Country Music | Music Vixen Blog

Taylor Swift Nabs Top Honors at CMT Awards

Published June 17th, 2009 by Karen

ABOVE: A live performance of Taylor Swift’s hit “Love Story.” See the award-winning music video here.

Taylor Swift won the video of the year for “Love Story” at last night’s Country Music Television awards, underlining her own love affair with country music fans.

“I want to thank Shania Twain for always making such theatrical videos, and Garth Brooks for always putting the fans first. I take my cues from you,” Swift said Tuesday in accepting video of the year honors at Nashville’s Sommet Center.

Swift won the fan-voted award over Brad Paisley’s “Waitin’ on a Woman,” Trace Adkins’ “You’re Gonna Miss This,” Carrie Underwood’s “Just a Dream” and Sugarland’s “All I Want to Do.” Swift’s “Love Story” video is an elaborate production with period costumes that is based on the story of Romeo and Juliet.

Other CMT winners included Rascal Flatts for group video (”Every Day”) and the Zac Brown Band for breakthrough video (”Chicken Fried”).

Viewers cast more than 2.5 million votes to decide the four finalists in most categories. Fans could vote for their favorites for video of the year throughout the show.

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Keith Urban Protects Daughter From Spotlight

Published May 8th, 2009 by Wendy

photo credit: jeaneeem

Keith Urban is used to being stalked by the paparazzi, but he is going to go to great lengths to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to his infant daughter, according to an Associated Press report.

“I’m as protective of my family as any father and husband can be. It can be just a bit intrusive, you know,” Urban was quoted as saying. “It’s just a reality. I understand the society we live in. It’s a bit odd at times in that regard.”

Urban is married to Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, and they had their first child, Sunday Rose, last July. Urban said the couple, who live in Nashville, do “what we can to keep (Sunday Rose) safe, because she didn’t choose to come into this lifestyle.”

Urban is about to tour in support of his new album, “Defying Gravity,” which has yielded the number one hit single, “Sweet Girl.”

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Willie Nelson 2009 Tour Dates, Happy Birthday!

Published April 30th, 2009 by Karen

On this date, many years ago, a great musician was born.

No, not lame-o Chris Henderson of NASCAR rockers 3 Doors Down (although, this is his 38^th b-day, meh.).

We’re talking about the red-headed stranger himself: Willie Nelson.

Nelson is 76 today, and we’re not sure whether his longevity is attributable to his music, or if he’s just smoked like a ham. Either way, the man is hitting the road for a massive summer tour, including 22 shows at baseball parks alongside Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp.

At 76, he’s rocking the globe? We’re not nearly that old, and we can barely convince ourselves to get out of bed before noon. Keep it up, Willie.

Above, Willie takes a stab at Dave Matthews’s bummer of a song, “Gravedigger.” We think this was supposed to have the same heartbreaking impact as Johnny Cash doing Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” but Willie just kinda looks worried and confused through the whole thing…which is sad in a different way. Willie plays multiple characters in the video, including a priest, chauffeur, gravedigger and a corpse.

After the Jump: Willie Nelson 2009 Tour Dates.
Plus, a live version of a classic tune with Bob Dylan. Continue reading »

"DRM-free mp3's is a big upgrade for itunes. That was the main reason I didn't buy from them before. As far as paying for downloads go, I've used eMusic..."

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iTunes Raises (and Lowers) Prices, Makes Music DRM-free.

Published April 7th, 2009 by Karen

photo credit: JoshMcConnell

iTunes is the top online music store, but Apple has made a new move that may jeopardize its status: a price hike.

Actually, the new pricing system is going to be set by record labels, not iTunes. Labels can choose to sell their songs for $0.69, $0.99 or $1.29. On the plus side, labels will agree to sell the songs as DRM-free, meaning users can copy the songs and play them on multiple computers.

Of course, if you just buy a CD, you can copy it as many times as you want and play it anywhere. But we’re sort of old-fashioned that way.

We wonder which songs will get new prices. Will good songs cost more than bad songs? Will country music cost more than indie rock? Will Radiohead cost more than Phish or Slayer? Will Chris Brown cost less than Rihanna? Guess we’ll see…

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Will you pay $1.29 for iTunes?

"[...] Dunn wanted to step out on his own. TOUR: Sugarland Cancels Concerts after Nettles Injury AWARDS: 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards Winners MUSIC:..."

Brooks & Dunn Break Up Letter to Fans, New Album, Last Rodeo Tour | Music Vixen Blog

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Who is Jamey Johnson? 2009 ACM Winners Announced, in Vegas

Published April 6th, 2009 by Karen

photo credit: mandj98

Are we the only people in the world who’ve never heard of Jamey Johnson?

Apparently, yes. The singer-songwriter was one of the biggest winners at last night’s country music hoe-down thanks to his hit song, “In Color.”

Hosted by Reba McEntire (making pot jokes!), the show was held in Las Vegas, for some reason. (Maybe it was a comment on the cheesy, ultra-pop state of country music these days? Yeah, probably not.)

Among the night’s highlights/lowlights:

Not-very-country singer Miley Cyrus performed during the show, but didn’t throw a fit like she did after being “snubbed” by Radiohead after the Grammys.

Carrie Underwood performed twice and took home one of the night’s top honors. Thank goodness, we were tired of seeing Kenny Chesney win every year.

“Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” singer Trace Adkins reminded country fans that he loves America with a flag-waving performance of “Till the Last Shot’s Fired,” complete with a choral group from West Point. The whole thing was so exaggeratedly patriotic that it made Toby Keith look like a hippie.

So, country fans, did you favorite singer win big in Vegas? Find out with the complete rundown of the night’s winners (after the jump). Continue reading »

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Carrie Underwood Triumphs at ACMs

Published April 6th, 2009 by Wendy

photo credit: FredMikeRudy

Carrie Underwood took home top honors as entertainer of the year at last night’s 44^th Academy of Country Music Awards, scoring a big victory for the girls, according to a Reuters report.

According to the news service, Underwood became only the seventh woman in 39 years to win country entertainer of the year, ending Kenny Chesney’s run of four consecutive top entertainer awards. She also received the trophy for top female vocalist.

“I’ve had a lot of good moments in the past four years. This one takes the cake,” a teary-eyed Underwood, who performed twice during the show, said in accepting her entertainer of the year award.

With Underwood, 26, taking two top awards and two trophies going to Taylor Swift, 19, the awards show seemed to signal the changing of the guard in the country music world.

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Darius Rucker Feeling at Home in Country

Published March 25th, 2009 by Wendy

photo credit: Roy Montgomery

Now that he’s got a second number one country single, former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker is feeling a little more comfortable in his new genre, according to a Billboard.com report

“The acceptance has been really great, much more than I ever expected,” Rucker told Billboard, after spending a second week atop the Hot Country Songs chart with “It Won’t Be Like This For Long,” the second single from his 2008 album “Learn to Live.”

Rucker told Billboard that he credits his success to the fact that he’s been around the Nashville scene for awhile, and has already worked with such country talents as Nancy Griffith and Rodney Foster.

“It wasn’t that I was part of the scene, but I knew a lot of people that were,” said Rucker. “So I think when (’Learn to Live’) came out, it wasn’t like, ‘What’s this guy doing making a country record?!’ I already had some credibility there, and I really love the music.”

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Idol Boots Pink-haired Cowgirl After Country Music Night

Published March 19th, 2009 by Karen

photo credit: homero chapa

Following a pathetic night of contestants attempting to sing country music songs, American Idol eliminated another singer Wednesday night. (Why eliminate just one?)

Tension was high, sort of, as Alexis Grace, Michael Sarver and Allison Iraheta were announced as the bottom three contestants.

While the best part of 16-year-old Iraheta’s performance was probably her brightly colored hair, she and oil rig worker Sarver were spared this week. The pink-haired singer sent home was Grace, whose boring version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” got the lowest number of viewer votes.

In a new twist this season, the judges have the option of vetoing the viewers’ decision to send a contestant home.

However, after Grace gave a last-ditch performance last night, the judges decided not to save the 21-year-old single mother.

The show is now down to its Top 10 singers.

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American Idol Recap: Country Music Night Worse than Michael Jackson Night?

Published March 18th, 2009 by Karen

photo credit: Autumn Welles

In case you didn’t bother to Tivo last night’s episode of American Idol, we’ve got the highlights/lowlights from the show.

The theme of the night was country music, and the guest mentor was Randy Travis. (Remember him? He was popular in the ’80s…for some reason. “Forever and Ever, Amen“? No. Ok.) Why Travis was this week’s mentor is beyond us. With his nasal singing voice, Travis has one of the most limited singing ranges in country music.

However, since it was Grand Ol’ Opry night, the show was probably trying to gain a little credibility by bringing in an older, hopefully wiser, singer like Travis rather than a youngster like Taylor Swift.

We’re willing to bet that NONE of the contestants had any idea who this cowboy was.

The show featured a wide variety of country cover songs, some good, some bad, but most really, really bad. Of course, it was still better than the horror of last week’s Michael Jackson night.

The best part of 16-year-old Allison Iraheta’s performance was her hair, as always. Meanwhile, fellow rocker Adam Lambert dished out an oddly Arabian version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” The judges all went crazy over how weird and original Lambert’s interpretation was, but we can’t help thinking that it sounded remarkably similar to the version of the song performed by Dilana on RockStar: Supernova. (Yeah, we’re busting out the Supernova on you, deal with it.) Continue reading »

"Kenny Chesney is the best!!!! Thanks a bunch for the info, keep it coming. Best, Aaron"

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2008 CMA Winners Plus, New Free Taylor Swift Music and More

Published November 13th, 2008 by Karen

The 42 annual Country Music Awards were handed out last night in Nashville.

The night’s big winners included the usual suspects such as Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Kenny Chesney, as well as newcomers such as Lady Antebellum.

Kenny Chesney took home his fourth Entertainer of the Year award, tying Garth Brooks for the most number of wins in the category. During the show, Chesney performed a pair of songs alongside reggae group the Wailers.

George Strait set a new record for the CMAs after winning a total of 22 awards. The previous record of 19 was held by country duo Brooks and Dunn.

The show’s hosts, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, also won awards, including Paisley’s wins for Video of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year, and Underwood’s third Female Vocalist of the Year win.

Top country stars such as Keith Urban, Brooks and Dunn and Reba McIntyre also performed at the awards ceremony, as did some unusual acts such as Kid Rock and Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish).

Headline-making country starlet Taylor Swift also performed during the show. Swift offered a rendition of her song “Love Story” from her new album, Fearless.

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