Tracy Lawrence launches Kickstarter to raise money for new album

Kickstarter! Everyone's doing it! 

Kickstarter is a company where creative people (and sometimes not so creative people) can ask regular folks for money to help them fund a project. The person sets a goal and if they don't reach their goal then no money changes hands. 

Kickstarter was recently in the news when "Scrubs" actor Zach Braff successfully raised $2.6 million to film a sequal to his movie "Garden State." 

Now country music is starting to figure out that the fund-raising site might work for them too. On Thursday, Tracy Lawrence officially launched a Kickstarer campaign to try and raise at least $50,000 to record his next album, "Headlights, Taillights and Radios." 

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Carrie Underwood donates a million bucks to the Red Cross (from the mailbag)

Carrie underwood
As Carrie Underwood prepares to wrap her 2012-2013 "Blown Away Tour" tonight in Abbottsford, BC, a one million dollar donation is being made to the Red Cross for disaster relief. The charitable contribution to the Red Cross derives from the tour's concert proceeds and was established when it launched in spring 2012.

"I have watched the devastation in my home state of Oklahoma over the past several days with great sadness," says Carrie. "With the help of my fans who attended my concerts over the past year, we can offer the Red Cross a little extra help in comforting those affected by the recent tornados."

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Exclusive: Cassadee Pope on going Country, working with Blake Shelton and heading out on tour with Rascal Flatts

Cass P

As far as promising female Country singers go, Cassadee Pope lands at the top of the pack. During her run on The Voice last fall, she out-performed her competitors week-in and week-out, taking on such hits as Miranda Lambert's "Over You" (her truly breakout moment), Rascal Flatts' "Stand" and Keith Urban's "Stupid Boy." Even before her eventual win, Big Machine had already expressed great interest in her, and as she heads into her solo debut, she has no trepidation venturing into a male-dominated genre.

I recently had the chance to chat with her and ask her about this, as well as her new single "Wasting All These Tears" (which you can listen to here) and what the songwriting process has been like, and so much more.

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