NASHVILLE (AP) – Eric Church is getting into the furniture business. Church has partnered with Pulaski Furniture to create a line called Highway to Home. Church actually has some experience in this area. His dad worked in the industry, and Church himself got his first job in a furniture plant. The furniture line will include sets for bedrooms, dining rooms and living areas, in a variety of styles. The furniture will be unveiled to retailers at the end of this year and will be for sale to the public next year.

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NASHVILLE (AP) – Tim McGraw will give all the proceeds from his July 17 concert in Hartford, Connecticut, to prevent another Sandy Hook tragedy. McGraw will perform as a benefit for Sandy Hook Promise, an organization founded after the Sandy Hook shootings in 2012 that aims protect children from gun violence. A friend of McGraw’s fiddle player lost a child in the shootings. Billy Currington and Chase Bryant will open the show.

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NASHVILLE (AP) – Fan voting is now open for two of the big trophies for the Academy of Country Music Awards. Fans can decide whether Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert or Florida Georgia Line should win entertainer of the year. They can also decide whether Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett or Cole Swindell should win new artist of the year. Voting is open at VoteACM.com and will close during the broadcast on April 19.

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Garth Brooks was happy to open a space in an Indianapolis children’s hospital where kids can forget about their illnesses for a while. Brooks dedicated a new child play zone at Riley Hospital for Children, which was funded through his Teammates For Kids foundation. The space includes billiards, foosball, video games, an arts and crafts area and a recording studio. Brooks got teary-eyed when he pointed out the space is a “miracle” for kids. He called it “a place in a hospital where no doctor and no needles are allowed. It’s a place where a kid gets to be a kid.”

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NEW YORK (AP) – Billy Ray Cyrus was walking his dog during a tour stop when he was inspired to write a TV show. Cyrus says he was on the Gulf Coast and saw a church in the distance, and he was thinking about how Elvis Presley performed around there at the start of his career. Cyrus started writing down ideas and he came up with the character Vernon Brown, a one-hit wonder country singer who became an Elvis impersonator and later pretends to be a minister at a country church. The comedy, “Still the King,” will premiere on CMT early next year.

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NASHVILLE (AP) – Brooks and Dunn will reunite for the Academy of Country Music Awards. It’s their first televised performance in five years. Other performers added to the lineup are Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts. Nick Jonas will do a duet with Dan and Shay, and Christina Aguilera will perform with surprise guests. Previously announced performers include Jason Aldean, Dierks (DURKS) Bentley, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Reba, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett and Cole Swindell (swin-DEL’). The ACM Awards are April 19.

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AUSTIN, Tex. (AP) – Willie Nelson is bringing back his Fourth of July Picnic to Austin, Texas, for the first time in five years. Beside Nelson, the performers include Eric Church, Merle Haggard, Kacey Musgraves, Asleep At The Wheel, Jamey Johnson, Leon Russell and Billie Joe Shaver.

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UNDATED (AP) – Jo Dee Messina has co-written a book in honor of mothers. Messina and author Amy Newmark have written “Chicken Soup For The Soul: Thanks to My Mom: 101 Stories of Gratitude, Love, and Lessons.” It’s in stores now.

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NASHVILLE (AP) – The Academy of Country Music will give special awards to top musicians for all the awards they’ve gotten from the Academy of Country Music. Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Taylor Swift and Brooks and Dunn will each get a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award during the ACM Awards on April 19. Brooks will be honored for being the most awarded ACM Entertainer of the Year. Chesney’s award is for winning the first fan-voted Entertainer of the Year award. Lambert’s award is for being the most awarded solo female artist. McEntire wins for being the most awarded Female Vocalist of the Year. Strait will be honored for winning ACM Awards over four decades. Swift’s award is for being the youngest ACM Entertainer of the Year, in 2011. Brooks and Dunn will be recognized for being the artist with the most ACM Awards, at 27.

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CHICAGO (AP) – Eric Church broke two records in Chicago for playing for a lot of people — and playing for a lot of happy people. CMT.com reports Church set an attendance record for his show at the Allstate Arena on Friday with an attendance of 18,626 people. That sets a new record for the arena. The previous record-holder was Vicente Fernandez, who had 18,452 fans in 2007. The other record: the amount of whiskey consumed. The arena reports it went through 55 gallons of Jack Daniel’s during the show.

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NEW YORK (AP) – Jason Aldean has married former “American Idol” contestant Brittany Kerr. Aldean tells Us Weekly magazine they were married in Mexico on Saturday evening. Aldean calls it “the best day ever.” Kerr says she feels like the luckiest woman to have been able to marry her best friend. Aldean made tabloid headlines when he admitted to acting inappropriately with Kerr while still married to his first wife, Jessica.

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