Carrie Underwood photo by James White, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Carrie Underwood fans, rejoice! Carrie will release her new single, “Good Girl,” to country radio on February 23.  The five-time Grammy winner’s new CD will arrive later this spring.

Carrie wrote the track with Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley, who co-wrote two of her No. 1 hits — “Don’t Forget to Remember Me,” and “All-American Girl.” Once again Carrie teamed up with Mark Bright, who produced her two previous albums as well as seven tracks from her debut album Some Hearts.

Since releasing Some Hearts in 2005, Carrie has sold more than 14 million albums with Some Hearts, 2007’s Carnival Ride, and 2009’s Play On.  She’s amassed 14 No. 1 singles, six of which she co-wrote, and became the first country artist in history and the only American Idol winner ever to achieve 10 No. 1 singles from their first two albums.

Carrie is a current Grammy Award nominee and a five-time Grammy Award winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time Country Music Association and ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Here’s a message from Carrie about “Good Girl”: Continue Reading

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CMA congratulates this year's crop of artist/songwriters on receiving a Triple Play Award at this year's CMA Songwriters Luncheon. Pictured (l-r): Steve Moore (CMA CEO), Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Brad Paisley, Victoria Shaw (songwriter and Chair of CMA's Community Outreach & Education Committee), Taylor Swift, Alan Jackson, and Gary Overton (CMA Board President). Photo credit: John Russell / CMA

It was three cheers for three No. 1s at the annual CMA Songwriters Luncheon with the presentation of the CMA Triple Play Awards, which honor songwriters who pen three chart-topping hits in a 12 month period.

The Triple Play Awards were presented at the Second Annual CMA Songwriters Luncheon, which was held at the Pinnacle at Symphony Place in Nashville and attended by several artist/songwriters including Dierks Bentley, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban in addition to hit tunesmiths from ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, as well as songwriter members of CMA, NSAI, and representatives of some of the most successful publishers in Music City.

In alphabetical order, the recipients of CMA’s Triple Play Award included: Continue Reading

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Carrie Underwood performing in a pickup truck, suspended high above the crowd at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on October 13, 2010.

One thing is very clear about Carrie Underwood: She’s not afraid of heights!

Carrie brought her Play On Tour to Music City’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday night, playing quite often with the altitude in the place. A series of hydraulic platforms lifted her at times 15 feet above the stage, which was already several feet above the venue’s floor. A swing lifted her 12 feet or so as she belted out “Just A Dream.” And the night’s biggest effect had her singing John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” from the back of a pickup truck that travelled over the audience, hung from a track cabled to the ceiling.

But the real heights were the tone and volume of her performances. Carrie’s recordings are always big, but in person, she’s even more impressive, kicking out those challenging vocals for an hour and 45 minutes, letting up only long enough for the occasional costume change. She hit those notes with impressive precision, not only holding the tones but also delivering them with power.

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Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Sometimes it’s intended, sometimes it’s not. But Brad Paisley’s career seems to be in sync with the world around him.

Monday was a particularly good example. He announced details of his upcoming H2O World Tour on what was officially recognized as World Water Day. He also held a No. 1 party in Franklin, Tenn., at Nucci’s Italian Ice, cleverly dovetailing the event with the “Italian ice” reference in the chorus of “American Saturday Night,” one of two songs being honored at the party.

The other No. 1 song demonstrated even greater synchronicity, though Brad had little control over the latest advance in the storyline. “Welcome To The Future” was inspired in November 2008 by the election of Barack Obama, when Brad just happened to be in Times Square, where he witnessed a huge celebration. The first time he performed the song live was last July at the White House with President Obama just a few feet in front of him. On the morning of Monday’s No. 1 party, the front page of The Tennessean trumpeted the news about Obama’s signature policy: “Congress passes health-care bill.”

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Darius Rucker (center front row) and his fellow co-writers (including Radney Foster, right front row) at the 2010 CRS ASCAP-sponsored event, "Storytellers With Darius Rucker," on February 24 in Nashville, Tenn. Photo by Bev Moser, courtesy of AristoMedia.

It takes a certain amount of guts — and a lot of self-confidence — to work as an artist, continually pushing against the odds until maybe, just maybe, you get a chance to break through. And a story about his pre-stardom days suggests that Darius Rucker always had the attitude it takes.

When he first heard Foster & Lloyd’s “Crazy Over You” on an AM radio in 1987, Darius was hooked on country music, and the following year, he went to see the duo at a South Carolina club after he finished his shift at a retail store. They’d already started their set, and Darius proceeded to down a few brews. He soon began shouting repeatedly for them to play “You Can Come Cryin’ To Me.” They didn’t. Instead, Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd closed out their regular set, then came back for an encore, only to hear Darius screaming for the song again. Radney politely told him he had missed it when they sang it near the start of their show, but Darius belligerently called his attention to the racial makeup of the audience.

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Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Every person is a summation of life’s experiences, everything that’s happened in his or her past. Brad Paisley has made a living by connecting the dots between the past and the present through much of his career — most notably on his current “Welcome To The Future.”

That song ties technology, global politics and racial advances in one well-written portrait of contemporary America, but it’s hardly the only time he’s tackled the subject. His first hit, “Who Needs Pictures,” used photographs of a past relationship to portray a broken heart; “Letter To Me” made a connection between the adult Brad and the teenage version; and his ballad “Then” — currently nominated for the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year — puts the early years of his marriage in context with its current state.

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Alan Jackson photo courtesy of SonyBMG Nashville.

Nashville celebrated its songwriters for two straight nights this week with Alan Jackson and Taylor Swift each earning trophies as Songwriter/Artist of the Year from two different organizations.

Taylor picked up the Songwriter/Artist trophy from the Nashville Songwriters Association International Sunday, the same night Toby Keith earned Songwriter/Artist of the Decade. Wynn Varble claimed the NSAI’s Songwriter of the Year after netting hits with Darryl Worley’s recording of “Sounds Like Life To Me” and Brad Paisley’s rendition of “Waitin’ On A Woman,” named Song of the Year.

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