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Jason Aldean reacts to Billboard Award nominations

April 23, 2013 Lydia Picknell

jason aldean. photo credit: James Minchin III

Yesterday was a big day for Jason Aldean, who found himself nominated for some pretty big Billboard Music Awards. The Academy of Country Music’s male vocalist of the year is up for the all-genre Top Male Artist against Flo Rida, Justin Bieber, Drake, and Bruno Mars. He also earned a nomination for Top Country Album with “Night Train” and Top Country Artist. He’s up against Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, and Hunter Hayes for Top Country Artist. The other Top Country Album nominees include Lionel Richie with “Tuskegee,” Carrie Underwood “Blown Away,” Taylor Swift “Red,” and Luke Bryan “Tailgates & Tanlines.”

About his nominations, Jason said:

“I’m really proud to be the guy that gets to represent our genre in that ‘Top Male’ category and wave that flag for country music. Our genre is bigger and more diverse than ever, and it’s just cool to be part of this movement that’s happening right now. I’ve been so focused on getting the tour going this year and just making certain our first run of stadiums is everything the fans expect it to be, that this totally caught me be surprise. Thanks to everyone who has bought a ticket or downloaded an album…I’ll do my best to represent and make y’all proud! “

Nominations are based on album and single sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social media interactions with data tracked by Billboard, Nielsen and Next Big Sound. The 2013 Billboard Music Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 19 at 7pm CT on ABC.

Jason is currently on the road for his 2013 NIGHT TRAIN TOUR which has sold out every show so far including his Madison Square Garden debut and the first ever show at the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium where he played to 66,000 fans. More stadium dates on the books this year include two nights at Boston’s Fenway Park (July 12 and 13) and Chicago’s Wrigley Field (July 20).

Check out the full list of nominees on Billboard’s site, and try and count how many Taylor Swift is up for.

Tim McGraw Finds Out Who His Friends Are

January 07, 2013 Jennifer Swirsky

As we found out years ago, Tim McGraw, along with country music pals, Kenny Chesney and Tracy Lawrence, found out who his friends are. Well, Tim has teamed up with those friends to create a compilation disc, entitled “Tim McGraw & Friends,” scheduled for release by Curb Records on January 22, 2013. Colt Ford helped Tim out on the track, “Twisted,” which will be the first single off the special compilation disc. The album will be exclusively available at Walmart and will include 11 individual tracks:

Our Keepin’ It Country CMA Predictions

October 31, 2012 Nicole Piering

With the CMA’s coming up on Thursday night, country fans everywhere are buzzing with anticipation over who will claim the biggest awards. Will Taylor repeat as Entertainer of the Year or could someone else finally upset her shocked face? Could Kelly Clarkson score a major upset for female vocalist? Is there really any other choice besides “Red Solo Cup” for music video of the year?!

Even OUR staff couldn’t agree, so read on and let us know who you think will score big on Thursday night!

Lionel Richie Receives First-Ever CMA Nomination

September 06, 2012 Lydia Picknell

It’s almost hard to believe that a musical icon like Lionel Richie can still be receiving “firsts” in the industry today. He’s been nominated for his first-ever Country Music Association (CMA) Award for his duet with Darius Rucker with “Stuck On You” for Musical Event of the Year.

Lionel shares:

“I am thrilled to receive my first nomination from the CMA. I am so grateful to the country music community for embracing this project and making me feel so at home. To share this nomination with my friend Darius Rucker makes it even more special. I have a CMA nomination and a friend for life. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Darius is just as excited as Lionel is over the nomination:

“I was so honored to have sung with Lionel and am overjoyed with this nomination.”

“Stuck On You” appears on Lionel’s platinum-certified Tuskegee. Tuskegee is the best-selling country album of 2012 and the first country album in more than a year to spend two consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200. Richie has garnered album sales of more than 100 million, 22 Top 10 hits, five Grammys, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a host of other awards.

The album features duets of 13 of his timeless hits with Jason Aldean, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Jennifer Nettles, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Rogers, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton and Shania Twain.

Eric Church Leads CMA Nominations

September 05, 2012 Lydia Picknell

Eric Church tops the list of final nominees for “The 46th Annual CMA Awards” with five nominations. The reigning CMA Female and Male Vocalist of the Year Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton each received four nominations. Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, and Taylor Swift each received three nominations for Country Music’s Biggest Night™.

“The depth and variety of talent represented by this year’s nominees is outstanding,” said Steve Moore, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “From Country Music legends, to cross-format favorites, to current superstars, and an exciting crop of artists who have jumped to that next level – the 2012 CMA Awards are going to be an exciting evening of entertainment for any fan of great music and memorable performances.”

“The 46th Annual CMA Awards” will be hosted for the fifth time by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Thursday, Nov. 1 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.

For the seventh year, the announcement of the final nominees in five of the 12 CMA Awards categories was made live on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” with Aldean and Luke Bryan delivering the news from the heart of New York City’s Times Square. They then dashed to nearby B.B. King Blues Club and Grill to announce the finalists in the remaining seven categories during a press conference that was made available across the world via live stream at CMAworld.com.

“It was terrific to be able to announce our nominees for Country Music’s top honor on the world’s biggest stage and be able to share it with the industry and fans,” Moore said.

Church received his first CMA Awards nomination last year for New Artist of the Year. A year later, he tops the list of nominees with five including Male Vocalist; Album for Chief, which was produced by Jay Joyce; Single of the Year for “Springsteen,” also produced by Joyce; Song of the Year for “Springsteen,” written by Church, Ryan Tyndell, and Jeff Hyde, a member of Church’s band; and Music Video of the Year for “Springsteen,” directed by Peter Zavadil.

Lambert and Shelton were close behind with four nominations each, including a shared nomination for Song of the Year for “Over You.” Only a handful of married couples have penned Song of the Year nominees including “Mommas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” by Ed and Patsy Bruce (1978), and two songs by Sanger D. “Whitey” Shafer: “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind” with his third wife Darlene Shafer in 1985, and “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” with his fourth wife Lyndia Shafer in 1987. Tammy Wynette and George Richey wrote “’Til I Can Make It On My Own” with Billy Sherrill, which was nominated for Song of the Year in 1976, but they did not marry until 1978.

See the full list of nominations below. Do any surprise you?

Kelly Clarkson Earns First Female Vocalist Nomination

September 05, 2012 Lydia Picknell

kelly clarkson. photo credit: Harper Smith.

Looks like Kelly Clarkson is finally going country. The talented singer-songwriter has earned her first-ever female vocalist of the year nomination with the CMA Awards. She’s up against country superstars Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Martina McBride for the title. The CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on November 1st, 2012 with Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood once again returning as co-hosts.

Kelly has released three singles to country charts in her career: two duets and a country mix of her “Mr. Know It All” lead single from her latest album “Stronger.” She has worked with Jason Aldean on “Don’t You Wanna Stay” and recorded a country duet of her hit “Because of You” with Reba McEntire. She’s also appeared at Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton‘s shows this year on their tours to perform as a surprise guest on the superstar couple’s songs. She also served as an adviser to Team Blake on the second season of The Voice earlier this year.

While nominations are still being announced, here is so far the list of nominees for the November award show:

Lionel Richie To Mentor Winner of The NSAI Song Contest

July 30, 2012 Nicole Piering

Lionel Richie is riding high in 2012, with Tuskegee being the best-selling album of the first half of 2012. Aside from just being a chart-topper, he’s adding another role to his roster, signing on as the mentor for the grand prize winner of The Nashville Songwriter’s Association International’s popular NSAI Song Contest Presented by CMT. The contest begins on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 and runs through October 31, 2012.

The contest will celebrate one Grand Prize Winner, one CMT Listeners’ Choice Winner, and one Lyric-Only winner. The Grand Prize winner will have an opportunity to spend one hour being mentored by Lionel Richie. Other great prizes include a single-song professional demo, tickets to the 2013 CMT Music Awards in Nashville, a private tour of CMT studios, a performance at The Bluebird Café, meetings with major music publishers, a one-year membership to NSAI and more. For more, visit nsai.cmt.com.

Past winners have found success ranging from signing an artist development deal to securing a music publishing staff writer deal. This nationwide platform is for songwriters in all genres to submit their best tunes for consideration.

Review: Duets – Episode 8: Finally Finale: And the Winner Is…

July 20, 2012 Nicole Piering

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve made it to the finale of “Duets.” We’ve suffered through some terrible performances, some horrible judging and Robin Thicke‘s hair, but here we are, stronger than ever. I’m hoping that this is the episode where Lionel Richie FINALLY decides to show up. Although my Magic-8-Ball says the outlook appears grim for that happening, I can guarantee that a boy whose name starts with J will win this show. And may I take a moment to point out, that as I predicted in my very first blog, we’re down to Team Kelly and Team Jennifer.

Lionel Richie Has Best Selling Country Album of 2012

July 20, 2012 Lydia Picknell

It’s official! Lionel Richie‘s “Tuskegee” is the best-selling country album for the first half of 2012. The record has sold an approximate 912, 000 copies, which is more than any other release so far this year, by the year’s mid-point on July 1st. That’s the halfway point for Soundscan’s tracking year. Lionel is in second to Adele’s “21″ for all-genre best sellers. To date, Lionel’s now topped sales with more than 934,000 copies sold of his country duets project.

“Tuskegee” claimed the number one spot on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart for two consecutive weeks, and sat atop the Billboard Country Albums Chart for an impressive four weeks in a row. In only five weeks, “Tuskegee” was certified platinum for selling more than 1 million copies.

“What a year!” Richie says. “This album has taken me on an unforgettable journey filled with new friends, new jokes and new musical inspirations. I am overwhelmed and humbled by the success of Tuskegee and am thrilled by how it has been embraced by music lovers of all ages and backgrounds around the world.”

Lionel’s album was released back on March 26th and debuted at the number two spot on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Country Albums chart. It was his best first-week sales that Soundscan has tracked since 1991. It’s become an immediate worldwide hit, debuting at number one on Canada’s Top Albums Chart, and reaching the top 20 albums charts in 10 different countries. It went top 10 in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Sweden. It was his first number one debut in Canada since Soundscan started tracking, and his first number one record in Canada since his 1983 release “Can’t Slow Down.”

The album features 13 duets of Lionel’s biggest hits with some of the brightest stars in country music. Artists featured on the record include Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffett, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Jennifer Nettles, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Rogers, Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean and Billy Currington.

Lionel will be performing at Boots and Hearts Music Festival in Bowmanville, Ontario this August. We’ll be there, will you? Tickets are still available for this amazing country music festival, which runs August 9th through to the 12th at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. For more information, or to get your tickets before they sell out, visit bootsandhearts.com/.

Boots & Hearts To Honor Capital Hoedown Tickets

July 17, 2012 Lydia Picknell

Carrie Underwood. photo credit: James White / Sony Music.

In an unprecedented, fan-centric gesture, Boots and Hearts Music Festival has announced that they will be honoring all general admission tickets that had been purchased for rival festival Capital Hoedown, which was to take place in Ottawa on the same weekend this year. Starting today, country music fans wanting to exchange their Capital Hoedown tickets for Boots & Hearts tickets can visit http://www.bootsandhearts.com/ticket-exchange to complete the process. A one-day pass from Capital Hoedown will be valid for a one-day pass at Boots and Hearts, and a three-day pass at Capital Hoedown will be valid for a three-day wristband at Boots and Hearts.

“It’s disappointing to invest time and money in anticipation of an exciting weekend of country music and not have a festival to attend,” said Shannon McNevan, partner and executive director at Republic Live, the producers behind Boots and Hearts. “A cancellation of this nature negatively affects the entire Ontario country music market, from the fans confidence to buy tickets in advance to the agents of global superstars being afraid to book their artists at our festivals in the future. We believe it’s in the best interest of everyone involved, and for the future of country music festivals in this market, to ensure that if you’ve already invested your money, you have a chance to enjoy what you paid for. For this reason, we’re happy to give all Hoedown ticket holders that have not received refunds the opportunity to come and experience Boots and Hearts with us this year.”

Fans will need to provide four items for the exchange to work: ticket order number, first and last name of original ticket purchaser, e-mail address, and a phone number. Fans have until August 3rd at 5 pm EST to apply for the ticket exchange so that organizers can help prepare the festival for the new influx of crowds. A small service fee will apply to ticket exchanges. VIP tickets purchased for the Capital Hoedown can be upgraded to VIP tickets for Boots & Hearts at a nominal fee.

Boots and Hearts Music Festival will be taking place in Bowmanville, Ontario on August 10th to the 12th and will feature performances by some of the biggest names in country music, including: Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, Tim McGraw, Lauren Alaina, Terri Clark, Kevin Costner, Big & Rich and many more. For more information visit bootsandhearts.com.