(AP) – George Strait says Garth Brooks “transcends country music.” But he didn’t think that right away. Strait remembers Brooks opening a show for him years ago, sitting on the stage hanging his feet over while singing to the crowd. Strait says he thought to himself, “I’m not sure this is going to work out for the boy.” Strait says it’s been amazing to watch how Brooks exploded into the biggest-selling artist of all time, and then laid it all down to raise his kids.

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(AP) – Reba McEntire’s new TV show, “Malibu Country,” will feature some of her own songs. She tells “Entertainment Tonight” that she has written a lot of new tunes for the show, and there are two included in the first episode. Reba says she’s already talked to Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson about appearing. So it’s only a matter of writing them into the plot in an authentic way. She says “everything about this show’s got to be honest.” “Malibu Country” debuts November 2nd on ABC.

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Rodney Atkins has some Halloween advice for new parents:

Rodney Atkins Halloween new parents

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(AP) – Miranda Lambert says her and husband Blake Shelton’s schedules are too hectic to start a family anytime soon. Lambert tells Good Housekeeping magazine that she doesn’t “want to raise a child on a bus or in L.A.” and she wants to be “a little more settled” before embarking on motherhood. Lambert, who graces the cover of the November issue, points out that she and Shelton have been married almost a year and a half, but have only been in the same place together for about five months. But she’s not complaining. Lambert says she knows she’s very lucky and at that rate, they’ll be “newlyweds for three years.”

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Lee Brice talks about his best Halloween costume and watching his boy on the holiday:

Lee Brice Halloween

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(AP) – Rumors swirled over the summer about which country star was going to be named the next “American Idol” judge. Before Keith Urban took the job, Toby Keith tells “Country Weekly” he declined an offer. “It’s a great big TV show,” he says and a “lucrative deal” but still it only took him “five seconds” to think about it and decline. Keith knew he would regret the time commitment so he says he “just turned it down quick.”

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(AP) – T.G. Sheppard is still in critical condition after being hospitalized late last week for a bladder infection. Country Weekly reports that Sheppard’s wife Kelly Lang released a statement explaining the infection “spread into his bloodstream and is very hard to treat.” The “Slow Burn” singer is in a Nashville-area hospital. Lang says he is “very weak” and is being treated for a high and irregular heart rate, a complication from the infection.
 

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(AP) – Members of a Masai tribe in Kenya are now the proud owners of four cows named, Paisley, Gary, Joe Don and Jay. As in Brad Paisley and all the guys in Rascal Flatts. The musicians each donated a cow to the tribe whose herd dwindled due to a draught several years ago. Paisley also picked up the tab to send Detroit morning radio personality Steve Grunwald to personally deliver the bovine gift. It all started out as a dare in 2007 when Paisley bet Grunwald that he couldn’t travel to 10 countries in 10 days. Grunwald did it and stayed in touch with members of the tribe who contacted him recently about their need for a new cow. Paisley was happy to help out and when the members of Rascal Flatts heard about the mission, they offered funds to buy the village three additional cows. Grunwald made the trip last week and reports on his WYCD blog that the tribe waited by the road for two days and were “very happy” to see him and the four cows.

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(AP) – Los Angeles is getting more festive this fall. Blake Shelton will be taping “The Voice” there through Thanksgiving, so Miranda Lambert is bringing the autumn holiday spirit to him. She tells Good Housekeeping magazine that she will be “buying pumpkins and hay bales somewhere in that crazy city and putting them on the porch.” The couple usually celebrate Thanksgiving at Shelton’s farm in Tishomingo, Oklahoma.

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