One Hot Grammy Party

Nashville’s hottest artists got together on Tuesday night to celebrate the country music Grammy nominations. Those spotted at the party included Dierks Bentley, Gretchen Wilson, Kings of Leon, Paramore, Marty Stuart, The Band Perry, and Lady Antebellum, who are nominated in six categories, more than any other country artist. The 53rd Grammy Awards will air live on CBS on February 13th. ..... As an unfortunate sidenote to the party, Dierks Bentley lost his new, classic car to a fire. Dierks had only driven his ’67 Camaro three times before it burst into flames while sitting in a parking lot just outside a bar. Dierks tweeted (sic), “met my friend charles kelley at a bar. he wanted to see my new ’67 camaro. we walked back outside. it was on fire. not cool.”

In celebration of their 10th season, American Idol is launching a mobile museum tour of 16 cities across the U.S. You’ll be able to experience Idol stardom through singing and posing for photos with life-size cardboard stand-ups of host Ryan Seacrest and the new judges. Visitors will also have a chance to check out memorabilia like Carrie Underwood’s finale dress, David Cook’s guitar, and a suit worn by Ryan.

News From Around The Country
An upcoming album of Lionel Richie country duets is almost finished. Producer Tony Brown is just working on getting Sugarland and Zac Brown Band into the studio. Already finished are “Stuck on You” (with Darius Rucker), “Sail On” (Tim McGraw), “Lady” (Kenny Rogers), “Easy” (Willie Nelson), “Deep River Woman” (Little Big Town), “You Are” (Blake Shelton) and “All Night Long” (Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band). …. Ricky Skaggs is writing his autobiography with Eddie Dean, the author who co-penned the prize-winning Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times with bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley. Look for the memoir to be published this fall. Ricky is also working on a project for Time-Life’s record division. ….. Charley Pride will release his first studio album since 2006. Choices will feature 13 original tracks and a couple of classic spiritual songs. Charley has sold over 70-million records throughout his career as country music’s first African-American superstar. His newest album will be released on his 73rd birthday, March 18th.

Welcome To Monday

After taking a few breaks along the way, Jimmy Wayne has almost completed his Meet Me Halfway walk to Phoenix, which began in Nashville on January 1st. Jimmy has had quite a few adventures along the way, including a stop at a small town in Arizona to sing a little karaoke. Jimmy signed up under a fake name “Barry Wong,” which was inspired by a political sign he noticed on his walk. “His name was Barry Wong, and man I just thought that was so funny because who would vote for someone named Barry Wong,” Jimmy said, “Then I thought about it and said, ‘Shoot well I probably would because he’s probably had to deal with that name his whole life.” The best part of the act was Jimmy’s choice in outfit. He wore a black cowboy hat and skiing goggles, with a pink tank-top. Jimmy continues, “When I was singing, this one cowboy says to the other cowboy, ‘You hold him, I’ll hit him!’ The other one says, ‘My momma would never let me out with that shirt.’ Which is kind of weird to me because if you’re a grown man living at home with mom there’s obviously something wrong with that.”

Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott has been collaborating with Miranda Lambert and Maroon 5 in her downtime from touring with Tim McGraw. Hillary and Maroon 5 have recorded a song called “Out of Goodbyes,” which will be featured on Maroon 5’s next album Hands All Over. Hillary has another song she co-wrote with Miranda called “Suffocating,” which can be found on Blake Shelton’s upcoming All About Tonight Six Pak. Hillary says, “Right now, the vibe in the country music community is everyone is just lovin' on each other. It's like everyone wants the best for each other -- hence, all the co-writes and song-sharing.”

Roy Rogers’ stuffed Palomino horse, Trigger, sold for $266,000 at an auction on Thursday. RFD-TV made the winning bid for the former animal actor, also known as the “smartest horse in movies.” The auction also featured several items from the long-closed Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum, including Roy’s 1964 Bonneville Convertible.

And following last evening’s special programming featuring Ricky Skaggs, let’s listen to Ricky talk about his new album, Mosaic:

Ricky Talks About "Mosaic" from Skaggs Family Records on Vimeo.

The Campaign for Carrie Continues....

Just two weeks until Carrie Underwood brings her Carnival Ride Tour to the Pan American Center. Are you working on your campaign signs so you can win tickets? Opening for Carrie is Little Big Town. And today happens to be Jimi Westbrook’s birthday. Any better reason to check out LBT as the Spotlight Artist of the Week?

Today’s Monday Music Madness features the newest release from John Micheal Montgomery. Stay tuned to win a copy of Time Flies.

News from Around The Country
Kenny Chesney has to pay a big fine in St. Louis. The venue that he played in on the Poets and Pirates Tour had a midnight curfew, which Kenny disregarded. So he’s being fined $1000 per minute that he was onstage past midnight. And he’s paying it with a smile. Kenny says he and the crowd were having such a good time, he wanted to rock out and give them their money’s worth.

Last week the Inspirational Music Awards were handed out. George Strait's song “I Saw God Today” took home the Mainstream Inspirational Country song award, while Tracy Lawrence's video for “Till I Was A Daddy Too” walked away with Video of the Year. The Bellamy Brothers were named Vocal Duo of the Year. Ricky Skaggs & The Whites took home two honors. Ricky, his wife Sharon, her sister Cheryl and the girls' father, Buck, walked away with the Inspirational Bluegrass Artist and Mainstream Country Artist awards. Additionally, Ricky was named Musician of the Year.

Tuesday Newsday

He may not be as good as he once was, but he’s as good once as he ever was. Happy Birthday, Toby Keith! The Big Dog Daddy turns 47 today.

Catching up on the country calendars, set your DVR's for Rascal Flatts. Gary, Jay, and Joe Don are going to perform “Bob That Head” on the Today Show’s Summer Concert Series, this Friday, July 11th.

July 18th, Melissa Peterman begins her new gig on CMT. She’s going to be going around the country granting wishes to those who dare to “dream small.” One dreamer got his house cleaned so he could bring dates home. Another dreamed for her own motorcycle so she didn’t have to ride with her boyfriend anymore. These and other small, everyday dreams will be granted when Peterman hosts the new series Redneck Dreams.

In the CD department today, you’ll find new releases from Ricky Skaggs and Disney. The highly anticipated Country Sings Disney is out today, so you no longer have to rely on the clips in the preview widget. The fifteen song CD includes classic and contemporary Disney songs performed by your favorite country stars, including Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alison Krauss, Martina McBride, Bucky Covington, Little Big Town, Josh Gracin, Phil Stacey and SHeDAISY.

For the Disney project, Bucky Covington recorded the song "You'll Be In My Heart," originally from the animated feature Tarzan. Bucky says, “Well it’s just an awesome song. It’s not a song I would usually record, so one of the greatest things about being able to be a part of the Disney compilation is the fact that I got to record a song like this. And really, I have always been a fan of the song.”

George Strait's Classic Christmas CD has been added to the release listings on October 7th. Look for George to present such favorites as "We Three Kings," "Up on the Housetop," "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing," "Deck the Halls," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” "I wanted to put together a collection of my favorite traditional Christmas songs that I grew up listening to," Strait said. "It was hard to narrow it down to ten of them, but I think I've done it. I hope these songs bring back good memories for my fans like they have for me."

There’s also word that country music will be in the US Olympic Team’s CD rack. Lady Antebellum is among the acts to be featured on a special CD to motivate the team. Lady A joins Sheryl Crow, Nelly and 3 Doors Down, among others, on the AT&T Team USA Motivational Soundtrack. The collection will feature exclusive motivational songs for the athletes and will be available for download in August. The Olympics begin in China on August 8th.