Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift couldn’t ask for much better timing. As she heads into the last week of promotion for her new album, Speak Now, she was named Songwriter/Artist of the Year Sunday night during the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s annual songwriter awards at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.

Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin took Song of the Year for penning the emotional Miranda Lambert hit “The House That Built Me,” and Chris DuBois earned Songwriter of the Year for his work as an author of Craig Morgan’s “This Ain’t Nothin’” and the Brad Paisley singles “Then” and “Welcome To The Future.”

The awards were part of a formal evening that saw four new members added to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and had 11 titles recognized by the songwriting community as the cream of the crop: Songs I Wish I’d Written. That list included “Need You Now,” “White Liar,” “Big Green Tractor” and Taylor’s “You Belong With Me.”

“Since I can remember,” Taylor said, “my favorite thing in the whole world was a good story, going back to when my mom and dad would read me stories when I was little and then discovering poetry in English class. And then I discovered this town called Nashville, where they tell the coolest stories and in my opinion, they tell them in the most magical ways.”

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so generous with me,” she continued. “Whether it was telling fairytales or sad stories or stories that were just about my life and what I was going through, you’ve been wonderful to me, and I’m havin’ a blast telling stories.”

Chris deflected attention during his acceptance speech to Tom Douglas. In addition to writing “The House That Built Me,” Tom also penned Lady Antebellum’s “I Run To You” and Tim McGraw’s “Southern Voice,” giving him a trio of high-impact No. 1 singles.

“I feel like Tom Douglas should demand a recount!” Chris said.

Tom had already claimed his honor for “The House That Built Me.” His acceptance speech found him contemplating one of songwriters’ biggest foes: over-used language.

“You see people at awards shows and you often think, ‘Gosh, how cliché,’ ‘cause everybody kind of says the same thing,” he acknowledged. “But I think the reason why it sounds cliché is because you feel so small at a moment like this and you realize how many people have invested into your life to make a moment like this possible.”

The 11 “Songs I Wish I’d Written” include:
• “Need You Now” (Lady Antebellum), Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood, Hillary Scott, Josh Kear, songwriters
• “Use Somebody” (Kings Of Leon), Nathan Followill, Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill
• “A Little More Country Than That” (Easton Corbin), Don Poythress, Rory Lee Feek, Wynn Varble
• “Big Green Tractor” (Jason Aldean), David Lee Murphy, Jim Collins
• “I Run To You” (Lady Antebellum), Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood, Hillary Scott, Tom Douglas
• “Red Light” (David Nail), Dennis Matkosky, Jonathan Singleton, Melissa Peirce
• “Southern Voice” (Tim McGraw), Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas
• “The Climb” (Miley Cyrus), Jessi Alexander, Jon Mabe
• “The House That Built Me” (Miranda Lambert), Tom Douglas, Allen Shamblin
• “White Liar” (Miranda Lambert), Miranda Lambert, Natalie Hemby
• “You Belong With Me” (Taylor Swift), Taylor Swift, Liz Rose

Which songs do you wish YOU had written? Leave us a comment below!

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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:

• Diamond Rio visited the Jackson Convention Complex in Mississippi Tuesday to perform three songs during the memorial for the workers who were lost in the April 20 oil-rig explosion that’s pumped a steady stream of pollution into the Gulf of Mexico. The band sang “One More Day,” “I Believe” and “In God We Still Trust.” Trace, who formerly worked on oil rigs, delivered his condolences via video. “It was hard work and it was dangerous work,” he said, according to USA Today, “but nobody, especially today, expects it to end like this.”

• Tracy, who lives in Tennessee, officially endorsed Republican Bill Johnson for Alabama governor on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. Tracy has a financial interest in Country Crossing, a Dothan-based project that includes electronic gambling, which has become a major issue in the state. Lorrie Morgan, also involved in Country Crossing, appeared Monday in a Birmingham fundraiser for Democratic candidate Ron Sparks.

• Faith and Emmylou perform June 2 in the White House’s East Room, the same location in which Brad Paisley played “Welcome To The Future” for President Barack Obama last July. The occasion this time is a taping for the PBS series “In Performance At The White House,” as Paul McCartney receives the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Others taking part in the special, which airs July 28, include Stevie Wonder, Jerry Seinfeld, Jack White, Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock, Dave Grohl, Corinne Bailey Rae and the Jonas Brothers.

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Lady Antebellum on stage at the Ryman Auditorium during the Music City Keep On Playin' benefit concert. Photo credit: Photo by Ed Rode/edrode.biz.

The stars came out in a big way, as did a number of companies and the American people when GAC presented Music City Keep On Playin’ — A Benefit For Flood Relief.

Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum and Dierks Bentley were among the artists who delivered nearly 20 songs during Sunday’s three-hour live special from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The event raised more than $1.7 million as of midnight CT and counting.

Music City Keep On Playin’ was the first national fundraiser organized to aid victims of a devastating flood that engulfed much of Nashville two weeks ago. In a scant 48 hours, the city took in over 13 inches of rain, more than the Middle Tennessee ground could absorb. The Cumberland River swelled over its banks, damaging some of the city’s landmarks, including the Grand Ole Opry House, LP Field, Bridgestone Arena and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Rushing tides carried cars along dangerous streams, one portable school building was washed down the interstate, and more than 1,000 water rescues were performed. Many residents, including Opry member Jeannie Seely, lost their homes. A few lost their lives. But the city came together, with many of its citizens visiting other neighborhoods to help complete strangers sort through what was left of their belongings.

It was “so beautiful to see how the city has just rallied together,” Lady A’s Hillary Scott said from the Ryman stage. “I know we will get back to the city that we once were. I know we will.”

Brad and his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley — who co-hosted the special with “Desperate Housewives” actor and Nashville resident James Denton — kicked the night off with a $100,000 donation. Brad likewise chipped in a trio of songs — “Welcome To The Future,” “American Saturday Night” and a cover of Roger Miller’s “River In The Rain” — over the course of the evening, which also saw appearances by country stars Martina McBride, Kellie Pickler, Rodney Atkins and Randy Montana.

The show also folded in performances from artists that exemplified some of Music City’s stylistic range: pop singer Sheryl Crow, big-voiced gospel singer CeCe Winans, contemporary Christian artist Jaci Velasquez, Americana act Will Hoge and acoustic-blues performer Keb’ Mo’, one of Nashville’s newest residents.

Many of the songs took on new meaning during the evening. The opening line of Lady A’s “Need You Now,” with its reference to “picture-perfect memories scattered all around the floor,” easily reminded the listener of the many residents who lost all their family photos — every record of their personal history. Martina McBride’s “Anyway” — with its recognition that “one storm could come and blow it all away” — was inordinately apropos.

When they weren’t on stage, many of the stars took donations at the phone bank, where they were joined by the likes of Lorrie Morgan, Nicole Kidman, Billy Dean, Joey+Rory, Lee Roy Parnell, Dailey & Vincent, Julie Roberts, Marty Raybon, Whitney Duncan, Holly Williams, Bomshel, Katie Armiger, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and countless others.

The Ryman proved a symbolic home for the special. When the Grand Ole Opry House took in more than four feet of water, the stage was destroyed. But one part of the venue — a circle of wood that was transported from the Ryman when the Opry House was built in the early 1970s — survived the deluge and, once dried out, will return to its spot on a refurbished Opry House stage. The circle carries a huge amount of history. On that little piece of turf, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline made historic appearances in its original Ryman location. At the Opry House, it’s provided footing for such Opry stars as Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson.

With the Opry House under renovation, the radio show itself is rotating through other interim venues, including War Memorial Auditorium, Two Rivers Baptist Church and the Ryman.

“The Opry didn’t miss a beat,” GAC host Nan Kelley observed, “but we have so much more to go.”

Music City Keep On Playin’ — A Benefit For Flood Relief is still taking donations online at www.gactv.com/help or you can text GAC to 501501 on your mobile phone to donate $10.

If you missed the concert, look for it On Demand through your cable or satellite service through Saturday 5/22 (where available, check your  listings).

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Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Country music insiders have long been able to measure the awards season by their mailbox, whether that meant snail mail or email. Members of the Academy of Country Music or Country Music Association — sometimes even likely members — could count on free CDs, fliers and emails with video links from artists’ representatives all trying to lock up a vote for the coveted trophies for their candidate.

The last few years, the ACM has thrown voting in the New Artist and Entertainer of the Year categories open to the fans (GACTV.com was a vehicle for the first round of fan voting for this year’s New Artist award), and plenty of artists and their reps have come up with ways to call attention to their candidate and essentially campaign for your vote.

Brad Paisley, who’s one of eight finalists for Entertainer, is not one of them.

“I’m uncomfortable campaigning, to be honest with you,” he said before his recent No. 1 party for “Welcome To The Future” and “American Saturday Night.” “I don’t like that part of it. I understand that people love to get involved, and that’s cool that they can. I just — vote for who you want. If you’re happy with somebody’s show last year and you had a great time, vote for them. If that’s me, that’s great. And if not, I will stand up and clap for whoever wins.”

Make no mistake: Brad will certainly be there. He’s got four nominations in all, and he’s scheduled to perform at the April 18 awards at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, then return the next night to take part in the taping of an ACM-related CBS special celebrating Brooks & Dunn. Whether he wins anything or not, Brad’s looking forward to the big event, which carries less pressure, he says, than November’s CMA Awards in Nashville.

“The ACMs, they’re in Vegas, first of all, so they’re a little more of the show where what happens there stays there,” he said. “You can walk through the casino and see Kix Brooks throwin’ down, you know… The CMA Awards are sort of the night of the year where everybody’s gettin’ dressed up, our wives are at home getting gussied up and there’s a limo picking them up and the rest of us are up there rehearsing and they bring them in and everyone’s decked out and then we all go to our respective parties and then home. [In Vegas] it’s a party the whole time, and it’s a little more light-hearted.”

Brad’s not the only one who’ll be in on the party. Reba McEntire hosts the awards at 8 p.m. ET April 18 on CBS. Some of the other artists slated to perform include Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins and Carrie Underwood.

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Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Sometimes it’s intended, sometimes it’s not. But Brad Paisley’s career seems to be in sync with the world around him.

Monday was a particularly good example. He announced details of his upcoming H2O World Tour on what was officially recognized as World Water Day. He also held a No. 1 party in Franklin, Tenn., at Nucci’s Italian Ice, cleverly dovetailing the event with the “Italian ice” reference in the chorus of “American Saturday Night,” one of two songs being honored at the party.

The other No. 1 song demonstrated even greater synchronicity, though Brad had little control over the latest advance in the storyline. “Welcome To The Future” was inspired in November 2008 by the election of Barack Obama, when Brad just happened to be in Times Square, where he witnessed a huge celebration. The first time he performed the song live was last July at the White House with President Obama just a few feet in front of him. On the morning of Monday’s No. 1 party, the front page of The Tennessean trumpeted the news about Obama’s signature policy: “Congress passes health-care bill.”

“Don’t tie me to healthcare!” Brad laughed of the coincidence.

But his timing is clearly excellent. Particularly with “Welcome To The Future,” Brad’s had a really fortuitous connection to the events of the day. Whether or not he agrees with the administration, his song — which recognized the progress of a nation electing its first African-American leader — has remained incredibly relevant, even when it wasn’t intended.

“As far as [I’m] tied to current events, I definitely have synchronicity, but that’s not by design,” he said. “I don’t know how these things happen to me. I’ve always had that kinda life. I’m just, in many ways, Forrest Gump. There I am standing there, I’m playin’ ping pong one minute, and the next I’m being recognized for something stupid, and I don’t know how or why — or that I deserve it. But don’t go thinkin’ of me as one of these celebrities that think they know it all, ‘cause I don’t.”

In fact, like a lot of Americans, Brad doesn’t know what to think about the controversial legislation.

“I hear one side argue this and one side argue that,” he said, “and they both sound right.”

Brad’s been around the leaders on both sides. In fact, in January, he attended a black-tie Washington event, the Alfalfa Club Dinner, as a guest of former Tennessee Senator Bill Frist, rubbing elbows with politicians from both sides of the aisle: Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, Colin Powell, Rahm Emmanuel and John McCain.

“What was really interesting,” Brad reflected, “was they all get along at these events! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, ‘cause really, when you watch the pundits and you watch the right and the left just [butting heads], there’s this feeling that they must really wanna kill each other and beat each other up for real. Then you go to an event like that, and they’re goin’, ‘How’s it goin’?’ ‘Hey, come over here; I want you to meet so and so!’ I’m like, ‘You guys talk!?’”

Talking at Monday’s actual No. 1 presentation was surprisingly kept to a minimum. ASCAP, one of three American performing rights organizations, held the event, with plaques handed out to Brad, Arista Records, producer Frank Rogers, a cadre of music publishing companies and the songs’ co-writers: Chris DuBois, who co-authored “Welcome To The Future” with Brad; and Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace, who took part in “American Saturday Night.”

Both songs have a patriotic component to them, which only underscores Brad’s ability to make things fit together.

“I’m lookin’ at the positivity, the hope, the glimmers that maybe some things are going the right way,” he said. “Maybe some things aren’t, but [I’m] writing about some positive things about living in this country. It’s still the best place, I think, to be born, to live, to have these opportunities. There’s a reason so many people try to come here.”

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Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

One trick psychologists employ to make their clients recognize their personal progress is to have them look back a year — or five or 10 — to compare where they were emotionally against where they are now. Looking back is a technique that Brad Paisley has used to craft such hits as “Welcome To The Future,” “Letter To Me” and “Then,” and when he puts it to work in evaluating his career, it yields an amazing contrast.

Back in 1999, when Brad released his first single and album, he travelled in a van, sometimes driving himself to the gig with his band members and the equipment all piled in the vehicle. Once they got to the venue, it was as if nobody knew — or cared — who he was.

“We’d go on at 1 in the afternoon at [a festival], and it wouldn’t matter,” he told The Orange County Register. “I’d just wear a ball cap and go out and set the pedal board down. Then I’d walk to the side and change my hat and wait to be announced. I could’ve announced myself and no one would’ve known the difference. I could’ve said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Brad Paisley,’ and they would’ve looked to my right to see who Brad Paisley is.”

Now Brad is one of country’s real superstars. He’s headlined at Madison Square Garden, and on Friday, he’s the main attraction for the very first time at the renowned Staples Center in Los Angeles. Darius Rucker, who sold 16 million copies of one album as the lead singer for Hootie + The Blowfish, has opened for Brad.

“I can’t believe the size of the buildings I’m playing,” he said. “Somebody asked me the other day: Was this the goal — was this the level you wanted to reach? I didn’t even know this was a level!”

When he goes back to then, “the absolute be-all end-all,” he said, “was just to have a tour bus.”

In the now, he’s got nine buses on the American Saturday Night Tour with two current hitmakers — Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore — opening for him. And he’s got other people to drive those buses, too.

To add to it, “American Saturday Night” just became his 12th straight single to top one of the major charts. Look for Brad Wednesday on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

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Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Figures don’t lie, but liars can figure. So they say. And “White Liar” figured prominently in the annual Nashville Scene country music critics poll, taking the scribes’ honor as the top single of 2009. It’s one of three categories Miranda Lambert dominated in a vote that does its best to tab quality over sheer sales volume.

Miranda’s Revolution, the disc that spawned “Liar,” was cited as the Top Album in the poll, compiled from rankings supplied by 77 country journalists. Accordingly, Miranda earned Top Female Vocalist in the process.

It’s the second time in three years that Miranda has led the proceedings. In 2008, she won in four categories: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend took album, “Famous In A Small Town” nabbed Single, and she was voted Top Female as well. She also won Artist of the Year in ’08, though that honor went this time around to Brad Paisley.

Brad also collected the 2010 nod for Best Male, while American Saturday Night finished No. 2 among the critics’ top albums and “Welcome To The Future” ranked No. 3 among singles.

Sugarland sat atop the list of Best Duos and Groups, Jamey Johnson was cited as Best Songwriter, the Zac Brown Band scored Best New Act, Taylor Swift collected Best Live Act and Dolly Parton’s Dolly boxed set won Best Reissue.

A complete list can be found at the Nashville Scene’s website.

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On Tuesday, July 21, 2009 Brad Paisley performed for the President, First Lady and family, members of Congress and White House staff in the historic East Room of the White House. Photo credit Ben Enos.

#4 on GAC’s Top Stories of 2009 |  View all »

The inauguration of Barack Obama put an emotional start on 2009 as America installed its first African-American president, and country had a role in that event. But it was just the start of a relationship between country and the new commander in chief: Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Charley Pride and Alison Krauss + Union Station would also sing for the world’s most powerful man as the year unfolded.

Garth Brooks and Jennifer Nettles had high-profile moments in January when they performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration.” Garth delivered several of his hits, including “We Shall Be Free,” a song that was inspired by the 1992 Los Angeles riots in the wake of the racially divisive Rodney King verdict. Jennifer teamed with James Taylor and John Legend for a version of “Shower The People,” performed in front of a row of American flags.

As the week progressed, Faith Hill appeared in three inaugural events, and country also made its presence known with performances by Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, Gary Morris, Jack Ingram, Mark O’Connor, Bela Fleck, Tracy Byrd and the Randy Rogers Band.

Even as Obama assumed the Oval Office, outgoing President George W. Bush returned to Midland, Texas, where he was greeted with a homecoming event featuring Rodney Atkins, Lee Greenwood and Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band.

Barely a month later, Martina McBride visited Washington, D.C., to sing for the president during “Stevie Wonder In Performance At The White House: The Library Of Congress Gershwin Prize.”

But the real topper came in July when Brad, Charley and Alison performed in the East Room at the White House. Brad had written “Welcome To The Future” after seeing a Times Square celebration on Election Day in November 2008, and he incorporated the nation’s progress in technology and in racial issues in the song. The White House show marked the first time Brad had ever performed “Future” publicly, and he barely held back the tears as he sang it with Obama a mere 10 feet away. That performance, captured in a GAC special Country at the White House, also had a great tie to the song’s techno verse: You could watch it all live on the Internet.

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Brad Paisley on the set of "Welcome To The Future". Photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

As a kid growing up in Altoona, Iowa — a very white suburb of Des Moines, I had almost no firsthand exposure to the racial divide that newspapers and the TV news regularly referenced in the 1970s.

Until I began working in Des Moines at the age of 16, the main way I learned about the issue was through Stevie Wonder albums. In songs such as “Living For The City,” “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” and “Cash In Your Face,” Stevie described the unfairness of being denied work or shelter because of an arbitrary physical trait — skin color — and I got an education through music that was not present on the street where I lived.

Tuesday was the anniversary of Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a Caucasian man. The date went by with little fanfare, though the results of her noble revolution can now be seen in country music, where she’s referenced in not just one, but two hits from the last six months: Brad Paisley’s “Welcome To The Future” and Tim McGraw’s “Southern Voice.”

“Welcome To The Future” has brought me close to tears on numerous occasions, including the first time Brad played it publicly: for President Barack Obama at the White House. Brad wrote the song after seeing the celebration in New York’s Times Square over the election of America’s first black commander in chief. The moment came more than 50 years after Rosa Parks’ daring personal stance, but it was — as Brad noted in the song — a direct result of her decision.

Tim’s nod to Rosa is a mere four words — “Rosa Parks rode it” — but it comes in the middle of “Southern Voice,” a veritable laundry list of Dixie-bred public figures. What’s particularly satisfying about the song is that in the middle of its simple construction, it makes its own statement about the progress of race relations. It’s loaded with Caucasian names such as William Faulkner, Billy Graham, Paul “Bear” Bryant and Charlie Daniels. But it also includes a bevy of African-Americans such as Rosa, Martin Luther King and Henry Aaron (who received a ton of hate mail when he pursued Babe Ruth’s career homerun record in the 1970s) — and does so without making a big deal about the fact that they just happen to be black.

All of that comes at a time when Darius Rucker is ironically lodged in country’s Top 15 with “History In The Making.” That song itself has nothing to do with issues of discrimination or fairness, but Darius got a lot of ink just last month when he became the first African-American ever to win the Country Music Association’s New Artist of the Year award.

Reporters, always looking for an angle, have focused heavily on Darius’ pigmentation over the last year and a half, though in the several times I’ve seen him perform over the last 18 months, I’ve not heard a single concert-goer even comment on his skin. Because it doesn’t matter.

Which is what’s particularly heartening about the Rosa Parks anniversary. “Welcome To The Future” recognizes her contribution. “Southern Voice” matter-of-factly — perhaps accidentally — tips its hat to the change she influenced in the cultural landscape. And Darius’ ascension in a medium with an audience that is primarily (though not exclusively) white validates the view that race doesn’t have to be the divisive issue that it once was.

Thanks to Rosa for the effort. Thanks to Stevie for the education. Thanks to Brad, Tim and Darius for the confirmation.

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On Tuesday, July 21, 2009 Brad Paisley performed for the President, First Lady and family, members of Congress and White House staff in the historic East Room of the White House. Photo credit Ben Enos.

Tuesday is Election Day in many parts of the U.S., and the week is a monumental anniversary as well: Barack Obama was voted the nation’s first African-American president on Nov. 4, 2008.

That same date marked the release of Brad Paisley’s Play album, and he couldn’t have created better timing if he’d planned it. He was in New York to promote the CD the day the nation went to the polls, and he witnessed hysterical celebration in Times Square. That helped inspire his song “Welcome To The Future,” which hit No. 1 this anniversary week in Country Aircheck.

“Welcome To The Future” had even better timing this summer. Brad performed the song live for the first time in the East Room of the White House with Obama sitting just a few feet away. Neither the president nor his staff were aware of the song when Brad was invited to perform.

Brad didn’t know when he started writing it that “Future” would be a single, and he didn’t know the rest of its destiny either — that he would play it for the man who inspired it or that it would become his 12th No. 1 single. And, as things go, it’s just as well.

“If you had made me aware of that when we were writing it, it would’ve been a different song,” Brad says. “It would have been very hard to focus thinking about performing that in the East Room.”

Whatever statement the election made about the red state-blue state divide, Brad felt the real focus of the song was the social progress he’s witnessed.

“I caught a little bit of flack from some people that didn’t quite understand, that thought for a second that maybe I was getting political with this song,” he concedes. “This isn’t that. This is my tribute to the emotions of Nov. 4th and that, just that verse, regardless of where you stand, to me, a year prior to the election, comments were made among friends and people that said to me, ‘I kinda like that guy… but I just don’t think this country’s ready to elect, you know, essentially a minority.’ And on Nov. 4th we proved that we were willing to sort of put things aside.”

“Welcome To The Future” makes its biggest impact by drawing a line from Obama’s victory to Martin Luther King and to Rosa Parks, the African-American woman who refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955. Brad’s song isn’t the only current one to reference them. Tim McGraw’s “Southern Voice,” which hit the Top 15 this week, namechecks them both.

Meanwhile, Brad continues his impeccable timing. Just as “Future” hits the top this week, Brad released his new single, “American Saturday Night,” to radio stations on Monday. And all this activity rolls him toward next week’s 43rd annual Country Music Association Awards. He’ll join Carrie Underwood as co-host of the Nov. 11 show, where he’s the top prospect with seven nominations.

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