NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville celebrity gossip

Former Disney princess Demi Lovato planning a country album?

I have to say I'm loving Demi Lovato right now.  She's the former Disney princess who starred in Camp Rock and Sonny With a Chance, ended up going out on tour (because pretty much all Disney princesses and princes at some point end up going out on tour), got into a well publicized scuffle with one of her dancers on the tour who she ended up punching, and then was shipped off to a hospital to deal with her issues, the least of which were anorexia and bulimia. 

I figured that was the end of Little Miss Demi Lovato, but surprisingly she's come back from the brink better than ever and seemingly much more wise.  She has a new album out that has one of my favorite songs of the moment on it, Skyscraper, and she's making the media rounds actually owning up to the issues she's had in the past and trying to share the lessons to maybe help other kids who are facing some of the same problems.  

Hopefully it's not all just an act. 

Well in her excitement for being alive, Demi is weighing her options for the future and one of those options may just be to record a country album. 

I like to experiment with my music. Someday, I joke around, but I’m actually pretty serious about coming out with a country album. I want to do everything. I love music & I love all types of music, and I love where this album went.

I would ho and hum about the news like I normally do, but I actually think Demi should give it a whirl.  Experiment, have fun, and all that jazz.  I'm sure she'd record the sort of album country purists would hate with a passion, but you know, bah humbug.    

Kristin Chenoweth had country album written into her contract

Kristin Chenoweth is well known for her stage, television, and movie roles (Glee, Four Christmases, The West Wing), but she's also got a recording contract with Sony Masterworks and a new CD coming.  Only problem was, she was afraid her dream of recording a country album wouldn't come true and so she had it written into her contract that she'd get the chance to fulfill her dream. 

Kristin's debut country album Some Lessons Learned is due out September 13 and she tells Playbill.com that the country-pop CD, "was actually an idea I had many years ago when I signed with my record label. I had it in my contract that we would do one. It's an idea that I had when I was growing up — I just always wanted to do it, so I'm glad I finally got the opportunity. It's more how I sang growing up ... [and] I'm really excited by it."

The CD will contain one cover, but the rest of the songs are original tunes written by Kristin, including one that she wrote about Dolly Parton called What Would Dolly Do? (or WW Double D). 

Kristin's first single will debut June 6th and will include a video that will be shown on CMT.  Let's just say that if the first single named Bitch About is any indication, this may be one fun CD.

Here's Kristin when she joined Christina Applegate and Carrie Underwood for Carrie's all star special back in 2009. 

{Photo via Wikimedia Commons}

 

 

Someone just shoot me now because I like this damn song

So have you read that Staind's main man, Aaron Lewis, is gonna try his musical hand at country music? 

When I first read about this new development I just rolled my eyes.  I mean seriously, it gets tiring trying to keep track of who's coming and who's going.  One thing I was sure of, though, I wasn't going to like him or his darndit music.

Yeah, it sucks huge because yesterday he released a video for his new song Country Boy and as much as it pains me to say, I love, love, love this song. 

George Jones and Charlie Daniels put in appearances to add a little country cred.

I guess I'll just save my country snootiness for the next crossover act. 

Here's the video description from YouTube: Aaron Lewis' first single "Country Boy" off his new country-tinged solo EP entitled "Town Line." The album is slated to be released February 2011 and will feature 5 tracks including the first single "Country Boy" featuring George Jones, Charlie Daniels, and Chris Young, as well as "Massachusetts", "Vicious Circles", and a re-recording of "Tangled up in You" originally from The Illusion of Progress.

Another teen TV star going country

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" seems to be country music's new motto.

Or maybe it's the Taylor Swift effect. 

Either way it seems like country music is now the it place to be.

Tiffany Thornton has starred on shows such as Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana, and Sonny with a Chance, and has now decided to try out her country chops. 

From Bop and Tigerbeat (yeah, as in the teeny bopper magazines):

Why is Tiffany Thornton hanging out in Nashville?

She’s recording a country album! Tiffany caught up with us recently and she was totally stoked to tell us that she’s been traveling back and forth from Nashville, Tennessee, to Los Angeles, because she is hard at work on her music career! “We have 12 songs now,” she reveals. “I love Nashville and want to move there!” She says lots of things inspire her song writing. “Being in love and falling out of love is a lot of the inspiration,” she opens up. “Growing up in the South, out in the country, and my family also influence me.” Are you excited to hear Tiffany’s country music? What inspires you? We want to know!

I don't know, I've sort of gotten so used to the miscellaneous actors, actresses, singers, etc. deciding to give country a shot that I'm not even surprised anymore. 

So now comes the question, can the girl sing? 

Yeah, she can.  Check out Tiffany singing Someday My Prince Will Come In from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Oh yeah, this could totally work....a Ne-Yo and Lady Gaga country collaboration in the works?

 
Oh lordy, lordy, lordy, now this is the country collaboration to beat all.

An R&B singer with four letters and a hyphen in his name and a meat-wearing fashion freak (with songs I hate to admit are completely catchy) could quite possibly be pairing up to give you your next country cross-over album.

Uhm, I think we're being punked. 

Ne-Yo (and no, I don't know if that's Knee-Yo or Nay-Yo so you might as well not ask) recently told the UK's Daily Star, "I’ve reached out to GaGa and our people are talking. It would be amazing if we could do a country and western record, something totally unexpected."

Let's just hope if the two do put out a country album together the cover features not only Lady Gaga's meat dress (here in case you missed it before) but also the lovely blonde wig Ne-Yo's wearing above.  That would definitely be the icing on the oddity cake. 

{Picture above via BET.com}

 

Oh poo, a Foo Fighter's gone country

 

Careful all, there's a Foo Fighter treading on country ground.

Foo Fighters guitarist, Chris Shiflett, has a new side project going on that will let him dip his toes in country music just a bit. 

Chris Shiflett and The Dead Peasants will release their debut album July 12th according to Spinner.com. 

"One of my favourite kinds of music is old country and old rockabilly and modern Americana like Son Volt, Wilco, and Ryan Adams, I love all that stuff," Shiflett told the NME. "There's really no real big loud Les Paul pumping through a Marshall amp kind of moments on this record. It is so far from anything I've been a part of with Foo Fighters and it was just really fun to do."

For those of you who hate hearing crossovers on the radio, you probably wont be hearing a Foo Fighter on your local country station too soon considering Chris describes his new adventure as more of a "goth record."

Goth with country roots.  Sounds interesting.

If you are a Foo Fighter fan and would like to hear some of The Dead Peasants' music, you can check out their MySpace.  You can also download a song for free called Get Along from Filter Magazine here.

The WWE is coming! The WWE is coming!

Okay, usually when I report on this person or that person deciding to give country music a try I rant and rave or at least mildly gripe.  This time I think I'll be completely nice because...well because this gal sort of scares the crap out of me and I'd prefer to keep all my limbs attached. 

See the latest person who wants to see how country music feels on their resume is Mickie James, a WWE diva who I seriously think could whip my ass and not break a nail doing it.

The wrestling gal, according to That Nashville Sound, will be releasing her first country single in February and then releasing her first album in March.

"I'm very blessed to have come across some really, really good people and gotten them on my team," Mickie told a New Jersey newspaper. "I was hoping to have all the vocals done by the end of this month, because obviously I want to release the single in February and the album in March."

Mickie has signed an exclusive personal recording contract with Nashville music producer Kent Wells who has produced projects for Dolly Parton and Neal McCoy among others.

Okay, now I need to go find some more news on Taylor, Carrie, Kellie or some other singer who if I make a snarky comment I'm not afraid of physical pain.

 

Country proves to be a brother sort of thing

I had gotten a press release not too long ago about Charles Kelley from Lady A's brother, Josh, going country.  I ignored it.  I know, I know, I shouldn't do that, but it seems that every week there's a new person "goin' country" and it gets hard to type about everyone.  But CMTThad this video this morning of Josh talking about his new musical venture and he actually sounds fair to middlin' so I figured I'd go ahead and show you the video and give Josh a chance.

You can expect to see Josh's new album from Universal out in 2010. 

And here's a full video of Josh singing Gone Like That. 

Is country ready for a former 80s pop star? Wait, hasn't this already been done before?

Just raise your hand if you've heard this one before.  Former pop star proclaims country is in her heart, decides to make a record. 

No, Jessica hasn't come back to haunt country.  This go around I'm talking about the red-headed, mall-touring, sound-track-to-my-teens singing Tiffany. 

Tiffany, now a 38-year-old wife and mother, tells The Huntsville Times that she's ready to give country a try. 

"I've had success after 20 years, and my fans have really been supportive of my new music, but my heart is in country music. I started off in country music, mostly country rock."

She goes on to say, "I enjoy playing with a full band and love Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash and Stevie Nicks. So it's a new pursuit for me, and I have some songs under my belt." 

"Hopefully, I'll be able to get a (country) project together by the end of the year, either by funding it myself or looking at labels."

Well perhaps the third time's a charm since Tiffany actually started out in 1981 singing country in California with Jack Reeves before settling on dance music.  She then went to Nashville in 1995 with dreams of making a country album, but nothing was ever released. 

Danny Gokey goes country because all the cool kids are doing it

I had told you a while back that Danny Gokey was rumored to be maybe, possibly, more than likely going country.  The rumor has come true.  In a video on EW.com he says his music will be "country, but in a newly marketed way."

Huh? 

Alright, that's all I've got say on the country Gokey subject. Who knows, maybe he'll be wonderful.  Or maybe not.