Hollywood tabloids are still buzzing about who the next American Idol judges will be, and two country artists’ names keep coming up: Brad Paisley and Keith Urban. There has to be a decision soon, as audition rounds are scheduled to start in just a couple of weeks. Word is the show is desperate to have a country artist…who will it be? Speaking of Brad Paisley, he’ll be playing a show in Paradise this fall – Atlantis resort in Nassau, to be precise, and he’ll be there November 18th. Save your pennies and make plans – that’ll be an event!

It’s seven in a row for Blake Shelton – 7 #1 songs, that is. His latest song, “Over,” from “Red River Blue” has topped the country chart, and Blake knows it’s they mystery, as well as the melody, that made it a hit: “That’s one of those that just—the energy and the melody had me. And it’s one of those lyrics that when you listen to it, you go, ‘Man, wait a minute, what?’ cause there’s lines in there about burning the world down and you could have a different melody, and it would be like a threat, that song…you know?” This marks Blake’s 12th career #1 song, proving he knows how to pick ‘em.

Still have some waiting to do before Jason Aldean’s next album comes out. October 16th is the magic day for “Night Train,” and Jason is as excited as you are: “I think something that we did with this album, I think we found some great songs on the record - some things that I think are kind of things that people are used to hearing from us. And then there’s also some things on there that are kind of different – like the last album. I’m really proud of it, I know there’s a lot of anticipation for this record from a lot of people, just because of what our last album did.” Jason’s road band plays on the album, and tour-mates Luke Bryan and Eric Church show up on one track, called “The Only Way I Know” and fans are haunting YouTube and Jason’s Facebook page for a sneak peek at that one. “Night Train” is the follow-up to Jason’s 2010 release, “My Kinda Party.”

Lee Brice’s latest album, “Hard 2 Love,” is out and Lee admits that the title cut takes a pretty hard jab at men: “If we’re gonna categorize people, if we’re gonna say all women are crazy, then we have to say all men, we’re all idiots. We just do stupid stuff all the time. And you’re like, ‘Why did you do that?’ and we’re like, ‘I have no idea why I did that.’ I’m an idiot.’ That’s the truth, you know it?” Ummmmm…no comment!

Jake Owen is excited to headline the CMT on Tour fall tour this year. Five years ago, he was the opening act when Sugarland headlined and Little Big Town had the middle slot. The line-up this fall will be Florida Georgia Line up first, Love and Theft in the middle slot and Jake Owen headlining. Tickets go on sale Friday.

There’s a new, star-studded version of Little Big Town’s “Pontoon.” Check it out and see if you can figure out who all the stars are…cheat sheet at the end of this blog post!



Chris Young has admitted to an addiction – to a game! “I’m addicted to Golden Tee. It’s a golf game you can find it in most any bar where you would also run into neons, and I am addicted to it. I actually custom-built a road case into a Golden Tee video game, like to the point that the guys from Golden Tee actually sent me a bunch of the equipment for it, and I had to, like, take a picture next to it and show ‘em the finished product.” Chris can celebrate the platinum status of his song “Tomorrow” and the gold status of “The Man I Want to Be” with a rousing game of Golden Tee, but will probably have a party, too.

Willie Nelson’s breathing easier, apparently, after cancelling a show Saturday night in Colorado. His show in Dallas Texas went off without a hitch last night, and his manager says the breathing issues that forced Saturday’s cancellation were altitude related.

Update on Wynonna’s husband, Cactus Moser, who had a head-on collision with a car as he was riding his motorcycle this past Saturday. He lost his left leg, which was severed above the knee and had surgery on one of his hands. Wynonna was on another motorcycle and wasn’t injured, but has cancelled shows in Canada next week to remain at his side in the hospital. Cactus was cited for not having a license to operate a motorcycle and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Congrats to the new crop of inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony Arata, Larry Henley and Kim Williams. The ceremony will be October 7th in Nashville.

(Here's your cheat-sheet for the Pontoon video: Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Pistol Annies, Jake Owen, Hunter Hayes, Sara Evans, Wynonna, Thompson Square, several CMT show hosts and many more.)