The second leg of Brantley Gilbert‘s Hell on Wheels tour is off to a big start with seven sold-out arena shows already played this year.  The trek continues this weekend with sold-out dates in Tulsa, OK and Thackerville, OK.  Kip Moore is opening this leg of Brantley’s tour.

In addition to his hits “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” and “Country Must Be Country Wide,” Brantley has been singing his latest single, “More Than Miles” in the show.  Some new singles are popping up in the set list too, and Brantley expects to put those out on a new album coming later this year.

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Scotty McCreery was on hand to present a $1.2 million check to Nashville area school music programs Tuesday at the annual CMA Keep the Music Playing concert in Music City.  The money was raised from ticket sales to the 2012 CMA Music Festival, and the concert featured performances from the students who benefit from that donation year after year. Since 2006, the Keep the Music Playing campaign has donated more than $6.5 million to Nashville Metro Public Schools’ music programs.

In addition to presenting the check, Scotty also sang Garth Brooks‘ “The River” with the help of some students.  Though he’s now headlining his own tour, Scotty started out singing in school choir just like some of those students.  That experience gave Scotty the chance to start developing his performance skills.

He says, “I remember talent day we had for choir one time in elementary school, I brought my guitar in and played ’em an Elvis song I think.  So, we did little stuff like that.”

Scotty adds, “I was in school music my entire life.  Started in elementary school, middle school, high school.  That was definitely a huge part in my musical background and my foundation and everything.”

While growing up in Garner, NC, Scotty heard about debates over whether or not to cut funding for school music programs.  He’s glad the money from the CMA Music Festival can help schools around Nashville avoid that problem.

“It’s great for an event like this to be supplementing that or helping that out,” Scotty says.  “It’d be huge, especially those kids growing up that want to play those instruments and are trying to learn, but may not have the resources.  This is great for that.”

Scotty looks forward to playing the CMA Music Festival again this June.  He’s also in the studio working on brand-new music.  A new single is expected out pretty soon.

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Country newcomer Greg Bates is gearing up to perform a 60-minute pre-race concert this Sunday prior to the Daytona 500.  This performance marks Greg’s debut at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida, but he’s no stranger to the world of NASCAR.

“I grew up watching NASCAR every weekend with my family,” Greg says.  “Daytona is always the biggest race of the year and I’m so excited to be performing there this Sunday.”

Greg’s concert will include his latest single, “Fill in the Blank,” as well as his top five debut hit “Did It for the Girl.”

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Jake Owen‘s father Steve starts radiation treatment Wednesday at the Mayo Clinic after being diagnosed with cancer two months ago. Jake is in contact with his dad every day trying to keep his spirits high, though Steve tries to brush off his cancer diagnosis as no big deal.  

Jake says, “I remind him sometimes, whether he wants to hear it or not, ‘What you’re going through is not easy, but I’m here for you. Mom’s there for you.'”

Steve’s treatments will take place five days a week for six-and-a-half weeks, and the side effects will be pretty intense. Since his cancer started at the back of his tongue, the radiation will be targeted towards his throat, and he’ll be left with a very sore throat and an inability to taste anything for about a year.

“If you think about sore throat and you can’t taste anything, it’s kind of hard to eat and keep stuff like that,” Jake says. “So, that’s gonna be tough on him.”

In order to ease the burden, Jake and his family got Steve a new friend to keep him company for the next few weeks. Steve is especially close with the family’s German shepherd back home in Florida, but that pooch couldn’t make the trip up to the Mayo Clinic because it’s so big.

Says Jake, “I started telling him, ‘Dad, you need a dog. Like, let’s get you a dog.’ So, we got him a little dog that doesn’t shed or anything.”

Going forward, Jake maintains a positive attitude about his father’s prognosis saying, “He’ll beat it. He’ll be good, and I want to maintain that as well, you know, that mindset.”

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Thompson Square has partnered with ChildFund International to encourage their fans to sponsor a child through the program, and the duo has also launched a new program to sweeten the deal. Now through March 23, fans who sign up for a child sponsorship can get meet-and-greet passes to meet the duo’s Keifer and Shawna Thompson at one of their concerts.

The Thompsons recently took time out to visit the child they sponsor in Honduras, and now they’re hoping their fans can experience what it’s like to help a child in need first-hand.  Shawna explains, “We’re offering the backstage pass opportunity because we wanted our fans to share their sponsorship stories with us in person.”

Fans can sign up to sponsor a child at ChildFund.org, and then email the confirmation to [email protected] with their name, phone number, city and concert date they’d like to attend in the subject line. Fans must already have tickets to the show and send in their sponsorship confirmation seven days prior to the concert date.

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The Road to the Ram Jam all-star country music series continues, with Billy Currington’s 2012 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn now up for auction. Billy drove the truck for the past year, and the money raised through its auction at Ebay.com/RoadtoRamJam will benefit Team Rubicon. That organization unites military veterans with medical professionals to dispatch emergency response teams in crisis situations.

Billy says, “There isn’t a better ride out there than this truck and no better cause than Team Rubicon to help out, so please take the five minutes and bid on my truck.”

Billy’s Ram is the third truck to go up for auction as part of the Road to the Ram Jam. Brantley Gilbert‘s Ram truck was auctioned off just last week and raised more than $34,000 for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Kellie Pickler‘s truck brought in more than $36,000 for the USO Warrior and Family Care program in January. Easton Corbin and Zac Brown Band will offer up their Ram trucks in the coming weeks.

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Luke Bryan knew he was ready to headline arenas on this year’s Dirt Road Diaries tour, and it looks like the fans were ready for him too.  Luke sold out all 21 shows on the first leg of the trek before he ever stepped on stage last month.  That kind of turnout is something Luke has dreamed of ever since moving to Nashville.

“It’s like an inner peace that I’ve been searching for as an artist to roll into town, and it’s like, you know it’s sold out,” Luke says. “There’s no better feeling.”

With his opening acts Florida Georgia Line and Thompson Square warming up the crowd, Luke feels his tour has a great overall vibe for the fans.

He says, “It’s just a fun three hours for fans, and I never would have imagined they would be selling out this quick.”

Luke is scheduled to continue the Dirt Road Diaries tour well into the fall, but he’s actually looking forward to singing his songs night after night for the fans.  Unlike some stars who grow to hate their biggest hits, Luke says, “Every time I look on my set list and see what song I have next, I’m like, ‘Ooh, ooh.  This is gonna be fun.’  And that’s such a blessing for me.”

Luke’s hard work on the road has paid off with an Entertainer of the Year nomination at the 48th Annual ACM Awards.  He’s also set to co-host the show with Blake Shelton Sunday, April 7 broadcasting live on CBS from Las Vegas.

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A big secret to Thompson Square‘s success is the chemistry between the duo’s Keifer and Shawna Thompson. Of course, the married couple is deeply in love, but that romance is amplified on stage.

Keifer tells CMT.com, “I mean, every night when you get in front of 10,000 to 15,000 people, you’re so amped up and juiced, it’s fun.  It’s just a lot of fun.  We’re just us being ourselves onstage. ”

Shawna adds, “We’re happiest when we’re onstage together.”

Fans have plenty of chances to see Thompson Square’s romance in action on Luke Bryan‘s Dirt Road Diaries tour this year. Thompson Square’s sophomore album, Just Feels Good, is due out March 26 featuring their latest single, “If I Didn’t Have You.”

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Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town definitely wasn’t looking for love when she started having feelings for her husband Stephen Schlapman. The two had known one another as friends for several years when Kimbelry’s first husband, Steven Roads, suddenly died of a heart attack in 2005.  Like a lot of her friends, Stephen Schlapman would check in on Kimberly regularly to see how she was doing after her husband’s death.

Kimberly tells TheBoot.com, “We had known each other for about six years and he started calling me just like everybody else did.  But he started calling me more than everybody else did.”

Stephen willingly listened to Kimberly as she talked about her late husband, and he identified with her grief since he’d lost a close friend around the same time.  When Kimberly started developing feelings for her friend, it came as quite a surprise.

“I remember when I first realized that I was having feelings, I just thought, ‘OK, this is so weird.  What is this?  I haven’t felt this in a long, long, time,'” Kimberly explains.  “But eventually I allowed myself and it’s been the most beautiful gift of my life.  It pulled me out of the deepest hole that I’ve ever been in and healed me.”

Kimberly and Stephen tied the knot in 2006 and are the parents of 5-year-old Daisy Pearl.

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I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman where the Self Help section was, she said if she told me it would defeat the purpose.