Reid Perry, Kimberly Perry and Neil Perry of The Band Perry accept an award at the 45th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 9, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

Tonight’s 45th Annual CMA Awards belonged to The Band Perry, who took home three trophies — New Artist of the Year, plus Single of the Year and Song of the Year for their signature song, “If I Die Young.”

TBP’s Kimberly Perry remembers writing the song by herself at the Perry family home. “It was so organic,” she said backstage in the CMA Awards press room. “The song only took one day to finish, and I only got it halfway finished and took it to my mom, and was going to take it into town [Nashville]… and she said to finish the other half. So I went back and finished it.”

Other big winners of the night included country’s power couple, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert — who won Top Male & Top Female Vocalist — and Taylor Swift, who took home the night’s top honor, Entertainer of the Year.

Complete List of CMA Award Winners >>

We loved seeing all the CMA Awards red carpet and show fashion, from Laura Bell Bundy‘s dramatic Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum‘s Hillary Scott and songwriter Anthony Smith were the top winners at last night’s SESAC Awards in Nashville, held at The Pinnacle at Symphony Place. The Tennessean reports the royalties-collecting organization SESAC gave Hillary its songwriter of the year award for the third time in the last four years.

Hillary won the award for co-writing three Lady A hits: “Just a Kiss,” “Need You Now” and “Our Kind of Love.” But according to her friend and mentor (and co-producer of Lady A’s first album) Victoria Shaw, Hillary’s award for writing “A Little Bit Stronger,” recorded by Sara Evans, most likely held a special place in her heart.

“That song was her,” Victoria told the paper. “That wasn’t the boys (Lady A’s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood) and her. Not that she doesn’t adore that,” she said. “But this really let her be her own entity.

“That separation and that recognition is probably one of her most proud moments. I know how proud I am when someone else records one of my songs. They’re not doing it to be nice. They’re not doing it as a favor. They’re doing it because they think that’s going to help their career. And when it does, it’s the ultimate compliment to the songwriter.”

SESAC awarded Anthony Smith with its Song of the Year trophy. Anthony won for the song he co-wrote with Chris Young, “Tomorrow.” Chris even surprised Anthony by Continue Reading

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Kristin Chenoweth photo courtesy of Facebook.com/KristinChenoweth.

Kristin Chenoweth is going back to her country roots with the release of her new album, Some Lessons Learned, on September 13. The album will include her current single, “I Want Somebody (Bitch About),” which is a tongue-and-cheek song about finding love. The songs on Kristin’s album explore her experiences as a woman.

Some Lessons Learned was produced by Bib Ezrin, known for his work with KISS and Pink Floyd. It features songs written by top songwriters including Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum, Dolly Parton, Diane Warren and Victoria Shaw among others. Kristin wrote two songs, “What Would Dolly Do?” and “Mine To Love.” This is Kristin’s fourth album on Sony.

“Look at my recording career and it’s kind of funny,” Kristin said. “It’s all so different! This album is more along the lines of what I grew up singing, like the music I sang in church in Oklahoma. When I was hired at nineteen to sing at Opryland in Nashville, that’s what I wanted to do. I never anticipated my career going in all these great directions – which I’m grateful for! I’m finally getting to do what I want.” Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of The Greenroom PR.

The members of Lady Antebellum were enjoying their lives as students on September 11, 2001. Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood were in college at the University of Georgia while Hillary Scott was still in high school. When Charles woke up that morning, he had a very different day in mind.

“It was my birthday believe it or not,” Charles said. “Yeah. 9/11. So, I was in college, and yeah, it was wild. I mean, woke up, was getting ready to go to class. And I had a roommate come in and say, ‘Man, turn on the TV. Classes are canceled. You won’t believe…’ He had had an earlier class, and he comes in and says, ‘Turn on the TV.’ And we all got up and watched it. It was just wild. So, it’s hard to put into words. But I can [still] remember it and everybody can. It had such a huge effect on everybody.” Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum's 2011 CD, Own The Night. Photo courtesy of The Greenroom PR.

In the roughly year-and-a-half since Lady Antebellum released their breakout album Need You Now, the young Nashville trio has quickly turned into one of the most recognizable and promising acts in any genre. Need You Now, with worldwide sales in excess of five million copies and five Grammy awards to its credit, introduced fans to the group’s dynamic harmonies and powerful delivery. Now, on their third album, Own The Night, Lady A shows their continued growth with a set of 12 songs wrapped in emotion and displaying a vibrant presence.

Working again with Producer Paul Worley, Own The Night focuses much of its attention on individual moments in time. “Dancin’ Away With My Heart,” with wistful open chords and a dreamy guitar melody, captures the interaction between older versions of two young first loves. I brush the curls back so I can see your eyes, Charles Kelley sings with a comfortable familiarity before Hillary Scott adds, And the way you move me was like you’re reading my mind. On the ballad “As You Turn Away,” Hillary takes the lead to explore the exact moment a heart breaks at the end of a relationship. Over deep, dramatic piano tones and stirring strings, Hillary sings with touching sadness through the bridge, One step my heart is breaking, one more my hands are shaking/ The door is closing and I just can’t change it. Charles adds backing harmonies in a poignant display of what makes Lady A so special. Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of The Greenroom PR.

In just a few years, Lady Antebellum has become one of the most popular and successful bands in country music. In GAC’s new special, Backstory: Lady Antebellum, premiering Sunday, September 11 at 8/7c, the trio sits down to reflect on how they met, became a band and started on the journey to superstardom. Hillary’s, Charles’ and Dave’s parents also help tell the story and share never before seen childhood photos and performance videos.

After graduating from the University of Georgia with a finance degree, Charles moved to Nashville to pursue a solo career. Dave, also a UGA grad, was working an accounting job in Atlanta. Having written together once in college, Charles contacted Dave and was soon driving to Atlanta every other weekend to write. Dave eventually quit his job and joined Charles in Nashville.

5 Things You Don’t Know About Lady Antebellum >>

“His brother (singer Josh Kelley) was a big influence on us so I figured maybe we could write songs for Josh or maybe for other country artists,” David said. He and Charles were decidedly against ‘day jobs’ as they pursued their music ambitions as solo artists, maxing out credit cards in the process. In 2006, Charles met Hillary in a Nashville club. Hillary was already a fan of Charles’ music from MySpace and the pair along with Dave agreed to write together. Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

On Saturday we shared the sad news of the passing of Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott’s grandmother.  

Today, Music Row magazine reported these additional details: Linda Davis’ mother and Hillary’s grandmother, Lois “Onita” Davis, died July 14 in Carthage, Texas. She was 80 years old and her family describes her as a wonderful homemaker and devoted mother to three children, including Linda, daughter Vernell Owen (husband Jimmy), and son Troy “Tator” Davis (wife Sonya).

According to Music Row, Mrs. Davis worked for years in the local school cafeteria and was a longtime Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

In a statement released on their website yesterday, Lady Antebellum announced that they were postponing last night’s scheduled performance in Toledo, OH.

Due to the death of Hillary Scott’s grandmother, Lady Antebellum has postponed their show at the Zoo Amphitheater in Toledo, OH until Wednesday, August 10.  All tickets will be honored for that date.  Lady A’s performance at Bayfest in Sarnia, Ontario will continue as planned for tomorrow night.

The sad news comes on the heels of the much brighter engagement announcement Hillary Scott released back in early July.  Read the story here »

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Hillary Scott and her family.

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Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott and fiance Chris Tyrell. Photo courtesy of Hillary Scott/The Green Room PR.

Congratulations to Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, 25, who became engaged to boyfriend Chris Tyrell, 24, over the Fourth of July weekend.

People magazine reports that Chris popped the question as the sun was setting over a lake in east Tennessee. Hillary met her love, a drummer, while Lady A was on tour with Tim McGraw in early 2010.

“Chris proposed exactly the way I’ve always dreamed,” Hillary told People. “Our families were close by, but it was just us out on a beautiful deck Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum on the set of their video for "Just A Kiss." Photo courtesy of The GreenRoom PR.

The music video for Lady Antebellum‘s fastest rising single to date “Just A Kiss” premiered today simultaneously on the band’s official website and on VEVO.  “Just a Kiss” is the lead single off Lady Antebellum’s third Capitol Nashville studio album OWN THE NIGHT which will be released on September 13.  Fans can pre-order OWN THE NIGHT beginning today.

Lady Antebellum joined up with award-winning director Shaun Silva to shoot the video, it was their first time working together.  For their scenes in the video Lady Antebellum stayed closed to home, filming here in Nashville.  Meanwhile, director Shaun Silva actually took the two lead actors on a trip to London to shoot several of their scenes on location.

Watch the video for “Just A Kiss” now:

Must-See Lady Antebellum Photos
Check out the latest photos of Charles, Hillary and Dave in action »

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What do you think of Lady A’s new video?  Leave us a comment below with your review…

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