NEXT WEEK: Tim McGraw

Where does your mom live? “My mom actually lives about an hour north of Nashville, so she’s just up the road and I see her a lot.  After we moved to Nashville and started having grandkids, it didn’t take long for her to transfer and get closer.  So she’s been here for 7 or 8 years.  And I think she’s getting ready to retire from work, and she’ll move even closer. ”

LISTEN:

#10: Mama Don’t Forget To Pray For Me–Diamond Rio’s 1991 hit seemed appropriate for a new band with their first taste of success.  Anyone who has ever left home in search of their dream has had this wish.

#9: Mama Knows–Shenandoah’s lead singer Marty Raybon is countrier than biscuits & gravy, and you can hear them in this 1988 classic.  An ode to women’s intuition.

#8: Hot Mama–For the record, Trace Adkins says his mother doesn’t like this song.  But his wife does, and that’s what this song is about.  She also identifies with “Ladies Love Country Boys.”  There are lots of similar songs, including the Brooks & Dunn hit called “Mama Don’t Get Dressed Up For Nothin.’” 

#7: Mama He’s Crazy–Who better to sing this song than country’s top mother-daughter duo.  When Wynonna sings the verses, her mother Naomi just shakes her head.  Wynonna was 20 years old in 1984 when this song became their first #1.

#6: The Baby–Blake Shelton didn’t write this song, but he is the baby of his family.  He left home for Nashville right out of high school, but his mother is still very much alive.  Still, the drama of this song helped it to become his second #1 in 2003.

#5: Coat Of Many Colors–Dolly Parton swears this is a true story about the quilted coat her mother made for her.  I’m not about to question Dolly.  The coat itself is on display at Dollywood.

#4: Mama’s Song–Carrie Underwood actually has a couple of “mama” songs.  The first was her second single “Don’t Forget To Remember Me,”  which is similar to the Diamond Rio hit at #10.  Carrie wrote this song after she met Mike Fisher.  It was released as a single two months after they were married.

#3: In My Daughter’s Eyes–Martina McBride recorded a song from the mother’s point of view.  At the time, Martina had two daughters.  Her third, Ava, was born in 2005.  Martina didn’t write this song.  The writer, James T. Slater, was a childless bachelor at the time who wrote the song for his brother.

#2: Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys–Even mama has a sense of humor.  Waylon & Willie had a #1 with it in 1978.  But it was written by the husband & wife team of Ed & Patsy Bruce.    By the way, Ed Bruce is Trace Adkins favorite country singer.

#1: Mama Tried–Merle Haggard wrote it from his own life.  He actually did turn 21 in prison in 1957, although he wasn’t sentenced to life without parole.  His longest term was three years, and in 1972, he was granted a full pardon by President Richard Nixon. 

As we said, this isn’t a complete list.  We almost included “Papa Loves Mama” by Garth Brooks, but it was just too dysfunctional.  Kellie Pickler wrote a couple of songs based on her mother, who abandoned her as a child.  “I Wonder” was released as a single in 2007.  But the more poignant song is appropriatly titled “Mother’s Day,” and is on her latest 100 Proof CD.  Reba McEntire recorded a number of songs about mothers, including “Fancy” and “Is There Life Out There.”

Jake and Lacey got engaged one month ago on stage at Jake’s annual benefit concert in Vero Beach.  Jake had been hinting he would likely get married before he begins the Brothers of the Sun tour with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw.  That tour begins June 2 in Tampa.

Jake co-hosted Country Countdown USA in March, and told host Lon Helton, ““I don’t have plans on getting married any time soon.  But if I do, I’m gonna marry that girl, cause she’s awesome.” He also said he got a tattoo of Lacey’s lips on his arm.

LISTEN: 12-13 Jake8

It definitely was a wild weekend for Jake, who celebrated Cinco de Mayo in Florida on Saturday.  He shared photos of his celebrations on his Twitter page.  Saturday night, he ran afoul of the law, tweeting a photo of himself in handcuffs next to a Sherriff’s car.  Jake wasn’t actually arrested, and he later apologized. 

Jake met his new bride when she appeared in the video to his hit, “Eight Second Ride.”  The two drifted apart after that, but reconnected for the “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” video.  Jake told Lon, “I knew the only way to get her back to see me was to tell her I wanted her to be in my video, so she fell for my trap, my trap worked.”

LISTEN: 12-13 Jake1

Jake and Lacey are expected to enjoy a one week honeymoon before starting rehearsals for the Brothers of the Sun tour next week.

Next week: Zac Brown

TV and movie star Ashton Kutcher was among the Hollywood celebrities.  Last month, some country stars wondered why Ashton wore a cowboy hat and sang “I Cross My Heart” before handing out the Female Vocalist of the Year trophy at the Academy of Country Music Awards.  The woman who won that award, Miranda Lambert, was among those who tweeted her concerns.  Friday night in Louisville, Miranda met up with Ashton at a charity dinner, and she tweeted a photo of them together, saying “He’s sweet and he lives country music! For real! And he loves randaritas.”  So obviously all is forgiven!

No question that it was the country music wedding of 2011, and it happened on May 14th.  We checked out their calendars, and neither of them are working.  So what’s the plan?   “We’re gonna be home, and us home together is very rare.  I told him I have a little something planned, so be off your tractor by noon!” 

So wait a minute.  It’s their first wedding anniversary, and Blake is going to be on his tractor?  “People don’t know this, but Blake is a frustrated farmer.  He does music and a TV show as a hobby.  He really wants to be a farmer.  Today I called him and he was checking on his corn.  Yeah, pretty rock star!  He’s got one of those spoiled brat tractors, with a cab and an iPod dock, air conditioning, and a cooler, I’m like, ‘Really? You call that work?’”

So Blake is a farmer.  Describe his garden? “We just have a garden by the house, but he does the big stuff in the woods for the deer.  Uusally he plants 40 acres a year for the deer.  He loves it.  It’s his hobby.”

LISTEN 12-19 Miranda4

Have you talked to her about why she sang the Pistol Annies song “Hell On Heels?”  I think she did it because she knew she could do it.  Some peoplem can’t pull that off.  But thank God she did it, because we’ve sold 600,000 singles!  She pushed us over Gold and it keeps climbing, but I’ve taken her under my wing, she got eliminated but she’s gonna be fine.  She’s just starting and got the world ahead of her.”

A lot has been made of Blake’s friendship with Adam, but I read where he brought Adam to your house?  “He brought his girlfriend, who was a supermodel, and they recently broke up, so we’re kind of devastated.  They came to our house, Adam’s like a city boy, and Ann is from Russia, so we drove around, sat around the campfire, and it was fun.”

The season finale of The Voice airs this Monday & Tuesday on NBC TV.  Lady Antebellum will perform on Tuesday night.  Team Blake will be represented by Jermaine Paul, and Miranda says: “He is a powerhouse.”

LISTEN: 12-19 Miranda2

So what else were you doing at the Grammy Awards?  “I was making her randoritas, which is Bacardi and raspberry lemonade,  Crystal Light with a splash of Sprite Zero.  And I wasn’t making them, Jordan my tour manager was making the drinks, and she kissed him in front of everybody.  She was really excited about those drinks!”

LISTEN: 12-19 Miranda6

LISTEN: 12-19 Miranda3

Miranda performed at the All For the Hall benefit with her trio, Pistol Annies, and she had fun performing with host Keith Urban: “Nothing like having Keith Urban and Vince Gill in your back-up band.  I learned so much from Keith Urban, he was my first tour I ever did.  I remember the first night, we watched the whole show, and it was like, Oh my gosh, band meeting right now!  He’s just a great entertainer.”