JUST HAPPENED TWICE (Items on Kenny Chesney, Bobby Bare, Natalie Maines, Ryan Adams, Keith Urban, John Mellencamp, Lucinda Williams, Randy Travis)

Kenny Chesney's Poets & Pirates-travganza kicked off with a pair of shows in Connecticut that included...the man forgetting the lyrics to one of his hits, so it did it twice.
Meanwhile, KC warmed up, literally, last week in Baltimore, hanging with the Orioles at Camden Yards, taking batting practice and throwing out the first pitch before the Birds beat the White Sox.
KC will be back in Balmer May 10 across from the Birds perch at M&T Bank Stadium (The Baltimore Ravens' nest).
The power of Kenny extends to the real estate market as well. He has two properties on the market, one in California, another in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Don't check 'em out if you're faint of heart when it comes to sticker shock.

Laid Bare: Catching up and looking back with Bobby Bare here.

Diamond Neo: In addition to a duet with Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks, Neil Diamond's upcoming (May 12) album reunites him with producer Rick Rubin, the chap behind that magnificent music output in the last decade of Johnny Cash's life.

Cardinal Sin: You know who hates country music? Ryan Adams, that's who. "I hate HATE country music. I always have. I 'reference' it when I make music that sounds like that, the way a director would use water as a backdrop for a scene with a shark in it. But I cannot stand country music one bit. Unless The Grateful Dead are messin' round with it. Then it is tolerable." That from the U.K.'s New Musical Express, via Ryan's blog.

Nellyville: You know who loves country music? Nelly Furtado, who's proving it via a Keith Urban duet on her latest disc.

Mellencampsites: John Mellencamp will tour this summer behind a July-bound album with Lucinda Williams as his opening act.

Doppelganging: In their online thingie about NHL players resembling entertainers, Sports Illustrated notes that Nashville Predators captain Jason Arnott is a dead ringer for Randy Travis.
Which reminds me that anytime I see the New Orleans Saints play on TV, I'm thinking this: