Country Expands Its Influence On TV

Miranda Lambert is reported to be serving as executive producer of a TV show based largely on her childhood in East Texas. The scripted drama will tell the story of a family whose parents are private investigators and the children assist in solving crimes. Miranda was raised in Lindale, Texas, where her parents, Rick and Beverly Lambert, operated a detective agency. Miranda’s mother will also be an executive producer of the program. It is said to be a production of the ABC Family network.

A new memoir by Ashley Judd will reveal the details of growing up in the Judd house. Excerpts from All That Is Bitter and Sweet are showing up online and are said to include horrific stories about her childhood. "I loved my mother," Ashley writes about Naomi Judd, “But at the same time I dreaded the mayhem and uncertainty that followed her everywhere.” You may also want to catch Ashley’s search into her family history when she is featured on the TV series Who Do You Think You Are? this Friday on NBC. Ashley’s not the only one giving a behind-the-scenes look at the family. A new reality series follows Naomi and Wynonna Judd as they tour for the last time. The Judds premieres this Sunday on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network. The Judds have released a new album, I Will Stand By You: The Essential Collection. It features 12 Judds hits and two new songs.

Also premiering on Friday is the new reality series CMT’s Next Superstar. The first episode showcases move-in day as the 10 contestants take up home in the Music Mansion. For their first task, they’re responsible for turning a smash hit in another genre outside of country into a country song. At the end of the episode, one will be eliminated. Las Cruces’ favorite contestant, Bri Bagwell, is on the show because she heard about the auditions from Miranda Lambert’s mom. Bri said, “Well it was really weird because I’m the biggest Miranda Lambert fan there is and um, her mom called me. She said that they’re having auditions in Texas at their winery. And the next thing I knew I was on the show!”

Country Stars on TV

Several projects are in the works to bring country artists to television in non-traditional capacities. Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band is producing a program for the Outdoor Channel that will combine three of his favorite things: hunting, cooking, and music. Fear No Evil is said to be primarily a hunting show, but while he's outdoors, Zac will find a way to introduce some cooking in places where you may not have seen it before. No word on an air date for the new show, but watch for ZBB performing with James Taylor on Sunday’s ACM Awards.

Lee Brice appears on a special ACM Award episode of The Price is Right today. Instead of competing on the game show, Lee actually helps host Drew Carey announce prices. “I thought when they first asked me to do it, I was like, ‘First of all, are you kidding me?” Lee said, “This is the show I grew up, since I was a kid, watching.’ Then I thought maybe I was going to get to be a contestant but this was actually cooler. Being the person on the stage, back-stage, running around. This was awesome.”

Wynonna and Naomi Judd are getting ready to launch their new show, The Judds, on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network on April 10th. Naomi says the show is “real” and unscripted, but it’s not “reality.” It’s more like a documentary series following the process of touring the country for the first time in years and healing their relationship that has been strained by the ups and downs of their career.

Meanwhile, Shania Twain’s new show for the Oprah Network, Why Not? premieres on May 8th. She also has a new autobiography coming out on May 3rd.

And finally, Jewel is going to be a part of this summer’s reality competition, Going Platinum. Interestinly, she's not the only one in her family to do TV. Her dad, Atz Kilcher, has joined the cast of Discovery’s Mountain Men of Alaska. His official website lists him as “Alaska’s foremost singer, song writer, yodeling, story-telling recording artist.” Now, he’ll be filmed as he uses his hunting and fishing skills to live off the land.

It Sure Is Monday

So Trevor Bayne became the youngest driver to ever win the Daytona 500 yesterday, and country stars entertained. Dierks Bentley and Brad Paisley each performed prior to the start of the race, and Martina McBride covered the National Anthem. Brad also drove the pace car at the race, commenting on Twitter that it was the most “ridiculously exciting thing” he’s ever done. Other celebrities participating in the events of the day included movie director Michael Bay, and actors Josh Duhamel and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley who gave the command to drivers to start their engines. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck were also spotted in attendance.

You may be hearing more and more about the Boot Campaign from some of your favorite country artists. Organizers have asked celebrities to be photographed in a pair of military boots as a way to show support by walking in their shoes. Joe Nichols is just one star participating, and he said that it is a very cool way to tribute the military. Joe found another way to pay tribute to the military by featuring a couple of American heroes in his video for “The Shape I’m In.”

And finally, if your anxious to get an inside peek at The Judds, the new series will premiere on April 10th on the Oprah Winfrey Network. For the first time on television, you’ll see the private and public lives of Naomi and Wynonna Judd. The six-episode show follows the mother-daughter duo as they hit the road for their first and final concert tour in ten years. Cameras capture their emotional journey as they work to heal their relationship, reconnect with their fans, and share the spotlight once again.

News Like Crazy

How’s this for crazy. Lee Brice’s song “Love Like Crazy,” has set the new record for a song with the most weeks spent on Billboard’s Country Songs chart, with 55 weeks. That’s an insanely long period of time for a record company to keep a song going these days. “Love Like Crazy” has now surpassed Eddy Arnold’s “Bouquet Of Roses” which began it’s 54-week run in 1948, largely in part to its 19-week stint at number one. Lee has yet to get to the top spot, as a majority of his song’s run was spent in the lower echelons of the chart. It has been a painfully slow crawl to the current number three slot on the country singles chart.

Carrie Underwood has been named the first North American ambassador for a legenday women’s skincare line. Olay is currently sponsoring Carrie’s Play On tour, and she will debut in the beauty product’s new campaign in early 2011. In other Carrie news, she recently had a chance to screen her debut film, Soul Rider. The movie is based on the story of Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack. Carrie plays a youth counselor, and she said, “I really liked how everything turned out, including myself. I was really expecting the worst from myself, and I really surprised myself.” Carrie describes the film as an uplifting story, and those who go to see it will come out feeling better about the small things in life.

News From Around The Country
The Judds will return to the Oprah Winfrey Show on September 14th to discuss plans for their upcoming farewell tour, give a private tour of their 1,000-acre Tennessee farm, and perform a special duet for Oprah. ….. Kris Kristofferson will join Lady Antebellum and Martina McBride for Friday night’s Stand Up To Cancer event which will air on 17 various channels. ….. And finally, here’s a surprise for you. Trailer Choir lead vocalist Marc "Butter" Fortney married Emily Robertson, a member of the Carter's Chord, during a surprise ceremony Monday night at 12th & Porter, a club in downtown Nashville. Friends and family were told the event was a birthday party for Butter. Trailer Choir and Carter's Chord were among Toby Keith's first signings when he launched his record label, Show Dog Nashville.

It's a Monday-like Tuesday

Keith Urban is featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process of his new album on his website. Keith has been in the studio for almost seven weeks and from here on out, the website will post a new album blog each week. The most recent blog revealed that unlike most artists who stand up while they record their vocals, Keith prefers to sit in a brown leather chair. And if you wondered what became of Keith’s favorite guitar, the one that he received the first time he came to the United States, it was saved from the Nashville flood. Keith said, “I managed to salvage out of the water and I’m having it rebuilt. I don’t know if it’s going to sound very good but it’s one of those things to me, even if it had to go up on the wall, I would never part with this guitar.”

Though Martina McBride is still on her Shine All Night tour, she still has family vacation plans for the summer. Describing her summer plans, Martina said, “Let’s see. We’re kind of having a low-key summer. The girls have gone to a couple of camps, just day camps, you know, sports camp. And we have a trip planned to the West coast. And we’re really looking forward to that because the only time we really get out there is during the summer because of the tour schedule and the school and all that. So we’re looking forward to spending some time together on the bus.”

And finally, bargain hunters, rejoice! The Judds are having a vintage merchandise sale. Where else can you get those highly-desired cassette tapes of The Judds hits for one dollar? Old t-shirts, postcards, posters, and CDs can be snapped up for cheap at the online vintage sale until the end of the month.

Highlights of CMA Music Fest - So Far

The CMA Music Festival kicked off yesterday and the nightly concerts at LP Field in Nashville did not disappoint fans. The Oak Ridge Boys started the night off by singing the National Anthem, then Danny Gokey made his CMA Music Festival debut. The night included a sting of performances from Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, and Alan Jackson. And as though you can have a headliner with a night of names like that, Carrie Underwood closed the night and brought the house down when she brought out Jason Aldean for a rendition of Gun and Roses’ “Paradise City.” Tonight’s performing at LP Field include Julianne Hough, Josh Turner, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, The Band Perry and Reba McEntire.

The Judds helped kick off the River Front stage performances yesterday, and they announced the name of their upcoming tour. Regarding the tour, Wynonna said, “The truth is it’s time. A woman knows when it’s time to…have a child, or get married. I just knew. Our therapist says it’s okay that we go back out in public without supervised visits. We’re in a really good place. I’m probably the healthiest that I’ve been in a long time. Mom has obviously healed. We’re the American dream, and it’s just time to celebrate that.” The Judds reached out to their fans to name the tour and the result was “The Last Encore.”

Fan club parties are a huge part of the week’s events in Nashville. At one in particular, Chris Young celebrated three huge accomplishments. With his fan club right there with him, Chris celebrated his most recent song “The Man I Want To Be,” reaching the top of the charts, his CMT Music Award win for the Nationwide on Your Side award and his 25th birthday. Gene Watson joined Chris on stage for “Mama Tried” and Chris played all of his hits as well. To celebrate his birthday, Chris blew out candles on top of a two piece birthday cake shaped like the number 25 complete with red, black and white icing and silver records that read Happy Birthday.

Close Enough To See Them Sweat

We started in the 5th row, and we’ve been moving the seats closer and closer to the stage each day this week. Today, FRONT ROW seats are up for grabs just for being the lucky 7th caller when you hear three songs in a row from Brooks & Dunn. Tickets for The Last Rodeo Tour at the Pan Am on May 23rd go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am.

News From Around The Country
OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network is announcing that Shania Twain will be starring in her own series on the network. The series Why Not? With Shania Twain is described as “her climb back to the top, a personal journey filled with risk, revelations and unexpected adventures.” Expect a "docu-series" rather than a reality show. The network will launch the one-hour episodes on Jan 1st, 2011, into 80 million homes.

Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, and Taylor Swift have all donated autographed high heels to the Wish Upon A Star Hero Campaign. The heels will be auctioned off with proceeds benefiting women with cancer. Miranda’s are listed for $89, Martina’s are $295, and Taylor’s are listed as priceless. Um, where are Kellie Pickler’s red high heels?

And finally, in preparation for their 2010 tour, The Judds are inviting fans to participate in their Name That Tour Contest! The Judds said, “Fans are our family of choice and this tour is truly a family affair. So, it just felt right to ask them to help us name the tour. After all, they are the reason we are embarking on this journey together one last time.” Visit www.wynonnna.com by April 23rd and follow the directions to enter the contest. The winner will take home $500 in tour merchandise, a personal “thank you” video message from The Judds, and a mention in the 2010 Commemorative Judds Tour Book.