Willie Nelson fans will want to check out Jack White’s Third Man Records subscription series, The Vault, this month. The 17th installment of the series will include an album of live tracks recorded during Willie’s star-studded 80th birthday concert, which took place on April 18 at Third Man Records in Nashville, TN.

Titled Willie Nelson & Friends Live at Third Man Records, the 12-song set includes performances of Nelson singing a number of his classic hits with White, Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, Leon Russell, Jamey Johnson, Ashley Monroe and Norah Jones.

Vault subscribers will also receive a six-inch vinyl record featuring Nelson and White performing “Red Headed Stranger” together in Third Man’s Voice-O-Graph Recording Booth. A double-sided poster sporting pictures of Nelson and the Third Man Records logo will also be included in the package, plus other goodies.

Vault package #17 will be available to all subscribing members until July 31.  Here’s the track list for Willie Nelson & Friends Live at Third Man Records:

“Roll Me Up”
“Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” (with Ashley Monroe)
“Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” (with Ashley Monroe)
“Funny How Time Slips Away” (with Norah Jones)
“I Gotta Get Drunk” (with Norah Jones)
“Sail Away” (with Neil Young)
“Long May You Run” (with Neil Young)
“Far Away Places” (with Sheryl Crow)
“Whiskey River” (with Neil Young, Ashley Monroe, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Jamey Johnson)
“A Song for You” (with Leon Russell)
“Heartbreak Hotel” (with Leon Russell)
“Red Headed Stranger” (with Jack White)

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Blake Shelton‘s Based on a True Story is the best selling country album released so far this year.  According to Nielsen SoundScan, the project has moved 703,000 copies, to make the fourth best selling album of 2013 across all genres through the weekend ending June 30.

Taylor Swift‘s Red has sold 616,000 copies this year to come in as the #2 country album, and Florida Georgia Line‘s Here’s to the Good Times comes in at #3 with 610,000 copies sold.

As for individual song downloads, Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” is the #1 country song so far this year with more than 3.1 million copies sold.  It’s #7 overall.

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Jake Owen may be friends with a few NASCAR drivers, but he won’t be getting behind the wheel of any race cars any time soon.

Jake posted a picture of himself on Twitter wearing a neck brace in a hospital emergency room Sunday night after getting in a go kart accident. He was trying to beat his race car driver pals Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer on the go kart track at the time of the wreck.

He says, “I’ll stick to singing country songs.”

Jake should be back on his feet in time for his Thursday night concert in Ft. Loramie, OH.

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Craig Morgan will perform a free concert Thursday, July 11 at the 19th Jack Daniel’s/USO Toast to the Troops Care Package Stuffing Party in Jacksonville, FL. The event is set for that day at the Jacksonville Landing, where a team of military spouses, USO volunteers and Jack Daniel’s employees will prepare care packages to send to U.S. military personnel serving overseas. A toast card with a personal message to the troops will be included with each package.

Craig served in the Army for 10 years and has since taken part in every Toast to the Troops event since 2005. He says, “Our nation’s service members and their families sacrifice so much for us on a daily basis and I hope everyone will come out and join us for what promises to be a great day to honor and support these heroes.”

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About 60,000 fans packed the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman Saturday for Toby Keith‘s Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert. The star-studded event is part of the ongoing effort to help those affected by the deadly tornadoes that ripped through the state in May.

According to The Tulsa World newspaper, Toby closed out the night performing his hits “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “How Do You Like Me Now?,” and “Red Solo Cup,” which he changed to “Red Sooner Cup” in honor of the Oklahoma Sooners. Toby also made a special appearance during Willie Nelson‘s set to perform their duet “Beer for My Horses” as well as Willie’s classic 1978 duet with Waylon Jennings, “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.”

Garth Brooks was on hand to give his first performance in his home state of Oklahoma since 1997. Garth’s set kicked off with “Rodeo” and continued with “Papa Loved Mama,” “Callin’ Baton Rouge” and a duet with wife Trisha Yearwood on “In Another’s Eyes.” After Trisha sang a few solo numbers, Garth closed his set out with “The Dance.” He introduced that number by saying, “I gotta say God bless Toby Keith for putting all this together. Okies unite! … Today is a great day to start the healing process. I want to dedicate this song to everyone.”

Garth dashed in and out of Norman for the performance. He was also busy in Las Vegas this weekend shooting a DVD of his one-man show at Wynn Las Vegas.

Carrie Underwood delivered a performance via satellite from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House. Her set list included “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Before He Cheats” and her latest hit, “See You Again.” Ronnie Dunn sang Brooks & Dunn hits “My Maria” and “Ain’t Nothin’ About You” as well as his new solo track, “Kiss You There.”

Mel Tillis, John Anderson and Sammy Hagar also performed at Saturday’s benefit concert, the proceeds from which will go to the United Way of Central Oklahoma May Tornadoes Relief Fund.  You can donate $10 by texting REBUILD to 52000.

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The Band Perry‘s grandmother, Betty Lou, may be a little too old to vote for the Teen Choice Awards, but she’s doing her part to help her grandkids take the Choice Country Group and Choice Break-Up Song categories at the show.

The Band Perry has launched a new series of YouTube clips showing Betty Lou landing in jail for spray painting “Vote 4 The Band Perry” on a wall before using an old school rotary phone to try and cast her Teen Choice Awards vote.  In another clip, Betty Lou finally gets the hang of voting online using multiple computers and tablets.

Fan voting is now underway at TeenChoiceAwards.com. The show airs live on FOX August 11 at 8 p.m. ET.

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The tornado that devastated Toby Keith‘s childhood hometown of Moore, OK struck nearly two months ago, but many of the residents in the area will be working to put their lives back together for years to come. That’s why Toby is putting on his Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert this Saturday in Norman, OK.  Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Ronnie Dunn and Willie Nelson are on the bill, and Carrie Underwood is set to make a special appearance from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville too.

Toby says, “It’s great of these people to donate their time free of charge to make sure that we can do some long term financial help for these people.”

Toby’s concert is the second major country music event designed to raise money for the Oklahoma tornado victims. Blake Shelton hosted an NBC TV special from Oklahoma City just days after the disaster featuring performances from Reba, Rascal Flatts, Luke Bryan and many more. That event pumped some much-needed cash into the affected areas quickly, but Toby was too busy helping people like his sister at the time. She was one of the many people who lost their homes in the tornado.

“I just couldn’t do it five or six days after because it was just too soon for me to be downtown playing music,” he says.  “I had, you know, stuff to deal with here.”

Now that some time has passed, Toby is glad to continue raising money for those trying to put their lives together.

Toby explains, “You just want to keep it aware long enough that we get enough financial support in here for the long term that will help the people that don’t have the resources to rebuild properly and get their life back underway.”

Even if you can’t make it to the sold out concert, there are other ways to help. Proceeds from the concert will go to the United way of Central Oklahoma May Tornadoes Relief Fund, and anyone can donate $10 by texting REBUILD to 52000.

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Brad Paisley will be featured on E! News‘s Inside Track Summer Concert Series Friday night at 7:00 ET. Brad welcomed the show’s cameras backstage at his recent show in Tampa and showed them his impressive guitar collection and other high tech bells and whistles on his Beat This Summer tour.

Brad has Chris Young, Lee Brice and The Henningsens on the road with him this summer. They’ll play Darien Lake, NY on July 12.

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Do you want to get fit like Kenny Chesney but don’t have the money to hire a personal trainer or nutritionist? Don’t worry. Kenny is giving you access to his fitness regimen at a fraction of the cost with My FitU.

Kenny’s trainer Daniel Meng developed the online training system to offer users a customizable workout plan as well as diet tips and healthy recipes. The program includes the same advice and guidance that led Kenny to be a regular on People magazine’s Sexiest Men list.

Says Kenny, “I’ve been training with Daniel for almost a dozen years. He changed the way I approached training, diet and getting in shape. He overhauled my every day diet, pushed me past where I thought my limits were and gave me a mental edge when it comes to working out.”

Rascal Flatts‘ Jay DeMarcus, Jake Owen and Eric Church are among the other stars who have worked with Daniel in the past. For more information, go to MyFitU.com.

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Greg Bates may have a second career as a wedding singer.  The country newcomer will perform at the wedding of his fans Charlie Bontempo and Gabi Kisson Friday morning on the Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family.  He’ll sing his top five hit “Did It for the Girl” as well as his unreleased song, “My Vow.”

Greg says, “To have the privilege to play ‘My Vow’ as their first dance song is very special to me as both an artist and a songwriter.”

The special episode of Home & Family airs Friday at 10 a.m. ET.

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Kip Moore wants to send a message of support to U.S. troops protecting our freedom this 4th of July.

He says, “I’m very proud of what those guys do for us each and every day and I don’t take it for granted one bit.”

Kip’s allegiance to U.S. military personnel started when he heard his grandparents talk about the horrors of fighting in battle. That conversation continues as Kip meets service men and women every night at his shows.

” When I start to think I’m halfway tough, I realize how I’m not one bit when I talk with some of the soldiers when I’m out and realize the things that they go through,” Kip says.

Thinking about that sacrifice led Kip to write a new song called “Battle Cry.” While other patriotic songs may seek to rally the troops, “Battle Cry” takes an honest look at the fear a soldier must feel when facing attack.

Kip explains, “I believe when you’ve got family and you’ve got wives and you’ve got kids, there has to be so much fear, and they do it, which is what makes them brave.”

He adds, “I wrote the song from the sense of what I really feel like is pounding in their heart when they’re in the middle of battle and how they are praying that now is not the time that they’re gonna go. And I can’t imagine facing what those guys face every single day.”

Kip isn’t sure when “Battle Cry” might be released. He’s now working on his sophomore album as his latest single, “Hey Pretty Girl,” continues climbing the charts.

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It’s been nearly 30 years since Lee Greenwood wrote “God Bless the U.S.A.,” but the patriotic anthem will still be blaring from car radios and accompanying fireworks displays across the country again this Fourth of July.  Dierks Bentley is just one of the country stars still drawn to “God Bless the U.S.A.” even though he’s heard it at patriotic events his entire life.

“That song comes on the radio, and my immediate reaction is to immediately, like, turn the channel ’cause I’ve heard it so many times,” Dierks explains.  “By the time my hand goes from the steering wheel to the radio dial, like, I’ve already, instead of switching it, I’m turning it up, ’cause it sucks you right in.”

Hunter Hayes calls “God Bless the U.S.A.” a standard in his book.  He marvels at how hard it is to write a good patriotic song like that, saying, “Those are always gonna be a favorite because they have more of an emotional place in your heart, right?  ‘Cause they are rare.  And because they are rare, they’re special.”

Lee wrote the lyrics to “God Bless the U.S.A.” based on his family’s real-life experiences, which may help explain the song’s endurance.  That personal touch begins with the song’s very first line, “If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life.”

Lee says, “It’s about being a farmer.  My grandparents raised me on a farm in Sacramento, CA, and when the economy got so bad, they couldn’t keep hold of their farm, that’s what that line meant.”

Of course, “God Bless the U.S.A.” includes the line, “I won’t forget the men who died,” a line that gets a lot of attention from Lee’s younger fans, including his own son.

“My 18-year-old son just graduated high school, and when he was about six, [he asked,] ‘What does it mean when you wrote about the men who died?'” Lee recalls. “I said, “Those who’ve sacrificed for our freedom, who mean so much to us.  We could never forget about those.”

Fans of “God Bless the U.S.A.” may be interested to know the song is partly inspired by Elvis Presley.  Lee performed at the Las Vegas Hilton in the ’70s at the same time Elvis was working the main room.  The two performers got to know each other a little bit, and Lee was taken with Elvis’s patriotic medley, “An American Trilogy.”  Instead of just covering the song outright once he became a country star, Lee decided to write his own patriotic anthem in 1983.  That’s how “God Bless the U.S.A.” was born.

An exhibit highlighting Lee Greenwood and his classic song is now open at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.

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Carrie Underwood has revealed the artwork and track listing for her new Blown Away Tour: LIVE DVD, coming out August 13.  The cover photo shows Carrie on stage bathed in blue light with her right arm raised in the air holding a microphone.  As for the track listing, Carrie includes her biggest hits like “Good Girl”; “Jesus, Take the Wheel”; “Last Name”; and “Temporary Home.”  The DVD also features performances of her recent hits “See You Again,” “Two Black Cadillacs” and, of course, “Blown Away.”

All four music videos from Carrie’s Blown Away album and exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews and footage from the tour round out the DVD’s bonus features.

Here is the Blown Away Tour: LIVE track listing:

“Good Girl”
“Undo It”
“Wasted”
“I Told You So”
“Two Black Cadillacs”
“Last Name”
“Temporary Home”
“Jesus, Take the Wheel”/”How Great Thou Art”
“Cowboy Casanova”
“Get Out of This Town”
“Nobody Ever Told You”
“All-American Girl”
“One Way Ticket”
“Leave Love Alone”
“Flat on the Floor”
“See You Again”
“Cupid’s Got a Shotgun”
“Before He Cheats”
“I Know You Won’t”
“Blown Away”

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