Taylor Swift performs at American Airlines Arena. (Christina Mendenhall / rhythmscene.com)

Taylor Swift is one of those artists that no one seems to hate. When it comes to her music, age, sex, race, and religion seem to not matter. Everyone can relate in one way or another to her songs of love and heartache.

Sunday night, Swift brought her “Speak Now” tour back to the Sunshine State for one final night of enchantment.

As 12,500 fans packed themselves into the American Airlines Arena in Miami, the country cross-over cutie did what she does best. She told her stories. And although Taylor’s stories were the main act of the night, also front and center were the hundreds of homemade t-shirts and handwritten signs with the number 13 and “T Swizzle” written on them. Throughout the two hour set, fans sung along with every word the 21-year-old singer sang; often times drowning out the very artist they paid to see.

Photos: Taylor Swift @ American Airlines Arena | Visit this writer’s website

Regardless, it was quite clear that fans are at the top of the list for Miss Swift. Cameras were constantly pointed at the screaming fans to display their images on the huge video screen onstage, and at one point, the mega-star exited the stage and walked through the crowd. She seemed to stop and say “hi” to everyone who stuck their hands out to get a piece of her.
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Though still largely the domain of men, triumphs by Taylor Swift and The Band Perry at the Country Music Association Awards show that the young women of country music are finding their voices and shoving the boys out of the way.

Swift won the CMA’s entertainer of the year for the second time Wednesday night, Kimberly Perry of sibling act The Band Perry took home song of the year and two other awards with her brothers, Neil and Reid. Add in wins by Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum and Sugarland, and the songwriting strength of today’s country girls is undeniable.

“When Taylor won entertainer I secretly sang (Beyonce’s) ‘Who runs the world? Girls,’ to Blake,” Lambert said after she and husband Blake Shelton repeated as male and female vocalist of the year. “I’m just really happy that females are starting to be very prominent and it is the female singer-songwriter.

“It’s so cool that Kimberly wrote song of the year by herself. And that’s a dream of mine. I’m just so happy the girls were really celebrated tonight.”

Celebrated like rarely before. Swift became the second woman to win entertainer of the year twice, joining Barbara Mandrell, and she did it by the age of 21.

“To win it twice is like the coolest thing ever happening to me twice,” Swift said backstage. “I’m freaking out right now.”

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WALTER SCOTT ASKS…Jason Aldean

The singer, 34, is up for five Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year. The show airs Nov. 9 on ABC (8 p.m. ET).

You went through some rough patches before hitting it big. What kept you from quitting?
“Playing music was all I wanted to do. I didn’t think I would be happy doing anything else. And I had a lot of support from family.”

Take Our Country Music Quiz

Will you bring any good luck charms to the CMA Awards ceremony?
“My wife—that’s about it!”

You’ve been touring for most of the year. What do you love about it?
“Performing is my favorite part of all of this. I love getting on a bus and hanging out with the guys in the band. It’s like a traveling frat party.”

Are there any quirky requests on your tour rider?
“For a while I had golf balls on there. I would go through 10 balls a round [playing on the road]. I’d just lose them, and I got tired of going to buy more.”

Jason Aldean and the Zac Brown Band are the lead nominees for the American Country Awards.

The two rising country music acts received eight nominations apiece, including the second-year award show’s top honors, artist of the year and album of the year.

Thompson Square is next with seven nominations apiece for the fan-voted awards. The Band Perry and Taylor Swift each have six. Swift is an artist of the year nominee with Kenny Chesney and Lady Antebellum rounding out the category.

Voting opened Thursday morning at the ACA web site. Fans can vote once a day until Nov. 11 in all categories except artist of the year, which closes Dec. 2.

The show airs live Dec. 5 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Trace Adkins and Kristin Chenoweth host.

Image by Roebot via Flickr

Country music supergroup Rascal Flatts is the latest member of the Grand Ole Opry.

The trio was surprised with the news Tuesday night during their performance on the Opry. Twenty-year Opry member Vince Gill made an unscheduled appearance, interrupting singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney mid-performance.

The men had tears in their eyes and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

Rascal Flatts is the top-selling country group of the last decade. The trio joins a recent slate of longtime stars invited to join, including Blake Shelton and The Oak Ridge Boys.

Opry membership is among the highest honors for a country musician. It comes with an ambassador-like commitment to the history of the genre and a requirement to perform at least 10 times a year.

Brad Paisley performs at the Cruzan Amphitheatre. (Andrew Nathanson / GatorProduction.com)

Brad Paisley’s fingers danced along the slender necks of his guitars, sometimes with the rhythmic fury of the best tapdancer, sometimes with the grace and precision of a prima ballerina. One after another, he coaxed every soung possible from those instruments.

And that’s just what Paisley the guitarist does.

There’s also Paisley the singer, whose ability is often overshadowed by his stringsmanship and his big personality. Case in point, his performance of Remind Me, his duet with the ethereal Carrie Underwood. Performing that challenging vocal alongside the reigning queen of country music — and America’s favorite Idol — has definitely improved the strength of Paisley’s voice.

Photos: Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and Jerrod Niemann perform at the Cruzan Amphitheatre

Then there’s Paisley the entertainer. During Paisley’s H2O II Tour at Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach Saturday night, Paisley made several forays into the audience to get closer to the fans, anything to make his show –- even in the largest venue, I’d guess -– a more intimate experience. Paisley has never depended on a lot of special effects but he does have dozens of video screens – at least 60 I’d say – and he uses them well. We’re always treated to some of Bradimation and on an extended version of the western riff, Eastwood, we saw tons of it. (And a little homage to Folsom Prison Blues.)

Paisley has never lacked confidence or enthusiasm, two very important qualities in a star. But he’s been able to achieve that while still revealing his vulnerability in love songs like She’s Everything, and he encouraged the guys in the audience to ‘get it done’ with this song. Right on cue, couples started dancing in the aisles.

If you go to a Brad Paisley concert to hear 15 songs all about the same thing, you’ll be disappointed. I think the most interesting thing about Paisley – and maybe about country music – is its social conscience. Country music is full of ‘teaching,’ and it’s a kissing cousin to Christian music, as Paisley admits in This is Country Music. And Paisley asks us to think about things: About Alcohol, about Celebrity, and of course about fishing and women. I’m Gonna Miss Her got some of the biggest cheers of the night.

But so did When I Get Where I’m Going, one of the most spiritual songs ever written. Paisley always shows photos of people we’ve lost during this song, and not just people we’ve lost recently. I’m sure Dale Earnhardt, who always draws a huge reaction from the crowd, will always be part of the montage. But when we saw the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center as the final shot, and this concert taking place on the eve of the 10th anniversary, prolonged cheering and chanting of USA filled the amphitheatre’s pocket.
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At most of their concerts, the Zac Brown Band offers fans more than burgers and chicken fingers. Instead, they have a team of chefs prepare what the group’s leader calls “real, Southern gourmet.”

Now, Zac Brown may be taking his love for food to television.

“We’ve talked about it,” Brown said about possibly doing a cooking TV show. “We’ve filmed a lot of the stuff, a lot of the cooking elements of our stuff to possibly put a show together, and we definitely will do that one day.”

The Grammy-winning group offers “eat and greets” at most of their live shows for fan-club members. And Brown says he takes the food aspect of the show as serious as the music.

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Image via Wikipedia

Country superstars Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks are among the newest inductees to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

They join Allen Shamblin, John Bettis and Thom Schuyler as the 2011 inductees.

Jackson has penned many of his own hits, such as “Chattahoochee” and “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning).” Brooks also wrote and performed his own tunes, like “The Thunder Rolls” and “The River.”

Shamblin’s credits include Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” and Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Bettis is known for pop-country crossovers such as “Top Of The World”, sung by both The Carpenters and Lynn Anderson.

Schuyler’s resume includes the Kenny Rogers hit “Love Will Turn You Around.”

The induction ceremony will take place October 16th in Nashville.

Joe Don Rooney and Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts perform at Cruzan Amphitheatre. (Veda Jo Jenkins / slfimages.com)

Rascal Flatts took the stage tonight at Cruzan Amphitheatre and performed like the well-oiled machine that 11 years of touring has made them. The color scheme was black and white, the theme modern, with color coming from lighting and video. The band played bright white instruments, set against a huge stage-sized video screen with three doors cut out of it, and lighted stairs from the doors down to the stage.

The risers that lifted the drums and keyboards above the stage were video screens as well. Even the band was dressed in black and white, and everything was slick and polished and scripted and there’s where any criticism I have of last night’s show lies.

I believe the guys — Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney — love performing as much as they always have. And they work hard to mix it up and bring their fans a unique experience. But if you’re going to mix it up, use a blender and do it all the way.

Photos: Rascal Flatts and more at Cruzan Amphitheatre

The tribute to their heroes was too short – Jay DeMarcus on piano doing just the briefest Michael McDonald riff of Taking It to the Streets, Joe Don’s guitar solo tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn’s If The House Is Rockin’ and Gary, well, let’s just say 30 seconds of Stevie Wonder left me thirsty for more. It was the part of the show I thought I’d like the least but it ended up being one of my favorite moments.

Another unexpected highlight? When Sara Evans joined the guys on stage to sing the Natasha Bedingfield part on Easy, I was floored, and it was that “oh oh oh” that went through my head all the way home, and in fact is still playing right now.
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Kellie Pickler performs at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood. (Veda Jo Jenkins / sflimages.com)

At just 19 years old, Kellie Pickler auditioned for American Idol and made into to the top 12. She was among Simon Cowell’s favorites that year — a feat in itself, for as we all know Cowell doesn’t hand out compliments easily. Pickler left American Idol in sixth place.

On Tuesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Pickler let us in on how her life has evolved since then.

For most of the show Pickler was smiling, waving to fans and had an upbeat rhythm going on. You could definitely get the feeling that her recent marriage to songwriter Kyle Jacobs — they eloped on Jan. 1, 2011 — was her most precious and important event in her life so far.

Kellie Pickler at the Hard Rock | Visit this writer’s website

“Our first date was at the Cracker Barrel. We played 20 questions as we sat in the rocking chairs out on the porch. We didn’t even hear them call our name,” Pickler told the audience.

For a wedding present her husband, Jacobs, bought her two rocking chairs from the Cracker Barrel and it moved her so much she wrote the song “Rock Away”, which came out on her latest album Tough released in June. By the ring on her finger I would have to say this small-town country girl has come a long way, leaving her sordid childhood behind.
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