Jamey Johnson – Playing the Part

Jamey Johnson releases Playing The Part to radio stations today! Jamey Johnson is almost ready to send his new double-disc album “The Guitar Song” out into the world in just a little over a month, but in the meantime he’s giving fans a taste with today’s release of “Playing the Part“. The first single off Jamey’s new album will enter the radio station rotation after 3pm today, then be available for download on iTunes beginning August 24th. Jamey’s last album “That Lonesome Song” was a critical sensation, leaving fans to hope that the new material stays true to the raw and gritty country outlaw sound. Keep your eye out for Jamey as he makes the media rounds in support of his new release. See Jamey talk about the new album below: Jamey Johnson – The Guitar SongCountry Music Photo Gallery

Jason Aldean – My Kind of Party

Listen to Jason Aldean’s new single, My Kind of Party, now! Jason Aldean’s got some new music out and he’s not shy about lettin fans get at it! “This song is all about workin’ for the weekend & my fans work hard, so they can rip it up when Saturday rolls around,” says Aldean. “I hope they hear this one and want to turn it up–we put a little extra juice on the electric guitars just for that reason.” Take a listen to Jason’s new single “My Kind of Party” on the Jason Aldean Jukebox now and tell us what you think!Country Music Photo Gallery

Taylor Swift – Mine Gets Leaked

Taylor Swift’s new single, Mine, hits airwaves ahead of schedule. It seems Taylor Swift is the victim of modern-day pirates, as a bootleg recording of her new single “Mine” circulated around the web in the last few days. Taylor was set to release the single August 16th, but upon landing in Japan a few days ago, Taylor learned that Big Machine Records was forced to rush the track to radio stations and online distribution two weeks ahead of schedule to capitalize on the swelling buzz of fans searching for the leaked track. To get the track in a fair and supportive manner, pick it up on iTunes! “Mine” is the first single off Taylor Swift’s upcoming album “Speak Now” which is set for nationwide release October 25th (barring any further piracy). You can see Taylor perform this song live on ABC during the CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock on Sept. 1.Country Music Photo Gallery

New Brad Paisley Album – Hits Alive

Brad Paisley has a new album of old hits on its way November 2nd! Brad Paisley has taken the top hits of his robust career and created a two-disc album titled “Hits Alive” which is set to release November 2nd 2010. The first disc will feature studio recordings of his best chart toppers, while the second disc will showcase live performances of those same hits. I personally didn’t think he was old enough to have a “greatest hits” collection yet, but then it dawned on me that every album he’s put out so far has been chock-FULL of amazing music! Put me on the waiting list for this one too!

Introducing Levi Riggs

Up and coming country star, Levi Riggs, talks about his role model, and his passion to help people. You may know Levi Riggs as the singer for “F-150” or the upcoming tune “Tailgate Time” but we here at CMNB wanted to make sure you got a closer look at the many sides of Levi. Whether through the lyrics in the songs he writes and performs or the causes he supports or the way he leads his life, chart-climbing country singer Levi Riggs has a passion to help people. And his role model is football’s Drew Brees, all-pro quarterback of the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. “I have great appreciation for the way Drew leads his life, using his talents and opportunities to benefit other people,” says Riggs. “It’s amazing to see what Drew has done both on and off the field to raise the spirits of an entire region following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Through his Brees Dream Foundation, he has been very generous with his time and resources in helping young cancer victims in San Diego, under-served children and scholar athletes in Indiana and people of all ages in New Orleans.” While it might seem strange for a country singer to emulate a football star, this one makes a lot of sense … Riggs and Brees have much in common. Both were star quarterbacks of their high school football teams (Drew in Austin, Tex., and Levi in Danville, Ind.,) both graduated with academic honors from Purdue University (Brees in 2001 and Riggs in 2007), and both are men of strong Christian faith. They have also shared the stage each of the last three years at an annual fund-raising dinner sponsored by the National Football Foundation’s Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana, providing scholarship funds for high school students headed into their first year of college. While Brees has become a best-selling author this year with proceeds going to charity from his book “Coming Back Stronger,” Riggs has performed at several charity concerts that have benefited the NFF scholarship fund along with providing dollars for Holistic Hardware, Food Finders, Heifer International, and the Purdue Haiti Team to help build homes in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. “I grew up as a Drew Brees fan, watching him perform at Purdue and trying to emulate his success on the field,” says Riggs. “I knew back then that he was a great guy and always seemed to do the right thing both on and off the field, but it wasn’t until more recently that I learned about his great generosity and inspiring attitude. “I know I’m just getting started, but if I can achieve in my lifetime what Drew’s accomplished in the last year,” adds Riggs, “I’ll be very happy.” Later this month, Riggs will release his next single, “Tailgate Time,” with a bit of a football theme, just in time for the start of the 2010 gridiron season and a few months after his first single, “F-150,” rose as high as No. 19 Continue reading Introducing Levi Riggs

Trace Adkins Unplugged

Trace Adkins films a brand new episode of CMT Unplugged. Country music’s favorite giant Trace Adkins stopped by the CMT Studios to film an all-new episode of “Unplugged” which debuted this week. Trace Adkins performs some of his song favorites and reflects on how he got his start in country music when a new episode of CMT’s original web series, UNPLUGGED, debuts this week at CMT.com. In a stripped-down studio concert, he delivers songs from his upcoming album Cowboy’s Back In Town, including “Still Love You” and his current hit single “This Ain’t No Love Song.” He covers Larry Grahams’ “One in a Million,” and the country music icon takes fans down memory lane with a performance of “This Ain’t No Thinkin’ Thing,” from his debut album, Dreamin’ Out Loud. Trace Adkins   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos Country Music Photo Gallery

Reba Talks About Turn Up TheRadio

Weathering the storm of competitive releases and dangerous conditions, Reba’s new hit forecasts success for her upcoming album. When reports came out that Reba McEntire braved near tornado-like conditions to film her new video for “Turn Up The Radio” fans were not surprised at all. The Oklahoma native is no stranger to the storms, and admits that she couldn’t control her love of the new song any more than she could control the weather! “I fell for the song immediately. I love that it’s an up-tempo, strong-woman song about a woman who has been done wrong by her lover and is telling him to turn on the radio if he wants to hear from her through their favorite song. Dann Huff and the musicians did a wonderful job bringing the heart beat out in the song. It definitely gets your attention from the very start.”Country Music Photo Gallery

Introducing Brandon Jackson

Former No Justice member, Brandon Jackson, breaks out on his own. Brandon Jackson has been singing and performing since the age of 5, so it was no surprise when he decided to break out on his own to record an album. Brandon discusses how he came to this decision. “After 5 very successful years with No Justice, I just felt like it was time to explore a solo career in the Red Dirt/Texas Music scene,” Brandon says. “I had a blast with No Justice and wrote and creating some great music with those guys. Being a songwriter, I had a bunch of songs that I thought were really good and just wanted to get them out there. A lot of the songs didn’t really fit the No Justice sound so that, along with just feeling ready to get out on my own, lead me to where I am now. Bottom line it just felt right, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore and let the opportunity pass me by!” Since leaving the band No Justice in 2009 he has been writing and performing his own music at several acoustic shows throughout Oklahoma and Texas. He also has a regular Monday night show at Dirty’s in Stillwater, OK. Brandon will begin recording his album at Reel Time Studio in Denton, TX with Eric Delegard on August 10th. He will be in the studio for 3 weeks to record 12 to 14 songs. The untitled album should be released around the end of 2010. During this time you can still catch Brandon on the road. You can get a full list of his tour dates by visiting his website at www.brandonjacksonmusic.com. Guest writer Abby Gibson is an avid fan of the Texas music scene, and can often be found on www.galleywinter.com, Texas’s best independent music resource!Country Music Photo Gallery

Sugarland Discusses Stuck Like Glue

As rumors of the video leak out, Sugarland talks about how Stuck Like Glue came about. Sugarland is enjoying instant success with their quirky new single “Stuck Like Glue” as they plan out a crazy stalker plot for the corresponding video. But of course, what more could you ask for from this entertainingly eccentric duo? When asked about how such a catchy song came about, this is what they had to say: “The song came about in a really fun way,” says Jennifer Nettles. “We were actually in the studio. It’s one of two songs that we wrote while we were in the studio process.” “It all came born out of this really cool beat and this really cool hook,” adds Kristian Bush. “It’s an infectious beat — it almost sticks kind of like glue to you.”Country Music Photo Gallery