SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The city of Folsom, California, has revealed the first section of the Johnny Cash Trail. The Sacramento Bee reports the first part of the trail is a two-and-a-half mile section that includes a bridge that’s meant to look like Folsom State Prison’s east gate guard towers. It’s a tribute to Cash’s 1968 album “At Folsom Prison.” Future plans for the trail include a 40-foot steel statue of Cash.

 

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The new album from Pearl/RCA’s Garth Brooks will be called Man Against Machine and will be released Nov. 11. “Music has always been a reflection of where mankind is at the time,” he says. “For 14 years I have watched heart and soul, dreams and individualism, fighting for their very existence in a world of increasing technology. This album is a reminder to all those who dream, work, and fight for what they believe; do not give up your vision.” Pre-order the album here. Also, tickets went on sale for Brooks’ Minneapolis tour stop. He’ll play one show Nov. 6 and 13; and two shows Nov. 7, 8, 14 and 15 for a total of 10 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, one more than he played at the same venue in 1998. Get tickets here.

 

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NASHVILLE (AP) – It seemed sort of random when Reba McEntire just walked on stage and started singing with Little Big Town, but she had a purpose. The Nashville Tennessean reports Little Big Town were performing “Pontoon” at the Grand Ole Opry House Friday when McEntire surprised them by singing too. After the song, McEntire invited them to be the latest members of the Grand Ole Opry. They accepted. Little Big Town singer Karen Fairchild says they respect everything that’s happened at the Opry and they want to be part of the tradition that carries it on.

 

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Luke Bryan already has plans for Mardi Gras. WVUE-TV in New Orleans reports Bryan will be the grand marshal for the Endymion crewe’s parade on February 14. He will also perform.

 

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NASHVILLE (AP) – Jennifer Nettles will host the “CMA Country Christmas” special for the fifth time. This year’s lineup includes Dan and Shay, Brett Eldredge, Sara Evans, Lucy Hale, Hunter Hayes, Little Big Town, Idina Menzel, LeAnn Rimes, Michael W. Smith and Carrie Underwood. The show tapes Nov. 7 in Nashville. It will run on ABC in December.

 

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Congratulations to Kenny Chesney and the entire Blue Chair/Columbia team on the No. 1 country debut of The Big Revival, which sold more than 129,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. This is the 13th Chesney album to top the Country albums chart.

 

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SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. (AP) – A farm in Springfield, Tennessee, is paying tribute to Luke Bryan and all his corny goodness. Honeysuckle Hill Farm has created a corn maze with Bryan’s face and name in it. The farm created a George Jones corn maze last year.

 

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ADA, Okla. (AP) – A street has been renamed for Blake Shelton in his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma. The city unveiled Blake Shelton Boulevard as part of its party to celebrate Shelton’s new album, “Bringing Back the Sunshine.” The town’s water tower is on the cover. The party also featured Blake Shelton trivia, a Blake Shelton lookalike contest and a Blake Shelton mullet contest.

 

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NASHVILLE (AP) – A museum dedicated to George Jones is in the works for downtown Nashville. His widow, Nancy, will unveil plans for a four-story George Jones Museum in the space formerly occupied by a club called Graham Central Station. The museum will have a gift shop, restaurant, event space and music venue. An opening date was not given.

 

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NASHVILLE (AP) – Jim Ed Brown has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Brown writes on his website he got his diagnosis two weeks ago and that’s why he’s canceled shows recently. Brown says he was shocked and scared when he heard the news. His doctors have told him to take off the next four months to concentrate on chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Brown first hit the scene in the 1950s as part of The Browns with his sisters. He then had a successful solo career through the 1960s and ’70s and was famous for duets with Helen Cornelius.

 

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BRISTOL, Va. (AP) – In 1927, the Victor Talking Machine Company went to a small town on the Tennessee-Virginia border to record what was known as “hillbilly music,” including the Carter Family. Today, the Birthplace of Country Music Museum is now open. The museum in Bristol, Virginia, is displaying instruments, recording equipment and clothes related to country, gospel and blues. Visitors can record their own songs in sound booths or hear early gospel records in a small chapel. The museum’s executive director, Leah Ross, says country music had been recorded before, but the Bristol Sessions were the first time it was mass-produced for audiences in New York, Atlanta and Chicago.

 

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Seven-time hosts Brad Paisleyand Carrie Underwood as well as Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and The Band Perry have been added to the performance lineup of The 48th Annual CMA Awards airing Nov. 5 on ABC-TV. See the full lineup here.

 

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