“Country Bumpkin” singer Cal Smith died Thursday (10/10) in Branson, MO at age 81. Born in Gans, OK April 7, 1932, Smith worked as a on-air personality for KEEN/San Jose before joining Earnest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours on rhythm guitar in 1962. He signed with Kapp Records after leaving Tubb’s band in 1966. Among his most notable recordings are “It’s Time To Pay The Fiddler,” which earned him CMA Single Of The Year in 1974, and Bill Anderson’s “The Lord Knows I’m Drinking.” No details on the cause of death or funeral arrangements have been released.

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NASHVILLE (AP) – Tim McGraw will play a special concert for members of the U.S. military and their families on Veterans Day weekend. McGraw will perform in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 10. The show will be streamed live on the Pentagon Channel and online at www.TimMcGraw.com and McGraw’s YouTube channel. McGraw says it’s easy for him to show up and play music for men and women who have the really tough jobs, but it’s one small thing he can do to show his appreciation.

 

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NASHVILLE (AP) – Kenny Rogers has an old friend to thank for “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” and it isn’t Dolly Parton. Rogers says he played a festival in California and a man introduced himself as Ryan King, son of William King of The Commodores. Rogers remembered King as a kid playing with his son at his house, and King said he had recently told his friends, “You can’t make old friends.” Rogers told that story the next day to Don Schlitz, who wrote “The Gambler” for Rogers. Schlitz asked if he could use that for a song and came up with something the next day. Schlitz offered Rogers a songwriting credit for coming up with that title but Rogers said King should get it. Parton sings that song with Rogers on his new album of the same name. It’s out this week.

 

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(AP) — Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter as well as Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are in Denver to help build new townhomes for Habitat for Humanity.

They’ll be working alongside other volunteers and families who will be living in the new homes on Wednesday in the Globeville neighborhood.

In the evening, the former president will also attend a dinner celebrating the project at the National Western Events Center Arena. The lead singer of The Fray, Isaac Slade, is set to perform there.

 

KHAZ Country Music News: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood Return to Haiti for Habitat for Humanity Work Project

 

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Keith Urban has teamed with HSN to offer the Urban Guitar Collection. A limited-edition acoustic and electric guitar line available exclusively on HSN, HSN.com and via HSN Mobile beginning Nov. 3. Packages include two one-hour instructional DVDs. A portion of proceeds will benefit Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation andThe Grammy Foundation. More here.

 

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NASHVILLE (AP) – Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift will grace the stage for the Country Music Association Awards. They are scheduled to perform, along with Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Little Big Town and Tim McGraw. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley will host. The show will air live from Nashville on ABC on November 6.

 

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NASHVILLE (AP) – To hear Darius Rucker tell it, there are really only two seasons of the year – not four: “football season and waiting-for-football season.” And once the football season gets under way, he is “always excited.” That should be no surprise if you remember Rucker from his Hootie and the Blowfish days. There’s the lyric in “I Only Want To Be With You” when he complains that his girlfriend thinks he’s “a baby ’cause the Dolphins make” him cry. Rucker says he appreciates American football more as he gets to sample sports in other countries. He says whenever he visits a new country, he tries to check out the national sport. Now that he’s been around some, he declares: “I honestly believe that football is the greatest sport in the world.”

 

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Condolences to Sammy Kershaw, whose brotherMinos Cashat, Jr. passed away Friday afternoon (9/27). “The world lost a good-hearted guy today,” Kershaw posted on Facebook. “But heaven gained an awesome soul.” The funeral service was Monday.

 

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