Vince Gill helps raise $100,000 for his old school

They laughed, they cried, they loved their hometown hero coming back to Oklahoma City, to the Cleveland Arts & Science Specialty School, where Vince Gill, at age 7, gave his first public performance. (He sang House of the Rising Sun, in case you were wondering.)

Vince played at his old school for a fund-raiser for and Oklahoma City public school auditorium, which will be called, you guessed it, Vince Gill Auditorium.

“The real beauty of this event is that this is the first place I played guitar and sang in front of anybody of my whole life. Even though it is nice to have a night to honor me, I’m coming home to do something for someone else and make it more than just about me,” Vince said in a statement.

Some 228 fans paid $495 each to be there.

The Oklahoma governor and one-time Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer were among those in the crowd.

Vince took requests shouted out from the crowd, and among the requests was one for his wife, Amy Grant, to sing, which she did, with their sleeping toddler in her lap.

So you wanna be in the Hannah Montana movie?

Who doesn’t??

They’re looking for extras Sunday at the Sommet Center. And here’s the thing: You MUST bring a picture of yourself, no bigger than 4 x 6 inches. No picture, no consideration.

They’re looking for extras of all ages, no experience required.

Kids must have a parent with them, and said parent must be willing to work with the child.

The filming starts May 6 in the Nashville area.

This could be absolutely bananas on Sunday, so ya might wanna get there early. It happens 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Good luck! And please lemme know if ya get a role. It’s brad@wkrn.com if you haven’t e-mailed me before.

Sara’s matchmaker? It’s her marriage counselor!

I am NOT kidding. There’s a “relationships expert” in town by the name of Joe Beam, who you can check out at the Web site of his company, Family Dynamics. You might know of Joe from a Sunday night show he used to have on WLAC, and he also has been on the Today show, Good Morning America and others.

Anyhoo, he met Sara and served as her “spiritual advisor” during her divorce from Craig Schelske, his publicist, Wade Jackson, told me.

I’m also told Beam served the same role for Sara’s fiance, Alabama sports radio personality Jay Barker.

So, check it out, when Sara’s and Jay’s marriages fell apart, their mutual marriage counselor/”spiritual advisor,” Beam, actually introduced them to each other, Sara’s camp confirmed today. Crazy! Talk about a full service marriage counselor! Say, if that marriage thing doesn’t work out, I might have another spouse candidate in mind….

Mr. Joe Beam wasn’t available for comment today.

But his involvement in this matchmaking might go even further. I’m told Beam, a longtime minister, will actually do the marriage ceremony for Jay and Sara.

Spokesmen for Joe Beam and Sara wouldn’t confirm or deny that today.

Fat to Fit: I’m out of the Big & Tall section!

Since I was a tot, I could never shop in the regular boys/mens sections. In elementary school, I would be lead to the Sears’ “Husky” section. (I remember thinking “husky” was a cool word until I found out it meant “fat.”)

After that, I’ve been a fixture in the Big & Tall section. True story: I walked into Dillard’s B&T last year, and a salesman asked if I was looking for the “tall” sizes. I mean, are you kidding, dude?

I even got to know a really nice guy in the Green Hills Dillard’s B&T section who would call me by name, ask how things were going at News 2. I walked in a week or so ago, slightly smaller, and asked him where the 42 waist pants were.

“Not in this section, Brad. You can’t shop here anymore,” he said, smiling.

I choked up. Not only was I kind of proud of the landmark, but I was gonna miss my B&T salesman buddy.

Since starting in January, I’ve lost 28 pounds, two short of my three-month goal, but hey. My blood pressure was 122/80 today, resting heart rate 63, all pretty good.

Thanks to those of you who read my fitness blog regularly and give me supportive comments, even to those of you who write, “Two bites of cheesecake is two too many!” (True story.)

So we might make it to 50 pounds in five months after all. If I don’t go on vacation to a buffet destination again….

Kenny’s 40: Roger Clemens, Tim & Faith, oh my!

I got quite a few e-mails from folks breathlessly saying they saw controversial seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens in town yesterday.

Random, right? Turns out he has been buddies with Kenny Chesney for several years, even went on stage during Kenny’s last Madison Square Garden show in New York, home to Clemens’ Yankees.

So Roger was the surprise guest for Kenny’s 40th birthday bash last night at trendy Cabana restaurant/club in Hillsboro Village. Also in the house: Patriots’ Junior Seau, NASCAR champ Sterling Marlin and music superstar friends Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, Dierks Bentley and Kellie Pickler.

“Looking around this room, I don’t  know what to say,” Kenny told the 200 in attendance, according to his publicist.

“Every one of them means so much to me, who I am and how I got here… and to see them all here, it makes me realize what a gift all the people in my life have been.”

Party highlight: As Kenny’s music buddy and former labelmate Jason D. Williams sang I’ll Fly Away, Kenny, Faith and Kellie each did a verse, with Faith blowing the doors off the place.

There were two cakes, one with a “4″, the other with a “0.” And Kenny’s favorite gift: A leather-bound book of letters from folks like Peyton Manning, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and a host of Music Row types who have touched him. His assistant, Cheryl Bevis, put it together and it clearly touched Kenny. “I haven’t even started reading this yet, but I already know this is my favorite birthday present ever,” he said. Kenny also had his mama, daddy, sister and aunt on hand. Then a group of them — including Roger Clemens — headed to Vandy area sports bar Loser’s and some of them joined a house band on stage.  

Frampton part of new riverfront concert series

Do you feel like I do? That we need new riverfront shows? Well, you’re in luck.

1970s rock god (and former Nashvillian) Peter Frampton is the first act confirmed for what’s going to be a five- or six-show summer concert series at Riverfront Park, the fine folks at Great Big Shows promoters tell me.

Frampton is set for Aug. 31, and more shows will be announced soon.

But don’t look for a repeat of Dancin’ in the District. Organizers are hoping for adult crowds, and slightly higher-end (code for “richer”) audiences.

So, no more corndog vendors. Instead, restaurateur Jay Pennington (The Bound’ry) is being brought on board for concert concessions. Yummy!

We’ll give you more info as we get it.

Sara is engaged to former ‘Bama star QB

Wow, check out this speedy timeline.

Sara Evans and her hubby, Craig, finish up a nasty divorce in September.

In November, Sara starts dating Jay Barker, a Birmingham sports radio dude who lead Alabama’s football team to a national championship in 1992.

Guess who confirmed her engagement this week?

“The couple are enjoying their engagement and lok forward to their upcoming nuptials,” Sara’s label publicist tells People.com, which also is the source of this picture.

Looks like Jay completed his pass. Whoa! Terrible joke! Love it.

Worlds collide! Luke Perry and Pickler fly high

Did you love Kellie Pickler on American Idol this week?

She packed her red high heels and headed back to Nashville last night on American Airlines (in coach - shriek!).

Sitting nearby: Beverly Hills, 90210 hunk Luke Perry, once a property owner in Dickson County here in Middle Tennessee. (Maybe he still is. I digress.)

Luke has a full scruffy beard, so lots of folks didn’t recognize him. But his elementary school-aged kids recognized Kellie Pickler.

So Luke asked Kellie if she wouldn’t mind signing autographs for his small fries. She of course did not mind one bit.

CMT gets Kenny, Tim & Faith — oh my!

Looks like CMT is getting bigger stars than the major networks get for their primetime country awards shows.

CMT just added Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Keith Urban and Brooks & Dunn to the lineup for the 2008 CMT Music Awards, happening April 14 at Belmont.

CMT has already announced Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, Taylor Swift. And hosts Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus are set to perform as well.

The show is sold out.

William H. Macy is comin’ to town

Yes, William H. Macy, the nervous car salesman in Coen Brothers movie Fargo, is heading to Music City.

Macy is taking his latest movie, The Deal, on the film festival circuit, so that means he’ll screen it April 17, the opening night of the Nashville Film Festival at the Regal Green Hills Cinemas. 

The movie The Deal is about a Hollywood producer (Macy) who tries to revive his career by putting an action film star in a biopic about a 19th Century British prime minister. He stars in it with Meg Ryan, L.L. Cool J. and Jason Ritter (Country Music Hall of Famer Tex Ritter’s grandson and the late actor John Ritter’s son).

The Deal director Steven Schachter also will be here for the screening.

Check out ticket info at NashvilleFilmFestival.org.

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