Friday Artist Updates (1/13/12)

Taylor Swift joined The Civil Wars onstage at the duo’s sold out Ryman Auditorium show last night (Jan. 12) to perform “Safe & Sound.” The song, which Swift wrote with the Civil Wars and T Bone Burnett, is the lead single from the upcoming Hunger Games film hitting theaters March 23. Earlier this week on Wednesday (Jan. 11), Swift nabbed a People’s Choice Award for Best Country Artist. Check out a fan video here.

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Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott has been selected by Cosmopolitan as one of six “Fun Fearless” women featured in the Feb. issue on stands now. Joining Scott on the list are Dakota Fanning, Zoe Saldana, Lucy Hale, Rose Byrne, and Frieda Pinto. Scott and her bandmates in Lady Antebellum will kick off the second leg of their Own The Night 2012 World Tour Friday, Jan. 27 in Tulsa, Ok. with Darius Rucker and Thompson Square.

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Nashville singer-songwriter Kenny Foster’s song “Hometown” will be featured in the 200th and final episode of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airing tonight (Jan. 13) at 7 PM/CT. The two-part episode will focus on families affected by the May 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri. Foster is a Joplin native and penned the song in honor of his hometown.

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Following his recent first No. 1 single “Let It Rain,” David Nail will make his first appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Thursday, January 19 at 10:30 PM/CT. “So much is happening right now, it’s a little hard to take in,” says Nail, “but where I come from, people watch Jay Leno, just like they watched Johnny Carson – and this is the kinda thing that’s gonna mean something to my Mom and Dad. You know, the No. 1 after all those weeks was enough, but this is beyond anything I could’ve dreamed.”

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Congratulations to Jo Dee Messina and husband Chris Deffenbaugh on the birth of their second son on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Jonah Christopher Deffenbaugh joins three-year-old brother Noah and Messina reports that everyone is doing well.

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1010 Records is adding to its roster with the recent signings of Mark Owens and Zach Dylan. Hailing from Calhoun, TN, Dylan’s first album Let The Bad Times Roll is scheduled for recording in February. Owens is a native of Hot Springs, Ar and is also working on his debut. Also on the 1010 roster are Donny Sawyer and Logan Lee.