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]

Sugarland will be hosting a one-hour special on ABC the night before their concert DVD, Live on the Inside, hits Wal-Mart shelves in August.

The duo will will preview a selection of the DVD footage during the special, which will air August 3rdd on ABC. To make the DVD, a Lexington, Kentucky concert was shot last fall using 20 different cameras. The DVD will include these performances of “All I Want To Do,” “Baby Girl,” and “Settlin’,” plus “Genevieve” and covers of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” and “Nightswimming.”

“We’ve always had a lot of confidence in our live shows because our fans keep telling us, ‘Wow, I had no idea,’” says Kristian Bush. “But there just aren’t enough days in the year to go and play for everybody. Jennifer [Nettles] and I figured, ‘Well, we might as well film it.’ Our music began as a word of mouth experience, and I think our shows are, too — so we’re just trying to get to as many people as we can so they can spread it as far as they can.”

The DVD will be available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores on August 4th.

Taylor Swift did indeed pair up with hip hop singer T-Pain for a CMT Awards performance. The duo recorded a music video titled “Thug Story.”

The song is pretty amusing and though Taylor does most of the rapping, T-Pain held his own. I especially like the ending.

“I’m so gangsta you can find me bakin’ cookies at night.” Brilliant! What did you think of the video?

Rascal Flatts’ Summer Nights is the first country song I’ve heard in a while that really makes me think of summer (not counting Kenny Chesney’s slew of beachy songs!).

Summer Nights is the second single released from their Unstoppable album and was released to radio in May. It debuted at #57 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs before falling off completely before its official release in May. It then hit #53 on the charts and finally entered the Top 40 at #30 two weeks later.

The song was written by lead singer Gary LeVox, and talks about a casual summer parties:

We went crazy cooped up all winter long
And school is out so let’s get it on
Flip flop tans and some white sand
I know the perfect spot

What are your favorite summer country songs>

The music video for Keith Urban’s current hit single, Kiss A Girl, is set to hit iTunes today!

The video above is the promotional for the final cut, and shows the band performing in front of a giant green screen and will have animation added for the final release.

About the song, Keith says:

“Monty Powell, who I write a lot with, had that title ‘Kiss A Girl.’ We don’t generally write from titles, but I loved this one the minute I heard it. Even if you’ve been in a relationship for a lot of years, it’s imperative to remember that ’spark,’ the innocence, and the first part of a relationship. Why not keep that alive - the idea of courting?”

The song is the second single from Keith’s “Defying Gravity” album, and the full music video will be available on CMT and keithurban.net on June 2.

Country queen Reba McEntire recently let Entertainment Tonight behind the scenes of the shoot for her upcoming music video of her current hit single, “Strange.”

In the video she talks about why she’s laying in a bed covered with tissues, and that Strange was the highest entry into the charts that she’s ever had. She talks about what the song means, and reveals that the new album, currently titled Keep On Loving You, will be out later this year (tentatively set for an August release) and will have a very eclectic group of songs. I can’t wait!

A live version of Strange can be heard and seen below, from Reba’s performance at the ACM Awards earlier this year:

Did you catch Kenny Chesney on David Letterman this past week? Don’t worry if you didn’t - he was on at the end of the program, performed his current hit Out Last Night, and really didn’t get to say much after.

David introduced Kenny’s album as “Greatest Hits Eleven,” mistaking the Roman numerals for two (II) as an eleven. I’m sure he’ll get there someday!

It seems long lost relatives of LeAnn Rimes and husband Dean Sheremet are coming out of the woodwork to comment on the state of the couple’s relationship.

According to US magazine, who first broke the story that LeAnn is cheating on Dean with her Northern Lights co-star Eddie Cibrian earlier this week, a woman identifying herself as Dean’s “cousin Pebbles” called into a radio station and dished on the couple. Read more

Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis made a guest appearance on last night’s episode of the reality hit American Idol. Carrie knows the stage well as she was Season Four’s big winner!

The duo performed Carrie’s current hit (and Randy’s past hit!) “I Told You So.” I think they both did pretty well though Randy didn’t seem to be able to hit his stride. What did you think of the performance?

CMT has debuted Lady Antebellum’s current hit single, “I Run To You.”

The video’s theme is a “pay it forward” message, with strangers helping each other out until it comes full circle (it kind of reminds me of those insurance commercials here in the states).

What do you think of Hillary’s hair? Quite a change from the darker, longer blond we’re used to!