Country Weekly Magazine

Country Weekly is one of my favorite magazines. It comes out every other week on Tuesday. It is the world's #1 selling country music magazine according to the cover. Each week features a different country music star on the cover and a full story on the inside.

Country Weekly comes in a bigger size than the average magazine. It is more of the tabloid size, but there is no black and white photos. The pages are like a regular magazine (not the newspaper type material) and all photos are in color. It measures 9x11 compared to the average magazine size of 8x10 1/2. It is generally 72 pages.

Each edition features the following: News of Note, Letters, Scene & Heard, Style, Reviews, Who's New, Food, Fan Page, Star Stats, TV Highlights, Q&A, Puzzles, On Tour, Charts, Cyber Country and Flashback. Let me tell you a little about each of these sections:

News of Note normally has about 4 mini articles giving information about the country stars. Like in the Oct 2, 2001 issue you can read about the Dixie Chicks and their lawsuit, CMA Nominees, Dolly hitting a mark with Dollywood and Opry Live making history. It also has a drawing of a country star along with one of their quotes.

Letters is where readers write in about something they've seen in a previous issue. Letters can even be emailed. letters@countryweekly.com

Scene & Heard is a 2-3 page section with small tidbits about all different stars. In this issue you will find little things concerning over 30 different stars.

Style has a different artist each issue. This issue is about Alan Jackson. It has 6 different photos of him and his wife, Denise. It gives you an idea of the different ways a star dresses.

Reviews gives you an album review for usually 3 different country albums just coming out.

Who's New is a full page article on a different new artist each time. It has a photo of the person along with a story about their background and what they are doing now.

The Food Section has a country star with one of their favorite recipes. This week its Toby Keith with his Mexican Hominy. It gives you a little information on why the star likes the particular recipe.

Fan Page features pictures that readers send in with country music stars. It will tell a little story about how the person in the picture met the star. You will also find Fan Club Addresses on this page. They have different ones in each issue so watch for your favorite star.

Star Stats takes a different country star each issue and gives you all of their favorites. Gary Allan is featured in this issue. It has his birthday, favorite color, early advice, favorite food, favorite movie, first guitar, first concert attended and much more!

TV Highlights is great to check out for setting the VCR to record special events on TV. Like for instance this issue tells you when SheDaisy is going to be singing for the crew of The Drew Carey Show. Also there is a CMT and Great American Country Listing of the top videos for the week along with the stats from last week.

Q&A is a great place to write in to get your country music questions answered. Those can be emailed to q&a@countryweekly.com

Puzzles section always has a word search about a different country star. You will also find a trivia quiz about different singers. I always like to see how much I really do know (or don't for that matter). Name that song gives you questions and only a few letters. You have to figure out the rest. There is also the crossword puzzle, which I love to do.

The On Tour section lists each state out and who is coming. Find your favorite star and be ready for that concert!

Charts will tell you the top 40 for Singles and Albums. It will give you the number for this week and for last week.

Cyber Country has your latest country computer info. Like this issue tells you about a cyber poll that you can take at www.countryweekly.com. Click on "country poll".

Flashback is a section I always find interesting. It gives you the top 10 from the same week but years ago. There is also an article from way back that will list the date on it as well as time and again tidbit facts. You will also find Country Music's birthdays for the week. It also lists anniversaries, milestones and other history.

Country Weekly always has tons of articles about all of your favorite country music stars. The featured artist on the cover will have the longest article. In this issue the stunning Reba McEntire graces the cover. There is a 4 page article about her new TV series, being on Broadway and her Girls Night Out Tour. It tells you everything going on with her while providing many nice photos as well.

Just to give you an idea of the amount of other articles you will find on stars and the length I'll give you a description of the other ones listed in this issue. There is a nice 2 page article on Billy Ray Cyrus about his acting career along with 4 nice photos. Then read a one full page article on newcomer Blake Shelton along with 3 photos. Next you'll find a 2 page article on Naomi Judd inviting you to her kitchen along with 4 photos. Another 2 page article with 5 photos about Willie Nelson's Farm Aid fundraiser. Then there is a one page article about Cledus T. Judd making his new video along with 4 photos. There is a full page of photos of stars on CMT's Most Wanted Live. Tim McGraw has an article about him along with 3 great photos. Then you'll see Dwight Yoakam in his 2 page special about his western movie along with 6 photos. Then you have Country Favorite, Loretta Lynn, with her 3 page article all about her new bus. You'll find 7 photos taking you through the bus. Story Behind the Song features a song and the lyrics to it along with how the song came about. The Catching Up page has Billy Dean and what he has been up to lately. It is a full page.

Now is that a lot of reading or what???

I found the following advertisements in this issue: Marlboro Cigarettes, Tractor Supply Co, Jim Beam, Mighty Dog, Bradford Exchange Plate, Target, Columbia House, Kibbles 'n Bits, Country Music Magazine, The Tammy Wynette Story, Skin Zinc, Lycos, Caribbean Cruise, The Danbury Mint, Norman Rockwell Village, buy classic country, Franklin Mint, Elvis stamps, more older music, country calendars, Ardleigh music box, weight loss pills, another plate, Country Weekly subscription, more diet pills, checks, slenderstrips, John Deere replica, Classifieds and a couple of CDs.

Sheesh...that was a heck of a lot of ads...I mostly just ignore them so it doesn't seem quite so bad when you are reading all of the many articles. The good stuff far outweighs the bad.

Wifeofvolsfan's final thoughts:
This magazine is a must have for the country music fan. I faithfully read it and can't wait for my copy every other week. The gossip is good; the stories are interesting. The pictures are all color. This is the best country music magazine of all of them in my opinion.

Subscription Information:
10 Issues for only $12.95~~that saves 56% from the newsstand prices which is $2.99 per issue/$3.99 in Canada

26 Issues for only $29.95

P.O. Box 421036
Palm Coast, FL 32142-1036

They even offer a money back guarantee. If you are satisfied they will refund 100% on all unmailed issues. Trust me, if you love country music you won't want a refund.

Published bi-weekly by Country Music Media Group, Inc., a subsidiary of American Media, Inc.