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May 13, 2014

» Tim Brings Town To Town: Tim McGraw's Sundown Heaven Town 2014 Tour launched this weekend in Fresno (5/8), Sacramento (5/9) and Mountain View, CA (5/10). Kip Moore and Cassadee Pope opened. Highlights include a tribute to wife Faith Hill and their three daughters. "He had a cool photo/video montage of his life and career while he sang 'Better Than I Used To Be,'" we're told. And speaking of video, "The screen was so clear and so huge you could take a picture from anywhere in the house and have it appear that you were right on the stage." Another observer notes, "Tim has never sounded better and I have never seen him be as interactive with the crowd as he was Saturday night. Outside of making me feel out-of-shape, I was blown away."

» Bentley's Brief Decision:

He's a headliner now, so Dierks Bentley can take a few wayward items thrown onstage in stride ... with one exception. Dierks kicked off his 2014 Riser Tour Friday (5/9) in Charlotte, where our insider says, "Bras and panties thrown on the stage? Yep, more than I've seen in any other show." Bentley hung the undies from the band members' mics when they weren't looking, but drew a hard line on one item. "Someone threw some men's tighty-whities up there. Those got thrown back into the crowd." Otherwise, his show got high marks for its massive screen and technical effects. "If this doesn't push him into the upper ranks along with Luke and Jason, something is seriously wrong," our reporter notes.

» Hunting The Record: Hunter Hayes set the Guinness World Record for the most shows in multiple cities in a day during Friday's 24-Hour Road Race to End Childhood Hunger (5/9). Hayes opened on ABC's Good Morning America in Times Square, then began a series of nine more stops that ended in Philadelphia. In Providence, our insider says, "The line wrapped around the venue all morning – with giddy moms and daughters holding homemade signs." In New Haven, CT, our reporter notes, "There was screaming and singing and more screaming ... and that was just from me!" Hayes tied the Flaming Lips' 2012 eight-show mark in South Orange, NJ, surpassed it in Asbury Park, NJ and beat his own record in Philly. "Hunter was amazingly energetic for all the work he did that day," our insider concludes. Watch the final moments here.

» Platinum Bond:

Miranda Lambert is celebrating the launch of her new album Platinum by sending her very own vintage travel trailer to seven cities to give select fans a chance to listen to the project. The Platinum Across America tour features "Wanda the Wanderer," a 1954 Flying Cloud Airstream topped with a 3-foot tall aluminum, crystal-encrusted crown. "Wanda is my grandma on my mom's side, although we call her Nonny," says Lambert. "Since she can't travel with us everywhere, we decided to name our faithful Airstream road companion after her!" Cities include Los Angeles (5/20), Denver (5/23), Dallas (5/26), Oklahoma City (5/27), Chicago (5/29), Indianapolis (5/30) and Philadelphia (5/31). Fans will be selected via sweepstakes through Lambert's online community and Country radio. In addition to the winners, all fans are invited to experience "Platinum Park" activities, which include a platinum hair salon, sun tea stand, corn hole, leather workshop and more. Everyone else can keep track here.

» Idol Chatter: FOX-TV's American Idol has been renewed for a 14th season, although there will be less of it, according to Fox Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly. In a conference call with media, Reilly said after the audition phase it will "likely ... end up being a two-hour show on one night through most of its run." No word yet on whether judges Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick, Jr. will return for the new season. Auditions begin June 18 in Minneapolis and continue through September.

» Urban Renewal: ABC-TV's Nashville has been renewed for a third season, though it's not yet clear if production will remain in Music City. Producers are again working to secure economic incentives from the city to keep from moving production elsewhere. An announcement is expected this summer. The network has ordered a full 22 episodes for the season.

» Buckle List: Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan and Miranda Lambert will perform at the 2014 CMT Music Awards June 4 in Nashville. Voting is underway here.

» McCreery Arrest Made:

A 19-year-old man has been charged with the May 5 robbery of Scotty McCreery and friends. Mikkail Jamal Shaw is believed to be one of three men who forced their way into a Raleigh apartment and held the group at gunpoint, taking wallets, cell phones and electronics in the process. The search for additional suspects is ongoing.

» In Case You Missed It:

Hunter Hayes stopped by The Late Show with David Letterman to play "Tattoo." Watch here.

Hit List

Tyler Farr, David Lee Murphy, Luke Laird and NashTrash Tours will join previously announced headliners Florida Georgia Line for the 10th Annual Stars for Second Harvest benefit June 3 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, benefitting Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. More here.
Rodney Atkins' fourth annual Music City Gives Back concert will be held June 3 in downtown Nashville to benefit W.O. Smith Music School. Lee Brice, Jana Kramer, Dustin Lynch and Josh Thompson are among the performers. More here.
Craig Morgan's 8th Annual Charity Event benefitting the Dickson County Craig Morgan Foundation takes place July 20 in Dickson, TN. Details here.

Birthdays

Tuesday (5/13): Darius Rucker, Ray Kennedy, Lari White.

Thursday (5/15): K.T. Oslin, the late Eddy Arnold.

On TV

Tuesday (5/13): Blake Shelton, The Voice (NBC); Connie Britton, Tavis Smiley (PBS); Dolly Parton, Wake Up With Al (Weather Channel), Today (NBC), The Talk (CBS), The Colbert Report (Comedy Central), The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC).

Wednesday (5/14): Keith Urban, American Idol (FOX); Dolly Parton, Imus in the Morning (FOX Business) and American Pickers (History); Randy Houser, The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS).

Thursday (5/15): Dolly Parton, The Wendy Williams Show (syndicated); Florida Georgia Line, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated); Keith Urban, Scotty McCreery performs "Feelin' It," American Idol (FOX); Brad Paisley, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC).

This Week's Album Releases

Rascal Flatts Rewind: The standard version of the album includes 13 tracks with Eric Paslay, Dan + Shay's Shay Mooney and The Cadillac Three's Jaren Johnston sharing writing credits. The deluxe version - exclusively at Target - adds four songs, including the Flatts-penned "She Must Like Broken Hearts" and "Compass," featured in the movie Heaven Is For Real.

Dolly Parton Blue Smoke: Calling it an album that has all the colors of her career, the album is a mix of bluegrass, gospel and mountain-style music. It includes a gospel version of Bon Jovi's "Lay Your Hands On Me" and Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice" done bluegrass-style. An exclusive Walmart version has four bonus tracks.

Radney Foster Everything I Should Have Said: His first collection of new material in five years, Foster wrote or co-wrote every song and co-produced the album. To give it a different sound, it was recorded on the Louisiana bayou. Kacey Musgraves adds backing vocals to "California," Patty Griffin duets on "Mine Until The Morning" and Sarah Buxton sings backup on "Unh, Unh, Unh."

Upcoming Album Releases

May 19 Brantley Gilbert Just As I Am

May 19 Zac Brown Band The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1

May 27 Jamie O'Neal Eternal

Jun. 3 Miranda Lambert Platinum

Jun. 3 Lucy Hale Road Between

Jun. 3 Joshua Scott Jones The Healing

Jun. 3 Big Smo Kuntry Livin'

» Party On, Garth: Billy Currington (c) with tourmates Chase Rice (l) and Brett Eldredge, who surprised him by appearing onstage dressed as Garth Brooks to sing "Friends In Low Places."