BIG FROG 104'S HOT NEWZ FROM NASHVILLE

October 19, 2010 » Cover Whirl: Whirlwind, that is, as Taylor Swift continues to pop up on magazine covers in advance of her Oct. 25 Speak Now album release. "I was driving near the mall and I saw this girl with my tour T-shirt on," Swift tells Parade of a time she stalked one of her fans. "She was probably 11. I made a U-turn and tried to follow her — I really had to do some maneuvering. I found her in a video game store and just kind of walked up to her and said, ‘Oh, hi. I wanted to meet you.’ She had no idea what to say for about three minutes. Then her mom walked over, burst into tears, and proceeded to tell me that they’d driven all the way from Austin, Texas, just to see where I was discovered." Read the full interview here. » Full Steam Ahead: From Blondie to '80s movies, to the sci-fi genre steampunk, Sugarland pulled from several cultural inspirations for their latest effort The Incredible Machine. "It truly is an album of anthems," the duo's Kristian Bush says of the 11-track collection, which features the single "Stuck Like Glue." "That's the musical ground where Jennifer and I meet. I imagine music as very wide, long and dramatic, like we can score a movie with just the stuff that is still on [the cutting-room floor]. And Jennifer's voice and her choice of words can be just as grand, [so] that one pushes the other to be even bigger." As if the record wasn't big enough already, Sugarland are also offering a Deluxe Edition featuring the record's documentary Blood, Love, Hope, Lust, Steam. Read more on the Tuesday (10/19) release below. And watch behind-the-scenes rehearsal video from their Monday (10/18) Unstaged concert here. » Pretty Fry For Some Write Guys: There's a saying in Nashville: "You want fries with that?" Okay, they have that one everywhere. But in Nashville they say, "It all starts with a song." So Sunday night's Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame dinner and induction was kind of a big deal. Accordingly, some big-deal stars came out including Garth Brooks, whose surprise appearance to perform "Unanswered Prayers," "That Summer" and "The Thunder Rolls" honored the writer of those songs, inductee Pat Alger. Steve Cropper ("In The Midnight Hour," "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay"), Paul Davis ("I Go Crazy," "'65 Love Affair") and Stephen Foster ("Oh Susanna," "My Old Kentucky Home") were also added to the Hall. And Taylor Swift was honored, for the third time in four years, as Songwriter/Artist of the Year. » First Time For Everything: Lady Antebellum and Easton Corbin led the inaugural American Country Awards nominees with seven nods each. Carrie Underwood followed with six, while Miranda Lambert and Josh Turner both racked up five for the show that will air live from Las Vegas Dec. 6 on FOX-TV. Fan voting is already underway here. See the full nominees list here. » Mixing Business With Leather: Dierks Bentley, along with thousands of bikers and concertgoers, helped raise more than $250,000 for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt during Nashville's Fifth Annual Miles & Music For Kids charity motorcycle ride. The convoy of motorists headed to Riverfront Park for a closing concert, which presented Bentley's band backing Luke Bryan, Laura Bell Bundy, Miranda Lambert, Del McCoury, Heidi Newfield, Jerrod Niemann and Matt Kearney. "This [event] makes me more appreciative of [having a healthy family]," Bentley said before the ride. "Families don't need to be worrying about money and financial debt. They just need to concentrate on their kids getting healthy and getting well, [and] that's what Vanderbilt's Children's Hospital is there to provide." Bundy emceed the show as alter egos "Euneeda Biscuit" and "Shocantelle Brown." Highlights included Bentley taking song requests from the crowd, Bryan and Bentley covering the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Fishin' In The Dark" and Jake Owen watching the show from his speedboat on the Cumberland River. » Coal In Country's Stocking? The latest addition to November's 44th Annual CMA Awards is a tribute to a coal miner's daughter, with a Christmas show riding piggyback. During the Nov. 10 gala, Miranda Lambert and Sheryl Crow will celebrate Loretta Lynn's 50th year in the music business with a performance of Lynn's legendary autobiographical hit. The next night, Crow joins Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Reba, LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker and Sugarland for CMA Country Christmas. The 90-minute special will be taped to air Nov. 29 on ABC-TV. » Gig & Rich: Celebrity blogs including Las Vegas Weekly are abuzz with news that John Rich has been cast in the upcoming season of NBC-TV's Celebrity Apprentice. LaToya Jackson, Jose Conseco, Lisa Rinna and Gary Busey are among the contestants. Read the full LVW article here. »Hit List Gary Allan will have minor surgery in late November to remove a polyp from a vocal cord, forcing him to cancel a Dec. 11 concert in Cherokee, NC and his Dec. 31 Las Vegas date. The Cherokee concert will be rescheduled, and tickets for both shows are being refunded. Allan will continue to tour through Nov. 20 and is expected to make a full recovery. Jason Aldean staged his fifth annual Concert For The Cure Friday (10/15) in Evansville, IN, raising more than $132,000 for Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Brad Paisley's first book The Diary Of A Player will be released in May 2011. Co-written by Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild, the tome reveals how guitar masters in country, blues and rock 'n' roll influenced Paisley's life. Details here.   Birthdays Jeannie C. Riley (10/19) Jimi Westbrook (Little Big Town) (10/20) The late Owen Bradley (10/21) Jimmy Wayne (10/23) Dwight Yoakam (10/23) Chely Wright (10/25) On TV Tuesday (10/19): Blake Shelton, Chelsea Lately (E!). Wednesday (10/20): Jamey Johnson, Late Show With David Letterman (CBS). Thursday (10/21): The Judds, Good Morning America (ABC) & Today (NBC); Dierks Bentley, Live! With Regis And Kelly (syndicated); Kellie Pickler, Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated). Friday (10/22): Sugarland, Today (NBC); The Judds, Fox & Friends (FOX News). In Stores Tuesday (10/19) Sugarland The Incredible Machine "When we set out to do this record, we said, 'Well, it doesn't matter what people think. We're just going to go write the songs,'" Kristian Bush says of the duo's new genre-bending collection, which features lead single "Stuck Like Glue." "Wide Open," which appeared on the 2010 Winter Olympics soundtrack, is also included. Bush and Nettles wrote or co-wrote all 11 songs. Bush and Jennifer Nettles co-produced. The Deluxe Edition includes a DVD with documentary, a live performance of the title track and the "Stuck Like Glue" music video. Buy the standard version here and the Deluxe here. Various Artists Original Songwriter Demos Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 Demo versions of Garth Brooks' "The Dance," Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine," Tim McGraw's "Something Like That," Martina McBride's "Independence Day" are among the songs highlighted on the two 10-track compilations. » The More I Pink: Wynonna (l) and Naomi Judd flip the switch on the Grand Ole Opry stage Friday (10/15), turning the legendary backdrop pink to symbolize the ongoing fight against breast cancer. FOX News anchor Greta Van Susteren and actress Kimberly Williams Paisley were guest announcers during the evening's show. © 2010 LH Publications, LLC