Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

A new song by Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars, “Safe & Sound,” was released to iTunes last week as the lead single from the soundtrack of the upcoming film The Hunger Games. Taylor wrote the track with The Civil Wars’ Joy Williams and John Paul White, and T Bone Burnett.

Taylor teased her fans via Twitter that something was about to happen. “Something I’ve been VERY excited about for a VERY long time is going to be happening VERY soon,” she tweeted. About 30 minutes later, Taylor sent another tweet. “And this is it, the big surprise… Go get it! #TheHungerGames” and included a photo of the single’s artwork. Within hours of its release, “Safe & Sound” was the No. 1 song on the iTunes Top Ten Singles chart. Continue Reading

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Hank Williams photo courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will present a special program honoring Hank Williams on April 16. Titled “I Saw the Light: Songwriters Salute Hank,” the program will feature Rodney Crowell, Ashley Monroe, The Secret Sisters and Steve Young. I Saw the Light, which is presented in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy, Presented by SunTrust, will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Museum’s Ford Theater; it is included with Museum admission and is free to Museum members.

During the program, which will be hosted by Family Tradition co-curator Michael McCall, each artist will perform one or more of Hank’s classic songs, as well as some of their own compositions that were influenced or inspired by Williams. They will also discuss how Hank influenced their work. Continue Reading

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The Secret Sisters photo courtesy of Essential Broadcast Media.

Alabama-reared siblings Laura and Lydia Rogers, a.k.a. The Secret Sisters, have come a long way in their short time in the spotlight. Their classic, old school sound and sister harmonies caught the attention of producer T Bone Burnett, who produced their self-titled debut album. If you haven’t seen them in concert yet — you’re in luck, because we are airing a very special show, featuring Laura and Lydia as well as Elvis Costello and Jakob Dylan.

Secret Sisters: Live in Concert, premieres TONIGHT on GAC at 10 p.m. Eastern. And since the “secret” is out, here’s a sneak peek!: 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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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.

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Johnny Cash photo courtesy of Lost Highway Records.

The American public went crazy on the Dixie Chicks because of Natalie’s statement, and the incident cost the band its mainstream audience. As it turns out, the Man In Black might well have come out publicly against the Iraq War, too, if he weren’t in such poor health.

Daughter Rosanne Cash had put her name on a full-page ad in The New York Times just two weeks prior, joining Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, Dave Matthews and T Bone Burnett among a group of musicians who said, “War on Iraq is wrong and we know it.”

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Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley.

Jaw-dropping.

There’s probably not a better phrase to describe an all-star band that’s being put together by producer T Bone Burnett. Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, who sung the Grammy-winning “O Death” on T Bone’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, will share the stage with keyboard players Elton John and Leon Russell, eclectic rocker Elvis Costello, Americana artist Neko Case and actor Jeff Bridges under the banner T Bone Burnett’s Speaking Clock Revue. They’ll be assembled Oct. 24 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., during the second day of Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit.

The rock-and-country mix in T Bone’s ensemble is reflective of the multi-genre texture of the event’s larger lineup. Country-rock pioneers Buffalo Springfield will reunite for the weekend, and country’s Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson will play the same stage as Americana’s Lucinda Williams, classic-rockers Jackson Browne and Billy Idol, and modern-rock bands Pearl Jam and Modest Mouse.

The link between country artists and their pop and rock peers is strong these days. And it’s in full force in a lot of ways. Among other notable examples:

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Ryan Bingham photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Film makers want very much for the general public to buy in to the magic of movies. You can count Ryan Bingham among those who believe in celluloid’s power.

After sharing a Golden Globe and an Oscar Award for Best Song with T Bone Burnett for writing the “The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart),” Ryan took home two trophies — Song and Artist of the Year — Thursday during the ninth annual Americana Music Association Honors & Awards in Nashville.

The Americana nods only add to the lists in which Ryan finds himself. The Song of the Year Oscar put him in the company of such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Henry Mancini and Irving Berlin — all of whom have won the Film Academy’s Best Song prize at least once. Ryan’s new album, Junky Star, made its chart debut this week, landing at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Albums list. And the Americana Artist of the Year trophy put him on yet another list among such previous winners as Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Neil Young and Jim Lauderdale, who hosted Thursday’s show.

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Bill Monroe photo courtesy of www.myspace.com/williamsmithmonroe.

Bill Monroe, widely regarded as the father of bluegrass, may soon get the same sort of movie treatment that’s been given to Johnny Cash and Ray Charles.

Actor Peter Sarsgaard, known for his work in “Jarhead” and the new “Knight And Day,” is in the early stages of development in a film about the late mandolin player, according to The Wrap. Peter is apparently a big fan of Bill, who played a central role in creating and shaping the acoustic genre named after his band, the Blue Grass Boys.

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Willie Nelson photo by David McClister, courtesy of Lost Highway.

When fans talk about classic-country sounds in 2010, they more often than not are thinking about music by the likes of Merle Haggard, George Jones, Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson.

Who did those artists consider classic? Well, you get a bit of an answer to that question on Willie’s latest album, Country Music. Released Tuesday, it includes covers of songs first made famous by the likes of Porter Wagoner, Al Dexter, the Louvin Brothers and Merle Travis.

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