Miranda Lambert at the No. 1 party for her song, "The House That Built Me," on Tuesday, August 3, 2010, in Nashville.

“The House That Built Me” touched a lot of people during its four-week stay at No. 1 this year. A bunch of people who were responsible for it — particularly Miranda Lambert and the song’s writers, Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin — were honored for the accomplishment during a No. 1 party Tuesday at the swanky Nashville restaurant Sambuca.

Miranda’s fiancee, Blake Shelton, was there with his producer, Scott Hendricks — fitting because they relinquished the song to Miranda after she heard the demo while riding home from the airport with Blake.

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Vince Gill performs with Albert Lee at Eric Clapton's 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival. Photo courtesy of Erin Morris.

Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Paul McCartney: several halls of fame are bursting with news about their programs or their members.

The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame have new inductees on the way, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum has a couple of fundraisers on the docket in Nashville and Los Angeles, and one Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member invoked the names of two Country Hall of Famers when he played next door to Nashville’s best-known museum.

Here’s a bundle of Hall of Fame-related music news:

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Hugh Prestwood, writer of Trisha Yearwood's "The Song Remembers When," will perform at "Songwriters Sing for Nashville." Trisha Yearwood photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Several Hall of Fame songwriters have been tapped to join together for Songwriters Sing for Nashville, an inaugural event to be held at Nashville’s newest outdoor concert venue, The Woods at Fontanel, on Saturday, July 17. Presented by The Woods at Fontanel, Anchor Trailways and Tours and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, funds raised from the concert will go to help Nashville flood relief efforts. This will be the first event held at the new venue, which was formerly the Muzik Mafia Headquarters and before that, Barbara Mandrell‘s home.

“We’re honored to share this exciting occasion with our friends at The Woods at Fontanel and Anchor Trailways & Tours,” said Roger Murrah, hit songwriter and Board Chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation. “What a pleasure it will be to join our efforts and resources to help relieve those who are still trying to recover from the Nashville flood. Our performing hall of fame members will be inspired by this great cause and the beautiful grounds surrounding this new venue to sing their classic songs from their hearts.”

Songwriters scheduled to perform include Roger Murrah (“Don’t Rock The Jukebox”- Alan Jackson), Matraca Berg (“Strawberry Wine” – Deana Carter), Kye Fleming (“I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” – Barbara Mandrell), Dallas Frazier (“Elvira” – The Oak Ridge Boys), Dickey Lee (“You’re The First Time I’ve Thought about Leaving” – Reba McEntire), Dennis Morgan (“Let  Me Let Go” – Faith Hill), Hugh Prestwood (“The Song Remembers When” – Trisha Yearwood), Mark D. Sanders (“I Hope You Dance” – Lee Ann Womack), Don Wayne (“Country Bumpkin” – Cal Smith), Jim Weatherly (“Midnight Train To Georgia” – Gladys Knight & The Pips) and Mike Reid (“I Can’t Make You Love Me,” – Bonnie Raitt, “In This Life” – Collin Raye). Continue Reading

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Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

With the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards a dozen days away, the ACM dropped a long list of trophy recipients Tuesday that’s tattooed with a few publicly recognizable names — including Keith Urban and Mel Tillis — as well as a bunch of significant songwriters, musicians and executives. The off-camera winners, as they’re called, will be formally recognized when the West Coast-based Academy presents its annual ACM Honors in Nashville Sept. 21.

Keith is being honored with the Jim Reeves International Award for bringing global attention to country. Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, he’s done that somewhat naturally by connecting the dots between his homeland, the U.S. and Canada. Named for one of the first country stars to establish a strong presence overseas, the International Award has previously gone to such figures as Garth Brooks, Roy Clark, Dick Clark and Dolly Parton.

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Clint Black with wife, Lisa Hartman Black.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, causing single people to gnash their teeth, men to pony up for flowers and women to get positively squishy about romance.

For kicks, we’ve endeavored to come up with the Top 20 country love songs of all-time, and only two people — Clint Black and John Michael Montgomery — are two-timers on that list. Clint’s “Something That We Do” and “When I Said I Do,” the latter recorded with his wife, Lisa Hartman Black, are well thought-out expressions of the work involved in making a relationship last. John Michael’s “I Swear” and “I Can Love You Like That” lean toward the age-old pop approach of giving love a fairytale stamp. “I Can Love You Like That,” in fact, makes a Cinderella reference; and it’s no coincidence that both songs were simultaneously pop hits at the time John Michael had them on the charts.

The following list is partially subjective but not entirely. It’s mostly a reflection of success on the charts and at awards shows — and in a title’s ability to wear well over time.

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Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Country music festival, Country Thunder USA, will be back in 2010 with three big headliners — Keith Urban, Willie Nelson and Kid Rock.

The outdoor festival (sponsored by GAC) will be held at the Canyon Moon Ranch, in Florence, Arizona. A full 4-day general admission pass is $99.00 –and passes are now on sale.  One day event tickets will also be available closer to the event. VIP and sponsorship packages are also available with added perks of hospitality tent access, preferred parking, and premium concert seating. Organizers encourage early bird tickets as the event is expected to sell-out.

The announced line-up includes: Continue Reading

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