LUKE BRYAN ON HIS NEW SINGLE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Luke Bryan might be country music’s fastest rising star. He was just nominated for seven American Country Awards. That’s more than established stars like Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum. He’s up for the night’s top honor, artist of the year and has nominations in the male artist, album, video and single of the year categories. Bryan says his new single, “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” is a song that plenty of people should be able to relate to. It’s about a couple confronting the end of their relationship.

KEITH URBAN TO RECEIVE NASHVILLE SYMPHONY’S HARMONY AWARD
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Keith Urban will be receiving the Nashville Symphony’s 2012 Harmony Award – a nice way to celebrate his 20th anniversary in his adopted hometown. Urban left Australia and arrived in Music City in 1992. The new “American Idol” judge is being honored for his commitment to music and community. Among Urban’s charitable work is his “All for the Hall” annual concert which has raised millions for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The award will be presented to Urban on December 8.

“X FACTOR”
UNDATED (AP) – Justin Bieber says one of the country guys on “The X Factor” has a great voice. Bieber is a guest mentor and made the comment about Tate Stevens. That was after Stevens performed “Back At One” on last night’s show. So far, Stevens is still in running. But so is everyone else. Twenty-four hopefuls started the episode and the same number finished. There were no eliminations on last night’s program.

SUGARLAND’S KRISTIAN BUSH SELLS OUT SOLO SHOWS, ADDS ANOTHER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Sugarland’s Kristian Bush says he’s “happy to keep on playing for as long as people want to listen.” After selling out two solo shows he’s added a third at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Georgia. The encore by popular demand performance will be Monday, November 26. Eddie’s is where Bush got his start and he says he’s “thrilled” that so many fans want to ring in their holiday season with his show. Bush is nominated for CMA Vocal Duo of the Year with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland.

BILLBOARD ANNOUNCES NEW FORMULA FOR TRACKING HIT SONGS
NEW YORK (AP) – Billboard has a new way of computing its weekly hot country songs chart. The publication announced yesterday morning that from now on chart positions will incorporate digital download sales and streaming data along with traditional radio airplay figures to determine the weekly chart. The changes will also apply to the hot R&B/hip-hop songs and hot Latin songs charts and will match the qualifications for the publication’s all-genre chart, the Billboard Hot 100.

LUKE BRYAN ANNOUNCES FIRST HEADLINE TOUR
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Luke Bryan has had a pretty good year. His latest album “Tailgates and Tanlines” sold over one million copies, he co-hosted the CMA TV special “Country’s Night to Rock,” he took home trophies at both the ACM Awards and CMT Music Awards, and he opened up concerts for a handful of country superstars including Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts and Tim McGraw. Now, Bryan is getting ready to headline his own major tour. He says he’s “dreamed about this day for a very long time” and has tried to learn from all the artists he’s been on the road with. His “Dirt Road Diaries Tour” will kick off in January of next year. The 20-city first leg will go through March and feature Thompson Square and Florida Georgia Line as openers.

OAK RIDGE BOYS CELEBRATE 40 YEARS WITH A TOUR
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Oak Ridge Boys have been harmonizing for 40 years. And to help celebrate four decades in the music business the quartet will be kicking off “The Oak Ridge Boys 40th Anniversary Tour” early next year. The group also plans to release a commemorative album and a network television special is also in the works. The first concert of the U.S. and Canadian tour will be held January 19 at the historic Opera House in Galveston, Texas.

LUKE BRYAN TALKS FARM TOUR
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Luke Bryan kicked off his fourth annual Farm Tour and he says it’s the highlight of his year. It includes eight concerts in several southern states, including five in his home state of Georgia. The next one is scheduled tonight in Athens. Proceeds from the shows go to college scholarships for students from local farming families. Bryan says setting up speakers in a field and inviting fans to what he calls a “big old throw down” is a dream come true and helping kids go to college makes it even more special.

‘X FACTOR’
UNDATED (AP) – Willie Jones got a second chance to do “Nobody Knows” on the “X Factor.” The deep-voiced teen was in tears after forgetting the words in an earlier episode. But it turns out he wasn’t cut and performed it again on last night’s episode. He makes it into the top 24, as the field was further whittled down from 60. Another country standout Tate Stevens is still in it too.

JAMEY JOHNSON TO RELEASE HANK COCHRAN TRIBUTE ALBUM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Jamey Johnson says the man who wrote country classics including “Make the World Go Away” influenced him not only as an artist and songwriter, but also as a person. He is paying his respects by releasing “Living For a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran” on October 16. Cochran died at age 74 in 2010 leaving behind a long list of admirers, many of whom join Johnson on the album. Among them, Willie Nelson, who says Cochran “was the best writer up there” and Merle Haggard who says Cochran wanted to be the “Hemingway of country music” and was. Among the artists featured on the tribute are Elvis Costello, Ronnie Dunn, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Alison Krauss, Ray Price, Leon Russell, George Strait and Lee Ann Womack. Johnson will kick off the release of the album with a concert at Ryman Auditorium on the 16th, where he’ll be joined by several of his duet partners. He’s also expected to announce his fall tour sometime next week.

TICKETS FOR GEORGE STRAIT’S FINAL TOUR GO ON SALE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tickets for the 2013 leg of George Strait’s final tour go on sale this Friday. Strait announced last month that he is riding away – not into the sunset – but he plans to stop touring after he wraps his current The Cowboy Rides Away tour. Strait has 21 dates scheduled for 2013 and 20 more in 2014. In September he told the AP he just doesn’t want to get to the point where he shows up and nobody else does.

KENNY CHESNEY TO SERENADE SAMMY HAGAR
UNDATED (AP) – Kenny Chesney will once again be helping former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar celebrate his birthday. Chesney says he’s “fired up” about playing a one-night only concert at Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Cantina club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Hagar’s been hosting his Birthday Bashes there for over 20 years. This year marks Chesney’s second Birthday Bash performance and Hagar’s 65th birthday. The concert takes place tomorrow.

NEIL YOUNG PRAISES PISTOL ANNIES
UNDATED (AP) – Neil Young paid a compliment to the Pistol Annies in his recently released book, “Waging Heavy Peace.” Young says he listened to the Annies’ song “Takin’ Pills” and he knows they are writing their butts off. Angaleena Presley posted the excerpt from the book on her Twitter page and tweeted back to Young saying she “kindly and humbly” thanks him.

BRAD PAISLEY FULFILLS DYING MAN’S WISH
UNDATED (AP) – Brad Paisley’s next album will feature a special custom-made guitar. It was given to him by Pennsylvania resident Lee Feldman who was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer last year. Feldman told Fox TV affiliate channel 43 in Harrisburg that he didn’t know what to do with the guitar, one of his most treasured possessions, but then he had a dream. It should go to Brad Paisley who he says could “play the frets off” of it. With the help of some friends in the music business Feldman, was able to personally hand over his guitar to Paisley who told him he’s planning on using it on his next album. Feldman says Paisley also revealed that his grandfather died from pancreatic cancer and that he was the one who taught Paisley “how to play guitar in the first place.” Feldman says he’s happy the guitar isn’t going to sit and collect dust. He says he wanted somebody to play it and now his wish will come true.