Tim McGraw's 2012 CD, Emotional Traffic. Photo courtesy of Webster & Associates.

Tim McGraw’s Emotional Traffic album debuted at No. 1 this week on the Billboard Country Chart. This mark’s Tim’s 13th career No. 1 debut. His first new music since 2009’s Southern Voice, Tim is thrilled with how his fans have reacted.

“The most beautiful thing about this No. 1 debut, over the others, is that it was driven by the fans and their eagerness to finally have this music in their hands,” Tim said. “The fans don’t care about the business side of things. They just want the artists they follow to keep putting out great songs, and I think we have delivered some of the best songs of my career on Emotional Traffic.

Read our review of Tim McGraw’s Emotional Traffic >>

Tim will join good friend Kenny Chesney this summer on their co-headlining Brothers of the Sun stadium tour. They will kick off the tour on June 2 in Tampa and will stop at the nation’s biggest stadiums through August. With new music in the hands of his fans, Tim is looking forward to getting back on the road. “The reaction to the album makes me even more excited to get back on the road this summer on the ‘Brothers of the Sun’ tour,” he said. Continue Reading

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Big & Rich photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Big & Rich and a few of their friends recently took over the old west town of Deadwood, a national historic landmark located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, for a holiday music special. Christmas in the Black Hillspremieres on GAC on Monday, December 12 at 8/7 CT.

Thompson Square, Bradley Gaskin, Tracy Lawrence, Andy Gibson and The Farm joined Big & Rich with performances of holiday classics shot in and around Deadwood. The town has already seen its first snowfall of the year, providing a beautiful backdrop. Performances were filmed in Deadwood’s Town Square, along country roads and at the Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel and Events Center.

During the special, Big & Rich will perform “Blue Christmas” and “Drunk on Christmas,” an original song by Jimmy Fallon. Bradley Gaskin sings “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” while Thompson Square shares their rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” from the back of a horse-draw sleigh as well as “Christmas in Dixie,” and Tracy Lawrence hops on a 19^th century locomotive for “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Andy Gibson performs both “The Christmas Song” and “Feliz Navidad” and The Farm contributes their version of “Oh Holy Night.”

Christmas in the Black Hills wraps with the artists joining together for a medley of holiday classics. The special will re-air on GAC throughout the holiday season. Check Times >> 

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Country songs are often a mirror to the world, a reflection of the times. As a tribute to  the men and women who have served our country, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite songs and videos that honor our troops – heartfelt compositions that look at war through the eyes of the men and women who fight, as well as the families who are left behind to pray that their loved ones return home safely.  If you don’t see your favorite on our list, leave us a comment below and let us know!

We at GAC extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to all soldiers and their families!

“‘Til the Last Shot’s Fired” – Trace Adkins

This heartfelt song is about the life of soldiers through various wars, starting with America’s Civil War and continuing through our current conflicts in the Middle East. Trace Adkins conveys the soldiers’ fervent wish that their job would at some point be eliminated for good. Trace delivers as only Trace can.

“American Soldier” – Toby Keith

This song depicts the everyday life of a soldier, from not being able to call in sick to working through the holidays while standing up for liberty. Toby never fails to bring the soldiers to their feet when he performs this one on his many USO tours.

“Angel Flight” – Radney Foster/Darius Rucker

The title of this song refers to the flight on which a soldier killed in war comes home. Radney wrote the song with Darden Smith, then asked Darius Rucker to sing on it with him. The song was inspired by a series of Angel Flights that brought home a group of men known as the Red River Four. Proceeds from sales of the song benefit the groups who help families in crisis. Continue Reading

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New Hall of Fame members Jean Shepard, Bobby Braddock and Reba McEntire at the 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony, held on Sunday, May 22 at the Hall of Fame in Nashville. Photo by Donn Jones Photography (Donn Jones, Richard Suter, Terry Wyatt).

Members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and some of country’s biggest stars reunited at the Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum on Sunday, May 22, 2011 to salute Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Bobby Braddock, Reba McEntire and Jean Shepard. Click HERE to see our star-studded photo gallery from the night!

At the invitation of the Country Music Association, the private Medallion Ceremony became the official rite of induction for new members of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007.  The evening included musical salutes to Braddock, McEntire and Shepard. The new members were inducted and welcomed as peers by members of the Hall of Fame, who also presented keepsake medals:  Bill Anderson inducted Braddock; Dolly Parton inducted Reba; and George Jones inducted Jean.

Artists paying tribute to Braddock included Billy Currington, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, Tracy Lawrence, and George Jones with Jimmy Capps, Charlie McCoy and Millie Kirkham; artists saluting Reba included Garth Brooks, Kelly Clarkson and Martina McBride, Vince Gill, and Trisha Yearwood; and artists honoring Shepard included Bill Anderson and Elizabeth Cook, Vince Gill, and Ranger Doug Green of Riders in the Sky.  All the performers were backed by John Hobbs and the 2011 Medallion All-Star Band.  With ceremony musical director Hobbs on keyboards, the Medallion All-Stars included Eddie Bayers Jr., drums; Paul Franklin, steel guitar; Steve Gibson, electric guitar; Michael Rhodes, bass guitar; Deanie Richardson, fiddle; Dawn Sears, background vocals; Biff Watson, acoustic guitar; and Jeff White, background vocals. Vince and the McCrary Sisters sang the traditional opening hymn, performing “Down by the Riverside.”

In addition to Anderson, Braddock, Gill, Jones, McCoy, McEntire, Parton and Shepard, other Hall of Fame members who attended included Harold Bradley, Ralph Emery, Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers, Sonny James, Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires and Jo Walker-Meador.

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Tracy Lawrence and friends in Nashville for the 5th Annual Mission Possible Turkey Fry.

Here’s yet another incredible example of how country music artists continue to give back to their community and help those in need…

Tracy Lawrence along with some famous Music City friends, MTSU students, local media and volunteers from the Nashville Rescue Mission joined together on Tuesday, November 23 for the 5th Annual Tracy Lawrence Mission Possible. Held for the benefit of the Nashville Rescue Mission, the philanthropic group—comprised of over 100 volunteers—fried-up turkeys for the meal kitchen’s Thanksgiving dinner and Wilson County’s homeless.

Some of Music City’s biggest and brightest names gathered to cook and visit with volunteers and fans. Joining the Master of Ceremonies, Tracy Lawrence, in the “group fry” were his friends in music and entertainment: Brad Arnold (Three Doors Down,) GAC’s Suzanne Alexander, Bo Bice, Burns & Poe, Chelsea Field, Matt Gary, LoCash Cowboys, Lathan Moore, Lorrie Morgan, Danielle Peck, Matt Kennon, The Roys, radio personalities Big D & Bubba and the Titans Cheerleaders. Continue Reading

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Vince Gill performs with Albert Lee at Eric Clapton's 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival. Photo courtesy of Erin Morris.

Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Paul McCartney: several halls of fame are bursting with news about their programs or their members.

The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame have new inductees on the way, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum has a couple of fundraisers on the docket in Nashville and Los Angeles, and one Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member invoked the names of two Country Hall of Famers when he played next door to Nashville’s best-known museum.

Here’s a bundle of Hall of Fame-related music news:

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Faith Hill photo by Andrew Southam, courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Intentionally or not, a number of country’s bedrock performers — including Faith Hill, Diamond Rio, Trace Adkins and Tracy Lawrence — have all found themselves linked to politics or politicians this week.

For two artists, those connections involve actual campaigning for gubernatorial candidates. The others are tied to honoring people’s lives or accomplishments: Faith and Emmylou Harris will be performing at the White House; Trace and Diamond Rio paid their respects to 11 workers whose deaths are part of the tragic oil spill that has become a political nightmare.

The stories:

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Sara Evans photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

No matter what your history is or where you live, there are at least two things that a country fan shares with the stars: You like country music and you were born by a mother.

Mother’s Day comes up on Sunday, and many of the genre’s acts are thinking #151; and talking — about their moms. Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Sara Evans and more all have words of wisdom about their mother’s influence or the importance of the holiday:

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George Strait photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Easter falls this year on April 4, and if that holiday motivates a little spiritual consideration, a couple of new music compilations have been put together to aid your connection to the Almighty.

One’s a country-specific collection that rolls George Strait, Keith Urban and Josh Turner in among a dozen hitmakers. The other drops Carrie Underwood into an ongoing pop series that places her alongside the likes of Daughtry, Natasha Bedingfield and The Fray.

The country-centered collection, Sunday In The Country: 12 Inspiring Hits From Today’s Top Country Artists, is being released by New Haven Records with proceeds benefiting the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Diamond Rio, Trace Adkins and Tracy Lawrence all contribute tracks to the project, which extends a country-gospel tradition.

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Randy Houser photo courtesy of Universal Records South.

If you want an update on where country music’s been and where it’s going, you only need to put two events from the past week into perspective: Tuesday’s announcement of the 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees and Friday’s New Faces Show at Nashville’s Country Radio Seminar.

Don Williams, the most recent hitmaker among the four Hall of Fame additions, was often noted for a quiet stage show. He simply stood at the microphone and sang, and his success relied exclusively on the warmth of his gentle demeanor and the thoughtful messages that dominated his understated songs.

The New Faces Show demonstrated the bigger-is-better philosophy that’s dominated concerts ever since Garth Brooks turned up in arenas two decades ago. From the outset, Love And Theft and Randy Houser — the first two acts in a five-artist lineup — cranked the volume and the tempo in a slickly produced show meant to confirm for radio programmers that they are indeed playing the right new performers as they compete for listeners’ ears.

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