Miranda Lambert is on fire, so what's up with her girl group, Pistol Annies? New music later this year, apparently: “The new album will be just what you expect. It’s three country girls singin’ about three country girls lives. We write everything on our own, we did on the last record and our goal on this next record is to write everything in our family – just us three girls again. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m gonna start kinda focusing on that that after the summer tour.”
Do you ever wonder what Nashville's old guard thinks about the new stars? Dolly Parton, never one to bite her tongue, dishes on Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift. About Miranda, Dolly says, “I think I really related to Miranda. She reminds me a lot of myself when I first moved to town somehow. She is just kinda raw and natural – she’s got a lot of gut, heart and soul.” And how does she feel about Taylor? “She represents herself so well for the youth of today I just wish so many more of the young people would follow her lead – in that respect. There’s not a thing that kid can’t do, and she’s beautiful, and she’s smart, and she’s talented. So, I really admire that.” Dolly has a new concert CD/DVD out, available at Cracker Barrel.
Miranda Lambert's tour took this week off, but she, Jerrod Niemann and Chris Young are ready to hit the road again after Easter. Chris Young is having a blast being part of the "On Fire Tour:" “The combination of all three of us—everybody is just having fun all the time. We don’t really prank each other, but, man, Miranda is just so funny. She’s got such a cool personality. It’s definitely one of my favorite tours I’ve been on!”
The Band Perry is working on a new album, due out later this year. Meanwhile, they've gone five deep on singles from their platinum-selling debut album. "Postcards from Paris" is the latest one, and Kimberly Perry explains the story behind it: “It kind of talks about that age old summer romance where it’s brief, but it has this way of kinda ruinin’ ya. The couple in ‘Postcard from Paris,’ neither one of them is quite the same after they’ve seen each other across the room and in the song it’s unclear whether or not they actually get together or not. I guess we’ll leave that up to the listener’s imagination.”
Trace Adkins wants you to check out his sausage. Trace Adkins' Hightower Country Sausage is in stores now, in three flavors - original, hot and jalapeno & cheese. It's "certified Cajun," according to the label, coming from Trace's home state of Louisiana.
Garth Brooks will help celebrate Calgary Stampede's 100th anniversary with a full-band concert. The show will be July 12th, with tickets going on sale this Tuesday.
Remember the song "We Are the World," where tons of singers teamed up to raise money for charity? Well, country stars have teamed up to do a song for Souls4Souls, a charity that provides shoes for poor people around the world. Billy Gilman wrote "The Choice," which will be out on April 16th and features Keith Urban, Reba, Montgomery Gentry and many other Nashville stars.
Brantley Gilbert has added to his tattoo collection - he had Corey Miller, star of LA Ink, add a flaming skull with his BG logo and the words "Prodigal Son" to his left forearm. Here's a picture of the partial work...
Happy birthday to Merle Haggard, who turns 75 today. Tomorrow, Cal Smith turns 80.
The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Treating people the way you want to be treated, doesn't always return the favor."
