Ronnie Dunn to Have a Little Fun in the Sun with Tampa Bay Concert. Ronnie Dunn will be headlining the “Fun n’ Sun Toyota Country Concert” sponsored by Tampa Bay’s WQYK on Sunday, April 22nd! Dunn will be joined in concert by JT Hodges, Andy Gibson, Canaan Smith, Chris Cagle, Greg Bates and Suite Caroline. Tickets go on sale today!
BamaJam 2012 Performance List Grows with Willie Nelson and Uncle Kracker Added! It looks like BamaJam 2012 is really trying to make-up for last year’s cancelation! Event organizers have added Willie Nelson and Uncle Kracker to the line-up which already includes Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band, Tim McGraw and Kid Rock. More performances and details will be announced as the festival date, Thursday, June 14th through Saturday, June 16th, gets closer! Tickets are already on sale, and if you want ’em…you better act fast! Go here for details!
Watch 2nd Episode of Kip Moore’s CMT Webseries! Kip Moore is gearing up to release his album, Up All Night, on April 24th, and in the run-up to the big date, he is letting fans get to know him a little better through a special CMT web series! You can check out the second episode below! Are you excited about Kip’s upcoming album? Get to Know Kip Moore Now!
Would You Wear Carrie Underwood’s Clothes? Carrie Underwood recently let slip in a convo with Country Vibe that she’s not particularly interested in the whole “celebrity scent” thing, but does like the idea of getting into fashion and designing her own clothing line. “I would love to do that for other people…create things that people would like to wear.” -Carrie Underwood This isn’t really a new concept…country stars (or celebrities in general) getting into fashion in some way shape or form (Kenny Chesney has his sunglasses…Jason Aldean promotes for Wrangler…Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have their own fragrances…Reba McEntire has Reba Wear…you get the point). With that list of country celebs in mind and following the recent announcement from Rascal Flatts that they are considering designing a clothing line…I’m just wondering, is this just what happens when you’ve been around the country-music-hits-block a time or two? How is it that we go from writing and singing songs to designing a pair of jeans or a shirt? More importantly, country fans, are you into this? I’m really just wondering. I’m not someone who gets hung up on designers, so I don’t really care if Carrie thought up the pattern of the dress I’m wearing. I guess, what I want to know from you country music news readers, is would you buy her (or anyone’s) clothes just because her name is on it?
ACM Announces 2012 Winners of Off-Camera Awards Categories. The 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards are just a week away, and with host Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton and performances from the likes of Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church and many, many more (go here for a complete list), it looks like its going to be a heck of a show! But show organizers know that they’ve only got a limited amount of time, so they can’t possibly squeeze in all those performances and announce all the winners for all the possible categories…so, we have the “off-camera” winners. These categories range from special honors that recognize life-time achievements and accomplishments in the country music industry to awards for best songwriter of the year! Some of the industry specific awards, like “casino of the year” and “venue of the year” are a little random, and unlikely to interest to average country music fan, so it makes sense that they can’t eat up air time handing out those trophies. But it is a shame that the “steel guitar player of the year” and “fiddle player of the year” don’t get a little TV face time…those are categories die-hard country fans definitely care about (especially over here at CMNB where HaleighT loves herself some fiddle!). You can check out the complete list of off-camera categories and winners below, and if you haven’t yet, check out the 2012 ACM Awards nominees here. 2012 ACM Awards “Off-Camera” Winners, Complete List. Special Honors: Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award Honors Pioneers in the Country Music Genre Emmylou Harris Billy Sherrill Ricky Skaggs Dwight Yoakam Crystal Milestone Award Honors Individuals Who Have Achieved Impressive Successes Kenny Chesney Career Achievement Award Honors an individual artist, duo, group or multiple artist collaboration who advanced the popularity and acceptance of country music. Vince Gill Jim Reeves International Award Honors an individual for outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world. Alan Jackson Mae Boren Axton Award Recognizes years of dedication and service by an outstanding individual to the ACM. Gayle Holcomb Poet’s Award Honors songwriters for outstanding musical and/or lyrical contributions throughout their career. Bobby Braddock Roger Miller Industry Awards: Songwriter of the Year Dallas Davidson Casino of the Year Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino – Las Vegas, NV Don Romeo Talent Buyer of the Year Jimmy Jay – Jayson Promotions, Inc. Nightclub of the Year Billy Bob’s Texas – Ft. Worth, TX Promoter of the Year Brian O’Connell – Live Nation Venue of the Year Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN Musician, Band, Instrumental Awards: Producer of the Year Frank Liddell Audio Engineer of the Year Justin Niebank Bass Player of the Year Michael Rhodes Percussionist/Drummer of the Year Shannon Forrest Guitarist of the Year Kenny Greenberg Fiddle Player of the Year Stuart Duncan Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year John Hobbs Specialty Instrument of the Year Aubrey Haynie Steel Guitar Player of the Year Paul Franklin
Soundtrack for ABC’s Show, GCB, Features Country Hits! One of ABC‘s newest show, GCB (originally titled Good Christian B*tches…then Good Christian Belles…now everyone just says GCB…) has one heck of a soundtrack, and it mostly features country hits (we heard Luke Bryan…Miranda Lambert and more just in the pilot episode)! One of the show’s stars, Kristin Chenoweth (you might have seen her on Glee or maybe broadway!) took on Carrie Underwood‘s hit “Jesus Take The Wheel“, and knocked it out of the ballpark! It was so good that viewers couldn’t stop talkin’ about it, and Warner Music Nashville made it available on iTunes. Now, each week one song will available on iTunes from the show, and the complete soundtrack will be available May 8th. I really hope this means that we’re going to be hearing Chenoweth versions of country songs we already love. I mean, if Glee can do it, GCB can too, right?
Lady Antebellum Contest Brings Out The Best In Students! In the recent contest organized by Lady Antebellum and their management folks, students across the US were invited to submit videos sharing why Lady A should come “Own The Night” for their school’s prom. The winning school, Henryville High School in Indiana didn’t win on their own, but got a little help from neighboring school SCHS. The SCHS mass media students who submitted the video used their efforts to advocate why Henryville High deserved to win over all others! The Indiana High School area was one of the regions impacted by the March 2nd resulting in wide spread damage and some casualties, and these thoughtful students suggested winning the contest would bring a little happiness into their lives. It really doesn’t take that much to make me tear up, but honestly, this is incredibly thoughtful and really showcases some students willingness to support others over themselves! Congrats to Henryville on their win, and congrats to the students who were willing to help out some neighbors in need! Watch the videos below! Lady A, Own The Night Announcement Video! [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YtHhKNfCU4&feature=player_embedded] SCHS Advocates for Neighboring School, HHS! [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ZYCkhF7tY&feature=player_embedded]
Americana Music Association Kicks Off Meet and Greets with Alison Krauss! Alison Krauss and Union Station have signed up over the next few weeks to offer several performances to help support an auction organized by the Americana Music Association! The auction will be offering tickets and meet and greets with some of the most significant Americana artists, and Alison Krauss is the first to confirm involvement. The Americana Music Association was organized with the goal of promoting awareness, advocating the Americana genre and creating a forum, and they organize events throughout the year including the Americana Music Festival and Conference (this year September 12-15, Nashville). Auction winners will receive two reserved tickets for sold out shows in addition to passes to meet the artist. So, Americana fans, get your bidding britches on! Find complete auction dates below! Americana Music Association, Auction Dates and Locations. March 30: Taft Theatre, Cincinnati – 8PM March 31: State Theatre at Playhouse Square, Cleveland – 8PM April 14: Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD 8 PM April 22: Wellmonth Theatre, Montclair, NJ 8PM
Neil Young and Crazy Horse Announce New Album Release. Neil Young and Crazy Horse have a new album coming out for the first time in very nearly nine years! This album is appropriately titled, Americana and is scheduled for a June 5th release date. There are eleven featured tracks, and the concept of album tackles an attempt to retrace songs we think of as “American” classics (including a personal favorite, “Oh Susannah“…its my middle name…). The press release describes the album in the following way: “Each of these compositions is very much part of the fabric of our American heritage, the roots of what we think of as ‘Americana’ in cultural terms, using songs as a way of passing along information and documenting our past.” I for one am definitely intrigued about this project, what about you? You can check out the track listing below! Americana, Complete Track Listing: 01. Oh Susannah 02. Clementine 03. Tom Dooley 04. Gallows Pole 05. Get A Job 06. Travel On 07. High Flyin’ Bird 08. She’ll Be Comin ’Round The Mountain 09. This Land Is Your Land 10. Wayfarin’ Stranger 11. God Save The Queen
Toby Keith Chooses Brantley Gilbert As Opening Act for Summer Tour! Well, it looks like the tours for 2012 are all about the bro-power. We’ve got Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan on tour together now, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw kick of their Brothers of the Sun tour soon, and now Toby Keith is hittin’ the road and taking Brantley Gilbert with him! Keith has announced his summer tour, “Toby Keith Live In Overdrive” will kick off June 14th in Salt Lake City. So far, dates are scheduled through September 22nd in Boston, MA. From what we’ve seen of these two guys fan bases these shows are sure to be rowdy!
