Country Summer Nights

Whether you're headed up to the lake for some R & R or just out onto the highway for a roadie with your buds, don't forget to fill up your iPod with plenty of tunes for those cool country summer nights. Nothing like a little moonlight to turn your mind toward some country lovin', and the pedal steel's moan sounds a little like heart strings being pulled in Kenny Chesney's "Fall In Love (Remix)." Country Music Hall of Famer George Strait picks up where Kenny left off, with a story of puppy love that never grows old in "Check Yes Or No (Edit)." And talk about your storybook endings — Keith Urban brings his New Zealand twang to a song about a "Better Life," and he should know about that, after all, he's married to movie star Nicole Kidman.

In Next Steps, we say so long to the solo artists and strike up the bands.

With 41 number one singles to choose from, Alabama just had to be part of our playlist, and "(There's A) Fire In The Night" — from their greatest hits collection For the Record — smolders with the sultry promise of an after-hours rendezvous. If something about Big & Rich's "Lost In The Moment" sounds familiar, it might be due to the fact that the duo's "Rich" half was once the lead singer for Lonestar (whose "With Me" can be found in the Basics section). And finally, Little Big Town's mix of Fleetwood Mac-style rock and Eagles-brand country earned them a CMA award for Best New Group in 2007. On "Boondocks (Radio Single)," from The Road To Here, L.B.T. sing the praises of growing up out in the sticks; think of it as a country cousin to John Mellencamp's "Small Town."

In Deep Cuts, some of country music's leading ladies step to the mic to have their say.

Like folkie Joni Mitchell, Terri Clark was raised out on the Canadian plains, but because her grandparents were country stars in the Great White North, she turned her focus toward Nashville. In "You're Easy On the Eyes," she learns the painful lesson that beautifully wrapped packages may contain ugly surprises. But where Clark was handed a lemon, New Traditionalist star Patty Loveless makes lemonade out of her failed love affair in "Hurt Me Bad (In a Real Good Way)." And Pam Tillis peppers "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)" with a little Tex-Mex sabor, its nylon-string guitar riffing reminiscent not only of classic country songs like Marty Robbins' "El Paso," but also of the folklórico sounds that have drifted into American country music from across the border.

Maybe the thunderheads are rolling in from the west, or maybe it's just one of those quiet evenings where fireflies flash one another their secret signals. It's summertime, and the livin' is easy, especially when you're away from the city's grind, somewhere out in the country. Fact is, the only thing you really need now is a little music to suit your mood…and we can sure help out there. From the down-home twang of Randy Travis or Toby Keith to a rockin' gang like Rascal Flatts or Sugarland, we'll bring the coolest country music to those moonlit summer nights. All you have to do is pick, click, and, boy howdy, you're ready to roll…all season long.