Friday news: GAC Top 50, Grammy musings, "Kick'n Up Kountry" and more...

By request, Bucky Covington and Caitlin Evanson on stage at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, 11/17; this beautiful image was captured by our very talented friend Trish. Thank you so much! (Scroll down for another fun shot by Trish...) Bucky Covington's debut CD is in stores now, and his music videos are 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 versions of his singles 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.

Edited to add a ticket alert--seats for the February 1st Trace Adkins American Man tour stop in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (Bucky Covington is opening ) are available starting today at the War Memorial Arena box office (ticket request form available here) or charge by phone at 1-800-243-8499. The local number is 536-5156.

We'll start things off with a trip over to Team Covington ,where Kathy's got a link to some interesting Grammy-nomination musings from the Dallas Morning News. Definitely a bit of food for thought...

There's also more good news on the summer concert front for 2008--Bucky Covington's just been announced as one of the performers for this year's Kick'n Up Kountry Music Fest in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. He'll be part of the fun on Saturday, August 30th, and information about early bird tickets is right here. Bucky's definitely in demand on the festival circuit in 2008; we'll keep an eye out for more news about how you can enjoy some sunshine and good times with Bucky as the weather gets warm and the music scene gets hot.

Bucky's hot on lots of lists, lately. Besides Wednesday's exceedingly prestigious New Faces of Country Music nod at CRS-39 (see Wednesday evening post for the full scoop), he's also a hot name at Gruvr, where he comes in at number 7 on the Most Followed Bands list. This is an all-genre list, which makes it that much more impressive! Bucky's fans were early adopters at Gruvr--we love hearing and seeing him live, and the animated Gruvr map is a genuinely cool way of finding out where he'll be next. You can also set up a one-click email alert (no sign-up required) to be notified when new dates are added. And of course, if you're a MySpace friend of Bucky's, you're already very familiar with Gruvr--he's got the map posted right there on his profile.

Another top nod deserves a click and a celebration, too--NEW! Discover Music chose Bucky as one of their NEW! Best of 2007 Top Five Artists, and there's a snazzy Best of NEW Country streaming player to mark the occasion. You can also hear Bucky and his fellow honorees by clicking that banner below--happy listening!

Raisin' the Bar, the soon to-be-legendary tour featuring rising stars Bucky Covington, Jason Michael Carroll and Cole Deggs & the Lonesome makes its second to last stop at the Crocodile Rock Café in Allentown, PA today; you might still be able to snag a last minute seat at Ticketmaster. Bucky, Jason and Cole celebrate a smash hit sweep of the country tomorrow at Rams Head Live! in Baltimore (tickets may still be available at the venue's online box office), and that promises to be a very special night--stay tuned!


GAC's Top 50 Videos of the Year poll ends today--so now's our last chance to give "A Different World" and "It's Good to Be Us" a pair of spots on the show! The winning music videos will be aired on GAC from December 27 through New Years Day at 9 p.m ET each night--vote now, recruit a friend or two, and tune in...

Other voting opportunities are at hand, too; About.com's Country Music category Top Singles poll is in full swing and "A Different World" is faring quite well in the stats so far. And as always, Bucky's video for "Its Good to Be Us" is looking for some love-- watch it now at CMT, and vote for it on GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown, CMT's Top 20 Countdown and at CMT's Pure Country Pure 12-Pack.

In radio news, Bucky's exciting single is lookin' good at #28 on both the Mediabase weighted and Top 500 charts, with big bullets that suggest yet another hop upstairs might be coming this weekend. Keep requesting "It's Good to Be Us" at your favorite local or streaming country stations, and keep Lia, The Big Time with Whitney Allen , Danny Wright All Night, After Midnite or your favorite syndicated show in mind this evening and all weekend long. It's fun to give Bucky a national-style shoutout!


Caitlin Evanson and Bucky Covington on stage at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville. 11/17; awesome photo by Trish. Thanks again!

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is bringing some Christmas cheer to your radio, too--it's currently #100 with a bullet on the weighted chart, and moves up to a bulleted #107 on the Top 500. Haven't heard this rockin' little carol yet? Check it out now at Bucky's MySpace, and snap up the digital single at WalMart Music, Yahoo Music and iTunes.

Finally, a couple of TV reminders and a 2008 preview to round up this very busy news week. You'll be able to catch Bucky's hosting gig on Music City Madness 2 again tomorrow morning at 8:30 ET on CMT. Christmas at the Tennessee, a beautiful holiday concert special starring Deana Carter, Julie Roberts, Blue County, Steve Azar and Bucky Covington, re-airs Sunday night at 8 p.m. on GAC. For more on Bucky's touring plans for the rest of 2007 and into the new year, bookmark the tour page at his official website, and stop in at our December/January Concert Roundup for detailed information on upcoming shows.

We'll close with a peek at Bucky's 2008 schedule so far--all dates subject to change, naturally, but good times are indeed guaranteed!

January 11 and 12th, 2008: Sound and Speed*, Nashville [tickets]
January 12: Grand Ole Opry, Nashville [tickets]
January 31: Opening for Trace Adkins, Lowell, Mass. [on sale 12/14]*
February 1: Opening for Trace Adkins, Johnstown PA [tickets]
May 3-4: Stagecoach Festival , Indio, California [tickets]
May 28-31: Winfield Country Roundup, Winfield, Kansas [tickets]
June 5-8: CMA Fest, Nashville, Tennessee [tickets]
June 26th: Country USA, Oshkosh, Wisconsin [ticket info]
June 27th: Countryfest 2008 , Cadott, Wisconsin [tickets]
June 28th: Country Stampede, Manhattan, Kansas [tickets]
August 30th: Kick'n Up Kountry, Thief River Falls, Minnesota [tickets]

More soon--have a fantastic Friday!