Lady Antebellum top country music's stars for Grammy nominations this year with six. Are they expecting to walk away with a bunch of awards? Well, not so much - they're up against top nominee Eminem several times and expect him to win. "We'll probably be clapping for Eminem the whole night," says Charles Kelley, who thinks the rapper will be the night's top winner. "But we're going to soak it in, enjoy the night and try not to put too much pressure on the night. To be nominated that many times and to be representing country music ... we feel pretty special about that." Also in attendance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night will be Zac Brown, Miranda Lambert, Chris Young, Dierks Bentley, Jewel, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Martina McBride and Kris Kristofferson. Keith, Zac, Dierks and Jewel are all scheduled to be award presenters.
If you're into the Red Carpet part of the Grammy Awards, be at People.com starting at 6 Eastern Sunday night for their 360-cam and live blog to dish about the duds.
Miranda Lambert has a date Sunday night, and finace Blake Shelton isn't part of it. Well, he'll probably be the guy on her arm on the red carpet, but he won't be on stage with her as she makes her performance debut at the Grammy Awards. She's one of only three country performers - Lady Antebellum will do one of their songs and Martina McBride is part of a tribute to Aretha Franklin - and is very proud of her three nominations and of being tapped to sing. “I’m really proud to be there representing our genre. I’m obviously so excited that I’m finally one of ‘em. I’m finally up there on that level where I get to perform at the Grammys. It takes a lot to get there. Being nominated is a huge honor and I’m really excited.”
Blake Shelton says that he's no expert when it comes to love. “You know, I never was very good at dating. The reason I became a country singer to begin with was because I wanted to meet some girls, and I didn’t have the nerve to walk up to ‘em, and so I thought ‘Man if I’m playing a guitar sitting around a campfire here at high school, I’ll be the only guy here that can do that. And I’ll get to makeout. With somebody…hopefully a girl.” That's our Blake...knucklehead!
And speaking of Knucklehead Blake, if you are looking for a Valentine greeting that's...well, not exactly mainstream, shall we say, Blake has several options for you to send via his new BlakeMail program.
Lee Brice, writer and singer of the #1 song "Love Like Crazy," confesses to being pretty experienced on the dating front, knowing exactly how relationships go. “Alright, I don’t know you, hello, I like you, I love you, I’m in love with you, I don’t like you very much but I still love you.” His grandparents were married 50 years and he's hoping to have that same experience someday.
Well, turns out the rumors were true. Carrie Underwood's husband, Mike Fisher, will join the Nashville Predators hockey team. In a statement, Carrie said, "We will both truly miss Ottawa. Mike has been such a big part of the community, and I will never forget how they welcomed me with open arms. We obviously love Nashville, and the teams’ decision for him to now play with the Predators is an exciting opportunity for Mike. I support him wherever he plays!”
Carrie Underwood is up for a Grammy award on Sunday night for the song "Temporary Home." It's nominated in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance category, up against Miranda Lambert, Gretchen Wilson, Jewel and LeAnn Rimes. Carrie said the idea for the song came to her one morning during the time she and hubby Mike were reading "The Purpose Driven Life." “One day, I was, like, getting ready, and a flood just hit me. Like, just immediately, I thought of three different people, different places, different really bad things happening to them, but the song itself isn’t sad to me. It’s hopeful.”
Rascal Flatts' three members have a combined 24 years of marriage, so when they were asked to pick the most romantic love song ever, they picked "Bless the Broken Road." According to Joe Don, “Not just because we sung it. It's just one of those incredible lyrics about everything that you go through leads you up to the point to where you finally fall in love with the one you're meant to be with.” The song was written in 1994 by the members of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, co-written with Marcus Hummon. The biggest hit version was by Rascal Flatts, but it's also been recorded by Carrie Underwood, Jamie Slocum, Selah, Sons of the Desert and Melodie Crittenden. Rascal Flatts version went to #1 in 2005 and also won the Grammy for Best Country Song that year.
Road trip alert - head for Nashville the weekend of March 4 & 5, as the Grand Ole Opry is attracting lots of stars then. On the 4th, Carrie Underwood and Rodney Atkins will be performing, on the 5th, The Band Perry and Terri Clark will be performing and Blake Shelton will perform both nights.
The tweet of the day is from Dierks Bentley: "why cant we just put music city on a double wide and relocate it to southern california or florida for the winter?"
