Country Week on the Today Show

This last week on the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda, country music topics were of great interest. As Kathie Lee was on vacation for the week, Hoda had some of the best country artist on the show as her co-host. The country guest consisted of four famous male country singers, Lee Brice, Randy Travis, Josh Turner, and John Rich. The last country guest host of the week was American Idol contestant and now a well-known country artist Kellie Pickler. Famous male country singer Josh Turner started off the week with Hoda and performed all the same duties as Kathie Lee would have. He also taught Hoda how he sings so low and that his favorite drink is sweet tea. On Tuesday, popular artist Lee Brice hosted the show and performed his most popular song “Love Like Crazy” which has the longest ranking of 57 weeks on the country music chart. They also talked about Lee Brice’s recent engagement to his girlfriend and how he used to play football back in the day. Hoda’s next guest was Randy Travis who is one of the best country artists of all time and a music legend. Randy Travis and Hoda talked about several country music topics from Randy’s best country songs to his most memorable achievements throughout his career. The last famous male country singer that appeared on the Today Show with Hoda was John Rich who originally became famous with country singer Big Kenny and their song “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”. John Rich kept Hoda laughing and in good spirits the entire show by cracking jokes and trying on a pair of Hoda’s high heels. Kellie Pickler was Hoda’s last country guest of the week and brought a sweet southern feel to the show. Kellie Pickler described her newest song “Tough” and also showed off her heelless high heels. Also, she shared her ringtone with Hoda which was a song written by one of the best country artist known to man, Ernest Tubb. Many of these artists have been recognized at the Grammy Award's with either winning an award or performing live to the world. You can read more about some of the best country artist who performed or won Grammy's this year at the Grammy Awards in my recent blog from February. You can read more about these country music topics and see several videos of the show on the Today's Show website.

Miranda Lambert's New Music Video

I was watching CMT the other day and the Top 20 Countdown was playing the most popular country songs on the radio right now.  During the countdown they show new country videos that could potentially make the countdown soon. A new video that was shown was from my favorite female country artist, Miranda Lambert. Her new song is called “Over You” and the video was absolutely amazing! The song was actually written by her and her husband, Blake Shelton who is also a famous country artist. They wrote the song in memory of Blake Shelton’s brother, Richie Shelton, who had passed away when Blake was 14-years-old. The song goes on to state that you never get over a death, but you have to learn to deal with the situation. The music video is very emotional along with the song, as Miranda walks through a dark forest dressed in black as if she were going to a funeral. At the very end Miranda stands in front of the tombstone of Richie Shelton’s grave. Miranda Lambert is one of the greatest country music artists in the world and has some of the most inspiring songs.

http://youtu.be/3Y2icHOgC5U

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A Country Spring Break

This past week of March 5-10 was my spring break from college life! I decided to take a trip back home because I was missing that down home country feeling. I go to school in Florida and I chose to spend my spring break at home in the cold Illinois air, kind of weird for a college student right? I needed a break to just hangout with my family and friends and get away from constant studying and homework. While back in Illinois I spent a whole day riding my horse and enjoying the back rodes of Mendon(my home town). I also went on a bird hunt with my boyfriend where we let the dogs run to hunt up some pheasants. Although it was a short trip home, I definetly needed time to just relax and get back to my roots! haha. When I came back from my break which was on March 9th I had to prepare myself for the all day country music event happening the next day! In West Palm Beach, Florida a huge country concert takes place every year called the Rib Round Up. It is very similar to the Chili Cook off which also takes place in South Florida. The event started at noon on Saturday the 10th and lasted all day. It had rained for a portion of the show but it was still worth it to stick around. People came to enjoy country music and tons of delicious racks of ribs! There were many country artist that played throughout the day such as Josh Thompson, Jake Owen, and Montgomery Gentry. It was a very long day, but it was very well worth it to listen to country music!

Riding back home