Jason Aldean released a new album, "Night Train," this week, but his thoughts are all about Saturdays and Georgia football. Specifically, the party before the game: “Every SEC school that I’ve ever been to—you know tailgating is a religion. We’re in the South! But, Georgia is fun, I mean it is fun, and the fans are rabid, man. They love to show up early and have a good time.” He'll have to be in Kentucky tomorrow night if he wants to hit the tailgate - Georgia's on the road this weekend.
Lee Brice's song, "Hard to Love," is a tip of the hat to his fiance and their son: “This career can be hard to love from Sarah’s point of view – and Takoda. They’re proud and they support me, but it’s just hard being away so much and stuff so that’s kind of where that came from. But yeah, it’s stepping up and owning up to that.”
Little Big Town's new single, "Tornado," is whipping up a storm on the country charts, and they love playing it live: “[Karen] We like it so much, it’s so much fun to play live and there’s just smoke and craziness, scariness. [Kimberly] Wind and smoke! [Phillip] Storms on stage! [Jimi] Karen scaring men throughout the audience—and her husband on stage. [Laughs] I’m just sending a warning… [Laughs] it’s a warning shot.” Little Big Town is on the road with Rascal Flatts, and "Tornado" the album sits atop the country music Billboard chart for the 5th week.
Josh Turner reveals how to pick a hit song: “When you hear a song that takes your mind away from all of the crazy distractions in life, that normally is a hit song.” His new single, "Find Me A Baby," is just such a song for Josh. It's from his "Punching Bag" album.
She first appeared in the media at 11 months of age in a Playskool commercial, grew up listening to country music, dabbled in a singing career and is now the bad-girl Juliette Barnes on the new show, "Nashville." Hayden Panettiere and the show have released a single, "Telescope," written by Cary Barlowe and Hillary Lindsay. About it, Hayden says “It’s one of those songs that you hope girls and boys are going to dance to in their cars and sing out loud. That’s the great thing about my character is that you get those two different sides of her. You get the side of her that is the mainstream crossover – fun songs like ‘Telescope.’ Then you get the more understated songs that have that heart behind it.”
Country stars populate a Katie Couric tv special - "20/20 All Access Nashville With Katie Couric" a week from tonight and features Taylor Swift, Reba, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert & Pistol Annies, Martina McBride, Luke Byran and Jason Aldean all give a glimps into their private lives and talk about their favorite female country singers on the show.
Showing posts with label Josh Turner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Josh Turner. Show all posts
Monday, October 15, 2012
You’re not on it either? The Blake Shelton and Friends Cruise set sail yesterday, and Blake says there’ll be shenanigans, and someone might have to go overboard: “Well it won’t be Trace—although he may put us over the weight limit. I don’t know, I’d say—Easton’s gonna be there. I don’t think any of us would miss him if we through him over.” Also along for the ride are Jerrod Niemann, Neal McCoy, Lee Brice, Brett Eldredge, Randy Houser and Jana Kramer. Jana’s got mixed feelings about going on a cruise: “I’ve never done a cruise before because I’m really claustrophobic and I’m afraid – or if I get motion sickness. I was like, ‘You know what I’m getting over a fear, and hanging with some of my buddies on a boat. I get to bring my mom – it’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait to play and then meet people and hang out – go swimming and tan!”
In the wake of video showing an admittedly drunk Jason Aldean flirting with American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr in Hollywood, Jason Aldean says that the situation, though tough, is taken care of: “You can handle it two ways, you can go hide and run from it or you can get up and face it and deal with it and that’s kinda what we tried to do and just kinda move on, you know? And the main thing is that me and my family are OK.” He talked with CMT Insider and that segment aired this past weekend.
Jason Aldean is planning to hit a few more stadiums during his 2013 tour, saying that the sellout at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio was pretty awesome. According to Jason, “This next year we’ll probably dabble in it a little more, try a couple places and really just try to build on that. There’s not a lot of people that can do that [consistently], and that’s where we’re trying to figure it out —can we do that in certain markets? Or can we do that on a consistent basis? That’ll be a little bit of a learning process for us over the next year.”
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul show in Las Vegas kicks off in December, but preparations are in high gear now, and Tim says it’s pretty cool: “It’s different to think somebody offers you a ton of money to come do three years in Vegas or something, and they say ‘Here’s your theater and you can build it like you want it...’ For all we’ve done in our career past, and all we hope to do in the future with our careers, to have this sort of moment to do this thing for these ten weekends and then to turn the theatre over to us and build what you want is sort of rare.”
Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss performed on the David Letterman Show Friday night. They collaborated on a song on his “Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran” album which comes out tomorrow. He’ll announce tour plans later this week.
Luke Bryan announced some tour plans – he’ll kick off his first headlining tour on January 17th in Evansville, Indiana, with shows running through at least March. Thompson Square and Florida Georgia Line will open on the first leg of the tour.
Taylor Swift’s new album, “Red,” doesn’t come out until the 22nd, but she’s working the publicity angle hard. She’s on the cover of the October 24th issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, presumably dishing some details of her love life, and has partnered with Keds to release a new, limited-edition line of “Red” footwear. But wait, there’s more – she’s also partnered with Walgreens, where you’ll find a Taylor Swift Store, with t-shirs, tour books, backpacks, journals and lots more. And of course, “Red” will be on sale one minute after midnight on October 22nd at all Walgreens stores.
Keith Urban will receive the Harmony Award from the Nashville Symphony in a gala later this year. The award honors him for his work to help the Country Music Hall of Fame, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Habitat for Humanity.
Trishia Yearwood is on The View and Josh Turner is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.
In the wake of video showing an admittedly drunk Jason Aldean flirting with American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr in Hollywood, Jason Aldean says that the situation, though tough, is taken care of: “You can handle it two ways, you can go hide and run from it or you can get up and face it and deal with it and that’s kinda what we tried to do and just kinda move on, you know? And the main thing is that me and my family are OK.” He talked with CMT Insider and that segment aired this past weekend.
Jason Aldean is planning to hit a few more stadiums during his 2013 tour, saying that the sellout at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio was pretty awesome. According to Jason, “This next year we’ll probably dabble in it a little more, try a couple places and really just try to build on that. There’s not a lot of people that can do that [consistently], and that’s where we’re trying to figure it out —can we do that in certain markets? Or can we do that on a consistent basis? That’ll be a little bit of a learning process for us over the next year.”
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul show in Las Vegas kicks off in December, but preparations are in high gear now, and Tim says it’s pretty cool: “It’s different to think somebody offers you a ton of money to come do three years in Vegas or something, and they say ‘Here’s your theater and you can build it like you want it...’ For all we’ve done in our career past, and all we hope to do in the future with our careers, to have this sort of moment to do this thing for these ten weekends and then to turn the theatre over to us and build what you want is sort of rare.”
Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss performed on the David Letterman Show Friday night. They collaborated on a song on his “Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran” album which comes out tomorrow. He’ll announce tour plans later this week.
Luke Bryan announced some tour plans – he’ll kick off his first headlining tour on January 17th in Evansville, Indiana, with shows running through at least March. Thompson Square and Florida Georgia Line will open on the first leg of the tour.
Taylor Swift’s new album, “Red,” doesn’t come out until the 22nd, but she’s working the publicity angle hard. She’s on the cover of the October 24th issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, presumably dishing some details of her love life, and has partnered with Keds to release a new, limited-edition line of “Red” footwear. But wait, there’s more – she’s also partnered with Walgreens, where you’ll find a Taylor Swift Store, with t-shirs, tour books, backpacks, journals and lots more. And of course, “Red” will be on sale one minute after midnight on October 22nd at all Walgreens stores.
Keith Urban will receive the Harmony Award from the Nashville Symphony in a gala later this year. The award honors him for his work to help the Country Music Hall of Fame, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Habitat for Humanity.
Trishia Yearwood is on The View and Josh Turner is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
It’s fall, and so a certain superstar’s thoughts turn to – baking? Yep, Taylor Swift loves to log a little kitchen time, especially in the fall: “It’s about to be baking overdrive, because fall is when you start baking cinnamon type things – pumpkin type things. So there’s going to be pumpkin bread that I make a lot of, and give it to people. That’s what I do in the fall, and also Starbucks gets the pumpkin spice lattes which I’m really excited about.” She should also be excited to have the #1 and #2 songs on iTunes – at #2, her current single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and at #1 is the song she sang on the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon, “Ronan.”
Keith Urban’s song, “For You,” is headed for the top of the charts. Written for the soundtrack to the movie, “Act of Valor,” Keith says the scene in the movie where the Navy SEAL dives onto a live grenade to save a platoon of men was the inspiration: “He sacrificed his life for everybody else, and that seemed like the most profound moment in the film of sacrifice, and that’s really what the song is about. But we couldn’t figure out where to write the song from. Sort of out of the wonderful heavens I said to my co-writer, ‘What would the soldier say, the second after he died? Let’s write the song from that perspective.’” The song is at #6 with a bullet on the Billboard Country chart.
With a CMA nomination for Musical Event of the Year, Willie Nelson is hoping that he can get onstage with Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson and Snoop Dogg to perform “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” on the CMA Awards show: “Well I hope so! I’m up for it. And all the other guys—you know Jamey lives there so that wouldn’t be hard to get in there. We gotta get Snoop and Kris over there, so—it shouldn’t be a problem.” Snoop now calls himself Snoop Lion instead of Snoop Dogg – what does Willie call him now? “Yeah I’m gonna wait and see if he changes it again. I’ll just keep calling him Snoop – whatever.” The CMA Awards are November first at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Josh Turner’s song, “Time is Love,” has sold half a million copies and has been certified gold. That tickles Josh, not just for him but also for the songwriters – Tony Martin, Mark Nesler and Tom Shapiro. According to Josh, “I really love their work, and I just really understood where they were coming from with this song. It was a message I wanted to say, and I felt like it would showcase my voice in a great way.” That’s not the only heavy metal Josh got this week – “Your Man” and “Would You Go With Me” have both been certified platinum for selling a million copies each.
Rascal Flatts have been at this hit-making thing for over a decade, and will get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday. They join other country artists like Garth Brooks, Reba and Brooks & Dun, and credit those artists with their success: “We really learned, too, by watching people like Garth Brooks through the years, Reba McEntire and their productions and their shows, and being on tour with Brooks and Dunn, and people like that that have taught us that there’s more to live shows than just playing music—there’s a lot more to it to make the experience really whole.” Walk of Fame‘s website will stream the ceremony live Monday at 11:30 Pacific time, and Monday night, catch them on the Tonight Show, performing “Come Wake Me Up.”
Keith Urban’s song, “For You,” is headed for the top of the charts. Written for the soundtrack to the movie, “Act of Valor,” Keith says the scene in the movie where the Navy SEAL dives onto a live grenade to save a platoon of men was the inspiration: “He sacrificed his life for everybody else, and that seemed like the most profound moment in the film of sacrifice, and that’s really what the song is about. But we couldn’t figure out where to write the song from. Sort of out of the wonderful heavens I said to my co-writer, ‘What would the soldier say, the second after he died? Let’s write the song from that perspective.’” The song is at #6 with a bullet on the Billboard Country chart.
With a CMA nomination for Musical Event of the Year, Willie Nelson is hoping that he can get onstage with Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson and Snoop Dogg to perform “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” on the CMA Awards show: “Well I hope so! I’m up for it. And all the other guys—you know Jamey lives there so that wouldn’t be hard to get in there. We gotta get Snoop and Kris over there, so—it shouldn’t be a problem.” Snoop now calls himself Snoop Lion instead of Snoop Dogg – what does Willie call him now? “Yeah I’m gonna wait and see if he changes it again. I’ll just keep calling him Snoop – whatever.” The CMA Awards are November first at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Josh Turner’s song, “Time is Love,” has sold half a million copies and has been certified gold. That tickles Josh, not just for him but also for the songwriters – Tony Martin, Mark Nesler and Tom Shapiro. According to Josh, “I really love their work, and I just really understood where they were coming from with this song. It was a message I wanted to say, and I felt like it would showcase my voice in a great way.” That’s not the only heavy metal Josh got this week – “Your Man” and “Would You Go With Me” have both been certified platinum for selling a million copies each.
Rascal Flatts have been at this hit-making thing for over a decade, and will get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday. They join other country artists like Garth Brooks, Reba and Brooks & Dun, and credit those artists with their success: “We really learned, too, by watching people like Garth Brooks through the years, Reba McEntire and their productions and their shows, and being on tour with Brooks and Dunn, and people like that that have taught us that there’s more to live shows than just playing music—there’s a lot more to it to make the experience really whole.” Walk of Fame‘s website will stream the ceremony live Monday at 11:30 Pacific time, and Monday night, catch them on the Tonight Show, performing “Come Wake Me Up.”
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
It’s the year of the bus fire, apparently. Joe Diffie has joined Chris Young, Jerrod Niemann, Lee Brice and Randy Houser on the list of artists whose buses have caught fire this year. Joe’s went up in flames in the early hours of the morning last Friday while they were traveling between shows. The driver safely stopped it, evacuated it and a nearby truck stop helped them get back on the road after the damage was repaired. No injuries – same as with all of the other bus fires.
Even superstars have guilty pleasures, and Lady Antebellum fessed up to theirs in their latest webisode – they’re enthralled by Honey Boo Boo. Charles Kelley says it’s his favorite show on tv, and Dave Haywood says sometimes they have to take a Honey Boo Boo break, even while recording their fourth studio album! No word on when the album will be out – if they keep watching trash tv, it could be a while!
Dierks Bentley just celebrated his 10th #1 song in Nashville at the Tin Roof. He showed up in his ’67 Camaro and told the crowd, “I can’t believe there’s 10 of them, but um...it’s just, I think you put ‘em all together they tell a nice story of my music, my sound and my career so far. But, um...it’s weird. I can’t believe it!”
Darius Rucker has five #1 country songs so far, and just released “True Believers,” the first single from his third country album, due out early next year. About the song, Darius says, “It’s such a defiant song for me. It’s just a song of, ‘I’m gonna make my life work no matter what you all say or think.’ And I’ve lived my life like that for 46 years now.”
Josh Turner’s summer was very busy, what with touring, putting out a new album, “Live Across America,” in partnership with Cracker Barrel, and trying to keep up with his three boys during their summer vacation. What sorts of things does a famous Dad do with his sons? “Sports things or basketball or baseball or just playing outside. You know, anytime we have good weather or even when we don’t we’re trying to get outside and go down to the creek or walking through the pasture or fishing in the pond or whatever it may be so a lot of different things we can do just at home.”
This morning, Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum announce the final nominees for the CMA Awards on Good Morning America.
Even superstars have guilty pleasures, and Lady Antebellum fessed up to theirs in their latest webisode – they’re enthralled by Honey Boo Boo. Charles Kelley says it’s his favorite show on tv, and Dave Haywood says sometimes they have to take a Honey Boo Boo break, even while recording their fourth studio album! No word on when the album will be out – if they keep watching trash tv, it could be a while!
Dierks Bentley just celebrated his 10th #1 song in Nashville at the Tin Roof. He showed up in his ’67 Camaro and told the crowd, “I can’t believe there’s 10 of them, but um...it’s just, I think you put ‘em all together they tell a nice story of my music, my sound and my career so far. But, um...it’s weird. I can’t believe it!”
Darius Rucker has five #1 country songs so far, and just released “True Believers,” the first single from his third country album, due out early next year. About the song, Darius says, “It’s such a defiant song for me. It’s just a song of, ‘I’m gonna make my life work no matter what you all say or think.’ And I’ve lived my life like that for 46 years now.”
Josh Turner’s summer was very busy, what with touring, putting out a new album, “Live Across America,” in partnership with Cracker Barrel, and trying to keep up with his three boys during their summer vacation. What sorts of things does a famous Dad do with his sons? “Sports things or basketball or baseball or just playing outside. You know, anytime we have good weather or even when we don’t we’re trying to get outside and go down to the creek or walking through the pasture or fishing in the pond or whatever it may be so a lot of different things we can do just at home.”
This morning, Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum announce the final nominees for the CMA Awards on Good Morning America.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Scuttlebutt has it that Keith Urban is on the short list to be a judge on American Idol, but what does Keith have to say about it? “Well, I mean...all I can say right now is I’m trying to make an album and it’s strange how these opportunities seem to all come in one big fell swoop, but my priority right now is just making a record and that’s really gotta lead the charge for me.” Meanwhile, wife Nicole Kidman is featured in V magazine, with a very racy photo spread and juicy details of her life with Keith. Before you click the link, you should know the title of the piece is “Truth or Bare.”
Bucky Covington has chimed in on the American Idol judge selection process, and his choice might surprise you: “I’m sure I’ll probably here something about this. Kanye West would probably be an absolute wonderful choice. That guy definitely does not have a problem saying what’s on his mind. So he’d probably be an absolute wonderful choice for that show. I would be scared to death to be in front of Kanye West to be honest.” He also mentioned that Judge Judy would be a great choice.
How’s this for a memento? Eric Church ran his song “Springsteen” up the charts, never knowing how Bruce Springsteen himself might feel about it. According to Eric, “I’m a big Springsteen fan, I mean I love the way Bruce built his career. It’s similar to the way we built ours in bars and clubs and little teeny tiny places that we would sell out multiple nights.” After a show, Eric was handed a set list from one of Bruce’s shows with a hand-written letter on the back from Bruce. The note said he and his family were fans of the song, and he signed it, “I hope we cross paths somewhere, Bruce.” The note is locked up in a safe place, according to Eric.
Josh Turner is rooting for his song, “Time is Love,” to hit the top of the country music chart. It’s at #3, and Josh says his favorite part about the song is the life of it’s own it’s taken on: “You put it out as a single, and you think it means one thing and then you hear a fan come along with a completely different perspective. It just makes you realize time and time again the power of music and how it can relate to people in their own peculiar way and their own specific situation.”
Brantley Gilbert just celebrated his second #1 song, “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,” and the song’s co-writer, Jim McCormick, was part of the celebration. How did they set out to write such a broken-hearted song? According to Brantley, “We just exchanged stories for a minute and you know it got deeper and deeper into what was going on and I was havin’ an issue with a girl at that time. Brought it up and we just really as honest and as simple as possible put it into words and you know it turned out to be a really good thing.”
October 3rd in New York, a benefit concert to save the barn on the late Levon Helm’s property is happening and Dierks Bentley and Eric Church will be part of it. Levon was known for his “Midnight Ramble Sessions,” held in his barn and featuring jam sessions and guitar pulls with some of the best rock, blues and country artists. The “Love for Levon” show will raise money to keep the sessions going on Levon’s estate.
Blake Shelton says he’s come up with a classic Christmas album that he’s proud of. “Cheers, It’s Christmas” comes out October 2nd, and was recorded with a full orchestra, taking Blake out of his element. His mom, Dorothy Shackleford, and Reba duet with him on a couple of the tracks.
Bucky Covington has chimed in on the American Idol judge selection process, and his choice might surprise you: “I’m sure I’ll probably here something about this. Kanye West would probably be an absolute wonderful choice. That guy definitely does not have a problem saying what’s on his mind. So he’d probably be an absolute wonderful choice for that show. I would be scared to death to be in front of Kanye West to be honest.” He also mentioned that Judge Judy would be a great choice.
How’s this for a memento? Eric Church ran his song “Springsteen” up the charts, never knowing how Bruce Springsteen himself might feel about it. According to Eric, “I’m a big Springsteen fan, I mean I love the way Bruce built his career. It’s similar to the way we built ours in bars and clubs and little teeny tiny places that we would sell out multiple nights.” After a show, Eric was handed a set list from one of Bruce’s shows with a hand-written letter on the back from Bruce. The note said he and his family were fans of the song, and he signed it, “I hope we cross paths somewhere, Bruce.” The note is locked up in a safe place, according to Eric.
Josh Turner is rooting for his song, “Time is Love,” to hit the top of the country music chart. It’s at #3, and Josh says his favorite part about the song is the life of it’s own it’s taken on: “You put it out as a single, and you think it means one thing and then you hear a fan come along with a completely different perspective. It just makes you realize time and time again the power of music and how it can relate to people in their own peculiar way and their own specific situation.”
Brantley Gilbert just celebrated his second #1 song, “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,” and the song’s co-writer, Jim McCormick, was part of the celebration. How did they set out to write such a broken-hearted song? According to Brantley, “We just exchanged stories for a minute and you know it got deeper and deeper into what was going on and I was havin’ an issue with a girl at that time. Brought it up and we just really as honest and as simple as possible put it into words and you know it turned out to be a really good thing.”
October 3rd in New York, a benefit concert to save the barn on the late Levon Helm’s property is happening and Dierks Bentley and Eric Church will be part of it. Levon was known for his “Midnight Ramble Sessions,” held in his barn and featuring jam sessions and guitar pulls with some of the best rock, blues and country artists. The “Love for Levon” show will raise money to keep the sessions going on Levon’s estate.
Blake Shelton says he’s come up with a classic Christmas album that he’s proud of. “Cheers, It’s Christmas” comes out October 2nd, and was recorded with a full orchestra, taking Blake out of his element. His mom, Dorothy Shackleford, and Reba duet with him on a couple of the tracks.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Hungry? You’ll soon be able to fill up at a Rascal Flatts-themed restaurant. They’ve partnered with restaurant developers to open their own eateries, starting in Phoenix Arizona and rolling out to Columbus Ohio, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Raleigh North Carolina, Minneapolis Minnesota and Long Island New York. The restaurants will feature a state-of-the-art soundstage, two bars, the Flatts Lounge and a retail area. Not sure what the name will be yet, but according to Gary Levox, the guys aren’t stressing over that. “You know we’re just thankful and blessed. We thank God that we have the jobs that we have and to do what we feel like were called to do.”
Nashville gets a big kiss from the Grammys – the Grammy Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night will happen in Nashville this year, airing live from Bridgestone Arena on December 5th. The nominees for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards will be announced during the show.
Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum will team up on Good Morning America to reveal the final nominees for the CMA Awards. On September 5th during the 8:30 half-hour the first five categories will be announced, and the rest will happen at 9:15 Eastern.
Taylor Swift has officially made history again – she’s sold more digital downloads of one song during it’s release week than any other woman, ever. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” sold over 623,000 copies from last Monday night through Sunday night. She missed the overall record by about 13,000 copies – rapper Flo Rida holds that record. Taylor’s teaming up with VH1 Storytellers, universities and high schools, looking for the schools that can get the most votes for their music program. The top 5 schools get a $10,000 grant for those programs from Taylor and Chegg for Good. The winning school gets to host an acoustic concert featuring Taylor.
Eli Young Band celebrated their second #1 song in Nashville this week – “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” is more than just a #1 song to the band, according to Mike Eli: “We felt empowered by this song. And so that’s exactly why we wanted to record it. Did we necessarily have any foresight to see that it would be our second number one? No we didn’t! We just thought we loved the song and thought that it told our story and felt empowered by it!”
Did you see the all-star Pontoon video yesterday on this blog? If not, scroll down and watch it – everyone from Wynonna to Darius Rucker to Charlie Daniels sings along with Little Big Town, but which star got the ball rolling? “It might have been Luke Bryan’s idea. I think Capitol [Records] had the idea, and the Luke – you know how he likes to mess around. I think he really went crazy when he was doing his motorboatin’, if you know what I mean. So he inspired the whole clip, I’m fairly confident he was the first clip.”
If you’re a Johnny Cash junkie, you’re about to get the ultimate fix: a 63-disc Johnny Cash boxed set. It starts with his 1958 debut, “The Fabulous Johnny Cash,” which included his first #1 song, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.” It concludes with “Highwayman 2” which came out in 1990 and includes Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. Concert albums recorded in Europe are also included.
Do you think you could be the next country star? Then click your mouse and enter The Next Country Star Competition, for unsigned bands and artists over the age of 13 to strut their stuff online. Music industry executives will choose 5 finalists and fans will pick the winner, who gets to record three singles in Nashville, plus gets a website and a trip to this fall’s CMA Awards.
Josh Turner is on The Chew and David Letterman today. Taylor Swift is on the Ellen DeGeneres show - that's a rerun.
Nashville gets a big kiss from the Grammys – the Grammy Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night will happen in Nashville this year, airing live from Bridgestone Arena on December 5th. The nominees for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards will be announced during the show.
Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum will team up on Good Morning America to reveal the final nominees for the CMA Awards. On September 5th during the 8:30 half-hour the first five categories will be announced, and the rest will happen at 9:15 Eastern.
Taylor Swift has officially made history again – she’s sold more digital downloads of one song during it’s release week than any other woman, ever. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” sold over 623,000 copies from last Monday night through Sunday night. She missed the overall record by about 13,000 copies – rapper Flo Rida holds that record. Taylor’s teaming up with VH1 Storytellers, universities and high schools, looking for the schools that can get the most votes for their music program. The top 5 schools get a $10,000 grant for those programs from Taylor and Chegg for Good. The winning school gets to host an acoustic concert featuring Taylor.
Eli Young Band celebrated their second #1 song in Nashville this week – “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” is more than just a #1 song to the band, according to Mike Eli: “We felt empowered by this song. And so that’s exactly why we wanted to record it. Did we necessarily have any foresight to see that it would be our second number one? No we didn’t! We just thought we loved the song and thought that it told our story and felt empowered by it!”
Did you see the all-star Pontoon video yesterday on this blog? If not, scroll down and watch it – everyone from Wynonna to Darius Rucker to Charlie Daniels sings along with Little Big Town, but which star got the ball rolling? “It might have been Luke Bryan’s idea. I think Capitol [Records] had the idea, and the Luke – you know how he likes to mess around. I think he really went crazy when he was doing his motorboatin’, if you know what I mean. So he inspired the whole clip, I’m fairly confident he was the first clip.”
If you’re a Johnny Cash junkie, you’re about to get the ultimate fix: a 63-disc Johnny Cash boxed set. It starts with his 1958 debut, “The Fabulous Johnny Cash,” which included his first #1 song, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.” It concludes with “Highwayman 2” which came out in 1990 and includes Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. Concert albums recorded in Europe are also included.
Do you think you could be the next country star? Then click your mouse and enter The Next Country Star Competition, for unsigned bands and artists over the age of 13 to strut their stuff online. Music industry executives will choose 5 finalists and fans will pick the winner, who gets to record three singles in Nashville, plus gets a website and a trip to this fall’s CMA Awards.
Josh Turner is on The Chew and David Letterman today. Taylor Swift is on the Ellen DeGeneres show - that's a rerun.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Congrats to Kenny Chesney, who has his 24th #1 song with “Come Over.” It tops the country charts this week, after only 11 weeks on the chart. About the song, Kenny says, “It is a very emotional and it’s a…more of a comfortable song being with someone that you’re just used to being with because you just…the idea of moving forward is scarier than the idea of staying in what’s comfortable, and I think we all relate to that.”
Good news for Miranda Lambert and her fans – she’s feeling better after some enforced rest, both physical and vocal, and is ready to get back out and chew up some stages. About her doctor-ordered rest, Miranda said she’d “been going 90 to nothin’ and it caught up” with her. While on vocal rest, she received a plaque for her latest gold record, “Baggage Claim.”
Toby Keith has rescheduled his Army Concert Tour at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin because he has to have his gallbladder removed. It’s an outpatient procedure, but it will sideline him for a little while. Gretchen Wilson will fill in for him tomorrow.
Cracker Barrel is teaming up with Josh Turner to release “Live Across America” on August 27th. The 12-track collection was recorded live at 12 different tour stops on his 2012 tour. Are you sensing a theme?
Gloriana will perform Friday morning on FOX & Friends as part of their summer concert series. Their new album, “A Thousand Miles Left Behind,” is out, and Tom Gossin explains the title: “A Thousand Miles Left Behind signifies how much we’ve toured – being that we’ve stayed on tour for about five years now and been around the world a couple times. It’s been crazy, so it has a literal meaning. Figuratively speaking – just all that we’ve learned. You know, it’s like every mile we learned a new lesson on the road.”
He’s being hailed as the boy version of Taylor Swift, and like Taylor, Hunter Hayes knows where the magic is in country music –it’s the song: “You know when I write a song, I definitely want it to be from me – definitely want it to be a real life thing. My favorite songs are songs that I relate to, songs that mean something to me – because someone else wrote from their heart. So, I wanted a record full of those songs.” His self-titled debut album has spawned his first gold record – the current single, “Wanted.”
Little Big Town is on the syndicated show, Better TV, today.
Good news for Miranda Lambert and her fans – she’s feeling better after some enforced rest, both physical and vocal, and is ready to get back out and chew up some stages. About her doctor-ordered rest, Miranda said she’d “been going 90 to nothin’ and it caught up” with her. While on vocal rest, she received a plaque for her latest gold record, “Baggage Claim.”
Toby Keith has rescheduled his Army Concert Tour at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin because he has to have his gallbladder removed. It’s an outpatient procedure, but it will sideline him for a little while. Gretchen Wilson will fill in for him tomorrow.
Cracker Barrel is teaming up with Josh Turner to release “Live Across America” on August 27th. The 12-track collection was recorded live at 12 different tour stops on his 2012 tour. Are you sensing a theme?
Gloriana will perform Friday morning on FOX & Friends as part of their summer concert series. Their new album, “A Thousand Miles Left Behind,” is out, and Tom Gossin explains the title: “A Thousand Miles Left Behind signifies how much we’ve toured – being that we’ve stayed on tour for about five years now and been around the world a couple times. It’s been crazy, so it has a literal meaning. Figuratively speaking – just all that we’ve learned. You know, it’s like every mile we learned a new lesson on the road.”
He’s being hailed as the boy version of Taylor Swift, and like Taylor, Hunter Hayes knows where the magic is in country music –it’s the song: “You know when I write a song, I definitely want it to be from me – definitely want it to be a real life thing. My favorite songs are songs that I relate to, songs that mean something to me – because someone else wrote from their heart. So, I wanted a record full of those songs.” His self-titled debut album has spawned his first gold record – the current single, “Wanted.”
Little Big Town is on the syndicated show, Better TV, today.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Today's Country Tidbits
Taylor Swift, Tease. She’s working on her next album, which will probably be released before the end of this year, and said to her fans, “I’m writing you from Nashville, where I just sat in a big room with a lot of people and made a lot of decisions about a lot of things happening very soon Stuff is about to happen.” Yeah, but when? I’ll keep you posted.
Zac Brown Band’s new cd, Uncaged, has been out for a day and rabid fans have discovered the song Zac branded as a “baby-making song.” Here’s what he says about the sound of “Overnight:” “That’s straight up R&B baby! I’m about to get tender on ya. It’s definitely us – it sounds like us. But, the arrangement and everything is straight up R&B.” Meanwhile, their first single from the album, “The Wind,” is blowing up the charts, landing inside the top 20 just a couple of weeks after its release. The video for the song is animated and lots of fun – check it out!
Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher celebrated their second wedding anniversary yesterday. Was it a romantic event? Hard to tell, but here’s what Carrie had to say: “For a lot of guys, you know, it takes a little more effort. All that romance stuff doesn’t just come naturally. I’m generally fine. I love just hanging out on a Friday night watching TV”
Saturday night in Nashville, Ringo Starr played the Ryman. It was his 72nd birthday and in the audience were Brad Paisley, Kix Brooks and Joe Walsh. Ringo invited them on stage for the encore, “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
Congrats to Little Big Town, who were asked to write and sing “Good Afternoon” as the theme song for the new ABC show, Good Afternoon America. "Sometimes you get unexpected opportunities as an artist," Karen Fairchild says. "We loved getting the chance to write and record a song for such a cool show." Little Big Town will be on the show August second, singing the theme song and Pontoon live.
Martina McBride has rented a house in LA and will be there for the next few weeks as part of the show Opening Act. Her 14-year-old daughter Emma is enrolled in some acting classes, because that’s her dream right now. According to Martina “It goes by so fast, so I try to...you know, make the most of it and do everything that I can. They’re all going through different things and it’s just fun!”
Pistol Annies have a new video – “Takin’ Pills” – and it’s pretty entertaining!
FarmAid 2012 will be September 22nd at HersheyPark Stadium in Pennsylvania.
Congrats to Gloriana, who have a gold record on their hands with “(Kissed You) Good Night.”
Brantley Gilbert has the #1 country song this week with “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do.”
Josh Turner is on Good Morning America and Zac Brown Band will be on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight.
Zac Brown Band’s new cd, Uncaged, has been out for a day and rabid fans have discovered the song Zac branded as a “baby-making song.” Here’s what he says about the sound of “Overnight:” “That’s straight up R&B baby! I’m about to get tender on ya. It’s definitely us – it sounds like us. But, the arrangement and everything is straight up R&B.” Meanwhile, their first single from the album, “The Wind,” is blowing up the charts, landing inside the top 20 just a couple of weeks after its release. The video for the song is animated and lots of fun – check it out!
Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher celebrated their second wedding anniversary yesterday. Was it a romantic event? Hard to tell, but here’s what Carrie had to say: “For a lot of guys, you know, it takes a little more effort. All that romance stuff doesn’t just come naturally. I’m generally fine. I love just hanging out on a Friday night watching TV”
Saturday night in Nashville, Ringo Starr played the Ryman. It was his 72nd birthday and in the audience were Brad Paisley, Kix Brooks and Joe Walsh. Ringo invited them on stage for the encore, “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
Congrats to Little Big Town, who were asked to write and sing “Good Afternoon” as the theme song for the new ABC show, Good Afternoon America. "Sometimes you get unexpected opportunities as an artist," Karen Fairchild says. "We loved getting the chance to write and record a song for such a cool show." Little Big Town will be on the show August second, singing the theme song and Pontoon live.
Martina McBride has rented a house in LA and will be there for the next few weeks as part of the show Opening Act. Her 14-year-old daughter Emma is enrolled in some acting classes, because that’s her dream right now. According to Martina “It goes by so fast, so I try to...you know, make the most of it and do everything that I can. They’re all going through different things and it’s just fun!”
Pistol Annies have a new video – “Takin’ Pills” – and it’s pretty entertaining!
FarmAid 2012 will be September 22nd at HersheyPark Stadium in Pennsylvania.
Congrats to Gloriana, who have a gold record on their hands with “(Kissed You) Good Night.”
Brantley Gilbert has the #1 country song this week with “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do.”
Josh Turner is on Good Morning America and Zac Brown Band will be on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Today's Country Tidbits
Alan Jackson played Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado last week, and decided to make the show into a benefit for everyone devastated by Colorado’s massive wildfires. He offered up front row tickets at a special, premium price, with proceeds going to the Denver Foundation for use by the Colorado Wildfire Relief Fund. Within hours after being announced on local radio, thousands of dollars was raised for the effort.
Miranda Lambert is shot the video for her new song, “Fastest Girl in Town” and there’s a surprise for fans – NASCAR driver Danica Patrick is part of the video. About the song, Miranda says, “We wrote ‘Fastest Girl in Town,’ and it’s definitely got her Kentucky raw-girl spin on it, and it’s got my bullets flyin’ around, and there’s crime to it. But it’s just…it kind of makes bein’ the fastest girl in town not a skanky thing, but a glamorous thing, and that’s what I like about it.”
The new Zac Brown Band album, Uncaged, will be out July 10th and Zac is so excited about the newest member of the band: “He’s one of the finest percussionists in the world, his name is Daniel de los Reyes, and it’s a privilege to have him in our band. He’s just as good as it gets. He’s all over the record, I mean—all over it, under it, you can hear him all over it!” Daniel has played with Billy Joel and other big non-country acts and is psyched to be part of one of country’s hottest bands.
A new Taylor Swift fragrance will be out in October – Wonderstruck Enchanted. About it, Taylor says, "Wonderstruck is about that moment when you instantly feel a connection to someone, but then there's that feeling of being completely enamored – enchanted – when you know a little more about that someone and still feel that strong connection."
Justin Moore is proud to be the first artist to partner with Cabela’s, who will be the official outfitter for Justin’s tour through the end of 2013. Justin says, "The lifestyle they promote and embrace is an exact reflection of how I grew up and how I intend to raise my family."
Craig Morgan All Access Outdoors season three kicked off last night, and one of the hunting trips will be to Hawaii. According to Craig, “I had no idea. They have an over population of axis deer, they have what they call the wild goat – the Spanish goat. So there’s a lot of activity – fishing. It’s just absolutely amazing. The site seeing alone in Hawaii would have been worth the TV show.” Craig will also be part of Fox & Friends All American Summer concert series on July 13th.
Carrie Underwood’s Australian excursion included being “kissed” by a kangaroo, and covering legendary pop band INXS during her show. Here’s the video of her singing “Never Tear Us Apart”…..
Luke Bryan will be going back to Central Park in New York this month, but hopefully he’ll have a better time this year than last. Remember that broken collar bone? “You know, I fell on a skateboard last year in Central Park, now I’m performing in Central Park...it’s pretty good!” He’ll be part of the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series on July 13th.
Josh Turner is part of the PBS show, “A Capitol Fourth,” on Wednesday night. He’ll represent country music. Other stars include Matthew Broderick, Phillip Phillips and Kool & the Gang. Tom Bergeron will emcee the show.
“Wanted” by Hunter Hayes has been certified gold.
Miranda Lambert is shot the video for her new song, “Fastest Girl in Town” and there’s a surprise for fans – NASCAR driver Danica Patrick is part of the video. About the song, Miranda says, “We wrote ‘Fastest Girl in Town,’ and it’s definitely got her Kentucky raw-girl spin on it, and it’s got my bullets flyin’ around, and there’s crime to it. But it’s just…it kind of makes bein’ the fastest girl in town not a skanky thing, but a glamorous thing, and that’s what I like about it.”
The new Zac Brown Band album, Uncaged, will be out July 10th and Zac is so excited about the newest member of the band: “He’s one of the finest percussionists in the world, his name is Daniel de los Reyes, and it’s a privilege to have him in our band. He’s just as good as it gets. He’s all over the record, I mean—all over it, under it, you can hear him all over it!” Daniel has played with Billy Joel and other big non-country acts and is psyched to be part of one of country’s hottest bands.
A new Taylor Swift fragrance will be out in October – Wonderstruck Enchanted. About it, Taylor says, "Wonderstruck is about that moment when you instantly feel a connection to someone, but then there's that feeling of being completely enamored – enchanted – when you know a little more about that someone and still feel that strong connection."
Justin Moore is proud to be the first artist to partner with Cabela’s, who will be the official outfitter for Justin’s tour through the end of 2013. Justin says, "The lifestyle they promote and embrace is an exact reflection of how I grew up and how I intend to raise my family."
Craig Morgan All Access Outdoors season three kicked off last night, and one of the hunting trips will be to Hawaii. According to Craig, “I had no idea. They have an over population of axis deer, they have what they call the wild goat – the Spanish goat. So there’s a lot of activity – fishing. It’s just absolutely amazing. The site seeing alone in Hawaii would have been worth the TV show.” Craig will also be part of Fox & Friends All American Summer concert series on July 13th.
Carrie Underwood’s Australian excursion included being “kissed” by a kangaroo, and covering legendary pop band INXS during her show. Here’s the video of her singing “Never Tear Us Apart”…..
Luke Bryan will be going back to Central Park in New York this month, but hopefully he’ll have a better time this year than last. Remember that broken collar bone? “You know, I fell on a skateboard last year in Central Park, now I’m performing in Central Park...it’s pretty good!” He’ll be part of the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series on July 13th.
Josh Turner is part of the PBS show, “A Capitol Fourth,” on Wednesday night. He’ll represent country music. Other stars include Matthew Broderick, Phillip Phillips and Kool & the Gang. Tom Bergeron will emcee the show.
“Wanted” by Hunter Hayes has been certified gold.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Today's Country Tidbits
Zac Brown Band has a new song out – “The Wind” – and Zac loves what it does for the band and the radio: “It gets to showcase everybody’s musicianship in the band. Very quickly, it’s a real fast and short song. I think it’s the most country thing that has been on the radio in a long time. It’s got a little bit of bluegrass and pickin’ and everything in it. But there is still great song lyrics buried in that speed of the tune.” All the guys in the band share their thoughts on “The Wind” in this video:
Miranda Lambert is having a blast with her girl group, Pistol Annies. “We are doing just a Pistol Annies tour in September. The girls are out with me all summer – but then all of September is just Pistol Annies. Then we are doing a new record in November!” While they’re out with Miranda, the trio is writing material for that album.
She’s named after him – she invited him to join her onstage during her Madison Square Garden Speak Now tour stop, so it’s not a huge surprise that Taylor Swift will be the guest star at James Taylor’s concert in Lenox, MA on July 2nd. They’ll perform a few songs together, and Taylor will do a solo or two. No word on the set list. You might still be able to get a ticket.
In other cross-genre news, Grace Potter isn’t going country, but she’s adding some country flavor to the deluxe edition of her new album, “The Lion The Beast The Beat.” Kenny Chesney duets with her on “Stars” and Willie Nelson sings and plays on “Ragged Company.” Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are part of the Brothers of the Sun tour with Kenny and Tim McGraw.
Faith Hill hasn’t released any new music in seven years, but she’s been having fun working in the studio on a new project. It doesn’t have a name or release date yet, but Faith is tipping her hand on what the music might sound like: “My love of country music – that has been my backbone. I was raised with country music, but I am a soul singer. So to bring those two worlds together in a way that is authentic and that is true – to me – that is the most important thing. I want to have a good time and I want my music to be truthful.”
They’ve been married 12 days and somehow managed to keep it a secret – Wynonna and long-time boyfriend Cactus Moser were married June 10th in a very private sunset ceremony on her farm in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. Us Weekly has the story and pictures.
Wall bling for Eli Young Band - “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” has been certified gold. Eric Church’s “Chief” album has been certified platinum. Now here’s a weird coincidence: 28 years ago on the very same week that Eric’s single “Springsteen” went to #1 on the country charts, Bruce Springsteen had his only #1 song on the pop charts - “Dancing in the Dark.”
Congrats to Josh Turner on the #1 debut of his new album, “Punching Bag.” It’s the second time he’s accomplished a #1 album debut – the first was in 2006 with “Your Man.” About the title cut on this album, Josh says, “Everybody has those kinds of days. So, I want this song to motivate people to not get discouraged and just take those punches. Make something good out of it, keeping moving forward and just be tough.”
Miranda Lambert is having a blast with her girl group, Pistol Annies. “We are doing just a Pistol Annies tour in September. The girls are out with me all summer – but then all of September is just Pistol Annies. Then we are doing a new record in November!” While they’re out with Miranda, the trio is writing material for that album.
She’s named after him – she invited him to join her onstage during her Madison Square Garden Speak Now tour stop, so it’s not a huge surprise that Taylor Swift will be the guest star at James Taylor’s concert in Lenox, MA on July 2nd. They’ll perform a few songs together, and Taylor will do a solo or two. No word on the set list. You might still be able to get a ticket.
In other cross-genre news, Grace Potter isn’t going country, but she’s adding some country flavor to the deluxe edition of her new album, “The Lion The Beast The Beat.” Kenny Chesney duets with her on “Stars” and Willie Nelson sings and plays on “Ragged Company.” Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are part of the Brothers of the Sun tour with Kenny and Tim McGraw.
Faith Hill hasn’t released any new music in seven years, but she’s been having fun working in the studio on a new project. It doesn’t have a name or release date yet, but Faith is tipping her hand on what the music might sound like: “My love of country music – that has been my backbone. I was raised with country music, but I am a soul singer. So to bring those two worlds together in a way that is authentic and that is true – to me – that is the most important thing. I want to have a good time and I want my music to be truthful.”
They’ve been married 12 days and somehow managed to keep it a secret – Wynonna and long-time boyfriend Cactus Moser were married June 10th in a very private sunset ceremony on her farm in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. Us Weekly has the story and pictures.
Wall bling for Eli Young Band - “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” has been certified gold. Eric Church’s “Chief” album has been certified platinum. Now here’s a weird coincidence: 28 years ago on the very same week that Eric’s single “Springsteen” went to #1 on the country charts, Bruce Springsteen had his only #1 song on the pop charts - “Dancing in the Dark.”
Congrats to Josh Turner on the #1 debut of his new album, “Punching Bag.” It’s the second time he’s accomplished a #1 album debut – the first was in 2006 with “Your Man.” About the title cut on this album, Josh says, “Everybody has those kinds of days. So, I want this song to motivate people to not get discouraged and just take those punches. Make something good out of it, keeping moving forward and just be tough.”
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Today's Country Tidbits
Blake Shelton likes to surprise people, and he’s using his latest video to do just that. The video is for the song, “Over,” which uses fire as an analogy. But in the video, Blake and director Roman White decided to be a bit more literal: “There’s a house that burns down and all this stuff. You’re like, ‘Man I think he really just kind of meant that like not literally.’ But screw it lets burn some stuff down and look cool walking around the desert and stuff.” Yeah – not surprised by that, are you?
Eric Church is basking in the glow of his second #1 song with “Springsteen.” He was inspired by his own life – a date at a Springsteen concert when he was 16: “I still remember what the weather was like; I can still remember what the air smelled like, what the sky looked like. And I think the great thing about that song – you always try to write music and record music that sparks a memory, and there’s a line in the song – ‘Funny how a melody sounds like a memory.’ That’s exactly what ‘Springsteen’ is for me, and I hope that that’s what it’s for for everybody out there.” Eric’s first #1 song came in January of this year – “Drink in My Hand.”
Jason Aldean is getting a bit of a reputation on Twitter. Like Blake Shelton, he doesn’t take any guff from anyone, and he proved it Monday night when he had to defend his tweets about being fined for swimming in double-red-flag surf. Some fans also give him grief about what they think is “rap” in his music, and Jason takes it to them on Twitter: “I got on there and said, ‘Hey if you don’t like what I’m doing, turn the station. Ya know? It’s that easy.’ Anyway it was that quick. It was me reading a bunch of these comments, sitting on my bus bored and so I just decided to fire back – which I never do.” Uh…yeah, right!
Josh Turner is out with a new album. “Punching Bag” is the album title, and the title track is one that Josh feels very strongly about: “I wanted it to speak to those people who have those days where everything goes wrong and everything blows up in their face and nothing goes right, and your stress level is way up. And you just don’t feel like anybody’s there to help you. This song is for those people.” The album’s first single, “Time is Love,” is doing well on the charts as Josh gets ready to be part of the nation’s official 4th of July celebration in Washington, DC.
Jake Owen is joining Colt Ford on the song “Back” from Colt’s upcoming “Declaration of Independence” album. According to Colt, “Jake captured the emotion in this song.”
Taylor Swift was honored by Northwest Tennessee Disaster Services. They named her the 2012 Honorary Star of Compassion Award for her “uplifting works and music of encouragement.”
Congratulations to Alan Jackson, whose “Thirty Miles West” debuted at the top of the Billboard Country Album chart this week.
Eric Church is basking in the glow of his second #1 song with “Springsteen.” He was inspired by his own life – a date at a Springsteen concert when he was 16: “I still remember what the weather was like; I can still remember what the air smelled like, what the sky looked like. And I think the great thing about that song – you always try to write music and record music that sparks a memory, and there’s a line in the song – ‘Funny how a melody sounds like a memory.’ That’s exactly what ‘Springsteen’ is for me, and I hope that that’s what it’s for for everybody out there.” Eric’s first #1 song came in January of this year – “Drink in My Hand.”
Jason Aldean is getting a bit of a reputation on Twitter. Like Blake Shelton, he doesn’t take any guff from anyone, and he proved it Monday night when he had to defend his tweets about being fined for swimming in double-red-flag surf. Some fans also give him grief about what they think is “rap” in his music, and Jason takes it to them on Twitter: “I got on there and said, ‘Hey if you don’t like what I’m doing, turn the station. Ya know? It’s that easy.’ Anyway it was that quick. It was me reading a bunch of these comments, sitting on my bus bored and so I just decided to fire back – which I never do.” Uh…yeah, right!
Josh Turner is out with a new album. “Punching Bag” is the album title, and the title track is one that Josh feels very strongly about: “I wanted it to speak to those people who have those days where everything goes wrong and everything blows up in their face and nothing goes right, and your stress level is way up. And you just don’t feel like anybody’s there to help you. This song is for those people.” The album’s first single, “Time is Love,” is doing well on the charts as Josh gets ready to be part of the nation’s official 4th of July celebration in Washington, DC.
Jake Owen is joining Colt Ford on the song “Back” from Colt’s upcoming “Declaration of Independence” album. According to Colt, “Jake captured the emotion in this song.”
Taylor Swift was honored by Northwest Tennessee Disaster Services. They named her the 2012 Honorary Star of Compassion Award for her “uplifting works and music of encouragement.”
Congratulations to Alan Jackson, whose “Thirty Miles West” debuted at the top of the Billboard Country Album chart this week.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Today's Country Tidbits
Last night in New Mexico, Sugarland's "Incredible Machine" tour resumed after the tragedy last weekend that claimed five lives. Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush asked fans to donate to a relief fund for the families of those injured and killed, and stagehands wore t-shirts honoring Nathan Bird, the stage hand who was up in the light rigging when the stage roof collapsed. He died at the hospital a couple of hours later. Just before last night's show, Jennifer led a moment of silence in honor of the victims.
The ACM is donating $661,000 to the ACM Lifting Lives Foundation, and the money was generated by the "Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country" special. The money is being gifted in the names of the performers and honorees, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, the Judds, Loretta Lynn, Reba, Jennifer Nettles, Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Ronnie Dunn, Sara Evans, Little Big Town, Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, Pistol Annies, Vince Gill, John Fogerty and the Jane Dear Girls.
Brad Paisley is on the European leg of his world tour, and he loves playing overseas. According to Brad, it's pretty easy to be incognito. “There’s a really great audience there, and there may not be a lot of people that love country music, but if there’s several thousand, they’re all going when you go play there. I mean, no one in the city knows who you are when you walk through except the people lined up. The best time to walk around in London is when they’re lining up for your show, because that’s it. That’s the only people who care about you. And they’re out in front of the theater. Go out the back and you can just go anywhere you want.” Scroll down for video of the encore performance that featured Rolling Stone guitarist Ron Wood.
Jake Owen loves his fans and loves to share his day-to-day exploits with them. When he needs stitches, he shows the photos. When he needs some fun time on the water, he invites his fans to come and play with him. Twitter is the medium he's using to keep in touch, and according to Jake, “I think Twitter’s supposed to be used, at least from my perspective, it’s supposed to be used for talking to people on a real level, you know? That’s why I do real things like that. I mean, I’m not scared. I’m a human being. If I invite someone out there that’s a weirdo that shows up to come on my boat, I’ll kick ‘em off in the water, man.”
Didja miss The Band Perry on Jimmy Kimmel Live? Here you go...
and their other performance...
When you're a big-time country music star, you get to be part of peoples' most important life moments. Case in point - Dierks Bentley got to help a guy propose to his girlfriend. Of course she said "yes!"
Told you yesterday about Brad Paisley being joined onstage by Rolling Stone guitarist Ron Wood. The two swapped licks on "Let the Good Times Roll" and according to Brad, "We've never rehearsed. But we don't care. Do we?" They ended the show, joined by Darius Rucker, with a rousing performance of "Alcohol."
Remember that Shania Twain took a fall when coming down the aisle at the CMT awards? The fabulous shoes she was wearing, which she blamed for the fall, are on eBay, being auctioned off for charity, the "Shania Kids Can" fund. The bid at the time of publication was $16,500. Pony up your credit card, if you're a huge Shania fan!
If you're a huge George Jones fan, you'll want to be in Nashville on September 30th for the Tuesday night Opry show. That night will honor George Jones, and celebrate his 80th birthday. Guests will include Alan ackson, Montgomery Gentry, Joe Diffie, Jamey Johnson, Pam Tillis and the Oak Ridge Boys.
New music on the way from Montgomery Gentry. "Rebels on the Run" hits the streets October 4th. It's their 7th studio album.
Randy Travis and Josh Turner are on the Tonight Show, and Trace Adkins is on Chelsea Lately. Sunday night's "True Blood" episode will feature Taylor Swift's song, "Haunted."
Happy birthday to Eddy Raven as he turns 67 today, Clay Walker, who is 42 and Lee Ann Womack, who's 45. Sunday Kenny Rogers turns turns 73.
The tweet of the day is from Chris Young: "I was kinda down today... and then I remembered my dad survived lung cancer and I still have the man I look up to in my life #perspective"
Monday, July 18, 2011
Today's Country Tidbits
Billboard Magazine has dubbed Kenny Chesney the "biggest ticket seller in country music." His "Goin' Coastal" tour is filling up arenas and stadiums all over North America, and here's a peek at the production, by the numbers.
110 - the number of people traveling with Kenny to stage the arena shows.
140 - the number of people on hand to put on a stadium show.
10 - the number of buses in the Kenny Chesney tour fleet.
23 - the number of trucks it takes to move the show from one city to the next.
8 - the number of hours it takes to set up Kenny's stage, lighting and music.
80,000 - the number of pounds of staging, lighting and amps that make up the "Goin' Coastal" set.
60,000 - the number of miles Kenny and his entourage of people and trucks will drive for this year's tour.
Josh Turner threw a party and thousands of people showed up, donating over $150,000 for tornado relief in the northwest Georgia town of Ringgold. The town's middle and high schools were heavily damaged, and the money will go towards rebuilding. The show started late, due to a downpour that turned the venue into a big mud puddle.
Lady Antebellum had to reschedule last Friday night's Toledo, Ohio show. Hillary Scott's grandmother passed away, so the show was moved to August 10th and tickets will be honored on that date.
How does Toby Keith manage to have so many great hit songs? He says his goal is to write at least 50 songs a year, some by himself and some with songwriting buddies Scotty Emerick and Bobby Pinson. No word on whether he'll share any of those songs with his daughter, Krystal, who is working on her debut country album with Daddy producing.
It's not due to be internatonally released until fall of next year, but Taylor Swift's first fragrance will ship to 3,400 stored nationwide in Spetember of this year. "Wonderstruck" was inspired by the lyrics to "Enchanted," a song on Taylor's "Speak Now" cd.
Going to take a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry? Your tour guide will be none other than Blake Shelton. He's recorded a video guide of the stars' dressing rooms, Studio A and the Opry's Green Room. Blake says the Opry experience is one that never gets old. Carrie Underwood joins him at one point on the tour.
If you've already set your DVR to record the "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" on August 7th, you need to make a change. The show, originally scheduled to air on the 7th, will now air on August 14th starting at 8pm on ABC. The three-hour show was up against the Teen Choice Awards originally, and there are several country acts appearing on that show, so network honchos decided to reschedule the best of the CMA Festival.
Didja miss Brad Paisley on Good Mornng America Friday morning? Here it is for your viewing pleasure...
And here's some bonus backstage footage from Brad's appearance...
Happy birthday to Ricky Skaggs, who turns 57 today.
The tweet of the day is from Radney Foster: "I've just been butt-dialed by Sunny Sweeney. I must be somebody"
Monday, July 4, 2011
Today's Country Tidbits
It's Independence Day, a commemoration of the very brave Founding Fathers, who risked their life, liberty and happiness in order to build an independent nation. Those signers of the Declaration of Independence epitomized the bravery and can-do spirit of America.
On this day, country music artists reminisce about what the 4th of July means to them.
Josh Turner: “All the individual families kind of had a lot of competition with each other and they tried to outdo each other to try and see who had the biggest and baddest fireworks and all that. My daddy I think was the smartest one. He just went out and bought maybe 25-dollars worth of fireworks and let everybody else put on the big show. So, he saved a lot of money!”
Carrie Underwood: “America really is, you know, the land of opportunity. It’s the only place in the world that I could try out for some show and win and…amongst hundreds of thousands of people…and go on to do great things. I mean, it’s just the land of ‘anything could happen.’ The people in it are what makes it great.”
Chris Young: “Fourth of July is always a big day with me and my dad. I think we spend, like, four-hundred dollars, five-hundred dollars on fireworks alone during Fourth of July. And we go do a cookout at the house, and then we set off fireworks. And we’ve almost blown ourselves up a couple times, but you know, it’s somethin’ that me and my dad just love gettin’ out there and doin’. It’s a lot of fun for us.”
Jerrod Niemann: “Well, as a kid, I loved Fourth of July because I could shoot Roman candles at my siblings. But then when you finally understand what it stands for, and you’re old enough to grasp that the only reason you can shoot Roman candles at your siblings is because there’s people out there that are sacrificing their lives and allowed all of us to continue to be free and do the things that we love.”
Kenny Chesney: “You know what? I was usually playin’ little-league baseball on the Fourth of July. You know, I was big into sports, and the summertime in east Tennessee consisted of playin’ baseball, and that’s what I did on the Fourth of July. And they had a big fireworks display after all the games, and I was usually, you know, tryin’ to win the affection of some little girl over at the concession stand. And, you know, things don’t change very much!”
Miranda Lambert: “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…my favorite firework is sparklers. Always it brings out the little girl in me. I always ask for sparklers for Fourth of July”
Billy Currington: “My best memories would be hanging out with my mom and brother and sister on the beach of Tybee Island, right off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. We’d go there pretty much every year and we’d light our own fireworks and watch the ones they had for us. Those were some of the best times of my life.”
Jake Owen: “Fourth of July is my weekend, man to relax. Every year, we do a big boat party and just a lot of my friends, family...cook a lot of food, do a lot of wakeboarding, water skiing, hang out, get sunburnt…get a little buzz…and have a good time.”
Darius Rucker: “Oh, I love fireworks. We had the bottle rocket fights and all that good stuff. I was the typical little crazy kid, you know. In South Carolina it was always legal, so we shot fireworks when it was legal. We did all that sort of stuff. I almost blew my hand off once.”
No matter how you spend your day, have fun, be safe and remember the bravery that made our nation possible.
I'm on vacation for the rest of the week...see you on July 11th!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Today's Country Tidbits
Brad Paisley is featured in the soundtrack to "Cars 2" which hits theatres today. The movie's creator and animator, John Lasseter, was taken with Brad's oldest son, Huck, letting him see the first "Cars" movie long before it came out, and making a gift of all of the toy cars from the movie. According to Brad, “John went to the garage where he has all the toys stockpiled and gave him every model of car, which I had to quickly sort of confiscate and make sure that…He…it, was like, a little bit of overload, you know?”
Alan Jackson is working on a new album, and has a duet with Zac Brown on it. The song is called "Dixie Highway."
And Blake Shelton has a duet with Martina McBride on his upcoming "Red River Blue" cd. It's a song called "I'm Sorry," and Blake says it's one he's held on to for a few years, feeling it was very special, but too nervous to ask Martina to duet with him on it. He finally texted Martina's daughter, Delaney, asking her if she thought her mom would sing with him. Thankfully, the answer was yes. The cd comes out July 12th, but you can preorder it now.
Josh Turner is throwing a benefit concert for the middle and high schools in Ringgold, Georgia. "After the Storm: Coming Together Benefit Concert" happens July 14th in northwest Georgia. Tickets go on sale today for the show that will be held July 14th at the Davis Cattle Company.
Meanwhile, the "Bama Rising: A Benefit Concert for Alabama Tornado Recovery" raised $2.1 million. Two musicians made sure that all of the money donated goes to tornado victims: Brad Paisley donated the production and Dave Matthews underwrote the show's expenses. You can still donate if you'd like - text BAMA to 501501.
The annual CMA Music Festival television special, "Country's Night to Rock," will air August 7th on ABC. Performers include Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Zac Brown Band, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Sara Evans, Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery.
By any measure, the CMA Music Festival was a home run for Nashville. It generated a record-smashing $30 million in visitor spending, up from $24 million last year. That figure includes more than 110,000 hotel room nights, ticket sales and restaurant and attraction spending. Tickets go on sale for next year's festival on July 30th.
Congratulations to Keith Urban, who celebrated his latest #1 this week in Nashville. The party included the songwriters Joe West and Dave Pahanish. According to Keith, "I couldn't believe how it captured my life so beautifully. It's rare to hear a song where every lyric is so poignant for me. I didn't have to change anything."
Did you miss Dierks Bentley on the NHL Award Show? Oh, no you dih-uhn!
Tonight, catch Luke Bryan and the Doobie Brothers on CMT Crossroads.
Happy birthday Sunday to Gretchen Wilson, who turns 39.
The tweet of the day is from Brad Paisley: "Now when you go see @Disneypixar cars2 Friday stay through the end credits to hear both songs an see the animation they did to the first one"
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Today's Country Tidbits
Tonight's the night for BAMA Rising in Birmingham, Alabama. The show features Alabama, Dierks Bentley, Sara Evans, Sheryl Crow, Montgomery Gentry, Brad Paisley, Martina McBride, Darius Rucker and Kellie Pickler. Sara Evans, a Birmingham native, shares the stage tonight, but shares something else special today - it's her 3rd anniversary of being married to Jay Barker. “I am so proud of country music for coming together and doing this benefit concert because everybody’s donating their time and it’s just a busy time of year for everybody. It just warms my heart that this is taking place. It’s on our anniversary and Jay and I are both saying, ‘We can’t think of a better way to spend our anniversary than to be helping.’” If you can't be there but want to help, text BAMA to 501501 to donate $10.
Trace Adkins releases new music on August 2nd. "Proud to Be Here" is it's title, which has taken on a whole new meaning for Trace since his home burned down last week. “It’s an autobiographical song anyway, because of some of the well-publicized near death experiences that I’ve had, and now—if that had happened at three o’clock in the morning, there may not be any of us here to tell about it. But it didn’t. It happened at three o’clock in the afternoon, and for that I am grateful.” Yes, there'll be a deluxe edition, featuring extra music including a new duet with Blake Shelton called "If I Was a Woman." That will be available July 12th on iTunes.
For the second year in a row, the LP Field concerts at the CMA Music Festival were sellouts. That means for four nights running, 65,000+ people showed up, shelled out cash and partied the night away to great country music. Tickets for next year's festival go on sale July 30th.
The annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge, held each year on the Saturday of CMA Music Festival week, raised over $100,000 for those combatting life-threating diseases. The After Midnight with Blair Garner team beat the Grand Ole Opry team 9-5. Stars turning out for the game were Dierks Bentley, David Nail, Jake Owen, Vince Gill, and American Idol's Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery.
Congratulations to Justin Moore and his wife Kate, who are expecting their second child in November. The little one will join one-year-old big sister Ella Kole. Justin's new cd, "Outlaws Like Me," comes out June 12th.
Forbes Magazine has compiled a list of the world's top earners under 30, and you know Taylor Swift is on it. Lady Gaga tops the list, earning $90 million last year, Justin Bieber, LeBron James and Roger Federer are in spots two through four, with Taylor checking in at #5. She earned $45 million last year.
Didja miss Keith Urban on the Ellen Degeneres show? Oh no you di-unt...just watch!
Carrie Underwood is down under, charming the Australian media and blowing away the country with her high-energy show.
Could Bieber Fever be coming to country music? After picking up a CMT Music Award for his collaboration with Rascal Flatts, Justin told the media that his mom is a big country music fan, and so is he.
Congratulations to Blake Shelton, who has the number 1 song in country music this week with "Honey Bee."
Tonight, catch Blake Shelton on "The Voice and Josh Turner and Randy Travis on the Tonight Show.
The tweet of the day is from Michelle Branch: "Confessed my fried chicken salad and biscuit sins to my trainer this morning. Then he made me do 5 million lunges. #WorthIt"
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Today's Country Tidbits
Over the weekend, American Idol finalists had parties thrown in their honor in their hometowns, with the AI crews on hand to capture the fun. Country singer Scott McCreery's party was Saturday and about 30,000 fans turned out to celebrate his success. Who was on hand to celebrate with him? None other than Josh Turner, who said, "He didn't see me until we were almost face-to-face. I think I almost gave him a heart attack." The two performed "Long Black Train" and "Your Man" together. "Your Man" was the song Scott sang in his auditions for American Idol. Here's a sneak-peek of what this will look like when it airs this Thursday night on Fox.
Also Saturday night, but down the road in Lexington, Kentucky, Kenny Chesney was giving a concert at Rupp Arena. He started singing "Small Y'all," a song originally done by George Jones and covered by Kenny on "Hemingway's Whiskey." None other than the Possum himself strolled out onto the stage, surprising and delighting Kenny. The two of them sang "Small Y'all" and "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair," after which Kenny invited George to hang around for one more song, and requested "He Stopped Loving Her Today."
There was some SERIOUS bling on the bride at Saturday's wedding of Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. The two exchanged eternity rings crusted in diamonds. Blake's ring is custom-made and was inspired by the tatoo on his arm. Miranda sported a $1.2 million necklace made by Jonathan Arndt, the designer of their rings. Her necklace was a three-tiered diamond sparkler, set off by huge diamond teardrop earrings. For the reception, she added a quarter of a million dollar cocktail ring featuring over 60 carats of sapphires set in black gold.
The photographer who was hired to shoot Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton's wedding photos says some of the shots will be featured in Us Magazine this week. Robert Evans said that shooting a celebrity wedding is no different than shooting a "normal" wedding. "There is no difference. What makes for great wedding pictures for me is the personal connection I have with my bride and groom and the time to create photographic magic. From the first moment I met each of them I was touched by their big hearts and contagious personalities, which made the privilege of photographing their wedding an absolute joy, not a job.” According to Robert, they didn't follow wedding tradition, and by breaking a rule, they'll have better photos because of it. He explains, "They took my advice and saw each other before the wedding and took all their photos before their nuptials, so after they said ‘I do’ and walked down the aisle, they could go do whatever they wanted, instead of spending time taking photographs. Spending time alone or spending more time with your guests is a smarter choice, especially when your normal human reaction after you kiss and travel down the aisle is ‘Let’s go party and be with our friends and family.’ A wedding is a celebration, and when the months of planning are over, it’s time to PLAY!”
In more Miranda news, her latest song, "Heart Like Mine," tops the country singles charts this week.
How smokin' hot is Lady Antebellum? They've just had the highest chart debut of their career with the new song, "Just a Kiss." It landed at #7 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, which is an all-genre chart. In the first week the song sold over 211,000 digital copies, topping the iTunes country singles chart.
Head for an auction and get great stuff for an even greater cause. MusiCares and the Grammy Foundation have rounded up some amazing artist memorabilia for you to bid on, including a bass guitar signed by Kenny Rogers, an electric guitar signed by Keith Urban, a CD/DVD "Revolution" set autographed by Miranda Lambert and much more. The auction ends day after tomorrow, so hurry!
John Rich is out with not one but two six-paks of music. One is "For the Kids" with all proceeds going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The other is "Rich Rocks," a high-energy collection of vintage John Rich music. Both include high-profile duets with Kid Rock, Hank Williams Jr. and Lil John.
The tweet of the day is from Kellie Pickler: "It's my lucky day. Found an old pair of jeans I wore in high school. There was a $10 bill in the back pocket! Best part is they still fit!"
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Today's Country Tidbits
John Rich is just one episode away from tying with Trace Adkins as runner-up on Celebrity Apprentice. Trace did it in the 2008 season and John's on a big roll in the 2011 season. If he makes it through this Sunday night's episode, where two people will be fired, he'll only be one episode away from winning the whole shebang. His charity is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and of them he says, "I went to St. Jude with Lonestar when I was 20, and I still haven't gotten over it. I've always wanted the opportunity to take what I've built for myself and apply it to helping St. Jude, and Celebrity Apprentice has been the perfect opportunity for that." Hit up iTunes for the song he's dedicated to St. Jude to help him raise a million dollars for his favorite charity. "For the Kids" is the song, and also the title to a six-pak album he has coming out next week.
Josh Turner's concert in Stockton, California was good for at least four people. At the show, two couples got engaged. Just before he sang "Would You Go With Me," Josh dedicated the song to brand-newly-engaged Jeff and Alma, calling them to the stage and telling them, "Now you two stay together, alright?" Later in the show, someone in the crowd passed a note to Josh, who read it and then handed the mic to the guy. That man proposed to his girlfriend, too. Both women said "yes" and Josh joked with the single members of his band, "You don't have anyone you want to ask, do you? It seems to be contagious!"
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert still aren't divulging details about Saturday's wedding, except that Neal McCoy is the musical entertainment, the ceremony will be somewhere in Texas and venison is on the menu. No details have leaked out about Miranda's bachelorette party last weekend in Lexington, KY, but I'm looking for them and will let you in on any photos I find.
Good news on the Keith Urban artwork that was stolen from out in front of a salon in Wisconsin - the huge fiberglass hand sculpture has been returned to the owner. A young man reported that he found the piece and thought it had been thrown away. When he heard the news that it was stolen, he promptly returned it and refused the cash reward. No word on whether he accepted the concert tickets and meet & greet passes Keith added to the reward.
It was just a matter of time - Keith Urban is getting his own fragrance. He's working closely with a custom beauty company to create the perfect "aura of Keith." He joins Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as country artists with a signature scent.
Brad Paisley's "This is Country Music" comes out on May 23rd, and tv shows are lining up to have him on. He'll be on "Good Morning America," "The Late Show with David Letterman" and "Hannity" on the 24th, and on the 25th he'll perform on "The View."
Kid Rock will be the next roastee on Comedy Central's Roast ceries. The show will be taped in August.
This Saturday, the restoration of the Grand Ole Opry House following last year's floods will be featured. Lester Holt conducts the tour and is shown being the guest announcer at the Opry and playing bass for Luke Bryan. Here's a sneak-peek.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Zac Brown Band is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, Taylor Swift is performing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Steve Earle is on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Happy anniversary to Trace Adkins and wife Rhonda, who celebrate their fourteenth wedding anniversary today.
Happy birthday to Mark Herndon of Alabama, who is 57.
The tweet of the day is from Sara Evans: "Walked in to use restroom here and my song was playing! I never said a word! So weird!"
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Today's Country Tidbits
Sunday night, most country fans were watching the ACM Awards, but one country star was going big for St. Jude. John Rich raised nearly $700,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Sunday night as he led Team Backbone to a big...defeat at the hands of the women's team on Celebrity Apprentice. Donald Trump challenged the two teams to create their own works of art using baseball caps and paintings to be sold at an art gallery. John was project manager, and guaranteed that country music fans would come through for him. “The only reason I am on this show is to raise more money than anyone in the history of this show. I want to show Mr. Trump what country boys are capable of and how big our hearts can open up.” The women's team raked in nearly a million dollars, but St. Jude still won, because John and Marlee Matlin, who was project manager for the women's team, agreed to let both charities get the cash no matter which team won. The combined $1.6 million was more than any other non-finale episode ever raised.
Last night, some of country's biggest stars turned out to salute the Superstar Women of Country. "Girls Night Out" taped in Las Vegas last night, with Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Sara Evans and The Band Perry performing in honor of Reba, Martina McBride, Loretta Lynn, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles and The Judds. The Band Perry performed a Patsy Cline classic, and Kimberly Perry gushed about the experience of being part of the show, “I feel like these ladies who we’re honoring just make up everything we love about country music everything from their sense of fashion to their spit-fire attitudes and everything in between.” It will air on April 22nd on CBS.
A surprised Taylor Swift is learning that words mean something different to different people. She wrote the song, "Mean," after reading a bad review. Now that it's been released as her 3rd single from "Speak Now," she's finding out that the song has more than one meaning: “Getting letters, and getting e-mails, and getting messages on Twitter and Facebook from the fans saying what that song means to them. I never would’ve imagined it would have that many different meanings to different people when I wrote the song.” Taylor will be on The Tonight Show tonight, talking about her ACM for Entertainer of the Year.
If you wanto to revisit Taylor's performance of "Mean" at the ACM's, here you go...
Lady Antebellum is on the road with Keith Urban, and the tour heads to Australia this week. It's Hillary Scott's first time there, and she has play-plans: “To meet the people, to see the fans, to hopefully, you know, make some new fans, we’re really looking forward to it. And the obvious, of like I’m going to go see the kangaroos and pet a koala bear, you know.”
Want to relive some of the best looks at Sunday night's ACM Awards? People.com has a best-dressed spread.
Backstage at the ACM Awards, a reporter asked Miranda Lambert where she and Blake were honeymooning after their May 14th wedding. She said they still don't have a plan, but hope something will come together soon. I'm betting there'll be hunting involved!
Josh Turner is enjoying life as the father of three boys, ages 4 years, almost 2 and a three-month-old. He says, in the latest issue of People Country, that if you keep them fed, “they’ll be happy for the most part.” Good advice!
Craig Campbell's self-titled debut cd is out today, featuring his first solo hit song, "Family Man."
Happy birthday to Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry, who turns 44 today and to Pat Green, who is 39.
The tweet of the day is from John Rich: "Back in Nashville....its a monsoon! Just ran over a catfish in the highway!"
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