Taylor Swift Loves to Play Dress up

Carrie's Christmas Special Monday 12/7 on Fox

Carrie Underwood fans are excited about this coming Monday, when FOX will air Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special, a music and fun-filled two-hour variety event, with an array of special guests including Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, David Cook, Christina Applegate, Kristin Chenoweth, Sons of Sylvia, and more. Carrie says she’s really happy with how the show turned out, and while she was hard pressed to pick any one favorite segment, she loves a sketch offering the world a window into the thoughts of her beloved rat terrier, Ace, courtesy of the voice of Neil Patrick Harris. And, of course, having her mom, Carole, as a guest performer, was a big highlight. Carrie says, “She’s really cute, and she had so much fun with it, and everybody’s gonna love her.”

• Don’t miss Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special, when it airs Monday night, December 7th, at 8pm, ET, on FOX!
• And don’t miss Carrie’s hot new album, Play On, in stores now! It includes her recent chart-topper, “Cowboy Casanova,” as well as her new single, “Temporary Home.”
• Congratulations to Carrie on a pair of Grammy Award nominations this week! She was nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “Just a Dream,” and she and Randy Travis share a nod for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for “I Told You So.”

“I’m really, really pleased with how everything turned out and, you know, it ended up being the right amount of funny, and of course, the right amount of talent with all the guests I do have comin’ on.”“A couple of my favorite parts in the show…there’s one that’s, like, all about my dog. And I know that probably sounds weird. A lot of my fans know that my dog and I have a very close bond. I love him more than anything in the world. And I’ve always wondered what he thinks, what he thinks about. So we kind of try to answer that question. And Neil Patrick Harris plays the voice of Ace, and they just had a lot of fun with it. And we actually had to kind of tone it down a little bit ’cause they got a little carried away, but it was just a lot of fun, just, you know, kind of seeing Ace come to life.“My mom is another fun part in the show. I’d like to see, like, my dad’s reaction to watching her, actually, ’cause she gets to sing, which…is interesting. I love my mom very much, but I think we partially answer the question of, you know, where I get it from. And it’s not my mother. But she’s really cute, and she had so much fun with it, and everybody’s gonna love her.”

One FINE Christmas cd!!

The 29-song, double-disc collection, NOW That’s What I Call a Country Christmas is great . It’s flying out of the stores, and with stars like Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Taylor Swift, Darius Rucker, Reba McEntire, Trace Adkins, and many others, it’s no wonder! Alongside true Christmas classics from the likes of Gene Autry and Brenda Lee, you’ll find superstars and some of today’s hottest young artists…and if you’ve been seeing Kellie Pickler’s terrific performance of “Santa Baby” on CMT or CMT.com, you can pick up her original recording of the song right here! A complete track listing is below.

Disc One
Darius Rucker - “Winter Wonderland”
Brad Paisley - “Away in a Manger”
Julianne Hough - “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
George Strait - “Joy to the World”
Lady Antebellum - “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Brooks & Dunn - “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
Luke Bryan - “Run Run Rudolph”
Josh Turner - “The First Noel”
Kellie Pickler - “Santa Baby”
Trace Adkins - “It’s Christmas”
Little Big Town - “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
Lee Ann Womack - “The Man with the Bag”
Taylor Swift - “Christmases When You Were Mine”
Kenny Chesney - “Silver Bells”

Disc Two
Gene Autry - “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Elvis/Martina McBride - “Blue Christmas”
Merle Haggard - “Jingle Bells”
Vince Gill - “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
Alison Krauss - “Shimmy Down the Chimney (Fill up My Stocking)”
Reba McEntire - “Up on the Housetop”
Glen Campbell - “O Holy Night”
Tanya Tucker - “What Child Is This”
Alabama - “Christmas in Dixie”
Brenda Lee - “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
Kenny Rogers - “Kentucky Homemade Christmas”
Dolly Parton - “Hard Candy Christmas”
Amy Grant - “A Christmas to Remember”
Johnny Cash - “Silent Night”
Burl Ives - “A Holly Jolly Christmas”

Craig Morgan's Bonfire

Craig Morgan is having some holiday fun with a playful Christmas version of his current hit, “Bonfire,” and while he was initially reluctant to record a Yuletide edition, he talked himself into it! Craig tells us, “The more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be somethin’ that’d be a lot of fun to do while we’re touring, right up to the holidays.”

•  “Bonfire” online on Craig’s MySpace page at myspace.com/craigmorgan!
• Look for the all-season version of “Bonfire,” along with “Love Remembers” and “God Must Really Love Me” on Craig’s current album,That’s Why.
• And…be sure to tune-in this coming Thursday, December 10th, as GAC premieres Stars for Stripes: Wounded Warriors Return. The one-hour special documents a tour of military bases and hospitals in Iraq and Germany, where Craig and Chris Young performed and visited our servicemen and women together with GAC’s Nan Kelley and wounded warriors Sergeant First Class Joseph Bowser (U.S. Army, retired) and Staff Sergeant Scott Lilley (USAF), who were both seriously injured while serving in Iraq. The special premieres at 9:30 pm, ET, on GAC.

Craig on the holiday version of Bonfire: “When we first started talkin’ about it, I’m like, ‘Man, how are we gonna do this…without it bein’ too cheesy?’ Initially, I said, ‘No,” I wasn’t gonna do this, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be somethin’ that’d be a lot of fun to do while we’re touring, right up to the holidays. And I sat down and started piddling with it a little bit, and five minutes later, we had it finished, and I called my co-producer. And I was on the road touring out in Georgia somewhere, and he brought a…brought the studio down, set it up in a hotel room, and I re-recorded the vocals over the top of the original tracks, and that’s what we ended up with.”

“STARS FOR STRIPES: WOUNDED WARRIORS RETURN”

AN EMOTIONAL TRIP BACK TO IRAQ

NASHVILLE, TENN. (Dec. 4, 2009) – While country artists Craig Morgan and Chris Young and GAC host Nan Kelley went to the Middle East with the hope of bringing a taste of home to those stationed at military bases there, this tour impacted them in unimaginable ways thanks to two special men also making the trip.  Sergeant First Class Joseph Bowser (U.S. Army, retired) and Staff Sergeant Scott Lilley (USAF) were seriously injured while serving in Iraq and until recently, had not returned to the Middle East.   The two joined Morgan, Young and Kelley for a tour of military bases and hospitals in Iraq and Germany – including the ones where they received their care - and that very special trip is documented in Stars for Stripes: Wounded Warriors Return, Thursday, December 10, 9:30 pm/Eastern on Great American Country.

This Stars for Stripes tour – co-sponsored by Armed Forces Entertainment - included stops at COP Meade, CampStriker and Balad Airbase as well as a visit to Ramstein Airbase in Germany.  In addition to acoustic performances at each base, Morgan's and Young's concert at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was the first time private citizens of Iraqwere able to experience a concert by American artists.  Due to bad weather, the entourage was unable to travel to the embassy by Blackhawk helicopter and for the first time in many years, was taken by ground transportation outside of the international zone.

 “It was just one of the most amazing and humbling things I have ever had the opportunity to do,” Chris Young says of his first military tour. “I’m 24 years old and there are a lot of people my age who are just coming over here for the first time and in a much different capacity.”

Joe Bowser lost his leg from injuries he sustained and Scott Lilley suffered a serious brain injury while serving.  “I wanted to come back and walk out this time on both feet,” Bowser emotionally tells a group of doctors and medics in the facility where he received treatment. “We all cried,” Nan Kelley remembers. “Joe and Scott were given the hero’s welcome that all of our troops deserve.”  Lilley and his father both sought closure as they were accompanied by a ground convoy and drove over the exact spot on an Iraqi road where Lilley was hit.  They also visited Fisher House, the Lilley’s home away from home, and a place for soldiers’ families to stay while their loved ones recuperate.

There are constant reminders that a war is still in progress:  the entourage traveled in body armor, were accompanied by gunners on helicopter flights and sat through a training film on what to do if attacked.

This was the sixth visit to the Middle East for Morgan, an Army vet.  “The thing I’ll take away is sharing Joe’s personal experience with him.  I’m taking away friendships that otherwise I wouldn’t have.”

Brooks & Dunn Announce Dates for Their Final Tour,

“The Last Rodeo”

Duo’s 47-City Farewell Tour to Launch April 23, 2010

Nashville, TN – Superstar duo Brooks & Dunn said they weren’t about to call it a day as a recording duo without one more chance to party with their fans, and Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are ready to do it in style with the announcement of dates for their final tour, The Last Rodeo.  A celebration of their 20 great years together, the tour will launch on April 23 of next year, with 47 shows running through August 8.

Brian O’Connell, President, Nashville Touring, for Live Nation declared, “The Last Rodeo Tour is going to be a ‘must see’ for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the amazing energy that Kix and Ronnie create on stage.  I look forward to seeing what they have up their sleeves on a nightly basis, and I am confident that they will leave everything they have on the stage one final time in each city.  Anyone who has ever seen a Brooks & Dunn show knows that they will be coming full tilt!  I do not look at this tour as an ending, rather a celebration of their career by two of the greatest Artists that Country Music has ever known.”

The tour follows the recent release of Brooks & Dunn’s career-spanning double-disc collection, #1s … and then some, which features 30 favorites in all, including an amazing 23 #1 hits.  Among the songs on #1s … and then some is the smash single, “Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” which earlier this week earned the duo their 15th career GRAMMY Award nomination.

A list of dates and markets for The Last Rodeo appears below.  Ticket on-sale dates will vary, but fans be watching for updates on the duo’s website at www.brooks-dunn.com or the Live Nation website atwww.livenation.com and as always by checking local information for ticket availability in their area.

 Brooks & Dunn’s “The Last Rodeo” Tour:

April 23            Sacramento, CA

April 24            Mountain View, CA

April 25            Indio, CA

April 30            Spokane, WA

May 1              Tacoma, WA

May 2              Vancouver, WA

May 4              Calgary, Alberta

May 5              Edmonton, Alberta

May 6              Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

May 14            St Paul, MN

May 15            Bloomington, IL

May 16            Columbus, OH

May 21            Phoenix, AZ

May 22            Albuquerque, NM

May 27            Wichita, KS

May 28            Tulsa, OK

May 29            Dallas, TX

May 30            Baton Rouge, LA

June 3              Charleston, WV

June 4              Charlotte, NC

June 5              Raleigh, NC

June 11            Tampa, FL

June 12            W Palm Beach, FL

June 13            Jacksonville, FL           

June 17            Hershey, PA

June 18            Virginia Beach, VA

June 19            Washington, DC

June 25            Hartford, CT

June 26            Boston, MA

June 27            Bethel, NY

June 29            Milwaukee, WI

July 2               Dauphin, Manitoba

July 8               Fort Loramie, OH

July 9               Cleveland, OH

July 10             Darien Lakes, NY

July 15             Atlanta, GA

July 16             Indianapolis, IN

July 17             St Clairsville, OH

July 18             Cincinnati, OH

July 23             Minot, ND

July 24             Cheyenne, WY

July 25             Omaha, NE

July 29             Detroit, MI

July 30             Pittsburgh, PA

August 6           Kansas City, KS

August 7           St Louis, MO

August 8           Chicago, IL

GRETCHEN WILSON RECORDS
"I WANT A HIPPOPOTAMUS FOR CHRISTMAS"

(Nashville, Tennessee...) -- December 3, 2009 -- One of the caveats of owning and running your own label is having the freedom to record music just because you like it, and that's exactly what Gretchen Wilson has done with the classic children's Christmas tune "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas." Written by John Rox and originally recorded by 10-year-old Gayla Peevey in 1953, Gretchen invited several kids from her daughter's school to sing on the track.
"This is such a fun, silly song," said Gretchen. "And having my daughter and her friends in the studio with me made it really special."
Gretchen debuted the song at Charlie Daniels' sold-out Christmas for Kids concert on Monday, November 23 at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium, and it shipped to radio today.
According to Wikipedia, Gayla Peevey was a regional child star of the Oklahoma City area. When released nationally by Columbia Records, the song shot to the top of the charts. In a 2007 radio interview, Peevey clarified that the song was not originally recorded as a fundraiser. Instead, a local promoter had picked up on the popularity of the song and Peevey's local roots, and launched a campaign to present her with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas. The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which she donated to the city zoo. The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years.
Gretchen's rocking "Work Hard, Play Harder" single will be featured in a segment called "The Art of the Burnout" on ABC-TV during NASCAR's Ford 400 season finale Sprint Cup race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22. The single is also being offered as a free download in the December issue of "People" Magazine's December country music issue.