Rascal Flatts + Sara Evans + Hunter Hayes

If you can tell a lot about a band by the songs it covers, then it says everything about Rascal Flatts that on Tuskegee, Lionel Richie’s upcoming album of country duets, it takes a crack at “Dancing on the Ceiling.” These Nashville veterans are country’s preeminent good-time guys, with a buoyant, arena-ready sound based as much on the Eagles and Bon Jovi as on more traditional roots-music sources. Sara Evans uses big arrangements (and a bigger voice) to describe triumph over adversity; her single “A Little Bit Stronger,” cowritten by Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum, is a stirring mini-epic à la Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You.” As for Hayes, this 20-year-old singer-songwriter landed a tune on Rascal Flatts’ Nothing Like This before he signed his own major-label deal, and that’s an accomplishment he appears to have taken to heart.