Billy Currington and his co-writers Brett Jones and Dallas Davidson were the guests of honor at a party at ASCAP on Monday to celebrate the #1 success of their song “That’s How Country Boys Roll.” While Billy has had several #1 songs, this is the first time he’s been a co-writer on one of them. This is the third single off of Billy’s Little Bit of Everything album, and it looks like it will be the last. When asked what was next Billy said, “Any artist hopes that you could put out every song on the album. But I was told we’re going to go ahead and move onto a new album. So, I went in and recorded a few songs the other day, like the next day. And so we’ll have them ready in a couple of weeks, so we’ll pick from that.” Billy didn’t write any of the songs he’s recorded so far, and he probably won’t write any of the songs on his new album. “I’ve been writing a lot, but I’ve been wanting to do an album of just songs of my favorite songwriters in Nashville, cause I’ve been stacked up with songs over the years that I haven’t recorded,” he told us. “And I feel like I could record eight albums right now full of songs but I only get ten songs, and I don’t know, I like a lot of other people’s songs better than mine at the moment.”
You may have heard of the guys who started the web site ahugfromtaylorswift.com, in an effort to get a hug from the singer. Taylor discovered the site and was so impressed with their efforts that she decided to give them a shot at getting a hug from her, if they could complete a series of challenges. Her first challenge was to help a little old lady across the street. Well the guys not only completed the challenge, but they did it in a huge way, enlisting the help of friends and stangers from around the country who
submitted videos to their web site showing them helping little old ladies everywhere cross the street. Taylor saw the video and she sent out a tweet that said, “Last week, I challenged these guys to help an old lady cross the street. Never expected this level of greatness!” You can see the video they put together here. The guys are currently awaiting their second challenge from Taylor in their quest to get a hug from her.
Sarah Palin has a new reality series coming to FOX News called Real American Stories, and according to The Washington Scene, Toby Keith will appear in the premiere episode, which will air tomorrow. They say the episode will also feature rapper and actor LL Cool J and former GE CEO Jack Welch.
Carrie Underwood recently sat down to talk to CBS news about her future acting projects and her future as a wife. Carrie says she’s looking forward to being a wife to Ottawa Senators hockey player Mike Fisher and attending as many of her husband’s games as she can. And although she’s not your typical hockey wife, Carrie says, “Hopefully, I’ll just be one of the wives.” She says the good thing is, the more she goes to Mike’s games the less people notice her. You can watch Carrie’s interview here.
After Taylor Swift won the top Album of the Year prize at this year’s Grammy Awards, some people went on the attack, saying she didn’t deserve it. Charlie Daniels absolutely disagrees with the criticism, and he took time to talk about it in a recent interview with Country Weekly. “I hear people criticize her and I think, ‘C’mon, leave her alone,’” says Charlie. “They say she can’t sing, well she can sing. Bob Dylan couldn’t sing. Leonard Cohen couldn’t sing. I mean, they can certainly sing in their own way, but you couldn’t compare them to [Italian tenor] Enrico Carusso. But they left us some of the greatest songs we’ll ever have.” Paying Taylor a serious compliment, Charlie says, “I have great admiration for Taylor Swift. I hold her in very high regard for a number of reasons. First she writes her own stuff, she writes about what she knows. She is a very, very decent young woman who is a much better role model than some of these that are held up to admiration. She’s always been very down to earth and very humble. I like people who can handle a certain degree of stardom without taking themselves too seriously.”
Charles Kelly and Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum both have tattoos on their right arms, Charles’ is on his inner forearm, and Hillary’s is on the inside of her left wrist. We asked them what the significance was of each tattoo. Charles’ says, “All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.” He explained that it’s from ‘Blackbird,’ a song by the Beatles, and he chose to get it because he says, “We had just had such an amazing year. All these things had started to happen and I had such an interesting journey. I felt like my whole life had been leading up to this.” Hillary has the number 14 on her wrist and she explained to us, “It is a special number to me. That is the age difference in me and my only sibling, me and my little sister. I want to be like her when I grow up; she’s very confident in who she is and her personality and she’s just amazing. And 14 is how old I was when I really felt called to sing and do this for a living, so it’s a constant reminder of being called to do this and the importance of that. Plus my little sister is with me all the time.” Although Dave Haywood didn’t have any visible tattoos when the conversation took place, they joked that he had one on his rear end.
Carrie Underwood’s new song “Temporary Home” has become her latest #1 song, and her 12th number one song of her career. Carrie co-wrote the song, which she describes as uplifiting. “It’s hopeful, and each person in each story, in each different place in their life, knows that things are going to be okay.” Carrie is the only American Idol winner ever to achieve 12 #1 songs. She will perform this morning on CBS’ The Early Show.
Alan Jackson is releasing his new album, Freight Train, today. When asked what fans can expect on this new album, Alan said, “I guess if somebody asked me about the album, it sounds like all the albums I’ve made in 20 years. It’s like a piece of a lot of ‘em. There’s some bluesy stuff, and there’s family stuff, and there’s, you know, it’s just…it’s like a mixture of all of my…what I’ve done.” He’ll celebrate the release with a performance this morning on NBC’s Today Show and tonight on The Late Show with David Letterman. While he’s in New York, Alan will also record an episode of the A&E show Private Sessions with Lynn Hoffman. The special will feature an extended interview with Alan, as well as performances of some of his classic songs and some material from his new album. The hour long episode will premiere on A&E on April 11th. And on April 16th Alan will receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony to unveil Alan’s star at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard will be open to the public.
Gretchen Wilson’s new album, I Got Your Country Right Here, is being released today on her own Redneck Records. Gretchen tells the Orange County Register, “My main focus was getting back to who I am. I took a left turn with my third album, and it was something that now I think I had to go through as a songwriter — I had some lessons I had to learn. I realized in the last couple of years that soft, pretty love songs … it’s not who I am and not what my fans want from me.” But she’s confident about this new album. “I think people will hear this and think I’ve made the perfect Gretchen Wilson record,” she says. “Every song is something I couldn’t live without. It’s the first record I’ve made where I don’t find myself skipping a track. It’s what my fans expect and it’s the record I really wanted to make now that my hands weren’t tied creatively.” Tomorrow morning Gretchen will be promoting her album with a performance on CBS’ The Early Show.
For the second year in a row, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton performed at a benefit concert in Tishomingo, OK, to raise money for the Tishomingo Animal Shelter and other organizations in the area, and this year they managed to raise nearly $70,000. Miranda’s MuttNation Foundation hosted the event, and in less than seven weeks, on May 15th, she will host her third annual “Cause for the Paws” Benefit in Tyler, TX to benefit The Humane Society of East Texas. For more information click here.