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TAYLOR AND LADY ANTEBELLUM HAVE PERFORMANCES ON GRAMMY AWARDS SHOW
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Taylor Swift has eight nods: Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year (with Liz Rose), and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "You Belong With Me"; Album Of The Year and Best Country Album for Fearless; Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for "Breathe" (with Colbie Caillat); and Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song (with Liz Rose) for "White Horse."
Lady Antebellum has two nominations: Best Country Performance By A  cf.com
JIMMY WAYNE WALKS ACROSS AMERICA FOR THE HOMELESS
 cf.com
Wayne’s intention is not only to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless, especially at risk children, teens and young adults, but also raise funds for organizations that benefit homeless youth, including HomeBase Youth Services, a Phoenix, AZ -- based organization that provides essentials for homeless young adults. Wayne will begin the walk at 10:00 a.m. CT on January 1st at Monroe Harding in Nashville, another organization that services at risk children and young adults. He plans to walk to Phoenix, AZ.
“I realize beginning a mission like this in the dead of winter and walking through the middle of the country is going to be difficult, but I hope and pray I am up to the challenge,” Wayne said. “It’s going to be cold, rainy and maybe even snowing and that ground I sleep on at night is going to be really hard. But that’s what the homeless are dealing with each and every winter they go without a home of their own. Our country is too great for us to have people who are suffering so. And events of the past 12 to 14 months have increased the number of people—especially children and young adults—without a safe place to sleep. We as a nation have got to end homelessness and we've got to help these kids.”
Wayne grew up in a variety of foster and group homes, and occasionally found himself homeless as a teen. He was given a second chance when Bea and Russell Costner gave him a home and fresh start when he was only 16 years old. He has never forgotten the generosity of the couple, who were in their 70's when they took Wayne in.
"Bea and Russell took a chance on me, and I was certainly no poster child for adoption," Wayne said. "I was this teenager with long hair and tattoos, but they saw past that to the scared kid I was. They met me halfway by offering me a place to live and the opportunity to go back to school. But in turn I had to meet them halfway by helping myself, which meant studying, doing chores and following the rules. They provided me with a way to help myself make a life. They gave me a home, love and respect."
Wayne's concern for the welfare of the homeless has deepened and accelerated during the past year, with so many people losing their homes to decaying real estate and financial markets.
“It’s been really hard to sit still and watch everything going on in our country since last year’s troubles on Wall Street began,” Wayne said. “While so many of these people received bailouts, and even bonuses, blue collar and Middle America has suffered. From my past, I know first hand what the homeless are experiencing—no roof over your head, no real certainty that there will be any food for the day and just hoping the pair of shoes on your feet lasts another winter. No one in this country should be faced with that kind of situation -- especially kids. But unfortunately thousands of people are going though this each and every day.”
Wayne selected HomeBase Youth Services as the recipient of any donations people care to make because of the work they do with homeless young adults (age 18 –21). Like most charitable organizations, HomeBase has also been hit hard by the economic woes of the country. HomeBase is an Arizona-based, non-profit organization founded in 1991 to address the growing needs of at-risk and homeless youth age 21 and younger. At age 18, many youth "age out" of the foster care or juvenile justice systems without the necessary life skills to live independently; as a result, they quickly end up homeless and on the streets. Other youth choose to flee their homes after years of mental, physical and emotional abuse or neglect. HomeBase addresses the needs of this "forgotten" population, and assists these promising young people with the tools they need to live healthy, independent lives. The programs and services include Street Outreach, Mobile Medical Outreach, Employment and Life Skills Training, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Care, a Resource Center, a Transitional Living Program and an Independent Living Program. The mission of HomeBase Youth Services is to teach at-risk and homeless youth how to become self-sufficient adults.
"Because I was helped when I needed it, I want to try and help now," Wayne said. "If the bit of celebrity I have can help me raise awareness of this situation --that there are kids and young people out there who need our help, then I feel like I have accomplished my goal. I'm not asking people to come out and walk with me, but I am asking them to meet me halfway by getting involved-- donate money, adopt a kid, learn more about the foster child/foster parent program in your local community. There's so much one person can do, and so many ways they can make a difference. It just takes one person to help someone to a better life."
Marmot Sportswear is providing Wayne with essential cold weather clothing for Meet Me Halfway. For additional information on "Meet Me Halfway" and Wayne, please visit www.jimmywayne.com . To learn more about HomeBase or make a donation to this organization, please visit www.hbys.org .
ZAC BROWN DEBUTS NEW VIDEO ON CMT AND ITUNES
 cf.com
Purchase the video on iTunes directly at: www.iTunes.com/ZacBrownBand
Filmed in Atlanta and directed by Darren Doane, who also directed the music video for "Toes," "Highway 20 Ride" stars Zac Brown and depicts "a quiet message from father to son that will give you goose bumps," notes CMT blogger Alison Bonaguro.
"Highway 20 Ride" is the fourth single from Zac Brown Band's platinum-certified, major label debut 'The Foundation' (Atlantic Records), which ranked #14 on the 2009 Top Billboard 200 Albums tally. NEW ARTIST SUMMER SCHAPPELL GIFTS MUSIC TO SOLDIERS
 Summer Schappell
Summer’s first single, "Chocolate is a Vitamin" was recently released on Gateway Entertainment, Inc and is garnering great reviews across the country. In her note, she said “It makes me sad that many of you will not be with your families at this special time of year. I wish I could send a CD to every person in every service. I hope you enjoy my music and it lifts your spirits.”
SCHAPPELL has already attracted key Endorsements from Jovani Dresses and Lucchese Boots...the openings for major artists like Josh Turner as well as her own shows…. .the positive response from radio stations nationwide to her new single “ Chocolate is a Vitamin “ along with the 111,000 plus MySpace fans who have fallen in love with Summer and her music has made this a spectacular year for this young teen. Her talent, hard work and determination to succeed brings this blued California dreamer closer to her dream.
DANNY GOKEY DEBUTS ALBUM
American Idol Season Eight finalist and 19 Recordings/RCA Nashville recording artist Danny Gokey is new on the radio with his irresistible debut single, “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me,” and fans can be looking forward to a full album, titled My Best Days, scheduled for release in early March 2010.
In addition to enjoying “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me” on the country airwaves, the digital single is available this week for the first time, and listeners can stream the track on the recently launched dannygokey.com, where fans can also sign-up for Danny’s newsletter and access forums, wallpapers, news, upcoming events, photos, video, and much more.
An intimate Danny Gokey performance of “O Holy Night” is now available on USA Today’s website usatoday.com. For a limited time during the holiday season, this video can be viewed on the home page or Life or Idol Chatter sections. (Links: www.usatoday.com/life/default.htm or www.idolchatter.usatoday.com.)
CMT REVEALS THE 20 VIDEOS OF THE YEAR IN A SPECIAL EPISODE OF
“CMT TOP 20 COUNTDOWN” AIRING FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25
Taylor Swift tops the list when CMT counts down the 20 biggest country music videos of the year in a special year-end episode of CMT TOP 20 COUNTDOWN on Friday, December 25 at 11:30 a.m., ET/PT. CMT host Lance Smith will count down the best videos of 2009, as well as his favorite moments of the past nine years, on his final episode as host of the series. Smith recently announced that he would be exiting the show at the end of 2009 to pursue a career in acting.
Swift’s smash video “You Belong With Me” spent 19 weeks on the countdown this year, and held court at the #1 spot for eleven of those weeks in a new Top 20 record. The COUNTDOWN is based on a weekly analysis of CMT.com activity, digital and physical retail sales, radio airplay, other online activity and viewer voting. For the second year in a row, Swift was the most-streamed artist on CMT.com, CMT VOD and CMT Mobile.
CMT’s Top 20 videos of 2009:
Position
Song Title
Artist
Label
1.
You Belong With Me
Taylor Swift
Big Machine Records
2.
Whatever It Is
Zac Brown Band
Atlantic/Big Picture/Home Grown
3.
She’s Country
Jason Aldean
Broken Bow Records
4.
I Told You So
Carrie Underwood
Arista Nashville
5.
Sweet Thing
Keith Urban
Capitol Nashville
6.
White Horse
Taylor Swift
Big Machine Records
7.
American Ride
Toby Keith
Show Dog Nashville
8.
Need You Now
Lady Antebellum
Capitol Nashville
9.
Best Days Of Your Life
Kellie Pickler
BNA Nashville
10.
Do I
Luke Bryan
Capitol Nashville
11.
Here Comes Goodbye
Rascal Flatts
Lyric Street Records
12.
Only You Can Love Me This Way
Keith Urban
Capitol Nashville
13.
Big Green Tractor
Jason Aldean
Broken Bow Records
14.
Toes
Zac Brown Band
Atlantic/Big Picture/Home Grown
15.
People Are Crazy
Billy Currington
Mercury Records
16.
The Climb
Miley Cyrus
Walt Disney Records
17.
Alright
Darius Rucker
Capitol Nashville
18.
Cowboy Casanova
Carrie Underwood
Arista Nashville
19.
Out Last Night
Kenny Chesney
BNA Nashville
20.
I Run To You
Lady Antebellum
Capitol Nashville
Visit CMT's press-only Web site www.cmtpress.com for more information and downloadable photos on all of CMT's programming.
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COUNTRY NEWS FOR FANS 
