Brad Paisley survived a nasty fall on stage Saturday night in Charlston, WV. He went down during the encore of the final show of his American Saturday Night Tour, which also featured Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore.
Brad wiped out while running and playing with his guitar about two-thirds through the song, "Alcohol." He appeared somewhat groggy and disoriented when he got up.
A stagehand came rushing out to help him, but Brad managed to get his bearings and slap hands and wave to the audience before leaving the stage. He was immediately transported to the Medical University of South Carolina hospital and was checked out, including having a CT scan done. Everything turned out okay, and he was released.
All the while he kept his fans updated on Twitter with tweets like "nothing broken, had a ct scan all is okay!" and "Allright, whoever posts the YouTube footage of it gets a meet and greet. I have got to see it. I hit hard. And I mean freaking hard" and "Man am I sore today. You guys should see the bruise."
Kenny Chesney continues ginning money at an extraordinary pace. Billboard has just released its fourth annual list of the Top 40 money earners in the music world, and Kenny came in at No. 9 with $26.5 million in earnings last year.
With all those Benjamins flowing in, it was nice to see Kenny keeping it real the other night in Nashville by dropping by the world-famous honky tonk, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, on Lower Broadway. He was joined by '70s rocker, Steve Miller, for an impromptu beer-soaked jam. No doubt the lucky tourists in the joint were happily stunned. That's exactly what makes Nashville and its famous honky tonks like a box of chocolates.
There was no surprise at the top of Billboard's money list this year with U2 raking in a cool $108.6 million. They were followed by Bruce Springsteen ($57.6 million), Madonna ($47.2 million), AC/DC ($43.6 million) and Britney Spears ($38.9 million).
Billboard compiles its list with their own double-secret formula, which includes things like CD and digital download sales, publishing royalties and concert ticket sales. They do not, however, factor in merchandising sales, which you know have to be enormous.
The nominations for the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards are out, and Lady Antebellum led the way with seven nominations in five different categories, including nods for album of the year, single record of the year and top vocal group. Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire announced the nominees on The Early Show on CBS.
Zac Brown Band is up for four awards, while Zac Brown, himself, is up for six (with the ACM's, and artist can receive more than one nomination in the same category if they also wrote or produced the song or album).
Reba will host the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 18 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. CBS will televise the show.
Sara Evans has just filed a temporary restraining order on her ex-husband, Craig Schelske. The order was filed in Williamson County, TN, and a court date has been set for March 15 at the Williamson County Chancery Court in Franklin, TN.
Apparently Evans was none-to-pleased with her ex's comments about her and their 2007 divorce while Schelske was a guest on a local Nashville radio show. The temporary restraining order prevents Schelske from making derogatory statements to the media about the why's and what-for's that led to their very nasty and public divorce (among other sordid details, each accused the other of having affairs, which both vehemently denied). Evans had been competing on Dancing with the Stars in 2006 when she abruptly quit the show to focus on her divorce.
In 2008, Evans married former University of Alabama quarterback, Jay Barker, who currently co-hosts the sports radio show, Opening Drive, on WJOX radio in Birmingham, AL. Evans and Barker live in the Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook. Together they have seven children from previous marriages.
Evans was recently nominated for a Dove Award in the "Special Event Album of the Year" category for her participation in the album Glory Revealed II: The Word of God in Worship. The Dove Awards take place on April 21 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
You know this is going to be a big one. Alan Jackson'sFreight Train Tour kicks off on April 8, 2010 at the Germain Arena in Ft. Meyers, FL and will conclude on May 23 at Lexington's Rupp Arena. So far 15 dates have been confirmed, but don't be surprised if more dates are added. Jackson is bringing Josh Turner and Chris Young along for the ride.
He will be touring in support of his upcoming album, Freight Train, which hits the shelves on March 30. He's already lined up a number of national television appearances, including Today and the Late Show with David Letterman (both on March 30), the Tonight Show (April 14) and his first-ever appearance on Ellen (April 15).
Jackson wrote eight of the album's 12 songs. Also included is a duet with Lee Ann Womack on the Vern Gosdin classic, "Till the End."Freight Train's first single, "It's Just that Way," was released on January 4 and is climbing the charts.
Jackson's last album, Good Time, contained three No. 1 hits and became his fourth album to debut at No. 1 on both Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and the all-genre Billboard 200.
The Freight Train Tour dates and venues:
April 8 - Ft. Meyers, FL (Germain Arena)
April 9 - Orlando, FL (UCF Arena)
April 10 - Alpharetta, GA (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Encore Park)
April 11 - Greenville, SC (Bi-Lo Center)
April 29 - Champaign, IL (Assembly Hall (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign))
April 30 - Moline, IL (iWireless Center)
May 1 - Rosemont, IL (AllState Arena)
May 2 - Fort Wayne, IN (War Memorial Coliseum)
May 13 - Manchester, NH (Verizon Wireless Arena)
May 14 - Uncasville, CT (Mohegan Sun Arena)
May 15 - Rochester, NY (Blue Cross Arena)
May 16 - Wilkes-Barre, PA (Wachovia Center)
May 21 - University Park, PA (Bryce Jordan Center)
Brooks & Dunn have just announced that their final concert will take place on August 10, 2010 at the Sommet Center in Nashville. They made the announcement during the Sony Luncheon at the annual Country Radio Seminar here in Music City, an event that also featured performances by Alan Jackson and American Idol contestant Danny Gokey.
Brooks & Dunn intend to donate the revenue from the show to the Country Music Hall of Fame. They issued the following statement: "For several years, we have tossed around ideas for the best way to make a contribution to the Museum. We have a tremendous appreciation for the road that was traveled by the great stars that came before us. Their long nights in station wagons with instruments strapped on the roofs built an industry that allowed us to cruise around in big tour buses.
"Our last show together will certainly be an historic point in our lives and careers, and we feel it's only right that the proceeds from this concert go to a place where all history in our business is so reverently preserved."
Upon hearing the news, Museum Director, Kyle Young, said, "The enormity of this gesture, including the endorsement it implies and the example it sets, is something the Museum's board and staff will contemplate with gratitude for a very long time. We are grateful to Kix and Ronnie for supporting our educational mission and for putting the Museum on the radar screen of their nation of fans. The only word for them is magnificent!"
The Sommet Center is the home of the Nashville Predators hockey team and is expected to be renamed the Bridgestone Arena sometime in March.
Tickets for most of Brooks & Dunn's The Last Rodeo Tour, including their final show, go on sale March 6 through TicketMaster.com and LiveNation.com.
The ever-fickle and sometimes frustrating Country Music Hall of Fame has announced its selections for induction into the Hall, and though all four artists are deserving of the honor, I just can't help but scratch my head over who is still on the outside looking in.
First off, the 2010 selections: Don Williams, Ferlin Husky, Jimmy Dean and songwriter-producer Billy Sherrill.
Husky, who at 84 has been battling congestive heart failure and pneumonia, was pleased to finally receive country music's highest honor. Among Husky's biggest hits are "Gone" and "On the Wings of a Dove.""So, they're finally going to do it, are they?" he said. "Well, it's worth the wait."
Billy Sherrill ranks as one of country's all-time most powerful producers and Music Row executives, and among his major songwriting credits are "Stand by Your Man" and "I Don't Wanna Play House" (Tammy Wynette), "Almost Persuaded" (David Houston), "The Most Beautiful Girl" (Charlie Rich) and about a gazillion others. On making it into the Hall of Fame, Sherrill said, "I figured if it ever happened, it'd be when I'm in some lonely north Alabama graveyard. But I do think it's kind of neat."
Jimmy Dean ultimately became known as the king of morning sausage. But before that, especially in the early to mid-1960s, he had a string of high charting country hits, most notably "Big Bad John," which he wrote on the back of an airplane air sickness bag while traveling. "This has been a long time coming," Dean said. "I didn't think it would probably ever get here."
The usually quiet Don Williams declined comment.
But what about those still on the outside looking in? First and foremost, and not just because I work with him on a couple of nationally syndicated radio shows, what about Jim Ed Brown or his family group The Browns? On what planet did Jimmy Dean ever contribute more to country music than Jim Ed? And Jean Shepard? The Wilburn Brothers? Bobby Bare?
The list of slights is long, and until the ultra-secret society that determines just who is and isn't Hall-worthy makes a little more sense, it's going to remain hard taking them seriously.
Lady Antebellum broke new ground yesterday when they debuted their new video for "American Honey" on The Oprah Winfrey Show. It's the first time Oprah had ever debuted a new video on her show from any artist.
"American Honey" is the second single from the trio's blockbuster new album, Need You Now, and it's flying up the charts in no time (currently No. 12 on Billboard's Country Songs chart, up from No. 16 last week).
Lady Antebellum couldn't be flying much higher at the moment. Need You Now is the No. 1 country album in the land (No. 6 on Billboard's Hot 100, No. 2 on the Billboard 200), the album's title track is still high on all of the major charts, and they're currently opening up to monster crowds supporting Tim McGraw on his Southern Voice tour.
Upcoming Tim McGraw (featuring Lady Antebellum) dates:
Willie Nelson's new album of country standards, titled Country Music, will first be available on April 20 for four weeks at all Starbucks locations nationwide. Much like he did with his groundbreaking covers album, Stardust, Willie has recorded a number of his all-time favorite country songs. He teamed up with his long-time friend, T Bone Burnett, on the project.
"I've known T Bone for years, but I've never worked with him before," Willie said. "He sent me a list of 28 songs he'd thought about for this album, and I added 'Nobody's Fault but Mine.' We recorded 23 songs and picked 15 out of that to release."
Willie and T Bone turned to some of Music City's most respected musicians for the album, including Del McCoury's son, Ronnie, on mandolin, Grammy-winning vocalist, Jim Lauderdale, and guitarist Buddy Miller. Willie referred to the group as "the best people around."
Over the years, Willie has proven quite fond of covering all genres of music. In addition to Stardust and the upcoming Country Music, he's covered the blues (2000's Milk Cow Blues), reggae (2005's Countryman), jazz (2008's Two Men with the Blues with Wynton Marsalis) and Western swing (2009's Willie and The Wheel with Asleep at the Wheel).
Look for Willie and friends to perform much of Country Music on the PBS show, Soundstage, on February 25. Check your local listings for exact dates and times.
The CMA Music Festival, formerly known as Fan Fair, has been around for 39 years. Launched in 1972, more than 2,000 acts have appeared over the years, and it just keeps getting bigger with each passing year.
What makes the event so enjoyable, and so unique to country music, is it gives fans the opportunity to get up close and personal with the biggest names in the business. In addition to performing, many of the artists make themselves available for autographs and pictures, and it's not uncommon for meet-and-greet lines to stretch on for hours.
The artists are not paid for their time, and the CMA donates half of the festival's proceeds to the Keep the Music Playing foundation, which is a music education program for the Metro Nashville Public Schools. To date over $3 million dollars has been donated.
The 2010 CMA Music Festival takes place Thursday through Sunday, June 10-13. Nightly concerts will take place at LP Field, the home of the Tennessee Titans football team.
Ticket options come in all different shapes and sizes, including various four-day packages ranging from $110 to $185. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.CMAFest.com, www.TicketMaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000.
The nominations for the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards are out, and 
You know this is going to be a big one. 
The ever-fickle and sometimes frustrating Country Music Hall of Fame has announced its selections for induction into the Hall, and though all four artists are deserving of the honor, I just can't help but scratch my head over who is still on the outside looking in. 
The early list of top-notch talent performing at this year's CMA Music Festival has come out, and based on these early big names, it's stacking up to be a great event. 
Chris VanZant
