Keepin' it Country Media & Radio » CMT

Thompson Square’s Album Squared

Jennifer Swirsky — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:53:00 +0000

Hit duo Thompson Square (comprised of husband and wife, Keifer and Shawna Thompson) announced the release of their sophomore album this weekend on CMT’s Top 20 countdown. The album, “Just Feels Good,” is due in stores on March 26th.

Prevalent on the tracklist are the Thompson’s hands in penning several of the songs on “Just Feels Good,” including the debut single (and latest hit) off the album, “If I Didn’t Have You.” Currently, “If I Didn’t Have You” is Number 18 on USA Today’s country airplay chart.

You can catch Keifer and Shawna out on tour with Luke Bryan now!

The entire tracklist is as follows:

Everything I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About
Here We Go Again
You Don’t Get Lucky
That’s So Me and You
I Can’t Outrun You
Testing the Water
For the Life of Me
If I Didn’t Have You
Here’s to Being Here
Just Feels Good
Maybe It’s You
Run
Home Is You

Get Blown Away By Carrie’s 2012!

Jennifer Swirsky — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 01:22:38 +0000

When we caught wind of just how incredible Carrie Underwood‘s 2012 was, we were simply blown away. Not only were we amazed by the laundry list of successful moments Carrie experienced, but we were exhausted just thinking about everything Carrie accomplished in only 366 days (Leap Year, y’all … are we observant, or what?)! The following is what Carrie’s year consisted of:

Carrie played to more than a half-million fans throughout her 62-show 2012 “Blown Away Tour.” She not only ranked as the top female country touring artist of the year according to Pollstar’s Year-End chart, she also played her first concerts in Australia and the U.K, where her concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall sold out in only 90 minutes.

Carrie’s acclaimed fourth album, Blown Away, was released in May and quickly became a fan-favorite, debuting at Number 1 on the Billboard Country and All-Genre Sales Charts. Blown Away remained at the top of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart for an astounding seven weeks. Nielsen SoundScan tallies show Blown Away among the year’s best-sellers, ranking as the Number 2 Country album and Number 7 album in All Genres. Now certified Platinum, Blown Away has already launched back-to-back Platinum-certified Digital Singles with the chart-topping tracks “Blown Away” and “Good Girl.”

Carrie’s singles for “Good Girl” and “Blown Away” collectively spent a total of three weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard and Country Aircheck Country airplay charts. This is more than any other female country artist in 2012.

Carrie’s success continued on the video front, as well, with “Good Girl” logging a record-setting fourteen weeks at Number 1 on CMT’s Top 20 Countdown and becoming the show’s Number 1 video of the year. Similarly, Carrie’s cinematic video for “Blown Away” also became an immediate favorite, achieving an unprecedented cumulative fourteen weeks at Number 1 during its fifteen-week run on GAC’s fan-voted Top 20 Country Countdown.

As if this isn’t enough success, add in a GRAMMY nomination (for the record, Carrie already has five GRAMMY awards in her repertoire) for Best Country Solo Performance for “Blown Away” (which also earned a Best Country Song nomination for writers Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins). In 2012, Carrie also walked away with her seventh American Music Award in the category of Favorite Country Album. This win by Carrie made her the first artist in AMA history to capture the Country Album category on every album released. At the American Country Awards, she extended her reign as the most-awarded artist in the show’s three-year history, now with eleven ACA wins, with a pair of 2012 honors including Artist of the Year: Female.

At the CMT Music Awards, “Good Girl” was named Video of the Year, while Carrie shared honors for Collaborative Video of the Year for “Remind Me” with Brad Paisley. At year-end, Carrie was also named among CMT’s Artists of the Year.

Additionally, Carrie was all over the TV airwaves in 2012 and was featured in such original programming as CMT Crossroads: Steven Tyler & Carrie Underwood, Behind the Music: Carrie Underwood, and VH1 Presents: Carrie Underwood Unplugged, as well as the ACM Awards, American Idol, the Billboard Music Awards, CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock, the CMT Music Awards, Dancing with the Stars, the Dateline 20th Anniversary Special, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Good Morning America, the GRAMMY Awards, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Late Show with David Letterman, and Nightline, as well as Oprah’s Next Chapter: Carrie Underwood, Today’s Summer Concert Series, Teachers Rock, and more, including returning for the fifth consecutive year as co-host of the CMA Awards.

*CATCHES BREATH*

In addition to her television appearances, Carrie also graced numerous magazine covers in 2012, some of which included Billboard, Glamour, and SELF.

Blown Away made history this spring by debuting at Number 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart, making Carrie only the second country artist in the forty-seven-year history of the chart to have each of their first four albums debut at Number 1. Blown Away also debuted at Number 1 on the All-Genre Billboard 200 Chart, making Carrie only the second country artist in history to have three consecutive albums debut at Number 1.

Makes you feel slightly lazy and unaccomplished, now doesn’t it? Congratulations on a huge year, Carrie! What do you hope to see/hear from Carrie Underwood in 2013?!

Catch Up on ABC’s “Nashville” This Weekend

Jennifer Swirsky — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 01:53:00 +0000

If you haven’t jumped on the “Nashville” bandwagon yet, what are you waiting for?! If your reasoning is that you missed an episode or two and feel as though you are now too far behind, well, fear no more. CMT has the cure to your “Nashville” woes, as it will be airing all six episodes back-to-back this Sunday, January 6th, beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST. So, set aside your day, tune in, and catch up.

New episodes of “Nashville” air on Wednesdays on ABC at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Randy Houser to World Premiere New Video on CMT

Nicole Piering — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:15:43 +0000

Randy Houser will world premiere his new video for “How Country Feels” exclusively on CMT on Friday, August 31st. Houser fans can tune into CMT’s Top 20 Countdown to catch the world premiere, with the video repeating throughout the weekend. It was also be cross-promoted on CMT.com, CMT’s social networks, CMT Radio’s Live with Cody Alan, CMT Radio Networks, and CMT mobile platforms and web tools.

The video was directed by Wes Edwards of Ruckus Films, and filmed at Glenn Leven Farm in Nashville. ”Wes took the story in the song and delivered a concept video that we both envisioned,” Houser shares. “I think he captured it in a way that will hopefully allow viewers to experience that much more of ‘How Country Feels.’”

For more information on Randy Houser, visit www.RandyHouser.com.

Lionel Richie To Mentor Winner of The NSAI Song Contest

Nicole Piering — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 02:43:25 +0000

Lionel Richie is riding high in 2012, with Tuskegee being the best-selling album of the first half of 2012. Aside from just being a chart-topper, he’s adding another role to his roster, signing on as the mentor for the grand prize winner of The Nashville Songwriter’s Association International’s popular NSAI Song Contest Presented by CMT. The contest begins on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 and runs through October 31, 2012.

The contest will celebrate one Grand Prize Winner, one CMT Listeners’ Choice Winner, and one Lyric-Only winner. The Grand Prize winner will have an opportunity to spend one hour being mentored by Lionel Richie. Other great prizes include a single-song professional demo, tickets to the 2013 CMT Music Awards in Nashville, a private tour of CMT studios, a performance at The Bluebird Café, meetings with major music publishers, a one-year membership to NSAI and more. For more, visit nsai.cmt.com.

Past winners have found success ranging from signing an artist development deal to securing a music publishing staff writer deal. This nationwide platform is for songwriters in all genres to submit their best tunes for consideration.

Hank Jr. Releases “That Ain’t Good” and Quickly Hits #1

Jennifer Swirsky — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:44:42 +0000

Hank Williams, Jr. released his newest video for his single, “That Ain’t Good” today on CMT.com. “That Ain’t Good” is the first single off Hank Jr.’s “Old School, New Rules” album, due in stores on July 10, 2012.

As if releasing a new video wasn’t enough excitement for one day for Hank Jr., “That Ain’t Good” quickly climbed to the Number 1 spot on CMT.com as well!

You can check out Hank Jr.’s new video on CMT.com or by watching the embedded video below:

That Ain't Good - Hank Williams Jr. - Hank Williams Jr. Videos

Charity Auction Chock Full ‘O Country Prizes!

Jennifer Swirsky — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 11:27:07 +0000

Kreative Kids Foundation, founded by former Broadway sensation and current country star Laura Bell Bundy, is holding an auction that is geared directly toward all of you country fans out there. The proceeds of the auction will go to Kreative Kids Foundation, an organization which helps artistic youth strive toward a career in the arts, despite limited financial means.

Included in this auction are: two tickets and a meet and greet to any Lady Antebellum concert; two tickets and a meet and greet to any Miranda Lambert & Pistol Annies concert; two tickets and a meet and greet to any Blake Shelton concert; two tickets and a meet and greet to any Rascal Flatts concert; two tickets and a meet and greet to any Dierks Bentley concert; two tickets and a meet and greet to any Luke Bryan concert; two tickets to attend the 2013 Country Music Television Awards in Nashville; two tickets to attend the 2013 Country Music Association Awards; and two tickets to attend the 2013 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas.

Start placing your bids now by clicking here! Bidding on all of these incredible opportunities ends tomorrow, Thursday, June 21, 2012. Don’t miss out on your chance to support a great cause and walk away with a once in a lifetime experience! And, if you win one of these exciting auctions, please let us know what you won and if you heard about the auction by visiting Keepin’ It Country! Good luck to all who participate!

Jerrod Niemann to Premiere New Music Video “Shinin’ On Me” This Monday

Nicole Piering — Sat, 19 May 2012 02:19:47 +0000

Jerrod Niemann may currently be a special guest on Miranda Lambert‘s On Fire Tour, but his career is also very much on fire these days. His current single “Shinin’ On Me” is the perfect summer anthem, and it’s currently climbing the country radio charts. In conjunction with its rapid ascent up the charts comes the premiere of its video exclusively on AOL’S TheBoot.com on Monday, May 21st. Shortly after it’s premiere, the video will also be added into rotation on GAC, CMT and VEVO and all other streaming partners.

The video, directed by Chris Hicky, mixes raucous partying, an overworked businessman, performances shots and an ending that you’ll just have to tune in to see.

“Shinin’ on Me” is the first single from Jerrod’s upcoming sophomore album, which comes on the heels of his #1 Country Album “Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury.” Niemann promises that this first single is just a taste of that fans can expect on the upcoming album that he is co-producing with Dave Brainard.

On this album, Niemann hopes to flex his creative muscles, creating a unique sound that mixes classic country with a sound that’s distinctly his. “I feel like making an album with horns is definitely a risky step, but my favorite thing about it is that it gives my listeners a taste of something unique,” Niemann says. “I have been watching people react to my music out on the road for years, and because I have the feeling that people are actually listening, it makes me more inspired to become a better musician, producer, songwriter, artist and really give them something different, and a sound that I love.”

For more information on his tour, upcoming album and more, check out www.JerrodNiemannOfficial.com.

Jana Kramer Holding Free Concert For CMT Taping

Ted Efron — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:37:21 +0000

What’s better than a Jana Kramer concert? A free Jana Kramer concert!

Fans in the Nashville area can have just that — a free Jana show — on Monday, April 16th. The show will be at 12th & Porter and is being taped for CMT. Doors for the free, all-ages show will open at 5:00pm, and the show will start at 5:30. Entry will be first-come first-serve.

The former One Tree Hill actress made an immediate impact with her debut single, “Why Ya Wanna.” When the song was released in late January, 55 radio stations added it to their rotations. That made Kramer the most added debut artist since Country Aircheck began tracking playlist adds back in 2006. The single currently sits at #24 in the latest Billboard Country Song chart.

Her debut single will be followed, naturally, by her debut album. The self-titled disc comes out on June 5th. We can expect a crush of Kramer with appearances — both live and on TV — to surround the release. We’ll keep you updated to when and where you can satisfy your jonesing for more Jana.

Kip Moore Celebrates CMT Webisodes with Twitter Giveaway

Jessica Crans — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:29:45 +0000

In CMT’s third episode of their exclusive six-part web series with Kip Moore, CMT follows Kip and producer Brett James (Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean) into the recording studio to talk about the creative process behind Kip’s anticipated debut Up All Night.

To celebrate the April 24th release, Kip will be giving away an autographed copy of the album to a few lucky fans. Simply head to the singer’s video page on CMT.com and Tweet your favorite of his current webisodes using the Twitter button below the video player. Include the hashtag #WinUpAllNight, and make sure to follow Kip at @KipMooreMusic for a chance to win.

Be sure to keep checking Kip’s Facebook and Twitter for the remaining three clips in the series (and more chances to win), and head to Kip’s official site at KipMoore.net for all the latest tour news. Up All Night, featuring hit single “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck,” is available for pre-order on Amazon.