The Country Music Association has a new award, and Kenny Chesney's keyboard player won it. The CMA Touring Musician Award goes to Wyatt Beard, who's been tickling the black & whites for Kenny for 14 years. The award was given on stage Saturday night at the closing show of the "Goin' Coastal" tour at Gillette Stadium in Massachussetts. According to Wyatt, "This is a once in a lifetime ride that I will never even comprehend for another 20 years or so. I try to enjoy the moment."
This year, the big NFL season kick-off concert secret seems to have leaked. Lady Antebellum and Maroon 5 are said to be the performers at the New Orleans/Green Bay game on September 8th. Also in the very detailed rumor, Kid Rock will be part of the show and Jill Scott singing the National Anthem. The NFL addressed the rumors this way: “When we have something to announce, we will announce it. Until then, this is all speculation with some great acts thrown in the mix.” If you check their tour schedules, not a single one of those acts is booked for anything else on 9/8. Hmmmmmm.....
Country music is generally family-friendly, but some artists take that a step further. Rodney Atkins brings his son Elijah with him on tour, and brings along the Super Mario game to keep him happy. Justin Moore takess his wife Kate and daughter Ella Kole along on tour, and loves the fact that tourmate Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox likes to play with Ella. According to Justin, “It’s a lot of fun. I mean, those guys are great. Obviously they have kids, and I know Gary was playing with my daughter quite a bit. I think he’s got a soft spot in his heart for little girls. I know he’s got one or two, but yeah, it’s a kid-friendly tour so it’s a lot of fun.” Next summer's tour will be even more kid-friendly, since Ella Kole is about to get a little brother or sister in November.
Some people go all-out for their favorite country stars, but this could be a first - the owner of a corn field in Shelby, NC has sculped his acreage into a Jason Aldean corn maze. The maze will be open Septemer 17th through October 30th, and starting October 7th, it'll be a haunted corn maze. No word on whether Jason himself will be stopping by when he does a show in NC in two weeks.
Oh, yay for Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, and yay for me, too. Their duet, "Remind Me," hit the top of both of the major country music charts - Billboard and Country Aircheck - and that's great for them. As for me, if you'll remember last week I predicted it would be #1 this week, and if not, I'd eat crow. Phew...chicken for dinner tonight, please! It's Brad's 20th #1 song and Carrie's 14th.
Sugarland was on the Ellen DeGeneres show yesterday, performing "Stuck Like Glue."
Did you watch the Brad and Miranda video posted in yesterday's blog? If not, you missed their latest collaboration, so scroll down and check it out. Here's the rest of the story. Brad and Miranda are making an album together - Neal McCoy's album. They're producing it for him, "XII." It won't be out until January of 2012, but the first single, "A-OK," will be out in October.
In case you missed it, Miranda Lambert was on Dateline NBC last night, and in her conversation with Hoda Kotb, said about guns, "If it's legal in your state, I probably have one in my purse."
It was a hit last year, so it's happening again this year. The CMA Country Christmas tv special will tape November 10th at Bridgestone Arena, the day after the CMA Awards. Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland will host the show again this year, and it'll air on ABC during the holidays.
The show Punk'd is coming back this fall, with Justin Bieber as part of the first episode. He punk'd Taylor Swift in LA last week, so she's the season's first victim. No word on what the prank was, and a firm air date for that episode hasn't been announced yet.
Happy birthday to Kitty Wells, who turns 92 today.
Scotty McCreery is on Live with Regis and Kelly today.
The tweet of the day is from Sara Evans: "Sooo excited about football season! All the boys have started! Favorite time of year!"
