Toby Keith was doing an interview with Allison DeMarcus for CMT Insider, and the topic of gays, gay weddings and gays in the military came up. Toby's take? "That whole gay issue thing, that's never bothered me. I've never seen what that affects and why anybody should care, and they never do affect me." He went on to say, "First of all, we're going to stop somebody from getting a marriage license because they're gay? You won't stop them from living together, so what have you accomplished? ... Wasting a lot of money here and a lot of time that could be spent working on this deficit that we're under ... I never saw the reasoning behind getting in people's personal lives." About "don't ask, don't tell," Toby said, "The military is a tough thing. I don't worry as much about the heterosexual people fighting as I do about the gays. In the military or any class in life, you have people who have problems with it, and I'm wondering how that's going to be compatible on the battlefield. That's the only question I have, other than that, I don't care. It's just such a big issue that people make such a big stink about 'don't ask, don't tell.' And that sounds like our government: 'We'll fix it by saying, "Don't ask, don't tell." Everybody agree, raise your hands. All right, let's go get a snack!"
In other Toby news, he's part of "The Wayman Tisdale Story," a documentary about the life of the late NBA star and jazz musician. Toby and Wayman were close friends, and Toby's song "Cryin' for Me" was written as a eulogy for Wayman. The DVD will be out November 22nd.
Rodney Atkins' new album, "Take a Back Road," streets tomorrow, and he's excited to share a new sound with his fans. He's got a goal for the project - “To sell one million copies. It’s just, I’m really proud of this album. We’ve tried some different things and production wise, I mean ‘Take a Back Road,’ when we first played it for people it sounded different. Some of the stuff is simplified, but it’s meant to not just lightly tap on the door, you know, it’s to shake you up a little bit.”
Trace Adkins is in North Carolina, filming his part in the upcoming movie, "The Healer." How did he learn to act? “Movies are just like music videos. You sit around and wait for ‘em to set up the next shot, and light it, and all that kind of stuff. You’re there a long time but you don’t really work that much.”
Lady Antebellum performed on Saturday Night Live - didja miss it? Here you go!
Blake Shelton tweeted his tour announcement yesterday, saying that his "Well Lit and Amplified" tour kicks off in January. He'll be taking along Justin Moore and Dia Frampton, a finalist on "The Voice." It'll hit 27 cities, with those locations being rolled out on Blake's website as they get closer.
Congratulations are in order for John Rich and his wife Joan. Their second son was born last Thursday, and the official birth announcement happened on Twitter early yesterday morning. Here's what John tweeted: “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome to the world.. ‘Colt Daniel Rich!’ 7lbs14ozs, born 9-29-11....He's a real ‘Son of a Gun!’ VERY Proud!!”
Condolences to Trisha Yearwood, who lost her mom over the weekend. Gwen Yearwood had been battling breast cancer for several years. Both of her daughters were at her side when she died.
Tm McGraw is on the Today Show and LIVE! with Regis and Kelly this morning. Scotty McCreery is on the Today show this morning.
The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "Standing with all those courageous cancer survivors while I sang the anthem was amazing. Powerful way to kick off BCA month. Way to go @nfl."
