Today's Country Tidbits

What are country artists doing for the 4th of July? Brad Paisley will perform at the annual Salute to the Military USO concert on the South Lawn of the White House. More than 1200 troops and their family members will be there, enjoying not just music but also great barbeque, games and the best seat in the house for the national fireworks display. The entire event will be streamed live here.

Miranda Lambert won’t be doing a show tomorrow but she will be playing with fire: “I love holidays in general, but Fourth of July is…summer is my favorite time of year, so Fourth of July is probably one of my favorites because I…my favorite firework is sparklers. Always it brings out the little girl in me. I always ask for sparklers for Fourth of July.”

Josh Turner will be part of the PBS show, “A Capitol Fourth.” It’s a Broadway-style show that features music of all genres, capped off with a full orchestra playing the 1812 Overture as the nation’s fireworks go off in and around the National Mall.

Kip Moore will start off the 4th of July with a performance on Good Morning America. It’s his first time, and he’s excited: “Just the chance to get to play your music that you wrote—I’m not playing ‘Margaritaville’, I’m not playing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’—I’m playing something I wrote and on national TV where millions and millions of people get a chance to hopefully gravitate towards me as an artist and make this thing bigger than what it is right now. That’s the part that I look forward to.”

Kenny Chesney had a great time in Pittsburg this past weekend. It was his 6th sellout of Heinz Field, the stadium that the Steelers use, and they’ve won the Superbowl six times, so they decided to make a big dang deal out of the occasion. They presented Kenny with a “Six for Six” plaque commemorating both of their “6” accomplishments, and Kenny also got an autographed team helmet. With two pretty good athletes on tour, who’s the better – Kenny Chesney or Tim McGraw? Kenny says, “I'll say I am, and [Tim will] say he is. He can dunk a basketball and I can't. Even on an 8-foot goal. It doesn't make him a better athlete, though.”

Jake Owen and his wife Lacey are expecting a baby girl. They found out about the pregnancy after Jake asked her dad for permission to marry her but before he popped the question. Jake says the baby news is a “bonus on top of the engagement.” The kept the baby news to themselves until they knew the baby’s sex. Married since May, Jake’s learning a lot and says “We bought a house together. I’m learning to say ‘we’ a lot more than ‘I.’ With a wife now and a new house and things to do, my priorities are a bit different than they were a couple years ago.”

You know Dierks Bentley is fond of old things – old boots held together with duct tape, his old pick-up truck, Big White, his tour bus, Goldie and now meet, the SS Grizzled Veteran. He’s had it for a decade or so, and decided to float it for a lake day with the crew…



Luke Bryan has the #1 song again this week with “Drunk on You.”

Tim McGraw is on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today – it’s a rerun, but a good one!

Happy birthday to Sarah Buxton, Aaron Tippen, Trent Tomlinson, and Johnny Lee.