Country music stars sure love Twitter! This week, Reba pokes fun at a hoax claiming she’d died in Austria, Sarah Buxton comes up with a clever invention, Jake Owen  deals with a tired pup, Little Big Town teases their whereabouts, and proud dad Rhett Akins hears his son, Thomas Rhett, on the radio for the first time. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/reba.

Reba – Reba: The rumors of my Austrian death are greatly exaggerated!

Little Big Town – LBTMusic: Yep, we’re in the studio with Vince Gill right now.

Sarah Buxton – SarahBuxton: Invention: The Crack Flap. Comes up over the back of your pants & covers the inevitable plumbers crack caused by today’s low rise pants.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/thebandperry.

The Band Perry - TheBandPerry: Thx Las Vegas for an amazing night!!! Fake Brad Paisley has left the building. (np) Continue Reading

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David Nail photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

David Nail recently celebrated his first No. 1 with “Let It Rain” and his brand of slow burn soul country has been getting attention from places as different as the Sundance Film Festival and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. His music also caught the ear of pop singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw who liked what he heard so much he’s invited David to join him for several tour dates in Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee in March.

“Gavin is such a great singer,” David said. “What he does with popular music is kind of what I hope I can do with country: blur the lines of what people think, but also turn up the passion when you sing – because that’s the one thing all people relate to.”

On his first set of tour dates of 2012, David played an oversold show in Cincinnati, an at-capacity show in Chicago, and a capacity-raised concert in Columbus, Ohio. He believes people are coming out to catch his shows because they connect with his music.

“When the people come out, I think they’re looking to feel something,” he said. “They’re looking to have someone else know what’s going on in their life. They enjoy hearing a band like mine: guys who know how to play, and who every night are gonna try to push those songs even further than they ever have. You can see it on their faces.”

Tickets are already sold out for David and Gavin’s March 16 show at Brick Street in Oxford, Ohio. Tickets remain available for the other six dates. The run of shows kicks off on March 8 at Buster’s in Lexington, Kentucky. Continue Reading

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Billy Currington photo by Kate Powers, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Billy Currington will kick off his first headling tour on March 24 in Biloxi, Mississippi reports Music Row. Billy has announced 11 dates in major cities and will be joined by labelmates David Nail and Kip Moore.

“I have learned a lot over the years touring with some of the biggest names in country music,” Billy said. “I am excited to put that knowledge to use on this tour by giving fans a great show as a thank you for all of their support. It will also be a great way to test out some new music!”

Billy recently started work on his next studio album. Fans can go to www.billycurrington.com for tour dates, ticket information and more. Continue Reading

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Fan voting for the ACM New Artist of the Year semi-finalists runs from Jan. 16-30, 2012!

Eight of country music’s most talented newcomers — each competing for the Academy of Country Music’s New Artist of the Year honor – will be featured on ACM Showcase, Monday, January 16 at 8/7c on GAC, check schedule for more times. The 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be held Sunday, April 1, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Host Storme Warren will interview Brantley Gilbert, Hunter Hayes, JT Hodges, Scotty McCreery, Justin Moore, David Nail, Jerrod Niemann and duo Thompson Square, catching up with each on the remarkable year they’ve had. These eight semi-finalists were chosen by the first round of ACM professional membership voting and the fans will help choose the three finalists. Online voting is now open at gactv.com/acm and closes Monday, January 30 Noon ET and fans may vote once per day. When the three final nominees are chosen, online voting for the New Artist of the Year honor begins Monday, March 19, at 3pm ET by logging on to VoteACM.com. Continue Reading

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Country music stars sure love Twitter! This week, Rascal Flatts hangs with the quarterback of the moment, David Nail reflects on his first No. 1 single, John Rich shares the aftermath of his birthday bash, Jo Dee Messina tweets from labor and delivery and Jake Owen posts a hilarious video after his wisdom teeth extraction! Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/JayDeMarcus.

Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts – JayDemarcus: With our buddy Tebow yesterday… Great game!!

Taylor Swift – TaylorSwift13: Thank you so much for my People’s Choice Award! Favorite Country Artist! PARTY!!! Seriously- thank you for voting.

David Nail – DavidNail: Wife is in Vegas, so it’s me and the dogs tonight! Finally some time to myself to reflect just how amazing this week has been! Thank u!!!

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/DierksBentley.

Dierks Bentley – DierksBentley: somehow the #redsolocup disco ball from the video wound up on my table at the studio I work out of. suggestions??! Continue Reading

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The Academy of Country Music and Great American Country (GAC) announced today that for the fourth consecutive year, the newcomer category for the 47^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards — New Artist of the Year—will be opened up to interactive fan voting through VoteACM.com and GACTV.com/ACM, beginning Monday, January 16, 2012.

The Academy of Country Music combined all newcomer categories into a single combined, overall category for New Artist of the Year.  The New Artist of the Year award absorbs all newcomer categories including New Male Vocalist, New Female Vocalist, New Vocal Duo, New Vocal Group, New Solo Vocalist and New Vocal Duo or Group categories from past years, and the winner will be revealed on the LIVE telecast at the 47^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.  The show is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 8 p.m. live ET/delayed PT on CBS.

The top 8 artists from the first round of ACM professional voting are considered semi-finalists and will compete via the GAC fan vote at GACTV.com/ACM, combined with the ACM professional membership vote, to determine the final 3 nominees for the Award.  The final 3 nominees will compete for the trophy, with a combined fan and professional membership vote to determine the winner. Don’t miss our special, ACM Showcase 2012, hosted by Storme Warren and featuring interviews with all 8 semi-finalists, premiering Monday, January 16 at  8/7c.

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR semi-finalists are:

• Brantley Gilbert
• Hunter Hayes
• JT Hodges
• David Nail
• Jerrod Niemann
• Justin Moore
• Scotty McCreery
• Thompson Square

First round fan voting for New Artist of the Year will begin at www.VoteACM.com and www.GACTV.com/ACM on Monday, Jan. 16  at 9 a.m. ET, and will close on Monday, Jan. 30 at Noon ET.  The final three nominees will be announced in February and will move on to compete for ACM New Artist of the Year.  Final round voting for the New Artist category will begin at VoteACM.com on Monday, March 19 and will close on April 1, with the winner being announced live during the 47^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast on CBS on Sunday, April 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

As part of this partnership, GAC will air several stand-alone specials, including a show featuring the top eight semi-finalists, as well as a show featuring the final nominees who will compete for New Artist.  The first GAC special “ACM Showcase” will feature all eight semi-finalists, and will premiere Monday, January 16 at 8 p.m. ET. This special will re-air through January 30, when voting closes.  The GAC “ACM New Artist of the Year” special will feature interviews and exclusive performances with the final three nominees.  That special premieres March 19 at 9 p.m. ET and airs through April 1.

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David Nail photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Glen Campbell is one of David Nail’s musical heroes. So when Glen played live at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Tuesday, David jumped at the chance to see his idol live – even though it was his wife Catherine’s birthday. Catherine gave her husband a free pass and stayed at home while David took in Glen’s show. The tour stop was part of Glen’s farewell tour after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year.

“Obviously some of his ability comes from muscle memory,” David said. “But the heart, the soul that he brings those songs, that comes from some place deep inside. That – even with teleprompter – is why he is an artist who made such a mark, and who continues to influence people like me all these years later. I didn’t experience him on the radio, I found him. And Glen Campbell – who I found some time in the ’90s through a Greatest Hits I album I played top to bottom, again and again – defines what it means to be a singer.”

When film producer/writer/director James Keach, the man behind Walk The Line and The Long Riders, heard about David’s admiration for Glen, he offered David a last minute invitation to sit for an interview that will be included in an as-of-yet-untitled documentary on the country music legend.

Read our review of David Nail’s The Sound of a Million Dreams! >>

“When I turned the guys in my band, who’re even younger than me, onto Ghost on the Canvas (Glen’s final recording), they didn’t really know who he was,” David said. “Now it’s something every one of them is suggesting we play on the bus. He hasn’t just survived, he’s remained an artist who makes a mark, which is something I think anyone who does this should aspire to.” Continue Reading

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

The guys of Rascal Flatts are all dads, so for them, Christmas is all about their kids. Joe Don Rooney is especially looking forward to Christmas with his wife Tiffany and their two kids.

“For me this year, having a little baby, Rocky, she’s 15 months old, and having Jagger who’s three and a half, and Tiffany and I, we‘re just gonna sit at the house and chill out,” he said. “It’s gonna be really good to be home and to have nothing to do but just love on each other and bring in the New Year.”

Watch Rascal Flatts perform “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” >>

“We are gonna fly our families in on Christmas Day,” Joe Don added. “We’re gonna spend Christmas Eve just the four of us at the house, which will be really fun, first time ever. And then Christmas day the family will all get in and we‘ll ring in the New Year with our family, so I‘m looking so forward to this Christmas.”

Jay DeMarcus and his wife, Allison, will celebrate with their one-year-old daughter, Madeline, while Gary LeVox will spend the holidays with his wife, Tara, and daughters Brittany and Brooklyn. 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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Frankie Ballard photo courtesy of Reprise Records.

Frankie Ballard and his dad have a ‘must do’ when it comes to Christmas traditions. There is a movie the father and son have to watch together to make sure it feels like the holidays. “My dad and I always watch Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase,” Frankie said. “It wouldn’t feel like Christmas if we didn’t do that every year.”

Before he was a guitar slinger, Frankie was into sports. He played baseball in college, but also played hockey growing up. One of his favorite Christmas presents is a hockey-related item he coveted as a kid.

“Back when I played hockey there was a hockey jacket you would get, a red corduroy jacket, all the kids would get it and put patches on it when they got a hat trick or won a championship,” he said. “I remember finally getting one and freaking out.”

Frankie’s labelmate, Jana Kramer, counts family time among her favorite Christmas memories. “My favorite Christmas memory is probably always having euchre tournaments with my family and just hanging out laughing!” she said.

It turns out, Frankie isn’t the only one whose favorite gift was a jacket. “My favorite gift was a fringe jacket,” Jana said. “I thought I was Pocahontas when I was a little girl!” As for her favorite food? That’s an easy question for Jana. “My grandpa’s stuffing! It’s the best!”

Christmas is a time for giving and good will, but that didn’t stop Brett Eldredge and his brother from deciding to play a prank on their mother for Christmas. She asked them for a new robe, but they decided to have a little fun with the present instead. “Being the jokesters that we are, we got the idea to get a really old gross robe and smeared brown shoe polish on it to make it look gross because we wanted to see how she would react,” Brett said. “She opened it and tried to act like she liked it but I couldn’t keep from laughing my butt off! I was laughing so hard I was crying! Eventually she figured out it was a prank and we went to the other room and brought her a brand new soft, clean robe!”

Brett didn’t let the gag gift go to waste, however. He found it useful when another holiday rolled around. “I kept the robe for Halloween and dressed up like ‘Cousin Eddy’ from Christmas Vacation!” he said.

One of Dolly Parton’s favorite Christmas memories involves helping her mother pick out a wedding band for Christmas! You can watch Dolly share the memory as well as see artists like Miranda Lambert, David Nail and more in our Holiday Memories channel. Check it out! >>

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