July 17, 2012

 

» Owning It Abroad: They're only a week into the international leg of their Own The Night tour, and already Lady Antebellum have logged some epic concert experiences. A few were captured in last week's Webisode Wednesday, and another involved a run-in with The Boss. The trio met Bruce Springsteen Saturday at London's Hard Rock Calling festival, which ended with a historic collaboration between Springsteen and surprise guest Sir Paul McCartney on "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist And Shout." "[We're having] an amazing time in Hyde Park," Hillary Scott tweeted from the festival. "We got to meet The Boss (I died)! And [we] ran into NeedToBreathe! Love Them!" According to Rolling Stone, Springsteen's concert could have kept going, but officials pulled the plug, as the encore was already past curfew. Lady A's UK jaunt opened with a sold-out, two-night stand at Dublin's Olympia Theater. Concert highlights include a Guinness break and an acoustic performance of "When You Got A Good Thing." View pictures from the trek so far here.

» Joy Riding: "Take A Little Ride," the first single from Jason Aldean's forthcoming studio album, is out now, and Aldean says it "sounds like a pretty good Friday night. I thought his would be a great lead single after 'Fly Over States.'" He explains, "It's about grabbing your girl and getting lost in the country." Aldean's fifth studio collection is due this fall, and he says it has "a little bit of everything, including some more traditional country stuff and some songs that might raise a few eyebrows." Walmart will carry physical copies of "Take A Little Ride" beginning Aug. 7.



» Corn Star Of The Small Screen: Craig Morgan makes his acting debut Tuesday (7/17) on TNT's drama Rizzoli & Isles. In the guest appearance, Morgan plays "Dr. Billy Ray Higgins," a medical examiner who helps solve a murder case with "Jane Rizzoli" (Angie Harmon) and "Maura Isles" (Sasha Alexander) while visiting Boston for the "Bullet And Blast Injuries Symposium." The show airs at 9pm ET.

» Honor Roll: Taylor Swift will be honored "for her commitment to social change" at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights' 2012 Ripple Of Hope Awards Dinner. "Swift's dedication to advocacy at such a young age continues to inspire me, and I'm delighted to honor her as one of our 2012 recipients," RFK Center Pres. Kerry Kennedy said. Honoree Vincent A. Mai will also be recognized during the Alec Baldwin-hosted event Dec. 3 in New York City. Swift also leads country VH1 Do Something Awards nominees with nods in the Music Artist and Facebook categories. Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are nominated for the Couples award. The event celebrates community service and airs Aug. 21 at 9pm ET.

Additionally, Swift leads Forbes magazine's "Top-Paid Celebrities Under 30" list at $57 million. The ranking reflects earnings between May 2011-2012 and includes revenue for everything entertainment- related. The top five are Swift, Justin Bieber ($55m), Rihanna ($53m), Lady Gaga ($52m) and Katy Perry ($45m).

» Nothing But Nettles: The season finale of ABC-TV's Duets is Thursday (7/19), and the odds favor Jennifer Nettles' partners J Rome and John Glosson, as both are top three finalists, along with Kelly Clarkson's partner Jason Farol. On last week's episode, J Rome performed The Script's "Breakeven" with Nettles, who tackled Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion's "The Prayer" with Glosson. "Jennifer even sang a little Italian," a sugarlandmusic.com blog reads. "You just never know what she may do when she gets onstage." The winner lands a contract with Hollywood Records, and voting to determine the winners closed Friday (7/13). View highlights from the competition here.

» In Case You Missed It: Live from Manhattan's Rockefeller Plaza, Zac Brown Band performed "Keep Me In Mind" on Friday's Today show (7/13). Zac Brown also revealed that ZBB will headline Madison Square Garden Nov. 17. "When you can sell out the Garden, you've made it," Brown says. "That's hopefully what's going to happen. We're glad to bring our full production show to New York and do it up." ZBB closed the appearance with "The Wind."

Elsewhere in the Big Apple, Luke Bryan sang "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)" "Drunk On You" and "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" in Central Park Friday as part of Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series.

Outside FOX News' studio on the Avenue of the Americas, Craig Morgan performed "Corn Star," "Redneck Yacht Club" and "What Matters Most" on Friday morning's Fox & Friends.

Kenny Chesney performed "Come Over" on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno Thursday night (7/12). Watch the appearance at the 38:17 minute-mark here.

» Chronicle: The country music community is mourning the loss of legendary artist Kitty Wells, who passed away at her home in Nashville Monday (7/16). Wells was 92. In 1952, she was the first female singer to top the Country charts, with "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." The tune propelled her to stardom, and while other female artists were later given the handle, Wells was the truly first "Queen of Country Music." She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1976 and had been its oldest living member. She married fellow country performer Johnnie Wright in 1937, a union that lasted 74 years until his passing last September.

Hit List

  • Keith Urban has landed the cover of Australia's GQ magazine's August/September issue (out July 23). Inside, Urban talks about his work on the AU version of The Voice and how wife Nicole Kidman inspired him to do the show. "I wasn't sure I had the time," Urban said. "May through to July is summer in the US and prime touring time. Nor had I got big into the whole Voice concept. But Nic had been watching the overseas versions and loving them, so when the offer came for an Australian version it was her who said, 'I think this might be a good thing for you.'" Preview the article here.
  • Steve Miller was Kenny Chesney's surprise guest at Sunday's Brothers Of The Sun tour concert in Oakland, CA (7/15). "We've been looking forward to tonight for a lot of reasons," Chesney said. "Oakland has always been a great place for us to play music. But it's always great to get to play music with someone who was one of your heroes. Everybody on this stage has been influenced by and has loved the music of Steve Miller. Give it up!" Full concert recap here.
  • Dierks Bentley recorded the Weeds theme song "Little Boxes" for an episode airing on the Showtime series' final season later this year. "When they approached me about (it), I jumped at the chance," Bentley said. "I'm a fan of the show and thought the guys in my band could put a cool country spin on it." Preview Bentley's rendition here.
  • Love And Theft's Love vs. Theft sweepstakes offers a chance to win dinner with the duo, concert tickets and a $500 Amex gift card. Learn more and enter through Aug. 10 here.

Birthdays

Craig Morgan (7/17)
Ricky Skaggs (7/18)
Julianne Hough (7/20)
Alison Krauss (7/23)

On TV

Tuesday (7/17): Craig Morgan, Rizzoli & Isles (TNT); Kip Moore, Conan (TBS).

Wednesday (7/18): Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Scotty McCreery, Noteworthy At The Opry (GAC).

Thursday (7/19): Jennifer Nettles, Duets (finale) (ABC).

Friday (7/20): Chris Young, Top 20 Country Countdown (GAC).

In Stores Tuesday (7/17)

The Farm The Farm
Members Damien Horne, Nick Hoffman and Krista Marie credit a 2010 writing session that yielded the lead single "Home Sweet Home" to The Farm's formation. With Hoffman's fiddle riff as the hook, the trio cranked out the track poolside with Danny Myrick (Jason Aldean's "She's Country") at a Tennessee lake house. "I had never been to a co-write before where somebody brought their fiddle," Marie recalls. "Usually you write around a guitar hook," Hoffman adds. "Instead, I play fiddle like most people play guitar. That's how we ended up writing 'Home Sweet Home,' and several other ones on the record, as well ... It just kind of went from there." Hoffman and Myrick co-produced the 11-track collection.



» Draught Cheer: Lady Antebellum enjoy a Guinness at a Dublin pub after the first of two sold-out concerts at the Olympia Theater.
 
 

 

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