Keepin' it Country Media & Radio » GAC

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?!

Payton Rae Turns Heads at CMA Music Festival

Nicole Piering — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 03:06:34 +0000

Payton Rae may only be 16-years-old, but the Internet phenom showed her star power in Nashville during CMA Music Fest last week. She wowed fans at the Hard Rock Cafe Stage, with both her voice and her fashion choice. Rae rocked a pair of pink Betsey Johnson dresses to show off her self-proclaimed “passion for fashion!”

In addition to wow-ing crowds, Payton was wowed by some of the performances she got to see. “All of the performances I saw this week were over the top amazing,” said Payton. “If I had to pick my favorites, I would have to say Carrie Underwood’s ‘Good Girl’ performance at the 2012 CMT Music Awards and Hunter Hayes’ show at LP Field.”

While Payton was setting the stage ablaze in Nashville, her new single, “Stomp The Fire Out,” hit country radio and all of the major video channels, including The Country Network (TCN), GACtv.com and AOL. The CMA highlighted Payton Rae on their blog, noting that the 16-yr old “Generation YouTube” Internet star “draws the next generation of @CountryMusic enthusiasts.” Payton is already a huge star on social media, with over 140,000 Twitter followers, 68,000 Facebook fans and over 6.6 million YouTube channel views in less than two years.

While her single climbs the country charts, Payton Rae is preparing to hit the road on the 2012 Camplified Tour, beginning in July. The tour, which is in its 11th year, showcases emerging teen stars by bringing them to over 50 camps and putting them before over 50,000 campers between the ages of 6 and 17.

For more info on Payton, please visit: www.paytonraemusic.com.

Katie Armiger Extends “Get Smart” Tour

Nicole Piering — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:23:47 +0000

Fans of Katie Armiger who haven’t had the opportunity to check her out on tour yet are in luck. The songstress has added over twenty-five new dates to her “Get Smart Tour,” which is sponsored by Great American Country (GAC). The tour will end up hitting over fifty major cities across the U.S. with a stop at the Bud Lught Stage at the Bridgestone Arena on June 8th for CMA Music Fest.

The tour began in March and will continue through November, and has already been a great experience for Armiger. “This tour has been incredible so far getting to meet and make new fans – and it only keeps getting better,” said Katie. “No artist can ask for a better outcome from a tour than for it to be a success that dates are continually being added. Thank you to everyone for all of your support, it’s because of all of you that this tour is what it is!”

The aptly named “Get Smart Tour” is Armiger’s first as a headliner and is hitting colleges, universities, fairs and festivals across the country. Armiger will be sure to play her hit songs including “Scream,” Kiss Me Now” and “Leaving Home,” while mixing in some new material that she’s been writing for her upcoming fourth album.

Amongst her repertoire as an acclaimed independent artist, Armiger was voted by fans as Country Weekly’s #1 hottest bachelorette. She has previously opened for the likes of Darius Rucker, Ronnie Dunn, Little Big Town, Kellie Pickler, and Luke Bryan.

For more information and a full list of tour dates, check out www.katiearmiger.com.

Rodney Atkins Gives Back

Jennifer Swirsky — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:59:40 +0000

Country megastar, Rodney Atkins, will host the “2nd Annual Music City Gives Back” benefit concert on Tuesday, June 5th, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The show, which begins at 5:00pm, will feature an all-star lineup, including Clint Black, Thompson Square, Lee Brice, Josh Thompson, Jana Kramer, The Farm, Mallary Hope, and The Willis Clan. With the help of sponsors Wrangler, Cricket Wireless, Carl Black Chevrolet, and GAC, fans will be able to enjoy a night of great music at no cost and have the opportunity to contribute to the American Red Cross. Donations may be made on-site.

“Last year was such a great experience to close down Broadway and to raise money and awareness for the American Red Cross we decided to do it again. This is an organization that helps so many people in all of our communities and they need support not just when disaster strikes. Looking forward to getting out there and working with Wrangler Western Wear and Cricket’s Muve Music to raise awareness and party with everyone in Music City,” said Atkins.

If you would like to participate in this event, but are unable to attend, you can stream the concert by visiting Wrangler’s Facebook page.

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.

GAC Booth Announces Schedule For CMA Fest Autograph Sessions

Jessica Crans — Sun, 13 May 2012 22:35:19 +0000

We’re getting closer and closer to this year’s CMA Music Festival and GAC has just announced who will be signing at their booth this year! Check out who you can have a chance to meet below.

Thursday, June 7:

• 10-11 a.m. – JT Hodges, Colt Ford
• 12-1 p.m. – Katie Armiger, Gwen Sebastian
• 2-3 p.m. – Craig Campbell, Jerrod Niemann
• 4-5 p.m. – Bryan White

Friday, June 8:
• 10-11 a.m. – Mallory Hope, Miss Willie Brown
• 12-1 p.m. – Randy Montana, Phil Vassar
• 2-3 p.m. – Heidi Newfield, Suzanne Alexander
• 4-5 p.m. – Sarah Darling, Chris Cagle

Saturday, June 9:
• 10-11 a.m. – Jason Michael Carroll
• 12-1 p.m. – Canaan Smith
• 2-3 p.m. – Billy Gilman, Trailer Choir

Sunday, June 10:
• 10-11 a.m. – Wade Brown, Due West
• 2-3 p.m. – Glen Templeton

Please remember that autograph guidelines have changed for this year’s CMA Fest. Here is a highlight of how the new procedure works:

Fans will now enter a random drawing for the opportunity to meet various artists appearing in the Fan Fair Exhibit Hall. You will be able to enter the drawing at CMAfest.com. between May 14 (starting at 10:00 AM/CT) and May 28 (ending at 5:00 PM/CT). You will enter in your contact information and then select from the list of participating artists singing autographs in the Hall. You may select as many or as few artists as you’d like to meet. Once you submit your entry, you will not be allowed to go back in and change it so choose carefully! Duplicate entries will not be considered and all winners will be notified by Friday, June 1 via email.

CMA will also have a limited number of tickets on-site at the Festival for those who can’t get to a computer to register ahead of time. For more information on this, please see the Fan Fair Hall page at CMAfest.com.

Not every artist participating in the Fan Fair Hall will be part of the autograph drawing. There will be many opportunities for patrons to obtain multiple autographs from artists by just walking around the Fan Fair Hall. So don’t lose hope if you don’t get picked!

GAC Sells Out CMA Fest Kick-Off Breakfast

Jessica Crans — Fri, 11 May 2012 23:21:58 +0000

The 5th Annual GAC Kick-Off Breakfast went on sale this morning and is already sold out! Taking place on Wednesday, June 7th, the breakfast will be sure to wake up country music fans to celebrate the start of CMA Fest, which starts on Thursday, June 8th. The breakfast will be held at the Country Music Fall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville at 7 a.m. (doors open at 6:30 a.m.). Ticket prices were $45 and include an intimate concert, full breakfast, admission to the Country Music Hall of Fame, plus a meet with greet with all of the scheduled performing artists – Josh Turner, Lauren Alaina, Thompson Square and Kip Moore.

All proceeds from the breakfast will benefit the non-profit Hall of Fame.

Storme Warren Named NRA Country’s Artist Of The Month

Ted Efron — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:06:37 +0000

TV and radio personality Storme Warren has been named the NRA Country Artist of the Month for April.

Storme’s selection puts him in company with Craig Morgan, Justin Moore, Lee Brice, Montgomery Gentry, Sunny Sweeney and Trace Adkins who have teamed up with NRA Country to celebrate their support of our brave men and women in uniform, appreciation for the great outdoors, and love of family.

Warren recently served as the emcee of the 2nd Annual NRA Country/ACM Celebrity Shoot in Las Vegas. His participation in that event and his love of the great outdoors make him a natural fit with NRA Country Artist of the Month promotion.

“There is nothing better than soaking up the great outdoors. I spend most of my free time either by a river with my fly rod or hiking the trails with my kids and mutts,” says Warren.

As part of the April promotion, fans can register to win an autographed Headline Country shirt. Visit the NRA Country website from now through the end of April to register to win.

Storme Warren is a co-executive producer and host of the television network Great American Country”s entertainment news show Headline Country, host of The Music Row Happy Hour on Sirius XM’s The Highway and a regular personality on GAC.

Lucas Hoge Heading Back To Afghanistan

Ted Efron — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:21:55 +0000

We haven’t even reached Easter yet, but Lucas Hoge already has plans for Memorial Day. His plans don’t involve family picnics or barbecues. But they do show that the “Give A Damn” singer truly does give a damn — especially when it comes to the military.

For the second year in a row Hoge will be performing for the troops in Afghanistan. He’s returning to the Middle East as part of the Wrangler Western – Wrangler National Patriot Tour. The two-week tour will have him singing for our soldiers during the Memorial Day weekend. For Hoge, that’s a “vacation” with value.

“I am really excited to hear that the Armed Forces Entertainment Wrangler National Patriot Tour is confirmed for May 2012,” says Hoge. “This is the best group of people to travel with and this is by far the best group of people to go visit! Robi Powers, of American300, Jeff Chadwick of Wrangler, Kaycee Feild, World Champion Bare Back Rider, Annie Bianco, Maegan Redley and myself will all return to visit several bases throughout Afghanistan and over Memorial Day. This tour means a lot to me. I look forward to it all year long. I love supporting our Military and will continue to do anything I can to let them know how much they mean to us!”

Before he returns to the Middle East, Hoge is taking part in a stateside salute for soldiers. He has an April 15th concert with Rodney Adkins at the Wynn Casino Encore Theater in Las Vegas during NAB. The show will support ThanksUSA, an organization that focuses on scholarships for military families.

In addition, the Nebraska native is also the spokesperson for Guardian Angels For Soldier’s Pet, which finds foster homes for pets of military members during their deployment.

Production of his self-titled album, Lucas Hoge, is in its final stages . We’ll have news of a release date very soon. The album’s first single, “Give A Damn,” is already released to radio and is the theme song for GAC’s “Tom’s Wild Life” with Tom McMillan. Hoge’s second single will also be announced soon.

Keep up with Lucas at www.lucashoge.com and Lucas Hoge Facebook Page

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Lucas Hoge

Ted Efron — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:06:32 +0000

There’s just something about Lucas Hoge that makes him instantly likable. Maybe it’s his small-town roots (He’s from tiny Hubbell, Nebraska with a population of around 50). Or maybe it’s his farm-bred work ethic. Or maybe it’s how you can sense those things in both the man and his music.

He’s currently promoting his single, “Give A Damn,” and is putting the finishing touches on his self-titled album, which is due out near the end of March. You may already have heard some of his music — not necessarily on the radio but on TV. His “If I Only Could,” was featured on an episode of Smallville on the WB. Plus, he has written and performed the theme songs for two shows: The already mentioned “Give A Damn,” which is the theme song for Tom’s Wild Life on GAC and the title theme song for Last Chance Highway on Animal Planet. If that’s not enough, he also wrote and performed a jingle for Lipton Tea.

The interview is the first time that I had spoken with Lucas. Yes, he’s out to promote his music, but clearly there’s so much more to him than that. It may have only been one conversation, but from it I could tell that he is truly compassionate and caring about people, pets, and, naturally, making music. You’ll probably get the same sense about him after reading it.

“Give A Damn” is the theme song for Tom’s Wild Life, which airs on GAC. How did you get hooked up with that show?

It all came about from a hunting show that I did in South Dakota called Goin’ Country. I got to know the cameramen really well and the producers of the show and we just kept in touch. About three or four months after that show was done they called me up and said, “Hey, we’ve got this new show goin’ on called Tom’s Wild Life that we’re producing and we’re looking for theme song. We don’t have anything yet. Is that something you’d be interested in?”

They sent the pilot over to my wife/manager/you name it (laughs) and we sat there and watched the pilot. Within 30 seconds I was like, “Please, stop! I don’t want to hear anymore! I don’t want it to influence me anymore than it has.” I had a great idea and sat down and literally wrote the chorus, it kinda just fell outta me, right there within a few minutes. Then I sat down with my wife, Laura, and my buddy, Corey Barker and we wrote the song.

I met Tom for the first time in Las Vegas during the ACA awards this year, just a few months back.

I understand you’ll be making an appearance on the show this coming season.

Since we were all out in Vegas for the ACAs and I was out there with Wrangler for the National Finals Rodeo, the producers called us up and said, “Hey, since you guys are in town why don’t we shoot an episode together with you guys?” So it’s gonna be fun!

The host of that show, Tom McMillan, is good friends with Blake Shelton, yet here you are the one who’s doing the theme song and not Blake.

I think I was a lot less expensive! (Laughs) I think that’s what it boiled down to. But I felt very honored that they came to me and asked me to do that. I felt really blessed and really honored. Hopefully we can all sit down together and write another one! (Laughs)

Obviously, Blake would be one heck of a contact to have. Have you used your connection to Tom to meet him yet?

I’m kinda hopin’ that it comes to that point. We haven’t been able to sit down and talk yet. But Tom’s there and he’s always willing to help out if he can. So I might pull that card out of my hat here in the next few weeks! (Laughs)

You also wrote the theme song for another program, Last Chance Highway, which aired on Animal Planet. Beyond the theme song, you also participated in the show, which focused on saving soon-to-be-euthanized dogs by pairing them with people and transporting them to their new homes. Have you always had a passion for pets?

Me and my wife have been pretty active in the pet rescue industry here in Nashville. We work with Nashville Cat Rescue a lot, where we foster little kittens that need homes. We bottle feed them for two to three weeks and get them up to the spay and neuter age. Then we adopt them out.

We’ve also rescued a bunch of dogs and had them at our house, too. There was a big hoarding incident here in Nashville where there was like 60 dogs in a trailer home that we helped out with. But we’ve been very active in the rescue community. So it was a perfect fit when they were looking for that singer-songwriter guy to kinda be the new guy on the transport service and go down and be part of the show. I felt very blessed that they asked me to be involved. It was a great show and I hopefully it gets picked up again.

How many pets do you and your wife have right now?

We’ve got four dogs and two cats – of our own! (Laughs)

But that number can go up?

It always goes up! We have a lot of foster kittens that come in. So it can go up from five to ten cats at a time! (Laughs)

Along with writing the theme songs for Tom’s Wild Life and Last Chance Highway, you also wrote “Medal of Honor,” which Wrangler National Patriot adopted as their theme song. How did that song come about?

It was 2009 that we got asked to go overseas and headline our own tour. My wife was singing quite a bit at the time, too. So we co-headlined a tour over in Iraq, Kuwait and Kosovo. We were over there for almost three whole weeks – a week in each region.

We just got so inspired by all of the stories we were hearing from all of the soldiers. When we came back we wrote the song “Medal of Honor” together. Just last year it got picked up by Wrangler National Patriot to be the official theme song for their tour.

This will be their third year coming up in May. I’m going back with them to Afghanistan in May. I went them last year and I just fell in love again just going over there and just hanging out with everybody.

Obviously there is a sense of pride and patriotism going over and performing for our troops. But is there also some fear involved? After all, these are live combat zones.

I don’t feel fear going over there. I’m not going to say there haven’t been a couple of incidents that scared the living daylights out of me while we were there. (Laughs) When we were over there the first time we got shot at a couple of times. We were actually doing a show and we were in the tent there and the air raid whistle went off.

When you first go over there, they say if you see a soldier running or if you see a soldier hit the ground, hit the ground with them. So we’re sitting there in front of all of these soldiers playing our songs and air raid is going off and nobody’s moving a muscle. I’m like, “What’s going on?” So I stop in the middle of a song and they’re like, “It’s fine. We get mortared all the time.” And I said, “Well we don’t!” (Laughs)

This coming June, you’ll be having a homecoming of sorts when you open up the Country Stampede in Manhattan, Kansas. Will you share with us the story of how you first got involved with that?

I had been going to the Country Stampede ever since its conception, pretty much. We lived in that area and there’s not a lot of good concerts to go to around there. And I also worked for Affiliated Food, which is one of the big sponsors of the show, so I got free tickets every year.

I think it was the fifth year, I was either a junior or senior in high school. I remember my buddy pulling up with his camper at my mom and dad’s farm there and we’re all piling in. I turned to my mom and dad as we were leavin’ for the show and said, “I’m gonna be playn’ on that big stage! You wait for my phone call!” I was just joking. I had no intention of it happening. It was just a total joke.

We get there and it’s Saturday morning of the Country Stampede in Tuttle Creek State Park, so we’re all camping out. We just happened to have the radio on to the station that’s promoting there. And I hear this lady come on and she goes, “We’re having a ‘Hey, Y’all’ karaoke contest at the beer tent at 10 o’clock. If you win you get to sing in the big contest on the big stage at 6 o’clock tonight.”

So we all were grabbing our jeans and running because it was like 9:45, so we’re already late. But we get there and find it’s actually like Russian roulette karaoke – they have to draw the song for you. You don’t even know what song you’re gonna sing. So we already had three strikes against us right there! (Laughs)

They pulled a song I was very familiar with. I think it was “Much Too Young” by Garth Brooks or something like that. And I get up there and I sing and I win over my brother and a bunch of his friends and all the other people who actually knew about the contest! (Laughs)

I ended up playing there that night on the big stage right after Travis Tritt and ended up winning the whole thing. I got the big trophy and VIP tickets for the next year. I entered the contest the next two years after that and won each year. But there’s a clause in the contract of the contest that says you can only win three years in a row. So they told me I couldn’t come back! (Laughs)

But now you’re coming back as the first act on the bill.

Exactly! We’re back and we’re bringing a whole band down. It’s ten years later and we’re gonna have one heck of a blast down there! It’s gonna be fantastic!

Let’s follow a Country Stampede progression here: You’ve gone from a karaoke contest to the festival’s opening act. Do you even dream about taking it to the final step of being the one who closes the festival?

Oh, man! Someday I would love to close that festival! It’s usually like Alan Jackson or somebody like that or Toby Keith. When I get there I’m gonna have the best time of my life. It’s gonna be one of the highlights of my career, that’s for sure. From where it all began to where it all ends – that night anyway! (Laughs)

What is it about your sound and style that you think will draw fans to you?

I really love to write songs that everybody can relate to. Like “Give A Damn” is a song that’s for everybody growin’ up either in the country or the city – it don’t matter. That song is just about being who you are and owning who you are and not letting anybody tell you on way or the other because that’s your life. You live it how you want to live it.

I like to draw the emotion out of people. Whether it’s just a feel good song that makes you raise your glass or tap your feet or whatever; to a song that’ll kinda rip your heart out and make you think about stuff.

That’s what I love to do. I don’t want to just write songs that are just fluff, you know, filler. Hopefully this record has something in it for everyone. I think our sound is very down to earth; very relatable. A lot of the songs you can whistle along to or hum to. Some of the songs today you can’t even understand some of the words! (Laughs) We like it when people are singing along with us!

What is it about you as a country singer that makes you unique?

I would say it’s our live show. I love to talk with the audience and interact with the audience. I like to bring them on stage, literally, if that makes any sense. We try to put it so we’re sitting right there in the living room with them.

I love my fans. I love the people who love to listen to country music. I will stay until the last person is there at any show and shake their hand and talk with them. If they want somebody to talk to I’ll be there. We’ve stayed three, four, five hours sometimes after a show just to sit down and talk with people. That’s my thing. I want to be that artist that you can have a cup of coffee with in the morning.

One group of people really likes you: motorcycle riders. How is it that you’re so big with bikers?

The stereotype with bikers is that they all want to hear that head-banging, hard rock music that everybody thinks you have to listen to when you’re at a bike rally. But when we start playing country music, these bikers will sit there all day long.

I’d say 90% of those bikers are ex-military or current military. When they find out that we’re out there trying to support our troops and going overseas to play for them, they want to sit down and listen to what we have to say.

We’ve made some great fans and friends over the years playing at Sturgis and down at Daytona. We’re actually going back to Daytona in a couple of weeks to play again. We’re one of the very few country bands that keeps getting asked back every year. This will be our 7^th year, so we must be doing something right! (Laughs)

Finally, I’d like to give you the opportunity to address your fans (and potential new ones) directly. The floor is yours to say whatever you would like:

I just really appreciate everyone’s support this far. I hope they continue to support me along the way and just follow the music and love the music. I hope they do.

I definitely want their truthful input about the music that we’re putting out there. If not for the fans, we don’t have anything to do! (Laughs) If they’re not buying the music and having fun with it, then we’re out of a job. If not for our fans, then we don’t have anything to strive after; to make these guys continue to love us.

We really appreciate all the fan support. The more times people call and request the song the better. The more times they watch the video and spread it around to their friends, even more so better. Just keep buying the music and we’ll keep putting it out there!

For more info: www.lucashoge.com and Lucas Hoge Facebook Page