CMT Blog: Recent Posts

When it comes to underwriting the costs of touring, country music artists generally look to the alcohol and snack food industries for sponsorship. But maybe it’s time that somebody summoned the courage to seek sponsorship from a condom company. Especially in light of an Associated Press report about a significant increase in pregnancies around Grand Junction, Colo., following the Country Jam USA that took place there on June 26-29.

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My hair’s never quite dry, my shirt still needs to be ironed, I can’t find the right shoes, I’m missing my lipstick and I can’t find my purse. Sound familiar? Luckily, I have an understanding fiancé. He’s never in too big of a hurry and doesn’t usually try to rush me. (Good thing. This only makes me move slower.) But he told me a long time ago that Brad Paisley’s “Waitin’ on a Woman” reminded him of me. I’ll admit, I never really bothered to listen to the song and more than likely rolled my eyes when he told me. After all, I figured it was his way of telling me I frustrated him with my constant lateness.

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I’ve been waiting a long, long time to see Lisa Loeb in concert - ever since she had “Stay” out in the summer of 1994. The trickle of guitar chords at the beginning of that song sends me right back to the summer before I moved to Nashville. And whenever “Stay” comes up in the shuffle at home, I am prone to racing around my apartment like she does in the video, singing with conviction at the top of my lungs: “You say I only hear what I want to….” So I was delighted to finally see her perform in Nashville over the weekend. She is just so nifty — “attractive, smart, stylish, enjoyable, etc.,” as my Webster’s dictionary defines it.

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The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Keith Urban’s in-laws arrived in Nashville over the weekend to help the baby make her debut. And now that daughter Sunday Rose has arrived, Urban will likely give wife Nicole Kidman the $73,000 Cartier ring he reportedly bought her.

The Houston Chronicle is proud of Texans Gabe Garcia and Melissa Lawson, two contestants on this season’s Nashville Star.

Before she cheats? Joe (we don’t even know his last name), the R&B singer, has a new video taking on Carrie Underwood’s smash cheatin’ song with lyrics more suited to the male perspective.

In other cover-song news, Everlast mixes it up with the man in black in this new video for “Folsom Prison Blues.”

Another pop songstress heads to Nashville to make a country album. Brandi Carlile is recording her next effort at Blackbird Studio, owned by Martina McBride’s husband John.

If you ever wonder who comes up with the sponsorship deals between artists and brands, meet the middleman: Marcie Allen Cardwell.

Bon Jovi’s latest effort isn’t full-on country album. It’s just a Nashville album. Whatever than means.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Vince Gill over the last few days, after seeing his bluegrass concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Thursday night (July 3). Every year, he shows up as casual as can be, and plays whatever bluegrass songs he can remember. It’s a lot of fun, actually. Occasionally he’ll toss a big hit in there, like “Pocket Full of Gold” or “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” but mostly, it’s an unpredictable experience.

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He’s got the ones he loves beside him. His troubles are behind him. He’s alive and he’s free. And now he and wife Nicole Kidman have a baby girl. So seriously, who wouldn’t want to be Keith Urban this morning?

Sunday Rose Kidman Urban was born Monday morning (July 7) at a Nashville hospital, and I’m sure Urban and his wife are basking in all of her newborn-ness. The smell of her soft fuzzy little head, the size of her tiny bottom and the soft wail of her innocent little cry.

I’m sure they are marveling at all 6 pounds, 7 ounces of her.

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Six new videos were lined up by the big screen for viewing in this week’s session by the CMT new video evaluation team. They represent a wide array of artists: Rodney Atkins, Reba McEntire, Craig Morgan, Eli Young Band, Chuck Wicks and Emma Mae Jacob. So let’s get to them.

Artist: Rodney Atkins
Video: “Invisibly Shaken”
Director: Eric Welch

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Coming home after a West Coast tour, nothing could have made me happier than the new Emmylou Harris album that lay beside my electricity bill on my doormat. I’ll be honest, I’ve been in love with this woman ever since I was a teenager and heard her sing “Luxury Liner.” So, if you’re expecting a dry and unbiased review of her new album, then look elsewhere. The following is written by a 32-year-old man desperately in love with a silver-haired 61-year-old songstress.
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Red, white, blue and a little steel guitar is all it takes to make you proud to be an American, and this list of the top 10 patriotic songs include some real sparklers.
 

Golf courses across America are preparing for the new tour dates announced by Vince Gill, which really pick up speed in mid-August.

The designers on HGTV’s Design Star find a real fine place to start with a new celebrity client: Sara Evans. Watch this Sunday (7/6) at 8pm CT.

Gretchen Wilson’s new single, “Work Hard, Play Harder,” will be featured in a marketing effort for the TNT series, Saving Grace.

It’s hard to one-up Cyndi Lauper, but Miley Cyrus seems to have nailed it on this sample of her upcoming cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”

The results of a recent In Touch Weekly poll are in, and Jessica Simpson’s simpsons are the best pair in Hollywood.

Dear Jessica Simpson,

Welcome to Nashville. And now that you’re here, let me share some advice that I once received as a young reporter — everybody that you pass on the way up will be there to greet you on the way down. In other words, be nice to every person you meet in the country music business. And that includes Carrie Underwood. Why would you wear that “Real Girls Eat Meat” t-shirt when you know full-well that your boyfriend Tony Romo used to date the famous vegetarian?

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