Monday news: Power Picks, chart battles, CMA dreams and more...

Bucky Covington strums in the sunshine at last Saturday's KATM concert in Turlock; click here to enjoy a beautiful set of concert photos by the very generous Minnie. 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 video for "A Different World" will face a head-to-head challenge at the end of the show today on CMT's Power Picks, which begins at 12 noon ET; click here to go directly to the Power Picks main page. According to this post at Bucky's board at CMT.com, "Bucky has the first match on Tues. 6/5. But the voting will be on Monday the last match." Although the matchup isn't listed on today's show page, the opposing video is the one for the song just above his on Mediabase, so it's very important to check in--this looks like a "vote through the night" style matchup to determine tomorrow's opening video. At noon, hit the "Vote Now" button, keep that voting window open and get ready to mouse-click away!

Bucky's California roadtrip is done, and by all accounts, the West Coast is wild for him! (Here's another link to Minnie's excellent photos and recap from Saturday's Kat Country show in Turlock; more souvenirs and memories from California will no doubt turn up over the net few days...)

Meanwhile, Bucky and the band get a break before their next big event--the CMA Fest in Nashville, which is an extravaganza not to be missed. Bucky performs Thursday, June 7 during the Complete Country Show from 2 to 4 PM at the Greased Lightning® Daytime Stages at Riverfront Park, and on Friday the 8th, he'll be doing a two-song acoustic set at the Nightly Concert at LP Field. (This is a nice coup for a new artist--congratulations, Bucky!) And of course, those of us who won't be at the Fest will still get to see him on Thursday morning, when he and the Wreckers will guest on Good Morning America, live from the rooftop patio at Graham Central Station. We can't wait!

No need to wait for Monday morning's charts--they're here. Bucky's "A Different World" currently stands at #14 on the weighted chart and #15 on the Top 200, where it is still in a wrestling match with the song one rung upstairs. Request "A Different World" at your favorite local and streaming country stations. and remember those all-important local "Top X at X" and national syndicated shows, too! (While we're talking support, feel free to give Bucky's beautiful video a boost at the GAC Top Twenty and CMT's Pure 12-Pack voting pages today.)

And Hits Daily Double 's album sales estimates will crank up again for the week at approximately 7:30 a.m. Pacific, with the final estimates posted tomorrow afternoon. (We bet a lot of Californians hit the CD stores last week...) By the way, if you've been unable to find Bucky's CD on your local shelves, you can also snag one via iTunes and WalMart Music, as well as ordering by mail from Bucky's official site and Amazon.com. There was a recent question as to whether or not retail downloads count on the charts, and the answer is yes--buying the whole album in either digital or physical form is considered a CD sale by Billboard. So whether you're kickin' it old school or new, you're counted.

Edited to add an alert for Bucky's fans in the Chicago area--US 99 will be giving away passes to Bucky's June 12 Wrigleyville Rooftop Cubs Country Night performance between 3 and 7 every afternoon this week. (Bucky's buddy Kellie Pickler will be singing the national anthem, as well as performing during the 7th inning stretch--should be a great night of baseball and music.) Listen to win, and good luck!

More soon--have a magnificent Monday...