There’s a new charitable event taking place in Austin, Texas next April. The inaugural MJ&M weekend was put together by Jack Ingram, Matthew McConaughey and University of Texas coach Mack Brown. They intend to positively impact the life of kids who are part of the action-packed weekend. You can find out more at the new website for the event, but according to Jack, “We wanted to create a true, lasting impact and that inspired us to come together.”
Carrie Underwood is excited to be taking her Blown Away tour across the pond in 2013. She’ll have tour stops in Ireland and the United Kingdom in March. Why Great Britain again? “People seem to like it. I know there will be an audience in front of me. I know that there is going to be a lot of people that show up. It’s comforting and exciting to think maybe I could take it all there and see what happens.” 

Miranda Lambert is knocking on the door to her next #1 song, but still loves “Fastest Girl in Town”: “I love ‘Fastest Girl In Town.’ Girl, I wrote it with Angaleena [Presley]. It’s obviously close to my heart cause I wrote it with a friend. I love doing it every night – it’s an anthem song. It’s so much fun.”

The Band Perry’s latest song, “Better Dig Two,” is a little bit obsessive, according to Kimberly and Neil: “[Kimberly] It’s really a love song, it’s just about kind of ultimate commitment. [Neil] It’s kinda like the vow ‘til death do us part.’ But not even then. Yeah. It’s like one step more than that. [Kim] It’s like ‘Baby, not even then will we be separated.’ [Neil] Can’t get rid of me! [Laughs]” Check out the ultimate commitment in their lyric video for the song…


Gary Allan is gratified that his new song, “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)” is climbing the charts nicely. “I think it’s the perfect single just because of what it says. I think I have been through a ton, and every storm runs out of rain. I think it’s a coming above the water song finally, so I thought it was perfect.” 
Monday night, Taylor Swift was honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. At a gala in New York City, she was presented with the Ripple of Hope Award and performed the song “Starlight,” which she has said was inspired by the Kennedy family. Ex beau Conor wasn’t there, and Taylor caught up with new boyfriend Harry Styles after the party. They joined the other One Direction members for some karaoke at the Hudson Hotel. 
Saturday night, Hayden Panatierre will co-host the CMT Artists of the Year special with Rascal Flatts. The Nashville actressis a big fan of country music and country artists: “Personally, I love—I’ve been a huge Miranda Lambert fan for years. The Pistol Annies. I’m a fan of Luke Bryan. I love Jason Aldean, I love The Band Perry. I’m—Lady Antebellum—you name ‘em! That’s the thing about country music—everyone’s a fan of everyone for the most part.” 

How do you have a debut and a #1 in the same week? Jake Owen cracked the code on that last week – his daughter, Olive Pearl, made her debut into the world, and his song “The One That Got Away” topped the country charts. It’s his third #1 song, and Jake’s elated: “It’s been almost eight and a half years. It’s been really cool, everything that’s happened and I’m just very fortunate.” Jake’s on the road right now with Florida Georgia Line, whose single “Cruise” is nipping at Jake’s heels – it’s #2 on the country charts this week. According to Brian Kelley, his FGL bandmate, Tyler Hubbard, predicted the song’s success: “First day in the studio when we were recording ‘Cruise’ and it was starting to come to life, BK looked at me and he said, ‘Dude, we’re gonna sell a million copies of this song.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, there’s no way. It’s not even possible.’ And that was a year ago and we were starting to work on it so it’s uh...I guess we have big dreams and big goals and we try to reach those goals.” Florida Georgia Line’s debut album, Here’s To The Good Times, is out next week.

Taylor Swift’s album, Red, is at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart for the third week in a row. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, more than any of her other singles. What’s the song all about? Taylor explains, “Constantly fighting and causing a scene and making everyone uncomfortable and clearly everyone around us knows we need to break up and we won’t and they are all rolling their eyes at us. At a certain point, you realize you just have to be really bold about it. ‘No, we are not getting back together!’”

Pistol Annies’ members Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley and Miranda Lambert are working on their sophomore album. There’s no release date, but Miranda says it’ll be worth the wait: “The new album will be just what you expect. It’s three country girls singing about three country girls’ lives and we write everything on our own. We did on the last record and our goal on this next record is to write everything just in our family, just the three of us girls again.”
Trace Adkins had a break in the taping of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, and used that break to schedule his seventh USO tour in 11 years. He’s in Japan, giving four private concerts for US troops and their families. 

Randy Houser may have another #1 song on his hands, as “How Country Feels” is rocketing up the charts. It’s the first single from his next album, and even though he didn’t write it, he knew it was something special: “The first time I heard it, I heard that you know, ‘Let your hair down! Hair down!’ I went, ‘Aw, man.’ You know, I was hooked. There was no way I was not recording that song.” He’ll be a busy boy tonight, playing the Opry at the Ryman, then heading down the street to the Wildhorse Saloon to be part of Justin Moore’s benefit concert for Hurricane Sandy victims.

Dustin Lynch’s new song, “She Cranks My Tractor,” is very different from his first hit, “Cowboys and Angels.” What’s it all about? Dustin explains: “It’s definitely not about tractors; it’s about my dream girl. You know? It’s about a country girl that’s wilder than I am and kinda makes me come outta my shell, so that’s what that song means to me.” The woman in the video would crank a dead man’s tractor – check it out…



Blake Shelton isn’t winning any romance points with Miranda Lambert, it seems. In an interview with E! News, he was asked what he would give his wife for Christmas. He reminded the reporter that Miranda was very rich, and why should he blow a lot of his money on her when she could blow a bunch of her money on herself. He went on to say he might draw her a picture or something like that. Since we know Blake’s sense of humor, I’m guessing he’ll come up with a fabulous gift for Miranda.

The Band Perry feels cheated! They were in Europe last week, touring, and completely missed fall: “We live over in East Tennessee in the mountains so the leaves are all pretty over there, but I felt like we left and it was summer and we came back and all the trees were bare.” It’s ok, guys…you’ll see it next year, maybe while you’re on the road with Rascal Flatts.
Actually, Mike Gossin of Gloriana has some good advice for people whose lives are moving too fast: “I would say just savor the moment more. It all happened so fast for us. We didn’t really take it for granted, but I think we could have just realized more and been a little bit more appreciative of everything that was going on around us.” 
Garth Brooks fans, in case you missed it, be on the lookout for the “Gartha Stewart” episode of Trisha’s Southern Kitchen on the Food Network. Garth and wife Trisha Yearwood collaborated on black bean lasagna, TY Thai salad and peanut butter balls. The peanut butter balls are apparently something Garth and his daughters have made for years, and they looked really yummy!

Friday may be Black Friday for most of America, but in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, it’s Pink Friday. That’s the day Miranda Lambert opens her new store, The Pink Pistol, and the grand opening celebration includes Pink-aoke singing and the first annual Pink Pistol Princess Pageant. Judges will be looking for costume creativity, spunk and sass. Miranda says this event will be an annual one at her new store: “Pink Friday will be country fun with some glitz!”

Fans of Jake Owen have a lot to be thankful for. He is good to his fans, because he truly cares about them and what they think. No, really! “I just like talking to people. I like to learn about folks, I like to make new friends and I like to hear what they think. If they think I should put a song out that’s better than this one or that one – people are going to tell you the truth. I just like connecting with people.” A four-year old fan, Ava Schipke, even got a birthday call from Jake because her Mom tweeted that she wanted to talk to him on her birthday.

Little Big Town already has their stuffing taken care of – they stuffed backpacks for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, helping ensure that no child would go hungry tomorrow. The band’s Phillip Sweet explained why it’s important to all of them to help this cause: “It’s important all year long, but even more so this time of year. And I think one good thing is to bring awareness to people’s minds about it, because we’re all thinking about being with our family and being together and feasting and eating turkey and all these things, and to think that there are others that won’t have that beautiful gift, it’s not right! We’ve got to do something about that.”

Carrie Underwood is counting her blessings again this year, with a great career, a great hubby and quite a few awards under her belt. She says her favorite part of award shows are the acceptance speeches: “I love the chance to thank people! You know, if I’m blessed enough to win an award to get up there and thank the fans ‘cause they really are our employers.”
Craig Morgan is thankful to be able to support groups like The Wounded Warrior Project – he did a benefit concert for them in Florida this past weekend – and knows that gives meaning to his life: “There’s nothing more rewarding than giving back. It makes you feel good. Those military shows and all that kind of stuff we get to do – it is very rewarding and also very humbling.” 
What happens when a song takes on a life of its own? Florida Georgia Line is learning about that, as “Cruise” continues to sail up the charts. The platinum-selling song is the first hit for the band, and member Brian Kelley is in awe of it’s success so far: “It’s crazy to see where the songs come from. From the day we wrote it, to the day we started recording it, and then waited a couple of months, then finished it up and then released it. To now, it’s definitely a dream come true. It’s crazy.” It gets even crazier – a Nashville Chevy dealer just presented the duo with “a brand new Chevy with a lift kit” each for Mike and bandmate Tyler Hubbard. 
The American Country Awards will air December 10th on FOX-TV, and performers are lining up to be part of the fun. Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Jake Owen, Luke Bryan and Kip Moore have all been chosen to perform, and more will be announced before the awards are handed out. 
Country music will be well-represented on the People’s Choice Awards in January. Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift are both nominated for Favorite Female Artist, Blake Shelton s up for Favorite Male Artist, and the three of them are joined by Jason Aldean and Tim McGraw for Favorite Country Artist. Taylor Swift is up for Favorite Song for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and Carrie Underwood is nominated for Favorite Album for “Blown Away.” You can vote for your favorites now. 
Martina McBride and her family will be spending Thanksgiving in New York City. She’ll be performing during The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS tomorrow. 

While we’re all getting ready to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends, Trace Adkins is getting ready to ring in the Christmas season at the annual lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Center. He’ll perform during the TV special, along with Mariah Carey, Cee Lo Green and Rod Stewart. The show airs live a week from tonight at 8 on NBC.

Did you catch Taylor Swift’s performance on the American Music Awards last night? She loves doing that show, because “The AMAs have great production so you can do all kinds of different things.” Tomorrow, Seventeen magazine’s love column will be taken over by Taylor, who dishes out advice on how to steer clear of guys who are bad news, plus how to get a crush’s attention. Wonder if she’ll tell teens to write a song about their dream guy?

Carrie Underwood performed her new single, “Two Black Cadillacs,” on the AMAs last night, and knocked it out of the park. It’s her third single from “Blown Away,” and Carrie hopes it’ll follow “Good Girl” and the title track to #1 on the charts, too.

In case you saw it over the weekend, that cover story that tabloid magazine Life & Style ran isn’t true – Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are not having a baby. In true Blake style, he tweeted to his fans, “Look, I know I've gained some weight but the test was negative!!!" Miranda piled on, tweeting, “‘we are having a baby' Yay! @BlakeShelton we're getting a new puppy?"

Eric Church loves the fact that country music seems to be getting more mainstream: “When I first started touring, it was not cool to wear a country music artist’s shirt on a college campus. There was still that stigma that country was outside of cool. Frankly, I think country music has always been the coolest format.” We agree, Eric, we agree!

Hey, if you’re going to show up, show up big. Last week, Shania Twain made her official entrance into Las Vegas in advance of her Caesars Palace debut on December first. But she didn’t arrive in a limo – no, Shania rode up on horseback, accompanied by 40 other riders. Her song, “Still The One,” blared from loudspeakers up and down the Las Vegas strip and fans lined up to catch a glimpse of the arriving star. Shania will be performing in Vegas at the Colosseum for two years.
There’s a Hungerthon auction going on, and you have a chance to pick up some one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts – autographed guitars from Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson, Kix Brooks, and a football signed by Jason Aldean. There’s more in the auction, too, and it’s for a good cause. You have until December 13th to get your bids in. 
Wall bling for Justin Moore, whose album, “Outlaws Like Me,” has been certified gold, and for Florida Georgia Line – their first hit, “Cruise,” is now platinum, and has a huge fan in Darius Rucker: “That song! I heard that song – I don’t buy a lot of records. I heard that song I had to buy it on iTunes the second I heard it. Man, great song!”
Happy birthday to Billy Currington, who turns 39 today. 
Rascal Flatts is on Chelsea Lately, and Zac Brown Band is on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Country music is filled with some beautiful people, and even though People Magazine recognized Channing Tatum as tops in their People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012 list, Blake Shelton made the list, too. He’ll be featured in the issue that comes out today. Earlier this year, wife Miranda Lambert made People’s 2012 World’s Most Beautiful Women list. Another country artist is now in the running for Sexiest Man Alive for 2013, since Chris Young is featured as the Sexiest Man of the Week in the current issue of People Magazine. He says he doesn’t see himself as sexy, but admits the ladies go wild when he performs: “Someone threw neon underwear on stage last week, which I just laughed. I’ve gotten bras before. You know, shoot a thong on stage is one thing. If they start going through the process of like, ‘not only underwear, I’m gonna make sure it ties in with the album.’ That’s a lot of thought. That’s a lot of premeditation to throwing underwear on stage.” He’s currently touring behind his album, entitled “Neon.”

Fan reaction to the announcement of Keith Urban’s first headlining tour since 2011 has been very gratifying for Keith, and he’s stoked to hit the road and do what he does best – play live for a crowd, sharing the energy and the love. According to Keith, “I really love, love what I do. It’s really important; it’s just that lessons in gratitude that’s a daily thing. And I think if you really love it, it’s something people pick up on.”

Taylor Swift was on X Factor’s live results show last night, performing “State of Grace” off of her new album, Red. If you looked carefully, you saw a new addition to her band: “We actually have four extra backup singers now, who are amazing! They’re these girls who I love so much, and they’re so good at singing and they move all pretty – they’re adorable. They’ve performed with us on the VMA’s and the TV performances we’ve done.” Taylor was also part of MTV’s Restore the Shore campaign special last night. Growing up in Pennsylvania meant that her family often went to the Jersey shore for summer vacation. She, along with many other country stars, are pitching in to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Jason Aldean was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, and, remembering the days of dive bars and half-empty halls, he’s grateful for where his career has gone: “To be able to stand there with the guys that have seen it go from that, to what it is now – I think really those guys are probably the only ones that really understand – that really get it. Family a lot of times doesn’t see the everyday stuff, they just kind of all of sudden notice you’re getting bigger.” 
Lee Brice is in love with his next single, “I Drive Your Truck,” a song about a man who loses his brother, presumably in the Middle East. “It really changed my life when I heard it. I couldn’t believe I got my hands on it – I didn’t write this song. I’m still floored by it to this stay – so we’re really pumped about that one. It is really amazing - the songwriter was straight up touched by God that day.” 
Kristian Bush of Sugarland bought his bandmate Jennifer Nettles what he describes as the perfect baby gift. Dubbed “the Miracle Blanket,” it is supposed to help new babies sleep deeper and longer, allowing their parents to get more rest, too. Jennifer is expecting her first child sometime this month. 
Martina McBride and her family will be spending Thanksgiving in New York City. She’ll be performing during The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS Thanksgiving day.

Reba is so proud of her friend Blake Shelton, and was very emotional when she handed him the Entertainer of the Year award at the CMAs. “I was...I was bawling. I was so proud to give that to him, to be the one to present it to him. He’s like a brother to me and we’ve had such a great time. I just got to do his Christmas special...his TV Christmas special taping...that’s a hoot!” Blake Shelton’s Not So Family Christmas special airs December 7th on NBC.

Veterans Day was Sunday, but country artists remember the military all year long. Dierks Bentley raises money for the Wounded Warrior project: “These guys have all put 10,000 hours into being soldiers – and then they come back here. That’s a hard thing to do, especially when a lot of our soldiers are older and already have kids and families. They’re not coming back 21 or 22 – they’re like 36 or 37. The guys that come back that are wounded – it’s even a more difficult road to go down. We just hope to spread a little money and spread even more awareness to it, and get people involved.” Lee Brice has his priorities straight: “They’re so thankful for a shout out, they are so thankful for a song, for going and playing events for them – whether it’s for the USO or Wounded Warriors. They are so appreciative of it, but we are the ones that need to be thankful for them. Everytime I get a thank you from them, I’m just doubling it back to them – ya know?” And Martina McBride knows it’s not just the soldier, but that soldier’s family, too, that serves: “Knowing that so many people do have family, children and loved ones that are overseas fighting for us, is always something that I think, ‘What a hard thing? But they must be so proud as well.’ So I have a very special place in my heart for the military and what those men and women are doing for us.”

Kellie Pickler is about to add another star tattoo to her collection of 5 – she’ll be making a 6th USO tour overseas. What does she like to do while she’s in the Middle East? “I love hearing about their story and how they joined and why they joined and what are their thoughts on everything that’s going on over here. What are your thoughts about the election? Like, what are you...like...ask the military what do they want?”
Trace Adkins is also packing for a USO tour to take some holiday cheer to troops in the Pacific. He’ll travel there November 25th to December 2nd. 
Lady Antebellum won the Breakthrough Award at the 2012 Billboard Touring Awards last week. Dave Haywood says their favorite part of the Own the Night tour was fan response: “I think you know getting out and touring this year has kinda shed a new light for us as songwriters, on where we want to go. I mean, we started last November on Own The Night and we were blown away by the response all throughout this year and this summer, and you really kinda realize what songs translate to a large audience. And that’s kinda helped shape our writing.” 
Taylor Swift is looking for shelf space for her three new awards – MTV European Music Awards for Best Live, Best Look and Best Female. She truly is taking over the world, isn’t she? 
Scotty McCreery is the star of Bojangles’ new TV commercials. Haven’t seen them? Here they are… 
 
 
Miranda Lambert’s song, “Over You,” has been certified platinum for sales of over a million units. She and co-writer/hubby Blake Shelton won a CMA Award for that song. 
DVR alert – Trace Adkins will be part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. CMA Country Christmas will air December 20th, 22nd and 23rd on ABC. Stars include Jennifer Nettles, The Band Perry, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Lady A and many more.

Kenny Chesney is psyched about his 20th anniversary tour – 20 years of touring and he vows to make it the best tour yet for his fans because of the mutual admiration they have: “I’m glad there’s anticipation I’m glad there’s a certain energy there. To be honest with you, the idea of that energy drives me to be even better. I think any entertainer will tell you this, because I do wear my feelings out on my sleeve a lot. So that being said, the more love we get, the more we throw back at them.” Tourmate Eric Church is thrilled to be part of the fun, so he can build a relationship with new fans: “We got this night, I’m not going to see you for a while and you’re not going to see me for a while, you know? And I love being able to capitalize on that moment and trying to live in that moment and get as much energy exchanged between myself and the crowd as we can. I love that! That’s my favorite part of what we do. I love being around people…I’m very passionate about my music and I love people who are passionate about the music too, and I love playing a show for that type of crowd.” He’ll join the tour on select stadium shows, as will Zac Brown Band. Eli Young Band and Kacey Musgraves are the regular tourmates, signed up for at least 17 stadium shows with Kenny next year.
Jake Owen has set a record for the most consecutive sold-out shows for the CMT on Tour effort. He knows why people keep coming back to see him – he’ll all about giving value for that ticket price: “That’s all you ever try to do - is try to please the people that were there. Make sure they go home and tell their friends who weren’t there about it. The next time around they bring them back – and your crowd progressively gets bigger.” 

Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean spent the weekend hunting in Kansas with the crew of Buck Commander. Also on the hunt are baseball stars Adam LaRoche, Ryan Langerhans and Tombo Martin. Luke admits that the deer could be safe from him and Jason: “Who knows – we’re both pretty awful. I haven’t killed anything on this past trip. I got a deer down in Texas – but I’m still waitin’.” The show will air this fall or winter on the Outdoor Channel.
Miranda Lambert spent her birthday weekend at home in Oklahoma, working on her new boutique, The Pink Pistol. It’ll open the day after Thanksgiving. Since she’s busy with that, plus her tour, plus her work with Pistol Annies, and Blake’s busy with The Voice, the subject of children doesn’t come up between them – they’re too busy, and Miranda says her dogs are like children to her. 
Martina McBride just shot a video for “Please Come Home For Christmas” in Franklin, Tennessee. Her crew spent a week decorating the town, including adding snow, so it would be in the holiday spirit. The song will be part of “A Very Special Christmas” benefit cd this year, and the video featured 12 Special Olympians. 
There’ll be a Hurricane Sandy benefit concert in New York at Madison Square Garden on 12/12/12. The performers are still being lined up, but there should be a country artist or two in the mix.

If you’ve been inside a Walgreens store lately, you probably noticed a Taylor Swift display, selling her new album, “Red.” How did that happen? Taylor’s dad had the idea: “He comes in and he’s like, ‘Walgreens has like 8,000 stores. That’s more than anything out there. Do you think they would sell music?’ And we’ve been working on it ever since. We’ve been working on it for ages partnering with Walgreens and we are finally opening the doors to the stores inside Walgreens where they’re gonna sell my music now and it’s amazing to me that that was just something, an idea out of thin air that my dad had.”

Jason Aldean has announced the first leg of his Night Train tour. It’ll kick off February 21st in Louisiana and visit 23 cities through May. Jason says his fans are in for a treat: “We’ve kind of made it a point to go out and make our shows, you know, as good as we can possibly make ‘em. You know, when people come out to our show, that’s what they’re gonna get.” Meanwhile, former tourmate Luke Bryan and Jason are making plans for right now: “[Jason] It’s huntin’ season. [Luke] Go deer hunt a little bit! [Jason] ...huntin’ season and just kinda gives us some time to take a couple months off and get ready for next year.”

Eric Church’s family was with him in Nashville when he accepted the CMA Album of the Year award for “Chief.” Eric’s dad and brother went back home after the show, but his mom hit the road with him for shows on the West Coast. He’s working on songs for his next album, but doesn’t really know when that one will be out, as he’s in no hurry: “I think there’s a lot of reasons to make records. The one thing I won’t do is I won’t make records for an economic reason. It won’t be because a label needs to make a quarterly number or we need to promote a tour.” If you need an Eric Church fix, a live album recorded last month in Chattanooga will be out in early 2013.
Miranda Lambert is getting into the retail spirit on Black Friday this year – she’s opening her new store, The Pink Pistol, in the small Oklahoma town where she and Blake Shelton live. The new boutique will sell, according to Miranda, “antiques, gifts, boots, jeans and pretty much everything you can imagine.” She says she wants to turn Black Friday, the huge shopping day after Thanksgiving, into Pink Friday. 
Kenny Chesney fans, heads-up! He’ll announce details of 2013’s tour, including dates, opening acts and the tour’s name, on Thursday.
Chris Young is People Magazine’s Sexy Man of the Week, meaning he’s up for the annual Sexiest Man Alive award. Miranda and Blake are on the cover of the current issue.

Jason Aldean sold out two more stadium shows on Friday, after selling out Fenway Park in Boston in a record 7 minutes. The second Fenway Park show and the show at Athens, GA’s Sanford Stadium were both sell-outs in under an hour on Friday. Jason says it’s a testament to how hard his band and crew work, plus the loyalty and passion of country music fans.

The post-CMA parties in Nashville have ended, and the winners are probably still staring at their trophies in amazement. Here’s what a few of them had to say about their wins:

Blake Shelton, on winning Entertainer of the Year: “I didn’t think about that tonight. I was thinking well...there’s Taylor Swift right there. I mean, really? This is pretty dumb that there’s anybody else even nominated, you know? So, I didn’t even really think about it.”

Miranda Lambert, on being named Female Vocalist of the Year: “You know, I’m one of those girls right now that’s on top and I’m so thankful to be able to be the reigning vocalist three times in a row and be standing here but I know it’s gonna be time to pass that trophy on to the next and I hope there’s enough females to put into that category and there’s some great talent out there and we’re gonna accept it. I kicked the door open and I’m gonna hold my leg in there! I’m gonna keep the door open for all these amazing female singer-songwriters.”

Eric Church, on “Chief” after winning Album of the Year: “We didn’t plan it. We didn’t talk about it. There’s as much unrehearsed magic on the record as we’ve ever had.”

Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town, after winning Vocal Group of the Year and Single of the Year: “We just really always kept showing up and believing and dreaming and working really hard and it happened! It’s happened for us. You never know what’s around the corner.”
Country music won big last Thursday night, as the CMA Awards show was the most-watched show during it’s time slot. Nearly 14 million viewers watched, making it ABC’s best ratings of any show this season. 
Tim McGraw releases his new album, “Two Lanes of Freedom,” on February 5th. It includes the song he performed at the CMA’s, “One Of Those Nights.” 

You’ll soon see Miranda Lambert sporting a milk mustache in the latest flight of the “Got Milk?” ad campaign. How does she manage to look sulky and sultry at the same time?
Blake Shelton is on The Voice tonight and Jerrod Niemann is on Marie! on the Hallmark Channel.

Here's a complete list of CMA Award winners from last night's show:
Entertainer of the Year
Blake Shelton

Female Vocalist of the Year|
Miranda Lambert

Male Vocalist of the Year
Blake Shelton

Vocal Group of the Year
Little Big Town

Vocal Duo of the Year
Thompson Square

Musical Event of the Year
“Feel Like a Rock Star” – Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw

New Artist of the Year
Hunter Hayes
Single of the Year
“Pontoon” – Little Big Town (Producer: Jay Joyce)

Song of the Year
“Over You” – Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton (songwriters)

Album of the Year
Chief - Eric Church (Producer: Jay Joyce)

Music Video of the Year
“Red Solo Cup” – Toby Keith (Director: Michael Salomon)

Musician of the Year
Mac McAnally (guitar)

The CMA Awards happen Thursday night, and Nashville is already making preparations for the event at Bridgestone Arena. Streets started closing Saturday, so if you’re planning to be there, be prepared for some traffic troubles. Just added as presenters are Reba and Tim Allen. Reba’s new TV show, Malibu Country, premiers Friday night. 

Rascal Flatts is about to release a new DVD – Rascal Flatts: All Access & Uncovered features an intimate look at the relationship between the trio, their families and some hot performance video. Joe Don says of the project and of their latest album: “Its complete heart, 100% heart and soul in this album and you know, we cut it at Jay’s house and...everything feels so great right now in our career.” The DVD drops November 19th. 

Keith Urban is traveling the country with the American Idol crew, going from city to city for the audition phase of the show. It’s a far cry from his life in Australia, and Keith is very appreciative: “I come from nothing, you know? Very, very working class family, and I’ve been blessed with this extraordinary life. And it’s the fans and the audiences that like the music and come to the concerts, and that’s—it’s just changed my life.” He’ll perform this week on the CMA Awards show.

The Jason Aldean/Miranda Lambert concert at Boston’s Fenway Park sold out in seven minutes Friday morning, so they decided to add a second show. July 12th and 13th are the dates that the Green Monster goes country in a big way. Jason’s already working on the experience for his fans: “You know, it’s just kind of a thing where you sit down and you kind of figure out what you want to do and how you want to change it up from this year. You sit down and you start drawing it out on paper what you want your stage to look like.” Jake Owen and Thomas Rhett will also be part of those two shows.
Miranda Lambert will be sporting a new hairdo for the CMAs – she tweeted a photo of herself with a long shag, complete with bangs. Cute! 

The video for Taylor Swift’s new song, “Begin Again,” was shot in Paris. Really? For a country song? Taylor explains: “You know when you’re going through a break up and you need to just reflect, be alone and walk around – and see a beautiful place? I think it’s like that. It’s wondering around exploring a new city and kind of trying to find yourself again – and meeting a hot guy in a café.” Here it is… 
 
Apparently the Taylor Swift – Conor Kennedy romance is kaput. According to a close friend of Taylor’s, “they quietly parted ways a while ago.” No hard feelings, just a crazy schedule right now for Taylor, as she’s working the release of “Red” and has no time off until Christmas. 
New music out tomorrow from Toby Keith – “Hope On The Rocks” is the title. 
Reba is on Live With Kelly & Michael today, and Blake Shelton is on The Voice tonight.

They like and respect each other as artists, so Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert released a video on Twitter. Here’s what the video had to say: “[Miranda] What are you doing here? Good to see you! It’s been a while. [Dierks] I know we should go on tour or something to kinda catch up. [Miranda] That’d be awesome. [Dierks] That’d be pretty cool. It’d be epic. [Miranda] Let’s do it, like, in January. [Dierks] This January? [Miranda] Yeah! [Dierks] Alright...Locked & Reloaded? [Miranda] Yeah! [Dierks] Alright. Let’s do it!” They’ll tour together starting January 17th, and of the tour, Miranda says, “This will be a tour of epic badassery.” Just what does that mean? Dierks wants to provide memories like the one he has of a Garth Brooks concert: “I remember seeing him when I was 17 at American West Arena in Phoenix. I was at the very top row. I actually touched the top of the arena building with my brother who was seven. You know no videos...no video walls or anything. I really felt like he was singing directly at me. It was a huge...had a huge influence on me.” Here’s the Twitter video, in case you missed it…



Lady Antebellum’s new holiday album is out, and “On This Winter’s Night” is not just the title track, it’s the only original song on an album full of classics. Why did they make that decision? “We wanted to try our hand in writing one song for this. We didn’t want the record to be a lot of original. At least for us, for the holiday season, we just want to have Christmas songs that we love and that we know. We thought our fans would feel the same way. But this one – we tried to incorporate the emotions and feelings around Christmas. All the fun stuff but all the serious stuff as well.”
Taylor Swift will vote by absentee ballot this year, as she’ll be out of the country promoting her new album, “Red.” It doesn’t seem to need much promotion – it’s #1 in 32 countries already and will sell over a million units this week. What does Taylor do with all the money she’s making? She told ET that she was “raised by a financial advisor,” so she knows it’s important to save and invest her money. According to Taylor, her dad told her, “Save your money! Don’t be stupid about it!” 
She said “no” to American Idol and The X Factor, but Dolly Parton would say “yes” to The Voice if she was invited to be part of it. She says the difference is that there’s not as much judging on The Voice as there is on the other two shows, and according to Dolly, “I hesitate to judge people.” 
Yes, Sara Evans was in a car accident this past week, but it wasn’t that Sara Evans. It was an Ohio teenager named Sarah Evans with an “h” who wrecked her car, causing Sara Evans without an “h” to take to her Twitter account to stop the confusion and rumors. The Ohio teen was cited for failure to yield to a stop sign and wasn’t hurt. The woman in the car she hit was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries. 

The Peoples Choice Awards won’t be handed out until January, but you can start voting for your favorites right now.
For this week, anyway, Jason Aldean holds down the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart as well as the top spot on the Billboard Country Album chart. In his debut week last week, he sold 409,000 copies of “Night Train.” He’ll need to enjoy that chart position this week, because when next week’s charts are released, Taylor Swift will top them both, since she sold over half a million copies just on Monday of this week.
Taylor Swift is on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Martina McBride is on Anderson Live today. 

Jason Aldean has released the first three tour dates for 2013. He'll play Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA in April with supporting artists Luke Bryan, Jake Owen and Thomas Rhett, be the first country artist to play Fenway Park in Boston, adding Miranda Lambert, and will also play Wrigley Field in Chicago, taking Kelly Clarkson with him for that show. About his lifestyle, Jason says “In this business, we obviously travel a lot. You know, you turn into sort of a journeyman. You kind of have that lifestyle, so I think in my case I’ve always been drawn to songs that I could relate to and things that kind of describe what it is that I do.” Keep an eye on his website for more concert dates.

When Jason Aldean jet-setted around the country last Thursday, announcing concerts in Boston, Chicago and Athens, he saved the Athens stop for last. He had some help in making that concert announcement – Georgia Bulldog coach Mark Richt.



Want to see some of the show Jason played? Here’s that video…



Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley are working with writers, putting together the script for the 46th Annual CMA Awards show on November 3rd. Where do they get ideas for material? According to Carrie, “Well there’s always new songs, new artists up for nominations, new things that they have done...new political issues and this is an election year and we’re right before the election, so I’m sure we’ll be touching on that.”
Miranda Lambert is up for the CMA Album of the Year award again this year, and she's excited for the recognition her "baby" is getting. She knew she wanted to do something different for her 4th studio album, but wasn't quite sure what that was: “I mean, honestly, we had a list of songs in the studio that kind of just picked what we want as we went, because I didn’t want to say, ‘Okay, these are the, you know, 12 songs we’re recording or 15 songs we’re recording, and that’s that.’ Whatever the mood was that day, I wanted to be able to be open-minded and fluid, and I definitely think it sounds like that.” 
Reba's new show, "Malibu Country," debuts on November 2nd and she's rounding up some country pals to be part of it with her. Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson have both already said they'll guest-star, and yes, there will be lots of music on the show. 
Taylor Swift's new album, "Red," is out today and she's playing "VJ for a Day" on CMT, playing her favorite music videos. Don't be surprised if she plays other artists' videos, but one she'll definitely play is "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" because she had such fun making that one. “It’s very quirky. My band is the quirkiest part of it. When I showed them the costumes they had to wear, they were so mad —but then they owned it and they got really into it and excited, but at first it was just like—utter horror.” Check out the horror here... 
 
Taylor Swift is on Good Morning America, Hunter Hayes is on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Blake Shelton is on The Voice tonight.

Jason Aldean released a new album, "Night Train," this week, but his thoughts are all about Saturdays and Georgia football. Specifically, the party before the game: “Every SEC school that I’ve ever been to—you know tailgating is a religion. We’re in the South! But, Georgia is fun, I mean it is fun, and the fans are rabid, man. They love to show up early and have a good time.” He'll have to be in Kentucky tomorrow night if he wants to hit the tailgate - Georgia's on the road this weekend.

Lee Brice's song, "Hard to Love," is a tip of the hat to his fiance and their son: “This career can be hard to love from Sarah’s point of view – and Takoda. They’re proud and they support me, but it’s just hard being away so much and stuff so that’s kind of where that came from. But yeah, it’s stepping up and owning up to that.”

Little Big Town's new single, "Tornado," is whipping up a storm on the country charts, and they love playing it live: “[Karen] We like it so much, it’s so much fun to play live and there’s just smoke and craziness, scariness. [Kimberly] Wind and smoke! [Phillip] Storms on stage! [Jimi] Karen scaring men throughout the audience—and her husband on stage. [Laughs] I’m just sending a warning… [Laughs] it’s a warning shot.” Little Big Town is on the road with Rascal Flatts, and "Tornado" the album sits atop the country music Billboard chart for the 5th week.

Josh Turner reveals how to pick a hit song: “When you hear a song that takes your mind away from all of the crazy distractions in life, that normally is a hit song.” His new single, "Find Me A Baby," is just such a song for Josh. It's from his "Punching Bag" album.

She first appeared in the media at 11 months of age in a Playskool commercial, grew up listening to country music, dabbled in a singing career and is now the bad-girl Juliette Barnes on the new show, "Nashville." Hayden Panettiere and the show have released a single, "Telescope," written by Cary Barlowe and Hillary Lindsay. About it, Hayden says “It’s one of those songs that you hope girls and boys are going to dance to in their cars and sing out loud. That’s the great thing about my character is that you get those two different sides of her. You get the side of her that is the mainstream crossover – fun songs like ‘Telescope.’ Then you get the more understated songs that have that heart behind it.”
Country stars populate a Katie Couric tv special - "20/20 All Access Nashville With Katie Couric" a week from tonight and features Taylor Swift, Reba, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert & Pistol Annies, Martina McBride, Luke Byran and Jason Aldean all give a glimps into their private lives and talk about their favorite female country singers on the show.

Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker team up with NASCAR brothers Darrell and Michael Waltrip for the third annual Charity Championship, a golf tournament, dinner and concert happening just outside of Nashville. Brad Paisley will perform at the Champion’s Dinner on October 24th, and on the 25th is the golf tournament at the Vanderbilt Legends Club golf course, where Darius will take a swing at winning. The event benefits Feed the Children and Motor Racing Outreach. Think Brad’s excited to be part of a NASCAR event? “I have done racing schools. And I do have a diploma or two from a couple of tracks…which has actually served me now way more than my actual college diploma has!”

Sunday is Dierks Bentley’s Miles & Music For Kids charity ride in Nashville, and he puts it all out there for this event. But as you can tell from his latest single, “Tip It On Back,” he puts it all out there when he’s partying, too: “Obviously it’s about tippin’ it on back and smokin’ and all that stuff but it’s bigger than that too. It’s just about finding some way to take a break from your...whatever you’re going through and you know music’s a big part of that too, you know whether you’re drinkin’ to it or not. So, it’s about the live show. It’s about getting out.”
Tickets go on sale to George Strait’s last tour today, and George is planning to hit the studio, record a new album and get it out in time to showcase some new music along with his 59 #1 songs. How’s he feeling about recording? “I haven’t recorded in a while - it’s probably been the longest time ever since I’ve made a record. So, I’m feeling a little antsy about getting back into the studio. I’ve got some great material already, and I’m working on some songs – some original stuff too.” 
Gary Allen has a new song climbing the charts, and while he has a few #1 songs, those aren’t his goals. Actually, being a big star in country music isn’t his goal, either. What is? “I’ve never really cared about being the ‘latest greatest thing’—I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but I never really fight to be in that inner circle, because I think that person won’t be around very long. I think whoever the latest greatest thing—that’s usually an up and down. I’ve always wanted to be the George Strait or the Willie Nelson—just make quality music and always be here.” His next album, “Set You Free,” features “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)” and is due out in early 2013. 
Because of busy schedules, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton will have Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, where Blake will be working on “The Voice.” Miranda says she’ll find hay bales and pumpkins somewhere in southern California, because she has to decorate. Speaking of holidays, Blake Shelton’s “Cheers, It’s Christmas” comes out Tuesday. I got an advance copy and was blown away by it – grab it up to spruce up your holidays! 
The awards season is at full throttle – the American Country Awards will be on FOX December 10th, and Luke Bryan leads the nomination parade with seven. Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band have six each. See all the nominees and vote for your favorite. 

The American Music Awards nominations have been announced, and Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan both have two nods – Carrie is nominated for Favorite Female Country Album and Favorite Country Album, and Luke’s nods are for Favorite Male Country Artist and Favorite Country Album. The third album in the Country category is Lionel Richie’s “Tuskeegee.” Jason Aldean and Eric Church are the other nominees in the male country category, Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert round out the female country category, and in the Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group category, Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts are nominated. The American Music Awards will be handed out live on ABC November 18th.

Big congrats to Little Big Town, who hold down the #1 spot for the 4th week in a row on the Billboard Country Album chart with “Tornado.” Karen Fairchild says that the album is well-named: “We’ve had an amazing journey as a band, but this has felt like a new day and it’s been akin to a storm, in a really cool way.”

They might just have to settle for 4 weeks – Jason Aldean’s “Night Train” comes out this Tuesday and is expected to blow away the competition and take over the #1 spot on the Billboard Country Album chart. You can stream it on iTunes now, and make sure you listen to “The Only Way I Know,” a collaboration between Jason, Luke Bryan and Eric Church. Jason explains how that came together: “I just thought, ‘Man, with those two guys having the types of years they’re having and our thing doing what it’s doing, it just—what a cool kind of thing that could be on the record. And so I talked to those guys and sent them the song, and both of them dug the song. It’s another thing on the album that’s completely different.”

Jake Owen, Love and Theft and Florida Georgia Line are on the road together with the CMT The Summer Never Ends Tour. What’s it like, traveling around the country with a bunch of guys? According to Jake, “That’s the cool thing about it—is traveling around with your friends and singing songs and making people happy and then moving on to the next town and doing the same thing again. I mean, we’ll do everything from hang out and maybe play some golf, or try to find a boat somewhere and go out on a boat, or do some fishing. You know just what guys do, but the cool thing about it is every night we get to have a get-together with a bunch of friends and pick some guitars and sing songs.” The guys from Florida Georgia Line have some thoughts, too: “I know we are going to be playing a lot of ping pong – for sure. We like to find a gym and time to work out or do something. We’ve talked to Jake, we’re gonna have a whole bunch of random things. We’re gonna get all the stuff out at every stop and have a little mobile gym. It’ll be a good time getting a little workout in.” 

Speaking of working out, Miranda Lambert shares some workout secrets and her workout playlist in a WebMD interview: she’s put bad snacks on the “must miss” list and now snacks on almonds and low-fat string cheese, though will occasionally splurge on a cheeseburger or Dairy Queen Blizzard. As for her workout playlist, here you go… "Stronger" - Kelly Clarkson 
"Before He Cheats" - Carrie Underwood 
"Hell on Heels" - Pistol Annies 
"Run the World (Girls)" - Beyoncé 
"Love in an Elevator" - Aerosmith 
"Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" - Shania Twain 
"Smokin' the Boys" - Audra Mae and The Almighty Sound 
"You and I" - Lady Gaga 


Greg Bates is working his way up the charts with his debut, “I Did It For The Girl.” The singer-songwriter has a dream that he hopes comes true one day: “I would love to write a song with Alan Jackson. I think...you know, he was a huge influence on me as a writer and I’ve always wanted to sit down with that guy and if anything just learn anything else that I can from him as a writer.”

Last night in Nashville, Loretta Lynn celebrated her 50th anniversary with the Grand Ole Opry, and some of country music’s biggest names were there to celebrate her influence, talent and grace. Miranda Lambert couldn’t quit gushing about Miss Loretta: “What I admire the most about Loretta is that she’s so real. There’s no frills, there’s no hiding anything, there’s no dressing her up and making her something she’s not. She’s exactly who she is, in her music, in her interviews, on television.” Also on hand were Pistol Annies, Trace Adkins, Lee Ann Womack and Crystal Gale.

Dierks Bentley is still floating on cloud nine after hosting the ACM Honors concert Monday night in Nashville. As part of the gig, he had to perform music by most of the honorees: “I’ve spent a lot of hours listening to these guys records but also working up their songs. You talk about Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam and Vince Gill are all guys who...I listen to their records a lot and I have so much respect for...really all those acts.”

Brad Paisley got his hat knocked off by Carrie Underwood on Sunday night in Nashville. In both Brad’s shows and hers, when they sing “Remind Me,” they’re joined by a video of the other duet partner, and Carrie was told that Brad’s commitments in Vegas and LA would keep him away from Bridgestone Arena. Sneaky Brad - she was onstage and started singing “Remind Me.” She got a couple of lines into the song when Brad started singing from off stage. She looked around, spotted him as he came onstage, and ran to him, giving him a huge hug. That’s when the hat incident happened. She only missed a few lines of the song in spite of the big surprise Brad pulled off. What a treat for that Blown Away audience – bet they were, for sure! Wanna see? Here you go…



It was a good summer to be the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Over 200,000 visitors enjoyed exhibits from Patsy Cline to Taylor Swift, a 15% increase over the summer of 2011.

Hunter Hayes has the #1 country song in America again this week with “Wanted.”

Little Big Town is on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight, performing “Tornado.”

Jason Aldean is in the new issue of People Country, talking about his life off the road. He opens up about daughters Kendyl, who is 5, and Keeley, who is 9. Their favorite store? Target. Their favorite time of day? Bedtime, because the family loves bedtime tickle fights. The article also features photos of Jason’s 18-acre Tennessee property, with photos of the house included, so fans can see how he spends his down time.

Chris Young is about to take off on a headlining tour, and is pleased to be kicking it off November 15th at the Ryman in Nashville. He’s appreciated the opportunity to open for Miranda Lambert this year, and to play to much larger audiences than he’s been used to. As Chris put it, “I found myself constantly going to like people in my band going, ‘Dude, remember when we played in front of like a hundred people, and then like 30 of them left by the end of the show?’ But, it’s...it’s all really exciting.” Tickets for the Ryman show go on sale this Friday at Ticketmaster and at Ryman.com.

Little Big Town releases “Tornado” today, and they’re excited to bring new music to their fans. They used their live show band instead of session players, and collaborated with people they’ve admired for years. Jimi Westbrook says that the collaboration was his favorite part: “That was inspiring too. I think even before we got into the recording process was the writing side of things and the new people we were getting to work with. Some that we had known of, and wanted to write with but hadn’t ever been able to so. I think the inspiration started even back then and just carried all the way through. It was really cool.” “Tornado” includes their first #1 single, the platinum-selling “Pontoon.”

Kix Brooks also has a new album out today – “New To This Town” is his solo debut, and he says it’s a trip back to his real musical roots, especially the song “Moonshine Road:” “It’s just got that swamp groove and it was one of the first songs I wrote for the album, sort of—I felt kinda free and on my own in a way. I’m like ‘This isn’t anything like what Ronnie and I were doing, this really is kinda going back to where I came from.’”

Friday night, Taylor Swift was the highlight of the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon with a song written especially for the occasion: “Ronan.” Ronan was a 4-year-old boy who lost his battle with neuroblastoma. His mom poured out the journey, the battle, and her loss through a blog that Taylor read, and she wrote the song based on Maya Thompson’s emotion-laden words. Taylor listed Maya as co-writer on the song, and it’s available on iTunes, where it’s the top-selling song by a long shot. Proceeds go to Stand Up 2 Cancer. If you’d like to hear it, here’s video from the show. Get tissues first – you have been warned…



No official announcement that Keith Urban will be a judge on American Idol this year, but Keith does reveal that he’s bad at shows like that: “I would love to be able to do it and hopefully that happens. I actually did a few of those kind of shows when I was very young I went on a few TV talent shows. I was terrible at all of them, but I really enjoyed the experience and the thing about some of these shows is that mentoring aspect. I really like that.”

Did you watch the season 3 premier of The Voice last night? Blake Shelton says that there are things the TV audience doesn’t see, like Cee Lo being distracted: “There have been times where we’re live on TV and Carson will ask a direct question to Cee Lo and Cee Lo not even know ‘cause he’s texting some girl or playing Angry Birds or something on his phone. It’ll completely just go right over his head.”

Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” is now a platinum-selling album for her. It’s spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard Country chart.

With Labor Day behind us, Eric Church remembers working the graveyard shift for the Shop at Home network when he first moved to Nashville. As he recalls, “Anytime somebody calls you at 3 or 4AM and needs two-hundred knives for $19.95, it’s automatically an alarming situation. And I just, I was young and I’d been in a lot of these people’s shoes. I knew they were drunk. I knew what they had done. They’d just come home from the bar, flipped on Shop at Home and said, ‘You know what? I need that.’ So the reason the job didn’t last long for me is that I was maybe the worst salesmen in history because I ended up talking a lot of these people out of it, I’d say, ‘I’ll tell you what man, go to bed, call me, I’ll be here in the morning. If you get up in the morning and want these knives you call me back.’”

Trace Adkins played the Republican National Convention and shared his new song, “Tough People Do.” It was a huge hit with the delegates, who called it a GOP anthem. Not so, says Trace, "If a liberal politician is OK with the line, 'Tough people pull themselves up by the bootstraps when they hit hard luck/And they stay strong and keep fighting like they don't know how to lose, then by all means, play the song." You can see the performance here – language alert in the first 15 seconds, but then it’s family-friendly.



Carrie Underwood said at the #1 party for “Good Girl” last week in Nashville that she had to choose between going shopping for new clothes in LA or having a songwriting session with co-writers Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley. She picked songwriting and said that “Good Girl” came out fast and fun. By the end of the day, not only had they written the song but had worked it up and Carrie left with a demo in hand. She’s in Nashville now, rehearsing for her “Blown Away” tour.

Little Big Town’s “Tornado” comes out a week from today, and according to the band, they made it in seven days, thanks to producer Jay Joyce, who also produced Eric Church’s “Chief.” LBT rehearsed for four days and recorded for three, but didn’t hear anything at all until they finished recording on the third day. Then Jay surprised them with the finished mixes on all of the songs, to which Kimberly Schlapman said, “Doggone it! It sounds like we just made a record.” Because it only took a week to make the album, the band got four days off once they heard “Tornado’s” tracks, an unheard-of luxury for artists. In other LBT news, the band has the honor of performing at the 37th Annual TJ Martell Foundation Honors Gala October 23rd in New York.

Miranda Lambert’s potential television show will apparently eventually find a broadcast home. She was initially working with ABC Family, but now NBC has the treatment and is developing a show inspired by Miranda’s childhood, growing up with private investigators for parents. No word on when an episode might air.

LeAnn Rimes is apparently doing well at the rehab facility she checked herself into last week. She committed to a 30-day, in-patient treatment, trying to cope with anxiety and stress. She will, however, keep her scheduled performances, leaving the facility and then returning to treatment immediately afterwards. In other LeAnn news, she’s filed suit against Kimberly and Lexi Smiley, two woman she claims illegally recorded a phone call with her and shared it on the internet. LeAnn says she called them to ask them to quit spreading negative things about her online.

Road trip alert – Capitol Records’ 5th Annual Street Party will happen October 17th in Nashville. No line-up details yet, but streets will be closed near Music Row for a free night of country music concerts.

Taylor Swift is on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today.