It’s that time of year again! The Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival kicks off this weekend and it’s bigger than ever! The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival arrives this weekend, now 3 days at 3 venues featuring 35 bands. Check out more about the fest and grab tickets at cbbfestival.com. Have a look at the schedule below, and be sure to grab this FREE LIVE ALBUM just released by CBB artist Van Ghost last week while you look.Country Music Photo Gallery
Breaking News: Taylor Swift JUST announced her 2011 Speak Now tour dates, covering 19 countries and 87 shows! Taylor Swift is branching out and including some incredible new locations to her 2011 Speak Now tour! Spanning 87 show dates and 19 countries, including some extreme coverage of the entire United States, Taylor isn’t leaving any ground uncovered this time around! I’m so excited to go back out on tour again in 2011,” Swift said. “The Fearless tour was so much fun and even more unforgettable than I ever imagined, and I can’t wait to get back out and play my new music from Speak Now. The fans have been so amazing, and I’m thrilled to play in new cities around the world and meet even more of my fans in 2011! Taylor Swift 2011 Speak Now U.S. Tour Schedule: Feb. 9: Singapore Feb. 11: Seoul, South Korea Feb. 13: Osaka, Japan Feb. 16-17: Tokyo Feb. 19 : Manila, Philippines Feb. 21: Hong Kong March 6: Brussels, Belgium March 7: Rotterdam, Holland March 9: Oslo, Norway March 12: Oberhausen, Germany March 15: Milan, Italy March 17: Paris March 19: Madrid, Spain March 22: Birmingham, England March 25: Belfast, Northern Ireland March 27: Dublin, Ireland March 29: Manchester, England March 30: London May 27-28: Omaha, Neb. May 29: Des Moines, Iowa June 2-3: Fort Lauderdale, Fla. June 4: Orlando, Fla. June 7: Columbus, Ohio June 8: Milwaukee June 11: Detroit June 14-15: St. Paul, Minn. June 18: Pittsburgh June 21: Buffalo, N.Y. June 22: Hartford, Conn. June 25: Foxborough, Mass. June 30: Greensboro, N.C. July 1: Knoxville, Tenn. July 2: Louisville, Ky. July 8: Charlotte, N.C. July 9-10: Atlanta July 14: Montreal July 15-16: Toronto July 19-20: New York City July 28: Grand Rapids, Mich. July 29: Indianapolis July 30: Cleveland Aug. 2-3: Washington Aug. 6: Philadelphia Aug. 9-10: Chicago Aug. 13: Lexington, Ky. Aug. 14: St. Louis Aug. 18-19: Edmonton, Alberta Aug. 23-24: Los Angeles Sept. 1-2: San Jose, Calif. Sept. 3: Sacramento, Calif. Sept. 6: Portland, Ore. Sept. 7: Seattle Sept. 10-11: Vancouver, British Columbia Sept. 16-17: Nashville Sept. 21: Tulsa, Okla. Sept. 24: Kansas City, Mo. Sept. 27: Denver Sept. 28: Salt Lake City Oct. 4: Little Rock, Ark. Oct. 5: New Orleans Oct. 8: Dallas
Our writer’s may be on vacation but our prize wheel just keeps spinnin! We’ve got 5 copies of Trace Adkins “Definitive Greatest Hits: Til The Last Shot’s Fired” and we’re drawing winners from our list of subscribers this Friday! Kick off your holidays on a lucky streak by throwing your name in the hat! “Definitive Greatest Hits: Til The Last Shot’s Fired” is a 2-CD and features, the hit songs “You’re Gonna Miss This,” “(This Ain’t No) Thinkin’ Thing,” and “Ladies Love Country Boys” – all of which were #1 on the Billboard Country charts. Trace is a mountain of a man and his sky-high pile of fan-celebrated singles just keeps on growing. With a total of 28 tracks, this collection is something every fan needs. Trace Adkins: The Definitive Greatest Hits: Til The Last Shot’s Fired [2CD, digital] DISC 1 1. Honky Tonk Badonkadonk 2. Rough & Ready 3. (This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing 4. Chrome 5. Marry For Money 6. Then They Do 7. Swing 8. I Left Something Turned On At Home 9. I’m Tryin’ 10. All I Ask For Anymore 11. Big Time 12. There’s A Girl In Texas 13. Hot Mama 14. Arlington DISC 2 1. Ladies Love Country Boys 2. Lonely Won’t Leave Me Alone 3. You’re Gonna Miss This 4. Muddy Water 5. Til The Last Shot’s Fired 6. Songs About Me 7. I Wanna Feel Something 8. The Rest Of Mine 9. I Got My Game On 10. Every Light In The House 11. Don’t Lie 12. More 13. Help Me Understand 14. Dangerous Man Can’t wait to win it? Grab your own copy today at Amazon.com The Definitive Greatest Hits: Til The Last Shot’s Fired! * Prize provided by EMI. * Entries must be received by Friday Nov 26th. * Winners will not be eligible for another prize drawing until 90days after this one. * Five winners will be drawn Sat Nov 27th and each will be notified individually. Country Music Photo Gallery
Country Music News Blog will be taking Thanksgiving week off to spend some much-needed time with family and friends. The staff (mostly me) here at Country Music News Blog want to wish you a warm and fun-filled kick off to the holiday season. We will be taking the next week off to spend time with our friends and family, and hope you get the chance to do the same. I personally would like to take a moment and share a few things I have become thankful for over the last year. First and foremost, I am thankful for the love of a very good man, who is my best friend in every way. Every challenge I have faced in the move across country and major transition from city life to country, I have done with his hand in mine, encouraging me along the way. I am thankful for my peers in this industry who give me inspiration and encouragement to follow my passion. I am thankful for my children, who I could not possibly be any more proud of. And, of course, I am thankful for you, my readers. I know there are many places you can go to get your country music news, and I am honored that my little blog is one of them. You have helped me achieve so many of my life goals just by visiting on a regular basis. All the giveaways and reader contests, and warm words cannot come close to demonstrating how much my readers mean to me. Thank you. Now roast that turkey, spike that punch and let the holiday madness begin! Sincerely, ~WhiskeyChick~ Country Music Photo Gallery
Jim Nash V wants tips on getting the best concert seat in the house! In my last article I mentioned that Carrie Underwood was performing on Long Island on November 5th. Since I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make the show, I did not purchase tickets right away. The Monday before the concert I start checking Ticketmaster to see what kind of seats were still available. Each day I checked and every result only offered tickets near the rafters just about parallel with the stage. Not the best seats for a concert. Friday afternoon around 3:00pm I find out that I WOULD be able to make the show, and decide it’s better to have lousy seats than miss it all together. Back on to Ticketmaster. You know the drill. Enter the number of tickets. Select Best Available section. Click Find Tickets. Attempt to enter in the virtually impossible to decipher – even as humans – security check nonsense words (thanks scalpers) and click Continue. Wait for the spinning Searching… graphic to come to a halt (is it just me or does it feel like we’re playing slots at this point?) Eventually, the best available tickets appear and to my amazement, they are in section 101 (right off the floor section, 2 rows back but not quite parallel to the stage.) For 5 hours before the show, these are pretty darn great seats! I complete the transaction without incident and enjoyed the show. I’ll relay 2 other experiences. A few years ago, as soon as tickets for a Brad Paisley show at a Live Nation open amphitheater in New Jersey went on sale, I go online right at Public Onsale and scored what I thought were pretty good seats. The day of the show, we find out 2 friends want to join us so I go online and got them tickets. Guess whose seats were better? Guess who swapped seats? The most frustrating experience was at a Tim McGraw show. Same scenario as the Paisley show – Live Nation event, open amphitheater, get tickets minutes after Public Onsale. Our seats were last two right next to the wall. We sat there for the 2 opening acts waiting for the 23 other seats in our row to fill up. By the time Tim McGraw got on stage we moved to the complete other end of the row, closer to center stage. The row was still otherwise completely empty. Unbelievable! And we got the best seats? Anyone else have experiences like these? Why are the best seats not released first? I’ve heard from fellow concert goers that if you wait until the last minute, you can still get decent seats – but you run the risk of the show getting sold out though. Are tickets held because of hoarding scalpers or some other secret reason? Or do you need to join every fan club to get good seats? Keeping it Countriversy, Jim Nash V. Jim Nash V is a contributing Continue reading Concert Seating – Does it Pay to Wait?
A Taylor Swift VIP Experience: Enter to win a trip for two to see and meet Taylor Swift live during her 2011 tour. Blockbuster is giving Taylor Swift fans an opportunity to win a VIP Experience where 2 fans will meet and see Taylor Swift live on her 2011 tour. The grand prize includes round trip airfare, two nights/three days hotel, tickets to an upcoming concert, and a meet n’ greet with Taylor! To enter, visit Blockbuster.com! This is not a CMNB giveaway drawing. This contest is run by Blockbuster in cooperation with Big Machine Records and Universal Music Group. Country Music Photo Gallery
Carter’s Cord offers fans a touch of holiday spirit Carter’s Chord is in the spirit with their new digital holiday EP. The limited release includes an acoustic version of “Up on the Housetop” as well as an original tune “Snowed In” penned by the trio’s own Becky. You can nab this fun little 4-track Christmas morsel at iTunes or Amazon.
Hot on the heels of it’s Wisconson counterpart, Country Thunder AZ has announced THEIR lineup for 2011’s sizzling summer music festival! Now THAT’S my kinda party! Jason Aldean is scheduled to kick off the 2011 Country Thunder Music Festival in Florence Arizona April 7th. The four-day party will also headline Toby Keith, Martina McBride and Sawyer Brown. Don’t be fooled by the late spring/early summer dates cause this will be one HOT weekend! 2011 Country Thunder Schedule, Florence, AZ: Thursday, April 7th Kick-off Party Music begins at 6:30 pm Sawyer Brown Friday, April 8th Music begins at 2:00 pm Jason Aldean Saturday, April 9th Music begins at 1:00 pm Martina McBride Sunday, April 10th Music begins at 1:00 pm Toby Keith More artists will be announced in the coming weeks.
Just announced, here’s your line-up for Country Thunder 2011 in Twin Lakes Wisconsin! It may be getting colder, but country fans are getting heated up! Country Thunder has just announced their lineup for the Twin Lakes, WI music festival next summer! Kicking off the festival on Thursday, is 2010 CMA “Vocal Group of the Year” Lady Antebellum. Newly crowned CMA “New Artist of the Year” Zac Brown Band won’t want to be missed on Friday and 4 time CMA “Female Vocalist of the Year” Martina McBride hits the stage on Saturday night. Last but absolutely not the least country music’s most awarded group of the decade, Rascal Flatts, will close out the festival. The Country Thunder festival will run July 21-24th 2011 with camping, activities, and even VIP options. Supporting artists will be announced later this week, and tickets will sell out fast! 2011 Country Thunder Schedule, Twin Lakes, WI: Thursday, July 21st Music begins at 5:30 pm Lady Antebellum Friday, July 22nd Music begins at 1:00 pm Zac Brown Band Saturday, July 23rd Music begins at 1:00 pm Martina McBride Sunday, July 24th Music begins at 1:00 pm Rascal FlattsCountry Music Photo Gallery
ABC brings you the hottest country stars to ring in the holiday season with song! Country’s biggest stars are joining together with special hostess Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland to celebrate the holidays! In true Christmas spirit, these artists will celebrate the season with songs and stories that are sure to warm your heart. Joined by some of their family members, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, LeAnn Rimes, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Sheryl Crow, and Sugarland will share with fans their holiday traditions and memories. “CMA Country Christmas” was taped in front of a live audience on Thursday, November 11 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The special will air Monday November 29th so set your DVR’s!
