Image Courtesy Warner Music NashvilleCole Swindell may seem like an overnight success, scoring a #1 hit with his debut single, "Chillin' It," but he spent seven years in Nashville before his music was ever played on country radio. During that time, Cole was busy writing songs and trying to get his music heard. In hindsight, he's thankful for that time to grow as a writer and learn how the country industry really works.

Cole tells the Cincinnati Enquirer, "If this would have happened when I moved to Nashville there's no way I would have been ready, but giving it a couple of years with me being around the business, growing up a little bit, that helped me get ready for everything that's happened."

It's not that Cole doesn't feel the pressure to continue cranking out hit songs and improving his live show.  He adds, "There's a lot of people expecting things out of me. I want to do good. It's a good kind of pressure."

Cole's latest single, "Hope You Get Lonely Tonight," is now racing up the country chart. His self-titled debut album is available now.

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Image Courtesy Rick Diamond/Wire Image/CMTKacey Musgraves and her pal, Katy Perry, took over the Skateville skating rink in Burnsville, MN Thursday night to celebrate Kacey's 26th birthday. Katy posted several photos with Katy and the rest of the Prismatic tour crew on the rink.

Before they went skating, Kacey posted her birthday shopping list, which included knee pads, champagne, fake lashes, tube socks, and glow sticks.

Kacey later thanked the skating rink for hosting the party and added, "I didn't even fall once."

Look for Kacey to continue her opening stint on Katy's tour for the next few weeks.

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Image Courtesy Kristin Barlowe/Warner MusicHunter Hayes heads out on his Tattoo (Your Name) Tour Thursday, October 30 in University Park, PA. As always, Hunter has spent a lot of time planning this tour, and he promises it will be different than anyone has ever seen before.

Hunter says, "Every tour is all about the fans, but this one proves it. Not only are they going to be part of the show, they are the show…you’ll see what I mean!"

Dan + Shay and The Railers will support Hunter on his new tour. Hunter sported a henna tattoo sleeve with emblems from each tour city to announce the new outing during appearance on NBC's Today Friday morning.  He's also created a video to announce the tour, that shows him and the band in a tattoo parlor.

Here are Hunter's new tour dates.  Find out more at HunterHayes.com:

10/30 -- University Park, PA, Bryce Jordan Center
10/31 -- Albany, NY, Times Union Center
11/1 -- Providence, RI, Thomas M. Ryan Center
11/13 -- Milwaukee, WI, BMO Harris Bradley Center
11/14 -- Moline, IL, iWireless Center
11/15 -- Kansas City, MO, Sprint Center
11/20 -- St. Louis, MO, Chaifetz Arena
11/21 -- Chicago, IL, Sears Centre Arena
11/22 -- Detroit, MI, The Palace of Auburn Hills
12/4 -- New Orleans, LA, Lakefront Arena
12/5 -- Jacksonville, FL, Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
12/6 -- Atlanta, GA, Arena at Gwinnett Center
12/11 -- Cleveland, OH, Wolstein Center
12/12 -- Kingston, ON (CAN), Rogers K-Rock Centre
12/13 -- London, ON (CAN), Budweiser Gardens

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Comstock/ThinkstockScotty McCreery made a big impression on American Idol singing which Josh Turner hit? ANSWER: "Your Man."

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Image Courtesy ABC/Bob D'AmicoBrad Paisley says goodbye to his first season as a celebrity expert on ABC's Rising Star Sunday night on the show's season finale. As he looks back over the experience, Brad says he's loved every minute of this first season.

He tells ABC News Radio, "What really surprised me is my favorite part of it is the mentoring  -- is getting to know these kids and trying to give them the right song."

Leading up to the finale, Brad is mentoring the young rocker Jesse Kinch, who he says is "so gonna have a career when this is done."

Brad's fellow celebrity expert panelist, rapper Ludacris, is mentoring Brad's absolute favorite Rising Star contestant, Audrey Geiger.

Brad tells us, "She is one of the most unique voices I've ever heard, but she's not the kind of voice that normally wins one of these shows."

When Ludacris asked Brad via text for advice on mentoring Audrey the other day, Brad replied, "Tell her she's already won. She's in the final four. That was our goal all along. I wanted to see her get there."

Brad did get in a song suggestion for Audrey -- "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt. See if she sings it on the season finale of ABC's Rising Star Sunday night at 9 ET. During the show, Brad will also perform a song from his new album, Moonshine in the Trunk, due out Monday.

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Image Courtesy BBMA/Dick Clark/ABCMiranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood are both multi-platinum country superstars, but Miranda admits she was a nervous wreck when it came time to record their duet, "Somethin' Bad."

"She came in the studio and we were all so nervous," Miranda says. "I mean, everybody -- the producers, musicians, everybody was kinda like, jittery and nervous, 'cause she's Carrie."

Miranda gave herself a big pep talk before the recording session, too.

She says, "In the mirror that morning, I was like, 'All right now, you better sing your butt off,' to myself."

Once they started working on the song, Miranda and Carrie ended up having a great time singing together as peers. They even started scheming about the girls-on-the-run video they eventually made for the song.

Says Miranda, "It was just cool to have a girl in there, dreaming with her, because we're at the same kind of level in our careers where we can have fun, and we can do it together."

"Somethin' Bad" is the latest single from Miranda's album, Platinum, in stores now.

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Burke/Triolo Productions/ThinkstockHunter Hayes performs on NBC's Today Friday.

Josh Turner will release a brand-new single, titled "Lay Low," next month. According to Billboard, the song takes an "escapist tack without a single mention of alcohol."

Congratulations to Dustin Lynch on the gold certification of his latest hit, "Where It's At." It's the lead single and title cut from his sophomore album, due out September 9.

The Band Perry is featured in the latest installment of the Opry Hitmakers series now live at Opry.com.

Big & Rich will celebrate the release of their new album, Gravity, with a performance on NBC's Today on Thursday, September 25. The project comes out September 23 featuring their latest single, "Look at You."

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Image Courtesy Big Machine Label GroupRascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, LeAnn Rimes and Nashville's Charles Esten are among the stars appearing on the MDA Show of Strength Telethon on Sunday, August 31. The two-hour broadcast starts at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.  Proceeds benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Look for Alyssa Milano, Josh Groban and Susan Lucci on the Show of Strength Telethon, too.

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Image Courtesy ACMThe 8th Annual ACM Honors are shaping up to be one of the hottest tickets in Nashville next month. Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott, Kenny Chesney, Justin Moore, Thomas Rhett, Hunter Hayes, Kelly Clarkson, and Kacey Musgraves are just a few of the artists participating in this year's show, hosted by Jake Owen.

Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith, Kris Kristofferson, and Ronnie Milsap are among the stars receiving Special Awards at the event. Tickets for the September 9 show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium are still available at Ticketmaster.com and the Ryman box office.

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Image Courtesy CMAGarth Brooks has already received what seems like enough trophies to fill a warehouse during his career, but he's adding a pretty impressive honor to the collection this fall. ASCAP has announced Garth is one of the five artists receiving their once-in-a-century Centennial Awards November 17 at a gala at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

The other honorees are folk star Joan Baez, rock legend Billy Joel, musical theater icon Stephen Sondheim and the great Stevie Wonder. The recipients are described as "a select group of American music icons in recognition of their incomparable accomplishments in their respective music genres and beyond."

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