Sterling Whitaker

Breakout country star Eric Church leads the pack in this year’s CMA Awards nominations, receiving an astonishing five nods. Now the singer has issued a statement about the exciting news, saying, “I’m truly speechless.”

The members of Sugarland got the chance to make a young girl’s life brighter at a recent tour stop in Minnesota. Singer Jennifer Nettles and singer-songwriter Kristian Bush were performing at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel on Aug. 8 when they were joined onstage by a very special guest — a 4-year-old cancer patient named Avery.

Breakout country star Scotty McCreery is preparing to release his first Christmas album. The aptly-titled ‘Christmas With Scotty McCreery’ is set to drop on Oct. 16, and the young singer says he is excited about the project, which mixes holiday classics with two new tracks.

When it comes to charity, superstar Taylor Swift is putting her money where her feet are. The ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together‘ singer has donated a pair of her own red shoes for an online auction to raise money for a charity that provides shoes to people living in poverty.

Ronnie Dunn is apparently a little bit fed up with both of America’s major political parties, and he’s not afraid to say so. In a Facebook post last week, the ‘Cost of Livin” singer said he wouldn’t be appearing at the Republican National Convention and has yet to decide about the Democratic National Convention, proposing an alternate means of helping America’s unemployed.

It looks like there’s a little bit more authenticity coming to ABC’s ‘Nashville.’ Former ‘According to Jim’ star Kimberly Williams-Paisley has joined the show in a role that will recur over a multi-episode arc. The performer not only lives in Nashville, but knows the ropes, as she is also married to country star Brad Paisley.

Taylor Swift has a longstanding penchant for writing about her love life, and in a new interview, the young superstar says her romantic chaos played a very big role in her upcoming fourth album, ‘Red.’

You can add “educator” to Keith Urban’s resume. The country singer-songwriter and guitarist has agreed to take part in a program in which he will teach a group of Nashville-area high school students.

Toby Keith will release a new album titled ‘Hope on the Rocks’ on Nov. 13 via his own Show Dog/Universal imprint. Its first single, ‘I Like Girls That Drink Beer,‘ is already one of the most-added songs at country radio, setting up his eager fans for the record’s release.

Dierks Bentley will have the honors of hosting the upcoming sixth-annual ACM Honors event, which take place at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium on September 24, 2012. The evening is dedicated to recognizing award recipients and special honorees in the non-televised categories of the Academy of Country Music Awards.