The City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge is a must-do activity during your visit to Music City for CMA Fest. Taking place on Saturday, June 9th at Greer Stadium, the Grand Ole Opry will take on After Midnight with Blair Garner. The team rosters have been announced, and it’s sure to be a fun game.

GRAND OLE OPRY

Carrie Underwood
Vince Gill
Lauren Alaina
Brantley Gilbert
Kristen Kelly
Scott Hamilton
Billy Gilman
Greg Bates
Chris Lucas (Lo Cash Cowboys)
Mallary Hope
Sarah Darling
Shane Tallant

AFTER MIDNITE

Scotty McCreery
Chuck Wicks
David Nail
Robin Meade
Whitney Duncan
James Otto
Raelynn (The Voice)
Bucky Covington
Preston Burst (Lo Cash Cowboys)
Rachel Holder
Jeffrey Steele
Two Foot Fred

Purchase tickets here. For more information, visit CityofHope.org.

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Carrie Underwood, Scotty McCreery, Brantley Gilbert, Lauren Alaina, David Nail, James Otto, Robin Meade, Scott Hamilton, Chuck Wicks, Whitney Duncan, Bucky Covington, Sarah Darling, Billy Gilman, Kristen Kelly and Two Foot Fred have all signed-on to help City of Hope strike-out Cancer at this year’s Celebrity Softball Game. The annual event brings fans and celebrities together for a day of family fun in the midst of CMA Music Fest on Saturday, June 9th.

Last year, the game raised nearly $200,000 with more than 5,000 attendees. Over the years, the Celebrity Softball Challenge has raised nearly $2 million dollars benefitting City of Hope’s life-saving mission – finding cures and better treatments for cancer and a host of other devastating diseases.

The game is a “must see,” so head to Ticketmaster now and grab your tickets!

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A mix of Country stars and former football players gathered in Nashville, Tenn., recently to show support for ex-NFL player Kevin Turner at the Kevin Turner Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament.

The two-day, inaugural fundraising event was held April 22-23 to help further ALS research efforts.  Turner, a fullback with the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots in the 1990s, was diagnosed with the disease in May 2010.  Mounting scientific evidence has linked repetitive head trauma to the onset of ALS.  Turner formed the Kevin Turner Foundation in 2010 to raise awareness about the connection and to help fund ongoing ALS research.

Rascal Flatts’ Joe Don Rooney, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley, Chuck Wicks, Amber Hayes and Shenandoah’s Mike McGuire were among the Country artists in attendance at the event, which included a celebrity mixer and silent auction on Sunday night.  A golf tournament was held on Monday at the Governor’s Club in Brentwood, Tenn.

Former Tennessee Titans Kerry Collins and Blaine Bishop were on hand to show their support for Turner, along with Kyle Turley, who performed with his Country/Rock group, Kyle Turley Band.  Turner’s alma mater was well represented with appearances from former University of Alabama players Siran Stacy, Lemanski Hall, Mark McMillian, Jeremy Nunley, Hoss Johnson and Kevin Turner Foundation board member Craig Sanderson.  Turner played fullback for Alabama from 1988-1991 before being drafted by the New England Patriots in 1992.

“I was blown away by the support and turnout for this event,” said Turner.  “To see so many friends, former players and musical artists come out and donate auction items or sign up to play in the golf tournament was very humbling and inspiring.  We are making progress in the fight against ALS, but there’s still a long road ahead and a lot more that we are learning and discovering every day about concussions and this disease.  I am optimistic that one day in the future we will have a cure for ALS.”

Former professional wrestler and co-founder of The Sports Legacy Institute, Chris Nowinski was in attendance to speak to the crowd about the connection between repetitive head trauma and the organization’s efforts to make contact sports safer for athletes at all levels.  Turner works closely with SLI and Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy in their ALS and concussion research.

For more information or to donate in the fight against ALS, visit www.KevinTurnerFoundation.org.

Pictured L to R: Kevin Turner, Rascal Flatts’ Joe Don Rooney and KTF Advisory Board member Rob Burton on the golf course for the Kevin Turner Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament, held Apr. 23, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn.

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!

Let Us In” Nashville: A Tribute to Linda McCartney recently debuted, presented by The Women and Cancer Fund, dedicated to Linda McCartney’s memory and appropriately including 16 of Sir Paul McCartney’s best known hits.  The CD is helping raise awareness, promote prevention, and advance research of cancer in the best way Nashville knows how:  through music.

The 16 tracks feature a mixture of well-known country artists, like Phil Vassar and Ricky Skaggs, as well as some up-and-comers, like Sarah Darling and Cheyenne Kimball.  The variation of artists matches the variation of styles that naturally come from mixing an older genre of ‘pop’ songs with modern country singers.  It would seem that each song was perfectly matched to an artist or group based on their style, so that one might think that song came from that artist’s modern album, like Steel Magnolia’s version of “Maybe I’m Amazed” or SHeDAISY’s take on “With a Little Luck”.

Not only do the artists’ styles vary, but the tempos and themes of the songs do as well.  Some of the tracks, like Timothy B. Schmit’s “Every Night” and Juliana Cole’s ‘Bluebird’, could be considered easy listening (of course, with a country twist), whereas Blue Sky Riders’ ‘Junk’ has a folky feel, and Vassar’s rendition of ‘Lady Madonna’ is jazzy.  However, the arrangement of the songs is excellent, saving some of the more well-known or up-tempo songs for the end, including ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and Chuck Wicks’ rock-inspired version of ‘No More Lonely Nights’.

For older listeners, take a trip down memory lane while appreciating some of Nashville’s fresh faces; for younger listeners, take a second to reflect on the tunes of Paul McCartney, an inspiration for many modern artists.  Pick up your own copy and support the Women and Cancer Fund at amazon.com or on iTunes, or find out what else you can do at http://thewomenandcancerfund.org/.

Amanda Wile is originally from Pennsylvania, but moved to Nashville in 2005 to attend Vanderbilt and to follow her love for music.

Chuck Wicks stopped in to chat with Billy and Karla at Nashville’s WSIX yesterday with his pet pooch Cooper. Chuck surprised long-time fan and DJ Billy Greenwood by accepting his invitation to sing at Billy’s wedding.

So…um…Chuck…is this something we all can get in on? Will you sing at my wedding…to you? um…the fact that I’m already married is completely irrelevant.

Got some country music gossip and don’t wanna be a tattle tale? Email me, Tawny Tucker, Tawny@countrymusictattletale.com

Our friends over at CountryMusicIsLove.com have announced their 3rd Annual Benefit Concert benefiting City of Hope, one of the nation’s leading research, treatment and education centers for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. This year’s concert will feature acoustic performances by Micheal Ray, Chris Cavanaugh, Kristen Kelly, THE FARM, JT Hodges, Chuck Wicks, Love and Theft, Casey James, and Craig Campbell. Whitney Duncan will do double duty as host and performer for the second year in a row.

The cause hits close to home for many of the artists, including Casey James. “My family has been massively affected by cancer,” James shares. “My Paw-Paw passed away last year from cancer. My Nana passed away from cancer and my mother is a two-time cancer survivor, thyroid and breast. I can go on and on. There’s a large history of that in my family. Anything I can do to help and to do my part to make things better, I’ve always been into doing that, so it was an honor to be asked to come out and play. I’m excited to play the music and come see the fans, but most excited just to be a part of the whole thing.”

The 3nd Annual CountryMusicIsLove Concert benefiting City of Hope will be held February 21, 2012 at 7:30pm at Exit/In in Nashville, Tenn. Tickets are $15 and 100% of tickets sales will be donated to City of Hope. Tickets are available here: http://bit.ly/cmiltickets.

Please visit http://www.countrymusicislove.com/2012-benefit-concert for additional information.

Country Girl wants you to be a Tattle Tale! Have you been to a country concert lately? Run into a country artist while out on the town? We want to hear all about your country music news and entertainment. Email me at countrygirl@countrymusictattletale.com

Chuck Wicks took to the ball field today to practice with Houston Astros pitcher Jordan Schafer.

Got some country music gossip and don’t wanna be a tattle tale? Email me, Tawny Tucker, Tawny@countrymusictattletale.com