Happy Birthday to Travis Tritt. He is 52 today.
New Country Music Releases Tomorrow
Robert Earl Keen – Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions. Inspired by the bluegrass and acoustic music he grew up around, Robert Earl Keen offers 15 standards and other tunes (20 on the deluxe edition) by Flatt & Scruggs, The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers and Richard Thompson. Special guests include Lyle Lovett (“T for Texas”) and Natalie Maines on vocals (“Wayfaring Stranger”.)
Blackberry Smoke – Holding All the Roses
The Mavericks – Mono. Their second disc since regrouping
GRAMMY WINNERS
Best Country Song: “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”, Glen Campbell
Best Country Album: “Platinum”, Miranda Lambert
Best Country Solo Performance: “Something in the Water”, Carrie Underwood
Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group: “Gentle on My Mind”, The Band Perry
Miranda Lambert challenged Meghan Trainer to a #GlamJam last night via twitter.
“#Grammy we challenge @Meghan_Trainor to a #GlamJam @blakeshelton @moanilee @JohnnyLavoy @tiffanygifford”
Hunter Hayes Struggles with Self-Confidence, But Would Like to Host the CMAs Someday
HUNTER HAYES hosted yesterday’s Grammy Awards Premiere ceremony. It goes down BEFORE the network broadcast, and it’s where they pass out trophies in some of the 83 categories that don’t make it onto the big show.
Still, it’s a pretty big deal, and Hunter was nervous for several reasons. One is that, believe it or not, he struggles with self-confidence. Hebattles it by repeating this phrase to himself, quote, “It’s what you do with fear.”
He opened up about those fears to the “Tennessean”, saying, quote, “My fear is, ‘This is the Grammys.’ Secondly, it’s a long ceremony. Thirdly, if you’re going to practice, I’m not sure this is best place to audition your hosting skills.”
The whole “audition thing” is because he’d love to host the CMAs someday. He’s inspired by how natural VINCE GILL was in the years he did it . . . and how well BRAD PAISLEY and CARRIE UNDERWOOD have worked together these past few years.
He said, quote, “They make it look easy, but they make it look really fun. We’ll see. It’ll be fun to do something a little bit out of the ordinary.”
Frankie Ballard Busted-up His Shoulder Doing a Stage Dive on Friday
FRANKIE BALLARD got a little carried away and injured himself doing a stage jump on Friday. He wrote about it on Facebook, “Got hung-up jumping off stage in Humble, Texas. Separated my shoulder, mangled a couple ligaments, and busted a rib.”
And yet, he manned-up and STILL performed the next night in Mission, Texas. He also posted a pic onFacebook of his left arm in a sling, and captioned it, “Little beat up in south Texas, but still kickin’ like a mule.”
Sam Hunt Says There’s a Message Between the Lines of His Song “Take Your Time”
SAM HUNT’s “Take Your Time“ tells the lovely story of a guy hitting on a chick. Even Sam admits it’s not high art. He says, quote, “It can get sleazy and shallow when you think about, especially if it’s in a bar or a place that may not necessarily be romantic.”
And yet, he thinks there’s a better message if you read between the lines. Quote, “Hopefully, the singer overcomes some of those stereotypes, and you can see past just a surface attraction and you can see that he’s generally interested in the girl.”
Merle Haggard Responds to Bob Dylan Comparing Him Unfavorably to Buck Owens
BOB DYLAN took a swipe at MERLE HAGGARD during his speech at Friday’s MusiCares Person of the Year ceremony. He whined that Merle didn’t think much of his songs, and then compared him unfavorably to BUCK OWENS.
Merle decided to take the high road with his response. He Tweeted, “Bob Dylan, I’ve admired your songs since 1964. ‘Don’t Think Twice’, Bob. Willie, and I just recorded it on our new album.”
According to SavingCountryMusic.com, Merle’s referring to Dylan’s song “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. There’ve been rumors that he and WILLIE NELSON would be doing a cover of that. (Dylan had good and bad things to say about several artists. The transcript is at this link.)
BIG & RICH will be performing on tonight’s episode of “The Bachelor” on ABC. It was filmed in Deadwood, South Dakota. (The Boot)