Country music stars sure love Twitter! Here at GAC, we follow them too. This week, country music lost one of its legends, Charlie Louvin, and Dierks Bentley tweeted his respects. Reba McEntire posted a photo from her video shoot for “If I Were a Boy,” and Martina McBride admitted to indulging a little before her upcoming photo shoot. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Charlie Louvin and Dierks Bentley photo courtesy of Twitter.com/DierksBentley.

Dierks Bentley:  @DierksBentley   an old school pic of me and charlie louvin. I learned a lot listening to louvin brothers records.God bless them.. 

Kellie Pickler:   @kelliepickler    trying to convince my husband that we should get rid of everything, sell our house & live like gypsies in a airstream. travel and dream.

Whitney Duncan:  @whitneyduncan    Taking a bubble bath while being serenaded by my bf & his guitar. This would b super romantic if he wasn’t playing me my own songs. Haha

Martina McBride:  @martinamcbride    Came home from studio and had a Fat Tire, a yummy brownie, glass of milk, and some pistachios. Photo shoot in a month. Me..in total denial.

Jimmy Wayne:  @JimmyWayne    I remember sleeping outside when I was 14 yrs old & going to bed hungry .. now I’m having breakfast w/a Senator. Bea & Russel saved me! Continue Reading

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Emmylou Harris with Charlie Louvin. Photo courtesy of charlielouvin.net.

Following a battle with pancreatic cancer, Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie Louvin died early this morning.

Born Charlie Elzer Loudermilk in Section, Alabama on July 7, 1927, Charlie formed a duo with his brother Ira. As the Louvin Brothers, they were pioneers in country music — and their soaring trademark harmonies influenced many generations of artists that followed, including Emmylou Harris, whose 1975 version of the Louvin Brothers’ “If I Could Only Win Your Love” was her first Top 10 hit.

The Louvin Brothers joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1955.  Charlie remained on show even after the brother act split in 1963.  He was also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Continue Reading

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Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.

A lot of people are going through hard times these days, and country music’s biggest stars are anxious to help.

Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, Alison Krauss and Charlie Daniels are just a few of the artists who’ve extended themselves of late to help their neighbors get through a difficult period.

Here are a few examples of country’s acts at work in the community:

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New Country Music Hall of Fame Members Jimmy Dean (l) and Don Williams.

Don Williams and Jimmy Dean, two vocalists who approached their public presence from very different angles, were officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday night in front of family, friends and a rather elite set of peers.

A singer, comic and television pioneer, Jimmy built his career as a multi-faceted entertainer. Don worked several detail-oriented jobs before his breakthrough — he was a co-partner in a furniture store and an office administrator — and he made his public mark in a workman-like manner, eschewing the party circuit and putting his efforts into finding and delivering well-constructed songs.

Neither singer was able to claim his medallion in person. Jimmy died in June, just a few months after he was told in a phone call that he would have a bronze plaque enshrined with his likeness in the Hall of Fame’s Rotunda alongside such fellow performers as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Jimmy’s childhood idol, Gene Autry.

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Craig Morgan photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

The Grand Ole Opry has plenty of tentacles in the Nashville community, and several of its members — including Craig Morgan, Lorrie Morgan and Charlie Louvin — are part of the headlines in Middle Tennessee.

In Lorrie’s case, it’s for a bit of charity work in a suburb. Craig and Charlie, meanwhile, are facing major milestones in their lives. Here’s the latest Opry-related news:

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Larry Gatlin (center) and the Gatlin Brothers, photo courtesy of Absolute Publicity.

In the early 1990s, Larry Gatlin got fed up with Nashville and moved back to Texas. He’d lived in Music City for almost 20 years, and during that time, he’d had a nice string of hits tinged with the harmonies of his brothers Steve and Rudy. But as the public moved on to other sounds, the hits stopped coming. Larry felt unwanted in Tennessee and split.

Now he’s dividing his time between the Lone Star State and Nashville, and beginning Thursday, he’ll be a frequent host for the Grand Ole Opry’s Thursday night Opry Country Classics shows at the historic Ryman Auditorium. It’s an appropriate association. The Gatlins have been Opry members since Christmas Day 1976, and Larry came up in the midst of some classic country sounds, befriended by such country icons as Dottie West and Johnny Cash.

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