10. Am I the only one that cannot wait for the new @TheBandPerry CD? “Day 2 in the studio. rp”

9. I take it that @LauraBellBundy isn’t a morning person “Old people gotta A LOT of energy in the morning! They are CACKLING like school girls on this plane to… Wait 4 it… FLORIDA.”

8. Here is another invention worth a million bucks – @SarahBuxton has the cure to crack “Invention: The Crack Flap. Comes up over the back of your pants & covers the inevitable plumbers crack caused by today’s low rise pants.”

7. @BrettEldredge crack me up! “Grey Poupon had a baby and named it Groupon #FancyMustardCoupons”

6. Maybe we should find a different form of transportation for country artists.  This week had yet another bus fire. @ThompsonSquare tweeted “WAKING UP ENGULFED IN SMOME TO A BUS FIRE IN OUR BACK LOUNGE!!!! Not a good morning”

5. Who makes up these rumors? @Reba is as alive as ever! “The rumors of my Austrian death are greatly exaggerated!

4. Obviously @MartinaMcBride isn’t a Starbucks regular. “Starbucks person: What size? Me: Um..regular? I mean, is there a CLASS for this??? How do you learn it? #woefullynotwithit”

3. @BradPaisley was on a roll last week with his #belatedpopsongcorrections. Head over to his twitter to read ‘em all “Birds don’t actually fly over most rainbows. And I can’t fly at all.Therefore I can’t fly over the rainbow. Duh. #belatedpopsongcorrections”

2. There is a reason @ChrisYoungMusic is on the “On Fire” Tour right now “Its official guys! You is my fifth straight billboard number one single!!! Thank you! #stoked”

1. Wait!? There’s a football game today? @Miranda_Lambert tweeted this pic. “Super Bowl!!!!”

Don’t forget to follow Country Music Tattle Tale (@CMTT) on Twitter

If you have any Tweet of the Week suggestions let me know!

Scotty B. – cmttreviewer@yahoo.com

Twitter @stupidkid2150

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

”

9. I only have one response to @BrettEldredge’s tweet – WATCH IT GROW! “I grew a beard in like 10 seconds once I got up in the mountains…somethin in the water up there!!! chi chi chi chia beard!”

8. No one experiences the joys of legroom more than touring acts like @LauraBellBundy ‘clean living!’ just got on a flight and I have the entire row too myself … Not to mention MORE LEGROOOM #heavenlyairtraun

7. Sunny Sweeney (@gettinsweenered) always has those truthful sayings that no one thinks of. Sunny’s Aphorism of the week is: “the divorce rate in my sock drawer is amazing.”

6. With ACM nominations out this week, there were plenty of thankful tweets this week. @ChrisYoungMusic had my favorite “Workout-check…shower-check…2ACM nominations-check #waitwhat

5. @LukeBryanOnline has some great things coming for all of us fans! Look for “Spring Break 4” on iTunes soon! “Great day in the studio recording Spring Break 4”

4. This week was a big week for @JayDeMarcus, see what he had to say “Alright y’all, Ali and I have baby number two on the way!! Huge surprise but we’re very excited!!”

3. A new tour started this week. @MartinaMcBride is hitting the road with George Strait “Can’t believe we start the George Strait tour tomorrow night! So freaking excited! Are you ready Lafayette???”

2. The last few weeks have been hard for @Miranda_Lambert. First Blake’s dad, now her friend “Please call your friends, especially the ones you haven’t talked to In a while or maybe are not on great terms with and tell em u love em.”

1. @DierksBentley has had the opportunity to play many types of shows. This week he was in Milwaukee playing after an Admirals game. “dude just fired a snapshot that broke the glass right in front of my face #totallyrad”

Don’t forget to follow Country Music Tattle Tale (@CMTT) on Twitter

If you have any Tweet of the Week suggestions let me know!

Scotty B.

cmttreviewer@yahoo.com
Twitter @stupidkid2150

After MidNite host Blair Garner welcomed Martina McBride to his Nashville studio on Thursday, January 26th. After introducing McBride to his audience as a 2012 ACM Award nominee, Garner discovered he was the first to share the news with the country star who had been busy that morning getting her kids ready for school.

GARNER: “Who gave you the news?”
MCBRIDE: “You just did.”
GARNER: “No, are you serious?”
MCBRIDE: “Yeah, I hadn’t heard yet.”
GARNER: “And I told you. Wait, let me back up. Hold on. Hold on. I just told you this a moment ago, and I introduced you that way, and you politely nodded your head.”
MCBRIDE: “Well, I know, because, I don’t know. Well, you were talking…”
GARNER: (laughter) “But you’re Martina McBride. You just got nominated for Female Vocalist.”
MCBRIDE: “It’s so exciting…”

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

10. It’s the beginning of tour season 2012 and @ScottyMcCreery has landed a spot on Brad Paisley’s tour. This is what he had to say about his boss “Man, this whole headlining tour thing @BradPaisley has going on is really giving him a big head! Check out the pic…”

9. So all those commercials were lying? @LauraBellBundy said “What happens in Vegas… Gets on Facebook. #wahwah”

8. Newcomer Brent Anderson (@Brents2cents) may have found a new job if his flight is ever delayed in Chicago “How do they keep the snow off the runway? That must be somebody’s full time job. Sounds awful. You’d never get off for a snow day.”

7. You know you are in Nashville when you see more camo than plaid! @MeghanLinsey of Steel Magnolia tweeted “2 guys in front of me… Camo shirt, Camo hat, Camo backpack, Camo luggage.. You goin to Nashville? Hell yeah! #airportpeoplewatching”

6. And it’s now time for a Public Service Announcement from @BrettEldredge “My bro just read an article that says an ATM touch screen has more bacteria than a toilet seat….I think I’ll start paying w/ checks n IOUs”

5. As @JakeOwen found out, there is one downside to being an adventurist – broken bones “Just broke my collar bone. Guess I charged this mountain a little too hard.”

4. I don’t think Blake will be happy with this tweet from @Miranda_Lambert “$1000 dollars at Target and im ready to start the tour in Rockford. New bus, new set, new snow boots:)”

3. Sometimes you forget how normal superstars are, but @TaylorSwift13 shows how grounded she is in this tweet “Apparently my only way of dealing with a remote control that isn’t working right is to bang it on the table and scream ‘COME ON!’”

2. This week many of country’s biggest (and lesser known) names toured St. Jude. This tweet from @MartinaMcBride shows how important it is to donate “Just toured St. Jude hospital n Memphis. Amazing,amazing place. Met some great kids. Saw the labs where they r doing groundbreaking research”

1. With a sold out debut weekend, the @BradPaisley Virtual Reality World Tour 2012 is off with a bang! Brad posted this from the Bradley Center “I’ve never been cooler than this…”

Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts had an announcement on twitter this week. Read this if you are headed to a show “If you are coming to a show this winter, wear all white!!! That shall be the theme, spread the word!!!!!!”

Don’t forget to follow Country Music Tattle Tale (@CMTT) on Twitter

If you have any Tweet of the Week suggestions let me know!
Scotty B.
cmttreviewer@yahoo.com
Twitter @stupidkid2150

A collection of country hits will be out by the end of the month. “Now That’s What I Call Country Ballads” will have 18 country hits. It includes the piano version of Taylor Swift’s “Forever and Always,” “I Could Not Ask For More” by Sara Evans, Lady Antebellum’s “American Honey” and Keith Urban’s “Tonight I Wanna Cry.” The Band Perry, Martina McBride, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson are also on the collection. “Now That’s What I Call Country Ballads” comes out January 24.

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

This year, the lucky folks attending the ACM Awards can stay an extra day to watch the taping of ACM Presents: Lionel Richie & Friends – A Lifetime of Hits, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Monday, April 2nd, 2012. This country tribute to the legendary Lionel Richie, featuring duets with Lionel from his upcoming album Tuskeegee, will also include some of Richie’s greatest hits performed by Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Rogers and many more. Tickets are $205, $155 and $105 for reserved seating with proceeds benefiting ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy that is dedicated to improving lives through the power of music.

The show will air at a later date on CBS.

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