Here is a roundup of country stars’ reactions to Wednesday morning’s ACM Awards nominations announcement:

— Zac Brown Band‘s Clay Cook isn’t happy the group’s latest project, Uncaged, was shut out of the ACM Album of the Year category.  The band took home some hardware for that album at last Sunday’s Grammy Awards, and Clay tweeted, “Call me crazy, but there’s a fundamental problem when the Grammy winner for best country album isn’t even NOMINATED for an ACM.”

— Martina McBride scored a Female Vocalist of the Year nod at the ACM’s and tweeted, “Holy smokes! So excited and happy for the ACM Female Vocalist Of The Year nomination! Congrats to all the nominees!”

— Entertainer of the Year nominee Miranda Lambert: “ACM’s! I’m so happy to be nominated! The butterflies are always there when the names are being announced. I feel so blessed. Celebrating!”

— ACM New Female Vocalist winner and New Artist of the Year nominee Jana Kramer: “HOLY CRAP! I can’t believe I won new female!! Just another true fact that my fans are amazing!!! Thank you so so much! Means the world!!!!!! Smilin to myself knowin I am up against my fiancé @brantleygilbert &my friends @FLAGALine for overall. Honored to be in category with them!”

— Sugarland‘s Kristian Bush: “Excited about @ACMawards Duo nom this morning. Congrats, @JenniferNettles! It’s an honor to be nominated with you again.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Today is the day we celebrate love with chocolates, flowers and other gifts, but Little Big Town‘s Kimberly Schlapman likes to celebrate Valentine’s Day with food. The singer, who has her own cooking show on GAC, recalls a special Valentine’s Day from her college days that involved some time in the kitchen.

“My roommate and I, we wanted to cook for our boyfriends,” Kimberly tells ABC News Radio. “We thought it would be fun to dye everything red.”

The girls went the breakfast route for their boyfriends, so the red food items included grits, scrambled eggs and strawberry muffins. The muffins turned out great while the grits took on a pink color. The eggs were another story though.

Kimberly says with a laugh, “We got it all on the plate and we all sat down and we looked at the red scrambled eggs, they were really gross.” (LITTLE BIG TOWN AUDIO IS EXCLUSIVE)

Luke Bryan is celebrating this Valentine’s Day with his wife Caroline with an overnight mini-vacation in downtown Nashville, away from their two young boys.  They’ll get a nice dinner and a hotel room for the night, which allows Caroline to enjoy her favorite Valentine’s Day treat.

Luke says, “Her biggest thing is, ‘All I want to do is be able to sleep in one morning,’ and she gets to sleep in and that’s her Valentine’s present.”

Justin Moore admits his wife Kate trumps him every year when it comes to Valentine’s Day gift-giving.

“She’s a lot better at thinking of the sentimental things,” Justin explains.  “It’s not that I don’t try.  I just, I don’t have that — the brains she does for that kind of thing.”

Even though he usually falls short, Justin adds, “I keep trying every year.”

Billy Currington will never forget his first valentine back in first or second grade back home in Georgia.  His mom sent him to school armed with a box of chocolates after telling him, “You’ve got to get your girlfriend something and you’ve got to go give it to her.”

Billy succeeded in finding his little valentine’s classroom and getting her to come to the door, but that’s where nerves got the best of him.

He says, “I remember I handed it to her, and I took off running.”

 

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman‘s love affair is still going strong years after they tied the knot in 2006.  A big part of the reason they’re celebrating another Valentine’s Day is their commitment to making each other a priority.  That kind of devotion takes work after several years together.

Keith explains, “We start relationships, we’re so capable of honoring each other at the beginning of a relationship with cards and flowers and chocolates and attention and affection and priority.  And then all of that all too many times starts to drift away.”

He adds, “I mean for me, I think a lot of it has to do with just staying present.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Chris Young has several treats for his fans this week starting with an appearance on Katie Wednesday.  He’s set to perform on the show and chat with Katie Couric alongside Reba and Nashville star Connie Britton.  Chris also sings his latest hit, “I Can Take It from There.”

The fun continues Thursday with Chris hosting a Livestream event Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET.  He’ll sing songs and interact with fans during the session at New.Livestream.com/LiveStreamSessions/ChrisYoung.

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Brantley Gilbert still considers himself a “hell-raiser” even though he’s given up the bottle.  He made the decision to get sober more than a year ago, and it’s been a positive change for Brantley.

He tells TheBoot.com, “I felt like I could be more productive if I didn’t [drink], and it wasn’t something I really needed in my life.”

Though he doesn’t go into details, Brantley admits the decision to stop drinking was prompted by things that were going on around him too.  Now that he’s sober, Brantley is thankful for the people in his life who help him stay that way. That group includes Brantley’s fiancée, Jana Kramer.

Says Brantley, “I actually have a really good support system.  People around me have been really cool.”

Brantley will hit the road with fellow sober country star Tim McGraw this summer on the Two Lanes of Freedom tour, launching May 2 in Birmingham, AL.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Eric Church is the leading nominee for the 48th Annual ACM Awards, scoring seven nods. Hunter Hayes picked up six nominations, while Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift are tied with five apiece. Miranda is going up against her husband Blake Shelton in the Entertainer of the Year category, which also includes Taylor, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan.

The Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year categories will be opened up to a fan vote. The New Artist of the Year nominees have all already won their individual categories: Brantley Gilbert is this year’s New Male Vocalist; Jana Kramer is the New Female Vocalist winner and Florida Georgia Line is the winner for New Vocal Duo or Group.

The 48th Annual ACM Awards will be handed out live on CBS, Sunday, April 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan are set to co-host the telecast.

Here are the 48th Annual ACM Awards Nominees:

Entertainer of the Year
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Miranda Lambert
Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift

Male Vocalist
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Toby Keith
Blake Shelton

Female Vocalist
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Kacey Musgraves
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Vocal Duo of the Year 
Big & Rich
Florida Georgia Line
Love and Theft
Sugarland
Thompson Square

Vocal Group of the Year
The Band Perry
Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Zac Brown Band

Album of the Year
Blown Away, Carrie Underwood
Chief, Eric Church
Red, Taylor Swift
tailgates & tanlines, Luke Bryan
Tornado, Little Big Town

Song of the Year (Award to Songwriter)
“A Woman Like You,” Lee Brice (Phil Barton, Jonny Bulford, Jon Stone)
“Even if It Breaks Your Heart,” Eli Young Band (Will Hoge, Eric Paslay)
“Over You,” Miranda Lambert (Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton)
“Springsteen,” Eric Church (Eric Church, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell)
“Wanted,” Hunter Hayes (Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges)

Single Record
“Even if It Breaks Your Heart,” Eli Young Band
“Over You,” Miranda Lambert
“Pontoon,” Little Big Town
“Springsteen,” Eric Church
“Wanted,” Hunter Hayes

Video of the Year
“Creepin’,” Eric Church
“Wanted,” Hunter Hayes
“Tornado,” Little Big Town
“Merry Go ‘Round,” Kacey Musgraves
“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Taylor Swift
“The Wind,” Zac Brown Band

New Artist of the Year
Jana Kramer,  New Female Vocalist Winner
Brantley Gilbert, New Male Vocalist Winner
Florida Georgia Line, New Vocal Duo or Group Winner

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Country Music Hall of Famers Alabama will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their very first concert at The Bowery in Myrtle Beach, SC with the Back to the Bowery tour. The trek launches April 5 in Myrtle Beach and continues into the fall, playing theaters and amphitheaters.

Alabama hasn’t toured on this scale since 2002, and front man Randy Owen notes, “We still love one another, have played music together all these years, and are blessed to still be around.”

The band is also excited to see their fans again. Randy adds, “To be able to go back out and play for them will make this a very special year.”

For ticket information, go to TheAlabamaBand.com.

Here are the Back to the Bowery Tour Dates:

4/5 – 4/6 — Myrtle Beach, SC, Alabama Theatre
4/26 — Wallingford, Ct, Oakdale Theatre Presented by Toyota
4/27 — Rama, ON (CAN), Casino Rama
5/1 — Westbury, NY, The NYCB Theatre at Westbury
5/17 — Atlanta, GA, Fox Theatre
7/5 — Orange Beach, AL, Amphitheater at the Wharf
8/30 — Highland Park, Il, Ravinia Festival
8/31 — Hinckley, MN, Grand Casino
10/4 -10/5 — Minot, ND, Norsk Hostfest
10/12 — Thackerville, OK, Winstar Casino

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Kacey Musgraves‘ “Merry Go Round” video has racked up more than 2.7 million views on Vevo, but the clip had very humble beginnings.  Kacey and her friend actually made the clip while surfing the Internet in that friend’s kitchen.

She tells ABC News Radio, “We stumbled upon this archive full of vintage footage like that, and it was really cool because you could search by keyword.  So, we looked up suburbia, 1960 family, church, whatever.”

Kacey feels the archival footage of that long-gone era captures the small town repression she sings about in “Merry Go Round.”

She says, “Especially back in the day, that whole thing of like, look pretty and be proper and don’t air your dirty laundry kind of thing, that is crazy to me ’cause it’s just gonna make it worse later, you know?”

Kacey certainly doesn’t hold back in her own songwriting.  You can hear more of it when her debut album, Same Trailer Different Park, lands in stores March 19. She’ll perform “Merry Go Round” on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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Blake Shelton will release his new album, Based on a True Story… on March 26.  The 12-song set will feature Blake’s latest hit, “Sure Be Cool If You Did.”  He’ll promote the project on his Ten Times Crazier tour launching July 19 with special guests Easton Corbin and Jana Kramer.

Here’s the Based on a True Story… track listing:

“Boys ‘Round Here”
“Sure Be Cool if You Did”
“Do You Remember”
“Small Town Big Time”
“Country on the Radio”
“My Eyes”
“Doing What She Likes”
“Still Got a Finger”
“Mine Would Be You”
“Lay Low”
“Ten Times Crazier”
“Granddaddy’s Gun”

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Tim McGraw is expected to land his 15th top 10 album on the Billboard 200 chart this week with Two Lanes of Freedom. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the set could sell up to 100,000 copies in its first week, putting it at #1 behind Josh Groban‘s new release, All That Echoes.

Two Lanes of Freedom will most likely debut at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart too, making it Tim’s 14th project to top that tally.

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The 55th Annual Grammy Awards are now in the history books, but you can keep the memory alive with some memorabilia from the Grammy Foundation’s latest online auction.  Head over to eBay.com/Grammy to bid on a guitar autographed by Jason Aldean or official Grammy merchandise autographed by Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood. 

Dolly Parton has also donated music memorabilia to the auction benefiting the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares, which provides aid to musicians in need.  The auction runs through February 21.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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