Kenny Chesney took the stage at Hogs Breath Saloon in Key West, FL Sunday afternoon to get ready for the launch of his No Shoes Nation tour March 16 in Tampa, FL. During the surprise, three-hour set, Kenny worked his way through his hits like “Summertime” and “You and Tequila,” as well as a few album cuts from his catalog.

Performing surprise shows like this one helps get Kenny primed to entertain stadium crowds. He says, “It’s a low-impact way to ease back into the songs, to find the curve in what we do — and have a whole lotta fun doing it.”

Kenny rounded the set out with covers ranging from George Strait‘s “Ocean Front Property” to the Violent Femmes‘ “Blister in the Sun.” He also performed his latest single, “Pirate Flag,” the lead release from his new album, Life on a Rock, due out April 30.

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Prankster Brad Paisley couldn’t resist injecting a little cruise-gone-wrong humor into Thursday night’s Sony voyage aboard the General Jackson at Country Radio Seminar.  Brad first came onstage clad in a life jacket, claiming there was a fire on board, but it turns out the real fire was onstage.

After starting with his new single “Beat This Summer,” the members of REO Speedwagon unexpectedly joined Brad onstage, according to Country Aircheck. Kevin Cronin and Dave Amato kicked into “Take It On the Run,” with Sara Evans chiming in on background vocals.

Cronin announced the debut of “REO Paisley-Wagon,” before going on to play classics “Keep on Lovin’ You” and “Time For Me To Fly.” Asserting that all their hits were actually country songs, the Speedwagon front-man led the performers in an all-star singalong of the classic rock hit “Ridin’ the Storm Out.”

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Blake Shelton made a guest appearance as Reba‘s brother on ABC’s Malibu Country Friday night, and he is open to the idea of making that role a recurring one. The only drawback is how much time it takes to film an episode of a sitcom.

“It ties you into L.A. for a week,” Blake says. “You do a read-through on a Friday, and then you rehearse Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and film it Thursday, and you’re right back doing the next show the next day.”

Still, Blake thinks it would be fun to return to the Malibu Country set since he had such a great time filming his first episode.

He says,  “It was amazing to just see that world and see how they work. It’s a lot of just goofing off, but you’ve got to be a good goofer to do it right, and they’ve got the right ones.”

As for the possibility of getting his own sitcom someday, Blake can’t really see that happening at this point. That’s especially true his role as a coach on The Voice already takes up so much time.

“As soon as the leash gives me a little slack from The Voice, I’m going straight back into touring,” Blake says. “I can’t see myself going from The Voice into more television. I think there will at least be a break there.”

On the music front, Blake’s new single, “Sure Be Cool if You Did,” will be featured on Blake’s upcoming album, Based on a True Story…, due out March 26.

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The Band Perry has a date with Uncle Sam and Music City. The trio of siblings will headline Nashville’s Fourth of July celebration on the riverfront this year, known as “Let Freedom Sing.”

Grammy-winning bluesman Keb’ Mo’ and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra will warm up the crowd, which typically exceeds 150,000. The evening wraps up with a fireworks display choreographed to live music.

The Band Perry’s sophomore CD, PIONEER, featuring their number-one hit “Better Dig Two,” comes out April 2.

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Brad Paisley has announced that the first leg of his Beat This Summer Tour will in fact beat the summer and begin this spring.  Chris Young and Lee Brice will open on the 29-city trek that kicks off May 9 in St. Louis, Missouri and is scheduled to run through an August 24 show in San Bernardino, CA.

“Beat This Summer” is the latest track off Brad’s Wheelhouse CD, due out April 9. 

For the tour Brad is partnering with Live Beyond, a non-profit dedicated to providing medical care, clean water, nutritional support and development activities to impoverished communities in Haiti.  He will donate a dollar from each ticket sold on the tour to Live Beyond’s efforts.

Here’s the schedule:

5/9 — St. Louis, MO, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
5/10 — Indianapolis, IN, Klipsch Music Center
5/11 — Chicago, IL, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre|
5/16 — Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Center
5/17 — Boston, MA, Comcast Center
5/18 — Hartford, CT, Comcast Theatre
5/31 — Toronto, ONT, Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
6/1 — Pittsburgh, PA, First Niagara Pavilion
6/2 — Saratoga Springs, NY, Saratoga Performing  Arts Center
6/6 — Cincinnati, OH, Riverbend Music Center
6/7 — Charlotte, NC, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
6/8 — Raleigh, NC, Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
6/21 — West Palm Beach, FL, Cruzan Amphitheatre
6/22 — Tampa, FL. Live Nation Amphitheatre
6/23 — Atlanta, GA. Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
6/28 — Virginia Beach, VA, Farm Bureau Live
6/29 — Washington, DC, Jiffy Lube Live
7/12 — Darien Center, NY, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
7/13 — Ft. Loramie, OH, Country Concert at Hickory Hills Lake
7/20 — Twin Lakes, WI, Country Thunder Festival Grounds
7/27 — Dallas, TX, Gexa Energy Pavilion
7/28 — Houston, TX, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
8/1 — Denver, CO, Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
8/2 — Salt Lake City, UT, USANA Amphitheatre
8/16 — Mission, BC, Rockin’ River Festival-Mission Raceway Park
8/17 — Brownsville, OR, Williamette Country Music Festival
8/22 — Mountain View, CA, Shoreline Amphitheatre
8/23 — Sacramento, CA, Sleep Train Amphitheatre
8/24 — San Bernardino, CA, San Manuel Amphitheatre

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After The Band Perry took the music world by storm with their breakthrough hit, “If I Die Young,” the sibling trio knew they had to launch their sophomore album with a really big single.  They’re latest #1 hit “Better Dig Two” definitely fits that bill.  The Band Perry debuted the song on last November’s CMA Awards and immediately after the performance their fans started downloading the song in droves.

The group hit a few CMA after-parties following the show, and lead singer Kimberly Perry says, “We were watching the charts and you could just see ‘Better Dig Two’ climbing, climbing, climbing, and then finally hit Number One on iTunes before we went to bed.”

Kimberly’s brother and band mate Neil Perry kept track of “Better Dig Two” trending on Twitter that same night.  He says, “That was pretty cool seeing how people were taking the song instantly and really relating to it.”

Now that “Better Dig Two” has hit #1 at country radio, Kimberly, Neil and their brother Reid Perry are excited to launch the full-length sophomore album, Pioneer, on April 2.

“It was absolutely kind of a validating thing to say ‘Alright here we go, this is off and running,'” Kimberly says of their latest success, “and we can’t just wait for you guys to hear the rest of the record.”

The second single from, Pioneer, is called “DONE.,” and it hit the airwaves Monday.

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