Kellie Pickler photo by Tony Baker, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Don’t miss Kellie Pickler’s appearance on this weekend’s episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Sunday on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern. Kellie went to Beavercreek, Ohio and helped the James Terpenning family. James is a wheelchair sports champion and also mentors disabled Iraqi War veterans.

While in Beavercreek, Kellie performed and even got in on the demolition action, wielding a sledgehammer like a pro. Continue Reading

On Wednesday, Nov. 11, all of Nashville will be abuzz — not to mention a-Twitter — with the 43rd Annual CMA Awards. If you’re not in Music City but have plans to get together with friends to watch the awards show, you may want to make it extra fun by dressing up, red carpet-style.

Trish Townsend, a stylist for many of your favorite country stars — including Carrie Underwood — recently visited our studio to share her tips on how to have the best ensemble at the party: Continue Reading

LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 140 -- Pictured: (l-r) Taylor Swift, Jimmy Fallon -- NBC Photo: Dana Edelson

You’ve probably heard by now, Taylor Swift is set to pull double duty as both the host and musical guest this weekend on NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL).  Taylor joins a short list of superstars including Sting, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake that have filled both shoes on the show.  The last time a female country artist was tapped to both host and perform was Dolly Parton, 20 years ago.

Last Monday night, Taylor made a special guest appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and got some great advice from the SNL vet. Continue Reading

Jake Owen photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Jake Owen’s “Eight Second Ride” uses a rodeo phrase for a sexy come-on that has his latest video at No. 18 on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown, but some real rodeo pros join Suzanne Alexander from this week’s CBR (Championship Bull Riding) finale in Kansas City.

Suzanne checks in with a bunch of bull-riding cowboys — including Jarrod Craig, Ardie Maier, retired champ Gary Leffew and the Kansas City winner, Hugo Pedrero — as she works through the biggest videos in country music.

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Tim McGraw photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of Curb Records.

There are five Southern voices in the home of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and it looks like that’s the limit. Tim, who occupies the cover of the newest edition of People magazine, originally had more kids in mind, but with three girls already in the family, there’s not much thought of expansion.

“We talked about it once,” he says in the story. “We even have names for boys. I would love to have a boy also, but if we start again now, we’re going to be old when they’re gone. We started out wanting five [kids], and life just…got busy.”

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GAC is the only cable network where you can see encore airings of the CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock concert special.  The special, filmed at the 2009 CMA Music Festival, features Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Martina McBride, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland, Trace Adkins, Brooks & Dunn, Dierks Bentley, Jake Owen, Zac Brown Band and more.  3-hours of non-stop music filmed live in Nashville, TN at the LP Field stadium.   And if that’s not enough reason to tune-in, it gets better… Continue Reading

Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Atlantic Records.

For the second week in a row the Zac Brown Band is sitting at the top of the Billboard Country chart with their third No. 1 hit, “Toes.”

Last night I tuned in to watch the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and the Zac Brown Band was the featured musical guest.  And as would be expected, they performed their hit “Toes,” the original, un-edited version where they use the word “ass” in the chorus.   Yes, that’s right – they sang the word “ass” on national TV. Continue Reading

Before Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, before Vince Gill, before Reba McEntire — there was a long line of equally-talented CMA Awards Show hosts. In 1983, Anne Murray co-hosted with Willie Nelson. Watch our exclusive interview with Anne, as she recalls the question she asked Willie just before going onstage.

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Joe Nichols recently visited troops on US military bases in Kuwait and Iraq. His trip was filmed for the GAC special, Joe Nichols: My Military Diary, premiering Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 at 10 p.m. Eastern.

This summer, Joe Nichols took his first trip to the Middle East to perform for American troops serving in the nation’s two wars, and the journey is captured on a GAC special, Joe Nichols: My Military Diary.

It’s a visit he’d thought about for some time. Joe has an affinity for the work U.S. soldiers do, and he’s convinced that had things gone in a different way earlier in his life, he might well have ended up an enlisted man.

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Blake Shelton photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Blake Shelton’s a good person, but he no longer feels the need to always be “Mr. Nice Guy.”  He tells The Tennessean that one thing’s responsible for his “say-what-you-think” demeanor.

“The truth is I finally got all my (expletive) paid off,” he tells the paper. “Once you get everything paid off, it’s like, ‘(Who cares) if you all don’t like it.’ I’ve got something to say. I think what’s cool about it is, and has been in the last few months with Twitter, is really not being afraid anymore.”

If you haven’t read Blake’s tweets (follow him at @blakeshelton), you’re missing out. He posts daily and never fails to get a rise out of somebody — and usually, it’s someone from the animal rights organization, PETA. Blake’s longtime fans can almost hear him grinning with each barb he tosses at PETA.

Blake’s sarcastic sense of humor is on full display in his new duet with Trace Adkins, “Hillbilly Bone.” (Watch it below!) Continue Reading