Brian Mansfield

'Coal,' Kathy Mattea Standout Song: 'The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore' Mattea and producer Marty Stuart create a masterpiece that mines one of country music's richest song traditions. Mattea's grandfathers both worked in coal, and you can hear its dark tug on her soul when she sings coal classics like 'Dark as a Dungeon,' 'Blue Diamond Mines' and 'Black Lung.' P... Read More ...

'Fearless,' Taylor Swift Standout Song: 'Love Story' How anticipated was this follow-up to Swift's triple platinum debut? Before title track 'Fearless' even came out, a hundred girls already had uploaded YouTube videos of themselves performing it...

Brad Paisley has some big-name guests on his new album, 'Play,' out Tuesday (Nov. 4) – Keith Urban, B.B. King, Andy Griffith, Vince Gill, Steve Wariner – but there's one he wanted and didn't get: former Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler...

According to 'Forbes' magazine, Toby Keith earned $48 million in 2007 - more than any other music act expect for The Police and Beyoncé. Considering that Keith's already done a duet with the top-earning act (or at least its lead singer - Sting and Keith's 1997 version of 'I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying' reached No...

When 'Forbes' magazine announced its list of top-earning music stars in May, Toby Keith ranked higher than any other country singer, raking in an estimated $48 million in 2007. But when the Country Music Association award nominations came out a few months later, the top-earning country star wasn't one of the contenders for Entertainer of the Year...

Back in August, when Toby Keith told reporters he believed Barack Obama was "the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton," he wasn't endorsing a presidential candidate. He was employing a cost-effective method of promoting his movie 'Beer for My Horses...

Toby Keith's new album, 'That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy,' out today, has already given him a No. 1 single, 'She Never Cried in Front of Me.' In the second part of our week-long interview with Keith, he talks about some of the album's other 10 songs, which were written in places ranging from Oklahoma to Afghanistan...

Toby Keith believes in betting on himself. Does that make him a bad guy? He doesn't think so. For his new album, 'That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy,' out Tuesday, Keith wrote all the songs and produced the recording sessions. The album comes out on his own label, Show Dog Records, which he started after a dozen years recording for major labels...

'Livin' on Love' -- Alan Jackson (1991) The bottom lines: "Livin' on love, buyin' on time/Without somebody, nothing ain't worth a dime." Jackson's couple sets up house on a shoestring budget. After their kids leave home, they're just "two old people without a thing...

'Patches' -- Jerry Reed (1981) The bottom lines: "I was so ragged that folks used to call me 'Patches'/Papa used to tease me about it/'Course, deep down inside he was hurt." "Patches" is hit with one calamity after another -- already poor, his father dies, then a flood destroys his crops...