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One the biggest album releases for 2010 is Steve Forde's Hurricane on August 13.

Check out the new music video for the album's opening single and title track!

New ABC Music artist Peter McWhirter has released his second single 'I Will Stand By You'. The clip was premiered on CMC on the weekend and is the channel's "Country Pick" this week.

'I Will Stand By You' is the follow-up to McWhirter's debut #1 single 'Humm'.

The music video for 'I Will Stand By You' was directed by Stuart Bowen (Gabriella Cilmi - On A Mission) and directed by Jodi Matherson.

Peter McWhirter's debut album, titled Lucky As A Seven, will be released on September 10 and he's appearing at CMC Rocks North Queensland on a bill which includes Tim McGraw, Corb Lund, Steve Forde and 2009 ARIA nominee Jasmine Rae. He is also supporting Corb Lund during his other Australian shows.

Take a look at 'I Will Stand By You' below...

New pop/country artist Stephanie Brownlee is today releasing her debut album Keep It Real through Compass Bros Records.

Brownlee was discovered at the age of 14 by former Fleetwood Mac Manager Dennis Dunstan and after three years of development, he put her into the studio to record her debut album. 

Recorded in Nashville and Sydney, Keep It Real showcases a collection of songs from Jessie Alexander, Tom Shapiro and Liz Rose, who co-penned several of Taylor Swift’s hits.  

She toured with the McClymonts late in 2009. 

Brownlee's new single is a Sarah Buxton cover titled 'That Kind Of Day'. Check it out below...

It's official...  Taylor Swift will release her third studio album, Speak Now  at the end of October.  She announced these details Tuesday with her fans on Ustream. 

The album's first single, 'Mine,' will be released around mid-August.

"Ever since we put out 'Fearless' I've been writing this one," said Swift, who added that "Speak Now" will consist of about 14 songs. "Through the past two years, I've been through a lot of things that I have been dying to write about and talk about. There were a lot of things that I wanted to say in the moment but couldn't, and this album is my opportunity to do that.

Swift co-produced the album with Nathan Chapman, whom she collaborated with on her first two albums.

Adam Brand, currently on radio tour in the US, is releaing a new album on August 20 through Compass Bros Records titled It's Gonna Be Ok. Check out the title track and first single/music video from the new album. The fun clip features Adam's new wife Jade Brand (Hatcher).

"Current CMA Entertainer of the Year and Grammy Album of the Year holder Taylor Swift will conduct a live web chat next Wednesday morning at 7:00am Australian Eastern time to give fans details about her new album - set for release before Christmas"

“I’ve spent the last two years out on the Fearless tour and working on my new record,” Taylor said. “I’ve gotten so many questions from fans -- on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, my website, everywhere really, and it’s so incredible to see how excited everybody is about what’s next. I want them to be the first to know about my new music, and I can’t wait to talk to everybody as directly as I can!”, said Taylor on her official website this week.

Visit www.taylorswift.com at 7:00am Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne time on Wednesday morning to hear all the news from Taylor herself.

Kenny Chesney has released a new single titled 'The Boys Of Fall' from the new album Hemingway's Whiskey.

The album is due to be released at the end of September through Sony Music.

Check out 'The Boys Of Fall' below... 

Australian country superstar Steve Forde is set to release his latest and best album yet, Hurricane on August 13, 2010.

The album is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Guns & Guitars which topped the ARIA Australian Albums Country Sales charts when released in 2008.

Forde, a 2010 APRA Awards nominee, wrote nine of the ten tracks on the album with collaborators Matt Scullion and Josh Barker.

“After years of touring all over Australia and everything that comes with that lifestyle, I reached a point in my life and career where I knew I needed to immerse myself entirely into this next album.  For the first time in a while, I felt like I had something to say,” says Forde. 

The writing and recording process became some-what of an obsession for Forde…

“The routine was abnormal to say the least. I would stay up for days on end recording in the basement. After three or four days of absolutely no sleep and too much music I would head to Florida for a week of fishing.  I would take a break, contemplate, fish, miss it and then head back to continue on Hurricane. This went on for 2 and a 1/2 months,” he says.  

Steve Forde is the main support for all of Tim McGraw’s national tour shows in September. He’ll also appear at the first ever CMC Rocks North Queensland, the Deni Ute Muster in October and Mud Bulls & Music in November.  

Steve Forde’s new album Hurricane is released on August 13, 2010 through ABC Music/Universal Music Australia.

The album’s title track and first single ‘Hurricane’ is officially released to media on July 19, 2010

Carrie Underwood has tied the knot with professional hockey player, Mike Fisher. They were married last weekend in what is surely one of the secretive celebrity marriages in a long time. We could not feel more blessed to have found each other and to have shared this day with our friends and family that mean so much to us!" the newlyweds told US magazine People.

250 guests were reportedly flown by private jets to ultra-private ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton lodge in Greensboro to the festivities, not knowing where they were headed until they showed up at the airportCarrie and Mike met backstage at her March 2008 concert in Ottawa, Canada. He plays for the National Hockey League's Senators.

Mike popped the question on December 20, 2009, at his home in Canada after calling Carrie's father to ask for her hand in marriage. The happy couple will reside in both Nashville and Ottawa, with a long-distance relationship being something they've certainly mastered over these last two years together.

Check out a live performance of Carrie Underwood's latest single 'Undo It' below...

By Bob Doerschuk © 2010 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

Concept albums are rare in Country Music, so from the get-go Achin’ and Shakin’, Laura Bell Bundy's major label debut release, is — as she writes and sings in “Homecoming Queen” — “a little left of the middle.”

But that’s to be expected from Bundy, who wrote that song with Jeff Cohen and 11 of the album's 12 tracks. But that’s not all: Where the usual pattern for Country Music hopefuls is to come straight to Nashville to try their luck, Bundy made the move only after gaining extensive performing experience in New York City.

She earned a Tony Award nomination for originating the role of Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde: The Musical.” She was already a veteran at that point, having appeared at 9 in Radio City Music Hall’s “Christmas Spectacular.” At 11, she won an outer critics award for her starring role in "Ruthless! The Musical.” She also starred in the Broadway musicals “Hairspray" and “Wicked.”

But Bundy’s ambition was to sing Country Music. Between theater shows, the Kentucky-born artist and her roommate Amber Rhodes gigged as a down-home duo in Manhattan. Eventually, trading Broadway for Lower Broad in Music City, Bundy signed with Mercury Nashville and worked with three producers on Achin’ and Shakin,’ released in April.

Why three producers? The first half of the album, produced by Nathan Chapman, offers heartbreak songs and wistful ballads. The second, with Kyle Kelso and Mike Shimshack at the helm, dishes up half a dozen up-tempo tunes, beginning with the first single, 'Giddy On Up'. Written by Bundy, Cohen and Shimshack, it captures her playful side as well as her broad musical background. Stax-style horns punch through a banjo-driven hoedown and foot-stomp, dance-floor beat while Bundy radiates confident vocal chops and infectious humor. A seasoned musical actress with a strong Country spirit — now, that’s a concept.

IN HER OWN WORDS Q&A

Who is your musical hero? “I have a few...Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin.”

What CD is in your stereo?  “Lee Ann Womack’s Call Me Crazy.”

What book is on your nightstand?  “My headboard is actually a bookshelf so there are tons of books; I read about five at a time.  Currently, I’m reading, The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck and The Help by Kathryn Stocket.”

What song do you wish you had written? “Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin'’ played at every bar in America at some point every night.”

What word or phrase do you find yourself saying over and over again?  “’No, Norma Jean, you don’t poo poo there.’ Norma Jean is my new puppy.”

What mode of transportation do you prefer?  “A convertible.”

That moment in your life would you relive if you could? “Taking walks with my dad in the fall when I was 5 yrs old and picking sour apples of the trees.”

Do you have a lucky charm? “Yes, my Horseshoe necklace and ring.”

If you wrote an autobiography, what would the title be?  “Born To Entertain — The Life and Times of Laura Bell Bundy.” 

When they look back on your life in 50 years, what do you hope people say about you?  “They’ll probably say, ‘That girl was CRAZY!’  I hope they say, ‘She was true to herself.’”

If you weren’t a musical artist, what would you be?  “An Allergist or Nutritionist and I would help people that have food allergies like I do.”

What is your favorite food while on the road?  “Lays Classic Potato Chips”

What can you tell us about yourself that we’d never guess about you? “I won the Purdue University physics award as a junior in high school. Also I love 'Battlestar Gallactica.'”

Photo: Micheal Ellins