Jo Dee Messina

Country fans who like their women weak and their music vanilla will not care for what Jo Dee Messina offers on the 12 songs that make up ‘Me.’ The album — funded by a Kickstarter campaign — is full of attitude.

Jo Dee Messina has always been the kind of country singer who tells it like it is. And that's exactly what the 'My Give a Damn's Busted' hitmaker did when she went public with the information that she's in talks with 'Dancing With the Stars.'

Jo Dee Messina's stage manager was killed outside his Tennessee home in November 2012. Now, authorities in Florida have arrested his fiancee. Connie Sanders King was found covered in blood outside the home after the shootings. She is facing first-degree murder charges.

Country singers everywhere should be might envious of Jo Dee Messina's dedicated fanbase right about now. Seeking an influx of capital to release a new record, Messina launched a Kickstarter project to raise $100,000 in 30 days. Her fans answered the call -- and then some.

Everyone knows that Jo Dee Messina is one of those fiercely independent, tell-it-like-it-is country music stars. But it's hard to believe that Messina has never had the chance to make an album the way she really wants it to be. Now, after 18 years in the industry, Messina hopes to finally have that chance.

Jo Dee Messina is back on TV this weekend, as the singer (and mother of a newborn son) returns to ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ which is one of the most popular installments of the Bravo franchise. On Sunday, March 18, Messina will once again partner with R&B singer/songwriter and show star Kandi Burruss.

Yesterday (Jan. 18), country singer and new mom Jo Dee Messina, who gave birth to her second son last week, tweeted an ominous message, writing: “There’s nothing like seeing a kind face in the midst of an emergency. I’ll explain more on blog when I get home. Do somethin kind 2day.”

It’s a busy week for Jo Dee Messina. Fresh off her Sunday night appearance on ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ the country singer has given birth to her second son at a Nashville hospital.

I am NOT making this up.  It's a long-standing practice for artists to partner with a corporate sponsor to highlight their music.  Think Nascar or NAPA.  But, this is the first time I've ever heard of a lubricant teaming up with a country star.