Nominees were announced yesterday (Wednesday) for the 2011 CMT Music Awards, to be handed out June 8 in Nashville. Fan voting will take place at CMT.com. The nominees are:

• Video of the Year: JASON ALDEAN, My Kind of Party; KENNY CHESNEY, Boys of Fall; LADY ANTEBELLUM, Hello World; MIRANDA LAMBERT, The House That Built Me; RASCAL FLATTS, Why Wait; SUGARLAND, Stuck Like Glue; TAYLOR SWIFT, Mine; THE BAND PERRY, If I Die Young; CARRIE UNDERWOOD, Undo It; ZAC BROWN BAND, Colder Weather
• Male Video of the Year: JASON ALDEAN, My Kinda Party; KENNY CHESNEY, Boys of Fall; TOBY KEITH, Bullets In The Gun; BLAKE SHELTON, Who Are You When I’m Not Looking; KEITH URBAN, Without You
• Female Video of the Year: SARA EVANS, A Little Bit Stronger; MIRANDA LAMBERT, The House That Built Me; REBA MCENTIRE, Turn On The Radio; TAYLOR SWIFT, Mine; CARRIE UNDERWOOD, Undo It- Group Video of the Year: LADY ANTEBELLUM, Hello World; LITTLE BIG TOWN, Little White Church; RASCAL FLATTS, Why Wait; THE BAND PERRY, If I Die Young; ZAC BROWN BAND, Colder Weather
• Duo Video of the Year: STEEL MAGNOLIA, Last Night Again; SUGARLAND, Stuck Like Glue; THE CIVIL WARS, Barton Hollow; THE JANEDEAR GIRLS, Wildflower; THOMPSON SQUARE, Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not
• USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year: LEE BRICE, Love Like Crazy; AARON LEWIS, Country Boy; JERROD NIEMANN, Lover, Lover; THE BAND PERRY, If I Die Young; THOMPSON SQUARE, Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not
• Collaborative Video of the Year: JASON ALDEAN/KELLY CLARKSON, Don’t You Wanna Stay; JUSTIN BIEBER/RASCAL FLATTS, That Should Be Me; KID ROCK/SHERYL CROW, Collide; AARON LEWIS/GEORGE JONES/CHARLIE DANIELS, Country Boy; LORETTA LYNN/MIRANDA LAMBERT/SHERYL CROW, Coal Miner’s Daughter
• CMT Performance of the Year: MARTINA MCBRIDE with Train, A Broken Wing from CMT Crossroads; REBA MCENTIRE, If I Were A Boy from CMT Unplugged: Reba; DARIUS RUCKER with Adele, Need You Now from CMT Artists of the Year 2010; KEITH URBAN with John Mayer, Sweet Thing from CMT Crossroads; ZAC BROWN BAND with Jimmy Buffett from CMT Crossroads
• Best Web Video of the Year: JASON ALDEAN, My Kinda Party; LUKE BRYAN, It’s A Shore Thing; LADY ANTEBELLUM, Stars Tonight; BLAKE SHELTON, Kiss My Country Ass; TAYLOR SWIFT, Mine

Most of the votes can made on the individual artist’s web pages…. so, get Voting!

Zac Brown and his wife welcomed their fourth daughter in four years on Wednesday.

Shelly Brown delivered Joni Mason Brown Wednesday morning at the couple’s Atlanta-area home, according to a posting on the band’s web site. The baby weighs 7 pounds, 14 ounces. She joins three sisters: 4-year-old Justice, 2-year-old Lucy and 1-year-old Georgia.

The band is up for four Grammy Awards next week and just received five Academy of Country Music Awards nominations as a band. Brown got four nominations as a producer and composer.

info provided by CST

Sister trio Carter’s Chord released a new single, A Little Less Comfortable, Tuesday on ShowDog-Universal.

Carter’s Chord is comprised of singer/songwriters Becky, Emma, and Joanna Robertson. The siblings were born in Southern California, where parents Barny and Carter Robertson (both of whom had previously toured with Waylon Jennings as members of the Waylors) filled their household with country and Christian music.

They made their major-label debut when Jennings enlisted the girls to sing on “Cowboys, Sisters, Rascals & Dirt, “a country album aimed at children and produced by the girls’ father.

The Robertsons soon relocated to Nashville where they hooked up with Toby Keith. Following a showcase at a Nashville club on Valentine’s Day 2006, Keith signed the sisters, who christened their group “Carter’s Chord” in reference to a musical triad.

info provided by Country Standard Time

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 – The George Strait tour continues into 2011, starting up again Friday in Austin with Reba McEntire and Lee Ann Womack opening. The trio will continue through April 9 in Louisville.

Pollstar recently announced its “Top 50 North American Tours for 2010,” and the Strait, McEntire and Womack tour was the top country music tour of the year. The tour was number 14 overall, list grossing over $41.6 million.

While the first date on the 2011 tour, Friday will be another first for Strait. Strait teamed up with RedShirtsFridays.org to show support for U.S. military servicemen and women. He personally began participating in “Red Shirt Friday” during the holidays and will continue that tradition this Friday as he wears a red shirt to perform at the Austin tour stop. Strait is also encouraging fans to wear red shirts to all of his Friday shows.

“We are going to wear red shirts to every Friday’s tour date and we encourage the fans to do the same,” said Strait. “I want to see a building full of red shirts if possible.”

Tour dates are:
Jan. 14 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Jan. 15 Oklahoma City, OK Ford Center
Jan. 27 Tallahassee, FL Leon County Civic Center
Jan. 28 Jacksonville, FL Veterans Memorial Arena
Jan. 29 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
Feb. 4 Fresno, CA SaveMart Center
Feb. 5 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
Feb. 17 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse
Feb. 18 Cleveland, OH Quickens Loan Arena
Feb. 19 Auburn Hills, MI The Palace
March 4 Cincinnati, OH US Bank Arena
March 5 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
March 25 Lubbock, TX United Spirit Arena
March 26 Las Cruces, NM Pan American Center
April 1 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
April 2 Salt Lake City, UT Energy Solutions Arena
April 8 Columbia, MO Mizzou Arena
April 9 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Arena

info provided by Country Standard Time

Making her radio debut in 2009 with “Love Lives On,” Mallary Hope left country music fans on the edge of their seats waiting for more. Mallary Hope had done it again with her new single “Blossom in the Dust.” Only 21 years old, Hope has accomplished more than the average young adult. Her sincerity and talent will keep her going for years. Like many great artists before her, Dolly Parton inspired Hope from a young age.

Mallary made her debut in Nashville at age nine. She performed at the world famous Nashville palace where she sang the classics: “Unchained Melody” and “Daddy’s Hands.” “I just knew this is what I wanted to do,” Mallary said.

From there, she wrote her first song and formed her first band at age 12. She began singing at fairs all across the south. By the time she was a junior in high school she was performing in 150 shows a year.

Just before her senior year, he dad made the decision of her career. “He was outside mowing the lawn and came inside and said ‘I feel like God is telling me to move to Nashville,’” Mallary recalls. “I joke about this but little does my dad know I was sneaking into his bedroom at night whispering in his ear ‘This is God you need to move your daughter to Nashville.’”

Upon arrival, Mallary got to work. She immediately landed a song-publishing contract. During this time, she recorded almost 500 demos as a session singer. All her hard work paid off. At 21, she signed with MCA records. The world was introduced to Mallary in 2009 when she released her debut single “Love Lives On.”

Aside from the fame and glamour, Mallary knows who is driving her career. We know them as fans, but she calls them friends. “I really don’t like the word fan, I think it sounds silly,” Mallary says. Mallary keeps in touch with her fan base through her social networks. “A lot of people say I’m addicted to Facebook and twitter.” Mallary checks her Facebook, MySpace and Twitter daily. “I read all of it,” She said, and she responds. She recalls fans responding to her saying, “Is the really you?” and she replies, “Yeah it’s me, can’t you tell by all the misspellings?”

“It’s a blessing to hear that the music is touching people is a blessing to me to know we’re doing something positive and actually witness it with the messages.” Mallary said. “I love it. I feel like I have so many friends now that I get to talk to every day.”

After the release of her first single, “Love Lives On,” her fans would send her messages telling her about how the song touched them in the mist of their grief from the loss of a loved one, missing their boyfriend, or going through a divorce. Upon receiving these emails and messages Mallary recalls, “I would stay up til 2 or 3 in the morning crying.” Reacting to the phenomenal response to her music Mallary recalls her parents saying, “Ok I think we made the right move by moving to Nashville.”

After the release of “Blossom in the Dust” her friends send her pictures of themselves holding a rose representing Rose in the song.” I think it’s cool that little girls are doing that.” She admits the steals the pictures and posts them on her page so she can share them with everyone else.

“I look forward to getting up and talking to everybody. It’s just fun!” she said. Mallary believes in making an impact with her music. “I like being able to write about real life.” “I always think that music is a healer.” Clearly, she is doing something right.

info provided by Country Standard Time

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