Lauren Alaina photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Lauren Alaina had to miss her junior prom this past Saturday night because she was in Louisville, Kentucky opening for Sugarland on their In Your Hands Tour, reports MusicRow. To make up for it, Lauren pulled a fan onstage for a makeshift prom night dance while she sang the Lady Antebellum song, “Dancing Away With My Heart.”

Prom night didn’t end there for Lauren though. After her set, she learned Lanesville High School, located just six blocks away from the concert venue, was having their prom that night. With the permission of the school’s principle, she and fellow tour opener Canaan Smith made a surprise appearance at the Lanesville prom. The two hit the dance floor for about twenty minutes before heading back to the concert venue.

Watch Lauren’s onstage prom dance!

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Glen Campbell photo courtesy of Big Hassle PR

CMA Music Festival has included a legendary element to this year’s concert lineup. Glen Campbell, Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Rogers and The Mavericks have been added to the Nightly Concerts held at LP Field during the festival, which takes place June 7-10 in downtown Nashville.

Glen Campbell will open the performances at LP Field on Thursday, June 7. Ronnie Milsap will open on Friday, June 8, Kenny Rogers on Saturday, June 9 and The Mavericks on Sunday, June 10. The Night Concerts will once again be filmed for an ABC concert special to air in late summer.

The current lineups for the Nightly Concerts are as follows in alphabetical order:

Thursday, June 7: Jason Aldean, Glen Campbell, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, and Zac Brown Band

Friday, June 8: The Band Perry, Brantley Gilbert, Ronnie Milsap, Jake Owen, Blake Shelton, and Carrie Underwood Continue Reading

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Nan Kelley & Keith Urban backstage at the We're All For The Hall benefit concert, Wednesday, April 11, 2012.

This week on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown, Nan Kelley joined Keith Urban at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for his annual We’re All For The Hall benefit concert and learned about the importance of preserving country music’s history straight from Keith! Some of the special guests invited by Keith to perform also stopped by to discuss their involvement in the event, which raises money for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Besides chatting with Keith and his famous friends, Nan also counted down this week’s Top 20 videos! Miss Friday night’s premiere? Check the schedule for re-airs throughout the weekend! Check the full schedule »

On the charts this week, Hunter Hayes’ latest video, “Wanted,” debuts on the countdown at No. 1 while Carrie Underwood’s “Good Girl” falls to No. 2 after spend the past couple of weeks in the top spot. Jason Aldean’s new video, “Fly Over States,” also debuts on the countdown this week at No. 18.

This Week’s Chart:

1. Hunter Hayes – “Wanted”
2. Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
3. Alan Jackson – “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore”
4. Lauren Alaina – “Georgia Peaches”
5. Miranda Lambert – “Over You”
6. Keith Urban – “For You”
7. Josh Turner – “Time Is Love”
8. Luke Bryan – “Drunk On You
9. Lady Antebellum – “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”
10. Thompson Square – “Glass” Continue Reading

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Martina McBride photo courtesy of Republic Nashville.

Individual tickets to the Nightly Concerts at LP Field during CMA Music Festival will go on sale Saturday, April 14 at 11/10 AM CT. Tickets will be $40 for general admission in the upper deck of LP Field and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1 (800) 745-3000 or through CMAfest.com or 1 (800) CMA-FEST (262-3378).

Four-day ticket packages are still available and start at $125 per person. They include admission to all four Nightly Concerts as well as all daytime festival activities, including the Fan Fair Fall where artist autograph signing sessions are held. Children three years and younger are admitted free.

Additionally, Martina McBride, Jake Owen and Hunter Hayes have been added to the Nightly Concerts. This will mark Hunter’s first performance at LP Field during CMA Music Festival. CMA will announce more artists joining the lineup soon. The Nightly Concerts will once again be filmed for a concert special airing on ABC later in the year.

The current lineups for the Nightly Concerts are as follows in alphabetical order:

Thursday, June 7:  Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, and Zac Brown Band

Friday, June 8:  The Band Perry, Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen, Blake Shelton, and Carrie Underwood   Continue Reading

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Alan Jackson's 2012 CD, Thirty Miles West. Photo courtesy of ACR/EMI Records Nashville.

Alan Jackson will release his highly anticipated new album, Thirty Miles West, on June 5. It will be his debut project for ACR (Alan’s Country Records)/EMI Records Nashville and is produced by long-time producer and friend Keith Stegall. The unique album name references where he grew up.

“There’s this highway that’s been in existence for forever now – it’s called the Dixie Highway and it runs from north of Michigan all the way down to South Florida,” he said. “I wrote a song about it that’s on the album. I grew up on Highway 34 outside of Newnan, Georgia, and that’s where we came up with Thirty Miles West. I think we were about thirty miles west of the official part of the Dixie Highway that runs through Georgia.” Continue Reading

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Suzanne Alexander & Toby Keith backstage at the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 1, 2012.

GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown hit the red carpet at the ACM Award with hosts Nan Kelley and Suzanne Alexander. They caught up with some of your favorite country stars both on the carpet and backstage. Between chatting with the stars, they counted down this week’s Top 20 videos!

Miss Friday night’s premiere? Check the schedule for re-airs throughout the weekend to catch interviews with Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Scotty McCreery, Chris Young, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton. Check the full schedule »

On the charts this week, the Top 5 remain unchanged with Carrie Underwood still in the top spot. Luke Bryan’s latest video, “Drunk On You,” makes its countdown premiere in the No. 13 spot with Lionel Richie and Shania Twain’s “Endless Love” debuting at No. 19.

This Week’s Chart:

1. Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
2. Alan Jackson – “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore”
3. Lauren Alaina – “Georgia Peaches”
4. Miranda Lambert – “Over You””
5. Katie Armiger – “Scream
6. Keith Urban – “For You”
7. Taylor Swift – “Ours”
8. Lady Antebellum – “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”
9. Josh Turner – “Time Is Love”
10. Thompson Square – “Glass”
11. Keith Urban – “You Gonna Fly”
12. Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars – “Safe & Sound”
13. Luke Bryan – “Drunk On You”
14. Gloriana – “(Kissed You) Good Night”
15. Lee Brice – “Woman Like You”
16. Jake Owen – “Alone With You”
17. Craig Morgan – “This Ole Boy
18. Dierks Bentley – “Home”
19. Lionel Richie with Shania Twain – “Endless Love”
20. Rascal Flatts – “Banjo”

GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown premieres every Friday night at 9/8c with re-airs throughout the weekend. Click here for a complete schedule.

Vote daily for GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown »

Browse GAC’s All-Star Top 20 Photo Gallery »

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Nan Kelley visits Miranda Lambert on tour and interviews her for Top 20 Country Countdown. Photo by Meaghan Mitchell.

GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown was hot this week! Host Nan Kelley headed to Louisville to catch up with Miranda Lambert on her On Fire Tour and also got to chat with Chris Young and Jerrod Niemann. Plus, Rascal Flatts shared secrets from the set of their “Banjo” video, all while Nan counts down the Top 20 videos of the week! Miss Friday night’s premiere? Check the schedule for re-airs throughout the weekend!

On the chart this week, Carrie Underwood claims the top spot with her new video, “Good Girl.” Alan Jackson is the lone male in the Top 5, coming in at No. 2 while Lauren Alaina, Miranda Lambert and Katie Armiger round out the first five videos on the countdown. New videos from Love and Theft and Josh Turner make their debuts this week at No. 17 and No. 18 respectively.

This Week’s Chart:

1. Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
2. Alan Jackson – “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore”
3. Lauren Alaina – “Georgia Peaches”
4. Miranda Lambert – “Over You””
5. Katie Armiger – “Scream
6. Keith Urban – “For You”
7. Lady Antebellum – “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”
8. Keith Urban – “You Gonna Fly”
9. Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars – “Safe & Sound”
10. Taylor Swift – “Ours” Continue Reading

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Alan Jackson photo courtesy Schmidt Relations.

Country stars are waiting anxiously for the winners of Sunday’s ACM Awards to be announced, but Alan Jackson has already picked up an off camera award. He was named the recipient of the ACM’s Jim Reeves International Award, which is given to an individual for outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world. Off-camera ACM Award winners will be honored at the 6th Annual ACM Honors event on September 24 in Nashville.

Alan spent much of 2011 playing shows abroad. In August, he traveled to Sweden and Norway, brought back to the countries by popular demand after a string of shows in 2009 and in March, he toured Australia for the first time. This April, he will take his show to Canada to play for arenas as well as a summer concert at the Craven Country Jamboree in Saskatchewan. When he’s playing outside of the U.S., he makes an effort to adjust his set list to what they might like best.

“I’ve never adjusted too much anywhere, but, you know, like I play in Canada a lot and it’s not that far away and I always try to figure out if what they hear on the radio – the hits – are any different,” he said. “If there’s a different song I don’t normally do that’s a big hit somewhere else, with 50-some hits, it’s hard to fit ’em all in, so I try to find out what may be their favorites.” Continue Reading

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Top 20 host Nan Kelley welcomes Lionel Richie to the set.

Lionel Richie is the special guest on this week’s Top 20 Country Countdown! He sat down with  host Nan Kelley to talk about his new album, Tuskegee, a collaborative project with some of country music’s biggest stars including Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, and Rascal Flatts, which hits stores March 26. Nan also counted down this week’s Top 20 videos. Miss Friday night’s premiere? Check the schedule for re-airs throughout the weekend!

Read our review of Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee >>

On the chart this week, Alan Jackson returns to the top spot while Miranda Lambert’s “Over You,” which debuted on the countdown at No. 1 last week, falls to No. 5. Carrie Underwood’s latest video, “Good Girl,” debuts at No. 2 and Miranda, Keith Urban and Taylor Swift each have two videos on the countdown.

This Week’s Chart:

1. Alan Jackson – “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore”
2. Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
3. Lauren Alaina – “Georgia Peaches”
4. Katie Armiger – “Scream”
5. Miranda Lambert – “Over You”
6. Lady Antebellum – “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”
7. Luke Bryan – “I Don’t Want This Night To End”
8. Keith Urban – “For You”
9. Taylor Swift – “Ours”
10. Keith Urban – “You Gonna Fly”
11. Gloriana – “(Kissed You) Good Night”
12. Casey James – “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night”
13. Lee Brice – “Woman Like You”
14. Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars – “Safe & Sound”
15. Jake Owen – “Alone With You”
16. Thompson Square – “Glass”
17. Miranda Lambert – “Baggage Claim”
18. Craig Morgan – “This Ole Boy”
19. Dierks Bentley – “Home”
20. Rascal Flatts – “Banjo”

GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown premieres every Friday night at 9/8c with re-airs throughout the weekend. Click here for a complete schedule.

Vote daily for GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown »

Browse GAC’s All-Star Top 20 Photo Gallery »

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Kenny Chesney photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Today the Academy of Country Music is announcing the winners of awards that will not be televised during the live telecast of the 47^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, telecast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 8 p.m. live ET/delayed PT on CBS, due to time constraints. Special Awards, Industry Awards, MBI (Musician, Bandleader, Instrumentalist) and Songwriter of the Year honorees will be feted at the 6^th Annual ACM Honors event on September 24, 2012 in Nashville.

Check out our ACM Awards Section for a complete list of nominees, photos & exclusive interviews >>

The Academy of Country Music Special Awards are voted on by the ACM Board of Directors and are awarded during years where the Board of Directors feels there are clear and deserving candidates. Industry Awards are voted on by professional members of the Academy. The MBI ballot is voted on by professional members of the Academy classified in the Artist-Entertainer/Musician-Bandleader-Instrumentalist category, and the Producer-Engineer-Studio Manager sub-category (contained within the Affiliated category). The Songwriter of the Year ballot is voted on by professional members of the Academy in the following categories; Artist-Entertainer/Musician-Bandleader-Instrumentalist, Composer, Music Publisher/PRO, Record Company, and the Producer/Engineer/Studio Manager subcategory (contained within the Affiliated category).

SPECIAL AWARDS

Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award
Emmylou Harris, Billy Sherrill, Ricky Skaggs and Dwight Yoakam have been chosen to receive the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award honoring individuals who are pioneers in the country music genre.

Emmylou Harris brought a graceful delivery, beautiful harmonies and a wealth of exceptional material to her career in country music. Harris was discovered at a nightclub in Washington D.C., then provided her signature vocals to Gram Parsons’ seminal recordings. On her own, she arrived on the country charts in 1975. Over the next decade, she racked up 21 Top 10 singles, including five No. 1 hits. The Trio album with talented friends Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt earned the 1987 ACM Award for Album of the Year. Harris was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Billy Sherrill produced many of country’s most famous names and wrote numerous classics throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The Alabama native joined Epic Records in 1964, where his credits as both a producer and songwriter included David Houston’s “Almost Persuaded,” Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl” and Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.” He also served as a producer on George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (which earned Sherrill an ACM Award for Producer of the Year), as well as Johnny Paycheck’s “She’s All I Got” and Tanya Tucker’s “Delta Dawn.” He joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

Ricky Skaggs energized country music in the 1980s by taking his traditional sound in a lively new direction. Over that decade, the Kentucky native charted 19 Top 10 singles, including 11 No. 1 hits. Rather than writing his material, he gathered first-rate songs by the likes of Guy Clark, Bill Monroe, Webb Pierce, Mel Tillis and Cindy Walker. He was named the ACM’s 1981 Top New Male Vocalist and received five ACM Awards for Touring Band of the Year. Since that time, Skaggs has focused on bluegrass music and now leads one of the most respected ensembles in the genre.

Dwight Yoakam captured the imagination of traditionalists and new listeners alike by giving hillbilly music a modern twist. Born in Kentucky but based in Los Angeles, Yoakam debuted with a twangy cover of Johnny Horton’s “Honky Tonk Man,” which led him to the ACM’s 1986 Top New Male Vocalist trophy. In all, Yoakam landed 14 Top 10 hits – some he wrote (“I Sang Dixie”) and others he revived (Elvis Presley’s “Little Sister”). Along with acclaimed albums and music videos, Yoakam proudly partnered with Buck Owens on the endearing 1988 duet, “Streets of Bakersfield.” He remains active in music and film.

Past recipients of the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award include Alabama, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels, Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, The Oak Ridge Boys, Dolly Parton, Charley Pride, Jerry Reed, Tex Ritter, Marty Robbins, Kenny Rogers, Mel Tillis, Randy Travis, Conway Twitty, Porter Wagoner, Hank Williams, Sr., Hank Williams Jr. and Bob Wills, among others.

Crystal Milestone Award

Kenny Chesney, four-time ACM Entertainer of the Year, has sold more than 10,500,000 tickets on his 11 national tours, selling out stadiums across the country. His successful shows have promoted the entire genre to delighted fans while helping other country acts and cross-over artists gain exposure nationwide. The Academy is honoring Kenny for this remarkable achievement.

Past recipients of the Crystal Milestone Award include Garth Brooks and Jennifer Nettles.

Career Achievement Award

Vince Gill has been chosen to receive the Career Achievement Award, which is presented to an individual artist, duo, group or multiple artist collaboration who have advanced the popularity and acceptance of country music through their endeavors in the entertainment industry in multiple areas during the preceding calendar year.

Vince Gill returned to the country scene in 2011 with an appealing new album, Guitar Slinger, and the enthusiastic response proved that he had been missed. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean proclaimed an official Vince Gill Week in conjunction with the album’s release. Gill also served as Grand Marshal of Nashville’s Christmas parade. In addition, Gill and wife Amy Grant graced the cover of Good Housekeeping. Meanwhile, the Country Music Hall of Fame member appeared on multiple talk shows and earned a Grammy nod for “Threaten Me With Heaven.”

Past recipients of the Career Achievement Award include John Anderson, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Johnny Paycheck, Carl Perkins, Reba and Kenny Rogers.

Jim Reeves International Award

Alan Jackson has been chosen to receive the Jim Reeves International Award, which is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world.

Alan Jackson’s down-home music and laidback personality has translated well internationally. He played for eager audiences in Sweden and Norway in August 2011, brought back by popular demand following his 2009 shows. Jackson’s album, Good Time, has also earned platinum sales in Norway. Jackson also toured Australia for the first time in March 2011. He’ll play four arena shows in Canada in April 2012, as well as a summer concert at the Craven Country Jamboree in Saskatchewan. Jackson won his first ACM Award as 1990’s Top New Male Vocalist, an honor that coincided with career-building tour dates in the UK and Germany.

Past recipients of the Jim Reeves International Award include Garth Brooks, Dick Clark, Roy Clark, Merv Griffin, Charlie Nagatani, Buck Owens, Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban, among others. Continue Reading

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