Keepin' it Country Media & Radio » Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley to join Rolling Stones in Philadelphia

Lydia Picknell — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:46:46 +0000

Country music superstar, and one of the top guitarists in music today, Brad Paisley, will join the Rolling Stones at their Tuesday, June 18th headlining date in Philadelphia. He isn’t the first country artist to appear with the rock legends on their current tour: Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow and Carrie Underwood have all performed live at different concerts.

Tickets are still available for the June 18th show featuring Brad through the Wells Fargo Center website.

Blake Shelton Enlists His Friends for “Boys ‘Round Here” Celeb Remix

Nicole Piering — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:13:53 +0000

With quite the arsenal of celebrity friends, it’s only fitting for Blake Shelton to bring his new brand of redneck to all facets of the country world. He’s released a “Celebrity Mix” of his current single, “Boys ‘Round Here,” that is sure to have you “red-ing” along with the best of them.

In addition to the Pistol Annies, the song also features Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Ronnie Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Reba, Josh Turner, Keith Urban and Hank Williams, Jr.

Hear the new mix here:

Brad Paisley returning to Ottawa in October

Lydia Picknell — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:42:13 +0000

For the first time since the ill-fated Capital Hoedown, country superstar Brad Paisley will be returning to Ottawa for a headlining date. His “Beat This Summer” tour will take over Scotiabank Place on October 18th with special guests Chris Young and Lee Brice. Tickets range from $30 to $80 before taxes and fees and will go on-sale this Friday, June 7th, at 10 am EST through capitaltickets.ca, or by calling (613) 599-FANS (3267) or by visiting a Capital Tickets outlet in person.

What’s cool and different about Brad’s tour this year is that he’s getting fans to participate in a special light show by downloading a light app to their smartphones. The app is available at lights.bradpaisley.com, and all you have to do is open the app when Brad hits the stage. Pretty cool!

Will you be going to Brad’s return to Ottawa? Have you seen him on tour yet this year?

DVR Alert: Brad Paisley on Nashville

Lydia Picknell — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:52:42 +0000

If you’ve been following ABC’s new hit drama series “Nashville,” you already won’t be missing the season finale on May 22nd. For those who haven’t been tuning in, there’s an even bigger reason to start. Country superstar Brad Paisley will be appearing in the finale episode on May 22nd on ABC. He’ll play himself in a cameo appearance where he will perform alongside show main characters Deacon and Rayna.

It isn’t the first time for the Paisley family. Brad’s wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, had a character that had made multiple appearances throughout the season. Her character was a mistress to Teddy.

Will you be tuning in? Have you been watching the first season of the show?

Country stars react to George Jones’ passing

Lydia Picknell — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:56:05 +0000

It’s been a tragic few days for country music stars and country fans. The legendary George Jones passed away in a Nashville hospital, and country stars have reacted in shock and sadness over the loss of an icon. See what some of your favorite stars have said about the great George Jones:

Brad Paisley:

“George Jones’ life is an example of so many wonderful things. How someone’s God-given gifts can make this a richer, better place. How one human being can overcome adversity, addiction, and life threatening obstacles time and time again. That it is not the stumble or fall that counts, but the willingness to stand again. How a keen sense of humor and a twinkle in a person’s eye can still prevail even after all of life’s hard knocks. How mistakes, missteps, and bad choices are not the end of the world if a person chooses to turn them into something good. And George’s life is above all the strongest example of how the love of a great woman can get a man through anything. All of this made its way beautifully into every note of the greatest voice country music will ever know. And one of the greatest friends you could ever have.

We miss you already, George.

Brad”

Dolly Parton:

“My heart is absolutely broken. George Jones was my all time favorite singer and one of my favorite people in the world. My heart goes out to Nancy and all his family and friends.”

Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts:

“He was the greatest country vocalist that ever lived! Through the years we have all tried to emulate the passion in his voice, but no one can fill his shoes.”

Merle Haggard:

“The world has lost the greatest country singer of all time. Amen.”

Easton Corbin:

“I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of one of my all time heroes, George Jones. Georges’ music was real and he was able to touch thousands through his songs. Not only was he a great singer, but he also had the ability to make you relate to every one of his songs, no matter who you are. He and his music will remain timeless in the world of country music. My thoughts and prayers are with his family through this difficult time.”

Blake Shelton (via Twitter):

Just landed in LA. Listened to “The King Is Gone” and “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” over and over again just like always. Can’t accept it. Really REALLY bad news. We’ve lost a country music legend. And I’ve lost a hero and a friend. Goodbye George Jones…

Kelly Clarkson (via Twitter):

Sad to hear about George Jones passing. That man touched a lot of lives with his music. Thanks for setting the bar for the rest of us. #RIPGeorgeJones

VIDEO: Brad Paisley & LL Cool J defend Accidental Racist

Lydia Picknell — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:35:55 +0000

Country superstar Brad Paisley and his new best friend LL Cool J have no regrets about recording “Accidental Racist.” The track, which appears on Brad’s brand new album “Wheelhouse,” has managed to generate so much controversy the last few days that the pair stopped by Good Morning America to defend their recording.

What people are having issues with is the use of the Confederate Flag in the lyrics, with LL Cool J saying to “forget the iron chains” if you “ignore my gold chains.” The song was written after Brad wore a t-shirt with a Confederate Flag in public, which was meant as a symbol of Lynryd Skynryd fandom, but was taken the wrong way.

The pair are preaching that they are trying to promote love and understanding, not racism. Take a look at their interview with ABC News and let us know what you think – was the song a mistake, or are people taking it the wrong way?

Brad will appear on LL Cool J’s new album.

Accidental Racist: An Incidental Controversy

Jennifer Swirsky — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:16:41 +0000

If you have been on the Internet this week, you most certainly have heard the controversy surrounding Brad Paisley and LL Cool J’s new track, “Accidental Racist” (featured on Brad’s new album “Wheelhouse”). “Accidental Racist” portrays a white male (Brad) and a black male (LL Cool J) speaking to one another from the heart, explaining what it is like to be of a particular race and asking the other to understand the stereotypes and misconceptions that go hand-in-hand with people of all races.

A portion of the “Accidental Lyrics” are as follows:

Paisley:

To the man that waited on me at the Starbucks down on Main, I hope you understand
When I put on that t-shirt, the only thing I meant to say is I’m a Skynyrd fan
The red flag on my chest somehow is like the elephant in the corner of the south
And I just walked him right in the room
Just a proud rebel son with an ‘ol can of worms
Lookin’ like I got a lot to learn but from my point of view

I’m just a white man comin’ to you from the southland
Tryin’ to understand what it’s like not to be
I’m proud of where I’m from but not everything we’ve done
And it ain’t like you and me can re-write history
Our generation didn’t start this nation
We’re still pickin’ up the pieces, walkin’ on eggshells, fightin’ over yesterday
And caught between southern pride and southern blame

They called it Reconstruction, fixed the buildings, dried some tears
We’re still siftin’ through the rubble after a hundred-fifty years
I try to put myself in your shoes and that’s a good place to begin
But it ain’t like I can walk a mile in someone else’s skin

‘Cause I’m a white man livin’ in the southland
Just like you I’m more than what you see
I’m proud of where I’m from but not everything we’ve done
And it ain’t like you and me can re-write history
Our generation didn’t start this nation
And we’re still paying for the mistakes
That a bunch of folks made long before we came
And caught between southern pride and southern blame.

Cool J:

Dear Mr.

White Man, I wish you understood
What the world is really like when you’re livin’ in the hood
Just because my pants are saggin’ doesn’t mean I’m up to no good
You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would
Now my chains are gold but I’m still misunderstood
I wasn’t there when Sherman’s March turned the south into firewood
I want you to get paid but be a slave I never could
Feel like a new fangled Django, dodgin’ invisible white hoods
So when I see that white cowboy hat, I’m thinkin’ it’s not all good
I guess we’re both guilty of judgin’ the cover not the book
I’d love to buy you a beer, conversate and clear the air
But I see that red flag and I think you wish I wasn’t here.

What is your take on “Accidental Racist”? Do you think this song successfully addresses the longstanding issue of racism in our country, or do you think the lyrics add more fuel to the proverbial fire? Tell us your position on this highly controversial song!

Brad Paisley’s Wheelhouse available now!

Lydia Picknell — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:09:27 +0000

Brad Paisley’s WHEELHOUSE – SPECIAL EDITION is now available at all Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® locations and digitally on crackerbarrel.com, as well as select online retailers. The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store exclusive special edition album release coincides with Paisley’s wide release of WHEELHOUSE on Arista Nashville. It includes all tracks on WHEELHOUSE as well as three additional never-before-recorded songs for a total of 20 tracks priced at just $11.99. Fans can find out how enter for a chance to win a trip to California to see Brad Paisley in concert by visiting crackerbarrel.com/bradpaisley for complete details. Also, a limited number of WHEELHOUSE-SPECIAL EDITION autographed albums will be available for purchase at shop.crackerbarrel.com.

The songs “Only Way She’ll Stay,”“She Never Really Got Over Him,” and a special acoustic version of the current #15 Billboard hit, “Beat This Summer,” are the exclusive bonus tracks found on WHEELHOUSE – SPECIAL EDITION. Special guests from multiple musical genres joined Paisley in the studio when recording the album including Charlie Daniels, LL COOL J, Eric Idle, Mat Kearney, Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes and the late Roger Miller. Paisley produced the album and wrote or co-wrote all 20 of the tracks.

Fans can also pick up a copy of Paisley’s autobiography, Diary Of A Player, at all Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® locations for $25, and a limited amount of autographed copies will be available at shop.crackerbarrel.com. In the book, Paisley retraces his entire musical and personal journey and explains how the Christmas gift from his grandfather – his first guitar – turned out to be the key to unlocking his ultimate dream.

Paisley will perform in 29 cities in the U.S. and Canada on the Beat This Summer Tour Presented by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® beginning on May 9. For a full list of dates, with more stops being added soon, visit http://bradpaisley.com/tour.

See the full track listing for the Special Edition below:

WHEELHOUSE – SPECIAL EDITION Track Listing:

1) “Bon Voyage”

2) “Southern Comfort Zone”

3) “Beat This Summer”

4) “Outstanding In Our Field” (featuring Dierks Bentley and Roger Miller with Hunter Hayes on guitar)

5) “Pressing On A Bruise” (featuring Mat Kearney)

6) “I Can’t Change The World”

7) “幽女”

8) “Karate” (featuring Charlie Daniels)

9) “Death Of A Married Man” (featuring Eric Idle)

10) “Harvey Bodine”

11) “Tin Can On A String”

12) “Death Of A String”

13) “The Mona Lisa”

14) “Accidental Racist” (featuring LL COOL J)

15) “Runaway Train”

16) “Those Crazy Christians”

17) “Officially Alive”

Bonus Tracks:

18) “Only Way She’ll Stay”

19) “She Never Really Got Over Him”

20) “Beat This Summer” (Acoustic)

Couples and Collaborations: A Look at ACM Fashion History

Jennifer Swirsky — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 02:34:43 +0000

The 48th annual Academy of Country Music Awards are taking place this Sunday, April 7th, in Las Vegas. As we all know, the red carpet and stage fashion choices are some of the most talked about items when it comes to award shows. Back, due to popular demand, is our very own pre-award show fashion reminiscent feature! This time, we take a look at the couples and collaborations of ACMs past … and, boy, have there been some questionably horrific and unquestionably sensational choices in ACM history!

Couples:

There is no better way to kick this thing off than by discussing the 48th Annual ACM Awards host, Blake Shelton, and his blonde bombshell of a wife, Miranda Lambert. On their own, each of these two artists (whom we here at Keepin’ It Country just adore!) looks sensational. Blake looks absolutely dapper in his gray jacket, black shirt, and charcoal tie, while Miranda’s dress is just the perfect amount of flash to go with her shining personality. However, we believe each forgot to consider his/her own best accessory on the red carpet — each other! Silver and gold = giant no no, unless we are talking jewelry … We girls always make exceptions for jewelry!

If you have eyes, you know that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are gorgeous and insanely talented. Talk about a couple whose children who hit the DNA lottery! However, natural beauty and undeniable talent does not always equate to great decisions. This particular ACM orange carpet appearance leaves a bit to be desired. Is Tim wearing a blazer or a fleece hoodie from Aeropostale? Is his shirt a collector’s item from “Saturday Night Fever”? And Faith looks like a flapper who found out she was hitting the orange carpet and decided to show her love for the Miami Dolphins (Fins to the left! Fins to the Right!). Questionable choices aside, these two are still smokin’, regardless of what they pull off the hangers on any given awards show Sunday!

It was really nice of Madame Tussaud’s to donate these wax figures of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman. Oh wait, it’s really them! Nashville’s favorite Australian duo hit the red carpet at the ACMs looking fabulous. With their matching hairdos and apparent affinity for all things crushed velvet, Nicole and Keith dazzled…and probably sweated up a storm in the Las Vegas dry heat.

The Collaborations:

Rascal Flatts teamed up with cross-genre sensation, Kelly Clarkson, to sing “What Hurts the Most” at the 2006 ACMs. No question about it, the fashion choices (and stellar performance) by this collaboration surely were not hurting on this night! Ladies first — Kelly always kills it when she wears red, and this night was no exception. The plunging front shows some skin, but leaves plenty to the imagination. Kelly looks classy, comfortable, and chic on the red carpet and on the arms of country music’s popular trio. The men of Rascal Flatts look a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n roll in vests, blazers, and t-shirts, while sporting some chest. Here’s to you, boys! Here’s to you!

Wait, is this a country awards show? Yes, yes it is. And it looks like Jem has returned from the 1980s to investigate whether Janie really does have a gun. Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith … not of American Idol, youngsters) joined Carrie Underwood during the 2011 ACM Awards to entertain country music fans with his unparalleled voice, while Carrie, once again, showed off her incomparable leg muscles. Steven dons an all-white ensemble, including a long coat, that shows off his rocker side without leaving the country folk thinking he had gone “craaaaazy craaaaazy”. Carrie looks like she grabbed her red star earring, asked Synergy to change her into Jem so she and the Holograms could battle The Mizfits. However, because she is Carrie, and because she is a goddess, she somehow pulls off what looks like Black Swan meets Girl Interrupted flawlessly.

No, really. Is this a country awards show? Also in 2011, Rihanna joined Jennifer Nettles on stage at the ACM Awards, proving once again that different genres are becoming more and more accepting of our favorite music. Let’s start with Rihanna. Unlike Steven Tyler, Rihanna doesn’t quite pull off the all-white look. In fact, with that hairdo, she looks like a Q-Tip that was dipped in iodine (likely to soothe the pain of all of us who had to endure the length of her performance). We love Jennifer Nettles. A lot. And her outfit proves one very important thing to us…She is psychic and was foreshadowing her future as a “Duets” coach. Jennifer clearly was already planning the moment she took the stage with J. Rome to perform “You’re the One That I Want” from “Grease”. On the other hand, if she chose to break into some MC Hammer dancing in those pants, that would not be shocking either.

The Co-Host No More:

We will truly miss Reba hosting this year’s awards show. Reba has become a staple on the ACMs and, while we are excited for her that she has huge projects consuming her time, this installment of the awards will be an adjustment. Reba has had some amazing moments throughout the years, but discussing all of Reba’s awards, successes, and seamless performances is no fun; and we want to have fun! As such, here are some of Reba’s not-so-amazing fashion moments in ACM history.

Thumbs up, Reba? We think not. Bad color, bad fit, bad design. Oh, and the carpet DOES, in fact, match the drapes…

Cheeeeeese! Oh Reba, clearly someone just put a mirror in front of you for the first time right when the photographer was clicking the camera because you look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Or you really need to find the ladies’ room. And thank heavens the pixie do is no more!

We saved the best for last. We rarely render ourselves speechless, but we very well may be at a loss for words here. Considering a blog is meant for words, we will leave it at this: A picture is worth a thousand of them!

Who will we fall for and who will fall victim to us on the red carpet? Who will carry home the big awards and who will go home simply holding a flask? Whose performances will shine and who will be outshone? Don’t forget to tune in this Sunday, April 7th, at 8:00 p.m. EST on CBS to find out!

Other things to look forward to during this year’s ACMs:

Tim McGraw will perform “Highway Don’t Care” with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban;

Hunter Hayes will world premiere his new single “I Want Crazy” and then be joined later by legendary music icon Stevie Wonder;

Kelly Clarkson will perform “Don’t Rush”;

Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley and Hunter Hayes will perform together live from ACM Fan Jam;

Country superstar Reba will introduce the George Strait and Garth Brooks performance. As previously announced, Strait and Brooks will perform together for the first time ever to pay tribute to Dick Clark. Each will perform a version of one of their classic hits and then join together for a very special moment;

Jewel will partner with ACM Lifting Lives to perform a live mash-up of her chart-topping hit “Hands” combined with “Fill a Heart,” an original song written by singer-songwriter Tori Kelly. This special musical moment, presented by ConAgra Foods’ Child Hunger Ends Here campaign, will be performed at the 48^thANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS FAN JAM.

Brad Paisley’s Wheelhouse album up for streaming

Lydia Picknell — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:10:29 +0000

Country music fans who just can’t wait to hear new music from superstar Brad Paisley are in luck! Starting right now, you are able to stream his entire full new album “Wheelhouse” on iTunes! “Wheelhouse” is the latest record from Brad, which hits digital and physical retailers on April 9th. The Arista Nashville singer-songwriter’s album features lead single “Southern Comfort Zone” and current chart climber “Beat This Summer.” To check out his album, and listen to the stream, click here to go to iTunes.

Make sure to tune in this Sunday, April 7th at 8 pm EST to catch Brad’s opening performance of the Academy of Country Music Awards! As we revealed earlier this week on Twitter, Brad will be part of a big opening number alongside Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow, Luke Bryan and the Pistol Annies with “Boys ‘Round Here.” He’ll be making more appearances throughout the award show, so make sure you tune in!