Zac Brown Band to Perform at New Orleans Jazz Fest

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The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has a 41-year history of inviting musical guests of all genres to participate in their annual seven-day event, and next year will be no exception.

Zac Brown Band, Steve Earle and Asleep at the Wheel will all take the stage in the Big Easy, as part of an eclectic line-up that includes something for everyone's musical tastes. Other artists scheduled to appear include the Eagles,Foo Fighters, Better Than Ezra, Amanda Shaw,John Mayer and the Neville Brothers.

The guys in the Zac Brown Band are no stranger to performing as part of a diverse roster of talent. Their inaugural Southern Ground Music & Food Festival, held in October, boasted an eclectic line-up of acts, including Train, My Morning Jacket, the Warren Haynes Band and Brett Dennen.

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Zac Brown Band's Coy Bowles Pens First Children's Book

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As a member of the Zac Brown Band and a co-writer on several of the band's songs, including the No. 1 hits 'Knee Deep' and 'Colder Weather,' Coy Bowles has proven his skills as a hit songwriter. Now, the Georgia native is taking his creative talents to a new audience, penning his first children's book, inspired by an unlikely encounter with a guest at a dinner party.

The idea for 'Amy Giggles, Laugh Out Loud' came after Coy met a woman who repeatedly stifled her laugh throughout the evening. "Every time someone said something, she would huff and puff," Coy recalls. "Finally, somebody said, 'For the love of God, will you please just laugh out loud?'"

As it turns out, the woman had been teased as a child for having an unusually loud laugh -- a criticism she carried into adulthood. Coy's book gives her story a happy ending, while teaching a valuable lesson.

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Toby Keith Makes Holiday Version of 'Red Solo Cup' Video

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Artist: Toby Keith

Video: 'Red Solo Cup' (Holiday Version)

Why We Dig It: "It's the stupidest song I ever heard in my life," Toby told The Boot with a laugh when speaking of his accidental hit, 'Red Solo Cup.' Stupid, maybe, but it was obviously a smart move for the country mogul to make a video for it. The original clip for 'Red Solo Cup' has logged more than 4 million views in less than two months. Building on its runaway success, Toby has now invited Santa Claus to the party, inserting clips of a snowboarding, beer-swigging St. Nick into 'Red Solo Cup.' Watch the new, holiday version of 'Red Solo Cup' below.

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Zac Brown Band 'Keep' No. 1 Streak Alive

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Zac Brown Band members are celebrating another No. 1 (their eighth) with the current single, 'Keep Me in Mind,' claiming the top spot on Billboard's Country Singles chart. Lead singer Zac Brown recently talked with The Boot about penning the band's latest chart-topper.

"We didn't rush anything. It felt good," says the Georgia native. "My songwriting partner, Wyatt Durrette -- the girl he is in love with and dating right now wasn't available when he first met her, but he knew there was something special there. So that was how it got started. Wyatt and I started working on the song for a while, and thenNic Cowan had written part of a song and played it for me and I was like, 'That's the bridge for 'Keep Me in Mind.' So there's three of us on that song. It just fit."

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The Band Perry Plan a 'Rockin' New Year's Eve'

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The Band Perry plan to wrap their breakthrough year with an appearance on the long-running 'Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Rockin' Eve' special, with a televised performance during the last few hours of 2011. Television icon Dick Clark will celebrate his 40th year as host of the holiday staple, sharing his duties with Ryan Seacrest, Fergie, and Jenny McCarthy.

The Band Perry will no doubt perform their triple-platinum, No. 1 single, 'If I Die Young,' which earned the sibling trio Single and Song of the Year at last month's CMA Awards. "I wanna thank the fans of country music again," said lead singer Kimberly Perry as she accepted one of her three CMA trophies. "Your stories have changed our lives." The Band Perry also took home New Artist of the Year during the same ceremony.

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Toby Keith Named Artist of the Decade at 2011 American Country Awards, Performs ‘Red Solo Cup’

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Over the past 10 years, Toby Keith has been the most-played artist on country radio. His feat as one of country music’s most influential artists was enough to garner the win for Artist of the Decade at the 2011 American Country Awards on Monday night (Dec. 5).

When Keith emerged from the smoke, the entire room at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas rose to their feet to pay honor to the amazing singer-songwriter that stood before them.

“Thank you very much,” Keith said over the cheering fans who proudly waived their red Solo Cups high in the air. “I want to thank the fans …. You guys keep us out on the road and keep requesting stuff and keep us in business. We had a great decade, and I hope we have another one. I’m ready to party in Vegas!”

Before he could head out to celebrate his victory, Keith closed out the 2011 ACA’s with a performance of his latest hit single, ‘Red Solo Cup.’ Besides his normal band backing him for the infections song and memorable performance, the song’s four writers — Jim and Brett Beavers and the Warren Brothers (Brett and Brad Warren) — provided additional harmonies and commentary throughout the song.

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2012 Grammy Awards Nominations

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The 54th annual Grammy Awards aren't until February, but the excitement starts tonight! With help from some of music's biggest stars (and Grammy nominees!), CBS hosted its annual 'Grammy Nominations Live' concert Wednesday night (Nov. 30), with explosive performances by the Band Perry, Rihanna, Sugarland, Lady Gaga, Usher, Jason Aldean,Ludacris and more, plus announcements in some of the Grammy's top categories.

See the list of nominees in the country categories and top, all-genre categories for the 2012 Grammy Awards below.


Best New Artist


The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex

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ACM Changes Rules for New Artist of the Year Category

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The Academy of Country Music has announced structure changes to their New Artist of the Year award, narrowing down the nominees to one, all-inclusive category of three nominees. The Top eight new artists from the first round of ACM industry voting will be semi-finalists in the category, with only the top three moving on to compete for the coveted honor. Voting for the final two rounds will consist of a combination of industry and fan voting.


Last year, the Band Perry, Steel Magnolia and theJaneDear Girls were all nominated as Top New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year, with Eric Church, Easton Corbin and Randy Housercompeting as New Solo Artist of the Year. The Band Perry and Eric won their respective categories, with the sibling trio ultimately taking home the fan-voted award.

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'Glee' Cast Sings Toby Keith's 'Red Solo Cup' (VIDEO)

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"It's time y'all got a little country back in this joint," 'Glee' actor Chord Overstreet says on the Dec. 6 episode of the wildly popular musical show. A Nashville native and the son of famed country songwriter Paul Overstreet, Chord plays high school student Sam Evans, who makes his triumphant return to the glee club with a performance of Toby Keith's new smash hit, 'Red Solo Cup.' Watch the 'Glee' cast tackle Toby's tune in the video player below.


This 'Glee' episode, titled 'Hold Onto Sixteen,' airs Dec. 6 at 8:00 PM ET on FOX. Also on Dec. 6, an album with all of your favorite songs from the show, 'Glee the Music, Volume 7,' hits stores.

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Toby Keith, 'Red Solo Cup' -- Story Behind the Song

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In his illustrious, 19-year career, Toby Keith has only released two radio singles he didn't write: 'American Ride' and his latest hit, 'Red Solo Cup.' For the country powerhouse to cut an outside song, it's gotta be pretty amazing ... or pretty ridiculous.


"It is the stupidest song I ever heard in my life, but it's so stupid it's good," Toby tells The Boot with a laugh.


Two sets of brothers penned the viral hit: Jim Beavers and his brother, Brett, and the Warren Brothers (Brett and Brad Warren). Toby admits he wasn't sure about releasing the humorous song, but as he began to play it for people, he noticed them singing along almost immediately. So, he filmed an off-the-wall video for 'Red Solo Cup,' inviting a crew of celebrity friends to join him in the clip, including TV host Craig Ferguson, baseball great Roger Clemens, basketball icon Larry Bird, and fellow music starsSammy Hagar, Ted Nugent, Eric Church, Joe Nichols, JT Hodges, Carter's Chord, Rose Falcon and Trailer Choir's Butter, among others.

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Brantley Gilbert Goes 'Country Wide' With First No. 1 Single

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Country newcomer Brantley Gilbert ascends to No. 1 on the Mediabase country singles chart with 'Country Must Be Country Wide,' marking the Georgia native's first chart-topper as an artist. As a songwriter, this is Brantley's third No. 1 single in the last calendar year.


Brantley scored big earlier this year with theJason Aldean hits 'Dirt Road Anthem' and 'My Kinda Party,' with both reaching the top spot on the Mediabase chart. The tunes are featured on Jason's CMA Album of the Year winner, 'My Kinda Party,' which has been certified double-platinum for sales of more than two million. Additionally, 'Dirt Road Anthem' and 'My Kinda Party' have sold a combined three million single digital downloads, according to iTunes.

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