Country Music Blog: Taylor Swift

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.

Robert Plant gushes over Alison Krauss, both as a tourmate and as his vocal mentor.
Teen pregnancy? Taylor Swift's against it. And she said so at the Event to Prevent gala in New York City.

Country music was coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on Monday as Phil Vassar performed on the White House's south lawn to honor recipients of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

Actress Minnie Driver is getting ready to give birth: to a new baby and a new collection of country songs on her album, Seastories.

Eva Longoria is no Jewel. Cast your vote for who wore the white lace number best.

As if he hasn't broken enough records already, Alan Jackson is trying to do it again by creating the world's longest line dance in his "Good Time" video.
When Lee Ann Womack puts on a hat for the Kentucky Derby, she really puts on a hat.

Taylor Swift tells MTV how each one of her "firsts" felt.

Sara Evans is working with a wedding planner for her upcoming nuptials, but the actual date hasn't been planned yet. Or so they say.

Famed Nashville songwriter Bob McDill was recently recognized by the Country Music Hall of Fame at a rare public performance in the Poets and Prophets program.

CMT Crossroads isn't just a TV show anymore. Now it's a real live bar in Bossier City, La.

Vanity Fair photos? What Vanity Fair photos? Miley Cyrus is just a little girl spending some time at Disneyworld.

While she normally rocks the sundress-and-cowboy-boots look, Taylor Swift let a camera tag along while she was wardrobed in all kinds of prairie chic for a photo shoot.

Wondering what Jack Ingram gave up for Lent this year? Here's a hint: It's a reality show made up of unrealistic women.

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.

Another day, another celebrity book. But this one's for a good cause. Brad Paisley's wife Kimberly is trying to get kids to eat their veggies with Henry and the Hidden Veggie Garden.

It's true. Mindy McCready did have a sexual relationship with Roger Clemens, despite their 13-year age difference.

A Seventeen magazine cover and a triple platinum album both in one day? It sounds too good to be true, so it must be happening in the life of Taylor Swift.

Even dentists think that Carrie Underwood is all that. Her smile, anyway. They've named hers the Smile of the Year.

If you'll be near Los Angeles on May 15, you might want to throw your name in the hat to see Dierks Bentley on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The Young Hollywood Awards were a little sweeter this Sunday, thanks to Taylor Swift, who was there to pick up her Superstar of Tomorrow award.

Record Making for Dummies? Nashville record producer Steve Fishell has founded the Music Producers Institute to teach students how to track, record, mix and master.

Whew! Almost 31,000 people ran 26 miles in Nashville's Country Music Marathon.

The grass is always greener on Dierks Bentley's side of the fence. So why not win your own private backyard party with him on May 12?

In Nashville, the conventional wisdom has been that radio is most important. It's so pervasive that I've never seen more artists thank radio at awards shows than I do in country music. As important as radio is, I do believe that history books will likely show that April 2008 may be the epicenter of when that equation changed for country artists. Notable events include:

• James Otto debuting Top 5 across all genres, with the most noticeable awareness spike occurring right when online marketing went into high gear.

Read more...

Taylor Swift came by the office this week and thanked us -- my co-workers and me -- for our support of her here at CMT.com. I know you think that because I work at CMT.com, I get to rub elbows with a lot of stars. Not really. As my co-worker remarked, "I think that's the second time in 11 years we had an artist come thank us in person."

Later, I kept thinking of the scene in Coal Miner's Daughter where Loretta Lynn drove up to the radio station, went in with her record and asked them to play it. I think it might be easy to dismiss Taylor's meteoric rise to the megawatt power of the Internet. But thinking back on the movie, I see similarities between these two women. Read more...

Blogger's note: To celebrate Take Our Daughters to Work Day, I've let my oldest daughter write my blog today to show her what life is like in this grueling career I've chosen. And while she's literally rolling her eyes as I type this (as if to say "OMG, Mom, you are so totally lame"), she knows that what I get to do every day is pretty cool.

By Maddy Bonaguro

I like all types of music. Well, most types anyway, but I'm going to tell you why I like country. To make it in country, you have to bring something new. Like how Taylor Swift writes her own songs about things like the boys that she knows. I like the new kind of country. I'm not exactly into bluegrass, and my friends and I don't really ever dance around to Johnny Cash. But I do like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, and lots of other people. They mix pop, rock and country.

Read more...