Rodney Atkins photo courtesy of Curb Records.

Last year, Halloween fell on a Sunday, which gave Rodney Atkins’ son Elijah the chance to cash in on several trick-or-treating events held over the Halloween weekend. As part of their weekend-long celebration, the Atkins family decided to go on a haunted tour of downtown Franklin, Tennessee — and one costume caught Rodney’s eye.

“I showed up at the courthouse downtown and these people were kinda dressed up — and this one girl was just over the top,” Rodney said. “I didn’t know what she was, she was all white with an umbrella and I’m thinking, ‘Who in the world is this freak?’ I start walking and I get tapped on the shoulder and she says, ‘Hey Rodney, Rodney it’s me, Jennifer Nettles…’ I think she was a jellyfish.”

Clint Black and wife Lisa Hartman Black still enjoy Halloween. Their daughter, Lily, is 10 years old and still trick-or-treating, though Clint knows her days of wanting mom and dad to go with her are numbered. While Clint isn’t looking forward to his little girl growing up, he does have hopes of returning to a former Halloween favorite – scaring people.

GAC’s Top 10 Most Haunting Country Videos >>

“I’ve always enjoyed even as an adult, getting to dress up and mostly scaring people that come around our house,” Clint says. “I had to knock it off for a little while when Lily was a certain age ’cause it scared her too. I’ll hopefully be able to get back to the scaring real soon.” Continue Reading

ShareThis

Country music stars sure love Twitter! In this week’s edition, Taylor Swift shows off her artwork, Joe Nichols and Jack Ingram engage in some friendly banter over the World Series and both Laura Bell Bundy and Brett Eldredge make important discoveries. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/taylorswift13.

Taylor Swift – TaylorSwift13: About to play in Austin, Texas.

Lady Antebellum – LadyAntebellum: The boys aren’t the only ones who wear @theellenshow underwear, but a lady should never show her knickers…trust me tho they’re on!

Tom McMillan of Tom’s Wild Life – TmKansas: Dear IPhone, I’m officially changing your name to: ICharge. I’ve seen farts that last longer than your phone batteries. Love, Tom

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/chuckwicksmusic.

Chuck Wicks – ChuckWicksMusic: Wait…..Let me guess…..you want to play “ball”?? Continue Reading

ShareThis

James Otto photo courtesy of Essential Broadcast Media.

Steel Magnolia’s Meghan Linsey has been playing many of the duo’s scheduled shows solo while Joshua Scott Jones is in rehab for alcohol and substance abuse treatment. While Joshua works to get healthy, Meghan has invited James Otto to join her on certain dates on Reba’sAll The Women I Am Tour this fall. James jumped at the chance to join Meghan when she called him.

5 Things You Don’t Know About James Otto >>

“When I got the call from Meg, I thought it was a great idea,” he said. “I thought our voices would blend really well. I know that our musical tastes are very similar and we’re coming from the same place. Man, who wouldn’t want to be out on tour with Reba McEntire? That was one of those things that’s a no-brainer.” Continue Reading

ShareThis

Country music stars sure love Twitter! In this week’s edition of Top 10 Tweets, Brad Paisley shares a photo of his European tour (see his timeline for more!), Jake Owen and James Otto celebrate birthdays, the Grand Ole Opry hires a ‘little’ help, Billy Currington shares a George Jones memory and The Band Perry has some interesting fans in line for their show. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/BradPaisley.

Brad Paisley – BradPaisley: You see a priceless French painting…

Billy Currington – BillyCurrington: last time I saw Jones he said hey Dierks hows ur wife. I said I don’t have a wife. He laughed and said u a funny one. Im like not u 2 jones

Jake Owen – JakeOwen: Wow. Thanks for all the Birthday wishes. I’m so thankful for life, happiness, and amazing friends. I’m ready for this chapter in life.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/Reba.

Reba McEntire – Reba: Who are all these people????

Continue Reading

ShareThis

l-r: Colt Ford, Jason Aldean & Brantley Gilbert. Photo by Dan Harr, courtesy of Essential Broadcast Media.

Colt Ford and a few of his friends raised over $85,000 during a benefit show at the Georgia Theater on August 16. Colt, Rhett Akins, Jason Aldean, Dallas Davidson, Mike Dekle, Edwin McCain, James Otto, and surprise guests Brantley Gilbert, Rachel Farley, and Corey Smith came together during the ‘Colt Ford and Friends’ concert that raised funds for families of fallen Senior Officer Elmer “Buddy” Christian and wounded Senior Officer Tony Howard.

‘Colt Ford and Friends’ brought more than 200 people to a private reception and silent auction at the Hotel Indigo’s Rialto Room for a pre-show celebration. 1,100 fans filled the Georgia Theatre later on for an evening featuring the artists ‘in the round’ with Colt’s band backing them. The concert came about after Colt learned of the shooting in his community earlier this year that left his high school friend, Senior Officer Howard, injured and resulted in the death of Senior Officer Christian. Colt organized the fundraiser in less than a month.

“I want to say thank you to all of my friends who helped us have such a special night in my hometown,” Colt said. “To all the artists who joined in to perform or who donated items to help raise money, y’all are amazing, and I am thankful to call you all friends.  This could not have happened without y’all.” Continue Reading

ShareThis

James Otto photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

As a former resident of North Dakota, the devastating flooding in and around Minot, ND is hitting close to home for James Otto. To raise funds for Minot’s local Red Cross, James will host a live streaming benefit concert on StageIt.com on July 7. What’s more, a fan who has chosen to remain anonymous will match up to $5,000 of tips given to James during the show as an additional donation.

The show is part of James’ “Thirsty Thursdays” concert series he began in early June. During the concerts, he performs via live streaming broadcast from his home studio. To register, visit www.StageIt.com, create your profile and then click on James’ artist page to purchase tickets for $5 each. The site also offers a ‘tip jar’ if fans want to show their appreciation through tips. Donations added to the tip jar are what will be matched by James’ fan. Continue Reading

ShareThis

Steel Magnolia photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Steel Magnolia, Laura Bell Bundy and James Otto will be on hand to kick off the inaugural ‘Rise, Shine & Party Time’ acoustic concert on Thursday, June 9 at this year’s CMA Music Festival. The round-robin style concert will start at 10 a.m. at The Rutledge in downtown Nashville. Besides live music, there will be an autograph session and The Rutledge will offer a $5 breakfast plate while supplies last.

“We can’t wait to spend the day with Laura Bell, James and most importantly our fans,” Josh Jones of Steel Magnolia said. “The show might start before noon but we’re going to make it a party!” The other half of Steel Magnolia shares Josh’s excitement. “CMA fest is all about spending time with the fans,” Meghan Linsey said. “We really want to make this special for them and truly an event they will remember and look forward to next year. Continue Reading

ShareThis

Danny Gokey photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Danny Gokey will help Gildan Activewear break the Guinness World Record for Largest T-Shirt on Saturday, June 11 during CMA Music Festival in Nashville. The t-shirt, nearly the size of a football field, is 170 feet wide and 262 feet long, weighs nearly three tons, and took six weeks to make. It will be used to create 12,000 shirts, which Gildan will donate to Keep the Music Playing, an organization that supports music education in Metro Nashville Public Schools.

“We’re excited to not only break the Guinness World Record but also, more importantly, to align with Keep the Music Playing through our donation,” said Randy Brown, vice president retail sales for Gildan. “Music education is so important to today’s youth and we’re thrilled to support the cause.”

The fabric for the t-shirt was produced at Gildan’s textile facility with yarn from spinning plants in North Carolina. Final construction of the t-shirt took place in Utah over more than four weeks and used sewing machines on a large track that sewed the rolls of fabric into larger panels for assembly. A flatbed trailer was used to bring the t-shirt 1,700 miles to Nashville. It will be unveiled at Centennial Park at 11:30 AM with help from more than 100 volunteers. A Guinness representative will be on hand to confirm the record has been broken. Continue Reading

ShareThis

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/Miranda_Lambert.

Congratulations to country’s “Royal Couple,” Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, who tied the knot in a Texas ceremony today! Us Weekly reported that the wedding took place at the Don Strange Ranch.

The 27-year-old beautiful bride wore her mother’s wedding dress as she walked down the aisle in front of 550 family members and friends. The couple’s famous friends attending included Reba McEntire, Cee Lo Green, MartinaMcBride , Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum‘s Charles Kelly and the Bellamy Brothers.

After the ceremony, Miranda told Us, “I’m married to my best friend! Looking forward to a lifetime of laughter.”

Blake, 34, added “I wanted to be married to Miranda the day I proposed. Finally, it’s official!”

Browse photos from some of Blake and Miranda’s most memorable moments »

The night of the wedding, tweets came in from many of the “royal couple”‘s well-known pals: Continue Reading

ShareThis

A quiet Sunday night took a wild turn as reports of Osama bin Laden’s death spread like wildfire.   Then, a little bit after 11 p.m. ET, President Barack Obama addressed the nation to confirm the report.  President Obama outlined that U.S. Special Forces had killed bin Laden early Sunday morning at a compound located in a small town in Northern Pakistan.  The President described a successful, targeted operation that ended with bin Laden’s body in the possession of the troops that executed the mission. Bin Laden’s death comes just months before the 10-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that he claimed responsibility for.

As the news of bin Laden’s death spread, country stars reacted with a flood of messages on Twitter.  Here are just a few:

reba: So proud of our President and our military!

DierksBentley: God Bless our troops and their families… thank you for the sacrifices you all make for our freedoms and our Country. what a great moment.

BradPaisley: If you see someone in a military uniform tomorrow, for heaven’s sake give them a hug. Or a drink. Or a new car.

saraevansmusic: So proud of our American soldiers for the incredible job they did in taking out Bin Laden! Praise the Lord! Thank you!

darrylworley: Thank God! I knew this day would come. I have never been so happy to hear the news of someones death.

blakeshelton: Sorry if this seems disrespectful but I’m so glad that piece absolute #### Osama is dead..

johnrich: Ya’ll wanna know who got fired? OSAMA.

leannrimes: Omg, Bin Laden!!! Blessings to our troops and a bit of peace for our country and those who lost loved one’s in 9/11.

joebonsall: Now Osama knows what it is like to get fried alive… God bless our military… I hope it hurt like HELL!! Keyword being HELL!!

billycurrington: this news is awesome !

juliannehough: Justice has been done

thompsonsquare: GOD BLESS AMERICA! This is a great day.

sarahbuxton: God BLESS those soldiers who carried out this mission successfully! What a bunch of bad asses. America, America, God shed his grace on thee!

TheJoshThompson: God Bless the U.S.A! I hope the news is true.

billyraycyrus: Just saw the news! OSAMA BIN LADEN is dead !!! How crazy is that ! Only in my life could i be at FT Hood on the night this happened …

steelmagnolia11: Osama Bin Laden is dead! Wow.. Watching news now.

joshgracin: Great Night for the USA…. Great Night for the families of 9/11…. Big step toward the preservation of humanity.

jamesotto: I wondered if this day would ever come. Did y’all think we’d ever here this amazing news?

Leave us a comment and let us know how you felt when you heard the news.

ShareThis