- After word last week that Miranda Lambert would perform on the June 29th season finale of NBC’s hit series The Voice — which features hubby Blake Shelton as one of the show’s musician coaches — news arrives today that Brad Paisley will be on the show tomorrow! Brad and Blake will sing “Don’t Drink the Water,” a song they did together for Brad’s newest album, This Is Country Music. And as previously announced, Miranda will join show finalist Dia Frampton for a duet performance on Wednesday’s live results show and season finale. Catch Brad and Miranda on back-to-back nights: Brad on June 28th, at 9pm, ET, and Miranda one day later — and one hour earlier! — on the 29th, at 8pm, ET, on NBC.
- Happy Birthday, Kellie! Birthday wishes to the fabulous Kellie Pickler, who celebrates her big day this Tuesday, June 28th! With a smiley face at the end of a tweet today, Kellie shared, “Tomorrow I will be halfway to 50! Truth be told…I don’t believe life really begins until 50…so I’m just warming up.” Kellie is on the radio now with her amazing new song, “Tough.” Show Kellie a little birthday love and pick up a copy of the digital single, available now!
- Carrie Underwood, Sara Evans, Miranda Lambert, and Sheryl Crow offer some tasty recipes for “Southern Comfort Food” in a feature for the July issue of SELF magazine, on stands now. Carrie declares herself a pizza lover, and opts to take a healthy approach with her no-guilt veggie pizza, while Sara shares a family favorite with honey-beer ham, Sheryl takes on a roasted-potato salad with sweet corn and cider vinegar, and Miranda serves up an anytime treat with her raspberry-lemon-yogurt bread. Check out the new issue of SELF for the full scoop!
- Jake Owen has a huge hit on his hands with his newest single, “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” the first song and title track to his third album, set for release on August 30 — and today, CMT premiered the music video for “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” with the video going into heavy rotation, as well as being featured in this week’s edition of CMT’s Top 20 Countdown, premiering Friday, July 1st, at 11am, ET. You can also see the video now at CMT.com. Jake says, “The video shows what I do when I’m not on stage. I grew up in Florida so wakeboarding and hanging out with my friends on the water is something I’ve done my entire life. There definitely wasn’t any acting going on at the shoot. Those are really my friends you see in the video and we shot everything in one day. The scenes are as realistic as it gets and that is the way I wanted it. I feel like this song and this video truly represent who I am.” Look for Jake on the road now on Keith Urban‘s Get Closer 2011 World Tour!
- Amazing new group The Lunabelles are on the radio now with their debut single, “A Place to Shine.” And if you haven’t heard this all-female band — consisting of sisters Olivia, Dominique, and Gabby Arciero and sister-in-music Alex Kline — they will absolutely win you over with their incredible musicianship and striking harmonies. If you were in Nashville for the recent CMA Music Festival, you probably saw them everywhere playing multiple stages, but earlier this month, they also stepped into the studio for a live streaming performance and fan Q&A, and you can watch it online anytime at http://www.livestream.com/sonymusicnashville. You can also visit the band at their official site, TheLunabelles.com, for links to get the digital single for their song, “A Place to Shine,” as well as connect with the band on Facebook and Twitter!
- Kenny Chesney has just been announced to appear for the first time in the popular CMA Songwriters Series, which has brought some of Nashville’s finest songwriters to venues across the country. The series makes its Boston debut on August 25th at the Royale Nightclub, a recently renovated opera house in downtown Boston. Kenny will be joined by A-list hit songwriters Matraca Berg, Brett James, Wendell Mobley, Craig Wiseman, and Bob DiPiero. Tickets go on sale this Friday, July 1st, at noon, ET, through Ticketmaster, or locally at the Royale Nightclub box office on Fridays from noon to 6pm, ET. Kenny is on the airwaves now with “You and Tequila,” featuring Grace Potter, the newest smash from his hit-filled Hemingway’s Whiskey album.
- As you’re gearing up for the upcoming long weekend, don’t miss Brad Paisley performing as part of the excitement of Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, airing Monday, July 4th, at 9pm, ET, on NBC. From New York City, the event is the nation’s largest Fourth of July fireworks display. Hosted by Nick Lachey, the NBC special will also feature a performance by Beyoncé.
- And speaking of the Fourth of July, be sure to check out our all-star Independence Day stories and liners, right here!
- The animated Cars 2 — which includes two new songs from Brad Paisley — rolled into theatres on Friday and ranked as the number-one film of the weekend, grossing $68 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brad talks about his involvement with the film in our Friday posting further down this page!