Blake Shelton on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Photo courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry.

Fans touring the Grand Ole Opry will now have Opry member Blake Shelton along as a video guide. While a tour guide will be accompanying visitors during their look behind the scenes of the Opry, Blake will join the group via video at the Opry’s backstage entrance, in Studio A and in the Opry Green Room. He will be providing fans with both historic information and personal stories of his Opry experiences.

In the backstage check-in area and Opry Member Gallery, Blake will appear to recall the night he was asked to join the Opry family. There will also be highlights of Opry invitations and inductions featuring Trace Adkins, Craig Morgan, Josh Turner, and Carrie Underwood. “Opry membership is a thrill that never gets old,” Blake says during the video. Continue Reading

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Dolly Parton photo courtesy of Dolly Records.

Dolly Parton is returning to the CMA Music Festival for the first time since the mid 1970s. She will sign autographs on Saturday, June 11, at noon for a limited number of winners in the Fan Fair Exhibit Hall. Her return to country music’s biggest festival is her way of celebrating the 40^th anniversary of Fan Fair. She will also appear at Marty Stuart’s Late Night Jam at 10 p.m. on June 8 at the Ryman Auditorium.

CMA Music Festival isn’t the only thing Dolly is returning to after a long absence. She is set to make her first trip to Australia in more than 30 years in November, reports Pedestrian TV. Her visit Down Under will be one of the highlights of the summer concerts scheduled to trek through the country.

Dolly has fans all over the world, including the UK. The UK’s music magazine The Q recently asked Dolly who she thought should play her in a biopic. She had an answer – but she also had a couple of exceptions. Continue Reading

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Marty Stuart photo courtesy of The GreenRoom.

The lineup for the 10^th Annual Marty Stuart’s Late Night Jam has been announced. Joining Marty this year will be Dolly Parton, Mel Tillis, Connie Smith, The Quebe Sisters Band, Doug Kershaw and other surprise guests. The Late Night Jam has become known as the unofficial kick-off of the CMA Music Festival and tickets this year have sold faster than ever, despite a previously unknown lineup. Continue Reading

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Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Brad Paisley is giving fans his new music a day earlier than originally planned. He has decided to move the release date of his latest studio album, This is Country Music, from May 24 to May 23. The album includes the hit song “This Is Country Music” that he debuted at last year’s CMA Awards as well as his current single, “Old Alabama,” featuring Alabama.

This Is Country Music has Brad once again joining forces with longtime producer and collaborator Frank Rogers. His first new music since 2009′s  American Saturday Night, the album features  a variety of special guests, including Carrie Underwood, Don Henley, Blake Shelton, Marty Stuart, Sheryl Crow and Carl Jackson. Movie legend Clint Eastwood also makes an appearance, whistling on the instrumental track “Eastwood.”

“We wrote [it] as a Western,” Brad tells The Boot.” It’s an epic movie soundtrack-sounding Western. I’ve become friends with Clint and his wife, Dina. So I emailed Dina and said, ‘Does he whistle?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, you want him to whistle on something?’ I said, ‘I have a thing that sounds like an Ennio Morricone, the guy that did all the spaghetti western music like The Good, Bad and the Ugly, and of course it has to have [the whistles] all that kind of stuff. I asked, ‘Can he do that?’ She wrote back and said, ‘He’d love to.’” Continue Reading

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Josh Turner visits host Nan Kelley on the set of Top 20 Country Countdown.

The Colon Cancer Alliance announces the 3rd Annual “Stars Go Blue” benefit concert for colon cancer at the Country Music Hall of Fame this Wednesday, March 16, 2011. The event benefits the Blue Note Fund, which provides financial support for colon cancer patients in need of financial assistance.

The theme of this year’s show is “Couples in Country Music.” GAC host Storme Warren and his wife, Allison, will host the benefit, which will feature multi-platinum MCA recording artist and Grand Ole Opry member Josh Turner and his wife and band member, Jennifer, along with Grammy winning singer Linda Davis and her husband singer/songwriter, Lang Scott. Continue Reading

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Marty Stuart photo courtesy of The GreenRoom.

Marty Stuart’s Late Night Jam has become recognized as the kick off event of the CMA Music Festival and in 2011, Marty will celebrate the jam session’s 10^th year. Marty started the event as way to welcome fans to country music’s biggest festival, but the jam has also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for MusiCares, which provides assistance for music people in times of need.

“The Late Night Jam has evolved into the centerpiece concert event for me on my yearly calendar,” Marty said.“It’s hard to believe that this is the 10th anniversary of the show. Looking back, the guest list has been staggering. Fans come from all over the world to support us and the relationship with NARAS and MusiCares is precious to me. The Late Night Jam has raised a considerable amount of money over the last decade with the mission of helping people in need. MusiCares has done a wonderful job of distributing the funds as they see fit.  I know of a number of people who have benefitting from MusiCares and in some instances lives were saved.  That’s what it’s all about.  I’m looking forward to this year’s event, me and the Superlatives will do our best to add another interesting chapter to the Jam’s ongoing story.” Continue Reading

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Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville. Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

The 53rd Annual GRAMMY® Awards will take place in Los Angeles at the Staples Center on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, and will air live on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). This year, country music has a pretty big presence on the show. Here are our Top 5 reasons to watch:

Miranda Lambert will be making her first-ever performance on a GRAMMY® telecast. Also look for a performance from Album of the Year nominees, Lady Antebellum. Plus, although she won’t be singing a country song, Country Strong star and Academy Award® winner Gwyneth Paltrow will be singing with Cee Lo Green, whose song “Forget You” was sung by Gwyneth on an episode of the TV show Glee.

Current three-time GRAMMY® nominee Dierks Bentley and current nominee Blake Shelton will both present awards, as will winner and current four-time nominee Zac Brown and three-time winner and current nominee Keith Urban.

We’re really looking forward to the tribute to Aretha Franklin.What’s the country connection, you ask? Our own Martina McBride will be honoring the Queen of Soul with her powerful voice. Martina joins Yolanda Adams, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Florence Welch in the tribute.

In other related news, this Friday, Feb. 11, nominee LeAnn Rimes will take part in honoring Barbara Streisand, who’s getting the 2011 MUSICARES® Person of the Year Award. Legendary artist (and Barbara’s co-star in the movie A Star Is Born) Kris Kristofferson will present the award to her. Also, country/Americana producer T Bone Burnett was honored Feb. 8 by the The Producers & Engineers Wing® of The Recording Academy® for his commitment to excellence and ongoing support for the art and craft of recorded music.

Who’s gonna win? See the list of country nominees below and tell us your predictions! For a complete list of country, bluegrass and Americana nominees, visit Grammy.com.

We can’t wait to see what the stars will be wearing on the red carpet. Check back with us Monday morning (Feb. 14) to read our GRAMMY® wrap-up story and see photos from the big night! In the meantime, check out our red carpet photos from last year HERE.

2011 GRAMMY® AWARD NOMINEES:

Album of the Year
The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
Recovery – Eminem
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream – Katy Perry Continue Reading

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The Americana Music Association announced its year end Top 100 Albums of the Year.  The Top 100 albums are based on those records reported to the Americana Airplay Chart during the period of November 17, 2009 through November 15, 2010.  We’ll serve up the first half of the list and you can visit the Americana Music Association website to access the full list of all 100 albums…

The Top 50 most played albums, as charted on the Americana Airplay Chart are:

1.       Various Artists, Crazy Heart Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, New West

2.       Rosanne Cash, The List, Manhattan

3.       John Hiatt, The Open Road, New West

4.       Carolina Chocolate Drops, Genuine Negro Jig, Nonesuch

5.       Ray Wylie Hubbard, A Enlightenment B Endarkenment Hint There Is No C, Bordello/Thirty Tigers

6.       Robert Earl Keen, The Rose Hotel, Lost Highway

7.       Band Of Heathens, One Foot In The Ether, BOH Records

8.       Avett Brothers, I And Love And You, Columbia

9.       Patty Griffin, Downtown Church, Credential

10.   Reckless Kelly, Somewhere In Time, Yep Roc Continue Reading

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Brad Paisley and Little Jimmy Dickens perform on the newly-refurbished circle of wood at the Grand Ole Opry on August 25, 2010. Photo courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry.

He’s the oldest current member of the Grand Ole Opry, someone the other members look up to — even if they have to look down to do it. Little Jimmy Dickens, all 4’-11” of him, turns 90 on Sunday, and some of his music industry friends have a party cooked up for him this weekend to celebrate.

And he’s got plenty of friends. Randy Houser was thrilled to make the introductory speech last month when the Music City Walk of Fame inducted “Tater,” a nickname Jimmy picked up from Hank Williams for his first hit, “Take An Old Cold ‘Tater (And Wait).” Fellow West Virginian Brad Paisley has repeatedly employed Little Jimmy in his videos and plopped him onto his albums in comedic tracks. And that’s just a start on the list.

But Little Jimmy’s always been a friend of his fellow Opry members. He used to walk across the alley between the Ryman Auditorium and Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge with Hank. And he got his shot at the Opry and his first recording contract when he was championed by Roy Acuff, who was considered the King of Country Music.

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Rascal Flatts and four members of the Country Music Hall of Fame will all receive additional recognition next month when they’re embedded in the Music City Walk of Fame in downtown Nashville.

Little Jimmy Dickens, Kris Kristofferson, Mel Tillis and the late Eddy Arnold — all of whom have bronze plaques nearby in the Hall of Fame — will have their names etched in the pavement alongside Rascal Flatts Nov. 7. So will the late Bobby Hebb, a Nashville-based artist who earned a 1960s hit with “Sunny.”

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