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June 6, 2014

» Meanwhile, Back At LP Field:

Fireworks brought the first night of the 2014 CMA Music Festival to a close early Friday morning (6/6) at LP Field following a seven-song closing set from Tim McGraw. Joined by wife Faith Hill on his new single "Meanwhile Back At Mama's," McGraw mixed recent material with favorites including "I Like It, I Love It" and "Live Like You Were Dying." Rascal Flatts worked a cover of Pharrell Williams' "Happy" into a set that included new single "Payback" and hits "Bless The Broken Road" and "Life Is A Highway." Dierks Bentley encouraged fans to "Tip It On Back" and "Get Drunk On A Plane" before closing with "I Hold On." Thomas Rhett and Justin Moore joined Brantley Gilbert's set for "Small Town Throwdown." Luke Bryan's performance opened with "That's My Kind Of Night" and a big sing-along on "Drink A Beer," among five other crowd-pleasing favorites. Alabama got the audience involved early with classics including "I'm In A Hurry" and "Mountain Music."

» Cracking Knuckles: Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line were big winners at Wednesday's (6/4) 2014 CMT Music Awards, walking away with two buckles each. FGL won Duo for "'Round Here" and together with Bryan they won Collaborative Video for "This Is How We Roll." Bryan and Lionel Richie took home the CMT Performance buckle for "Oh No/All Night Long" at last year's CMT Artists of the Year. Blake Shelton got the Male Video award for "Doin' What She Likes," Miranda Lambert received the Female Video buckle for "Automatic," Carrie Underwood claimed Video of the Year for "See You Again," Cassadee Pope won Breakthrough Video for "Wasting All These Tears" and The Band Perry won Group Video for "Done." After a tribute performance of "Livin' On Love" by Lee Ann Womack and Kacey Musgraves, Alan Jackson was honored with the inaugural CMT Impact Award. Strangely, host Kristen Bell was not awarded for her opening performance of "Big Buckle, Moose Knuckle," which you can sing along with at 6:35 here.

Performances included ZZ Top and Jason Derulo with Florida Georgia Line and Bryan on "Talk Dirty To Me/This Is How We Roll," Underwood and Lambert with "Somethin' Bad," Jennifer Nettles and John Legend on "All of Me" and Little Big Town in all white, whose performance of "Day Drinking" ended splattered in paint. Brantley Gilbert added a backflip off the drum platform during his performance of "Bottoms Up" and Eric Church was joined for "That's Damn Rock and Roll" by Halestorm's Lzzy Hale. See a recap of the show here.

» Jackson 25: Alan Jackson will celebrate his 25th year in the music business with a year of events including a 25-city tour in 2015 and an exhibit highlighting his career at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Jackson will also be the Nashville museum's next Artist-in-Residence, playing a series of intimate performances later this year. New music will be released in the coming months as well. The announcement follows being honored with the first CMT Impact Award on Wednesday's CMT Music Awards, and a post-show set at Nashville honky tonk The Stage. Watch this morning's press conference announcing the celebration here.

» Rocking Charity:

Taylor Swift has donated $50,000 to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which will be used to develop a music therapy cart for teenagers to create and produce their own music while they go through cancer treatment. "Teenagers who are being treated for cancer have emotional and social needs that are different than their younger counterparts," says Child Life Manager Stephanie Rogerwick. "Essentially a recording studio on wheels, this new tool will enable our Music Therapy Team to eliminate traditional barriers, and allow for limitless musical expression by our teen patients."

» In Case You Missed It: Miranda Lambert stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Monday (6/2) to perform "Automatic." Watch here. Tuesday (6/3) she visited with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts to talk about the launch of Platinum, her duet with Carrie Underwood and being on the cover of Rolling Stone. Watch here.

Kip Moore played "Dirt Road" on Late Night With Seth Meyers Monday (6/2). Watch here.

» Life Notes:

Healing thoughts to Gary Allan, who had to postpone Tuesday's (6/3) fan club party in Nashville, and then cancel the rescheduled party Thursday (6/5) due to a viral infection causing vocal strain. Refunds will be available through his fan club Monday (6/9) and Allan will resume his touring schedule once the infection has run its course. More here.

After his fan club party Thursday (6/5), Chris Young went home to cook a late dinner and accidentally cut his left hand. He was treated at a Nashville-area hospital and his four-hour autograph session scheduled for Friday was cancelled. Young will perform his CMA Music Festival set at LP Field Saturday as planned – but don't expect him to play any fancy guitar chords.

Hit List

Miranda Lambert covers the current issue of Us Weekly. In the article she talks about her 45-pound weight loss, her new album Platinum, her marriage to Blake Shelton and her newfound confidence.
Last month's 11th annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic raised more than $950,000. Top auction items include dinner with Keith at the OK Kids Korral, which sold for $52,000, and a Bull Elk hunt at Express UU Bar Ranch, which sold for $37,500. Roughly 800 attended the opening dinner, live music event and silent auction. Forty-four teams participated in the golf tournament. Proceeds benefit the Toby Keith Foundation and its mission of encouraging the health and happiness of pediatric cancer patients. More here.

On TV

Saturday (6/7): Various artists, 49th Annual ACM Awards (GAC).

Sunday (6/8): Tim McGraw, Oprah's Master Class (OWN).

Monday (6/9): Willie Nelson, The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS).

Upcoming Album Releases

Jun. 10 Gene Watson My Heroes Have Always Been Country

Jun. 10 Demun Jones Jones County

Jun. 10 Danny Boone Fish Grease

Jun. 17 Willie Nelson Band of Brothers

Jun. 24 Breelan Angel Dirty Little Secret

» Yankee Doodle: Jake Owen (l) was invited to New York Yankees batting practice last week (5/30) by manager Joe Girardi before his Days of Gold Tour stop at Hammerstein Ballroom.

» Clear The Air: Miranda Lambert (second from right) and friends don firehouse attire following Tuesday's mid-air mishap (6/3). "Our plane had an emergency landing in Clarksburg WV," she said on Instagram. "But don't worry, we found platinum fire suits. Yes!"

» Race Day: Craig Morgan (c) with Chad Warrix (l) and Kristian Bush during Morgan's annual fan club party at Music City Indoor Karting and Entertainment Wednesday (6/4). The three jumped into go-karts to race fans during the event.