During the last few days, I've received a number of calls and emails from colleagues in Nashville, frustrated with how the catastrophic flooding in their city has not seemed to receive the amount of attention it deserves on many national news outlets – including CNN.

My friend Heather left an impassioned message from her cell, as she pulled moldy siding off a pal's home in Bellevue. Another friend, Jules, opened up her vast rolodex for contacts we needed. And Schatzi Hageman, publicist for Trace Adkins, apologized for delays in responding to emails – never using the fact that her office was uninhabitable as an excuse.

We caught up with Trace himself in Southern California, where he was shooting a music video for his new single, "This Ain't No Love Song." The Louisiana native was defiant about his adopted city's tenacity, and didn't think the national media was obligated to shine a bigger spotlight. "I don't feel slighted in any way," he said. "I'm not worried about it, because I think that Nashville – as a community and as a city – we'll cowboy up, and we'll take care of this situation, and we'll fix what needs to be fixed, and we'll carry on. We don't need everybody in the country to come run to our aid."

Indeed, Tennessee is living up to its moniker as "The Volunteer State." As Vince Gill headlined a telethon on the local NBC affiliate, raising more than $1.7 million, a flurry of press releases hit my BlackBerry:
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