Additional Artists Added to the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game

The stars continue to shine for the upcoming 26th annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game, presented by Staples, as Lauren Alaina, Danielle Bradbery, The Bobby Bones Show, Jessie James Decker, Mickey Guyton, Jonathan Jackson, LOCASH, Tristan McIntosh, Jake Owen, and former Major League Baseball pitcher Barry Zito strike out cancer.

They will join previously announced players Charles Esten, Vince Gill, Chris Lane, Scotty McCreery, Bret Michaels, David Nail, RaeLynn and Jamie Lynn Spears for a friendly face-off on the Grand Ole Opry and iHeartCountry teams, along with more names to be announced in the coming weeks. A fan-favorite event and longstanding tradition of the CMA Music Festival, the game will take place on Tuesday June 7, at 3 p.m. from First Tennessee Park in Nashville.

Tickets are available at http://bit.ly/1QQDkff.

Support from the Nashville community and its country music artists directly benefit City of Hope’s mission to find cures for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. A highlight of this year’s game will be when 8-year-old City of Hope patient Aaron Yniquez meets his lifesaving bone marrow donor Yolanda Nava, a Southwest Airlines employee from Arlington, Texas, for the very first time.

City of Hope’s Celebrity Softball Game regularly features some of country music’s biggest and hottest stars, and this year music industry veteran Bruce Hinton will be honored as the founder of the event and for his significant contributions to the game over its 25-year history. As the game embarks on its next 25 years, it is befitting to honor the man who conceived the event and made it a Nashville tradition. Over the years, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Scotty McCreery, Vince Gill and many more have taken to the field in support of City of Hope’s lifesaving mission.

Tickets for the game can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Those not able to attend the game can still support City of Hope. A variety of unique merchandise and experiences, including meet-and-greets with the hottest artists, will be available for bid at charitybuzz.com. The proceeds will benefit City of Hope’s mission to eradicate cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Craig Campbell Announces the Return of His Annual Celebrity Cornhole Challenge

RED BOW Records’ artist Craig Campbell will host the “4th Annual Craig Campbell Celebrity Cornhole Challenge” in honor of his late father who lost his battle with the disease at age 36. Fellow country stars Michael Ray, Canaan Smith and more to be announced will appear at this year’s event on Tuesday, June 7th from 1-3pm near 5th Avenue and Demonbreun Street in downtown Nashville, TN.

As a national spokesperson for the cause, Campbell strives to raise awareness and funds for colorectal cancer education, research and prevention.

“We’ve been so blessed over the past three years with the success of my celebrity cornhole tournaments, that we’re gonna do another!” shared Campbell.  “The event gets bigger and better every year. It makes me smile to know that we are raising so much money for research and awareness of this terrible disease.”

During the “4th Annual Craig Campbell Celebrity Cornhole Challenge,” artists will be paired with fans that bid online for the chance to play with them. The game is conducted in a bracket style with the non-celebrity winner receiving a commemorative cornhole board at the end. The “4th Annual Craig Campbell Celebrity Cornhole Challenge” is open to the public with all proceeds benefitting Fight CRC.

Visit smarturl.it/Cornhole2016 for a chance to play in the competition and to participate in the online auction featuring items donated by artists and sponsors. Additional information regarding tickets and VIP opportunities will be announced soon. Following the tournament, Campbell will take the stage to perform for the annual “Music City Gives Back” concert.

Campbell is currently climbing the country radio charts with new single “Outskirts of Heaven” that he co-wrote with Dave Turnbull (Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton) and Rolling Stone Country describes as “a ballad with a sweeping, Nineties-style twang.” Following 2015’s “Tomorrow Tonight,” he has been in the studio with producer Mickey Jack Cones working on his RED BOW Records debut album. Having shared the stage with Randy Houser, Alan Jackson, The Band Perry, Jerrod Niemann and Justin Moore, he is currently touring across the U.S. and will be playing major fairs and festivals throughout the summer.

For more information on Craig Campbell visit www.craigcampbell.tv.

Dierks Bentley Gives Apple Music All-Access to New Album BLACK

Leading into the release of his eighth studio album BLACK (Capitol Records Nashville) multi-PLATINUM singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley is giving fans behind the scenes access into the making of the album with “Apple Music Presents: Journey Into Black.”

Each episode of this revealing four-part series will explore the meaning behind some of the songs that are particularly special to Bentley. Episode 1: “BLACK” is available now and focuses on the album’s title track, a song that Bentley has said “captures the vulnerable idea of love and its darker shadows.”

Additional episodes will be available over the next two weeks and will explore Bentley’s current two-week No. One GOLD hit “Somewhere On A Beach” (5/20), along with the first listen to “All The Way To Me” (5/24) and “Different For Girls” featuring Elle King (5/27).

To watch “Apple Music Presents: Journey Into Black” go to: applemusic.com/dierksbentley

BLACK is now available for pre-order at iTunes.com/dierksbentley

“BLACK explores so many different sides of relationships…at it’s most powerful and most crazy,” shared Bentley. “Love has a hold on all of us and will lead you down some crazy paths. I am very appreciative to be able to work with Apple and their original content team to pull back more layers of the record and give the fans an inside look into how it all came together.”

Bentley continues to dominate country radio with “Somewhere On A Beach,” as it holds the No. One spot on both the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase radio charts for a second consecutive week. The infectious track recently earned GOLD status by the RIAA ahead of the album’s release and serves as the fastest rising single of his career.

Bentley “tackles relationships from all angles” (Associated Press) with BLACK as the 13-track project is “unlike anything fans have heard from Bentley” (Entertainment Weekly). The singer just launched his 40-city 2016 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH TOUR with Randy Houser, Cam and Tucker Beathard last week and will bring this summer’s “top must-see” (The Plain Dealer) show to Cleveland, OH (5/20), Chicago, IL (5/21) and Detroit, MI (5/22).

For more information on the new album, upcoming appearances and tour dates, visit www.dierks.com.

Joe Nichols Turns Up the Heat with New Single “Undone”

With six #1 singles already under his belt, multi-PLATINUM selling Country artist Joe Nichols is tapping into his sultry side with the release of his long-awaited new single “Undone” via RED BOW Records. The irresistibly smooth track, sure to become a defining song of the summer, is available now at all digital retailers and streaming services and is set to make waves at U.S. Country radio on June 6.

Fans can purchase “Undone” here.

Produced by Mickey Jack Cones, who helmed Nichols’ recent back-to-back #1 smashes “Sunny and 75” and “Yeah,” and co-written by songwriters Trevor Rosen, Josh Osborne and Ross Copperman, “Undone” effortlessly pairs the RED BOW recording artist’s rich baritone vocals with his unique brand of Country music. Infused with standout guitar riffs and sweltering lyrics pointing to a spellbinding romance, Nichols turns up the heat with this stirring track just in time for summer.

“I love this song. Rarely have I found a song that I think appeals to traditional AND new Country fans in a romantic way like this song does.  My greatest hope is that my wife likes it,” Nichols says of the track with a smile.

Nichols is currently on the road performing headlining shows and major festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada in support of the new single and forthcoming album, due out on RED BOW Records later this year. 

Joe Nichols Tour Dates
5/18 – ScotiaBank Centre – Halifax, NS, Canada
5/19 – Harbour Centre – Saint John, NB, Canada
5/20 – The Centre at Casino New Brunswick – Moncton, NB, Canada
5/23 – Algonquin Commons Theatre – Ottawa, ON, Canada
5/24 – General Motors Centre – Oshawa, ON, Canada
5/25 – Peterborough Memorial Centre – Peterborough, ON, Canada
5/26 – Sudbury Arena – Sudbury, ON, Canada
5/28 – Essar Centre – Sault Sainte Marie, ON, Canada
6/3 – Surf Ballroom – Clear Lake, IA
6/4 – RibFest 2016 – Sioux Falls, SD
6/10 – Carolina Country Music Fest – Myrtle Beach, SC
6/16 – Headwaters Country Jam – Cardwell, MT
6/17 – Country Jam USA – Grand Junction, CO
6/18 – Peppermill Concert Hall  – West Wendover, NV
6/22 – Alameda County Fair – Pleasanton, CA
6/23 – Sonoma-Marin Fair – Petaluma, CA

Chris Stapleton Shows Fans Behind The Scenes of Powerful “Fire Away” Video

Chris Stapleton’s powerful “Fire Away” video is used as a conduit to help bring mental health awareness to light. In the video, a young couple battle with the woman’s mental issues until it finally drives her to commit suicide.

“[The idea for the video] was just a notion, and then it became real and useful and something that can hopefully make the world a better place,” says Chris. “The song is kinda about loving somebody unconditionally through not so easy times. The concept of the video kind of came to me as that would be the hardest possible space in which to love somebody. I’ve been a huge fan of Ben’s [Foster] for a long time and so we tried to track him down and he was kind enough to take the phone call. And then it kind of grew from there,” says Chris. “It was just a notion, and then it became real and useful and something that can hopefully make the world a better place.”

Chris first came up with the “notion” when he was trying to figure out an idea for a music video, and then he wanted real actors to be in the clip…so that led to Ben Foster (Lone Survivor, Six Feet Under) and Margarita Levieva (The Blacklist, Revenge) (pr. Le-vee-va) coming on board and then bringing on ChangeDirection.org.

“It’s a subject matter that is very close to me and means a lot to me, and to be able to tell that story and to share it with so many people and to bring that character to life for me was tremendously important,” says Margarita. “So, as soon as I heard the whole outline and how we were going to shoot it and the story that we’re going to tell, I was immediately drawn and really looking forward to doing it.”

Check out the behind-the-scenes of the video and interviews with its stars, as well as director Tim Mattia and President of Change Direction, Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen below.

Chris is currently making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Parachute,” a song from his award-winning album, Traveller.