Complete List of Winners of the 2016 American Country Countdown Awards

Winners have been announced for the star-studded 2016 AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS which aired LIVE Sunday, May 1, on FOX from The Forum in Inglewood, Ca.

The two-hour broadcast featured 14 performances including: Kelsea Ballerini (“Dibs”), 2016 NASH Icon Award presented by Ford F-Series recipients Brooks & Dunn (“Red Dirt Road”), Luke Bryan (“Huntin’, Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day”), Cam (“Mayday”), Dan + Shay (“Nothin’ Like You”/”From The Ground Up”), Florida Georgia Line (who premiered “H.O.L.Y.,” a song from their new album due out this summer), Sam Hunt (“Make You Miss Me”), Chris Janson (“Buy Me a Boat”), Martina McBride (“Reckless”), Thomas Rhett (“Die A Happy Man”), Cole Swindell (“You Should Be Here”), and Carrie Underwood (“Church Bells”).

Three of country music’s leading ladies — Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles and Cam — kicked off the evening with a performance of McBride’s No. 1 hit anthem “This One’s For the Girls,” while legendary duo Brooks & Dunn performed their 2013 megahit “Red Dirt Road” after receiving the 2016 NASH Icon Award Presented by Ford F-Series. The award, which celebrates an iconic artist whose extraordinary talent has influenced generations of musicians, was presented by longtime friend and 2014 NASH Icon recipient Reba McEntire.

And Academy Award® winner Matthew McConaughey introduced Toby Keith’s tribute to his friend Merle Haggard, with Haggard’s longtime band the Strangers featuring Merle’s son Ben.

Presenters at the second annual show included: Paula Abdul, Chase Bryant, Terry Crews, Cat Deeley, Sara Evans, Trent Harmon, Jana Kramer, Chris Lane, Maddie & Tae, McConaughey, Scotty McCreery, McEntire, Jennifer Nettles, Michael Ray, Canaan Smith, Luke Wilson and Dwight Yoakam.

Following is the list of winners in the 12 categories for the 2016 AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Bryan

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Bryan

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Carrie Underwood

GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR
Florida Georgia Line

BREAKTHROUGH MALE OF THE YEAR
Sam Hunt

BREAKTHROUGH FEMALE OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini

BREAKTHROUGH GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR
Old Dominion

SONG OF THE YEAR
“Die A Happy Man” – Thomas Rhett

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
“Traveller” – Chris Stapleton

DIGITAL SONG OF THE YEAR
“Girl Crush” – Little Big Town

DIGITAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
“Montevallo” – Sam Hunt

TOURING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Garth Brooks

Jerrod Niemann and Lee Brice Release Duet “A Little More Love”

Since they first met in 2002, platinum-selling Country artists Jerrod Niemann and Lee Brice have become close friends.  They’ve written together, toured together and partied together, but they’ve never released music together – until now. Curb artists Niemann and Brice have released a new duet, “A Little More Love,” to iTunes today.

Over the groovy, reggae-inspired beat, Niemann and Brice harmoniously encourage listeners to “Make a little more love / Make a little less money / Catch a little more buzz / Off a little less honey,” a sentiment that Niemann felt perfectly represented the laid-back and generous spirit both artists aim to foster with their music and live shows.

“Lee and I have always talked about recording some music together,” shares Niemann. “We hope this tune will have our fans smiling and singing along with their windows down and the radio up all summer long!”

Written by Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman, Natalie Hemby and Kristi Neumann, “A Little More Love” will also serve as the lead single on Niemann’s forthcoming album on Curb Records, produced by Niemann with Jimmie Lee Sloas.

For more information and tour dates visit jerrodniemannofficial.com and join Niemann’s Dehydration Nation fan club at dehydrationnation.net. Follow Niemann at @jrodfromoz on Twitter and at facebook.com/JerrodNiemann.

Dan + Shay’s Forthcoming Album “Obsessed” Available Now for Pre-Order

Platinum-selling duo Dan + Shay’s brand new forthcoming album Obsessed,  produced by Dan Smyers and Scott Hendricks, due June 3 on Warner Bros. / Warner Music Nashville, is available today for pre-order.

Fans who pre-order Obsessed will receive instant downloads of Dan + Shay’s latest Top 25 single “From The Ground Up” as well as “Already Ready” (full track listing below). As Facebook’s current Artist of the Day, the pair released a special companion video for “Already Ready” to their page. The video, conceived and created spur of the moment last weekend and filmed in just a single shot at a Nashville house party, is also featured on the Facebook Music page.

Enlisting Bryan Sutton and Danny Rader on acoustic guitar, Jimmie Lee Sloas on bass, Gordon Mote on keys, piano and string arrangements, Derek Wells on electric guitar, Russ Pahl on pedal steel, and Jim Horn on saxophone, it’s clear Dan and Shay clearly carefully studied the playbook and went into the studio with a vision for what they wanted to accomplish with this album musically.

“There are still nights where I spend hours online or digging through stacks of albums to study the album liner notes,” says Smyers, who is a self-admitted music junkie, which serves the co-producer well. “There were so many moments when we had these amazing musicians in the studio and I would find myself so immersed in the note or the moment that I would honestly find my fingers on autopilot recording the takes without me even remembering I had done so. We both have the upmost respect for these players and the fact that we could convince them to come play on this record made it an even more memorable experience.”

The duo gives credit where it’s due. In fact, they attribute the title of the album to their supporters who they teamed up with [their fans] to reveal the track listing. “We love our fans and feel like [they] are a huge reason we’ve had the success we’ve had,” Smyers told People Now. “Our fans are very involved in everything we do. We’re more like friends with them… We know their names, they know our names. To let them reveal the track titles has been really fun.” Dan + Shay also revealed the Obsessed album cover directly to fans earlier today.

In addition his writing credits on Obsessed, Mooney co-wrote Rascal Flatt’s recent No. 1 hit, “I Like the Sound of That,” which “wins with subtleties and sharp songwriting” (Taste of Country), along with Jesse Frasure and pop singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor.

While gearing up for the release of their album, the breakout country stars are also celebrating their nominations for the American Country Countdown Awards “Group/Duo of the Year” and “Breakthrough Group/Duo of the Year” as well as their Radio Disney Music Awards (RDMA) nomination for their No. 1 hit single, “Nothin’ Like You.” The duo will perform at the ACC Awards Sunday night on FOX and are featured as presenters at the RDMA Awards, which will be taped on Saturday and also air on May 1.

Dan + Shay are currently on the road and will join Darius Rucker on his Good for a Good Time Tour this summer, kicking off June 3 in Tampa, Fla.

OBSESSED TRACK LISTING
1. “All Nighter” (Nicolle Galyon, Jimmy Robbins, David Hodges)
2. “Road Trippin’” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Martin Johnson)*
3. “From The Ground Up” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Chris DeStefano)
4. “Already Ready” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Shane McAnally, Jimmy Robbins)
5. “How Not To” (Adam Hambrick, Paul DiGiovanni, Kevin Bard)
6. “Lipstick” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Nicolle Galyon)
7. “Round The Clock” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Jesse Frasure, David Hodges)**
8. “Lately” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Martin Johnson)*
9. “Sway” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Liz Rose, busbee)
10. “Obsessed” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Nolan Lambroza, Breyan Isaac)

Obsessed was produced by Dan Smyers and Scott Hendricks.
*Produced by Dan Smyers and Martin Johnson
**Produced by Dan Smyers and Jesse Frasure

For tour dates and more information, visit DanandShay.com and follow @danandshay on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Toyota To Live Stream Stagecoach Music Festival

Can’t make it to Stagecoach this year?!? No problem, Toyota has got you covered!!! Back again as a sponsor, Toyota is bringing the Stagecoach Music Festival weekend to country music fans across the country who can’t make it this year via live stream.

Kicking off at 2PM PT Friday, Toyota will be the first brand ever to sponsor a live stream of a concert on the Tumblr platform.

The main stage aka “The Toyota Mane Stage” (see the set list here) will be live streamed, letting fans watch live performances from the artists playing that stage, including – Eric Church, Chris Stapleton, Sam Hunt, Little Big Town, The Bandy Perry, Jana Kramer, and more.

The livestream will launch at the beginning of each festival day. Schedule is as follows and subject to change:

  • Friday (4/29): 2pm PT – 11:30pm PT (subject to change based on when last set ends)
  • Saturday (4/30): 1:15pm PT – 11:30pm PT (subject to change based on when last set ends)
  • Sunday (5/1): 1:00pm PT – 10:45pm PT (subject to change based on when last set ends)

Dierks Bentley Uncovers Third Episode of BLACK Short Film Series with “Pick Up”

PLATINUM singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley releases the third chapter of his BLACK (Capitol Records Nashville), out May 27, short film series today exclusively on Rolling Stone Country. The urgent new track “Pick Up” provides the soundtrack and guides the storyline that finds a love triangle come to an abrupt halt with a cliff-hanger ending.

Fans can watch Episode 3 and purchase the new song on iTunes now. The first two chapters in the series for “I’ll Be The Moon (featuring Maren Morris)” and “What The Hell Did I Say” are also available now.

“When you’re in the throes of a relationship, it can be crazy and lustful, even obsessive and jealous,” said Bentley. “‘Pick Up’ drops into the sequence as that point when you just have to be closer to your girl. For the storyline and plot of these videos, Wes definitely takes it there and puts a shocking spin on it.”

Watch Episode 3 featuring “Pick Up” on Rolling Stone Country here: http://rol.st/1WuVQOa

As Bentley continues “wading into emotionally complex territory” (Billboard), the forthcoming album’s lead single “Somewhere On A Beach” stations itself for a second consecutive week atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. As the fastest rising single of his career, the track continues to dominate the Top 5 on the Mediabase radio chart as well as Billboard’s Country Airplay, Country Digital Songs and Country Streaming Songs charts.

Beginning May 12 in Holmdel, NJ, Bentley will set sail on his 2016 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH TOUR with Randy Houser, Cam and Tucker Beathard. For more information on the new album, upcoming appearances and tour dates, stay tuned to dierks.com.