Thompson Square took a break from performing to give back! The husband and wife duo who recently performed on the 2011 CMA Awards, spent time on Saturday, November 19th working on the 69th Annual CSX Santa Train, and gave a helping hand by handing out 15 tons of toys to children and families in the coal mining towns in and around the Appalachian Mountains throughout Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. They were 2 out of over 100 volunteers who traveled aboard the train covering 110 miles between 5:30am and 3pm. The charity train ride concluded in Kingsport, TN where the duo ended the day with a performance.

You can check out Thompson Square’s CMA Performance of “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not” Below.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Keith Urban took just a couple of minutes to thanks his fans! This personal message from Keith to his multitude of fans comes at an especially important time for the country rock star, as he recently announced that he required throat surgery due to the formation of a polyp on his vocal chords.

While this is considered a minor operation with out-patient status, it has meant that Urban has had to do some rescheduling of shows and performances. However, he did maintain his scheduled appearances at the 2011 CMA Awards including a stellar performance of “You Gonna Fly” that really had the crowd going, and a collaboration with Vince Gill and Brad Paisley saluting Glen Campbell. During the “You Gonna Fly” performance (which you can view below), the strain on Urban’s vocal chords is audible, but he still seriously rocked it, showing his dedication to his fans! Take a couple minutes and hear Urban give thanks before he has to take a break to rest up his vocal chords!

Watch Keith’s Personal Message to Fans Here!

In case you missed it…Watch Keith perform at the 2011 CMA Awards

Well another year of the CMA Awards is over and done with. To be honest it wasn’t what I was expecting, I guess I had my hopes a little high. I think the winners of the night were a shock to many and the performances as well. With that being said, congrats to all.

I’m just going to give a quick rundown of the highlights of my night…

I loved Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood’s intro! Every year it supplies me with enough laughs for 3 days! The Tim McGraw and Faith Hill dolls were hilarious and Hank Jr. made an appearance that I’m sure made some people angry, but I found quite comical! Keith Urban’s performance was not what I’m use to from him, but we definitely wouldn’t want him to overdo it with his surgery coming up. I really do love that song of his though, “You Gonna Fly!”

Miranda Lambert paid tribute to her “Kerosene” days when she had fire during her performance of “Baggage Claim!” I thoroughly enjoyed Eric Church and Chris Young’s performances with their current singles.

BUT…by far the best performance of the night was Martina McBride! Her song, “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” is such a touching song that gives me chills each time I hear it. Her voice to go along with the lyrics made it beyond amazing!

Each time the camera showed Reba McIntire she looked stunning! She looked like she was really enjoying her evening and very happy for each artist who won. She is such a classy lady and I wished we could have seen more of her!

They couldn’t of done a more perfect tribute to Glen Campbell! They picked the right people to honor him and it was so touching. I’m not going to lie…I teared up a little.

There were 3 awards that I 100% agreed with and they were Album Of The Year, Male Vocalist and Female Vocalist Of The Year. My Kinda Party has done great things and definitely deserved that recognition! The newlyweds (Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert) both winning for the second year in a row was priceless, both genuinely deserved this award!

I sure did miss seeing people like Alan Jackson and George Strait. Were they not there or the camera people just didn’t show them? I’m not sure, but they were greatly missed!

Again, congratulations to all the winners and everyone who was involved in the huge event in Nashville!

The 2011 45th Annual Country Music Association Awards have come and gone. It was a pretty great night overall. Maybe there was just a little too much sparkle (for example, several sequin blazers from a variety of male performers or Luke Bryan’s rhinestone studded jeans…), but there were some really strong performances, two great hosts (Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood proved to be a great comedic team…again), and a really amazing tribute to Glen Campbell by Brad Paisley, Vince Gill and Keith Urban.

My favorite part might be that both Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton won in their categories (Female and Male vocalist) for the second year in a row! It really has been a great year for them!

If you didn’t have the chance to watch it with us live, you can find the complete list of the winners below (to see a complete list of all the nominees, click here). Check it out, and see if you agree with who walked away with a CMA Award this year! Let us know what you think, and comment below.
Congratulations to all the winners, and to the nominees as well!

2011 45th Annual CMA Awards Winners

Entertainer of the Year
Taylor Swift

Male Artist of the Year
Blake Shelton

Female Artist of the Year
Miranda Lambert

Vocal Duo of the Year
Sugarland

Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum

New Artist of the Year
The Band Perry

Album of the Year
My Kinda Party, Jason Aldean

Single of the Year
“If I Die Young“, The Band Perry

Song of the Year
“If I Die Young“, The Band Perry

Musical Event of the Year
Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson “Don’t You Wanna Stay”

Music Video of the Year
“You and Tequila” Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter

Musician of the Year
Mac McAnally – Guitar

Are you ready for the 45th Annual Country Music Association Awards? Well…HaleighT is, and she has all the details for the awards show tonight! Remember, you can watch with us by following us on Twitter (@CountryMusicNB, @HaleighT_CMNB, @MissMollyCMNB) and Facebook!

So, watch the short video below, and don’t forget to tell us how you like to watch the CMAs!

Watch the Video Below for 2011 CMA Awards Details

The 2011 CMA Awards will air on LIVE out of Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday, November 9th on ABC at 7pm, and will be hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.

Luke Bryan has been asked to be the Nashville red carpet correspondent for the “Ellen Degeneres Show” at the 45th Annual CMA Awards! As we have been saying, the show will be November 9, Wednesday. Luke’s segment will air on Thursday’s episode of Ellen.

The first time the country star appeared on the comedian’s show was late September, where he performed “Country Girl (Shake It For Me).” He also portrayed “Pierre” in Ellen’s ongoing soap opera, “As The Tide Turns.”

Luke is also nominated in the New Artist category and will be performing during the show!

The 2011 CMA Awards are coming up in just under a week, and ABC has started airing some pretty amusing promotions! The first aired about a week ago featuring Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, this year’s hosts, being upstaged at auditions by Donny and Marie Osmond. Another promo has been released and it’s just as funny…cheesy, but funny. This time, Carrie and Brad, are spoofing an Olay advertisement, and its all in good fun! You can watch it below, and don’t forget to tune into the CMA Awards next week!

Watch Carrie and Brad Spoof Olay!

The 2011 CMA Awards will air LIVE on Wednesday, November 9th on ABC at 7pm.

The networks know that country fans are excited about the upcoming CMA Awards. So, they are offering fans a little something to hold them over till the big day. Local ABC affiliates will air a special “CMA Close Up Presents Road To The CMA Awards” between October 28th and November 9th. This half hour special will showcase the nominees from the various categories for the 45th Annual CMA Awards. Interviews with Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, The Band Perry, Kristin Chenowith and Little Big Town are among the list of interviewees. These country stars will share tidbits like their favorite memories of past CMA Awards and give insight into what its like to be honored with a nomination! Be sure to check local listings for dates and times to catch this special programming!

The 2011 CMA Awards will air on Wednesday, November 9th on ABC at 7pm, and will be hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.

Today Miranda Lambert’s fourth studio album, Four the Record, was released for sale! Joe Nichols’ newest album will be out next week along with David Nail’s newest coming the 15th! Those are just a few new albums that this girl can’t wait to get her hands on! Y’all be looking for a review of those from MissMolly, WhiskeyChick or myself real soon!

Also the CMA Award Show is just about a week away! WE CAN’T WAIT! This office has been seriously buzzing about this event since about April! It will be a party for sure!

Y’all just sit tight, it’s going to be a fun ride! =)

The CMAs are about two weeks away and the commercials have hit television! For the fourth year in a row Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will be hosting the event. I don’t know about y’all but I am VERY excited for their always clever opening jokes! This entertaining year has definitely given them plenty of material to work with!

Here is one of the first of many CMA commercials to come!