A year ago, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced that Brooks & Dunn would be receiving a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Finally, according to the duo's website, the ceremony is set for Aug. 4, a day after they appear in nearby San Bernardino.

Fans are sometimes shocked when country acts wrangle a spot in that famous stretch of concrete, but Brooks & Dunn are particularly appropriate for a Southern California landmark, since their music contains so many pop and rock influences. The Eagles, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones have all been referenced in one way or another in B&D's music.

"From day one, we've been able to get away with a lot of that," Ronnie Dunn told the Associated Press. "We get more resistance from radio with classic country than we do with the classic rock-influenced stuff."

Interestingly, Ronnie and Kix Brooks are landing on the Walk of Fame before all four of those classic-rock acts: the Eagles, Stones, ZZ and Clapton.

But they're hardly the first country performers inducted. Among the country acts who've had their names embedded on that thoroughfare are Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakam, Hank Williams, Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Loretta Lynn and Alabama. (GACTV)

Trace Adkins garnered a huge amount of attention for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network when he appeared earlier this year on "The Celebrity Apprentice," and now he's slated as the honorary chairman of the 2008 Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward A Cure.

The program is being held in 26 cities between Aug. 23 and Nov. 22, with a final online event slated for Dec. 6. Trace chaired the walk last year, although after his high-profile work for FAAN this year, the fundraiser will certainly receive more attention than ever before.

"Millions of school-age children are afflicted with food allergies in this country, and the numbers are increasing each year," Trace says. "Much more research funds are needed to find out what is causing this problem and how we can fix it. With the help of thousands of walkers and volunteers nationwide, we can hopefully raise more money to help find a cure."

Trace and his wife, Rhonda, helped enlist support recently from Tennessee's two U.S. Senators — Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker — for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act, which would set guidelines for school staffs to recognize and respond to food-allergy issues, which in their worst forms can be fatal.

To learn more about the Walk for Food Allergy, log on to www.foodallergywalk.org. (GACTV)

First it was a crotch-grabbing incident. Now it's a fan-ejection moment. No country artist can have a local concert turn into a national Internet event like Tim McGraw.

During a performance Tuesday night at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, Wash., Tim intervened when he believed a woman in the audience was being abused by a fan. In the middle of "Indian Outlaw," Tim reached into the crowd and started pulling the cowboy-hatted fan up on stage, where members of his entourage then escorted the man to security. The story was first reported, with more than two minutes of accompanying cell phone camera footage, by TMZ.com.

An official statement from Tim's publicist characterized the booted man as an "overly aggressive fan" who "attacked a female fan."

"Tim called for security," the statement continued, "but when they could not respond quick enough, Tim and several crew members removed the fan from the audience, where he was then turned over to the local authorities."

Tim's wife, Faith Hill, took another fan to task during the duo's tour last summer afterthe ticket-holder grabbed at his private parts. Footage from that incident was likewise circulated on the Internet. (GACTV)

Taylor Swift is consistently ranked at No. 1 on the MySpace social network, and she's now topped an extraordinary mark: Her music has been streamed more than 50 million times from her MySpace page, demonstrating how avid her fans are at finding her songs.

That comes at a time when she continues to rack up major milestones. Her self-titled debut album was certified triple-platinum last month, meaning her label has shipped more than 3 million copies. In addition, the ringtone for "Our Song" went gold after being downloaded as a signature sound for 500,000 cell phones. To top it off, the Taylor Swift album has now spent a total of 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart. The only other female acts who've spent that many weeks at the top of that chart this decade are the Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood.

Taylor's already the winner of new-artist trophies from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, a Grammy nominee and one of People magazine's Most Beautiful People in the World. She's in the process of recording her sophomore album, which will likely be released before the end of the year. (GACTV)

Craig Morgan and his family have already had a summer vacation this year. Craig and his wife, Karen, took the children to the Florida Keys, and it turned out to be a really nice getaway.

"It was probably the most special experience we've ever had with our kids because we were on an island with no one else," Craig says. "The island was just big enough to hold the house. It was a three-bedroom, two-bath house, and when you walked out the doors, you were on a deck that went all the way around the house, and when you stepped off that you were on the island and you could walk 10-20 feet in either direction and you're off the island. It was absolutely amazing, and we had the best time. The coolest thing was at dinners. We'd just sit there for two, three hours and listen to our kids talk about their memories. It was just the greatest experience I believe we've ever had as a family."

Vacations, of course, are short-lived. And so were the sentimental feelings once the Morgans returned to Nashville.

"As we get home, my son's gone," Craig laughed. "He couldn't wait to go with his friends. He's like, 'I was with y'all all week, please let me go hang with my friends.'" (GACTV)

Toby Keith has total control over his music now that he owns his own record company, Show Dog Nashville. Unfortunately, he has much less control over how people find the music, and that has left him a bit confused.

"I don't even know what to do with the [next] album," he says. "We don't know what's gonna happen with the recording industry."

Currently, Toby's cut 10 songs, and four of them are completed tracks. The other six still need to have some instruments and/or background vocals added in overdubbing, and Toby wants to give his lead vocals another run before he considers them finished.

But he still faces the same problem the major labels do, in that having music digitized and available one track at a time has hurt recording income.

"It's pretty much a 99-cent world," he says.

As a result, he's not sure whether to release an entire album at one time after he puts out the first single or wait until perhaps three or four tracks have made the radio before he makes the CD available. Toby's always been a businessman as well as a musician, so he's certainly willing to roll up his sleeves on the issue. No matter how the business part of his career pans out, he doesn't plan to give up on his passion.

"It won't keep me from making music," he promises. (GACTV)

Eric Church has a new album coming this fall, and it appears that he's decided to take the Donald Trump road to success: Like the Trump show "The Celebrity Apprentice," Eric's turning his project over to students in a Vanderbilt University summer business management program to get the students some experience and to get Eric some fresh viewpoints.

The album, titled Carolina, is just one of the projects being thrown up to students through Vandy's Owen Graduate School of Business. They'll also tackle initiatives for American Airlines, Bridgestone and Caterpillar Financial.

"The consulting project for Eric Church is a big wow-factor for our students," said Vanderbilt professor Kimberly Pace. "They are used to solving business problems for big companies, but this is more personal. Using the business tools they have been taught will help them create a solid marketing campaign. The secret 'x' factor is getting to know the artist."

To that end, the students were given a crash course in Eric's life and music Monday in a concert/interview staged at the Country Music Hall of Fame's Ford Theatre, where country music historian Robert K. Oermann helped connect the dots. In addition, 150 members of Eric's fan club, the Church Choir, were on hand to underscore the rapport he's established with his most passionate consumers.

"I've always said that if you want to know who I am, listen to my music," Eric observed. "In order to understand my career, you have to meet my fans. They are my career; they're the reason I'm here. Having members of the fan club at this Accelerator presentation wasn't an option — it was essential. I'm glad that the students got a close-up view of what I get to see every time I take the stage, because it's truly a powerful thing." (GACTV)

Michelle Branch made a very successful shift from pop music to country when "Leave The Pieces" went to No. 1 for her duo, the Wreckers, which paired her with Jessica Harp.

The two have, in fact, left some broken pieces behind them. The duo split to do solo albums, and Michelle's should be out by the end of the year. Her CD is currently titled Everything Comes And Goes, and she told Billboard that it's "kind of a breakup album," since she not only parted company with Jessica but also with her former management team.

Dwight Yoakam makes a guest appearance on the project, in a song called "Long Goodbye," which helps solidify Michelle's transformation as a country artist.

The album is "more singer-songwriter than, I would say, country, but I think the term 'country' is all relative now," Michelle observed. "I think this is a natural step. It really feels like the right place to be."

In the meantime, she holds out the possibility that the Wreckers may reunite at some point in the future, once they've spread their wings artistically a bit.

"Jessica had never had a chance to do her solo record, so I understand where she's coming from," Michelle noted. "I'd been there and saw that it was kind of overrated; it's much more fun to play in a band with your friends. But she's really just wanting to stand on her own two feet and prove herself on her own and not be that other chick in the Wreckers with Michelle. That wasn't going to get any better if we kept making records and sweeping it under the rug." (GACTV)

Toby Keith has rocked the world of more than a few kids.

A two-day fundraiser presided over by the country music star raised $709,000 for Ally's House, a charity named after the late daughter of one of Keith's bandmates that benefits families of children battling cancer.

About 750 guests packed the Riverwind Casino's Showplace Theatre in Norman, Okla., Friday for a party, concert and auction that preceded the following day's Toby Keith & Friends Celebrity Golf Classic at a nearby country club.

Two partygoers bid $35,000 apiece to have dinner with Keith, and another paid $25,000 for the chance to be in one of the unapologetically patriotic singer's music videos. Tickets and backstage passes to upcoming Keith concerts raked in about $12,000.

The available loot also included memorabilia donated by George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Tom Hanks, Loretta Lynn, Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, LeBron James, Andre Agassi, Tony Stewart, Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman and Nolan Ryan.

"I know when you find something where there's a void and you get this many people working in one direction it happens pretty quick," Keith told the Oklahoman newspaper. "Once people start seeing that you're serious about it and you're running a real event and they start seeing the results of the money...everybody starts getting behind it

Over the past five years, Keith's events have raised more than $2.3 million for Ally's House, which was founded after original Keith bandmate Scott Webb lost his 2-year-old daughter Allison to kidney cancer in 2003.

"I knew we could make a difference with Ally's House, but it really is even bigger than I'd hoped," Keith said. "We've helped a ton of families, and we're proud that we have never had to turn away an Oklahoma family that needs help."

"A year is a long time to juggle that kind of life, and that's what happens time and again," he added. "Family needs vary from medical and pharmacy bills to rent and utility payments. They also have expenses for lodging, food, health insurance premiums or deductibles, and—right now especially—high fuel costs. Ally's House helps pay different bills based on what that family needs." (E! Online)

Brad Paisley's been working for several months on an instrumental album that promises to be quite good for a number of reasons — not the least of which is the stellar cast of guest musicians that appear on the disc.

One track has Brad swapping solos with the seven guitarists who were his biggest influence on the Telecaster: Vince Gill, Steve Wariner, ex-Desert Rose Band member John Jorgenson, Brent Mason (who played on "Chattahoochee"), Albert Lee ("Two More Bottles Of Wine"), James Burton ("Burning Love") and Redd Volkaert, of Merle Haggard's Strangers.

"You'd think that could be a disaster," Brad says of the crowded lineup, "but it worked out really well the way everything's arranged. There's enough room for everybody to show off a little bit."

One of Brad's favorite moments came when he recorded "More Than Just A Song" with longtime friend Steve Wariner. The song is a tribute to two of their guitar teachers: Hank Goddard, who taught Brad in West Virginia; and Chet Atkins, who employed Steve and produced his first RCA recordings.

"He played Chet's guitar, and then I played Hank's," Brad notes. "The song ends with those two guitars playing finger-style together and fades out, and it's one of my favorite pieces of romance that I've ever captured on tape."

The session also included one of those this-was-meant-to-be moments. Both of their mentors have passed away, and Brad opened up Hank's guitar case for the first time at the recording session.

"In the case, right there sitting on it, was the bulleting from his funeral service," Brad recalls. "When Steve saw it opened — he was just carrying in Chet's guitar — he said, 'Oh, you are gonna flip out.' He opened up Chet's guitar and in it was his funeral service from where Steve was the music director for it, and they're sitting there, both of them identical looking, both of them a black-and-white bulletin with their photo."

Those two pictures will likely be incorporated in the artwork for the album, which will also pair Brad up with the late Buck Owens and with blues legend B.B. King. A release date has yet to be announced. (GAC)

Rascal Flatts will appear and perform in the upcoming Hannah Montana movie.

A spokeswoman for the group's Lyric Street Records made the announcement Wednesday. No additional details were available about the band's appearance in "Hannah Montana: The Movie."

The movie, starring Miley Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, is filming in their home state of Tennessee. It's scheduled for release in theaters in 2009. (AP)

Given that her signature song has a line about taking a "Louisville slugger to both headlights," it's appropriate that Carrie Underwood was the lead-off batter for the Grand Ole Opry Live team at yesterday's 18th annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge at Nashville's Greer Stadium.

"I've got a lot of practice with a bat one way or another the last couple years," she said before the game.

It wasn't enough, however, to overcome Blair Garner's After Midnight team, which won by a score of 8-1 behind the pitching of Jo Dee Messina. Jo Dee walked Carrie in the first inning, but had a shutout going into the final inning, ultimately earning Player of the Game honors. Joe Nichols made a nice play on a one-hopper at shortstop, Sara Evans caught a foul pop-up along the third-base line, and Jake Owen — not only does he make hit records, he can hit a softball. He drilled a triple past a diving left fielder and added a line-drive single over third later in the game.

The best news for all was that the game went without an injury. There was certainly some concern about that before the national anthem was ever sung.

"I'm probably gonna get hit in the face with the ball, and we're moving into wedding season," Sara noted.

In fact, the stars already had a litany of old bumps and bruises from previous softball and baseball experiences. Keith Anderson tore a rotator cuff in a tryout for the Kansas City Royals; Joe Nichols broke an elbow and a knee, in addition to tearing muscles and tendons; and Phil Vassar actually cracked two ribs when he played in the City of Hope event four years ago.

"This is a sign of getting old," shortstop Chris Cagle asserted. "This morning I went to put on my cleats, and I think I pulled some cartilage in my ribs. I don't know what I did. I reached down, and it was just like, 'Bink!' And it kind of freaked me out."

In one of the plays that came closest to potential damage, "American Gladiator" Hollywood Yates slid into home just before an attempted tag by GAC host Storme Warren, who was catching with a pink — yes, a pink! — glove. Storme's own glove disappeared, and in its place, he was given a pink, child-size glove by a woman dressed as Minnie Pearl. The price tag was not attached. And Storme was unharmed by Hollywood's run-scoring slide.

One artist did suffer an injury in a completely different softball game this week. Carolina Rain's Marvin Evatt tore shoulder ligaments when he slid into first base during the Cops and Jocks charity game on Tuesday. The injury was bad enough that he was taken to a local hospital. After X-rays, he went back to the field and performed with the band. He's also expected to join the group in a Riverstages concert during the CMA Music Festival on Sunday. (GACTV)

Chris Cagle, "embarrassed" over last week's 12-hour jail stay on a domestic-violence charge, accepts responsibility for his incarceration but insists he was not inebriated. Chris gave his first public statement about the incident to Nashville's WKRN-TV Tuesday during his fan club party at Nashville Shores.

Chris was arrested in the early hours May 28 after a fight with his girlfriend, Jennifer Tant, in which they attacked each other with a purse and umbrella. The two had gone to a local bar prior to the skirmish at his home, and police said the couple was clearly intoxicated.

In his statement, Chris insisted the argument "was not elevated nor induced because of my being intoxicated. I've worked too hard and come this far. And to prove this, I asked to take a sobriety test and a Breathalyzer test and was denied the opportunity by the officer on the site."

Last week's arrest shocked fans in part because of Chris' attempts at working out his demons. He's received personal counseling from a psychotherapist and told The Tennessean in 2005 he had given up alcohol. He has also spoken repeatedly about re-priotizing his life — giving family precedent over his music and recognizing the importance of his relationships.

"I spent the last five or six months talking to the media about growth and sobriety and maturing both as a person and as an artist," he said.

"I am indeed in a relationship," he added, "and in relationships, there will be arguments. And I take full responsibility for my actions. I was wrong, and I'm embarrassed. I'm not placing the blame or pointing the finger at anyone — at Jennifer, at the police or the media. I'm a human being who was involved in an argument. End of story."

Chris suggested the facts of the case were distorted in public reports but also said he has accepted that "the public has already made their decision based on how it appears in print." (GACTV)

Rascal Flatts guitarist Joe Don Rooney and his wife, Tiffany Fallon, officially expanded their family over the weekend.

The couple's first child, Jagger Donovan Rooney, was born at 3:50 p.m. Saturday in Nashville. The boy weighed 6.45 pounds and is 20 inches long. Both Tiffany and Jagger are doing well.

"We are absolutely blown away by this little miracle gift that God has given to us," Joe Don and Tiffany said in a joint statement. "We can't wait to see what the future has in store for baby Jagger and our new family."

It would appear at first glance that the couple's son is named for two prominent rock artists who got their start in the 1960s: Mick Jagger is the lead singer for the Rolling Stones, and Donovan — best known for the 1966 hits "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow" — was hailed by many as the next Dylan when he made his debut.

But Joe Don indicates the boy's name is unrelated, saying he's "just a cool baby who needed a cool name."

Joe Don will only get a few precious days with his new, cool son before Rascal Flatts kicks off its Bob Your Head Tour in St. Louis, Mo., Friday, June 13. Taylor Swift is the band's opening act.

MotoStars: Celebrities + Motorcycles," the new exhibit opening at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum on June 28, 2008, continues to add motorcycle enthusiasts from music, screen and industry.

Keith Urban is the latest rider to contribute an exclusive machine and personal memorabilia. The multi-platinum selling artist is loaning his custom Vengeance Drifter, a signature Fender Telecaster guitar named "Clarence" and a special collection of personal photos to "MotoStars," allowing exhibit visitors an in-depth look at his passion for motorcycling. A longtime enthusiast, Urban bought the Vengeance "7" Drifter to be displayed in the "MotoStars" exhibit on impulse at the legendary Sturgis Rally in 2006.

Urban will join a group of more than 100 prominent personalities contributing motorcycles and memorabilia to the "MotoStars: Celebrities + Motorcycles" exhibit. Notable actors, artists, athletes, musicians, CEOs, and bike builders have provided priceless machines and exclusive ephemera for the milestone exhibit. Motorcycle manufacturers, notably Victory Motorcycles, have also given the exhibit significant support.