Nashville is gearing up for next week's kickoff of Garth-mania. A run of nine sold-out shows, some of them on the same night, begins at the Bridgestone Arena on December 16th. The logistics of getting the fans parked and keeping traffic flowing around the downtown area, plus getting 13,000 fans out of the arena in an hour so another 13,000 can get in, are being plotted and planned like a huge tactical manuver. According to Nashville Downtown Partnership President Tom Turner, "The community rallied in support during the May floods and that effort is being matched once again in order to help this go smoothly." More than $3.5 million was raised for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee's flood relief efforts in one afternoon as 140,000 tickets to the shows were snapped up.
Many men have "man caves," a room in their house that's theirs, filled with their stuff and maybe off limits to kids and/or wives. Josh Turner is building a man cabin. Since his wife is in his band and their kids travel on tour with them, Josh doesn't get any "alone" time to write, so he's building a cabin on their property with no tv, no phone, no computer and no distractions. Asked to define distractions, that includes kids and wife right now, but he may ease that restriction soon. According to Josh, "I just want to able to display a lot of the things I've been able to accomplish and a lot of who I am in there, not just musically. It's got a ways to go on the inside, but it's gradually coming together." The log cabin features a wrap-around porch and a stone fireplace, with comfy furniture to aid in the songwriting process.
Didja miss Keith Urban on the Tonight Show? Here he is...
And here's Little Big Town on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Next week, Brad Paisley is giving you a Christmas present - you can get his new song, "This is Country Music," for free. His next studio album, "This is Country Music," won't be released until April 19th of next year, but pre-orders start next week, too. From December 13-20, you can get the single without pre-ordering the album. After that, anyone who pre-orders gets the single immediately.
If you happen to see Brad Paisley out in public with his son, Huck, you'll notice that Huck will be wearing a Batman mask. Apparently, he's in love with that mask and has been wearing it since June. Brad says he gets questions about whether he makes Huck wear it to protect his privacy, but Brad says it's more like a superhero internship.
The year-end lists have already started, and the top 5 country songs of 2010, based on radio airplay, are:
1. JOSH TURNER/Why Don't We Just Dance
2. JOE NICHOLS/Gimme That Girl
3. LADY ANTEBELLUM/Need You Now
4. EASTON CORBIN/A Little More Country Than That
5. CHRIS YOUNG/The Man I Want To Be
The Time Magazine Top 10 Apologies list features Taylor Swift's song, "Back To December" at #3.
And Fitness Magazine taps Carrie Underwood as having the "Best Bridal Bod of 2010."
As Taylor Swift heads into her last weekend as a minor, she's honored as a hot babe. Maxim's Hot 100 Babes of 2010 list is out, and two country singers landed on it: Taylor Swift at #31 and Julianne Hough at #45. Taylor turns 21 on Monday.
Congrats to The Band Perry for platinum certification of their song "If I Die Young." More than a million copies of the song have been sold.
Garth Brooks sits down with Larry King tonight at 9 Eastern for an hour-long interview, where they'll discuss everything from the Vegas concerts to Al Pacino, apparently.
Happy birthday to Meghan Linsey of Steel Magnolia, who is 25 today.
The tweet of the day is from Brad Paisley: "The Elf on the Shelf thing is a fantastic idea.But not realistic enuff.So I've hired Lil Jimmy Dickens to sit on the mantle in his red PJs."
