Brian Davis Talks Touring with Brantley Gilbert, Songwriting and More

Brian Davis Talks to HaleighT about Hitting The Road with Brantley Gilbert, Current Record Under the Influence, Writing with Lee Brice and More! You may not have heard of Brian Davis yet, but this is one talented fella you need to look into! The CMNB Team caught up with Davis at his current stop with Lee Brice in Ft. Smith, AR, and he filled us in on his current album Under the Influence, his fans, writing with Brice, hitting the road with Brantley Gilbert on his Hell On Wheels Tour and a few other interesting tidbits! It was great meeting Brian, and he was not only a very nice, cool guy, but he also put on a great acoustic set! It’s easy to see why his album is being so well received by fans! Watch the complete interview below, and be sure to check out Davis on iTunes! Watch: HaleighT Interview Brian Davis in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.

Brian Davis Joins Brantley Gilbert On Tour

Brian Davis Hits The Road With Brantley Gilbert & Kip Moore For The 2013 Hell On Wheels Tour. Brian Davis will be hitting the road with Brantley Gilbert again on his 2013 Hell On Wheels Tour. This is the second time Davis will be rocking on this tour, as he was part of the first leg in 2012. Davis will be opening for Kip Moore when the tour kicks off January 31 in Independence, MO. “I am really excited to be rolling back out with Brantley Gilbert and having the opportunity to KICK OFF the PARTY every night on the ‘Hell On Wheels Tour’ as well as sharing the stage with Kip Moore,” said Brian Davis. “We had such a great time meeting so many cool fans out on the first leg of the tour. I can only imagine how crazy this next one’s gonna be!” Davis has recorded and released six albums on his own. His current, Under The Influence is on iTunes. We will be getting the chance to see a live show from Davis tomorrow when he opens for Lee Brice in Fort Smith, Ark. Be looking for a show review in the near future!

Brantley Gilbert And Jana Kramer Engaged

Brantley Gilbert Asked The Big Question On His Birthday. It’s official, Brantley Gilbertand Jana Kramer are engaged to be married. On his 28th birthday, this past Sunday, Gilbert asked Kramer for her hand in marriage. The couple has been dating for sometime, but are shy of it being a year. The two are both nominated for a new vocalist award at the ACM Awards. Voting for that show opened today and will end February 4.

Tim McGraw Announces 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour

Tim McGraw Announces 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour with Brantley Gilbert and Love and Theft! Tim McGraw has officially announced his 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour proving again that the coming year is going to be a BIG one for country music tours!! McGraw will be joined on the road by duo Love and Theft and country rocker Brantley Gilbert. The tour takes it’s name from Tim’s upcoming album which releases February 5th! The shows will kick off May 2nd at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Birmingham, AL! In the run up to the big tour, McGraw has teamed up with popular social site, Tumblr to launch an interactive campaign for Tim’s fans! The campaign, title “Fanticipation” (pretty cute, right?) will allow fans to get inside knowledge on ticket pre-sales from McGraw himself. You can get complete details on that here. You’ll find complete details on the 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour dates and locations below, and be sure to watch the video announcement from Tim! Straight from the Horses Mouth: Tim McGraw Announce 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour!

2013 ACM Awards Newcomer Nominations

2013 Academy of Country Music Awards Announce Nominations for Newcomer Categories! The Academy of Country Music announced the first round of nominations for the 2013 ACM Awards earlier this week. The categories announced so far showcase country music “newcomers,” and for the fifth consecutive year fans will be able to vote for their favorite artists in these specific categories. Voting will open on Monday, January 21st, and you can vote on ACM’s official page or at GAC.com. Individual trophies will be awarded to winners in each of the categories below, and the three winners will compete for the final New Artist of the Year Award the night of the broadcast. I’m a little surprised that Thompson Square and Lee Brice haven’t graduated out of the new artist/newcomer groups yet, but all those nominated are great artists! Good luck to all of them! 2013 ACM Awards Newcomer Categories/Nominations: New Female Vocalist Jana Kramer Kacey Musgraves Sunny Sweeney New Male Vocalist Lee Brice Brantley Gilbert Hunter Hayes New Vocal Group or Duo Florida Georgia Line Love and Theft Thompson Square The 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 7th, 2013 at 8:00 PM ET/delayed PT on the CBS.

Country Music Grits N’ Pieces: Brad Paisley, Jana Kramer, Brantley Gilbert and More

Country Music Grits N’ Pieces: Brad Paisley Sings for Honey Boo Boo, Brantley Gilbert and Jana Kramer Living Together, Carrie Underwood Sells a House and More! Around here at CMNB we mainly just cover the facts, news and our own opinions, but we know we all need our fluff fix every now and again. To keep things nice and simple for you, we’re putting all of the country music gossipy tidbits (think who broke up with who, who wore what, etc.), plus other odds and ends that might be of interest, in one spot with the this weekly post of “country music grits n’ pieces” (cute, huh?). So, grab a cup of coffee, and settle in for a quick break! Here are this weeks hottest tidbits: Brad Paisley sings the “Ballad for Honey Boo Boo” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Brace yourself. For awesomeness. [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Uq3iGESYM] Country couple, Jana Kramer and Brantley Gilbert are living together in Kramer’s Tennessee house. Too cute. [CMT] Carrie Underwood sold her old house back in August for less than she wanted. [countryweekly] Sad but true Taylor Swift has moved on from UK youngin’ Harry Styles. Moving on! [HuffPo] Miranda Lambert likes shiny things! [CMT] Taylor, Carrie, and Jana all made Men’s Health list of hottest women in 2013. Although, the year just started. So, the list might be a bit premature. [Men’s Health] Here are the Top 10 Dance Songs country fans shook their groove to in 2012! [MusicRow] Darius Rucker is featured in Southern Living, talks his ideal day! It’s very heartwarming. [AllAccess] Oh Randy Travis. What are we to do with you? [The Tennessean]

Brantley Gilbert More Than Miles Video: Review

Brantley Gilbert’s More Than Miles Is A Story Worth Investing In – Video Review. Brantley Gilbert may be a tough country rock star, but he’s certainly good at love songs. Take “My Kind Of Crazy” for example, from 2010. It’s songs like that that really capture the essence of people’s emotions. Also, “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do“, from 2011, was another one that really hit the ball out of the park. Now, with “More Than Miles“, his latest release, Brantley sings of the agony of leaving the one he loves to go follow his dream, before realizing that he’s made the wrong decision. I read somewhere that this song was about his ex-girlfriend (fun fact: she was featured in the video for “My Kind Of Crazy“). Either way, for such an emotionally-charged song as this, it would have to have a good video, and I’m pleased with the results. The Video: Step by Step. For once I can actually say a country music video just follows the story of the song (simplicity is underrated these days), and depicts Brantley parking his truck in the drive of a motel, just outside Nashville’s city limits, almost like he can’t bear to go beyond. Though I think the sign for Nashville being right by a motel is a little unrealistic, but hey, we’ll go with it, it’s a music video! The story continues as Brantley stares at the photo on the dashboard of a girl, as shown in the lyrics, and he goes to get a room (in true slow motion dramatic style, of course). Again and again during the video it cuts back to a close-up of Brantley playing guitar and singing the song in the motel room, and we really get a little suspense of disbelief that he’s written the song in a motel room just like that. Because the video follows the song so well, it makes us believe the lyrics were written in truth (particularly given the ex-girlfriend theory mentioned above), and this is really the fundamentals of a country music video. We get shots of Brantley attempting to write songs, but screwing up the pieces of paper because he supposedly can’t write without the inspiration of his girl, he can’t focus because of the break-up. The filter on the camera is a grayish blue, and this symbolically sets the deepening mood as Brantley stares into the mirror in his room, and paces around leaning into walls and staring into space. When actually called out like that it seems a little false, but it works within the context of the video. Later, we get Brantley walking to a bar, where a band are playing, but he’s distracted by the lovers kissing and becomes contemplative. He even rejects the advances of a very attractive woman , who then seems to be approached by another guy ‘wanting a go’ as it were, and Brantley gives him the pass to go ahead. I was a little confused by this part Continue reading Brantley Gilbert More Than Miles Video: Review