Grand Ole Opry

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

Taylor belongs with 10-year-old cancer patient – for a day, anyway

Taylor Swift visited a 10-year-old fan in Omaha’s Children’s Hospital & Medical Center on Saturday (March 9) after the girl’s friends and relatives lobbied the country star for the visit.

The Omaha World-Herald published a pic of Taylor with Lauren Hacker, 10, in Lauren’s hospital room.

Taylor also signed an acoustic guitar for Lauren’s brother, Jonathan.

The visit happened after Lauren’s friends re-cut Taylor’s hit “You Belong With Me” and re-named it “Come See Lauren Please.”  Then, they posted a lyrics video of the new version to YouTube.

And it worked! Ain’t that sweet?

It’s not the first time Taylor responded to an online effort to get her attention. You might remember last year that Taylor invited teen cancer patient Kevin McGuire to the ACM Awards after he invited her to his prom.

Anyway, Taylor is in Omaha, Neb., because that’s where she opens this year’s world tour Wednesday (March 13).

Here’s the News: Huey Lewis fulfills Darius’ pop dreams

Even stars freak out when they meet other stars.

Darius Rucker loves going to the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in Cali every year. He even got to have a drink with Clint Eastwood last month.

Oh, but that’s not all: Darius has long been a huge fan of Huey Lewis, and when Darius was playing a thank-you concert for the tourney’s volunteers, he spotted Huey in the crowd.

So Darius popped over and told Huey he was about to play “Workin’ for a Living.”

Huey said, “No way!” and then grabbed a harmonica and joined Darius on stage, playing harp and singing harmonies.

“Man what a great musical moment for me,” Darius told ABC News Radio.

So how did Darius do, you know, in front of Huey and all?

“Yeah, I killed it,” Darius said, laughing.

Good on ya.

It’s a girl! Another Lady for the Lady Antebellum family

OK, you remember that Hillary Scott of Lady Antbellum told fans just before Christmas that she and her hubby are expecting their first baby.

Now, Hillary’s peeps told US Weekly that the baby is a girl!

You might recall that Hillary’s hubby is the band’s drummer, Chris Tyrrell, so this baby girl is probably kicking pretty hard.

Congrats to the happy couple.

Watch “Come See Lauren Please, Taylor!”–the video that brought Taylor to Omaha’s Children’s Hospital & Medical Center–here.

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

Randy Houser was just EXHAUSTED, spent, tired, pooped

I mean, the dude was out of energy!

Randy Houser explained to ABC News Radio why he missed a show (Feb. 20) near Salt Lake City a couple of weeks back.

“I was in four time zones within like four days, and I had been on the road,” he says.

“Your body can only handle so much. That’s all it was to it. I got exhausted, and basically just, and I hadn’t really told anybody this, but I got short of breath, and just felt like I couldn’t catch my breath.”

So to be safe, Randy headed to the emergency room.

“I wasn’t dying, or I wasn’t even ill. I was just exhausted. My body was tired….”

And the doctor said, according to Randy: “I want you to park it for a day, and I want you to take two of these. Don’t worry about calling me, take two of these and pass out.”

He’s back up: Randy hasn’t missed a show since.

Kenny Chesney’s surprise acoustic show draws 5,000 – to a bar

OK, I say surprise show, but Kenny Chesney and Hog’s Breath bar in Key West, Fla., started putting the word out Saturday (March 2) that Kenny would play there the next day.

And that was enough notice that more than 5,000 showed and jammed the bar, the patio and the streets all around, according to a post on Kenny’s website.

Folks climbed trees and camped out on nearby rooftops to catch what turned into a three-hour acoustic set. And lots of fans hoisted some beers, but not Kenny, who is in training of sorts for his stadium tour that kicks off March 16 in nearby Tampa, Fla.

Kenny actually apologized to the crowd “needing to be a good boy — and this is the worst place in the world to do that.”

No one seemed to mind….

Speaking of surprises: Florida Georgia Taylor Line hits the stage

A whole bunch of country radio folks descend on Nashville each year for the Country Radio Seminar – and they got quite a surprise on the closing night Friday (March 1).

Florida Georgia Line was closing the seminar ending “New Faces” show with monster hit “Cruise” when Taylor Swift came out and joined them in the middle of the song.

The radio folks all jumped to their feet to give Taylor a standing ovation – and it might’ve been for her super cute (mostly backless) little black dress.

Of course, it probably wasn’t too much of a surprise: Taylor tweeted months ago that she had the song “Cruise” stuck in her head.

Here is Florida Georgia Line singing their hit song on the Opry stage!

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

Kellie Pickler, Wynonna trading boots for “Dancing” shoes?

Hot country rumor of the day: Kellie Pickler and Wynonna will be on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars.

This comes courtesy of TMZ.com, which also reports that Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and Sean Lowe from The Bachelor are also among the contestants.

True or false? We won’t know for sure until the lineup is officially announced Tuesday (Feb. 26) on Good Morning America.

But it makes sense, right? ABC now has that Nashville show on, and ABC hosts Dancing with the Stars, so why not hit Dancing with a little more twang than usual?

Yee-haw!

Brad Paisley pumps up the pumps in Haiti

You might remember back in December when Brad Paisley and his actress wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley (now playing the “other woman” on ABC’s Nashville) announced they’re trying to build 100 clean water stations in Haiti.

Looks like that effort is well under way.

Brad posted several pics on his Twitter feed over the weekend (Feb. 24), including a super-cute one of him and a bunch of kids in front of a new water purification system.

“Thanks to [charity] #LiveBeyond, these kids can drink clean water,” Brad posted.

“We are just getting started,” Brad wrote.

Carrie hints that a concert DVD may be coming up

And now, you might be able to watch Opry member Carrie Underwood in concert again and again and again….

Carrie tells reporters that she has been keeping video footage of concerts and other public appearances, so a concert DVD is a real possibility.

“I think that would be really great,” Carrie said. “There’s no concrete plans to do anything with it, but it’s always nice to have that stuff in your back pocket, ‘cause stuff always comes up where people need more footage or need concert footage or whatever.”

OK, but what about a concert DVD???

“It’s definitely, I guess, always on the table for us to do something like that,” Carrie said.

HOORAY!

Watch Carrie’s performance of Randy Travis’ “I Told You So” live on the Opry stage – let that hold you over until DVD release day:

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

Country stars react to tragic Mindy McCready death

It was a sad weekend for the country music world: Authorities in Arkansas say Mindy McCready – at age 37 – died of “what appears to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Carrie Underwood posted this message:

“I grew up listening to Mindy McCready…so sad for her family tonight. Many prayers are going out to them…”

Jason Aldean tweeted Sunday night (Feb. 17):

“Just heard about Mindy McCready. My thoughts and prayers are with her 2 boys and her family.”

And Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum wrote, “My heart is breaking hearing of the loss of Mindy McCready. Pray for her 2 precious little boys…may God’s peace & protection be on them!”

John Rich:

“Very sad to hear about Mindy McCready. When I was in Lonestar she was our label mate and we were friends. A tragic end to a talented life.”

Martina McBride wrote simply, “So sad.”

Kelly Clarkson wrote: “Her poor children.”

Tim McGraw loves him some Keith Urban – on and off Tim’s album

Have y’all heard Tim McGraw singing with Taylor Swift on the song “Highway Don’t Care” from Tim’s new album?

Well, she’s not the only superstar (who’s not Tim) on that track: Keith Urban provides those incredible guitar licks.

“With Keith playing the guitar, he’s just one of the greatest. I think he’s just such an asset to our music,” Tim tells ABC News Radio.

“He’s just one of the guys that we should prop up and say that this is somebody we’re proud of.”

And there’s more coming from the country superstar team of “Kim,” or maybe “Teith”.

“We still want to find one to sing together on, it’s just finding the right thing,” Tim adds.

Chris Young tells Katie that he married his sister

OK, seems like most days, it would be AWESOME to be a country star, right?

One small problem for those stars: Sometimes when you misspeak, it’s on national TV, for the whole world to hear.

Take, for instance, when Chris Young was on Katie Couric’s TV talk show last week.

Chris told Katie that he married his sister. He then quickly added that he had officiated at her wedding.

“I thought that was a whole different situation,” Katie said, laughing. “I was like, seriously? I was thinking the incest thing!”

“Really? Really?” Chris said with mock disgust. “I’m glad I stuck my foot in my mouth this early.”

Check out those guitar licks that Tim McGraw admires here:

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

Brad’s song with LL Cool J “is more serious than fun”

Looks like Brad Paisley is going outside his usual wheelhouse for his upcoming album, Wheelhouse, which is out April 9.

He’s got rapper/actor/GRAMMY’s host LL Cool J on a track, which Brad told reporters was “fun.”

“Well actually, the song with him is more serious than fun,” the Opry star said.

“He’s a great songwriter, and more importantly, he’s a great human being. He’s a really nice man, and he is a class act. And I am lucky to associate with him at all.”

Sweet sentiment, but I’ve gotta ask: What’s with the name “LL Cool J”?

The kids today know his real name is James and that his moniker stands for “Ladies Love Cool James.”

LOL.

GRAMMY’s performance of the night . . .

“Her dress became a show of its own,” USA Today gushed.

If you missed the GRAMMY awards Sunday night (Feb. 10), you missed Carrie Underwood in a platinum ball gown that doubled as a projection screen.

Images of flowers and stars and butterflies – what, no unicorns? – appeared on her dress as Carrie sang “Two Black Cadillacs.”

Putting together the dress was no easy task – four people needed 80 hours to make it happen.

So what do you do with such a magnificent piece of functional fashion after the show’s over?

“I said I should take that home and we can watch movies on it,” Carrie said backstage afterward.

And the country GRAMMY’s go to . . .

Big ups to Little Big Town as Jimi, Karen, Kimberly and Phillip picked up their first-ever GRAMMY trophies for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Pontoon.”

“You always hope they’re going to call your name, but when you’re in a category with Taylor Swift, often they’re not going to call your name,” Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild told reporters. “This is pivotal for us.”

Carrie Underwood’s song “Blown Away” got two trophies, for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.

Zac Brown Band got Best Country Album for Uncaged.

Watch Carrie perform “GRAMMY-winning song at the Opry:

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

Hillary Scott joins “The Voice”

The lady in Lady Antebellum – one pregnant Hillary Scott – will be a guest mentor on NBC’s “The Voice” this season, working with rocker Adam Levine.

BTW, Hillary and Adam are no strangers. Hillary sang with Adam on a Maroon 5 album cut called “Out of Goodbyes.”

The new season starts March 25 – and in addition to Hillary’s country presence, new judges Shakira and Usher will be making their debuts on the show.

Beyonce gets a split vote from the country star crowd

Well, that’s not exactly true. Most of the country stars who weighed in on Twitter during the Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 3) really liked pop star Beyonce’s halftime show.

Carrie Underwood tweeted: “and @Beyonce just made all the rest of us singers look stupid! In the most awesome way possible! Way to work it! #BestEverHalftimeShow”

And Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum tweeted, “@beyonce was so bootylicious that she knocked the power out at the #SuperBowl”

And then, there’s Joe Bonsall of The Oak Ridge Boys, who suggested that Beyonce should giddy up (omm poppa omm poppa mow mow) out of the stadium.

“Beyonce? Did what she does….. did it well,” Joe tweeted. “I just do not like THAT kind of Pop music sound very much. Getting old I guess..”

Justin Moore to start his very own headliner tour next month

Every hear the expression, “Always a bridesmaid, never the bride”?

Justin Moore has opened for Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert.

Guess who’s opening his own headliner tour next month?

“Over the last few years I have been out with some of the best artists in our genre and I have learned so much from each of them,” Justin tells reporters. “I’m ready to take everything they have taught me to build our show. It’s going to be a blast I can’t wait!”

And check it out, Justin will have his own opening acts, Dustin Lynch and Jon Pardi, and Dustin looks up to Justin like Justin looked up to the superstars he opened for.

“He’s an incredible singer and he puts the crowd in the palm of his hand,” Dustin tells ABC News Radio.

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

Lady A has butterflies about performing on Leno

Seriously? Lady Antebellum has now been on national television about, oh, a gazillion times.

But tonight (Monday, Jan. 28) on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Lady A will debut a new single, “Downtown,” from a new album—and the single is a little bit different. (You can listen to “Downtown” here.)

Add all that up, and, well, “so yeah, that’ll make you extra nervous,” Lady A’s Dave Haywood recently told reporters.

But Dave likes the idea that Lady A could be reaching new fans.

“When you think about that kind of whatever group or demographic or people that are watching that stuff late at night, that’s really, it’s cool,” he says.

“It’s not just country fans. It’s a lot of people. A lot of different ages. A lot of different types of people.”

The bravest thing that Taylor Swift says she has ever done

No, the answer is NOT dating a Jonas Brother.

Taylor Swift has landed a deal with Keds footwear to promote young ladies to be different and to take chances, E! Online reports.

So what is the bravest thing that Taylor has done?

“I think the biggest risk that I took in my life was convincing my family to move to Nashville,” the Pennsylvania native says in a new promotional video.

“I think that’s the bravest thing that I’ve ever been a part of,” she adds.

Speaking of corporate sponsorships, looks like Tay Tay will be a Diet Coke ambassador soon, according to Ad Age.

That makes sense. Taylor recently told Bon Appetit magazine that she keeps the soda in her house “because it understands me.”

Isn’t that sweet—or maybe artificially sweetened? Let’s hope that Diet Coke and Taylor never break up. Then again, that could make for another awesome song….

There’ll be three, count ‘em, three country Grammy performances

Super Bowl, Shmuper Bowl.

The next Sunday, Feb. 10, the Grammy awards show hits CBS—and this year, L.A. will be Twang Town.

The Grammys will have a total of three country music performances, definitely better than the one or two that the show usually has.

You’ve heard the Diet Coke-swiggin’ Taylor Swift is performing. The Grammys producers just added two others.

Carrie Underwood is gonna sang, and tourmates Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert will perform together.

Twang-tastic!

If you can’t wait til the Grammys for more Carrie, this video is for you:

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

Martina loves her some George frickin’ Strait

George Strait has launched his The Cowboy Rides Away tour, a bittersweet affair that will bring him to many cities for the last time, as a performer, anyway.

Making things more special in Lubbock, Tex., Friday night (Jan. 18) and Oklahoma City the next: King George gave away mortgage-free houses to wounded military veterans.

And on video, Alan Jackson, Reba and Blake Shelton sang George’s praises to the crowds.

Tour opener Martina McBride did it in person.

“I’m the luckiest girl in the world ‘cause I get to tour with George frickin’ Strait,” Martina told the crowd.

So frickin’ true.

Michael J. Fox has smoothed things over with Taylor Swift

Looks like actor Michael J. Fox may have butted heads a little with Taylor Swift, but everything’s OK now, Taylor has assured her Twitter followers.

“Hey everybody, Michael J. Fox got in touch with me today and we are good. Thank you for having my back,” she tweeted Friday (Jan. 18).

It all started at the Golden Globe Awards, where Michael’s 23-year-old son, Sam, was handing out trophies. Host Tina Fey joked, “You know what, Taylor Swift? You stay away from Michael J. Fox’s son.”

Then – and we’re not sure if he was joking – Michael J. Fox himself told New York magazine that he in fact doesn’t want Taylor to date his son.

“I don’t keep up with it at all, but Taylor Swift writes songs about everybody she goes out with, right? What a way to build a career,” MJF told the mag.

That did NOT sit well with Taylor’s fans, who went bonkers on social media.

But Taylor settled everything back down with her tweet.

Lesson learned, Michael? Do NOT mess with T Swizzle fans!

Is Hillary giving birth to a Lady Alien??

OK, so we learned earlier that you don’t mess with Taylor Swift, and here’s another lesson: Maybe you don’t want to suggest someone’s unborn baby is unattractive?

Guess if anyone could get away with that with expectant mother Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum, it would be her bandmates.

Charles Kelley recently told reporters: “I’ve seen a picture of the ultrasound. The baby looks like an alien right now.”

Reporters groaned.

“I’m just kidding,” Charles added quickly, but then he kept on going.

“She showed [the picture] to me, I’m like, ‘Uhh!!’”

Hillary added, “Well, at first, he was like, ‘Which one is the baby?’”

Oh boy.

In other baby news, Hillary says she and her hubby will indeed find out what the baby’s gender is before the baby is born.

Hillary says she doesn’t like surprises and she doesn’t like keeping secrets, so when she finds out, we’ll probably know too.

In case you didn’t get tickets to see Martina McBride and George Strait’s sold out tour, here’s something to hold you over.

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

An overwhelmed Blake says he almost quit “The Voice”

Sometimes, it ain’t easy makin’ green.

Blake Shelton had an incredibly successful year last year, and that meant lots and lots of national TV.

And that apparently meant lots of stress. So much stress, Blake tells Wetpaint.com, that he almost quit.

“Oh my God. It sucked,” Blake said. “I don’t care who wants me to say that or not.”

“I mean, I was doing season three of The Voice, season four of The Voice, CMAs, and my Christmas special all within like three weeks of each other. And there was one point where I called my manager, and was like, ‘That’s it. I quit. I just quit. Figure it out. I’m going home.’”

But Blake had a change of heart, he said.

“It’s like you get to that point where you’re like, well, okay,” he said. “We’re all learning, figuring out how to balance being a maturing country artist, and then someone that’s involved in television now.  I never planned on doing this. I don’t know if I’ll do it once The Voice is over, but I’m having a ball doing it right now.”

Kelly Clarkson on kids: “We’ll definitely have probably one”

Getting engaged is awesome, but it brings some really personal questions, really fast.

Just ask Kelly Clarkson, who has been bombarded with questions about having babies ever since she got engaged to Brandon Blackstock, Blake Shelton’s manager and Reba’s stepson.

Kelly’s answer, to The Country Vibe, anyway:

“We’ll definitely have probably one ‘cause he’s already got two amazing kids, so I lucked out in that area. But yeah, that’s down the road.”

Right now, Kelly has a wedding to plan. How sweet! Every little girl grows up dreaming of her wedding and her dress, right?

“I’ve never been that girl, so it’s really hard,” she said.

Oh.

“There’s a lot of decisions from flowers to invitations. I didn’t even know of a thing called ‘save the date’ until now. And we don’t even have a date and everybody keeps asking.”

So…. The next time you see Kelly, ask about, uh, the weather.

Keith Urban promises we’ll see some oddballs on Idol this season

Ever watch the American Idol preliminary rounds and think – how in the world did that person actually end up on the show??

Well, new Idol judge Keith Urban recently gave reporters some insight.

“You might say they sing terribly. Yep, maybe they do. Maybe they look completely weirdo,” he says.

“Maybe we can’t even tell if they’re male or female but there’s something about them that’s so incredibly compelling and one of us will fight for that person and then maybe two of us will and they’ll make it through, and before you know it’s so much more than just the voice.”

OK, gotcha.

The American Idol season premiere is 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday (Jan. 16).

Should be, hmm, compelling.

Can’t get enough American Idol?  Former Idol contestants Carrie Underwood, Scotty McCreery, and Kellie Pickler will all be playing the Opry this February.  Click here for ticket information.

by Brad Schmitt

Brad Schmitt is a longtime Nashville entertainment journalist, having shared the goods on Music City’s most interesting people in the newspaper, on TV, and online for more than 15 years. Every week, Brad hits country fans with the latest news from Nashville and the lives of their favorite country artists.

“Girls” Gone Twitter: Taylor has new online friend

Yes, Taylor Swift has 22.6 million followers on Twitter – and one of the latest is Lena Dunham, the creator and star of HBO series Girls, about several 20-somethings in New York City. (Think Sex and the City, younger and more modern.)

Lena and Taylor have even sent each other direct messages (DMs), the height of intimacy in the Twitter-verse, Lena tells V Magazine.

“She started following me, and here’s how you find out Taylor Swift is following you. You start hearing from all the insane Taylor Swift fans that are like ‘If Taylor Swift loves you I love you’,” she said.

Lena says she got some backlash from her own followers when she tweeted that she liked Taylor’s new album, Red.

“[E]very one of my Twitter followers was like, ‘I so hope that you’re joking.’ But I have no interest in liking anything ironically. If I wanted to be ironic, I’d grow a mustache.”

Fans get an upside to Trace Adkins’ house burning down

Trace Adkins is on the All-Star Celebrity Apprentice that premieres March 3 on NBC.

But wait. I thought Trace was uncomfortable being on that show the first time.

“One of the most stressful periods of my adult life,” Trace told reporters at the Television Critics Association last week.

Trace said he was “forced to tolerate individuals that I normally wouldn’t tolerate.”

So why go back? To give back.

Trace is playing for the American Red Cross, which was on the scene right after his Nashville area house burned down in 2011.

“It took my house burning down to get me to come back,” he told the reporters.

Dierks’ New Year lake plunge is far less jarring in 2013

You’ve seen it each year: Dierks Bentley and some brave bandmates all jump into 40-degree water in a Nashville lake each New Year’s Day.

Lucky Dierks: He scored a gig for this New Year’s Day playing at a college bowl game in Orlando, Fla. So the temps were in the 60s for the annual plunge, which happened in Lake Eola.

One small problem, as posted on Dierks’ Twitter account: “overheard today after we did our 2013 lake jump: ‘this lake ain’t spring fed, it’s street fed.’”

One of Dierks’ more jaded fans renamed the body of water “Lake E Coli.”

Nasty.

Can’t wait until March to see more of Trace? Watch his performance of  “Ladies Love Country Boys” on the Opry stage.