NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville celebrity gossip

Toby Keith wants to send you to Cabo (from the mailbag)

Like Toby Keith says, “What happens down in Mexico, Stays in Mexico!” In conjunction with his October 30^th album release, Hope on the Rocks, Toby is sending one lucky fan and a guest to his favorite spot in Mexico, Cabo San Lucas.

Starting today and running through November 30^th, fans can visit Toby’s website, http://www.tobykeith.com/hopeontherockssweeps, and enter to win the trip to Cabo as well as other weekly prizes including: custom cornhole boards, Toby Keith tour props, a Hope on the Rocks custom guitar, concert tickets, personalized “Red Solo Cup” plaque and a Ford Guitar.

Entering is easy, interactive and rewards all entrants along the way. Each task completed on his website counts as an entry into the contest; the more entries, the better chance of winning the trip to Cabo! Just by entering their name and email address, each fan receives an exclusive Toby video showcasing a new song off the upcoming album. Fans will also be able to gain entries by visiting the album pre-order site which rewards a 15% off discount code.

But wait, it gets even better! Beginning October 26 for 72 hours only, all fans that have entered the contest will be rewarded with a Hope on The Rocks listening party. For more information about Toby Keith or to pre-order the new Hope On The Rocks CD, visit www.tobykeith.com

Internet pranksters may be sending Taylor Swift to a deaf school to perform

This is probably not very nice, but it's definitely funny as hell!

Back a month or two ago there was a contest Walmart was running to send rapper Pitbull to perform at the Walmart that got the most votes. 

Internet jokers ended up voting for the farthest North American Walmart they could find which happened to be in Kodiak, Alaska. 

It was funny and Pitbull took the joke in stride and made the trip to Kodiak. 

Now it appears that the same sort of joke is being played on Taylor Swift. 

Last week Taylor announced a new contest that the high school or college with the most votes would win a concert from country's current pop queen. 

Enter pranksters from Reddit, 4Chan, and other deep, dark parts of the internet and now it appears that Taylor may find herself performing at a school for the deaf. 

The Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Boston to be exact. 

As of right now (after my vote), Horace Mann has more than 18,000 votes. 

Taylor does have the option of not performing if she chooses, but I have a feeling Taylor would be like Pitbull and just make the best of it. After all, the school is for the hard of hearing too so she could technically just turn the music up. 

Yes, it's probably mean but admit it, it's still funny. You still have time to vote for your school here. 

Headphone contest winners!

Sorry you guys, I completely spaced off drawing the names to win the headphones from E! News.  Sheesh, I'm terrible sometimes. Luckily a reader emailed and reminded me or else I probably would never have gotten this done.   

Our lucky winners are:

Kylee who commented and said: I think it would be fun to open up for Brad Paisley! If Kenny Chesney was an option, it would most definitely be him!! 

Brandon who said: I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be an opening act for Lady Antebellum. I just love everyone of their songs and they seem to be down to earth too!
That's my kind of people. LOL

Karen who said: If I had what it took, I would love to be the opening act for John Mayer :)

Gotta love someone who goes with her gut instead of appeasing the country blogger by mentioning a country artist or group. 

That's my readers -- individuals to the end. Congrats you guys who won and thank you to everyone who entered. I enjoyed reading all your responses and wish I had 100 sets of headphones so everyone could win.

Kylee and Karen, if/when you read this, I need your mailing addresses when you get a chance. 

Who wants to win some headphones thanks to our friends at E!'s new series 'Opening Act'? (contest)

As I've mentioned before, Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, and Martina McBride are all part of the new reality show 'Opening Act' over on E!, which gives fans with a great voice the chance to be the opening act for the stars taking part in the show. 

The show airs every Monday at 10, and premiered last week. Tonight's episode features 16-year-old country singer Kylie Morgan whose dreams come true when it's revealed she's the Opening Act for her favorite singer, Jason Aldean!

Check out a sneak peek at tonight's episode over on E!.

Now as a special gift, I have 3 pairs of awesome headphones like the ones shown above to give away. If you'd like to be entered, just email me (Shannon@nashvillegab.com) or leave a comment telling me who you'd like to be the opening act for. I'll pick 3 random winners on Friday. Good luck everyone!

For more info on 'Opening Act', check out the press release after the jump....

Who wants to win the Zac Brown Band's new CD 'Uncaged'? (new Twitter contest)

Hey guys, for the last couple of days I've been jammin' to the Zac Brown Band's new CD 'Uncaged'.  It's really an awesome piece of work! 

That said, I am definitely happy to have two copies to give away to you guys.  

This is a Twitter contest (or Facebook -- see below) so you have to follow me on Twitter to be entered. If you're not following me yet then head over to www.twitter.com/nashvillegab and get to following.

Watching behind-the-scenes video of Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" video could win you a red carpet event invite

First off, if you simply want to watch the behind-the-scenes video of the making of Carrie Underwood's Blown Away music video, you can do that here.  

Now, if you'd like to possibly win a really cool prize that includes a red carpet premiere of the video debut, then check this out. 

According to MJ's Blog, radio stations around the country are running a contest to host a private world premiere of the video.  Fans can visit their favorite radio station website and follow the link the radio station posts that leads to the behind-the-scenes video. The radio station with the most votes/views of the video will win a red carpet event for 250 listeners to watch the world premiere of the video. 

The bonus is that Carrie Underwood herself will make an appearance at the premiere.

Blown Away, Carrie's next single, will officially hit the radio waves July 9th. The radio station contest will end July 12th, which means it wont be until after that that we finally get to see the full video.  

Better get busy visiting your local radio station for a chance to win.  

On a side note, Randee St. Nicholas directed the video. The picture above is from his website under the "Blown Away" section.  Check out more here.  

Awesome Tim McGraw prizes up for grabs

Hey guys, how would you like to win a very special Tim McGraw concert experience this summer?  Or how about a pair of Tim McGraw autographed headphones?

Well let me tell you how you can do just that.   

Starting on last Friday, JBL, the company that Tim has his new custom headphones with, and Tim McGraw started a contest to celebrate the launch of not only the Brothers of the Sun Tour, but also Tim's new JBL headphones and they want you show them what country means to you.  

To enter The Show Your Country Sweepstakes, all you have to do is upload photos, videos or text entries that shows Tim McGraw and JBL what country means to you.

Here's the full details....

The prizes:

• 38 winners (one per selected tour stop) will receive: an exclusive VIP pre-concert experience with Tim McGraw and two tickets to see Tim and Kenny Chesney at the Brothers of the Sun show later that night. McGraw will be putting on a pre-show just for a small group of fans, including each winner of the Show Your Country Sweepstakes, at most tour stops.
• 100 winners will receive an autographed pair of the new JBL Tim McGraw Artist Series headphones

To enter the contest:

• Upload photos, videos or text entries that shows Tim McGraw and JBL what country means to you
• Entries can be submitted through Instagram, Twitter, JBL.com or through the JBL Facebook page app
• If using Twitter or Instagram, each post needs two hashtags: #JBLyourcountry and your state abbreviation plus the concert city you want to win tickets for e.g. example: #JBLyourcountryMA #Foxborough OR #JBLyourcountryMD #WashingtonDC

You can enter on Tim's website or on JBL's Facebook page.  Good luck!

Brad Paisley - Diary of a Player Contest starts NOW!!!!!!!!

                                            

Hurry, Hurry and spread the word!  We have 2 copies of Brad Paisley's book to give away just in time for summer vacation reading! 

Email  contests@nashvillegab.com  - include your name and mailing address.  Winners will be selected on Friday June 8th! 

From Amazon.com

"From country music’s biggest superstar—an intimate glimpse at what music means to him and who inspired him on his path to fame.

With more than 11 million albums sold, there is no one bigger in country music than Brad Paisley, and he owes his career to his love for the guitar. His first guitar was a gift from his grandpa when Brad was only eight. Brad quickly learned that no matter how he changed and evolved, the guitar was his only real constant. When life gets intense, he says, “there are some people who drink, seek counseling, eat, watch TV, cry, sleep, and so on. I play.”

Diary of a Player is the very personal story of how Brad Paisley came of age as a musician and a man. Beginning with a love letter to the guitar and what the instrument has meant in his life as a way to find his voice in the world, the book then moves into a musical, but personal, diary. Brad tells the story of his own musical passion, while celebrating and sharing memorable tales about the many great players in the business who have inspired him over the years.

In addition to Brad’s story, Diary of a Player includes sidebars from a wide array of musical stars who know and love Brad."

 

Congratulations to:

Mary Katherine of East Providence, RI and

Pat from Aurora, CO.

Your books will be in the mail soon!  Thanks to all who entered!!

Lady Antebellum wants you to design their Rebuild Henryville poster

In case you hadn't already heard, Lady Antebellum recently had a contest that would have one lucky high school winning a concert from the group who would play at the winning school's prom.  The trio did a good deed and chose the tornado-ravaged Henryville High School as the winners.  Unfortunately, the band already had plans the day of Henryville's scheduled prom, but have instead decided to raise money for Henryville High School as well as Henryville the town and will be holding a benefit concert.    

Now Lady A wants your help and has started a new contest on their website. The group is looking for artistic fans to design a poster for the benefit concert. Copies of the winning poster will be sold at the concert with all the proceeds going to Henryville tornado relief. The winning poster creator will receive $1000 and tickets along with meet & greet passes to a Lady A concert of the winner's choice. 

From Lady A's website:

Lady Antebellum is excited to announce that they will be hosting the Rebuild Henyrville event in Louisville, KY on May 16th to benefit the students and community of Henyrville, IN. Now they want YOU to design the poster for the event through their latest contest with Talenthouse!

The theme of this event is to rebuild and uplift the people of Henryville, and this should inspire your design. Creativity is endless and originality is well received. In your design you should consider what the community of Henyrville has been through. All they have overcome is the driving force behind making this event so incredible.

The poster will be sold with all proceeds benefiting the Henryville tornado relief efforts. The grand prize winner will receive a $1000 cash prize, along with their design on the poster and t-shirts that will be sold at the event and on Lady A’s website.

Designers will have until April 16th to submit their designs for Lady A’s Rebuild Henryville event poster contest. The grand prize winner will  be announced May 1st.

The Talenthouse tab below has all details to get you started on your design to enter the contest.

Get inspired, get creative and start designing!

Find out of the contest rules and submit your poster on Lady A's website. 

Help pick the theme song for Dollywood's new dummy-destroying roller coaster, the Wild Eagle

Ayeeee!!!! Do I ever want to make a trip to Dollywood.

Earlier this month I had brought you the story about Dollywood debuting an exciting new roller coaster this year at some point - a roller coaster which had to be tested by military test pilots in London because the crash dummies they had been using kept having their arms, heads, and other various body parts ripped to shreds.

Well it appears that Dollywood got right on the ball building their prized new toy because the coaster will officially open sooner rather than later.

Wild Eagle, as the crazy coaster's called, will make it's park debut this Friday, March 23rd. The roller coaster is such a new design that Dollywood's one of the very first parks in the US to get one - the other two opening soon or already opened are one Hershey Park in Pennsylvania and the other at Six Flags Great America in Chicago.  

Now that the new ride is getting ready to open to the public, Dollywood needs some help choosing a theme song for the ride.  If you head over to Dollywood's Facebook page, there are three versions of a new song called The Sky is not the Limit that Dolly sings.  Pick your favorite version and you could potentially win tickets to Dollywood.  

For those of you not brave enough to try out the Wild Eagle in person, check out an animation of the ride. 

I think I may just have peed myself a little bit. 

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