Dierks Bentley in his video for “Home.” Image courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

As Memorial Day approaches, several country stars are taking time to reflect on what the holiday means and the sacrifices made by our servicemen and women. Dierks Bentley looks at the time he spends away from his family while touring and compares it to the time those deployed spend away from their loved ones to keep everything in perspective.

“I just think about being gone two, three days at a time, maybe a couple of weeks at a time,” he said. “That seems like a long time when you have kids and family, but these soldiers, they’re gone for months and years at a time and they have family back home. That, in itself, is such a huge sacrifice, and that’s just the beginning of it. That’s just scratching the surface of what these guys [and gals] are doing every day – preparing for battle, actually being in battle, being wounded in battle, sometimes dying in battle.” Continue Reading

ShareThis

Little Big Town photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman and Karen Fairchild are part of one of country’s top bands, but their also proud mamas. Kimberly’s daughter Daisy and Karen’s son Elijah are dreams come true for the two women.

“Being a mother is a life-long dream for me,” Kimberly said. “When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted to be is a mama. It took a long time. I wasn’t ever sure that I would be, but I am now, and it’s the greatest gift of my life.” Continue Reading

ShareThis

Inspired by a visit to one of the largest citrus groves in Central Florida, Kimberly Schlapman and guest Craig Morgan get their citrus on with a menu that makes the most out of these zesty flavors. Photo courtesy of Sandbox Entertainment.

From monster machines to kissing cows to citrus groves, the premiere of Season 2 of Kimberly’s Simply Southern has it all! Tune in Saturday, March 9 at 1P/12C. To kick off the first episode, Little Big Town‘s Kimberly Schlapman traveled to Florida to visit The Showcase of Citrus, a farm with over 70 varieties of citrus. Then she returned to Nashville armed with lemon, lime and orange-inspired recipes and welcomed Craig Morgan into her kitchen.

In this Saturday’s show, Kimberly and Craig will make chicken cutlets with lemon-herb butter; citrus salad with poppyseed-lemon vinaigrette; and citrus cake with key-lime glaze — which requires quite a bit of zesting (scraping the skin of the fruit).

What’s the secret to proper zesting? Continue Reading

ShareThis

Country music stars sure love Twitter! This week, Thomas Rhett shares his “1994” shot in honor of Jason Aldean’s new single,  Kacey Musgraves is in the kitchen with Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman, Darius Rucker welcomes Robin Roberts back to Good Morning America, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill hang out with a Dallas Cowboy and Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys shares what it’s really like to be a musician. Here are our picks for this week’s Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week: [See more photos of country stars in 1994! >>]

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/KaceyMusgraves.

Kacey Musgraves – KaceyMusgraves: 1st cooking show a success! Didn’t burn the house down! And Kimberly of @LBTmusic is so dern sweet! #SimplySouthern [Editor's note: The second season of Kimberly's Simply Southern premieres Saturday, March 9 at 1p|12c!]

Darius Rucker – DariusRucker:So excited and filled with joy to see Robin Roberts back on @gma. Love u Robin!!

Dolly Parton – Dolly_Parton: My weaknesses have always been food and men – in that order.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/ThomasRhett.

Thomas Rhett – ThomasRhett: X men Velcro shoes and a mullet…That was me in 1994 @Jason_Aldean @LukeBryanOnline

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Little Big Town photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

When Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman fell in love with her husband Stephen Schlapman, she was heartbroken. She’d lost her first husband, Steven Roads, to a heart attack and Stephen was one of many friends who reached out to her in the days that followed. She wasn’t planning to fall in love, nor did she want to, and so it came as a surprise when she did.

“We had both been through similar losses, he hadn’t lost a mate but he had lost a close friend, so we kind of bonded over that,” Kimberly said. “I grieved, kind of, at him a lot. He took my grief, I had a lot of grief left, and he just took it and listened and accepted it and was so understanding and let me talk about my late husband all the time.

“I was shocked when I first realized that I was having feelings,” she continued. “I just thought, ‘OK, this is so weird. What is this? I haven’t felt this in a long, long, time. This is weird.’ But, eventually I allowed myself and it’s been the most beautiful gift of my life. It pulled me out of the deepest hole that I’ve ever been in and healed me.” Continue Reading

ShareThis

Country music stars sure love Twitter! This week, Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman gets friendly with a goat while her band mate Jimi Westbrook plus Sara Evans and her husband celebrate Alabama’s BCS Championship. Meanwhile, Sarah Darling shows off how she spent New Year’s Eve and Brad Paisley deems he and his awards show co-host the fairest of them all. Here are our picks for this week’s Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week:

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/OhGussie.

Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman – OhGussie: Hanging out w/ some sweet critters @NobleSprings farm today & making goat cheese for 2nd season of #simplysouthern!

Brad Paisley – BradPaisley: Congrats on the gig co-hosting the ACMs @LukeBryanOnline with @blakeshelton ! But we’re prettier. And by “we” I mean @carrieunderwood .

Taylor Swift – TaylorSwift13: Sitting here with my new People’s Choice award and Chinese food take out, watching Law and Order. Thank you for a beautiful night:)

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/saraevansmusic.

Sara Evans – SaraEvansMusic: Me and my man! Continue Reading

ShareThis

Kimberly Schlapman, host of the GAC series, Kimberly’s Simply Southern.

Kimberly’s Simply Southern, a one-of-a-kind cooking show featuring Little Big Town founding member Kimberly Schlapman, has been renewed for a second season on Great American Country (GAC).  New episodes begin airing in early spring.

The debut season found Kimberly traveling the country while on tour with Grammy-nominated Little Big Town and taking every opportunity to seek out culinary customs and treasures from across America.  Once back in her Nashville kitchen she was joined by family and some of her famous friends to create authentic southern meals combining her traditional family recipes with what she learned during her travels.

“I’m so thrilled that I’ve been given a second season of Kimberly’s Simply Southern,” said Kimberly. “This cooking show is a childhood dream of mine and I have to keep pinching myself to make sure it really has come true!  I look forward to many more adventures on the road and to more fun in the kitchen with my family and friends. Thanks for watching!”

Get holiday recipes from Kimberly >>

“Kimberly is as natural in front of the camera as she is in the kitchen,” said GAC SVP/GM Sarah Trahern.  “The audience loves her and we do, too.” Continue Reading

ShareThis

Kimberly Schlapman

GAC extends condolences to Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman and her family following the passing of her brother-in-law, Allen Schlapman.

Little Big Town postponed two concerts in California over the weekend and cancelled an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno due to the death.  Kimberly posted a message to fans on Facebook on Friday, remembering Allen and thanking fans for their support.

“Last Wednesday, Nov 21, my brother-in-law was killed by a drunk driver,” she wrote. “He had come to Nashville from Virginia to visit us for Thanksgiving, which is our long-standing family tradition. He is married & has a 9 year old little girl. This is a part of life that one never imagines or plans for. It has been very difficult to accept. Allen Schlapman was an amazing father, husband, brother & son. We will miss him so much. I have been deeply touched by all your well-wishes & prayers. Thank you. God has proven himself faithful to us & has given us great peace amidst this horrible tragedy.” Continue Reading

ShareThis

Country music stars sure love Twitter! This week, Rodney Atkins and his band perform in DC on election night while Tim McGraw and Faith Hill hunker down at home with baked goods to wait for the results, Little Jimmy Dickens celebrates 64 years on the Grand Ole Opry, Kacey Musgraves is freaking out about her summer plans and Jake Owen shows off a colorful golf ensemble. Here are our picks for this week’s Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week:

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/rodneyatkins.

Rodney Atkins – RodneyAtkins: Washington DC @jwdfuller @philshousemusic @kevinrapillo #liambailey

Blake Shelton – BlakeShelton: Wow!!! I cant believe how big The Voice has gotten… Every single news channel is talking about people voting!!!!

Terri Clark – TerriClarkMusic: Not sure which I want to end sooner… This election, or the Twilight series …..

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/TheTimMcGraw.

Tim McGraw – TheTimMcGraw: Baking away!!! Election night goodies!! We know what you’re thinking, but there’s a tv about 10 feet away!! Continue Reading

ShareThis

Little Big Town’s 2012 CD, Tornado. Photo courtesy of Sandbox Entertainment.

Little Big Town’s new single “Tornado” beings and ends with a haunting whistle. That eerie sound isn’t one found on any soundboard along Music Row, however. The whistling heard was actually done by LBT’s Kimberly Schlapman and Jimi Westbrook.

Read our review of Tornado >>

“There’s this little chamber, this tiny little very, very extremely tall room, closet, in the studio where we cut this thing, and you had to crawl into a hole to get into this chamber,” Kimberly said. “So, we got into this chamber, and we whistled. We were king whistlers! So we both got in there separately and whistled, and I think one of us is in the front of the song, and one of us is in the back…or one of us is both.” Continue Reading

ShareThis