Kenny Chesney, ‘Pirate Flag’ Flies; Brad Paisley’s ‘Super’ Geeky Confession + More: Country Music News Roundup

The Boot rounds up today's country music news from around the web.

Kenny Chesney's "Pirate Flag" hit country radio today. The rebellious anthem, available for download here, gives fans their first taste of the country superstar's upcoming Life on a Rock album. The Boot is excited to announce that we will premiere the "Pirate Flag" video this Thursday, Feb. 7. The clip will bring to life the song's lyrics of trading in the mundane cares of life (if only in your head) for a more exotic, carefree lifestyle of salty air, soft sand and leggy models. "What people might not realize about a lot of the 'babes' in this video is those are my friends, girls I know from the island who did the very thing this song is about – and that freedom from what's expected just makes them shine," Kenny says. "I think there's a little bit of 'Ferris Bueller' in all of us, and this song is all about who we'd be on a perfect day where we just said, 'Forget about it!' So, that's what we tried to capture."

The second annual ACM digital press conference to announce the nominees for this year's Academy of Country Music awards is set for Wednesday, Feb. 13 via social media channels. Among those on hand to help announce the nominees will be the Band Perry, Little Big Town and Scotty McCreery. Nominations will be announced at 6:30 AM PT on Feb. 13 at the ACM Facebook page and via the ACM Twitter feed. The ACM Awards will air live from Las Vegas, Sunday, April 7 at 8:00 PM ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Gloriana will perform their current single "Can't Shake You," with the Roots on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," Friday, Feb. 15. The show airs at 12:35 AM ET. The single is currently in Top 30 and climbing.

While many Super Bowl viewers took to Twitter during the unexpected blackout, Brad Paisley turned off his television and took himself out for a date. The "Southern Comfort Zone" singer told K102's Wakeup Crew that he went to the movies instead of finishing the game. His flick of choice? "The Hobbit." "There is nothing geekier than skipping the Super Bowl and going to see 'The Hobbit,'" laughs Brad, who also admits he wore a Star Trek T-shirt to the movie.

Taylor Swift changed up the scenery for her "Begin Again" video and is giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the Parisian shoot. Click here to see Taylor talk about exploring the romantic French city.

Ash Bowers' new single "Red," an homage to the singer's country roots, has hit radiowaves. The singer is looking to his fans to submit their very own backwoods footage covering all "Red" activities, to be used in the song's upcoming music video. To submit video footage, email fanvideos@wideopenmusic.com.

Lonestar has released the lyric video for their new single, "Maybe Someday," off their forthcoming album Life As We Know It. "The music is still country no matter how you look at it, but there are some songs that have more country elements to them," lead singer Richie McDonald tells the Dunkirk Observer of the new album. "We mixed it up. It's always good to give the fans a little bit of everything."

In an interview with Broadway's Electric Barnyard, Rascal Flatts' Joe Don Rooney defended Blake Shelton's controversial "old farts" comment about people who resist the sonic changes in contemporary country music. "I think his point honestly comes from a good place, he's just kinda having fun with it," Joe Don insists. "Country music does have to evolve and it has evolved to where it is, and it's going to keep evolving into whatever it's going to be."

Two of the cutest girls in show biz, Sophia Grace and Rosie, put their unique spin on Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble." The pint-size cuties performed their rendition on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." Check out the adorable performance below.

Watch Gloriana Discuss Their New Album

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