Randy Travis photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Randy Travis, Rodney Atkins, Ronnie Milsap, Ashton Shepherd and The Roys are among the country artists joining award-winning musician and musical director Randy Scruggs and an all-star string band to  bring Charles ‘Pa’ Ingalls’ old time fiddle music to life as part of a PBS special filmed at Middle Tennessee State University, reports The Daily News Journal. Dale Cockrell, director of MTSU’s Center for Popular Music and a scholar of the early American music seen in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little house on the Prairie book series, is coordinating all aspects of the special.

Pa’s Fiddle: America’s Music, will be broadcast during the 2012 June pledge-drive season on PBS stations throughout the country. A new CD, Pa’s Fiddle: American Fiddlers, featuring a portion of the 127 songs mentioned in the Little House books, will be released June 5 but is available as a pre-release special right now at www.laura-ingalls-wilder.com.

Dale Cockrell is the founder, owner and president of Pa’s Fiddle Recordings LLC, a record label dedicated to recording the music referenced in the book series. He worked with actor Dean Butler, who played Laura’s husband, Almanzo, in the “Little House” TV series to create the Pa’s Fiddle project. “I’ve been working on the ‘Pa’s Fiddle’ project for about 12 years now and sometimes it’s felt like we’ve been pushing that boulder up that hill every day,” he said. “Now we’re finally at the top and get to share this music with everyone.” Continue Reading

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Blake Shelton photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Each year GAC asks 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 2011 based on videos released and added to the GAC playlist from Nov. 1, 2010 to Oct. 31, 2011.

1. Blake Shelton — “God Gave Me You”
2. Jason Aldean w/Kelly Clarkson — “Don’t You Wanna Stay”
3. Keith Urban — “Without You”
4. Jason Aldean — “Dirt Road Anthem”
5. Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood — “Remind Me”
6. Blake Shelton — “Honey Bee”
7. Lady Antebellum — “Just A Kiss”
8. Alan Jackson — “Long Way To Go”
9. Scotty McCreery — “I Love You This Big”
10. Trace Adkins — “Just Fishin’” Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Billboard.com has released their list of the Top Country Artists of 2011. Artists are ranked based on album sales, song downloads and airplay, touring revenue, Social 50 chart action, ringtone sales and streaming data provided by Nielsen BDS. Congratulations to Taylor Swift for being named the Top Country Artist of 2011! 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. Lady Antebellum
4. Zac Brown Band
5. Blake Shelton
6. The Band Perry
7. Rascal Flatts
8. Kenny Chesney
9. Brad Paisley
10. Luke Bryan
11. Keith Urban
12. Miranda Lambert
13. Sugarland
14. Eric Church
15. Scotty McCreery
16. Toby Keith
17. Thompson Square
18. Chris Young
19. Billy Currington
20. Tim McGraw Continue Reading

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Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records; Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Southern Ground Artists/Atlantic Records.

The second annual American Country Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Monday, Dec. 5, 8-10 p.m. ET live/PT tape-delayed, on FOX. Jason Aldean and Zac Brown Band lead the nominees with eight nominations each; Thompson Square earned seven nods; and The Band Perry and Taylor Swift each garnered six.

Starting today, fans can vote once each day for their favorite American Country Awards nominees at www.theacas.com. Voting is open until Friday, Nov. 11 for all categories, except for Artist of the Year, which closes on Friday, Dec. 2. The nominees for each award category have been determined by four media measurement companies: BigChampagne (record sales and media consumption); Great American Country (video airplay); Mediabase (radio airplay); and Pollstar (touring data).

Hosted by Trace Adkins and Kristin Chenoweth, the two-hour live music spectacular is the only country music awards show that gives fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite artists not only in traditional categories but also in previously unrecognized areas of the business such as touring, encompassing the entire spectrum of country music and bestowing honors that no other awards show has.

The American Country Awards will feature performances and appearances by the year’s chart-topping country artists. Performers and presenters will be announced soon.

Following is the list of categories and nominees for the American Country Awards:

ARTISTS:
Artist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Lady Antebellum                          
Taylor Swift
Zac Brown Band

Artist of the Year: Male
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton

Artist of the Year: Female
Sara Evans
Alison Krauss
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Artist of the Year: Duo or Group
The Band Perry
Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts
Sugarland
Zac Brown Band

Artist of the Year: Breakthrough Artist
Eric Church
Eli Young Band
Justin Moore
Jake Owen
Chris Young

Artist of the Year: New Artist
The Band Perry
Scotty McCreery
Jerrod Niemann
Pistol Annies
Thompson Square

Album:
Album of the Year
Jason Aldean, “My Kinda Party”
Kenny Chesney, “Hemingway’s Whiskey”
Brad Paisley, “This Is Country Music”
Taylor Swift, “Speak Now”
Keith Urban, “Get Closer”
Zac Brown Band, “You Get What You Give”

SINGLES:
Single of the Year
Billy Currington, “Let Me Down Easy”
Tim McGraw, “Felt Good On My Lips”
Thompson Square, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not”
Chris Young, “Voices”
Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson, “As She’s Walking Away” Continue Reading

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Ashton Shepherd, son James & husband Roland. Photo courtesy of Ashton Shepherd/UMG Nashville.

Ashton Shepherd will take fans ‘where country grows’ in GAC’s new special, Ashton Shepherd: Where Country Grows, premiering on Monday, September 19 at 9/8 CT. Her family, friends and music industry insiders give an intimate look at who Ashton is and how growing up in Leroy, Alabama shaped her to be the person she is today. While her career is based out of Nashville these days, she remains a resident of Leroy.

“My life in Leroy is of course very different from the Nashville scene,” Ashton said. “It’s very country and very laid back. Being a country music star was very dream like, coming from such a rural area where everybody had their ideas of what they wanted to do when they grew up. I tried to learn what I should do and I was a little scared of having a record deal.”

5 Things You Don’t Know About Ashton >>

Ashton began writing songs before she could even spell the words. Her self-financed 3-song demo landed in the hands of Universal Music’s Luke Lewis who offered her a record deal. Her family is still in awe that Ashton is living her dream. “It’s still surreal when you hear her on the radio or see her on the Internet,” said her sister, Tara.  “You can type her name in Google and there she is but to me she’s just sis.” Continue Reading

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Ashton Shepherd, son James & husband Roland. Photo courtesy of Ashton Shepherd/UMG Nashville.

Ashton Shepherd went from selling vegetables at a road-side stand in her hometown of Leroy, Alabama to playing stages in different cities across the country every weekend, providing her with two very different perspectives on life. It is those different looks at life that has helped shape Ashton into the artist and person she is today. In GAC’s new special, Ashton Shepherd: Where Country Grows, fans will get a closer look at Ashton’s new music and the woman who can do anything she sets her mind to.

5 Things You Don’t Know About Ashton >>

Joined in this half hour special by family, friends and industry insiders, Ashton tells her true story of being a small town girl with big dreams. She began writing songs before she could actually write and crafted many of the songs she  shares with her fans in a small backyard cabin dubbed ‘The Pickin’ Shed.’ She recently released her second album, Where Country Grows. Continue Reading

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Ashton Shepherd, son James & husband Roland.

MCA recording artist Ashton Shepherd and her husband Roland Cunningham welcomed their daughter, Raden Delilah Cunningham, to the family today. She joins 5-year old big brother James. Raden was born today in Demopolis, AL and weighed 7lbs 7 oz and 19 ½ inches.

In true Ashton fashion, the proud Mom says, “She’s perty!”

5 Things You Don’t Know About Ashton Shepherd >>

Ashton’s current single and title track “Where Country Grows” is currently climbing the charts. Read Our Album Review HERE >>

She’ll soon be the subject of an upcoming GAC special. Ashton Shepherd: Where Country Grows will premiere on GAC Monday, September 19 at 9/8c. 

Congrats to Ashton, Roland & James! Here’s a sweet clip of Ashton back in June, talking about how excited her son James was to be a big brother: Continue Reading

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Country music stars sure love Twitter! Here at GAC, we follow them too. This week, Jewel revels in being a new mom, Billy Currington and Kellie Pickler contemplate their summer tans, Josh Thompson runs into Ronnie Dunn and Kip Moore suffers a ‘disappointment’ at the airport. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Charlie Daniels – @CharlieDaniels: Well at least part of the time

Blake Shelton – @BlakeShelton: Well it may not come as a surprise but I’m floating around on Lake Texoma fishing to celebrate this special #1 over all album…But I wanted to hop on here and say thank you all for this incredible day and unmatched support new and old!!!!! I love y’all… Really. Continue Reading

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Country music stars sure love Twitter! Here at GAC, we follow them too. This week, Jake Owen takes a big risk as he continues planking across the country, Blake Shelton and Chris Young engage in a Twitter battle while together in NYC (check their Tweets for a full account!), The Oak Ridge Boys celebrate a big honor and Luke Bryan hits the lake. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Photo courtesy of twitter.com/jakeowen

Jake Owen – @jakeowen: In Boston… Planking my ass off.

Blake Shelton – @BlakeShelton: @ChrisYoungMusic I’m next to you in a car and you have gospel hair… In a bad way.

Chris Young – @ChrisYoungMusic: Um… Did you see your album cover? Ha “@blakeshelton: Great dinner with @ChrisYoungMusic.. His hair was still very gospely…”

Josh Turner – @JoshTurnerMusic: Taking a tour of the school damaged by the tornado in Ringgold, GA Continue Reading

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Ashton Shepherd's 2011 CD, Where Country Grows. Photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

On her sophomore album Where Country Grows, 24-year-old Alabama native Ashton Shepherd follows in the tradition of strong-willed female country artists that defined recent generations. Through a collection of 10 songs – 8 of which Ashton wrote or co-wrote herself – this young singer/songwriter proves that she’s tough enough to hang with the boys – even when she’s moving delicately through a finely-crafted melody.

From the B-3 organ, electric and acoustic guitars of the album’s bass drum-driven first single, “Look It Up,” it’s clear the outlaw spirit is alive and well where country grows. This much is evident even before we hear Ashton’s no nonsense, deep Southern drawl come with the first line. “The word is ‘faithful,’ look it up,” she sings with enough attitude to kick a hole in the speaker. Add in a chorus that lays it all out very concisely with, “The word is over, look it up,” and it’s clear the songs of scorned women will be intense.

On the haunting “That All Leads To One Thing,” a song Ashton wrote solo, a beautiful and dark piano/guitar exchange leads to the tale of a woman leaving her cheating husband behind. Ashton’s voice sounds Continue Reading

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