Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records; Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Southern Ground Artists/Atlantic Records.

The second annual American Country Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Monday, Dec. 5, 8-10 p.m. ET live/PT tape-delayed, on FOX. Jason Aldean and Zac Brown Band lead the nominees with eight nominations each; Thompson Square earned seven nods; and The Band Perry and Taylor Swift each garnered six.

Starting today, fans can vote once each day for their favorite American Country Awards nominees at www.theacas.com. Voting is open until Friday, Nov. 11 for all categories, except for Artist of the Year, which closes on Friday, Dec. 2. The nominees for each award category have been determined by four media measurement companies: BigChampagne (record sales and media consumption); Great American Country (video airplay); Mediabase (radio airplay); and Pollstar (touring data).

Hosted by Trace Adkins and Kristin Chenoweth, the two-hour live music spectacular is the only country music awards show that gives fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite artists not only in traditional categories but also in previously unrecognized areas of the business such as touring, encompassing the entire spectrum of country music and bestowing honors that no other awards show has.

The American Country Awards will feature performances and appearances by the year’s chart-topping country artists. Performers and presenters will be announced soon.

Following is the list of categories and nominees for the American Country Awards:

ARTISTS:
Artist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Lady Antebellum                          
Taylor Swift
Zac Brown Band

Artist of the Year: Male
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton

Artist of the Year: Female
Sara Evans
Alison Krauss
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Artist of the Year: Duo or Group
The Band Perry
Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts
Sugarland
Zac Brown Band

Artist of the Year: Breakthrough Artist
Eric Church
Eli Young Band
Justin Moore
Jake Owen
Chris Young

Artist of the Year: New Artist
The Band Perry
Scotty McCreery
Jerrod Niemann
Pistol Annies
Thompson Square

Album:
Album of the Year
Jason Aldean, “My Kinda Party”
Kenny Chesney, “Hemingway’s Whiskey”
Brad Paisley, “This Is Country Music”
Taylor Swift, “Speak Now”
Keith Urban, “Get Closer”
Zac Brown Band, “You Get What You Give”

SINGLES:
Single of the Year
Billy Currington, “Let Me Down Easy”
Tim McGraw, “Felt Good On My Lips”
Thompson Square, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not”
Chris Young, “Voices”
Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson, “As She’s Walking Away” Continue Reading

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records. Photo credit Chapman Baehler.

A dismal, sluggish economy was central to every part of American life in 2010, and it certainly had an effect on Music Row. Nowhere was it more obvious than when Disney shut down the Lyric Street Records office in April, creating turmoil in the lives of several artists, including Rascal Flatts.

The Lyric Street closing and all that it represented is the No. 12 story among country music’s one dozen most important stories of the year.

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records. Photo credit Chapman Baehler.

The best selling country group of the decade, Rascal Flatts, continues their run as their first album on Big Machine Records, Nothing Like This, debuts at #1 today with nearly 165,000 units.  With this #1 album debut, Rascal Flatts has the distinction of being one of only 4 acts to have 6 consecutive studio albums debut in the top spot on the Country Albums chart this decade.  Nothing Like This also debuts at #6 on the Top 200 chart and has earned nearly 280,000 digital tracks sold to date.

The guys launched the record with numerous television, radio and online appearances including GAC’s latest edition of  Backstory: Rascal Flatts. Continue Reading

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records. Photo credit Chapman Baehler.

With 10 years in the country music business under their belts, Rascal Flatts is ready to kick off decade number two in a big way!   Their latest album, Nothing Like This hits stores today featuring 11 brand new tracks including their current hit single “Why Wait.” The album caps off a crazy year that saw the band making a move to Big Machine Records after their longtime label, Lyric Street Records, shut down. They didn’t miss a beat.  Gary, Jay and Joe Don hooked up with producer Dan Huff and headed out of town to record Nothing Like This in Santa Barbara, CA.  But you don’t want to hear me talk about their new music, much better to hear it straight from the band.  Watch the clip below as the guys give you a fun track by track tour through Nothing Like This then listen to all the songs for yourself.

TRACK 1: “Why Wait” -  written by Tom Shapiro, Neil Thrasher and Jimmy Yeary

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TRACK 2: “Easy” (f/ Natasha Bedingfiled) - written by Katrina Elam, Mike Mobley 

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Rascal Flatts took a trip to Las Vegas in their new video for "Why Wait."

Rascal Flatts has just released their brand new video for “Why Wait,” the first single from their upcoming album Nothing Like This, set for release on Nov. 16.  This hilarious new video is clearly inspired by the film “The Hangover” and features some great cameo appearances by a collection of Las Vegas entertainment icons.  Keep your eye out and see if you can spot Penn & Teller, Wayne Newton, Ron White, and Carrot Top in the clip.   Rascal Flatts also enlisted the help of movie actor David Arquette to play the lead roll in the video.

To see Gary, Jay and Joe Don on their wild Las Vegas adventure, click here and watch “Why Wait” now »

Leave me a comment and let me know if I missed any other cameos in the clip and I’d love to hear what you think about video…

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

A lot of mystery surrounded the upcoming album by Rascal Flatts. The band’s record label closed up shop and left the guys as free agents, and that forced them to wait while negotiations went on to find a new home.

That new label has since been determined, of course. It’s Big Machine, which already represents Taylor Swift. But one thing that was never a mystery during the whole process was “Why Wait.” The band discovered the song while weeding through compilations of demos submitted by songwriters, and its bright melody and chugging tempo stood out.

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

You may have noticed that in most of Rascal Flatts‘ publicity photos, they’re stone-faced. No smiles. Not even a grin. But now that the group has signed a new record deal with Big Machine Records (home of Taylor Swift), they’re showing their pearly whites like nobody’s business (see photo above).

“Bam!” said the group’s Jay DeMarcus, pointing to the smiley cover of their new single, “Why Wait,” at last week’s press conference announcing the new deal. Later, Jay joked, “I’m just thrilled that Taylor let us on the label, really.”

“We said, ‘Scott, is she in Europe? Well let’s go ahead and get this done,” added Gary LeVox. With a smile, of course.

Watch part 2 of the press conference Continue Reading

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Rascal Flatts at a press conference on July 29, 2010, announcing their signing to Big Machine Records.

Rascal Flatts picked Taylor Swift to open for them in 2008 — now they’ve picked her label, Big Machine Records, as their new musical home.

“We are extremely excited about our new partnership with Big Machine Records!” says Jay DeMarcus, bassist and background vocalist for Rascal Flatts. “We believe that Scott Borchetta and all of the folks over there are a perfect fit for what Rascal Flatts is trying to accomplish over the next few years. The last 10 years have been amazing but we are even more excited about the next phase of our career; Scott understands us, he knows what we’re about and it’s always a wonderful thing to have someone who believes in you and your music that much in your corner.”

“Rascal Flatts are the biggest band in country music and we’re honored and thrilled to have them join the Big Machine Records family,” says Big Machine Label Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta. Continue Reading

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