Quick, what’s a 14-letter word for a pre Civil War woman, or a multi-Platinum selling country music trio who conquered the 2011 Grammy Awards and was just awarded with another CMA Award for Vocal Group of the Year?

Here’s a hint: it ain’t Lady Gaga.

But if you, astute reader, guessed Lady Antebellum then you’d be absolutely correct. And now our crossword puzzle stumping friends in the beloved Capitol Records trio have the CountryBreakout Chart’s No. 1 song for a third consecutive week with “We Owned The Night.” Lady A’s similarly titled Own The Night tour just launched last weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee. Early reports of the show have yielded compliments such as “huge,” “next level,” and “must see.”

This week they’ve been out west with arena dates in El Paso (11/16), Phoenix (11/17) and Las Vegas (11/18). They’ll head over to Los Angeles Nov. 22, where they are scheduled to perform live on the finale of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars and perform this big ole hit single.

A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name

This is for my radio friends.

I go to this restaurant each Friday. I like their varied menu. The wait staff is friendly and spends time with me when I go in there. I get the neighborhood news. The place has more than enough seating but it is cozy and I feel like I am the only person in there. It seems to me that the chef is spending his time making a dish that I will love. The owner stops by occasionally and says hello.

I always meet someone new when I’m there. Maybe because we all live in the same neighborhood, I feel a connection to the other diners. I occasionally eavesdrop on the conversations of the servers and patrons. Many times they are laugh out loud funny but they are talking about things that interest me.

One of the last times I was there, I learned about an event going on down the street that I stopped at and had a great time. I felt really lucky because I would never have heard about this fun event otherwise.

One of the great things about this restaurant is that, because I am a regular customer, I get to enter a contest every month that gives me a chance to win a free meal. All you need to know is the server of the month and tell her that you’d like to win. It is kind of a secret contest just for regulars. Now, I have never won the meal but I like to play along and it gives me a chance to interact with the server, whom I like a lot.

This sounds like a great place, doesn’t it? I bet you want to know where it is. Maybe you’d like to visit and take your family.

But wait a minute. Over the last few months I have started to notice some changes.

A couple visits ago my favorite server wasn’t there. He always worked Friday nights. I felt like Norm from Cheers when I went there. I always felt like he was waiting for me to come in. No one said anything that night about him missing.

The next Friday I asked and the owner told me that he was let go. They had experienced some decrease in business, due to the downturn in the economy. There just wasn’t enough business to keep him. The owner was sorry he had to leave and wanted me to meet the other server, who he was sure I would also like.

He was a nice enough guy but it was going to take me some time to learn about what he was all about.

That night I also got my first bad meal at the restaurant. The cook came out and apologized, saying that they were cutting corners a little bit on the fruit and vegetables. He was trying to make my favorite meal for me but they only go to the Farmer’s market every second or third day. He was looking to leave his position because he didn’t agree with new direction and felt that, as the highest paid employee, the owner was putting pressure on him.

He said that as the cook he shouldn’t have to wait on some tables and even buss tables.

The next time I visited I found the menu missing. I used to spend 15 minutes looking it over finding new things that I wanted to try. My favorites would be there but there would always be something new that interested me and I was happy to try something different. This time there was a chalk board with only a few choices.

The owner said that he didn’t have the staff to take chances with new things. He had a guy come in from another restaurant across town and he would whip up some “specials” but that he wasn’t around all day and couldn’t make more than a handful of dishes each day.

On my way out, I looked for the server of the month to try my hand at winning a dinner. I didn’t see the display with the monthly plaques telling me who this month’s honored server was. The new server from last month (what’s his name?) told me that they stopped the contest because the same people were winning all the time.

You know what? I think I am going to have to find a new place to eat on Friday nights.

Following her acoustic performance of the song on the CMA Awards, Taylor Swift’s “Ours” will be the newly crowned Entertainer of the Year’s next single. The track is available on the Target exclusive version of Speak Now, and ships to radio Nov. 28. Swift is also currently nominated for Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Country Artist and Favorite Tour Headliner at the 2012 People’s Choice Awards.

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Love and Theft (Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson) is releasing “Angel Eyes,” the duo’s debut single for RCA today (Nov. 14). Interestingly, today is also the birthdate of both band members’ mothers. “You can’t make this up,” says RCA VP National Promotion Keith Gale. “When Stephen and Eric told me that November 14 was the birthday for both of their moms, I thought that was cool. But when they told me their moms were also born the same year, I thought, ‘this is a really cool and authentic story.’ We didn’t have any idea that November 14 was such a special day for Love and Theft until after we had chosen their add date. The guys told me about this while we were driving around the country on their radio promo tour.”

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Ty Herndon has released “Stones” (FUNL Music/Flying Island Entertainment), the lead single from his upcoming 2012 studio album. Herndon originally recorded the song for a project several years ago that was never released. While searching for songs for the new album, Herndon rediscovered the song and decided to record it again. “Stones” is the first new music released since Herndon’s Grammy-nominated 2010 album Journey On. “The song ‘Stones’ is really a metaphor for all of those defining moments in our lives that we are faced with,” says Herndon. “Like the lyrics say, ‘from the cradle to the grave, our lives are paved with stones.’ I’ve always felt it was such a remarkable and thought-provoking song, and it’s really stuck with me through the years. I’m just thrilled that I’m finally able to share it with my fans.”

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Trailer Choir has released “Love Me First,” its first new single since the departure of Crystal Hoyt and move to a new label home (Hollaville Records). “Our decision about this song was to first make it available to the fans who have stuck with us through so much this year, as well as the new fans who have come to know Vinny through his ongoing appearance on The Biggest Loser,” explained duo member Butter. “We have been getting some really good feedback – NBC even made the song available for people to hear on nbc.com.” Biggest Loser airs Tuesdays at 7 pm CT. Big Vinny is still among the competitors in the show’s ninth week. Check out “Love Me First” here.

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Teen sensation Payton Rae is getting in the holiday spirit with the release of “Christmas Time With You,” a video directed by Stephen Shepherd. Fans will be able to view the clip at 12 am Tuesday, November 15 (in other words, midnight tonight) on the Payton Rae YouTube Music Channel. The song will also be available on iTunes and other online outlets. “I co-wrote ‘Christmas Time With You’ with Bruce Wallace, Karyn Williams and Brian White – who also produced the track – and they all brought amazing ideas to the table,” says Payton. “One of my favorite parts about Christmas is baking my Mema’s homemade cookies with her – so I had to put that in this song!”

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Jerrod Niemann is also getting in the holiday spirit–or maybe that should be spirits–with the Mistletoe Mix of his current hit single “One More Drinkin’ Song.” Reasons to stay home and drink egg nog include long checkout lines, the insanity of the mall, and yellow snow (ew!). Drink up, and happy holidays!