He sings.  He plays guitar.  He writes songs.  He paints pictures.  He does animation. And on top of that, he’s an author as well.  Brad Paisley has new book out today, called “Diary of a Player.”  It’s a memoir of his many, many romantic conquests…oh wait…actually it’s the story of his life playing guitar, something he’s hugely respected for.  He writes about how the gee-tar helped him become the person he is today, and he shares the page with other musicians giving their side of the story.   To read a bit, click here.

“Four the Record” is Miranda Lambert’s fourth CD (get it?) and it’s getting rave reviews.  Just as you’d expect from Miranda, she’s singing about bullets, guns, cheatin’, happy stuff, sad stuff, the whole works on there.   Blake makes an appearance, but there’s also a song (“Dear Diamond”) about getting married and still getting a little on the side.  Ouch!  Click here to hear more.

TV shows love their Toby

When Toby Keith puts out a new CD, he makes the rounds like everyone does, but in his case, the political TV shows of all political persuasions like to visit with him as well. This week, he visited HLN’s Joy Behar, where he weighed in on a few issues (click here for that video), then today he’s scheduled to be on Fox and Friends. That’s the same show that got Hank Williams junior going on Hitler and Obama. Will something newsworthy and controversial result from Toby’s visit? I’m sure he’ll speak his mind, but I’m guessing he’ll avoid the H-word, if you know what I mean.  By the way, Toby’s interview with us from Wednesday is right here.

Here’s the trailer for a new animated film that comes out in March, starring Taylor Swift and Zac Ephron! Looks like she does a pretty good job:

Remember when Trace Adkins’ house burned down this past June?  It was scary and devastating, but everyone was okay.  You’d think by now he’d be rebuilding, but in fact, the burnt shell of a house is still standing due to insurance investigations, etc.  Finally, crews were able to start demolition yesterday, and Trace tweeted this pic:

Not his band or his singers.  Toby says that if the performers on his tour want to drink a little drink or smoke a little smoke, he doesn’t care, as long as they can still do their jobs.  But when it comes to the crew, it’s a different matter altogether.  Toby says everyone handling equipment has to be tested regularly, and this is a lesson he learned the hard way.  About 15 years ago, Toby and the band had just left the stage when a huge piece of lighting rigging crashed on to the stage.  Turns out the guy who set it up was a meth addict.  So there you go.  No more messing around.  Toby’s crew has been peeing in a cup ever since!

…or one of them, at least, according to People magazine. Every November they do their “Sexiest Man Alive” issue, and they’ve released a video of Jake at his photo shoot, which means he’s made it into the issue. No word yet on who is THE sexiest man alive, but my money’s on Ryan Gosling for this year.

Click here to watch the video.

“Clancy’s Tavern,” Toby’s new CD, is out today.  (Don’t forget:  he takes over The Wolf today from noon to 1, and then chats with us Wednesday morning at 7:20.)   Anyway, you’ll get “Made in America,” “Red Solo Cup,” and much more, including the title track, which I really like.  Here Toby explains to “Roughstock” the real life story behind the song:

“My Grandmother passed away when she was 86; she was like Miss Kitty and ran a supper club/night club in Fort Smith for years. So when I was a kid, some of the earliest memories I have of being on this earth were going by her night club and seeing my Grandmother. I spent a whole summer with her, and years ago I wrote the song “Honkytonk U” about it and her buying me a guitar. This song is a tribute to her. The name of the bar was Billy Garners’ Supper Club, but it wasn’t fitting into my song very well. My Grandfather had nicknamed her Clancy because she was a saloon keeper, and always called her Clancy around the house. So I used Clancy’s Tavern. I give you the visual and everything you see when you go in the door. There’s nothing made up in this song. Every bit of this is word for word, exactly what you would have seen if you went in the front door at 5:00 and stayed all night long. It’s a pretty special song to me.”

Click here to here some clips, or tune in at noon today!

Trace Adkins sang the anthem at last night’s game, just one night after teen Idol Scotty McCreery sang it for game 1. You might have heard that Scotty made a little flub so it sounded like he was saying “No Jose” instead of “O say.” (scroll down to watch it for yourself.) It was an otherwise perfect anthem, by the way, but it’s impossible to hear it and not wonder why he’s mentioning Jose all of the sudden. Anyway, last night was Trace’s turn, and he did a swell job. No Joses anywhere!