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Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.

This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales. The chart does not count music downloads towards chart tabulation.

The current number-one song, as of the chart dated for June 9, 2012, is "Somethin' 'bout a Truck" by Kip Moore.^[1]

History[link]

Billboard began compiling the popularity of country songs with its January 8, 1944 issue. Only the genre's most popular jukebox selections were tabulated, with the chart titled "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records." The chart length was not standardized; a given week had anywhere from two to eight positions.

For approximately ten years, from 1948–1958, Billboard used three charts to measure the popularity of a given song. In addition to the jukebox chart, these charts included:

• The "best sellers" chart – started May 15, 1948 as "Best Selling Retail Folk Records." This chart had anywhere from 10-20 positions during its ten-year life, with the number of positions varying each week.
• A "jockeys" chart – started December 10, 1949 as "Country & Western Records Most Played By Folk Disk Jockeys." This chart had anywhere from eight to 15 positions, varying from week to week.

The names of each chart changed slightly during each chart's life. The "jukebox" chart – which by 1956 was known as "Most Played C&W in Juke Boxes" – ended on June 17, 1957. The "best sellers" and "jockeys" charts continued until October 13, 1958.

Starting with the October 20, 1958 issue, Billboard began combining sales and radio airplay in figuring a song's overall popularity, counting them in one single chart called "Hot C&W Sides." The chart began with a standard length of 30 positions each week. The name of the chart, and the number of positions varied through the years: Its name was switched to "Hot Country Singles" on November 3, 1962; it was expanded to 50 slots on January 11, 1964; then 75 on October 15, 1966; and finally 100 beginning July 14, 1973.

On January 20, 1990, the Hot Country Singles chart was reduced back to 75 positions and began to be compiled entirely from information provided by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, a system which electronically monitors radio airplay of songs. Four weeks later, on February 17, the chart was retitled "Hot Country Singles & Tracks." Beginning with the January 13, 2001 issue, the chart was cut from 75 to 60 positions, and effective April 30, 2005 the chart was renamed "Hot Country Songs".

From its inception in 1973 through August 2009, American Country Countdown used this chart in its programming, using the top 40 singles/tracks on it for each week.

Chart policies[link]

This section requires expansion.

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

As with most other Billboard charts, the Hot Country Songs chart features a rule for when a song enters recurrent rotation. Starting with the chart week of December 2, 2006, a song is declared recurrent on the country charts if it has been on the charts longer than twenty weeks; is not gaining in spins or audience impressions; and is lower than #10 in rank for either audience impressions or spins.^[2] Since December 2008, any song that has not shown an increase in audience or spins for more than two weeks is also declared recurrent, even if it has not charted for twenty weeks.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Whitburn, Joel. Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition. 2006.

External links[link]

• Billboard Hot Country Songs chart – online version.

See also[link]

• List of number-one country hits (United States)
• American Country Countdown
• List of Billboard Hot Country Songs chart achievements
• List of years in country music
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. country chart

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (August 2011)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Country Songs, Old and New is the debut album by the progressive bluegrass band Country Gentlemen, recorded in 1960 and reissued in 1991.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Track listing[link]

1. Roving Gambler (trad.) 3:07
2. Little Sparrow (Duffey) 3:31
3. Drifting Too Far 3:27
4. Weeping Willow (York) 2:01
5. Tomorrow's My Wedding Day 2:09
6. Story of Charlie Lawson 3:03
7. Turkey Knob (Adcock) 2:18
8. Paul and Sila (trad.) 2:26
9. Ellen Smith (De Graff) 2:13
10. Long Black Veil (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin) 3:35
11. Honkey Tonk Rag (Duffey) 2:26
12. Jesse James 2:35
13. Have Thine Own Way 2:51
14. Good Woman's Love (Coben) 3:25
15. Double Eagle 2:54
16. Darling Alalee 2:04

Personnel[link]

• Charlie Waller - guitar, vocals
• John Duffey - mandolin, vocals
• Eddie Adcock - banjo, vocals
• Jim Cox - bass, vocals

References[link]

External links[link]

• http://www.lpdiscography.com/c/Cgentlemen/cgent.htm

v t e Bluegrass music Typical instruments Acoustic guitar · Banjo · Dobro · Fiddle · Mandolin · Upright bass Stylistic origins Blues · Country music · Folk music · Old-time music Sub- and fusion genres Traditional bluegrass · Progressive bluegrass · Bluegrass gospel · Czech bluegrass Notable festivals Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom Festival · California Bluegrass Association Father's Day Bluegrass Festival · Delfest · Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival · High Sierra Music Festival · Kentucky Festival of the Bluegrass · Merlefest · San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival · South Carolina State Bluegrass Festival · River City Bluegrass Festival · Rockygrass · Telluride Bluegrass Festival · Wintergrass Other International Bluegrass Music Museum · International Bluegrass Music Association · International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame · Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America · Bluegrass Unlimited Category · Portal

Keith Urban
Keith Urban performing at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan 2 November 2007
Background information
Birth name	Keith Lionel Urban[1]
Born	(1967-10-26) 26 October 1967 (age 44) Whangarei, New Zealand
Origin	Caboolture, Queensland, Australia
Genres	Country, country rock, southern rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, Banjo, piano, bass, mandolin, bouzouki, Ebow, drums, sitar
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Capitol Records Nashville
Associated acts	The Ranch, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dann Huff, Radney Foster, John Butler Trio, John Mayer, Trisha Yearwood, Nelly Furtado, John Fogerty, Bon Jovi, Carrie Underwood, Richard Marx
Website	KeithUrban.net

Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is a Australian country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album, and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States in 1992. Eventually, Urban found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Records and charted two singles on the Billboard country charts.

Still signed to Capitol, he made his solo American debut in 1999 with the album Keith Urban. Certified platinum in the U.S., it also produced his first American Number One in "But for the Grace of God". His breakthrough hit was the Number One "Somebody Like You", from his second Capitol album Golden Road (2002). This album also earned Urban his first Grammy Award win for "You'll Think of Me", its fourth single and the fourth Billboard Number One of his career. 2004's Be Here, his third American album, produced three more Number Ones, and became his highest-selling album, earning 4× Multi-Platinum certification. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing was released in 2006, producing the record-setting No.17 country chart debut of "Once in a Lifetime", as well as Urban's second Grammy for the song "Stupid Boy", while a Greatest Hits package entitled Greatest Hits: 18 Kids followed in late 2007. This album was re-released a year later as Greatest Hits: 19 Kids with one track added: the number one "You Look Good in My Shirt", which he had previously recorded on Golden Road. Additional albums Defying Gravity and Get Closer were released on 31 March 2009 and 16 November 2010, respectively.

Urban has released a total of nine studio albums (one of which was released only in the United Kingdom), as well as one album in The Ranch. He has charted more than fifteen singles on the U.S. country charts, including fourteen Number Ones. Urban plays acoustic and electric guitar, as well as banjo, bass guitar, mandolin, piano, sitar, bouzouki and drums.

Life and career[link]

Background[link]

Keith Urban

Keith Lionel Urban was born in Whangarei, New Zealand but later moved and lived with his parents in Caboolture, Queensland, Australia. By age six, Urban was already thinking about getting into the music business. He began learning the techniques at age seven and began winning young singing contests by age eight.

A few years later he began to make inroads into the Australian country music scene with regular appearances on the Reg Lindsay Country Homestead TV Program, Mike McClellan's Music Program and various other TV Programs performing in duet with Jenny Wilson, local Brisbane girl with whom he won a golden guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. He also performed regularly on stage at the Northern Suburbs Country Music Club near Caboolture.

In 1990, Urban signed with EMI in Australia and recorded his first solo album, which charted four No. 1 country hits in Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. Urban toured as a back-up to Slim Dusty in 1993-4. In the mid 1990s, Dusty and Urban recorded a re-worked duet of Dusty's classic "Lights on the Hill" and Urban appeared for the first time at the Grand Ole Opry backing Dusty.^[2]

In 1992, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he found work as a guitarist for Brooks & Dunn and can be seen backing Alan Jackson in his music video for "Mercury Blues". Later, Urban formed The Ranch, a three-piece group that released one album in 1997. Originally the front man for The Ranch, Urban disbanded the group to pursue a solo career in 1998. In 1999, Urban found "Vocal Coach to the Stars" Brett Manning, and worked with him up until 2001.

In August 2000, Urban was the first male New Zealand performer to reach the top 10 on the U.S. country chart with "Your Everything". At the time he was spelling his name "keith urban".^[3]

In Nashville, Urban became a frequent user of cocaine.^[4] After reaching a personal nadir in 1998, he became determined to give up the habit and checked into Cumberland Heights, a treatment center in Nashville. After cleaning up, Urban released his self-titled American debut in 1999, which produced three top 5 hits and secured for him the Top New Male Vocalist Award at the 2001 Academy of Country Music Awards and the 2001 Country Music Association's Horizon Award. Widely regarded for his guitar skills, has performed as a session musician on albums such as Garth Brooks' Double Live, Dixie Chicks' Fly, and Paul Brandt's This Time Around.^{[citation needed]}

Urban performed "Lights on the Hill" for Tamworth's 2004 tribute concert following the death of Australia's Slim Dusty, an artist whom Urban had both written for and covered.^[5][6]

Urban was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards.^[7][8]

[edit] Golden Road & Be Here

Urban released Golden Road in 2002, and the success of the single "Somebody Like You" sent his career into high gear. Touring as a supporting act for renowned country acts Brooks & Dunn, Martina McBride and Kenny Chesney honed Urban's skills and stage-craft. Country video channel CMT signed on as the title sponsor of Urban's first headlining arena tour titled Keith Urban Be Here '04 with opening act Katrina Elam. Urban continued his meteoric rise to fame in 2005 with a very successful tour with Elam called Alive in '05. He performed in the Live 8 Philadelphia concert on 2 July 2005 and had been selected by The Gap to appear alongside seven other musical artists in their "Favorites" campaign. He was named the 2005 CMA's Male Vocalist of the Year. He released a DVD in late September 2005 entitled Livin' Right Now, recorded in at the Wiltern Theater in California in December 2004.

In 2005 Urban performed in front of European audiences for the first time. In May Urban supported Bryan Adams on his UK and Ireland tour, which included dates in Earls Court, London, SECC, Glasgow and The Point, Dublin. On 6 June a UK only album, Days Go By was released, this album contained songs from both Be Here and Golden Road .

In October, Urban returned for a headlining tour with Nerina Pallot and Richard Winsland as support acts.

Urban has recently performed "Better Life" on the CMA Awards and "You'll Think of Me" on the American Music Awards. He also performed at the Grammys playing "You'll Think of Me" and "The Lucky One" with Faith Hill. At the 2006 ACM Awards Urban performed "Tonight I Wanna Cry" and played guitar for Brooks & Dunn's song "Believe."

[edit] Love, Pain, & The Whole Crazy Thing

On Monday 21 August 2006, Urban made history when his new single "Once in a Lifetime" debuted at #17, setting a new record for the highest-debuting country single in the 62-year history of Billboard's country charts. The record was formerly held by Garth Brooks' "Good Ride Cowboy" and Eddie Rabbitt's "Every Which Way But Loose", both of which debuted at #18. "Good Ride Cowboy" was the highest in the BDS era (1990–present). The song however would soon be beaten by Kenny Chesney's Don't Blink, which debuted at #16, and later Garth Brooks' "More Than A Memory", which debuted at #1.

Urban is also a winner of numerous "Golden Guitars", which are presented annually during the Tamworth Country Music Festival at "The Country Music Association of Australia's Annual Awards" in Tamworth, New South Wales Australia. He is also a former winner of the Toyota Starmaker Contest, which is held each year in conjunction with the CMAA Awards and the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Keith was named artist of the month for July 2007 on the television network GAC (Great American Country). He answered a question of the day every day that month, and did multiple interviews about love, life, his new album and his stay in rehab.

On 7 July 2007, Keith performed with Alicia Keys at one of Al Gore's Live Earth concerts held around the world. The concerts were held to raise awareness of global warming. Keith performed at the concert held in New York City and said in an interview that global warming is not a political issue, and what he is doing to help the environment is running all bio-diesel buses in his Love, Pain and The Whole Crazy World Tour.

Urban released his first greatest hits collection, Greatest Hits: 18 Kids, on 20 November 2007. The CD contains all of his top 10 hits, along with two new songs, "Romeo's Tune" and "Got It Right This Time (The Celebration)."

In January 2008, Urban embarked on the Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour with fellow country singer Carrie Underwood. In early May 2008, Urban debuted a new song at the Grand Ole Opry titled "A New Sunshine". And in late May 2008, Urban re-recorded a song from his sophomore CD, "You Look Good in My Shirt". The song was released on the radio at the end of May. "Over the years it ("You Look Good In My Shirt") has always played like a hit song," said Keith. "That, combined with numerous requests from both fans and radio about why it was never a single, inspired us to get back into the studio and re-record the song."(keithurban.net) The single was a pre-cursor to the "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy World Tour" concert DVD release in the Fall of '08. Urban's newest release "Defying Gravity" was released 31 March 2009.

"You Look Good in My Shirt" was the first single from Keith Urban's re-recorded 2007 album, Greatest Hits: 18 Kids. The album was released under a different title, Greatest Hits: 19 Kids on 19 August 2008. Keith Urban was also featured on Brad Paisley's instrumental album titled Play, on a song called "Start a Band."

[edit] Defying Gravity

Urban recently announced that the lead single for his forthcoming 5th studio album will be titled "Sweet Thing". This song became the first No.1 single off the album. The song was co-written with Monty Powell, who wrote some of Urban's past hits, and co-produced with his longtime producer Dann Huff. The album, Defying Gravity, was released on 31 March 2009, through Capitol Records. Its second single, "Kiss a Girl",^[9] debuted in March 2009. Urban performed this song on American Idol, during the season 8 finale, as a duet with eventual winner Kris Allen. Its third single, "Only You Can Love Me This Way", is another chart-topping song, co-written by Steve McEwan and John Reid.^[10] Defying Gravity debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200. This was Urban's first No.1 CD. His past two albums debuted at #3.

Keith Urban has received four nominations on the 2009 CMA Awards, including Entertainer Of The Year and Male Vocalist Of The Year for a fourth consecutive year in a row. He also earned a nomination for Album Of The Year for Defying Gravity and shares a nomination with Brad Paisley for Music Video Of The Year for "Start A Band".

A video for "Hit The Ground Runnin'" premiered on 2 October on CMT and CMT.com.

Urban's 2009 Escape Together tour, supporting the album, Defying Gravity, featured many big name opening acts, including Taylor Swift, Sugarland, and Jason Aldean. On 27 June 2009 Keith filmed a video for the song, "Only You Can Love Me This Way", at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

On 5 May 2010, whilst being interviwed by CNN about the flooding in Nashville, Urban stated that he was about to begin recording a new album, but all his guitars were now underwater.

Urban's 2010 Summer Lovin' tour consisted of mostly festival shows.

[edit] Get Closer

In May 2010, Urban entered the studio to begin work on a new album.^[11] The recording process was documented in a blog on his official website. At the beginning of September, it was announced that the album would be titled Get Closer and would see release on 16 November. At the same time, "Put You in a Song" was revealed to be the first single and was released digitally and to radio on 13 September.^[12]

Keith Urban appeared at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on 10 November 2010.^[13]

To promote the new album, Keith played surprise concerts at New York City's Penn Station as well as a train station in Philadelphia. The impromptu concerts included a 4-song set list mixing in new and old hits.

On 30 November, Keith played a free concert at The Ice Palace of the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Fans lined up days in advance to hear him play the first single (Put You in a Song) from "Get Closer" and a short collection of past hits. He also played a tribute to Johnny Cash with "Folsom Prison Blues" and Steve Miller's "The Joker"

On 15 December, After appearing on Oprah's Australian special, Keith decided to play an acoustic set in Pitt St Mall in Sydney. There he played in front of 2500+ people. He also called up a young fan to play his single Put You In a Song.

Urban announced the "Get Closer – World Tour 2011", an Australian, American and Canadian tour in support of the album. His American tour features country artist Jake Owen supporting. The Canadian leg features The Band Perry as the opening act.

Urban also recorded a song titled "For You," which was featured as the theme song of the 2012 action film Act of Valor. It also appears on the film's soundtrack.

On 10 April 2012, Urban was asked to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry by Vince Gill at the third annual "All for the Hall" benefit concert which Urban organized. He will be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on 21 April 2012.

[edit] The Voice

On 23 November 2011, Urban was confirmed as one of the four vocal coaches in the upcoming Australian version of the reality singing competition The Voice.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Starting in 1992, Urban dated veterinary technician Laura Sigler for eight years. Urban proposed to Sigler in 2001, but the pair eventually split in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Urban met Australian actress Nicole Kidman at G'Day LA, a Hollywood event honoring Australians, in January 2005, but they reportedly didn't begin dating until 6 months later. Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday, 25 June 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel on the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney.

On 19 October 2006, Urban checked himself into the Betty Ford Center in California. On 20 October, Urban issued a statement saying: "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones who love and support me. One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have." On 18 January 2007, Urban announced his completion of rehab and his plans to go on tour to promote his new album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing.^[15]

On 2 February 2007, Urban filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey painter by the same name, who has a web site KeithUrban.com. The singer wanted to acquire the rights to the URL.^[16] Keith Urban the singer's URL is KeithUrban.NET. The painter counter sued.^[17] The lawsuit was settled in the painter's favor.

On 1 October 2007, while riding, Urban skidded off his motorbike when a paparazzo followed him near his home in Sydney; Urban was not hurt. In a statement released by his publicists, Urban says the incident was "the result of one person's desire to do his job and my desire to maintain my privacy." Urban says he tried to avoid an oncoming car and dropped his bike. He says the photographer came to his assistance without taking photos.

On 7 January 2008, Nicole Kidman confirmed she and Urban were expecting their first child together. Kidman's publicist said "the couple are thrilled and cannot wait." Kidman gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, on 7 July 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee. She weighed 2.93 kg (6 lbs, 7.5 oz). On his website, Urban stated,

"Earlier this morning Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with all of you today."^[18][19]

On 28 December 2010, Urban and Kidman welcomed a second daughter, Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, via surrogate at Nashville's Centennial Women's Hospital. The baby is biologically Urban and Kidman's.^[20] On 17 January 2011, Keith posted this statement on his website: "Our family is truly blessed, and just so thankful, to have been given the gift of baby Faith Margaret. No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier."^[21] Faith's middle name is after Kidman's late grandmother.^[22]

Discography[link]

Keith Urban in Sydney

Studio albums[link]

• Keith Urban (1991)^A
• Keith Urban in The Ranch (1997)
• Keith Urban (1999)
• Golden Road (2002)
• Be Here (2004)
• Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing (2006)
• Defying Gravity (2009)
• Get Closer (2010)

Compilation albums[link]

• Days Go By (2005)
• Greatest Hits: 18 Kids (2007)^B

Number one singles[link]

• "But for the Grace of God" (2001)
• "Somebody Like You" (2002)
• "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me" (2003)
• "You'll Think of Me" (2004)
• "Days Go By" (2004)
• "Making Memories of Us" (2005)
• "Better Life" (2005)
• "You Look Good in My Shirt" (2008)
• "Start a Band" (with Brad Paisley) (2009)
• "Sweet Thing" (2009)
• "Only You Can Love Me This Way" (2009)
• "Without You" (2011)
• "Long Hot Summer"(2011)
• "You Gonna Fly" (2012)

^A Released only in Australia, but later re-released independently in 2005.
^B Re-released in 2008 as Greatest Hits: 19 Kids, with one track added.

Tours[link]

Keith Urban in concert, 2007

Official Tours[link]

• Get Closer 2011 World Tour (2011) – supporting his seventh studio album, Get Closer, released on 16 November 2010
• Summer Lovin' 2010 (2010) – supporting his sixth studio album, Defying Gravity, released on 31 March 2009
• Escape Together World Tour 2009 (2009) – supporting his sixth studio album, Defying Gravity, released on 31 March 2009
• Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride (2008) – supporting his fifth studio album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing touring with Carrie Underwood supporting her album Carnival Ride
• Love, Pain & the Whole crazy World Tour (2007) – supporting his fifth studio album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing
• Still Alive in 06 (2006) – supporting his fourth studio album, Be Here
• Alive In 05 (2005) – supporting his fourth studio album, Be Here
• Livin' Right Now Tour (2004) – supporting his fourth studio album, Be Here

Supporting Tours[link]

• Eagles Summer 2010 Tour (2010) – touring with The Eagles and The Dixie Chicks. It was announced on 16 March 2010 that Keith will be hitting the road with The Eagles and The Dixie Chicks for a North American stadium concert tour. 5 concert dates have been announced so far, which include Boston, and Chicago.^[23]
• Brooks & Dunn's Neon Circus & Wild West Show 2001

Band[link]

Touring Band[link]

2010–2011[link]

Danny Rader (guitar, ganjo, mandolin, bazouki, piano, organ) has recently been added to Urban's touring band.

2010[link]

After four years with the band, Chris Rodriguez and Brad Rice departed. Coming off the Escape Together World Tour, the two were told Urban would not be mounting big tours for awhile, and that a smaller band was all that was needed. The following band was from 2010 onwards for the CMT Crossroads and the Summerlovin Tour, as well as the tour with The Eagles:

• Keith Urban – lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, bass guitar, bouzouki, e-bow, drums
• Chris McHugh – drums, percussion
• Brian Nutter – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards, ganjo, mandolin, bass guitar, background vocals, drums
• Jerry Flowers – bass guitar, piano, acoustic guitar, background vocals

2007–2009[link]

The following band was used for Keith's Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour (2008), Love, Pain & the whole crazy World Tour (2007) and the Escape Together World Tour (2009):

• Keith Urban – lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, bass guitar, bouzouki, e-bow, drums
• Chris McHugh – drums, percussion
• Chris Rodriguez – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, ganjo, mandolin, bass guitar, background vocals
• Brian Nutter – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards, ganjo, mandolin, bass guitar, background vocals, drums
• Jerry Flowers – bass guitar, piano, acoustic guitar, background vocals
• Brad Rice – rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, ganjo, mandolin, background vocals

2005–2006[link]

Jerry Flowers replaced Mark Hill as the bass player. Jerry was a member of The Ranch in 1997 and 1998.

2004[link]

The following band was used for Keith's Be Here 2004 Tour:

• Mark Hill – bass guitar
• Steven King – piano, keyboards
• Chad Jeffers – acoustic guitar, ganjo, mandolin, dobro
• Chris Rodriguez – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, ganjo, mandolin, bass guitar, background vocals
• Chris McHugh – drums, percussion

Pre-2004[link]

The following band was used before 2004

• Peter Clarke – drums
• Jason Mowery – fiddle, mandolin
• Scotty Huff – acoustic guitar, banjo, rhythm guitar
• Tim Horsely – drums
• Robbie Harrington – bass guitar
• Randall Waller
• Jimmy Mattingly
• Millard Powers

Awards & honors[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keith Urban

• Official website
• Keith Urban at the Internet Movie Database
• Keith Urban at People.com

Tom Maguire

Tom Maguire (28 March 1892 – 5 July 1993) was an Irish republican who held the rank of commandant-general in the Western Command of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and led the South Mayo flying column.^[1]

Irish Republican Army[link]

In May 1921, he led an ambush on a Royal Irish Constabulary patrol in Tourmakeady, County Mayo, killing four. Maguire's flying column then made for the Partry Mountains. The long held account of the following action claimed that the column were surrounded by over 700 crown forces guided by aeroplanes. Maguire was wounded and his adjutant killed, but the column managed to escape with no further casualties. British casualties were not revealed but were long believed to have been high. Some recent research has raised the possibility that fewer than forty British soldiers were in the vicinity and that Maguire's column was forced to abandon their weapons with only one British officer wounded.^[2] However, the objectivity of this research is highly questionable.^{[citation needed]}

Maguire was involved in numerous other engagements including the Kilfall ambush.^[3]

At the 1921 election to Dáil Éireann, Maguire was returned unopposed as Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo South–Roscommon South as a Sinn Féin candidate. He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and apart from saying "Níl" ("No" in English) when the vote was called, did not participate in any substantial way in the Dáil treaty debates. He was returned unopposed at the 1922 general election.^[4] At the 1923 general election, Maguire faced a contest and succeeded in securing the second of five seats in the Mayo South, winning 5,712 votes (17.8%).^[5][6] He was a member of the anti-Treaty IRA executive which commanded rebel troops during the Irish Civil War. Maguire was captured by the Free State Army and was told that he would be executed, but his life was spared, possibly because of his prominence as a Republican. While in prison his brother, Sean Maguire, aged 17, was executed by the Free State.^[7]

Maguire remained a TD until 1927. He had initially indicated a willingness to contest the June 1927 general election as a Sinn Féin candidate but withdrew after the Irish Republican Army threatened to court-martial any member under IRA General Army Order 28, which forbade its members from standing in elections. (Despite this ban, IRA officers Seán Farrell (Leitrim–Sligo) and John Madden (Mayo North) contested the election, the latter successfully).

Maguire subsequently drifted out of the IRA. In 1932, a Mayo IRA officer reported that Maguire, now firmly aligned with Sinn Féin, refused to call on men to join the IRA when speaking at republican commemorations. When challenged on this, Maguire claimed that, as the IRA “were no longer the same as they used to be”, he disagreed with the organisation.

Maguire and republican legitimacy[link]

In December 1938, Maguire was one of a group of seven people, who had been elected to the Second Dáil in 1921, who met with the IRA Army Council under Seán Russell. At this meeting, the seven signed over what they believed was the authority of the Government of Dáil Éireann to the Army Council. Henceforth, the IRA Army Council perceived itself to be the legitimate government of the Irish Republic and, on this basis, the IRA and Sinn Féin justified their rejection of the states of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and political abstentionism from their parliamentary institutions. According to J. Bowyer Bell, in the Secret Army, "With the possible exception of Tom Maguire, who went along, the Dáil members felt that the IRA request gave them the moral recognition so long denied by all factions and that their conditional devolution of power would in turn give the IRA the moral basis for the impending campaign" of 1939–45.^[8]

When the majority of IRA and Sinn Féin decided to abandon abstentionism in the 1969–70 split, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Dáithí Ó Conaill sought and secured Maguire's recognition of the Provisional IRA as the legitimate successor to the 1938 Army Council. Of the seven 1938 signatories, Maguire was the only one still alive.^{[fn 1]} Likewise in the aftermath of the 1986 split in the Republican Movement, Maguire signed a statement in 1986 but was issued posthumously in 1996, he conferred this "legitimacy" on the Army Council of the Continuity IRA (who provided a firing party at Maguire's funeral in 1993). In The Irish Troubles, J. Bowyer Bell describes Maguire's opinion in 1986, "abstentionism was a basic tenet of republicanism, a moral issue of principle. Abstentionism gave the movement legitimacy, the right to wage war, to speak for a Republic all but established in the hearts of the people."^[9]

Although the 1938 conferring has been crucial to the ideology of republican legitimatists, for all intents and purposes its validity was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the Irish people. In 1986 "a delegation from the [Gerry] Adams leadership" asked for his support, but Maguire rejected them.^[10] Republican Sinn Féin is the only party in Ireland which subscribes to the view that the seven-member Army Council of the Continuity IRA is the legitimate governmental authority of the Irish Republic.

Maguire was the last survivor, not only of the rump legitimist Second Dáil of 1938, but of all those who served in the Second Dáil in 1921–22.^{[citation needed]} The last IRA veteran of the Irish War of Independence, Dan Keating, who died in 2007, also supported Republican Sinn Féin.

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