Gwyneth Paltrow & Tim McGraw from the upcoming movie, Country Strong, in theaters January 7, 2011. Photo by Scott Garfield, courtesy of Sony Pictures USA & Monarch Publicity.

From Crazy Heart to Country Strong, Hollywood and Nashville were tightly linked in 2010.

Tim McGraw, Julianne Hough, Trace Adkins and Carrie Underwood all went in front of the cameras. And artists as diverse as Ryan Bingham, Billy Currington, Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney got their music on the big screen in one way or another.

Country’s role in a large number of movies ranks No. 7 in GAC’s countdown of the dozen top stories of 2010.

Tim’s work in Country Strong can currently only be seen publicly in two cities — Los Angeles and Nashville — though it goes national on Jan. 7. Since it was a country music-based pictured, he was asked to give his insight on details during production, but he also showed a huge amount of commitment by making overnight trips to and from Nashville during a tour to shoot his parts in the middle of a ridiculously difficult schedule. Actor Garrett Hedlund has said that Tim never once complained.

“He had every reason to not be as professional as he was,” director Shana Feste says. “He’s Tim McGraw — and he was the first one to get on set and the last one to leave. He would do 100 takes if I wanted him to. He wants to be a good actor, and he will do whatever it takes. He takes it so seriously, and I so respect him for that.”

Here are some of the highlights in country’s connection to the silver screen in 2010:

• Gwyneth Paltrow made her debut as a country singer during the Country Music Association Awards in November to promote Country Strong, in which she plays a vocalist whose alcoholism has caused a downturn in her career. In addition to bit parts for such country figures as Lari White, Jim Lauderdale and Ed Bruce, the movie also thrust Chris Young, Ronnie Dunn, Patty Loveless and Sara Evans, among others, onto the soundtrack.

• Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett won a Golden Globe and the Oscar award for Best Original Song for “The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart).” Jeff Bridges played a country singer on the downside of his career. Sound familiar?

• Carrie Underwood contributed “There’s A Place For Us” to the movie The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. It earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song as one of the three songwriters. Co-writer Hillary Lindsey is actually a double finalist in that category. She also co-authored “Coming Home,” one of the songs that’s central to the Country Strong plot.

• Carrie also shot scenes for her first movie, Soul Surfer, but she wasn’t alone in that regard. Julianne Hough wrapped up production on Burlesque, which is already in theaters, and on a remake of Footloose, due April 1. Trace Adkins took a role as the leader of a biker gang for the forthcoming Matthew McConaughey movie The Lincoln Lawyer. And Travis Tritt has shot some footage for a picture titled Fishers Of Men.

• Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy” got some decent screen time in the movie Due Date. Music supervisor Randall Poster nudged that song into the production while he was also overseeing music for Country Strong.

• George Strait made some cameo appearances as himself in Pure Country 2: The Gift, starring Katrina Elam. George, of course, was the central character in the original Pure Country in 1992.

• The Social Network is likely to make a big impact on the awards circuit. One small moment in the picture also involved country music: An Ivy League glee club did an a cappella rendition in the movie of the former John Michael Montgomery hit “I Swear.”

• Kenny Chesney had a hand in two films — Kenny Chesney: Summer In 3D and Boys Of Fall.

• Taylor Swift did double duty at the movies, too. Her song “Love Story” appeared in Letters To Juliet and she was one of numerous stars — including Julia Roberts, Taylor Lautner, Ashton Kutcher and Jamie Foxx — in Valentine’s Day. The soundtrack to the latter included a pair of Taylor songs, plus material by Willie Nelson, Jewel and Steel Magnolia.

• Billy Ray Cyrus had a part in The Spy Next Door.

• Keith Urban went to the movies, too — literally. He accompanied wife Nicole Kidman on the red carpet at several premieres for her picture Rabbit Hole.

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Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

“Need You Now” lofted Lady Antebellum from a well-regarded band within country music to one that’s recognized across multiple genres, and it already won Single Record and Song of the Year during the Academy of Country Music Awards in April.

With the Country Music Association set to hand out its trophies on Wednesday, “Need You Now” claimed yet another victory Monday when it won Song of the Year from SESAC and — combined with “I Run To You” and “Our Kind Of Love” — earned group member Hillary Scott recognition as the performing-rights organization’s Songwriter of the Year in a black-tie event on Music Row.

SESAC is one of three American PROs, responsible for collecting and distributing money for songwriters, so its recognition is symbolic of just how financially rewarding the song has been.

Big payouts often accompany big emotions with songs, and so it is with “Need You Now,” which earned a standing ovation from the industry crowd after Lady kicked off the ceremony by performing an acoustic version. Backed only by Dave Haywood’s guitar, the rendition demonstrated just how well the trio’s harmonies and the song’s subtly haunting melody work.

“This was the first official thing I ever signed that made me feel like a professional — it was when I signed my contract with SESAC,” Hillary said on accepting her trophy. “It was before I had publishing deal with Victoria [Shaw], it was before we had a deal with our label. It was the first big moment for me.”

The night was full of moments for plenty of her songwriting compadres. Some of the songs and writers singled out during the evening included “Kiss A Girl,” “Sweet Thing” and “Til Summer Comes Around” — Keith Urban songs all co-penned by Monty Powell; “Today,” a Gary Allan single written by Brice Long; Lady A’s “American Honey,” written in part by Cary Barlowe; and the George Strait hits “Twang” and “I Gotta Get To You,” both written by Jim Lauderdale. Blaine Larsen also shared in the writing honors for “I Gotta Get To You.”

Jim additionally pocketed the Inspiration Award after guitarist Buddy Miller and bass player Byron House turned in a country/blues-threaded take on “The King Of Broken Hearts,” another of Jim’s compositions that appeared on the Pure Country soundtrack.

“I’m not really sure what this award is for, but I’m gonna take it,” Jim said.

Meanwhile, Lady A is less than 48 hours away from the CMA Awards, where the band is up for five honors, including Entertainer of the Year. Each of the group members is also nominated for Song of the Year for writing “Need You Now.”

“To be honest with you, I don’t think we feel like we deserve the Entertainer thing yet,” Charles Kelley said, looking forward. “Really truly, we’re not sayin’ that to be politically correct. We don’t. We’re just on our first headlining tour and we after every show critique it and feel like we’re awful, and so we got a long way to go for that.”

“‘Need You Now,’” he continued, “I cannot be more honored that the song is up for Song of the Year and Single of the Year. That and the Album, those are the ones that I get really excited about, thinkin’ that I’d love to win.”

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Laura Bell Bundy photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Hot off her performance at last Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards, Laura Bell Bundy planted herself in an enviable position this week as Achin’ And Shakin’ debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Country Albums chart.

Laura Bell is a new artist to many — if not most — country fans, but she’s got a long list of entertainment credentials backing her up. Most of them stem from the theater, where she’s appeared in productions of Legally Blonde: The Musical, Wicked and The Sound Of Music. But she released an album in 2007 and got a very concentrated push for her new project, which got its Achin’ And Shakin’ title because one half is songs of heartache and the other is for shakin’ your booty.

Laura Bell acknowledges that the route from Broadway to Music Row may appear a bit unorthodox but insists that it’s an honest representation of her roots. She grew up with a heavy love for country in Lexington, Ky., and simply blossomed first on an acting stage.

“Really, it’s like having two different baskets with eggs in it,” she told the Associated Press. “You know, I had the music baskets and the writing basket. And I had the acting. And those eggs just hatched first and the others were slow to incubate. So it just seems that way to other people because nobody cared about my country music until I did a Broadway show.”

Laura Bell would not be the first artist to have success in Broadway before making it in country music. K.T. Oslin had plenty of stage experience in New York before she broke through in Nashville with “80’s Ladies,” eventually winning a handful of Grammys and awards from the Country Music Association.

Plenty of stars have gone the other direction in linking the two worlds, working on Broadway after they established themselves first as country stars. That list includes Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Roger Miller and Gary Morris. Joe Nichols and Lorrie Morgan are likewise expected to star in a forthcoming theatrical remake of the George Strait movie Pure Country.

In addition to her place on the country albums chart, Laura Bell will also occupy a couple spots on TV in the days ahead. She performs on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Thursday and will tape an appearance on the E! talk show “Chelsea Lately.”

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Joe Nichols photo by Jon Smith, courtesy of Universal Records South.

Joe Nichols made a nice move this week to launch his current single, “Gimmie That Girl,” into the Top 15 on the Country Aircheck Mediabase chart. It’s the first time he’s cracked that level on the chart in more than three years, and part of the reason is likely because he connects on a personal level to the upbeat sentiment of the song.

Watch Joe’s video for “Gimmie That Girl” »

When Joe married Heather Singleton in the fall of 2007, it had a huge, calming effect on his life. They’d actually known each other as friends for more than a decade, and she’d been a rock of support for him even when everything else was kind of wacky.

“I’ve been in relationships and she’s been in relationships before, throughout the course of this time,” he says. “But we’ve always been able to talk, we’ve always been able to share, we’ve always been like the best of friends. I just got the opportunity to marry her, my best friend, which some people cannot say, so I’m a very fortunate guy.”

Joe went into rehab shortly after their wedding, and his current album, Old Things New, is the first he’s recorded since then. It was a different process for him, particularly because his mind was working differently than it had when he drank. Heather was invariably able to help him find his way through what was essentially a new experience.

“She’s a great person to bounce things off of,” Joe reasons. “She doesn’t pull a lot of punches, she doesn’t lie. She makes me be a better person, makes me get a real good grasp of who I am, who I can be, when I’m bein’ a jerk and when I’m not, what parts of me need to grow, what parts of me need to ask for forgiveness, what parts of me need to feel proud.”

“Gimmie That Girl” is doing nicely while another part of Joe’s career has been delayed. He and Lorrie Morgan are slated to appear in the Broadway production of Pure Country, which was tabbed at one time to debut at the start of the year. It’s currently projected to hit the Great White Way in the fall.

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Lorrie Morgan photo by Russ Harrington, courtesy of Webster & Associates, LLC.

Lorrie Morgan’s dance card is pretty full these days. She’s promoting a new album, A Moment In Time, as well as preparing for her Broadway debut in the musical, “Pure Country.” But before she hits the stage, she’s hitting the beaches of Belize – and inviting her fans to join her. If you’re a Lorrie fan — or know someone who is — and you’re still searching for the perfect Christmas present for them, how about a tropical vacation?

Lorrie will be the featured artist at the Caribbean’s The Reef Village Resort for a whole week, beginning Jan. 9. She’ll perform Jan. 12 and 14, with a special all-access party planned for Jan. 13.

For more information, visit reefvillagebelize.com.

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Joe Nichols recently visited troops on US military bases in Kuwait and Iraq. His trip was filmed for the GAC special, Joe Nichols: My Military Diary, premiering Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 at 10 p.m. Eastern.

This summer, Joe Nichols took his first trip to the Middle East to perform for American troops serving in the nation’s two wars, and the journey is captured on a GAC special, Joe Nichols: My Military Diary.

It’s a visit he’d thought about for some time. Joe has an affinity for the work U.S. soldiers do, and he’s convinced that had things gone in a different way earlier in his life, he might well have ended up an enlisted man.

“I always felt like that was the most honorable job there is,” Joe notes. “I don’t think it pays tremendously. I mean, you have to seriously love somethin’ bigger than yourself to do that job. Any time that happens, any time people have that kind of heart, to sacrifice for somethin’ bigger than yourself, it just grabs me.”

The most obvious sacrifices made in war surround the critical danger that a soldier faces every day, but there’s another toll that’s taken, too. Servicemen and women spend months away from their homes and their families, and that makes for plenty of loneliness and uncertainty. That sacrifice is one of the things that impresses Joe most.

“I don’t think people are as worried about gettin’ shot at as they are just losing control upstairs of their purpose in life,” he says. “In the part of the world that I visited in Iraq, they’re isolated. A lot of ‘em have gone through divorces because they’re over there so long, which baffles me that the situation must call for a divorce. When you divorce somebody that’s 7,000 miles away doin’ a very, very difficult job — that you’ll leave them at their most vulnerable moment, I mean it just baffles me [how difficult] the situation might be.”

Joe Nichols: My Military Diary debuts at 10 p.m. ET Sunday on GAC. His latest album, Old Things New, was released last week. And next year he’ll have the lead role in a Broadway remake of the George Strait picture Pure Country.

Click here to watch Joe’s video for “An Old Friend of Mine.”

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Joe Nichols photo by Jon Smith, courtesy of Universal Records South.

Joe Nichols released his latest album, Old Things New, this week, and one of the things that’s new about it is the lack of a Joe Nichols songwriter credit.

It’s the first time he’s not put one of his own songs on one of his releases, and there’s a good reason for that: He’s a huge believer in good material, and he simply didn’t feel the titles he could have brought to the CD were better than the ones he picked up from other writers.

“I think an album, a career, a long-term career is made on great songs, and whether or not I wrote those songs is moot,” he explains. “Great songs are great songs no matter who wrote ‘em. If I wanted to record an album with three singles and songs four through 10 [are] filler — but I wrote it, so I’ll be makin’ some bank off the other three songs that are hits — I think that’s bullcrap… I think people that buy those [kinds of] albums, they get turned off by that, and they go, ‘I don’t necessaarily trust that this guy’s gonna do a good album. The last album had two good songs on it. That’s it. The rest of ‘em he wrote, and they were crap.’”

For clarity’s sake, Joe isn’t knocking every artist that writes most of his or her recorded material. He’s a fan of several acts who double as songwriters.

“I think it says wonders about people that can write an entire album, and put out an entire album of great songs,” he notes. “I mean, the Brad Paisleys — Alan Jackson especially, even Taylor Swift — those people can really pen great stuff. Right now, the place that I’m at, I’m not one of those guys, so I’m not gonna sacrifice what I think is great for a long-term career to put a little money in my pocket. I don’t wanna do that. I’d rather not have anything [I wrote] on the album and have 10 great songs on the album that can’t be denied. That way I can build trust with the country record buyer out there.”

Joe plays for ticket buyers this weekend in Hammond, La., and Pensacola, Fla. Beginning next year, he’ll be selling tickets on Broadway as he takes George Strait’s role in the theatrical version of Pure Country. Also featured in the cast will be fellow country singer Lorrie Morgan.

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Joe Nichols photo courtesy of Universal Records South.

Last week, Joe Nichols celebrated the second anniversary of his marriage to Heather Singleton. The two were friends for years before they tied the knot, so she knows very well what makes him tick. And because she’s adamant about telling him the truth — even when it hurts — he’s finally made the transition into adulthood.

“The biggest change for me is I’m a grown up now,” he told the national radio show GAC Nights: Live From Nashville. “Bein’ a single guy, I wanted to be a child as along as possible, and do just whatever I wanted to do and just live like that. Now … I’m grown up. I take responsibility for things, I try to be on time for things and I really work at what other people around me need more than myself most of the time. I don’t know. I think about others. I definitely think about her before me. Every chance I get. Sometimes I screw up. I’ll get back into my own immature, childish ways. She’s there to kinda go, ‘Hey, man, that ain’t you. What’s goin’ on?’ That’s the biggest change for me, just kinda growin’ up.”

Another change is in store for Joe. He’s set to star on Broadway for the first time in the theatrical adaptation of the George Strait movie Pure Country. Joe will share the stage in the 2010 production with Lorrie Morgan. In the meantime, his new album, Old Things New, comes out Oct. 27.

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