Josh Turner loves playing basketball on the road with his band and crew – but not as much as he used to. “We try to play as much as we can,” he says, “but here lately, everybody’s been getting hurt, so it’s slowing us down.”

Turner sprained his ankle in early April, but he’s ready for another try, now that he’s able to walk without lingering pain. “I was on defense and my lead guitar player had the ball,” he says. “I was guarding him, and I went to try to steal the ball, and when I did, he went to drive past me. I tried to change direction really quick, and my ankle gave way. I just flipped over and laid there on the floor for a little while. But luckily I walked it off and played three or four more games.”

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So how did it all happen for a kid from Checotah, Okla., who once thought she’d spend her entire life in that small town? And more to the point, how does she keep the sudden fame, fortune and full-on fantasy existence from going straight to her head?

According to Carrie Underwood, it may well come down to the company she keeps. “I’ve just been really lucky and I’ve had really, really great people working around me and making everything happen,” says the singer.

Despite the fact that Carrie was reared in a family without an ounce of showbiz in its blood (her dad was a paper mill worker and her mom an elementary school teacher), her amazing voice proceeded to wow America and American Idol’s team of judges — even surly Simon Cowell. “Simon was pretty good to me,” she insists. “He is notorious for speaking his mind. I think that’s just what he does, and fortunately for me, he didn’t have too many bad things to say!” But even though she might be understating the role that talent and hard work have played in her success, Carrie will concede that it wasn’t all about luck.

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The dominant color at the 2008 CMT Music Awards just may have been blue — as in frozen blue lips, with coordinating goosebumps. Women dressed for spring in skin-baring short dresses shivered their way into the Curb Event Center in Nashville as they got a dose of Tennessee’s “dogwood winter,” with temperatures in the low 40s at show time.

The cool air didn’t chill the heat on the purple carpet, however. Carrie Underwood sizzled in a flowing, royal blue one-shouldered Badgley Mischka mini with a beaded neckline. LeAnn Rimes channeled a space-age flapper in a super-short silver-gray scalloped mini, accessorized with long necklaces. Jewel looked as fresh as a warm spring day in a pale cream fitted mini accented with a bow around the empire waist.

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Like most American Idol contestants, Carrie Underwood’s style improved week-by-week on the show, as fashion experts had their way with her dresses and tresses, trading her sweet girl-next-door duds for haute couture frocks.

“I think Carrie’s really grown into her style wonderfully,” says Libby Callaway, fashion columnist for the Nashville City Paper. “Much like Faith Hill, she has the body and the self-confidence to pull off fashion-forward shapes like the short, graphic dresses she’s been wearing a lot.”

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Holly Williams comes by country music honestly. Literally, it runs through her blood. She’s not only the granddaughter of Hank Williams and the daughter of Hank Williams Jr., but she also fits the country music mold as a singer, songwriter and … fashion guru? Yes, her new women’s clothing store H. Audrey (H standing for Holly and Audrey being her middle name, after her paternal grandmother) carries a wide-range of clothing, accessories and other fashionable items for today’s woman.

“I carry everything from $50 really comfy worn-out T-shirts to $1000 python pumps,” Williams said. “I try to do a mix of everything from European designers to your good jeans and T-shirt basics.” Striking photographs of famous musicians are for sale in the upstairs gallery. Frequent shoppers include Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Jessica Simpson, LeAnn Rimes and Faith Hill, as well as Nashville stay-at-home moms. “We have a good gamut of stylish women who come in,” she said. (I can just imagine her granddaddy singing in the background, “Hey good lookin’”…)

From the killer Italian boots with a funky side-zip to the all-natural cosmetic line, Holly Williams is not only making a name for herself in country music – her new album is due this summer — but also in country fashion. “In a weird way,” she says, “it’s almost like when you write a song and people respond to your songs.”

Williams’ idea for H. Audrey came about while touring. After her continuous exposure to various fashion designers, she decided it was time to bring her newly found flair home to Nashville. ”I feel like we do have something for everyone and we try to cover price points from low to high, from celebrities to housewives, everyone. We try to fit any age, any type of person, so everyone can find something.”

Maintaining a healthy weight can be a major battle for most people — including celebrities. So how do country stars win the battle of the bulge? Here are some of their most popular secret (and not-so-secret) weapons:

In addition to cardiovascular exercise, stars swear by strength training — lifting weights or doing exercise that requires you to lift your body weight. Research has shown that women who follow a weight loss diet and do weight training exercises lose as much as 44 percent more fat than those who only follow a diet. Muscle burns more calories that fat, so the more muscle you have, the better. LeAnn Rimes told Shape magazine that she does a 50-minute weight-lifting workout a few times a week, along with cardio exercise. “It keeps my heart rate up, and I never get bored,” she said. “I also do yoga regularly, and my husband and I walk our dogs a few miles whenever we can. As a result, I’ve toned up, gotten much stronger, and, I’m proud to say, I can bench-press my own body weight!”

Most people have no idea how much they eat until they see it written down. Keeping a food diary not only helps you figure out how much you eat, but when and why you tend to overeat. It also helps keep you focused on your weight loss or maintenance goals.

Carrie Underwood is a big believer in keeping a food diary. “I discovered that writing down everything I eat makes such a difference, because you never realize how much you’re consuming unless you read it later in the day,” she told Shape magazine. “I’m a big nighttime eater. When I can look at my diary and see how many calories I’ve consumed during the day, I’m able to figure out how much I can eat at night. I take [it] with me everywhere.”

The Grammys are music’s big night to shine. But Grammy has been known to dress a little funkier than its uptown cousin, Oscar. Artists often take a few more fashion risks and show a bit more skin — remember Jennifer Lopez’s famous plunging green gown a few years back? But in 2008, the Grammys went grown-up in a big way. The out-there outfits were few, replaced with a red carpet full of full-on glamorous gowns.

Carrie Underwood arrived on the red carpet in a fresh-from-the-runway flowing floral gown by Zuhair Murad, seen just days earlier during Fashion Week in New York. Underwood wore the dress when she picked up a Grammy for Female Country Vocal Performance for “Before He Cheats” during the pre-telecast portion of the awards. Artists don’t typically show up for the pre-telecast, but Underwood told the audience, “You couldn’t keep me from getting this actually myself.”

For her performance, Underwood shed the filmy gown for sexy short shorts and sparkly boots. In fact, sparkly could have been the theme for the evening, with sequins, beads and shiny fabrics as far as the eye could see. Disney Channel superstar Miley Cyrus (aka “Hannah Montana” — or Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter, for those too old to have a tween in the house) sported a short silver dress by Celine, and Beyonce dazzled in a strapless silver Cinderella gown. Even Brad Paisley’s black western shirt subtly twinkled in the spotlight, and Vince Gill was suited up with shine as he accepted his award for country album.

Both Taylor Swift and Natasha Bedingfield picked purple (and strapless) — Swift in a light shade with beaded accents by Nashville designer Sandy Spika, and Bedingfield in a bold royal belted gown. “Brilliant jewel tones really worked well this year,” notes Libby Callaway, fashion columnist for the Nashville City Paper. “Natasha Bedingfield’s purple gown, though a bit too formal for the event in my opinion, was a really gorgeous color of purple. The looks I liked best were the short, pretty cocktail-style dresses like the electric blue Zac Posen number that Rhianna wore, which had a full skirt and feather underlay.”

Some artists bucked the trend toward bright colors and sparkly fabrics. Faith Hill chose a classic black close-fitting gown with a simple bow on one shoulder, and still managed to stand out from the crowd. Of course, that probably has less to do with the dress than with the fact that she’s Faith Hill.
 

OK, ladies, how many times has this happened to you: You’re in a dark club, theater or restaurant and you need something from your bag. You fumble around inside it for a while and finally take out every item until you find what you need by sheer sense of touch. That happened to Kara Kurcz one too many times, and during a frustrating search for her keys one night, she was struck by inspiration that led her to create what has become a fashion accessory: A purse with a light inside. Now why didn’t someone think of that before?

Kurcz created the Solas line of handbags, featuring totes, clutches, carry-alls and other designs, each containing a built-in neon colored light around the rim of the bag that turns on automatically when the bag is opened. (Solas is a Gaelic word meaning “light.”) The light is more than just functional: The color is designed to inspire healing or specific feelings and moods. For example, according to the Solas site, yellow light is a good choice when you’re feeling anxious because it helps keep your emotions in check. Pink light is good for meeting new people and purple light enhances your imagination.

Light isn’t the only bright idea in these bags. They also include such nifty touches as removable straps that can be worn as necklaces, and wallets that double as clutches.

It’s no wonder they’re favored by such stars as Cameron Diaz, Hilary Duff, Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson and Carrie Underwood (who has been seen on the red carpet with the company’s Darling clutch). But with Solas prices starting at around $130 (a steal compared to many designer labels), you don’t have to be a celebrity to get in on one of Hollywood’s hottest trends.

Carrie Underwood doesn’t eat meat, but she doesn’t mind if you do.

“My parents have cows,” she says. “They have cattle that put me through college so I respect the industry. It’s why I don’t preach, but I also don’t expect people to preach to me. Every once in a while, someone will come up and say, ‘You’re from Oklahoma, you need to blah, blah, blah,’ and it’s like, ‘Nope. My body, my money.’ I buy the food I want and put it into my body. I’m not going to tell you what you can or can’t buy and put into your body. I don’t defend myself. I just tell them to buzz off.”

Underwood quit eating beef when she was about 13 years old and gave up fish a few years later. She never liked pork and dropped chicken and turkey from her diet about three years ago. For breakfast, she may prepare organic, cage-free egg whites with vegetarian bacon or vegetarian sausage; she’s also a fan of yogurt and toast, as well as Kashi waffles without syrup. After snuggling with her dog, Ace, for a few minutes after waking up, she likes to work up a sweat on the elliptical machine or go for a run/walk.

For people who are considering going vegetarian, Underwood believes it’s not such an obstacle.

“Everybody thinks, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s so hard. That sounds like it’s so hard.’ It’s really, really not. It’s just a way of life and I don’t preach at all. If people ask me questions like, ‘What do you eat?’ or ‘How do you do this?’ I’ll answer questions, but I don’t like, ‘Oh my gosh, you eat meat? That’s so gross! I can’t believe it. You can’t eat within five feet of me.’ That’s stupid. It’s a personal decision. It’s just not as hard as you think it is.”
 

The CMA Awards show is definitely country’s dressiest night, as stars abandon their favorite jeans and hop into haute couture for a few hours of photo ops. Designer duds may not be the norm for most of these artists, but it doesn’t mean they’re out of the loop when it comes to style. Trends that are hot in New York, L.A. and other fashionable cities show up on the CMA red carpet every year.
 
The menswear trend? Check. Martina McBride performed in a glam tuxedo and Sheryl Crow held the stage in a leather vest and pants. Detailing? Check. Soft, flowing gowns experimented with shirring, tucking, draping, bustling and all kinds of extras. Curls? Oh yeah. For the most part, the stick-straight hairstyles popular with young stars in the past few years were replaced with the loose ringlets seen on Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, Jewel and other attendees.
 
The word that best describes CMA fashion 2007 might be “shine.” The fashion world says the sequin is back, and it was showcased on such performers as Miranda Lambert in red and Taylor Swift in black sparkling minis, and Reba McEntire in a glamorous, orange-sequined number. (Of course, when it comes to country music, have sequins ever gone out of style?) Glittery beads also joined the party, as in Carrie’s nude-colored Badgley Mischka spaghetti-strap gown with jeweled vine details. Even Martina’s tuxedo shone onstage, highlighted by a sparkly lamé tie.
 
“It was a very glittery CMA,” agrees stylist and fashion columnist Libby Callaway. “The guys got in on it, too — lots of the men’s jackets had a subtle sheen that really showed up under the lights. My favorite outfit was Jennifer Nettles’ shiny blouse and slacks. She proved that just because you’re going sparkly doesn’t mean you have to wear a dress!”