There’s a new charitable event taking place in Austin, Texas next April. The inaugural MJ&M weekend was put together by Jack Ingram, Matthew McConaughey and University of Texas coach Mack Brown. They intend to positively impact the life of kids who are part of the action-packed weekend. You can find out more at the new website for the event, but according to Jack, “We wanted to create a true, lasting impact and that inspired us to come together.”
Carrie Underwood is excited to be taking her Blown Away tour across the pond in 2013. She’ll have tour stops in Ireland and the United Kingdom in March. Why Great Britain again? “People seem to like it. I know there will be an audience in front of me. I know that there is going to be a lot of people that show up. It’s comforting and exciting to think maybe I could take it all there and see what happens.”
Miranda Lambert is knocking on the door to her next #1 song, but still loves “Fastest Girl in Town”: “I love ‘Fastest Girl In Town.’ Girl, I wrote it with Angaleena [Presley]. It’s obviously close to my heart cause I wrote it with a friend. I love doing it every night – it’s an anthem song. It’s so much fun.”
The Band Perry’s latest song, “Better Dig Two,” is a little bit obsessive, according to Kimberly and Neil: “[Kimberly] It’s really a love song, it’s just about kind of ultimate commitment. [Neil] It’s kinda like the vow ‘til death do us part.’ But not even then. Yeah. It’s like one step more than that. [Kim] It’s like ‘Baby, not even then will we be separated.’ [Neil] Can’t get rid of me! [Laughs]” Check out the ultimate commitment in their lyric video for the song…
Gary Allan is gratified that his new song, “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)” is climbing the charts nicely. “I think it’s the perfect single just because of what it says. I think I have been through a ton, and every storm runs out of rain. I think it’s a coming above the water song finally, so I thought it was perfect.”
Monday night, Taylor Swift was honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. At a gala in New York City, she was presented with the Ripple of Hope Award and performed the song “Starlight,” which she has said was inspired by the Kennedy family. Ex beau Conor wasn’t there, and Taylor caught up with new boyfriend Harry Styles after the party. They joined the other One Direction members for some karaoke at the Hudson Hotel.
Saturday night, Hayden Panatierre will co-host the CMT Artists of the Year special with Rascal Flatts. The Nashville actressis a big fan of country music and country artists: “Personally, I love—I’ve been a huge Miranda Lambert fan for years. The Pistol Annies. I’m a fan of Luke Bryan. I love Jason Aldean, I love The Band Perry. I’m—Lady Antebellum—you name ‘em! That’s the thing about country music—everyone’s a fan of everyone for the most part.”
Showing posts with label Taylor Swift. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taylor Swift. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Tonight is the Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! special on CBS, and Luke Bryan is honored to be part of the fun: “Anytime you’re associated with the Grammys it’s pretty cool. We’re honored to be associated and do the show. So we’re going to get up there and do our stuff and have a good time.” Taylor Swift co-hosts with LL Cool J, and in addition to Luke, Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes and The Band Perry will perform. It’s on at 10pm Eastern tonight on CBS.
Another Taylor Swift/Harry Styles spotting happened over the weekend. Taylor and the One Direction member were spotted sightseeing in Central Park, and wandering through the Central Park Zoo in New York City. Wonder if she’s started writing a song about him yet?
Rascal Flatts certainly has a huge fan base, but the guys are fans of country artists themselves. According to Jay DeMarcus, “Jason Aldean has really been tearing it up – and Little Big Town. We had them out on the road with us, and we’re such huge fans of those guys and what they’re doing right now. It’s so good when you see good people doing well.” They’ll get to celebrate country music alongside people they admire this Saturday night during the CMT Artist of the Year special.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are in Haiti, helping out on a Habitat for Humanity build. It’s the second time they’ve been to the island nation to help rebuild after the earthquake in 2010. Their goal on this trip is to help build over 100 new homes as part of the 29th Annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project.
It was Kimberly Schlapman’s brother-in-law who died Thanksgiving week, causing the band to cancel or reschedule several tour dates. Andy Schlapman was struck by a drunk driver in Nashville, where he, his wife and their daughter were visiting. In a post on Little Big Town’s website, Kimberly wrote, “This is a part of life that one never imagines or plans for. It has been very difficult to accept.”
Have you listened to the new Florida Georgia Line cd yet? The debut album includes the #1 song, “Cruise,” and according to band member Brian Kelley, not all of it is original material: “We actually cut four or five outside songs that we didn’t write. If you didn’t look at the liner notes, I think our fans and people would think we wrote them just because they’re right up our alley. They are songs we believe in, and felt a connection with, and songs that we felt like we were doing something wrong if we didn’t cut them.”
Kip Moore’s video for the song “Beer Money” includes a true-to-life scene – him being fired from a job. Kip wanted that scene, because: “That wasn’t in the original piece, ‘cause I thought about how I wanted the whole video to flow and the story, and at the end of it, I said, ‘Let’s go back and let’s do this opening scene like this,’ because that’s how so many of my jobs were. I was always trying to write songs while I was at work or doing other songs, and I always had bosses getting on to me, especially the whole time I was here in Nashville.” Check out the video now…
Another Taylor Swift/Harry Styles spotting happened over the weekend. Taylor and the One Direction member were spotted sightseeing in Central Park, and wandering through the Central Park Zoo in New York City. Wonder if she’s started writing a song about him yet?
Rascal Flatts certainly has a huge fan base, but the guys are fans of country artists themselves. According to Jay DeMarcus, “Jason Aldean has really been tearing it up – and Little Big Town. We had them out on the road with us, and we’re such huge fans of those guys and what they’re doing right now. It’s so good when you see good people doing well.” They’ll get to celebrate country music alongside people they admire this Saturday night during the CMT Artist of the Year special.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are in Haiti, helping out on a Habitat for Humanity build. It’s the second time they’ve been to the island nation to help rebuild after the earthquake in 2010. Their goal on this trip is to help build over 100 new homes as part of the 29th Annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project.
It was Kimberly Schlapman’s brother-in-law who died Thanksgiving week, causing the band to cancel or reschedule several tour dates. Andy Schlapman was struck by a drunk driver in Nashville, where he, his wife and their daughter were visiting. In a post on Little Big Town’s website, Kimberly wrote, “This is a part of life that one never imagines or plans for. It has been very difficult to accept.”
Have you listened to the new Florida Georgia Line cd yet? The debut album includes the #1 song, “Cruise,” and according to band member Brian Kelley, not all of it is original material: “We actually cut four or five outside songs that we didn’t write. If you didn’t look at the liner notes, I think our fans and people would think we wrote them just because they’re right up our alley. They are songs we believe in, and felt a connection with, and songs that we felt like we were doing something wrong if we didn’t cut them.”
Kip Moore’s video for the song “Beer Money” includes a true-to-life scene – him being fired from a job. Kip wanted that scene, because: “That wasn’t in the original piece, ‘cause I thought about how I wanted the whole video to flow and the story, and at the end of it, I said, ‘Let’s go back and let’s do this opening scene like this,’ because that’s how so many of my jobs were. I was always trying to write songs while I was at work or doing other songs, and I always had bosses getting on to me, especially the whole time I was here in Nashville.” Check out the video now…
Monday, December 3, 2012
People who have too much time on their hands and are too easily offended are on Trace Adkins’ case. When he performed at the Christmas At Rockefeller Center tv special on NBC, his “stars and bars” earpiece was visible. A Twitter storm erupted and now online media is fanning the flames. Trace himself hasn’t commented, but in his autobiography, A Personal Stand, he does state that he’s a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Alan Jackson fans, heads up – there’s a limited-edition photo book called Seasons of Sweetbriar – A Photographic Collection of Home available, and it’s all shots of the home Alan and his wife Denise lived for nearly 14 years. Alan collected photographs to make a journal for his kids and is now sharing them with us, to benefit the Colon Cancer Alliance’s Blue Note Fund. Denise has battled colorectal cancer, and you can only get the book on Alan’s website.
Fans of Lee Brice’s song “I Drive Your Truck” will want to check out CMT today, because Lee plays VJ for a Day and share the video for the song. Lee is so pumped about this song: “We are looking forward to that day. We love that song. It really changed my life when I heard it. I couldn’t believe I got my hands on it. I didn’t write the song, I just—still floored by it to this day, so we’re really, really pumped about that one.” He’s also pumped about the video, which stars his real-life brother, Lewis.
Love and Theft are racing up the charts with their new song, “Running Out of Air,” and Stephen Barker Liles says it’s a challenging but fun song to sing: “I get to sing in a lower, Barry White-like octave to Eric, so that’s kind of fun, get to use my deep voice. I’ve been waitin’ to do that — I just didn’t think I’d ever get a chance. [Eric] It’s good. He’s really like Barry White in so many ways. [Stephen] And you know, you know what he’s talking about. It’s weird that Eric actually knows that…but we’ve been spendin’ a lot of time on the road.” All kidding aside, the title could also describe trying to sing the song, as the pacing is pretty tough in some places. Sing along and see how you do…
Wednesday night, country music stars will be part of the Grammy Nominations Live tv special. Dierks Bentley and The Band Perry will pay tribute to the late Johnny Cash, Luke Bryan is performing, Taylor Swift and LL Cool J will host the special, and Hunter Hayes will perform – if his nerves allow it! “It is very nerve-wracking. You want them to like you, you know? I want them to like, I don’t want them to hate me. I want them to know that I love it, and that I—I’m grateful to be in the building with them basically. Yeah—it’s a balance of trying to be comfortable and trying to keep the nerves cause that’s what keeps it real.”
Reba’s show, Malibu Country, has been picked up for additional episodes by ABC, and Reba’s delighted. Not just because she likes to be the star of a television show, but because she’s also trying to make a difference in peoples’ lives: “There are so many single moms in this country, that I hope the writers and I can give them options. Kind of like Andy Griffith did us – you know raising our kids. Hopefully we can give them some options and way of doing things, standing our ground and raising our kids – and we’ll do this together.” Catch Reba’s show Friday nights on ABC.
Congrats to Scotty McCreery, who has a gold record for “Christmas With Scotty McCreery.” He says, “We’re really excited about it. Anytime you put a Christmas record out, you just hope people will get it and spread a little holiday cheer with them. So I’m excited that people are digging it and spending the holidays with us.”
Alan Jackson fans, heads up – there’s a limited-edition photo book called Seasons of Sweetbriar – A Photographic Collection of Home available, and it’s all shots of the home Alan and his wife Denise lived for nearly 14 years. Alan collected photographs to make a journal for his kids and is now sharing them with us, to benefit the Colon Cancer Alliance’s Blue Note Fund. Denise has battled colorectal cancer, and you can only get the book on Alan’s website.
Fans of Lee Brice’s song “I Drive Your Truck” will want to check out CMT today, because Lee plays VJ for a Day and share the video for the song. Lee is so pumped about this song: “We are looking forward to that day. We love that song. It really changed my life when I heard it. I couldn’t believe I got my hands on it. I didn’t write the song, I just—still floored by it to this day, so we’re really, really pumped about that one.” He’s also pumped about the video, which stars his real-life brother, Lewis.
Love and Theft are racing up the charts with their new song, “Running Out of Air,” and Stephen Barker Liles says it’s a challenging but fun song to sing: “I get to sing in a lower, Barry White-like octave to Eric, so that’s kind of fun, get to use my deep voice. I’ve been waitin’ to do that — I just didn’t think I’d ever get a chance. [Eric] It’s good. He’s really like Barry White in so many ways. [Stephen] And you know, you know what he’s talking about. It’s weird that Eric actually knows that…but we’ve been spendin’ a lot of time on the road.” All kidding aside, the title could also describe trying to sing the song, as the pacing is pretty tough in some places. Sing along and see how you do…
Wednesday night, country music stars will be part of the Grammy Nominations Live tv special. Dierks Bentley and The Band Perry will pay tribute to the late Johnny Cash, Luke Bryan is performing, Taylor Swift and LL Cool J will host the special, and Hunter Hayes will perform – if his nerves allow it! “It is very nerve-wracking. You want them to like you, you know? I want them to like, I don’t want them to hate me. I want them to know that I love it, and that I—I’m grateful to be in the building with them basically. Yeah—it’s a balance of trying to be comfortable and trying to keep the nerves cause that’s what keeps it real.”
Reba’s show, Malibu Country, has been picked up for additional episodes by ABC, and Reba’s delighted. Not just because she likes to be the star of a television show, but because she’s also trying to make a difference in peoples’ lives: “There are so many single moms in this country, that I hope the writers and I can give them options. Kind of like Andy Griffith did us – you know raising our kids. Hopefully we can give them some options and way of doing things, standing our ground and raising our kids – and we’ll do this together.” Catch Reba’s show Friday nights on ABC.
Congrats to Scotty McCreery, who has a gold record for “Christmas With Scotty McCreery.” He says, “We’re really excited about it. Anytime you put a Christmas record out, you just hope people will get it and spread a little holiday cheer with them. So I’m excited that people are digging it and spending the holidays with us.”
Friday, November 30, 2012
Forbes Magazine is out with their list of “The World’s 25 Highest-Paid Musicians 2012” and country music artists fare pretty well. Taylor Swift is tied with Sir Paul McCartney for the #8 spot on the list, each raking in $57 million for the year. Toby Keith is at #10, tied with Justin Bieber with $55 million in earnings. Kenny Chesney landed at #17, with a $44 million paycheck for 2012.
Zac Brown Band has had an incredible run since hitting the charts in 2008 with “Chicken Fried,” and Zac himself credits their character and work ethic for their success: “We’ve matured. We’re better musicians and better writers, we’re better as a band and as a unit and it reflects in the music. We spend hours and hours writing the songs and hours and hours arranging them and recording them and everything. We work harder than a lot of other bands, I think. And I think that’s what sets us apart.” Their new song, “Goodbye In Her Eyes,” is evocative and sad, but the video shows us the magic in they lyrics…
Carrie Underwood’s new song, “Two Black Cadillacs,” started out with just a song title from co-writer Josh Kear. “He came in with the title ‘Two Black Cadillacs’. Didn’t’ know what it was about. Wasn’t really sure of the storyline, and had the loop that was just, you know, ‘Two black cadillacs’, and that was it! So we were like, ‘Well, what could this be about? Why would you be in a cadillac? AH! Funeral! Ahh, okay!’” The story they told in the song is dark, and apparently the video will be even darker when it comes out in January. Here’s a sneak-peek…
Think putting up the Christmas tree is an ordeal at your house? Well, country artists are no different – Keifer and Shawna of Thompson Square put their sup this week, and apparently managed to stay married in spite of it: “3AM she about drove me crazy with this thing! We had to drive an hour to even get the tree. We probably spent a cumulative of 10 hours shopping for bulbs and Christmas ornaments and stuff. [Shawna] It was a little much, but we got it done. [Keifer] It was too much, but yeah we got it done. [Shawna] Actually, it’s not completely done. [Keifer] Now she wants to add some more stuff.”
Florida Georgia Line is enjoying their first taste of success, and met Cyndi Lauper at the American Music Awards. Brian Kelley says that she’s a role model to the duo, and she gave them some amazing advice: “She told us one thing – don’t conform, continue to be yourself and always to challenge yourself to continue to get better and continue to try to get the best music out there as you can. She is so inspiring, she was having a great time and what an amazing artist. If anybody acts herself it’s her. She stood out and didn’t care – it was cool.” Their debut album comes out on Tuesday.
Tomorrow, Shania Twain debuts in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, and will continue doing shows there for the next two years. About the theatre, Shania says, “There is no other venue where the possibilities are endless as they are at Caesars Palace. That is for sure - I’ve seen a ton of shows in Vegas myself over the years, and I’m a great fan of going to live shows whenever I’m in Vegas. People go there for a trip – and I hope I become part of their trip.”
Sounds like Randy Travis is trying to get his life back in order after a few drunken arrests. He says he’s “eliminated alcohol from his daily life,” eats a high protein diet and takes lots of vitamins. According to gossip website TMZ, he was in a recording studio in Texas last week, working on new music.
Zac Brown Band has had an incredible run since hitting the charts in 2008 with “Chicken Fried,” and Zac himself credits their character and work ethic for their success: “We’ve matured. We’re better musicians and better writers, we’re better as a band and as a unit and it reflects in the music. We spend hours and hours writing the songs and hours and hours arranging them and recording them and everything. We work harder than a lot of other bands, I think. And I think that’s what sets us apart.” Their new song, “Goodbye In Her Eyes,” is evocative and sad, but the video shows us the magic in they lyrics…
Carrie Underwood’s new song, “Two Black Cadillacs,” started out with just a song title from co-writer Josh Kear. “He came in with the title ‘Two Black Cadillacs’. Didn’t’ know what it was about. Wasn’t really sure of the storyline, and had the loop that was just, you know, ‘Two black cadillacs’, and that was it! So we were like, ‘Well, what could this be about? Why would you be in a cadillac? AH! Funeral! Ahh, okay!’” The story they told in the song is dark, and apparently the video will be even darker when it comes out in January. Here’s a sneak-peek…
Think putting up the Christmas tree is an ordeal at your house? Well, country artists are no different – Keifer and Shawna of Thompson Square put their sup this week, and apparently managed to stay married in spite of it: “3AM she about drove me crazy with this thing! We had to drive an hour to even get the tree. We probably spent a cumulative of 10 hours shopping for bulbs and Christmas ornaments and stuff. [Shawna] It was a little much, but we got it done. [Keifer] It was too much, but yeah we got it done. [Shawna] Actually, it’s not completely done. [Keifer] Now she wants to add some more stuff.”
Florida Georgia Line is enjoying their first taste of success, and met Cyndi Lauper at the American Music Awards. Brian Kelley says that she’s a role model to the duo, and she gave them some amazing advice: “She told us one thing – don’t conform, continue to be yourself and always to challenge yourself to continue to get better and continue to try to get the best music out there as you can. She is so inspiring, she was having a great time and what an amazing artist. If anybody acts herself it’s her. She stood out and didn’t care – it was cool.” Their debut album comes out on Tuesday.
Tomorrow, Shania Twain debuts in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, and will continue doing shows there for the next two years. About the theatre, Shania says, “There is no other venue where the possibilities are endless as they are at Caesars Palace. That is for sure - I’ve seen a ton of shows in Vegas myself over the years, and I’m a great fan of going to live shows whenever I’m in Vegas. People go there for a trip – and I hope I become part of their trip.”
Sounds like Randy Travis is trying to get his life back in order after a few drunken arrests. He says he’s “eliminated alcohol from his daily life,” eats a high protein diet and takes lots of vitamins. According to gossip website TMZ, he was in a recording studio in Texas last week, working on new music.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
How do you have a debut and a #1 in the same week? Jake Owen cracked the code on that last week – his daughter, Olive Pearl, made her debut into the world, and his song “The One That Got Away” topped the country charts. It’s his third #1 song, and Jake’s elated: “It’s been almost eight and a half years. It’s been really cool, everything that’s happened and I’m just very fortunate.” Jake’s on the road right now with Florida Georgia Line, whose single “Cruise” is nipping at Jake’s heels – it’s #2 on the country charts this week. According to Brian Kelley, his FGL bandmate, Tyler Hubbard, predicted the song’s success: “First day in the studio when we were recording ‘Cruise’ and it was starting to come to life, BK looked at me and he said, ‘Dude, we’re gonna sell a million copies of this song.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, there’s no way. It’s not even possible.’ And that was a year ago and we were starting to work on it so it’s uh...I guess we have big dreams and big goals and we try to reach those goals.” Florida Georgia Line’s debut album, Here’s To The Good Times, is out next week.
Taylor Swift’s album, Red, is at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart for the third week in a row. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, more than any of her other singles. What’s the song all about? Taylor explains, “Constantly fighting and causing a scene and making everyone uncomfortable and clearly everyone around us knows we need to break up and we won’t and they are all rolling their eyes at us. At a certain point, you realize you just have to be really bold about it. ‘No, we are not getting back together!’”
Pistol Annies’ members Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley and Miranda Lambert are working on their sophomore album. There’s no release date, but Miranda says it’ll be worth the wait: “The new album will be just what you expect. It’s three country girls singing about three country girls’ lives and we write everything on our own. We did on the last record and our goal on this next record is to write everything just in our family, just the three of us girls again.”
Trace Adkins had a break in the taping of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, and used that break to schedule his seventh USO tour in 11 years. He’s in Japan, giving four private concerts for US troops and their families.
Taylor Swift’s album, Red, is at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart for the third week in a row. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, more than any of her other singles. What’s the song all about? Taylor explains, “Constantly fighting and causing a scene and making everyone uncomfortable and clearly everyone around us knows we need to break up and we won’t and they are all rolling their eyes at us. At a certain point, you realize you just have to be really bold about it. ‘No, we are not getting back together!’”
Pistol Annies’ members Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley and Miranda Lambert are working on their sophomore album. There’s no release date, but Miranda says it’ll be worth the wait: “The new album will be just what you expect. It’s three country girls singing about three country girls’ lives and we write everything on our own. We did on the last record and our goal on this next record is to write everything just in our family, just the three of us girls again.”
Trace Adkins had a break in the taping of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, and used that break to schedule his seventh USO tour in 11 years. He’s in Japan, giving four private concerts for US troops and their families.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Did you spend Black Friday and Small Business Saturday in the stores? Turns out, country stars are pretty much like us – some did, and some didn’t. On the “didn’t” side is Brad Paisley: “I’m pretty last minute. Most guys I think are like me. You just don’t invest enough, you don’t think ahead, and plan it.” Carrie Underwood, on the other hand, loves to shop the sales, and not just for other people: “I love shopping in general. Makeup shopping can get me in trouble for sure. If I go into a make-up store and they give you one of those little baskets to carry around… By the end of it I’m like what just happened. You know I pass over my credit card so easily, and my magic plastic card and then they give me stuff.” Luke Bryan and his wife Caroline are seasoned Christmas shoppers for sons Bo and Tate: “Yeah my wife and I, we talk about it and get it figured out. And kind of pick what we want to get him and have a good old Santa Claus night.” Lee Brice is adamantly on Brad Paisley’s side where Black Friday shopping is concerned: “I never get involved with that, ever.” It’s a house divided for Thompson Square’s Shawna and Keifer: “[Shawna] The deals you can get are so good on that day. [Keifer] It’s not worth the stress. We almost got…[Shawna] We got plowed. [Keifer] Plowed by this crazy lady trying to get to a Nintendo or something I don’t know she was freaking out, like running people over. There have been people like hurt and kills and stuff with these stupid things.”
Garth Brooks has wrapped up his run in Las Vegas, but there are rumblings of a tour in the works. His youngest daughter is due to graduate high school in the spring of 2014 and apparently Garth is considering a major tour later that year. That means he’s probably already working on music for an album, and we know there’ll be a tv special directed by Martin Scorsese, live from the Encore Theatre in Vegas. No word on the date for the special, but expect it to happen before the tour in 2014.
Tracy Lawrence fed a lot of hungry people over Thanksgiving – his “Mission: Possible Turkey Fry” fed thousands with the 500 turkeys he and his friends fried up in the Nashville Rescue Mission’s parking lot last Tuesday. Since his event started in 2006, he’s supplied about 6,500 fried turkeys to feed more than 40,000 families at Thanksgiving.
Wednesday night, Trace Adkins will help with the annual lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. He’ll sing a new, Celtic- influenced version of “We Three Kings.”
Taylor Swift’s “Red” has dominated the top of the country charts for 4 weeks in a row, but lost it’s grip on the Billboard 200 all-genre chart last week to One Direction. She’s on the Katie Couric Show today.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Taylor Swift is working to top her Speak Now Tour with the Red tour, which kicks off next March. Tickets for some of the dates went on sale last Friday and even the stadium shows sold out in mere minutes. About what she has in store for her fans, Taylor says, “The next tour I really just want it to be even more entertaining than the last one. Which is going to be hard because we had a lot of stuff going on, on the Speak Now Tour. It was a tour that I was so proud of – and I always will be. So I’m trying to figure out what to do with this tour to make it different and a spectacle – but a different kind of spectacle.”
Carrie Underwood has a new song out called “Two Black Cadillacs,” and it’s causing quite a stir. The song is dark, almost sinister, and has been compared to an iconic Reba hit: “There’s a lot [laughs]—there’s a lot to be left to the imagination, and I love that. We don’t—we don’t go into too much detail, but I’ve heard it described umm like ‘The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia’. People keep bringing that one up, and I’m like ‘Yeah, it is a story like that!’ You wanna listen more to it, you wanna find out what happens.” Her “Blown Away” tour stops in St. Louis tonight, then takes a break for Thanksgiving.
Justin Moore is working on new music, and thinks his fans will like what they hear: “I love traditional country music, always have and always will. That’s what I grew up on and I’m always gonna try to do my part to keep that music alive, for not only the generations who grew up on it when that’s all there was, but also trying to keep it out there for the coming generation so that it’ll continue to be relevant down the road.” No word on when the new album will be out, especially since his latest hit song from his gold-selling sophomore album, “Til My Last Day,” is doing so well on the country music charts.
Taylor Swift may have picked up more than just a couple of awards Sunday night. It looks like she and Harry Styles of the band One Direction could be an item. Harry was hanging out with Taylor’s mom during rehearsals and he and Taylor were spotted holding hands on the set of The X Factor when Taylor performed there last week.
Yes, Hunter Hayes traveled with Taylor Swift, opening her show on the Speak Now Tour, and he loved every minute of it. Yes, the two did interact, did talk about writing together, but didn’t date, and if you ask Hunter if there’s a song about him on her new album, Red, Hunter says, “Ah that’s funny. No probably not. I didn’t hear any songs about opening acts. I didn’t hear any of that. So I would probably guess no.”
Kristian Bush of Sugarland bought his bandmate Jennifer Nettles what he describes as the perfect baby gift. Dubbed “the Miracle Blanket,” it is supposed to help new babies sleep deeper and longer, allowing their parents to get more rest, too.
Carrie Underwood has a new song out called “Two Black Cadillacs,” and it’s causing quite a stir. The song is dark, almost sinister, and has been compared to an iconic Reba hit: “There’s a lot [laughs]—there’s a lot to be left to the imagination, and I love that. We don’t—we don’t go into too much detail, but I’ve heard it described umm like ‘The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia’. People keep bringing that one up, and I’m like ‘Yeah, it is a story like that!’ You wanna listen more to it, you wanna find out what happens.” Her “Blown Away” tour stops in St. Louis tonight, then takes a break for Thanksgiving.
Justin Moore is working on new music, and thinks his fans will like what they hear: “I love traditional country music, always have and always will. That’s what I grew up on and I’m always gonna try to do my part to keep that music alive, for not only the generations who grew up on it when that’s all there was, but also trying to keep it out there for the coming generation so that it’ll continue to be relevant down the road.” No word on when the new album will be out, especially since his latest hit song from his gold-selling sophomore album, “Til My Last Day,” is doing so well on the country music charts.
Taylor Swift may have picked up more than just a couple of awards Sunday night. It looks like she and Harry Styles of the band One Direction could be an item. Harry was hanging out with Taylor’s mom during rehearsals and he and Taylor were spotted holding hands on the set of The X Factor when Taylor performed there last week.
Yes, Hunter Hayes traveled with Taylor Swift, opening her show on the Speak Now Tour, and he loved every minute of it. Yes, the two did interact, did talk about writing together, but didn’t date, and if you ask Hunter if there’s a song about him on her new album, Red, Hunter says, “Ah that’s funny. No probably not. I didn’t hear any songs about opening acts. I didn’t hear any of that. So I would probably guess no.”
Kristian Bush of Sugarland bought his bandmate Jennifer Nettles what he describes as the perfect baby gift. Dubbed “the Miracle Blanket,” it is supposed to help new babies sleep deeper and longer, allowing their parents to get more rest, too.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Did you catch Taylor Swift’s performance on the American Music Awards last night? She loves doing that show, because “The AMAs have great production so you can do all kinds of different things.” Tomorrow, Seventeen magazine’s love column will be taken over by Taylor, who dishes out advice on how to steer clear of guys who are bad news, plus how to get a crush’s attention. Wonder if she’ll tell teens to write a song about their dream guy?
Carrie Underwood performed her new single, “Two Black Cadillacs,” on the AMAs last night, and knocked it out of the park. It’s her third single from “Blown Away,” and Carrie hopes it’ll follow “Good Girl” and the title track to #1 on the charts, too.
In case you saw it over the weekend, that cover story that tabloid magazine Life & Style ran isn’t true – Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are not having a baby. In true Blake style, he tweeted to his fans, “Look, I know I've gained some weight but the test was negative!!!" Miranda piled on, tweeting, “‘we are having a baby' Yay! @BlakeShelton we're getting a new puppy?"
Eric Church loves the fact that country music seems to be getting more mainstream: “When I first started touring, it was not cool to wear a country music artist’s shirt on a college campus. There was still that stigma that country was outside of cool. Frankly, I think country music has always been the coolest format.” We agree, Eric, we agree!
Hey, if you’re going to show up, show up big. Last week, Shania Twain made her official entrance into Las Vegas in advance of her Caesars Palace debut on December first. But she didn’t arrive in a limo – no, Shania rode up on horseback, accompanied by 40 other riders. Her song, “Still The One,” blared from loudspeakers up and down the Las Vegas strip and fans lined up to catch a glimpse of the arriving star. Shania will be performing in Vegas at the Colosseum for two years.
There’s a Hungerthon auction going on, and you have a chance to pick up some one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts – autographed guitars from Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson, Kix Brooks, and a football signed by Jason Aldean. There’s more in the auction, too, and it’s for a good cause. You have until December 13th to get your bids in.
Wall bling for Justin Moore, whose album, “Outlaws Like Me,” has been certified gold, and for Florida Georgia Line – their first hit, “Cruise,” is now platinum, and has a huge fan in Darius Rucker: “That song! I heard that song – I don’t buy a lot of records. I heard that song I had to buy it on iTunes the second I heard it. Man, great song!”
Happy birthday to Billy Currington, who turns 39 today.
Rascal Flatts is on Chelsea Lately, and Zac Brown Band is on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Carrie Underwood performed her new single, “Two Black Cadillacs,” on the AMAs last night, and knocked it out of the park. It’s her third single from “Blown Away,” and Carrie hopes it’ll follow “Good Girl” and the title track to #1 on the charts, too.
In case you saw it over the weekend, that cover story that tabloid magazine Life & Style ran isn’t true – Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are not having a baby. In true Blake style, he tweeted to his fans, “Look, I know I've gained some weight but the test was negative!!!" Miranda piled on, tweeting, “‘we are having a baby' Yay! @BlakeShelton we're getting a new puppy?"
Eric Church loves the fact that country music seems to be getting more mainstream: “When I first started touring, it was not cool to wear a country music artist’s shirt on a college campus. There was still that stigma that country was outside of cool. Frankly, I think country music has always been the coolest format.” We agree, Eric, we agree!
Hey, if you’re going to show up, show up big. Last week, Shania Twain made her official entrance into Las Vegas in advance of her Caesars Palace debut on December first. But she didn’t arrive in a limo – no, Shania rode up on horseback, accompanied by 40 other riders. Her song, “Still The One,” blared from loudspeakers up and down the Las Vegas strip and fans lined up to catch a glimpse of the arriving star. Shania will be performing in Vegas at the Colosseum for two years.
There’s a Hungerthon auction going on, and you have a chance to pick up some one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts – autographed guitars from Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson, Kix Brooks, and a football signed by Jason Aldean. There’s more in the auction, too, and it’s for a good cause. You have until December 13th to get your bids in.
Wall bling for Justin Moore, whose album, “Outlaws Like Me,” has been certified gold, and for Florida Georgia Line – their first hit, “Cruise,” is now platinum, and has a huge fan in Darius Rucker: “That song! I heard that song – I don’t buy a lot of records. I heard that song I had to buy it on iTunes the second I heard it. Man, great song!”
Happy birthday to Billy Currington, who turns 39 today.
Rascal Flatts is on Chelsea Lately, and Zac Brown Band is on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Country music is filled with some beautiful people, and even though People Magazine recognized Channing Tatum as tops in their People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012 list, Blake Shelton made the list, too. He’ll be featured in the issue that comes out today. Earlier this year, wife Miranda Lambert made People’s 2012 World’s Most Beautiful Women list. Another country artist is now in the running for Sexiest Man Alive for 2013, since Chris Young is featured as the Sexiest Man of the Week in the current issue of People Magazine. He says he doesn’t see himself as sexy, but admits the ladies go wild when he performs: “Someone threw neon underwear on stage last week, which I just laughed. I’ve gotten bras before. You know, shoot a thong on stage is one thing. If they start going through the process of like, ‘not only underwear, I’m gonna make sure it ties in with the album.’ That’s a lot of thought. That’s a lot of premeditation to throwing underwear on stage.” He’s currently touring behind his album, entitled “Neon.”
Fan reaction to the announcement of Keith Urban’s first headlining tour since 2011 has been very gratifying for Keith, and he’s stoked to hit the road and do what he does best – play live for a crowd, sharing the energy and the love. According to Keith, “I really love, love what I do. It’s really important; it’s just that lessons in gratitude that’s a daily thing. And I think if you really love it, it’s something people pick up on.”
Taylor Swift was on X Factor’s live results show last night, performing “State of Grace” off of her new album, Red. If you looked carefully, you saw a new addition to her band: “We actually have four extra backup singers now, who are amazing! They’re these girls who I love so much, and they’re so good at singing and they move all pretty – they’re adorable. They’ve performed with us on the VMA’s and the TV performances we’ve done.” Taylor was also part of MTV’s Restore the Shore campaign special last night. Growing up in Pennsylvania meant that her family often went to the Jersey shore for summer vacation. She, along with many other country stars, are pitching in to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Jason Aldean was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, and, remembering the days of dive bars and half-empty halls, he’s grateful for where his career has gone: “To be able to stand there with the guys that have seen it go from that, to what it is now – I think really those guys are probably the only ones that really understand – that really get it. Family a lot of times doesn’t see the everyday stuff, they just kind of all of sudden notice you’re getting bigger.”
Lee Brice is in love with his next single, “I Drive Your Truck,” a song about a man who loses his brother, presumably in the Middle East. “It really changed my life when I heard it. I couldn’t believe I got my hands on it – I didn’t write this song. I’m still floored by it to this stay – so we’re really pumped about that one. It is really amazing - the songwriter was straight up touched by God that day.”
Kristian Bush of Sugarland bought his bandmate Jennifer Nettles what he describes as the perfect baby gift. Dubbed “the Miracle Blanket,” it is supposed to help new babies sleep deeper and longer, allowing their parents to get more rest, too. Jennifer is expecting her first child sometime this month.
Martina McBride and her family will be spending Thanksgiving in New York City. She’ll be performing during The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS Thanksgiving day.
Fan reaction to the announcement of Keith Urban’s first headlining tour since 2011 has been very gratifying for Keith, and he’s stoked to hit the road and do what he does best – play live for a crowd, sharing the energy and the love. According to Keith, “I really love, love what I do. It’s really important; it’s just that lessons in gratitude that’s a daily thing. And I think if you really love it, it’s something people pick up on.”
Taylor Swift was on X Factor’s live results show last night, performing “State of Grace” off of her new album, Red. If you looked carefully, you saw a new addition to her band: “We actually have four extra backup singers now, who are amazing! They’re these girls who I love so much, and they’re so good at singing and they move all pretty – they’re adorable. They’ve performed with us on the VMA’s and the TV performances we’ve done.” Taylor was also part of MTV’s Restore the Shore campaign special last night. Growing up in Pennsylvania meant that her family often went to the Jersey shore for summer vacation. She, along with many other country stars, are pitching in to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Jason Aldean was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, and, remembering the days of dive bars and half-empty halls, he’s grateful for where his career has gone: “To be able to stand there with the guys that have seen it go from that, to what it is now – I think really those guys are probably the only ones that really understand – that really get it. Family a lot of times doesn’t see the everyday stuff, they just kind of all of sudden notice you’re getting bigger.”
Lee Brice is in love with his next single, “I Drive Your Truck,” a song about a man who loses his brother, presumably in the Middle East. “It really changed my life when I heard it. I couldn’t believe I got my hands on it – I didn’t write this song. I’m still floored by it to this stay – so we’re really pumped about that one. It is really amazing - the songwriter was straight up touched by God that day.”
Kristian Bush of Sugarland bought his bandmate Jennifer Nettles what he describes as the perfect baby gift. Dubbed “the Miracle Blanket,” it is supposed to help new babies sleep deeper and longer, allowing their parents to get more rest, too. Jennifer is expecting her first child sometime this month.
Martina McBride and her family will be spending Thanksgiving in New York City. She’ll be performing during The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS Thanksgiving day.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Jake Owen is dreaming of being a father, which will happen some time this month, but he’s a bit worried about how his bulldog, Merle, will handle the new addition: “Yeah, I’m a little…I’m worried that, you know, Merle’s (sighs)…Merle’s gonna get his feelings hurt a little bit. He already looks sad enough ’cause he’s a bulldog, but he also really likes kids. He’s fascinated with kids, and he loves playin’ with ‘em, and so it could be cool. I can’t wait. I really can’t wait ’til she’s big enough where she can sit on the couch, and he can sleep right next to her, and the two of them, the same size, can lay there together, and I can take photos.”
Keith Urban announced his tour plans for next year, and he’s also in the studio, working on an album he’ll release before hitting the road. He’s taking along Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch as tourmates, kicking things off July 18th in Cincinnati, Ohio, and wrapping up October 5th in West Palm Beach Florida. The complete list of tour dates is on his website, and check out how psyched they all are about this tour…
If you’re a Rascal Flatts fan, you might want to call in sick next Tuesday – “Rascal Flatts: All Access & Uncovered” comes out Monday, and they’ll be haunting the airwaves all night Monday night. Joe Don says their fans learn a lot more about each of them: “It’s really a little deeper glimpse into the heart, souls and minds of Rascal Flatts. And the three of us individually – how we grew up, where we grew up, before we came to Nashville and met each other. Also parts of how we met each other and how we became Rascal Flatts, and all the emotions that’s built up to where we’re at in life.” The trio will be on The Voice and Chelsea Lately on Monday night.
Luke Bryan is at the top of the charts again this week with “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” It’s his second week at #1, and instead of basking in the glow, Luke is planning the album that will follow up the platinum “Tailgates & Tanlines.” According to Luke, “I’m super excited about what I’ve got written and what songs I’ve found—even more than Tailgates and Tanlines—I’m more excited. There’s one or two little things I kinda want on the record that I don’t have yet—but it’s certainly great being on this side and getting great songs from the Nashville community.”
What do writers do? They write, and husband/wife duo Thompson Square is no exception. But they’re not limiting themselves to songs this time – they’re writing a book called “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not?,” due out in June of next year. It’s a novel, and they’ll co-write with Travis Thrasher.
The ABC show, “Nashville,” is such a hit that it’s been picked up for the entire season. Hayden Panettiere, who plays Juliette Barnes, knows why people are drawn to the show: “Both characters, and as are all the characters in the show, going through their own hard times, their own troubles, turmoil and everyone has their own issues to overcome and I think that’s something that people bond over, is hurt or pain or … just things like that in motion that people really find common ground with.” The music is great, too, and a soundtrack will be out on December 11th.
Taylor Swift is on The X Factor on FOX tonight, and Jason Aldean is on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Keith Urban announced his tour plans for next year, and he’s also in the studio, working on an album he’ll release before hitting the road. He’s taking along Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch as tourmates, kicking things off July 18th in Cincinnati, Ohio, and wrapping up October 5th in West Palm Beach Florida. The complete list of tour dates is on his website, and check out how psyched they all are about this tour…
If you’re a Rascal Flatts fan, you might want to call in sick next Tuesday – “Rascal Flatts: All Access & Uncovered” comes out Monday, and they’ll be haunting the airwaves all night Monday night. Joe Don says their fans learn a lot more about each of them: “It’s really a little deeper glimpse into the heart, souls and minds of Rascal Flatts. And the three of us individually – how we grew up, where we grew up, before we came to Nashville and met each other. Also parts of how we met each other and how we became Rascal Flatts, and all the emotions that’s built up to where we’re at in life.” The trio will be on The Voice and Chelsea Lately on Monday night.
Luke Bryan is at the top of the charts again this week with “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” It’s his second week at #1, and instead of basking in the glow, Luke is planning the album that will follow up the platinum “Tailgates & Tanlines.” According to Luke, “I’m super excited about what I’ve got written and what songs I’ve found—even more than Tailgates and Tanlines—I’m more excited. There’s one or two little things I kinda want on the record that I don’t have yet—but it’s certainly great being on this side and getting great songs from the Nashville community.”
What do writers do? They write, and husband/wife duo Thompson Square is no exception. But they’re not limiting themselves to songs this time – they’re writing a book called “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not?,” due out in June of next year. It’s a novel, and they’ll co-write with Travis Thrasher.
The ABC show, “Nashville,” is such a hit that it’s been picked up for the entire season. Hayden Panettiere, who plays Juliette Barnes, knows why people are drawn to the show: “Both characters, and as are all the characters in the show, going through their own hard times, their own troubles, turmoil and everyone has their own issues to overcome and I think that’s something that people bond over, is hurt or pain or … just things like that in motion that people really find common ground with.” The music is great, too, and a soundtrack will be out on December 11th.
Taylor Swift is on The X Factor on FOX tonight, and Jason Aldean is on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Brad Paisley and The Band Perry are making waves across the Atlantic, selling out shows in Norway, Sweden, and they wowed ‘em in Ireland last night. While Trace Adkins and John Rich are filming “The Celebrity Apprentice” for it’s 2013 season, Kimberly Perry says there’s someone else who should be on the show: “I would have to say Brad Paisley because I feel like even though he’s like a super-creative guy, he’s always thinking...that guy. So, I’d have to go ‘BP’ on that one!” The new season of the show airs early next year, but Donald Trump won’t have a chance to fire Brad Paisley – he won’t be on it.
Keith Urban is a hit with Nicki Minaj on American Idol. The rapper and fellow AI judge described Keith as “the perfect man,” saying he “is very respectful of his wife” and that “he’s very sweet.” Really – did we expect anything less from Keith? The new season starts January 16th.
Taylor Swift and celebrity photographer Nigel Barker have teamed up for a limited edition book, “8 Hours/Taylor Swift.” It’ll be sold only in Sony stores, and ten autographed copies will be auctioned off on eBay. About photo shoots, Taylor says, “I love getting glammed up for photo shoots, because I love just the relaxed feeling of, ‘You guys are good at what you do – do whatever you want.’ The hair and make-up people, they always do a different look on me than I’m used to, and I always just go with it. At this point you do so many magazine shoots that you’re just like, ‘I can’t wait to see what you guys turn me in to!”
Carrie Underwood’s tour stopped in hurricane-ravaged Atlantic City, and she donated all the ticket money coming to her to hurricane relief. While singing “Do You Think of Me” she witnessed a marriage proposal in the audience, and in the middle of the song, urged the woman to “say yes, say yes!!” Apparently it worked!
Eric Gunderson and his wife of nearly 3 years, Emily, are expecting their first child. The baby is due in May of next year, so Love and Theft will hit the road hard between now and then, so Eric can have a little time off when the baby is born. They’re on the CMT On Tour circuit with Jake Owen right now.
Apparently, Jason Aldean thinks having hit records is pretty easy: “To me, making records is going and finding the best group of songs you can find, and making them sound like you, and putting them out there.” Jason made his debut on The Voice last night, singing “The Only Way I Know” with a little help from Blake Shelton. Tomorrow he’ll be on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing and also announcing the nominees in a few categories of the People’s Choice Awards. Friday, catch him on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Keith Urban is a hit with Nicki Minaj on American Idol. The rapper and fellow AI judge described Keith as “the perfect man,” saying he “is very respectful of his wife” and that “he’s very sweet.” Really – did we expect anything less from Keith? The new season starts January 16th.
Taylor Swift and celebrity photographer Nigel Barker have teamed up for a limited edition book, “8 Hours/Taylor Swift.” It’ll be sold only in Sony stores, and ten autographed copies will be auctioned off on eBay. About photo shoots, Taylor says, “I love getting glammed up for photo shoots, because I love just the relaxed feeling of, ‘You guys are good at what you do – do whatever you want.’ The hair and make-up people, they always do a different look on me than I’m used to, and I always just go with it. At this point you do so many magazine shoots that you’re just like, ‘I can’t wait to see what you guys turn me in to!”
Carrie Underwood’s tour stopped in hurricane-ravaged Atlantic City, and she donated all the ticket money coming to her to hurricane relief. While singing “Do You Think of Me” she witnessed a marriage proposal in the audience, and in the middle of the song, urged the woman to “say yes, say yes!!” Apparently it worked!
Eric Gunderson and his wife of nearly 3 years, Emily, are expecting their first child. The baby is due in May of next year, so Love and Theft will hit the road hard between now and then, so Eric can have a little time off when the baby is born. They’re on the CMT On Tour circuit with Jake Owen right now.
Apparently, Jason Aldean thinks having hit records is pretty easy: “To me, making records is going and finding the best group of songs you can find, and making them sound like you, and putting them out there.” Jason made his debut on The Voice last night, singing “The Only Way I Know” with a little help from Blake Shelton. Tomorrow he’ll be on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing and also announcing the nominees in a few categories of the People’s Choice Awards. Friday, catch him on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Reba is so proud of her friend Blake Shelton, and was very emotional when she handed him the Entertainer of the Year award at the CMAs. “I was...I was bawling. I was so proud to give that to him, to be the one to present it to him. He’s like a brother to me and we’ve had such a great time. I just got to do his Christmas special...his TV Christmas special taping...that’s a hoot!” Blake Shelton’s Not So Family Christmas special airs December 7th on NBC.
Veterans Day was Sunday, but country artists remember the military all year long. Dierks Bentley raises money for the Wounded Warrior project: “These guys have all put 10,000 hours into being soldiers – and then they come back here. That’s a hard thing to do, especially when a lot of our soldiers are older and already have kids and families. They’re not coming back 21 or 22 – they’re like 36 or 37. The guys that come back that are wounded – it’s even a more difficult road to go down. We just hope to spread a little money and spread even more awareness to it, and get people involved.” Lee Brice has his priorities straight: “They’re so thankful for a shout out, they are so thankful for a song, for going and playing events for them – whether it’s for the USO or Wounded Warriors. They are so appreciative of it, but we are the ones that need to be thankful for them. Everytime I get a thank you from them, I’m just doubling it back to them – ya know?” And Martina McBride knows it’s not just the soldier, but that soldier’s family, too, that serves: “Knowing that so many people do have family, children and loved ones that are overseas fighting for us, is always something that I think, ‘What a hard thing? But they must be so proud as well.’ So I have a very special place in my heart for the military and what those men and women are doing for us.”
Kellie Pickler is about to add another star tattoo to her collection of 5 – she’ll be making a 6th USO tour overseas. What does she like to do while she’s in the Middle East? “I love hearing about their story and how they joined and why they joined and what are their thoughts on everything that’s going on over here. What are your thoughts about the election? Like, what are you...like...ask the military what do they want?”
Trace Adkins is also packing for a USO tour to take some holiday cheer to troops in the Pacific. He’ll travel there November 25th to December 2nd.
Lady Antebellum won the Breakthrough Award at the 2012 Billboard Touring Awards last week. Dave Haywood says their favorite part of the Own the Night tour was fan response: “I think you know getting out and touring this year has kinda shed a new light for us as songwriters, on where we want to go. I mean, we started last November on Own The Night and we were blown away by the response all throughout this year and this summer, and you really kinda realize what songs translate to a large audience. And that’s kinda helped shape our writing.”
Taylor Swift is looking for shelf space for her three new awards – MTV European Music Awards for Best Live, Best Look and Best Female. She truly is taking over the world, isn’t she?
Scotty McCreery is the star of Bojangles’ new TV commercials. Haven’t seen them? Here they are…
Miranda Lambert’s song, “Over You,” has been certified platinum for sales of over a million units. She and co-writer/hubby Blake Shelton won a CMA Award for that song.
DVR alert – Trace Adkins will be part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. CMA Country Christmas will air December 20th, 22nd and 23rd on ABC. Stars include Jennifer Nettles, The Band Perry, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Lady A and many more.
Veterans Day was Sunday, but country artists remember the military all year long. Dierks Bentley raises money for the Wounded Warrior project: “These guys have all put 10,000 hours into being soldiers – and then they come back here. That’s a hard thing to do, especially when a lot of our soldiers are older and already have kids and families. They’re not coming back 21 or 22 – they’re like 36 or 37. The guys that come back that are wounded – it’s even a more difficult road to go down. We just hope to spread a little money and spread even more awareness to it, and get people involved.” Lee Brice has his priorities straight: “They’re so thankful for a shout out, they are so thankful for a song, for going and playing events for them – whether it’s for the USO or Wounded Warriors. They are so appreciative of it, but we are the ones that need to be thankful for them. Everytime I get a thank you from them, I’m just doubling it back to them – ya know?” And Martina McBride knows it’s not just the soldier, but that soldier’s family, too, that serves: “Knowing that so many people do have family, children and loved ones that are overseas fighting for us, is always something that I think, ‘What a hard thing? But they must be so proud as well.’ So I have a very special place in my heart for the military and what those men and women are doing for us.”
Kellie Pickler is about to add another star tattoo to her collection of 5 – she’ll be making a 6th USO tour overseas. What does she like to do while she’s in the Middle East? “I love hearing about their story and how they joined and why they joined and what are their thoughts on everything that’s going on over here. What are your thoughts about the election? Like, what are you...like...ask the military what do they want?”
Trace Adkins is also packing for a USO tour to take some holiday cheer to troops in the Pacific. He’ll travel there November 25th to December 2nd.
Lady Antebellum won the Breakthrough Award at the 2012 Billboard Touring Awards last week. Dave Haywood says their favorite part of the Own the Night tour was fan response: “I think you know getting out and touring this year has kinda shed a new light for us as songwriters, on where we want to go. I mean, we started last November on Own The Night and we were blown away by the response all throughout this year and this summer, and you really kinda realize what songs translate to a large audience. And that’s kinda helped shape our writing.”
Taylor Swift is looking for shelf space for her three new awards – MTV European Music Awards for Best Live, Best Look and Best Female. She truly is taking over the world, isn’t she?
Scotty McCreery is the star of Bojangles’ new TV commercials. Haven’t seen them? Here they are…
Miranda Lambert’s song, “Over You,” has been certified platinum for sales of over a million units. She and co-writer/hubby Blake Shelton won a CMA Award for that song.
DVR alert – Trace Adkins will be part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. CMA Country Christmas will air December 20th, 22nd and 23rd on ABC. Stars include Jennifer Nettles, The Band Perry, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Lady A and many more.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Brad Paisley is gallivanting around in Europe this week, playing shows in Sweden, Norway and Ireland. But as he says in the song “Southern Comfort Zone,” there’s no place like home: “There’s this circle of wood at the Opry, and it’s back here in Tennessee where everything is as I remember it. And everything is…it’s just…it’s the Shire in Lord of the Rings, it’s the place that’s this beautiful, ideal place to live, which I appreciate more now after having seen the world.”
When Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney toured together this past summer, what was their favorite part of the shows? Kenny starts the reminiscence: “It’s just special, you know, it was special for me, it was special for Tim. I think it was special for the fans to get to see us. To get to sing this song together every night and you know that’s something that doesn’t happen every day in this business and we were very excited to do it and this is just icing on the cake, really. [Tim] For me, it was seeing Kenny naked on those videos during the show.” Hey, Tim – that was “shirtless,” not naked!!
Taylor Swift has the #1 album in the country again this week with “Red.” It sits atop the Billboard Country chart and the Billboard 200 chart. As is her custom, Taylor either wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, and one of her collaborators is long-time writing buddy, Liz Rose. Taylor says, “It was really cool to get back with her, and tell her what was going on in my life and to just kind of walk her through this experience I had. We wrote a song called ‘All Too Well’ which is basically the story of a relationship from beginning to the ending. It’s pretty sad actually.” When the two sat down, Taylor had the song written, but it was over ten minutes long.
Luke Bryan has the #1 country song in America again this week, but if you ask him about other songs, he’ll dish. Favorite make-out song for him and Caroline? “Can’t Get You Off My Mind” by Lenny Kravitz. Favorite Karaoke song? Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long.” The song he wishes he’d recorded? Blake Shelton’s “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking?” About his #1 song, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” co-written by Luke, Jeff Stevens and Shane McAnally, Luke says, “I think the chorus of that thing is some of the best writing that I’ve ever been a part of and I love the simplicity of the verses…I just love ‘Girl, rest your head.’ I love all that -- the melodies and all that through the song.” “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” is Luke’s sixth #1 song, and the third from “Tailgates & Tanlines.”
We know what the guys in Zac Brown Band will be doing this holiday season – resting! They blocked out their calendars for some serious family time, but they won’t be resting long. By March, they’ll have new music written, a new touring rig and the production mapped out for their 2013 tour.
Sunday, Jo Dee Messina is running 13.1 miles at the Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon. Not content to just run, she’s playing the post-race show at the Alamodome.
Tracy Byrd is frying up turkeys again this year. His 7th Annual Mission Possible Turkey Fry happens Tuesday, November 20th at the Nashville Rescue Mission. He and his cohorts will fry 500 birds, providing meals for the homeless and unemployed. It’s open to the public, so go pitch in if you’d like. Donations are appreciated.
When Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney toured together this past summer, what was their favorite part of the shows? Kenny starts the reminiscence: “It’s just special, you know, it was special for me, it was special for Tim. I think it was special for the fans to get to see us. To get to sing this song together every night and you know that’s something that doesn’t happen every day in this business and we were very excited to do it and this is just icing on the cake, really. [Tim] For me, it was seeing Kenny naked on those videos during the show.” Hey, Tim – that was “shirtless,” not naked!!
Taylor Swift has the #1 album in the country again this week with “Red.” It sits atop the Billboard Country chart and the Billboard 200 chart. As is her custom, Taylor either wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, and one of her collaborators is long-time writing buddy, Liz Rose. Taylor says, “It was really cool to get back with her, and tell her what was going on in my life and to just kind of walk her through this experience I had. We wrote a song called ‘All Too Well’ which is basically the story of a relationship from beginning to the ending. It’s pretty sad actually.” When the two sat down, Taylor had the song written, but it was over ten minutes long.
Luke Bryan has the #1 country song in America again this week, but if you ask him about other songs, he’ll dish. Favorite make-out song for him and Caroline? “Can’t Get You Off My Mind” by Lenny Kravitz. Favorite Karaoke song? Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long.” The song he wishes he’d recorded? Blake Shelton’s “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking?” About his #1 song, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” co-written by Luke, Jeff Stevens and Shane McAnally, Luke says, “I think the chorus of that thing is some of the best writing that I’ve ever been a part of and I love the simplicity of the verses…I just love ‘Girl, rest your head.’ I love all that -- the melodies and all that through the song.” “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” is Luke’s sixth #1 song, and the third from “Tailgates & Tanlines.”
We know what the guys in Zac Brown Band will be doing this holiday season – resting! They blocked out their calendars for some serious family time, but they won’t be resting long. By March, they’ll have new music written, a new touring rig and the production mapped out for their 2013 tour.
Sunday, Jo Dee Messina is running 13.1 miles at the Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon. Not content to just run, she’s playing the post-race show at the Alamodome.
Tracy Byrd is frying up turkeys again this year. His 7th Annual Mission Possible Turkey Fry happens Tuesday, November 20th at the Nashville Rescue Mission. He and his cohorts will fry 500 birds, providing meals for the homeless and unemployed. It’s open to the public, so go pitch in if you’d like. Donations are appreciated.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Blake Shelton understands that his work on The Voice helped him win the CMA Entertainer of the Year award, but he’s still a bit star-struck to have won: “It’s just making me go, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m starting to become one of those guys that I’ve read about, I’ve studied and I’ve understood and worshiped. What do I do with this?’ And it’s very important to me with what I do with this. That’s why a vehicle like The Voice is such a big deal.”
Little Big Town knows exactly why they won their first two CMA Awards last week – it’s the fans: “If we all knew the recipe for what makes that kind of big smash hit – then we would do it over and over again and we wouldn’t have waited 13 years! (Laughs) But I think just timing and the fans you know, you pick the right song at the right time and bam all the stars start lining up. But the fans, they gotta grab on to it, and they made it their song this summer.”
Their debut album went platinum for over a million in sales, and The Band Perry is poised to release their sophomore album early in 2013. The first single, “Better Dig Two,” hit #1 on iTunes as soon as it was released, and shows the dark side of love, but according to Kimberly Perry, it’s a love song! “It is truly that love story—and the cycle of life and love and living with the person that you care more about than anything in the world.” Including breathing, apparently!
Thompson Square is working on their next album, too, and say they’ve grown a lot since their debut album came out: “We learned a lot from radio, we learned a lot from our fans and just from all the shows we’ve been playing. We wanted to say something a little bit different on this album – it’s a little more diverse. It shows growth from the writing standpoint, performing and even production.” Expect their next album sometime in the spring.
Looks like Reba may have another hit on her hands, and it’s not a song. “Malibu Country” attracted nearly 9 million viewers last Friday night for the premier episode, and Reba says the end product was a labor of love: “Putting it all together, working hard on it, making sure every script, every concept of the TV show is meaningful—it’s a lot of work! I was in auditioning almost all the characters, but other than that it’s a lot of fun. It’s a job I love to do.” Catch Reba and Lily Tomlin tomorrow night at 8:30 on ABC.
The Civil Wars are apparently living up to their band name. The Grammy-winning duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White abruptly cancelled their tour right in the middle of the European leg, citing “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” They have a new album due out in early 2013, but according to the announcement, they are “unable to continue as a touring entity at this time.” They won the Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Barton Hollow” and were nominated in the Vocal Duo category at last week’s CMA Awards.
Taylor Swift is the featured artist on CBS.com this week – check out her performance and audience Q&A..
Tim McGraw’s new song “One of Those Nights” has a lyric video out, taped at the performance he did the night before the CMA Awards. See if you can recognize any faces…
Carrie Underwood is on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight, performing “Blown Away.”
Little Big Town knows exactly why they won their first two CMA Awards last week – it’s the fans: “If we all knew the recipe for what makes that kind of big smash hit – then we would do it over and over again and we wouldn’t have waited 13 years! (Laughs) But I think just timing and the fans you know, you pick the right song at the right time and bam all the stars start lining up. But the fans, they gotta grab on to it, and they made it their song this summer.”
Their debut album went platinum for over a million in sales, and The Band Perry is poised to release their sophomore album early in 2013. The first single, “Better Dig Two,” hit #1 on iTunes as soon as it was released, and shows the dark side of love, but according to Kimberly Perry, it’s a love song! “It is truly that love story—and the cycle of life and love and living with the person that you care more about than anything in the world.” Including breathing, apparently!
Thompson Square is working on their next album, too, and say they’ve grown a lot since their debut album came out: “We learned a lot from radio, we learned a lot from our fans and just from all the shows we’ve been playing. We wanted to say something a little bit different on this album – it’s a little more diverse. It shows growth from the writing standpoint, performing and even production.” Expect their next album sometime in the spring.
Looks like Reba may have another hit on her hands, and it’s not a song. “Malibu Country” attracted nearly 9 million viewers last Friday night for the premier episode, and Reba says the end product was a labor of love: “Putting it all together, working hard on it, making sure every script, every concept of the TV show is meaningful—it’s a lot of work! I was in auditioning almost all the characters, but other than that it’s a lot of fun. It’s a job I love to do.” Catch Reba and Lily Tomlin tomorrow night at 8:30 on ABC.
The Civil Wars are apparently living up to their band name. The Grammy-winning duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White abruptly cancelled their tour right in the middle of the European leg, citing “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” They have a new album due out in early 2013, but according to the announcement, they are “unable to continue as a touring entity at this time.” They won the Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Barton Hollow” and were nominated in the Vocal Duo category at last week’s CMA Awards.
Taylor Swift is the featured artist on CBS.com this week – check out her performance and audience Q&A..
Tim McGraw’s new song “One of Those Nights” has a lyric video out, taped at the performance he did the night before the CMA Awards. See if you can recognize any faces…
Carrie Underwood is on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight, performing “Blown Away.”
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
If you’ve been inside a Walgreens store lately, you probably noticed a Taylor Swift display, selling her new album, “Red.” How did that happen? Taylor’s dad had the idea: “He comes in and he’s like, ‘Walgreens has like 8,000 stores. That’s more than anything out there. Do you think they would sell music?’ And we’ve been working on it ever since. We’ve been working on it for ages partnering with Walgreens and we are finally opening the doors to the stores inside Walgreens where they’re gonna sell my music now and it’s amazing to me that that was just something, an idea out of thin air that my dad had.”
Jason Aldean has announced the first leg of his Night Train tour. It’ll kick off February 21st in Louisiana and visit 23 cities through May. Jason says his fans are in for a treat: “We’ve kind of made it a point to go out and make our shows, you know, as good as we can possibly make ‘em. You know, when people come out to our show, that’s what they’re gonna get.” Meanwhile, former tourmate Luke Bryan and Jason are making plans for right now: “[Jason] It’s huntin’ season. [Luke] Go deer hunt a little bit! [Jason] ...huntin’ season and just kinda gives us some time to take a couple months off and get ready for next year.”
Eric Church’s family was with him in Nashville when he accepted the CMA Album of the Year award for “Chief.” Eric’s dad and brother went back home after the show, but his mom hit the road with him for shows on the West Coast. He’s working on songs for his next album, but doesn’t really know when that one will be out, as he’s in no hurry: “I think there’s a lot of reasons to make records. The one thing I won’t do is I won’t make records for an economic reason. It won’t be because a label needs to make a quarterly number or we need to promote a tour.” If you need an Eric Church fix, a live album recorded last month in Chattanooga will be out in early 2013.
Miranda Lambert is getting into the retail spirit on Black Friday this year – she’s opening her new store, The Pink Pistol, in the small Oklahoma town where she and Blake Shelton live. The new boutique will sell, according to Miranda, “antiques, gifts, boots, jeans and pretty much everything you can imagine.” She says she wants to turn Black Friday, the huge shopping day after Thanksgiving, into Pink Friday.
Kenny Chesney fans, heads-up! He’ll announce details of 2013’s tour, including dates, opening acts and the tour’s name, on Thursday.
Chris Young is People Magazine’s Sexy Man of the Week, meaning he’s up for the annual Sexiest Man Alive award. Miranda and Blake are on the cover of the current issue.
Jason Aldean has announced the first leg of his Night Train tour. It’ll kick off February 21st in Louisiana and visit 23 cities through May. Jason says his fans are in for a treat: “We’ve kind of made it a point to go out and make our shows, you know, as good as we can possibly make ‘em. You know, when people come out to our show, that’s what they’re gonna get.” Meanwhile, former tourmate Luke Bryan and Jason are making plans for right now: “[Jason] It’s huntin’ season. [Luke] Go deer hunt a little bit! [Jason] ...huntin’ season and just kinda gives us some time to take a couple months off and get ready for next year.”
Eric Church’s family was with him in Nashville when he accepted the CMA Album of the Year award for “Chief.” Eric’s dad and brother went back home after the show, but his mom hit the road with him for shows on the West Coast. He’s working on songs for his next album, but doesn’t really know when that one will be out, as he’s in no hurry: “I think there’s a lot of reasons to make records. The one thing I won’t do is I won’t make records for an economic reason. It won’t be because a label needs to make a quarterly number or we need to promote a tour.” If you need an Eric Church fix, a live album recorded last month in Chattanooga will be out in early 2013.
Miranda Lambert is getting into the retail spirit on Black Friday this year – she’s opening her new store, The Pink Pistol, in the small Oklahoma town where she and Blake Shelton live. The new boutique will sell, according to Miranda, “antiques, gifts, boots, jeans and pretty much everything you can imagine.” She says she wants to turn Black Friday, the huge shopping day after Thanksgiving, into Pink Friday.
Kenny Chesney fans, heads-up! He’ll announce details of 2013’s tour, including dates, opening acts and the tour’s name, on Thursday.
Chris Young is People Magazine’s Sexy Man of the Week, meaning he’s up for the annual Sexiest Man Alive award. Miranda and Blake are on the cover of the current issue.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
As you try to keep your hands out of the Halloween candy stash from last night, country stars share some of their favorite Halloween memories. Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood remembers his best costume as a kid – half of a pair of dice: “I was a die for Halloween. I had a big cardboard box that I had painted white and had the polka dots and stuff. And I remember I was walking up this hill to go to this hill and literally fell back down the entire hill, rolling in this giant cardboard box that I couldn’t do anything about, because I rolled down about 50-feet.” Luke Bryan says Halloween is great for researching your neighbors: “You can find out a lot about your neighbors by what kind of candy they put out. So, well, like full bars of Snickers bars, that’s what, and Reese’s cups, but the old chocolate popcorn ball of stuff, that’s no good either, like Dots – you get Dots one time of year and they pull your teeth.” And Taylor Swift has a different kind of Halloween memory: “All I remember about Halloween last year is that it’s when I bought my cat. She’s a Halloween cat. I didn’t really dress up for anything last year - I just went out and bought a kitten.”
Last week was the biggest sales week for any album in over a decade. Taylor Swift’s “Red” sold 1.2 million copies last week, meaning it is platinum after just seven days in release. It’s her second straight album to sell more than a million copies in its first week – “Speak Now” accomplished that feat in 2010. The last artist to sell over a million was Eminem in 2002, with the release of “The Eminem Show.”
What you’ll see tonight on the CMA Awards show: the show-opener will be Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Eric Church singing Jason’s new song, “The Only Way I Know How,” Tim McGraw performing his new single, “One of Those Nights,” Faith Hill performing “American Heart,” then Tim and Faith will be part of a tribute to Willie Nelson which will also include Lady Antebellum and Blake Shelton. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performing separately, Taylor Swift doing her new single, “Begin Again,” Kelly Clarkson singing her new country song, “Don’t Rush,” backed by Vince Gill, and John Rich with the biggest smile on his face ever, because he and Big Kenny are nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year. “To see our name back in the lineup is pretty cool. It is like, ‘Alright there it is!’ It’s just a manifestation of what we’ve been doing for the last couple of years. You know, hookin’ the cables back together between Big Kenny and myself. It’s been quite a ride to do that, because you wonder if the fans are still there and you wonder if anyone gives a damn about your music anymore.”
The cash has finally all been counted, and Jason Aldean’s breast cancer benefit concert last weekend raised $509,125. Wanna bet he rounds the check up to $510,000?
Taylor Swift is the magazine cover queen right now – she’s on December’s Cosmopolitan magazine, plus the United Kingdom’s “You” and Australia’s “Sunday” publications.
Last week was the biggest sales week for any album in over a decade. Taylor Swift’s “Red” sold 1.2 million copies last week, meaning it is platinum after just seven days in release. It’s her second straight album to sell more than a million copies in its first week – “Speak Now” accomplished that feat in 2010. The last artist to sell over a million was Eminem in 2002, with the release of “The Eminem Show.”
What you’ll see tonight on the CMA Awards show: the show-opener will be Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Eric Church singing Jason’s new song, “The Only Way I Know How,” Tim McGraw performing his new single, “One of Those Nights,” Faith Hill performing “American Heart,” then Tim and Faith will be part of a tribute to Willie Nelson which will also include Lady Antebellum and Blake Shelton. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performing separately, Taylor Swift doing her new single, “Begin Again,” Kelly Clarkson singing her new country song, “Don’t Rush,” backed by Vince Gill, and John Rich with the biggest smile on his face ever, because he and Big Kenny are nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year. “To see our name back in the lineup is pretty cool. It is like, ‘Alright there it is!’ It’s just a manifestation of what we’ve been doing for the last couple of years. You know, hookin’ the cables back together between Big Kenny and myself. It’s been quite a ride to do that, because you wonder if the fans are still there and you wonder if anyone gives a damn about your music anymore.”
The cash has finally all been counted, and Jason Aldean’s breast cancer benefit concert last weekend raised $509,125. Wanna bet he rounds the check up to $510,000?
Taylor Swift is the magazine cover queen right now – she’s on December’s Cosmopolitan magazine, plus the United Kingdom’s “You” and Australia’s “Sunday” publications.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The media Frankenstorm that is a Taylor Swift album release continues this week - “We’ve ended a really, really busy week but we still have so much more to do. We’re gonna go and perform on Dancing with the Stars and then the CMAs and then we’re going all over the world to Australia and Japan and I cannot wait.” She’s on Dancing with the Stars tonight.
Taylor Swift is working on her 2013 Red tour, and is struggling: “I’m trying to figure out what to do about this tour to make it different and like a spectacle but a different kind of spectacle.” Could that be a clue – will it be in 3D and everyone will have to wear 3D “spectacles?” We’ll see…tickets start going on sale November 16th for the tour that begins on March 13th, 2013.
Carrie Underwood’s hubby Mike Fisher is currently out of a job – sort of. The NHL owners have locked their players out over contract issues, so there’ll be no hockey games before November 30th, at the earliest. So Carrie’s working hard on her Blown Away tour and Mike’s days are pretty casual: “I’ll call him and [ask], ‘How was your day?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, good. I worked out. I skated and then I went fishing.’ And I’m like, ‘Aww, that just sounds terrible!’ I get...I get frustrated because I’m jealous [laughs].” At least they’ll get some time together this week, as Carrie’s back in Nashville to co-host the CMA Awards show Thursday night.
Darius Rucker says his song, “True Believers,” might sound like just a love song, but the lyric means so much more than that to him: “The reason I wanted the ‘two true believers’ as a hook was ‘cause—no matter where you made it in life, there was one person in your life I’m sure that was that person that you can go, ‘I made it because that person believed it in me’. And even if it’s not one person, even if it’s ten persons—with that individual person, you are the two true believers. It’s you two believing this could happen.”
Today is release day for Toby Keith’s new album, “Hope on the Rocks,” which features his new song, “I Like Girls That Drink Beer.” Not coincidentally, he’s announced that he’s opening a new location of his I Love This Bar & Grill restaurant, this time in Pittsburgh near the Steelers’ Heinz Field. Not only does Toby like girls that drink beer, he’s a huge Steelers fan, so look for this location to be one that Toby drops in on a lot. No word on when it will open.
Taylor Swift is working on her 2013 Red tour, and is struggling: “I’m trying to figure out what to do about this tour to make it different and like a spectacle but a different kind of spectacle.” Could that be a clue – will it be in 3D and everyone will have to wear 3D “spectacles?” We’ll see…tickets start going on sale November 16th for the tour that begins on March 13th, 2013.
Carrie Underwood’s hubby Mike Fisher is currently out of a job – sort of. The NHL owners have locked their players out over contract issues, so there’ll be no hockey games before November 30th, at the earliest. So Carrie’s working hard on her Blown Away tour and Mike’s days are pretty casual: “I’ll call him and [ask], ‘How was your day?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, good. I worked out. I skated and then I went fishing.’ And I’m like, ‘Aww, that just sounds terrible!’ I get...I get frustrated because I’m jealous [laughs].” At least they’ll get some time together this week, as Carrie’s back in Nashville to co-host the CMA Awards show Thursday night.
Darius Rucker says his song, “True Believers,” might sound like just a love song, but the lyric means so much more than that to him: “The reason I wanted the ‘two true believers’ as a hook was ‘cause—no matter where you made it in life, there was one person in your life I’m sure that was that person that you can go, ‘I made it because that person believed it in me’. And even if it’s not one person, even if it’s ten persons—with that individual person, you are the two true believers. It’s you two believing this could happen.”
Today is release day for Toby Keith’s new album, “Hope on the Rocks,” which features his new song, “I Like Girls That Drink Beer.” Not coincidentally, he’s announced that he’s opening a new location of his I Love This Bar & Grill restaurant, this time in Pittsburgh near the Steelers’ Heinz Field. Not only does Toby like girls that drink beer, he’s a huge Steelers fan, so look for this location to be one that Toby drops in on a lot. No word on when it will open.
Monday, October 29, 2012
The CMA Awards happen Thursday night, and Nashville is already making preparations for the event at Bridgestone Arena. Streets started closing Saturday, so if you’re planning to be there, be prepared for some traffic troubles. Just added as presenters are Reba and Tim Allen. Reba’s new TV show, Malibu Country, premiers Friday night.
Rascal Flatts is about to release a new DVD – Rascal Flatts: All Access & Uncovered features an intimate look at the relationship between the trio, their families and some hot performance video. Joe Don says of the project and of their latest album: “Its complete heart, 100% heart and soul in this album and you know, we cut it at Jay’s house and...everything feels so great right now in our career.” The DVD drops November 19th.
Keith Urban is traveling the country with the American Idol crew, going from city to city for the audition phase of the show. It’s a far cry from his life in Australia, and Keith is very appreciative: “I come from nothing, you know? Very, very working class family, and I’ve been blessed with this extraordinary life. And it’s the fans and the audiences that like the music and come to the concerts, and that’s—it’s just changed my life.” He’ll perform this week on the CMA Awards show.
The Jason Aldean/Miranda Lambert concert at Boston’s Fenway Park sold out in seven minutes Friday morning, so they decided to add a second show. July 12th and 13th are the dates that the Green Monster goes country in a big way. Jason’s already working on the experience for his fans: “You know, it’s just kind of a thing where you sit down and you kind of figure out what you want to do and how you want to change it up from this year. You sit down and you start drawing it out on paper what you want your stage to look like.” Jake Owen and Thomas Rhett will also be part of those two shows.
Miranda Lambert will be sporting a new hairdo for the CMAs – she tweeted a photo of herself with a long shag, complete with bangs. Cute!
The video for Taylor Swift’s new song, “Begin Again,” was shot in Paris. Really? For a country song? Taylor explains: “You know when you’re going through a break up and you need to just reflect, be alone and walk around – and see a beautiful place? I think it’s like that. It’s wondering around exploring a new city and kind of trying to find yourself again – and meeting a hot guy in a café.” Here it is…
Apparently the Taylor Swift – Conor Kennedy romance is kaput. According to a close friend of Taylor’s, “they quietly parted ways a while ago.” No hard feelings, just a crazy schedule right now for Taylor, as she’s working the release of “Red” and has no time off until Christmas.
New music out tomorrow from Toby Keith – “Hope On The Rocks” is the title.
Reba is on Live With Kelly & Michael today, and Blake Shelton is on The Voice tonight.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Always wanted a place in New York City? You’re in luck – Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman are selling their duplex, and you don’t have to worry about parking. The 3,248 square foot home has a vehicle elevator that will lift your car to your private rooftop parking. You’ll also get teak floors, custom cabinetry and a lovely view of the midtown skyline. And you’ll shell out just under $13 million to have it all. Meanwhile, Keith and Nicole will continue to raise their two daughters at their Nashville home.
Yesterday Taylor Swift was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. She’s been there a lot, and says that Ellen is one of her favorite talk-show hosts: “She’s one of the most amazing people, and I think she’s so good at what she does. She just makes people so happy.” Well, yeah, but she does like to make Taylor scream and squirm – check out the walk through Ellen’s Haunted Hallway…
In his early days in the music business, Brantley Gilbert and his band worked hard for every nickel, and sometimes needed more than they had. That’s how a car Brantley loved came to be owned by someone else: “I had a sixty-eight Mercury Cougar that we went flat broke and needed some equipment. We got rained on and we didn’t have insurance on anything. I loved this car and I sold it to a guy for $4,000. He told me that day that he’d sell it back to me whenever I wanted for $4,000. This was probably six or seven years ago. He wants twelve grand for it! [laughs] I talked to him a month ago and I am not going to pay him that much! He’s going to have to come down a little bit.” These days he spends most of his time on a tour bus, but he could probably figure out some car time.
Luke Bryan is getting pumped about the CMA Awards next week, because he’s up for two major awards: Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year. He’ll celebrate, no matter what: “If we win it’ll be a big deal. You know, it’ll be an amazing night for me and we’ll have the time of our lives and enjoy it. And if I don’t, we’ll approach the year to try to make the best album and the best songs and kind of go from there, but for me it’s always enjoying this and celebrating nominations.” He’ll be performing on the show, so has a bit of distraction to help calm his nerves.
Toby Keith shows us all how not to win an award: tell country fans you won’t show up, even though you’re nominated. Toby told a Country Weekly reporter, “Hell no, I ain’t showing up. I gotta go get a root canal that day, or something fun.” His song, “Red Solo Cup,” is nominated for Music Video of the Year, and the song’s success has surprised Toby: “I’ve got 80-million spins as a songwriter and it’s my only, I didn’t write this song, it’s my only song that’s ever got pop airplay to speak of. Ryan Seacrest made it the ‘Spring Break Song of 2012.’”
Next Thursday night, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will host the CMA Awards show for the 5th straight year. Is that a record? Not even close – Vince Gill hosted the show for 12 years, so they have a ways to go. Speaking of Vince, he, Hunter Hayes and Keith Urban have been added to the list of performers for country music’s biggest night. The show airs live on ABC Thursday, November first.
Montgomery Gentry released a four-song EP entitled Friends and Family, and it includes their new song, “I’ll Keep the Kids,” co-written by Eddie Montgomery about his divorce from his wife of 20 years, Tracy.
Taylor Swift is on Katie with Katie Couric today.
Yesterday Taylor Swift was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. She’s been there a lot, and says that Ellen is one of her favorite talk-show hosts: “She’s one of the most amazing people, and I think she’s so good at what she does. She just makes people so happy.” Well, yeah, but she does like to make Taylor scream and squirm – check out the walk through Ellen’s Haunted Hallway…
In his early days in the music business, Brantley Gilbert and his band worked hard for every nickel, and sometimes needed more than they had. That’s how a car Brantley loved came to be owned by someone else: “I had a sixty-eight Mercury Cougar that we went flat broke and needed some equipment. We got rained on and we didn’t have insurance on anything. I loved this car and I sold it to a guy for $4,000. He told me that day that he’d sell it back to me whenever I wanted for $4,000. This was probably six or seven years ago. He wants twelve grand for it! [laughs] I talked to him a month ago and I am not going to pay him that much! He’s going to have to come down a little bit.” These days he spends most of his time on a tour bus, but he could probably figure out some car time.
Luke Bryan is getting pumped about the CMA Awards next week, because he’s up for two major awards: Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year. He’ll celebrate, no matter what: “If we win it’ll be a big deal. You know, it’ll be an amazing night for me and we’ll have the time of our lives and enjoy it. And if I don’t, we’ll approach the year to try to make the best album and the best songs and kind of go from there, but for me it’s always enjoying this and celebrating nominations.” He’ll be performing on the show, so has a bit of distraction to help calm his nerves.
Toby Keith shows us all how not to win an award: tell country fans you won’t show up, even though you’re nominated. Toby told a Country Weekly reporter, “Hell no, I ain’t showing up. I gotta go get a root canal that day, or something fun.” His song, “Red Solo Cup,” is nominated for Music Video of the Year, and the song’s success has surprised Toby: “I’ve got 80-million spins as a songwriter and it’s my only, I didn’t write this song, it’s my only song that’s ever got pop airplay to speak of. Ryan Seacrest made it the ‘Spring Break Song of 2012.’”
Next Thursday night, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will host the CMA Awards show for the 5th straight year. Is that a record? Not even close – Vince Gill hosted the show for 12 years, so they have a ways to go. Speaking of Vince, he, Hunter Hayes and Keith Urban have been added to the list of performers for country music’s biggest night. The show airs live on ABC Thursday, November first.
Montgomery Gentry released a four-song EP entitled Friends and Family, and it includes their new song, “I’ll Keep the Kids,” co-written by Eddie Montgomery about his divorce from his wife of 20 years, Tracy.
Taylor Swift is on Katie with Katie Couric today.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
They like and respect each other as artists, so Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert released a video on Twitter. Here’s what the video had to say: “[Miranda] What are you doing here? Good to see you! It’s been a while. [Dierks] I know we should go on tour or something to kinda catch up. [Miranda] That’d be awesome. [Dierks] That’d be pretty cool. It’d be epic. [Miranda] Let’s do it, like, in January. [Dierks] This January? [Miranda] Yeah! [Dierks] Alright...Locked & Reloaded? [Miranda] Yeah! [Dierks] Alright. Let’s do it!” They’ll tour together starting January 17th, and of the tour, Miranda says, “This will be a tour of epic badassery.” Just what does that mean? Dierks wants to provide memories like the one he has of a Garth Brooks concert: “I remember seeing him when I was 17 at American West Arena in Phoenix. I was at the very top row. I actually touched the top of the arena building with my brother who was seven. You know no videos...no video walls or anything. I really felt like he was singing directly at me. It was a huge...had a huge influence on me.” Here’s the Twitter video, in case you missed it…
Lady Antebellum’s new holiday album is out, and “On This Winter’s Night” is not just the title track, it’s the only original song on an album full of classics. Why did they make that decision? “We wanted to try our hand in writing one song for this. We didn’t want the record to be a lot of original. At least for us, for the holiday season, we just want to have Christmas songs that we love and that we know. We thought our fans would feel the same way. But this one – we tried to incorporate the emotions and feelings around Christmas. All the fun stuff but all the serious stuff as well.”
Taylor Swift will vote by absentee ballot this year, as she’ll be out of the country promoting her new album, “Red.” It doesn’t seem to need much promotion – it’s #1 in 32 countries already and will sell over a million units this week. What does Taylor do with all the money she’s making? She told ET that she was “raised by a financial advisor,” so she knows it’s important to save and invest her money. According to Taylor, her dad told her, “Save your money! Don’t be stupid about it!”
She said “no” to American Idol and The X Factor, but Dolly Parton would say “yes” to The Voice if she was invited to be part of it. She says the difference is that there’s not as much judging on The Voice as there is on the other two shows, and according to Dolly, “I hesitate to judge people.”
Yes, Sara Evans was in a car accident this past week, but it wasn’t that Sara Evans. It was an Ohio teenager named Sarah Evans with an “h” who wrecked her car, causing Sara Evans without an “h” to take to her Twitter account to stop the confusion and rumors. The Ohio teen was cited for failure to yield to a stop sign and wasn’t hurt. The woman in the car she hit was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
The Peoples Choice Awards won’t be handed out until January, but you can start voting for your favorites right now.
For this week, anyway, Jason Aldean holds down the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart as well as the top spot on the Billboard Country Album chart. In his debut week last week, he sold 409,000 copies of “Night Train.” He’ll need to enjoy that chart position this week, because when next week’s charts are released, Taylor Swift will top them both, since she sold over half a million copies just on Monday of this week.
Taylor Swift is on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Martina McBride is on Anderson Live today.
Lady Antebellum’s new holiday album is out, and “On This Winter’s Night” is not just the title track, it’s the only original song on an album full of classics. Why did they make that decision? “We wanted to try our hand in writing one song for this. We didn’t want the record to be a lot of original. At least for us, for the holiday season, we just want to have Christmas songs that we love and that we know. We thought our fans would feel the same way. But this one – we tried to incorporate the emotions and feelings around Christmas. All the fun stuff but all the serious stuff as well.”
Taylor Swift will vote by absentee ballot this year, as she’ll be out of the country promoting her new album, “Red.” It doesn’t seem to need much promotion – it’s #1 in 32 countries already and will sell over a million units this week. What does Taylor do with all the money she’s making? She told ET that she was “raised by a financial advisor,” so she knows it’s important to save and invest her money. According to Taylor, her dad told her, “Save your money! Don’t be stupid about it!”
She said “no” to American Idol and The X Factor, but Dolly Parton would say “yes” to The Voice if she was invited to be part of it. She says the difference is that there’s not as much judging on The Voice as there is on the other two shows, and according to Dolly, “I hesitate to judge people.”
Yes, Sara Evans was in a car accident this past week, but it wasn’t that Sara Evans. It was an Ohio teenager named Sarah Evans with an “h” who wrecked her car, causing Sara Evans without an “h” to take to her Twitter account to stop the confusion and rumors. The Ohio teen was cited for failure to yield to a stop sign and wasn’t hurt. The woman in the car she hit was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
The Peoples Choice Awards won’t be handed out until January, but you can start voting for your favorites right now.
For this week, anyway, Jason Aldean holds down the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart as well as the top spot on the Billboard Country Album chart. In his debut week last week, he sold 409,000 copies of “Night Train.” He’ll need to enjoy that chart position this week, because when next week’s charts are released, Taylor Swift will top them both, since she sold over half a million copies just on Monday of this week.
Taylor Swift is on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Martina McBride is on Anderson Live today.
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