 Hit List - Trio Sweetwater Rain have added a fourth member, Kaitlin Walker. She'll share lead vocal duties with Danny Rivera. See the Rain forecast here.
- Nashville Songwriter: The Inside Stories Behind Country Music's Greatest Hits by music biographer Jake Brown will be available Sept. 9 through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and other retailers. Twenty veteran songwriters including Craig Wiseman, Dean Dillon, Bob DiPiero, Bill Anderson, Kelley Lovelace, Rivers Rutherford, Chris DuBois, Dallas Davidson, David Lee Murphy, Ashley Gorley and Lee Thomas Miller are interviewed in the book's 300-plus pages. More here.
- The lineup for the 8th Annual ACM Honors includes performers Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes, Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott and Dwight Yoakam; and presenters Kenny Chesney, Brenda Lee and Justin Moore. The Sept. 9 ceremony is at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and will be hosted by Jake Owen. Tickets are on sale now for $40. See the full lineup here; honorees here; and get tickets via Ticketmaster or the Ryman box office.
Birthdays Friday (8/22): Collin Raye, Holly Dunn, Ricky Lynn Gregg, Mila Mason, Jennifer Day, Waddie Mitchell. Saturday (8/23): Ira Dean (Trick Pony), Woody Paul (Riders In The Sky), Randy Rogers, Rex Allen Jr., Barry Bales (Union Station), Emilio, Shelly Fairchild, Dennis Robbins, Becky Robertson (Carter's Chord), Chuck Tilley (Sixwire), the late Tex Williams. Sunday (8/24): John Cowan, Kristyn Osborn (SHeDAISY), Clint Daniels, David Koechner (The Naked Trucker). Monday (8/25): Billy Ray Cyrus, Jo Dee Messina, Henry Paul (BlackHawk), Tim Mensy, Jeff Tweedy. On TV Friday (8/22): Hunter Hayes, Today (NBC); Florida Georgia Line's Brian Kelley, Treehouse Masters (Animal Planet); Secret Sisters, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC). Sunday (8/23): Brad Paisley, Rising Star (ABC). Monday (8/24): Dwight Yoakam, Under The Dome (CBS); Lyle Lovett, Late Show With David Letterman (CBS). Upcoming Album Releases Aug. 25 Brad Paisley Moonshine In The Trunk Aug. 25 Brushville Self-Titled Lenny Cooper The Grind Sept. 2 Terri Clark Some Songs Various Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate The Music Of Jean Ritchie Sept. 8 Alabama Angels Among Us: Hymns & Gospel Favorites Sep. 9 Lee Brice I Don't Dance Dustin Lynch Where It's At Brothers Osborne Self-Titled Sept. 16 Tim McGraw Sundown Heaven Town George Strait The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T Stadium Sept. 23 Kenny Chesney The Big Revival Lee Ann Womack The Way I'm Livin' Big & Rich Gravity Sept. 30 Lady Antebellum 747 Blake Shelton Bringing Back The Sunshine Marty Stuart Saturday Night & Sunday Morning Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White Hearts Like Ours Oct. 14 Florida Georgia Line Anything Goes Oct. 21 Little Big Town Pain Killer Oct. 28 Stoney Larue Aviator Nov. 4 The Doobie Brothers Southbound | 
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Not only is it the year of Garth Brooks' return, it's also a country homecoming for his wife Trisha Yearwood, who revealed she's signed a record deal with Sony Nashville label RCA. She'll release a new album, PrizeFighter, this fall.
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The Ice Bucket Challenge is still flowing through the country community. .jpg)
If you tried to get tickets to one of Garth Brooks' Chicago shows and had problems, Brooks wants to help you out. He's added another Windy City concert at 10:30pm Sept. 5 for a total of 11 in that market. "After seeing how happy everyone was in Atlanta about ticket access, I feel whatever the problem was has now been fixed," he says. "I would like to put on one more show in Chicago so people [who] wanted tickets and could not get in the system now have a chance to see the show, and [can] get their tickets at face value and not have to go through the scalper/broker systems if they don't want to." The new show goes on sale Saturday (8/23) at 10am .jpg)
On Sept. 7 the Indianapolis Colts may be playing the Denver Broncos, but our money's on Team Underwood. Carrie Underwood sings "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night," the NBC-TV Sunday Night Football opening theme. This year she'll be joined by some pretty big pigskin peeps. Eleven NFL players will take part, including Broncos QB Peyton Manning, New York Giants QB Eli Manning and Philadelphia Eagles RB LeSean McCoy, who jokes, "They might want me to replace Carrie Underwood. Out of all the players, I'm definitely the best singer." Get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the opening theme 
