CMT Blog: 2010 June

You certainly do not need to pay to be a fan of someone's music. That comes absolutely free. So there is occasionally talk (OK, vehement disagreements) about whether or not country artists should charge you to be in a fan club. I think maybe people aren't hearing both sides to the story, so I'd like to shed a little light on it.

Just like there are benefits to joining anything from Costco to a swanky country club, there are benefits to being a card-carrying member of a fan club. The most valuable ones are presale tickets and meet-and-greet passes. For example, if you pay $34.68 for a year's membership in Carrie Underwood's official fan club, you get those kinds of opportunities that aren't available to nonmembers. It's not always a guarantee that you'll be sitting in the front row, but it does increase your odds of being up close at a concert.

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In case you were wondering, Colt Ford is firmly "Team Edward." In his video for "Chicken & Biscuits" (featuring vocals from James Otto), the plus-size country rapper parodies the Twilight series to hilarious effect. There's a werewolf group and a vampire group -- and a "bad" vampire group -- along with a clueless teenage girl and a deep fryer. You see, Ford is like many sparkly vampires in that he gets a hunger on a very regular basis. A hunger for fried chicken, that is. Check out his "impossible speed and strength" and some behind-the-scenes photos from the video shoot.

If you feel like there aren't very many mainstream country artists releasing albums this summer, you're right. The next big project is Blake Shelton's second Six Pak on Aug. 10 -- which is coincidentally about six weeks away. Trace Adkins' Cowboy's Back in Town saddles up on Aug. 17, and Little Big Town is offering The Reason Why a week after that. Longtime country fans will be happy to hear that Joe Diffie, Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart have scheduled new albums in August as well. But it's not until after Labor Day that album racks will be thoroughly replenished with a bunch of new country music from the likes of Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington, Julianne Hough, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, LeAnn Rimes and Sugarland. I've heard rumblings about a bunch of other big-name artists, too, but no release dates have been announced. In the meantime, I guess it's never too early to start your Christmas list.

No offense to Kyle Jacobs and his engagement-ring decision-making. But Kellie Pickler recently said of her new left-hand diamond, "I could care less if it was a Cracker Jack ring." That is a good sign, because getting married should be all about the love and not the bling. And she knows that. She added, "As long as I get to spend the rest of my life with [Kyle] and wake up every morning and see him, I don't care." Spoken like a girl who is madly in love with being madly in love. She also told a North Carolina radio station that once they got engaged, she fell in love all over again -- and that God is their rock. As for the wedding, Pickler is hoping to find a little old church with stained glass somewhere, but she didn't really divulge any more details about the big day.

Let's see. First, Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman enjoyed a romantic dinner at Nashville's Flyte restaurant last week. The occasion was their fourth wedding anniversary and other diners said the couple was looking all in love sitting in an intimate corner. "[Nicole] looked stunning, very understated in a sleeveless dress and sandals. They were smiling and holding hands across the table. You could tell they were so in love," one onlooker told People.com. No word on what they ordered for dinner, but the restaurant's website says its specialty is "fresh, organic and humanely raised ingredients," so I'm guessing they didn't get burgers and cheese fries. The couple also celebrated Kidman's birthday and Father's Day last Sunday, and pretty soon they will be singing happy birthday to Sunday Rose when she turns 2 next week.

Photo credit: Ed Rode (2009 BMI Awards)

There was a time when Miranda Lambert had stage fright? I find that hard to believe, now that she totally owns the stage every time she performs. Apparently she credits two of her East Texas teachers with helping her conquer that fear. Janice Caldwell and April Coker were chosen by Lambert to be part of the "Teachers Count" campaign, the one that says "Behind Every Famous Person Is a Fabulous Teacher." The two instructors flew to Nashville recently for the photo shoot for the campaign posters and also attended the Nashville Rising concert. (Caldwell even got a hug from Reba McEntire, which she promptly posted on her Facebook page.) Lambert must've been a little bit of a challenge as a student, because Caldwell said, "I helped her not quit school and April helped her graduate from school." Coker added that it feels special to be remembered this way, saying, "When you work so hard all these years and you have somebody that is so successful, but then they remember your efforts for them, to help them, then it just hits you in the heart."

Just landed in the Big D! It's balmy here, and that's putting it nicely. Eddie came with me this trip. I'm playing Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth tonight (a free show with Lee Brice and CMT Radio Live host Cody Alan), but tomorrow I get the day off to spend with family. My mom, stepdad, godmother and a ton of friends live here, so we'll be spending some time with them. I really miss Texas, so I get super excited when I get to spend a few days here. Hopefully the rain will hold out and we can enjoy some hot Texas sun.

I started today's blog entry on my way to Milwaukee to sing the national anthem at a Brewers' baseball game. It seems like I have been flying a ton lately. Before I flew out to join the Nothing Like This tour with Kellie Pickler and Rascal Flatts this weekend, I actually started things off on a high note in Nashville. At the Music Row Awards, I won the 2010 breakthrough songwriter of the year award! It was my first award as a songwriter and I was pumped. Then it was off to Raleigh, N.C., for the kickoff of the tour.

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I just read about this songwriting contest this morning and I already know who the winner's going to be -- someone who writes a country song. That's because even though they are inviting all kinds of tunesmiths from all kinds of genres, nobody writes songs of devastation and despair like country artists. Alan Jackson's been the king of that, like after 9/11 when he wrote "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," or when a family friend died and he wrote "Sissy's Song."

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Where did this guy come from? That's the question I kept asking myself while watching Troy Olsen's music video for "Summer Thing." With beautiful visuals, swimsuits and lots of Arizona sun, the video makes me feel like I should leave the office when no one is looking and head for the nearest lake. The video has such a polished, professional look to it that I was sure this guy had been around for a while. But how did he slip under my music listening radar? After some investigation, it turns out that "Summer Thing" is Olsen's first music video and the lead single from his new, self-titled digital EP. He's been playing on the road since high school graduation and has been practicing his songwriting skills after moving to Nashville in 2002. All of this background experience and practice seems to have paid off. In addition to "Summer Thing," he co-wrote Tim McGraw's "Ghost Town Train" and Blake Shelton's "I'll Just Hold On." I think the experience Olsen gained before emerging as an artist makes him feel much more conditioned and refined than your average country music newcomer. I expect this video won't be the last we see from this new artist.