Neil Haislop's NashvilleIQ©

TOBY KEITH TO MAKE MOVIE NEXT MONTH
Not long ago Toby Keith told us that he’ll spend 20 or 30 days during September on a movie set filming his up coming feature, tentatively titled, “Angel in Montgomery.” Still no word who’ll be starring with Toby in the film.Question is, is Toby worried about a real acting job in the movie?

“Well there’s a difference in doing videos and stuff where you’ve just got to act and be crazy and goofy, but when you’ve got to deliver lines with professionals (actors) it becomes a little bit hectic and I’ve never done that before, so it’s going to be a new step for me,” Toby says realistically. Toby says he may spend time with an acting coach to make sure he hangs with the acting types.

SUGARLAND’S COMING TOGETHER
When we asked Sugarland how such a talented, hit act managed to get together, the short version of their story us amazingly simple and downright casual.

KRISTIAN: “A couple years ago Kristen called me one day and said, ‘You want to write a song or two?’ And I said, “Sure and found out that we had a common love of country music and wrote a bunch of songs. And, then Kristen called me again at some point and said, ‘Do you want to start a band?’ And I wasn’t real keen on it and eventually she called me back again and said, ‘I have the band together in my basement, you want to come over?’

KRISTEN: “And then we decided that we were going to need a singer.

KRISTIAN: “A great singer. Enter Jennifer. And the rest is history. We wanted the singer to be a great songwriter also, you know, we wanted somebody who could contribute in what we were doing so that it was authentic, and she does.”

So far Sugarland has sold over 700,000 copies of their debut album and their current single “Something More” has owned the #2 spot in the nation for over a month.

FAITH HILL TO HOLLYWOOD TAPING NEXT WEEK
Faith Hill will spend Monday and Tuesday in the legendary Hollywood Pantages Theater taping he main elements for her upcoming NBC special in November. Faith will be performing for live audiences featuring songs from the Number One album in America this week, Fireflies.

KIX BROOKS SCALES IT DOWN FOR SOME BIG FUNAfgter kicking of Brooks & Dunn’s colossal Deuces Wild Tour, Kix Brooks grabbed his guitar and scaled it way down by comparison for a special writers night in Williamson County. "Sometimes you just wanna strip it all the way back and remember where you come from, how the music starts," admits Brook. Set up next to the merry-go-round -- in classic county fair fashion -- Brooks joined dear, influential friends, Bruce Channel, who'd hit with "Hey, Baby," Larry Henley singing "Bread & Butter" by the New Beats, as well his own "The Wind Beneath My Wings"… and slide player Ricky Ray Rector adding the grit. Brooks even dusted off "Modern Day Romance," a #1 hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band -- dedicating it to one Penny Lane, in keeping with the old-friends-and-innocence feel of the night.

"We got into some funk grooves that made my heart jump for joy…It took a minute to shake it loose 'cause what we do is so country, but when it came off like the street shoes of a bayou boy, I was just flat running through the mud singing at the top of my lungs! You forget how talented so many people out there are when you're not making music like this…

MEANWHILE, Brooks & Dunn and their other two pairs (BIG & RICH &WARREN BROS) tour roll into Cleveland, Ohio's Blossom Music Center TONIGHT, then down to Cincinnati's Riverbend Amphitheatre Saturday night.

THEIR ALBUM Hillbilly Deluxe hits August 30, with an appearance on "Good Morning America" that same day.

MIRANDA LAMBERT 2005 TOP SELLING DEBUT COUNTRY ARTIST
Miranda Lambert is the Top Selling Debut Country Artist to date in 2005 according to Nielsen SoundScan figures (scanning just under a quarter million copies of her debut CD Kerosene). Kerosene entered the Billboard Country Albums Chart at #1 on March 23 earning her an elite spot in music history as only the sixth country artist ever to have their first album debut at #1.

“This certainly has been a crazy year for me, “ states Miranda. “I went from being big news in my tiny hometown of Lindale, Texas to having artists like Faith Hill and Tim McGraw introduce themselves to me at award shows. I’ve met my idol Merle Haggard and he said he liked my album. I’ve gotten to share the stage with many of the artists I ‘ve been fans of and I’m going to tour with Keith Urban. It ‘s been a lot of work and I haven “t been able to spend much time at home but I ‘m loving every second of it. “

MORE - Miranda admits the career milestones of the past year have been thrilling, but three in particular have deeply affected her personally - meeting her idol Merle Haggard, performing on “Austin City Limits “ and headlining the famed Texas hotspot Gruene Hall. “Growing up in Texas you spend a lot of Friday and Saturday nights dancing and listening to music at Gruene Hall, “ explains Lambert. “I think everyone wanting to be a singer from Texas dreams of someday actually getting to play on that stage. “

SARA EVANS COULDN’T DO HER CAREER IN ANOTHER AGE
The advent of seeing female country singers take their family on the road with them is a pretty recent development. Few were even attempting it 10, 15 years ago, but now with bigger careers and bigger buses performers like Tim & Faith, Martina McBride, and Sara Evans can’t imagine not being able to do it.Sara says couldn’t do it any other way than taking family along.

“I’m really thankful that I’m an artist in this day and age,” Sara says. “I just wouldn’t enjoy it if I didn’t have the kids right there with me. I just couldn’t do the way they used to have to do it. I just feel so bad or them not to be able to take their kids.” To do what she doe with her family, Sara says helpful to have and expandable bus. “It’s chaos, it really is, but this year we got a bus with a slide-out (expandable room), thank the Lord! You would not believe the difference that extra room makes. Because, it’s me and Craig and three kids and two nannies and our band and crew plus lots of Advil…but I couldn’t do it any other way.”

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