Summer tour ticket giveaway and a chance to meet Rascal Flatts!

If you haven’t seen Rascal Flatts in concert yet, now’s your chance! We scored a pair of tickets to the trio’s July 31 concert in Hartford, Conn., at the Comcast Center. Courtesy of JCPenny, one lucky winner (and guest) will also get to MEET THE BAND!! If you’re going to be in...

July 27th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Book Review: Rosanne Cash – Composed (a memoir)

Rosanne Cash, firstborn child of country music icon Johnny Cash and his first wife Vivian, was a writer long before she became a musician, singer and songwriter. A light went on with the assignment of a seventh-grade English project for which she created an original metaphor. When revisiting that moment...

July 26th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Taylor Swift’s New Album, Speak Now, Set for Oct. 25 Release

Taylor Swift announced that her new album, Speak Now, will be released Oct. 25. She made the announcement during a web chat in Nashville on July 20. The first single and video is called “Mine,” a song that is about “my tendency to run from love,” she said during the chat. She...

July 21st, 2010 | Features | Read More

Reba to release second album off new record label Nov. 9

If at first you succeed, try, try again. Reba McEntire is releasing a second album with her new record label, The Valory Music Co., on Nov. 9. And why not? Reba’s first effort with the independent label, Keep On Loving You, sold more than 500,000 copies and yielded the mega-hit “Consider Me Gone,”...

July 20th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith among top-earning musicians, says Forbes

Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith are among the top-earning musicians of the last 12 months, according to the financial publication, Forbes. The list ranked musicians’ earnings from June 2009 to June 2010, factoring in album sales, touring, publishing royalties and endorsement deals, among other revenue...

July 20th, 2010 | Features | Read More

The Infamous Stringdusters Fly High

With fingers flying across acoustic strings and a sound blending the finest traditions of American bluegrasss with the aesthetic sensibilities of the contemporary music, the Infamous Stringdusters embody today’s young, hip bluegrass scene. And with the release of their third album, Things That Fly,...

July 19th, 2010 | Features, Interviews | Read More

Luke Bryan’s ‘Rain Is a Good Thing’ leapfrogs Brad Paisley’s ‘Water’ to No. 1

Take a deep breath and sit down. There’s a new No. 1 song on the Billboard country chart this week, and it’s Luke Bryan’s “Rain Is a Good Thing.” It dislodged Brad Paisley’s lingering “Water” to seize the summit after a slow 27-week climb. But for those...

July 19th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Charlie Louvin – Hickory Wind: Live at the Gram Parsons Guitar Pull, Waycross, GA – (Tompkins Square Records)

This review comes on the heels of some unfortunate news, as Charlie Louvin was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At 83 years of age, Mr. Louvin is expected to make a full recovery after surgery on the 22nd of this month, two days after the release of this album. When we spoke with him recently...

July 16th, 2010 | Album Reviews, Music | Read More

Merle Haggard: Country Music Traditionalist, Internet Prophet

In April 2010, Merle Haggard’s latest album, I Am What I Am hit stores and radio stations around the nation. Amid the smooth, polished, heavily produced (some would say overly-produced) opus of much of the modern Nashville sound, I Am What I Am was like a revelation — a voice and sound that seemed...

July 16th, 2010 | Features, Interviews | Read More

10 Questions with Coy Bowles from Zac Brown Band

The motto is: Do what you love, love what you do. That certainly seems to be the way the members of Grammy-Award winning Zac Brown Band look at life. The band’s debut album, The Foundation, is platinum certified, and played a big role in landing the boys with a Best New Artist award in 2009. Their...

July 16th, 2010 | Favorites, Features, Interviews | Read More

Nashville Skyline: Lady Antebellum Carry Country Music These Days

One year ago, Taylor Swift was the best-selling recording artist in the world. Now, who is? Maybe Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga? It does not come as any great surprise that it’s Lady Antebellum. Their Need You Now is the best-selling album in all music genres in the world for the first half of this...

July 16th, 2010 | Artists | Read More

Charlie Daniels’ Real America

To the world at large, no musician epitomizes country music more than Charlie Daniels. His name is shorthand for epic fiddle playing. His albums are country music classics. Not only is “Devil Went Down to Georgia” one of the most widely recognized country music songs in the world, it is the most...

July 16th, 2010 | Features, Interviews | Read More

CMA Songwriters Series returns to Joe’s Pub starring Jamey Johnson

NASHVILLE – CMA Songwriters Series will returns to New York City’s Joe’s Pub, on Wednesday, Sept. 8 (6:30 and 9:00 PM/ET). Tickets for the popular series will go on sale Wednesday, July 14. Featuring two-time CMA Song of the Year Award winner and Universal Music Nashville recording artist Jamey...

July 16th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Golfer ‘Long John’ releases second studio album

Iconic golfer John Daly, or to those familiar with his backswing – “Long John” – released a new album off Nashville-based digital recording company GMV Nashville. “I Only Know One Way” is Daly’s second studio recording, and includes a mix of country, blues, ballads and...

July 16th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Jerrod Niemann Cracks Jokes and Country Charts With ‘Lover, Lover’

Jerrod Niemann was trying to figure out how to convey a storyline in his breakthrough “Lover, Lover” video — not an easy task, considering there isn’t much of a plot to begin with. Plus, it’s a breakup tune with an upbeat, happy melody and repetitive lyrics. He also didn’t...

July 15th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Jerry Lee Lewis Album Features Tim McGraw, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson

Jerry Lee Lewis will be joined by duet partners Tim McGraw, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson on his upcoming album, Mean Old Man, due for a Sept. 7 release on Verve/Universal Music. In addition to a digital version, the album will be released as a standard edition with 10 tracks and a deluxe edition with...

July 15th, 2010 | Features | Read More

3 Cheers for Zac Brown Band ‘Pass the Jar’ DVD

Whether it’s for the booze or an overall good time, they always come to party. There is nothing more amazing than watching Zac Brown Band perform. And while you can capture a glimpse of their talent by seeing them live, unless you’re truly studying their every move, you’ve probably...

July 14th, 2010 | Album Reviews, Concert Reviews, Music | Read More

Carrie Underwood weds Mike Fisher over the weekend in private ceremony

Carrie Underwood and Canadian hockey player Mike Fisher said their marriage vows July 11 under a tent on the grounds of the Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Plantation, an upscale resort near the Oconee National Forest in Greensboro, Ga. Underwood, 27, and Fisher, 30, were married in front of 250 friends and family...

July 12th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Jimmy Buffett & Friends Live From the Gulf airs July 11

CMT Presents Jimmy Buffett & Friends Live From the Gulf Coast, a 90-minute live concert special, will air July 11 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CMT. The event, originally planned for Thursday (July 1) on the beach in Gulf Shores, Ala., was rescheduled for July 11 because of concerns about surf conditions on...

July 7th, 2010 | Features | Read More

Craig Morgan’s mother dies at age 63

Craig Morgan’s mother, Betty Sue Crockett, died Saturday at her home in Dickson, Tenn., following a battle with cancer. She was 63. Funeral services are scheduled for today. She is survived by her husband, Thomas A. Crockett, and numerous family members and friends. Courtesy of CMT.com.

July 7th, 2010 | Features | Read More