Curb Records and Tim McGraw might be parting ways, but the label still has his last album in the can. “Better Than I Used To Be” is the first single from McGraw’s long-awaited Emotional Traffic album, due out January 17, 2012. Meanwhile, McGraw has a holiday song out called “Christmas All Over The World” and plans to release another, new single after the start of the year. He’ll also join Kenny Chesney for the stadium-conquering Brothers of the Sun Tour starting in June. Tickets are selling out rapidly, so act quickly.
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Then there’s Lady Antebellum’s “Dancin’ Away With My Heart,” which is going for immediate airplay. The third single from the group’s third album Own The Night (Capitol Records Nashville), “Dancin’” was written by group members Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood with their “Need You Now” co-writer Josh Kear. Own The Night also recently earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album for the upcoming February honors. Keep an eye out for them as they are scheduled to appear on Good Morning America Wed., Dec. 14 and Live! With Kelly on Thurs., Dec. 15.
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Arista Nashville will start the year off with amps turned to 11, thanks to the January release and add date of Ronnie Dunn’s “Let The Cowboy Rock.” A barroom stomper that walks the fertile land between ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Let The Cowboy Rock” is the third single from Dunn’s self-titled first solo album. Dunn co-wrote the song with white-hot Georgia songwriter Dallas Davidson, who can be found on the current print edition of MusicRow. (Shameless plug time: get a copy here).
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Mercury Nashville’s Canaan Smith is a new face on the scene, and the label is releasing his debut single “We Got Us” for airplay beginning in January. The song was co-written by Smith with Tommy Lee James and Stephen Barker Liles, and he’s currently working with producers Brett Beavers and Luke Wooten.
