Bucky Covington reaches big time with role in Disney movie, song in video game

"I've never been on a movie set, so I don't know what to expect," said Covington, who is performing tonight at Sammy T's Music Hall. "I've always been a fan of Billy Ray's music and it really is an honor for him to ask me to be a part of what is sure to be the biggest movie released next year." (Billy Ray Cyrus is father of Miley, who plays Hannah.)

Covington, who grew up in Rockingham, N.C. - NASCAR country - has certainly taken advantage of his stint on "American Idol" in 2006, when he finished eighth in the competition that Taylor Hicks won.

His self-titled album with Sawyer Brown's Mark Miller debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Country Top 75 and No. 4 on the Top 200 chart in 2007 and sold 61,000 copies his first week (over 355,000 to date). It was the biggest debut from a new country artist and the best first week sales and highest Top 200 for any new male country artist in 15 years, since Cyrus in 1992.

His first single, "A Different World," was a Top 5 hit and his second single, "It's Good To Be Us," made the Top 10.

Because of his success last year, Covington was named Country Aircheck's No. 1 new artist for 2007.

This year, he was selected by country radio programmers as one of the "New Faces" for 2008. He also joined Dierks Bentley's "Throttle Wide Open" tour earlier this year.

His new single, "I'll Walk," is in the Top 15 on the country radio charts and climbing. His song "Empty Handed" is featured on EA Sports' video game "NASCAR 08."