Casey James’ Texas roots always find their way onstage. Yep, it’s a longhorn.

It may be soundcheck, but Casey James plays like it’s a show.

Everything you need to know about “Let’s Don’t Call It a Night” is in an app.

Check out the lighthearted fun with the band during soundcheck.

Even the guys need a glam squad now and then.

Casey James helps CMT Radio Network’s Samantha Stephens remove some extraneous lipstick.

CMT Radio Network’s Samantha Stephens interviews Casey James for his Listen Up bio piece.

Backstage in the greenroom, a Casey James’ band member doesn’t look too confident of what the singer is about to do to his head.

Casey James gets his stage makeup on backstage in the greenroom.

Casey James kicks off his Listen Up performance.

Two Casey James fans proudly show their love for their favorite singer.

In the control room, the show’s director works with several camera angles.

Casey James shows some of his passion during a performance onstage at 12th & Porter.

A full house comes to Casey James’ Listen Up show.

A fan captures Casey James signing autographs after the show.

A “crazy” Casey James fan visits with the singer after the show.

Casey James signs autographs for fans after the show.

Bradley was referring to the fact that “A Woman Like You” was Brice’s first No. 1 as an artist (although he’s had multiple No. 1′s as a writer) and the first No. 1 for the three songwriters.

It was also Stone’s first No. 1 as a producer. He and Brice co-produced the song.

Brice, Bradley pointed out, co-wrote the Eli Young Band’s No. 1 “Crazy Girl,” which Billboard magazine proclaimed to be last year’s most-played country song.

Co-sponsored by BMI and its fellow performing rights organization, SESAC, the celebration was held in the Country Music Association’s newly-refurbished and enlarged lobby in Nashville. That space now includes a stage area visible from all sectors of the room and high-hanging wall panels inscribed with lines from dozens of hit country songs.

Barton and Bulford are BMI members, and, as customary, each was presented with a black acoustic guitar monogrammed with the BMI logo to mark their first No. 1 composition.

Bradley noted that “A Woman Like You” is “fast approaching 1 million downloads” and credited Stone, who’s affiliated with SESAC, with “always [having] an ear for hit songs.”

Mike Curb, the founder and owner of Curb Records, then came to the stage. Glancing over at famed producer Paul Worley, who’s also one of the publishers of “A Woman Like You,” Curb said, “It never gets old, does it, Paul?”

He explained he and Worley had last enjoyed a No. 1 song together in 1998 when Worley was producing the Dixie Chicks and the Chicks had just scored their first chart-topper with the Curb-published “There’s Your Trouble.”

Curb reminded the crowd that Brice co-wrote the Garth Brooks hit “More Than a Memory,” as well, which is the only song in Billboard history to debut at No. 1.

Brice set another record in 2010 when his breakthrough hit, “Love Like Crazy,” stayed on the charts for 56 weeks, ultimately peaking as a Top 10 — but not a No. 1 — song.

The previous record for chart longevity had been Eddy Arnold’s “Bouquet of Roses,” which stayed on for 54 weeks in 1948-49.

“Lee Brice is here to stay,” Curb concluded. “This is a career record. Lee, you’re going to be singing this song the rest of your life.”

Barton, who came to Nashville from Australia in 2005, thanked a legion of people who had welcomed and supported him.

Bulford said he had a list of the people he wanted to thank on his cell phone but had mistakenly given the phone to his girlfriend to keep for him while he was onstage. Nonetheless, he rattled off several names from memory.

He credited his girlfriend, who stood beaming in the audience, of inspiring one of the references in the song.

“She’s got the largest collection of throw pillows,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”

“I was watching the stage [before the ceremonies started],” Stone observed. “It’s only two-feet high, but it’s taken me 13 years to climb it.”

Said Brice, “This song was written to the wall. Every word is perfect.”

View photos from the No. 1 party.

The fact that there are 15 things Miranda Lambert will never apologize for isn’t really news. But still, this Self magazine story is pretty revealing. With quotes from Lambert like, “Too many girls in my business get too girly. I’m, like, ‘Come on, you know you’ve got dip in your mouth right now. Quit singing girly like that,’” she says, and then, “I live on hairspray.” She even says, as if it needs clarifying, “I say what I think.” And the gems go on and on:

“I feel my best when I’m a toned, not flabby, size 8.”

“I absolutely hate exercise.”

“I want to find a happy medium between feeling good about my body and still having a beer and some barbecue.”

“I don’t mind having a big butt.”

“We eat the meat we kill.”

“When you’re famous, whoever you were before comes out more. So if you were an ass, you’ll be even more of an ass.”

“I carry a weapon. I got a death threat a few years ago and was really scared. But I don’t want bodyguards. I am my own security.”

Willie Nelson lets Jimmy Fallon inspect his famous guitar.

Marty Stuart shares his red-faced “Minnie Moment.”

Grace Potter leads an eclectic lineup at Grand Point North Festival.

Dar Williams digs up the (Greek) classics in concert.

Jason Aldean had just been turkey hunting at Luke Bryan’s farm last week. Then, when he was done, he called into a Sacramento radio station and talked about how hot he isn’t. When the DJs at KNCI tell him a lot of women think he’s hot, Aldean shares his theory on why that is. “I think people think musicians or actors or whatever are hot … a lot of times because of what they do,” he says. “If I was walking through the mall eight years ago and had on some shorts and whatever, flip-flops and a T-shirt, I’m pretty sure nobody would really care. So I have to believe that the fact that I’m a singer has got a little bit to do with that.” What say you, readers? Is Aldean hot because he’s Aldean? Or is he just hot no matter what?

Tim McGraw started his country music education when was only 5. His stepdad drove an 18-wheeler, and one summer, McGraw went with him to haul cotton seed. Along the way, they listened to eight-tracks of Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck, George Jones and Merle Travis. “By God, that’s country,” he says about that early music lesson. McGraw talks about growing up country in a video interview promoting his new JBL headphones. He also talks about being a stickler about how he wants his fans to hear his music. And about sitting down with a pen and paper and coming up with ideas. And about how country music was always part of his musical diet growing up in Louisiana. McGraw adds that he knows all the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean songs from those early days. Why he doesn’t cover a few of those in his live shows is beyond me. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear him on “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”?

Asked about a typical day in the studio, he replies, “Oh, just a bunch of laughs. A break for lunch. Laugh some more. Break for dinner. Come back and do it again. It was really shoot-from-the-hip.”

Half of the songs, such as Tom Petty’s “Only the Losers” and Collective Soul’s “The World I Know,” will be familiar to a broad range of music fans. Meanwhile, the other half of the album draws on lesser-known material by songwriters like Liz Rose and Walt Wilkins (“If It Weren’t for You”) and Jon Randall (“Austin”). Cory Morrow, who released the first volume of Songs We Wish We’d Written with Green in 2001, returns for a good-natured duet of Lyle Lovett’s “If I Had a Boat.”

Released by Sugar Hill Records, the laid-back project kicks off with a cover of Joe Ely’s “All Just to Get to You.” Green filmed the music video at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, where he now lives.

During a visit to Nashville, the easygoing singer chatted with CMT.com about his new collection, his generally optimistic nature and the advice he’d give to a younger version of himself.

CMT: What is it about “If I Had a Boat” that pulls you in?

Green: I remember hearing that the first time I drove into Austin. I was a junior or senior in high school, and I was going to visit my brother, who was at UT [University of Texas]. As soon as I got in there, KGSR was playing “If I Had a Boat,” and I was like, “No way. That is really neat stuff.”

I can’t believe Cory got the line about “kiss my ass, I bought a boat.” Did you fight over that one?

(laughs) I’m not much of a fighter. I don’t think of music as a competition. Music is something comfortable that we can participate in as much as we can.

Why was it important for you to have Cory on this record?

Well, Cory is obviously one of my closest friends in the music business. He sang at my wedding. We did the first record together. It was all just the two of us. I think there were three or four songs that we each did, then three or four songs together. At the same time, I wanted the second installment of this record different than the first one. Now, Cory’s still on it and on one of the cooler tracks. In a perfect world, I would have 25 tracks on this record, but I think the reality of life is that you don’t always get to call all the shots.

I can hear an optimistic tone in some of these songs, like Warren Haynes’ “Soulshine.” Do you consider yourself an optimist?

Except for when I drink. (laughs) Yeah, I’ve always thought I was the happiest person I ever met. I love life. But get a couple of drinks in me, I can go dark pretty quick on you. It’s just a hang-up that I have. I had such a big drinking problem forever. If I drink, I’m like, “You are so stupid. Why are you doing this again?” (laughs) “You’re such an idiot!” Of the demons that I’ve been fortunate enough to acquire, that’s definitely the meanest one.

When Songs We Wish We’d Written came out in 2001, what was your day-to-day life like?

It was much more of a party. And it was a happy party. Don’t get me wrong about that. If I could change anything about those days, I would go back and tell that kid, “Hey, slow down. You’re going to have a problem with this if you don’t slow down.” At the same time, if I had, I wonder if I had been someone else. So it doesn’t bother me. But that kid was insane. Hair on fire. Just lucky he didn’t kill himself.

What do you remember about your time on a major label with those big hits and big tours?

“Oh, what a lucky fool!” That’s how I felt. I thought I was next in line. At the time, I felt that way. I thought, “If I’ll ever have a chance, it’s now. And if it happens, let’s all enjoy it.” I never thought past that. I always dreamed of being the big guy, but I got such a taste of being the big guy in Texas. I’d get 20,000 or 30,000 people out without a problem. When it ended up being what it was on the nationwide front, it ended up being the best of both worlds. I got to be an eclectic theater guy out there, but at home I got to be as big as I wanted to be.

Were you happy with that? Did you want to go farther nationally?

Yeah, I mean, who didn’t want to? When I was standing in front of the mirror with a tennis racket at 10 years old, I wasn’t thinking about playing a coffeehouse. (laughs) I was Van Halen!

In those early Texas years, you had “Carry On” and nationally you had “Wave on Wave.” Between those two, do you think one of them is your signature song? Or maybe both?

I think “Wave on Wave” is our trademark. I think “Carry On” is as close to that as anything else, as far as the hometown people. If you think about “Feels Just Like It Should” and the singles that got some traction, I certainly think that all adds up to a nationwide touring ability for a while. We’ve been doing it for 18 years, which is at least 10 more years than most people get to do it.

Looking back at your early career until now, so much has changed for you. But what has stayed the same?

Well, I haven’t changed my name. I think everything else has changed. My life is just different. I have a wife and kids. I lived through a great career, and I’ve gotten some criticism for being the first Texas guy to come up here to Nashville and sign to a major record label. Now everybody else who gets the chance does it. Honestly, I don’t think anybody who got the chance to sign to a record label wouldn’t do it. It’s really your best shot at making it. I lived through all of that experience, and I’m on the other side of it with kids and a wife. I’ve got a better sense of what this business is and how it can chew you up and spit you out. But also the beautiful side. There’s a great deal of awesome stuff about all of this. I’ve never been so happy working hard.