Randy Rogers Band Interview

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The Randy Rogers Band Takes Some Time Before A Show To Answer A Few Questions! Last Friday I had a 6:30pm appointment to have a sit down with the guys of the Randy Rogers Band (“Kiss Me In The Dark“, “In My Arms Instead“, “Interstate“, “Buy Myself A Chance“, “Down and Out“) in Fort Smith, Arkansas at the 1st annual Festival On The Border. It was a great day, so I have decided to start this piece from the VERY beginning… With my notepad and press pass in hand I arrived at the Riverfront Amphitheater on September 9. I got to the venue in plenty of time to pick up my ticket and all access pass, as well as make my way to the backstage area. I asked for my envelope of goodies and the nice women working the ticket booth were sad to report they had nothing for me. Not worried, I called the tour manager (Kyle) and told him my predicament. He assured me not fret and wait right where I was. A few minutes later I was picked up in a golf cart by a nice man and jetted to the opposite side of the grounds where crew members were busily working away. There I was escorted to one of two tour busses, where my new friend and I knocked on the door. While waiting for a bus driver or manager to invite me in, I was surprised when out walked Dierks Bentley! He greeted us, drink in hand, and headed towards his own bus. Knowing this was going to be a great night I climbed aboard the bus eager to get my interview started! Brady Black (fiddle), Geoffrey Hill (guitar), Les Lawless (drums), Jon Richardson (bass) and Randy Rogers (lead vocals, guitar) were all ready and gracious enough to answer some questions for me. Here are some things I thought you, the readers, would be interested to learn… This was the bands first time to play Fort Smith, let alone the amphitheater, and they were really excited for the show! I asked about life on the road and they all agreed it can be rough at times, but they find ways of passing the time. When in cities with history such as Fort Smith, they walk around and check out the sites and museums. At the points of a tour where they find themselves playing a show in a field somewhere they play “Washers” and hang out with the other bands. No matter where they are or what they do in their spare time, Randy believes that everything is worth it for the show, “My favorite part of the day is the 90 minutes on stage.” I believe that statement, especially since the guys had two shows the next day. They planned on hitting the road around midnight to head to Texas. There they would play in College Station and then Texas City, both events were festivals. Along with many others, the band is working on Continue reading Randy Rogers Band Interview→

George Strait Here For A Good Time Review

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George Strait Does It Again With His Newest Album Here For A Good Time! George Strait released his album Here For A Good Time last week and it is exactly what I expected it to be, fabulous! George and his son Bubba Strait worked on 7 songs together showing us that songwriting is one of many things that they do great together! Other writers were Al Anderson, Chris Stapleton, Dean Dillon, Chuck Cannon, Allen Shamblin, Gary Nicholson, Delbert McClinton, Jesse Winchester, and Bobby Boyd. In the past Strait has done iconic love songs (“I Cross My Heart“, “The Chair“, “Carrying Your Love With Me“), songs about a broken heart (“Ocean Front Property“, “You Look So Good In Love“, “Baby Blue“), songs about life (“I Saw God Today“, “Amarillo By Morning“, “I Hate Everything“), fun songs (“Fireman“, “All My Ex’s Live In Texas“, “Twang“) and everything in between (“El Rey“, “The Seashores of Old Mexico“, “How Bout Them Cowgirls“). This album is no different, we have broken hearts, love, fun, spiritual, emotional, everything! It is a great album that solidifies that he is and always will be “King George“! The first song, “Love’s Gonna Make It Alright“, is such a classic George, good-timing, love song that makes you want to grab somebody and hit the dance floor! Sometimes all you need to hear is everything thing will be alright from that special person in your life and this song does just that! The second song, “Drinkin’ Man“, is a sad song about a man who has had problems with the bottle since he was a young boy, 14 to be exact. Country music doesn’t sugar coat or hide real issues that people deal with on a day to day basis. Alcohol has kept the man in this song away from being close to his family, friends, and love. Even though it has a not so happy meaning behind it, the song is really well written! The third song, “Shame On Me“, is another (what I call) classic George song! George Strait’s voice sounds amazing, the song is fun and was written by George and Bubba. There isn’t much to say other than go listen now! The next song, “Poison“, is another one of them deeper meaning songs. It tells us there are a lot of poisons in life and they can be disguised as anything. This is one of my favorite songs on the entire album and probably one of my new favorite songs period, can’t stop singing it! The title track, “Here For A Good Time“, is such a happy, fun, sing-along type song! It’s something to live by “I’m not here for a long time, I’m here for a good time”, it was the best pick for his first single! The next song, “House Across The Bay“, is another love/sad one. It is about a man losing the one he loved too soon, it is such a bittersweet song. The seventh song, “Lone Star Blues“, is exactly what it Continue reading George Strait Here For A Good Time Review→

Reba McEntire New Sitcom

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Reba Is All Set to Start Up A New Sitcom, Malibu Country! Reba McEntire has officially confirmed rumors via Facebook that she is in talks to start-up a new sitcom! Reports indicate that ABC has bought the script for the new show which will be titled Malibu Country. The story concept involves a mother of three who divorces who rock star husband and relocates from Nashville to Malibu. If all goes well, a pilot episode will be shot this April. From there, it will be up to the network as to whether or not to option the show for production. “I’m so excited about doing another TV sitcom. I miss the Reba show so much so it will be great to get back into the TV world again.” -Reba McEntire If the project does move forward as Reba hopes it does, the production team would include WB’s Reba executive producer, Kevin Abbott, Reba and her husband/manager Narvel Blackstock, among others. I personally loved the Reba show, and I would be excited to see what else this team could come up with! Here’s hoping the project gets pushed through.

Ashton Shepherd Look It Up Video

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A Closer Look At Ashton Shepherd’s Sassy Single. Yesterday we congratulated Ashton Shepherd on the arrival of her second child, and this got me thinking a little bit about all that Ashton has going on right now. Just this summer, July 12th to be exact, she released her second album, Where Country Grows, a follow up to her 2008 album, Sounds So Good. Shepherd currently has two singles circulating off of Where Country Grows, including the title track and her sassy break-up song “Look It Up“. Even just by looking at these two upbeat singles, it is easy to see Ashton’s versatility and talent. While “Where Country Grows” is an optimistic reflection on what it means to be country, “Look It Up” is more of country in action, as it is full of that feisty, strong-willed, do-not-mess-with-me attitude that is the hallmark of country women everywhere. “Where Country Grows” is a beautiful song, but of the two, I have to say “Look It Up” is my favorite. This single manages to demonstrate a positive image of female empowerment while also being funny. “Look It Up” also has a great video to go along with it’s clever lyrics, and I love it! I love it enough, that I decided to share it with you! Now, this video has been out for a little while, so you may have already had a chance to check it out. In case you haven’t though, here it is. If you haven’t seen it already, check out the video for “Look It Up” now! [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1kT4u_D5PA&ob=av2e]

Miranda Lambert Four The Record Special Edition Details

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Miranda Lambert To Release Special Edition of Upcoming Album! Miranda Lambert‘s much anticipated upcoming album, Four The Record, is set to release November 1st. In case all of Miranda’s fans were not excited enough, it has been announced that a special edition deluxe version of the album will also be made available. This edition will include a bonus track as well as a DVD featuring Miranda sharing stories and details about each of the tracks. The bonus track would be enough, but the DVD footage is sure to offer some terrific insight into the song-writing process! Lambert is definitely excited to share her new music with fans. “I’m so ready for the fans to hear it! ‘Baggage Claim’ is such a groovy song and I’m glad it’s the first single. But just like Revolution, not one song represents the whole album. There are ‘All Kinds Of Kinds’ of music on the Record, and I’m so excited for it to get out there.” -Miranda Lambert Keep a look out for Four the Record (and the limited deluxe edition!) to release in November!

Little Big Town Shut Up Train Video Preview

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Get A Behind The Scenes Look at Little Big Town’s Upcoming Video for Shut Up Train. Little Big Town will be releasing a stunning video for their single “Shut Up Train” very soon! The video is currently available via Facebook, where it premiered exclusively through Road Trips and Guitar Picks. You can check it out by clicking here. All you have to do is log into your Facebook account! For those of you who prefer not to utilize a Facebook account, the video will be available for you soon enough. Until then though you can check out the video below to give you a taste of what is in store! Check Out The Behind the Scenes Footage Here! [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cQDzunCjO4] You can now check out the completed, full music video here!

Ashton Shepherd Welcomes Second Child

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Ashton Shepherd Announces the Birth of Her Second Child! On Friday, September 9th, Ashton Shepherd and husband Roland Cunningham welcomed their second child, Raden Delilah Cunningham! Raden was born in Demopolis, AL, weighed 7lbs 7oz, and joins five-year old brother, James. Congratulations Ashton and family!! In addition to growing her family, Shepherd is still fully engaged in growing her career. This summer she released her sophomore album, Where Country Grows, and her title single off the album is currently climbing the charts.

MissMolly, Why I Love Country Music

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Introducing an Editorial Series on the Many Reasons Miss Molly Loves Country Music! I first came to this little ol’ country news blog back in January of this year. I spent most of my time growing up in either Texas or Tennessee, and you could say that in a way, country music has always been a part of the background noise in my life. I will admit though that when I stumbled into the writing position here at the CMNB newsroom, country music was no longer in the forefront of my music playlist. I would listen to the local country music stations while driving in the car, and I knew essentially who was popular at the moment and what the latest singles were on the radio. Yet, my appreciation for the country music genre had, in a lot of ways fallen by the wayside. As you can imagine, this created a bit of a learning curve for me as I went through training, and reintroduced myself to the very unique world of country music. I have found over the past few months, as I talked to people here and there, and as I have grown to focus more and more of my attention onto the country music scene, that there really is no middle ground when it comes to country music. It seems you either love it or you hate it. You either really get the music or you have no idea what is going on. I am happy to say that I am finding myself more and more at home in the “loving” and “getting it” categories as I get more involved. With this in mind I would like to share with you in the next few weeks an editorial series I am titling “Why I Love Country Music”, detailing the reasons why I think country music is unique and should be appreciated. I want to take a closer look at what it is about country music that bring so many people (myself included) happiness and a sense of belonging. I’m sure that I will make points some agree with and others that some will not, but either way, hopefully we can agree that this whole country music thing is a lot more than just music.

Lauren Alaina Debut Album Cover Art

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Lauren Alaina Reveals the Cover Art for Debut Album. Lauren Alaina‘s debut album, Wildflower, will be out October 11th, but in the meantime Lauren wanted to go ahead and share the cover art of her first ever album with all her fans! It’s lovely first album cover, and I think it really captures Alaina’s freshness and youth! Lauren also wanted to give a little shout out to her all of her fans! See below! Hey everybody! I am so excited to be able to reveal the cover of my new album, Wildflower, which will be released on Oct. 11th. I can’t wait for you to hear the album, which has 12 songs, including one that I co-wrote. All of the songs are very different, so there’s something on Wildflower for everybody. Each song tells a story that I really related to, and my hope is that the songs will touch your heart as well. We’ll be releasing more details about the album soon. I just wanted to be sure to share with you myself my new album cover! Thanks for believing in me! Love, Lauren Are you excited about Lauren’s debut album?

Alan Jackson Performs A Concert for Hope

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Alan Jackson to Perform at Commemorative Concert in Remembrance of 9/11. This weekend there will be a number of events taking place in Washington D.C., as well as all over the country, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11th. Alan Jackson will be performing along with others in the capstone event of the weekend, “A Concert for Hope“. The concert will take place at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall at 7:30pm. There will be other performances by Patti LaBelle, Denyce Graves and the Marine Chamber Orchestra in addition to poetry, readings and reflections. The program will also include a speech from President Barack Obama.