Kenny and Tim To Tour Together

Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw will reunite for a 19-date stadium tour in 2012. Kenny took a small break at the end of his Goin’ Coastal tour and is ready to get back out on stage and in front of his fans. Kenny said, “I’m gonna be out there singing my heart out and trying to just do what I do. I’m working on music right now and I’m working on putting all the pieces together. I’ve had a little time off, so it’s starting to get exciting again and we know that we’re gonna go out and do what we love to do.” The Brothers of the Sun tour will be the first time in 10 years that the two country superstars have hit the road together. The tour will also feature Jake Owen and Kenny’s “You and Tequila” partner Grace Potter and her band, The Nocturnals. Brothers of the Sun kicks off June 2nd in Tampa, Florida.

David Nail is back and better than ever with his second album, The Sound of a Million Dreams, which is out today. The album takes its name from a song on the project that struck a particular chord with David. David said, “’Cause I think in, in essence, you know, it is the sound of a million dreams. There’s so many different moments that I’ve, imagining myself doing what I’m doing now and, and a lot of the song, you know, referencing songs from the past. You know, there’s so many different moments of my life. I kinda look back to questioning whether or not I would have this opportunity, and some song or some moment in my life caused me to suddenly believe that maybe there was a chance.” The record includes David’s current single, “Let it Rain” as well as the Keith Urban co-penned tune “Desiree,” which appeared on The Ranch album.

Miranda On TV Tonight

Last week may have been monumental for Miranda Lambert, who not only celebrated her 28th birthday, but she was also crowned the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year. How do you top that? Why make the TV rounds, of course. Miranda will perform “Baggage Claim” on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno this evening. The tune appears on her Four the Record album, which also made history last week when it debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Miranda said, “It’s kinda crazy, you know, you, you hope when you get into this business that you can make history, and to actually see it happening is, it’s a dream come true. And, I’m, I’ve worked my butt off and it’s like, ‘Thank you, God. It’s payin’ off.’” Wednesday, Miranda will perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, before heading to Hollywood for ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! that night.

Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift were among the winners at the Billboard Touring Awards in New York City on Thursday night. Kenny was honored for top touring package for his Goin’ Coastal Tour with the Zac Brown Band, Uncle Kracker and Billy Currington, which sold 1.3-million-tickets this year. Jason claimed the Breakthrough category, and Taylor’s Speak Now World Tour earned the award for Concert Marketing and Promotion.

Dierks Turns Down Trump

After winning this past season of Celebrity Apprentice, John Rich suggested that armchair apprentice Dierks Bentley would be a good candidate for the next season. But, with a new tour and kids at home, Dierks admits that he had to send his regrets to The Donald, “I did get the call, which I was totally flattered to get. It’s just for me, at this time, where I am, I’m really happy. I have the road and the show and the fans and the music and the songwriting and the making records. That stuff brings you so much joy and happiness…a family and everything that comes with that. I’m good. I don’t need anything more right now.” Dierks will head out on the Country & Cold Cans tour, beginning October 6th in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Luke Bryan’s new CD, Tailgates & Tanlines, soared to the top of the Billboard Country Albums chart this week and landed at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The album sold over 145,000 copies in its first week, edging out Eric Church’s Chief to become the second highest debut for a country album this year behind Brad Paisley’s This Is Country Music.

Kenny Chesney set a new record for country music concerts in the NY-NJ area this past Saturday. With an estimated attendance of 55,000 fans at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the concert broke the former record, set by a 1983 festival featuring Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Linda Ronstadt at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

Next February 26th would have been Johnny Cash’s 80th birthday and to mark the occasion, Legacy Recordings has been releasing a ton of material from the Man in Black. The latest set will be called Johnny Cash: Bootleg Vol. 3 – Live Around the World. It features 50 of Johnny’s live performances from 1956 to 1979 – 39 of which have never been released. Among them are concert stops at the White House, in Vietnam and elsewhere. Get them all by picking up the double-disc album when it hits shelves on October 11th. The release coincides with the October 18th publication of John Carter Cash’s book, House of Cash: The Life, Legacy and Archives of The Man in Black.

Kenny Is Goin' Coastal

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Kenny Chesney kicks off his highly-anticipated Goin’ Coastal Tour tonight in West Palm Beach, Florida. Kenny will take the stage after the Zac Brown Band, and special guests Billy Currington and Uncle Kracker. After taking a year off from the road, Kenny is excited to be back with a show that is bigger and better than ever. “It’s gettin’ really exciting for me and the band,” Kenny said. “And Zac’s guys are so great. I mean, they are really a great band, and to be able to collaborate like this together that way…we’ve never done this in our show in 17 years I’ve been on the road. And to be able to do this for the fans and to be able to have them experience it, you know, it’s just gonna be—I think I speak for everybody that I think it’s gonna be a really special night of music, you know, especially with what they’re doin’, too.” Kenny’s Goin’ Coastal Tour will play 52 dates in the U-S and Canada this year.

Blake Shelton joined Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green earlier this week to face the press for questions about NBC’s new singing competition, The Voice. Blake said it was a “no brainer” for him to get involved in the show, citing the credibility of the others involved as his reason for joining the coaching team. He said their job would be to “make the best of the best even better”. The Voice starts airing April 26th on NBC. Shortly thereafter, Blake will be marrying Miranda Lambert. Blake clears the air about the anticipated bachelor party. "The last ten years of my life has been a bachelor party,” Blake said. “So I don’t need an extra one night to add to my life.” Instead, he plans to take some of his buddies out on a camping trip and maybe do a little hunting or “something country,” he says. The wedding will be May 14th.

And finally, be looking for Country Dance, the first dancing video game designed with country fans in mind. It’s for Nintendo's Wii console. The game features 27 songs from top artists such as Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Laura Bell Bundy, Easton Corbin, Jerrod Niemann, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Johnny Cash and Randy Travis. Up to four players at a time can choose between multiple game modes, including competitive and cooperative styles, as they use the Wii remote to mimic the dancer on their screen. Games purchased at an exclusive retailer will include a bonus track, Alan Jackson's "Good Time."

Tuesday Newsday

Fan voting for two categories of the ACM Awards is now open. By visiting voteacm.com, you can pick who you’d like to take home awards in the Entertainer of the Year and New Artist categories. Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban are the nominees in the Entertainer of the Year category. The Band Perry and Eric Church are the finalists for the New Artist award. The ACM Awards take place April 3rd in Las Vegas live on CBS.

For the first time ever, Kenny Chesney will have his own line of signature shades. Kenny has partnered with Costa Sunglasses to design the five limited edition pairs of sunglasses, which will feature Kenny’s signature. You can pick up a pair at Kenny’s 2011 Goin’ Coastal tourstops or from Costa’s website. Proceeds from the new line will go toward the Coastal Conservation Association.

American Idol is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a special Greatest Hits album that hits shelves today. The project features 12 songs from some of the best contestants from the show:

1. Kelly Clarkson – “Since U Been Gone”
2. Ruben Studdard - "Superstar"
3. Clay Aiken - "Invisible"
4. Fantasia Barrino - "When I See U"
5. Carrie Underwood – “Before He Cheats”
6. Taylor Hicks - "Takin' It to the Streets"
7. Chris Daughtry – “Home”
8. Jordin Sparks (duet with Chris Brown) - "No Air"
9. David Cook - "Light On"
10. Kris Allen - "Live Like We're Dying"
11. Adam Lambert - "Whataya Want From Me"
12. Lee DeWyze - "Sweet Serendipity"

Tuesday Newsday

Taylor Swift has just completed the Asian leg of her 2011 Speak Now World Tour. Before her show at Hong Kong’s Asia World Expo on Monday night, she was presented with a few plaques that revealed she had sold more than 400-thousand copies of her latest album Speak Now. She has been certified platinum in Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. Taylor’s tour will head to Europe in March, followed by the North American leg in May.

If you love to read, there are several books aimed at country music fans coming out later this year. Some of the titles include: a Shania Twain memoir, From This Moment On (May 2011); Family Tradition – Three Generations of Hank Williams, by Susan Masino (May 2011); Making the Scene – Nashville: How to Live, Network and Succeed in Music City, by Liam Sullivan (May 2011); and The Three of Us: Growing Up With Tammy and George, by Georgette Jones & Patsi Bale Cox (July 2011).

Kenny Chesney was spotted in Palm Beach, Florida over the weekend performing at the Everglades Foundation Benefit. Apparently feeling better after his recent fall, Jimmy Buffet even jumped on stage to join Kenny for a couple of songs. Mac McAnally was also there to sing “Down the Road” with Kenny. Jimmy invited Kenny to the event which raised money and awareness for work being done to protect and restore the Everglades.

And finally, word to NMSU Security that when the George Strait / Reba McEntire tour comes to the Pan Am on March 25th, the lady walking her dogs is Lee Ann Womack, not Rimes; so please let her pass. This plea stems from a recent prank played on Lee Ann by her own crew during their recent tour stop in Cleveland, Ohio. As Lee Ann walked off stage, she was met by a man with handcuffs and a badge, dressed in the British bobby outfit. Apparently the prank was all in good fun after Lee Ann had a real run-in with arena security earlier in the day for walking her dogs in areas that were off limits. She wasn’t sure how to get back to her bus and she was mistaken for LeAnn Rimes several times throughout the ordeal. “They got me good,” Lee Ann said about the prank.

Country Strong In The Top 10

The weekend movie money numbers are in. Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow’s movie, Country Strong, opened in sixth place. Here’s a look at the Top 10 box office rankings (title, last weekend $; overall $):

1. True Grit, $15 million; $110.4 million
2. Little Fockers, $13.8 million; $124 million
3. Season of the Witch, $10.7 million; $10.7 million
4. Tron: Legacy, $9.8 million; $147.9 million
5. Black Swan, $8.4 million; $61.5 million
6. Country Strong, $7.3 million; $7.4 million
7. The Fighter, $7 million; $57.8 million
8. The King's Speech, $6.8 million; $33.3 million
9. Yogi Bear, $6.8 million; $75.6 million
10. Tangled, $5.2 million; $175.9 million

News From Around The Country
Kenny Chesney will be producing another football special for ESPN’s Year of The Quarterback promotion, The Color Orange: The Condredge Holloway Story. Kenny actually wore Holloway’s jersey number when he played high school football, idolized the University of Tennessee quarterback, and was thrilled when he was asked to produce the documentary which is set to air February 20th on ESPN. ….. Faith Hill has partnered with the flower delivery company Teleflora to create ‘The Collection by Faith Hill.” A commercial revealing some of the designs will debut during Super Bowl XLV February 6th. ….. Tickets for Garth Brooks' next round of Las Vegas concerts will go on sale this Saturday. The shows, which Garth has been performing since December 2009, feature Garth performing solo, accompanying himself on guitar. Tickets are $225 plus service charge and tax. Tickets are available exclusively at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-877-65-GARTH.

Free DVDs for the First 10,000

Kenny Chesney will be giving away 10,000 DVD copies of his documentary, Boys of Fall, to high schools and high school football coaches across the country. Kenny hopes the gift will inspire young athletes both on and off the field and teach positive lessons about hard work, humility and trust that can be carried over into everyday life. Kenny traveled the country to interview football players and coaches for the documentary, which first aired on ESPN. Click here to find out how to get a copy.

Reba McEntire may not have taken home a CMA Award last week, but it was definitely a night she'll never forget. You see, Reba has a connection to Blake Shelton and seeing him take home the Male Vocalist of the Year award had her in tears. Reba has been a friend of Blake’s for many years. He’s a fellow Okie, and she’s watched his career blossom. Seeing him win the Male Vocalist of the Year Award, Reba felt like a proud mama. Beyond that, Blake’s management, i.e. Reba's husband, Narvel Blackstock, and stepson, Brandon Blackstock, were also proud. Brandon has been Blake's managers for almost five years. Reba will perform on the CMA Country Christmas special airing November 29th on ABC.

So Much For Turning Off In-Flight Electronic Devices

At the United Nations in New York City on October 25th, CMT and MTV Networks will host an international streaming event and online contest to celebrate the release of Taylor Swift’s new album, Speak Now. The online contest, “Speak Now With Taylor Swift In New York City” will give fans a chance to see Taylor perform live in New York and join her on a cross-country flight to Los Angeles where they will have a chance to speak one-on-one with Taylor mid-air. Taylor’s performance will stream live on CMT.com at 3 PM Mountain on October 25th. Click here to enter for a once in a lifetime experience with Taylor.

Sugarland will be celebrating their Thanksgiving with a performance on this year’s CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute. The two hour show honors everyday people who are changing the world. The duo will perform “Stand Up,” a track off of their upcoming album, The Incredible Machine.

News From Around The Country
Selling 183,000 physical CDs – astounding by today’s standards - Kenny Chesney has the number one album this week on both Billboard’s Country Albums chart and Top 200 Albums chart with Hemingway’s Whiskey. Rounding out the rest of the Billboard Country Albums chart is Zac Brown Band’s You Get What You Give at number two, Billy Currington’s Enjoy Yourself at number three, Jamey Johnson’s Guitar Song at four followed by Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now at number five…… Trace Adkins will travel back to the Middle East soon to visit and perform for troops on his third USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour. Trace has traveled on two USO tours since 2002 which took him to Bahrain, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He has also received numerous military honors in recognition of his patriotism, including the 2007 USO Merit Award, Wounded Warrior Project's 2010 Talkhouse Award and the 2010 Medal of Honor from the Daughter's of the American Revolution. …. And finally, Zac Brown Band will headline the free NASCAR Championship Drive concert in Miami, Florida. For those that can’t make it to the fan fest, the concert will be streamed live on NASCAR’s official website. Zac couldn’t be more excited to headline the show and said, "Over the past few years we've had the opportunity to participate in a few NASCAR events and it's always fun for the whole band. Not only does everyone make us feel at home when we're on the track but we have a great respect for the sport itself." The event will begin on November 18th, with a parade prior to the fan fest concert.

Tuesday Newsday

TV Notes
Today, Kenny Chesney will sit down for and interview and perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. ….. Toby Keith is gearing up to take on the small screen with upcoming appearances to promote his new album, Bullets in the Gun, which hits stores tomorrow. He will stop by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Wednesday, followed by an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Thursday. Toby will wrap the week with the premiere of his CMT Invitation Only on CMT. ….. And you can catch Trace Adkins tomorrow night on the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC.

News From Around The Country
Nashville Lifestyles magazine has released the annual list of Music City’s 25 Most Beautiful People. Billy Currington, Rodney Atkins, and Montgomery Gentry’s Troy Gentry made the list. Those who are featured in the magazine represent the best and brightest doing great things in and around Nashville. ….. And speaking of Montgomery Gentry, did you see where they turned their official website pink on Friday in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The page will be pink for the entire month before the duo launches a brand new site on November 1st. ….. And finally, old school songwriter/producer Billy Sherrill will be presented with BMI's Icon Award during the organization's 58th annual country awards in November. Billy played a key role in expanding country music's mainstream audience in the '70s. His songwriting credits include Tammy Wynette's “Stand by Your Man,” Charlie Rich's “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" David Houston's "Almost Persuaded," and many others. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Record Setting Friday

Kenny Chesney has something else to celebrate this week besides the release of his album, Hemingway’s Whiskey. His current single “The Boys of Fall” has put Kenny in Billboard’s record books for having at least one number one single in each year, for the past 10 years. In the charts 66-year history, only six artists have had longer runs than Kenny including:
· 19 years, George Strait, 1982-2000
· 16 years, Ronnie Milsap, 1974-89
· 14 years, Alabama, 1980-93
· 12 years, Loretta Lynn, 1967-78
· 11 years, Tim McGraw, 1994-2004
· 11 years, Dolly Parton, 1977-87
· 10 years, Conway Twitty, 1968-77
· 10 years, Merle Haggard, 1967-76

Joe Nichols was a contestant last week on CMT’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader and he walked away with $125,000 in prize money that he donated to Camp Barnabas, a Missouri Christian camp for people with special needs. Joe’s younger sister, Kelli, has attended the camp for the past several years, and according to the camp’s co-founder, the money will go towards building a new Health Care Facility to take care of the 1,300 campers.

Montgomery Gentry, who recently parted ways with their longtime label, wrote a letter to fans to clear up the duo’s future. The statement said, “Eddie and Troy here. As you may have heard, there were plans to release a ‘Greatest Hits’ yesterday but we wanted to make sure you knew that would not be happening. BUT, know that we are working on an album of brand new material. We are more motivated than ever to get the biggest and baddest Montgomery Gentry album ever out there! Hang in there and we’ll get that done as quickly as we can. In the meantime, we can’t wait to see you out on the road!”

Tuesday Newsday

Kenny Chesney has earned his 20th career number one song with “Boys of Fall.” He also releases his album Hemingway’s Whiskey today. The project is something he was able to record during his down time while taking a year off from touring. He says for the past four or five albums, he was constantly rushing in and out of the studio and this time he was able to really focus on this project along with his producer Buddy Cannon. To promote the new project, look for Kenny on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Friday, and a Monday he’ll be a guest and performer on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The Grand Ole Opry will reopen tonight after suffering an enormous amount of damage during the floods that hit Nashville in May. Brad Paisley was on hand recently to return the historical circle of wood back to the center of the stage, and he said that although he lost a lot personal items in the flood, the news of the damage done to the Grand Ole Opry was the most painful. “My moments and my milestones happened here. So when this was destroyed, of all places, that was the most heartbreaking thing about the flood was this. No personal loss of property came anywhere near this,” said Brad. Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Charlie Daniels Band, Del McCoury Band, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Josh Turner and many more will take the stage tonight in honor of the reopening of the Grand Ole Opry.

Taylor Swift’s highly-anticipated third album, Speak Now, will be released worldwide on October 25th, and each week leading up to its release, a new track from the album will be available for purchase on iTunes. Each song will also be available in advance as an exclusive 30-second preview, along with a brief interview with Taylor, each week on Comcast On Demand, online at XfinityTV.com, and on E! News Daily. The iTunes / Comcast countdown pre-release tracks and previews are scheduled to launch as follows:

Song, “Speak Now”
- October 4th: 12:01 a.m. - Preview and interview available on Comcast on Demand and XfinityTv.com. Clip and interview featured on E! News that evening.
- October 5th:12:01 a.m. - “Speak Now” available for purchase at iTunes.com
Song, “Back To December”
- October 11th: 12:01 a.m. - Preview and interview available on Comcast on Demand and XfinityTv.com. Clip and interview featured on E! News that evening.
- October 12th: 12:01 a.m. - “Back To December” available for purchase at iTunes.com
Song, “Mean”
- October 18th: 12:01 a.m. - Preview and interview available on Comcast on Demand and XfinityTv.com. Clip and interview featured on E! News that evening.
- October 19th: 12:01 a.m. - “Mean” available for purchase at iTunes.com

And finally, it will be nice to see Travis Tritt in another movie roll. He is currently on location in Georgia playing the role of Eddie Waters in the Christian-based story about two brothers who lead two different lives in the 1950’s. Alan Jackson was also considered for the part. Fishers of Men will be released in January 2011.

The World of Country on Wednesday

The track listing has been released for the upcoming album, Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn. Some of the match-ups are pretty appropriate; others will be very interesting to hear when the album is released on November 9th to celebrate Loretta’s 50 years of making music. The tracks include:

“Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” — Gretchen Wilson
“I’m A Honky Tonk Girl” — Lee Ann Womack
“Rated X” — The White Stripes
“You’re Lookin’ At Country” — Carrie Underwood
“Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” — Alan Jackson and Martina McBride
“You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)” — Paramore
“Love Is The Foundation” — Faith Hill
“After The Fire Is Gone” — Steve Earle and Allison Moorer
“If You’re Not Gone Too Long” — Reba
“I Know How” — Kid Rock
“Somebody Somewhere (Don’t Know What He’s Missin’ Tonight)” — Lucinda Williams
“Coal Miner’s Daughter” — Loretta Lynn, Sheryl Crow and Miranda Lambert

News From Around The Country
NRACountry, a division of The National Rifle Association, has partnered with Luke Bryan for his 4-date 2010 Farm Tour across Georgia. Luke is proud to have the sponsorship because of all the work that the organization does for kids in his home state. … Taylor Swift’s upcoming album Speak Now will be available in an exclusive store-specific deluxe version. The alternate album will include three bonus tracks, three remixes, and a 30-minute DVD. The cover of the album is even different – instead of the purple dress, she is wearing a dress in the retailer’s signature color of red. …. LeAnn Rimes graces the cover of the latest issue of Shape magazine. This is her third time as the face of the magazine. … And finally, if you want an exclusive sneak-peek at another track from Kenny Chesney’s upcoming album, Hemingway’s Whiskey, you can click here to hear “You and Tequila” and see his interview with Grace Potter.

Country Music Week on ABC

If you’ve been getting anxious for the announcement of the CMA Award nominees, the suspense is coming to an end this week. The final nominees for the 44th Annual CMA Awards will be announced tomorrow and Wednesday. Justin Moore and Chris Young will announce the final nominees in seven of the categories tomorrow from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert will announce the final nominees in the remaining five categories on ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday at 8:30 AM in all time zones. This year’s CMA Awards will take place November 10th from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and air live on ABC.

Also on TV this week, you can see The CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock. Tim McGraw will serve as host and performer, with additional performances by Jason Aldean, Billy Currington, Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, and the Zac Brown Band. The show will also feature behind the scenes footage with Lady Antebellum, and Taylor Swift previewing her new single, “Mine," during a secret taping during this past June’s CMA Music Fest. Set the DVRs for Wednesday on ABC.

Kenny Chesney paid a special visit to his old stomping grounds last week as he visited the Gibbs High School football team in East Tennessee for a screening of his new documentary, The Boys of Fall. Kenny used to play for the team in the ‘80’s. Kenny told the football team, “You all grew up just like us. You drive the same road we drove, you obviously play on the same football field we played and walked through the same halls. It’s really a special time for me to come here and play you guys this. A game we all love.” Kenny’s football documentary premiered on ESPN on Sunday, and will re-air on September 12th.

Hump Day News

Randy Travis is gearing up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his first album release with some of the biggest names in country music. Randy plans to release a duets album featuring Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Time McGraw, Alan Jackson, and Josh Turner. Carrie and Randy have joined forces in the past with Carrie’s release of Randy’s song “I Told You So,” but the two are still uncertain which song they will do next. It’s also not the first time Kenny has worked with Randy. The two paired up on the track “Baptism” which was released on Kenny’s first Greatest Hits album. There is still no word when Randy's album will be released.

If you’ve missed Kenny Chesney on the road this summer, don’t worry. He’ll be back. Kenny is making plans to hit the road in 2011 with a 60-date tour. Kenny said, “I've already got a 3-D rendering of what our stage show will look like on my computer right now. I can look at it from all angles. I don't want to piece this thing together. If you go out like we do it, if we start in April or March, you can't wait until January to piece this together." Kenny also opened up about the lyrics on his upcoming album, Hemingway’s Whiskey. The title track off the album, was inspired by the book, The Old Man and the Sea, which reminded Kenny of the relationship he had with his grandfather. Kenny admires the Hemingway’s ability to travel and study the characters he has written about and he notes, “Why wouldn’t you want to have a beer and pick his brain… on a good day? And he loved life. I don’t know what I’d ask Hemingway if I had a beer with him. We’d have to have whiskey, I guess.” Kenny also describes one of the album tracks, “Somewhere With You” as a tortured soul song. The song describes a relationship where each partner is gone and how hard it is to balance both worlds. Kenny says, “I’ve done it a lot, where you’re with somebody and you’re thinking this isn’t necessarily bad, but wow, man it would be really great to be with you. That can be a lot of mental baggage.” Hemingway’s Whiskey will be released September 28th.

Feel Good Friday

Kenny Chesney will release his album Hemingway’s Whiskey next month. The deluxe package will include two bonus tracks, as well as a conversation about each song. Kenny created the special edition as a thank you to fans that have been with him from the beginning. Also be looking for the DVD.

Blake Shelton will release a Greatest Hits album in November. After eleven years in the business, Blake is happy to put 15 tracks on the project. The songs include everything from “The Baby,” to “Hillbilly Bone.”

Martina McBride will be one of many celebrities performing at the annual Stand Up To Cancer special. The one-hour event will air on September 10th on multiple channels including, VH1, ABC, and CBS. The special raises money for cancer research by featuring celebrity entertainment and stories from celebrity cancer survivors.

And finally, here’s something interesting to think about. The computer security software company McAfee has posted a list of the most dangerous Internet celebrities to search, and Keith Urban’s wife Nicole Kidman made the list. Statistics show you have a 10-percent chance of getting a computer virus after searching her name. Here are the Top 12:
1.) Cameron Diaz
2.) Julia Roberts
3.) Jessica Biel
4.) Gisele Bundchen
5.) Brad Pitt
6.) Adrianna Lima
7.) Jennifer Love Hewitt
8.) Nicole Kidman
9.) Tom Cruise
10.) Heidi Klum
11.) Penelope Cruz
12.) Anna Paquin

Words For Wednesday

Taylor Swift will premiere the music video for her new single, “Mine,” in a live special event, August 27th on CMT. Taylor will sit down with CMT Insider host Katie Cook to discuss the music video locations, and share behind-the-scenes footage from making the video. ….. Kenny Chesney has broken his own record for the largest number of opening week downloads by a male country artist with his new single “The Boys of Fall.” The song sold over 82,000 downloads within the first week, beating his 2009 hit “Out Last Night,” which held the record with 71,000 downloads. ….. Lady Antebellum has released a seven song EP on iTunes featuring fan-favorite songs and a cover of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers song, “Learning To Fly.” The performance was recorded during a studio session in Nashville in the Spring. ….. The final nominees for this year's CMA Awards will be announced on August 31st and September 1st. Justin Moore and Chris Young will read nominees in seven CMA categories at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on August 31st. Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert will be on Good Morning America on September 1st to reveal the nominees in five additional categories. ….. Similarly, the nominees for the 53rd annual Grammy Awards will be revealed during a live concert from past winners and nominees on CBS on December 1st. The award show itself will take place in Los Angeles on February 13th, 2011......Darius Rucker is featured in the latest issue of Golf Digest discussing the annual “Monday After The Masters Celebrity Pro-Am,” an event begun 17 years ago by Darius and his former Hootie & The Blowfish bandmates. The event is hosted in Myrtle Beach in April for golf-obsessed musicians like Darius, who, himself, plays more than 200 rounds a year. It’s his only hobby. Darius’ Pro-Am has raised over five-million dollars for various charities over the years

And finally, speaking of awards, a couple of country’s greats are to be receiving prestigious awards. Coming up on Saturday, George Jones will be inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, along with Al Dexter and Ray Winkler. George is being honored as one of the most influential singers in country music history, and he is also being recognized for his influence on Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell. Meanwhile, Dolly Parton will receive the 2010 James D. Vaughan Impact Award from the Southern Gospel Music Association for her significant impact on the Southern gospel music industry. The Executive Director of the Association said, “Dolly is the most honored female country performer of all time. Her efforts on behalf of our music at Dollywood have been instrumental in the establishment of our museum and Hall of Fame.” Dolly will appear in person to accept the award on September 29th at Dollywood.

Words of Wisdom for Wednesday

Details are emerging regarding Kenny Chesney’s upcoming album, Hemingway’s Whiskey. Highlights include a duet with George Jones on “Small Y’All,” a song George recorded for his 1998 album, It Don’t Get Any Better Than This. Randy Travis also cut the song for his 1994 album, This Is Me. In addition, Kenny features soulful rocker Grace Potter on “You and Tequila,” co-written by Matraca Berg and Deana Carter, and recorded by Deana for her 2003 album, I’m Just a Girl. He also returns to a beach theme on “Coastal” and sings about getting over a relationship in “Somewhere With You.” The new album is scheduled to be out on September 28th.

Set your DVRs, Blake Shelton will be taking over your TV. With “All About Tonight” being Blake’s fastest rising single-to-date, he is scheduled to perform on Good Morning America and speak with TV personalities Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb on The Today Show on August 12th. Yesterday, GAC began an exclusive series entitled, 30 Days of Blake. The series will air daily leading up to the exclusive 90-minute airing of one of Blake’s sold-out arena concerts, Blake Shelton LIVE: It’s All About Tonight, on September 8th.

Also on TV, David Nail will perform his new single “Turning Home” live on Fox & Friends on Friday. A taped interview and video of his performance of “Red Light” will be featured on FoxNews.com.

And finally, Gary Allan opened his last show for Brooks & Dunn’s Last Rodeo Tour on Sunday night and showed his appreciation to the duo by hanging a banner on his bus. The banner said, ‘Kix, Ronnie and the B&D Family - Thanks for having us on 82 shows over the past 10 years! You guys are the gold standard of how it should be done. If we ever grow up, we want to be just like you guys. Thanks — Gary and the Gang.’

Country Makes Plans

Blake Shelton has indicated that he plans to marry Miranda Lambert next May in the Texas hill country. Details about the wedding are beginning to emerge. Blake has always said the one thing he and Miranda don’t agree on is their taste in music. Obviously they both like country music, but it’s the other types of music they listen to that differ. For that reason, Blake says that he is insistent on having a say-so in the music at their wedding, “The only thing, because I don’t care if it’s all pink flowers and completely girled out. I really don’t. That would be great to me. The only thing I’m wanting some input on is music.” Blake and Miranda are planning on a short ceremony so they can celebrate, and that’s when Blake’s musical preferences will come into play. “I’m going to have my music picked out and she’ll have her music. And we’re going to have live music, D-J, everything. It’s going to be music everywhere,” Blake says of the ceremony.

This weekend, Craig Morgan will be holding his Charity Ride in his hometown in Tennessee. This year he’s extended the event to two days - the first day for moto-cross events and the second for music. Proceeds from the event go towards a facility for kids who have been displaced from their families, being built in honor of Craig’s father-in-law. Craig’s oldest daughter is studying child psychiatry and would one day like to run the program at Billy’s Place.

Faith Hill is the new ambassador for the Tide Loads of Hope program. The campaign is a mobile laundry service which provides clean clothes to families affected by a disaster. Faith is a Mississippi native, and has witnessed the damage from Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill in the Gulf Coast. As the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina draws closer, the detergent maker will host a live concert featuring Faith on August 24th. The concert will be free for residents of New Orleans and the surrounding area to celebrate how far the community has come in its rebuilding efforts since Katrina.

Kenny Chesney is featured on the cover of this week’s Parade magazine, and inside he discusses how making his football documentary inspired him. He also mentions how even though he has been one of the biggest stars in country music, he still feels alone. “You’d think I’d have been happiest in my life playing music in front of 50,000 people at Gillette Stadium. But let me tell you, it’s an odd feeling to feel alone in the spotlight. I was standing onstage last year and I felt like I wanted to be somewhere else. No matter how many people were out there, it all just felt like a blank sheet of paper,” he said. Kenny’s also found it difficult to balance his personal life. He explains, “The world is a different place now. I mean, if I go out with a girl, there’s a possibility that she’s going to get up from the dinner table and go to the bathroom and use Twitter to tell everybody what she’s doing. And the next thing you know, everybody’s got a play-by-play of what you’re having for dinner. That would make anybody uncomfortable.” Kenny’s documentary, The Boys of Fall, will air on ESPN this fall.

Each Day Brings New News

Keep your eyes open for new videos debuting on CMT today. The 8-minute long version of Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys of Fall” will be seen, as well as Miranda Lambert’s new video for “Only Prettier.” Miranda’s video features guest appearances by Kelly Pickler, Hillary Scott, and Laura Bell Bundy who just so happened to come up with the idea for the video. The theme of the video mimics the film Grease, which Miranda watched quite often as a child.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has acquired a portrait of Taylor Swift which is made from pink and white Good N’ Plenty candies. The picture will be on display in the Spring of 2011, at Ripley’s Hollywood Odditorium. Taylor’s portrait is accompanied by other famous faces including portraits of President Obama and Michael Jackson made from gumballs, Eminem and Elvis made from M&M’s, Beyonce and Marilyn Monroe made from licorice and gummy bears, and Lady Gaga created from 60-thousand Airsoft BB gun bullets.

And finally, following his 1700-mile trek across the country, Jimmy Wayne arrived at the Nashville airport on Wednesday. He expected to only see his drummer there to pick him up. Instead, Jimmy was greeted by over 60 people, half of which were foster kids. Jimmy said, “When I turned the corner and saw everybody … I was like, ‘Holy cow.’ I didn’t expect this. I’ve been gone seven months walking, and to come home to this is the best feeling.” The group cheered him on and held up homemade signs near the baggage claim area. Jimmy was in a wheelchair due to his broken foot.