A New Year's greeting from Bucky Covington (link to video) and a little mystery...

Rocky Covington, Kevin Wood and Bucky Covington during soundcheck at Keller's Saloon in Castalian Springs, Tennessee; photo by our gracious friend Happydays.

Bucky Covington wished us all a safe and happy 2013 in a new video posted at Facebook--head on over there now and check it out!

You can enjoy Bucky live, loud and on stage later on this week; he's doing a free 21-up show at the Mohegan Sun Wolf Den in Uncasville, CT (directions) on January 6th, and he'll join a big slate of Nashville's notables at Music In Motion: a Benefit for the Mid-South Chapter of the MS Society at 3rd and Lindsley on January 8th (tickets on sale now at TicketWeb.com.)

What's in store for Bucky and his fans as 2013 gets into gear? The new year is full of anticipation and a touch of music-biz mystery, as well. We're pretty excited about--and proud of--the wild viral video splash Bucky and Shooter Jennings made with "Drinking Side of Country" this past fall and winter. (The song and video continue to rock the ballot at CMT Pure's Pure 12 Pack, where Bucky and Shooter currently have the #8 spot...click that red button at right, vote now and keep the ball rolling!)  Bucky also graced GAC's Top 50 Videos of 2012 list; if you missed the airdates for the countdown, check out this list of repeat times.

We loved seeing so much of Bucky on video in 2012...and we also wish we could have heard more of him on the county radio airwaves in 2012, too.  With a trio of excellent recent singles ("A Father's Love", "I Wanna Be That Feeling" and "Drinking Side of Country" are all chart-worthy hits in my admittedly biased opinion), lots of rockin' live shows, the critically-praised (and fan-beloved) new album Good Guys,  and plenty of face time on TV and as the spokesman for Help The Good Guys, Bucky's star is on the rise as 2013 dawns.  But we devoted Bucky Covington fans want it all--and all includes lots of lots and lots of lovely country radio airplay.

Bucky Covington on stage in Hillsboro, IL; photo by the very kind Judy Lang. Thanks again, Judy!

Can we make it happen all by ourselves?  Nope--but we can and do definitely help by letting our local stations know that we want to hear Bucky on the air and at those hot-ticket station-sponsored shows.  We fans are not management or a label, of course, and we don't have the financial resources or the Nashville clout, but we do have something that can't be replaced, and that no country performer can succeed without:  loyalty.

Whether we're going through rough seas or smooth sailing in the music biz (and heaven knows we've seen both sides, and everything in between) we're on this journey for the long haul.  When you really believe in an artist and his or her talents, hanging in there and doing your best to support your favorite is as natural as breathing.  We're not sure what 2013 has in store for us, but we are sure we'll be right here to cheer, vote, request, pack the house and enjoy our "mania" for another 365 and beyond.  It's still good to be us!

See you tomorrow--enjoy the night, everybody!