Dwight Yoakam photo by Cambria Harkey, courtesy of New West Records.

Dwight Yoakam, Aaron Lewis, Easton Corbin, Casey James, Sara Jean Kelley, THE FARM, The MyClymonts, The Roys, and Thomas Rhett have been added to the Country Thunder lineup. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Country Thunder will take place July 19-22 in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. Big & Rich, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Toby Keith have been announced as headlining acts.

Fans can purchase a 4-day pass to the festival for $120 at www.countrythunder.com or by phone at (866) 802-6418 through March 30. Single tickets will go on sale April 1. Campsites are also available, starting as low as $100 for the entire weekend. Camping and amenity add-ons can be purchased online. 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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Taylor Swift's Speak Now CD. Photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Billboard.com has just released its year-end charts for 2011. Here are the 50 most popular country albums for the year (based on album sales). Congratulations to Taylor Swift for taking the top spot with her Speak Now album!

1. Speak Now – Taylor Swift
2. My Kinda Party – Jason Aldean
3. Nothing Like This – Rascal Flatts
4. Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
5. You Get What You Give – Zac Brown Band
6. Own The Night – Lady Antebellum  Read Our Review >>
7. The Band Perry – The Band Perry
8. The Incredible Machine – Sugarland
9. Get Closer – Keith Urban
10. Hemingway’s Whiskey – Kenny Chesney
11. This Is Country Music – Brad Paisley  Read Our Review >>
12. Clear As Day – Scotty McCreery  Read Our Review >>
13. Number One Hits – Tim McGraw
14. Tailgates & Tanlines – Luke Bryan  Read Our Review >>
15. Chief – Eric Church  Read Our Review >>
16. Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton – Blake Shelton
17. Red River Blue – Blake Shelton  Read Our Review >>
18. The Foundation – Zac Brown Band
19. Revolution – Miranda Lambert
20. Country Strong Soundtrack – Various Artists Continue Reading

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Blake Shelton photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Three-time GRAMMY® nominated artist Blake Shelton is setting sail with some of his country music friends on the “Blake Shelton & Friends Cruise” from October 14-21, 2012. Adding to the already previously-announced acts, Trace Adkins, Easton Corbin and Neal McCoy are Lee Brice, Randy Houser, Justin Moore and Jerrod Niemann. The “Blake Shelton & Friends Cruise” is a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean on board the Norwegian Cruise Lines “Pearl.” For more information on the cruise, visit www.BlakeSheltonCruise.com.

And in a recent development, Flying Dutchmen Travel is pleased to announce that due to a redeployment of ships in their fleet, the Norwegian Cruise Lines are substituting the Norwegian “Pearl” in place of the original ship the “Jewel.” The upgrade will treat guests to one of the cruise lines’ newest ships and includes an array of luxurious improvements. All original cabin reservations will be automatically transferred.

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Easton Corbin, Ace Hardware employee.

Joe Nichols, Easton Corbinand Phil Vassar are stepping out of the spotlight – at least for a day. The three country stars will appear on the next episode of GAC’s Day Jobs, airing Sunday, November 6 at 8/7 CT. The show follows country stars as they return to the roles they held before getting their big break. As they see if they still have what it takes to put in a day’s work, they also realize just how much those first jobs shaped their lives today.

Before he was singing about tequila and “Brokenheartsville,” Joe Nichols was running a forklift at the 500,000 square-foot headquarters of OHL. While Joe dreamed of a life far from the warehouse he reported to every day, the job was a means of survival. On Day Jobs, he will get behind the wheel of a forklift and try to keep up with his co-worker, John. Joe returns to the warehouse expecting to be bored, but finds he has more in common with John than just working the same shift.

For Easton Corbin, Ace Hardware was both the neighborhood hardware store and the source of his paycheck. Only a year and a half ago, Easton was helping customers with their home improvement projects and mixing paint, dreaming of making it as a country artist. While the Ace Hardware employees were like family to Easton after he first moved to town, they don’t cut him any slack upon his return, leaving him to clean the store’s bathrooms. Continue Reading

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Trace Adkins on the set of Day Jobs.

Before the hit songs, awards and thousands of screaming fans, country stars held day jobs just like those who love their music. In Day Jobs, an original series premiering on Sunday, October 2 at 8 PM/ET, several of today’s top stars step away from the stage lights and put in a full day’s work the way they did before they made it big.

Each one-hour episode of Day Jobs follows three stars as they work a shift in a variety of jobs ranging from offshore oil rig roughneck to cattle rancher, women’s shoe salesman, pilot and waitress. As they work, they realize just how far they’ve come and how those early jobs helped shaped their life today.

Every participant agreed to put in a full eight-hour day and some had to undergo additional training. Before Trace Adkins returned to his former job as a roughneck on an offshore oil rig, he had to spend a day in safety training. Joe Nichols had to become certified to drive a forklift before spending a day loading pallets and filling orders in a warehouse. Continue Reading

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Easton Corbin photo by James Minchin, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Easton Corbin has been busy this summer, touring with Rascal Flatts and playing up to five shows a week. He hasn’t had much time so relax, so on a recent visit to his home state of Florida, he spent some time with family and friends – and the Bradenton Marauders, the minor league baseball team associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Watch Easton’s Fan Q&A! >> Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum photo by David Johnson, courtesy of The Greenroom PR.

Lady Antebellum has become rather infamous for ‘hazing’ popular country songs. First there was “Biscuits & Gravy,” a take on Lee Brice’s “Love Like Crazy.” They followed it with others such as “A Little More Preppy Than That” and “Mother, Mother,” takes on Easton Corbin‘s “A Little More Country Than That” and Jerrod Niemann’s “Lover, Lover,” respectively. All of these tongue-in-cheek recordings took place on their bus or backstage and delighted fans everywhere.

Now though, they’ve taken it a step further. They’ve hazed Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem,” complete with a music video featuring Colt Ford, one of the song’s writers, dubbing it “Country Club Anthem.” Golf wear, Arnold Palmers, SPF 30 and Colt’s tattoo are all featured in this hilarious parody. The trio broke the news on Twitter that Jason had been selected as their latest ‘victim.’ Continue Reading

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Trace Adkins & Kristin Chenoweth

Trace Adkins will return as host of the second annual American Country Awards, this time joined by Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth. The ACAs will air live from Las Vegas on Monday, December 5 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox and are the only country music awards show that is fan voted in both traditional categories and previously unrecognized areas such as touring.

Last year’s inaugural ACAs last year featured performances by Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Easton Corbin, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Blake Shelton, Steel Magnolia, Josh Turner, The Band Perry and Uncle Kracker. Laura Bell Bundy, Rodney Carrington, Jeff Dunham, Travis Pastrana, Jaron and The Long Road to Love, Jewel, Lady Antebellum, Jennette McCurdy, Bret Michaels, Ty Murray, Jerrod Niemann, Michael Waltrip and Lee Ann Womack also appeared.

Nominees, performers and presenters for this year’s show will be announced at a later date. Browse photos from last  year’s show >>

Trace just released his latest album, Proud to Be Here. Read our review >>

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Rascal Flatts launched their Flatts Fest summer tour last weekend with shows in Bristow, Virginia and Virginia Beach to crowds of more than 35,000. The Flatts Fest is more than a musical tour, as it includes a pre-show festival of karaoke, a scavenger hunt and the Why Wait Wedding Chapel, among other activities. While the trio intends to put on a memorable show, they are hoping fans and their families enjoy the day together.

“I just want people to go ‘You know what? We had the greatest day. We had the whole family out there and then, whatever, you know, the kids went back home because they were tired or they went to the show too,’” Gary LeVox said. “[We] just want them to have a blast the entire day, and then the icing on the cake is to get to the live show at night, and it’s fun for everybody. Just come and spend the entire day with us and hopefully, they’ll want to come back.” Continue Reading

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