Live Blog: Grammy Nominations Concert

The Grammy Nominations Concert, live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Tenn. will be starting momentarily. It’s airing on CBS, beginning at 10 p.m. eastern time. We’ll be live blogging the events, so stay tuned throughout the night!

The show will be hosted by Taylor Swift and LL Cool J.

10:00 p.m.: LL Cool J and Taylor Swift come to center stage to Swifts “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” They move into the standard award show opening monologue. Not very funny.

LL sings his “favorite country song” as Swift beat boxes for him. He attempts to sing “Mean.” The crowd loves it.

10:05 p.m.: In honor on being in Nashville, they are recognizing the life and career Johnny Cash tonight. The Band Perry and Dierks Bentley are singing “Jackson” to honor the country legend.

10:10 p.m.: Hunter Hayes is singing the nominees for Pop Vocal Album. And the nominees are:
“Stronger” Kelly Clarkson
“Ceremonials” Florence + The Machine
“Some Nights” FUN
“Overexposed” Maroon 5
“The Truth About Love” Pink

10:14 p.m.: Maroon 5 is performing a medley of songs. Adam Levine looks as good as ever.

10:20 p.m.: Sheryl Crowe and Chris Young are presenting the nominees for Record of the Year. And the nominees are…
“Lonely Boy” Black Keys
“Stronger” Kelly Clarkson
“We Are Young” FUN
“Somebody That I Used To Know” Gotye
“Think About You” Frank Ocean
“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Again” Taylor Swift

10:22 p.m.: Rock legends The Who are now performing some of their classic singles.

10:27 p.m.: Back from commercials and Luke Bryan is up next. He’s performing “I Don’t Want This Night To End.” Expect some serious butt-shaking.

As always, Luke Bryan puts on a great show.

10:31 p.m.: Little Big Town announcing the nominees for Best New Artist. And the nominees are…
Alabama Shakes
FUN
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean.

Great to see two country artists in that category.

10:38 p.m.: FUN is performing “We Are Young.” They’re always great. One of few groups outside country I thoroughly enjoy.

Random thought: Interesting that this show is up against the Nashville season finale on ABC. Wonder how many viewers are going to watch that online later in order to watch the concert live instead. Would have to think with this concert being in Nashville and featuring so many country artists, it would pull a lot of the same viewers.

10:47 p.m.: Ne-yo performing “Let Me Love You.”

10:51 p.m.: The Lumineers are presenting the nominees for Best Solo Country Performance. And the nominees are…
“Home” Dierks Bentley
“Springsteen” Eric Chruch
“Cost of Living” Rodney Dunn
“Wanted” Hunter Hayes
“Over” Blake Shelton
“Blown Away” Carrie Underwood

This is an absolutely stacked category. Initial impression is that Blake Shelton will narrowly defeat Underwood with “Over,” but Eric Church had a HUGE hit with “Springsteen” so he could sneak in there as well.

10:54 p.m.: LL Cool J and Talyor Swift are presenting the nomiees for Album of the Year. And the nominees are…
“El Comino” Black Keys
“Some Nights” FUN
“Babel” Mumford and Sons
“Blunderbuss” Jack White
“Channel Orange” Frank Ocean

Maroon 5 is on stage to close the show. Goodnight everyone.

Here’s a list of the rest of the country music categories at the Grammy’s and the nominees:

Best Country Duo/Group Performance
“Even If It Breaks Your Heart” Eli Young Band
“Pontoon” Little Big Town
“Safe & Sound” Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars
“On The Outskirts of Town” The Time Jumpers
“I Just Came Here For The Music” Don Williams and Allison Krauss
Prediction: “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” Eli Young Band

Best Country Album
“Uncaged” Zac Brown Band
“Hunter Hayes” Hunter Hayes
“Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran” Jamey Johnson
“Four The Record” Miranda Lambert
“The Time Jumpers” The Time Jumpers
Prediction: “Uncaged” Zac Brown Band, but could easily be “Four The Record” from Miranda Lambert. 

Best Country Song
“Blown Away” Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins
“Cost Of Livin” Phillip Coleman & Ronnie Dunn
“Even If It Breaks Your Heart” Will Hoge & Eric Paslay
“So You Don’t Love Me Anymore” Jay Knowles & Adam Wright
“Springsteen” Eric Church, Jeff Hyde & Ryan Tyndell
Prediction: “Springsteen” Eric Church, Jeff Hyde & Ryan Tyndell

A complete list of Grammy nominees are available at grammy.com.

The Grammy’s will be held on February 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It will air on CBS at 8 p.m.

Grammy Nominations Concert to be held in Nashville, provides boost for country music

For the first time, the live Grammy Nominations concert will be held in Nashville, Tenn., December 5 at arguable one of country’s  biggest venues, Bridgestone Arena.

The event will also air live across the nation on CBS at 10 p.m. eastern time. This year is the 5th installment of the live nomination concert format, and the first time it has been held anywhere by Los Angeles.

It’s no secret country music’s popularity has been growing in recent years, and the arrival of one of the biggest shows of the awards season in Nashville is evidence of the phenomenon.

The concert will also have a “country” co-host and showcase multiple country performers. Six-time Grammy award-winner Taylor Swift will join two-time recipient LL Cool J in hosting the show.

Luke Bryan

Performers include country stars Luke Bryan, The Band Perry, Dierks Bentley and Hunter Hayes. Also performing will be Maroon 5, Fun, Ne-yo and The Who.

Nominees of some of the biggest categories will be announced at the event, while grammy.com will have the complete list of nominees from all 81 categories following the concert.

The 55th annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 10 at 8 p.m. on CBS. The event will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Photos (cc) by Randy Darling. Some Rights Reserved

Review: “Nashville” premiere on ABC

Spoiler alert! If you missed the series premiere of Nashville this evening on ABC, stop reading, check your DVR and set up your On Demand. You’re not going to want to miss it.

For country music fans, this was the most awaited premiere of the fall television season, and it did not disappoint. It would have been easy for Nashville to go by way of other musical TV shows like Smash and Glee with big over-the-top, over-produced musical numbers. But Nashville didn’t do that, it stayed humble and low-key. In other words, it stayed country.

The basic premise of the show is a battle between aging country star Rayna Jaymes (played by Connie Britton) and up-and-coming cross-over super star Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere). The two are both signed by the same label and the label head asks Jaymes to co-headline a tour with Barnes to supplement a lack of ticket sales and help her to reach a younger audience.

While it’s not the most original plot, there are a lot of subplots that will give the story life and longevity  Broken families for both artists, young love, a political campaign, money problems and a bandmate betrayal will provide twists throughout the series.

Let’s talk about the music. The background soundtrack is amazing. The show opened with “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” by the Eli Young Band, which is always a good sign. It also included Jake Owen and Eden’s Edge among others. The performances by Britton and Panettiere are solid while not perfect, but that works with the show.

In one scene, Barnes’ producer quips that “they can fix that,” when she sings off-key in the recording studio. The show is actually very funny and is filled with quit wit, which is a refreshing change from many of the late-night soaps on television. But alas, Nashville is a night time soap opera and has the obligatory drama, breakups and sex.

Here’s hoping next week is as good as the premiere and that the show will find lasting success (and some country guest stars!).

Carrie Underwood on VH1’s “Behind the Music”

Last night’s episode of VH1‘s “Behind the Music” featured country superstar Carrie Underwood, winner of season 4 of the popular TV talent search American Idol.

Since her days on Idol, Underwood has fulfilled judge Simon Cowell’s prediction; she has become the top selling Idol winner of all-time with four platinum albums and 15 No. 1 singles.

Last night’s episode of “Behind the Music,” a popular TV series that chronicles musicians’  rise to fame, featured the story of Underwood and included many tidbits of information never previously release.

From the farm of Checotah, Oklahoma to the stage of the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Underwood’s rise to fame was quick and dramatic. The songbird shared with “Behind the Music” that she had been entered in country talent shows growing up and had never won a thing. After graduating high school, Underwood went on to Northeastern State University (Oklahoma) where she majored in journalism, joined tri-sigma sorority and all but had given up on a career in music.

Home for break during her senior year of college, Underwood saw on the local news that American Idol was holding auditions and decided on a whim to take her shot. It was a decision that changed her life.

We all know what has happened to Underwood since she was named winner of American Idol. Thrust into the spotlight, Underwood has become a powerful country star, and many credit her with beginning a lot of the country music crossover to the pop charts, that has become a recurring event in recent years.

As promised, Underwood also shared behind the scenes information from her season of American Idol never before uttered. A few days prior to the final competition day on the show, Underwood was getting her ears pierced by the beauty squad. The woman doing Underwood’s ears somehow missed and accidentally hit her ear drum, causing Underwood to lose all hearing in the ear and an intense amount of pain. Any musician knows that hearing from both ears is important when singing; allowing you to hear yourself and wether or not you are on key. Not willing to give up her shot, Underwood still took the stage and gave an incredible (and winning) performance of “Inside Your Heaven,” which later became her first single.

“Behind the Music” also featured candid comments from Underwood on her relationships with Dallas Cowboy’s quarterback Tony Romo, Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford and Nashville Predators star Mike Richards (who Underwood eventually married).

Underwood is a sweetheart and that comes through in her sit down interviews. She spoke of her Christian faith, decision to pursue country music when her album producers wanted her to go pop, relationship with her mother and the feeling of strength, love and happiness she has while on stage.

Underwood is a truly inspiring person and more than once throughout the feature, I found tears welling in my eyes. The love she has for music makes me hope that one day I can have that love for my career and the true passion she has for Richards makes me hope that one day I will fall in love like that.

I also recently watched Oprah’s Next Chapter with Underwood and Richards, which essentially told the same story, just with more of Underwood’s own words.

Now, let’s get one thing straight. I love Carrie Underwood. I voted for her on American Idol, I have purchased all four of her CDs, I think she’s an amazing singer and a true inspiration.

However, I feel it’s only fair to point out a few discrepancies between her interview with “Behind the Music” and Oprah.

The entire first portion of “Behind the Music” focuses on how Underwood spent her childhood participating in talent shows and losing. That aspect of her childhood was never brought up in “Oprah’s Next Chapter” and more than that, they spent a solid amount of time talking about how Underwood wouldn’t enter competitions for fear of losing. She told Oprah that she wouldn’t run for student council because she was afraid to lose. These two ideas are really contradictory.

“Oprah’s Next Chapter” also painted Underwood as someone who had never been given a break until she auditioned for American Idol. In fact, as “Behind the Music” pointed out, Underwood had a preliminary recording contract with Capitol Records  and had cut professional demos at the age of 15. She was eventually dropped by the label, but didn’t exactly come straight from the farm like Oprah suggested.

That being said, both pieces were well done and gave great insight into Underwood’s life and career. I’d also suggest her interviews with Ellen Degeneres, which are always entertaining.

Storify: Kellie Picker shaves her head in support of friend

Check out my Storify on Kellie Pickler shaving her head to support her best friend, who is undergoing treatments for breast cancer.

This was my first foray into the journalist’s newest tool, Storify, but I found it was actually a lot of fun and very useful. In this story, I was able to pull together news articles written about Pickler’s gesture, tweets of support from her fans and fellow country music artists and pictures and videos of Pickler. Included are both the video Pickler sent to Good Morning America of the initial shaving, and her appearance on “Ellen” where Ellen Degeneres gave her a touch up.

I’ve chronicled the story from Picklers initial decision to shave her head, through the greater social impact she has had on the country music and cancer awareness communities, including news coverage of various upcoming cancer support events that she will be taking part in.

Also included are some fun tweets from Pickler herself sprinkled throughout the Storify.

Hope you enjoy!

George Strait announces ‘The Cowboy Rides Away’ tour will be his last

According to a report issued by Country Music Television today, country music legend George Strait has announced that he will embark on his final tour this winter.

Straight made the announcement earlier today during a press conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.

The 60-year-old singer announced plans for his two-year ‘The Cowboy Rides Away’ tour, which will conclude in late 2014. While he’s taking a leave from touring, that doesn’t mean the legend is going to stop recording. Strait said he is working on a new album in Nashville and will not rule out performing at special events in the coming years.

Rascal Flatts gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Superstar country group Rascal Flatts has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The group received their star at a ceremony held last week. The star is located at 6664 Hollywood Blvd.

Flatts has been a mainstay in country music since they released their self-titled debut in 2000. Their second album, “Melt” was released in 2002 and gave them their first No.1 single, “These Days.” Melt helped solidify the group in country music’s realm, catapulting them to stardom. Their music connected with a younger audience, a demographic country music was finding difficult to grasp at the time. Flatts popularity helped allow country music to spread to the younger masses and is a big reason country has become so popular in recent years.

The trio has 12 No. 1 hits, over 21 million albums sold and have won over 40 major music awards. The group released their eighth studio album “Change” in April of this year, which has already produced two singles, “Banjo” and “Come Wake Me Up.”

Review: Country’s Night To Rock

Hopefully you watched “Country’s Night To Rock” on ABC last night, or at least flipped to the concert special during commercial’s of “The Voice.”

The annual CMA Fest showpiece is in its sixth installment on ABC networks, working as a promotional tool for both the upcoming Country Music Association awards (Nov. 1, ABC, 8 p.m. eastern) and next year’s CMA Music Festival.

The three-hour television special showcases country music at its best, editing together highlights from this year’s CMA Music Festival, which was held in Nashville, Tenn. from July 7-10.  The television production was one heck of a concert, with the best country artists performing their best songs, minus all the acceptance speeches and tears of an awards show.

The CMA Music Festival is the hottest ticket in country music, showcasing nearly every top country talent in one place.  For those of us who don’t live within a reasonable distance of Nashville, country music capital of the world, carries a hefty price tag when travel and accommodations are added into the ticket cost. I’m not going to lie, going to CMA Fest is on my bucket list, but the annual ABC special is enough to hold me over for now.

This year’s spectacular was hosted by none other than The Band Perry’s front-woman, Kimberly Perry, and my favorite, Luke Bryan. The duos fun-first attitude created an easy-going atmosphere around the entire show. Country music is supposed to be fun, and that couldn’t have been showcased better last night.

Carrie Underwood performs at the 2012 CMA Music Festival.

This year’s theme was Country A to Z, featuring artists from all across the alphabet. Carrie Underwood opened the show with “Good Girl,” and later came back to perform “Blown Away” and “Last Name.” Host Perry and her brothers (which make up The Band Perry) sang two songs, as did Bryan who kicked things off with the summer favorite “Drunk on You” and the first single of his newest album Talgates and Tanlines, “Country Girl (Shake it for me).”

Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen, Rascal Flatts, Hunter Hayes, Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Kix Brooks, Hank Williams Jr., Faith Hill, Eric Church and so many more also rocked the stage. Notably missing from the shindig was none other than the not-so-country-anymore Taylor Swift, although I can’t say her presence was actually missed.

While a live broadcast of CMA Music Festival would be ideal, the special allows for behind the scenes footage and interviews. The Band Perry sat down with the Zac Brown Band and Luke Bryan did a one-on-one with Hunter Hayes.

Eric Church performs at the 2012 CMA Music Festival

The show kicked off with a bang and held its own for the first two hours. This year’s special marked the first time the show would run three-hours, which may have been a mistake. I’m all for all-day country but after hour 2.5, I was ready to hit the hay. Especially considering they backloaded the show with all the oldie-but-goodies, including Kix Brooks, Martina McBride, Faith Hill and Hank Williams Jr., who closed the show with Brad Paisley.

Typically the way these concert specials and award shows work is a best-for-last mentality. Considering the show was pre-recorded, it would have been easy to edit in a way to get viewers hooked until the very end by promising a finish with a top-of-the-charts artist like Carrie Underwood or Blake Shelton.

Speaking of Blake Shelton, who performed both “Over” and “Drink On It,” saving country’s bad boy until the end might have been a good idea, considering the first two hours of the show were up against Shelton’s other TV show, “The Voice.”

Shelton was in a ratings war with himself, as “The Voice” took No. 1 in the 8 p.m. time slot with 13.36 million viewers and a 4.6 rating with the 18-49 age group. Country’s Night to Rock came in third with 6.22 million viewers and a 1.7 rating in the 18-49 age group.

Overall, the show was a hit, and even though it debuted more than a month before the awards, has certainly riled up excitement for the upcoming CMA Awards, which will once again be hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.

Photos (cc) by Randy Darling. Some Rights Reserved.

Keith Urban named American Idol’s newest judge

After months of speculation, it’s official, Keith Urban has been named to the team of American Idol judges, joining Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Randy Jackson.

Urban, an alumni of Australia’s version of the hit reality singing competition, “The Voice,” has been a main-stay in country music for over 20 years, releasing six studio albums. Urban was born and raised in Australia, but brought his country roots to Nashville after releasing his debut, self titled album, in 1991 in Australia.

It’s not surprising that American Idol has decided to go country, as the show has produced a myriad of country music talent, most notably the best selling American Idol winner of all time, season 5 champion Carrie Underwood. With reality show judging experience, Urban should find his seat behind the judges table comfortable, as Idol enters its 12th season.

While Idol was the original American singing-talent search reality show, it has since been challenged by a group of like-minded series, including NBC’s “The Voice” (in which Urban’s fellow country star Blake Shelton is a judge) and Fox’s other hit, “The X Factor.”

Urban isn’t a complete newcomer to the show, performing his cross over hit, “Kiss A Girl,” with season 8 winner Kris Allen during the show’s two-part finale.

“Idol” has had a merry-go-round of judges since originals Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul left the show. Only time will tell if Urban will stick.

The show has just begun auditions and won’t hit the air until this winter, but when it does, the ratings will answer the questions as to whether or not Urban’s presence will help to boost the show back to its former glory.