Thursday news: Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Photo by Honeygirl--click to see more!

Wishing you a Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, food and fun! A big hearty thank you to all the wonderful readers, lurkers, e-mail buddies, Bucky Covington fans and true friends I have come to know during the past year and a half of Buckymania; to the various record company, radio station, magazine, TV network and newspaper interns who drop in on a regular basis (we love you!); and of course, to Bucky and Rocky Covington and their kind family, friends, bandmates, 0-Seven, MCN and Lyric Street--you are truly appreciated this Thanksgiving and every day! Thank you for the joy--and for the beautiful music.

A tiny lil' news sweep for the holiday:

Here's a note from Lyric Street about how Bucky will be spending Thanksgiving today: "After a busy year of touring, Bucky Covington is looking forward to heading home to Rockingham, NC to spend Thanksgiving with his family. He enjoys being the one to deep fry the turkey, but admits that his family 'won't let me carve it, I still can't play with knives.'"


He can still play a mean guitar, though! And he'll be joining Jason Michael Carroll and Cole Deggs & the Lonesome to do just that on Friday night, when the Raisin' the Bar tour resumes in Charlotte. Here are the remaining dates for this truly hot show by three of country's rising stars:


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]

Bucky added the honor of being a presenter at the 41st annual CMA Awards to his impressive list of accomplishments in 2007; you can watch the rerun tonight on CMT. The CMA Red Carpet Presented by Chevy re-airs at 7 p.m. ET, and Bucky, Jason Michael Carroll and Luke Bryan present the Vocal Group of the Year award during the CMA Awards ceremony, which begins at 8 p.m. ET. If the turkey puts you to sleep this evening, no worries--CMT will show it again on Friday, 11/23 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET, and on Sunday. 11/25 from 2 to 5 p.m. ET and once more at 9 p.m. to 12 midnight ET.

Once Thanksgiving's over and done with, it's time for Christmas cheer--and GAC's ready to help Bucky's fans out with a slice of sweetness from last year's GAC Christmas Tour. Christmas at the Tennessee stars Deana Carter, Julie Roberts, Blue County, Steve Azar and Bucky Covington, and comedian Henry Cho; it's their edited version of the 2006 GAC Christmas Tour stop in Knoxville at the historic Tennessee Theatre. Bucky's drop-dead bluesy and beautiful "Please Come Home for Christmas" was a big standout, and the televised version features Bucky's talented new bandmate Cailtin Evanson. See it all on GAC December 2nd at 9:30 p.m. ET, with repeats later that week.

One last TV note--it's almost time for Music City Madness! CMT's nationwide talent search promises to be freewheeling fun, especially with Bucky as host. The party starts on December 4th at 10:00 a.m., with lots of chances to see it that week--mark your calendar!

Finally, two must-see stops to get that holiday spirit in high gear--WCNC's sweet story about Bucky's family's pride in his success will put a smile on your face in more ways than one (it's clear where he got his great sense of humor!) and Bucky's brand new rockin' rendition of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" at his MySpace will have you dancing around the table. What better way to work off that pumpkin pie?

We'll close with the usual reminders--depending upon whether or not your local station has holiday programming going today, a request for "It's Good to Be Us" might be a cool way to brighten up your holiday soundtrack. (Hey, the sentiment's certainly fitting for Thanksgiving.) And if you want to sneak away from the cooking for a moment to give Bucky some applause at GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown, at CMT's Top 20 Countdown, and at the GAC Top 50 Videos of the Year poll, we won't stop you...

And there can never be too many gifts from the heart this season--stop in at the Operation Home MySpace to find out how you can give music and a slice of home to servicemen and women around the globe.

But first, foremost and best, enjoy this holiday with the ones you love. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all--see you on Friday!