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PERSONAL QUOTE: “If I am Chasing Your Dream Faster Than You, Then I am in the Wrong Dream.” - Preshias
ALBUM NEWS: New CDs on the shelf! Carrie Underwood – GREATEST HITS: DECADE #1 … James Carothers – HONKY TONK LAND … Caitlin Canty – RECKLESS SKYLINE … Jim Ed Brown – IN STYLE AGAIN … The Bros. Landreth – LET IT LIE … Gretchen Peters – BLACKBIRDS
ARTIST NEWS: David Shelby is a man of many talents—musical and otherwise. David released his sophomore recording project, OH YEAH, in November 2014 setting the pace for 2015. He’s been on a hard-hitting radio tour since release date (to introduce the single by the same name) and has crossed the country visiting 15 cities in 13 states and traveled over 10,146 miles with expectations of touring Ohio, the Carolinas and Kentucky in the next leg of his radio promotion tour. The single “Oh Yeah” (written by Jeffrey East and John Ramey and anticipated to hit radio in March) showcases David’s talents as an accomplished trumpeter. In addition to making his own music, he has produced and directed the stage play "West Side Story" and has a musical arrangement in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He has performed alongside Stevie Wonder, the Glenn Miller Band and Davy Jones (of the Monkees) on world-renowned stages including the Fillmore, Fox Theatre, Detroit Opera house, Joe Louis Arena, Bonstelle Theatre, Fisher Theatre Freedom Hill, Grand Hotel Mackinaw Island and Pontiac Silverdome.
BENEFIT NEWS: Premiere's Bobby Bones has been named a Susan G. Komen For The Cure "Pink Tie Guy" for his efforts in the fight against breast cancer. The program honors "influential leaders who help engage audiences in the breast cancer movement through their role within the community, their organizations and personal involvement." The Bobby Bones Show recently raised $50,000 for the charity by facilitating a benefit concert with Jason Aldean. Bones and others will be honored at the Pink Tie Party Feb. 24 in Nashville.
BLUEGRASS NEWS: The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America's (SPBGMA) reigning Entertainer of the Year, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage have received five nominations for the SPBGMA convention, set to take place in Nashville, Tennessee, during the weekend of February 5-8. Vincent, who was just named one of the Digital Journal's "5 best female voices in bluegrass music," is no stranger to the SPBGMA awards, as she was inducted into their Hall of Greats in 2014. Rhonda Vincent & The Rage are nominated for the following categories:
Entertainer of the Year: Rhonda Vincent
Bluegrass Band of the Year Overall: Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
Female Vocalist of the Year (Contemporary): Rhonda Vincent
Male Vocalist of the Year (Contemporary): Josh Williams
Fiddle Player of the Year: Hunter Berry
BUSINESS NEWS: Singers, songwriters and entrepreneurs Erin Enderlin and Alex Kline have formed Cotton Gin Productions, a full-service music production company based in Nashville. The company's first signing is artist and songwriter Scott Stevens from Knoxville, Tennessee. After breaking his arm and leg in a snowboarding accident at age 16, Scott Stevens eschewed boredom and picked up his first guitar. Just two short years later, with a songwriting competition win and countless local shows under his belt, Stevens hit the road and began performing around the country. Four of his songs have been used on the ABC TV show "General Hospital," and some of his instrumental compositions can be heard on HGTV. A SESAC writer, Stevens has been in the studio with Enderlin and Kline writing and working on his upcoming project. More at scottstevensmusic.com
CONCERT NEWS: Rascal Flatts has revealed plans for their headlining RIOT TOUR 2015. The coast-to-coast tour will kick off May 29 in St. Louis, MO and will continue throughout the summer with special guest Scotty McCreery. Tickets are now available for fans to purchase for select cities from tour promoter Live Nation's Country Megaticket at Megaticket.com and additional information will be available in the coming weeks at rascalflatts.com. Before their headlining tour kicks off this summer, Rascal Flatts will start the first-ever country residency at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, from Feb. 25 to March 14 with The Voice winner Craig Wayne Boyd tapped for the opening slot. Tickets for Rascal Flatts Vegas Riot! are on sale now.
CRS NEWS: The 15-year-old country music newcomer, Allie Louise (Sixth Beat Productions) will introduce her first single “It’s Gettin’ Old” at Country Radio Seminar-2015 (CRS) in Nashville. Currently on radio across the country, “It’s Gettin’ Old” (produced by Doug Kahan and seven-time Grammy award winner John Jaszcz) is on the fast track to put Allie Louise on the chart and the map. Louise’s self-titled album is anticipated to be released in late spring and is chock-full with Allie Louise originals. Beyond her own solo show credits, the starlet has opened for several performing acts including Cole Swindell, Frankie Ballard, Austin Webb, Justin Moore, Josh Turner and David Shelby.
GRAMMY NEWS: 57th Annual Grammy Awards live on CBS-TV Feb. 8 from Los Angeles. RCA's Miranda Lambert, Common, John Legend, Usher, Sam Smith and Pharrell Williams will perform on the globally televised show. They join previously announced performers Eric Church, AC/DC, Ariana Grande, Madonna and Ed Sheeran.
INT’L MUSIC NEWS: British indie blues-rockers Xander & the Peace Pirates (MY BFF’s!!) have reason to be pleased they posted a YouTube video some months ago. The video was spotted by Gibson who flew Stu and Keith Xander to Los Angeles to appear on the Gibson stage at the 2014 NAMM show. At this year’s Winter NAMM, once again, they caught the eye of legendary producer Eddie Kramer, who has recorded Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin among others. Kramer is set to record an album with the boys who have set up a page at www.pledgemusic.com to fund production. More info, plus music and videos at www.xanderandthepeacepirates.co.uk Definitely worth a visit to watch videos of these amazing guys.
LABEL NEWS: (BMLG) It started out as a cheeky send-up of being fed-up with the Daisy Dukes-sportin’, tan-legs-gleamin’, bikini/tank top-wearin’ nameless/voiceless status girls the young Country hunks were singing about. So Maddie & Tae decided to write a song poking fun at every cliché, objectification and expectation these guys seemed to have. “Girl In A Country Song” hit Big Machine Label Group President and CEO Scott Borchetta so hard, he put it out while the girls were still in the studio. The song became only the third debut single by a female duo to go #1 in over 70 years, and it is the #1 single on Nashville Scene’s Annual Country Critics' Poll – ahead of some very big, very credible names including Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney. More at maddieandtae.com
LEGEND NEWS: GRAMMY Award-winning country superstar and contemporary music icon, Kenny Rogers, will return Down Under in January and February for his Farewell Down Under Tour, which will include his final concerts in Australia and New Zealand ever. The tour began in Sydney on January 23, 2015; followed by shows across the country in Tamworth, Newcastle, Melbourne, Launceston, Gold Coast, Townsville, Perth and Adelaide; then a concert in Christchurch, New Zealand before concluding the tour in Hamilton, New Zealand, on February 15, 2015. While the concerts scheduled in January and February 2015 will be Rogers’ final performances in Australia and New Zealand, the legendary vocalist will continue to tour in other parts of the world.
MEDIA NEWS: Shannon McCombs is now producing interviews and country news for Wrangler’s new media content site Wrangler Network. Shannon was trying to break a CMA Week record interviewing more than 80 artists in three days! Look for more country music news coverage from Shannon in the near future. I’ll keep you posted! Updates at her website at shannoncountry.com.
MUSIC NEWS: Since the launch of his national recording career in 2005 (MY KIND OF MUSIC/Warner Bros. Nashville), Ray Scott has “Ray-invented” himself. With three independent albums, including the most recent RAY SCOTT (released in Oct. 2014), to his name, Scott makes no contention, nor apologies, to turn the tables his way. His latest single, “Drinkin’ Beer,” saw extended airplay on Sirius XM’s The Highway and ranked No. 18 on the Rolling Stone Country chart as one of the Top 25 Songs of the Year (2014). The folks across the pond seemed to agree with the U.S. nod; the single was the HotDisc (UK) “Song of the Year.” This year Scott will partner with The Boot Campaign. In conjunction with his 2015 tour, he will lead a one-mile walk in each corresponding city to generate awareness toward American patriotism and our military communities. From the musical standpoint, Scott is positioning the release of his sophomore single (from RAY SCOTT) entitled “I’m Not Always Thirsty When I Drink” with a series of six performance videos sharing personal favorites with his interpretation of some of country music’s greatest classics. His cover of Merle Haggard’s “That’s The Way Love Goes” premiered on Rolling Stone Country (rollingstone.com); the entire video collection (with tributes to Don Williams, Billy Joe Shaver, Tompall Glaser, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash), were featured in consecutive weekly exclusives on the popular music entertainment site.
PUBLISHER NEWS: Little Extra Music has announced the signing of award-winning singer/songwriter/producer Carolyn Dawn Johnson to a worldwide publishing agreement. Just four short years after making the 60-hour drive from Vancouver, BC Canada to Nashville twenty years ago, Johnson scored her first hit as a songwriter when Chely Wright took "Single White Female" to number one. The success led to publishing deals and cuts with artists like Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea, Pam Tillis, Suzy Bogguss, Jo Dee Messina and others. Music Row Magazine named her "Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year" in 2000, the same year Arista Nashville signed her to a record deal. More at LittleExtraMusic.com
RADIO NEWS: Rhonda Towns is no stranger to the microphone or camera—front or back. Previously recognized for her talented work alongside producers Harold Shedd, Norro Wilson and Jim Cotton and the release of I WANNA BE LOVED BY YOU (April 2006), Towns reintroduces once again her “good spirit/good news” talk radio show Plenty More Love on “Faith Talk 1360” (Phoenix, Arizona). Towns’ special guests on the show have included The Grascals, Ty Herndon, Marty Raybon, The Roys, Philip Dain Powell, Steve Richard and John Conlee. A special occasion “go-to” performer, Towns received the personal invitation to perform at the 2014 Join The Tribe Ball in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Other venues and organizations that have welcomed Towns include: the Black Country Music Association, Today’s Country with Crook ‘n’ Chase, the First Annual Black Country Music Show and BET’s (Black Entertainment Television) Live From L.A. She became Europe’s first black female country music artist after making her debut at the 16th Annual International Country Music Festival. She has also performed at Country Thunder USA, WI, in the line-up with chart-toppers Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich and Keith Anderson. The singer, songwriter, radio show host and model will release her new single “Walking In Your Beautiful Life” this spring; it’s a beautiful sound from Ms. Rhonda Towns!
REALITY TV NEWS: Reality TV fans are most familiar with Brooke Hogan as the daughter of Hulk Hogan as well as her hit reality television show, Brooke Knows Best. Country music fans will come to know Brooke Hogan as a magnetic talent on stage and the up ‘n coming country artist vying for attention as the “female artist of the year” for her vocal performances in 2015. Brooke will introduce her new project in mid-summer featuring her new single “So Many Summers.” Catering to the sports fan in everyone, Hogan opened for Darius Rucker at a Super Bowl XLIX special event where she appropriately sang “Touch Down!” It may not be football, but Brooke is in the park and in the running for a country music score!
SONGWRITER NEWS: I am so proud of my friend Josh Martin! He is watching his friend Cole Swindell sing their song to the top of the country charts! The song, “Ain’t Worth The Whiskey” was written by Josh, Cole Swindell and Adam Sanders. Congratulations to the three musketeers on this fabo collaboration!
TOUR NEWS: The iconic Marshall Tucker Band (MTB) is entering its 44th year on the road with nearly 50 live concert dates already on the books. The MTB recently announced its 2015 road show, the Searchin’ For A Rainbow Tour, that kicked off in Greensboro, North Carolina. The title of the new tour is a throwback to the band's 1975 platinum-selling album of the same name. "It’s looking like 2015 is shaping up to be our biggest tour schedule in years," says MTB lead singer Doug Gray. “We’re still out there Searchin' for that Rainbow." Check out MarshallTucker.com for tour updates.
TV NEWS: Rural Media Group's RFD-TV is relocating to 49 Music Square West in Nashville, in the former GAC-TV studios. After renovations, the space will house 125 employees.
WWWEBSITES TO CHECK OUT: globalsongwriters.com / nashvegas.com / cdxcd.com / bluehighwaystv.com / bouldercreekguitars.com / musiccityradio.com.
WHO'S LOOKING * WHO'S CUTTING: Lauren Alaina, Luke Bryan, Rusty Dean, Alan Jackson, and Carrie Underwood.
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