The BAMA Rising concert was last night in Birmingham, Alabama. Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Alabama, Brad Paisley and Kellie Pickler all took the stage to raise money for tornado victims and their towns. According to Kellie, “Somehow or another we always end up coming together! And the people of country music, not just the artists, but the fans come together too. And we just gotta, we gotta take care of each other, we gotta look out for one another.”
If you read the media reports immediately following Trace and Rhonda Atkins' house fire, you know that Rhonda said she'd do everything she could to keep Trace from flying back from Alaska, where he had a planned fishing trip and concerts. You'll also remember that she didn't succeed...he got on the next flight back to Nashville as soon as he heard. How did he win the argument? "We were getting to Alaska Saturday to fish and Rhonda calls, 'There's nothing you can do here. Just stay up there and fish.' And she's a former publicist! I said, 'Honey, I need you to put on your publicist hat for a second and see that headline: 'Trace Adkins' house burns down, his family's homeless and he goes fishin' in Alaska.' So I came home. And she was right. There was nothing I could do but hug them all." By the way, their 9-year-old daughter Brianna was the one who saved the family's two Australian Shepherd puppies. Daisy and Bella, 10 months old, didn't get out with the girls and their baby-sitter, and Brianna headed back in to get them. A neighbor tried to stop her, but she wouldn't be deterred, and got them out safely. Trace told his daughter he was proud of her bravery.
If you think only the fans look forward to and enjoy the CMA Music Festival, check out these quotes from artist this year:
"You're asking me to do math, which is dangerous. My first Fan Fair was in 1992." — Martina McBride
"It's such an amazing experience being surrounded by 50,000 people who are all singing the same thing. You look out and it's this never ending sea of people for as far as you can see." — Taylor Swift
"Can you sign this for me?" — Clay Walker to Dierks Bentley, who signed a notebook for Walker's daughter.
"My house burned down. I've felt like Rain Man for the last few days every time someone asks me a question, 'Trace, what do you want to eat?' 'My house burned down.'" — Trace Adkins
"I have a little video of my daughter's reaction when I sent Jay the picture of me with Justin Bieber. I made a complete fool of myself going up to meet him, but it was so worth it." — Sara Evans who showed press cell phone video of her daughter's reaction.
"The thing that really amazes me is not only the loyalty of the fan but the loyalty of country music back to the fan. You couldn't pull this together in rock n' roll, not so much because of the bands, but the egos of their managers. They'd go, 'Oh, my guy's too big to play that.' But you don't have that here." — Darius Rucker
"These die-hard country fans come from all over the world. It's not just here in the US. It's the least we could do. We love going and signing and seeing familiar faces and being able to look them in the eyes and say thank you." — Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott
Yesterday I showed you video of Keith Urban and Jake Owen duetting on stage at LP Field for the CMA Music Festival. How did Jake get the invite from Keith? "I missed a call from a random number and when I listened to the voicemail, it was Keith asking me to come out and do a song with him at LP Field. I was so blown away because first of all, he didn't have to do that, and secondly I don't know how he got my number. I felt like a super-fan."
Sunday in Nashville, Little Big Town hosted the Fifth Annual Ride for a Cure and raised $70,000 for the T.J. Martell Foundation, which supports research into life-threatening diseases. More than 450 riders "hogged" Nashville's streets and a huge crowd showed up for the afternoon concert following the ride.
Speaking of Little Big Town, have you seen their cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep?"
For the first time since 1985, a concert was held in Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. Kenny Chesney took his "Goin' Coastal" show there Saturday night, and the team's coach even brought their Superbowl trophy up on stage just before Kenny Chesney sang "The Boys of Fall." What was that like for the die-hard football fan? “It was one of the most special nights that we’ve ever had. Just to be able to sing “Boys of Fall” in a place that is so historical, that means so much to the world of football—to have the coach of the Packers come up and bring the Superbowl trophy onstage before we sang that song—I didn’t know what to expect coming here to play at Lambeau Field. But it exceeded everything that we expected.” Trivia question - who performed the show in 1985? The pop-rock band, Survivor.
You know Taylor Swift has a lot of fans, but did you know she has some big, famous ones? Here's Shaquille O'Neal's video proof of his love for The Golden One:
Congratulations to The Band Perry - their "If I Die Young" has now been certified double-platinum for two million in sales.
Clay Walker is on the Today show this morning, and Blake Shelton and Scotty McCreery are on the Tonight Show.
Happy birthday to Michael Britt of Lonestar, who is 45 today, and to the late Waylon Jennings, who would have been 74.
The tweet of the day is from Kellie Pickler: "Two things I want to mark off my bucket list this year are flying with the @BlueAngels and jumping with the @ArmyGK"
