Darius Rucker Raises Money for St. Jude, With Help From Scotty McCreery, Stevie Wariner & More

One artist who definitely has strong memories of CMA Fest week is Scotty McCreery, also on the bill Monday night. It was the first major country event he played after winning American Idol in 2011. "Thinking back about it, I was in what's called the 'Idol bubble,' he said. They keep you out in LA, and you really don't get to venture anywhere. You're just doing the TV thing, so the 2011 CMA Festival was my first big step into the country music world outside of Idol. I thought, 'Is it like this all the time?' It was crazy, but it was so much fun and pandemonium. That was a fun step into it all, and it opened the floodgates to everything else."

In keeping with CMA Fest tradition, Billboard asked McCreery about the most unique place he has ever signed an autograph -- and he didn't miss a beat. "This really big man had a few too many, and he comes up, lifts up his shirt and says, 'Sign my chest, buddy.' As an artist, you envision other chests, but I gave it to him…and let him keep the Sharpie," he said with a laugh.

McCreery has just finished the first round of songs for an upcoming album, and he can't wait for people to hear it. "We've done five songs already that we've got mastered, so I'm excited about listening to them. I think I've got it narrowed down to about two choices for a single. We'll talk with the label next week. I hope the new music will take me to the next level and hopefully show a little depth to who I am."

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 http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/6590817/darius-rucker-benefit-nashville-scotty-mccreery