Stormy Speaks

Stormy Weather is opry.com's exclusive columnist. A veteran, though self-described "young and trendy music industry insider," Stormy takes readers along as she moves gracefully within Nashville’s elite inner circles and shares her own first-hand observations, take-no-prisoners opinions and juicy commentary on the movers and shakers inside Music City's illustrious entertainment industry. Read it from Stormy like you won't read it anywhere else.

Stormy Reports on Music City’s Manliness

Good news, ladies, good news! Nashville, Music City, ranks No. 1 for MANLINESS in a new study conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces. Of course, Stormy’s always thought this was true but she had no empirical data to support the theory. However, Stormy’s new super-hot can’t-reveal-his-identity-just-yet boyfriend is living proof. Now, it seems the criteria is based on such things as the number of professional major league sports teams (yes, Stormy can think of two of those), the popularity of tools and hardware (Stormy’s eyelash curler is most definitely a tool, and she stopped by a hardware store for a soft drink once) and frequency of monster truck rallies (well, Stormy is most likely never going to be caught in one of these unless by “rally” they mean “protest.”) All of this aside, the good news is, it’s a manly town we live in, ladies. Other cities in the top five include Charlotte, N.C., Oklahoma City, fourth-place Cincinnati, and then Denver. Last on the list: New York City (Stormy’s sure that it has something to do with monster trucks).

How clever is that cute-as-a-button Dierks Bentley? What better place than a club called Fuel to host a No. 1 party for “Feel That Fire”? Other than Stormy’s own backyard, there simply isn’t one. Stormy can safely report that everyone was indeed feeling that fire. And in honor of the occasion, Stormy painted her nails black, too. She’s just that kind of girl.

Keith Urban played a two-and-a-half-hour party in downtown Nashville. Sounds like that little ankle biter Sunday Rose is keeping mum Nicole and dad on his toes. Keith told the crowd that he’s keeping farmer’s hours, getting up at the crack of dawn and going to bed at 6 p.m. Not that Stormy’s ever been referred to as the Bush telegraph (you know, that’s how they refer to the town gossip in Australia), but someone did tell Stormy that Sunday Rose might be getting an older sister before long . . . but that’s away with the pixies for now. Rather, it’s daydreaming for those of you who haven’t ventured Down Under lately.

Stormy sashayed into a little press conference at the Ryman Auditorium featuring one of her favorite girlfriends, Mandy Barnett. Stormy is super excited that Mandy and Tere Myers will be reprising their roles in “Always . . . Patsy Cline,” the phenomenal musical that welcomed guests into the newly renovated Ryman Auditorium in 1994. Stormy just melts as Mandy belts out those Patsy Cline tunes. Next minute, she’s rolling in the floor laughing at Tere as the devoted fan and friend Louise Seger. Stormy may very well attend every single show, April 15-29 and May 6-23. See you there!

This just in . . . Jewel has dropped out of “Dancing with the Stars” due to injury, specifically, a fractured tibia in both legs. What was that girl doing? Break dancing? Oh, my! If Stormy’s memory serves her correctly, this leaves Jewel’s cowboy husband Ty Murray on his own. Stormy’s seen dancing with the stars and the costumes, or lack thereof, that some of those ladies, um, wear. Fractured tibia or not, Stormy would be hanging out just to make sure those perfectly sculpted dancers don’t try to wrangle an extra tango with her man.

Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Heidi Newfield, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Stormy are all making preparations for the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 5 in Las Vegas. Of course, the others are all performing on the big show, but Stormy, well, a girl’s got to look good. No, make that great. As much as Stormy loves Sin City, it’s so outrageously hot out there. It’s hard to look fabulous when its 115 degrees, and the sun is blistering you like an over-ripened tomato left on the garden vine to die.

Amid all of this activity, Stormy actually remembered to set the DVR for Taylor Swift’s television acting debut on CSI. Stormy barely caught a glimpse, but she thinks Taylor looks super-cute in that brunette wig. Maybe Stormy needs a brunette wig? While she contemplates that, Stormy’s going to curl up on the sofa and watch Taylor play dead. See you in two weeks.