Thursday news: Southern hospitality, a mystery in Michigan, chartgazing and more

By request, Bucky Covington shares a smile during the KMLE Pre-Show Party at the Cricket Wireless Pavilion in Phoenix; photo by the fabulous Sunscreen of the Bucky Truck Stop at Rawkhands. Click the image to see many more of her beautiful Phoenix shots. Thanks again, Sunscreen! Bucky Covington's debut CD is in stores now, and his music video for "A Different World" 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. A copy of Bucky Covington can be ordered at his official site or via his official fan club.

This article in the Southeast Sun about Bucky's visit to New Brockton, Alabama is a sweet one--figuratively and literally. What could be better than being greeted with lots of affection and a luscious home baked caramel cake?

New Brockton, Ala. may be a long way from Rockingham, N.C., but rising country star Bucky Covington said “it feels like home” after enjoying a taste of homemade caramel cake baked by one of hundreds of fans eager to impress the American Idol finalist with a bit of small town Southern hospitality last Friday.

“I love performing in small towns like this where the people enjoy good music,” Bucky said with a smile and hugs for local admirers Jennie Rhodes, Ann Day and Gloria Jones. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Rhodes and her friends were the first to greet Bucky as he came off his tour bus and made his way to the football field at New Brockton High School for a sound check with his band.

Don't miss that great photo of Bucky with his very kind New Brockton fans! (Many thanks to Buckyflowers for sharing the link.)

Bucky, Rocky, Don, Shaun and Hans have had a heavy year of touring small towns and big cities, and as Bucky and Jason Michael Carroll hinted during their fun joint interview on After Midnite in the wee hours of this morning, it might get heavier still, with talk of a few possible Raisin' the Bar dates in early 2008. (If you missed the radio show, hurry over to Team Covington now--Kathy's got the link to the After Midnite audio vault, where we're both hoping this interview will be posted soon.) In the meantime, there's a bit of mystery about a date on the already-scheduled list. About.com's country music category has a new article about the tour with an 11/8 Detroit stop at a "to be announced" venue; this one's also listed on Jason Michael Carroll's official site. So far, this date isn't on Bucky's official schedule--but if you're a fan living in the Detroit area, it might be an excellent idea to keep November the 8th free, just in case...(Updated--mystery solved. See our post above, and get ready for a great night in the Motor City!)

And you'll definitely want to keep your radio turned on! Bucky's new single. "It's Good to Be moved up a notch to #37 on the Mediabase Top 500. It's still holding firm at #39 on the weighted chart...and as we always say, there is no such thing as a too-big bullet. Keep requesting "It's Good to Be Us" at your favorite local or streaming country station, keep an ear out for your local "Top X at X", and keep those great syndicated country radio shows in mind, too.

We'll wind things down for now with a few links to some ongoing-- and upcoming-- events. Bucky's video interview at AmericanIdol.com should be available soon; fans at the message boards there asked him some great questions, and we're looking forward to his replies. In the meantime, be sure to check out his official fan thread at AI.com! There's also an ongoing audio Q&A at Bucky's official MySpace blog; add Bucky as a MySpace friend, ask him a question of your own in his blog's comments section and stay tuned-- he'll be replying as time permits. And over at the CMT board for Bucky, you'll find plenty of recaps, updates and fun.

Rocky Covington's fans have a chance to find out what's on his mind, too--his official site is still taking questions for their next Q and A feature. Leave your burning question in the guestbook there and you may get an answer from Rocky himself!

Finally, if you're in the market for an autographed guitar signed by Bucky, or show tickets, airfare, and a free hotel room and the chance to introduce Bucky on stage at an upcoming concert (and who isn't?) click here to find out more about the VIP Country Music Experience that the fine folks at Denny's have cooked up for you. See you there...

More very soon--have a great Thursday!