach Swon says that it’s really fun for the duo to be able to share what’s happening in their career with their mom and dad. (:26)
“It’s really cool to bring our parents into Nashville, especially when there’s an event like the ACM Honors or the CMAs and we’re involved in this stuff. You know, it shows them that all their trips to Nashville, bringin’ us back and forth, is finally validated and paying off. And just takin’ ’em even to the Sony building and seein’ our picture on the wall. It means a lot to them, and it’s always cool to see them, but it’s even cooler to show them what’s happening.”

  Kenny Chesney found an abundance of positive energy flowing into his album, The Big Revival. (:34)
“There was a lot of energy, a lot of positive energy, that went into makin’ this record. I mean, it really did. And it was possible because I wasn’t balancing a lot of things I was balancing when I’m used to makin’ a record. I mean, takin’ a year off the road this summer was not just the smartest thing I’ve ever done, creatively, but the most necessary thing I think I’ve ever done because it was really important for me, at this point in my life, and this point in my career as a — and as a human being — to make a record that sounded fresh.”

  Kenny Chesney talks about the creative process behind his album, The Big Revival. (:59)
“The creative process for this record was insanely important; important enough not to tour. And I knew that; last year on stage, I knew it. And I remember setting down in Philadelphia with my managers and telling them that I was not gonna tour in 2014, and this is why. Because there’s a big poster down the hall of Waylon Jennings with a quote talkin’ about music matters, and you should care, ’cause if you don’t care, they’re not gonna care — and that’s true. And that was my thought process goin’ into makin’ this record and why I think the creative process for this record was so enjoyable, frustrating…everything. I mean, it was everything that you can think of, but it was satisfying because I was able to do something that was really hard for me to do, and that’s be still. And I was able to create, and I was able to really listen, and not listen tired. I was really listening with a clear head, and that was good for me — really good for me.”

  Kenny Chesney says that the songs on The Big Revival fit together into a very satisfying whole. (:36)
“The process of makin’ this record, and the end result, was very satisfying. Now, in the middle, there was a lot of…’cause I knew how important this record was, and I knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, and in my heart of hearts I knew how I wanted it to sound, but I knew that was gonna take time. And I knew that it was just really necessary is the word, if I wanted to continue to grow what we built instead of erode it. And I want to grow it. And I think that the songs that we selected, the songs I wrote, fit together as part of an album as good or better than any that we’ve done.”

  Kenny Chesney knew that he wanted to follow a different musical path in creating The Big Revival. (:38)
“It was really important for me to not repeat myself. I mean, I couldn’t go out there and record ‘No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems’ again and ‘Big Star.’ Couldn’t do it. I didn’t wanna. But then again, I didn’t want to follow a trend either. And so you have those parameters, and you go, ‘Okay, well, here’s your target; you gotta go hit it. Okay. Great.’ So, you’re editing yourself from day one, but that was the parameters, and I was not gonna waver from it. And that meant changin’ a few things creatively, and it meant that the process was a little longer, a little more frustrating, but twice as rewarding. And I learned a lot from it.”

  Kenny Chesney is proud of the time that he took in the making of his album, The Big Revival. (:37)
“People do care about the music, and they care about how those songs make them feel, and they want to be talked to. I still believe that we’re in a genre where people care about songs, and they want you to talk to ’em and remind ’em of their life. That’s why I was…I’m proud of the time we took to make this record, but sonically, I think it’s different. I think it sounds fresh, and I think that the songs that we recorded really hit that target that I was tryin’ to hit when I took the time off the road and started this creative process, because I think that we’re gonna be able to take my audience by the hand and just bring ’em along with us to maybe a place that we haven’t been. And that’s exciting.”

  Carrie Underwood hopes that listeners will be inspired by her new single, “Something in the Water.” (:23)
“‘Something in the Water,’” more than anything I hope that people are inspired, you know? It’s joyous, it’s glorious; I just want people to smile. I can’t help but smile. I hate listening to myself (laughs), but this is definitely one that it’s kind of like as soon as I got it, I’m in my car and, you know, wanting to play it again because it just…it made me joyful. It made me happy.”

  Carrie Underwood recalls the beginnings of her new single, “Something in the Water.” (:55)
“The day ‘Something in the Water’ came about, I had a writing day all scheduled with Chris DeStefano and Brett James, both of whom I had written with before, but I’d never written with the three of us together. And Chris is kind of a musical master; he’s a little wizard. I call him a mad scientist because he can just sit down and — out of nothing but his computer and instruments that he plays himself — he can put together a track just of some melodies he’s hearin’ in his head, and he’s so good at that. And he came in, and he was like, ‘Okay, I have some music. It’s either awesome, or it’s horrible.’ He plays this song that kind of just takes off from the beginning. Nobody knows what it’s about. It just kind of goes and doesn’t stop and picks up energy, and occasionally the music will drop out, and you could tell it was just something really powerful.”

  Carrie Underwood says that once she and her co-writers had a musical direction, she had an idea for a title and a story for “Something in the Water.” (:35)
“From that, it’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh, we love this. What is this? What’s it about? What’s it called? Is it a story? Is it…’ you know, we have no idea. So I look through…I keep a little journal thing in my purse, and I keep song titles or ideas or whatever, anything. Most of it doesn’t even make sense, and like a month later, when I read it, I’m like, ‘What was I talking about?’ But I had a title called ‘Something in the Water.’ And I kind of had what it was about, in my head, because when you hear that title, it doesn’t really tell you that much about it, but it’s a saying that everybody knows, you know: ‘there’s somethin’ in the water.’”

  Carrie Underwood envisioned the story for “Something in the Water” being kind of like a baptism. (:41)
“My idea for it was kind of like a baptism, like there must be something in the water. What was it about that that changed my life? And everybody kind of jumped on board, and we went from there and created this story that starts out in somebody giving you advice and then kind of changing your life, and then how your life is changed from there. And the end of it, it just got bigger and bigger, and we started putting vocals on it like a choir was singing with us, and by the end, it was like, ‘What just happened?!’ We were literally jumping around the room, like, running around bein’ crazy because it was just kind of one of those songs that there’s just so much energy.”

In October…

• Kenny Chesney earned the 13th number-one album of his career when The Big Revival debuted atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with first-week sales of 130,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Miranda Lambert revealed that she will be following up her summer Platinum Tour with the launch of her Certified Platinum Tour in January. With Justin Moore as special guest, nearly 30 cities were announced for the outing, which will feature some of country’s brightest new female artists opening selected dates, including Danielle Bradbery, Ashley Monroe, RaeLynn, and Sunny Sweeney.
• Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood’s “Somethin’ Bad” was certified as an RIAA Platinum Digital Single.
• On October 12th, Jerrod Niemann and Morgan Petek were married in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In lieu of wedding gifts, Jerrod and Morgan welcomed donations to Jerrod’s non-profit organization, Free the Music USA, whose mission is to collect used musical instruments to be shared with children in need.
• On October 14th, The Swon Brothers released their self-titled album, featuring their hit debut single, “Later On.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On October 25th, Jake Owen closed out his headlining Days of Gold 2014 tour in his hometown of Vero Beach, Florida, with a sold-out show at Holman Stadium that raised in excess of $200,000 for the Jake Owen Foundation, which supports St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and youth organizations in Indian River County, Florida, including Autism Speaks and the Mardy Fish Foundation.
• After becoming a stock contractor earlier this year with Back Seat Buckers, the official bull ownership program of PBR (Professional Bull Riders) and ABBI (American Bucking Bull Inc.), Jerrod Niemann selected a bull that he named High Noon, whose competitive winnings would be donated to Jerrod’s Free the Music USA charity. In October, High Noon went on to win the 2014 Back Seat Buckers grand prize, resulting in a $100,000 donation from Jerrod to Free the Music USA.
• On October 29th, Sara Evans performed and made a guest appearance as herself on ABC’s hit series, Nashville. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Kenny Chesney talks about the thread of his chart-topping album, The Big Revival. (:34)
“A lot of these songs are talking about living in now. Like, on some of my songs, people think that all I sing about’s escapism, but it’s really interesting because if you really look at a lot of songs that I’ve had, a lot of the songs that I’ve released — especially some of the songs on this record — are about living in the moment and getting the most out of it. And I think that that’s a really strong thread through this record on the song ‘Til It’s Gone,’ on…even ‘Don’t It.’ That’s the thread of this record that I’m really proud of, I feel really strongly about, and that’s why I think this record has the energy that it has is because of that thread — and I’m happy about that.”

  The Swon Brothers’ Colton Swon says it’s amazing to think about their music being a touchstone for some people’s lives. (:22)
“You know, I don’t think it really has hit us that some of our songs will be memories for some people and moments for some people. But I can’t wait to hear the stories that hopefully our songs impact people’s lives, and we just get to share stories and memories with these people that we don’t even know, but hopefully we’ll hear some of the remarkable stories some day.”

  The Swon Brothers’ Colton Swon finds it humbling to see how fans have been reacting to their music. (:26) 
“You know, what’s really cool is when you’re just in like a public place, like we were eating on Easter Sunday — we snuck home for a second, and we went out to eat with our family after church — and this little girl came up to us and just walked by us and was like, (singing) ‘Later on, later on,’ and like, that was just really cool, she was just…she’s like, ‘I’m a really big fan,’ and then she starts singin’ the song. That’s really cool, man. It’s humbling, too, you know — it’s just a one-of-a-kind feeling.”

  Sara Evans says that music videos are a very different thing than acting for a television show. (:26)
“Making a video is so different. I mean, I’ve done a little bit of acting in different videos, but it’s a completely different process because on a video shoot, like, I’m in charge. And when you’re on a TV show, you’re absolutely doing what the directors want, what the network wants, what the producers want. And so, that to me is the biggest difference. The video shoot is much easier than doing television. I have so much respect for these actors.”

In November…

• On November 4th, The Doobie Brothers released Southbound, an album that reunited the band with Michael McDonald for a collection that featured all-new recordings of the band’s classic hits, done with the Doobies and a star-studded roster that included Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Chris Young, Zac Brown Band, and many more. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On November 5th, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood hosted the CMA Awards for the seventh consecutive year. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Miranda Lambert walked away as the most-awarded artist at The 48th Annual CMA Awards on November 5th and made CMA history as the only artist ever to win Female Vocalist of the Year five times! Miranda also took home awards for Album of the Year (Platinum), Single of the Year (“Automatic”), and Musical Event of the Year, with Keith Urban (“We Were Us”).
• The Swon Brothers were new on the radio with their self-titled album’s second single, “Pray for You.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On November 11th, Garth Brooks released his first new album in 13 years, Man Against Machine, which became his 14th album to hit number-one on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and his fourth consecutive number-one chart debut. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Chris Young graces the cover of the November 17th Country Weekly as the readers’ number-one pick among Country’s Sexiest Men.
• On November 17th, The Henningsens released their 10-song digital holiday collection, Our Family Christmas, featuring two original songs, together with eight seasonal favorites. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On November 17th, Sara Evans released At Christmas, a 10-song collection that included the festive new title track, together with nine holiday favorites, one of which was a version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” featuring Sara’s daughters Audrey and Olivia.
• On November 17th, Trisha Yearwood released her 16-song PrizeFighter: Hit after Hit, featuring 10 of Trisha’s biggest hits and six new songs, including the title track, “PrizeFighter,” featuring Kelly Clarkson. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• On November 23rd, Carrie Underwood was named Favorite Female Artist – Country at the fan-voted American Music Awards.
• Garth Brooks released the second single from his new album, the song “Mom.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Doobie Tom Johnston says that the band didn’t know what to expect when they began recording Southbound. (:19)
“We didn’t know what to expect, to be honest with you, comin’ into this project. We’ve never re-cut these songs, except for one, ever. And not knowing and never having done anything like this before — we’ve never done anything with other artists in that sense — and we got in here, and once I started hearing the tracking, I was sold. I said, ‘This is killer.’”

  Doobies Tom Johnston and John McFee took it as a good sign when Chris Young hit the studio to record “China Grove.” (:22)
Tom: “He came in, I think it was the first day we were trackin’, and…”
John: “Mmm-hmm.”
Tom: “…I don’t for sure if it was our first track, but it might have been, was ‘China Grove.’ And he sang that. And he came in and did a reference vocal on it, and we all looked at each other and went, ‘Man, he sang the hell out of this.’”
John: “He just sounded great from the get-go. So it was like, ‘Wow, maybe this is gonna work!’” (laughs)
Tom: “Yeah, definitely. It was a positive sign.”

  Doobie Tom Johnston says that the band loved the enthusiasm and performances of the guest artists on Southbound. (:13)
“They didn’t come in, ‘Oh, do we have to?’ It wasn’t that kind of a deal at all. They dug it. They wanted to do it. And it sounds like it. You can hear it on the performances, which, by the way, every one of ‘em did a killer job. Every single artist just knocked it out of the park.”

  Carrie Underwood talks about co-hosting the CMA Awards. (:43)
“It is so hard to believe that this’ll be the seventh year of me and Brad hosting the CMA Awards. I mean, I remember, like, getting the phone call the first year and bein’ like, ‘They want me to do what now?! With Brad? What?’ I couldn’t ask for a better co-host in Brad. I’ve known him for a really long time, and I feel like we’ve definitely got a groove on stage. And it’s so much fun kind of being at the helm of it all, and being kind of the captains of the country music awards show ship. You know, we have a lot of fun in the weeks leading up to it, and we get to look back on it and laugh at ourselves and hopefully say, ‘Wow, that was a really great night.’”

  Carrie Underwood says that she’d like to continue her role as CMA Awards co-host. (:12)
“I love bein’ up there, and I love, you know, having the opportunity and the honor of being a host. It’s a lot of fun, and I definitely hope that people don’t get tired of us and we get to do it for a little bit longer.”

  Colton Swon of The Swon Brothers talks about the duo’s new single, “Pray for You.” (:15)
“This is a song that when we first heard it, we knew we had to be a part of it, and we knew we had to cut it. It just says something different, and especially in a world that all you hear is bad news when you turn on the TV, this is hopefully a relief and a message of hope for some people.”

  Garth Brooks talks about the perception of him as an artist, as well as what fans can expect from his album, Man Against Machine. (1:01)
“Yeah, it’s kind of weird, as time goes by, your position changes. At first you were the new guy that nobody was sure, you know, what was goin’ on, and then you became the guy that people were really not sure what was goin’ on and didn’t know if it was good for the country music format, ‘cause it wasn’t traditional country at that time, it was what I just called ‘Oklahoma Country.’ Chris LeDoux described it as cowboy rock & roll. And then you get into these younger guys now come on, and they’re comin’ in twice as hard as you ever did with guitars and stuff, and you start to get looked at as kind of the traditional artist, which is kind of weird. But don’t worry: you hear this new album and ‘tradition’ is not gonna come to your…(laughs) it’s not gonna come to your mind, but it kind of will. It’s a Garth record, which means we have everything. We have everything from cowboy songs, we have everything to waltzes to things that people have never heard in country music before. That’s kind of what we do: we just follow our hearts. And to me, an album or a collection of music at that time should reflect who the artist is at that time — and this new album reflects us very, very well.”

  Garth Brooks is knocked out by the caliber of Nashville songwriting today. (:44)
“The older I get, I would think the more less I would like — you know, just how we all do as we get older — the less we like what’s goin’ on. But the songwriting in Nashville right now, try not to offend anybody, is head and shoulders over where it was in the ’90s. And they’re all young kids, but they’ve got some great messages, and they got some great substance. It’s getting it from the publishing houses to the radio that’s the artists’ jobs and the record labels’ jobs. And that’s our job, as an artist. This new record, I think, has some of the best writing on it ever, with songs called ‘Send ’Em on Down the Road,’ songs called ‘You Wreck Me,’ ‘Cold Like That,’ ‘Tacoma’ — these are songs that are comin’ that have some pretty hellacious substance in it.”

  The Henningsens talk about their new holiday album, Our Family Christmas. (:32)
Brian: “We really wanted to make it very traditional, you know, the melodies, and…but a lot of our arrangements are new, modern, cool arrangements. And it was like how do you tackle something that’s been done a thousand times? And really, we wanted it to be a cross between, almost like Sting meets O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and…”
Aaron: (laughs) “It kind of is a little bit, actually!”
Brian: “It kind of is…”
Clara: “O Brother, Where Sting Thou?”
Brian: “Yeah, but it’s just…I’m in love with it.”

  Trisha Yearwood reflects on the power of music. (:55)
“You never know what kind of impact a song will have. I choose songs because they mean somethin’ to me, but you never know what they’re gonna mean to somebody else. ‘How Do I Live’ is a perfect example of a song where it means so many different things to so many different people. And I had a letter that really stands out in my head was someone who had…who was gonna commit suicide — and heard that song and thought about what it would mean to their family to do it, how much they meant to someone else, and changed their mind. I mean, that’s powerful. And I never…that’s not what it meant to me when I sang it, but what it means to someone else. So, it speaks to the power of music. And I think when I hear ‘PrizeFighter,’ I think everyone will take what they need from it. And it’s only that song that says you’re gonna get knocked down, but it’s what you do after. You’re gonna get up and keep fighting, and that means so many different things to so many different people.”

  Garth Brooks talks about his new single, “Mom.” (:30)
“My favorite song on the album, and very possibly could become my favorite song of my entire career is on this album, and it’s a song simply called ‘Mom.’ And of course, you know, if you know me (laughs), that’s…I’m a mama’s boy, so that’s the greatest…I’m the greatest fan of that song simply from its substance. But how this song describes what a mother is, man, it’ll make you stop, pull the car over, and just listen to it. And that is what music is all about.”

In December…

• On December 1st, Carrie Underwood performed as part of U2’s surprise World AIDS Day (RED) event in New York City’s Times Square by personal invitation from Bono. Singing “Change” from her Play On album, Carrie was joined on stage by U2 guitarist The Edge. The event was staged as a thank-you to America for the role it’s played so far in the AIDS fight. Additional performers included Kanye West as well as U2’s Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr., who were joined by Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
• On December 2nd, Miranda Lambert was among the artists honored on the 2014 special, CMT Artists of the Year.
• Miranda Lambert earned four nominations for February’s 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards®, scoring nods for Best Country Album (Platinum), Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for “Automatic” (which she co-wrote with Nicolle Galyon and Natalie Hemby), and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for her Carrie Underwood duet, “Somethin’ Bad.”
• Carrie Underwood picked up a pair of nominations for February’s 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards®, including Best Country Solo Performance for “Something in the Water” and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Somethin’ Bad,” her duet with Miranda Lambert.
• On December 9th, Carrie Underwood released her 25-song Greatest Hits: Decade #1, featuring all 18 of her number-one singles, four songs in never-before-released versions, and two new songs, including her smash single, “Something in the Water.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Kenny Chesney’s number-one smash, “American Kids,” earned a Best Country Song GRAMMY® Award nomination for its songwriters, Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird, and Shane McAnally. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Billboard’s year-end ranking of “The 10 Best Country Albums of 2014” included Sara Evans’ Slow Me Down, praising, “Evans released one of the most perfect contemporary country albums of 2014….”.
• Carrie Underwood made it five in a row as her fifth album — her 25-song Greatest Hits: Decade #1 — debuted at number-one on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, with first-week sales of 94,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the best-selling debut for a hits album by any artist in any genre of music in more than six years. The album also debuted at number-four on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, with the chart’s sales and streaming methodology registering an equivalent of 103,000 albums.
• On December 15th, Miranda Lambert was named Female Vocalist of the Year at the inaugural American Country Countdown Awards.
• At the American Country Countdown Awards, Kenny Chesney was honored with the first Groundbreaker Award, which is presented to an artist “who has consistently pushed the boundaries of what is possible within the definitions of today’s country music. It recognizes trailblazing in the realm of concerts, musical accomplishment, creative innovation and connecting with fans across the United States.”
• Miranda Lambert graced the cover of the January issue of Marie Claire magazine.
• Miranda Lambert’s acclaimed album, Platinum, appeared on multiple year-end best-of lists, including Rolling Stone, which ranked the album as its number-one country album and number-five on its all-genre list of the “50 Best Albums of 2014.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Carrie Underwood says that it’s a little surreal to get to have her own greatest hits album. (:38)
“It’s kind of crazy to think that I’m putting out a greatest hits album. I remember, you know, as a kid just being so excited whenever somebody would come out with a greatest hits because it was all my favorites (laughs) in one little package, you know? And I’m honored that I’ve had that much love and support over the past 10 years that I get to do that, that I get to have one. So, hopefully we can just keep doin’ what we’re doin’, and you know, maybe…(laughs) maybe 10 years from now, it’ll be like ‘Decade #2’! That’ll be crazy! It’s too far away, but I’m definitely…I’m excited, and I’m honored that I get to do that.”

  Carrie Underwood talks about her GRAMMY-nominated smash, “Something in the Water,” one of two new songs on her Greatest Hits: Decade #1. (:37)
“I knew while we were writing ‘Something in the Water’ that we really had something special. There’s not too many songs that I can say that because when you’re so close to something, you don’t even really know it’s good until you, like, get the demo back, and then it’s like, ‘Whoa! I kind of dismissed that, you know, during that day, and this sounds incredible.’ This was one that as it was happening, like, I was recording stuff on my phone like, ‘Oh my gosh, let’s do it again; like, I can make that better; we can do this better,’ and it was just one of those that it was exciting in the room, it was electric in the room, and we knew it was special, for sure.”

  Carrie Underwood says that she feels very blessed in her career. (:35)
“It’s really weird to think that it’s been 10 years since I tried out for American Idol, and so much has happened since then. In some ways it feels like it was a million years ago, and in some ways it feels like it was just yesterday. Either way, I know I’m blessed, and I’m so happy that, you know, I still get to do what I love and still feel like I’m contributing to music, and it’s definitely contributing to my life for sure, so, I’m excited to see what the next 10 years hold.”

  Carrie Underwood talks about her chart-topping new album, Greatest Hits: Decade #1. (:43)
“I definitely feel like the Greatest Hits: Decade #1 is for me, and it’s for the fans. I mean, that’s what it’s all about. It’s been such a great process for me to really get to go over the past 10 years, you know, in my own head. And we really just wanted to make it special for them. We wanted them to feel like they have been a part of it from the beginning, because they have. We didn’t want to leave anything out. We didn’t want to leave any song out, so we had to make it a two-disc set, and of course, have some new stuff on there because we’re definitely looking ahead to the next 10 years.”

  Kenny Chesney knew that he’d found something special with his smash single, “American Kids.” (:48)
“‘American Kids’ for me in a lot of ways validated my decision to take a year off the road, just for the creative process. It was important for me, at this point in my career and in my life as an artist, to not make a record that sounded like I was repeating myself. So, when I heard ‘American Kids,’ I went, ‘There it is. That’s something that’s very unique for me.’ And when you’ve been makin’ records for 20 years, to say that, it’s a blessing, because the way the melody wrapped around the lyric and the lyric wrapped around the melody was unique. But the way they wrote the song, and how it paints a lot of visual images and pictures of a lot of ways that I grew up, it’s very East Tennessee. But the brilliance of this song is I think that it makes everybody think that it’s their small town.”

  Miranda Lambert says that a lot of love and stress went into her new album, Platinum. (:27)
“You know what? I have gone back and forth and just stressed out so bad. I’ve never had an ulcer; I don’t even know what those feel like, but I’m pretty sure I got one during this whole recording process. You know, I was jokin’ about, like, I think I’ve paced a hole in the floor of the studio during this whole deal because I just worried about, so much about wanting this to be perfect and wanting it — as perfect as it can be — wanting it to matter, and I just felt like I have a lot to say right now.”