Lon Helps Taylor Swift Talk To Tim McGraw

Ever since Taylor Swift released her debut single, "Tim McGraw," the most-asked question she's received is "have you heard from Tim?" Up until now, Taylor only received indirect messages from Mr. McGraw.

But last week, Taylor received direct confirmation from the superstar himself. Tim was co-hosting the nationally syndicated CMT's Country Countdown USA with Lon Helton. When Lon reached #10 in the chart, he asked Tim what he thought the first time he heard the song. Tim replied, "It was awesome. I didn't know if I should take it as a compliment, or if I should feel old." At that point, Lon said, "Well let's find out. Taylor Swift, is it a compliment, or because he's old?" Taylor responded, "Definitely it was meant as a compliment." The two chatted about the song for about 4 minutes, and their entire conversation can be heard next weekend, December 2-3, on CMT's Country Countdown USA. Judging from their first conversation, it sounds like a friendship has been born (..at least that is how Big Machine's John Zarling heard it..).

Tanya's Dad Dies, But "The Show Must Go On"

(Photo courtesy of Tanya Tucker) Boe Tucker, a country music manager who was the guiding force in his daughter Tanya Tucker's career, died Thursday of lung cancer. He was 79.

"Boe was driven and committed to Tanya and contributed greatly to her career," said Bill Carter, who managed Tanya during the 1970s. "Especially when she was young, he traveled with her, was there with her all the time, and made it possible for a 13-year-old to have a career.

The 48-year old Tanya was in Nashville on Friday, where she decided to fulfill her obligation to perform in Reno, Nev., this weekend. "He would want her to work," said her publicist/assistant, Laura Lacy. "He would want her to go ahead and do what she needed to do. This has been the dynamic for 40 years. It was so much about work and the management relationship they had. Although it was father and daughter, it was a lot about business, too."

Other celebrity news from Sunday's Nashville paper: Vogue magazine's December cover girl Nicole Kidman says of Nashville, "This is my home now. This is the most time I've spent anywhere in years. I wanted to be earthed, and I didn't feel earthed for so long, maybe not since I was a child. It feels like I can feel my skin. "I don't feel like I'm floating around, which was how it had been for many years, probably because I wasn't that happy. So now it's the first time that I'm sort of breathing in everything and saying," she says, gasping for illustration. "I feel such gratitude for being alive, rather than just taking that for granted."

In the interview conducted before her husband, Keith Urban, entered rehab, she says that she's reduced her professional engagements, working only three months this year.

Sugarland Plays At Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints Game Sunday (11/26)

Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles will perform the National Anthem at their hometown Atlanta Falcons game and will also perform at half time. The game starts at 1pm.

Dallas Morning News Reviewer Likes Carrie At Halftime, But Pans Her LP

Mario Tarradell wrote "Clarkson, Underwood also come off the field as winners.." but then dipped his pen into some poison:

"As for Ms. Underwood – she of the fresh face, tuneful if unremarkable voice and array of pop-heavy songs passed off as country – her stage stint was actually decent. Considering she was on for a mere six minutes and there was so much sensory overload around her – the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders dancing, a few male dancers in black cowboy hats, some Cirque du Soleil-style trapeze acrobats and plenty of splashy pyrotechnics – she held her own. Her performance of two songs, "We're Young and Beautiful" and "Before He Cheats," from her debut album, Some Hearts, seemed more relaxed and on-cue than her off-the-mark forgettable time on the platform earlier this month during the Country Music Association Awards. It helped that she closed with "Before He Cheats," the only cut deserving of a second listen on her otherwise lame disc. Also, Ms. Underwood looked kind of hip in knee-high white boots, jeans, a glittery tank top and hoop earrings. For a brief spell, she sure was pleasant enough ear and eye candy."

Our pal Neil Haislop watched the show with more supportive eyes after getting a Carrie quote earlier in the week:

"This year at Thanksgiving I'm not going home and I swore this year I was going home, but then they wanted me to sing at the halftime show at the Dallas-Buccaneers game in Dallas. And I was like, 'Yeah, for sure' because it's such a Thanksgiving tradition especially around Oklahoma watching the Dallas game on TV, so I was very excited to be doing that, so I have a lotto be Thankful for this year," said Carrie as she prepared to leave for Dallas Tuesday. CARRIE was center stage as Cirque du Soleil-style acrobats dangled from therafters of Texas Stadium as the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders provided the sexy, chorus line dance action. Carrie rocked as she climbed and descendedbig staircases on the set, singing with the confidence and style of aperformer with three times the experience she has so far."

Sara Evans' "You'll Always Be My Baby" Becomes A Book

Sara and the co-writers of "You'll Always Be My Baby" have released a book based on the song.

Pew Study: Podcasting Still For Early Adopters Only

Some 12% of internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they can listen to it or view it at a later time. However, few internet users are downloading podcasts with great frequency; just 1% report downloading a podcast on a typical day. View PDF of Report

Looked at another way, that's already ALMOST as many who own and listen to satellite radio on a daily basis! The more great content podcasts offer them, the faster this emerging medium will grow. Terrestial radio has a great platform to promote all forms of internet content distribution. Will we wait on the sidelines for the competition to do so?

Music City News: McGraw Cruises, TK and TT Support Charities

Tim McGraw will be the headlining act on the Carnival Liberty during the Country Cruise Getaway taking place January 28-31, 2007.
Chris Cagle, Blue Collar Comedy tour veteran Bill Engvall, Jypsi, Hot Apple Pie, Jamie O'Neal and Nashville Hitmakers are also slated to appear during the super-liner’s three-day trip to Nassau, Bahamas. In addition to multiple concerts while the ship is at sea, there are a wide variety of popular, onboard activities such as relaxing by the pool, working out in the ship's state-of-the-art gym, indulging in a massage or facial, dining in one of the ship's four restaurants and enjoying the atmosphere in the many bars and lounges. The ship also offers a fun and entertaining Camp Carnival for kids from 2 to 14 years old, as well as a teen program, Club O2, for older kids. This all-inclusive package offers travelers one price that will cover all concerts, accommodations and meals. Reservations and accommodations are on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on this unique fan adventure, go to the official website at www.McGrawCruise.com or call 888-487-3603.

Trent Tomlinson is partnering with FitzBradshaw Racing to produce the "Tour of Hope", a series of concerts benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The concerts will take place the evening before the NASCAR Busch Series race in select markets. The first concert was Oct. 12 in Charlotte, N.C., with more to follow in Memphis, Ft. Worth and Homestead, FL.

Toby Keith has teamed up with a charity called Race For Education by submitting two of his race horses for a scholarship program.
Toby has agreed to donate of percentage of a horse’s future earnings to Race For Education, a national education scholarship foundation funded by various parties related to or with an interest in the Thoroughbred racing industry. The two horses Toby put forward are T.K.’s Whiskey Girl and a filly named Our Emblem.

Michael Peterson: Family Made Him Leave, Patriotism Brought Him Back

Photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher DeWitt, USAF

Michael Peterson, courtesy of the USO, speaks to servicemembers at Forward Operating Base Gardez, Afghanistan, on Nov. 23. He performed songs and gave thanks for the sacrifice and inspiration of all those in the military.

Peterson traded hats with a young soldier who's a huge country music fan. Army Spc. Candace Smith walked away with Peterson's cowboy hat, which he had hand carried from the states in a protective plastic case, and he'll wear a 10th Mountain Division baseball cap home tomorrow. "He was great," Smith said. "I loved it!" Then Peterson got serious, earning respect and cheers from many in the standing-room-only crowd when he explained that he left the music industry 10 years ago as he was on the cusp of being a household name. After 700 concerts in fewer than three years, he was on the verge of sacrificing his family for stardom when he decided to leave it behind.

"It was a lousy career decision, but I've still got my family," he said. "And you know what I figured out? If you're lucky, you'll maybe get a second chance to do with your life what you love to do whether you're famous or not, but you may not get a second chance at your family. So I know I made one of the greatest decisions I ever made." But patriotism drove him back into music. "I knew that I still loved to do music. What happened to me was a daughter who became a battalion commander in a Junior ROTC group of about 350 high school students, combined with 9-11, combined with seeing a cover of a Sports Illustrated magazine with Pat Tillman on it and how deeply that moved me and inspired me," Peterson said at Bagram.

K-92, Orlando and WYRK, Buffalo Are Hunting Turkeys

Here's the deal: WYRK's Clay Moden is a hunter, but PD Wendy Lynn states: "No animals were harmed during the execution of this promotion. Did we say execution? We meant no animals were harmed during the orchestration of this promotion. Save Wally, buy a tee, help the Buffalo City Mission."

Also this week, "The K92FM Morning Show hosted the 2nd Annual Celebrity Pro Am Turkey Shoot at Orlando Paintball in support of Second Harvest Food Bank. Celebrities included Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, FOX35 News Anchor Amy Kaufeldt and Reporter Christine van Blokland, Orlando Sentinel Columnist Scott Maxwell and Orlando Magic's Pat Williams. It was an incredible morning!" Click to watch the video.

Profiting From Change

Management consultant Robert B. Tucker of the Innovation Resource, Santa Barbara, California, first came to my attention 16 years ago when he was a keynote speaker at the Radio and Records Convention. Since that time, I have read everything he has written.

He notes that in self-talk there are four modes of thinking:

1. The victim. Thinking process is inactive.
2. The sustainer. Thinking process is reactive.
3. The dreamer. Thinking process is active.
4. The innovator. Thinking process is PRO-active.

Tucker says that there are eight "Roadblocks to Creativity":

1. Seeing things (jobs, staff meetings, duties) the same old way
2. Not looking for better, quicker, less expensive ways to get results
3. Not seeing problems as problems but as 'the way things are'
4. Not believing your ideas are good enough
5. The same problems keep coming up again and again
6. Feelings of being overwhelmed, putting out fires
7. Feeling bored (sustainer mode predominant)
8. Not listening to others' ideas, not acting on them

Techniques for getting "unstuck":

1. Change environments (i.e. move the staff meeting to a new location)
2. Gather more information on the situation
3. Harvest more ideas
4. Challenge your assumptions
5. Listen to fools
6. Ask dumb questions
7. Set aside a time each day for "dream space"
8. Sleep on it
9. Make lists: download ideas as they occur
10. Brainstorm with DIFFERENT people. After the staff fails to find a solution, invite a group of listeners (or NON-listeners) to brainstorm the same situation

Where innovators generate ideas:

1. Broad-based reading
2. Listening to customers
3. Adapting from other industries
4. Actively looking for problems to solve

AMA Winners, Speeches and No-Shows

Rascal Flatts, Carrie, Faith, Tim, Toby Keith AMA Winners:

AMA Favorite New Breakthrough Artist-All Genre AMA award winner: Carrie Underwood:

"First I want to thank God, and thank you fans, very much! Not just my fans but the fans of every genre in this room, you're the reason we do what we do and have jobs. Thank you. I want tothank my date thank my date tonight, my Mom, Arista, Arista Nashville, Simon, thank you AMAs and God Bless."

Faith Hill did not attend the awards, but won the AMA for Favorite Female Country artist, beating out Underwood, who was gracious backstage when asked about Faith's CMA 'glitch' in her otherwise run of bigsuccess: "She contacted me before the show was over, and I never would've thought anything bad of her since she is such a nice person,. We were good the night it happened and then it just blew up and I felt so bad for her because she¹s so nice and doesn't deserve that."

Rascal Flatts won favorite country group, country favorite band, duo or group and the other fan-voted award, theT-Mobile Text-in Award: "Wow, this goes to the fans, thank you, (Joe Don). We want to thank God for giving this amazing opportunity to be on a stage every single night and to be able to showcase the talents that he's given us. We¹ve got an amazing band and I think we¹ve seen all of you at least one time this year, maybe twice (Gary). And for all you wondering what a Rascal Flatt is, here we are baby," concluded Jay DeMarcus. "See you all in 2007," the group shouted.

Though Toby Keith was named the AMA Favorite Male Artist, he did not attend the show to pick up his award personally.

Faith Hill was awarded the Favorite Female country artist award, and Tim McGraw's "Greatest Hits Volume 2" CD was named country album. Neither could attend the show to accept their awards.

QX-104.1's Ron Able Snags Winnipeg Harvest's Dixie Chicks Empty Bowl

Able is smiling after the second annual "Empty Bowls Celebrity Auction" because a bowl designed by the Dixie Chicks went for $550 put up by Ron. I told him that he could sell it on EBay for lots more than that today, and he clutched the bowl, saying "NO way." It holds a place of honor in his home.

Three other bowls -- autographed by singers Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and pro basketball star Steve Nash -- are posted on the online auction site Ebay from now until Thursday, but NOT Ron's!

WQYK Guitar Auction Raises $27,000 In St. Petersburg

Heidi Heinz, WQYK-FM & AM Director. of Marketing & Promotions (727-563-8927) reports:

WQYK Afternoon Drive Host Dave McKay and WWE's The Undertaker pose for a photo at our 2nd Annual Angelus Guitar Auction. Dave is holding a Brad Paisley guitar that sold for $2700 and The Undertaker is holding his guitar. WQYK designed most of the guitars at the auction and had artists and athletes autograph them. If you look closely at the Brad Paisley guitar you'll see that it is filled with beer. On the back of the guitar is a toilet seat that Brad also autographed.

In total the auction raised over $27,000 for The Angelus, a home for severely handicapped kids.

Kimmel Hosts AMA Awards Tonight

The 2006 American Music Awards is hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and will emanate from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA. The special is produced by dick clark productions.

Performers announced for the special thus far are Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Dixie Chicks, Gwen Stefani, Josh Groban, Mary J. Blige, Nelly Furtado, Pussycat Dolls, Rascal Flatts, Snow Patrol and Tenacious D.

Presenters scheduled to appear include Nicole Richie, Tori Spelling, Ashlee Simpson, Paris Hilton, Gavin Rossdale, Nickelback, Katharine McPhee, Tommy Lee, Mario Lopez (Dancing with the Stars), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, William Shatner (Boston Legal, Show Me the Money), Carmen Electra, Foo Fighter's Dave Grohl, Taylor Hicks, Clay Aiken, Grey's Anatomy stars Isaiah Washington and Justin Chambers, Taye Diggs (Day Break), Ryan Seacrest, Tony Hawk, Linkin Park, Chris Brown, Ice Cube, Chingy, Sean Paul, Tyrese, Frankie J, Brian McKnight, Hannah Montana's Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus, Chamillionaire, JC Chasez, JoJo, Sarah Silverman, Weird Al Yankovic, Jesse McCartney, Cheetah Girls, Wendie Malick (Big Day), Kirk Franklin and cast members from High School Musical.

If that doesn't give you a clue that this won't exactly be a country show, check this out (wouldn't be cool if Rascal Flatts wins??)

NORAD Is Ready To Track All Threats .. Including A Certain Sleigh..

Click to see (and hear!) it .. in six languages for 2006.

Christmas Comes Earlier Than Ever To Radio

They even created a special logo for the tally at 100000watts.com and 78 all-holiday stations are already on "Santa's List":

"One new trick — listing “Christmas” as a slogan with Arbitron."

Read the latest listing by clicking HERE. (Clear Channel-owned Inside Radio/MStreet says "Christmas updates are being added daily!")

I Love Reba, So You Have To Endure This Shameless Plug..

PS: "Charlotte's Web", featuring Reba as the voice of Betsy the Cow, hits theaters this Christmas and "The Fox and The Hound 2", featuring Reba as the voice of the singing dog Dixie, will be out on Disney DVD on December 12.

Fun Phone Topic: Crazy Cautions

Get listeners to call in with Wacky Warning Labels, Real-Life Warnings That Make Us Say 'Huh?' Like these from Smart Money Magazine: The Conair Pro Style 1600 hair dryer warns, "Never use hair dryer while sleeping" or "WARNING: Not intended for use as a dental drill" or "WARNING: Never iron clothes while they are being worn."

Letters From Home

Click here for more info, as Tim Rushlow borrows the title of a John Michael Montgomery hit for a very good cause.

Sammy Kershaw Goes Hollywood Actor

Kershaw received a call from a friend in his home state of Louisiana on Friday, November 10th requesting his presence over the weekend to appear in Ghost Town, an independent film taping in Maggy Valley, North Carolina, slated for release in May 2007. Kershaw starred beside Rance Howard, Fred Griffith, Stella Parton, Tony Becker, and Herbert “Cowboy” Coward as the much talked about U.S. Marshall Morgan Duckett, the notable officer of the law sent to clean up the town.

“It’s a 1850s western, and from what I understand a true story, about a guy that came out of the mountains twice –once to avenge his father’s death and returning a second time only to avenge the abuse of his daughter,” Sammy describes his take on Ghost Town. “My character is this notorious Marshall that you hear about throughout the film, and only see in the closing scene. It was great experience!”

Sammy's Media Contact: Ebie McFarland at 615.777.6995