J.D.'s Dirt- 9/1

COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS

FIRST ROUND OF CMA AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED. Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum emerged as the early leaders when the nominations for the 44th annual CMA Awards were announced yesterday morning in Nashville. Miranda has racked up quite a few awards in the past few years and will never let you for get that.  “You know I’m one of those people that will milk it until its last drop when I win something. Like, I’m still talking about the Album of the Year I won two years ago. If Blake makes me mad I go, ‘You can’t talk to me like that, I won album of the year.’ He’s like, ‘That was two years ago.’” Justin Moore and Chris Young revealed the nominees in seven categories during a press conference at the Ryman Auditorium. Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley are in New York City this morning to announce the nominees in the remaining five categories on ABC's Good Morning America.  In-depth coverage of the nominees, including artist interviews, will be featured on CMT Insider Special Edition: 2010 CMA Awards Nominations today at 11 AM Eastern on CMT.

BRAD PAISLEY EXTENDS H2O WORLD TOUR! Brad Paisley has extended his H2O World Tour into the fall. Justin Moore and Darius Rucker will continue as his opening acts during the 45 tour stops which kick off September 9^th in Spokane, Washington.

H2O World Tour dates:

September 9                 Spokane, WA                          Spokane Arena

September 10               Portland, OR                         Clark County Amphitheatre

September 11               George, WA                            Gorge Amphitheatre                

September 15               Mountain View, CA                 Shoreline Amphitheatre

September 17               San Diego, CA                         Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre

September 18               Phoenix, AZ                             Cricket Wireless Pavilion

September 19               Albuquerque, NM                    The Pavilion

September 23               Boise, ID                                  Taco Bell Arena

September 24               Salt Lake City, UT                   USANA Amphitheatre

September 25               Denver, CO                             Comfort Dental Amphitheatre

September 30               Bozeman, MT                          Brick Breeden Fieldhouse

October 2                    Vancouver, BC                        General Motors Place

October 4                    Edmonton, ALB                       Rexall Place

October 5                    Calgary, ALB                           Pengrowth Saddledome

October 7                    Winnipeg, MAN                       MTS Centre

October 9                    Grand Forks, ND                     Ralph Engelstad Arena

October 17                  TBD                

November 12               Uncasville, CT                          Mohegan Sun Arena

November 13               Rochester, NY                         Blue Cross Arena

November 18               Memphis, TN                           FedEx Forum

November 19               Little Rock, AR                        Verizon Arena

November 20               Tulsa, OK                                BOK Center

 

TIM MCGRAW SET TO HOST COUNTRY’S NIGHT TO ROCK, TONIGHT! Tim McGraw is set to host CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock tonight at 8 PM Eastern on ABC. The show was taped during the CMA Music Festival in June which brought over 60-thousand people to Music City for four days of concerts. Tim performed during the festival after a ten year absence. In the last decade he said his personal life and the timing of the CMA Music Festival just didn’t work out.  “Either I was right in the middle of doing something or I’d been doing so much that I just needed the time off, and the kids were just getting out of school and we were going on vacation. It just never lined up for us.” During the three hour special tonight  you can expect performances by Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Miranda Lambert,Blake Shelton and many more.

 

DAVID NAIL’S FIRST IMPRESSION OF LADY ANTEBELLUM’S HILLARY SCOTT. David Nail will open for Lady Antebellum’s upcoming Need You Now tour, and it’s a good thing he now recognizes each person in the trio. David first met Hillary Scott a few years a go at a honky-tonk in Nashville, where she joined the house band on stage. David immediately called a staff member at his record label to come check out the gig because he thought she was a superstar. When David’s label partner arrived, he immediately called David an idiot and said, “That is Hillary Scott from Lady Antebellum!” Since that moment, David has become close friends with the band and says, “There has always been that friendship there first and foremost. They are arguably one of the most successful acts in music, period. Not just country music.” The Need You Now tour will kick-off September 20^th in Orlando, Florida.

 

ROCK BAND RELEASES COUNTRY TUNES FOR XBOX 360. MTV Games has released a nine pack of country songs titled Going Country Pack 4 which is now available in the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360. The tracks include:

'What Was I Thinkin'' - Dierks Bentley 
“Hell on the Heart” - Eric Church
“Women”- Jamey Johnson
“Would You Go With Me”- Josh Turner
“Days Go By” - Keith Urban
“Lookin' For a Good Time”- Lady Antebellum 
“Rebound” - Laura Bell Bundy 
“Fancy” - Reba McEntire 
“It Happens” – Sugarland

 

LADY ANTEBELLUM GEARS UP FOR FALL NEED YOU NOW TOUR. Lady Antebellum is preparing for their very first headlining tour of their career, and promises fans there will be elements of the show they haven’t seen before. The band is putting together the final touches on production and lighting, and Charles Kelley wrote on his Twitter page, “We're going to have some really cool bells and whistles that we've never had in any of the past shows. We can't wait to perform this show for you all!” The Need You Now fall tour is already off to a good start as Lady A sold out the James Brown Theatre in Georgia in under seven minutes. The Need You Now tour will kick-off September 20^th in Orlando, Florida.

 

TIM MCGRAW HONORED WITH TRUE ALLY AWARD. Tim McGraw will accept the True Ally Award this fall in Atlanta, Georgia at the 2010 Men Stopping Violence Annual Awards Dinner. The award recognizes men who use their influence to promote safety and respect for women. Tim and his wife Faith Hill have been known to raise thousands of dollars for women’s shelters in Tennessee. The event will take place on October 2^nd at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta.

 

WYNONNA JUDD RECEIVES CECIL SCAIFE VISIONARY AWARD. Wynonna Judd recently received the Cecil Scaife Visionary Award in Nashville for her ability to recognize careers in the music industry for future generations. During the ceremony, Wynonna was serenaded by Danny Gokey who claims Wynonna is one of his idols. Wynonna addressed everyone in the audience and said, “I love everyone in this room tonight. I am truly humbled by your presence and need to say, this night isn’t about me, it is about we. Together we have made a difference.”Wynonna will join her mother Naomi in November for The Judds Last Encore tour.

 

RANDY HOUSER NAMES NEW PUPPY AFTER DOLLY PARTON. Randy Houser has added a new addition to his four-legged family after picking up a puppy at a concert in Georgia. He tells PeoplePets.com, during a music festival a lady mentioned she had a dog and Randy insisted on seeing the pup on his tour bus. He says, “The first thing she did was climb up behind me on the couch and fall asleep behind my neck. So I obviously had to take her.” During the naming process he had one country legend in mind – Dolly Parton. Dolly will join Randy’s other caninesTucker and Ellie and he says, “When she whines, she sounds like Dolly Parton. And she's blonde too.” Randy will help kick off Gary Allan’s Get off on the Pain tour also featuring Jerrod Niemann in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 16^th.

• RELATED INFO – Randy’s named his first dog Butter Bean. His parents let him name the family dog and at the time he really liked eating butter beans.

 

MEL TILLIS TO RELEASE COMEDY ALBUM. Mel Tillis is recording a comedy album titled You Ain’t Gonna Believe This under Toby Keith’s music label Show Dog-Universal. The country singer, who won six fan-voted awards in the ‘70’s for his humor, will highlight funny stories from his past and credits Minnie Pearl for helping him overcome his fear of talking on stage. Mel’s stories on the album include “Biscuit in the Pocket,” and “He Out-a Said Something.” You Ain’t Gonna Believe This will be released on September 21^st.

 

LADY ANTEBELLUM PREDICTS KANYE WEST AND TAYLOR SWIFT REUNION. Though Lady Antebellum was not nominated for a moon-man at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, they believe Kanye West and Taylor Swift should make amends on the award show after last year’s incident. Hillary Scott tells Hollywoodlife.com, “I think they need to hug it out.”Charles Kelley on the other hand thinks something might already be in the works. “It would actually be really cool if they presented together, I’m sure they’ve got something planned!” Taylor is nominated again in the Best Female Video category for “Fifteen.” The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards air September 12^th at 9PM Eastern on MTV.

 

BARBARA MANDRELL AND SISTERS JOIN CHARITY EVENT. Country Music Hall of Fame member Barbara Mandrell and sisters Louise and Irlene Mandrell will mingle and take photos with guests at the Nashville Palace in Nashville tomorrow for a charity event hosted by Barbara’s daughter, Jaime Dudney. The event will raise money for Suba Environmental Education of Kenya, a nonprofit organization which provides ministries, environmental education, orphan care and HIV relief. Auction items include the sparkling green dress worn by Reba McEntire at the2010 CMT Music Awards, an autographed guitar from Kenny Chesney, and a Wonder Woman lunchbox autographed by Lynda Carter.

 

JOHN MICHAEL MONTGOMERY HELPS ASPIRING ARTISTS WITH NEW CREATION. John Michael Montgomery is helping aspiring artists in his upcoming business venture withMontgomeryMixPro.com. The service allows users to professionally mix and master a quality recording and also allows exposure to professional music companies. He says, “I’ve put together a team of top engineers, some who have worked on my own albums. I will also work on the mix sessions from time to time as well, and who knows, if I hear a song I really like, someone could be hearing from me personally! For more information on the service fans can visit MontgomeryMixPro.com.

 

NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME REVEALS INDUCTEES. Songwriters Pat Alger, Steve Cropper, Paul Davis and Stephen Foster have been named this year's inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place on October 17^th in Nashville. Pat and Steve will be inducted in the songwriter category. Paul will enter in the songwriter-artist category, and Stephen will be honored with a special induction as America’s first professional songwriter. Pat’s songwriting credits include “The Thunder Rolls,” “Unanswered Prayers” and “Small Town Saturday Night. Steve is known for “Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay” and “In the Midnight Hour.” Paul, who died in 2008, wrote and sang hits such as “I Go Crazy” and “Cool Night.” Stephen, who lived during the 1800s, is remembered for Civil War-era compositions like “Camptown Races” and “Oh! Susanna.”

 

THIS AND THAT:

 

• Billy Currington has broken the 20-year attendance record at his concert this past weekend at the Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. He had a crowd of over 20-thousand people which surpassed Charlie Daniels previously held record.
• Vince Gill and Amy Grant were asked to draw pictures of elephants, a symbol of hope, for Target House. Vince drew an elephant which had two different colors, while Amy drew a picture of two elephants nuzzling each other saying, “I will remember you.”

 

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

• LOHAN SAYS SHE WAS IRRESPONSIBLE! Parts of Lindsay Lohan’s interview with Vanity Fair have leaked and in those excerpts, Lohan calls herself “irresponsible.” She also says she thinks she idolized the wrong people growing up, naming pop star Britney Spears as one, saying she wanted to be like her. Lohan goes on to claim that she is finished with her clubbing ways.
• TIGER WOODS MOVES TO NEW YORK! The newly single Tiger Woods moved into a downtown Manhattan apartment over the weekend. Us Weekly reports that Woods was seen introducing himself to his new neighbors in the apartment complex.
• DWTS CONTESTANTS COMMENT ON SEASON! This week, the latest crop of Dancing with the Stars contestants were announced and now, the new dancers are commenting on their upcoming debut. Bristol Palin says she’s worried she’ll be a crappy dancer on the show, while David Hasselhoff says the main reason he signed up was because his daughters love the reality competition. Jersey Shore cast member Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino also made the list and you can check out his latest antics Thursday night at 10 PM on MTV. Dancing with the Stars premieres on September 20^th on ABC.

• SNOOKI IS SINGLE! Snooki is single and not going to get married! The pint-sized Jersey Shore cast member made sure to update her Twitter account on Tuesday to set the record straight. Why? Because on Monday, a magazine cover leaked featuring Snooki’s latest boyfriend, Jeff Miranda, down on one knee with the words “Will You Marry Me?” written under the image. So watch out fellas, it looks like Snooki is back on the market. Follow her at Twitter.com/Sn00ki.
• DREW BARRYMORE TALKS RELATIONSHIPS! Drew Barrymore stars in the new romantic comedy Going the Distance. The flick is about a couple trying to make their long distance relationship work. Going the Distance also stars Justin Long, Ron Livingston and Christina Applegate and it opens in theaters on Friday.
• DOUGLAS TALKS CANCER. Michael Douglas is speaking out for the first time since his throat cancer diagnosis. The 65-year-old actor says he’s determined to beat the disease. Douglas is currently undergoing treatment and you can see him in his latest film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, when it opens on September 24^th. Check out People.com for more. 

• VIRAL VIDEO! Demi Moore had a good time in Las Vegas on Friday night. The actress and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, were at a Snoop Dogg concert and Demi got on stage and started dancing with the rapper. Check out video of the hot mama grooving in platform heels over at HuffingtonPost.com.
• CHAD LOWE MARRIES! Chad Lowe and his producer girlfriend Kim Painter are married. The couple wed on Saturday in a small ceremony in L-A. Chad’s brother, Rob Lowe, was his best man. Check out more over at People.com now.
• GRAMMER’S EX-WIFE ON REALITY SHOW! Kelsey Grammer’s ex-wife, Camille Grammer, is set to join the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The pair was married for 13 years before separating this summer and according to ET Online, Kelsey will make an appearance on the show as well. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills will debut on Bravo October 14^th.