The Act of Valor soundtrack will hit stores on February 21st, featuring original songs written and inspired by the Navy SEAL action-thriller. It will include “For You,” a song written by Keith Urban that is featured in the film’s end credits, as well as music from Lady Antebellum, Sugarland, Trace Adkins, Wynonna Judd, Montgomery Gentry, and more. In theaters February 24th, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty Navy Seals along with actors Roselyn Sanchez, Alex Veadov, Jason Cottle and Nestor Serrano.

Produced and directed by Mike “Mouse” McCoy and Scott Waugh and written by Kurt Johnstad, Act of Valor takes audiences into the secretive world of the most elite, highly-trained force in the modern world as the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U.S. Inspired by true events, the film combines combat sequences, battlefield technology and heart-pounding emotion.

The track listing for the soundtrack includes Keith’s “For You,” “Guide You Home” (Sugarland), “I Was Here” (Lady Antebellum), “If the Sun Comes Up” (Trace Adkins), “Two Soldiers Coming Home” (Lori McKenna), “The Best I Can” (Jake Owen), “What It Takes”(Montgomery Gentry), “The Best of Me” (Josh Kelley), “Where We Left Off” (Hunter Hayes) and “Whatever Brings You Back” (Wynonna Judd).

The Act of Valorr soundtrack is available for pre-order now.

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

Lady Antebellum announced today that they will take their headlining Own the Night 2012 World Tour to Europe this summer with dates scheduled across the continent. Fans can purchase tickets beginning this Fridiay, February 10th through LadyAntebellum.com as well as find more details on additional upcoming European dates as they are announced.

“Every time we’ve gone over to Europe, the fans there have given us such a warm welcome,” said Lady A’s Dave Haywood. “It’s an honor for us to be able to travel abroad and share our music with so many other countries…plus, we love to get out and sightsee and really experience each place we visit. Europe is going to be a blast!”

Own the Night 2012 World Tour European Dates:
7/10 Dublin, Ireland Olympia Theatre
7/13 Glasgow, UK Royal Concert Hall
7/15 Manchester, UK Manchester Apollo
7/16 London, UK Hammersmith Apollo
7/18 Essen, Germany Philharmonie
7/20 Frankfurt, Germany Jahrhunderthalle
7/21 Munich, Germany Tollwood Festival
7/23 Copenhagen, Denmark Falconer Theatre
7/24 Gothenburg, Sweden Tradgardsforeningen
7/26 Seljord, Norway Countryfestivalen
7/27 Stockholm, Sweden Solliden Skansen

Lady A kicked off their Own the Night 2012 World Tour last week with sold out and record-breaking shows in the US. The trio will break from the road this weekend for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards where they will present and are also nominated for Best Country Album. For more information and a full list of tour dates, visit www.ladyantebellum.com.

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

During their opening weekend of their Own the Night World Tour, Lady Antebellum invited openers Darius Rucker and Thompson Square on stage with them mid-show to sing a Doobie Brothers cover, “Black Water.” Take a look, and enjoy.

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

Lady Antebellum capped off the opening weekend of their Own the Night 2012 World Tour sponsored by GAC on Sunday by setting an all-time venue attendance record at Bloomington, IL’s U.S. Cellular Coliseum, breaking the previous record held by superstar Kenny Chesney. More than 32,000 fans packed arenas this weekend for the first three dates of the tour.

“Opening weekend was more than we ever could have dreamed,” said Lady A’s Charles Kelley. “There’s been so much anticipation and nervous excitement leading up to our first big arena tour. So much work and preparation goes into putting it together, and then you have to let go and just hope the fans show up. They didn’t let us down! We’re honestly blown away.”

The Own the Night 2012 World Tour sponsored by GAC sold more than half a million tickets in advance of its first stop last Friday in Tulsa, OK. The tour continues this Friday in Huntington, WV and runs through June with Darius Rucker and special guest Thompson Square.

Additionally, Lady A recently scored five nominations for the 47th Annual ACM Awards in the categories of Vocal Group of the Year, Album of the Year for Own the Night as both songwriters and producers, and Song of the Year and Video of the Year for Just A Kiss. The show airs live from Las Vegas on CBS Sunday, April 1st.

For more information and a list of tour dates, please visit www.ladyantebellum.com

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

Even after 15 years, the ever-popular NOW records are still going strong, despite a decline in record sales after the emergence of iTunes. The famed NOW franchise is back with a new release, NOW That’s What I Call Country Ballads, featuring 18 monster ballads from hit-makers such as Chris Young and Kenny Chesney to Shania Twain and George Strait.

This is definitely a modern-day collection of country ballads, so if you’re expecting to find “He Stopped Loving Her Today” or “The Dance” on this record, you might be disappointed. Instead, you’ll find Sara Evans’ rendition of Edwin McCain’s “I Could Not Ask For More,” Martina McBride’s latest tear-jerker, “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,” Dierks Bentley’s risque “Come a Little Closer,” and Carrie Underwood’s take on the famous Randy Travis classic, “I Told You So.”

This album is definitely aimed towards a younger audience with songs from crossover artists like Taylor Swift, The Band Perry, and Lady Antebellum, all of whom have had just as much success on pop radio as they have in the country genre. The record also features former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker’s debut single as a country artist, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” which I still say is his strongest single to date.

If you’re not high-tech with all the latest MP3s and gadgets, this would be a great record to buy if you want some of the greatest country ballads released in the last 10 years or so. Or, you could just turn on your radio – I hear these songs multiple times a day, so it’s nothing new or out of the ordinary. But, like I said, it’s a good record to have on hand in the car if you want some good country slow songs. The NOW records are available wherever records are sold, including online via iTunes and Amazon.

Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win a copy of NOW That’s What I Call Country Ballads from CMTT.  CLICK HERE to enter.  Hurry!  Contest ends Thursday , February 2nd.

Kristi Olson
CMTT Music Contributor

CLICK READ MORE to see the full track listing of NOW That’s What I Call Country Ballads.

1.  Taylor Swift                                    Forever And Always (Piano Version)
2.  Keith Urban                                    Tonight I Wanna Cry
3.  Rascal Flatts                                  What Hurts The Most
4.  The Band Perry                             If I Die Young
5.  Martina McBride                            I’m Gonna Love You Through It
6.  Luke Bryan                                                Do I
7.  Jake Owen                                                Don’t Think I Can’t Love You
8.  Lady Antebellum                            American Honey
9.  Jason Aldean/Kelly Clarkson         Don’t You Wanna Stay
10.  Shania Twain                               Forever & For Always
11.  Carrie Underwood                       I Told You So
12.  Sara Evans                                  I Could Not Ask For More
13.  Kenny Chesney                           Better As A Memory
14.  Dierks Bentley                             Come A Little Closer
15.  Chris Young                                 The Man I Want To Be
16.  Darius Rucker                              Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It
17.  George Strait                               I Saw God Today
18.  Alan Jackson                               Remember When

It’s sort of musical chairs on Billboard’s musical charts this week. Last week’s number-two is now number-one on the country songs chart. It’s Luke Bryan singing “I Don’t Want This Night to End.” Last week’s number-three is now number-two. It’s “You” from Chris Young. And, last week’s number-one drops to number-three. It’s Eric Church with a “Drink in My Hand.”

“Clancy’s Tavern” from Toby Keith now is number-one on Billboard’s country albums chart. “Own the Night” from Lady Antebellum is in second. And Luke Bryan’s “Tailgates and Tanlines” is in third.

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

Hillary, Dave, and Charles of Lady Antebellum are all finally on the same page. Charles was married a couple of years ago, while the other two remained single. According to Country Weekly, the trio is glad to all be going through the same thing together.

“We’ve always had a really close friendship from the beginning, but I think we’ve seen each other grow. I’ll speak for myself that I’m in a much happier place. We’re excited to all be going through the same things quickly after the other, so it’s really fun. Love is in the air,” says Hillary.

The group is even preparing for expanding families. They’ve already got a plan in place for when the pitter-patter of little feet are heard…

we’re gonna figure out the next step when kids come, what that’s going to be. We’ll stick them in the bottom bay of the bus so you don’t hear them when they cry,” Charles jokes.

“[We'll] make a really wicked nursery under there,” chimes in Hillary. “The family’s grown.”

Well, I suppose it’s better than “strappin them to the roof of the car,” which is what my parents threatened to do. You can read more here.

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