Courtesy - Taste of Country
by:  Cory Stromblad

Scotty McCreery is one of the brightest new stars in country music, but it’s the ‘Water Tower Town’ singer’s academic work that is bringing him some well-deserved attention these days.

According to Yahoo! Finance, the North Carolina State freshman is one of the 16 most famous college co-eds to be enrolled in classes this semester. The singer handles his double life with grace, but admits that life as a student is a tad more stressful than he had originally anticipated.

“I’ve been studying non-stop. But it was a lot tougher than I was anticipating going into it,” McCreery reveals of his journey in higher education. “When I was doing this in high school, balancing it all was nothing. But college was definitely a huge step. I’ve had to learn how to study again.”

The singer’s chaotic schedule is about to be elevated to a higher level as McCreery continues to work on his sophomore project, his follow-up to the 2011 platinum-selling ‘Clear as Day’ album. The process has been slow-going, but McCreery planned it out that way.

“The first one I did was a little rushed, I didn’t get to enjoy it or get creative with it,” he acknowledges. “This one we’re going to take our time and really make a good album.”

New music from McCreery is expected to be released later this year. The singer continues to tour when his schedule permits, having just announced his Weekend Roadtrip tour.

Scotty McCreery will launch his headlining Weekend Roadtrip tour 2013 on Feb. 14 in Bethlehem, Pa.

Sarah Darling ("Home to Me") will open the shows. World Vision will be the charitable sponsor of the tour. Although only 16 stops have been announced, the tour is expected to play 25 cities.

"I've been lucky enough to play a lot of great cities over the last year with Brad Paisley and some other great country artists," McCreery said. "This time, I get to play some new places with a show that's all my own. I can't wait for my fans to see what we've lined up for them on my Weekend Roadtrip tour 2013."

McCreery will incorporate new material into his summer tour. He is expected to release a new album later this year.

"Right now, I'm balancing my music career with my second semester at North Carolina State University," he said. "I go to school early in the week and get to play my music every weekend. So, calling this tour the Weekend Roadtrip tour just made sense. Plus, what college student doesn't love a good road trip?"

Here are the dates for the Weekend Roadtrip tour:

Feb. 14: Bethlehem, Pa.
Feb. 15: Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Feb. 16: Atlantic City, N.J.
Feb. 21: Pittsburgh
Feb. 22: Dover, Del.
Feb. 23: Charleston, W.Va.

March 8: Plant City, Fla.
March 9: Kansas City, Mo.
March 28: Aurora, Ill.

April 18: Albany, N.Y.
April 19: Wallingford, Conn.
April 20: Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
April 26: Robinsonville, Miss.

May 10: Lancaster, Pa.
May 11: Hampton, N.H.
May 12: Morristown, N.J.

Courtesy - WZTV Fox 17

American Idol season 10 winner Scotty McCreery has had a busy couple of 

years. His debut album topped the Billboard 200 and went platinum, he 

performed at the Grand Ole Opry and released a Christmas album!

After singing the holiday classics, McCreery says he is now ready to send 

fans some new tunes, "We're getting ready for it, you know I was just 

talking to my manager we are getting the songs compiled in one spot so I

can keep listening to them and picking the ones I like" he says. 

At 19, Scotty is also concentrating on school! Especially when it comes to

his toughest subjects, "Math!! I would love to just learn about history

and english and all that stuff, but math who needs to know those 

chemistry formulas?  "Math or calculus that ain't me" laughs the country 

singer.

Scotty plans to keep an eye on Idol and says that maybe 

his next album will come in handy for that! "It would be cool if 

somebody covered a song of mine. That's one thing I haven't gotten yet 

is a big hit song.  I've won awards and I've got platinum gold records 

but I haven't had a hit song yet, so that's what we're looking for for 

this sophomore album."

Look out for more music from Scotty on the radio in the months ahead. 

'Christmas with Scotty McCreery' was a top selling holiday album for the 2012 season and pushed the Season 10 winner into second place among "Idol" alum holiday album sales.

 

 

 

Although the total number of "American Idol" holiday (read: Christmas music) albums still hover around a dozen after 11 seasons of graduating a host of established and independent artists (and still no collection from the Big Three: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Daughtry -- Chris or the band), the show has managed to see a few of the finalists do pretty well on the seasonal charts. This past 2012 holiday season saw three "Idol" finalists add new offerings to the growing pile. Foremost among them, Scotty Mcreery's sophomore album, a full set of holiday songs that topped the Billboard Holiday Albums chart and peaked at No. 2 on the Country Albums chart and No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

And in mid-December, Christmas with Scotty McCreery overtook the number two best-selling holiday album in "Idol" history. Selling 47,000 copies and holding strong in the Top 20, the album passed Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta's Christmas from the Heart, a 2009 collection that established itself in the No. 2 slot quickly and maintained the position for three years.

Read more: Scotty McCreery now has Idol's second-best selling holiday album

Scotty and the entire SM team would like to wish you and your family a Very Happy New Year! 

Scotty McCreery shares in-studio footage and old family video highlights in his new ‘Christmas Comin’ Round Again’ video. The just-released clip is of one of two new songs from his ‘Christmas With Scotty McCreery‘ album, which dropped in October. 

The singer says his manager, Todd Cassetty, collected and assembled the footage for the song. In addition to scenes from the recording, one is treated to McCreery family holiday memories in Polaroid frames that scroll up and down throughout. There’s a photo of McCreery on Grandpa’s lap. There’s the Christmas of 1996 when he and (we assume) his sister watch a train make laps around the Christmas tree. A year later, he’s shaking with excitement as he eyes a new bike.

Other videos embedded in this music video show a young McCreery standing over a keyboard, sitting behind a guitar and standing on risers with his choir. If you appreciate his boyish face now, just wait until you see images of an elementary school-aged Scotty.

The studio footage shows how the Season 10 ‘American Idol’ winner decorated the studio to capture some yuletide cheer, despite recording the 11 songs on ‘Christmas With Scotty McCreery’ long before the leaves had changed color and the nights began to get longer. ‘Christmas Comin’ Round Again’ was written by Ashley Gorley and Hillary Lindsey.