Big Machine Records Unveils Artist Performance For Brickyard 400

BigMachineRecords.com will be the presenting sponsor of the 2011 Brickyard 400 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 31st. This is the first time a record label has ever presented a nationally-televised race in the 100-year history of The Speedway. In addition to the race, the event will feature performances by Big Machine Label Group artists such as Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, The Band Perry, Justin Moore, Brantley Gilbert and Thomas Rhett. There will also be opportunities to purchase artist merchandise at the Big Machine Label Group booth where clothing, music and more will be for sale.

Trace Adkins Wants His Fire-Damaged Home Torn Down

Trace Adkins and his family have been living in a cabin ever since a fire on June 4th destroyed their Nashville home. While the Louisiana native is grateful they have another place to stay, he admits the entire ordeal has been a challenging one. “The insurance company declared it a total loss, and now they have to figure out what that means and assign a value to it,” Trace tells CMT. “It takes ridiculously long. I just want to get what’s left of that house torn down. It looks sad. It’s the eyesore of the neighborhood. We all want to get it gone.”

Kenny Chesney Writes Theme Song For New ESPN Series

Kenny Chesney has written a new song titled “Rise Up” for an upcoming ESPN series of the same name. The reality series upgrades the athletic facilities in needy high schools. The first episode about a school in Wellston, Ohio, will air on September 13th. Chesney wrote the song in two hours after watching the episode from a New Orleans school, according to the series’ executive producer Joan Lynch.

Zac Brown Band Team With Gander Mountain

The Zac Brown Band has partnered with outdoor specialty retailer Gander Mountain for the band’s Southern Ground product line. The retailer’s 116 stores nationwide will carry the line of cookbooks, spices and sauces. In addition, an exclusive Zac Brown Band hat with a hand-tooled leather patch has been assembled by Brown’s Southern Hide leather shop. The cotton twill hat, priced at $20, features an embroidered Soles4Souls logo. All proceeds from sales of the hat will benefit the charitable organization that provides shoes to underprivileged people around the world. Meanwhile, a handcrafted GranDaddy knife created at the Southern Grind shop in Georgia features a blade made of recycled saw blades and a custom sheath. It is available only at Gander Mountain’s website.

Joey+Rory Take It To The Farm This Christmas

Joey & Rory will release a Christmas album, “A Farmhouse Christmas,” on October 11th. Merle Haggard sings on the couple’s rendition of his No. 1 hit, “If We Make It Through December.” In addition, the duo recorded “I Know What Santa’s Getting for Christmas,” written by Garth Brooks and Kent Blazy. Holiday standards on the album include “Away in a Manger” and “Blue Christmas.” The couple is also planning a Christmas tour.

Ira Dean Signs With Average Joe’s

Ira Dean, former member of Trick Pony, has signed on with Average Joe’s. Dean wrote the Trick Pony hit “Pour Me.” He left Trick Pony in 2008 and has since been busy writing songs for other artists including Joe Nichols, Chris Young, ex-band mate Heidi Newfield, Jake Owen, Gary Allan and Montgomery Gentry. He also has the writing credits on the title track for Trace Adkins’ album, “Proud To Be Here,” due out August 2nd. Dean’s self-titled solo debut CD is set to be released in late 2011. The first official single, “Something About A Sunday,” drops in September.

Josh Thompson On ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’

Josh Thompson is still beaming from an experience a couple of weeks ago. He was part of a taping of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Thompson performed a concert at Fayetteville Festival Park in North Carolina. His appearance was to help raise money for a female homeless veterans shelter.

Eric Church Is The ‘Chief’

To make sure there were no distractions while creating the songs for his new album, Eric Church was holed up for a month in a cabin in North Carolina. He says first he needed to pause and figure out where he was going in his career. Then he opened the door to songwriters. Church says they had no cell phones and no TV. He says “all you do is write songs. Sometimes it was 3 a.m. Sometimes it was 9 a.m., didn’t matter. We wrote songs.” The result is Eric Church’s new album, “Chief,” which came out yesterday.

Hank Williams Jr. Ready For Some Football

If anyone’s ready for some football, it’s Hank Williams Jr. Bocephus just shot a new opening for the upcoming season of “Monday Night Football” on ESPN. It was filmed last Thursday at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. This will be the 23rd season that Hank will be singing the Monday Night Football opening theme.

Caylee Anthony’s Grandparents Reach Out To Rascal Flatts

The grandparents of Caylee Anthony have reached out to Rascal Flatts to thank co-writer Gary LeVox for the Caylee tribute, “She’s Going Places.” LeVox has not decided yet if he will take a meeting with the family. Caylee’s mother Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering the two-year-old. The prosecution alleged that Caylee was killed of chloroform inhalation while the defense argued she accidentally drowned. LeVox co-wrote the track with Cledus T. Judd, who says it was originally based on a different song they had written called “He’s Going Places.” Nashville recording artist Shane Hines sang on the track.

Taylor Swift Donates $250,000 To Alabama Charity

Taylor Swift, who previously donated almost $1 million from her ‘Speak Now ... Help Now!’ dress rehearsal concert to benefit Alabama tornado victims following April’s deadly storms, has offered another large check, this time to a Tuscaloosa-based organization. Swift gave $250,000 to benefit Nick’s Kids, which has already donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to recovery efforts. Taylor, who donated $500,000 to aid in Music City’s recovery efforts, also gave generously to Japan, New Zealand and Australia in recent months. She is currently in the middle of the North American leg of her “Speak Now World” tour.

John Michael Montgomery - Artist of the Day

•John Michael Montgomery first performed in public at age five with his father’s band, which also featured his mother on drums. He was performing regularly on the local scene at 16 and at 17 became the lead singer of a group with his father and brother, Eddie of Montgomery Gentry, after his parents divorced.
•John Michael issued his debut album, “Life’s a Dance,” in 1992. The title track rocketed into the Top 5. Its follow-up, “I Love The Way You Love Me,” went to No. 1, while his 1994 release of “Kickin’ It Up” topped both the country and pop charts. A self-titled 1995 album also topped the charts and kept Montgomery’s hit streak alive with more No. 1 hits.

•Montgomery put out “What I Do the Best” in 1996. “Friends” and “How Was I to Know” both hit No. 2; “I Miss You a Little” was also a top 10.

•JMM has sold more than 10 million albums and scored 15 No. 1 singles, including 1994’s “I Swear.”

•Montgomery released “Time Flies” in 2008, his 10th studio album and first on his own label, Stringtown. The album yielded his first country Top 30 hit since 2004 with “Forever,” as well as the singles “Mad Cowboy Disease” and “If You Ever Went Away.”

•His last album was a 2009 Cracker Barrel compilation titled “For Our Heroes.” JMM is currently working on a live album set for release this year, which will also include a DVD documentary of him talking about the songs, storyteller-style.
•John Michael Montgomery was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame earlier this year.

•John Michael Montgomery is teaming up with Eddie. The brothers will record an album as well as collaborate on a book about their lives, both of which they will begin working on this winter.

•Official website: http://www.johnmichael.com

‘American Idol’s’ Haley Reinhart Signs Record Deal

Haley Reinhart, who placed third on the 10th season of “American Idol,” has signed a recording contract with Interscope and 19 Recordings. The 20-year-old singer finished just behind “Idol” winner Scotty McCreery and runner-up Lauren Alaina, who are both pursuing country careers on the 19 Recordings/Mercury Nashville imprint. McCreery, Alaina and Reinhart are all taking part in the current “American Idols Live” tour. The tour’s next stop will be tonight in Duluth, Georgia.

Alan Jackson Premieres ‘Long Way To Go’ Video

Alan Jackson will premiere his video for “Long Way To Go” today on GAC and tomorrow on CMT. Jackson will elaborate on the making of the video during his appearances on GAC’s “Top 20 Country Countdown” on July 29th and CMT’s “Top 20 Countdown” on August 5th. “Long Way To Go” is the first single from Jackson’s new studio album to be released this fall and the debut single from the joint venture between EMI Records Nashville and ACR (Alan’s Country Records). The video was shot at the Square Grouper bar in Jupiter, Florida. It finds Jackson and his band waiting all day to shoot a video in the Florida sun because the forecast is filled with “rain, rain and more rain.” While Jackson, his band and the entire video crew wait for the rain to pass, the fun begins. Check it out at www.alanjackson.com.

Brad Paisley Fans ‘Arrested In Droves’

“Brad Paisley fans get themselves arrested in droves during Darien Lake concert,” the Batavian newspaper in upstate New York reports. The newspaper listed dozens of names and charges stemming in and around Brad’s concert Saturday night in the Buffalo area. Those charges include disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, underage drinking, criminal possession of drugs, driving while intoxicated and others. On Twitter, Brad posted a link to the article and noted, “Quite a performance in [Darien Lake] Saturday. We also played music.” Paisley’s “H2O II: Wetter & Wilder World Tour” played to over 34,000 fans in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Darien Lake, New York. On Saturday Paisley made an unexpected appearance on the Water World Plaza Stage during Sunny Sweeney’s set and accompanied her on “Good Hearted Woman.” The tour, which has Blake Shelton and Jerrod Niemann on the main stage, continues this weekend with a show in Frisco, Texas.

Chris Young’s ‘Tomorrow’ Is Bright

Chris Young’s “Tomorrow” will hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Songs chart when it is released later this week, the singer’s fourth straight chart topper. The latest No. 1 occurs less than two weeks following the release of his third album, “Neon,” which opened at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. “I am completely blown away,” said Young. “For ‘Neon’ to get such an amazing response from the fans and then for ‘Tomorrow’ to go to number one right after, it feels like I’m living a dream.” Young’s three previous chart toppers include “Gettin’ You Home,” “Voices” and the title track to his 2009 sophomore album, “The Man I Want To Be.” Young will appear on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on July 27th.

Adkins Added To CMA Music Fest TV Special

Trace Adkins has been added to the list of performers appearing in the three-hour, primetime concert special: “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock,” airing August 14th on ABC. Adkins joins a lineup that includes individual performances from The Band Perry, Dierks Bentley, Sara Evans, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban. The special also features one-of-a-kind collaborations including Alabama performing with Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean collaborating with Kelly Clarkson, a late-night jam with Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, Josh Turner singing with “American Idol” winner Scotty McCreery, “Idol” runner up Lauren Alaina joining Martina McBride, Gretchen Wilson with Big & Rich, and Alan Jackson performing with the Zac Brown Band.

Jason Michael Carroll Serves Up ‘Numbers’ At Cracker Barrel

Former Cracker Barrel Old Country Store server Jason Michael Carroll is set to give customers something more suited to his recent profession. The singer’s new CD “Numbers” makes him the first artist ever signed by the company’s exclusive music program who once worked in one of its restaurants. The North Carolina native started singing in public while working as a server at the Cracker Barrel in Henderson, North Carolina. The 12-track CD includes “Alyssa Lies,” a No. 5 hit in 2007, and the title song. “Most numbers mean absolutely nothing,” says Carroll, “but some of them, like the date you meet the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with, mean everything.” The “Numbers” CD debuted yesterday exclusively at all Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations and online at crackerbarrel.com

Kix Brooks To Speak At Louisiana Tech

Kix Brooks went to college at Louisiana Tech. Now he’ll be the featured speaker at the school’s 30th alumni and fan football preseason kickoff. Brooks grew up in Shreveport. He’ll impart his words of wisdom at the event on August 13th.

Grammy Auction

Signed musical instruments and special meet-and-greet experiences are up for bid at an auction organized by the Grammy people. Proceeds will go to MusicCares to help musicians with a range of issues. Money also goes to music education. Items available at the auction include a guitar signed by Kenny Chesney, CDs signed by Lady Antebellum, and meet-n-greet experiences with Sugarland or Keith Urban. The auction runs through Friday at www.ebay.com/grammy.