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If you ever imagined yourself singing the national anthem at a historic ball park here's your chance . Saturday May the 10th The Vancouver Canadians will be holding auditions for National Anthem Singers from 10 am until noon at Nat Bailey Stadium . For more information call the Canadians office at 604 872 5232

It wasn't long ago, James Otto was just another singer hoping for his music to make an impact with country audiences.His wait is over, as "Just Got Started Lovin' You" has soared to No. 1 at both Billboard/Radio & Records and Mediabase, giving James his first chart-topping country hit. "I am still in shock," admits James. "To see the fans requesting the single and radio programmers playing it, is the biggest reward of all."

She dropped out of school in ninth grade, some 20 odd years ago, but Gretchen Wilson can now say she's a high school graduate, as she passed her General Education Development exam last month. The singer will celebrate the honor by donning cap and gown during a May 15 ceremony in the Nashville area

Big & Rich's John Rich is back to work for CMT, as he's currently in production on the second season of the Gone Country reality series. Look for the premiere episode to air sometime in August. In other news, Fox has issued a strongly worded press release condemning John for recently blasting its top show, American Idol. "[His] ungentlemanly and opportunistic comments are particularly disturbing,"

Keith Anderson's dreams of baseball stardom never came true, but he's hardly bemoaning his fate. "I got a gold record, a new single on the charts and a new CD coming out next month," he says. "Life's good." Meanwhile, Keith's new song "C'mon" will be featured in a video preceding all the remaining NASCAR Spring Cup races

 Things got a little intense during Toby Keith's USO tour performance in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Thursday. Mortar fire on the base where he was entertaining U.S. troops forced the singer to race for a concrete bunker for about an hour, until the all-clear signal was sounded. He then returned to the stage and picked up right where he left off

Mindy McCready confirmed a report that she and baseball star Roger Clemens had a long-term affair, which began when she was just 15, some 17 years ago. It is claimed that the relationship was platonic at first, but became intimate once Mindy moved to Nashville to begin her singing career. The pitcher's lawyer, however, says Roger never "engage[d] in any kind of inappropriate or improper relationship with her."

The BC Country Music Association and SOCAN Present: "Murphy's Law" - A two-day Songwriting Workshop," led by Nashville music industry veteran, Ralph Murphy. The workshop is designed for the songwriter who is willing to take a critical look at their work and learn valuable tools that the pros use to create No 1 songs!  This is serious fun, and is not geared to entry-level songwriters.This opportunity is limited to 12 workshop participants from around the Province.   To apply to participate, you must submit a 2 song CD with lyric sheets to the BC Country Music Association by April 21. (No cassette tapes). Industry professionals will jury Songs submitted .Day one of the seminar will include an in depth critique of each of the 12 chosen songs with emphasis on song structure and what it really takes to write a No 1 Hit!  At the end of the day the writers will be asked to take the tools and suggestions they have received and rework their songs to return on Sunday.  Day two will be final discussion and performance of the re-written songs.  Please note, you must be able to perform your songs yourself or have a musician attending who can accompany you acoustically on guitar or piano. For further details please visit the BCCMA website: www.bccountry.com

One of Tim McGraw's recent hits was a tune he co-wrote with singer-songwriter Tom Douglas called "My Little Girl." Now, the pair are teaming up again, for a children's book with the very same title. Faith will write the foreword to the volume, which is Tim's first-ever printed work for kids. Look for My Little Girl to arrive at your local bookstore sometime in October.

Trace Adkins is finding his celebrity is bigger then his 6'7" frame. "I'm getting recognized a lot more these days," says Trace , referring to his increased visibility as a result of his Celebrity Apprentice stint. "I've had a few people that have told me they've started listening to country music because of my appearance on that show."

Big Kenny of Big & Rich is scheduled to debut his documentary on the Sudan at the Nashville Film Festival on April 23. Bearing Light: A Journey to Sudan follows the singer and his wife, Christiev, as they travel through the war-torn country. "We're helping the organization My Sister's Keeper build a school for the girls there," Kenny explains. "There has been no education in that country for over 20 years."

She captured the Dancing With the Stars title last fall with former Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, so it's only fitting that Julianne Hough gets to sing the national anthem prior to this year's Indy 5K. Julianne also will perform a few songs from her debut country album before the May 25 race.

Maybe they don't exactly see eye-to-eye on too many things, but Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks both agree that it's time to take action to halt global warming. To that end, the Big Dog is appearing with the Chicks in a commercial that's part of a campaign being spearheaded by former Vice President Al Gore

He was born in New Zealand, raised in Australia and became famous via the Nashville scene. Now, Keith Urban is on the move once again, as he and wife Nicole Kidman have splashed down $7 million for a home in Los Angeles' upscale Brentwood neighborhood. The house, which was built in 1964, has five bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms, koi ponds and rolling lawns, and checks in at 5,600 on the square-feet scale.

Trace Adkins received plenty of praise for just being himself during his run on Celebrity Apprentice, but how will he fare portraying a fictional character? We'll get to find out soon enough, as the singer has been tapped to play the Spirit of Christmas Future (the Grim Reaper) in the upcoming holiday comedy American Carol. In the flick, which is currently filming, Trace's ghost character will use music to help Mr. Scrooge sidestep a tragedy.

Georgia and Texas aren't the only states whose Major League Baseball teams will kick off the 2008 season country-style, as Emerson Drive will hit both Illinois and Missouri next week to help the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals celebrate their home openers. Brad Mates & Co. will perform the national anthem, and lead fans through the seventh inning stretch, in the Windy City on Monday, and in K.C. on Tuesday.

There are big expectations for Taylor Swift's sophomore set, but she's not too worried. "I would feel the pressure if the music wasn't where it needed to be," explains Taylor, "if I [had to] search for outside songs or find other writers because I had written [sub-par] songs." 

  The Nashville auditions were held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and drew more performers than the other tryout cities, which included Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Austin. In all, more than 30,000 have auditioned for the new season. This year, Nashville Star moves from cable’s USA Network to NBC-TV, with Billy Ray Cyrus taking over hosting duties, the first show  is set for June 9. The ten Nashville Star finalists will be announced shortly. The ultimate winner receives a contract with Warner Bros. Records, along with other prizes.

"I'm really surprised to be here," says Trace Adkins of his position in Thursday's Celebrity Apprentice finale, which will include a live performance by Trace of his current single, "You're Gonna Miss This." Following the telecast, a special version of the tune will be available exclusively on iTunes -- for just two weeks. All proceeds from the downloads will be earmarked for Trace's Apprentice charity, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network.

Less than six months after finding a new man in her life, Sara Evans has decided that he's the one for her. The singer is now engaged to Jay Barker, a one-time quarterback at the University of Alabama who now works as a talk-show host in Birmingham. "The couple . . . look forward to their upcoming nuptials," reports Sara's representative. Hold off on buying a wedding present , no specific date has been confirmed for the ceremony at this time.