Ellen DeGeneres is always up for a good game on her daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and this time she got country star Luke Bryan to play along.
Luke appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today (Sept. 28) to chat with the comedienne about turning 40, his no butt grabbing policy and raising his two sons and nephew.
After the interview, the talk show host enlisted the help of Luke to play a new game she calls Oops My Water Broke. Ellen then called up Rachel Page, a huge Luke Bryan fan, from the audience to participate in the game. The two ladies have to take turns pulling sticks out of a tube that is stacked with water balloons. The person who makes all the balloons drop, loses. You have to watch it for yourself.
Apparently the water was a little cold for Luke’s taste. “I thought y’all said this water was heated,” Luke said after having a number of balloons break on his head. “It’s pretty chilly.”
Rachel lost the game when she ended up dumping the whole tube of water balloons on Luke’s head. But all was not lost—Rachel did receive two tickets to Luke’s show in Detroit, Mich. And just for being a good sport, Luke received a $10,000 check from Shutterfly for the Luke Bryan Farm Tour Scholarship Fund.
According to the McAfee Study published by Intel Security, a trio of country stars are among the Top 100 Most Dangerous Celebrities to search for online: Jason Aldean (#16), Luke Bryan (#39) and Blake Shelton (#66).
Now in its 10th year, the research uncovers which celebrities generate the most dangerous search results that could expose fans to viruses and malware while searching for the latest information on today’s pop culture icons. Intel’s study was conducted using its own site ratings to determine the number of risky sites generated by searches on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
“Consumers today remain fascinated with celebrity culture and go online to find the latest pop culture news,” said Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at Intel Security. “With this craving for real-time information, many search and click without considering potential security risks. Cybercriminals know this and take advantage of this behavior by attempting to lead them to unsafe sites loaded with malware.”
This year’s Top 10 list included Amy Schumer (#1), Justin Bieber (#2), Carson Daly (#3), Will Smith (#4), Rihanna (#5), Miley Cyrus (#6), Chis Hardwick (#7), Daniel Tosh (#8), Selena Gomez (#9) and Kesha (#10).
In addition to recommending anti-virus software, Intel, whose products include McAfee software, urges consumers to take precautions when surfing the web.
Think before you click. Are you looking for the latest episode of Amy Schumer’s TV show, Inside Amy Schumer? Don’t click on that third-party link. Instead, get your content directly from the original source at comedycentral.com to ensure you aren’t clicking on anything that could be malicious.
Use caution when searching for “torrent.” This term is by far the riskiest search term. Cybercriminals can use torrents to embed malware within authentic files making it difficult to determine if a file is safe. It’s best to avoid using torrents especially when there are so many legitimate streaming options available.
Keep your personal information personal. Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to steal your personal information. If you receive a request to enter information like your credit card, email, home address or social media login don’t give it out thoughtlessly. Do your research and ensure it’s not a phishing or scam attempt that could lead to identity theft.
photos of Jason Aldean by James Minchin/The Greenroom PR; Luke Bryan courtesy UMG; Blake Shelton by Brian Bowen/NBC
It’s going to be a wild party for Charlie Daniels when he celebrates his 80th birthday with Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan and Kid Rock at the 41st annual Charlie Daniels Volunteer Jam.
The legendary singer turns 80 years old on Oct. 28, but the party won’t be taking place until Nov. 30 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The 80th Birthday Volunteer Jam comes one year after a very successful 40th anniversary Volunteer Jam in 2015.
“I am extremely humbled and excited for this year’s Volunteer Jam,” said Charlie in a statement. “I think the fans are going to get a great variety of music from rock to country to southern rock with this stellar lineup, which reminds me so much of some of the early ‘Jams’ that we held at Municipal Auditorium. We are also going to be raising some well-needed money to continue our support of the Veterans through the Journey Home Project.”
The event will feature the Charlie Daniels Band along with Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, Kid Rock, Travis Tritt, 3 Doors Down and Larry the Cable Guy. Charlie has been hosting his friends at the Volunteer Jam, where artists “volunteer” to hang out and jam, since 1974, and he is dedicating the proceeds from this year’s event to The Journey Home Project.
The news just keeps getting better and better for Thomas Rhett.
On the heels of announcing that his sophomore album, Tangled Up, will be getting the deluxe treatment, TR has another huge proclamation today (Sept. 28): he’s getting his first headlining tour.
T-Rhett will kick off his 15-date 2017 Home Team Tour in Saginaw, Mich., on Feb. 23 and cap the tour in his hometown of Nashville on April 21.
Kelsea Ballerini, who has back-to-back-to-back No. 1 hits, will serve as support on the tour, with additional openers Russell Dickerson and Ryan Hurd.
Fan can visit Thomas Rhett’s website to purchase pre-sale tickets on Oct. 4 before the official Oct. 7 sale date.
2017 Home Team Tour Feb. 23: Saginaw, MI | Dow Event Center
Feb. 24: Erie, PA | Erie Insurance Arena
Feb. 25: Peoria, IL | Peoria Civic Center
March 2: Ft. Wayne, IN | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
March 3: DeKalb, IL | NIU Convocation Center
March 4: Duluth, MN | AMSOIL Arena
March 9: Wilkes-Barre, PA | Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
March 10: Baltimore, MD | Royal Farms Arena
March 11: Dayton, OH | Wright State University Nutter Center
March 17: Huntington, WV | Big Sandy Superstore Arena
March 18: Winston-Salem, NC | Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum
March 23: Knoxville, TN | Knoxville Civic Coliseum
March 24: Southaven, MS | Landers Center
March 25: Norman, OK | Lloyd Noble Center
April 21: Nashville, TN | Ascend Amphitheater
Last night (Sep. 26) another star-studded entry in the Skyville Live series took place in Nashville and was streamed live to the world on the internet. The show was headlined by music legends Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and special guest Buddy Miller. And if those three artists weren’t impressive enough, the playbill also included rising stars Brothers Osborne, Colter Wall and surprise guest—and recently named New/Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2016 Americana Music Awards—Margo Price.
While each artist performed individually, throughout the night they joined each other onstage to create new and interesting variations of familiar songs.
Steve Earle performs “Goodbye” with Emmylou Harris
Steve Earle kicked off the night with his 1988 album’s title track, “Copperhead Road,” but was soon joined onstage by Emmylou Harris for “Goodbye.” Steve sat down as Emmylou played “Pancho and Lefty” and “Love Hurts” with Buddy Miller. Then Margo Price joined Emmylou for “Two More Bottles of Wine.”
T.J. Osborne, Mickey Raphael fan
The Brothers Osborne played next, with T.J. hilariously sporting a “Mickey Raphael #1 Harmonica Player” t-shirt as he took the stage, standing in front of Willie Nelson’s well-known harmonica player, Mickey Raphael. The Brothers kept the energy high, rocking through “It Ain’t My Fault” and their hit single “Stay a Little Longer,” finishing their set with the Waylon Jennings classic “I Ain’t Living Long Like This.”
Canadian artist Colter Wall then took the show in a blues and folk direction with his songs “Kate McCannon” and “Sleeping On the Blacktop.”
Margo Price returned to the stage with her retro-country songs “Tennessee Song” and “Four Years of Chances.”
Margo Price
Steve Earle came back out to perform “Guitar Town” and then all of the artists joined him onstage for the final song, “Pilgrim.” Steve explained that he wrote the song for the funeral of bass player Roy Huskey, Jr.
He then spoke about the Lampedusa concerts and the refugees in need around the world. “It’s up to those of us that have the most to take care of those people, no matter what we think we’re afraid of and what people tell us to be afraid of,” Steve said “because it’s the right thing to do.”
All of the evening’s performances were in service to raising awareness about the Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees concert series, which benefits the Jesuit Refugee Service. The Lampedusa concert series kicks off in Boulder, Colorado on Oct. 6, featuring Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Buddy Miller as well as Patty Griffin and the The Milk Carton Kids.
The always-bubbly Kellie Pickler made her 18th appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today (Sept. 27) to talk about, among other things, her recent trip to Tokyo that will be featured on an hour-long episode of I Love Kellie Pickler on Sept. 29.
True to form, Ellen used Kellie’s trip to the Far East as a catalyst for scaring the tawagoto (look it up) out of her.
As Kellie was conversing about dressing as a geisha during her trip, one of Ellen’s henchmen—dressed as a geisha—sprung from inside the end table and scared her.
“Oh, my god!” said Kellie. “What the hell was that?”
Check out the clip below—skip to the 2:35 mark for the geisha surprise.
Funeral arrangements have been set for Opry star Jean Shepard, who passed away Sunday, Sept. 25, at the age of 82.
Jean— who has been an Opry member since 1955 —became the first and only woman to reach 60 years of Opry membership in 2015. Jean was best known for her hit duet “A Dear John Letter” with Ferlin Husky — the first post-World War II country record featuring a female vocalist to sell a million copies —and other classics like “Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar),” “A Satisfied Mind,” and “Slippin’ Away.”
For fans wanting to pay their respects, a public visitation will be held on Thursday, Sept. 29 at Hendersonville Funeral Home (353 East Main Street) from 12pm-8pm and Friday, Sept. 30 from 11am-1pm followed by a celebration of life service at 1pm. The visitation and service are open to the public.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jean’s family and friends at this difficult time. May she Rest In Peace.
Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Shane McAnally is on fire right now.
In just the past two weeks, Shane earned another No. 1 song as a songwriter (Dierks Bentley’s “Black”) and is getting props for producing and arranging the CMA’s new single, “Forever Country,” which features 30 of country music’s biggest stars.
Over the course of his career, Shane, 41, has penned No. 1 hits for a who’s who of country stars, including Kenny Chesney (“American Kids”), Luke Bryan (“Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”), Lady Antebellum (“Downtown”), Sam Hunt (“Leave the Night On”) and many more. He has also produced albums for Kacey Musgraves, Old Dominion, Sam Hunt and Jake Owen.
Currently, Shane is in the studio tracking Old Dominion’s second album, but he made time to sit down with Nash Country Daily to talk about five songs he wishes he had written.
“I’m kind of surprised that the ones I’m thinking about are world songs,” says Shane, “because by nature those songs are not what I’m usually drawn to, but when they’re done right—and they’re so hard to write—that blows me away as a songwriter. Here’s my Top 5.”
#5. “I Hope You Dance”
Lee Ann Womack, 2000 Written by Mark D. Sanders, Tia Sillers
“Even if it seems somewhat cliché, I think ‘I Hope You Dance’ is just about as perfect a written song as there has ever been. And so many of those lines in that song have become sort of everyday phrases. I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean—I think people almost can forget where that line came from because it’s so much bigger. Because that is how we all want to feel, to remember our place in this world.”
#4. “Man in the Mirror”
Michael Jackson, 1988 Written by Siedah Garrett, Glen Ballard
“I love ‘Man in the Mirror’ by Michael Jackson. It’s funny, as a kid when that song was popular, it didn’t hit me like it does now. It’s like a dance song almost, but yet lyrically it’s just saying ‘I’m starting with me.’”
#3. “Girl Crush”
Little Big Town, 2014 Written by Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose
“It’s a fairly recent song, but one that is such a unique take. I still cannot believe that that idea had not been written. When those ideas come along that are truly fresh, it’s unbelievable. It’s just an unbelievable way they wrote it. It could have turned out cheesy—the idea—but they made it so universal.”
#2. “The House That Built Me”
Miranda Lambert, 2009 Written by Tom Douglas, Allen Shamblin
“I think it’s the greatest song of this century. It never doesn’t stop me in my tracks. The second verse—From Better Homes and Garden magazine—I literally can cry talking about it.”
#1. “You Don’t Know Me”
Eddy Arnold, 1956 Written by Eddy Arnold, Cindy Walker
“It’s an Eddy Arnold song that most people know. It’s the most simple, unrequited love story of all time. The rhyme scheme, the melody—I’ve always felt like it perfectly tells the story of what it would be like to have a friend who didn’t know you were in love with them. It’s perfect.”
YouTube Playlist: 5 Songs Hit Songwriter Shane McAnally Wishes He Had Penned
Miranda Lambert gave her East Texas hometown a shot of revitalization when she opened her Pink Pistol boutique in Lindale in August. The new boutique is part of downtown Lindale’s redevelopment that also features music venue/restaurant Love and War, a 15,000-seat amphitheater and city park, and the historic Pickers Pavilion for crowds of up to 1,000.
The Pink Pistol and Love and War will celebrate their official grand openings on Oct. 22 with a Texas-sized block party, which will include a performance by Charlie Robison, chili cook-off, habanero pepper eating contest, wine tasting and more.
The Pink Pistol has a larger inventory than previous locations, more “Miranda’ize” merchandise and unique shopping opportunities for her fans. In addition to the old-fashioned soda fountain that will be open all day, there will be interactive opportunities with three photo booths and a big screen slideshow. The Pink Pistol also has a small stage for intimate performances for 40–50 people.
“It feels full circle to have everything under one ‘roof’ basically where it all began in my hometown of Lindale,” said Miranda in a press release.
A photo posted by Miranda Lambert (@mirandalambert) on Aug 5, 2016 at 3:08pm PDT
“You gonna pull them pistols or whistle Dixie”… The new and improved @thepinkpistol @red55winery opened today!!! New location 114 E North street Lindale Texas!
The legendary singer turns 80 years old on Oct. 28, but the party won’t be taking place until Nov. 30 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The 80th Birthday Volunteer Jam comes one year after a very successful 40th anniversary Volunteer Jam in 2015.
