COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS
TRACE ADKINS TALKS OIL SPILL AND GRADUATION ADVICE. Trace Adkins has been doing lots of talking lately whether it be about the B.P. oil spill or being the guest speaker at a high school graduation. He appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 Thursday to discuss the oil spill in the gulf and tells CMT Radio Live’s Cody Alan he feels for the head of B.P. right now. “That poor guy, he’s ugh, boy I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.” Trace once worked on an oil rig and is staying optimistic when it comes the situation coming to an end. “Well it will stop. Oil wells do deplete. If they didn’t we wouldn’t have to drill anymore. I don’t know how long that is going to take. It’s not going to go forever. It will stop.” Trace was also optimistic when he gave the graduation class of Piedmont High School in North Carolina a commencement speech after two students sent him a letter asking him to be their guest speaker.“I really just stressed that passion tempered by integrity will lead you to success. That was the main thing that I wanted them to remember if they remembered anything I said.” And in true Trace fashion, he was also blunt with the students. “And I also told them, much to the dismay of their parents, that they should stay with their parents as long as they possibly can. (laughs) Just stay there until they kick you out.”
CMT TO STREAM MILEY CYRUS ALBUM RELEASE CONCERT. An exclusive free, live video stream of Miley Cyrus' album release concert will be available Monday at CMT.com, MTV.com, VH1.com and Logotv.com. The concert, which will feature music from her new album, Can't Be Tamed, will also be streamed on more than 30 international sites in Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The concert from the House of Blues on Hollywood's Sunset Strip will begin at approximately at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT. On Tuesday, Miley makes her Rock Band debut with a five-pack of songs in the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and Wii.
KENNY CHESENY WRAPS UP FOOTBALL DOCUMENTARY. Kenny Chesney has wrapped up his latest project – a football documentary called The Boys of Fall. Kenny has been working for a year to create this piece and says, ““Anyone who knows me knows how much I look to football, the lessons learned, the experiences, the feelings as a map for living life, having a music career, being the kind of man I want to be.” Kenny used his celebrity status and existing relationships with football icons to create the documentary. “I have the ability to have some pretty amazing conversations with some pretty big coaches… some pretty amazing players… I knew Peyton Manning when he was a UT Vol… I've watched him apply a lot of the same philosophies to his life… and when you realize how universal what you live is and how much it means no matter who you are or where you live, you start looking a little deeper.” Some of the other football legends featured in the documentary include Superbowl coach Sean Payton, John Madden, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman the former University of Tennessee's Phil Fulmer and University of Alabama’s Nick Saban and Bobby Bowden - as well as high school coaches from Illinois, Texas and Tennessee. Kenny is shopping the documentary around now so no word yet on when and where you’ll be able to watch it.
TOBY KEITH GOES INCOGNITO FOR SPECIAL CONCERTS. Toby Keith appeared as part of the Incognito Bandito Thursday night at the Irving Plaza in New York City. Ticket holders weren’t aware of who the band was and were only told it would be a surprise performance they wouldn’t want to miss. Toby and his band jammed on stage singing their favorite covers from multiple genres. CMT was there and a full coverage story is now on CMT.com. More appearances from Incognito Bandito are expected this summer but will not be made public far in advance.
LADY ANTEBELLUM LOOKING TO HEADLINE OVERSEAS. Lady Antebellum has a full year packed when it comes to touring, but they are looking forward to 2011 and would love to take their music oversees. Right now they are focusing on opening for Tim McGraw and headlining their first tour in the fall. But Hillary Scott says heading across the pond is high on their lists of things to do.“That is right underneath it. We can’t wait to go and meet the fans that we’ve already made and hope to continue to make all over the world. [Dave Haywood] And Hillary wants to go to Australia really bad. [Hillary] I do! I want to go to a lot of places. [Charles Kelley] She loves the accents.” For a list of Lady A tour dates, visit CMT.com.
TAYLOR SWIFT WINS ANOTHER SONGWRITING AWARD. Taylor Swift was given the Hal David Starlight Award, which pays tribute to young songwriters with promise, at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City last week. The Associated Press reports John Mayer presented her with the award and told the audience, "She's no accident." "You could put her in a time machine in any era and she would have a hit record," he said, adding this about her success: "Don't confuse everybody loving one thing as hype. Sometimes that's everyone agreeing that it's fabulous."
BLAKE SHELTON KEEPS MOTHER-IN-LAW TO BE HAPPY WITH CANDY! Blake Shelton sat down with CMT Radio Live’s Cody Alan last week and says he keeps on good terms with his future mother-in-law by giving her banana Laffy Taffy. Miranda Lambert then confirmed the claim with Cody and says it works like a charm. “That’s absolutely true. We went to a candy story in Dallas not long ago and he bought like Laffy Taffy’s in bulk! (laughs) Like two-hundred of them because he just gives them to her as he does something she doesn’t like. It’s actually a really good trick. She’s a sucker for it.”
THE OPRY GETS A SPECIALLY ORDERED BIRTHDAY CAKE. Chef Duff Goldman and Sous Chef Geof Manthorne of the Food Network’s Ace of Cakes traveled to the Grand Ole Opry from Maryland to deliver a cake to celebrate the Opry’s 50th birthday. The two traveled by RV as part of a road trip for an episode of the show that will air in the fall. The cake was a four foot model of the Opry mic stand and placed on a replica of the iconic circle of wood taken from the stage of the Ryman Auditorium. After the presentation was made, Charlie Pride asked Goldman and Manthorne, who are both musicians in their spare time, to play along during a performance of “Kaw-liga.”
KEITH URBAN GIVES UP FATHER’s DAY FOR WIFE. Keith Urban didn’t celebrate Father’s Day with his family yesterday. Instead, they celebrated his wife’s birthday which happened to fall on the same day. Keith tells People magazine rather than trying to share the day they compromised and celebrated Nicole Kidman’s birthday yesterday and will celebrate Australia’s Father’s Day which is the first Sunday in September.
BROOKS & DUNN CANCEL WEEKEND SHOWS DUE TO ILLNESS. Brooks & Dunn was forced to cancel shows over the weekend in Virginia Beach and Washington, D.C. due to illness. The Virginia Beach show has been postponed for July 11th and the D.C. concert has been moved to August 1st.
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