2013 CMA Fest Performers Line Up

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First Round of Performers Confirmed for 2013 CMA Music Festival Line Up! The tickets have been all sale for over six months now, but the CMA Music Festival has just now started to trickle out the line up for 2013! So far confirmed for the 2013 CMA Fest line up we have Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Little Big Town. This concert event is one of THE most exciting for country music fans all year long, and with this four confirmed so far, we’re confident that the 2013 CMA Fest is on the track to be just as amazing if not better than the previous years! This year’s fest will take place June 6-9! Check back with us as the list of performers grow, and be sure to find us on Twitter and Faceook! Tell Us: Who else do you want to see on that list? Comment below! Carrie Underwood Talks CMA Fest.

Blake Shelton Announces 2013 Ten Times Crazier Tour

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Blake Shelton To Kick Off 2013 Ten Times Crazier Tour in July! Thankfully Blake Shelton has not given all his time over to his new gig, mentoring on The Voice, as the country singer has just announced his brand new 2013 Ten Times Crazier Tour! Kicking off on July 19th in Virginia Beach the tour will hit stops all over the U.S. through October (so far)! I guess since Miranda is hittin’ the road with Dierks, Shelton needed to do something with his free time!! Blake will be joined by the talented Easton Corbin and Jana Kramer throughout the tour! Stick with us for more details as they’re announced by following us on Twitter and Facebook! Ticket info is below!

Kenny Chesney New Album Release April 30

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Kenny Chesney Will Release A New Album for 2013 On April 30! Just when I think things can’t get any more exciting, Kenny Chesney goes announces that he will be releasing a brand new album for 2013, the follow-up to his 2012 release, Welcome to the Fishbowl! Earlier this week Kenny added 28 dates to his 2013 No Shoes Nation Tour rounding it out to 101 dates total! That kicks off on March 16th, and the new album will release shortly after on April 30! This spring is really shaping out to be a big one for Chesney. The album title has yet to be decided, but check back with us regularly for updates! You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

American Idol Season 12 Premiere

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Episode 1 Of American Idol Season 12: Recap! Last night was the premiere episode of American Idol Season 12. This go around there are three new judges, including country music’s own Keith Urban. The episode was two hours long, had auditions in New York City and only featured one country artist. Sarah Restuccio, 17, came from Hammonton, New Jersey. She first auditioned with Carrie Underwood‘s “Mama’s Song.” But when Randy Jackson asked her to sing something else, she shocked all judges with her second song. Restuccio began to rap (with her own twist) “Super Bass.” For those who don’t know, “Super Bass” is one of Nicki Minaj’s (also a new judge on season 12) biggest hits. The second song started a bit of a debate with all four of the judges. It made Urban question who she was as an artist, but had Minaj loving her even more. Minaj fully backed the young girl, saying that the boys would love her and that the girls could identify with her. She even said something along the lines of, there are plenty of girls working on a farm singing “Super Bass.” I do have to question if it had been a country song and any other pop/rap song that wasn’t one of her own, would Minaj be so quick to defend? We will never know, but one thing is for certain…she made it to Hollywood! At the end of the stop in NYC, 41 contestants moved on to the next round. A new episode will air tonight on Fox at 8/7c where the judges will search for more people to move on in Chicago. Catch Sarah’s Audition and See What YOU Think!

Announcing First Ever Country Music Blog Rodeo

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CMNB Is Happy To Announce the First Ever Country Music Blog Rodeo of 2013! Next week (Tuesday, January 22nd), a group of some of the top independent country music blogs across the U.S., and even a couple across the pond, will be getting together to launch the first ever Country Music Blog Rodeo! Through individual posts, links and social sharing, we’re coming together to chat about what we all love the most…country music! For this inaugural Blog Rodeo, we’ll be discussing what’s to come in 2013 for the country music scene. With brand new tours, lots of new music, newcomers and seasoned artists on the rise, and so much more already happening, this year promises to be a BIG one for country music artists, fans, bloggers, industry folks and everyone in between, and all THAT is exactly what we’re going to be talking about! So, be looking for posts featuring a unique perspective from each of the sites on the list below on Tuesday, January 22nd! After you’ve checked out our thoughts for what will be happening in 2013, you can join in with our live Twitter Chat and share what you’re looking forward to in 2013, and we’ll even be giving away some fun country music prizes to fans! Get ready to rodeo! Blog Rodeo Twitter Chat: Date: Thursday, January 24th Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Find us: #BlogRodeo #CountryMusic CMNB Twitter: @CMNBlog Country Music Blog Rodeo Participants: CountryMusicTattleTale.com: 2013 Will Bring A New Sound to Country Music!(Twitter: @CMTT) CMchatLive.com: 2013 – Insights From Country Music Industry Experts!(Twitter: @CMchatLIVE) FocusOnThe615.com: Artist to Watch in 2013!FocusOnThe615.com (Twitter: @Focusonthe615) TwangNation.com: Americana’s Influence On Country Music!(Twitter: @TwangNation) UrbanCountryNews.com: Roots On The Rise – The Most Exciting Music Trend of 2013!(Twitter: @UrbanCountryNws) UkCOUNTRYmusic.net: Country2Country Festival-A Potential Turning Point for US Country Music In The Uk!(Twitter: @officialUKCM) KeepinItCountryBlog.com: 2013 The Year of Country Crossover! (Twitter: @KeepinItBlog) CountryMusicPride.com: Country Music In 2013!(Twitter: @CountryMusicPri) ForTheCountryRecord.com: Country Music & Twitter! (Twitter: @planmymistake) CountryMusicNewsBlog.com (HaleighT): Word of Mouth in 2013(Twitter: @HaleighT_CMNB)! CountryMusicNewsBlog.com (WhiskeyChick): 2013 – The Year of Social Media In Country Music! (Twitter: @WhiskeyChick) CountryMusicNewsBlog.com (MissMolly): 2013 North of Nashville – The Ozarks Go Country! (Twitter: @MissMollyCMNB) CountryMusicIsLove.com: Country Artists Passing The Torch In 2013!(Twitter: @cmilove)

Sarah Darling To Release EP

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Sarah Darling Is Set To Release Her Home To Me EP. Sarah Darling is gearing up to release her Home To Me EP. Comprised of new music from her forthcoming album, the EP is produced by Dann Huff and will be available digitally on January 29. At radio now, “Home To Me” continues to catch some attention. The song has over 46,000 units purchased since the digital release on August 21. Already a multiple week #1 on CMT Pure, the music video for “Home To Me” is playing on CMT, GAC and TCN. Fans can purchase the song and video on iTunes. Sarah’s partnership with MoonPie and the ‘“Home to Me’ Sweepstakes” continues throughout 2013 and features Sarah on several hundred thousand cartons of the nationally distributed product. The promotional feature of the partnership highlights Sarah’s hit single while tying in a yearlong sweepstakes including an all-expenses paid trip to Nashville, VIP tickets to see Sarah perform at the Grand Ole Opry and much more. For more on this sweepstakes CLICK HERE.

Craig Campbell Returns To Australia

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Craig Campbell Makes Another Trip Down Under! Craig Campbell will travel to Australia this week with a full schedule during his second trip Down Under. Campbell will have several performances at the Tamworth Festival and will take part in the 41st CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia on January 26th. In celebration of his headlining performance at the Tamworth Festival, ABC Music / Universal Music Australia are releasing a deluxe edition of his previously released self-titled album, which includes bonus material as well as Campbell’s new single “Outta My Head.”

Chris Young Honored By CMA

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Chris Young Gets Honored By The Country Music Association. The CMNB team is so very proud of Chris Young. He will be honored on January 29th by the Country Music Association with the coveted Triple Play Award for his #1 hits “Voices,” “Tomorrow,” and “You.” The award recognizes songwriters who have written three number-one songs within a 12-month period. As well as the award, the CMA selected Young as a featured artist to help further the popularity of country music overseas. In February, Young makes his inaugural trip to the U.K. and Ireland as part of the Country Music Association’s Songwriters Series with stops in Dublin, Belfast and London. The series is set to be recorded and broadcast at a later date on BBC Radio 2. “I Can Take It From There,” is Young’s latest single from his third album NEON.

Kenny Chesney 2013 No Shoes Nation Tour New Dates

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Kenny Chesney Adds 28 New Dates to His 2013 No Shoes Nation Tour! Kenny Chesney announced 28 brand new dates to his 2013 “No Shoes Nation” Tour giving fans an even greater chance of catching this highly anticipated tour live and up front! In an official press release published on Chesney’s website, he let everyone know that touring is all about the fans!! “The fans are the foundation of No Shoes Nation. They built it from the ground up, and they built it with heart, passion and the love of life and music, and I can’t wait to feel that connection again when we kick off the tour in March and throughout the summer of 2013.” -Kenny Chesney The tour kicks off March 16th in Tampa, FL and will hit stops all over the U.S. Zac Brown Band and Eric Church will be joining Chesney for select dates in addition to Eli Young Band and Kacey Musgraves as opening acts! Get ticket and date info below!

Tim McGraw Announces 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour

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Tim McGraw Announces 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour with Brantley Gilbert and Love and Theft! Tim McGraw has officially announced his 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour proving again that the coming year is going to be a BIG one for country music tours!! McGraw will be joined on the road by duo Love and Theft and country rocker Brantley Gilbert. The tour takes it’s name from Tim’s upcoming album which releases February 5th! The shows will kick off May 2nd at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Birmingham, AL! In the run up to the big tour, McGraw has teamed up with popular social site, Tumblr to launch an interactive campaign for Tim’s fans! The campaign, title “Fanticipation” (pretty cute, right?) will allow fans to get inside knowledge on ticket pre-sales from McGraw himself. You can get complete details on that here. You’ll find complete details on the 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour dates and locations below, and be sure to watch the video announcement from Tim! Straight from the Horses Mouth: Tim McGraw Announce 2013 Two Lanes of Freedom Tour!