Friday news: CMA Fest, chart update, Toledo kudos, line dance update and more...

Bucky Covington enjoys a word with the audience during his show at the Rodeo Club in San Jose: click here to enjoy a beautiful Yahoo photo gallery by the very kind Sunny, who was there for the concert. (Thanks so much, Sunny!) Bucky Covington's debut CD is in stores now, and his music video is available for online viewing at CMT.com and Yahoo Music. You can buy Bucky's album at Amazon, Best Buy , iTunes and Target, hear the full version of his single "A Different World" at CMT and GAC, or enjoy samples of songs from the CD at Bucky's official MySpace. An autographed copy of Bucky Covington can be ordered while supplies last at his official site or via his official fan club.

Bucky's second and last day at CMA Fest in Nashville ends with a huge honor--he's been tapped as one of the three rising country stars to do a two-song acoustic set during the Nightly Concert at LP Field. His moment to shine in the evening glow is tonight; hope you'll be there to enjoy this milestone performance! (Those of us who won't be there have our fingers crossed that ABC will include it in their primetime two-hour special on this year's CMA Fest, which will air July 23.)

This afternoon, you can say hello to Bucky at the CMT booth inside the Convention Center, where he'll be signing autographs for fans from all over. A friend sent us this sweet shot from GAC--Bucky and his beaming listener look very happy indeed. Both GAC and CMT have extensive Fan Fair coverage on their respective sites--be sure to stop in at both for the very latest.

That line dance by Kathy Heller for Bucky's extremely dance-able album track, "The Bible and the Belt", continues to cause a buzz; several fans at Bucky's official forums (registration required) have heard the song and seen the dance taught and performed at clubs in the past couple of weeks, and Kathy at Team Covington reports that there should be an instructional video very soon. We can't wait to learn this one--it's sounding like a a floor filler everywhere, and Bucky filling dance floors is music to our ears and our happy feet...

In chart news, "A Different World" stands tall at #14 on the Mediabase weighted chart and #15 on the Top 500 this morning. A couple of superstar singles polevaulted into the Top 15 this week, but Bucky's single is holding firm--a sure sign of a new-artist hit with real staying power. And we aren't the only ones who've noticed! From today's Toledo Blade "Nashville Nuggets" column:

And speaking of new artists, how about that Bucky Covington? The former "American Idol" contestant continues to gain traction with his country music career.

Bucky’s debut single, "A Different World," enters Top-15 territory this week, and it also happens to be the top video of the week on CMT. Since mid-April, Covington’s self-titled debut album has sold more than 140,000 copies.

Request "A Different World" at your favorite local and streaming country stations, and we'll help keep that traction happening in a most delightful way. (And be sure to check out this brand-new link for once-weekly voting on CMT's Top 2o Countdown, as well as giving Bucky some affection on GAC's Top Twenty Country Countdown and CMT's Pure 12-Pack ballots, too.)

We'll close for now with thanks to the very kind and talented fans who've shared beautiful memories--visit Sunny's lovely Yahoo photo gallery for some sweet shots from Bucky's show at the Rodeo Club in San Jose; head over to CMT, where a fun thread by a lucky CMA Fest-goer is in progress, and enjoy the beautiful new Rodeo Concepts site, where Kellie has a Bucky Covington profile in their country music section that you're guaranteed to love. Bucky's blessed with some amazing fans and friends...

More soon--have a fantastic Friday!