Tim McGraw On The Big Screen

Country Strong opens today at Allen Theatres’ Telshor 12. Tim McGraw plays “James Canter,” the music manager-husband of Gwyneth Paltrow’s character, “Kelly Canter.” Tim revealed that it was Reba McEntire’s manager-husband, and his good friend, Narvel Blackstock who was a small inspiration for his character. Tim said, “I did sort of start my look out for this character on Narvel Blackstock a little bit. Of course, the character is nothing like Narvel, but just sort of to get the ball rolling, I sort of had this image of Narvel when I was creating this character.” Gwyneth Paltrow talked about starring alongside Tim McGraw, “To be totally honest when they said 'What do you think about Tim for this part?' I had seen him in Friday Night Lights where he was brilliant. But then I thought, because you know we can all kind of do one thing and pull it off but then I thought does he really know what he's doing? And, he blew me away. I remember emailing Faith like 'You're husband is like seriously good. Like this is no joke. This man really knows what he's doing." From the gossip department, it’s interesting to compare the men that Gwyneth Paltrow has had a chance to kiss during her film career, including Jude Law, Brad Pitt, and most recently Tim McGraw and Garrett Hedlund in Country Strong. But, when Rachael Ray asked Gwyneth who her favorite was, she said it had to be Tom Cruise. “He was an amazing kisser,” she said on the Rachael Ray Show. Gwyneth had no comment on how her Country Strong co-stars matched up to Tom’s kissing style.

The 2011 Grammy Nominees album will be out on January 25th. It's a collection of artists and songs nominated for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, which air live on February 13th on CBS. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit the MusiCares Foundation and the GRAMMY Foundation.

2011 GRAMMY NOMINEES ALBUM TRACK LIST
1) Cee Lo Green – “Forget You”
2) B.o.B. feat. Bruno Mars – “Nothin’ On You”
3) Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg – “California Gurls”
4) Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce – “Telephone”
5) Eminem feat. Rihanna – “Love the Way You Lie”
6) Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
7) Arcade Fire – “Ready to Start”
8) Adam Lambert – “Whataya Want From Me”
9) John Mayer – “Half of My Heart” (with Taylor Swift)
10) Michael Buble – “Haven’t Met You Yet”
11) Bruno Mars – “Just The Way You Are”
12) Michael Jackson – “This Is It”
13) Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs – “Beg Steal or Borrow”
14) Miranda Lambert – “House That Built Me”
15) Sade – “Babyfather”
16) Paramore – “The Only Exception”
17) Train – “Hey, Soul Sister”
18) Maroon 5 – “Misery”
19) Glee Cast – “Don’t Stop Believin’”

And finally, a cute story regarding Josh Turner, his wife, Jennifer, and their third son, Crawford Marion Turner. Josh says he and Jennifer have elected to call their newborn by his middle name, Marion. Why? "Marion came from one of my heroes, the Revolutionary War general Francis Marion," Josh said. "They called him the Swamp Fox, out of South Carolina. Our sense of this child was that he was going to be a warrior and a fighter and somebody that was able to overcome challenges. He looks like he's got that look in his eye.” Josh added that Marion is ironically the “calmest” of their three kids.

The Stork Has Come Calling

Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts and his wife, Allison, welcomed their first child last Friday in Nashville. Madeline Leigh weighed six pounds nine ounces. The couple plan to call her Maddie. Jay and Allison married six years ago and met when Allison appeared in Rascal Flatts "These Days" video. After Rascal Flatts wrap up the final leg of their Nothing Like This Tour in March of next year, they plan to hit the road in early July with an event they are calling Flatts Fest. Joe Don Rooney says the tour will be filled with plenty of music to enjoy, “It’s definitely gonna be a multiple artist bill for sure. There’s gonna be some big names, a lot of fun. It’s gonna be a big party.”

Josh Turner also received an early Christmas gift with the arrival of a new, bouncing baby boy! Josh and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed Crawford Marion to the family. The new baby joins older brothers, Colby Lynch and Hampton Otis. Just like his brothers, Marion, as he will be called, arrived early weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces and measuring 19 inches long.

And finally, country music’s biggest stars are supporting the Red Cross during the holiday season. Reba, Rascal Flatts, Pat Green, Wynonna, and Sara Evans, all members of the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet, are encouraging fans to check out the Red Cross holiday online catalog, Gifts that Save the Day. The catalog gifts are contributions toward a Red Cross program area including, military and disaster relief. In a video message for the campaign Reba said, “This holiday season, I’m giving the gift of hope by supporting my local American Red Cross, Instead of sweaters and ties I’m giving gifts from the Red Cross Holiday Giving Catalog.”

It Sure Is Monday

Alan Jackson’s upcoming Australian tour seems like it will be quite successful after tickets sold out within hours of being put on sale. Ticket sales for the four March dates in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane sold so quickly that the tour was extended with a third show in Brisbane. This is Alan’s first tour to the land down under. Reached on his boat about adding another Australian tour date, Alan said, “I‘m a Southern man, and that‘s about as far South as we can go – let’s go do it!”

Last Thursday, Garth Brooks lent a helping hand to Habitat for Humanity in Birmingham, Alabama. Garth and 300 other volunteers helped paint a house, hang towel racks, and lay sod. He said, “One of the biggest misunderstandings about Habitat is that they give away homes for free. They don’t. These people work their butts off.” Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter will help Habitat for Humanity complete the remaining six houses in Birmingham.

There’s sad news from the Josh Turner household today. Josh’s beloved bloodhound Moses, who appeared in Josh’s “Everything is Fine” video, has passed away due to a kidney failure. Moses was only six, and Josh and his wife got him shortly after they married. Josh said, “Moses was a special part of our family. It’s been a very hard time for us. He was the best dog there ever was.” Last year, Josh even listed Moses as one of the five things he’s most thankful for in an article for People magazine.

And there’s news you wouldn’t expect from Jaron & The Long Road To Love. It turned out that some people were not amused by a recent practical joke that Jaron played in Pennsylvania. Jaron spotted a mascot’s uniform for a local baseball team during an awards dinner, and he thought it would be great fun to wear it to a local country radio station the following morning. Unfortunately the uniform was reported missing, and local police and the media were notified about a public theft valued at 5-thousand dollars. Once Jaron walked into the station with the suit, police were informed and arranged the suit to be returned safely. Jaron said, “Sometimes we don’t think too far in advance, but it’s all in good fun. We need to not take ourselves so seriously. It’s just a stuffed animal.”

And finally, there’s more work for the DVR this week. You can catch Trace Adkins tonight on E!’s comedy talk-show, Chelsea Lately, followed by an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tomorrow.

It's Country Music "Today"

Five country artists will serve as co-hosts with Hoda Kotb during the fourth hour of the Today show this week. This morning, it’s Blake Shelton in for Kathy Lee Gifford (who offered her Spanx and dressing room to Blake as a “thank you” for taking her place). Martina McBride will co-host tomorrow, John Rich takes the seat Wednesday, followed by Trisha Yearwood on Thursday, and Josh Turner on Friday.

Country music fans can now find all of their favorite artists at their fingertips with the launch of CMT’s new iPhone app, CMT Insider. The app kicks off today with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Taylor Swift’s new video, “Mine.” Throughout the week, the app will update with the latest news, photos and information about Friday’s global world premiere video.

Miranda Lambert will release her first performance DVD, Revolution: Live By Candlelight on October 12th. The six-song DVD features rare, acoustic performances of five songs, including her back-to-back #1 singles, “White Liar,” and “The House That Built Me.” As an added bonus, the DVD also features one of her favorite songs, “Love Is Looking For You,” from her Kerosene album. The upcoming DVD will also include exclusive, never-before-seen footage of the stories behind the songs. The DVD was filmed in an intimate setting – a dimly lit stage surrounded with candles – which actually set off the fire alarm while recording!

Tuesday Newsday

Weren’t we just talking about a rash of babies expected by the stars? There’s word of another one as Josh Turner and his wife, Jennifer, have announced the impending arrival of their third child. The new baby will join big brothers, Hampton who is three, and one-year-old Colby. Josh is actually responsible for the couple finding out that they were pregnant again. Josh says that Jennifer had been acting “a little different” so he encouraged her to take a pregnancy test. The test came back negative, but he refused to believe it. So Jennifer took another test that proved his theory right! Perhaps they’ll have another boy, which may set some sort of new precedent for having three boys in the family, as opposed to the set of three girls that so many artists are raising. Makes you wonder if Brad and Kimberly Paisley are paying attention to all these babies, and if they’d try for a third son. Mark Chesnutt is the first other artist to come to mind who has three sons versus daughters.

News From Around The Country
Cheyenne Kimball of Gloriana turns 20 today. She’s the youngest member of the group. ….. Jaron and The Long Road To Love is scheduled to perform his hit “Pray For You” tonight on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. ….. Reba McEntire is featured on the September cover of the Cowboys & Indians Magazine. …. And finally, Martina McBride has been speaking recently about her friendship with Kid Rock, as well as her view on cross-genre music. Martina helped Kid Rock kick-off the CMT Music Awards this year as they performed “Cowboy” with a handful of other country artists. And she’s featured on the track “Care” along with rapper T.I. on Kid Rock’s upcoming album, Born Free. Martina commented, “Everybody says to me, ‘well that’s a weird pairing, you and Kid Rock.’ But it doesn’t feel weird when we’re together and we’re performing. It’s just exciting to me that he has singled me out to be part of his project. I think that’s really cool. And it’s an honor.”

Pre-Nup Friday

Feel Good Friday news is rather slow, but tomorrow could be an entirely different story. If rumors are correct, we will be hearing about Carrie Underwood’s wedding tomorrow. Those that are watching have reportedly spied Carrie and Mike’s wedding party starting to show up at The Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Georgia yesterday. The entire resort is off limits to media and any outsiders, and a pass is needed to get through the front doors Friday through Sunday. Another hot spot that is being closely watched is Greene County regional airport. Most guests are said to be landing there on private planes from Augusta or Atlanta. Georgia is anticipating a high-heat index this weekend, which hints the wedding ceremony and post-wedding party will be held indoors.

For the fourth year in a row, Faith Hill will be the voice of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, performing the opening theme song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.” Faith recently shot a video clip for NBC, which will feature key NFL players Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, Ray Lewis, and DeSean Jackson. Faith admits she has become quite the football fan over the years, and has learned when to ask questions while watching a game with husband, Tim McGraw. “Something's happened on the field, and I don't quite understand what's going on, you never ask during a replay. You never ask a question during a replay!" said Faith.

It’s sad to hear that a Wish didn’t turn out like it was planned. Make-A-Wish Foundation made the dream of a 10-year-old brain cancer patient come true after she received backstage passes to Josh Turner’s July 17th show in Georgia. Unfortunately on June 30th, Elizabeth’s health condition was rapidly failing and July 17th seemed too far away. Josh called her to sing to her the following day, and hours after Elizabeth hung up the phone, she passed away.

And finally, set the DVRs because Lady Antebellum will sing “Our Kind of Love” on Live With Regis & Kelly, Monday.

ACM Awards on the Horizon

Country music’s spring brew-ha-ha is coming up on Sunday Night. The ACM Awards will air live from Las Vegas. Lady Antebellum (seven nominations), Miranda Lambert (six nominations), Carrie Underwood (six nominations) and Zac Brown Band (six nominations) are the top. Taylor Swift has five nominations, including her first entertainer of the year nod from the ACM, and Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley have four nominations each. Reba McEntire will host the award show for the 12th time. Full recaps will be posted here on the blog.

Also, don't miss Sheila's special Sunday programming from 5 - 8 pm. This week, it's a look back at the ACM Awards from 20 years ago. You'll hear nominees and award winners from the 1990 show, which awarded the music of 1989.

Coming up next Wednesday night is Idol Gives Back. Check out the following video link to see former contestants Bucky Covington, Phil Stacey, and Bo Bice working with others in a Nashville food bank. In the video, Bucky talks about receiving the news that his record label was closing. Late news reports that like Rascal Flatts, Bucky should be transferred to another label in the Disney Group. Kevin Fowler and Tyler Dickerson will make the same move. Sarah Buxton, Love and Theft, and The Parks have been dropped.

Nashville Country Club - Bucky Covington & more at 'Idol Gives Back'

And speaking of American Idol, Lady Antebellum taped a performance of “Need You Now,” following Wednesday night’s live show that will air during Country Week. That must have been fun for Hillary Scott, considering that she twice auditioned for the show, but was obviously rejected.

News From Around The Country
Alan Jackson will get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. John Travolta, the Doors and Judy Holliday are near Alan's star near Grauman's Chinese Theatre. …. And finally, after three years and 175-thousand miles, Josh Turner traded in his trusty white van – nicknamed “Van – a – white” – for his first tour bus last week. The only problem is, the tour bus broke down twice the first weekend he used it. The air compressor broke causing Josh to be late for the first show in his career. All is good now, the bus is fixed and Josh will start his opening act duties on Brad Paisley’s H20 tour next month.

Is It Thursday Already?

It looks like the next CD from Zac Brown Band should be out in the fall. This will be the first album all six members will have played on. They’re planning to make this album even bigger than The Foundation and have brought guest performers Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson on board for the project. They haven’t decided on a name just yet but if it was up to Zac, he would name it You Get What You Give, which just so happens to be one of his tattoos.

So where’s Jimmy? Not quite at the halfway point on his Meet Me Halfway Walk Across America, Jimmy Wayne invented a game to occupy his time. After Jimmy was reunited with Lieutenant Jason Garkey, whom he walked with in January, the two came up with a friendly competition – collecting coins they find on the road. Jimmy says, "I had been collecting them before he came out, but it really got competitive when he came out because he's a military guy! When he would find a quarter, it would wear me out. Of course, I'd find a nickel, and he'd laugh.” Jimmy is still on the road to Phoenix.

During a party to celebrate four weeks at number one, Josh Turner’s publishing company Colbat Music, treated Josh and the co-writers of “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” with gift certificates for ballroom dance lessons. He should have just done Dancing With The Stars.

And finally, word is out that Taylor Swift stumbled across a website of three Auburn University guys who are making a grassroots effort to get one of her famous hugs. The guys came up with a random idea to film a documentary and series of webisodes of their mission to get a hug from Taylor. Being the video taker that she is, Taylor responded back, challenging the guys to do good deeds in order to score a hug. It will only be a matter of time until their next mission is revealed. Check out the madness at AHugFromTaylorSwift.com.

Musical Olympians

The opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics are tonight in Vancouver. Watch for music videos during the broadcasts from Rascal Flatts and Gloriana. The AT&T Team USA Soundtrack is available for digital download on iTunes today to benefit Team USA. The soundtrack features a new version of Rascal Flatts' "Unstoppable," Gloriana's "The World Is Ours Tonight," and Sugarland's "Wide Open." .

The guitar Taylor Swift donated to the “All for the Hall” has been scheduled to be auctioned tomorrow. Since Taylor’s lucky number is 13, the auction will begin February 13th, and last for 13 days. Fans can place their bid on the Country Music Hall of Fame website until February 26th. Proceeds benefit the Hall of Fame.

News From Around The Country
Justin Moore and his wife Kate welcomed their daughter Ella Cole to the world yesterday. ….. Josh Turner makes a guest appearance on Martha Stewart’s “Valentine’s Day Show” today. ….. Trisha Yearwood's second cookbook, Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends, will hit stores April 6th. ….. Gary Allan will be appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 9th to mark the release of his CD Get Off on the Pain. ….. And finally, look for Carrie Underwood and her dog Ace to star in Public Service Announcement encouraging pet adoption. During the shoot Carrie talked about her little companion, "I can't imagine life without my dog, Dogs are just beautiful souls that don't want a thing from you." Carrie goes on to say that Ace is, "just so special because he loves me for no reason other than I love him back," Carrie is also talking about what to expect from her upcoming Play On Tour, “We kind of took production to a whole new level. We have a lot of pieces on stage that move, and a surprise that allows me to get closer to the audience than I’ve ever been before.” Sons of Sylvia, and Craig Morgan will open for Carrie.

Mid Week

Today’s Half Off Wednesday offer gives you a chance to stock up on your certificates for The Game Sports Bar and Grill. Celebrate your 1st place Aggies with a great meal. And don’t forget to take advantage of the Time Crunch Lunch – any lunch menu item will be on your table within 15 minutes of placing your order, or it’s free. Visit the main page to find Half Off Wednesday deals.

News From Around The Country
Prior to playing a sold-out show in Brisbane, Australia, Taylor Swift was presented a plaque for sales of her Fearless album reaching quadruple Platinum status in the land down under. ….. Josh Turner’s performance for The Late Show with David Letterman has been rescheduled to today. Josh was originally scheduled to play Monday night, but due to unforeseen circumstances the taping ran overtime and Josh's performance had to be cut. ….. David Nail will appear on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Monday. ….. Luke Bryan celebrated earning his first number one song, “Do I,” yesterday in Nashville with his friends and co-writers Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum.

CD Bean Counters

The numbers are in, and 481,000 is enough to debut Lady Antebellum's new album, Need You Now, at No. 1 its first week on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Part of this success is due to the number one hit “Need You Now.” The new album has already claimed almost one-third the sales total of the trio's self-titled debut album, which has sold 1,453,000 million copies to date. By comparison, their debut album sold 43-thousand in its opening week, debuting at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in May 2008. Need You Now has racked up the best first-week sales since Taylor Swift's Fearless sold 592,000 during its first week in November 2008.

Meanwhile, Josh Turner released his new album Haywire on Tuesday. Fans have two versions of the album to pick up; one is the regular album and the other is a Deluxe Fan edition that give four addition tracks along with the video for “Why Don’t We Just Dance.”

Happy Monday

The latest issue of People Magazine Country Special hit the newsstands over the weekend. Brad Paisley is becoming quite the regular on the cover. Inside you'll read articles on hot country stars as well as see behind-the-scenes pictures of stars with their families. See Brad Paisley's and Josh Turner's new babies, as well as their wives and older boys. Check out a spread on twins in country music including Bucky Covington's brother, Rocky, and Jake Owens' brother, Jarrod. Also, if you need more free iTunes downloads, grab the latest People country playlist here.

Six of Waylon Jennings' early RCA albums will be reissued by the Collectors' Choice label on November 24th. Originally released between 1966 and 1970, the six albums will be compiled on three new CDs: Folk Country/Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan, Love of the Common People/Hangin' On and Waylon/Singer of Sad Songs. Liner notes were written by music historian Colin Escott.

Dierks Bentley held his 4th annual Miles & Music for Kids motorcycle ride and concert in Nashville yesterday and raised $215,000 to benefit the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Celebrity riders included Troy Gentry, Wynonna, former American Idol contestant Kimberly Locke and members of rock group Three Doors Down. They were later joined by Darius Rucker, Eric Church, and Michelle Branch for a jam session at downtown Nashville’s Riverfront Park. This year, Dierks has partnered with CMT’s One Country to expand Miles & Music to six additional cities. Dierks’ next Miles & Music for Kids takes place in his hometown of Phoenix on November 21st. Proceeds will benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Feel Good Friday!

Josh Turner has been given an honor from the National Songwriters Association International. Wednesday night, Josh did an acoustic set with some of his songwriter friends for the program “It All Begins With A Song.” Midway through the show Josh was awarded a lifetime membership with the NSAI, an association that advocates the intellectual property rights of its songwriters.

Trace Adkins has quite the honey-do list to work on this summer. If you remember last spring, a reality show went out to Trace’s house to build an outdoor kitchen. According to Trace, he’s still trying to finish that project, “At the end of the show, everybody has this big party and we all eat and it looks like it’s all done. It’s all fake for TV. It’s no where close to being finished. And then I have to finish everything.” With his trademark humor, Trace spills the beans, “They go on and do another fake TV show somewhere else. Great, thanks a lot.”

And finally, don’t miss Lady Antebellum on the Ellen DeGeneres Show next Friday the 31st. Set your DVRs! And have a great weekend.

Family Notes

Boys are in the water in Nashville. There was a generation where it seemed as though all the big stars were having girls, now it seems the stork is stuck on boys. Josh Turner and his wife, Jennifer, had a second son this past Friday, June 26, in Nashville. Newborn Colby Lynch Turner joins 2-year old big brother, Hampton. It’s ironic that Jennifer went into labor right after Josh finished recording his fourth album. Reportedly, Josh’s producer, Frank Rogers, joked with Jennifer that she couldn’t go into labor until they finished the album. Josh says, “We finished the album last Thursday at 6pm. After I got home, Jennifer went into labor, and we were at the hospital by 10:30 that night.”

News From Around The Country
SheDaisy’s Kassidy Osborn is a married woman. She married Derek Williamson in a private ceremony in San Diego. When the honeymoon’s through, SheDaisy will be back in the studio working on a 5th CD. Kris Kristofferson will be recognized as a BMI Icon at the BMI Country Awards this November. The iconic designation is bestowed on songwriters who have had a unique and indelible influence on generations of music. Trisha Yearwood will be putting out a second cookbook. Look for it around Mother’s Day 2010. If you get the Pentagon Channel on your cable service, look for Dean Brody to be interviewed about his hit song “Brothers” over 4th of July weekend.

It Sure Is Monday

News From Around The Country
The Great Country Blog is on baby watch this week. Any day now, Josh Turner and his wife, Jennifer, will welcome their second child. Let’s hope for her sake, that she is not as overdue as Kimberly Williams-Paisley earlier this year. After the well received show The Judds put on at the CMA Music Fest, the question naturally arises, will Naomi and Wynonna record together again? Wynonna says that the door is always open, and jokes that if they get enough emails they’ll consider it. During the CMT Music Awards last week, Bill Engvall made quite the bit out of Kellie Pickler’s pet monkey; the thing is, Kellie doesn’t have the monkey anymore. Kellie says that traveling with Ella became nearly impossible so she asked her sister Courtney to take care of her for the duration of a trip. When Kellie returned, the monkey had grown so attached to Courtney, Kellie let her keep the monkey. The rest of her menagerie includes Moo Moo the Chihuahua, Pickles the cat and a snake. For more about Kellie, check out the latest issue of OK Magazine.

It's All About The Fans

While in Nashville for CMA Music Fest last week, a popular activity for many fans is to attend Fan Club Parties. These gatherings provide fans intimate access to his or her favorite artist, as well as the opportunity to socialize in person with other fans met in online fan club forums. Most parties include meet and greet access to the artist, which is oftentimes as fun for the artist as the fans, since the artist normally only sees the hardcore fans a few at a time as he or she travels around the country. At a fan club party, all the familiar faces are in one place at one time! The parties also include a private performance from everyone's mutually favorite artist - sometimes acoustic, sometimes full band - but typically just a few songs. More generous artists have been known to throw a full blown concert for the gathering of faithful. Others will play games, hold activities, or put themselves on the hotseat for fan Q&A - which is the most dangerous interview they'll ever do because fans want to know about everything! Any way it's done, it's always a special treat to be able to spend exclusive time with one's favorite artist. And CMA Music Fest Week is when it all happens, since so many fans are already in town. Here is a sampling of some of this year's Fan Club Parties:

GARY ALLAN - JUNE 9 - Nashville
BUCKY COVINGTON - JUNE 10 - Rocketown
ALAN JACKSON - JUNE 10 - Cadillac Ranch
TRACE ADKINS - JUNE 11 - Belcourt Theatre
MARTINA McBRIDE - JUNE 12 - Limelight
SARA EVANS - JUNE 12 - Rocketown
JOSH TURNER - JUNE 13 - Rocketown
MIRANDA LAMBERT - JUNE 14 - Nashville Palace

More Fan Fare Tonight

The CMT Music Awards take place tonight, and as with all award shows, some surprises are in store. Rumors have been circulating that Taylor Swift will be appearing with rapper T-Pain; she will not confirm or deny the speculations, saying only that everyone should watch to find out. And in CMT’s continuing efforts to broaden country music’s appeal, tonight you’ll see presenters from all fields of entertainment: sports, rock stars, models, rappers, comedians, and TV personalities. There may even be some country music on the show. The show starts at 5 in our time zone with the red carpet arrivals, followed by the award show from 6 – 8:30pm.

It’s also interesting to note that this year CMT is getting away from the gift bags full of expensive indulgences that are traditionally given to celebrities at award shows. Instead, CMT One Country will be giving the gift of food to 130 school-aged children. With the donation of 20-thousand dollars to their non-profit partner, Feeding America, CMT One Country will be able to feed those children for the entire 2009-2010 school year through the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee’s BackPack Program. The 2009 CMT Music Awards sponsors, Sears and Land’s End, also donated backpacks which will also be autographed by artists and auctioned for another CMT One Country benefit.

News From Around The Country
Last week, Jack Ingram, Jason Aldean, Jason Meadows, and Trent Willmon participated in an artist steer riding contest with the Championship Bull Riding League. After lasting just three seconds, Jack was thrown and landed flat on his back. No serious injuries for him or the other artists, but Jack admitted that it would be his first and last time taking an 8-second ride. Josh Turner has recently presented a young woman from his high school in South Carolina with the first scholarship from the Josh Turner Fund for the Arts. Martina McBride helped raise 72-thousand dollars through an auction on Saturday for the YWCA. PETA has revealed the winners of its Sexiest Vegetarians Poll and Kellie Pickler tied with Heroes' Milo Ventimiglia for first place. George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is among 25 recordings from various genres that will be added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry this year.

More Rise and Fall Than a Bride's Nightie

Len Goodman has rattled off some doozies before, but “more rise and fall than a bride’s nightie” has to take the cake! That’s the analogy he used last night on Dancing With The Stars to describe Ty Murray’s waltz. All the judges were pleased, so Ty & Chelsie were rewarded with a 24 for their respectful waltz. Chulianne was smokin’! Dressed in red silk, Chuck Wicks was shakin’ it with a few moves that looked alarmingly similar to Julianne Hough’s brother, dancing champ Derek. The judges were mostly speechless after Chulianne’s routine, muttering not much more than it was their best routine yet - an observation that was obvious by watching the professionalism in their Samba number. Bruno did comment about Chuck’s butt and hips. Most in the audience noticed that, too, judging by the massive standing ovation. In the rehearsal package, Chuck declared that he wanted a 9. He got three, for a best-ever score of 27. It seems that not long ago, Chuck asked for the 8 he got. Next he needs to try for the 10. The wig? Well, it was a mod 60’s group number, but seriously Chuck, it’s got to go. During the routine, each couple gets a brief solo stunt. The Chuckwheel was cute, but what was Ty thinking? Riding Chelsie? That will perhaps go down as the second most absurd move of the show – right behind Cloris & Corky humping across the floor! Likely to go this week: Lawrence and Edyta. Their time has been coming for awhile, and with the mistakes that were made in week 7, they clearly had the weakest routine.

News From Around The Country
Baby Paisley’s got a name – Jasper Warren Paisley. Taylor Swift’s Fearless CD has been declared seven times platinum. She was given the honors during this week’s rehearsals for the upcoming tour. Zac Brown Band’s The Foundation has made Gold. Martina McBride has started her own line of wines, called Martina McBride Signature Series Napa Valley Proprietary Red Wine. Fans will be able to purchase some of the inaugural Signature Series wine first, the public will have to wait. Josh Turner and Marty Stuart are among the latest inductees on the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville. Their stars will be on the sidewalk for fans to walk all over.

Wake Up People!

It’s a Feel Good Friday at The Country Station, and you may notice that things sound a little different. Who’s that guy on this morning? And what did you do with Jerry? That guy is OM/PD Ernesto Garcia. Jerry has departed the staff. So WAKE UP! ! ! The Ernesto and Friends Show is on the air weekday mornings from 6 – 10. Reach Ernesto on the request line for your birthday announcements, or send him a “howdy” and “welcome back to the airwaves” on the Ernesto & Friends myspace page. Ernesto got his start at The Country Station fourteen years ago, and he has been heard on an intermittent basis over the years. Now he’s back to getting up before the roosters on a regular basis! Enjoy the show.

Rascal Flatts have signed a pretty sweet endorsement deal. The Flatts will partner with J.C. Penney to sponsor their upcoming concerts and promote merchandise. The Unstoppable Tour will now be billed as the Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour. American Living is a line of merchandise developed for J.C. Penny by Polo Ralph Lauren's Global Brand Concepts. In addition to the two-year concert sponsorship that will dress Gary, Jay, and Joe Don in American Living clothing onstage, Rascal Flatts have written a new song inspired by and titled for the brand. You’ll hear the new song in commercials and it will only be available on CD on a special edition of Unstoppable available only at the department store. Net proceeds from the sale of those CDs will be donated to the J.C. Penney After School Fund, which provides children in need with access to after school programs.

In other Unstoppable news, Rascal Flatts is said to be releasing four of the tracks from the new CD before street date through iTunes. “Here Comes Goodbye,” the single and the music video, are supposed to be on iTunes on March 10. Then on March 17, 24, and 31 respectively, three additional songs will be released. The physical CD’s not out until April 7.

The pairing of Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton proved to be a financial winner for an Oklahoma animal welfare agency. A total of over $70,000 was raised to benefit TAILS (Texoma Animal Improved Living Society) through Miranda and Blake’s recent concert in Tishomingo, OK. Miranda wanted to do it because she knew there was a need for an animal shelter in the area. "I am so happy that, in this economy, people would spend their hard earned dollars to come together for one night to support one cause," Miranda boasts. “The support from the community and volunteers made this possible, and we are so grateful that this facility for abused and abandoned animals is now a reality." Miranda’s next animal-related benefit will be on May 17th in Tyler, TX. The Second Annual Cause for the Paws dinner and concert hopes to best last year’s total of $113,000 for the Humane Society of East Texas.

And finally, congratulations to Josh Turner and his wife, Jennifer. The couple is expecting a second child in the summer to join big brother, 2 year-old Hampton Otis. Shouldn't Brad Paisley and his wife, Kimberly, be having their second baby sometime soon? Oh wait. That's in April.

Is It The End of the Week Already?

It's finally a Feel Good Friday! The Aggies play their last home game tomorrow, we're less than a week from the holidays, Martina lights up Graceland tonight, and we've got some videos to watch!

Tonight is the annual lighting of Graceland in Memphis, TN. Martina McBride, who recently joined Elvis on the Elvis Christmas Duets CD, will be on hand to flip the switch. The King-sized spectacle includes hundreds of blue lights along the driveway, a life-size Nativity scene, Santa and his sleigh and much more originally displayed at Graceland by Elvis Presley. Thomas Kincade will also participate in the lighting ceremonies to unveil his new painting "Graceland Christmas." If you're not among the Elvis faithful tonight, you can watch the lights come on via the Graceland Cam. Lights will be turned on at dusk in Memphis, approx. 5:00 - 5:15 pm our time.

In the meantime, let's watch some fun videos.
Here's Brad Paisley and Keith Urban "Start A Band."


Here's Toby Keith and Rodney Carrington behind the scenes of Beer For My Horses:


And how about a behind the scenes look at Josh Turner's new video "Everything Is Fine."


As always, check for the latest news on the CMT News Feed and have a great weekend!