Friday news: the bullets are back (again!), ticket news, anniversary musings and more...

Bucky Covington and Ducky Medlock (on right) at the State Theatre in State College, Pennsylvania, 8/11; photo by the very generous Happydays. Click the image to enjoy her Photobucket album of shots from the show. Thanks again, Happy!

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A big dollop of good news starts off the weekend today--Bucky Covington's "It's Good to Be Us" is back in positive territory at #14 (with two bullets) on the Mediabase weighted and Top 500 charts! Huge thanks to all--we'll keep that momentum going. The syndicated weekend shows are big opportunities to keep that Top 10 surge rolling--and of course, today's "Top X at X", lunchtime request hours and local evening shows are perfect spots for a bit of Bucky on your radio. It's shaping up to be an exciting chart week, indeed...

Here's a quick look today's other news:

Upcoming shows: The Denver Post's Arts and Entertainment page bears this announcement: Dierks Bentley will continue his trend of playing massive Colorado venues when he brings his country rock to the World Arena in Colorado Springs on April 25, with Bucky Covington and Lee Brice. Tickets are on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. ($27.50-$35, TicketsWest.com) Sounds like a winner!

A reminder about two other on-sale dates this weekend: tickets for the April 26 Throttle Wide Open concert at the E Center in West Valley City, Utah (also featuring Lee Brice) go on sale today at 10:00 a.m. local time at Smithstix.com, and by phone at (801) 467-8499 or 1-800-888-8499. And tomorrow at 10 a.m. Las Vegas time, grab your ticket for Dierks and Bucky's May 2 show at the Red Rock Resort Sandbar at the Station Casinos online box office, or locally at the Red Rock box office on 11011 W. Charleston Blvd in Las Vegas (map).

Tickets for most of Dierks Bentley's Throttle Wide Open dates are available now at Ticketmaster--check Dierks' official website for details on non-Ticketmaster events. Seats for the Jackson, TN Dierks Bentley concert on April 3rd are available at the City of Jackson site.

Bucky and his excellent band will rock the Buffalo Bar in St. Joseph, MO on Friday, March 21. Tickets are limited, but you may be able to snag one at Biggins Sports Bar & Grill (816 232-4450) and at the Buffalo Bar at (816) 390-8444--hurry!

On April 9, catch Bucky and the band at the Williamson County Pavilion in Marion, Illinois; tickets are $25, and they're on sale now at Black Diamond Harley Davidson in Marion, Clayship Guitars in Carbondale and Main Street Records in Mount Vernon. (Yes, Bucky's a busy guy, but we couldn't be happier about that...)

Another "most-requested" video--here's Bucky Covington rockin' the Wildhorse Saloon with a killer version of "Bible and the Belt"; video courtesy of hourglass 131. Thanks for the email!

On the tube and around the net: Bucky's next "It's Good to Be Us" quiz question will be posted at his MySpace blog at 4 p.m today. The first MySpace poster who answers the question correctly in Bucky's MySpace comments wins an autographed picture and a grand prize entry, and one random winner of those same prizes will be chosen from all the posters who've answered the question correctly--but you've got to post your answer in the blog before Bucky's quiz-solving video appears.

The grand prize winner gets two concert tickets and a pair of meet and greet tickets, too. Watch Bucky's video for "It's Good to Be Us", and stand by for your chance to win!

There are still some great CRS-related articles out there: the Grand Rapids Press interviewed Doug Montgomery, program director for B93, who gave the New Faces show high marks and favorably noted Bucky's "energy on stage." Another fun quote: "This is the first year I can remember when no one's career was over after the show," Montgomery said. "If I had paid to see the show, I would have felt that it was money well spent."

CountryHound.com's New Faces wrapup is a charmer, too; their writer observed the "responsive" crowd and added, "Bucky Covington, meanwhile, had them attentive to his emotional rendition of his uplifting ballad, 'I'll Walk,' which Covington delivered as he sat on the edge of the stage."

Many thanks to The Covington Times for the sweet anniversary wishes! (The screencap of Bucky singing "Wave on Wave" is a special one for me--that was the performance that inspired me to pick up the phone and vote, and to log into Blogger and start up Buckymania. That guy could sing!) The Times also features a great Rocky Covington shot by Danna and a fun look back at that now-legendary "Superstition" performance...which rocked.

Midask9's It's Good to Be Us blog is graced with more of her amazing concert shots today (click those images for big, wallpaper-sized views), along with a very good explanation of how the whole "bullet thing" works on Mediabase. Many thanks for the info--it's appreciated...

Finally, big congrats to our good friend Robin for being named Fan of the Week at Bucky's official fan club! (Mini unpaid commercial: click here for more info on the fan club. With meet and greet opportunities, full forum access, merchandise discounts and more, it's a great gift for the Bucky Covington fan in your world...)

Bucky Covington, Ducky Medlock and Steve Cook rock the crowd at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis; photo by the very generous Buckaholic. See more of her beautiful images at Photobucket. Thanks again!

Vote for Bucky: Our very first post two years ago was an "encouragement" to call the American Idol lines and vote for Bucky--some thngs never change! But it's even more fun supporting Bucky Covington's second hit single; so we'll show "It's Good to Be Us" some love and affection at GAC Top 20 Country Countdown and at CMT's Top 20 Countdown.

And what better what to cap off these two years than with Bucky's first major award? If you've been here since '06, chances are you knew Bucky Covington had the talent and the drive to do exactly what he's doing now--making a name for himself in Nashville, racking up a hit album and hit singles, touring and charming concert crowds from coast to coast. Mid-April of 2006 found him giving post-Idol interviews in which he spoke of a possible Nashville career. (It also found Mark Miller's company contacting the Richmond County Daily Journal about Bucky...and we all know how beautifully that turned out!)

(Photo by Aaron Crisler/Music City Update.com)

Fast-forward two years (two years filled with hard work, steady touring and fantastic music) and we're looking at Bucky Covington, #1 male debut country artist of 2007, CRS New Face, and 2008 CMT Music Awards nominee. Seeing him on that CMT stage, smiling with that belt buckle in hand, would be the perfect way to celebrate two years of excitement, music and flat-out fun. Register at CMT and vote now---and ask everyone you know to join you!

More soon--have a fun Friday!