my guitar heroes: BRAD PAISLEY and KEITH URBAN.

so one of the things that turned me on to country music is how damn nice everyone is! you hardly hear stories about celebrity feuds, divas, and showing up three hours late to your own concert--if you show up at all--just because you can. and country artists are so friendly and supportive of each other as well as their fans. in fact, i have two such AMAZING stories for you, courtesy of my guitar heroes, brad paisley and keith urban. both are being utter darlings and going above and beyond to make fans' wishes come true.

brad paisley helps fan propose to his girlfriend in the front row!

 
at about 2:45, brad's taking a solo during his performance of his wedding-song-grade ballad she's everything. you see him grab an iphone from someone in the front row and point down at one of his fans.  what is he doing, you ask? he's cuing up a fan in the front row to take the mic and propose to his girlfriend while brad stops the entire show to play camera guy to this once-in-a-lifetime moment in his fan's life! he even does the obligatory "i think i got it" disclaimer as he hands the iphone back. see!? they're real people, just like you and me! you can't say that about all genres.

i remember years and years ago, i was dating a guy who had a lot of friends in "bands" (trust me, quotation marks are necessary), and he asked one of them to say happy birthday to me while on stage (oh whateva, we were freshmen in college). all i got was an "oh-yeah-and-happy-birthday-annie!" in between verses. wtf do i do with that!? anyway, i suppose i was touched at the time, but gag with me a spoon when compared to THIS. more details about brad's lovely gesture--and cute banter--are here. I. LOVE. HIM.

keith urban performs "long hot summer" cover with two lucky fans.
my dreamboat-and-a-half keith urban has been out of the game for awhile recovering from throat surgery. in the meantime (i think it was in the meantime. and if so, then it's pr genius), he had a youtube contest for best cover of what is now my favorite song to blast in the car while driving above the speed limit, long hot summer. he selected the winners himself and then flew them out to nashville to perform it with him.



and umm, did you notice another heartthrob up on stage with keith? richard marx! remember that guy? ("wherever you go, whatever you do, i will be right here waiting for youuu." swoon.) anyway i smiled the whole time as my love for this enigmatic australian ken doll grew exponentially.

it's stuff like this, yall. stuff like this.