Taylor Swift to host 'SNL'; 'Idol's' Daughtry added to CMA Awards roster

 

Days before she surely cleans up at the Country Music Assn. Awards, Taylor Swift will bring her crossover pop to "Saturday Night Live," hosting the NBC program on Nov. 7. "Saturday Night Live" has been kind to musicians this year, including Lady Gaga, who appeared in a number of sketches during her recent appearance.

Swift has already shown off her comedy chops. In an an opening sketch for the Country Music Television Awards, Swift (a.k.a. T-Sweezy) rapped with T-Pain to open the telecast ("I knit sweaters, yo!"). In the weeks leading up to "Saturday Night Live," expect plenty of speculation as to how exactly "SNL" will attempt to refresh the Kanye West/MTV Video Music Awards incident.

Swift's "SNL" appearance will mark the start of what will be a country-heavy week on television. On Nov. 11, Swift will appear on the CMA Awards, which has bolstered its performance roster: Jason Aldean, Billy Currington and Daughtry, who will duet with Vince Gill, have been added to the lineup.

CMA Awards: Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley back as emcees

Music award season is upon us. The eligibility period for the 2010 Grammy Awards ends Monday, and today Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley were announced as returning hosts for the 2009 Country Music Assn. Awards. The CMAs will air live for the East Coast on Nov. 11 on ABC.

Underwood is reigning "entertainer of the year" champion at the rival Academy of Country Music Awards, breaking a lock that Kenny Chesney had on the category. She's also been named female vocalist of the year at the CMAs three years running, and Paisley has owned the male title for the last two years. All told, Paisley has 11 CMA trophies to his name, and Underwood five.

The CMAs are open to the public, and tickets will go on sale Sept. 19 via Ticketmaster. Tickets start at $110, not including surcharges, and top out at $382.50. The CMAs will once again be held at the Sommet Center in Nashville. Nominations for the 2009 awards will be announced in early to mid-September. A spokesman said details are "still being finalized" before the nomination date can be revealed.

While country has two major awards dedicated specifically to the genre, expect a larger Nashville presence to be felt throughout the entire 2009-10 music award season. Young star Taylor Swift may very well end up with 2009's top-selling album in "Fearless," and she's become a major part of MTV's current branding campaign for its upcoming Video Music Awards.

Country stars are a major presence on the charts these days. Reba McEntire holds the No. 1 album this week with her "Keep On Loving You"; last week, the top spot belonged to George Strait's "Twang," this week's No. 2 album. Last but not least, the Recording Academy is making a greater outreach than in years  past with its Grammy Awards. The group, as previously reported, will stage its first ever "Grammy Salute to Country Music" on Sept. 8 in Nashville, which will honor Vince Gill.

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Carrie Underwood at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Vince Gill, Dwight Yoakam lead Country Hall event to L.A.

Los Angeles will get an all-star “guitar pull” on behalf of the Country Music Hall of Fame come October, and then the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will host a week-long salute in November to one of its inductees, Janis Joplin, the hall’s 2009 American Music Masters honoree.

Vince Gill, Dwight Yoakam and Emmylou Harris, all of whom figured prominently in L.A.’s roots-country community at some point in their careers, will appear at Club Nokia for the country music organization’s annual All for the Hall fundraiser. The guitar pull, in which musicians take turns sharing songs and stories, is a country tradition most famously conducted in Tennessee by Johnny Cash and his coterie of friends and family members. The annual benefit, launched in 2005, was held in New York for the last two years. Funds support the museum’s long-term financial needs.

Grammys getting cozy with country

OK, Nashville, is everything forgiven?

The Recording Academy will honor Vince Gill at its first ever "Grammy Salute to Country Music," slated for Sept. 8 in Nashville. Set to appear are Brad Paisley, wife Amy Grant, Alison Krauss, Steve Martin and Michael McDonald. The Recording Academy stages similar events for classical, jazz and gospel music.

"Vince Gill who has made an indelible mark on the genre," said Recording Academy chief Neil Portnow in a statement. "Our 'Salute To' series pays homage to and celebrates the work of extraordinary people and organizations that continue to ensure that these genres remain a vital part of our culture."

Gill has garnered 20 Grammy Awards in his 30-plus year career. He won best country album in 2007 for his four disc set "These Days," but lost out in the album of the year field that year to Herbie Hancock.

Grammy followers may remember that Gill passed on an opportunity to perform on the telecast in 2008. It's common practice for every album of the year nominee to perform on the Grammys, but Gill balked at the live scenarios presented to him that year, as they featured the county vet performing a duet with Paisley rather than showcasing his nominated album.

Nevertheless, Gill was a willing participant in the awards, appearing as a presenter in 2008. All the drama happened a few months after Portnow flew to Nashville to discuss a perceived lack of country representation on the awards.

Yet all should be forgiven now, as the Grammys this year featured performances by Taylor Swift and Sugarland, and a country-tinged album -- "Raising Sand" from Krauss and Robert Plant -- won the top prize.

Look for the country goodwill to continue into 2010, with Swift's "Fearless" sure to score a bounty of nominations. The Grammy eligibility period for the 2010 telecast will come to a close on Aug. 31, and nominations are expected to be announced in early December.

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Getty Images

Vince Gill sings and chats at Disney Hall

Walt Disney Concert Hall just might be onto a great little niche concert series. A few more shows like the intimate and illuminating performance Vince Gill turned in on Saturday could develop into a regular spate of shows that might be called “Where Songs Come From.”

His 90-minute show, for which he brought a no-frills trio for accompaniment, was chock-full of crowd pleasers, no surprise since fans were only too happy to take him up on his offer to play their favorites by shouting out titles throughout the evening.

But it also had echoes of the sterling round-table session last year with Guy Clark, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt, during which each singer-songwriter took turns talking about the genesis of the song he was about to sing, then passing the spotlight to the next in line.

On Saturday it was all Vince, all the time, and it was a delightfully homey affair. He’s long been a particularly amiable and engaging host — which explains why he landed the honors of emceeing the Country Music Assn. Awards show for 12 years straight.

“Nice place ya got here,” the erstwhile Oklahoma wunderkind and 19-time Grammy winner said after sauntering on stage. “I had to go and buy new clothes to play in a place this nice.”

Following his last tour with a 17-piece band, drafted to tap the multiplicity of textures and styles on his sprawling 2006 four-CD set “These Days,” he told the near-capacity crowd, “I came home almost deaf and ... near broke.... We’re lucky to be here. I thought we were going to have to suspend the tour and go to Washington D.C. to fix things.”