Last year, they claimed bragging rights to the best-selling country concert tour in music history. Now, power couple and are giving it another round. They announced today the 'Jeep Presents Soul2Soul Tour 2007,' which will kick off June 6th in Omaha, Nebraska.
"We can't wait to get out and see everybody .
. . and hear the bad reviews," McGraw joked today during a press conference at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
The tour will include 33 performances, including first-ever performances throughout Canada. Similar to last year's shows, the set will be in-the-round style, giving every ticket holder a great seat.
"It's a phenomenal piece of art," Hill said of the elaborate set design.
"There's so much that stage can do."
Tickets go on sale March 16. But you can get yours early at .
to watch live concert highlights from Soul2Soul II.
We know they do things different Down Under, what with 80-degree Decembers and toilet water that flows the opposite way, but we're not entirely certain that's enough of a reason for to have adopted the philosophy of "last come, first served." 
The Aussie singer, whose web presence can be found , has filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey painter with the exact same name, demanding that he give up his Web site of the same name -- even though the artist registered the domain eight years ago, several months before Mr. Nicole Kidman got into the 'net game.
While the behatted Urban may qualify as an 800-pound gorilla within the confines of Nashville, his rep doesn't carry as much weight in the northern environs inhabited by the man responsible for such creations as "Al Bundy for President."
Here's hoping they decide to settle things the old-fashioned way -- with a pay-per-view square-dance contest. May the boot-scootin'-est man win.
is in the mood for love. The country star's latest release, -- a 12-track compilation of some of his most memorable heartfelt tunes -- hits stores this week. But this isn't just a canned greatest hits package.
Black actually re-recorded each and every track.
"I wanted to go back and listen to it and not feel like I'd just re-did what I'd already done," he tells AOL Music. "Sometimes when I go back and revisit my older recordings, I find some new twist that might make it just a little bit better.
It might be a slight change in the arrangement, or the way vocals are layered."
The CD includes 'Something That We Do' and the Grammy-nominated 'When I Said I Do,' both featuring vocals by Black's wife, actress . Luckily, it was easier this time around getting Lisa into the studio with him.
Black says the first time they cut it, Lisa "talked herself out of it" several times. The immense success of the song must've boosted Lisa's confidence and comfort with recording. That, coupled with the fact that this entire album was cut in the Black's home studio in Nashville, allowing Lisa to simultaneously play recording artist and Mommy to five-year-old daughter Lily.
Black smiles remembering those recording sessions when Lily would join them in the studio. "She's always singing or humming something, just like me when I was little," says the proud dad. "She makes up little songs and parodies songs.
" But as for Lily's musical aspirations? Well, don't jump the gun just yet. "Right now, she wants to work harder at being an ant farmer," Black says, laughing.
A little piece of home is also included on the 'Love Songs' album cover -- an original Peter Max painting of Clint and Lisa that hangs in their home.
Country superstar has released a video message to his fans on his . The almost 5-minute long video shows a darker-haired Keith, sitting in what looks like a living room, speaking about his recent trip to the Betty Ford Clinic.
Urban entered the rehabilitation facilities on Oct.
19 of last year and was just released last week. He explains to fans that he initially thought he'd only be staying for 30 days, but he found he had much more than a month's worth of learning to do.
"That first 30 days, I learned that abstinence is the ticket into the movie -- It's not the movie.
So, learning about abstinence was one thing, but then there was all this other area of my life to start learning about," he explains. "And so 30 days became 60 . .
. 60 days became 90. And with each week that passed, I found myself really learning to surrender .
. . especially with my career.
"
The rehab stint came at a pivotal moment in the star's career, as his new album, was released less than three weeks after he checked himself in.
"It was far from an ideal time to go into treatment," he says on the video, explaining that he missed his birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and, of course, the record's release. It was also less than four months after his wedding to .
"There was not a big cataclysmic event that happened right before I went in . . It was a lot of small things that were happening in my life .
. . a lot of small moments that were starting to accumulate that were telling me very loud and clear that I was a long way from my program of recovery.
"
Urban sought treatment in the mid-90s for cocaine addiction. His camp insists this time around was strictly for alcohol abuse.
The recovering Urban is now in Europe for promotional appearances supporting 'Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing.
' He plans to kick off a world tour in April.
He's the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year and one of the biggest-selling country acts of all time, but now truly has the job of a lifetime -- producing a album. Chesney got the call from Nelson's camp and jumped at the opportunity, joining his and Nelson's longtime producer Buddy Cannon in the studio this week.
"I'm excited," Chesney exclaims.
"I was out in the middle of the room today, just listening to it all go down...
You catch the players' eye, and they're all feeling it, too. And you look in the vocal booth, and there's Willie Nelson, with his headphones on. It's hard to believe.
.. and you're the one making suggestions.
"
The new project includes songs written by some of today's most accomplished songwriters, ranging from to , to , to Nelson himself. The album is said to concentrate on vocals, merging Nelson's old-school style with Chesney's trademark warmth.
"When you hear him sing, there's only one Willie.
You just want to make a record that's as good as he is. You want to live up to the standard he defines," explains Chesney. "Willie Nelson's an American classic.
To be making music with him like this is the kind of thing you don't even dream! And the best part is -- everybody involved seems to feel exactly the same way."
is in the throes of becoming a bona-fide thespian.
The country superstar will play a police chief in 'In the Valley of Elah,' a mystery thriller starring , and . How's that for cred? The movie, directed by ( ), focuses on a military officer whose son went missing on his way home from Baghdad.
Filming begins later this month in New Mexico.
Meanwhile, McGraw is busy on the set right now wrangling another thriller, 'The Kingdom,' co-starring and . "I play a husband whose wife is killed in a suicide bomber attack," McGraw explains. "I only had a couple scenes because I was working so hard, I had to fit it in.
But it was pretty intense...
I like heavier [roles]. I can't see me doing a romantic comedy."
We're sure there's a few ladies who'd disagree.
When re-wrote biggest hit to suggest that boots were not made for walking as much as for ramming into the butts of folks you don't like -- "courtesy of the red, white and blue" -- we waited for an accusation of song-napping. Well, it's finally , albeit with a different song, thanks to a folk singer named Michael McCloud, who claims that Keith's mega-hit 'I Love This Bar' is a direct cop of his 'Tourist Town Bar.' 
While that seems a bit far-fetched -- given the huge impact the alleged "original" has had on the public consciousness in the ten years since its writing -- McCloud insists that Keith had plenty of time to hear it while he dined at a Key West bar where the singer was the featured entertainer. McCloud says that he'd have sold the song for, well, a song, since it "was written on the toilet [in] about five minutes," but has apparently reconsidered since calculating just how much Keith earned off 'I Love This Bar' (which the star's rep says he'll "vigorously defend" ownership of).
What does Branch get from performing with all of these people? "It definitely puts you more in the writing mood," she says. "There's a girl named who is a great songwriter.
I think she might even be a year younger than me. We always watch her shows and go, 'Oh, I wish I would've written that song.'"
Beyond inspiration, Branch says she and Harp are gaining ideas for future tours.
"We were playing with Dierks Bentley and we started to think, 'When and if we headline, what are we going to do as far as decorating a set, lights, stuff like that?'" she says.
If Branch seems as though she's getting ahead of herself, she's encouraged by how well the shows have gone thus far.
"When we first started going on the road no one was singing along," she says. "Now people are singing along. Things like that really make your day.
"
There have been as many sightings in Nashville lately as there have been of . And there are about to be a lot more. The legendary rocker and bandmate are planning to record an album there -- a country album, that is!
Bon Jovi is quoted in the New York Post saying, "I can smell change coming again.
I'm thinking of a Nashville sessions record. I'd like to knock out a quick record with a few country writers and artists and me and Richie. I'd like to get two or three artists to do duets with.
I'd like to give a couple of Nashville songwriters a chance to shine, and Richie and I would write a few songs to prove we could hold our own with these guys."
Bon Jovi is no stranger to the country music world. The guys are often spotted at several of Nashville hot-spots, including the legendary Bluebird Cafe, where local songwriters play in-the-round style.
And they made history earlier this year by becoming the first rock band ever to top the U.S. country charts, when their collaboration with Jennifer Nettles, went to No.
1.
Country crooner continues to flex his acting chops. After his critically-acclaimed roles in and Tim's next role takes a darker turn.
He'll star alongside , , , and in a thriller about a deadly bombing attack against Americans working in the Middle East.
"I play a husband whose wife is killed in a suicide bomber attack," McGraw explains. "I only had a couple scenes because I was working so hard, I had to fit it in. But it was pretty intense.
.. I like heavier [roles].
I can't see me doing a romantic comedy."
That probably makes wife happy. According to Tim, his kissing scene with in 'Flicka' was "not her favorite part of the movie!
"
'The Kingdom' is set to hit theaters in April 2007.
R B crooner will release his tenth album next week, appropriately dubbed 'Ten.' The effort finds the silky-voiced McKnight producing "90 percent" of the album himself, and teaming with neo-soul chanteuse and country group 
McKnight came away from working with Scott very impressed. "The great thing about Jill was she hadn't heard the song, came in, 40 minutes later she was done," he says.
"It's just unheard of for this business that somebody still has that kind of talent."
With Rascal Flatts, he already knew what they were capable of. "These are my friends, and we talked about doing something together," McKnight says.
"[I] sent them the song and they loved it. Tthey did their thing, sent it back to me and the rest is history."
While this is McKnight's tenth album, it marks his first for Warner Bros.
, which he says gives him a sense of starting over. "It does [feel like a new beginning]," he says. "But that's a good thing.
"
Her debut album has only been in stores for a few weeks, but it looks like may soon add another career to her resume. The country star and former contestant is in talks with Fox for her own sitcom. 
"As pitched, she will play a Southern small-town girl, a character based on herself, who discovers that her biological father is the state's governor," says her publicist, Wes Vause. "In Kellie's style, she works her way into his life, and their father-and-daughter relationship ends up helping his political career.
"
Vause insists the pilot is in very early stages of development and if all goes well, taping will begin next year. When and if that happens, Pickler will be in familiar company: One of the show's executive producers is 'Idol' creator Simon Fuller. The show's writers include Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore from
The singer, one-half of the duo , was facing five years in prison on felony charges of shooting a tame black bear -- a critter who went by the fearsome name of Cubby -- in an enclosure, then claiming the creature had been shot in the wild.
Gentry, who reportedly paid in the neighborhood of $5,000 to take part in the canned hunt back in 2004, initially denied all wrongdoing in the matter, chose to avoid trial -- and the potential wrath of , who slaughters his prey the old-school way -- by copping to "falsely registering a trophy bear."
The agreement Gentry and his lawyer reached with the Feds requires him to give up both Cubby's corpse and the weapon used to dispatch the little fella, and bans him from knocking off any other living things in the state of Minnesota for the next five years. On the bright side, the singer has 49 other states that might be willing to host his next expedition.
You've probably seen by now. When Hill lost out to Underwood for Female Vocalist of the Year, she threw her arms in the air, mouthed "What?" into the cameras and then walked away.
The reaction spawned a media frenzy, with most post-CMA news coverage focusing on whether that was Hill's true reaction or just a joke gone awry.
The very next day, Hill issued a statement saying, "The idea that I would act disrespectful towards a fellow musician is unimaginable to me. For this to become a focus of attention given the talent gathered is utterly ridiculous.
Carrie is a talented and deserving Female Vocalist of the Year."
The newly-crowned Female Vocalist of the Year certainly believes in Hill's sincerity. "If I were sitting at home, I totally would have got the joke," she says.
"She told me that night and wanted to set it straight right then and there and let me know that she was just kidding and it was just a joke gone bad . . .
and she was really sorry for doing anything that might have seemed inappropriate."
In fact, the only thing that angered Underwood was the backlash against Hill. "Faith is such a sweet person that she shouldn't get dumped on for that," she says.
Just days after and publicly defended fellow country star reaction during last week's CMAs, agreeing that the singer was joking when she threw up her arms and screamed "What?" as was named Female Vocalist of the Year, has offered up her two cents on the matter. 
"She was just being honest and emotional like every other person sitting at home with an opinion," Rimes wrote in a statement on her Web site. "These awards shows are so political and we all get fed up with them.
We all work very hard and have for many years, so to see someone come in and win Female Vocalist that has been here for a very short time is a little disheartening. She probably felt, as I did, that Carrie has not paid her dues long enough to fully deserve that award. As artists and public figures, we have to keep our feelings so repressed so we don't get called ungrateful.
Please cut her some slack!
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