Thursday news: pictures, polls, changes and more...

By request, some "sunshine and summertime" shots for a wintery Thursday. Bucky Covington on stage at twilight at the Big Spring Jam in Huntsville; photo by Happydays. Click the image to see more of her great shots from that show. Thanks again, Happydays! Bucky Covington's debut CD is in stores now, and his music videos for "It's Good to Be Us" and "A Different World" 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 version 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.

It's quiet now, but the live, loud fun for Bucky Covington and his fans begins again tomorrow. After a very special event in Virginia today, he'll hit the road again for Friday's show at the Pullo Performing Arts Center in York, PA. (You might find some last-minute tickets here.) Bucky's most recently updated tour calendar is available at his MySpace--stop over there soon, and mark your calendar. You'll definitely want to see and hear Bucky and his excellent band when the tour bus stops near you!

Chart news: "It's Good to Be Us" is racing toward its second week in the Top 20 on both the Mediabase weighted and Top 500 charts, and now Billboard is showing it as #20 on the Hot Country Songs chart with a much-desired Air Power desgination. (Air Power is a sure sign that the radio momentum has kicked in--local country stations with tighter playlists will be a lot more receptive to our calls and emails today and all through the weekend, so be confident when you pick up that phone! We've got our sights set on Top 10 next--we'll keep requesting and voting, and that next vision will be a sweet reality soon...)

In addition, our kind anonymous commenter reprts that Bucky's single is #10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart--way to go, Bucky! (Thanks to our Anon for the great Billboard news.)

On the tube and around the net: "The 101" Sawyer Brown concert featuring Bucky as their special guest reairs today at 11 a.m. on DirecTV. You can break for Bucky's videos three times today on GAC-TV; enjoy "It's Good to Be Us" at about 11:11 a.m. and 7:33 p.m., and catch "A Different World" at 6:27 or so. (Update: I got my GAC Nights episodes mixed up--apologies! Tonight, there's an all new Sound and Speed recap show--see GAC's site for more details.)

Bucky Covington enjoys some sunshine--and applause-- at the Foothills Fall Festival in Maryville, Tennessee on 10/13; photo by Janie. Click the image to see more of her great concert shots. Thanks, Janie!

And looking ahead a bit, CMT is re- peating the 2007 CMA Awards again on Tuesday, January 29th at 7:00 p.m. ET--watching Bucky at that CMA podium with Jason Michael Carrol and Luke Bryan never gets old. (We hope to see him at the podium again later this year...)

Online, today's edition of The Covington Times features an interesting look at the MySpace presence of country's newest stars, including Bucky, and a great shot of Bucky and Rocky Covington in concert that you're sure to love. And hop on over to the AmericanIdol.com Season 5 boards today for a beautiful photo thread filled with memories--and lots of lovely favorite brand new shots--of Bucky and all the unforgettably talented Season Five singers. Bucky's fans are pretty unforgettably talented with their cameras, too!

And of course, there's always time for a poll or two--that very important "Help Bucky choose his next radio single" poll is still in progress at Bucky's official site (vote now, y'all!), and a just-for-fun "Who is your favorite country American Idol" poll is in full swing at the newly launched Fairy Cowgirl country music/fashion blog.

We'll be adding a poll in our sidebar in a little while, too. Buckymania is nearly two years old and long overdue for a facelift. The blog's outgrown its current layout (if that sidebar gets any longer, it'll escape your monitor and spill onto your desk) and while I'm putting the new and improved edition together, I figured I'd take the opportunity to ask you what you'd like to see on this page. Please take the poll (it's anonymous) and let me know--I want this site to be a fun stop for you, always!

Here are those handy video voting links to wind it down for now--watch Bucky's video at CMT, and vote for "It's Good to Be Us" at GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown and at CMT's Top 20 Countdown. (CMT's Pure Country Pure 12-Pack has the day off today, but check back tomorrow...)

More soon--have a wonderful Thursday!