ACM PERFORMERS & PRESENTERS 2012

Co-Hosts

Reba McEntire

Blake Shelton

Presenters

• Taylor Swift
• Lionel Richie
• Hunter Hayes
• Beth Behrs (the blonde 1/2 of "2 Broke Girls")
• Zac Brown
• Brantley Gilbert
• LL Cool J
• Scotty McCreery
• The Band Perry
• Sugarland
• Thompson Sqaure
• Liam Hemsworth (Played Gale in "The Hunger Games")
• KISS (yes the band)

Performers

• Blake Shelton w/ Lionel Richie - they'll sing "You Are"
• The Band Perry
• Lady Antebellum
• Rascal Flatts w/ Steve Martin - who will play banjo as they perform "Banjo"
• Chris Young
• Jason Aldean
• Miranda Lambert
• Luke Bryan
• Kenny Chesney & Tim McGraw - yes they'll perform together as a tease for their Brothers of the Sun tour
• Eric Church
• Toby Keith - a surprise guest will join him for "Red Solo Cup"

ACM NOMINATIONS 2012

You can vote for Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year - until the show starts at voteACM.com

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Jason Aldean
• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• Blake Shelton
• Taylor Swift

TOP FEMALE VOCALIST

• Sara Evans
• Miranda Lambert
• Martina McBride
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood

TOP MALE VOCALIST

• Jason Aldean
• KennyChesney
• Brad Paisley
• Blake Shelton
• Chris Young

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

• Love & Theft
• Montgomery Gentry
• Steel Magnolia
• Sugarland
• Thompson Square

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• The Band Perry
• Eli Young Band
• Lady Antebellum
• Rascal Flatts
• Zac Brown Band

NEW ARTIS TO THE YEAR SEMI-FINALISTS

(see previous post for details on this category)

• Brantley Gilbert
• Hunter Hayes
• JT Hodges
• Scotty McCreery
• Justin Moore
• David Nail
• Jerrod Niemann
• Thompson Square

SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR (award to Artists/Producers/Record Company)

• Crazy Girl - Eli Young Band
• Don't You Wanna Stay - Jason Aldean w/ Kelly Clarkson
• Red Solo Cup - Toby Keith
• Tomorrow - Chris Young
• You and Tequila - Kenny Chesney w/ Grace Potter

SONG OF THE YEAR (award to Composers/Publishers/Artists)

• Crazy Girl - Eli Young Band
• Home - Dierks Bentley
• Just a Kiss - Lady Antebellum
• Threaten Me With Heaven - Vince Gill
• You and Tequila - Kenny Chesney w/ Grace Potter

VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR

• Country Boy - Aaron Lewis f/ George Jones & Charlie Daniels
• Don't You Wanna Stay - Jason Aldean w/ Kelly Clarkson
• Old Alabama - Brad Paisley f/ Alabama
• Remind Me - Brad Paisley w/ Carrie Underwood
• You and Tequila - Kenny Chesney w/ Grace Potter

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• Chief - Eric Church
• Four the Record - Miranda Lambert
• Hemingway's Whiskey - Kenny Chesney
• My Kinda Party - Jason Aldean
• Own the Night - Lady Antebellum

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

• Homeboy - Eric Church
• Just a Kiss - Lady Antebellum
• Mean - Taylor Swift
• Red Solo Cup - Toby Keith
• Tattoos On This Town - Jason Aldean

POLLSTAR TOP TOURING ACTS LAST WEEK

Lots of country artists make the list. The results are based on average box office gross per city, and the average ticket price for each show. There's a full list here, but here's how our country favs fair.

#5 - Jason Aldean - $600,000

#6 - Brad Paisley - $586,000

#7 - Lady Antebellum - $389,000

#8 - Blake Shelton - (almost) $360,000

#10 - Miranda Lambert - $320,000

#11 - Eric Church - $254,000

ACM SPECIAL WINNERS

Yesterday the Academy announced it's special award winners.

• Kenny Chesney wins the Crystal Milestone Award for achievement in touring.
• Alan Jackson received the Jim Reeves International Award for his efforts promoting country music around the world.
• Vince Gill wins the Career Achievement ACM for continuing to advance country music in multiple areas.
• Dallas Davidson is the Songwriter of the Year. He has penned wonderful songs like the one I can't hear enough, "I Don't Want This Night To End," by Luke Bryan, and Lady Antebellum's "Just a Kiss."

These specialty and industry awards will be presented during the ACM Honors on September 24th in Nashville.

ERIC CHURCH SUES

(picture courtesy of blog.gactv.com)

Good for Eric! He's going after vendors who allegedly sell knock off merchandise. The Nashville Business Journal reports that various defendants are charged with traveling from show to show to sell the merchandise and "quickly hide or discard infringing goods and walk or run away" when approached by Eric's team.

If you go to a show be on the look-out for black t-shirts with Eric's image and his Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour dates. So far they've been sold at shows in Tennessee, Arkansas and Virginia. James Ellis Smith, Kenneth Hargrove, James B. Sweet, Steven Williams, various Jane and John Does and various XYZ corporations have been named as defendants.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee "without a federal court order authorizing the seizure of infringing goods at and near...2012 tour concert locations, (Church) will lose innumerable and irrecoverable sums of merchandise sales and will suffer incalculable, irreparable damage to his reputation and goodwill."

Eric is seeking judgment for compensatory and punitive damages. He also wants a permanent injunction prohibiting the manufacturing, marketing and sale of counterfeit merchandise.

Of all the nerve!

NEW SINGING SERIES

It's called Duets and we can catch it on ABC. I don't have a premiere date yet, but Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland will be part of the show. On a blog on the band's website she wrote, "This show will be a window into part of my creative process that I've never shared...That is a peek behind the curtain and, consequently, makes me a little nervous. It's new and different for me." She describes her perfect duet partner as, "...the yin to my yang. The ebony to my ivory. The Captain to my Tennille." Interested in trying this? check out SugarlandMusic.com for details if you want to audition. I do hear that Lionel Richie has signed on to the show as well.

ACM PERFORMERS & PRESENTERS 2012

As the announcements come in I will keep you updated so keep checking back.

The show is April 1st on CBS - and yes, I will be live blogging, facebooking and tweeting during the show.

Co-Hosts

Reba McEntire

Blake Shelton

Performers

• Blake Shelton
• The Band Perry
• Lady Antebellum
• Rascal Flatts
• Chris Young
• Jason Aldean
• Tim McGraw
• Miranda Lambert
• Luke Bryan
• Kenny Chesney
• Eric Church
• Toby Keith

ACM PRESENTS:LIONEL RICHIE AND FRIENDS

The concert will tape the day after the ACM's, April 2nd, and air on CBS, Friday, April 13th (Eep! Friday the 13th :p) on CBS.

It's going to be fun! Lionel Richie's album Tuskegee drops on March 27th and the special concert will feature artists singing these songs solo and as duets with Lionel.

Here are some of the performances (keep checking back as I'll be updating as info comes in).

• Jason Aldean - "Say You Say Me"
• The Band Perry - "Penny Lover"
• Luke Bryan - "Running With the Night"
• Sara Evans & Lady Antebellum - "Truly"
• Martina McBride - "Still"
• Jennifer Nettles (of Sugarland) - "Hello"
• Rascal Flatts - "Dancing On the Ceiling"

Lionel Richie will sing with...

• Kenny Chesney - "My Love"
• Tim McGraw - "Sail On"
• Kenny Rogers - "Lady"

*Sigh* - Just the titles bring back a flood of memories and emotions I can't even really explain. Isn't that one of the best things about music?

A NEW SINGING COMPETITION

Are you ready for another one? This one will be on the CW and Celebrity Apprentice winner John Rich will be one of the mentors, along with Queen Latifah and Gloria Estefan. They will look for "the best and brightest" to represent their hometowns. I guess they are still on the hunt for more mentors. That's all I know right now, but I'll keep you in the loop.

LEE BRICE'S NEW ALBUM

Just got word that Hard 2 Love will drop April 24th. Lee says he's pretty musically diverse so we can expect a lot of "different flavors," and the album will guve us more insight into what he's all about. He co-produced the album and co-wrote eight of the 13 songs. Jerrod Niemann, Eric Church and Billy Montana also lent their songwriting talents to the record.

Hard 2 Love tracks

1. Hard To Love
2. A Woman Like You
3. That's When You Know It's Over
4. Parking Lot Party
5. Don't Believe Everything You Think
6. I Drive Your Truck
7. See About a Girl
8. Friends We Won't Forget
9. Life Off My Years
10. Seven Days a Thousand Times
11. Beer
12. That Way Again
13. One More Day

ANOTHER NEW BABY

Congrats to Randy Houser and his wife Jessa Lee! Their first child, a boy, was born March 6th. He weighed 6 lbs, 11oz and was 19 inches long. No word on the baby's name yet. Randy just signed with Stoney Creed Records so we should have a new single from him in May.

SUGARLAND CONCERTS

This summer the show will be called the In the Hands of the Fans Tour and that's because they will be taking our requests! We can text, Facebook, tweet and callin our song requests. Jennifer Nettles says, "If it's on one of our records or if we've played it on stage it is fair game."

That is very, exciting news! And a great way to take advantage of the technology that we have.

Sugarland will be playing Country USA in Oshkosh on June 21st, Country Fest in Cadott on June 22nd, and if you feel like traveling, they'll play Chicago on June 23rd.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD'S NEW ALBUM

I told you before it drops May 1st. I now have the title for you and the album cover.

(photo courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment)

NEW BABIES

A couple of country stars have had little precious little baby girls.

Matt Kennon and his wife Tisha had daughter Shaynee Matisse Kennon on February 23rd. She came into the world weighing 7lbs., 2 oz. and was 20 inches long. Matt said, "I knew the second I saw her, I was a goner. A beautiful little girl has entered out lives.

Randy Montana and his wife Montgomery welcomed Sullivan Mae on Monday February 27th. She was 8lbs., 4 oz, and measured 19 1/2 inches long.

MAVERICKS NEWS

They will be giving us some new music! The Mavericks signed a record deal with Valory and will release an album late in 2012. It's the 20th anniversary of their debut self-titled album. They do plan to tour North America and Europe this summer - their first public performances since 2003.

I can't wait to get new music from The Mavericks and play it for you!

GOOGLE HELPS COUNTRY FANS

This is pretty cool. Google has added a new feature to their search page. We can just enter our fav artist and Google provides us with a list of upcoming tour dates in our area! We'll be able to see dates, the venue and links to where we can get tickets. Now that is awesome.

LADY ANTEBELLUM AT YOUR PROM

Junior, Senior, or for us graduates Reunion! WOOT!

Lady A is having a contest where you could win a 45 minutes concert at your prom. This was all inspired by their most awesome new single "Dancin' Away With My Heart" from their Own the Night album. When they wrote the song they were thinking of their proms.

If you would like to win Lady A at your prom (and the winner gets to meet the band before the show) record a video expressing why you want that to happen and upload it to YouTube and send the link to Contests@LadyAntebellum.com

It would be great if you would send that video my way as well - I would share it with lots and lots of people!