Country Mile

Brad Paisley thinks he’s special – Europeans know it.Paisley’s first television special “Brad Paisley Thinks He’s Special” will air 7 p.m. Dec. 3 on ABC. He filmed the television show in Nashville in September a few weeks before he headed to Europe for his sold-out arena tour.Paisley sat down with The Tennessean’s Country Mile podcast to talk about “Brad Paisley Thinks He’s Special,” his record-setting European arena tour and the importance of giving back. Paisley, along with his wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Belmont University are partnering to open a free grocery store for those in need that is set to open in early 2020. The Store, by the way, was inspired by his sons when they were younger. His wife thought they were acting spoiled, put them all in the car and drove them to a place to volunteer in California called The Unity Shoppe. The Paisley family was so inspired by the trip that they tirelessly worked to bring a version of the concept – a free grocery store – to middle Tennessee.

Recorded in the historic RCA Studio B, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Marty Stuart and Chris Scruggs talk the history of country music, and preserving it for the next generation.

Travis Tritt and Tracy Lawrence have been friends since the ‘90s. Over the last three decades, the country singers built a friendship on making memories – and keeping secrets.“We don’t have any stories we can tell,” Lawrence quipped. “Not enough people have died. His wife would run me off if I tell stories on him”Country Mile Episode 6 was recorded in Buena Vista, Co., at Dierks Bentley’s Seven Peaks Festival. And while Tritt and Lawrence aren’t up for sharing the details of their youthful heyday, they are more than happy to share g-rated touring stories and are also pretty impressed with atmosphere Bentley created in in the mountain town three-to-four hours outside of Denver.

In episode three of Country Mile, Tennessean reporter Cindy Watts and producer Ayrika Whitney take the show on the road to Buena Vista Colorado, where Dierks Bentley recently held his second annual Seven Peaks Music Festival. After a twenty-two hour journey to the remote Rocky Mountain town, they caught up with Bentley and rising star Tenille Townes for a wide-ranging conversation about day-to-day life on an international tour, honing their craft, fiddle fairy dust and festival fringe fashion.

What was the first music that moved you? The first song you learned to play? The first time you heard yourself on the radio?Cindy Watts sits down with 21-time Grammy winner Vince Gill and multi-platinum selling country artist Chris Young at Belmont University's The GIG. (Gallery of Iconic Guitars)