CMA Music Festival set a new attendance record with daily attendance topping 80,000 fans, a near 13-percent increase over the 71,000 in attendance in 2012 and a sellout of LP Field tickets 6 weeks before the event. The increase was attributed to expanding the event into the new Music City Center. The new venue nearly tripled the size of the...

Vince Gill and steel guitarist Paul Franklin, announced Wednesday the release of "Bakersfield" on July 30 via MCA Nashville. Gill and Franklin pay tribute to the "Bakersfield" sound by performing songs from two of Bakersfield's sons; Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Gill and Franklin share the producing duties on the 10-song set. The disc was...

Ladies and gentlemen...Brad Paisley. Those words could be coming soon from the lips of Mick Jagger because the Stones tweeted today: "The Rolling Stones will be joined by the incredible @BradPaisley in Philly on June 18! What song do you think he'll play on? #Stones50" Paisley will not be the first country performer to join the band on its tour. Carrie Underwood did so in Toronto, Keith Urban in Los Angeles and Taylor Swift in Chicago....

Due to the surgery of one of its members, Mumford & Sons canceled dates at both Bonnaroo and the Telluride Bluegrass Festivalin Colorado next Thursday. The band made the announcement on its Facebook page one day after disclosing that bassist Ted Dwane had surgery due to a blood clot near his brain....

Dierks Bentley will live chat with fans tonight from the set of the Bourbon in Kentucky music video shoot in Nashville. Fans can join the chat beginning at 7 p.m. eastern by visiting Bentley's web site to stream, ask questions and go behind the scenes on the set as Bentley preps for the overnight shoot....

Carrie Underwood celebrated her fifth anniversary as an Opry member on Friday by closing the first of two shows with a special segment full of her music. After a video presentation highlighting five years of Underwood Opry performances ran for the audience, Underwood said, "It's so hard to believe it's been five years, but what an amazing five...

A Woody Guthrie tribute concert and several key players in the indie end are releasing albums today. "Woody Guthrie at 100! Live at the Kennedy Center" (Sony Legacy) is a CD/DVD of an all-star concert staged in Guthrie's honor held last October in Washington, D.C. Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, Judy Collins, Jimmy Lafave, Ani DiFranco, Donovan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, John Mellencamp, Tom Morello, Old Crow Medicine Show and Lucinda Williams all participate....

The CMA Music Festival got underway today as Lady Antebellum cut the ribbon on the Fan Fair X experience. Lady A followed the ceremony with a performance and Q&A inside. Sara Evans opened the Riverfront Stage performances, the first of dozens of performances throughout the day at 10 different concerts....

Jason Aldean will release the title track off his fifth studio album, "Night Train," as its fourth single tonight following a live performance on the CMT Music Awards. Aldean will also perform with GRAMMY-winning rocker Lenny Kravitz, in addition to a co-hosting the show alongside actress Kristen Bell. Aldean is nominated for three CMT Music Awards including "Video of The Year."...

Craig Morgan put his past EMT experience to use again on Sunday morning near his hometown of Dickson, Tenn. when he helped those involved in a three-vehicle tractor trailer accident. Morgan as returning home from a concert in Texas when the accident occurred right near his bus with two semis and a tanker, which collided in front of his bus. He got out of his bus with two crew members to help extinguish fires that broke out. They also helped the drivers, who escaped with minor injuries....

Miranda Lambert has a few shows at Fenway Park in Jul8y, but she'll also play a special intimate guitar pull show as well. Lambert will team up with Kip Moore along with songwriters Bob DiPiero and Brett James for a Country Music Association-sponsored show on Thursday, July 11 at the Royale Theatre in Boston. This marks at least the third year that the CMA is featuring this kind of event. Carrie Underwood performed last year and Kenny Chesney in 2011....

Blake Shelton will have the top selling country disc again with "Based on a True Story..." when Billboard released its charts on Thursday. Shelton also has the fourth best selling disc in the U.S. with 36,000 units sold, down 13 percent. Rock band Queens of the Stone Age has the top selling disc with "...Like Clockwork," which sold 91,000 units in its first week. Darius Rucker is fifth overall on the overall sales chart with "True Believers," at 33,000 units, down 18 percent....

Miranda Lambert won the big award at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville on Wednesday with Performance of the Year for Over You. Lambert and Florida Georgia Line took two awards apiece. Winners were: Video of the Year: Carrie Underwood, Blown Away Male Video of the Year: Blake Shelton, Sure Be Cool If You Did Female Video of the Year: Miranda Lambert, Mama's Broken Heart Group Video of the Year; Lady Antebellum, Downtown ...

Sarah Jarosz will release "Build Me Up From Bones," the third release from the 22-year-old artist on Oct. 1 via Sugar Hill Records. "Build Me Up From Bones" was recorded in the midst of Jarosz's final semester at the New England Conservatory where she graduated with honors and touring. Following her mid-May graduation, she flew straight to Nashville to put the finishing touches on the album....

Deer Tick will release its fifth full-length studio disc, "Negativity," on Sept. 24 on Partisan Records. The release is the follow-up to 2011's "Divine Providence." The lead track on the new disc, The Rock, has just premiered exclusively at Rolling Stone . In addition, a pyrotechnic album teaser video can be viewed HERE....

Southern Ground Music & Food Festival added Dawes and Levi Lowrey to the September festival. Dawes and Lowrey will play the Main Stage. Other new additions include Blackberry Smoke, The Wood Brothers, Niko Moon, DUGAS, John Driskell Hopkins and The Mosier Brothers Band, Clay Cook, Coy Bowles and the Fellowship, The Brothers Road, and AJ Ghent Band on the LandShark Lager Stage. The 2-day festival returns to Nashville's The Great Lawn at Riverfront Park this Sept. 27-28....

A new in-the-studio video from The Civil Wars premieres today of The One That Got Away. Created by 1504 Pictures, the video provides a special behind-the-scene view into the duo's dynamic while recording their sophomore self-titled studio album, which will be released Aug. 6 on Sensibility Music/Columbia Records....

Another week at number one for Florida Georgia Line's Cruise on the Billboard Country Songs chart for the week ending June 15. Blake Shelton regained first on the Top Country Albums chart with "Based on a True Story..." Blake Shelton was second on the songs chart with Boys 'Round Here, which also features Pistol Annies and Friends....

Hunter Hayes is back again with Hunter Hayes Encore (deluxe), which mainly reprises his debut disc of 2011. The disc includes eight features new and re-recorded tracks including the hit single I Want Crazy, plus Everybody's Got Somebody But Me (featuring Jason Mraz,) What You Gonna Do' (duet With Ashley Monroe) and Light Me Up. ...

Toby Keith goes for Drinks After Work as his new single arrives at country radio on June 11. The single is the first release from an as-yet untitled album due later this year. There was no word on when a new CD will be out, but Keith typically has released new albums in the fall. Keith's live shows resume June 8 in Ozark, Ark. on the Hammer Down Tour, presented by Ford F-Series. Joining him are Kip Moore and Drake White. Tour dates are:...

"Songtellers with Darius Rucker: The Story of True Believers" premierer\s Thursday, June 20 at 10 p.m. eastern on Great American Country. Filmed at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre, Rucker shares the stage with each of the co-writers from his just-released chart-topping LP, "True Believers," and before they perform their collaboration, share inside stories and jokes about their writing process....

John Fogerty will have the third most popular CD in the U.S. when the Billboard charts are released Thursday. "Wrote a Song for Everyone" sold 51,000 units, good for the highest debut ever by Fogerty. Blake Shelton's "Based on a True Story..." was fifth with 42,000 units sold, up 69 percent. Shelton doubtlessly benefited from hosting the Healing in the Heartland benefit concert last week for victims of the Oklahoma tornadoes....

Chris Young will release his fourth disc, "A.M.," on Sept. 17, it was announced today. "We've been hard at work in the studio picking songs and recording an album that really reflects my live show," said Young after a call to fans. "Country music fans are the best and most loyal fans and so I wanted them to be the first to learn and share info about the new record."...

The CMA Songwriters Series returns to Joe's Pub in New York City for a two-night event in July. Celebrating nine years, the CMA Songwriters Series features special guests Brett Eldredge, Steve Wariner and songwriter Bob DiPiero, who will also serve as the evening's host on July 23-24. Tickets are on sale for shows for both nights will be 6:30 and 9 p.m....

Toby Keith's Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert will be held Saturday, July 6 at the University of Oklahoma's Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood and Ronnie Dunn will all appear. Proceeds will benefit The United Way Of Central Oklahoma May Tornadoes Relief Fund....

The Wild Feathers' new video for Hard Wind premiered on CMT. The single is included on the quintet's self-titled, debut album, out Aug. 6 on Warner. The Wild Feathers came together in Nashville in 2010 through coincidence, mutual friends and a shared love of Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash Cash, The Band, Allman Bros, Neil Young and...

Cruise is stuck, and that's quite alright with Florida Georgia Line as the song remained atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week ending June 22. Blake Shelton held the top spot on the Country Albums chart with "Based on a True Story..." Shelton stayed second on the songs chart with Boys 'Round Here, a song featuring...

Billy Ray Cyrus and his wife, Tish, are splitsville after 19 years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences." Tish Cyrus filed papers in Superior Court of California in Los Angeles on Thursday. In 2010, the singer filed for divorce, but withdrew the petition in an attempt work out their marriage....

Mumford & Sons had to postpone tour dates this week due to a medical emergency involving member Ted Dwayne, who has a blood clot near his brain. The band said on its web site: "Our friend and bandmate Ted has been feeling unwell for a few days, and yesterday he was taken to a hospital to receive emergency treatment. The scans revealed a blood...

The Grand Ole Opry honored Patty Loveless on her 25th anniversary as an Opry member this past weekend with performances by Loveless and fellow Opry members Vince Gill and Loretta Lynn. Loveless was inducted as an Opry member on June 11, 1988. Following an hour of Loveless solo hits, vocal collaborations, and performances by friends of the...

Chris Stapleton debuted his country single for Mercury Nashville, What Are You Listening To? today. The song has an official add date of July1 and is available for purchase across all digital platforms on July 2. "When Mercury approached me about making a record for them, I was really flattered and humbled, but it also made me do some...

Robbie Fulks is going home. The one-time Bloodshot Records label artist will return to the Chicago-based country roots label with a release due in August. "Gone Away Backward" drops Aug. 27. The 12-song album - and his first on the label since 2001 - was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders) at Electrical Audio in Chicago, and will be available on CD/LP/digital....

LeAnn Rimes releases "Spitfire," today, her first disc since "Lady & Gentlemen" in 2011. The new disc features 13 songs. T Bone Burnett, John Mellencamp and Stephen King collaborated on "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," a southern gothic supernatural musical story of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge. This collaboration features...

Drake White joins Toby Keith and Kip Moore on the Hammer Down Tour starting June 14 in Cincinnati. White, who is on MCA, will play 12 shows, including Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Boston. Previously, White has opened for Eric Church, Kid Rock, Alan Jackson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Willie Nelson, Little Big Town and most recently, Blackberry Smoke....

Rascal Flatts launched its Farmers Insurance Presents Rascal Flatts "Live & Loud" tour in Jones Beach, N.Y. this past weekend performing for 32,000 fans. Special guests on the tour include the Band Perry and 2012's The Voice winner Cassadee Pope. Flatts' performance on Friday night at the Nikon at Jones Beach was the venue's grand opening since Hurricane Sandy hit the area last year. The tour continues this weekend with shows in Atlanta, and Tampa and West Palm Beach, Fla....

Carrie Underwood is on the radio now with her album's fourth single, See You Again, and ABC's Good Morning America will offer viewers an exclusive first look at the video on Wednesday, June 5. The video will subsequently begin streaming in its entirety on Wednesday when it makes its online debut on ABCNews.com....

Stageit, a web-based platform that enables artists to create paid live shows directly from their laptops, hosts a performance by Florida Georgia Line and hip hop star Nelly online at 8:30 p.m. eastern today. FGL and Nelly will play a few of their hit songs and the newly remixed Cruise single, which the two artists teamed up on. All artist...

Lady Antebellum will play multiple national television performances including tomorrow on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 10:35 p.m. central on ABC where they'll perform their new single Goodbye Town and Wednesday on the 2013 CMT Music Awards airing at 8 p.m. eastern. The week's schedule will continue on Thursday morning when the group opens CMA...

Taylor Swift may find that "it's only rock 'n' roll" that she's going to sing tonight,but chances are she's going to like it because she's playing with the Rolling Stones at the band's third and final Chicago show as part of its 50th anniversary tour. Mick Jagger of the Stones tweeted, "Looking forward to singing with @taylorswift13 tonight! Wonder which song we will do?" Well it could be a country song, of course, as the Stones have delved into country over the years....

Calexico will digitally release of its live album "Spiritoso" on June 11 through Anti-. The album was previously issued for a limited pressing on this year's Record Store Day. "Spiritoso" presents Calexico performing live in Germany backed by the Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg. The set features the band performing songs from its career including tracks from their latest record "Algiers."...