Filed under: Exclusive, First Time Stories

Larry Gatlin teamed up with brothers Rudy and Steve in the late ’70s to become one of country music’s most successful acts, charting such now-classic hits as ‘Broken Lady, ‘All the Gold in California’ and ‘Houston.’

Larry wrote all but two country songs he and the Gatlin Brothers recorded in their first 17 albums. Songwriting was most certainly his calling.

When Larry was auditioning to join a gospel music group called the Imperials in 1971 in Las Vegas, he was walking through a showroom and caught the attention of country singer Dottie West. She was so impressed with his writing skills that she recorded two of Larry’s compositions: ‘You’re the Other Half of Me’ and ‘Once You Were Mine.’ (She was so impressed, in fact, that she passed one of his demo tapes around Nashville and bought him a plane ticket so he could relocate there.)

The Boot caught up with Larry to ask where he was when he heard his first record on the radio. In this case, it was his first song cut by his musical guardian angel.

“You are not going to believe this,” Larry told The Boot with a big smile. “I had moved to Nashville and Dottie West had recorded one of my songs called ‘You’re The Other Half of Me.’ And this is back before I had a record deal with Monument Records. I was waking up and going to work down at WLAC-TV. I was a janitor down there. My wife was out of town. Janis had gone back to Texas for something … I was by myself in our little apartment, and I had the alarm clock set for maybe one, two, three in the morning, to wake me up. When the radio came on — this was back in 1971– it woke me up with ‘You’re the Other Half of Me’ with Dottie West singing it. Well, good Lord, I jumped out of that bed, and I nearly passed out! Unbelievable! So that’s the first time I heard one of my songs on the radio.”

Filed under: Country News

Keith Urban topped the country — and pop — charts with his 2009 album, ‘Defying Gravity’ and it’s almost a sure thing he’ll do it again when the follow-up to that smash album is delivered. There’s no word yet on a release date for the new record — Keith is in the process of selecting songs for the disc, and it’s still too soon to tell what kind of collection it will be once it’s complete.

“We recorded a lot of songs and we’re deciding which ones may constitute a new album,” Keith tells the Burlington Free Press newspaper in Vermont. “At this stage, I would say it’s not a radical departure. I can’t even put my finger on what it is now. It’s just a new record [laughs]. It’s perhaps a bit deeper. It’s a sexier record.

“I love boy/girl songs,” Keith adds. “They’re timeless.”

Filed under: Exclusive, Country News

Toby Keith has been traveling to the war zones for over nine years with the USO, making 167 trips so far. The country superstar is a tireless supporter of the military men and women who defend our country, going over to entertain them in oftentimes dangerous territories. “Me getting to go and see their faces light up and be on a base with 25 guys in the middle of nowhere on the Pakistan Border is all I need for a reward,” Toby tells The Boot.

It’s one thing to show up at a safe venue on American soil to entertain loyal fans, but it’s a whole different story when one goes to a war zone. We caught up with Toby to ask him about the scariest situation he’s ever encountered on one of his USO tours.

Filed under: CMA Awards, Country News

Steel Magnolia earned their very first CMA nomination this week for Vocal Duo of the Year, and the two could not be more overwhelmed, especially to be included in a category with the iconic Brooks & Dunn.

“It’s a huge honor,” says the duo’s Meghan Linsey. “We went to the CMA Awards last year, and it was our first awards show ever. I remember getting out of the car and thinking, ‘Nobody’s going to know who we are.’ I was just scared to even get out of the car. We got through it and we’ve gotten to go to a couple more awards shows since then, trying to get used to it. I don’t know if you ever do get used to it. I’ll have to ask Brooks & Dunn. [laughs] But it’s a huge honor to be nominated, especially in a category with Brooks & Dunn and Sugarland and these bands who have been around.”

Filed under: Albums, Legends, Country News

Loretta Lynn, the ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter,’ has enjoyed a 50-year career and in the process has become a true American icon. To celebrate the Kentucky-born legend’s 50th anniversary, a diverse group of artists has contributed tracks to ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn,’ an album set for release November 9 on Columbia Records.

Personally chosen by Loretta herself, the list is a who’s-who of country and rock favorites including Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Allison Moorer, Paramore, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, the White Stripes, Lucinda Williams, Gretchen Wilson and Lee Ann Womack.

“I am so happy that these singers wanted to do this record,” says Loretta. “I love ‘em all, and it was so great to hear all the different ways they did my hits,” she said, referring to how each artist recorded with their own choice of producer and musicians. “I hope people like it as much as I do and we sell a bunch of records!!”

Filed under: Country News

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton have been no strangers to the small screen lately. Blake took a turn at co-hosting the ‘Today Show‘ with Hoda Kotb last week, while Miranda appeared on ‘Good Morning America‘ on Wednesday (September 1) — joined by Dierks Bentley — to announce the nominees for the 2010 CMA Awards. Miranda got a record-setting nine nods (the most ever in one year for a female artist), while fianc

Filed under: Exclusive, Country News

Jimmy Wayne has been home for a month since ending his Meet Me Halfway trek across America to raise awareness for teen homelessness. As he continues to nurse a broken foot, which he suffered just miles from the finish line, the singer has been able to reflect back on his journey and put a plan into action for an album based around the walk.

Jimmy has already completed one song inspired by people he met along the way during his seven-month journey from Nashville, Tenn. to Phoenix, Ariz. “It’s a consolidation of all the people I have met in one song,” Jimmy tells The Boot. “This album is not going to be your bubble-gum record at all. It’s inspired by this walk. It’s not necessarily all about the foster kids because you don’t have to beat that thing to death. It’s a record about my experience — why I walked, about the walk, the end of the walk, and what I hope happens after the walk. I’m writing down the truth and I’m writing from my heart. It’s real. It’s my heart.”