CMT Blog: Keith Anderson

I love that a cause so near and dear to my heart is getting so much support from country music. Like how Carrie Underwood is going to do her part to fight breast cancer when she turns the Grand Ole Opry backdrop pink on Oct. 2, then she'll perform along with Terri Clark. A portion of the proceeds from that night will go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization. Then on Nov. 13, Keith Anderson will take the stage at Chicago's Joe's Bar to help raise money for Chicago Bears' Greg Olsen's breast cancer charity, Receptions for Research. Technically, October is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But really, any month is a good month to do everything you can to find a cure for this disease that takes way too many lives. And if you want to roll the dice to beat the odds, you can just play Bunco. I helped start this grass-roots thing called Bunco for Breast Cancer when a friend was diagnosed, and we've since raised almost $900,000. Any way you can help, it helps. And God bless the country stars for lending their fame to the fight.

While Billy Currington is home recovering from the tragic stage collapse in Canada, the shows still must go on. So enter perennial nice guy, Keith Anderson. He's filling in for Currington on super short notice by playing tomorrow night's (Aug. 8) gig at the Wisconsin State Fair near Milwaukee. Anderson told me he's got Currington's back just like any Nashville artist would. Kind of the golden rule of country music, I guess. "We got so many texts that night of the accident and we were calling all around to make sure everybody was all right," Anderson said in a call from the road. "Billy got hit pretty hard. And we always try to help each other out. That's what country's all about. Billy's such a great guy. It's great for us, too, because we love Milwaukee, love those fans up there and we were just lucky enough to have the night off." Anderson and the rest of the country world are hoping Currington's back at it in no time.

Halfway to Hazard's new single is titled "I Know Where Heaven Is," but I'm pretty sure I already know where heaven is: in the hills of Eastern Kentucky. That's where the second annual Halfway to Hazard Charity Trail Ride will be taking place on Aug. 22-23 -- and where Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, Danielle Peck and others will be performing to raise money for the Buckhorn Children's and Family Center in Crockettsville, Ky. Even NASCAR's Kyle Petty will reportedly be there. Day one (Aug. 22) will be filled with bluegrass music, then H2H and friends will take the stage in the evening. Then on Sunday (Aug. 23), you can catch a glimpse of guys like Randy Houser, James Otto and Keith Anderson during the ATV ride. If you go for the ATV ride, stay safe. And if you just go there for the music, enjoy.

The last time I checked, Keith Anderson was winning and Carrie Underwood was coming in a close second. And the rest of the country music artists auctioning off their City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge jerseys aren't doing too bad either. You can bid and win the shirts off the backs of Jimmy Wayne, Darius Rucker, Jake Owen, Jason Michael Carroll, Joe Nichols, Julianne Hough, Troy Gentry, Eddie Montgomery, Luke Bryan, Justin Moore, Chuck Wicks and others. One hundred percent of the sale goes to City of Hope, a place bound and determined to prevent and cure cancer and other diseases. So it's a good cause, a great "investment" and a conversation piece that will last a lifetime. If you plan on wearing them, though, check the sizes. Underwood's is a small and Anderson's is a triple XL.

Everybody's doing it. So even if an artist isn't all that into it, social networking sites are now a part of their marketing arsenal. Like it or not. The Tennessean reports that country artists are jumping on the virtual bandwagon left and right. With the country fan demographic -- and the artists themselves -- getting younger and more Web-addicted, Lady Antebellum's Dave Haywood makes a good point: "We like to think it increases interest in what we're doing, but it's also the way we've grown up. We're in our mid-20s, and from high school on, for us it was being on the Internet and chatting." And even though Taylor Swift, Jack Ingram, Lady Antebellum and Keith Anderson all use the Net in different ways, the important thing is that they are using it. Some aren't, though, and that's OK, too. Like Alan Jackson told the newspaper, "I share a lot in my music, and I think that's plenty."

Celebrating No. 1 hits in Nashville ain't no big thang, according to The Tennessean newspaper. So why, then, did so many celebrities from other record labels come out Tuesday (May 19) to root for Jamey Johnson at a party to celebrate his album's recent ascension into the gold category? I guess 300 people were there, which is about double the normal attendance. And among those guests were the Oak Ridge Boys, Keith Anderson, Holly Williams, Bill Anderson, Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet (Little Big Town) and Teddy Gentry (Alabama). What did Johnson think of all the fuss? Sounds like he was pretty humble. "I'm flattered to have other artists at this party," he said. "When it's all said and done, no one is going to remember who sold more records. What's going to matter is relationships." So he may sing about some rough stuff, but deep down, he seems like he has a heart of gold. And that must be what fans -- and fellow artists -- have known and loved all along.

When I blogged about the American Songwriter story on Darius Rucker last week, I'll admit I had only seen the online excerpt. That was enough to pique my interest and get myself to a magazine store to buy the real thing for $4.95. And inside, there was a 20-song CD called The Country Way. It's better than the prize at the bottom of the cereal box. And I've been listening to it non-stop, hence the first five songs on my list this morning:

"Beautiful World," Dierks Bentley
"Radio Waves," Eli Young Band
"The Resurrection," Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
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Decisions, decisions. Who will you ever chose to leave your outgoing voicemail message? Should it be Dierks Bentley? Taylor Swift? Luke Bryan? Eric Church? Craig Morgan? Kellie Pickler? Keith Anderson? Or, if you're really aiming high, Garth Brooks? It is just about the coolest thing a country fan can put on his/her cell phone. Each one says something like "Hey y'all this is (big country star) and my friend can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave her (or him) a message, she (or he) will get back to you as soon as she (or he) can. Thanks and have a great day." The directions are pretty high tech, so I couldn't get all the right-clickiness to work. I just recorded mine the old fashioned way: with my phone's microphone held up close to my laptop's speaker. But for folks out there who know their way around MP3s, it should be a no-brainer.

Photo credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

I've been to a lot of kids' baseball games in my life. More than I can count, really. And even with my own son playing in them and really good snacks, they somehow never had quite the same magic that this weekend of games will probably have.

That's because Keith Anderson will be there, throwing out the first pitch Friday evening (May 1). And because Tim McGraw is supposed to be making an appearance at the games, maybe even with his wife. Now that is my kind of baseball tournament.

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My husband and I won tickets to the Grand Ole Opry through CMT Music Pass, and the concert was amazing! We felt like children again standing at the stage with all of the kids there to see Taylor Swift. She is so beautiful and charming. We also got to see Keith Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens (he was so funny telling jokes on stage), Riders in the Sky, Gloriana, Jimmy Wayne, Jean Shepard and, of course, Trace Adkins!! (My family was so jealous!) Each artist got to sing around three songs. They were all so entertaining and interactive with the crowd, and it was very exciting to get to take so many pictures of them. My husband and I want to thank CMT.com and everyone who made this possible for us. See Taylor Swift's upcoming tour dates.