The X Factor

There are moments where The X Factor reminds me of a horror-movie version of an industrial farm-raised turkey: Genetically groomed and pumped full of steroids, bursting at the skin with muscle and sinew, and — if it could figure out how to better maneuver its unwieldy form — ready to burst from its cage and brutally flip the carnivore-Thanksgiving dinner relationship.

Randy Travis tonight, more events through Sunday at Franklin County Fair

MALONE - Country music star Randy Travis, American Idol runner-up Crystal Bowersox, midway rides, and a rodeo are just a few of the long list of events at the 2011 Franklin County Fair running through Sunday, Aug. 14.

Season tickets for all nine days are $40. Admission on Aug. 6, 8, 9 and 11 is $8. Aug. 7 and 13 is $12. Aug. 10 and 14 is $15. Parking on the grounds is $3. Children 12 and under are admitted free all week. Grandstand is free with admission ticket. For more information, call 518-483-0720.

Del McCoury Band Teams Up with Preservation Hall Jazz Band; Pickup Lines In Country Music; Ralph Stanley Video Liner | The 9513

Brody Vercher | February 4th, 2011 Email Share

The Del McCoury Band is teaming up with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for a new album and tour. (via @jonweisberger) NashvilleGab highlighted a comment made by entertainment reporter Jimmy Carter about all of Miranda Lambert‘s nominations:

toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio

"...as human beings we are capable of making sense of situations based on the thinnest slice of experience."

— Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point.

THE BOYS ARE BACK: Nineties bad boys Beavis and Butthead -- heh, heh, heh -- are coming back with new episodes this summer. Is the world ready for their return? Probably. South Park actually makes the fellas and their scatological humor seem rather tame. After all Beavis and Butthead favored double entendere and blunt, sledgehammer-like stupidity, compared to the more slice it and dice it style of the current cartoon fare. Plus, they were on David Letterman's show. RL

Your Random Weekend Memo

Here's a part of Crystal Bowersox's recent trip to Nashville I didn't know about: She got to meet a California Raisin. This came after her performance for the BlissDom bloggers' conference at the Opryland Hotel.

If you've spent time on iTunes this week, you may have noticed that a duo called the Civil Wars has spent much of the week in the top-selling album spot with Barton Hollow . Half of that duo, Joy Williams, is one of David Archuleta's songwriting partners , helping him pen The Other Side of Down and My Kind of Perfect for the most recent album. The Civil Wars, which consists of Williams and John Paul White, has other high-profile fans, too. Taylor Swift attended the duo's show at Nashville's Belcourt Theater Wednesday night and tweeted about it (which probably didn't hurt their sales any).