Stagecoach 2010: Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Sugarland and more

Stagecoach 2010 presents something of a battle of the Keiths and country duos, with headliners Keith Urban and Toby Keith making their first appearances next April at the two-day country festival in Indio, while Brooks & Dunn return for a stop on their farewell tour on a lineup that also includes Sugarland, the twosome that’s taken over as country's reigning pair.

The fourth edition of Stagecoach will take place April 24-25 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio and also will feature country standard-bearers Merle Haggard and Ray Price as well as more recent vintage acts including Billy Currington, Gary Allan, Phil Vassar, Jamey Johnson, Joey + Rory and the Avett Brothers.

Also  on the bill will be the Oak Ridge Boys, Carlene Carter, B.J. Thomas, Mary Gauthier, Bill Anderson and the Steel Drivers, among the usual complement of classic and contemporary country, bluegrass, folk and western acts. Tickets go on sale Friday at Ticketmaster and at the festival’s website.

Last year’s event drew more than 100,000 attendees for the two days of music headlined by Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley.

--Randy Lewis

Top photo: Sugarland. Credit: Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times
Middle photo: Brooks & Dunne at Stagecoach in 2007. Credit: Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times

Brad Paisley earns six Country Music Association nominations [Updated]

[This version has been updated with more news on nominations.]

Brad Paisley leads the pack with six nominations for the 43rd Country Music Assn. Awards announced this morning, including entertainer of the year, male vocalist, album, single and song. Teenage country music sensation Taylor Swift joins Paisley and veterans Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Keith Urban vying for entertainer of the year, the CMA’s top trophy.

Swift, Strait and relative newcomers Jamey Johnson and Zac Brown are tied at four nominations apiece, reflecting an influx of new blood into the CMA honors. Strait’s nominations for entertainer, male vocalist, music video and music event give him a career total of 79, tying him with Alan Jackson for the most nominations in CMA history. Strait has won 22, more than any other artist.

Swift, 19, is the only woman in the entertainer competition and the first nominated since Faith Hill in 2000. Shania Twain is the last woman to win the category, in 1999. Swift recently surpassed total album sales of 10 million copies since the release of her debut album, “Taylor Swift,” in 2006. Her sophomore effort, “Fearless,” has sold more than 4 million copies.

Live: Keith Urban at Staples Center

The good news about Keith Urban's two-hour performance Sunday at Staples Center was that the New Zealand-born, Australia-reared Nashville resident is letting loose the kind of raw human emotion that's been all but buffed out of previous tours.

Urban delivered an anguished rendition of "You'll Think of Me," in which he riffed on the song's lyric, his voice breaking convincingly as he cried, "Why'd you have to break my heart -- didn't you know how much I loved you?"

He allowed more confusion and loss to wash over him in " 'Til Summer Comes Around," a haunting track from his latest album, “Defying Gravity,” that gave him a forum to send out Mark Knopfler-esque sighs from his Stratocaster.

Granted, Urban didn't directly address his well-publicized substance-abuse relapse and recovery on that album, and the closest fans got to a peek inside his private world during Sunday's show was when he performed "Only You Can Love Me This Way."

He dedicated the song to his wife, Nicole Kidman, "who happens to be here tonight, [and] I'm very happy about that."

But the enthusiastic reception he received from the capacity crowd might be enough to convince him to continue to delve into more emotionally frank territory in the future; he could start by adding the new album's closing track, "Thank You," which cuts close to the heart, to the set list soon.

As one of country music's most skilled guitarists, Urban led his five-piece band from one workout to the next, taking the opportunity to progress through a series of appropriately varied Gibsons and Fenders, electric and acoustic.

Although the more pensive moments added depth to what's traditionally been an overwhelmingly upbeat concert experience, Urban still worked his "man of the people" gambit effectively, moving from the main stage through the crowd to a smaller second stage toward the back of the floor.

Country stars salute George Strait as ACM's 'Artist of the Decade'

George Strait sat by and watched a new generation of country musicians take top honors Sunday night at the 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, but Monday night was all his as most of those performers tipped their hats to the veteran Texas troubadour, singled out as the ACM’s "Artist of the Decade."

Strait, his wife, Norma, and son George Jr. watched from a booth set up at the side of the stage for nearly three hours as a parade of stars including Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and even Jamie Foxx expressed their admiration for Strait’s nearly three decades of country hits. The event was taped and will be edited down to two hours for airing May 27 as a CBS-TV special.

ACM Awards: A big night for Carrie Underwood and Julianne Hough

Underwood takes entertainer of the year; Hough wins best new artist.

The 44th Academy of Country Music Awards swung political, personal, playful and patriotic on Sunday and ultimately opted for popular in bestowing its top honor on "American Idol" winner Carrie Underwood, naming her entertainer of the year over veteran male performers George Strait, Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban.

"I've had a lot of good moments in the past four years," the Oklahoma-born Underwood said at the climax of the three-hour event at the MGM Grand Arena, "but this one takes the cake."

The award was determined for the second year by popular vote during the show at CBS.com instead of being determined as it had been in past years by the performer who sold the most concert tickets during the previous 12 months, which would have given a fifth title to Chesney.

But the ACM, in striving to boost ratings and make the event more interactive for fans, opened the voting for entertainer and new artist to the public. That helped TV-friendly faces such as Underwood and former "Dancing With the Stars"-turned-country singer Julianne Hough, who took home the new artist trophy.

It was a big night as well for Internet-savvy teen phenom Taylor Swift, who sold more albums in 2008 than any other artist in any genre, passing 5 million. Her overwhelming success contributed to her sophomore album, "Fearless," which has topped 3 million since its release in November, being named album of the year.

Grading the ACMs: Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Miranda Lambert and more. Who got an A?

 

Pop & Hiss brought you insta-reviews of all the ACM live performances, typos and all.

1. Brooks & Dunn & Taylor Swift & Sugarland & Carrie Underwood & Rascal Flatts. Here's one for those with short attention spans. Nearly everything the ACMs have to offer in a tidy little seven minutes! Host/country royalty Reba McEntire introduces the show by informing us that duo Brooks & Dunn is one of the most acclaimed acts in the history of the awards, but what follows isn't their time to shine. Instead, Brooks & Dunn become the anchor for whizz-bang medley. Swift rocked out with "Picture to Burn," looking more assured than ever. Underwood showed off her near-perfect vocals with a brief turn at "All-American Girl," Sugarland was delightfully poppy and Rascal Flatts represented some country good ol' boys. "That's what I call a stimulus package," McEntire said. We'd rather have cash, but it was a solid opening. B+

2. Kenny Chesney's "Out Last Night." The lead single from his upcoming greatest hits package is a pleasant enough up-tempo rocker, representing immediately how country award shows are different from the Grammys. Less than 15 minutes in, and we have an ode to being drunk. Rather than approach anything dangerous or reckless, Chesney spins this tale of hangin' at the local bar into a neat little slice of nostalgia. B.

Snap judgment: Keith Urban's 'Sweet Thing'

It's not a huge stretch to connect some of the energy and sense of discovery in Keith Urban's new single, a familiar first-date scenario, to his new role as a first-time dad.

It’s already the second country single of the season, on the heels of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” that draws its romantic inspiration from “Romeo and Juliet.” Well, they did call Hank Williams the Hillbilly Shakespeare, right?

Like Swift’s equally upbeat tune, Urban doesn’t venture anywhere near tragedy in this bubbly tale of love in the embryonic stage. He paints the scene of that adrenaline-laced first date, where expectation and excitement rein:

I held open the car door for you
Then you climbed inside and slid on over
To the other side
I thought “My, oh, my”

It’s quintessential Keith Urban -- a funky country-rock beat under electric guitar strings, ticking like a clock on the guy in the song who’s under the gun to return his buddy's borrowed Mustang. But not before he spends a little smooch time on the front porch swing with his girl.

“I’m standing here like a love-struck Romeo,” he confesses.

It's nothing we didn't already know, but it’s a pose that Urban strikes exceptionally well.