Luke Bryan will begin hisFarm Tour 2013 in Statesboro, GA Oct. 2. Eight dates run through Oct. 12 and will feature openersChancie Neal, Cole Swindell and the Peach Pickers (Rhett Atkins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip). More here.
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The 2013 Pandora Jewelry Presents Martina McBride: The Joy Of Christmas Tour kicks off in Huntington, WV Nov. 29. Backed by a 12-piece band, McBride will play 12 dates through Dec. 21 featuring Christmas classics like “Let It Snow” and “O Holy Night,” and will participate in an audience Q&A each night. More here.
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NASHVILLE (AP) – Kellie Pickler isn’t the only country singer who gets a corn maze this year. Honeysuckle Hill Farm and Lyon Family Farms, both outside Nashville, both have mazes based on pictures of George Jones. Barton Hill Farms in Bastrop, Texas, has an “Always On My Mind” maze that features a guitar with Willie Nelson’s braids. The Pickler maze is in Shelby, North Carolina.
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Congratulations to Justin Moore for topping the country albums chart with Off The Beaten Path, which sold more than 96,000 copies in its debut week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This is Moore’s second consecutive No. 1 country album debut.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Willie Nelson has been told to give his joint a rest. His shoulder, that is. His doctor has told him to give the shoulder a week off – though his people aren’t providing details about the problem is. But the shoulder does pose a problem for those holding tickets to some of his upcoming shows. He will miss four – among them Saturday’s Southern Ground Music & Food Festival in Nashville, hosted by Zac Brown. The other shows are in Carmel, Indiana; Charlotte, Michigan; and Springfield, Illinois. Nelson is 80 and he’s expected to be back on the road on October 15 in Louisville, Kentucky. That’s the same day he releases his new duets album, “To All The Girls …”
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PORT CHESTER, N.Y. (AP) – It’s a stage prop with strong ties to Willie Nelson. And the country music star is itching to get it back. Someone made off with a stuffed armadillo that belongs to a member of Nelson’s sound crew. The theft took place after the band performed in Port Chester, New York last week. Grainy video taken at the theater shows a woman walking onstage as the crew loads out – and taking the toy. Authorities are looking over the video to see if they can get a better look at the woman. Meanwhile, a posting on Nelson’s Facebook page asks for help finding the thief. One person who commented on the ripoff says: “We hang armadillo thieves in Texas.”
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Garth Brooks ended his three-year residency last November, but will return to the Encore Theater at the Wynn in Las Vegas for eight more shows this fall. Two shows happen each evening Oct. 18-19 and Nov. 8-9. More here.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Can Blake Shelton win four in a row? Adam Levine doesn’t think so. “The Voice” is back for season four. Shelton has won the last three. Levine points out no NBA team has been able to put together a string of four straight titles. Last night’s show made a little history. College student Matthew Schuler got all four coaches to spin their chairs in seconds. That’s the fastest ever. He goes with Christina Aguilera, who picks up one other singer. Adam Levine picks up three including a guy who works in an Apple Store. CeeLo Green gets two singers. Shelton kicks off the season with a singer who is a hairdresser and girls’ pageant consultant from Alabama.
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NEW YORK (AP) – Linda Ronstadt says the hardest thing about living with Parkinson’s Disease is that she has “to ask people to do things” that are hard for her to do. For example, she says she doesn’t drive anymore because she isn’t “quite sure” of her reflexes. She says she also avoids places where she might get confused – and now “lives like a person with a disability.” Ronstadt revealed recently that she can no longer sing because of the illness. Ronstadt is 67 – and during her career, has sold more than 30 million albums.
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Brad Paisley will extend his Beat This Summer Tour through November. Presented by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, 12 additional dates will feature Chris Young and Lee Brice through October, and Young and Danielle Bradbery in November. More here.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Alison Krauss is taking vocal rest because she’s been diagnosed with dysphonia. That’s a general term to describe a number of vocal ailments including hoarseness, vocal cord problems or anything that can affect the voice. Krauss is expected to make a full recovery. However, she is dropping out of the Wide Open Bluegrass Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, next weekend. She doesn’t have any other concert dates scheduled after that.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) – Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell were double winners at the Americana Music Honors & Awards this week. And it’s only fair that they did – since the awards were for duets they did together. They weren’t the only singing pair to pick up two honors. The husband-wife duo Shovels & Rope also earned top honors at the event at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Harris and Crowell won album of the year for their work together on “Old Yellow Moon.” They also took home duo-group of the year. Shovels & Rope won song of the year for “Birmingham” and took the honor for emerging artist of the year.
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Carrie Underwood gave fans a glimpse of her role as Maria von Trapp in “The Sound Of Music” by sharing the official art on her Twitter and Facebook pages. She says “It’s all live, so it is going to take a lot of rehearsals. It will be a couple of solid months working on it for one big night.” It airs December 5th on NBC at 8/7c.
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