Top 40 bound...

Bucky Covington, in a "vintage" promo image from last summer. You can pre-order Bucky's debut CD at Amazon, Best Buy and Target, hear the full version of his single "A Different World" at CMT, or enjoy samples of four songs from the CD at Bucky's official MySpace.

Edited to add a heads-up from the kind folks at BuckyCovingtonFans MySpace and an apology for the tech limtations that made me miss this--the Fox 16 story I linked to earlier today is accompanied by a don't-miss video. Many thanks to BCF--be sure to add them to your MySpace friends list for all the latest news on Bucky's doings.

Bucky's promo tour for "A Different World" is running down the road at full speed! Thursday (2/8), he'll be on the KJ97 "Two Guys in the Morning" show in San Antonio, according to his official website, and a few hours later, he's listed as appearing on the KASE 101 "Big Drive Home" 3-7 p.m. CT show with Gerry Harmon. Both stations offer streaming audio--tune in, relax and enjoy. (And if you miss the show, check KJ97's Podcast page, or the audio section at KASE101.)

But that's not all--there's a bit of TV goodness to look forward to, as well. According to the Richmond County Daily Journal's front page a couple of days ago, Bucky will appear on GAC's Country Music Across America at 9 p.m. ET Thursday (repeats at 1 a.m. early Friday morning) and Friday, he'll be on the TV Guide Channel's Idol Chat. (Check local cable listings for times.)

And after radio and TV, how about some print news? Covington Says He's Grateful To Cowell is the headline of an Associated Press article making the rounds today. (Mercifully, it's unaccompanied by that standard issue blue-background year old Idol finalist portrait! Both ABC News and Comcast chose to run a great shot from that incredible "guys medley" during last season's Idol finale.) If you've been hanging out there for a while, Bucky's practical and gracious attitude comes as no surprise:

While some "American Idol" contestants might fear Simon Cowell's biting criticism, Bucky Covington says he's grateful for it. "Because of him being mean, millions of people watch that show," said Covington, who finished eighth last season. "So I say 'thank you' for being mean. You turned on a lot of people to this show, and because of that a lot of great things happened to me."
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Covington said he got everything he wanted from his "Idol" experience.

"I didn't really think I was going to win it. I wanted to be heard and get noticed," he said. "The most stressful thing for me was after this show is over, what's next? Is it back to painting cars? Is it playing clubs? Or is it a career starter?"

Well, it's safe to say that question's been answered in the affirmative, yes? Underscoring that point, the article also mentions that Bucky's debut CD is due April 17th, and that his single "A Different World" is "rising on the country charts".

A kind North Carolina country musician and NASCAR fan with an engaging blog and a lot of home-state pride gives Bucky a big thumbs-up, and gives us an amazing peek into a very busy schedule! If even half of all that is correct, we're all set to enjoy a whole lotta Bucky this spring.

All this news and dashing about has a purpose, of course. Bucky's single is, as of this writing, as close as close can get to the Mediabase Country Top 40. Getting it across that line is ever so doable, y'all--even the shyest among us (that'd be me) can pick up the phone and call to request "A Different World" today. I know I've been a bit of a nag about the request lines...but after doing all that research for the request info post last week, it's clear what a huge difference those calls make. (As a matter of fact, one of the biggest complements radio industry folk can pay a song is that it gets "good phones". Seriously--that's the phrase!) They don't a know song is locally hot until they hear from the listeners. So--we really need to call. Hey, we're pretty experienced when it comes to supporting Bucky by phone, aren't we?

More later this morning--see you soon!