Artist Updates (4/06/12)

Alan Jackson recently visited the Tonight Show With Jay Leno to perform “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore.” Check it out at the 35:50 mark below.

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Kellie Pickler returned to her American Idol roots last night (4/5) to perform on the results show. Pickler sang the song “Where’s Tammy Wynette” off her acclaimed new album 100 Proof.

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The Band Perry recently performed a three-song set at CMT’s 2012 upfront presentation to an invitation-only crowd at New York’s Museum of Arts & Design. In attendance were Viacom execs Phillippe Dauman and Tom Dooley; Van Toffler, President, Viacom Music and Logo Group; and CMT President Brian Philips.

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Trace Adkins has partnered with Louisiana-based, family-run Hightower Enterprises to create Trace Adkins Hightower’s Country Smoked Sausage exclusively for Brookshire Grocery Company. The grocery chain operates 152 stores in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. “When you think about home cooking, you think about family and tradition,” said Adkins. “The Hightower’s family business was a part of my family’s meals growing up. I’m happy to join them as they expand beyond Louisiana to all the families served by Brookshire Grocery Company stores.”

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Atlanta Southern rock band Blackberry Smoke will perform at the famed Georgia Theatre Saturday, April 7 at 9 pm/ET. MTV Network’s high-definition music channel Palladia will air the show, which will feature guest performances by Zac Brown and Clay Cook of Zac Brown Band and Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie.

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Curb Records has released Lee Brice’s “I Drive Your Truck” for purchase and download in the iTunes store ahead of the April 24 release of his sophomore album Hard 2 Love. Brice’s current single “A Woman Like You” is approaching the top of all the charts, and has sold over 600,000 downloads to date.

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Country duo Miss Willie Brown (Kasey Buckley and Amanda Watkins) have the iTunes Free Download of the Week with “You’re All That Matters to Me” through Monday, April 9. The song was written by Robert John “Mutt” Lange and produced by Nathan Chapman. Additionally, the duo will appear on the Monday, April 9 episode of CW’s Hart of Dixie.

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Black River Entertainment’s Craig Morgan will make his debut appearance on late night show Conan on Wednesday, April 11. The show airs weeknights at 10 pm/CT on TBS.

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Congratulations to Average Joe’s artist Matt Stillwell, who married his longtime girlfriend Lindsey Crawford March 22 at the Vegas Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.

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Teen sensation Payton Rae is filming the video “Stomp The Fire Out” with director Stephen Shepherd. The song (written by Pete Sallis, Karyn Williams, and Brian White) is the first single from Rae’s upcoming album project. The 16-year-old social media wiz has over 120k Twitter followers and 5.5 million YouTube views.