If Cathy Bentley was so strict, how did her son, Dierks, pull off a lemonade-and-vodka stand? Only his mom knows, and she shared her stories with People.
A Nashville middle school is rich with 75 new musical instruments, thanks to a little help from Kellie Pickler and the Country Music Association.
Blue Highway meets the virtual highway as the acclaimed bluegrass band revamps its Web site.
Where are all the grown-ups? The Hannah Montana movie needs you. So if you're free Saturday, come on down to the open auditions in Nashville.
And despite a closed set and tight security, when the filming starts at Franklin High School, fandemonium will no doubt set in.
When Taylor Swift met John Mayer, she started quoting things from his MySpace blog. She said she was freaking out. He might've been a little freaked out himself.
Editor's Note: To kick off Bluegrass Month in May, the CMT Music Blog is proud to debut Rhonda Vincent's new video, "I Gotta Start Somewhere."
2008 is off to an incredible start. What a way to celebrate the new year with a No. 1 album. And WOW ... 7 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard. Next to be released is the new video of "I Gotta Start Somewhere." It's always exciting to shoot a new video, though I walked barefoot by a creek in summer clothes in 40 degree weather and ended up with bronchitis. And do you know, they didn't even use the creek shot.
Dallas Henry did a great job and his entire crew was great to work with. Check out my possible love interest in the video. Vance Mitchell is the guy at Clampett's Hardware Store. Watch for him in the current Acura car commercial. It's always fun to have guests when we shoot a video. Who would have known that the little girl in my "If Heartaches Had Wings" video would eventually become Hannah Montana? So look out for Vance. This was my seventh career video. I can't say they're exactly FUN to make, but they're sure fun when they're finished. Be sure to watch!
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 6:41 pm| By: Chet Flippo
Rampant reports around the Web indicate that Miley Cyrus has had a moratorium on public appearances and media utterances placed on her. Reports say that Disney has decided the Hannah Montana star has reached a no-win situation with the media frenzy surrounding her recent Vanity Fair magazine photo shoot and its somewhat revealing results.
So she seemingly will stay buttoned up and in the Disney cocoon for awhile, until the hubbub dies down. That's probably the smartest thing she could do. The media monster is blaming her, blaming Billy Ray, blaming Vanity Fair, blaming the publicity machine. There's plenty of blame to go around, but there's still a valid argument to be made that this is a tempest in a teapot. Millions of words written and spoken over ... what? Remember, despite all of her superstar success, Miley Cyrus is just a 15-year-old child.
Before the Britneys and the Fergies, there was Bob Dylan. His influence on pop music and American culture has earned a special music citation Pulitzer Prize.
If you thought the line for Hannah Montana concert tickets was long, wait until April 6. That's the day of the open casting call for extras who want to play a part in the Hannah Montana movie.
Posted: March 20th, 2008 at 11:19 am| By: Tom Roland
"You can tell your friends just what a fool I've been/And laugh and joke about me on the phone."
People all over Music Row laughed and joked -- and gnashed their teeth -- over Billy Ray Cyrus and "Achy Breaky Heart" when he shot out of a cannon with that novelty hit in 1992. It propelled him to instant superstardom, and simultaneously laid the groundwork for his undoing as a commercially successful artist.
I've often thought of Billy Ray as two different singers: There's the vocalist with the tough-guy growl and the shy boy with the sensitive, apologetic delivery. We've all got multiple facets to our personalities, and his seem to come through quite distinctly. A lot of people had trouble getting to that part of his artistry, though, because of the "Achy Breaky" hangover. Music executives reviled it, the media sneered at it, fellow artists pointed to it as an example of everything that's wrong with commercial music.
I never quite understood why. It's a stupid song -- even its writer, Don Von Tress, acknowledges that -- but not every piece of music needs to be socially relevant. This one is incredibly infectious: a simple guitar riff, nonsense words that fit together nicely, and that pumping beat are unavoidable. In fact, 15 years ago this week (March 23), Bruce Springsteen shocked an audience in New Jersey when he ripped off his shirt and lit into "Achy Breaky." "Everybody gets a giggle out of it," he said, "but that tune is just damn good." If it's good enough for the Boss... well, it's too bad it took Hannah Montana for the masses to figure out that Billy Ray Cyrus is indeed a worthy artist.
Rampant reports around the Web indicate that 
"You can tell your friends just what a fool I've been/And laugh and joke about me on the phone."
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