NASHVILLE, TN- After only one month since the album launch and a hit debut single, “Because Of You,” Reba McEntire Duets is certified platinum by the R.I.A.A. with sales of more than one million copies.
“I’m so excited over the wonderful acceptance of this CD,” said Reba. “I’ve always been a huge fan of all the artists on the album so I’m not surprised to see how many people agree with me!”
The second single from the CD, “The Only Promise That Remains” with Justin Timberlake, is scheduled for an official add date of November 5th.
Reba will perform “When You Love Someone Like That” with LeAnn Rimes at the “The 41st Annual CMA Awards” which will air on ABC November 7th. Reba is nominated for CMA Female Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of the Year with Kelly Clarkson for “Because of You.”
Reba has achieved 33 #1 hits, won 15 American Music Awards, 12 Academy of Country Music Awards, 7 Country Music Association Awards and 2 Grammy’s. As a critically-acclaimed actor, she has been awarded the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Awards for her work on Broadway in Annie Get Your Gun and starred in the WB/CW’s top-rated sitcom Reba for 6 seasons, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination and a People’s Choice Award. Her charity work stretches far and wide and includes Habitat For Humanity, First Book, the Reba Ranch House, the Reba McEntire Center for Rehabilitation and the Reba Mobile Mammography Unit.
Trace Adkins’ plans to release his already announced eighth studio album, Game On, have been sidelined because of a special career opportunity. Trace explains, “We were already under some extremely tight deadlines as it was to make the street week. I just was not able to get it all done because, to be honest, a pressing career opportunity came my way that I really wanted to take advantage of. As a result, I simply ran out of time.” While Trace didn’t specify what the “career opportunity” was, he did say that he will instead release American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II on December 4. The CD will feature three new songs, including his current single “I Got My Game On,” which is currently climbing the country singles charts. Trace will soon be releasing his first self-authored book, A Personal Stand: Observations & Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck, on November 13.
[Via ArtistoMedia]
The critics are praising Gary Allan’s new CD “Living Hard”.
Michael McCall of the Associated Press says Allan “shows a gutsy honesty in these modern times.” Brady Vercher of the 9153.com praises Allan as one who ” is able to do something that most artists aren’t capable of. He injects a raw emotion, a completely honest emotion, into his vocal performance that forces you to take notice.”
Watch the video from the first single. “Watching Airplanes” click here.
Gary Allan’s official website
YALLWIRE is excited to introduce our new host Trent Summar. Trent might be new to Yallwire but he has made a big mark in the country music industry.
Check out Trent’s AMAZING bio and stay tuned for upcoming footage from Big State!
Not that labels in music matter much — at least they shouldn’t — but Trent Summar has an evocative and altogether hard-to-resist term for the music he makes: Farm rock.
That probably says it well enough. But in case further explanation helps, we’re talking about that intersection where Chuck Berry rock and George Jones country converge. We’re talking about love songs that veer off the beaten path with honest slices of rural imagery and humor. It’s a place on the musical map that’s entirely familiar but just a little too rowdy, a little too much fun (and in truth, too rooted in tradition) to be called mainstream country.
If you’ve heard Summar’s 2000 debut album, the critically acclaimed Trent Summar & The New Row Mob, or seen his raucous live act in recent years, you may already be a staunch farm rock adherent.
If not, there’s a good chance you know Summar by his work anyway. As a songwriter, he’s had cuts recently on quite a few records, including Billy Currington’s popular sophomore album, Doin’ Something Right (“She Knows What to Do With a Saturday Night”), and Gary Allan’s 2003 release See If I Care (“Guys Like Me”). “Love You,” which Summar co-wrote with pal Jay Knowles, is currently on the charts as a single for Jack Ingram. All this brings us to Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, Summar’s latest recorded effort and his first with the Tex-centric independent label Palo Duro Records. It features several songs cut by other artists, including a take on “Love You” that will give fans of Ingram’s recording something new to chew on. “My daddy likes my version better!” Summar boasts.
Like the rural-Tennessee native’s earlier work, humorous tones run throughout this album. “I like a clever country song, and I don’t mean goofy songs … Of course, I’m the guy who wrote ‘Pink John Deere’,” Summar says of his ode to a female FFA honcho. Most often, the jokes aren’t for the sake of themselves; humorous lines on the album have a way of revealing the sometimes-sordid realities of small town life and love. Like the opening line of “Never Really Loved Her Anyway”: “If there ain’t at least 10 beer cans in your front yard …” While Summar’s sharp songwriting is a focal point of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, one cover will likely catch listeners’ attention. It’s a punched-up treatment of the classic “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Summar says, “It’ll probably make some people mad, some people smile. At least it gets a reaction.”
The entire batch of songs, it seems, was recorded with maximum reaction in mind; it is not a timid production. With veteran songwriter and producer Rand Bishop at the helm, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades lays it all out there: Summar’s vocal performances are full of life and a sense of fun, and a cast of top-flight players keeps the riffs coming. No question — the chops are purely big league all around. But Bishop, Summar and band keep Horseshoes & Hand Grenades from becoming a too-slicked-up affair.
Several Nashville luminaries shine on the album, including Raul Malo, who contributes harmony vocals on “Guys Like Me,” and Brooks & Dunn steel guitarist Gary Morse, whose tasty playing can be heard throughout.
The core group of players isn’t shabby, either. Ken McMahan is on guitar. “He’s the best smash-mouth guitar player I’ve ever heard,” says Summar. That’s saying something, considering that former Georgia Satellites hero Dan Baird is in the band, too (“He’s not bad,” Summar says in obvious understatement.). Dave Kennedy, formally of Walk the West and the lone holdover from Summar’s debut release, is on drums while Michael “Supe” Granda, a founding member of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and co-writer of two of the album’s tracks, plays bass and provides background vocals.
As good as the group is in the studio, Summar says it’s the live performance that reminds him how fortunate a front-man he is. “When I leave the stage after playing with these guys, I can be totally satisfied … It’s all I ever wanted to do.”
Horseshoes & Hand Grenades should propel Summar and his band toward a busy touring schedule in the coming months. His debut album (recorded with a different cast of musicians) certainly gave Summar the chance to get out on the road. While Music Row standards for record sales can be pretty outlandish, Trent Summar & The New Row Mob was by all reasonable accounts quite a success: It put him and his band on regular rotation on CMT. It got him a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. It led to tours of Europe and Japan — and Texas, where The New Row Mob’s sound earned Summar a fervent base of fans.
With the songwriting breakthroughs Summar has enjoyed since his first record, he is likely poised for even greater returns this time around. Regardless, Summar realizes that he’s managed to carve out a fairly enviable life in the Nashville scene — a healthy balance of songwriting and publishing, solo recording and performing.
And for Summar, there’s no notion of retreat. “I’m a lifer. This is what I’m going to do.”
Jessica Simpson plans on moving to Nashville to launch a country music career, according to several big shots on Music Row. Nashville’s WKRN-TV reports Jessica is currently in town meeting with songwriters, record execs and artists, such as Vince Gill, Kellie Pickler and John Rich. No word on a label, producer or release date, but Willie Nelson will reportedly help Simpson make her first country album.
[via ArtistoMedia]
John Rich of Big & Rich will give one of seven celebrities a chance at a country music career in the new CMT series, Gone Country. The cast includes Bobby Brown (New Edition), Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Diana DeGarmo (American Idol/), Julio Iglesias Jr., Maureen McCormick (The Brady Bunch) and Sisqo (”Thong Song”). CMT reports the celebrities will live in a Nashville mansion together and will compose songs with Nashville songwriters. In each episode, the cast will compete against each other in challenges that will test them musically and physically to adapt to a country music lifestyle, both on and off the stage. At the end of two weeks, the artist who is most prepared to impress a country audience, as determined by Rich, will record and release a song. Production is currently underway in Nashville. The six-episode series will premiere in January 2008.
Gretchen Wilson’s upcoming New York radio station sponsored 20th Anniversary Stars & Guitars concert at the Dome Arena in New York is sold out. With proceeds from the event will be benefiting the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester, New York, the 3000-seat show sold out in less than a week. And while children are often at the heart of Ronald McDonald House activities, it was a child at another show who recently upstaged Wilson. Before a performance of “Redneck Woman,” The Press & Sun-Bulletin reported that Gretchen invited a six-year-old girl on stage. Asking if she knew a Gretchen song, the child pulled a line right out of her theme song with the reply, “Hell, yeah.” To which Gretchen later observed, “I bet her mama loves me right now.”
Keith Urban stepped in and performed an impromptu concert for Ellen DeGeneres’ in-studio audience in L.A. Thursday after the talk show host abruptly canceled the taping of two episodes.The Tennessean reports Keith heard one of the shows had been canceled on his way to the studio for a rehearsal. Since his equipment was already set up, Keith continued to play after taping his segments so the crowd of about 400 would still see a show. It’s believed that Ellen was still upset over her recent dog adoption controversy. Urban wished her well, telling the audience, “We all love her, and God bless her.” Look for Keith’s performance of “Everybody” on The Ellen DeGeneres Show October 22. In addition, his performance of “Once In A Lifetime” will air on the show around November 20.
Brad Paisley’s last week was a great one. Not only did his current single, “Online,” hit the #1 position on the country charts, but his “Bonfires and Amplifiers” tour just wrapped up a weekend of sold-out shows in Detroit, Cincinnati and Washington, DC., with ticket sales totaling 750 thousand so far. The 2007 tour started April 26 and will continue through December 1 – playing 76 dates. The January and February 2008 leg of the tour, which includes a February 15 date in Nashville, will feature special guests Rodney Atkins and Chuck Wicks.
Trick Pony lead singer Aubrey Collins has announced she is leaving the band for a solo career, according to Country Aircheck. Aubrey joined the band earlier this year, following the departure of Heidi Newfield. Collins shares, “I really enjoyed my time working with Keith [Burns] and Ira [Dean], I have always believed I am a solo artist and I have to pursue my gut feelings.”
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