Seldom has a bone provided so much nourishment for so many people.

Singer Blake Shelton and songwriters Craig Wiseman and Luke Laird took home most of the awards, but dozens of others shared in the No. 1 success of the song “Hillbilly Bone” during a celebration held Wednesday (May 12) at the Starstruck building in Nashville.

ASCAP and BMI, the performing rights organizations, sponsored the event. Wiseman is affiliated with the former group, Laird with the latter.

Miranda Lambert, who recently announced her engagement to Shelton, watched unobtrusively from beside the stage as her tall fiancé basked in the general praise.

Trace Adkins, Shelton’s singing partner on the record, was unable to attend the party.

In his opening remarks, BMI’s Jody Williams referred to the flood that devastated Nashville last week. “This tragedy has produced some of the most amazing acts of heroism and volunteerism,” he said.

Noting that the Grand Ole Opry didn’t miss a performance in spite of the flood, Williams said the hallowed radio show is “kind of like the North Star” to Nashville’s music industry. “We will move on,” he proclaimed.

Since life has somewhat returned to normal, Williams continued, “Let’s celebrate all the stakeholders in ‘Hillbilly Bone.’”

The first of these was Shelton, who did a double take when he stepped onto the small improvised stage in the Starstruck reception area and saw the size of the crowd there to greet him. Williams pointed out that “Hillbilly Bone” is the artist’s sixth No. 1 and presented him an award to mark that achievement.

Laird was next summoned to the spotlight. Williams said Laird and Wiseman first wrote together by accident and that their first session yielded a song that Kenny Chesney put on hold but never recorded. Thus, Williams observed, Laird experienced the songwriter’s extremes of triumph and disappointment in a single encounter.

Laird, he added, eventually fared better, co-writing with Carrie Underwood on such hits as “So Small” and “Temporary Home.”

Williams alerted the crowd to the fact that, besides being a BMI writer, Laird will also marry BMI staffer Beth Mason next month.

Love was everywhere.

When ASCAP chief Tim DuBois stepped onto the stage to praise the larger-than-life Wiseman, Shelton eyed the rapidly filling space and muttered, “I’m glad Trace is not here.”

DuBois, who’s an Oklahoman, mused that he was glad to be in the company of so many “Okies,” a designation that included not only Shelton but the song’s producer, Scott Hendricks.

“Hillbilly Bone,” DuBois announced, is the 18th No. 1 single Wiseman has co-penned. Wiseman, who owns his own publishing company, Big Loud Shirt Industries, presented framed awards to all the song’s other principals and gave Shelton and Laird paper bags that appeared to contain quart jars of moonshine.

Among the other “stakeholders” later called to the stage to accept and/or confer awards were John Esposito (president and CEO of Shelton’s record label, Warner Music Nashville), Chris Stacey (the label’s senior vice president of promotion) and Pat Higdon (executive vice president and general manager of Laird’s publisher, Universal Music Publishing).

Shelton was in good humor when he spoke to the crowd, focusing on the raunchier implications of the song’s title.

“Do you know what it’s like to go on Chelsea Lately and talk about your ‘Hillbilly Bone’?” he asked in mock despair. “I heard Craig give an interview about how he and Luke were ‘messing around’ and came up with ‘Hillbilly Bone.’ More power to you, brothers.”

Laird joked, “I don’t know why it’s not nominated for song of the year.”

As photographers lined up to take a group picture, Shelton embraced a visibly alarmed Hendricks and kissed him soundly on the cheek.

Source: CMT

People magazine reports that after five years of dating, Blake Shelton finally popped the question to sweetheart Miranda Lambert.

“He called my dad and got his blessing first,” Miranda tells the magazine about Blake’s surprise proposal on May 9. “That was so Southern and old-school and perfect.”

Blake, 33, even picked out the diamond and platinum ring, says People.

“I was so proud of him,” says Miranda, 26. “We’ve been together five years, so he knew exactly what I wanted but it’s so much more perfect than I could have picked out myself.”

The superstar couple is known for being very low-key and outdoorsy. In previous interviews, they’ve both mentioned going on hunting trips together. So Blake’s proposal setting was only natural: in the woods near Miranda’s Tishomingo, Okla., home. To celebrate, Miranda says they ”had a couple of Bacardi and Diet Sprites – in a Solo cup!”

Remarking on the engagement and both his and her ACM Award wins, Miranda says, “2010 will not be forgotten in my world.”

And in what is perhaps the sweetest comment of the year so far, Miranda adds, “Weddings are great and engagements are great and diamonds are especially great,” Lambert says. “But I’m just excited to be married because I want to tell Blake I really can love him the rest of my life and be happy and make him happy.”

Source: GACTV.com & Miranda’s Twitter

Congrats to Blake & Miranda from Blake Shelton Online!!!!! We are so happy for y’all!!!

In the latest issue of Country Weekly (Miranda and her mom on the cover), Blake answered questions that fans sent in. You can view them in the gallery! Enjoy!

Gallery Links:
• Magazine Scans : 2010 : Country Weekly – May 10, 2010

Country music stars DIERKS BENTLEY and BLAKE SHELTON are distraught after severe floods in Tennessee damaged the state’s fabled venue, the Grand Ole Opry House.

The region was battered by thunderstorms at the weekend, and the heavy rain has played havoc with local electrical grids, leaving m any areas without power. Roads were also cordoned off as water levels rose.

The chaos prevented Bentley from traveling to two shows, and he has no w received more bad news after learning the concert venue – considered by many to be the heart of country music – has been hit badly by the storms.

New images show the venue, which was due to celebrate its 85th anniversary later this month, flooded with at least three feet (0.9 metres) of water, causing scheduled performances to be moved to alternate venues.

Bentley says, “We’ve all been affected by it. There’s devastation all over the city. But to see the Grand Ole Opry affected, that just really hit home for me, even more than having water in my house. At my house, if water touches anything, it’s ruined. That wood, hell maybe it’s got enough magic on it that it can survive the worst. I think everything in there is toast (ruined).”

Shelton has also spoken out about the potential damage to the Grand Ole Opry House.

In an email to the Associated Press, he writes: “As a country singer, there is only one place you dream of playing in your lifetime, and that is the Grand Ole Opry House. The Opry House is hallowed ground. We all need to help to make sure it lasts. I am devastated to hear that it is affected by this disaster.”

Since Blake is on tour right now, to pass the time until the next event. I’m gonna start adding more pictures to the gallery! So to get started, I’ve added screen captures of Blake’s Chelsea Lately interview from March. I’ve attached the video from the interview for who didn’t get to see it! Enjoy!

Gallery Links:
• Interviews : Chelsea Lately (2010) : Screen Captures

With summer right around the corner, Blake Shelton is thinking about cracking open another ‘Six Pak!’

The ‘Six Pak’ concept, which was Blake’s response to music fans preferring single-song digital downloads over full CDs, is six songs released as one project. It’s a format he feels is more user-friendly than the traditional model. “Fans will get more music than me putting out a new album every two years,” Blake says. “It’s a quicker way to get new music to them.”

Blake released the first ‘six pak’ in March, which spawned his ACM Award-winning title cut, ‘Hillbilly Bone.’ Now Blake is ready to release the next volume later this summer. “Looking back at the last one,” he tells CMT, “I definitely think it worked. It did everything we hoped it would do.”

The second single from ‘Hillbilly Bone,’ ‘All About Tonight,’ is steadily climbing the charts. In addition to spending time in the studio, Blake is currently crossing the country in support of ‘Hillbilly Bone.’ Click here for tour dates.

Source: The Boot