Country Music Blog: Kellie Pickler

Think Kellie Pickler's beautiful on the inside? Well the outside ain't bad either.

If you see a lesser-known band chowing down on a Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's, now you'll know why. It's their Adopt-a-Band program, that feeds artists when they're on the road.

Sarah Buxton has her arms wide open, to receive the blessings from above. And by above, we mean Keith Urban.

Why are concerts so pricey? Is it the cost of all that tour bus gasoline, or to make up for the declining CD sales?

Rodney Atkins is packing up his wife and kids getting ready to travel to the ACMs in Las Vegas.

And the Washington Post travels back in time, to examine the road Atkins took to get from repo man to six time ACM nominee.

Want to find a good man? Then give your name and email info to Danielle Peck to get a free download.

Julianne Hough knows dancing and singing. But fighting? The Fox News Fight Game show tries desperately to find a connection between her career and the fighters. 

"Mutt" Lange comments on his separation from Shania Twain

Kenny Chesney might pull down the entertainer of the year trophy at Sunday's 43rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards for the fourth straight year, tying Garth Brooks for the second-longest run in history. Rascal Flatts might well nab its sixth consecutive honor as top vocal group, tying Alabama for the all-time mark.

Read more...

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.

When it came to her record label, Jessica Simpson had to put her foot down with her to make a country album, she tells Glamour magazine. Meanwhile, in order to jinx the Dems, President Bush is thinking about sending Simpson to the Democratic National Convention.

Take a four-minute tour of Phil Vassar’s Nashville home, his refrigerator, his tippy-top attic and his Jacuzzi tub in his master bathroom.

Don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. But go ahead and be a little jealous of how gorgeous Taylor Swift is even without makeup. And if there happens to be a little guyliner on a young man, she’s cool with that.

Former folk heroine Jewel (Kilcher) is willing to pay her dues on the Brad Paisley tour in order to be taken seriously as a country artist.

It’s not every day you get to see a famed Nashville songwriter actually perform again. But folks in Dallas will have the chance tomorrow night (5/2) when Steve Wariner takes the stage again.

If it ain’t country, it ain’t right. That’s what Kellie Pickler thought of the high school chorus, so they switched her to a home ec class instead.

Here's my weirdest moment from the 2008 CMT Music Awards last night. I was sitting among all the reporters in the press room, when Jewel and Tom Arnold came back for photos. Somebody asked them about the election, and since I don't care who celebrities endorse for president, my eyes wandered off to the television, and Paula Abdul's on there, rattling on about something. All this is going on at Belmont University? This sort of thing never happened when I was an undergrad there in the 1990s. My big dream back then was to be a reporter on the country music beat, and now I am doing just that - with Jewel, Tom Arnold and Paula Abdul.

Anyway, the reporters are always grateful to anyone who comes back to visit with us. (Thanks, Taylor Swift! TTYL!) In case you missed the show, here are the big winners.

"Our Song," Taylor Swift 
(Video of the Year, Female Video of the Year)

"Stay," Sugarland 
(Duo Video of the Year)

"I Got My Game On," Trace Adkins 
(Male Video of the Year, Supporting Character of the Year, Director of the Year)

"Gone Gone Gone," Robert Plant and Alison Krauss 
(Wide Open Country Video of the Year)

"Til We Ain't Strangers Anymore," Bon Jovi and LeAnn Rimes 
(Collaborative Video of the Year)

"I Wonder," Kellie Pickler 
(Performance of the Year, Tearjerker Video of the Year, USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year)

"Online," Brad Paisley 
(Comedy Video of the Year)

"Take Me There," Rascal Flatts 
(Group Video of the Year)

Watching Kellie Pickler's acceptance speech at Monday night's (April 14) CMT Music Awards, I could only think, "God bless artists before they get too jaded and start taking things for granted." Some good people have succumbed to those emotions, but maybe that's just one of the dangers of achieving massive success.

I hope Pickler -- and Taylor Swift and other artists, for that matter -- never lose sight of the fact that they are, first and foremost, country music fans. Pickler and Swift have acknowledged their appreciation of other artists in numerous interviews, and their wide-eyed, youthful enthusiasm seems to support their statements.

Pickler's "I Wonder" won in three categories at the CMT Music Awards, and she was at a loss for words during her acceptance speech which came in a satellite feed from Arizona, where she was performing Monday. After thanking the usual suspects -- the record label, management company, etc. -- she finally said, "If I forget to say your name, it's not because I forgot you. Well, it is because I forgot, but I don't know what to say right now."

It was a moment of genuine honesty, humanity and humility. And those are three things that country music is supposed to be about.

At a recent Baltimore concert, Keith Urban bragged about becoming a dad and Carrie Underwood said her dog Ace is the love of her life.

Miley Cyrus has reportedly earned over $18 million, making her rich enough to be able to afford her own concert tickets.

He's in the music business. He's a songwriter. And he's dating Kellie Pickler. But that's all we know so far, from her little leak on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

You don't need a "Star" or an "Idol" to make it in the music biz. A new book from Anastasia Brown, Make Me a Star, is a seriously helpful guide on how to succeed as a singer, songwriter or musician.

No, really? USA Weekend reports that Taylor Swift is indeed the hottest country act around.

"Teardrops on My Guitar" is still striking a chord - even prompting a letter to the advice columnist, Ask Amy. (Love ya, Amy!)

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift says she wrote a new song with good pal Kellie Pickler, and that she always knows when Kellie calls her.

From the CMT Lifestyles blog archive, Trace Adkins talks about his daughter's food allergy. Good luck tonight on Celebrity Apprentice, dude.

A New York radio station goes country... for 50 hours, anyway. Props to WKCR for devoting two hours to Hank Williams.

And if you're into Gram Parsons, and live in St. Louis, this tribute show might be pretty cool.

Love can build a bridge, and so can Julio Iglesias Jr. -- if he gets a shot at country music success.

Julio's fellow Gone Country contestant, Carnie Wilson, says she's determined to lose 40-50 pounds and get pregnant again.

I wonder why Kellie Pickler chose a conservative red dress for American Idol. Didn't stop Ryan Seacrest from cracking jokes, though.

Lisa Marie Presley is craving fruit during her pregnancy. By the way, we've heard that peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches are delicious when they're fried.

The show is sold out, but you can still win seats on the Red Carpet for the 2008 CMT Music Awards.

Kellie Pickler will grace the American Idol stage once again tonight (3/19) to perform her hit "Red High Heels" before the bad news is given to the contender with the lowest score. Even more TV to tune in for: Clint Black will try his hand at stand-up comedy on a new reality series debuting in early April.

Once Catherine Britt's hangover dissipated, she wrote her new single "What I Did Last Night," which she later recorded with fellow Aussie Keith Urban.

No longer the little peacemaker, Miley Cyrus has a new signature move for the paparazzi. She needs some kind of signal to tell everyone that things are OK when she's out and about with pals, shopping at Urban Outfitters.

Regardless of what NASCAR's Mike Harmon has under the hood, he'll have country newcomer James Otto on top of the hood of his #84 Chevrolet for the Pepsi 300 at the Nashville Superspeedway.

Is there life after Trick Pony? The Tennessean tries to answer that in a short piece on the new solo album from Heidi Newfield.