Red Simpson photo courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

Red Simpson, songwriter and Bakersfield Sound architect, will take center stage of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s quarterly series, Poets and Prophets: Legendary Country Songwriters, which pays tribute to songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music history.

Hosted by museum editor Michael Gray, the program will take place February 23 and feature recordings, photos and film clicks from the Museum’s Frist Library and Archive. Red will sign limited edition, commemorative Hatch Show Print posters following the program.

Known as the ‘Bard of Bakersfield,’ Buck Owens and Merle Haggard recorded more than 40 of his songs. Artists including Roy Clark, Alan Jackson, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Wanda Jackson, Johnny Paycheck, Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam and many more have also cut his songs. In addition to his songwriting, Red also had success as a recording artist, most famous for his truck-driving songs such as “The Highway Patrol” and “I’m A Truck.” Continue Reading

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Alan Jackson photo courtesy of Schmidt Relations.

Alan Jackson will headline the 5^th Annual “Stars Go Blue” benefit on Wednesday, March 20 at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. Alan’s rare, intimate performance at this historic music venue will be hosted by the oldest and largest national colon cancer patient advocacy organization, the Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA). All proceeds from the concert will benefit the CCA’s Blue Note Fund, helping colon cancer patients in need, a program founded by Nashville’s own Grammy-nominated artist/producer Charlie Kelley. The CCA holds the “Stars Go Blue” concert annually in support of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. During March, organizations across the nation will place an emphasis on educating the public about colon cancer prevention and detection.

In 2010, Alan’s wife Denise was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. “It knocked us both down. It was so hard to watch her go through that,” he recalls. “We were dating at 16 and 17, and I pretty much took care of her from that point on. But when it came to this, I felt like there wasn’t a thing I could do.”

“That rocked my world, as I’m sure it does every person who gets a cancer diagnosis,” Denise explains. “That really brought to my attention the CCA and what the organization does, and more specifically what the Blue Note Fund does for the Nashville area and the rest of the country as well.”

Tickets for “Stars Go Blue” go on sale Friday, January 18 at 10 a.m. Central and can be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations, Ryman Box Office, www.ryman.com and by calling 800-745-3000.  Tickets are $75, $45 and $35.

Alan recently released a limited number of copies of his book Seasons of Sweetbriar – A Photographic Collection of Home by Alan Jackson. Seasons of Sweetbriar can be purchased through www.alanjackson.com for $25 or $50 for a book autographed by Alan, while supplies last. 100 percent of proceeds will be donated to the CCA’s Blue NoteFund.

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Blake Shelton photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Each year we ask fans to help us choose the best of the best country music videos released during the prior 12 months for our year-end Top 50 Videos of the Year countdown. Here are the voting results for 2012 based on videos released and added to the GAC playlist from Nov. 1, 2011 to Oct. 31, 2012.

1              Blake Shelton—“Over”

2              Carrie Underwood—“Blown Away”

3              Carrie Underwood—“Good Girl”

4              Alan Jackson—“So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore”

5              Miranda Lambert—“Over You”

6              Little Big Town—“Pontoon”

7              Taylor Swift—“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

8              Lady Antebellum—“Wanted You More”

9              Big & Rich—“That’s Why I Pray”

10           Kelly Clarkson—“Mr. Know It All”

11           Lady Antebellum—“Dancin’ Away With My Heart”

12           Miranda Lambert—“Fastest Girl In Town”

13           Kenny Chesney—“Come Over”

14           Eric Church—“Springsteen”

15           Luke Bryan—“I Don’t Want This Night To End”

16           Keith Urban—“For You”

17           Taylor Swift—“Begin Again”

18           Toby Keith—“I Like Girls That Drink Beer”

19           Zac Brown Band—“Keep Me In Mind”

20           Kenny Chesney/ Tim McGraw—“Feel Like A Rock Star”

21           Luke Bryan—“Drunk On You”

22           Hunter Hayes—“Wanted”

23           Billy Ray Cyrus—“Change My Mind”

24           Scotty McCreery—“Water Tower Town”

25           Dustin Lynch—“Cowboys And Angels” Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift’s 2012 CD, Red. Photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Billboard.com has released their Top Country Albums of 2012. Taylor Swift’s Red tops the chart with albums from Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, Lady Antebellum and Carrie Underwood rounding out the Top 5. Taylor also has two more albums appearing in the Top 50.

Billboard Charts are calculated using custom formulas collecting sales, streaming and radio play. What was your favorite album of 2012? Leave us a comment below!

1. Red – Taylor Swift
2. Tailgates & Tanlines – Luke Bryan
3. Tuskegee – Lionel Richie
4. Own The Night – Lady Antebellum
5. Blown Away – Carrie Underwood
6. My Kinda Party – Jason Aldean
7. Chief – Eric Church
8. Clear As Day – Scotty McCreery
9. Night Train – Jason Aldean
10. Uncaged – Zac Brown Band
11. The Band Perry – The Band Perry
12. Welcome To The Fishbowl – Kenny Chesney
13. Clancy’s Tavern – Toby Keith
14. Four The Record – Miranda Lambert
15. Halfway to Heaven – Brantley Gilbert Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Label Group.

Taylor Swift has been named Billboard.com’s Top Country Artist of 2012. Taylor was also Billboard’s Top Country Artist in 2011. Jason Aldean comes in at no. 2 with Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum and Carrie Underwood rounding out the Top 5.

The Top 20 includes several new faces this year. Lionel Richie secured the No. 15 spot with the release of his country duets album, Tuskegee. Lee Brice, Hunter Hayes and Little Big Town also made the Top 20 this year.

Billboard Charts are calculated using custom formulas collecting sales, streaming and radio play. What do you think of this ranking? Who’d top YOUR Top 50 list? Leave us a comment below!

1. Taylor Swift
2. Jason Aldean
3. Luke Bryan
4. Lady Antebellum
5. Carrie Underwood
6. Eric Church
7. Zac Brown Band
8. Blake Shelton
9. Toby Keith
10. Kenny Chesney
11. The Band Perry
12. Tim McGraw
13. Miranda Lambert
14. Rascal Flatts
15. Lionel Richie Continue Reading

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Alan Jackson photo courtesy of ACR/EMI Records Nashville.

GRAMMY nominations were announced last week and several country stars are reacting to the good news. Eric Church is up for two GRAMMY awards for his hit song “Springsteen,” including Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song. He co-wrote the song with Jeff Hyde and Ryan Tyndell.

“If you’re a musical artist, the GRAMMYs are pretty much the Holy Grail, because it’s all genres, it’s everybody, it’s peers,” he said of the nominations. “That’s why they are revered the way they are – you know, they’re the GRAMMYs.” Continue Reading

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NASHVILLE, TN – DECEMBER 05: Musician Hunter Hayes performs onstage at The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! held at Bridgestone Arena on December 5, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

The 2013 GRAMMY nominees were announced last night. Among the country nominees, Taylor Swift and Hunter Hayes tied with the most — three each. Taylor was nominated for: Record of the Year – “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together;” Best Country Duo/Group Performance – “Safe & Sound;” and Best Song Written For Visual Media – “Safe & Sound (From The Hunger Games).” Hunter was nominated for: Best New Artist; Country Solo Performance – “Wanted;” and Best Country Album – Hunter Hayes.

“This year has been a year of a lot of firsts for me and a ton of celebration as well,” said Hunter. “I came to Nashville to be a dreamer and make music that I love. My label took a chance allowing me to play everything on my debut record, and then to be acknowledged by the Grammys for it is more than I dreamed of. I’m still totally in shock and I can’t believe there is an ‘s’ at the end of ‘nomination’.”

Miranda Lambert’s Four The Record scored a nomination for Best Country Album. “My albums are my heart and soul,” said Miranda. “To know that the music I make is appreciated means the world to me and a Grammy nomination is a giant hug that never ends. Thanks so much. What an honor!”

Finalists for the following Country, Americana and Bluegrass categories are:

Best Country Solo Performance

“Home” — Dierks Bentley [Capitol Records Nashville]

“Springsteen” — Eric Church [EMI Records Nashville]

“Cost Of Livin’” — Ronnie Dunn [Arista Nashville]

“Wanted” — Hunter Hayes Track from: Hunter Hayes [Atlantic]

“Over” — Blake Shelton — Track from: Red River Blue [Warner Bros. Records]

“Blown Away” — Carrie Underwood Track from: Blown Away [19 Recordings Limited/Arista Nashville]

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“Even If It Breaks Your Heart” — Eli Young Band [Republic Nashville]

“Pontoon” — Little Big Town [Capitol Records Nashville]

“Safe & Sound” — Taylor Swift & The Civil Wars [Big Machine Records/Universal Republic]

“On The Outskirts Of Town” — The Time Jumpers Track from: The Time Jumpers [Rounder]

“I Just Come Here For The Music” — Don Williams Featuring Alison Krauss [Sugar Hill Records]

Best Country Song

“Blown Away” — Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood) Track from: Blown Away  [19 Recordings Limited/Arista Nashville; Publishers: Global Dog Music/Lunalight Music, Big Loud Songs/Angel River Songs]

“Cost Of Livin’” — Phillip Coleman & Ronnie Dunn, songwriters (Ronnie Dunn) [Arista Nashville; Publishers: Tractor Radio Songs, Sony/ATV Tree Publishing/Showbilly Music]

“Even If It Breaks Your Heart” — Will Hoge & Eric Paslay, songwriters (Eli Young Band) [Republic Nashville]

“So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore” — Jay Knowles & Adam Wright, songwriters (Alan Jackson) [EMI Records Nashville/ACR Records; Publishers: Alrighty Den Music, Dean-Parnell Music, Acme Nashville]

“Springsteen” — Eric Church, Jeff Hyde & Ryan Tyndell, songwriters (Eric Church) [EMI Records Nashville; Publishers: Sony/ATV Tree Publishing/Sinnerlina Music/Purple Cape Music, Bug Music/Mamma's Cornbread Music]

Best Country Album

Uncaged — Zac Brown Band [Southern Ground/Atlantic]

Hunter Hayes — Hunter Hayes [Atlantic]

Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran — Jamey Johnson [Mercury Records] Continue Reading

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Alan Jackson’s Season of Sweetbriar. Photo courtesy of Schmidt Relations.

Alan Jackson will release a limited number of copies of his book, Seasons of Sweetbriar – A Photographic Collection of Home, with the full purchase price of each book being donated to the Colon Cancer Alliance’s Blue Note Fund benefiting colon cancer patients in need. The Sweetbriar estate is where Alan, his wife Denise and their daughters Mattie, Ali and Dani lived for 13 years.

“Sweetbriar – created by God, bound by the Harpeth River, and guarded by hand-laid rock walls from years ago – this 140 acres of fertile valley shadowed by the Tennessee hills has privileged my family and me with a landscape for living” reads an excerpt from the book’s foreword , written by Alan. Continue Reading

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Alan Jackson photo courtesy of ACR/EMI Records Nashville.

Like many of us, country stars will be tucking in to a Thanksgiving dinner come Thursday. And just like us, they have favorite dishes to reach for when they gather around the table. For Alan Jackson, a traditional side dish is his ‘must-have’ menu item.

“My favorite Thanksgiving dish would be the homemade dressing, cornbread-based kind of dressing, that we always have with turkey,” he said. “That recipe is a kind of a combination of my mama, and Denise has taken it and perfected it over the years, so that me and my children really enjoy it.”

Dierks Bentley is all about the traditional Thanksgiving dinner centerpiece  – the turkey. “You gotta have a big turkey,” he said. “Thanksgiving is not possible without a turkey. My dad’s always been the one to cook and carve it, but in years here recently, I’ve been taking over those duties. Big responsibility.” Continue Reading

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Alan Jackson photo courtesy of ACR/EMI Records Nashville.

Alan Jackson is once again nominated alongside Zac Brown Band for Musical Event of the Year at the CMA Awards for their duet “Dixie Highway.” They were nominated last year as well for “As She’s Walking Away.” Their two nominations in the category may have to do with the fact that Alan just likes Zac.

“I like artists, and I like Zac, that are the real thing,” Alan said. “He’s not just a singer, a guy that got out of college and said, ‘Hey, I wanna be a country singer and move to Nashville.’ He’s a guy who was singing and really making a living doing it playing clubs and things that I did too. He’s created his own sound and his own musical style. It’s not real hard country, but it’s rootsy. I like that kind of sound.”

Vintage CMA Awards Photos — 1960s through 1990s >>

CMA Awards Photos — 2000s >>

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