Blog Posts by Wendy Geller

Once upon a time, singer-songwriter Eric Church was a scared teenager who was worried that he'd gotten his girlfriend into a bit of "trouble." The experience--familiar, no doubt, to many--impacted him to eventually write the single "Two Pink Lines."

In the tune, the girlfriend says "Looks like we were lucky." In other words, the young couple weren't destined to be parents after all.

Well, how time changes things--Church announced this week that he and his wife, Katherine, got lucky. In other words, they are going to be parents after all!

"Katherine and I are very excited and are looking forward to becoming parents," Church, who's been married for three years, said. "This year has gotten off to an amazing start for us, and this news has made it so much better than we could have ever anticipated."

The new addition to the Church family is expected sometime in the fall. Congrats, Eric and Katherine!

Mr. Church is no doubt also pretty excited about his nomination for New Artist of the

The 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards are coming up quickly--April 3--and, while the show always guarantees a roster of top-notch performances, here's a little surprise that will make music fans extra excited to tune in.

According to Ryan Seacrest's official website (plus a tweet from the American Idol host himself), Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles will be performing with none other than pop/R&B sensation Rihanna at the ACMs. The pair will be singing Rihanna's "California King Bed," a tune off her latest album, Loud.

"Gonna be performing CKB wit my boo Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland!" Rihanna tweeted on Thursday. "I'm so bloody excited to be performing at the ACM's! What an honor..."

The duet will be part of the ACM's first-ever "Fan Jam," which will be hosted by Sugarland and will take place at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino both during and after the ACM Awards (taking place at the nearby MGM Grand Resort). The Fan Jam event will have live remotes into the ACM Awards

It's official: Alan Jackson, who left his longtime label home Arista back in January, has found a new place to make music. He announced Wednesday that he'll be joining Capitol/EMI Records Nashville.

Jackson, who spent 22 years on Arista--charting 35 No. 1 songs and selling nearly 60 million records during that time--said he's "happy to be joining the hottest label in Nashville."

His new home is indeed a hot place to hang one's hat--Jackson will be joining a star-packed roster including Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, and Dierks Bentley.

Jackson noted that he and Capitol Nashville President/CEO Mike Dungan go "way back," which should help make his transition smooth. "[Mike] was right there during my early days at Arista," Jackson explained. "It's going to be great to work with him and his team there at Capitol."

Indeed, the label exec was the GM for Arista during the beginning and successful launch of Jackson's career through the '90s. Dungan joined Capitol in 2000.

This past weekend in Austin, Texas, if you weren't at South By Southwest--you were probably hanging out at the Rodeo Austin, enjoying the fair, music, BBQ, and brave folks risking life and limb on the backs of two-ton animals.

And, of course, watching the Rodeo's "Battle Of The Bands" competition--a contest sponsored by Ram Trucks in search of finding the next new hot name in country music. (You may have read my interviews with the two finalist competitors here and here.)

So, wondering who won?

Well, I was there, I was one of the judges and helped determine the champion, and it was a hard decision. But before I get into all of that, let me take you on a little recap of Ram's Rodeo Austin weekend.

Saturday was spent at the Rodeo's fairgrounds, where I and my fellow Ram judges got to meet and hang out with the two finalists, Justine Blazer and the Natalie Turgeon Band. Let me tell you, there's no better icebreaker than a bit of old-fashioned BBQ, some nice loud live country music,

Reba McEntire is one of those entertainers who has solidified her place in country music so firmly that she's able to fool around confidently with other genres, as she's proved with her latest single--a cover of Beyoncé Knowles's "If I Were A Boy."

"To be doing different things now, than I did even five years ago--it's fun," she noted in November, upon the release of the album which housed the cover. And, it's been successful as well, as are most of McEntire's career calculations.

McEntire's version of the thoughtful pop tune--which takes a look at the differences between genders--has already been a hit at country radio; the brand-new video which debuted this week is a subdued study which takes a totally different approach than the original narrative clip.

In Knowles's video, an emotional black-and-white mini-movie is played out, with spoken-word dialogue and Knowles taking on the traditionally masculine role of a cop in uniform before switching back into feminine mode of dress and

Good news, finally, for those who are fans of the Cyrus family empire: Billy Ray Cyrus and wife Tish, who filed for divorce back in October, are apparently patching things up.

"I've dropped the divorce," Billy Ray said during an appearance on talk show The View, which aired Friday. "I want to put my family back together."

Billy Ray's relationship with his wife isn't the only fence he's mending. He told The View his relationship with daughter Miley--who caused waves in December by being caught on camera smoking pot --is improving as well.

"I feel like I got my Miley back in a way," he explained. "I feel like we are the daddy and daughter that we were before Hannah Montana happened."

The country star and actor additionally smoothed over some ragged feelings about his family's relationship with Disney (which is responsible, of course, for the Cyrus fame vehicle Hannah Montana).

Initially having blamed the hit TV show for wreaking havoc within his family, Billy Ray softened his words:

She's been notoriously private for many years, but Shania Twain is now finally ready to let fans take a good look at her life, story, and issues of the past decade. Her new docu-series Why Not? With Shania Twain will premiere May 8 on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

The show will take an intimate look at Twain's journey, starting from her difficult childhood and early loss of her parents; through her amazing rise to fame, painful divorce, and back to the present where she is rebuilding a happy life with new husband Frederic Thiebaud.

The program seems to intend to hold nothing back--a sneak-peek video on the OWN site offers a preview of what viewers can expect. Indeed, some of Twain's confessions are startling. In fact, she says she actually broke down to the point where she was no longer able to perform.

"I have lost my ability to express myself and my ability to sing," she relates in the clip. "For some reason I'm not comfortable singing in front of people anymore."

She

It's time to say goodbye to another country music legend in 2011. Ferlin Husky has passed away on St. Patrick's Day at the age of 85.

According to a report in the Tennessean, Husky, who suffered from congestive heart failure, died at his daughter's house in Westmoreland, Tennessee. He had a long history of heart issues, and was admitted to the hospital in critical condition early last week due to breathing problems.

Husky, who signed his first record deal in 1949 and charted nearly 50 singles from the '50s through the '70s, was consistently described as an innovator by peers and critics.

Born in Missouri, he moved to Bakersfield, California to become a DJ, and is credited with helping to build a country music scene in the state. His eventual foray into recording resulted in his long string of hits, including favorites "A Dear John Letter," "Gone," and "Wings of a Dove."

Additionally, Husky was one of the first country musicians to have a presence on television. A seasoned actor, he