Everyone Loves Kellie Pickler!

You already know that we love us some Kellie Pickler...well apparently Hazel Smith over at CMT does too! We love Hazel and we look forward to Hot Dish posts every week, so we were delighted to find her page filled with Kellie today! Click here to read about Hazel's phone conversation with Ms. Pickler!

Jessica Simpson Shows Her Support!

Jessica Simpson showed her support for her man (Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo) yesterday while wearing a jersey with his #9 on it while departing from LAX. Maybe her support was good luck...the Cowboys won yesterday on the road against the Green Bay Packers, 27-16! And so much for the "curse" that many Dallas fans thought that Jessica brought to the team...the Cowboys have opened up the season with 3 straight wins!

Ashton Shepherd

Country newcomer Ashton Shepherd is hitting the road with Sugarland this fall. The 22 year old wrote 7 of the 11 songs on her debut album, Sounds So Good, which is in stores now. To be honest, we weren't big fans of her first single, "Takin' Off This Pain," we thought it sounded a lot like a bad version of Gretchen Wilson and well, we just didn't dig it, but we like her new single, "Sounds So Good." You can check out her current video here at CMT.com.

When she's not touring, Ashton is spending time with her 3 year old son and husband in their hometown that's about 5 1/2 hours from Nashville. When asked if she'd ever move to Nashville, Ashton said, "It's just not me. I just can't. When I get back home and then I go to a big place, I just don't know how people stand the noise and the busyness. I like being out of the way. I have to drive 5½ hours home every time from Nashville...That's sort of like my little sanctuary." Even if she doesn't move to Nashville, we're sure she'll be spending a lot of time there!

Want to see more? You can also watch Ashton Shepherd on CMT's Unplugged at Studio 330 HERE.

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Want to Meet Martina McBride?

Martina McBride is surprising her fans with meet and greet passes during her fall tour. Fans who purchase Martina's Official Tour Book at merchandise stands during her shows will have a chance to meet her! Two sets of passes will be given randomly out per show. If you are planning on attending a show, this is a great way to have a chance to meet her!

Fan Story: Missy & Chuck Wicks

We just ran across Missy's pictures from her Chuck Wicks experience on Saturday night and decided we HAD to share her awesome story with you!

Missy hit up the Paisley Party Tour stop in West Palm Beach, FL. This was her first time seeing Chuck and she said it would NOT be her last (of course after this awesome story)! She had spent hours making a shirt for him that included a few titles of his songs. Naturally, she staked out her spot under Chucks mic as soon as she got there.

A few songs of Chucks set went by and Missy was having a blast. To her surprise, during "She's Gonna Hurt Somebody," Chuck walked over to her and PULLED her up on stage. The funny thing is, the front of her shirt said, "She's Gonna Hurt Somebody," so it was perfect timing. Chuck and Missy danced and sang together on stage. Missy said she was in "HEAVEN" while she was up there- What a lucky girl! Chuck Wicks is super cute- any girl would love to be up there with him!

Congrats Missy- that's a night you will never forget!

Kenny Chesney Farm Aid Pictures

Here are a few pics (courtesy of our friend Sue - she was at the show and said it was Awesome!) of Kenny Chesney performing his acoustic set at yesterday's Farm Aid event in Mansfield, MA. Willie Nelson joined Kenny on stage when Kenny sang "10 With A 2" from Kenny's upcoming "Lucky Old Sun" album as well as "Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning"...both of those songs were written by Willie.

Zac Brown Band Review

Hey everyone, it's Lauren! Although I was extremely exhausted from the past 3 weekends' adventures (Kenny Chesney in Tampa and Jacksonville, Luke Bryan in Tampa, and Kenny in Indy) I couldn't pass up a chance to see the Zac Brown Band live. They played a small club in downtown Orlando on Friday night. I have been listening to their album, "The Foundation", non stop, so naturally, I was excited to hear them live.
They rocked! I really don't know what it is or how to describe it, but they are just so original, and I can't get enough! They played a lot of the songs I like from their album including "Chicken Fried" (which is at country radio now,) "Toes," and "Whatever It Is," but they also played a few songs I had never heard before and I enjoyed them as well. Oh, and their cover of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" was AMAZING! Those guys are VERY talented!
I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout at the venue too! I had no idea that people in Orlando liked this type of music- the club was the most packed I have ever seen it! Sad to say, but people who live here aren't the most country lovin' people I've ever met...anyway, everyone seemed to have a great time- I know I did!
"Chicken Fried" currently sits at #24 on the R&R Country Chart. If you like it, request it, if you haven't heard it- listen NOW! It's great!!! AND if you have a chance to see ZBB, take it up! You won't regret it!

New! Chuck Wicks Webisodes

Chuck Wicks and his team recently launched ChuckTV. It seems like a lot of artists are starting to post weekly webisodes to help keep their fans in the know!

Here's the most recent episode of ChuckTV!

Craig Morgan Invited Into The Grand Ole Opry

It seems like it's a good week for tear jerking videos around here! First it was Jake Owen melting our hearts and then Montgomery Gentry...this time it's Craig Morgan as he was invited to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. He, of course, accepted the invitation and will join the Opry family on October 25th. Congrats Craig, this obviously means the world to you!

Country Weekly Features the DB Congress

One of our good concert buddies, Ronna and her friends in the Dierks Bentley Congress are featured in the current issue of Country Weekly! How cool is that?!

Pick up the October 6th issue and turn to page 62 to read more about their experience with soon to be father, Dierks Bentley!


Don't forget to keep requesting his new single, "Feel That Fire!"

PS: That is one HOT picture of Dierks!! Don't you think?!

Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You

The beautiful and talented Faith Hill is celebrating her 41st Birthday today! Happy Birthday Mrs. McGraw!!

Watch Farm Aid - LIVE!

Click HERE to watch Farm Aid LIVE - Kenny Chesney is set to take the stage in just a few minutes!


***Sorry everyone! Kenny is singing live right now, but they must have decided not to air his portion of the set!***

Listen to Farm Aid Live!

Tune in NOW (2pm EST) for exclusive interviews and behind the scenes information LIVE from Farm Aid 2008 in Mansfield, Mass. where Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews Band, Jamey Johnson, John Mellancamp, and Kenny Chesney will soon hit the stage! Starting at 6pm you can hear the actual concert broadcast! Click HERE to tune in.

New Luke Bryan Webisode

Here's another Must See LBTV for you! This week, Luke Bryan recaps his experiences on Kenny Chesney's Poet & Pirates Tour!

Carolyn Dawn Johnson's New Arrival

Country singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson and her husband, Matt Fisher, welcomed their first child, a daughter, on Tuesday, September 16th. Abigail Grace was born at 3:02am and Mom & baby are doing great! Carolyn says of the new arrival "we are in love!" Congrats to the happy family!

Jimmy Wayne In His Underwear & Handcuffs!!

Jimmy Wayne had quite the experience on Thursday on his way home from a California radio show! Read Jimmy's own commentary of the chain of events when he kept setting off the metal detector...

"I kept trying to get through and it would go off...finally the TSA officer said something to the effect of, 'Remove your shorts,' and I thought to myself, 'Now that sounds a little weird, but I guess it's okay – I mean they show guys in boxers in the Sunday paper ads, right? I guess maybe between not having enough sleep and not understanding him ... I don't know. I did it! He flipped! I ran back to the belt – I thought I could grab my shorts real fast – but the belt sucked the shorts up in the X-ray into the other side. So now I'm stuck in my boxers and everyone's staring."

The incident didn't end here...they actually called for police backup and Jimmy was questioned (and handcuffed!) for 25 minutes before they let him go...in HIS UNDERWEAR!!!

Lol, at least it's publicity and any publicity is good publicity, right?!

Montgomery Gentry & Chantz!

Are you a Montgomery Gentry fan? If you are, then awesome, they're great guys...if you're not, well just watch this video and we're sure that you'll turn into one! Oh, and have a tissue handy...this is SUCH a heart-warming video. Kudos to MG for taking the time to remember what it's all about!

Toby Keith's Beer For My Horses

Toby Keith's Beer For My Horses is hitting more theaters this weekend. Here is a list of where you can catch the flick.

Has anyone seen it yet? What did you think?

In other Toby news, he was recently recognized by the U.S. Congress for his continued service to the troops. To date, Toby has made a total of SIX USO trips, one of which was actually interrupted by fire.

After hearing the news, Toby said, "The real glory belongs to those men and women I’ve met who leave their families and put it on the line for the rest of us." He added, "Getting to visit with them once a year is the biggest honor for me, and I will encourage other artists and performers to make that USO trip."

GAC: Into the Circle

GAC has a new series called Into the Circle and it sounds pretty interesting!

The show will take you behind the scenes with up and coming artists who hope to follow in the footsteps of some of the industry's hottest stars. The first episode airs tonight at 10 pm (EST) and features Kellie Pickler and Trace Adkins. Feature episodes will include artists such as James Otto, Travis Tritt, and Vince Gill. Click HERE for a full listing of showtimes.

Behind the Scenes with Julianne Hough

CMT Insider takes you behind the scenes of Julianne Hough's new video, "My Hallelujah Song."
Click HERE to check it out!

Also, don't forget to vote for Julianne each week on ABC's Dancing with the Stars!

Capitol Pub Crawl

The Capitol Pub Crawl was held last night in Nashville! Trace Adkins, Darius Rucker, Emily West, and Luke Bryan entertained over 9,000 fans for FREE! They are pictured above with Capitol CEO Mike Dungan.

Did you go? We wish we could have been there!!!

Kenny Chesney ~ Swimming With Sharks?!

Now that his summer tour has come to an end for 2008, Kenny Chesney is looking for other ways to get his adrenaline flowing. Kenny tells GAC Nights Live From Nashville that he’d like to swim with sharks! Kenny says “That’d be great. I was watching this thing on TV the other day about how these people would go and get in these cages and swim with sharks. It was like ‘Wow!’ That’d be a rush. You know, I saw that move [The Bucket List]. I don’t want to jump out of an airplane. I don’t like heights. I don’t want to bungee jump, you know? There are other things that’d make you feel alive…So, yeah, one day I’d love to do that. I’d love to swim with sharks. It’d be a big rush for me. To be that close to a great white, it’d be really, really awesome.”

In other Kenny news, you can catch him on the November cover of Caribbean Travel & Life. Noting that the island life has no doubt changed his own pace, Kenny says “The way people live is just different down there. The pace is slower, the vibe is easier. I know why people go down there on vacation and never go home…and the people at Caribbean Travel & Life get that. And they seem to know how to get people who are maybe only visiting – or just sitting in a chair in their office somewhere – to that place in which you can feel the island.”

Even though he’s done with touring for the year, Kenny hasn’t slipped completely out of sight yet. He’ll release his next album, “Lucky Old Sun” on October 14th and appear as the artist with the most nominations at the CMA Awards on November 12th.

Luke Bryan Honors Legend

Wednesday night during the ACM Honors at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Luke Bryan had the chance to pay tribute to one of his all-time favorite artists, Conway Twitty. Of the legend, Luke says "I don't remember a time in my life that I was not a die hard Conway Twitty fan." Luke entertained the crowd with his version of Conway's "Hello Darlin" as Conway was honored with a Pioneer Award.
This picture was taken just this past weekend...check out Luke's t-shirt...he was sporting the image of none other than Conway Twitty!

Luke also often pays tribute to the legend during his own live shows with his cover of "Lay You Down." Here's a clip...

Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You...

Country powerhouse Trisha Yearwood (also known as Mrs. Garth Brooks!) is celebrating her birthday today...Happy Birthday Trisha!

Jake Owen & Partner!

Country Weekly has this posted on their website and it is TOO CUTE not to share with you! An 8 year old's dream came true when Jake Owen pulled him on stage to duet with him during fan favorite, "Eight Second Ride." You can read the whole story here...this kid is a natural!

Darius Rucker's Star-Studded CD

By now you've heard that Hootie and the Blowfish front man, Darius Rucker, released his first country album this week...but have you heard that there's some serious star power on the album? Darius enlisted the help of country giants Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, and Brad Paisley for his first country project! Darius told The Memphis Commercial Appeal "Having Alison Krauss, Vince Gill and Brad Paisley on your record adds credibility for sure. All the performers were so great, and so great at what they do. These people are at the top of their genre, and for them to take their time and come down to sing and play was awesome...Everybody delivers when they show up. Listening to Brad Paisley play guitar on my song was a day I'll never forget."

Darius is staying busy during the release week of his CD...he will once again take the stage of the Grand Ole Opry this weekend as he performs there on Saturday night. You can catch the performance live on GAC...check your local listings for that.

Darius seems so genuine, humble and excited about his future in country music...we think he's one crossover that's here to stay!

Chart Update

An interesting week as far as the No. 1 spot on the charts this week! Also a lot of slow and steady climbers, and finally some female action in the top 10!

- After reaching the top of the charts with "Do You Believe Me Now," Jimmy Wayne slipped back to the No. 2 spot last week. Well apparently he wasn't content with that spot, since he once again regains the No. 1 with his current hit!

- It seems like plenty of folks are hanging onto summer as long as they can with Kid Rock's hit "All Summer Long." That one moves into the top 5 this week landing at No. 5 from No. 6 last week.

- Carrie Underwood finally brings the female edge to the top 10 with "Just A Dream." That single moves up to No. 8 from No. 11 last week.

- Chuck Wicks makes a good jump from No. 18 to No. 14 with his current single "All I Ever Wanted."

- Lady Antebellum is still climbing with good momentum as they move up from No. 24 to No. 19 with their feel good song "Lookin' For A Good Time."

- Taylor Swift bursts onto the chart with "Love Story" which is the first release from her upcoming album, "Fearless." "Love Story" lands at No. 25 in it's very first week on the charts!

Smell Like Tim McGraw

Tim McGraw's fragrance, MCGRAW, is hitting stores soon. The cologne's ad campaign was recently released and Tim is ready to see where it takes him.

"Creating my own fragrance is an exciting new endeavor for me," McGraw said. "Coty has a great creative and marketing team, one of the best in the industry, and I'm looking forward to working with them."

Coty is the world's largest fragrance company. The company also manages fragrances for Shania Twain, Celine Dion, and Jennifer Lopez.

Alan Jackson Wants Your Help

Alan Jackson needs your help creating his next video! Check it out!

Don't Forget

Hey everyone! Don't forget to tune in online tomorrow morning to Froggy 99.9 at 8:40 am (EST) to hear our radio spot.

Every Friday morning you can hear us on the Mike, April, & Randy show!

CMA Award Promo

This was just posted to You Tube! Check it out!!!

Free Music Tonight In Nashville!

If you're in the Nashville area, head on down to the Capitol Pub Crawl tonight! You'll get entertained with free music by Trace Adkins, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, and Emily West! The event will kick-off at 6pm on Demonbreun Street near the Tin Roof and Dan McGuinness...get there a little early to play the new Sing Star Country game on PlayStation2! If you're the best one at the game, you'll win Meet & Greet passes for Trace Adkins as well as a brand new PS2 along with the Sing Star Country game!! If you can make it, HAVE FUN - we SO wish we could be there for this event...it's going to be a great night!!

A Busy Time For Kellie Pickler

Kellie Pickler is gearing up to kick-off a very busy fall and winter! On September 30th, Kellie will release her new album, "Kellie Pickler," by appearing on NBC's The Today Show. She'll then hit the road to promote her new album by touring with superstar group, Sugarland. Kellie will follow that by ringing in the new year by co-hosting Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's along with her American Idol pal, Ryan Seacrest.

Kellie's current hit is the first single of off her new album, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful." The album will also feature songs co-written by Kellie including "Best Days Of Your Life" (which she wrote with Taylor Swift!,) "I Just Want Somebody To Love Me," and "One Last Time."

What do you guys think? Are you looking forward to the new album by Kellie? We definitely are...we love Kellie!

If you're a big Kellie fan and you want to help promote her, grab one of these banners and add them to your MySpace, Facebook, or website!

New Music From Toby Keith

Toby Keith has a new CD coming out next month, and never to be one that forms to the norm, this CD will be a bit different for Toby. "Missing Me Some You" is a song that was inspired by one of Toby's trips to Iraq and features a blues feel to the music. "Cry Of The Creole Woman" is more of a southern rock song telling of a man who goes into a Louisianna bar, gets taken up to a girls room, and as Toby puts it, "she puts the mojo on him and curses him." The album will also feature a couple of steamy love songs from Toby - HOT! Here's the track listing for the album...

• That Don't Make Me A Bad Guy
• Creole Woman
• God Love Her
• Lost You Anyway
• Missing Me Some You
• Hurt A Lot Worse When You Go
• Time That It Would Take
• You Already Love Me
• She Never Cried In Front Of Me (currently in the top 10 on the charts!)
• Cabo San Lucas
• I Got It For You Girl
  

Our Guide To The CMA Music Festival

At this time last year, we were busy planning our June adventure to Nashville for the annual CMA Music Festival. We had never been before and there was LOTS of information out there that sometimes became confusing and a bit overwhelming. If you're thinking of heading to the CMA Fest next year, here's our tips that will hopefully help you in your planning!

GO ~ You're a country music fan and you've heard about the festival and what a fun time it is...but can it really be all that it's cracked up to be? Can it really be such a great deal for your money? The answer is YES! If you still haven't made up your mind, just do it...bite the bullet and decide to go! Every country music fan should experience this festival at least once...and the sooner the better! Once you go, we have a feeling you'll want to go back year after year.

Go early, stay late ~ The festival is officially held beginning on Thursday, June 11 and goes through Sunday, June 14...but there are many other activities in and around town on the surrounding days, such as fan club parties of your favorite artists and the City of Hope celebrity softball game. If you can swing it, we recommend getting there a day (or two!) early to enjoy some other activities that Nashville has to offer because once the festival begins, you won't have time to do much else!

Admission ~ The main events that are held during the CMA Fest are the big nightly concerts at LP Field, the daily shows at the Riverfront Stages, and Meet & Greets with the stars. The admission ticket that you purchase will range from $120 - $300 (unless you buy an inclusive package - then it will be included in that cost) and that ticket is your admission to all of those events. You will receive a lanyard with your ticket attached...you will wear that throughout the 4 days and that will get you in to all things festival related.

Stay downtown ~ Sure, you can find cheaper accommodations on the outskirts of Nashville, but it is definitely worth the little bit of extra money to be right in the heart of the action. If you stay outside of town, by the time that you use gas to drive in town and pay to park, you'll end up paying the same that you would if you had stayed downtown. And besides, with so much going on, it's just so convenient to walk steps from your hotel and be in the heart of the action.

Buy a package ~ Since it was our first time going last year, we opted to buy one of the all-inclusive packages instead of purchasing each bit separately. We would definitely recommend this!! Doing this took so much work and confusion out of the process for us. Now that we've been, we feel confident that we could do things on our own if it proved to be cheaper, but buying it in a package really was the best way to go.

Pack accordingly ~ It's hot and you'll be doing a lot of walking and very little sleeping so you definitely want to worry about comfort instead of fashion. If you can pull off both, then great (and please let us in on the secret!,) but definitely make comfort your priority.

Travel with whatever works ~ We enjoyed the festival with some friends and had a great time! Our group was so laid back, go with the flow, and we were all able to customize our trip the way we wanted. If someone wanted to go in one direction while the others went a different, that was fine...we really just rolled with the flow and that worked for us. But, if you don't have any friends that you think would enjoy the festival, don't be afraid to go alone! You are NEVER alone at the CMA Fest...you're surrounded by thousands and thousands of people with the same interests as you. We met so many new friends that week and it's also very surprising how small the country music concert scene is. We were constantly bumping into people that we had seen along the way at a previous show or seen in an artists fan club. Everyone is so welcoming and friendly, so if the only way for you to go is to go alone, don't hesitate!

Those are the major points that we can think of right now, but if you have any questions, post them here in the comments section or send us an e-mail at contactus@countrymusicislove.com. We're happy to answer any questions that we can. We know that money is tight for everyone now, so if you're looking to get the most out of your money, then the CMA Fest is the way to go! We're in no way experts about the festival, and our recommendations are just that - recommendations!...but we know how confusing it can be at first so we're glad to help you through the process!

P.S. ~ These girls had a few mishaps on the way, but they didn't let that ruin their enthusiasm!

Listen UP!

This week's Listen UP is about the LoCash Cowboys...we've heard of them before (through the grapevine), but when one of their fans recently contacted us about them, we decided to check them out.

We've heard that their shows are very high energy and from listening to their music, we can see why-It rocks! Check them out here on their MySpace. You should listen to "You Got Me." They actually have a song called "Hot Little Cutie Pie Sexy Thang," it's pretty funny. We think they actually make "Hot Little Cutie Pie Sexy Thang" all one word!

What do you think of the LoCash Cowboys?

Country's Sexiest Man!

Well the votes are in and America has voted Trace Adkins as Country Weekly's sexiest man in country music! Here's the list of the top 10...

1. Trace Adkins
2. Gary Allan
3. Toby Keith
4. Chris Young
5. Jack Ingram
6. Keith Urban
7. Jeff Bates
8. Keith Anderson
9. Blake Shelton
10. Tim McGraw

We know the list has to be limited at 10, but we think there are some serious hotties that were left out...

Jessica Simpson Debuts At #1

Well the numbers have been tallied and Jessica Simpson's debut country album, "Do You Know," debuts at No. 1 this week on the country album charts. The CD sold 65,000 copies in it's first week and we're not really sure how that measures up. Obviously it's good enough for No. 1 for this week, but that could just be because it was the only big country album that debuted this week...OR, that could be great for a first time country CD. We're interested to see how another pop crossover, Darius Rucker, does next week when the sales are figured for his release of "Learn To Live."

What do you guys think? Is 65,000 a good number for Jessica for her 1st week sales? Either way, we bet Jessica is finally glad to get the music out there to her fans...this album has been highly anticipated, so we're sure it's a relief for her to just have it out there and be done with all of the hype!

Aaron Tippin ~ "Drill Here, Drill Now"

Aaron Tippin has recorded a song to encourage our government to start drilling oil here on American soil. No matter what your political beliefs are, it's nice to see a country artist standing up for what they feel with benefit the American people! If you'd like to download the song, just click here. Here's the lyrics...

Hello…..Is anybody out there listenin’ in Washington D.C.
This is the suffering voice of America crying out for relief
Now I don’t know what a gallon of gas costs up on Capitol Hill
But we sure know what it costs down here in Realityville
And the damage already done has been a mighty heavy toll
And if we’re gonna fix it we gotta start right here at home

CHORUS:
Drill here, drill now
How ‘bout some oil from our own soil that belongs to us anyhow
No more debatin’ we’re tired of waitin’ everybody shout out loud
Drill here, drill now

Every time a foreign tanker pulls up to our shore
They got us over a barrel while they bleed us a little more
And think how much it costs just to bring it all that way
And how many American jobs that’d make if we were drillin’ in the USA
Oh and God forbid if our oily friends should decide to cut us off
We’d be standin’ around with our britches down now listen to me ya’ll

REPEAT CHORUS

Well the winds of change are blowin’
Yes and we recognize that need
But tractors, trucks, cars and planes can’t run on tomorrow’s dreams
So while we’re workin’ on the future we can’t ignore today
Cuz who knows how much time the alternative might take
Somethin’s gotta be done right now cuz friends it won’t be long
Before this great big country comes grinding to a halt