Saturday news: Bucky Covington at Countryfest 2008, sending some love to "It's Good to Be Us" and more...

Bucky Covington enjoys the spotlight on stage at the State Theatre in State College, Pennsylvania; photo by Happydays. Click the image to see more of her beautiful shots from that show. Thanks again, Happydays! Bucky Covington's debut CD is in stores now, and his music video for "It's Good to Be Us" 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 his music atCMT 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.

Saturday begins with some great news for Bucky Covington fans in Wisconsin--head over to the official Countryfest site, where Bucky's listed as one of the performers for the 2008 festival in Cadott, Wisconsin. He'll be appearing on Friday, June 27th, and VIP Tickets and camping are available now by phone--call the Countryfest office at 1-800-326-337. General Admission Tickets and camping will go on sale Saturday, December 1st at 8:00 AM. Bucky's exciting performances during his very first festival season this past summer seem to be attracting some high profile return (and new) engagements--a very good sign. We told you he was a hot ticket, y'all...

And with the big spring and summer festivals just a few months away, the memories of this year's Raisin' the Bar tour will be even sweeter--there's no time like the present to enjoy Bucky, Rocky, Don, Shaun and Hans close-up and personal. Check out the remaining dates below, and make plans to catch Bucky Covington, Jason Michael Carroll and Cole Deggs & the Lonesome when they raise a bar near you!

November 10 The Intersection Grand Rapids, MI [TM]
November 16 Longbranch Saloon Raleigh, NC*
November 17 Wildhorse Saloon Nashville, TN [TM]
November 23 Coyote Joe’s Charlotte, NC [tickets]
November 24 The Blind Horse Saloon Greenville, SC [tickets]
November 28 Uncle Ron's, Lincoln NE (402) 474-2332
November 30 Beaumont Club Kansas City, MO [TM]
December 1 Billy Bob’s Texas Fort Worth, TX (11/5 at [TM])
December 5 Northern Lights Clifton Park, NY [tickets]
December 6 Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse Burgettstown, PA [TM]
December 7 Crocodile Rock Café Allentown, PA [TM]
December 8 Rams Head Live! Baltimore, MD [tickets]

There's another side to all this heavy touring, of course; Bucky's new single, "It's Good to Be Us", is getting a great live workout (and from all accounts, an excellent reception) every night on those stages. Bucky's supporting it 100% out on the road--how can we, his fans, support it even better here at home?

It's been mentioned before, and its importance cannot be overstated-- the best way to show some love to Bucky's new single is to call our local country radio stations with a request for "It's Good to Be Us". Our emails are good, but calls from a local listener are even better--either way, letting our hometown stations know that we love this song and want to hear it more often (and we do!) is a number-one priority. Shy about calling? Try imagining the DJ sitting at the mic in his or her underwear. (Just kidding! Then again, if that helps you get up the courage to pick up the phone...)

Requests to nationally syndicated shows like Lia, After Midnite, The Big Time with Whitney Allen, Danny Wright All Night, Bo Reynolds Show are also a huge help--not only do our requests help Bucky's song get played on lots of stations at once, they help him reach many ears in areas where the playlists are so restricted that he might not be heard otherwise until he hits Top 25 or higher. In some metro areas, Lia and her colleagues are offering their listeners their only chance to hear Bucky's new tune during the course of the radio day. So if your town has the pleasure of spending the evening with one of these fine radio hosts on weeknights or weekends--or if you're a happy online listener--dial up, email and share the Covington goodness. You might even win a prize, or get your name (or your voice!) on the air.

And now that Bucky and Trey Fanjoy have released a beautiful new video to go along with the exciting new single, we've got the option of TV countdown voting, as well. Here's a quick guide, with links, to the big three:

GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown is a completely fan voted chart--we can hit the ballot once every 24 hours. According to GAC's site: "Fans can vote for up to 5 of their favorite videos once every 24 hours at GACTV.com.. Voting runs from 10am on Monday and runs for one week, ending at 10am the following Monday. Votes are then tabulated and the Top 20 Country Countdown show is recorded." Show Bucky's video a little affection every morning, then tune in every Friday night at 8 p.m. ET to see how he's doing.


CMT's Top 20 Countdown is determined by a number of different factors--Bucky's overall popularity on the CMT site (including how often his video is viewed at CMT Loaded and how busy the posting is at his message board ) are said to be a part of the mix, and there's also a viewer's poll which plays a part. From CMT: "Voting opens at 3 p.m. ET on each Thursday and closes at midnight the following Tuesday. Remember, you can only vote once, so make it count." The countdown airs every Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET, with several repeats through the weekend. (The show itself has a message board, too.)

CMT Pure Country's Pure 12-Pack Countdown airs on CMT's digital channel; the chart is entirely fan-voted and you can cast your vote anytime. (The poll is closed on Thursdays, but you can give Bucky some unlimited affection there the rest of the week.) The countdown airs on CMT Pure Country on Fridays at 9:00 p.m. ET, with repeats all week long.

And even though it isn't a countdown, it is a voting opportunity of a time-sensitive, slightly maddening sort--CMT's Power Picks is a head-to-head video challenge program in which the winning video gets shown immediately after the voting ends on CMT.com. Matchups are sometimes (but not always) announced ahead of time, and the voting is done on the spot during the show, whch runs from 12 noon to 1 p.m. ET. If you have a steady, quick mouse-clicking hand, a free lunch hour and a love of fast paced fun, this one's for you!

The video voting does have an impact on the charts--a video play counts the same as a radio play--but the video exposure also helps the song reach those all-important new ears that may not have had a chance to hear it on the radio just yet. All the support we can give--radio requests, video voting, going to Bucky's live shows and spreading the priceless word-of-mouth about our favorite rising country star--works together and plays a big part in his long term success.

Which brings us to two very subjective but crucial ways to show Bucky's new single--and his entire career--some love. We can have fun...and we can keep the faith.

Bucky's given us a lot to be proud of over the past twelve months. In early November '06, we had snippets of a few songs during a Fox 8 interview, no confirmation of a recording contract, and the vague hope of a surprise show at the Carolina Grill. Since then, we've enjoyed: a beautiful Christmas tour sponsored by GAC, a January single that went on to be a Top 5 smash; a #1 spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart (and the highest selling debut by a new male country artist since Billy Ray Cyrus' Some Gave All), high-profile positive album reviews in the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly among many others, two CMA Fest performance slots, including a set in front of 60,000-plus people at LP Field, numerous national TV appearances, a killer summer festival tour, a hot-ticket fall/winter club tour, and this past Wednesday's presenting slot at the CMA Awards...and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

It really, really is good to be us!

(Photo by Minnie--click here to see more of her beautiful concert shots.)

It seems counter- intuitive, but I believe it's true--the more fun we have with this-- the more we focus on the incredibly joyful, musically gratifying aspects of being a fan of one of the most amazingly cool new country singers ever--the more supportive and effective we're going to be. It's time to let that high anxiety of the Idol days go for good. Bucky Covington is in this for the long haul, and he's proving that every day out on the road and having fun in the process. We can have fun with this, too--voting and requesting with a passion, watching his singles hit the charts and go through their natural fluctuations with faith and confidence in our hearts and an eye on that big, beautiful, "20-year career" picture...a picture that is looking exceedingly good these days.

More soon!--Winnie