Though an exact date has not been set yet, Terri Clark has announced her next album, The Long Way Home, will be hitting stores in September.

Terri’s been off the radar a bit the last few years as she’s gone through some personal issues. Three years ago she learned that her mother was fighting cancer and though the tumor was successfully removed and her mother is currently doing well, Terri felt that she needed a change.

“When you see someone fighting as hard as my Mom was, it strikes you the things that matter. To her, life was everything. It was about personal integrity, her family, the things she loved about living…and I realized I couldn’t make my music for any less. My fans deserved that from me, especially after the stories they tell me about things my music’s gotten them through over the years.”

She asked to be released from her contract with SonyBMG, who granted it, and Terri has struck out on her own with the new album. She said she needed a sound that was more personal, raw and “country” than what she could do with SonyBMG, and she’s put a lot of work into it. Terri says:

“I really tried to ‘cast’ these sessions. I needed a certain kind of burn from the guitars - so that’s Kenny Greenburg. I needed a honky tonk, and then a steamy, but also a spiritual kind of keyboard on there - so that was John Hobbs. I tried to think about what these songs called for, and once I got the players, I wanted them to be able to really create, really dig inside and feel what was going on. So many of them have recorded with me over the years, so I trusted they’d know where to go.”

[image: newscom]

Just in time for the 4th of July, Toby Keith has released a new single titled The American Ride.

The single is part of an upcoming album by Toby, though there’s no further information on that just yet.

In the video above, Toby talks about how the single was originally going to be released later in the summer, around August or September, but after playing it for some DJs in Florida he was told he needed to get it on the radio. I haven’t heard it yet but it has supposedly hit the airwaves today!

The song (from what I can hear!) talks about American pop culture (or “The American Ride”), from crazy lawsuits to people who get record deals though they “can’t even sing a note.”

Have you heard it played yet? What do you think?

This is good news: after nearly three years Tim McGraw will be releasing a new album, due out this fall!

‘Southern Voice‘ doesn’t have an exact release date yet, but the first single, It’s A Business Doing Pleasure With You, was released to radio today. An extensive concert tour is already in the planning stages.

‘It’s a Business Doing Pleasuere With You’ was written by Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and singer-songwriter Brett James (“Jesus, Take the Wheel”). The song is an uptempo, tongue-in-cheek tale about the price of love.

[image: bauer-griffin]

Sugarland will be releasing the fourth single from their current album, Love On The Inside, to radio.

Joey was written by the duo (Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, with Bill Anderson) and talks about a young life taken too soon in a preventable accident. The narrator contemplates how things would have been if she hadn’t let herself fall in love in the first place, and how she’ll say his name with her last breath.

It’s a sad song, but a little distracting with the upbeat tempo. Jennifer pulls it off beautifully but it doesn’t stick with me like it would if it were slower and more moody. What do you think?

Brad Paisley is set to release his second single from his current album, American Saturday Night. “Welcome to the Future,” in typical Brad fashion, is creative, upbeat and a lot of fun to listen to!

In the single, the narrator talks about the things he wished he could do when he was a kid, and how much things have changed now that he can do not only a lot of the things he wanted, but how the world in general has changed too.

American Saturday Night hits store shelves tomorrow, and already has a #1 hit with “Then,” which was released in March.

Darius Rucker will be performing on Invitation Only this weekend.

Invitation Only is a spin on the typical music concert, featuring country music’s biggest stars performing before a small studio audience in Nashville. Darius will be taking questions from fans and delivering revealing and candid answers.

Invitation Only: Darius Rucker premieres Friday, July 3 at 11:00 p.m. ET on CMT.

[image: Rick Diamond, , CMT. An MTV Network.]

Country group Gloriana have been getting a lot of pressure lately to release more stuff, and they’ve offered up what they can for now — a live video of their song “The Way It Goes.”

The group, who are currently part of Taylor Swift’s Fearless Tour, pieced together shots from performances during the tour to capture what it’s like for newcomers on the road.

The video debuted on CMT yesterday during the Top 20 Countdown. The single itself has been sitting at #17 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart, and is the best selling single in 2009 so far for the group.

Gloriana will be releasing their self-titled debut album August 4 on the Emblem Music Group/Warner label.

[image: newscom]

Kenny Chesney has added a new date to his busy performance schedule: On September 15th he’ll be at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square as part of Hard Rock’s 2009 Ambassadors of Rock Tour, a global concert series.

Now in its fourth year, the program includes performances from different iconic artists at various locations around the world. Other stars being hosted worldwide include O.A.R. in Orlando, and a bunch of performances at Hard Rock Calling in London with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, The Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper and Relentless 7, Fleet Foxes and The Gaslight Anthem.

“Music that connects is music that rocks,” Chesney said. “To me, the Hard Rock Ambassadors of Rock Tour is about the experience of music, of coming together, of how blinding it can be when it’s good… whether it’s Bruce Springsteen or Nine Inch Nails, Neil Young, The Killers or us. I’m honored to take part in this because that place where music and people come together to really let go, well, that’s what we’re all about.”

The proceeds from Kenny’s appearance will be donated to PLAN!T NOW, an organization that empowers coastal residents living in hurricane-prone areas alleviate the effects of severe storms by being prepared. The group offers resources and connections for residents the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. Kenny is on the group’s board of directors.

[image: zuma press]

The music video for Taylor Swift’s current hit single, “You Belong With Me,” will make its television debut this week on GAC.

The schedule includes:

* June 25, 2009 9:30 PM ET
* June 26, 2009 1:30 AM ET
* June 26, 2009 1:00 PM ET
* June 26, 2009 7:00 PM ET
* June 27, 2009 11:00 PM ET

The song is about the narrator who observes a male friend having a strained relationship with his girlfriend. She tries to convince him that he should leave his girlfriend for her, by saying that her feelings and their relationship are more meaningful than his girlfriend’s.

I have to admit, there are quite a few things about the song that remind me of Saving Jane’s ‘Girl Next Door,’ which has been around for several years now. What do you think?

Taylor Swift has apparently been getting some flak for her CMT Awards performance with Def Leppard last week.

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott defended Taylor in the pages Rolling Stone magazine recently after critics said she sounded breathless during their performance of “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”

Elliott says Taylor had basically been running around like a madwoman prior to the song, having just picked up an award, running down some stairs, dashing to her dressing room to change clothes, all before heading back out to the stage.

“Literally, she’s running up the ramp, trying to put her in-ear monitoring in and clip the pack to the back of her skirt, so she can try to sing this thing,” says Elliott. “She’s such a bundle of energy.”

Taylor and Def Leppard had performed together prior to the CMT Awards, having joined up last year for an episode of CMT Crossroads. That episode will be airing again on CMT tonight.