SINGER/SONGWRITER JOSH KELLEY SIGNS WITH UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP NASHVILLE

Nashville, TN (November 19, 2009) - Singer/songwriter Josh Kelley goes back to his Georgia roots and joins the Universal Music Group Nashville family. Kelley signed with the label in September and is currently in the studio recording his forthcoming album, slated for release in 2010.

“Universal is a perfect home for me and my music,” said Kelley. “They have an awesome track record of allowing artists to be who they really are, and have already been so supportive of my new music. I’m stoked to be part of such a talented group of artists and staff.”

Prior to marrying his wife, actress Katherine Heigl, Kelley made his home in Nashville. He happily returns for this project and is eager to share new music with his fans.

“I could not be more excited about adding Josh to our UMG family,” said UMG Nashville’s VP A&R Brian Wright. “The creativity in his lyrics and passion to be the best artist he can be is second to none. Josh is an artist who sings from his soul and it makes you listen to every word of every song. I can’t wait for the rest of the world to hear this record.”

Check out what Entertainment Weekly had to say about Kelley’s turn at country music here!:

For More information regarding Josh Kelley please visit www.joshkelley.com or www.myspace.com/joshkelley

Press Contact:

Cassie McConnellKelley

Prima PR

615-300-4256

clmcconnell225@gmail.com

Kelly Russell

UMG Nashville

615-524-7552

Kelly.russell@umusic.com

Jamey Johnson Goes From ‘Lonesome’ to Loved:

Jamey Johnson has been one of country music's hottest singers in 2009 and Huntsvillians will get a chance to see why Wednesday night.

Last week, Johnson - who is performing with Randy Houser at the Von Braun Center Concert Hall - picked up his second Country Music Association Song of the Year Award for "In Color," co-written with James Otto and Lee Thomas Miller. He won the CMA's Song of the Year in 2007 for George Strait's "Give It Away" with Bill Anderson and Buddy Cannon.

"I never thought y'all would even let me come to stuff like this," the scruffy-bearded Johnson said during the show. "Thank you for listening to my music and letting me do what I do."

He also was nominated for CMA's New Artist and Music Video of the Year.

The big win comes on the heels of his nominations for five Academy of Country Music Awards in February, winning Song of the Year for "In Color." In 2008, he was nominated for three Grammy Awards for the album "Lonesome Song," which became Johnson's first gold record (selling over 500,000 copies).

Prior to this year's big win, Johnson had been primarily known for the hits he'd written for others. Besides Strait's song, he also co-wrote Trace Adkins' "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" and "Ladies Love Country Boys."

"It takes all kinds to make life and make country music," Johnson said. "Ask my little sister, who's going through a divorce now. There are people who never want to hear another song like 'Badonkadonk.' And there are people who know that's exactly what they want to hear."

Johnson grew up in Montgomery and got his voice training in church. He got inspiration from Hank Williams Sr., often playing at his grave site in Montgomery after drinking a few beers. He had to follow the straight and narrow path when he spent eight years in the Marines, but the biker beard and rebel attitude were back when he got a Nashville deal in 2005.

"Think about my life: I got right out of high school, then it was eight years in the Marine Corps," Johnson said. "I never got to go through that college experience where most kids get to go buck wild. Then I opened a construction company, got married and had a daughter.

"I've had responsibility galore on me for years, so when I got that record deal, that was my party. Me and my friends would go take over a bar. We were just as wild as hell and having the time of our lives."

Things backfired for the party boy. He got a divorce and lost his label, but after he hit rock bottom, he quit drinking and started writing again. The result was "Lonesome Song."

"The thing that really carried me through all of that was the writing success," Johnson said. "Trace Adkins and George Strait kept money in my bank account and kept my name out there."

http://www.al.com/music/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1258625773269030.xml&coll=1

Lee Ann Womack's 'God' Makes Me Believe:

I'm not an uber-traditional Catholic. I don't carry a rosary everywhere I go. I still eat meat on Fridays. And when my friend brings home a new Cadillac Escalade, I will definitely covet my neighbor's goods. But then I hear a song like Lee Ann Womack's "There Is a God," and I am so moved, I think maybe I'm more of a believer than I realized.

There have been songs before that shed light on believing, like Brooks & Dunn's "Believe," George Strait's "I Saw God Today," Dierks Bentley's "Better Believer" and "Prodigal Son's Prayer," Josh Turner's "Me and God" and Brad Paisley's "When I Get Where I'm Going." But until this song came on the radio last week, I never had the feeling of faith that I have right now.

When Trent Willmon did this "There Is a God" song, it was good. But for me, there was something missing in his vocal. Womack's sweet lilting voice seems so much better suited to this story of finding proof of God everywhere around us. It literally sounds like she is in awe of Him. From the long list of reasons why we know He exists -- from 100-year-old trees to a baby's heartbeat on an ultrasound to cancer that miraculously disappears -- the message in Womack's delivery will strike a nerve with anyone who has ever had doubts about a higher power.

She even uses the bridge to denounce Darwin and his theories on evolution with "Science says it's all just circumstance/Like this whole world's just an accident/But if you want to shoot that theory down/Look around." Then she asks the simple questions of the chorus, "There is a God. How much proof do you need?"

Lee Ann Womack's 'God' Song Makes Me Believe:

I'm not an uber-traditional Catholic. I don't carry a rosary everywhere I go. I still eat meat on Fridays. And when my friend brings home a new Cadillac Escalade, I will definitely covet my neighbor's goods. But then I hear a song like Lee Ann Womack's "There Is a God," and I am so moved, I think maybe I'm more of a believer than I realized.

There have been songs before that shed light on believing, like Brooks & Dunn's "Believe," George Strait's "I Saw God Today," Dierks Bentley's "Better Believer" and "Prodigal Son's Prayer," Josh Turner's "Me and God" and Brad Paisley's "When I Get Where I'm Going." But until this song came on the radio last week, I never had the feeling of faith that I have right now.

When Trent Willmon did this "There Is a God" song, it was good. But for me, there was something missing in his vocal. Womack's sweet lilting voice seems so much better suited to this story of finding proof of God everywhere around us. It literally sounds like she is in awe of Him. From the long list of reasons why we know He exists -- from 100-year-old trees to a baby's heartbeat on an ultrasound to cancer that miraculously disappears -- the message in Womack's delivery will strike a nerve with anyone who has ever had doubts about a higher power.

She even uses the bridge to denounce Darwin and his theories on evolution with "Science says it's all just circumstance/Like this whole world's just an accident/But if you want to shoot that theory down/Look around." Then she asks the simple questions of the chorus, "There is a God. How much proof do you need?"

For the fourth consecutive year, the Academy of Country Music will host the Academy of Country Music Stage at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) held in Las Vegas from Thursday, December 3rd through Saturday, December 12th. New country artists, including David Nail, will take the Academy of Country Music Stage in the Cowboy Corral, a special area created by Las Vegas Events, to entertain NFR fans inside the Cox Pavilion at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The event is free to NFR fans and open to all ticket holders.

The Academy of Country Music Stage will include performances from David Nail, Ash Bowers, Easton Corbin, Halfway to Hazard, LoCash Cowboys, Sean Patrick McGraw, Heidi Newfield, Joe Nichols, Sunny Sweeney, and Josh Thompson. Doors will open at the Cowboy Corral at 5:00 PM/PST expect on Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6 when they open at 4:00 PM/PST. Music performances on the Academy of Country Music Stage begin at 5:45 PM/PST expect on Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6 when they begin at 4:45 PM/PST. Rodeo performances begin at 6:45 PM/PST expect on Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6 when they start at 5:45PM/PST.

“The Academy of Country Music is excited to kick off the 10 nights of music with ACM award winner, Heidi Newfield and close with ACM award winner Joe Nichols.” said Michelle Goble, Director, Membership and Events for the Academy of Country Music. “NFR is a great stage to showcase a wide variety of acts which include Texas touring bands, newcomers and established artists.”

The Academy of Country Music Stage artist line-up is as follows:

Thursday, December, 3, 2009 – Heidi Newfield, 5:45pm & 9:00pm

Friday, December 4, 2009 – David Nail, 5:45pm & 9:00pm

Saturday, December 5, 2009 – Sunny Sweeney, 4:45pm & 8:00pm

Sunday, December 6, 2009 – Easton Corbin, 4:45pm & 8:00pm

Monday, December 7, 2009 – Josh Thompson, 5:45pm & 9:00pm

Tuesday, December 8, 2009 – Halfway to Hazard, 5:45pm & 9:00pm

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 – LoCash Cowboys, 5:45pm & 9:00pm

Thursday, December 10, 2009 – Ash Bowers, 5:45pm & 9:00pm

Friday, December 11, 2009 – Sean Patrick McGraw, 5:45pm & 9:00pm

Saturday, December 12, 2009 – Joe Nichols, 5:45pm & 9:00pm

Specific dates and times on additional entertainers during the Wrangler NFR can be found at www.NFRexperience.com. Additional information about Las Vegas can be found at www.visitlasvegas.com.

SINGER/SONGWRITER JAMEY JOHNSON WINS BIG AT THE 43^rd ANNUAL CMA AWARDS AND ON BILLBOARD’S TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS CHART

Nashville, TN…..Sales of Jamey Johnson’s critically acclaimed, That Lonesome Song, jumped 286% after winning CMA Song of the Year for “In Color” and performing “Between Jennings & Jones” with Kid Rock. This makes Johnson the CMA performer with the biggest album sales percentage increase of the week on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. Johnson’s performance impacted his overall album sales and significantly increased digital sales of “Between Jennings & Jones” and the award-winning “In Color.”

“Playing live is where it’s at for me,” says Johnson. “Even though ‘Jennings and Jones’ wasn’t a single, it’s really cool that people responded to our CMA performance by going out and laying their hard earned money down. I’ve swung a hammer for seven bucks an hour so I appreciate every single person who supports country music.”

Johnson is also celebrating the fact that his name is among legendary songwriters who have collected two or more CMA Song of the Year awards. The list includes Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Bobby Braddock, Curly Putman, Don Schlitz, Paul Overstreet and Max D. Barnes. “Winning CMA Song of the Year for ‘Give It Away’ was an incredible moment for me and Bill and Buddy,” says Johnson of the 2006 win. “Then hearing my name called three years later for “In Color” with two more of my friends, James Otto and Lee Thomas Miller, was very humbling. When someone showed me the list of songwriters who have won two CMA Song of the Year awards, I was floored that my name was next to those legends.”

Johnson is currently in the recording studio working on a new album and headlining the CMT tour with Randy Houser through the end of the year.

Singer Lee Ann Womack to perform for troops at Schofield Barracks

Country music artist Lee Ann Womack plans to perform for troops and their families at Schofield Barracks on Thursday. Visiting Oahu as part of "A Tropic Homecoming," sponsored by the USO, Womack will welcome home more than 3,500 troops returning from a year-long deployment in Iraq. The concert will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Sills Airfield.

A big supporter of the U.S. military, Womack has traveled across the globe to entertain service members for years, visiting and performing in Germany, Kuwait and Iraq. In June 2006, she performed a USO concert in Vincenza, Italy, with rappers Master P and Lil' Romeo.

"The troops have a special place in my heart," Womack said. "Working with the USO to welcome home these brave men and women is a great opportunity for me to show them how much I appreciate their great sacrifice."

The concert wraps up a day of events welcoming home troops assigned to the 25th Infantry Division Headquarters, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 84th Engineering Battalion and 8th Military Police Brigade. In addition to the concert, activities planned for the day include hay rides, moon bounces, a pie-eating contest and a car giveaway. A USO tent will also be on site to distribute food and other resources to military families.

CMA Nominees Johnson, Houser play Saenger Thursday:

Last week, Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser appeared at the Country Music Association Awards. Tomorrow they appear at the Mobile Saenger Theatre.

Houser had a stint at the microphone, during which he directed the cameras to the place in the crowd where the kid who stole the show in his “Boots On” video was sitting. Johnson did a duet with Kid Rock on “Between Jennings and Jones.” (And yes, true to its title, Johnson’s new-old-school approach did kind of split the difference between Waylon and George.)

Johnson had two CMA nominations and Houser had two; both men were nominees for best new artist of the year. Johnson won the song of the year award for “In Color,” his second time to win the category.

This week finds them back on the ground, burning up the road on the CMT Tour. It’s a roadshow whose previous stars include Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Sugarland, Jason Aldean and Trace Adkins — in other words, an impressive array of top-tier talent.

Johnson and Houser seem poised to meet that standard.

Johnson’s charting singles include “The Dollar,” “High Cost of Living” and the Top 10 ballad “In Color.” Before Houser scored with “Anything Goes” and “Boots On,” he wrote “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” for Adkins.

Houser said he and headliner Johnson both bring a no-nonsense approach to this tour.

“I’m pretty sure most people are going to come to see Jamey, and then they’re going to get to know me by accident,” he said.

“We’re just kinda bringing our band of country music,” he said. “it’s something we’ve done together for a long time and we’ve been wanting to tour together for a long time.”

Houser said listeners can expect a show long on songs and short on frills.

“Don’t expect a big light show and all that stuff,” he said. “We’re songwriters, and we come to play music. And we’re not running around on stage and having choreographed moves and all that. It’s not like a typical country show where you see all that crap. We’re songwriters and we’re coming to play songs. That’s what we do.”

“I think that people will find it refreshing, that it’s not the same old thing,” he said.

For his part, Houser said, they can expect to get a better sense of who he is than they might have gotten from his first album.

“I’m doing a lot of new stuff, actually. I’m getting ready to make a new album, so I’ve been playing lots of new stuff,” he said. “It’s constantly changing because I’m trying out new songs I’ve written and just kinda seeing what the reactions are.”

One other tip: These guys have played a lot of clubs together, and they’re not going to act like strangers on Thursday.

“They can expect us to play together for a while at the end,” Houser said.

The bottom line: he just wants folks to have a good time.

“The crowd makes or breaks the show,” he said. “I hope they get drunk and hope they get home.”

People Country Special 2009:

Star Decorating

Tips from Josh Turner’s home that you can use this holiday season

1. Coordinate colors: “Don’t throw everything on the tree,” says Keely Anderson, who has advised Josh and Jennifer on their home décor in Nashville with her business partner Karey Morgan. “Pick a color scheme.”

2. Take on tradition: “If you pick red and green,” Morgan says, “make it a lime green. Spice it up.”

3. Size matters: “Differently scaled items help,” says Morgan, “Your eye should travel throughout the tree. One trick to help create lines? “Use floral, ribbon and ornaments all the way up to the top.”

4. Branch out: “The tree is three dimensional, so don’t hang everything on the outside,” says Anderson. “Put items that reflect light inside. You’ll get color throughout.”

This past weekend MCA recording artist, David Nail helped raise money at the “Shake The Lake” country concert at Joe’s Bar in Chicago. Greg Olsen, the Chicago Bears' tight end, was host to the concert which raised over $50,000 to benefit the Greg Olsen Foundation -- Receptions for Research (receptionsforresearch.org) a non-profit organization committed to raising funds for various types of cancer research.

Nail donated his time and merchandise sales to the foundation and Joe’s Bar contributed all bar sales. Big ticket items such as Chicago Bears’ Jay Cutler and Olsen football cleats and guitars autographed by Miranda Lambert, George Jones and Sugarland were auctioned off.

Nail will ring in the holiday season with 1050 ESPN Radio’s 6^th Annual MIKE & MIKE In The Morning Holiday Broadcast. The event will air LIVE on ESPN2 and the 240+ ESPN radio stations on December 2^nd from 6-10am EST from the Hard Rock Café New York. The show is open to the public and will feature a silent auction, celebrity appearances, Knicks tickets sold at a discounted rate as well as a live performance and on-air involvement from Nail.

Proceeds from the silent auction and Knicks tickets will benefit the Marty Lyons Foundation which provides and arranges special wish requests from children ages 3-17 that have been diagnosed with a terminal or life threatening illness.

Nails current hit single “Red Light” continues climbing up the charts breaking into the Top 10 this week.

TNT is going to ring in the holidays in musical style with its annual presentation of CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON, premiering Sunday, Dec. 20, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT). Mary J. Blige, Neil Diamond, Sugarland, Rob Thomas and Usher are scheduled to join host George Lopez in TNT’s spectacular holiday celebration.

“We take pride in presenting CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON each year as we bring together musical artists from a variety of genres for a fantastic holiday concert,” said Michael Wright, executive vice president/head of programming for TNT, TBS and TCM. “This year, we’re especially thrilled to welcome a lineup of top-name performers and an equally amazing host, George Lopez. Together, they will make this a holiday celebration to remember.”

Annually attended by the President and First Lady and other Washington VIPs, CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON is a holiday musical celebration benefiting the National Children’s Medical Center. The show will be taped at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Sunday, Dec. 13. TNT’s Dec. 20 premiere telecast will be the network’s 11^th presentation of CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON, which is in its 28^th year overall. The event will be followed at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) by the network television premiere of the film The Nativity Story (2006), starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

Sugarland, the country duo comprised of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, has sold more than 8 million records since exploding onto the music scene in 2004 with Twice the Speed of Life (“Baby Girl”/“Something More”). Enjoy the Ride (“Want To”/“Settlin’”/“Stay”) quickly followed in 2006, and their third studio album, Love On The Inside (“It Happens”/“Love”/“All I Want To Do”/“Already Gone”) in July 2008, which skyrocketed them to superstardom and drew fans from all genres and critics abroad. Sugarland is credited with co-writing all tracks from all three albums and co-producing the last two. In August 2009, the duo offered thanks to their loyal fans with Live On The Inside, a CD/DVD set of live tracks, covers and footage from their tour. They have performed in six European countries and toured and headlined shows tirelessly. They’ve received trophies from the Grammys, American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music, CMT Music Awards and the Country Music Association. Nettles has performed for the Obama Presidential celebration, and the duo performed on Oprah. Their latest album is Gold And Green, a 10-track holiday collection consisting of half standards and half originals, all of which Nettles and Bush co-wrote and co-produced.

Three hours and change went by in a flash in a seamless concert package that expertly featured three complementary acts. If you’re looking for bang for the buck, you can’t do much better.

Headliner Gary gets the benefit of two opening acts that can certainly raise the roof as well as the testerone level, which seems to be the fundamental idea. But the three acts managed to enhance rather than conflict with each other.

Texas-based EYB, best known for “Always the Love Songs,” kicked things off with a 25-minute set that included their big hit and current single, “Guinevere.” The guys play it loud, hard and good, with a confident attitude and, best of all, don’t make the annoying opening act mistake of trying too hard to “whip you into a frenzy.” The music speaks well enough, thanks. The set seemed to lean too heavily toward mid-tempo tunes, but was otherwise solid.

Jack Ingram is the true revelation of the evening. He commands the stage the minute he walks out, looking dapper and cool in a black jacket and pressed pants (you wish more stars would dress, you know, like a “star” instead of looking like they woke up an hour before show time). Jack’s set was extremely well-paced, mixing some easygoing, humorous banter with hits like “That’s a Man,“ “Love You” and “Barefoot and Crazy,” which he actually performed sans shoes. For his current single, “Seeing Stars,” Jack brought out his duet partner, the incomparable Patty Griffin (probably shouldn’t expect that at every tour stop, though). Jack’s band, featuring ace guitarist Jedd Hughes and a drummer who resembles something out of That Thing You Do, can definitely kick it as well.

Gary Allan drew screams and standing applause as soon as his name was announced. His set kicked off with “Get off on the Pain,” the title track to his upcoming new album. He then launched into a sea of hits that included “Best I Ever Had,” “Life Ain’t Always Beautiful,” his debut single “Your Man” and more, all punctuated by the trademark raspy voice. You’re reminded of just how many hits he’s accumulated over the years while remaining vastly under appreciated by the industry.

Fans got a couple of bonus treats when Gary brought out his daughter Dallas to play keyboards on “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and welcomed Jack Ingram for “All Right Guy.” The perfectly executed guitar intros helped fans identify the songs immediately, even before Gary sang the first note, and the crowd proved more than eager to sing along. Gary brought it all home with an electrifying stage presence and a don’t-stop-till-you-get-enough energy level. And for an artist who’s often identified more with emotional angst and personal pain, he’s surprisingly warm onstage.

Nailed It!

Eight years after his first single briefly cracked the charts, an older and wiser David Nail has finally released his first album. This time he means business, finds, Douglas McPherson.

He’s from Missouri, and lives in Nashville, but David Nail describes his sound as California Country. “Musically, it’s smoother, kinda easy listening. But lyrically it’s maybe a tad darker than some of the music that’s out now.”

The smoothness and the darkness are epitomized by the opening and closing tracks on Nail’s debut album, I’m About To Come Alive.

The opener, Mississippi, rolls along on a prominent and striking piano line by Chuck Leavell. Right up to the chorus, in fact, it’s just Nail and the piano. The song is about a Southern man, in a snowbound New York, feeling the pull of the Delta, and until the band kicks in for the chorus, the track sounds more like a Billy Joel record than your typical Nashville tune.

The movie, Ray, about Ray Charles, had just come out when we started making the record,” Nail explains. I sat down with the producer, Frank Liddell. He asked me what kind of instrumentation I was feeling, and I just said, “Man, I hear a lot of piano. I feel like I want the piano to play a really important role, and be kind the backbone.”

“Frank knew the perfect guy in Chuck Leavell, who is arguably one of the best known piano players in the world. He was one of the original members of the Allman Brothers Band, he toured with the Stones. Once we got in the studio and he began to play, it really set the tone for what we were hoping to accomplish.”

If Mississippi exemplifies the pop edge of Nail’s ‘California Country,’ the darkness at the heart of his lyrics is now here better represented than in the closing song, Missouri.

The latter is the only song Nail wrote entirely on his own, and its deeply personal nature is self-evident.

“November’s almost over

The chill of winter’s on the way

Still I sit here on this balcony

And smoke my brain away…”

“I was between record deals and I had been going through a fairly deep depression,” says Nail. “My personal life was not too successful, and neither was my professional life. They were both, I guess, affecting each other and I had really run out of inspiration. I was back home in Missouri, at my folks’ house visiting, and I was just lying awake one night. I was in a pretty bad relationship and it was one of those things where I had realized it had reached it’s peak. It was more or less my plea that she would see that the end was a lot closer than it appeared, and maybe she would leave me instead of me having to play the bad guy and do it.”

The unflinching lyric makes it clear that Nail was to blame for the relationship’s breakdown.

“You’re waiting for the phone to ring,

Wondering which David it will be…”

I think at that point in my life everybody wondered which David are we gonna see tonight? Is it gonna be the fun, energetic, excited David who’s always laughing and joking? Or is it gonna be the depressed David who has no interest in having fun or looking at the good side of life? And moer times than not, it was the latter.”

Nail admits, “The song shows a very unflattering side of me, and a lot of people questioned why I was so adamant about putting it on this record. But it just serves as a reminder of the personal struggles that I’ve overcome, and how far I’ve come from that period of my life where my personal relationships couldn’t get any worse, to now where I’m having a little bit of professional success and I’m newly married in a really great relationship. I find it very rewarding to look back on that song and see how far I’ve come.”

Born in Kennett, Missouri, Nail got his talent and passion from music from his father, who was a high school band teacher. “My father was a huge Beatles fan. A huge British invasion guy: Hermans Hermits, The Dave Clark Five. I grew up listening to all that stuff, and a lot of Motown records and classic rock. Very early on, I fell in love with Elton John, Stevie Wonder and the Commodores. It was music a lot of 10 year olds weren’t listening to. But I guess I was old enough, even then, to realize why I was interested in music from 20 and 30 years before I was born, and maybe that was what was gonna set me apart later in life.”

The Beatles, Ellton, Stevie…The pop influence certainly shows in Nail’s music. But surely he listened to some country music too? That came with the country boom, led by Garth Brooks, in the early 90’s.

I often say I became a country fan along with everybody else in the world. The only difference was, it was 1992..and I began to wonder what was popular in 1982 or 72 and 62. I guess I researched it a little more than a lot of people. I went back and listened to a lot of those old records, and that’s where I found a guy called Glen Campbell who, to this day, is my favorite artist of all time.

“If you listen to those records from that time period, Glen is completely uniqure from everything else. He was such an admired musician as well as a singer and a performer. As far as being a well rounded artist, he was about as good as it got.

Although som e of the material on Nail’s album has the feel of a confessional singer-songwriter, it’s also a mainstream country project with a typically heavy reliance on outside songs. Some if its consistency perhaps comes from the fact that five of the 11 tracks were co-written by the same man: Scooter Carusoe, either with Nail or other writers.

“Scooter is one of my publishers as well as a very close friend of mine, and he’s probably become my mentor as a writer,” Nail explains. “Scooter is a guy who came to town and worked in various parts of the business, and I think there were a lot of people who were unware that he was creative himself. But he began writing in his downtime, I guess. Then, as the years went by, he began looking into the possibility of coming out of the closet as a writer, and letting people know that was the reason he came to town.

“I think he’s just brilliant. He has such a picturesque way of writing. When we get together, you’ll often hear me say ‘Find the Scooterism’ because he has lots of unique ways of describing something very normal and familiar. It makes for a very inspiring writing session.”

Even when he wasn’t a co-writer on a song, Nail says, “I found myself gravitating towards a lot of Scooter’s songs because they were things that I wanted to say. Rather than go, ‘I’ve got to write that song,’ and try to paraphrase it to make it pertain to my life, I just chose to record his version.

A perfect example of Scooter’s original outlook is Strangers On A Train. Co-written with Aimee Mayo, the lyric finds the narrator making eye contact with a girl on the train. He’s already spoken for, so nothing happens—they don’t even speak. But he comes away wondering ‘what if…’ I think the coolest thing aboutthat is, if we’re being honest with each other, we’ve all been in that situation. When I first heard the demo, I immediately began to think of what the video would look like, how cool that would be. Here in America, you don’t normally travel too far by train, except for the subway, and we don’t have a subway system here in Nashville. So it took me back to a lot of old movies, seeing people on trains. Also, I fly quite a bit and I’m a people watcher. It took me back a few years to when I was travelling, looking across at another car and seeing somebody that piqued my interest, just wondering what they did and where they were from and where they were going.”

Surprisingly one of Nail’s favorite songs on the album, Turning Home, was written by Scooter and one Mr. Kenny Chesney. Obviously, the song was written for Chesney to record. But when—“much to my surprise and happiness,” he didn’t, Nail jumped at the chance of recording it himself.

“That is a song that I feel really serves as a backdrop to, or a theme for, this record. You know: the small town kid who goes to the city in search of this impossible dream, up against so many odds, and so far from the type if place he was used to. Just his struggle, of finding himself and overcoming some demons…it was very much the theme of what I wanted to do on this record.”

Of Turning Home is the story of Nail’s life, thenm This Time Around, which he wrote with Lee Miller, is even more so.

“I know what you think, here we go again

The same waste of potential that I’ve always been

But this time around

I’m a little more ready

…a little bit older, a little more figured out.”

I’m About To Come Alive is the second bite of the Nashville cheery for Nail. He signed his first deal, with Mercury, in 2002. His debut single, Memphis, reached #52 on the charts. But a self titled album, produced by Kieth Stegall, remained unissued and he was subsequently dropped from the label.

What went wrong?

“You hear people say,” ‘Oh, it was just a bad time’ or politics got involved…but I don’t know that even today I know the reasons why. At the time, I was so young and green that it was probably a year and a half after I lost my deal that the light went on and I realized the significance of what had happened.”

Giving the question a little more thought, Nail decides in retrospect: “I know I was entirely too young to grasp the significance of the opportunity that was given to me. Coming from a very rural place, and never having travelled very much, I know my priorities probably weren’t in the best place. I think with age and some struggles I began to realize that if I ever got another chance, this is what’s gonna be my priority and this is what’s gonna be important. I think that experience has given me a different perspective this time around.”

Between deals, Nail concentrated more on writing than performance. He was writing songs for himself to sing, rather than pitching them to other artists, and there were times when he came close to giving up his dream of anyone hearing them.

“I always kinda had one foot in the water and one foot out. I wanted to do it, but I was scared, because my last opportunity didn’t go the way I had hoped. I’d never played around town much. But a bar owner in town had seen that I’d lost my motivation and more or less insisted that I get back out. I credit him with getting me back on stage and reminding me how enjoyable it was to just sing and have people come to see you and enjoy what you do. It re-energized me to think I could do this again.”

Asked if having a history was a help or a hindrance when he went shopping for his current deal with MCA, the artist says “I think my history was so small…people may have heard my name, but they didn’t know exactly what I did. I found that a lot of people, when they heard the record we were working on, that’s when they would go back and listen to the old project…and be amazed at how different it was. And I would say, jeez, there’s eight years there. Eight years of hard living and life and experiences and pain. It’s only natural that would come out in the lyrics and the sound of my voice.”

As we’ve heard, Nashville doesn’t have a subway system. But it’s down in a grubby looking urban subway that we find Nail on the cover of I’m About To Come Alive. His t shirt and jeans are also more city than country—a look that goes with a sound that is already one step away from the Nashville norm.

“I’ve always said that when it comes to image, you can dress however you want to dress, but the public’s gonna be able to tell if that’s you or that’s not you. It would have been easy for me to come to town and throw on cowboy boots and cowboy hate and say, here I am, I’m country music. But I think those people who wear a cowboy hat would be able to see right through that. So I always said I’m gonna be me. If you see me on the street at 2 o clock in the afternoon I’m not gonna look terribly different to how I’ll look at 10 o clock on stage. I just try to be comfortable and I think that, at the end of the day, if nothing seems too forced or out of the ordinary then the music and the look will coincide.”

‘LARRY THE CABLE GUY'S HULA-PALOOZA CHRISTMAS LUAU’
PREMIERES FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 ON CMT

90-minute Special Features Performances by Billy Currington and the Zac Brown Band

NASHVILLE – October 28, 2009 – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas when LARRY THE CABLE GUY'S HULA-PALOOZA CHRISTMAS LUAU holiday special premieres Friday, November 20 at 9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m., ET/PT on CMT.

This 90-minute variety show features Larry along with friends, including Kenan Thompson (“Saturday Night Live”), Caroline Rhea, George Lindsey (“The Andy Griffith Show”), comedians Reno Collier and Jon Reep, Peter Oldring, Sara Erikson, the MuzikMafia’s Two Foot Fred, and returning favorites Tony Orlando and Angela Little MacKenzie (“Reno 911”). In addition to holiday-themed comedy and sketches set on the fictional island of Hula-Poola, the special will include musical performances from Billy Currington and the Zac Brown Band.

With his signature catchphrase, “Git-R-Done”, Larry the Cable Guy continues to sell out theatres and arenas across the United States. Larry’s most recent specials have included “Tailgate Party” which will air on Comedy Central in January of 2010 with a DVD release to follow, and “The Comedy Central Roast of Larry The Cable Guy” which garnered top ratings for the network. Larry has also starred in many films including “Witless Protection,” “Delta Farce,” “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector” and he was the voice of ‘Mater’ in the Golden Globe winning animated feature film “Cars.” He is a platinum-selling recording artist and a two-time Grammy nominee. LARRY THE CABLE GUY'S HULA-PALOOZA CHRISTMAS LUAU will be available on DVD from Jack Records/Warner Bros. Records beginning Tuesday, November 24.

A Parallel Entertainment and Taillight TV production, the special is executive produced by JP Williams, CEO and founder of Parallel Entertainment, Larry the Cable Guy, and Taillight TV's Tom Forrest. Producers are Dave Higby, Jennifer Novak and Ben Tyson. Ryan Polito directs. John Hamlin and Margaret Comeaux are executive producers for CMT.

Country singer brings fight for cause to LWR

By Roger Mooney

At first, it wasn’t what Dick Vitale was saying, but how Vitale said it that grabbed David Nail’s attention.

Nail was watching Louisville and Arizona play in a Jimmy V Classic Basketball game in December 2006 when he heard Vitale tell the ESPN audience about a little girl in Lakewood Ranch who was battling a rare form of brain cancer.

Suddenly, Vitale wasn’t using his normal high-octane, rattle-the-windows voice. Instead, Vitale was straight-forward serious.

“He’s always a passionate guy. Very loud,” Nail said. “But there was a change in his demeanor and the look in his eye.”

Nail was listening.

“Payton Wright ... 4-years-old ... chemotherapy ... radiation ... Medulloepithelioma ...,” Vitale said.

Scary words.

“It was extremely moving,” Nail said. “I think it was one of those bits of fate.”

It was Vitale’s message that sent Nail to Payton Wright’s Web site, where he spent three hours reading Holly Wright’s journal detailing her little girl’s fight for her life with a rare type of neuroepithelial tumor. Nail left a comment on the site. He heard from Payton’s dad, Patrick, the following day.

At the time, Nail was a young musician/song writer looking for a break. Now, he has the No. 12 single on Billboard’s Top 40 country chart and a tour that has him crisscrossing the country.

On Saturday night, Nail will be in Lakewood Ranch for a benefit concert at MacAllisters Grill and Tavern’s St Andrews Scottish Festival on Main Street, an event to celebrate Scottish heritage with proceeds going to the Payton Wright Foundation. Payton passed away in May 2007, days after her fifth birthday.

“I bawled my eyes out reading the story of this little girl,” Nail said.

In that first message to the Wrights, Nail wrote: “I don’t know if I can do anything worthwhile, but I’ll spend the rest of my life telling the story of your little girl.”

“Payton’s touched a lot of people,” Patrick Wright said. “We’re just humbled by it. It makes us feel good.”

Nail was born in Kennett, Mo., a town small enough where everyone knows everyone else, Nail said. Yet he never knew of anyone suffering like Payton or her family.

Two days before watching that basketball game, Nail had been asked if he would start a foundation. Nail gave it some thought, but didn’t feel passionate about any one cause. He visits childrens’ hospitals and thought of getting involved in the Boys & Girls Club.

“But I never really felt a connection to be really, really passionate about something,” Nail said. “I didn’t want a charity for the sake of having a charity.”

Enter Vitale, the Lakewood Ranch resident, who uses his platform as an ESPN college basketball analyst to spread the word about the V Foundation, which raises money for cancer research and awareness in the name of Jim Valvano, Vitale’s friend and former college basketball coach who lost his battle with cancer in 1993.

After meeting Payton in 2006, Vitale has directed his own crusade against pediatric cancer.

That December night in 2006, Vitale picked up another warrior in David Nail

“David’s not just saying he’s going to help and write a check,” Patrick Wright said. “He backs it up, and he’s backing it up by coming to the event and giving a free show. That’s the great part about it. He’s very sincere.”

Nail will play “Red Light,” his No. 12 single off his debut CD, “I’m About to Come Alive.” Nail mentioned Payton in the jacket of his CD. During a sound check before a recent concert, Nail took some white tape and put the initials, “PW” on his guitar.

Fans ask him what “PW” stands for.

“Putting Payton’s initials on my guitar was a subconscious thing,” Nail said. “I never dreamed how many people would ask about it.”

Nail directs them to paytonwright.org.

Nail’s desire to help the Payton Wright Foundation was further fueled in June when he and his bride, Catherine, took time from their honeymoon at St. Pete Beach to have dinner with Holly and Patrick.

“I told my wife, ‘I don’t know if I would be able to go on after that.’ To me, that’s truly the most inspiring thing,” Nail said. “They are still together. They still celebrate life. They are still a mother and father to their daughters.”

Nail’s tour has taken him to Lakeland, Jacksonville, McDonough, Ga., Oxford, Miss., Maplewood, Tenn., Chicago, Columbia, Mo. On Saturday, he will perform on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch. After that, he’s off to Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Baton Rouge and Twin Lakes, Wis.

He hopes his CD will take him to the top of the country music world.

He plans on taking Payton’s story and the work of the Payton Wright Foundation where ever he goes.

“Hopefully, as my career goes on, my voice will be something more meaningful, and I can do more,” Nail said. “Hopefully, we’ll find a way to keep this from happening.”

David Nail Says "Galveston" Changed His Life

By Alison Bonaguro
November 16th, 2009

When I get a chance to interview a country artist, I try to ask questions about what's happening right that minute. How's the single doing? What's the live show like? That kind of thing. But some singers tend to grab my hand and take me down memory lane. Like David Nail. One little question on Friday night (Nov. 13) about how he got his start led me down a path that revealed Nail is not just another country singer who claims all he listened to growing up was Merle Haggard. His musical muse? Glen Campbell. "Glen Campbell changed my life," Nail told me during an interview on his bus.

"I heard him do 'Galveston' on a TV show, and his voice was so smooth and had so much range," he said. "So I went to my local Wal-Mart and they had one CD. I bought it and took it on a road trip and listened to it over and over." His favorites after that trip? "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife," "Where's the Playground Susie?" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix."

Before that country epiphany, Nail admits to singing in his bedroom to New Kids on the Block and picking up an old guitar of his dad's when he was in seventh grade. "It only had the bottom two strings, but I was able to pick out '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.' I thought I was a genius. I was like, 'If I can do this with two strings, imagine what I can do with six?'"

Even before that, he got his first taste of how hard he'd have to practice to get better. "When I was about 8, I started taking piano from Mrs. Crow (Sheryl Crow's mother -- Nail and Sheryl Crow are both natives of Kennett, Mo.). I practiced so little, though, that I never got any better," Nail admitted. "So for three years I always opened the recitals because the worst kids always went first."

So maybe the piano wasn't for him. But if his "Red Light" hit is any indication, all that time honing his vocals to be as smooth as Campbell's has certainly paid off.

Sugarland Settles on Healthy Living, New Music

By Craig Shelburne
November 13th, 2009

Sugarland captured their third consecutive CMA Award for duo of the year on Wednesday night (Nov. 11), capping a very successful 2009. Although there have been numerous highlights -- multi-platinum certifications, a network TV special, a new Christmas album -- Jennifer Nettles was forced to cancel several tour dates this year due to nagging health concerns. She fielded a question about it during a visit to the press room backstage at the CMA Awards.

"This year I started out on a limp leg because I was randomly sick several times before we went on the road. That started me out, when we were on the road, still dealing with that," she said.

"I was behind when we started, and the year doesn't get any easier. It only gets harder. You become more cumulatively tired. Consequently, I learned about limits. I learned about my own healthy boundaries -- yes, my therapist is proud. And how to say no, and that's just as important as being able to say yes. Until you can say a clear and easy ‘no', ‘yes' doesn't mean as much. ... It is a hard lesson to learn, and quite humbling when you have the desire and the love and the want and you're body says, 'Nuh-uh, not today.' You have to learn how to pace yourself in order to make it for the long run."

The duo says they'll start recording a new album in 2010. "The really great news is that so far our fans, the industry and y'all have come to expect us to change from the last record that we did, so you never really get that (sense of), 'Oh I didn't express this so I need to go over here and do it on the side," Kristian Bush said. "It always feels like wherever you are is what you're going make next. We thank you all for letting us do it, and our fans, and we'll see what happens next."

Between a Rock and a Hard (Country) Place

By Alison Bonaguro
November 13th, 2009

I already blogged a little bit about loving the collaborations on Wednesday (Nov. 11) night's CMA Awards, especially when Jamey Johnson and Kid Rock sang Johnson's "Between Jennings and Jones." They sounded good together. Not good like a duo would. But good like two guys with their own sounds coming together. While Johnson has that outlaw moan to his voice, Rock's is more of a gritty Southern rock thing. The twist at the end of that song -- how it's not just his sound but also the spelling of his last name that would put his records literally between Waylon Jennings and George Jones -- gets me every time. Since hearing the CMA performance, I keep thinking that someday, maybe 10 or 20 years from now, some new artist who was inspired by both their styles of country will sing about being right there between Johnson and Rock.

Gary Allan Makes His Headline Debut at Nashville's Ryman
Sold-Out Country-Rock Show Featured Eli Young Band and Jack Ingram

By Chris Parton
November 13, 2009

A country artist's first headlining gig at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium should always be a special thing, but rarely does it happen as it did for Gary Allan, who made his arrival on Thursday (Nov. 12) to a sold-out crowd.

"I've got a lot of family and friends in the audience," Allan said to a chorus of screams. "It's gonna be a good night."

"A good night" may have been an understatement as Allan, the Eli Young Band and Jack Ingram entertained for more than three hours. By the end of the night, the Ryman's balcony would be tested by stomping fans, a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey would be passed around onstage and a dog would somehow come into play.

Allan handpicked the opening acts for his Get Off on the Pain tour, and even though it just got underway, the lineup and their musical styles seemed to mesh together easily.

The Eli Young Band, a homegrown Texas group whose Jet Black & Jealous album debuted in the Top 5 on the country chart, made good with their time by introducing the crowd to the night's country-rock theme. With low slung guitars and lots of distortion, they offered a set that included "When It Rains," "Guinevere," "Always the Love Songs" and their recent Top 10 single, "Always the Love Songs."

They were warming up the crowd for Ingram, not that he really needs any help. Ingram is a complete showman with a funny story for every song and a way of urging an audience to its feet. His set was a string of hits that included "Measure of a Man," "That's a Man," "Wherever You Are," "Love You" and "Barbie Doll." He invited Patty Griffin to the stage for a duet on their current single, "Seeing Stars." And let's not forget "Barefoot and Crazy," where he took off his boots and socks only to have one foot written on by a fan. (I'm guessing it was a phone number.) Needless to say, everyone at the Ryman was in good spirits.

The excitement level rose even more when Allan made his entrance in front of a huge video screen, launching into the title track from his upcoming album, Get Off on the Pain. A high-pitched squeal from the crowd started and didn't stop for the rest of the night, showing that Allan's loyal fans are nothing if not enthusiastic. In fact, almost every song became a singalong, and the shrieking only intensified when each one ended.

Part of the reason for that was Allan's set list is heavy with hits. "She's So California," "A Feelin' Like That," "Nothing on but the Radio," "It Would Be You" and "Learning How to Bend" started the show off and led into "Best I Ever Had" -- which, in turn, led to the first round of Jack Daniel's for the band.

Allan said this show was the highlight of his year, but he also explained that things had taken a turn for the worse in August when a tornado caused a stage collapse at a festival in Canada, killing one fan. He used the opportunity to fittingly segue into "Life Ain't Always Beautiful" and "I Just Got Back From Hell."

At this point Allan's band, which represented his varied musical influences by including an organ, congas, fiddle and steel guitar, left the stage. Earlier in the day, Allan said in an interview that he had reached a point in his career where he didn't "feel the need to do anything that [he didn't] want to." In evidence to that spirit, he performed a solo, acoustic version of "Right Where I Need to Be." He then used the special occasion to offer his 16-year-old daughter, Dallas, her first taste of the stage. She had recently learned The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and performed on keyboard while Allan sang, receiving the first standing ovation of the night.

Sharing a hug, Allan said, "She has impeccable taste in music." He looked as though he was about to become teary-eyed. It was a moving moment.

Going forward, he offered a subdued version of "I'm the One," which he called "way too sappy," although his legion of mostly female fans didn't seem to mind. "Half of My Mistakes," "Her Man" and his current single, "Today," followed.

After that, it was rock 'n' roll time. The intensity picked up with "Songs About Rain" (featuring an extended guitar and drum solo), "Man of Me" and the always singable "Watching Airplanes." In another highlight of the evening, Ingram reluctantly returned to the stage, boots on, and sang and strutted along to "Alright Guy." After only a few shows together on this tour, it looks like Allan and Ingram are becoming fast friends.

Not ready to go home, the crowd stuck around and stomped their feet calling for Allan's return. The entire balcony in the 117-year-old building began to shake noticeably. Thankfully, as a testament to the Ryman's solid construction, it held its own.

The nightcap was provided by "Like It's a Bad Thing" and Allan's favorite drinking song, "Drinkin' Dark Whiskey." This song somehow caused a dog to storm the stage, running wildly back and forth while chasing the band members who never missed a beat. The dog seemed perfectly comfortable up there, almost as if it had been waiting all night for its big moment, until at last it knocked over a microphone stand that Allan just barely caught. It was nice to finish the night with a laugh, and Allan and his audience happily parted ways.

Allan has always seemed comfortable just outside the mainstream of country music, and judging from the Ryman show, it doesn't appear he intends to change his ways. But that doesn't mean he's immune to wanting to live out his childhood dreams of country music glory.

"When you play these places, you kind of mark them off in your mind," he told the crowd. "And this is definitely a big one for me."

Gary Allan Brings Rocking Show and Surprise Guests to Nashville

It was a night of rock-infused country and heartwarming surprises at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium on Thursday, as Gary Allan brought his Get Off on the Pain Tour to Music City. Jack Ingram and the Eli Young Band served as opening acts, with Jack accompanied by a surprise music icon during his act. Surprises continued into Gary's set, as he welcomed two V.I.P.s for a very special performance.

Gary kicked his show off with the tour's title track, highlighted by visuals on a giant screen behind him on the Ryman stage. The images continued throughout the night, sometimes focusing on photos of Gary, sometimes images from his videos and at other times a montage of photographs that accented the music. The show was definitely on the rock side of country, yet Gary's passion for his music and his love for lyrics that tell a story keep him a much needed part of the country scene.

The show lasted some two-and-a-half hours, with the entertainer playing hit after hit, including 'She's So California,' 'Right Where I Need to Be' and 'Songs About Rain,' as well as his new single, 'Today.'

"It's a big night for me here at the Ryman," Gary told the sold-out crowd before launching into 'Nothing on But the Radio.' "I have a lot of friends and family here."

And it seems one of those family members is following in Gary's footsteps. "The other day I went in the house and I heard my daughter Dallas playing The Band's 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,'" Gary told the crowd. "No how cool would it be if the first time you got to play live was with your dad at the Ryman Auditorium? Dallas, come on out here."

Dallas did her dad proud as she accompanied him on keyboard while he sang from a lyric sheet, explaining that he had never done the tune before. When the song ended, he called her to the front of the stage for a huge hug, all the while smiling proudly for his daughter at the reception the crowd was giving her.

The show was high energy all the way, with Gary's band helping him keep the momentum going throughout the night. At one point he left the stage to give them the spotlight, returning to perform 'As Long as You're Looking Back,' 'Alright Guy' and 'Watching Airplanes.'

The singer had barely left the stage before the crowd was chanting "Gary, Gary, Gary." A few minutes later, he came back for an encore of 'Like It's A Bad Thing' and "Drinkin' Dark Whiskey (Tellin' White Lies).' At one point, his black and white labradoodle joined the band onstage, running from one band member to another while they finished their final song. Gary signed posters, shook hands and greeted fans before exiting the stage for the final time.

Jack Ingram proved a crowd-pleasing opening act for Gary. He and his band worked through familiar songs like 'Measure of a Man,' 'Keep On Keepin' On' and 'Love You.' He surprised the crowd by bringing out singer Patty Griffin to join him to sing his new single, 'Seeing Stars.'

The singer dedicated 'That's a Man' to the men and women at Ft. Hood and to "anyone who is in the military or knows someone who is." Jack also relayed his musical journey and how thrilled he was to hear his first No. 1 on 'Bob Kingley's Country Countdown' before performing 'Wherever You Are.'

One of Jack's wilder moments came when he pulled off his boots to perform 'Barefoot and Crazy,' inviting the audience to join him. When no one accepted his challenge, he said, "Oh well, it is cold here." After performing his final song, Jack left the stage with the exclamation, "Nashville, we just played the Ryman Auditorium!"

The Eli Young Band got the crowd going with their own Texas style of rockin' country. They gave a good sampling of their music, including their recent hits 'When It Rains' and 'This Is Your Love.'

“It Girls”

Julianne Hough, sporting newly darkened hair, and her sister Marabeth were among the stars hitting the read carpet at the premier of This Is It, the movie tribute to the life and career of Michael Jackson. The movie played to dozens of stars at the Nokia Theater L.A Live venue in Los Angeles, Oct 27. Julianne’s bust week kicked off with a rocking concert performance at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, Oct 21.

Sugarland on their next album, upcoming tour, and their pitch for the 'Twilight: Eclipse' soundtrack

By Whitney Pastorek

Their debut album, Twice the Speed of Life, was just certified triple platinum, and as of tonight’s CMA Awards — where Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush will premiere “Keep You” in a laser field — they will have performed all but two of Love on the Inside’s songs on television: only “Take Me As I Am” and “Very Last Country Song” remain unconquered. (LotI, btw, was just certified double platinum, and is also up for CMA Album of the Year.)

So it’s time for another album cycle in Sugarland, say Bush and Nettles, who are aiming for a “summerish” release date. “We’ve already been writing,” Nettles told EW before Monday’s CMA rehearsal. “We have to go in the studio at the beginning of next year, at some point.” This is no surprise to fans who caught the live show in 2009, where they were treated to new material like “So Long” and “Take Me For A Ride,” but there’s no guarantee those songs will eventually appear on the album. “We’re not afraid to put stuff out there,” said Nettles, but Bush cautioned, “Some things just show up once in our land.” Another fan favorite, the overtly non-country groove of “Blood on Snow,” appears primed and ready for an appearance on a certain vampiric movie soundtrack. So is Twilight: Eclipse in the game plan? “Call ‘em up! That’d be great!” grinned Nettles. “Just say ‘Twilight’ again!” said Bush. (Twilight.)

As they await their undead fate, the two will crank up a new tour, featuring more of their trademark theatricality. “Bigger, better, faster, more,” is how Bush described it. ”We’re working on the narrative now,” said Nettles, who will divulge only that “music is a powerful healer, and the way that translates to people… I don’t want to give it away. That’s a really beautiful sentiment. But it’s more fun than that.” When asked why they refuse to just stand there and sing the hits like everybody else, Nettles replied, “Cause we’re artists as well as entertainers. We like to create not only music, but a musical experience when we’re performing live, and we like for that to have meaning, and depth, and layers, and texture beyond the songs that are happening.” Bush continued, “It matters because we’re fans of music, and I think it would matter if I was a fan of us.”

"THE GRAMMY® NOMINATIONS CONCERT LIVE!! — COUNTDOWN TO MUSIC'S BIGGEST NIGHT®" TO FEATURE PERFORMANCES BY SUGARLAND

LL COOL J SET TO HOST ONE-HOUR LIVE EVENT ON DEC. 2

CBS Entertainment Special Will Announce Nominations for the 52nd Annual GRAMMY® Awards Live from Club NOKIA in Los Angeles

GRAMMY winner Sugarland are of the first performers announced for "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night®." Two-time GRAMMY winner LL Cool J once again is set to host the one-hour special, which takes place live on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Club NOKIA in Los Angeles. The show will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 9 – 10 p.m. ET/PT. Additional performers and presenters will be announced shortly. The special also marks the second time nominations for the annual GRAMMY Awards will be announced live on primetime television. Last year's airing of the show reached more than 8 million viewers and led to double-digit percentage increases in all key demos for the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast earlier this year.

The road to Music's Biggest Night begins with "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — featuring the announcement of nominations in several categories and performances by past GRAMMY winners and/or nominees — and culminates with the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards live from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, and broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT. For updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy®'s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.

JENNIFER NETTLES

That figure-skimming navy strapless dress? "It's Italian!" the Sugarland singer exclaimed of her Luisa Beccaria gown. "I love it. I love the ruching, it's very forgiving – but I'm sporting the Spanx like the rest of us!"

Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush received early Christmas presents yesterday when GAC executives Ed Hardy, President; Sarah Trahern, Sr. VP, Programming and Suzanne Alexander, On-Air Host, presented them with a triple platinum plaque for their debut record Twice The Speed of Life and double platinum plaque for Love On The Inside, which vies for “Album of the Year” at tonight’s CMA Awards. Nettles and Bush taped an episode of GAC Nights in support of their newly released holiday record Gold And Green, which will air 12/9 at 7pm and 11pm and 12/10 at 11am. GAC’s Headline Country will also feature the duo in their last episode of the year, which premieres 12/10 at 8pm and will air the entire month of December. All times Central.

(photo-L to R): Alexander, Trahern, Nettles, Bush and Hardy

Jamey Johnson is up for four Country Music Association awards, including for his album "That Lonesome Song."

What: Country Music Association awards

When: 8-11 p.m. Wednesday

Where: ABC

Hosts: Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood; they'll also perform.

Beyond country: Dave Matthews will sing "I'm Alive" with Kenny Chesney; Chris Daughtry will sing "Tennessee Line," backed by Vince Gill; also, Kid Rock will sing with Jamey Johnson.

More performers: George Strait, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker, Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Billy Currington. Also, these duos and groups: Brooks & Dunn, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Zac Brown Band

The Country Music Association awards return Wednesday, offering the full Nashville experience.

There will be silly songs, sweet songs, somber songs. Then again, you could get all of that just from the recent years of Jamey Johnson.

"Ain't that the way that life goes down at us?" Johnson asked.

Perhaps, but few people encompass the full range. Johnson - who is up for four CMA awards and will duet with Kid Rock on the show - does.

His first hit, "The Dollar," was Nashville at its most sentimental, with a boy gathering up his coins so his dad wouldn't have to work so much. The songs he co-wrote for Trace Adkins - "Honky Tonk Badonk Adonk" and "Ladies Love Country Boys" - are suitable for bars and parties, cranked up loud. His current, CMA-nominated album tells of drunkenness, divorce and despair.

It takes all kinds to make life and make country music, Johnson said. "Ask my little sister, who's going through a divorce now .... There are people who never want to hear another song like 'Badonk Adonk.' And there are people who know that's exactly what they want to hear."

Johnson seems to cover the full range of experience. He's had formal music training, but uses a raw, gritty style. He's up for best new artist, but already won a CMA award two years ago.

This was the songwriters award for "Give It Away," the George Strait hit co-written by Bill Anderson, Buddy Cannon and Johnson. He was expecting to let Anderson - a country legend who had just turned 70 - do the accepting, the way it had worked out when the song won other awards.

"I don't put that much effort into award shows .... Me and Buddy were content to stand there and let Bill do the talking," Johnson said.

Instead, he got a chance. He found himself saying his ex-wife probably deserved half the award.

That was just a tribute to "the kind of person she is," Johnson said. She may not have specifically said "give it away," but she said things like that. And the post-divorce period launched his best writing.

"Shooter Jennings and I were agreeing on that the other day," Johnson said. "We don't make records for the people buying them; I make a record for myself .... When God tells me what songs to write, he tells me through my natural instincts."

Those instincts have involved a lot of country living. He grew up in Montgomery, Ala., and sang in church, before he had his baritone voice. "I was probably around 12 .... I sang tenor with my dad."

Later, he came to Nashville, rather quietly. "I spent 10 or 11 months just watching and listening."

He tried his own songs, and Cannon, a producer and songwriter, became a fan. Johnson got a 2005 deal. On Billboard's country charts, "The Dollar" was No. 14 for singles, No. 20 for albums.

That was during Johnson's hottest stretch as a songwriter. "Give It Away" and "Ladies Love Country Boys" hit No. 1; "Badonk Adonk" reached No. 2.

He was also in "Nashville," a 2007 Fox reality show that vanished after two weeks and is criticized by many people, including Johnson. "Nashville doesn't want a whole lot of fake," he said. "We've had enough fake around here."

Things went downhill, with Johnson reeling from the divorce, being dropped by the record company and more. In "High Cost of Living" - which is mostly autobiographical, he says - he sings of pot, cocaine and more. "The high cost of livin'/Ain't nothing like the cost of livin' high."

Johnson seemed to disappear for a year. "I wrote songs and tried to get my life back together," he said.

The result is "That Lonesome Song," up for album of the year. Anderson, indirectly, had a key role.

Lee Miller was talking about Anderson's ability to pick up old, black-and-white photos and tell the rich stories behind them. "I said something like, 'Yeah, should've seen it in color,' " Johnson recalls.

That day, Miller and Johnson had a songwriting session and James Otto joined them. "We ended up writing it about our grandfathers," Johnson said.

Now "In Color," up for best song and best single, offers warm portraits of life going down at us.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20091110/ENT03/911100334/

Pull up your britches, Mixers: The full breakdown from day two of CMA rehearsals is finally here for your enjoymentThere was a long, empty break in the middle of my day due to closed rehearsals from Taylor Swift and Brooks & Dunn, but we’ve got your Lady Antebellum, your Kenny Chesney, your Sugarland, your Jason Aldean, and your Darius Rucker. Plus, just enough preview scoop to keep you kids interested, but prevent the show’s producers from hanging me by my ankles off the Nashville Visitor Center. Yay!

5:22 p.m. Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush are in the middle of an interview when the song starts, and they turn to watch the soon-to-be-broken-up former reigning Duo of the Year. Every camera in the joint is immediately focused on them.

5:35 Ladies and Gentlemen: Sugarland, in Q&A format because there are two of them and they talk in very short sentences on top of each other, and it’s just easier.

EW: How’s the CMA experience so far? Have you done anything?

J: No.

K: There’s been a green room.

J: We met our string players.

EW: You have string players?

J: First time we’ve ever done that.

EW: You’re doing “Keep You.” And where the strings come in, in the song, that’s where they will be used?

J: Yes. We were gonna use them for some acrobatic and pyrotechnic stunts before they sat down with the instruments, but then we thought, Maybe it would be good to just let them play when the strings come in.

EW: Wouldn’t surprise anyone if you went for the acrobatics.

K: The big surprise this year? The stationary part.

J: We’re not dancing.

EW: Will you be cutting off your hair again?

J: Thought about it.

K: With lasers.

J: Very precise.

EW: Are you going to win everything you are nominated for?

J: Sure. Why not? We don’t know.

EW: Is it okay if Brooks & Dunn get a victory lap?

J: Yeah. It’s okay.

K: I hope we win Album of the Year. Cause we made a really good album.

J: And we cared about it.

K: We tried so hard.

J: We’re artists as well as entertainers. We like to create not only music, but a musical experience when we’re performing live, and we like for that to have meaning, and depth, and layers, and texture beyond the songs that are happening. Because it translates.

K: It matters because we’re fans of music, and I think it would matter if I was a fan of us.

5:40 Sugarland takes the stage with their fancy new string section and launches into “Keep You.” Nettles in fact does not start chopping off all her hair.

5:50 Stage manager over P.A.: “Everyone in the audience? We’re gonna use the lasers now. So just be careful where you’re looking. Especially up top.”

6:03 OMG LASERS!!!! MY EYES!!!!!!!!

6:04 Nobutforreal: What do lasers have to do with this song?

6:14 Stage manager over P.A.: “Okay, one more pass, with ground fog and lasers… and the water drop will be on the last chorus. We’re going to soak the two of them.” Uh. Tell me you are kidding.

6:20 They were kidding.