Little Big Town‘s Kimberly Schlapman kicks off the second season of her GAC cooking show, Kimberly’s Simply Southern, this Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern.  She’s lined up an impressive list of stars to join her behind the counter this season including Josh Turner, Jerrod Niemann, Dustin Lynch, Martina McBride, Craig Morgan and Sunny Sweeney as well as her LBT band mate Karen Fairchild.  Playing host to her famous friends is a big perk of hosting the show for Kimberly.

“I like having people in the kitchen with me, and I like talking to them about what they’re doing,” Kimberly tells ABC News Radio.  “I like talking about how they grew up and how they grew up with food, and did they grow up cooking and did they grow up watching their grandmother cook?  I love the stories that we find out.”

Kimberly has to actually memorize each recipe and cook it all while she’s paying attention to the camera and making her guests feel welcome.  It’s a lot to juggle, and Kimberly is thankful her producers are in the next room to keep her in line during filming.

She says, “I think I’m getting a little bit better at it, but still, sometimes they yell at me from the other side of the wall, ‘You forgot the cloves!’  You know, stuff like that.”

In addition to cooking in the kitchen, Kimberly also gets out into the wild with a trip into a Florida citrus grove this season. She also harvests oysters in Washington State, handcrafts chocolate in Brooklyn and milks cows in Georgia on upcoming episodes.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan will not only co-host the Academy of Country Music Awards next month, they’ll also perform on the show.

Miranda Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, George Strait, Hunter Hayes and The Band Perry are joining the performance lineup too.

The ACM Awards broadcast live from Las Vegas April 7 on CBS.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Alan Jackson is headed back to familiar territory with his new project, Precious Memories Volume II, coming out March 26. It’s the follow-up to his double-platinum 2006 release, Precious Memories, and Alan didn’t have a hard time picking the traditional hymns to record for the project.  He just had to go back to his original list of 30 or 40 possible songs he made for the first hymns album.  

Alan explains, “We had so many that we didn’t get to, I thought we’d go in and do a few more just the same way — heartfelt and simple.”

Here’s the Precious Memories Volume II track listing:

“Amazing Grace”
“He Lives”
“Just As I Am”
“Love Lifted Me”
“O How I Love Jesus”
“Only Trust Him”
“There Is Power in the Blood”
“Precious Memories”
“Sweet Hour of Prayer”
“When the Roll Is Called up Yonder”
“Wherever He Leads I’ll Go”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Jason Aldean played his first concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd.  Though he’s heard about the iconic venue his entire life, Jason had never even set foot inside the Garden until he arrived there to headline his own show.

“I’d never played it as an opening act or anything,” Jason explains.  “So, my first time playing there was my own show, which was great.”

Jason was feeling really good about his accomplishment until he saw a banner hanging up inside the Garden.

“It says, ‘Elton John 62.’  And I’m like, ‘What does that mean?'” Jason says.  “Well, apparently he’s sold out 62 shows there, so it made my little one show not seem so cool anymore.”

Though he’s got a lot of work to do before he catches up with Elton, Jason hopes to return for another sold-out show at the Garden very soon.  Performing for all those fans made Jason realize just how many fans live in and around New York City.

He says, “[It] kind of opened my eyes to the fact that maybe that’s something we need to take a harder look at, and try to go back there a little more.”

Jason has another big show coming up Monday, March 11 at the Houston Rodeo in Texas.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Show Dog/UniversalTrace Adkins is in the mood for love with his 11th studio album, Love Will…, which is due out this spring.  The project features 11 songs centered around that complicated and fascinating emotion, but Trace didn’t set out to make a love-songs album when he first entered the studio.

“In the process of putting together this project this time, I’d recorded probably 17 or 18 songs all total, and then I realized about 11 of those are love songs,” Trace explains to ABC News Radio.  “So, instead of putting ’em all out together on some big, huge package, I just whittled it down to the 11 love songs.”

These love songs aren’t all epic, “love you ’til the end of time” ballads though.  Trace says, “This is an album of love songs but in my book, ‘Hot Mama’ and ‘Badonkadonk’ are love songs!”  The album also boasts an impressive lineup of producers as well as a few as-yet-unannounced and unexpected collaborations. 

Fans can now pre-order Love Will… at TraceAdkins.com.  Trace has also launched a sweepstakes tied in with his role as a contestant on NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice this season.  Fans who complete tasks related to the Celebrity Apprentice and Trace’s role as a Red Cross spokesman will be entered to win prizes, including a trip to the live finale of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice or an all-expense-paid cruise on Country Cruising 2014.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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The Road to the Ram Jam all-star country music series continues, with Zac Brown‘s 2012 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn now up for auction.  Zac drove the truck for the past year, and the money raised through its auction at Ebay.com/RoadtoRamJam will benefit his Camp Southern Ground. That facility in Zac’s home state of Georgia will bring together children with diverse abilities and backgrounds, including those with learning disabilities and development disorders, in a state-of-the-art summer camp and research facility.

Zac says, “The proceeds from this truck go to help us make a difference in the lives of many children and their families. Thanks to RAM for all of the charitable donations that they make.”

Zac’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 recently and raised more than $34,000 for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.  Billy Currington‘s truck raised about the same amount for Team Rubicon, while Kellie Pickler‘s truck brought in more than $36,000 for the USO Warrior and Family Care program in January.  Easton Corbin will offer up his Ram truck for auction soon.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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The CMA Music Festival’s nightly concerts at Nashville’s LP Field just got a huge boost in star power with Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Eric Church, Brad Paisley, Zac Brown Band and The Band Perry added to the bill.

The four-night concert series running June 6 through 9 will also include performances from Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley, Kelly Clarkson, Florida Georgia Line, Hunter Hayes and Jake Owen.  Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town have already been confirmed for CMA Music Festival performances, and more acts will be announced soon.

Fans can purchase tickets to the 2013 CMA Music Festival through Ticketmaster.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Little Big Town’s current single, album and tour may all be called Tornado, but the foursome says you haven’t really seen a twister until you witness their kids backstage.

“It’s like a circus, man,” Jimi Westbrook says. “Now you know why we drink,” Karen Fairchild jokes. “No, we love it so much, but it’s insane back there.”

While Jimi suggests the stage may be the only place the collective parents of three get any peace, the band does have a rule: No children in their dressing rooms after supper.

For Karen and Kimberly Schlapman, that means some girl time. “Sometimes we’re in there giggling and sometimes we’re in there about to cry,” Kimberly confesses. “It’s a very special, very intimate time because we are the only ones in our lives who go through what we go through. We have very similar lives, and really we can only identify with each other.”

For the guys, it’s not quite so touchy-feely. “They write songs with dirty lyrics,” Karen accuses. “We write, ridiculous, stupid songs,” Jimi admits.

Monday night is likely to be a kid-free zone, as Little Big Town performs on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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