Jeff Giles

19 Entertainment Scotty McCreery has just two weeks to go until he releases his debut album, ‘Clear as Day,’ so you can hardly blame the reigning ‘American Idol’ champ if he’s excited to talk about it. Taste of Country caught up with McCreery to do just that recently, and he shared the inside scoop on the stories behind the album’s 12 tracks, which he promises will give listeners an honest picture

The last time they toured together, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw shattered records, so when they announced they’d be teaming up again for a string of Australian dates next year, American promoters — and plenty of American fans — were hoping it’d be the prelude for a stateside sequel. Better start saving up for those plane tickets now, though, because McGraw and Hill say their Australian shows will be

If you want to make a living as a songwriter, Nashville is unquestionably the best place to be — even after a decade of dwindling record sales, it’s still home to a thriving publishing industry, as well as some of the most seasoned tunesmiths in the business. But that doesn’t mean a good song is necessarily easy to find. In fact, Miranda Lambert found the experience so frustrating that she ended u

Lady Antebellum struck platinum with their first album and they haven’t looked back, sending each of their first nine singles to the top 20 and selling more than five million albums in the U.S. since 2008. It’s a success story that plenty of bands would love to duplicate, to say the least. But no matter how quickly they found their audience, or how tightly the trio might harmonize at the mic, thin

Miranda Lambert‘s upcoming release, ‘Four the Record,’ already has one hit single in ‘Baggage Claim’ and the album won’t even reach stores until November. But that doesn’t mean she can’t already be thinking about the set’s second single — or share a potential contender with fans at a recent show.

If his repeat performance at the top of the Billboard country charts with ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night’ is any indication, you can’t get enough of Jake Owen right now. Fortunately for you, Owen is happy to oblige. He recently sat down for a session as part of Walmart’s Soundcheck series, delivering live-in-the-studio performances of some of his favorite tracks while discussing the stories behind the

It’s been a few years since Lee Ann Womack had an album to promote, but she’s finally ready to get back in the studio and record some new music for her fans. Womack, whose last release was 2008′s Grammy-nominated ‘There’s More Where That Came From,’ announced her return during her appearance at George Jones‘ recent 80th birthday party.

They’re both legends in their respective musical genres, but aside from that, Alan Jackson and Ozzy Osbourne have never had much in common — until this week, that is. Songs from the unlikely duo were used to find a missing California boy, eight-year-old Joshua Robb, who slipped through the fence at his school and ran off into the neighboring woods on Monday.

19 Entertainment With its October 11 release date fast approaching, only a matter of weeks stand between Lauren Alaina‘s debut album, ‘Wildflower,’ and her fans. Alaina revealed the album artwork not long ago, and now — thanks to one enterprising writer who got her hands on an advance copy — you can take a look at the full track listing, complete with songwriting credits.

In today’s crowded musical landscape, it’s more important than ever for an artist plugging a new release to find new and interesting ways to attract the attention of potential listeners — even if that artist is a multi-platinum fixture on the radio dial. Martina McBride is one artist who seems to have learned this lesson well — instead of booking just another tour as part of the promotion for her

Over the last few years — and multi-platinum albums — Taylor Swift has taken up seemingly permanent residence on the charts, not to mention the hearts and iPods of millions of fans. Now, she also has a pair of spots in the Guinness Book of World Records to call her own.

MCA Nashville Congratulations are in order for George Strait, who just added yet another number one record to his awe-inspiring list of chart-topping hits. Strait’s new album, ‘Here for a Good Time,’ debuted on top of the Billboard country charts this week, surging past Jason Aldean and Jake Owen with more than 91,000 copies sold.