Our Country
  • "American Idol" alum and "Dancing With The Stars" favorite Kellie Pickler received the surprise of a lifetime on Friday night when her drummer Gregg Lohman--who just two months ago was badly injured in a car accident--joined her unexpectedly onstage in Illinois.

    Picker and her crew were playing in Lohman's hometown of Effingham, and the singer knew he was in the audience with his family watching the show. What she didn't expect, however, was to find him sitting behind the drums all ready to go for her encore of "Red High Heels."

    Pickler embraces her drummer (Derek Hough/Instagram)

    "I cannot even describe how beautifully overwhelming last night's show was," Pickler described on her Facebook account. "When I hit the stage and saw that Gregg was now sitting behind his drum set I fell to pieces…For those who do not believe in miracles, we witnessed one last night."

    Read More »from Kellie Pickler Has Touching Reunion With Injured Drummer Onstage
  • Back in November, Grammy-winning duo (and famous Taylor Swift collaborators) the Civil Wars disappointed legions of fans by abruptly announcing a complete cancellation of their tour. While their fate seemed uncertain at the time, it now seems they're back on good ground--the band announced Wednesday that a new album is on the way.

    Joy Williams and John Paul White teased fans in March by tweeting "We will be sharing some good news with you on May 1st, 2013." True to form, they followed up on that date with the tweet "A new self-titled album will be released soon!"

    The pair shared a photo that appeared to be the album cover, and urged everyone to visit their official site for more details.

    Read More »from The Civil Wars are Back! Duo Announces New Album
  • Photo: Kevin WinterGrammy-nominated artist Hunter Hayes knows about "crazy"--the 21-year-old keeps nothing short of a crazy schedule all year long. When he's not out on the road, he's writing music--when he's not writing music, he's in the studio! "To go from one creative world to another, it's relaxing for me," he told us in December. "The cycle is weird and awesome, and I love it."

    One other "crazy" thing in his life is the debut of his new video for the single "I Want Crazy." Hayes fans have been waiting for this one, and it's well worth the patience. In this fun clip, Hayes gets rowdy with a girlfriend--jumping into a deserted indoor pool fully clothed, riling up the cops by throwing things off rooftops, rolling around in shopping carts. Ultimately, however, Hayes and his lady love realize the craziest thing of all is simply the wonder of being in love.

    Read More »from Get a Little ‘Crazy’ With New Video From Hunter Hayes
  • Toby and Krystal Keith perform together in 2004 (Photo: Frank Micelotta)Yes, she has a familiar-sounding name. Okay, okay--yes, she is the daughter of country megastar Toby Keith.

    However, even if one didn't know Krystal Keith's starry lineage, it would be hard to ignore her powerhouse vocals and unique style--one she's honed with her dad, both in the studio and part of his Show Dog label roster, but also one that is unquestionably her own product.

    Toby fans first became widely aware of his extraordinarily talented daughter when she blasted out the classic "Mockingbird" with him at the 2004 Country Music Association Awards. Just 19 at the time, she wowed the audience with her fiery stage presence and self-confidence.

    Keith, who released her first EP earlier this month, already has plans lined up for her full-length debut, Whiskey And Lace--which should be out this summer. The album includes three of her own compositions (also a few from her dad), including the touching "Daddy Dance With Me," which she wrote as a special present for the elder Keith on her wedding day.

    We had the

    Read More »from Yes, She’s Toby’s Daughter! But Krystal Keith Stands Out on Her Own Merit
  • Willie Nelson has taken his share of beatings through the decades: In his 80 years, he's been through three divorces, an allegedly unscrupulous accounting team, numerous brushes with the law, and a number of non-musical ventures yielding varying amounts of success.

    Through it all, there's been a constant companion that's shared the ups and downs, and visibly weathered a beating of its own--Nelson's beloved, battered guitar, which he calls "Trigger" (after Roy Rogers's famous horse) and has credited with giving him his signature sound.

    Trigger in 2007 (Photo: Frazer Harrison)

    Read More »from Willie Nelson Celebrates 80th Birthday With Old Friend by His Side
  • Zac Brown, beating the heat (?) with a beanie at Stagecoach [Kevin Winter/Getty]Florida Georgia Line began the Stagecoach Festival's final day by covering Nelly's "Hot in Herre," and the Zac Brown Band ended it with their usual rendition of Charlie Daniels'"The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Common thread, possibly: the fires of hell.

    Granted, these toasty songs would probably have been included in their respective artists' sets even if the thermometer hadn't topped out at 107 degrees (a record for any gathering held at the Indio, California, polo grounds, which also host rock's Coachella Festival). But few acts were able to resist commenting on the fieriness, either in or out of song.

    Read More »from Stagecoach Closes Out With Zac Brown, Darius Rucker, and…John C. Reilly
  • Photo: Frazer HarrisonAfter a dozen years of marriage, country singer Jason Aldean and his wife Jessica Ussery are officially finished as a couple. Aldean filed for divorce in Tennessee April 26, citing irreconcilable differences.

    It had been widely reported last week that the pair were merely separated and "having problems" as part of a "private family matter."

    Aldean made headlines last fall when he was caught on camera apparently making out with "American Idol" competitor Brittany Kerr. He admitted to the transgression and both he and his wife seemed committed to working on bridging the scandal together.

    Read More »from Jason Aldean Files for Divorce
  • Photo: Ethan MillerBlake Shelton's ode to undiluted country living, "Boys 'Round Here" is steadily climbing the charts just a month after its release--and it's easy to see (or hear, that is) why. According to Shelton himself, the tune is a perfect snapshot of his upbringing in small-town Oklahoma, as well as reminds him of current pals in his hometown of Tishomingo.

    That said, it may come as a surprise that the down-home song translates just as well when brought to the streets of New York City! Here's the very first look at Shelton performing it in a recording session at Electric Lady, the legendary studio founded by Jimi Hendrix in 1970.

    While this famous locale has hosted artists ranging from John Lennon to John Mayer over the decades, we're pretty sure this is the first time its hallowed walls have heard "Chew tobacco, chew tobacco, chew tobacco, spit!"

    "Boys 'Round Here" is from Shelton's recently released Based on a True Story… album. The studio version includes vocals from his wife, Miranda Lambert,

    Read More »from Take a First Look at Blake Shelton’s Live NYC Performance of ‘Boys ‘Round Here’
  • When Lady Antebellum closed out Day 2 of the Stagecoach Festival, they namechecked all the performers who'd preceded them on the "Mane Stage" Saturday, from Dierks Bentley on down to early-afternoon opener Jana Kramer. They didn't mention anyone who'd played over in the tents, where some of the real action was.

    Ashton Kutcher greets fans in a less eventful Stagecoach moment [Frazer Harrison/Getty]We don't just mean musical action, either. It was over yonder at the alt-country-oriented Mustang Stage where actor Ashton Kutcher spent much of the day hanging out, and where he got into a significant tussle with security guards while waiting for Dwight Yoakam to take the stage, according to a TMZ report. A little bit earlier, Kutcher had taken his own photo of the little-known band the Lone Bellow and tweeted to his 14 million followers that they were "the next thing in country music." But some time after that, he reportedly went from his backstage perch to greet a fan, security tried to intervene, shoving ensued, and a guard supposedly tried to have him thrown out.

    Read More »from Ashton Kutcher Sightings (and Fightings?) Spice Up Stagecoach, Day 2
  • George Jones died the same day that the West Coast's most prominent country music festival, Stagecoach, began. And while it would hardly be accurate to say that Jones's passing cast a huge pall over the rowdy, beer-fueled proceedings, a couple of the opening-day performers did attempt to play Possum, as it were.

    Toby Keith and his red Solo cup salute George Jones [Christopher Polk/Getty Images]Friday's headliner, Toby Keith, honored Jones's death "at 81 party-ass, no-show years old!"--with his indelicate choice of eulogistic language perhaps influenced by his being "hammered," as he put it. Keith urged the mostly twentysomething festival attendees to spend "24 or 48 hours on your way out of here" compiling their own Jones playlists, and cited "how important he was to our industry, because none of us would be here today if we didn’t have four or five cats like George Jones starting it for us."

    Read More »from Toby Keith, Trace Adkins Salute George Jones at Stagecoach

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News for You

  • Germans blame euro zone crisis for Eurovision debacle

    BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win any points from 34 of the 39 countries voting. Denmark's Emmelie de Forest won the event, watched by around 125 million people across Europe, with 281 points while German act Cascada was 21st out of 26 countries, getting just 18 points from Austria, Israel, Spain, Albania and Switzerland. ...

  • OJ Simpson lawyers say he is closer to freedom

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — The latest high-stakes court hearing for O.J. Simpson in the glitzy capital of big gambles has come to a close with the former football star's defense team feeling confident that their client is closer to getting out of prison.

  • Dior presents cruise fashions amid stars in Monaco

    MONACO (AP) — The glittering star power of Cannes migrated up the coast to Monaco for front-row seats at Dior's colorful, sexy cruise fashion show.

  • 'Trek' does $70.6M but falls short of studio hopes

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Star Trek: Into Darkness" has warped its way to a $70.6 million domestic launch from Friday to Sunday, though it's not setting any light-speed records with a debut that's lower than the studio's expectations.

  • 'Star Trek' sequel tops weekend box office in North America

    By Lisa Richwine and Andrea Burzynski (Reuters) - "Star Trek Into Darkness," the newest installment in the classic intergalactic franchise, blasted to the top of movie box office charts with $70.6 million in weekend ticket sales at theaters in the United States and Canada. The new 3D voyage for Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise knocked mighty "Iron Man 3" into second place, while the Marvel superhero sequel grabbed $35.2 million. Jazz Age drama "The Great Gatsby" finished third with $23.4 million, according to studio estimates. ...

  • Denmark's de Forest wins Eurovision song contest

    MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Denmark's Emmelie de Forest has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune "Only Teardrops," despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

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