Blake Shelton‘s Healing in the Heartland concert raised more than $6 million for Oklahoma tornado relief in pledges and ticket sales.  That total is expected to go even higher once the proceeds from donations collected at Starbucks locations and proceeds from auction items are factored in.

The United Way of Central Oklahoma will distribute the relief money to those affected by the May 20 tornadoes.  Reba, Miranda Lambert, Vince Gill, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker and Rascal Flatts were among the stars giving their time for the concert.

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The Band Perry‘s world revolves around making music, but that music probably wouldn’t be heard by many people if it wasn’t presented in a compelling way. That’s why the Perry siblings put a lot of time into figuring out what to wear on stage and in photo shoots. That style has evolved, however, since they first hit the scene a few years ago.

Lead singer Kimberly Perry tells Elle, “Right now I am definitely into monochromatic simplicity when it comes to color palette, but I’m way into textures.”

She adds, “We just played the Billboard Music Awards, and I wore this black suede dress that was really fitted but had all this crazy fringe. I feel like I’m simple in one aspect, but I love pops of drama.”

Of course, Kimbelry has to coordinate her look with those of her brothers and band mates, Neil and Reid Perry. While they want to create a unified look, they also don’t want to look like triplets on stage.

“We try to have a texture that weaves through or a color that weaves through but not in an obvious way,” Kimberly says. “It’s a real art to have the perception of unity in the group but not looking overly-matching.”

The Band Perry will be in Nashville this week for the CMA Music Festival. They’re hosting their annual fan club party Thursday morning at the Mercy Lounge.

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Miranda Lambert clearly loves her husband, Blake Shelton, but her affection for her animals comes in a close second. Miranda had to put down one of her horses Thursday. The loss hit her hard.

She tweeted, “Animal love is so strong & it can really break your heart. Hope he is the one Jesus comes back on.”

Miranda is an outspoken advocate for animals, especially dogs.  Find out more about Miranda’s work at MuttNationFoundation.com.

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Little Big Town has signed on to host the CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock special, airing Monday, August 12 on ABC. The reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year will be running around all over the CMA Music Festival, running June 6 through 9, taping segments and interviewing the stars for the special. The festival features performances from country’s hottest stars every night at Nashville’s LP Field.

Little Big Town is honored to host the special this year. Band member Karen Fairchild says, “We could not be more excited about the party that’s going to break out at LP Field every night!”

Though the list of stars appearing on the special hasn’t been announced yet, Taylor Swift, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, The Band Perry, Carrie Underwood and Florida Georgia Line are just a few of the acts confirmed to appear at LP Field during the CMA Music Festival.

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Carrie Underwood is giving back to her home state of Oklahoma following the devastation caused there by Monday’s tornadoes.

Carrie announced Thursday that she is donating one million dollars in proceeds from her just-concluded Blown Away Tour to the Red Cross for disaster relief.

The singer says in a statement, “I have watched the devastation in my home state of Oklahoma over the past several days with great sadness. With the help of my fans who attended my concerts over the past year, we can offer the Red Cross a little extra help in comforting those affected by the recent tornados.”

In addition, another Oklahoma native, Blake Shelton, is organizing a benefit concert of his own, which will air on NBC.

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Trace Adkins won All-Star Celebrity Apprentice and released his new album, Love Will…, all last week, but he’s not slowing down anytime soon.  Trace is set to serve as the honorary Grand Marshall in the 2013 National Memorial Day Parade Monday in Washington, D.C.  He’s also gracing the cover of Country Weekly‘s new issue, on stands Friday.  As if that weren’t enough, Trace has lined up a performance slot on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno on June 12.

Love Will… features Trace’s collaboration with Grammy winner Colbie Caillat on “Watch the World End.”  Trace called on his fans to submit their personal videos for a new clip of the song.  It’s now posted on Vevo.

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Dierks Bentley fans can look forward to familiar themes on his upcoming album, Riser, including a few lonesome songs and some songs about drinking a nice, cold beer. There are some new elements to the music too due to where Dierks is in his life right now as a husband and father.

He adds, “You know my dad passed away, so that’s all kind of tied into it. Just kind of look at the world around me and making observations on that.”

No matter what project he’s working on, Dierks always takes care to put some kind of new sound on every album.

“I think ‘new’ is what is exciting about country music, you know?” Dierks explains. “”New’ is what got me into country music. Hearing Hank, Jr.  sing when I was 17-years-old was totally new to me. It might’ve been old to somebody else, but for me that was a brand new sound, and it just was…exciting.”

The first single from Riser is titled “Bourbon in Kentucky.” It will hit the airwaves next week.

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Sara Evans will hold her annual fan club party June 6 in Nashville, and you could be singing onstage with her at the event. From now through Saturday, Sara is taking video submissions of fans singing their favorite songs from her catalog. On May 27, five finalists will be announced, after which fans will you can for your favorite at SaraEvans.com.

The grand prize winner will be announced on May 31. The lucky fan and a guest will be flown to Nashville for the event. For all of the details, go to Bandpage.com’s Sara Evans page.

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Tim McGraw is releasing live tracks recorded on his Two Lanes of Freedom tour all summer long starting with this Friday’s release of “Southern Girl.”  More live tracks will be released June 7, June 21, July 12 and July 26 at TimMcGraw.com as part of the McGraw Overdrive Series Live project.  All of the featured songs will come from Tim’s latest album, also titled Two Lanes of Freedom.

Tim says, “The sound and energy from a live show gives an entirely new perspective to any song.  I’m always looking for ways to give the fans something extra.”  He adds, “It’s a first for me to release live tracks this way, and that’s exciting.”

Tim’s Two Lanes of Freedom tour continues this week with shows in St. Louis, Chicago and Cincinnati.

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George Strait has scored his 25th #1 on Billboard‘s Country Albums chart with Love Is Everything, extending George’s reign as the artist with the most chart-toppers on that tally. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard are tied for distant second place, with 15 #1 albums apiece.

According to Nielsen Soundscan, Love Is Everything moved nearly 120,000 copies in its first week for a #2 debut on the overall Billboard 200 chart. This project is George’s 18th top-10 album on the Billboard 200, tying him with Paul McCartney for the fourth-most top 10s on that chart. Only Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan have posted more top-10 albums, respectively.

Love Is Everything‘s success has been fueled by George’s latest hit, “Give It All We Got Tonight.” He says, “I’m thankful that my fans are excited about the new album and enjoying the music.” 

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