BMI will honor Bobby Braddock as a BMI songwriting Icon during its 59th annual Country Awards. The private ceremony is slated for Tuesday, November 8 at BMI’s Music Row offices in Nashville.

The Icon award is given to BMI songwriters who have had a “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Braddock, who will be celebrated with an all-star musical tribute that evening, joins a list of past honorees that includes Billy Sherrill, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Isaac Hayes, Merle Haggard, Brian Wilson, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, the Bee Gees, Ray Davies, James Brown and more.

At first glance, there seem to be two Bobby Braddocks. One writes heart-wrenching songs, such as “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” the sadness of which famously made George Jones wary; the other Braddock deals in wry hilarity, like his13th career No. 1, Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy.” Continue Reading

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Jennifer Nettles, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood and The Judds perform during the Girls' Night Out: Superstar Women Of Country concert. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

If you were in Las Vegas last Monday night and were lucky enough to attend the Academy of Country Music’s Girls’ Night Out: Superstar Women Of Country taping, you saw many once-in-a-lifetime performances. Each part of the show – which spotlighted honorees Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, The Judds, Sugarland‘s Jennifer Nettles and Martina McBride – featured a musical collaboration as well as a video tribute and performance salute. Click HERE to see photos from the taping!

Country Aircheck reports that Miranda’s fiancé Blake Shelton sang “Famous In A Small Town” for her. Miranda also debuted her new group Pistol Annie with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley to perform “Hell On Heels.” Vince Gill sang “Jesus Take The Wheel” for Carrie, who then joined Vince on “How Great Thou Art.” Rascal Flatts performed “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” for Reba, who sang “The Heart Won’t Lie” with the Flatts. John Fogerty performed “Rockin’ With The Rhythm Of The Rain” for the Judds. Wynonna and Fogerty then performed “Proud Mary,” while Naomi Judd observed. Sugarland partner Kristian Bush hosted a video tribute for Nettles, who joined Ronnie Dunn on “Let Him Fly.” Dunn also performed Sugarland’s “Stay.” Little Big Town and McBride sang Linda Ronstadt’s “When Will I Be Loved.” Honoree Loretta Lynn couldn’t attend the taping because of recent knee surgery, but she spoke via a satellite video feed. Continue Reading

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Merle Haggard has been called the Poet of the Common Man, and his ability to capture the hopes and fears of real people with his songwriting — not to mention his expressiveness as a singer — helped him lock up a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Now he’s got a place in another hall of honor: the California Hall of Fame, housed at the California Museum, just one block from the State Capitol in Sacramento. Merle’s induction was announced Wednesday by the state’s First Lady, Maria Shriver, among a class of 14 new members. The class includes Barbra Streisand, Betty White, former Governor Pat Brown, jeans maker Levi Strauss and director James Cameron.

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Jamey Johnson photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

When he released That Lonesome Song in 2008, Jamey Johnson emerged as one of country’s best-acclaimed acts, earning a Grammy nomination for the album and picking up scads of positive reviews for his Waylon Jennings-inspired sound.

Within just a few months of that project’s release, Jamey started recording again, and the wait for the follow-up will soon be over. He’s got a double-CD package called The Guitar Song coming Sept. 14 with 25 songs covering more than two hours.

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Zac Brown band photo by www.jeffography.com; courtesy of Shore Fire Media.

Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards might not have carried the heft of the Super Bowl, but the CBS event was still a major broadcast that reached a specific target audience. Thus, it was a perfect vehicle for a number of advertisers, including a couple who used the awards to debut new commercials featuring Rascal Flatts and Zac Brown Band.

The whole content/commercial tie-in came into play from the very start of the show. Charlie Daniels popped up on fiddle with Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley and John Fogerty on the amped-up opener, “Travelin’ Band.” At the close of the piece, Charlie looked right into the camera and rejiggered his words from a Geico spot: “Now that’s how you start a television show, son!”

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Lady Antebellum pictured at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Resort in Las Vegas, NV on April 18, 2010. © RD/ Erik Kabik/ Retna Digital

If anyone had doubts about Lady Antebellum’s rise to prominence, the band likely erased them Sunday night when it won five trophies in three different categories during the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards telecast at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood collectively ended Rascal Flatts’ seven-year run as Top Vocal Group. They also shared Song of the Year for “Need You Now” with fellow composer Josh Kear, becoming the first band ever to win that honor and win an additional trophy by penning its own song. “Need You Now” also got them victories as artist and producer for Single Record of the Year.

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Lady Antebellum on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at the Ryman Autitorium in Nashville. Photo courtesy of The Greenroom.

When the nominees for the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards were announced in March, Lady Antebellum found itself at the top of the list with seven total nominations.

As country music’s leading artists gather in Las Vegas this weekend for Sunday’s telecast, the band is feeling a real sense of acceptance. It’s barely two years since the trio released its self-titled debut album, and the enormously positive feedback by industry peers is flattering, to say the least.

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Billy Currington photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

The musical lineup for the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards is coming into clearer focus with the unveiling of a new round of performers, including Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts and Miranda Lambert.

Several other slightly unusual names and/or pairings are included in the latest additions, announced Thursday by the ACM. Rocker John Fogerty, who released a country album last year, will perform on the CBS telecast. So will Laura Bell Bundy, the Broadway figure whose first country album comes out next Tuesday. Toby Keith is slated to play the April 18 ACMs in Las Vegas with smooth-jazz sax player Dave Koz, likely meaning they’ll reprise “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song).” Dave played sax on Toby’s recording, a tribute to the late Wayman Tisdale. Dierks Bentley and Jack Ingram are also expected to sing together on the ACMs; they share vocals on “Barbie Doll” on Jack’s current album, Big Dreams & High Hopes.

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Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Keith Urban, the Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley and Martina McBride are among the first round of acts who’ve been revealed for the annual CMA Music Festival June 10-13, a weekend that promises to bring plenty of tourism to Tennessee.

The Nashville-centered festival — which also promises Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker — occurs the same weekend as the ninth annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 65 miles away in Manchester. That event is a multi-genre draw, though country music plays a role, too. The Zac Brown Band is booked, as it was last year, for both festivals. Bonnaroo also lists Miranda Lambert, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band among this year’s attractions.

The CMA Festival is particularly beneficial to country artists. Some of the money raised by the event is donated to Nashville music education programs — last year’s festival generated more than $1 million for schools. In addition, highlights from the festival’s stadium concerts have for several years formed the backbone for an ABC special in the late summer or early fall.

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John Fogerty photo courtesy of Shore Fire Media.

He’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but that doesn’t mean John Fogerty doesn’t know a little somethin’ about country music.

His latest album, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again, is dominated by classic country songs, including John Denver’s “Back Home Again,” the Kendalls’ “Heaven’s Just A Sin Away,” Ray Price’s “I’ll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)” and Buck Owens’ “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me).” He enlisted a band that includes Americana stalwart Buddy Miller and standup bass player Dennis Crouch, and it actually leans closer to pure country than a lot of the material that’s now accepted as commercial country.

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