News From Nashville

In observance of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Keith Urban will play a custom Fender guitar embellished with a pink ribbon during October’s Get Closer 2011 World Tour dates. The instrument will then be auctioned at the end of the month, with proceeds benefiting Susan G. Komen For The Cure. More here.ESPN announced yesterday it had formally cut ties with Hank Williams Jr. Hank insists it was HIS decision to leave “Monday Night Football”. He wrote on his website, “After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision. By pulling my opening Oct. 3rd, you stepped on the toes of the First Amendment freedom of speech, so therefore me, my song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE”.

Eric Church’s wife Katherine had her baby Monday morning in Nashville. They named him Boone McCoy Church. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

Another congrats to Keith Anderson and wife Lauren on the birth of their first child Crozlë J Anderson, who was delivered yesterday (10/5).

Tim McGraw has a court date for his legal dispute with his record label. Tim and Curb Records have a hearing set for November 29. You may remember Tim has counter-sued to get out of his contract. A trial date is set for July 9. Meanwhile there’s a rumor going around that Tim and Taylor Swift will be doing a movie together called “Paradi$e”…and no he will not be playing her dad.

Faith Hill will perform at this year’s CMA Awards. She’ll sing a song called “Come Home”. Faith’s last studio album came out six years ago.

Charlie Daniels turns 75 later this month and the Grand Ole Opry will throw a birthday party for him on October 29. Clint Black and Lee Greenwood are also scheduled to perform during the birthday show.

General Mills will donate $1,000 to local Susan G. Komen affiliates at each stop along Martina McBride‘s Eleven Across America Powered By Amtrak promo tour this month. The four-day Pink Together Express will visit 11 cities including Los Angeles; Flagstaff, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; and Kansas City. At the train’s final destination in New York City next Thursday (10/13), CBS Radio Interactive will host a McBride live chat at 5:11pm ET, webcast by CBS Radio station websites and martinamcbride.com.

Set your DRV…Scotty McCreery is on the Ellen DeGeneres Show this afternoon.

Miranda Lambert says Blake’s more approachable then she is. She tells the Ladies Home Journal…”He’ll welcome everybody in with open arms, but they’re not getting to know the real Blake, on a deep level. I’m the opposite. I don’t let anybody in, but when I do, I love them so hard, it’s like I’ll never let them go”. She also reveals when they’re home in Oklahoma, they’ll go to Blake’s mom’s house for dinner. Her interview is in the November issue of the Ladies Home Journal.

Eric Church and his wife Katherine are in the last remaining days before the birth of their first child. The parents-to-be have already been getting him used to traveling on a bus. Eric also says they haven’t decided on a name yet for their son.

CMT will honor Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift as the top artists of the year with an upcoming special on December 13. This year the honorees and their guests will be treated to cuisine prepared by “Top Chef” winner Stephanie Izard.

Kenny Chesney will perform during a benefit concert celebrating President Clinton’s charitable foundation. Lady Gaga, Bono and Usher will also perform during the “Decade of Difference” concert on October 15. The concert will be streamed live on Yahoo.

Happy 15th wedding anniversary to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Tim proposed with a sharpie. He scribbled the question on a dressing room mirror before going on stage in Montana. Faith walked in and knew he was being sincere, so she picked up the marker and wrote her reply. They still have that mirror.

this is an interesting lil rumor.  Tim McGraw has a new movie coming out this Friday called Dirty Girl and he’s also rumored to be the top choice for Clint Eastwood’s A Star is Born remake with Beyonce, but Tim’s also got a new movie role up his sleeve….or at least is rumored to….and this one’s going to have a heckuva lot of buzz if things work out. 

IMDB has Tim along with Taylor Swift on the roster for the film Paradi$e.  Of course they both still have “rumor” after their names so nothing’s set in stone yet (or maybe this is the movie maker’s dream team, I don’t know), but it would certainly be cool if the stars aligned and everything worked out. 

Tim’s rumored to play dad Brad Anderson and Taylor is rumored to be playing Allison Roth, so unfortunately wouldn’t be Tim’s pretend daughter or anything fun like that.

Sara Evans has gotten a restraining order against her ex-husband after he appeared on Anderson Cooper’s new daytime talk show and discussed their nasty divorce. Sara’s attorneys say the interview not only violated an injunction that blocks him from publicly speaking about Sara…it also caused harm to their children.

Hank Williams Jr. has issued a second apology for comparing the President to Hitler during a tv interview. In his statement he explained, “The thought of the Leaders of both Parties Joking and High Fiving on a Golf course, while so many Families are Struggling to get by simply made me Boil over and make a Dumb statement and I am very Sorry if it Offended anyone.” He ended the statement by saying, “This was Not written by some Publicist.”

Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert and the Band Perry will perform during next month’s CMA Awards. Rascal Flatts and Natasha Bedingfield will perform their hit song “Easy” during the November 9th show on ABC.

Speaking of Rascal Flatts…they’re doing their annual benefit concert for the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital on November 2. For the last five years, the show has been a private affair…but this year the guys are making 100 tickets available for fans to attend.

Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly will be guests on the Sesame Street special “Growing Hope Against Hunger” on October 9 on PBS. The special will help parents and children communicate about the widespread issue of hunger in the U.S. The Paisleys will help Elmo and the gang do a food drive.

LeAnn Rimes’ husband Eddie Cibrian is out of work again. His tv show “The Playboy Club” has been cancelled after just three episodes.

Monday Night Football did not begin with the words “Are you ready for some football” last night. ESPN pulled Hank Williams Jr.’s famous theme song after he compared President Obama to Hitler. Hank was on Fox & Friends yesterday morning when he criticized the President and Speaker of the House John Boehner for playing a round of golf together. Hank Jr. has released a statement regarding his comments: “Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme, but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me – how ludicrous that pairing was. They’re polar opposites and it made no sense. They don’t see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the President.”

Martina McBride will flip the switch and turn the Empire State Building “pink” in honor of breast cancer awareness month. She will also perform a private concert during the event….which is set for October 14.

A drunk driver plowed through the fence at LeAnn Rimes’ home in Hidden Hills, California yesterday morning. There were no reports of injuries. LeAnn was out of town at the time. Jay Leno will likely ask her about it tonight when she’s a guest on “The Tonight Show”.

Scotty McCreery will sing the national anthem before game one of the World Series. You can catch it live on Fox on October 19. Meanwhile Scotty will be a guest today on “Live with Regis & Kelly”. His debut album “Clear As Day” is out today. Also Rodney Atkins’ new album “Take A Back Road” is available today.

Set your DRV…Kellie Pickler will perform on the Ellen DeGeneres Show this afternoon.

Blake Shelton will launch his own headlining tour in January called the “Well Lit & Amplified Tour”. Justin Moore and Dia Frampton…who was on his team and the runner-up on the first season of “The Voice”…will be his opening acts. The tour will hit 27 cities before wrapping up on March 17 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The full list of dates will be posted soon on Blake’s website.

Jason Aldean’s sixth annual Concert For The Cure at the Roanoke Civic Center on Friday night raised over $315,000 for the Roanoke chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. It’s the most money the event has ever raised. In fact, last year’s event in Evansville, Indiana only raised around $132,000. Jason told the sold out crowd of 7,538 it’s the only day of the year when he wears pink.

Congratulations to John Rich and his wife Joan. Their second son was born on Thursday. They named him Colt. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces.

Rapper T.I. has joined Taylor Swift in a surprise duet at her concert last night in Atlanta. T.I. has made several appearances since his release from a halfway house last month following 10 months in federal prison on a probation violation.

Our thoughts are with Trisha Yearwood and her family this morning. Her mom Gwen lost her battle with cancer on Saturday. She was 73. Gwen spent much of her life as a teacher in Monticello, Georgia and in recent years co-wrote two cookbooks. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Set your DRV…Tim McGraw is a guest today on Live with Regis and Kelly.

Joshua Scott Jones of the country duo Steel Magnolia has entered rehab for alcohol and substance abuse. His girlfriend and singing partner Meghan announced last Friday the duo would cancel a handful of shows because he was unable to perform.

Shania Twain told a crowded Toronto courtroom yesterday she was saddened by the love letters she received from an accused stalker. As she was giving her video testimony, the defendant stood up and declared he was guilty. He used her real first name saying, “Eileen, you can trust me. I’m going to plead guilty.” The court went into recess after his outburst.

In the wake of speculation about her body and eating habits…yesterday LeAnn Rimes told Ellen DeGeneres she feels like a victim of bullies. On Wednesday her husband Eddie Cibrian told Access Hollywood that LeAnn is a workout fanatic with a very healthy appetite.

Sara Evans is an aunt again. Her sister had a baby boy yesterday. His name is Jack Henry.

Happy birthday to Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry. He’s 48 today.

Tomorrow James Otto and his wife Amy celebrate their sixth year wedding anniversary.

And set your DRV….Lady Antebellum will be on Saturday Night Live this weekend.

The numbers are in for Brad Paisley’s H20 two tour. Brad played to over 1,079,436 fans in 52 markets including five stadium shows and eight European performances. The tour wrapped up Sunday night in Raleigh. During the show, Brad invited Scotty McCreery to join his tour next year.
Meanwhile Scotty has lined up a bunch of tv appearances to promote his debut album. He’ll be on the Today show on Monday…Live with Regis & Kelly on Tuesday…The Tonight Show on Wednesday and next Friday he’ll perform on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Scotty’s album “Clear As Day” comes out Tuesday.
Joe Don Rooney has revealed the release date for Rascal Flatts’ upcoming album. He’s says it’ll be out on April 3.

David Nail is releasing his sophomore album “The Sound Of A Million Dreams” on November 15. David will join Taylor Swift’s Speak Now Tour next month for a handful of shows.
Martina McBride will perform the National Anthem before the Ravens/Jets game on Sunday. You can catch it on NBC at 8:30pm. The game is the first of several NFL Breast Cancer Awareness games during the month of October. The games will feature game balls with pink ribbon decals used for every down, pink equipment worn by the players, pink coins used for the coin toss and pink goal post padding in the end zones.
Set your DRVs…Dierks Bentley pays tribute to Pink Floyd tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and LeAnn Rimes visits with Ellen DeGeneres this afternoon.

Last night Rascal Flatts got the surprise of their career. Vince Gill joined them on stage and invited them to become members of the Grand Ole Opry. They’ll be inducted on October 8.
Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton and Dolly Parton have been nominated for MTV’s O Music Awards. Taylor is nominated in the Fan Army category. Blake is up for Must Follow Artist on Twitter. And Dolly’s video for “Jolene” earned her a nomination for Best Vintage Viral Video. The winners will be announced on Halloween.
Trace Adkins is ready for his next movie role. He’ll play a truck driver in the upcoming film “The Healer”. The movie is being shot in North Carolina and will be released next year.
The 45th Annual CMA Awards are November 9 on ABC. Not only will Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood host this year…they’ll also perform their hit song “Remind Me” during the show.
George Strait has joined the lineup for the fire relief benefit concert in Austin, Texas. The October 17th event will also include the Dixie Chicks and Willie Nelson. The proceeds will benefit the victims of this summer’s devastating wildfires.
Eric Church recently thanked one of his biggest fans with a cool gift. The fan was celebrating his 100th Eric Church concert…..Eric brought him out on stage and gave him his Gibson Hummingbird Guitar.

Set your DRV….Luke Bryan will be a guest this afternoon on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

On Sunday, Randy Travis fainted in the middle of a song during his performance at a concert in Fort Worth, TX. It looks like he’s okay…he’s resting at home. He picked a good place to have a health issue…it was a benefit for a medical center so there was a room full of doctors. A statement said, “Mr. Travis was overcome by a combination of dehydration, over the counter allergy medications and caffeine use. This, combined with the heat of the stage lights, caused him to pass out”.

Brad Paisley wrapped up his H20 two tour Sunday night in Raleigh and the prank wars were in full swing. Sunny Sweeney pranked Brad by replacing his fishing chair with a toilet. While Jerrod Niemann was performing, popular prankman “Sweet Pea” showed up on stage in a flashy body suit that left very little to the imagination. But Blake Shelton got it worst. Brad printed off and distributed over 200 meet and greet passes…leaving Blake’s entire team overwhelmed before the show.

Justin Moore and his wife Kate have revealed the name they’ve picked out for their second daughter. They’re going with the name Kennedy Faye. Kate picked the name Kennedy…while Justin added Faye in honor of his late grandmother. Kennedy is due to arrive in November.

Carrie Underwood is pretty clear when it comes to starting a family…it’s not happening anytime soon. She asked about it again over the weekend and she revealed her and her husband Mike have a little disagreement on how large of a family to have. She wants two kids…he’d like to have four.

LeAnn Rimes’ new album “Lady and Gentlemen” is out today. It’s full of covers that were originally written by men or intended for male vocalists.

Tim McGraw’s recent band shake up has made the tabloids. The National Enquirer claims he fired five of his long-time band members because they wouldn’t sign a gag order to protect his deep, dark secrets. An insider says Tim has been nearly impossible to deal with for months and blames his meltdown on poor ticket sales.

Between her and her husband, Sara Evans has nine kids. She recently shared some of the rules that help keep the peace in her home. She keeps a laminated copy of the rules in the kitchen reminding them to make their beds and put stuff where it belongs. When it comes to lunch, she’ll make the kids anything they want…but at dinner whatever she cooks is what they get for dinner. She also has a Saturday rule which prohibits the kids from disturbing her until 10 am.

Dierks Bentley will perform his version of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” Thursday night on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”. It’s part of the show’s week-long tribute to the band.

The Grand Ole Opry begins its 86th year next month and some of country’s biggest stars will help celebrate all month long. The Opry’s official birthday bash weekend is October 7 and 8 with performances from Ronnie Dunn and Rascal Flatts. Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins and Eric Church are just a few of the artists who will perform during October.

The Band Perry is teaming up with Justin Bieber. They’ll be featured on his upcoming Christmas album.

Set your DRVs…Blake Shelton performs today on “Live with Regis & Kelly” and tonight Chris Young will make his debut on the “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”.