Country Weekly Magazine has named Chris Young ‘Hottest Country Bachelor’ for the second time around after more than 160,000 fans voted in an online poll.  Young also won in 2006, and this news is just as hot as his single Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song) which has entered into the country radio Top 40 this week.

Young is very gracious for the honor, and in a message to his fans he had to say, “This is a really cool thing for me that they all showed up in force to vote for this, and a big thank you to all the fans that did it, ‘cause this is a huge deal.”

This Friday (5/1), Young will be headlining the Chris Young & Friends Tornado Relief Benefit Presented by MTSU and The Big 98 WSIX, with proceeds to help support victims of the recent tornados that hit Tennessee’s Rutherford County and Chris’ hometown of Murfreesboro.  For tickets and more information click the link below. 

If you thought Kenny Chesney was tired after closing out his Sun City Carnival Tour with a sold-out show at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas or after a stunning performance at Stagecoach in California this past weekend, you thought wrong!

Kenny is hitting the road yet again for his biggest tour ever in the biggest state ever (continental), starting May 1st at San Antonio’s AT&T Center.  The biggest story of Kenny’s tours isn’t his shows, thou, but the parties going on beforehand…

“I always tell people our show starts long before we hit the stage,” Chesney agrees. “I live to get out there on a Gator and buzz around the lot. You see people having the best time: they’re playing Frisbee, blaring their music, making their margaritas or kicking back in a lounge chair having a few beers and they’re just so chilled out. Some folks bring their own sand, some people paint their trucks and it seems like everybody makes new friends”

Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum, and Sugarland will be joining Kenny along the way… check out Kenny Chesney’s Website for more tour dates and info

Churchill Downs announced that multiple-award winner and country music superstar LeAnn Rimes will help the historic racetrack launch a modern-day Kentucky Derby tradition when she performs the national anthem live as part of the ceremonies leading up to the 135^th running of the Grade I Kentucky Derb.

Rimes’ performance will be the first live vocal performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” by a national recording artist on Derby Day and will be televised by NBC Sports as part of its pre-race coverage.

“Churchill Downs is honored to have such an accomplished, respected and gifted singer as LeAnn Rimes perform the national anthem before the tens of thousands of Derby fans watching in person from the racetrack on the first Saturday in May, as well as the millions of television viewers who will share in the experience from Derby parties around the country while watching NBC’s coverage on May 2,” said Kevin Flanery, senior vice president of Churchill Downs Incorporate.

Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift are among the first round of performers annouced for the 2009 CMT Music Awards. The show will be held at the Nasvhille’s Sommet Center.

CMT AWARD VOTING: It’s your turn to pick the winners for the only fan-voted country music awards. Voting is now open to fans and it continues until May 11th and the final nominees will be announced on May 19th.

Ticket will be on for sale on May 2 via Ticketmaster.

Up and coming country act Brokedown Cadillac stopped by for an interview and two amazing live performances. Here they are playing for us, their signature tune, “Brokedown Cadillac.” Stay tuned for more from Brokedown Cadillac on TrueCountryTV.

Rascal Flatts‘ new album “Unstoppable” came out yesterday (April 7th). It includes the trio’s current single, “Here Comes Goodbye,” along with “Forever,” and “Love Who You Love.”

It’s Rascal Flatts‘ first album release since their 2007’s “Still Feels Good.” Joe Don Rooney notes that “Unstoppable” demonstrates how far they have progressed over the years and calls the album, “the best thus far.”

Best album or not, I’m just excited they released a new one!!!

Garth Brooks presented George Strait with the ACM Artist of the Decade award on Monday (April 6) in Las Vegas. Brooks received the award himself for the 1990’s decade. The presentation included an all-star tribute concert that featured performances of Strait’s classic songs by Brooks & Dunn, Jamie Foxx, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert and many others.

Backstage, Brooks said Strait deserves to win the award every decade, noting, “People just talk about him standing there and singing, and if you are a George Strait fan, it’s a wonderful thing to be there.”

All-Star Tribute concert will air May 27th on CBS.

There are several reports from New York media outlets that a septic tank from Keith Urban’s tour bus was emptied into the streets of New York just outside a club Urban was playing at on April 1st.

The story is somewhat true.  Keith Urban did indeed play at New York’s Webster Hall on April 1st, and a tour bus did happen to empty it’s load into the streets outside the venue around 3 am, but Urban’s tour bus was actually in Tennessee at the time.  The bus (pictured above) guilty for going number two is actually owned by Verizon, and the fact that Keith Urban is plastered all over the side of it tricked concert goers and news reporters.

Urban’s publicist issued a statement today: “Any accusations that (Urban) was responsible in any way (for the alleged release of septic water into the streets of New York City) are inaccurate and malicious.”

When we first saw this story on April 1st we couldn’t help but think it was another April Fools joke.  But boy were we wrong!

Last month Steve Martin released his first music CD, a bluegrass album called “The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo,” which he will perform at the Grand Ole Opry on May 30, in Nashville.  Martin’s friend Jon McEuen, a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and producer of “The Crow,” says that ”The Opry audience will find out when Steve picks, that he’s a musician disguised as an actor.”

While you wait for the show you can head over to Amazon.com to pick up his album.