Rascal Flatts Changes It Up For New CD

Rascal Flatts Changes It Up For New CD
Rascal Flatts has revealed the track list for their upcoming album, “Changed.” The songs include the title track and the album’s leadoff single, “Banjo,” as well as tracks like “Hot In Here,” “Come Wake Me Up,” “Lovin’ Me,” “Hurry Baby” and “Great Big Love.” There are some titles that sound like break up songs, such as “She’s Leaving” and “Let It Hurt.” The last couple of songs are called “Sunrise” and “A Little Home.” The album comes out April 3rd. The band will also be releasing a deluxe version of the album that features four bonus tracks. Rascal Flatts is up for the Academy of Country Music’s vocal group of the year. They find out if the win on April 1st.

Aldean Sells Out Atlanta In Four Minutes, Adds Second Show

Aldean Sells Out Atlanta In Four Minutes, Adds Second Show
It took just four minutes for ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee Jason Aldean to sell out his May 19th “My Kinda Party Tour” show at Atlanta’s Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood. A second show has been announced for May 18th that will go on sale Friday. Aldean is nominated for six ACM Awards, including his second consecutive nods for Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year, as well as Album of the Year for “My Kinda Party,” Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for “Don’t You Wanna Stay” featuring Kelly Clarkson and Video of the Year for “Tattoos on this Town.” The April 1st show will air live from Las Vegas on CBS.

Kenny Chesney Fan Arrested For Trespassing

Kenny Chesney Fan Arrested For Trespassing
A Kenny Chesney fan has been arrested for trespassing on the singer’s property on Wednesday morning. Melissa Mansfield of Murrieta, California, was arrested around 2 a.m. and charged with trespassing and public intoxication. She was discovered in a bathroom near a swimming pool at his Nashville-area home after apparently sneaking around a fence, deputies said. She had reportedly been drinking wine. Chesney was not home at the time and has no connection with the woman, according to his publicist.

BamaJam Is Back

BamaJam Is Back
BamaJam is back. After taking off last year due to the legal problems of BamaJam’s founder, the festival is back in June with Tim McGraw, Zac Brown Band and Kid Rock. The three-day entertainment music festival will be in Enterprise, Alabama, June 14-16. BamaJam 2012 spokesman Darryl Worley will perform and host the opening night. McGraw will close out the first day on June 14th. Zac Brown Band will take the stage to headline Friday’s performances, and Kid Rock closes out the festival on Sunday. Tickets will go on sale March 2nd with 3-day $99 tickets available for a limited time only. Find out more at www.bamajam2012.com. Last year’s festival was canceled because of the legal hassles of promoter Ronnie Gilley, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges involving state officials last year.

Kix Brooks Readies Debut Single

Kix Brooks Readies Debut Single
Kix Brooks will release his first Arista Nashville solo single, “New To This Town” on March 19th. The single features Joe Walsh. After spending 20 years as one half of Brooks & Dunn, the most successful duo in country music history, Brooks is heading in his own direction. “It’s a freedom of sorts,” said Brooks. “It’s not a bitter freedom by any means, just sort of a ‘well that was fun, now what?’ Sort of like being at a theme park and looking around after riding the same roller coaster you finally say, ‘Ok I think I’ll try that one over there.’”

Jake Owen Up Late

Jake Owen Up Late
Jake Owen will perform his current Top 10 single, “Alone With You” and his multi-week No. 1 platinum single “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on February 21st. Both songs are from Owen’s album “Barefoot Blue Jean Night.” On March 1st, Owen will be a guest on “Chelsea Lately.”

Alan Jackson’s New Single

Alan Jackson’s New Single
Alan Jackson is set to perform his new single on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on March 30th. “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore” is the lead single from his upcoming album, due later this year. Jackson shot the video for the song at Coney Island in New York. The new album is the first from the joint venture between ACR, Alan’s Country Records, and EMI Records Nashville.

Artist Of The Day: Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney

• Kenny Chesney’s debut album, “My Wildest Dreams,” was released in 1993. His other albums include “She’s All I Got,” “All I Need To Know,” “Me & You,” “When the Sun Goes Down,” “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” “Greatest Hits,” “The Road & The Radio” and “Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates.”
  
• Chesney’s “Greatest Hits II,” which debuted at No. 1 in 2009, yielded the No. 1 hit “Out Last Night” and “I’m Alive.” It was re-released in May 2010 with two new tracks – the ESPN college football anthem “This Is Our Moment” and the Top 5 hit “Ain’t Back Yet.”
  
• Kenny produced the critically acclaimed high school football documentary “Boys Of Fall” last year. He also released his 3D concert movie “Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D” and produced and narrated a biographical film, “The Color Orange,” on his favorite football player, University of Tennessee quarterback and Canadian Football League Hall-of-Famer Condredge Holloway. The film was produced for ESPN’s “Year of the Quarterback” series and premiered in February 2011.
  
• Chesney’s album “Hemingway’s Whiskey” has yielded the No. 1 singles “The Boys of Fall,” “Somewhere With You” and “Live A Little.” “Hemingway’s Whiskey” debuted at No. 1, his sixth album to debut at the top of the charts and his 10th No. 1 album overall. “Reality,” the fifth single from the album, was released in October.
  
• Kenny Chesney’s single “You and Tequila,” the duet with Grace Potter that’s up five Academy of Country Music Awards, was recently certified platinum. It’s the second million-selling song from Chesney’s platinum, No. 1 album “Hemingway’s Whiskey,” following “Somewhere With You,” which reached that mark last year. Chesney is up for a total of nine ACM awards, the most of any artist this year.
  
• Chesney and Tim McGraw’s “Brothers of the Sun” has already sold more than 500,000 tickets. The tour will feature stadium shows on weekend dates at venues across the country, the only cities and venues Chesney will play in 2012. The tour, which kicks off in June, will also feature special guests Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and Jake Owen.
  
• Official website: www.kennychesney.com

Toby Is Done Making Movies

Toby Is Done Making Movies
Toby Keith’s movie career ends with “Beer for My Horses” and “Broken Bridges,” because the singer says the return to films isn’t worth what it does to his first career, country music. “When I did the movies, it affected my songwriting. I think I had quality songs and we had hits and stuff, but it affected my day-to-day, my system, my routine and the volume of songs that I bring to the table when I record an album,” Toby tells The Country Vibe. “I got little or no bang. You know, songs get heard on the radio forever, but movies are like here and then they’re gone. ... There’s just not enough bang for my buck to waste that much time into a project.” Besides, he says, he has done what he meant to do. “[I] proved to myself that I could act and be in a movie with the Burt Reynolds and Kelly Prestons and people like that of the world, Tess Harpers, and hold my own. And it was like, ‘Alright, I done that. Now what did I get out of that?’ Other than the experience, we’re good.”

Wynonna Judd’s Wedding Plans

Wynonna Judd’s Wedding Plans
Wynonna Judd is gearing up for her wedding – but fans expecting a huge ceremony will be disappointed. The singer, who got engaged to fellow musician Cactus Moser on Christmas Eve, says the theme of the ceremony will be “barefoot and just fun.” “I’ve been to so many events and done so many push-up bras and sparkles and hairspray,” Judd says. “I just want to be free and have fun,” she says. “So I don’t know. Something simple and sweet.” The wedding will take place on Judd’s farm in the fall because, as she puts it, “it’s not a sweaty time for brides.”

Loretta Lynn Teams With Bret Michaels

Loretta Lynn Teams With Bret Michaels
Bret Michaels is getting some help from his friends for his new solo album, “Get Your Rock On.” Loretta Lynn will join him on a new version of Michaels hit with Poison back in 1988 called “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn.” Michaels says growing up, his dad loved country music and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and a duet with Loretta Lynn will be a “really awesome time.” Michaels says he also wrote two songs with Lynn.

New Music From Waylon Jennings

New Music From Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings’s family will soon release songs the country music icon recorded shortly before his death 10 years ago. Musicians who worked with Jennings have gathered to finish the tracks. At least eight of the 12 songs on the tentatively titled “Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Final Recordings” were written by Waylon, and eight have not been released before. The release later this year is part of a new effort by Jennings’ family to establish a Waylon business brand similar to the booming estates of artists such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Hank Williams.

Mel Tillis Receives White House Honor

Mel Tillis Receives White House Honor
Mel Tillis is one of the new recipients of the National Medal of Arts. President Barack Obama bestowed eight National Medal of Arts and nine National Humanities Medals during a ceremony at the White House East Room. The president urged the honorees to help mentor a new generation of artists and scholars. Tillis’ citation calls him one of the most inventive artists of the golden generation of singer-songwriters. The White House notes that Tillis has written more than 1,000 songs and recorded 60 albums.

Band Perry’s Next Big Show

Band Perry’s Next Big Show
At the Grammys, they shared the stage with Glen Campbell. Next week, the Band Perry will play to a sold out crowd at their first headlining show in Nashville at the historic Ryman Auditorium. The tickets went on sale six months in advance for the February 22nd show and sold out in minutes.

Artist Of The Day: Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum

• Lady Antebellum formed in 2006 with Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood. Their first country single, released at the end of 2007, was “Love Don’t Live Here.”
  
• Lady Antebellum won the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Duo or Group award in 2008, as well as New Artist of the Year from the Country Music Association. They also received a Best New Artist Grammy nod last year, while “Love Don’t Live Here” received a Grammy nod for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
  
• Lady Antebellum’s self-titled debut album hit No. 4 in its opening week in May 2008. The single “Love Don’t Live Here” peaked inside the Top 5. A second single, “Lookin’ for a Good Time,” peaked at No. 11. The single “I Run to You” marked their first No. 1.
  
• Lady A won the Group of the Year and Single of the Year for “I Run To You” at the CMA Awards in November 2009, ending Rascal Flatts’ six-year hold on the Vocal Group prize.
  
• The group debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and Country Charts in February 2010 with their second album, “Need You Now.” The singles, “Need You Now,” “American Honey” and “Our Kind of Love,” each held the top spot on the charts.
  
• Lady Antebellum took home the Vocal Group of the Year awards from both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association in 2010.
  
• Lady A was up for six awards at last year’s Grammys, taking home five, for Best Country Album, Best Record, Best Song, Best Country Song and Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for the album and title track, “Need You Now.”
  
• Lady Antebellum‘s Hillary Scott and drummer Chris Tyrrell were married last month. The couple met in 2010 when each of their bands served as opening acts for Tim McGraw.
  
• Hillary Scott was named SESAC’s Songwriter of the Year for the third straight year earlier this month. She was awarded for not only co-writing Lady Antebellum’s “Just a Kiss” and “Need You Now,” but also honored for her first hit for another artist – “A Little Bit Stronger” for Sara Evans.
  
• Lady A is currently on their headlining arena “Own The Night” tour. The album, “Own The Night,” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart in the U.S. and Canada in September 2011, becoming the biggest first week debut by a country artist this year. Their current hit, “Dancin' Away With My Heart,” follows the chart topping lead single “Just A Kiss” and the No. 1 “We Owned The Night.” Other songs on the set include “Friday Night” and “When You Were Mine.”
  
• Lady A won the Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group trophy for the 2011 American Music Awards and was honored as one of CMT’s five Artists of the Year in December.
  
• Lady A received the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Country Album for their latest album “Own The Night.” It marks their 7th Grammy Award they have won throughout their career.
  
• Lady Antebellum joins Keith Urban, Sugarland and Trace Adkins on the soundtrack for the Navy SEAL action-thriller “Act of Valor,” due in theatres on February 24th. The soundtrack comes out February 21st.
  
• Official Web site: http://ladyantebellum.com
  

Taylor Swift In ‘The Lorax’

Taylor Swift In ‘The Lorax’
Taylor Swift will voice the role of Audrey in next month’s 3D movie adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic, “The Lorax,” which she is thrilled about. “Dr. Seuss books were a huge, huge part of my childhood,” Taylor shared on the ‘Today Show.’ “It really made me fall in love with the way words fall off the page if you get them in the right syncopation and put them in the right order with the right rhymes at the end. And then that later became poetry and that became songwriting. I think I was very inspired with what Dr. Seuss was able to do with words.” Taylor also marvels that her real life is reflected in the role she voices for the film. “It was really amazing that the character ended up being a girl who was obsessed with trees because I grew up on a Christmas tree farm,” she notes. “I loved nature, I’m obsessed with going on hikes and walks ... that’s sort of part of my life I can really relate to.” Taylor also lends her vocals to a song she recorded with the Civil Wars on the highly-anticipated flick “Hunger Games,” which hits theaters on March 23rd. “The Lorax,” which also stars Danny DeVito, Ed Helms and Rob Riggle, will be released March 2nd.

Julie Roberts Is Back

Julie Roberts Is Back
Julie Roberts says she hopes her shows in Maryland over the weekend will be the start of a long-running return to center stage. “My immediate goal is to get on the road and stay on the road,” Roberts told The Washington Post. “I don’t want to be gone that long again. I want to make people aware that I’m alive.” Roberts hasn’t performed outside of Tennessee since disastrous a 2009 and 2010, which saw her lose her recording deal and television movie project, and then her Nashville home in a flash flood. “I spent the entire year of 2010 rebuilding my home and rebuilding my life,” she said. The past year was a better one for Roberts, who broke into the music business after landing a job as an assistant to the chairman of Universal Music Group Nashville. She released a new album called “Alive,” although she is soldiering on as an independent without the resources of a record company. “Music is what I love,” Roberts said. “And honestly, I don’t have another option.”

Trace Adkins Narrates Dog’s Tale For USPS

Trace Adkins Narrates Dog’s Tale For USPS
Trace Adkins is helping children learn more about Owney, a dog who played a real role in mail-service history. The free, downloadable book, “Owney: Tales From the Rails,” is available at the Postal Museum’s official website, www.postalmuseum.si.edu/owneyebook, and as an Apple iPad app. Trace reads the story and uses music to help bring to life the true adventures of Owney, who helped deliver mail in the U.S. and around the world. Owney became famous after he took up residence at the post office in Albany, New York. A postman named Clark adopted Owney, and all the other postal employees became his surrogate family. When Clark transferred to the rail post office, which transported letters and packages from town to town via the railroad, Owney went with him. Soon, the pooch was known at post office stops along the rail line as much as he was in his hometown of Albany. The story Trace narrates and sings includes Owney’s adventures in Canada and on a post office ship that took him around the world.

Good Times For McCreery

Good Times For McCreery
Scotty McCreery is rolling in the good news. Not only has he been nominated for the Academy of Country Music New Artist of the Year award, he was also alerted by fans via Twitter that his second single, “The Trouble With Girls,” had just topped 500,000 in sales, making it eligible to become his second consecutive single to reach gold status. McCreery was nominated along with Brantley Gilbert and Hunter Hayes. “It’s been an incredible year,” said McCreery, whose debut album was certified platinum. “Being up for this award means a lot to me. I am ready to head to Vegas.” McCreery’s debut album, “Clear As Day,” was certified platinum in just three months. The first single, “I Love You This Big,” has also been certified gold. He is currently touring the nation as part of Brad Paisley’s “Virtual Reality Tour 2012.”

Jason Aldean Buys The Farm

Jason Aldean Buys The Farm
Jason Aldean, who just scored his 13th Top 10 hit with “Tattoos on This Town,” celebrated his recent successes – which also includes selling out amphitheaters on his “My Kinda Party” tour and taking home two CMA Awards – by buying a 1,300 acre farm just outside of Nashville. “I’d kinda been looking for some land just to get away on and be able to take my kids out there and fish if I want to take them fishing or ride four-wheelers,” Jason said. “I like to deer hunt so I can do that.” Jason hasn’t completely moved his family to the new place yet, but he enjoys getting out there as much as he can. “It kind of gives me something to do,” he notes. “It’s kind of quiet and I can take my friends out there.”