Miranda Lambert brought her On Fire tour to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena last night. The tour lived-up to it’s name, leaving the audience a-blaze and no way to put it out. The tour standards Jerrod Niemann, Chris Young, and Miranda impressed, but true to Nashville special guest Blake Shelton and Miranda’s girl trio The Pistol Annies added fuel to the flame.

Unlike most opening acts, Jerrod Niemann needs no training in crowd interaction. He worked the stage and left his mark on the hands of nearby fans as he performed his hits “What Do You Want,” “Lover, Lover,” “One More Drinkin Song,” and his current single “Shinin On Me.”

Chris Young looked truly glad to be home, or as close to home as he can get.   the crowd erupted in applause and screams, Chris beamed. He worked the crowd with his puppy dog eyes, and impressive list of songs that included “Gettin You Home,” “You,” “Voices,” “Tomorrow,” as well as some new songs.

It’s obvious that Miranda Lambert has spent the last ten years perfecting her tour. She knows exactly who she is, what the crowd expects, and what she has to do to get the job done. Entertaining a massive crowd appears to be effortless for her. It doesn’t hurt that her career has supplied her with plenty of sing-a-long hits. Her nearly two-hour set included hits such as “White Liar,” “Kerosene,” “Gun Powder and Lead,” “The House that Built Me,” “Dead Flowers,” “Only Prettier,” “Baggage Claim,” “Famous in a Small Town,” and “Over You.”

Just over halfway through her set, she invited her gal pals, The Pistol Annies to come out and sing a couple of their fan favorite tunes “Hell on Heels” and “Takin Pills.”

Later on, Miranda also invited her hubby, Blake Shelton, out to perform “Honey Bee.” The couple performed the last half of the song together.

The night ended with a sing-a-long of sorts with the entire group performing Roger Miller’s “King of the Road.”

True to form, we took entirely too many pictures and you can see them all here.

Got some country music gossip and don’t wanna be a tattle tale? Email me, Tawny Tucker, Tawny@countrymusictattletale.com Don’t miss a country music beat! Sign up to receive free email updates or subscribe to CMTT via RSS today!

Fans are sure to be aglow when they check out Chris Young’s hot new video for his hit single “Neon,” premiering on Wednesday, May 9th. Directed by Ryan Hamblin and shot earlier this year at Melrose Billiards in Nashville, the video uses black lights and cool effects to paint Chris Young’s world with pops of bright NEON.

Fans can catch the video debut tomorrow at 5pm CT on LiveStream.com. Check out Chris’ Facebook (facebook.com/chrisyoungmusic) or his website (chrisyoungcountry.com) for complete information & links to the exclusive Live Chat. Look for Young’s “Neon” video at other online and broadcast outlets in the days following the premiere.

2012 continues to be a banner year for RCA Recording Artist Chris Young. In addition to burning up the road with Miranda Lambert and her “On Fire” tour, Young recently landed his fifth consecutive #1 single and posted two RIAA certified Gold singles. His newest single, the title track to his recently released album NEON, is currently climbing the charts at country radio.

CMTT wants you to be a Tattle Tale! We want to hear what you have to say about country music and your favorite artists. Email Jessica at countrygirl@countrymusictattletale.com. Don’t miss a country music beat! Sign up to receive free email updates or subscribe to CMTT via RSS today!

CMA Fest is just around the corner. From June 4th-10th, downtown Nashville will be taken over by fans and artists. We’re trying to keep you up-to-date with all the events going on. Here are the fanclub parties that are posted so far.

Monday, June 4, 2012

• 12:00 Noon – Rodney Atkins – tickets on sale in April

• 1:00 PM – Lee Brice and Jerrod Niemann – 3rd and Lindsey – Joint Fan Club Party – $35 – Doors open at 1PM- Includes lunch, concert and M&G.  Visit www.leebrice.com  or www.dehydrationnation.net
• 6:00PM – 10:45PM – CMA Global Artist Showcases – The Stage on Broadway  Visit http://aristoworks.com/clients/global/ for details.

Tuesday, June 5th

• 11:00 AM – Darryl Worley – The Stage – Members $45, Non-Members $55 – Lunch, Performance, Meet and Greet

• 12:00 Noon – Gary Allan – Rocketown
• 12:30 PM – 3:45PM – CMA Global Artist Showcases – The Second Fiddle  Visit http://aristoworks.com/clients/global/ for details.

• 3:00 PM – Clay Walker – 3rd & Lindsley – $45 Members, $50 Non-Members

Wednesday, June 6th

• 9:00AM – Tracy Lawrence – Margaritaville

• 10:00AM – Montgomery Gentry – Third and Lindley – includes music from MG, brunch,  souvenir, M & G – $35 for fan club members and $45 for non-members and includes a one year membership to the Underground

• 9:00PM- Dierks Bentley- Cannery- $35 Members/$40 non-members.  Tix on Sale Friday, April 20th

Thursday, June 7th

• 8:00AM – Josh Thompson - Margaritaville - Breakfast will be served, Josh will perform at 9 with a meet & greet to follow. Tickets are $25 for fan club members and go on sale Monday March 19th at www.thechromebulletcrew.com

• 10:00AM – Cowboy Troy and Friends Fan Club Party – Just Kickin Saloon

• 10:00AM – Lonestar Fan Club Party – Ford Theater inside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – Ticket on sale now at www.lonestarnow.com

• Josh Thompson at Margaritaville 8am – 11am Doors open at 8, breakfast will be served, Josh will perform at 9 with a meet & greet to follow. Tickets are $25 for fan club members.
• 11:00AM – Miranda Lambert – Fontanel Mansion – One ticket per fan club member – $30 each

• 12:00 – George Jones – For Fan Club Members & Up to 3 guests • Includes Goody Bag, & Lunch with Drink and Dessert. – Nashville Palace – COST IS $35 PER PERSON. – Tickets at http://2012gjfc.eventbrite.com/

• 12:30PM – Chris Young – TX Troubadour Theater – One ticket per fan club memeber – $28.50
• 3:00 pm – Jana Kramer Album Release Party at aVenue -  120 3rd Avenue South  You can visit http://www.janakramer.com for details.

• Luke Bryan- TBA

Friday, June 8th

• 8:00AM – Buddy Jewell Fan Club Party – Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant – $15 Advance, $20 Door – www.buddyjewell.com/store

• 12:00 Noon – Ty Herndon- Rockettown

• 2:00pm- Joe Nichols Fan Club Party- Country Music Hall of Fame

Saturday, June 9th

• 1:00PM – Scotty McCreery – Rockettown -performance,Q&A, lunch, souvenir, door prizes, signed 8 x 10, meet and greet and more – each member can purchase 2 tickets, one fan club member and one guest - fan club member $35 – Guests $45 - tickets on sale now http://scottyfans.com/

• 3:00PM – Julie Roberts – The Rutledge.  Tickets range from $10-$45 and include meet & greet, performance& more.  JulieRoberts.com for tickets.

Got some country music gossip and don’t wanna be a tattle tale? Email me, Tawny Tucker, Tawny@countrymusictattletale.com Don’t miss a country music beat! Sign up to receive free email updates or subscribe to CMTT via RSS today!

Chris Young continues his feverish support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, one of the world’s premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other deadly childhood diseases, by offering up a one-of-a-kind handmade quilt designed and produced by his grandmother, “Nanny.”

May’s quilt, which highlights many of the songs Chris has recorded across his three albums, is available for bidding via the Forum on Chris Young’s official website. Bids can be made on the Chris Chatter Forum on his website. A new quilt, handmade by “Nanny,” will be offered each month with all monies donated to St. Jude.

“I think it’s really cool that Nanny has taken up the cause to help raise money for these incredible St. Jude kids who are fighting for their lives,” said Young. “I hope my fans will check out her handmade quilts each month and consider making a bid to help support St. Jude.”

CMTT wants you to be a Tattle Tale! We want to hear what you have to say about country music and your favorite artists. Email Jessica at countrygirl@countrymusictattletale.com. Don’t miss a country music beat! Sign up to receive free email updates or subscribe to CMTT via RSS today!

Miranda Lambert’s “On Fire” tour made its way to the west coast with a stop in Fresno, California on April 26. Miranda is no stranger to the San Joaquin Valley – we’ve seen her here numerous times; however, a lot more people have jumped on the Lambert bandwagon since those early days. She went from playing radio gigs in city parks to performing at multiple valley fairs, then moved her way up to headlining a local casino. Her last appearance here was in 2010 as the opening act for Brad Paisley’s “American Saturday Night” tour. But all that changed this past Thursday when Lambert rocked the faces off the sold-out crowd at Fresno State’s Save Mart Center.

Supporting her on the tour were country heartthrobs Jerrod Niemann and Chris Young. Niemann’s band is possibly one of the best country bands I have ever seen live. These guys are unreal. From their cover of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Pride and Joy” to the ever-recognizable riff of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” every single band member got their chance to shine. I was beyond impressed.

Chris Young was his usual studly self. That boy doesn’t “sing,” he “saaaangs.” This cowboy’s got some soul! Proof? His cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” This guy has pipes. Of course, the crowd went nuts for monster hits like “Voices,” “Gettin’ You Home,” and “Tomorrow,” where everyone was singing along with every word.

Once Young finished his set, you could feel the energy level rising with the crowd’s anticipation of seeing the pistol-packin’ mama we all know and love. Miranda started off the show with a rockin’ track, “Fastest Girl in Town,” from her latest album, “Four the Record.” I reviewed that record for CMTT last year and promised you that “Fastest Girl in Town” was going to be a crowd favorite in the live show…and it definitely was. It was the perfect song choice to open up the show. “Mama’s Broken Heart” also seemed to get a huge response from the crowd. For a minute, I thought I was at a rock show – I looked behind me and saw nothing but a sea of people jumping up and down making “metal horns” with their hands. This girl knows how to work a stage. She had the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand.

She slowed things down a bit with tearjerkers like “Over You” and “The House That Built Me,” both of which resulted in a roaring applause from the audience. You know what else got a great response from the crowd? Mr. Blake Shelton singing “Honeybee.” It was a surprise to everyone and the place went nuts.

My personal favorite moment of the show was when she brought out Angeleena Presley and Ashley Monroe, better known together as the outlaw trio Pistol Annies. They burned down the house with that classic country sound. Everybody absolutely loved them. I think a lot of copies of “Hell on Heels” were sold at the merch booth after the show. In addition to “Hell on Heels,” they played three others – “Takin’ Pills,” “Bad Example,” and “The Hunter’s Wife.”

Lambert ended the show by bringing the Annies, Young, and Niemann back out on stage with her for their own rendition of “King of the Road.” It was a great way to end an absolutely stellar night of music. I’m going as far as to say Miranda Lambert for ACM and/or CMA Entertainer of the Year in the near future.

If you want to catch the “On Fire” tour in a city near you, check out the dates online at mirandalambert.com.

Kristi Olson
CMTT Music Contributor

Chris Young isn’t complaining about all the ladies that come to his show, but he does feel a little nervous that all of country’s hottest guys are getting engaged and married!  He may be only 26 but at this time he does not…I repeat…DOES NOT have a girlfriend!   Lee Brice, Dave Haywood, and now his good buddy Jake Owen are all locked down and he wonders if this is bad for him!  However, Chris did point out….”Not to throw them under the bus, but they are older than me!”.

Chris also mentioned that the latest addition of Country PEOPLE got it all wrong! He does not like pink beverages like the article says.  He prefers his drinks with vodka and does like sparkling ice….(just not the pink one!)

AshleyFig
Country Music Gossip Queen on K92.3 Orlando’s Country
Follow Me! @ashfig

10. There is only one thing @BrettEldredge loves as much as music – fish. “No fish I will not make out with you!?”

9.  @LeeBrice recently got sponsored by Bud Light – here’s what he had to say about that! “Id like to thank bud light for sponsoring me.. It’s like a duck being sponsored by water!”

8. Every once in a while we just need a good joke.  This week @FrankieBallard provided that. “Commercial flight has become so plane…”

7. This week music lost one of it’s greatest people. @ThompsonSquare had the best words for the loss “Thanks Dick Clark for all the wonderful memories from my childhood watching American Bandstand! #RIPDICKCLARK Shawna”

6. Sometimes I wonder how Jerrod Niemann (@JRodFromOz) comes up with these things “Not sure if love is completely blind…probably more like a cyclops with cataracts”

5. I can’t imagine standing in the Opry circle, let alone being on the walls of the Opry. @DariusRucker has experienced both “Seeing this on the @opry wall tonight… Totally speechless.”

4. @MartinaMcBride is one of the most grounded people in country music – “Having a great talk with my husband this morning on the back porch. Best friend. Good coffee. Beautiful morning. Life is good.”

3. Leave it to @DierksBentley to live out a song “anchorage Alaska…question: is it possible to party until the sun comes up when it never really goes down this time of year?! let’s try!!”

2. At least I’m not the only one that gets bothered by this – @ChrisYoungMusic tweeted: “Good lord. It’s just Country. Not Country and Western people.”

1. I guess it takes a country legend to get @BlakeShelton speechless! “‘@merlehaggard: Blake congratulations on your number one!!!’ Everybody stop!! Hats off.. Moment of silence.. Merle Haggard just tweeted me!!”

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Scotty B. – cmttreviewer@yahoo.com
Twitter @stupidkid2150