Caution: Hot Bachelors Ahead

Yesterday, it was revealed that Gary Allan took the lion’s share of the votes to become Country Weekly’s hottest bachelor. The rest of the Top 10 have been announced. Are you ready?

Gary Allan – is it the tattoos or just something sexy about getting off on the pain?
Chris Young – always ranked highly, it will be a devastation to the voting public if Chris ever marries.
Josh Thompson – ladies are lovin’ a man that can bring home the beer.
Chuck Wicks – six words: dance routines in the silk jammies.
Keith Anderson – who doesn’t love Mr. XXL?
Danny Gokey – last year’s Idol voters are still fresh in practice for their man.
Jake Owen – a man that promises an 8 second ride cannot NOT get the ladies attention.
Bucky Covington - Buckaneers love their man. Just wait, the country audience in general hasn’t even heard his sexy song yet.
Phil Vassar – the piano man is still tinkling the ivories of the voter’s hearts.
Stephen Barker Liles – from Love & Theft. One third of the group is married; the other third will surely be envious of this title.

News From Around The Country
Joe Nichols has been named the new face of Roper Apparel and will soon be featured in the company’s advertising and marketing campaign. ….. Toby Keith will embark on a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour later this month with seventeen shows in eleven days for U.S. troops. Toby will be visiting Afghanistan, and his band will be supporting him on several of the shows. On these USO Tours, Toby says he breaks out the funs songs for the soldiers, “My songs for the troops are a little different, they are a little humorous. I’ve got my own little group of songs. She didn’t say no, she said hell no, I try to entertain the troops with a smile.” Toby recently received the Distinguished Service Award from the Military Officers Association of America which recognizes civilians who give back to military personnel. ….. And finally, it you wanted a better look at the childhood videos that were playing behind Lady Antebellum when they performed on the recent ACM Awards, you can see them in their latest Webisode Wednesday video.

Shakeup On Music Row

The record industry is living in a time of transition as it struggles to find a relevant business model for music distribution in the 21st century. Like with most companies, personnel changes and reorganization strategies are nearly a daily occurrence on Music Row, and we generally leave the scorekeeping to other blogs.

But wham! Bam! Thank You , M’am! When Joe Galante quits and Lyric Street closes all in the same day, we can’t help but notice. Joe Galante is chairman and chief brain trust of Sony Music Nashville labels RCA, BNA, Columbia, and Arista Nashville, whose rosters include Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Martina McBride, Kellie Pickler, Miranda Lambert and Sara Evans, among others. A replacement is pending.

Even more shocking is the news that Disney speared a nail into the tire of Lyric Street Records and will let it deflate. According to yesterday’s press release, banner act Rascal Flatts will transfer to another record label within the Disney Music Group in order to maintain a strong position for the anticipated fall album release. The fate of the rest of the artists on the label, including Bucky Covington, Love and Theft, Sarah Buxton, and Tyler Dickerson is unannounced. Although sources have said that teenage-act Tyler Dickerson will more than likely move to another label within the Disney family of younglings. Sources have also confirmed that a core promotions team will continue market and promote the label's current singles, leaving those artists to be phased out after their natural demise on the charts. That sounds entirely too pretty for the record industry. What typically happens in these cases, despite the label’s cheery intentions, when an artist is dropped by a label, radio nearly immediately drops the song. It’s an internal game in the industry, but it happens. The artists on Lyric Street are just the latest victims to the age-old game of musical record labels.

News From Around The Country
Miranda Lambert pulled a Tim McGraw move and stopped a fight which occurred in her audience during a concert in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Miranda was in the middle of a song, when she told her band mates to stop the music. “Hey girls. Girls! Hey! Are you all here to listen to music or get in each others' faces? Don't make me come down there now!" Miranda said. She watched as one of the women decided to leave. "She's still mad. Well, we came here to have fun," Miranda told the crowd. ….. Montgomery Gentry have been named recipients of the 2010 ACM Home Depot Humanitarian Award. A playground will be built in the duo’s honor, and fans have until April 30th to log on and vote for the city most deserving of having the playground built. So far, Lexington, Kentucky is the runaway winner. ….. And finally, hope you still have room on your DVR. A documentary on Toby Keith will air on the Biography channel tonight. The hour long episode explores Toby’s work in the oil-industry, playing semi-pro football, and how his career soared to the top of the country charts.

CRS Day Four

The final day of CRS 2010. The last day of seminars to discuss the various aspects of the radio and record business.

Beyond that, Capitol Records hosted a luncheon and The New Faces Class of 2010 performed. At lunch, it was announced that Little Big Town could not be in attendance because Karen Fairchild is with child and due to have the baby any day. To substitute, the music video for the new single “Little White Church” opened the show, followed by music videos from The Band Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lady Antebellum. Emily West appeared in person. She is an energetic little firecracker with looks and pipes reminiscent of Faith Hill. Her current single is “Blue Sky,” which she sang so powerfully, it’s a good thing that the luncheon plates were shatter-proof plastic.

Following Emily was Eric Church, who brought a little bit of his road show to the convention center. In a cleverly-put-together production, Eric presented an interactive documentary. Interspersed with his live performance on stage, video packages of his life on the road were shown on the large side screens. Plus, to spice up the standard live feed of video from the stage on those large screens, much of the time, that live video was faded into video of real live crowds. The whole presentation felt much more connected to a true concert experience, rather than just a bunch of jaded radio people eating lunch and listening to yet another artist. And this from the same guy who three years ago did the same luncheon and spent his allotted 20 minutes doing a continuous medley of all his music rather than breaking it up with a bunch of talking between songs. Eric is a unique and entertaining character. Although, he beats his chest a lot when he sings. That’s got to hurt after a while.

CRS wraps up with The New Faces Class of 2010. Each act begins with a short video that some use as a career-highlight reel, some use as a thank-you video, and some use to be cute and funny through contrived skits. Once onstage, each act has enough time for about 4 songs. Most do their current and/or most famous hits that radio will recognize, plus something of their choosing. First up was Love and Theft - young, fresh, and energetic. The three-part harmonies or “Runaway” really keep your attention moving across the stage. They will be opening for Tim McGraw this year. Randy Houser was quite humbled by the honor of being voted on to the New Faces show. To him, performing at his current level is a dream he’s had since he was about 5 years old. He rocked out on Drake’s viral video hit, “Boots On,” and sent his vocals soaring on the song that let his mama hear her son on the radio for the first time, “Anything Goes.” Chris Young got directly to the business at hand by delivering “Gettin’ You Home” to the radio programmers who made it his first number one song. He also slipped in “Voices,” “The Man I Want To Be,” and one of his personal favorites, “Rainy Night In Georgia,” the latter a sultry song that fits his charismatic voice like a soft pair of fresh socks. The fast-rising foursome of Gloriana stepped out to own the stage with a sampling of their music including their first hit “Wild At Heart,” and the current single which they recorded for the US Olympic Team soundtrack “The World Is Ours Tonight.” Each member seemed to have their own style and unique contribution to the group, but as a whole they are a full plate of audio and visual tastiness. Lastly, Justin Moore took to the stage, complete with a 4-wheel ATV on his set. Unlike Bucky Covington, who rode his dirt bike onto stage two years ago, Justin used his vehicle only for continuity from his hunting-themed video introduction. The video ended with the ATV headlights coming at the camera; the curtain came up to those headlights glaring into the audience. From there, it was game on! With the exception of a touching tribute song for his grandpa, Justin rocked out and owned that stage. This is a guy to be excited about. He is an all-purpose package and a bright light to country’s future. His music is country, but it’s rockin’. He can touch your heart with a ballad, or he can kick your a$$ with an attitude song. He’s got the tunes that'll relate to the guys; he’s got the sexy swagger of Tim McGraw to swoon the women. It looks like country music is in good hands with the Class of 2010. Another successful CRS in the can. You've been seeing the pictures. Watch for video.

An Entire Week of Blond Moments

It’s Country Music Week on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader! Watch CMT at 6pm (Mountain) each night this week to see Jeff Foxworthy quiz the country stars on grade school subjects. It’s interesting to note that all of this week’s contestants share the same hair color. So be prepared for some great “blond moments” when the singers are forced to cheat off 5th graders to win some money for charity. Tonight, it’s Big Kenny from Big & Rich, playing for his charity Love Everybody. Be sure to check back on this blog later tonight for the recaps!

Tomorrow, Heidi Newfield will play; Wednesday Bucky Covington will try to make the grade; Thursday Jack Ingram matches smarts with the kids; Friday Emily West goes back to school.

News From Around The Country
Blake Shelton's brow-raising tweets have lead to him to be entered in the Mr. Twitter U-S-A contest for September and so far he is in the lead. The link to the contest is on his website and fans can vote every 20-minutes. Should Blake win in the U-S, he would then go on to a global competition for the world crown. … Lady Antebellum’s “I Run To You,” is being featured in the fall commercial campaign for the financial services giant TIAA-CREF. … Love and Theft have been asked to join the Jason Aldean Tour. … And finally, Trisha Yearwood has been asked to host the annual “Christmas at Belmont.” She’ll join over 400 university students and faculty singers, as well as the Nashville Children’s Choir. It will take place at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and will be nationally aired on December 23rd on PBS.

Thursday Stories

Love and Theft have filmed a video for their debut song, “Runaway” at an abandoned brewery in Memphis. Like the song, the video will depict the boys trying to make a fast paced getaway from their mundane existence. And like a lot of video shoots, there were issues. When the video is released in a few weeks, think about this. Stephen Barker Liles was sick all day with food poisoning. And, the engine in the 1971 Mustang Mach 1, featured in the video, had to be rebuilt the morning of the shoot. The car’s power steering later failed during filming with Brian Bandas behind the wheel.

News From Around The Country
John Rich is going to appear on an exclusive 13-artist iTunes page for Frank Sinatra called His Way, Our Way. John sings “One For My Baby, (And One For The Road).” The project is aimed at introducing a younger generation to Sinatra’s music. Michelle Branch has finished her first solo country album and says the project sounds very similar to the work she produced with Jessica Harp as The Wreckers. Lady Antebellum and Tayna Tucker join Darius Rucker as country artists who now have their own iPhone application. Jason Aldean is releasing a club version of his hit “She’s Country” featuring rapper Finesse. And as expected, Brad Paisley debuted his latest CD American Saturday Night at the top of the sales charts. This is the fifth time that Brad has done that with a non-seasonal album.

Chuck Astaire

Last night on Dancing With The Stars, Chulianne danced a fox trot to “All I Wanna Do.” They received rave reviews for continued improvement and were rewarded with their highest score to date: 23. Praised by the judges for dancing “with” Julianne rather than chasing her around the floor, Chuck Wicks made the nation’s potato farmers very proud. Carrie Ann Inaba, a.k.a. “The Lift Police,” didn’t even ding them for the flying swing Chuck gave Julianne Hough. Ty Murray continues to emerge from the shadows. He and his partner, Chelsie, foxtrotted around the dance floor like a father-daughter wedding dance. All the while, Ty wore his smiling “concentration face.” The judges complemented Ty for catching Chelsie when she slipped, a move that throws even seasoned dancers. So both connections to country are running in the middle of the pack. The leaders are still Gilles and Cheryl, who steamed up the ballroom with a red hot samba that had moves where no moves ever existed. Shawn and Mark were the picture of elegance as he twirled her around like a princess. "Team Shark," as noted on Shawn and Mark's T-shirts, is an early contender for the mirror ball trophy. Steve-O was still recuperating, so he and Lacey played it straight. Yet he injured himself – again – on the last slide of the dance. Likely to go home: Steve Wozniack and Karina. Despite his concerted efforts, Steve’s fighting the stigma of last week’s bottom two, and the judges dissed his dancing. Although, as goofy as his routine, and honestly, we don’t need to see a large middle-age man doing the worm – ever – his routine was not nearly as absurd as "Clorky" humping across the dance floor last season. Cloris and Corky were a pair that will never be rivaled.

News From Around The Country
The Garth Factor: The Career Behind Country's Big Boom will hit book shelves May 28th. The autobiography is a 352-page book that takes a look at Garth Brooks’ career and family life. The book is written by Patsi Bale Cox who has co-authored autobiographies for such artists as Wynonna Judd, Tanya Tucker, and Loretta Lynn. Nora Robert’s Northern Lights starring LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian had about four-point-five million viewers on Saturday night making it Lifetime’s biggest premiere this year. Love and Theft will make their Grand Ole Opry debut this Saturday night. Dean Brody received an official Army Commendation for his song “Brothers.” During a recent concert, the United States Army Freedom Team surprised Dean with a letter saluting him for his touching debut single.