The Academy of Country Music revealed its nominees for album of the year on Thursday morning (March 5) in Nashville. The nominees include Jamey Johnson's That Lonesome Song, Montgomery Gentry's Back When I Knew It All, George Strait's Troubadour, Taylor Swift's Fearless and Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride. Although the rest of the nominees were announced on Feb. 11, the album nominations were delayed due to a revision in the qualifications. Previously, albums had to sell 300,000 copies to be considered, but that is no longer the case. The ACM Awards will be held in Las Vegas on April 5.
Country newcomer Matt Stillwell continues to shine with a spotlight in Country Weekly, a Top 5 most played country dance club hit of 2008, and now his debut video for the single, "Shine," has entered Top 8 on GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown. In support of his album, SHINE, Still7 Records is pleased to announce Stillwell will kick-off his 2009 tour, Good Times and Moonshine, sponsored by Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine on February 26th in Statesboro, Georgia and will travel throughout the southeast through June. Stillwell, who has a way of turning his shows into a good time party for all who attend, can be seen on GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown Friday night at 8 p.m. ET. Country music fans can cast their vote for the "Shine" music video by visiting GACTV.com.
"Shine" was directed by Flick Whiltshire of Vintage Flick Productions and filmed in Fontana Dam, North Carolina. 2009 Good Times and Moonshine tour dates: 2-26 Statesboro, GA Rum Runners 2-27 Milledgeville, GA Capital City 3-5 Nashville, TN CRS Show 3-6 Columbus, GA The Loft 3-13 Fort Bragg, NC 82 CAB Troop Deployment Party 3-14 Atlanta, GA Wild West
3-19 Monroe, LA 6th Street
3-20 Baton Rouge, LA Fred's Bar
3-21 Mandeville, LA The Howlin' Wolf Northshore
3-26 Charleston, SC Charleston School of Art and Design Greek Shine Party
3-27 Columbia, SC Sudsworks Taphouse
3-28 Chattanooga, TN Midtown Music Hall
3-28 Chattanooga, TN Wal-Mart In Store Performance Acoustic Unplugged
4-10 Atlanta, GA Peachtree Tavern
4-16 Raleigh, NC State College 3rd Annual Hunting Heritage Banquet
4-18 Knoxville, TN The Square Room
4-25 Fort Wayne, IN Neon Armadillo
4-29 Auburn, AL Quixote's Barbeque
4-30 Statesboro, GA Rum Runners
5-8 Augusta, GA The Country Club Saloon
5-9 Athens, GA Georgia Theater w/ Colt Ford
5-10 Myrtle Beach, NC KOA Come Camp Kids with Cancer Benefit
5-15 Salisbury, MD Unicity Performing Arts Festival
5-22 Huntington, WV V-Club
5-24 Knoxville, TN Loudon Lake Pratter Flats Boat Party
6-6 Visalia, CA KJUG Music Festival
6-19 Fontana Dam, NC Fontana Resort - Shine Fest
6-20 Fontana Dam, NC Fontana Resort - Shine Fest
6-25 Lake Martin/Auburn, AL Aquapalooza 2009