Summer! Here It Comes...

Jimmy Carter in his homebase Nashville.

Country music needs a big summer ... in CD sales and everything else ... The tours are ramping up in pre-production as we speak...

May is tour rehearsal and start for Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley. McGraw is already on the road with everyone about to follow.

Saw the new Tim McGraw tour in Orlando recently... Luke Bryan and The Band Perry were the openers. What an excellent show!

The Band Perry is simply a breath of fresh air. Three of the hardest working kids I've seen come through in my time around Nashville. Luke Bryan needs about five more hits and he will be in the huge concert department. He is good and his confidence increases with every show. Big stage show, maturing since I saw him in Daytona at Spring Break a year or two ago. He's owning that stage now.

Tim McGraw has so many hit songs. His new material sounds excellent! The atmosphere all over that tour is just good. From catering to security, it was a pleasure being around.

Ate dinner with Faith by accident. She has a lot of new music in the can and more in production. Love her and look forward to hearing her on the radio again soon!

Taylor Swift has a fine-tuned machine around her. Very fine-tuned ... Perfect ... Here is part of the press release ... what a win-win idea ... she's already set up ... so just do it!

------------

Taylor Swift announced today that she is taking the unprecedented step of opening the last dress rehearsal for her Speak Now Tour to fans as a fundraiser to benefit victims of last week's deadly tornadoes in the Southeast.

Thirteen thousand fans will get a first look at Taylor's new show almost a week early, as Taylor is inviting them to attend "Speak Now ... Help Now!," her final tour rehearsal, on May 21st at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, a benefit for tornado victims. The North American portion of her Speak Now World Tour 2011 kicks off on May 27th in Omaha, NE.

"I was watching the coverage of the tornadoes backstage at rehearsals, and I wanted to do something for the families affected by the damage," says Taylor. "I've never opened a rehearsal to the public before, but I felt that inviting my fans to the last rehearsal for the Speak Now tour would be a great way to raise money. So, tickets will be available for people to come see us in the Bridgestone Arena, where we've been rehearsing for the last five weeks."

------------------

Great idea! Smart and will raise a bunch of money...

Brad Paisley's new CD this month is his best so far! He's got a great video with Alabama out any moment. His tour begins soon hitting some stadiums and Europe, too.

John Rich ... did he ... will he make the finals of Celebrity Apprentice? I think so Meatloaf cries too much..

The NHL hometeam gang...Carrie's team, the Preds, choked, but got a lot of people out to see them this year, Carrie is a reg and Keith/Nicole stopped by the other night.

'Will Hollywood ... the movie divisions ... notice Blake Shelton on the Voice? I think maybe ... Couldn't you see Blake as The Snowman in a remake of Smokey and the Bandit!?

Shania's book is so graphic. This woman's life reads like a horror story! She has been through way too much!

The "Idol" kids coming to Nashville are weak. But who knows what magic can occur ... The Voice is COOL ... much stronger musically ... but it's star power, baby ... Idol makes stars.

Beyonce has redone "God Bless the USA" for NYPD/NYFD charity...

CMT doing an instant telethon for the Southern tornado victims. Hope they raise a lot of money.