Billy Dukes

Toby Keith's new album 'Hope on the Rocks' is a loud and sudsy collection of songs about beer, barrooms, heartbreak... and beer. Much like a Saturday night out at your favorite watering hole, it's rowdy and fun, but difficult to remember the next morning.

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Little Jimmy Dickens is a bit like Waldo during CMA Awards hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. You know he's going to appear somewhere, but sometimes it takes awhile to find him. He played an OB-GYN anxious to induce labor at the 2012 show. In 2009, he pulled a Kanye West on Paisley.

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Jana Kramer and Brantley Gilbert walked the red carpet at the 2012 CMA Awards separately, but that doesn't mean their young romance has fizzled. The 'Why Ya Wanna' singer says she and Gilbert are still hanging out, but stopped herself before putting a label on the relationship. 

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Prior to the 2012 CMA Awards, fans, media and "experts" lined up to make predictions on who would win each award. Taste of Country staff made their picks as well, and asked readers to do the same in daily readers polls. It's time to look at how everyone did. Warning: It's not pretty. 

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Thompson Square's Shawna Thompson says when she needs a break from husband Keifer, she flashes something she calls the "stank eye." He might have gotten it -- the "stank eye," that is -- after telling Taste of Country Nights radio host Jeremy Robinson how he planned to celebrate if the duo won the Vocal Duo of the Year award at the 2012 CMAs. 

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Jason Aldean's new single 'The Only Way I Know' weaves from the same spool as his biggest hits. Themes of hard work, loyalty and small town values have been at the core of hits like 'Fly Over States,' 'Tattoos on This Town,' and most recently, 'Take a Little Ride,' even if you need to look beyond the cutie in the passenger seat to find them. On the new single from 'Night Train,' Aldean's message is more direct. but no less effective. 

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The latest episode of the hit ABC drama 'Nashville' featured less original music than any of the others so far. There weren't any cuts from mainstream country acts either, leaving many wondering what artists were played between important scenes in Season 1, Episode 4, titled 'We Live in Two Different Worlds.' 

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The Entertainer of the Year award at the 2012 CMA Awards will provide a nervous moment, as fans for the two favorites to win couldn't be further apart in terms of interests or tastes. The trophy is meant to honor the singer with the best year of sales, music, touring and general exposure, but really it comes down to who CMA voters like best. It's not as scientific as it seems it should be, although our prediction is based on hard data. 

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On previous albums, Taylor Swift has written songs about ex-boyfriends like (allegedly) John Mayer, Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner and Jake Gyllenhaal. During an interview with Taste of Country Nights host Jeremy Robinson, the 'Begin Again' singer shared who she will not record a new song about, like, ever. 

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How do you convince a skeptical country audience that you're country? You get Vince Gill to sing and play guitar on your first true country single. That's what Kelly Clarkson did with 'Don't Rush,' a song she'll perform at the CMA Awards on Nov. 1. The pairing is magic. 

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