Country Music Herald

Country music sure can’t claim a shortage of awards for their craft, whether it be awards shows or accolades doled out by critics. The well respected Nashville Scene Critic’s Poll was the latest of these pats on the back released to the public and Miranda Lambert is the most decorated country artist to come out of the poll.

Lambert was given four awards including Best Female Artist and Best Artist, while also receiving top honors in the Best Album category for her latest CD Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as well as Best Single for “Famous in a Small Town”. Other winners included Brad Paisley (Best Male Artist), Sugarland (Best Group), Keith Urban (Best Live Act), Taylor Swift (Best New Artist), and Emmylou Harris (Best Reissue).

The awards were voted on by almost 100 critics representing such publications as Billboard, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and Country Weekly.

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You would think, by now, that some of these guys would be used to topping the charts. I mean, between number one albums and number one singles, some of today’s country music artists would be throwing a non stop party with their successes. Of course, if you’re going to celebrate, you might as well do it in style, right? And what a better reason to celebrate than when they score another number one single (or two number one singles, as the case may be).

That’s exactly what two of country music’s current superstars have done in the recent past. Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley have both reached the top spot on the country music singles chart within the past couple of months. As a matter of fact, Brad went to number one with both of his most recent (and hilarious) singles, “Ticks” and “Online”. Dierks topped the charts just a couple of weeks ago with “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)”.

So how did these two rowdy musicians celebrate? In grand style, of course! Brad had his party first. On November 28th, Brad and his co-writers for both songs were honored for their achievement (after arriving about 20 minutes late) at a computer store in Nashville. The Macintosh store was inspired by Paisley’s number one hit “Online”. After answering questions about his songs, Brad mentioned he will be on a Sesame Street Christmas Special singing jingle bells with Grover. Now that’s a party!

Dierks Bentley celebrated his most recent number one “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)” on the ice December 4th. After being awarded his gifts and plaques, Dierks suited up to play a game of hockey for all of his invited guests. He even scored two goals to impress the crowd. He did mention he will release one more single (”Trying to Stop Your Leaving”) off of his current album in January before putting out a new album he is currently writing and recording.

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This past weekend, the country music star with the deep, rich voice, Josh Turner, was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. He was introduced by Vince Gill and performed his current hit “Firecracker” and the song that propelled him to stardom, “Long Black Train”. Josh broke onto the scene back in late 2001 on the very same Grand Ole Opry stage on which he was inducted into the fraternity this past weekend. He joins other current country stars in the Grand Ole Opry like Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley, and is currently the youngest member at the age of 29. His induction was broadcast live on GAC’s program “Opry Live” and will be rerun periodically on the network. Turner’s new album, “Everything is Fine” was released yesterday.

Speaking of “Opry Live”, the show has a brand new theme song, courtesy of Grand Ole Opry member Brad Paisley. Paisley and his band, the newly monikered Drama Kings, wanted to create a theme that would span the generations of music the Grand Ole Opry has showcased. The title is “From Uncle Jimmy to Justin” in honor of Jimmy Thompson, the first fiddle player on the inaugural broadcast and Justin Williamson fiddle player for the Drama Kings.

Unfortunately, not all of the Grand Ole Opry news is as happy as Turner’s induction. Legendary country artist Porter Wagoner lost his battle with lung cancer on Sunday night at the age of 80 at the Alive Hospice in Nashville. His flashy rhinestone suits and melodic voice will be missed on the Grand Ole Opry stage, and in the world of country music in general. Wagoner’s visitation will be tonight (October 31st) and the funeral is tomorrow. All memorials in Porter Wagoner’s name can be made to the Alive Hospice or the The Opry Trust Fund. Porter had celebrated his 50th anniversary in the Grand Ole Opry earlier this year.

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It’s Saturday, so that means it’s time for some song lyrics. As I’ve admitted previously, I absolutely love Brad Paisley. His latest hit, “Online” really cracks me up. As a blogger, I can relate to the hero in the song and I think the video is hysterical. Here are the complete lyrics to the song. Enjoy!

Online - Brad Paisley

I work down at the Pizza Pit
And I drive an old Hyundai
I still live with my mom and dad
I’m 5 foot 3 and overweight
I’m a scifi fanatic
A mild asthmatic
And I’ve never been to second base
But there’s whole ‘nother me
That you need to see
Go checkout MySpace

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I must admit, I’m a shameless Brad Paisley fangirl. I love his sense of humor, and he’s not too hard on the eyes, either. I’ve seen him in concert once, and he puts on a great show. He’s just the type of guy I would love to go and have hot wings and beer with on a Saturday afternoon. So, when I saw that GAC had a Brad Paisley quiz, I jumped at the chance to take it and see how well I knew one of my favorite country artists.

Are you a Brad Paisley fan? Go and take the quiz and see how much you really know about Brad. Without using any of the hints, I got a 7 out of 10 on the quiz, which is not too shabby. How well can you do? Go and get a little mud on your tires and see if you can be a Celebrity or if you really are so much cooler online. Tell me how you did in the comments section below.

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This year’s CMA Awards ceremony is shaping up to be full of great live performances. The show will be broadcast on Wednesday November 7th on ABC. Previously announced artists slated to perform include Brad Paisley (who leads the pack with 5 nominations this year), Sugarland, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, and the show’s hosts Brooks & Dunn.

Another huge announcement was made today about the CMA live performances. The Eagles, who have never performed live on an awards show, will reunite to play a song at the CMAs. Their current single “How Long” was released to country radio and has been well received by fans. While The Eagles have never performed live at the CMAs, they have had some previous success with the awards:

In 1993, Eagles drummer Don Henley was nominated for CMA Vocal Event of the Year with Trisha Yearwood for “Walkaway Joe,” which the two performed together during the 1992 CMA Awards. In 1994, Common Thread: The Songs of The Eagles won CMA Album of the Year. The project featured top Country artists performing Eagles’ hits including Clint Black, Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt, and Yearwood.

See all of these great artists on “Country Music’s Biggest Night” starting at 8:00 PM ET on Wednesday November 7th.

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