Lots of country stars were part of the Super Bowl yesterday, starting with Faith Hill, who kicked off the day's festivities with a special version of her NFL on NBC song. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert sang "America the Beautiful," and just before they started singing, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady yelled at Blake, "I got your back!" Kelly Clarkson nailed the National Anthem, Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum was at the game purely as a spectator, and after the Giants won, "The Voice" began it's second season, with Blake Shelton as a mentor and Pistol Annies kicking off the show with their song, "Hell on Heels." Yep - good night for country music!
Dierks Bentley's new cd, "Home," comes out tomorrow and "Thinking of You" features his three-year-old daughter Evie. About how family influences his songwriting, Dierks says, “You know, life for me is...I’ve moved from, you know, I’ve gone through first, second, third, fourth gear. You know, I’m movin’ up the gears and having a chance to experience more of life and having a...you know, couple kids is an amazing experience that ah...you know, as...trying to be honest as a person, as a songwriter, that’s definitely gonna make its way into the music, so that’s a big part of my life.” Wanna check out Dierks and Evie's duet? Here you go...
Keith Urban and family are headed down under as Keith gets set to film the Australian version of "The Voice." While he's working, Nicole and their daughters will get a little quality time with the family. “I’m gonna be a mentor and um...spending a bit of time there, which actually will be great as far as, uh...particularly seeing all the grandparents, you know, for our kids and that’s the thing. But ah...it’s also a very short trip too, so I’m gonna be, you know, in Nashville just as much as anywhere.”
Martina McBride will hit some small theatres when she and George Strait finish their tour. Martina says she's looking forward to more intimate shows, starting in April.
If you go see Brad Paisley on tour and catch The Band Perry opening for him, don't be surprised when they throw a little Queen into their set. Kimberly Perry says, “Well, ‘Fat Bottom Girls’ is always a tip of the hat to both our dad Steve and our mother Marie. He’s a rock ‘n roll lover and that’s one of his favorite rock songs. Mom is the country fan so we always threw a little bit of a bluegrass jam at the end of it. It’s sort of a tip of the hat to our parents and where we’ve come from musically.”
Happy birthday to Richie McDonald of Lonestar, who turns 50 today.
The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "As @Miranda_Lambert walked out on the field a football flew past my head... Then I heard "Don't worry Blake I got your back"... Tom Brady!!!"
