Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, And More Honor Alabama

Even though snow and ice was thick on the ground in Nashville last night (1/17) and schools have been closed in the Music City all week, CMT went ahead with their tribute taping to Country Music Hall Of Fame members Alabama as scheduled.

Big stars braved the cold to pay tribute to the supergroup in the special taping of CMT Giants: Alabama. Taking the stage to perform the group's biggest hits in person were Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Jamey Johnson, Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Old Dominion, Pam Tillis & Lorrie Morgan, Riley Green, and Sam Hunt.

After his performance, Aldean sat in the audience at Belmont University's Fisher Center for the Performing Arts to watch all the acts after him. Sitting with his wife Brittany, Aldean was seated close to Riley Green and Sam Hunt, who also took in the show after they performed.

Blake told the crowd watching the show, "Tonight we honor Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, and the late Jeff Cook, the undisputed greatest country music band of all-time, Alabama."

He added, "I know it's tough not having Jeff here with us, but he lives on in our hearts and in the incredible music you guys created together."

After a long battle with Parkinson's disease, Cook died in November of 2022.

The Tennessean reported at the time that Cook battled Parkinson's disease, a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement and causes tremors. He publicly disclosed his diagnosis in 2017. Cook died at his beachside home in Destin, Florida.

After a night of hearing their own songs sung to them by country stars, Evander Holyfield brought Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry to the stage. Before they closed the show with two of their biggest songs, Owen told the standing and cheering crowd, "I had no idea anybody would show up. I didn't think there would be anybody in the audience. It's freezing outside, in case you guys didn't know." Gentry quipped, "I think it's our Alaskan fan club here tonight."

Owen then thanked everyone, adding that in 2005, when they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, they weren't given a chance to speak at the CMA Awards, which was held for the first and only time in New York City. He said, "So, tonight, we get to thank the country music industry for putting us in the Hall of Fame that we couldn't say in New York City."

CMT Giants: Alabama will air later this year on a date that has yet to be announced.

Today (10/12) is National Farmer's Day. It is a day to pay tribute to the hardworking people who labor to put food on American tables. There has always been a solid relationship between country music and farm life. Farming has been the subject of many country songs through the years. Alabama and Waylon Jennings released songs about the farm in the 1980s. And, of course, Willie Nelson has long advocated for the farmer with his Farm Aid, which he began in 1985 with Neil Young and John Mellencamp. (Dave Matthews and Margo Price have since been added to the board.). Farm Aid has raised millions of dollars for the American farmer for years.

Luke Bryan comes from a peanut farm in Georgia and often champions the farmer and raises money for them once a year on his annual Farm Tour. When he announced his 2023 Farm Tour, which wrapped a few weeks ago, Luke said, "One of the reasons we created these Farm Tour shows – to bring the big-city tour to the people. These nights are one-of-a-kind, and we really enjoy getting to know the farmers and their families. Love the whole atmosphere of playing on these incredible farms and watching entire communities come together and get excited about these shows."

Bryan also noted how much his Farm Tour has grown. He said, "The Farm Tour has grown throughout the years, and the fact that we can set a stage up in a hayfield or some field and people flock to it is what I envisioned when I created Farm Tour, and to obviously help some kids with scholarships and stuff like that. But the Farm Tour has grown every year, and it's always something we look forward to. It's really an exciting time to be able to just be out on a farm on a Fall night."

He added, "Sometimes it's cool, and everybody's got, it's perfect jacket weather, and everybody's just enjoying music and having fun, and it's happening in these little towns that have never gotten a show like this. So, it's always fun knowing that I leave these little towns, and they can go, 'Hey, we got to go party out in a field and hear a bunch of Nashville country music singers roll in,' and give 'em a great show. So many great memories through the years." Since 2009, when the Farm Tour began, Luke has granted 78 college scholarships to students from farming families to their local college or university near the tour stops.

Here are six songs about farm life.

The song tells the story of a man leaving the big city and returning to the country. It was released on July 13, 1998, as the fifth single from McGraw's "Everywhere" album. The lyrics include, "Raise our kids where the good Lord's blessed / Point our rockin' chairs towards the West / And plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows / Where the green grass grows."

This song was released as part of an "extended" play released before Bryan's annual Farm Tour concert series, held in October of every year. It was his first release to accompany the Farm Tour. The music video for the song shows farm life, Luke standing in a field singing and his crew setting up for his farm tour, which plays farm in the U.S., raising money for farmers all over the country. The lyrics include, "Here's to the farmer that plants the fields in the spring / That turn from green to that harvest honey / Hold one up for the banker downtown / That got him on his feet with handshake money / Here's to the farmer's wife / That loves him every night / Raising a son, raising a daughter / They gather 'round the table, send it up to the Father / Somehow they get closer when times get harder / Here's to the farmer."

This song from Country Music Hall of Fame members Alabama came out in the 1980s when the band peaked. The song is a reminiscence of the narrator's youth, who explains how his younger days were so good and how he didn't realize how the times would change. The lyrics include, "We were walkin' in high cotton / Old times there are not forgotten / Those fertile fields are never far away, / We were walkin' in high cotton / Old time there are not forgotten, / Leavin' home was the hardest thing we ever faced."

This song is being re-released as a duet with Lainey Wilson. Lainey says of the remake, "It's an absolute honor to be a part of this record. I remember the first time I ever heard 'International Harvester' and the feeling I got knowing that there was music being written that felt like it was made just for me. I come from a family of farmers, so it's really a full circle moment to be on this track alongside my good friend Craig." The lyrics include, "'Cause I'm a son of a 3rd generation farmer / I've been married 10 years to a farmer's daughter / I got 2 boys in the county 4-H / I'm a lifetime sponsor of the F.F.A. / Hay! That's what I make / I make a lotta hay for a little pay / But / I'm proud to say / I'm a God-fearin' hard workin' combine driver / Hoggin' up the road on my a p-p-p-plower / Chug a lug a lugin' 5 miles an hour / On my International Harvester."

Chris released this song as a fun album cut from his Everybody album in 2017. The chorus sings, "Who keeps plantin' them kisses on your South Georgia lips / Dancin' in the rain with my hands on your hips / Who lays your life out in pretty little rows / Who keeps that red dirt between your pretty toes / Oh, say my name, let it echo through the holler / Who's your farmer."

This song was released in May 2009 as the second single from Aldean's 2009 album Wide Open and the eighth single of his career. The song became the singer's third number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in September of that year. The lyrics include, "And I can take you for a ride on my big green tractor / We can go slow or make it go faster / Down through the woods and out to the pasture / Long as I'm with you it really don't matter / Climb up in my lap and drive if you want to / Girl, you know you got me to hold on to / We can go to town but baby, if you'd rather / I'll take you for a ride on my big green tractor."