Eric Church Expands Tour

Eric Church is adding more stops to his “Blood, Sweat and Beers” tour. He’s adding 25 dates to this headlining tour, including stops in New York City, Minneapolis and Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Scotty McCreery Ends Perceived ‘Idol’ Winner Jinx

“American Idol” judge Randy Jackson says Scotty McCreery has ended a recent perception that “American Idol” winners don’t have as good a career as second-place finishers. Of course, each winner and each singer is different. And Jackson says “it depends on the artist.” He also says making “an amazing, competitive record” is crucial. After “Smash” premieres next month on NBC, Katharine McPhee will be front and center as one of the stars. But do you remember Taylor Hicks? McPhee came in second the year Hicks won “American Idol.” Fourth-place finisher that year was Chris Daughtry, who has a very successful music career. Winning Idol does not mean a career awaits. Randy Jackson says Scotty McCreery has broken that apparent pattern. He puts McCreery in the same category as Rihanna and Lady Gaga when it comes to record sales over the past few months. Jackson says simply “it’s all about the songs.”

Artist Of The Day: David Nail

David Nail

• David Nail grew up in a small town in Missouri, the son of a former high school band director whose musical collection included Stevie Wonder, Elton John and the Beatles.
  
• Nail turned to country in the 1990s and became a big fan of Glen Campbell. He moved to Nashville right after high school but returned to Missouri after a year. Two years later, he gave Nashville another try, completing an album for Mercury Records, but it was not released.
  
• After taking a break from the music business to help coach a baseball team, Nail was introduced to music publisher and producer Frank Liddell. The partnership led Nail to sign another record deal with MCA Nashville. His MCA album, “I'm About to Come Alive,” was released in 2009. He was nominated for a Grammy (Best Male Vocal Country Performance) for “Turning Home,” and an ACM nomination for Single of the Year for “Red Light.”
  
• David Nail’s sophomore album, “The Sound of a Million Dreams,” was released November 15, 2011. The new album includes Nail’s No. 1 hit, “Let It Rain.” It marks his first No. 1. "Let It Rain" made VEVO's Best Country Videos of 2011 list.
  
• Nail will be opening for Billy Currington on his 2012 tour.
  
• Official website: www.davidnail.com
  

Bob Burnett Of Highwaymen Dies

Bob Burnett, a founder of the influential folk group the Highwaymen, died at his home in Rhode Island last week. He was 71. Burnett, who went on to become an attorney after the band’s heyday in the early 1960s, was suffering from a brain tumor when he died. The Highwaymen hit No. 1 on the charts with their 1961 single “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” and also scored hits with “All My Trials” and “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” The Highwaymen were formed by six freshmen at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. They went on to cut eight albums before breaking up in 1964 when Burnett and two other members decided to attend graduate school.

Aldean, Shelton, Keith To Headline Country Thunder

The 20th anniversary of the Wisconsin edition of Country Thunder will feature Big & Rich, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Toby Keith as headliners at the July 19-22 festival. Taking place July 19-22, 2012, country fans from across the nation will travel to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin for four full days of non-stop entertainment. For only $99 (price good until January 1st) you can purchase a 4-day pass gaining access to the entire weekend of music and entertainment. A campsite may be also purchased, with prices beginning at $100 for the entire weekend. Find out more atwww.countrythunder.com. 

Luke Bryan Blows Up Twitter After Restaurant Asks Him To Remove His Hat

Luke Bryan was looking forward to taking his wife, Caroline, to a popular upscale Nashville sushi restaurant Thursday night. “It’s my anniversary,” Luke tweeted at the beginning of the night. “Daddy’s getting lucky.” But as the evening progressed, Luke reported that a restaurant manager, in the middle of their meal, asked Luke to remove his hat. Then the tweets started getting more and more testy. “After 2 bottles of dom. So will never eat mediocre sushi again on my anniversary,” he tweeted. “Join me in my boycott of [the] Sushi restaurant against those who sing and perform country music,” he continued. Luke did report that he left the server a $150 tip, but he would’ve left double that “had the manager not scolded me like a child,” and then Luke asked the server to contact him via Twitter to get the rest of his tip. Luke signed off with : “I’m is drunk. Love y’all. See y’all in the morning.” The morning after, Luke issued an apology to the restaurant Virago. “Well in the wake of my drunk tweets. I do wanna apologize to virago,” he tweeted. “The food was really great and the service was great to.” 

Toby Keith Cancer Center For Kids Gets Another Approval

The Toby Keith Foundation is one step closer to opening an $8.5 million facility for families of children undergoing cancer treatment. An Oklahoma City board approved the plans last week. The 25,000-square-foot building will have 12 overnight family suites to house relatives of kids getting treatment at a nearby children’s hospital and a nearby cancer center. Toby got interested after a former bandmate’s child died from cancer. The center, for now, is going to be called the OK Kids Korral. Organizers hope to have it completed by late 2013, with building starting in the spring. 

Craig Morgan Joins Toast To The Troops Event

Craig Morgan will once again appear as the headlining act at the 15th annual Jack Daniel’s Toast to the Troops holiday event on December 16th at Virginia’s Naval Station in Norfolk. Morgan has headlined each of the previous 14 Toast to the Troops events, which feature live music, care packages for the troops and a barbecue. 

Dan ‘Bee’ Spears, Longtime Willie Nelson Bassist, Dies

Dan “Bee” Spears, who played bass in Willie Nelson’s band for more than 40 years, died Thursday night after he fell while exiting his motor home. He apparently died of accidental exposure at his property near Nashville. He was 62. Spears joined Nelson’s band in 1968, when he was just 19 years old. Before hooking up with Nelson, he played with other country heavyweights including Waylon Jennings, Guy Clark and Don Gibson. 

Mindy McCready Says Her Son Was Abused

Mindy McCready’s 5-year-old son Zander was beaten with a wooden spoon by her mother, the singer alleges in an interview that aired Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” McCready claims the child was scarred on his back, bottom and legs from the spoon. In the interview, McCready stated, “My mother believes she is a prophet sent from God. They see dead people all the time in their home – demons, spirits, ghosts. They were encouraging my son to go around with them to churches and go up onstage and scream gibberish.” McCready’s mother, Gayle Inge of Cape Coral, Florida, is Zander’s legal guardian. She has denied Zander was abused. The singer, who is pregnant with twins, allegedly abducted her son in Florida and returned to Nashville. On December 2nd, they were found hiding in the closet of an unoccupied vacation house in Heber Springs, Arkansas. 

Top Country Artists Of 2011

Taylor Swift was the No. 1 country artist of 2011, according to Billboard. Swift enjoyed a big year with many hit singles and the “Speak Now” tour, which concluded last month. The rankings are based on album sales, airplay, track download sales, touring revenue, ringtone sales and more. The full chart and the other 2011 year-end charts, which include Top Artist, Top Title, Top Male, Top Female and Top Duo/Group are at Billboard’s website. The Top 10 Country Artists of the Year:

1. Taylor Swift	6. The Band Perry
2. Jason Aldean	7. Rascal Flatts
3. Lady Antebellum	8. Kenny Chesney
4. Zac Brown Band	9. Brad Paisley
5. Blake Shelton	10. Luke Bryan

Artist Of The Day: Tanya Tucker

• Tanya Denise Tucker started singing when she was just 6. She recorded her first hit, “Delta Dawn,” in 1972 at the age of 13. It went to No. 6 on the charts.
• Her second single, “Love’s the Answer,” also became a Top 10 hit that year. Tucker’s third single, “What’s Your Mama’s Name,” became her first No. 1 in the spring of 1973. Two other No. 1s – “Blood Red and Goin’ Down” and “Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)” – followed.
• By age 15, she had a Grammy nomination, a “Greatest Hits” package and had appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
• Tanya was 21 when she and Glen Campbell had a yearlong affair, during which she began battling cocaine and alcohol addiction.
• She signed with Capitol Nashville in 1985 and immediately made the top of the charts with “One Love at a Time... Just Another Love” and “I’ll Come Back As Another Woman.” In 1991, four songs from her platinum-selling “What Do I Do With Me” became hits, including the Grammy-nominated “Down To My Last Teardrop.”
• Tanya won Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1991 CMA Awards, but was unable to accept because she was in the hospital after giving birth to her son, Beau Grayson. Her next album, “Can’t Run From Yourself,” also went platinum, and her video for “Two Sparrows In A Hurricane” won an ACM in 1994.
• In 2002 she founded Tuckertime Records and released “Tanya,” her first album in five years. She released an album called “Live at Billy Bob’s Texas” in 2005.
• Tucker starred in her own reality show, “Tuckerville,” on The Learning Channel in 2005. It ran for two seasons.
• Tucker released “My Turn” in 2009. The consists of cover versions of country music standards, including “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” “Lovesick Blues” and “Crazy Arms.”
• Tanya Tucker is has released the single “Merry Christmas Wherever You Are.” Available digitally, the tune is the prelude to Tucker releasing a full-length Christmas record next year.
• Official Web site: www.tanyatucker.com

Dolly Parton, Wanda Jackson Join ‘VH1 Divas’

Dolly Parton will serve as a presenter while rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson will perform on “VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul” airing December 19th on VH1. Parton will be joined by presenters Queen Latifah, Terrence Howard, Nas, Common and La La Anthony. Newly-added performers include Anita Baker, Mavis Staples and Ledisi. The headlining divas are Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Florence & the Machine, Jennifer Hudson, Jessie J. and Jill Scott. Previously-announced performers include Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Boyz II Men, Estelle, Marsha Ambrosius and Travie McCoy.

More Music Ahead For Rodney Atkins

Get ready for more music from Rodney Atkins after he signed a new deal with Curb. The deal is not only to record but to write. Atkins says he basically learned songwriting while under contract. He says label head Mike Curb encouraged him “to learn about songwriting, how to write songs, how to go in and produce those songs.” Unlike Atkins, Tim McGraw apparently has had a different experience. He recently went to court to end his contract with Curb.

McCready Defends Herself

Mindy McCready says taking her son Zander away from his grandparents in Florida was the right thing to do – even if it was illegal. “I know there are rules that are written down that we’re supposed to follow, and guidelines that we’re supposed to follow, but there’s a difference between right and wrong, and right and wrong in my opinion should come first, always,” McCready says in an interview airing today on ABC’s 20/20. She adds, “What I did was to protect my child, and there’s not a person in the world that’s going to tell me that is wrong.” The singer and Zander, 5, were found last Friday in Arkansas, three days after she picked him up from her father’s house in Cape Coral, Florida. McCready’s parents have custody of Zander, but the singer has claimed her son is in physical and emotional danger staying with them. In the interview, McCready, who is also pregnant with twins, says she’s shocked that her actions could be deemed illegal – that she couldn’t “ever think that me taking my own child, that I carried for nine months, that I gave birth to in the hospital by myself, would ever be breaking the law.” McCready was involved in a child-welfare hearing in Arkansas on Monday, and said she was happy with the outcome, though she couldn’t talk about what the ruling was.

Zac Brown Band Red Rocks Show Airing On CMT

Zac Brown Band’s sold-out Red Rocks shows this past September drew 20,000 fans to the Colorado amphitheatre, and CMT will premiere a 5-song “Zac Brown Band – Live at Red Rocks” special including the debut of a brand new unreleased song, “Sweet Annie.” The special, airing tomorrow, will also include performances of the band’s “Colder Weather” and their fastest-rising single, “Keep Me In Mind,” both from “You Get What You Give.” The special will re-air December13th and 15th. Fans can also catch the special on CMT.com and the network’s digital all-music channel, CMT Pure.

Country Music Hall Of Fame Highlights Red Carpet Dresses

Over the years, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift have walked a lot of red carpets and been to a lot of parties. Now some of the dresses they’ve worn at these events are on display for a few weeks at the Country Music Hall of Fame. The exhibit ends January 5th. It includes Dolly’s outfit that she wore on a TV special in 1990 called “Christmas at Home.” It’s also on an album cover. Then there’s McEntire’s red sequined dress from her performance at the CMA Awards in 1993 that was famous for its plunging neckline. Also part of the exhibit is Swift’s red floor-length gown that she wore on the red carpet at last year’s CMAs.

Bocephus Holds Country Music Hall Of Fame Fundraiser

The near four-year run of “Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy” at the Country Music Hall of Fame is about to end. And just as he did when the exhibit opened, Hank Williams Jr. gave a solo acoustic performance intertwined with personal memories. The sold-out concert Tuesday night was a benefit for the Hall and it raised $75,000. Williams also announced that many of the items he loaned for the exhibit would stay in the museum and its archives. “Family Tradition” opened in March 2008. It originally was scheduled to close on December 31, 2009, but was extended two years and will now close this December 31st.

Big Vinny Hickerson Sent Home From ‘The Biggest Loser’

Big Vinny Hickerson of the “Trailer Choir” may not have won “The Biggest Loser,” but he’s a winner in other ways, like with his health and his love life. His proposal to longtime girlfriend, Lori Diaz was part of Tuesday’s show. But now that he’s not in the Top 3, he’s continuing his losing ways at home. Vinny is working with a trainer, hoping to win the at-home prize of $100,000. The season finale is Tuesday on NBC.

Artist Of The Day: Jake Owen

• Jake Owen enrolled at Florida State University and later started singing in a campus bar, eventually forming the Yee Haw Junction band. With just nine credit hours of college left to earn his degree, he left for Nashville to continue his songwriting. One of his songs, “Ghost,” was almost cut by Kenny Chesney, which brought Jake to the attention of RCA Records. The track would later be included on his debut album.
  
• Owen signed to RCA two years after moving to Nashville and released his debut album, “Startin’ with Me,” in July 2006. He wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album including his three hits – “Startin’ With Me,” “Yee Haw” and “Something About A Woman.” Jake was one of the top-selling new male artists of 2006.
  
• Jake released his second studio album, “Easy Does It,” in February 2009. The album debuted at No. 2. The lead single, “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You,” became his first Top 5 hit, reaching No. 2. The second single, “Eight Second Ride,” peaked at No. 11. “Tell Me” hit the Top 40.
  
• Jake won a BMI Songwriter Award for “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” as well as a 2009 Academy of Country Music award for New Male Artist.
  
• Jake Owen topped the Billboard Country Albums chart for the first time with his latest project, “Barefoot Blue Jean Night.” “Barefoot” also debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 6, marking his highest-ever position on that chart. The album’s title track is already a No. 1 smash and has his latest hit, “Alone With You,” well on its way to becoming another chart-topper.
  
• Jake will hit the road with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney on their “Brothers of the Sun Tour,” kicking off June 2, 2012 in Tampa.
  
• Official Web site: www.jakeowen.net