Jerrod Niemann photo by Jeremy Cowart, courtesy of myspace.com/jerrodniemann.

If you want to be a success, the best way to do it is develop your talents and then make some connections with the right people. Jerrod Niemann’s been following that path, and it’s starting to look like he knew what he was doing all along.

Hailing from Liberal, Kan. — just across the border from the Oklahoma Panhandle — Jerrod got his first hit as a songwriter when Okie Garth Brooks recorded his Chris LeDoux tribute “Good Ride Cowboy.” Just this last year, Brad Paisley opened his new Sea Gayle label and signed Jerrod as the first artist. And now Jerrod’s played the same legendary stage where Garth and Brad — not to mention Roy Acuff and Porter Wagoner — all made a huge impact: the Grand Ole Opry House.

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Jamey Johnson photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Jamey Johnson’s 2008 album That Lonesome Song was a winner, earning nominations for Album of the Year in both the CMA Awards and the Grammys.

The track that drew the most attention from the album, “In Color,” owed its storyline to a black-and-white photograph, and Jamey’s next album will likely carry that theme forward, though it’s unclear if Jamey intended to link the two projects. He told Alabama outlet Our Prattville that the new album, titled The Guitar Song, should be out in June or July. And it’s taken on an interesting shape.

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Clay Walker photo courtesy of Curb Records.

The National Hockey League is winding down its regular season, Major League Baseball is gearing up for opening day and other outdoor sports — including golf, horse racing and NASCAR — all have major events on the horizon.

And country music is in the middle of it all, with Clay Walker, Carrie Underwood, Jack Ingram and the Zac Brown Band among the acts linked to athletics of late.

Here’s a look at some of the ways country stars are embracing sports:

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Montgomery Gentry photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

This morning, tickets went on sale for the 2010 Country Throwdown Tour, sponsored by GAC. The tour kicks off May 14 at the Ford Amphitheater in Tampa, Fla. and goes through June 20 in Mountain View, Calif. at the Shoreline Amphitheater.

The tour features Montgomery Gentry, Jack Ingram, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town, Eric Church, Emily West, Eli Young Band, Heidi Newfield, The Lost Trailers, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses and Jonathan Singleton and the Grove.

In addition to the artists above on the main stage, there will be a Bluebird Cafe Stage Continue Reading

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Alan Jackson's beach-themed birdhouse. Photo courtesy of The Birdhouse Thing.

Now’s your chance to own a home designed by your favorite country star! Disclaimer: you can’t actually live in this home unless you are a bird. GAC and The Grand Ole Opry have partnered with The Birdhouse Thing organization to offer you the opportunity to bid on one-of-a-kind, autographed birdhouses designed by country superstars including Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, LeAnn Rimes and many more. Proceeds benefit The W.O. Smith Music School. Hurry and get your bids in now — the auction closes on March 23. Continue Reading

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Dierks Bentley photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Sept. 30, 2009 — Dierks Bentley was the only country artist on the list this summer when Forbes magazine named 10 people most likely to break from stardom into superstardom. But if he’s ever tempted to take himself too seriously, he needs only look to his past to keep his feet on the ground.

Dierks took a lot of odd jobs to finance his life before he found his way in the music business, and one of those required him to clean 250-gallon septic tanks on houseboats at Lake Powell in Arizona.

“[One day] I was working these levers and suddenly the guys I was working with jumped back in horror,” he told The Orange County Register. “I had done it wrong, and the waste was just shooting out all over everything. Continue Reading

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