In support of their July 22 album release, Sugarland will kick off the 25 city nationwide LOVE ON THE INSIDE tour beginning in Asheville, NC on September 13. The tour will feature special guests Kellie Pickler and Ashton Shepherd.
Tour Dates: 9/13 Asheville, NC Asheville Civic Center 9/14 Wilmington, NC Trask Colesium 9/19 Mashantucket, CT MGM Foxwoods 9/20 Atlantic City, NJ Mark G. Etess Arena *9/21 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion *9/26 Bloomsburg, PA Bloomsburg Fair *9/27 W. Springfield, MA Eastern States Exposition 9/28 Gilford, NH Meadowbrook 10/2 Ames, IA Hilton Coliseum @ IA State Center 10/3 Stillwater, OK Oklahoma State University *10/10 Columbia, SC South Carolina State Fair 10/11 Roanoke Rapids, NC Carolina Crossroads Outdoor Amphitheatre *10/12 Perry, GA Reaves Arena 10/16 Verona, NY Turning Stone Resort & Casino 10/17 Rochester, NY Blue Cross Arena 10/18 Erie, PA Erie Civic Center Complex 10/23 Tupelo, MS BancorpSouth Arena 10/24 Evansville, IN Roberts Stadium 10/25 Lexington, KY Rupp Arena 11/6 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena 11/7 Kissimmee, FL Silver Spurs Arena @ Osceola Heritage Park 11/8 Fort Myers, FL Lakes Regional Park 11/14 Lafayette, LA Cajundome 11/15 Beaumont, TX Ford Arena 11/16 Bossier City, LA CenturyTel Center
* indicates dates that do not include Kellie Pickler and/or Ashton Shepherd Read the rest of this entry »
You may have heard the news that Cher spent the past few days in Music City. Would you believe she made the trip solely to attend a Merle Haggard concert? According to Nashville’s WKRN-TV, the pop diva took in the Hag’s Wednesday night performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium, sitting sixth row center. Apparently, one of her best friends in L.A., jeweler-to-the-stars Richard Starks, is a huge Merle fan. So Cher booked a private jet and told Richard and his wife she had a surprise for them, but didn’t let on as to where they were going. Prior to Haggard’s show, Cher, Richard and their significant others all got to visit with him for quite a while. Several country stars also took in Merle’s show, though they didn’t have quite as far to travel. Among them were Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, Gretchen Wilson, John Anderson and Jewel, who attended with her boyfriend, bull rider Ty Murray.
Fresh on the heels of two 2008 CMA Music Fest performances, Whiskey Falls hits the road hard this summer with dates in England, France, Canada and even a volcano in Japan.
In between three months of shows across the U.S., the band will make stops in Canada in June, England and France in July and play the Country Gold Festival at the largest ACTIVE volcano in Japan in October. The dates in Europe and Japan mark the first shows the band has ever played outside North America.
The UK show will be held in London on July 25 at the world famous Borderline, followed by an appearance two days later at the Country Rendez-Vous Festival in France.
“We could not be more excited about taking our live show, and country music, overseas where many of our influences originated,” said lead singer Seven Williams.
Without any major label support, Whiskey Falls has already graced the pages of People, USA Weekend and Billboard magazine this year. They have also been featured on Extra! and the CBS Early Show.
Named 2008’s ‘Breakout Band of the Year’ by Music Row, Whiskey Falls’ self-titled debut album produced two Top 40 hits in “Last Train Running” and “Falling Into You.”
Their foot-stompin’ baseball anthem “Load Up the Bases” was selected by Fox Sports South as the official theme song for the network’s Major League Baseball coverage. The song can be heard in stadiums across the country throughout baseball season.
Whiskey Falls’ hectic schedule in 2008 has already included major festival appearances and special events such as the Super Bowl Tailgate Party, Country Thunder USA Festival, Stagecoach Festival and the ACM Jam at Fremont Street.
Whiskey Falls Tour dates:
6/26 Chippewa Valley Country Fest / Cadott, Wisconsin 6/27 Evergreen Park / Grande Prairie, Alberta 6/28 Dauphin Countryfest / Dauphin, Manitoba 7/3 Riverside Park / Lacrosse, Wisconsin 7/4 Marion Country Fair / Marion, Ohio 7/5 Kempton Fairgrounds / Kempton, Pennsylvania 7/8 Lincoln Country Fair / Troy, Missouri 7/10 KIX on Beale Street / Memphis, Tennessee 7/13 Hodag Country Festival / Rinelander, Wisconsin 7/15 West Virginia Fair / Mineral Wells, West Virginia 7/17 Independence Country Fair / Batesville, Arkansas 7/19 KSON Event /San Diego, California 7/25 The Borderline / London, England 7/27 Country Rendez-Vous Festival /Craponne, France 7/31 Duke’s Hometown Bar / Portland, Oregon 8/1 Kruzer’s / Twin Falls, Idaho 8/2 Utah Basin Celebration / Roosevelt, Utah 8/6 Les Schwab Amphitheater / Bend, Oregon (w/ Brooks & Dunn) 8/7 Lithia Motor Amphitheater / Central Point, Oregon (w/ Brooks & Dunn) 8/8 WXCY Maryland BBQ Fest / Havre De Grace, Maryland 8/14 Kansas City Live / Kansas City, Missouri 8/15 Midnight Rodeo / Springfield, MO 8/16 WMUS Moosefest / Muskegon, Michigan 8/22 Billings Harley Davidson / Billings, Montana 8/23 The Butte Depot / Butte, Montana 8/28 Hickory American Legion Fair / Hickory, North Carolina 8/29 Barbour Country Fair / Philippi, West Virginia 8/30 Moss Cottage Park / Mt. Savage, Maryland 8/31 On the Waterfront / Rockford, Illinois 9/5 Low Places Club / Lancaster, Pennsylvania 9/6 Wachusett Mountain / Princeton, Massachusetts 10/19 Country Gold Festival / Kumamoto, Japan
Get ready to hear some of country music’s biggest stars tackle classic and contemporary Disney favorites! A new 15-track project, titled Country Sings Disney, will be released to stores on Tuesday, July 8. The CD features such artists as Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood, Little Big Town, Josh Gracin and many more! Highlights include Faith Hill singing “Part Of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, Rascal Flatts’ version of “Life Is A Highway,” which was featured on Disney’s Cars, Bucky Covington’s take on “You’ll Be In My Heart,” from Tarzan, and Phil Stacey’s cover of The Lion King classic, “Can You Feel The Love Tonight.” Also on the album are Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Ready, Set, Don’t Go,” featuring Miley Cyrus,and “Real Gone,” plus tracks from Alison Krauss, SheDaisy and Bonnie Raitt.
Billy Ray Cyrus gives himself advice in a very unique way! He tells CMT Insider that the words of wisdom he’s been passing on to the contestants on Nashville Star are just as much for him as they are for them. Billy Ray explains, “I told a couple of [contestants] I passed in the hallway just a while ago - they were mentioning some of the advice that I’d given them about being yourself - and I said, ‘Guys, you gotta understand, when I’m talking to you, I’m basically talking to myself out loud. Everything I say to you, I’m saying to myself because I still live what you’re going through every single day.’” Cyrus continues, “It’s still about a dream for me. It’s still about a song. It’s still about the music. It’s still about if you get knocked down, get back up. It’s still all about that for me. Nothing’s changed.”
The winner of this year’s Nashville Star competition wins a major recording contract with Warner Brothers Nashville and a chance to perform at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Toby Keith’s upcoming movie, Beer For My Horses, features a lot of his buddies including the always outspoken Ted Nugent, who plays a weapon-toting character in the film named Skunk.
Toby recalls that after one of Ted’s scenes, the wild rocker’s natural instincts kicked in:
“Ted has just shot a guy with a bow and arrow and he’s leaving the set to go back to his trailer, and all of Hollywood is standing around and a cotton tail jumps up - rabbit - and crosses the set… POW! …And he guts him a rabbit right in front of everybody. Believe it or not, as extreme as people think I am, I was the buffer between him and completely making Hollywood go back to L.A.”
Beer For My Horses, which also stars Willie Nelson, Rodney Carrington and Tom Skerritt, will be in theaters August 8.
Earlier this year at The CMT Music Awards, rapper Snoop Dogg told reporters backstage he was releasing a Johnny Cash-inspired country single to radio. Well, the video for the song, titled “My Medicine,” can now be seen on YouTube and features Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley and Julianne Hough. The clip includes scenes of Snoop in a cowboy hat, walking down Nashville’s famed lower Broadway and performing on stage at the Grand Ole Opry and in Amsterdam with Willie.
While this may come as a shock to some, Snoop says he’s actually a big country music fan:
“I love country music. I feel like country music is some of the most underrated music in the world. It always stands the test of time. It’s great, it’s heartfelt and it touches people no matter what color they are or where they from, so I’m here to represent it.”
Snoop’s “My Medicine” can be found on his latest CD, Ego Trippin’, which is in stores now. For a link to the video, visit snoopdogg.com.
Ten songwriters and five songwriter/artists have been nominated for one of the nation’s highest songwriting honors – induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Of the nominees, two from the songwriter category and one from the songwriter/artist category will be inducted during the annual Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony to be held on Sunday, October 26, at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.
“Each of these nominees has honed the songwriting craft to perfection, and the songs they’ve given us are absolute treasures,” said Roger Murrah, a 2005 inductee and the current chair of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation (NaSHOF), which owns and administers the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The ballot seeks to recognize songwriters whose first significant works achieved commercial success and/or artistic recognition at least 20 years ago and have “positively impacted and been closely associated with the Nashville music community and deemed to be outstanding and significant.” This year’s ten nominees in the Songwriter category are: Matraca Berg (“Strawberry Wine” by Deana Carter), Paul Craft (“Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life” by Moe Bandy), Kye Fleming (“I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” by Barbara Mandrell), Larry Henley (“The Wind Beneath My Wings” by Bette Midler), the late John Jarrard (“Blue Clear Sky” by George Strait), Bob Morrison (“You Decorated My Life” by Kenny Rogers), Mark D. Sanders (“I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack), Tom Shapiro (“Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You” by Brooks & Dunn), John Scott Sherrill (“Would You Go With Me” by Josh Turner) and Sharon Vaughn (“My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” by Willie Nelson).
The five nominees in the Songwriter/Artist category are: the late Paul Davis (“I Go Crazy”), Larry Gatlin (“All the Gold in California”), John Hiatt (“Ridin’ With the King”), the late Johnny Horton (“Honky Tonk Man”) and Tony Joe White (“Rainy Night in Georgia”).
Biographical information on the nominees, and an online version of this release, is available HERE The ballot was recommended to the NaSHOF board of directors by the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, which is comprised of Hall of Fame members and Music Row historians. Votes are cast by Hall of Fame members and Professional Songwriter members of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), as well as the boards of the NaSHOF and NSAI.
Established in 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame boasts 168 members, including songwriting luminaries such as Johnny Cash, Rodney Crowell, Bob Dylan, Don & Phil Everly, Flatt & Scruggs, Vince Gill, Harlan Howard, Roger Miller, Bill Monroe, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Carl Perkins, Dottie Rambo, Jimmie Rodgers, Cindy Walker, Jimmy Webb, Hank Williams, Sr. and Hank Williams, Jr. It was announced in September 2007 that the future home of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will be the historic building at 34 Music Square East, former home of the Quonset Hut, Columbia Studio A, Columbia and Epic Records and Sony Music Nashville. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will become the first organization honoring songwriters to emerge from a virtual entity to one with a physical location.
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit foundation dedicated to honoring and preserving the songwriting legacy of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The NaSHOF’s principal purposes are to educate, archive and celebrate songwriting that is uniquely associated with the Nashville music community.
Josh Gracin and wife Ann Marie are expecting their fourth child! The couple looks forward to welcoming the new baby later this year. Josh shares, “We’re all excited about the new addition to the Gracin clan, and Briana, Landon and Gabriella can’t wait to meet their new brother or sister.” Josh and Ann Marie were married in January 2001 prior to Gracin’s joining the U.S. Marine Corps and competing on the second season of American Idol. The past couple of years Josh had to be on the road for Father’s Day, but it looks like he has the holiday off Sunday.
[via Aristomedia]
Garth Brooks took the stage in Minneapolis over the weekend at the “So The World May Hear” gala for the Starkey Hearing Foundation. With just an acoustic guitar, Garth performed some hits and and music from his influences at a black-tie affair in a ballroom at the RiverCentre. Fifteen hundred people paid $1,250 each to hear Garth talk and play songs from his influences, which included Merle Haggard, Billy Joel, James Taylor and George Strait. He told the crowd, “James Taylor is why I play music. George Strait is why I play country.” Ever since he heard Strait for the first time, Garth knew, “All I wanted to be the rest of my life - and to this day - is George Strait Jr.”
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