Friday news: number 8 and rising, concert photos, a "vote-in" and more...

Bucky Covington, Rocky Covington (left) and Don Medlock (right) rock the crowd at a daytime CMA Fest performance last month; photo courtesy of the very kind Happydays. You can enjoy more of her beautiful CMA Fest photos here. Thanks, Happy! 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, WalMart Music 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.

Friday morning's Mediabase charts start the weekend off on a sweet note--Bucky Covington's "A Different World" has moved up overnight to #8 on the weighted chart. The single is also gracing the #10 spot on the Top 500, with a healthy bullet on each listing. Lookin' good, indeed! We've got some lovely momentum going--keep requesting "A Different World" at your favorite local and streaming country stations, and if you haven't made a phoned-in request to your local station lately, try one today, just for fun. (You'd be amazed at how much easier it is to ask for a Top Ten hit...)

A few more tracks from Bucky's CD got a bit of airplay recently, as well--"I'm Good", "Hometown" and "It's Good to Be Us" are on the Top 500 at #171, #209 and #276, respectively. "Hometown" was Bucky's selection for yesterday's "The Daily Bucky" segment on Sirius Satellite Radio, and the stripped-down, unplugged acoustic version was a soulful treat. The fifth and final "Daily Bucky" airs this evening at at 9 p.m. ET on New Country, Channel 60, and if you're not yet a Sirius subscriber, you'll find a link to their free online trial offer at the channel's homepage. (It'll be a Friday Night...I wonder what song will be on the menu?)

And if you're in Dane County in Wisconsin, you've got a chance to enjoy a great American Friday Night with Bucky in your hometown--he'll be singing at the Dane County Fair tonight with his very special guest Sarah Buxton. Country station Q106 in Madison is sponsoring the concert, and it's free with admission to the fair, so come on out and enjoy two of country's most engaging rising stars!

On Saturday, Bucky appears with Sawyer Brown at Country Thunder USA in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, and he'll join Sawyer Brown onstage at the Jamboree in the Hills in Clairesville, Ohio on Sunday. Bucky's official site has more info on his summer tour, with new dates on the way; bookmark the page and check back often...

Click the image to vote for Bucky Covington in the second round of the AboutCountry "Album of the Year" poll, now through July 30th.
Vote as often as you like, and feel free to repost this graphic at your website or MySpace.

Bucky's in a tight race for first at the AboutCountry "Album of the Year" poll--every vote means a lot! Join us at noon today for our first AboutCountry poll "vote in"--we'll do it up Power Picks style. How many votes can we rack up in an hour's time? Stop in at 12 noon ET and we'll post the before and after percentages and totals in comments today. (The polls are open at CMT's Top 20 Countdown and GAC's Top Twenty Country Countdown, too--we think Bucky's video is an award-caliber work of art...)

Finally, if you haven't been to the "tour memories" post at Bucky's official MySpace blog, head over there now--some excellent shots by some very talented fans are posted, including a sweet smile-inducing snap of Bucky wearing a fan's cowboy hat by the very kind Cathy Anne. (Technical issues prevented me from being able to post that fun photo here, so go see it there--it's a keeper. Thanks, Cathy Anne!) If you haven't done it already, now's a great time to add Bucky Covington as a MySpace friend--it's a perfect way to stay in the know with bulletins, blog posts and more.

Have a fantastic Friday--see you soon!