Today in our Country Music Recap, Telluride becomes more than a song and a place,  The Grammys add a few more performers, and Taylor and Miley team up for “Fifteen”.

Telluride is stirring a buzz in country music circles with their debut release of “Four Square Miles“. An up and comer in the industry, some sites are already pitting them against acts like Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum as the next big group! Find out more at your source for Underground Country Music!

Taylor Swift and Sugarland have both confirmed that they will be performing at the 2009 Grammy Awards Sunday Feb 8th on CBS. Other superstars on the performing schedule include Kenny Chesney, Kid Rock, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, and Robert Plant with Alison Krauss. Sounds like a star-studded event to me!

And speaking of Taylor and Miley, the two are rumored to be pairing up for a duet on Taylor Swifts new song “Fifteen”  during the Grammy Awards show!

Stay tuned for more Country Music News from your pals at CMNB!

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CMT reports that gas prices are causing some artists to book alternative transportation while others are simply drowning in expenses.

Imagine if you will, that your gas tank holds up to 25 gallons of that liquid gold. At today’s prices, that’s almost $1200 per fill-up. Not to mention that the lumbering beast of a tour bus only gets 6-7 miles to a gallon. At that price it’s no wonder the music industry is all abuzz about how to recuperate rising fuel costs, and some artists are canceling tour dates alltogether!

“It’s killing the smaller bands out there,” says Keith Case, whose Keith Case & Associates books such acts as Alison Krauss & Union Station, Ralph Stanley and the Dan Tyminski Band.

So far festival and concert ticket prices haven’t risen much to make up for the additional fuel costs, primarily because the ticket rates are set many months in advance and do not take increasing travel expenses into account. So while fans are able to afford the tickets, they’re having to spend more on gas just to get to the shows, which takes a direct hit out of merchandise and concession stand revenues.

“That’s a big deal for a lot of midrange bands,” Case says, “and they’re finding that [those sales are] dramatically down. What it feels like to them — at least what they’re reporting to me — is that people are spending so much to go to festivals, as far as fuel costs go, that they are not spending as much at the festivals.”

And for those smaller bands, merchandise sales are where the money’s at, so artists are struggling to keeps up with the cost of touring, and choosing instead to stick with local festivals or combining transportation with other bands. Meanwhile sources say that overall festival and concert attendance has only seen a mild impact. Attendance was actually up at Country Stampede in Manhattan, Kan., he noted. Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift headlined that extravaganza. “The organizers of this event tell me that the people they’ve talked to [made the festival] their vacation of the year,” Cunningham said.

To find which of your favorite country artists will be playing near you, please visit our sister site, Country Music on Tour.

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Brad Paisley’s latest single “Letter to Me” pushes right to the top of the Billboard country music song charts this week followed by Rascal Flatts’ “Winner at a Losing Game,” Montgomery Gentry’s “What Do Ya Think About That,” Sugarland’s “Stay” and Swift’s mighty “Our Song” rounding out the top 5.

The songs making their first appearance on the charts are Jewel’s “Stronger Woman” (No. 50), Sara Evans’ “Some Things Never Change” (No. 54), the Reba McEntire- Kenny Chesney duet, “Every Other Weekend” (No. 58), Clay Walker’s “She Likes It in the Morning” (No. 59) and the Drew Davis Band’s “Back There All the Time” (No. 60).

Anne Murray has the highest-debuting album, Duets: Friends & Legends, which bows at No. 8. The other newbies are Trisha Yearwood’s Love Songs (a collection from her MCA days) at No. 35, followed by the multi-artist package, I Will Always Love You: 17 Inspirational Love Songs, at No. 44 and Kenny Rogers’ A Love Song Collection (No. 53). Suppose anyone’s marketing music toward Valentine Day shoppers?

The remaining Top 5 albums, in descending order, are Garth Brooks‘ The Ultimate Hits, the Eagles‘ Long Road Out of Eden, Sugarland’s Enjoy the Ride and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand.

There are no returning albums to this week’s chart, but there is one comeback song, the Road Hammers’ “I Don’t Know When to Quit,” popping in at No. 51.

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