Darius Rucker and Lady A’s Charles Kelley Share a Hawk Easter Sunday Night

This week, Lon has the weekend off.  So Darius Rucker & Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley are taking over "CMT Country Countdown USA" Sunday night 7-10pm on 98.1 The Hawk!  The two are good friends and golfing buddies.  They also co-wrote Rucker's current hit "Homegrown Honey."

Darius recalls: "For me it was so cool to be writing with you, being such good friend a big fan too.  It was great, you had the idea, and all the guitar hooks, it just came out, it was a fun write."  Charles adds: "I told you that if you didn't cut it, and cut it quick, Lady Antebellum is gonna cut it.  We had a little text war, and you finally said 'I'm gonna cut it.'  It's a little bittersweet, I would have loved to have some homegrown honey on a Lady Antebellum album.  But there's nothing cooler than have an artist you love and respect cut a song and just nail it."

Charles just spent a few weeks in Europe and Australia with Lady Antebellum, and he told Darius: "It's amazing to see how big country music has grown everywhere.  It's not this small thing any more.  It's really loved by the world.  We got to bring them all the different flavors of what's going on in country music now.  Everybody has a different flavor, which I think is cool."

Before leaving for Europe, Charles got a chance to play the Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf Tournament.  Normally Darius is also there, but took this year off.  He explained: "I hurt my back, had some stuff done to it, and that was the first time I missed it in years.  Hopefully they'll invite me back next year."  The country contingent was pretty big, with Charles, Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts, Clay Walker, and Jake Owen.   Charles says he had a great round: "Me & Ray Romano actually won the celebrity challenge.  We were playing so bad on the first four holes.  All it took was one putt on the last hole, and it was a lucky putt, and we won $50,000 for our charity.  I wish you were there, so I could rub it in."

Darius & Charles also have great stories this week about Hunter Hayes, Brett Eldredge, Dierks Bentley, Sam Hunt, Cole Swindell, and Eric Paslay.