Zac Brown Band stays on the road a lot more than other bands and they enjoy themselves while they’re out. But Zac himself says it’s not all fun and games: “Sometimes you’ve just gotta do a little bit of time for yourself. I know every minute I’m away from my kids, I feel guilty about it...every minute. So, that’s a tough balance...tough thing.” They’ll take a couple of weeks off the road next month to unwind with their families.

Between touring and taping, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton haven’t seen much of Oklahoma lately. According to Miranda, “We’ve been just kinda crazy; I mean we’ve been basically living in L.A. So, we’re ready to go home, we really are. We’re ready for some country time.” They spent a week at their Oklahoma property, but it’s back to work for Miranda this weekend as her On Fire tour stops in Alaska.

Justin Moore has been combining work and pleasure, though this week it’s all play. When his shows are at fairs, Justin takes daughters Ella and Kennedy along for the fun, and Daddy Justin is pretty good at the midway games. He has won a bunch of Dora the Explorer blow-up dolls for Ella. This week they’re at a family reunion in Florida, and Justin is specializing in sandcastles with Ella.

Meanwhile, Hunter Hayes is chomping at the bit to hit the road, because he’s going out with Carrie Underwood on the fall leg of her “Blown Away” tour starting in September. According to Hunter, “I just want to get back in the bus and keep playin’ you know? Umm...working a little bit towards the next album a little at a time. I’m not thinking about it too much, I can’t. Umm...I want the next album to happen very naturally.”

Do you like to know how a song came to be: Jerrod Niemann’s new song, “Shinin’ on Me,” is climbing the charts this summer, but it was written last summer, when Jerrod and Lee Brice played AquaPalooza in Austin, Texas with Brad Paisley. Jerrod explains, “I think they said there were 70,000 boats there and estimated over 100,000 Texans. So I thought, ‘Well, if that’s not a great day, what is?’ So we went to the bus, and I think every window on the bus was open, this beautiful breeze, evening breeze, comin’ through the windows, and we just wrote ‘Shinin’ on Me.’” You can feel that Texas breeze in the song…



Dierks Bentley will add another job to his resume: he’s been chosen to host the 6th Annual ACM Honors show in Nashville. The event recognizes those who won ACM awards in the non-televised portion of the show earlier this year and will be held at the Ryman Auditorium on September 24th. Tickets go on sale at the Ryman box office on August 17th.

Willie Nelson has been tapped to play the Republican National Convention in Florida. The concert will be August 29th in Tampa.