Kate and Kacey
“Dreaming Love”
Big Machine
“Dreaming Love” is the debut single for Big Machine’s twin sisters Kate and Kacey, who combine country music’s best traditions with its future. Family harmony has always been an integral part of country music and it is clear the sisters have that special vocal magic that runs in the blood.
Prior to inking a deal with Big Machine Records, Kate and Kacey had already garnered an enthusiastic legion of fans as contestants on the CMT series Can You Duet? where they made it to the semi-finals. “It was one of the most difficult things in our career and one of the most rewarding,” says Kacey. “We are here today because of it, and I think it made us so much stronger.”
In addition to the television exposure, they have also gained notice on Music Row for their songwriting skills. Signed to EMI Music Publishing, the twosome has already obtained every songwriter’s dream—a George Strait cut. “House with No Doors,” which the twins co-wrote with Jamey Johnson, is on Strait’s current album Troubadour.
Kate and Kacey initially moved to the West Coast to attend college at USC, courtesy of music scholarships, and though they had begun to make inroads as songwriters/background vocalists in Los Angeles, they wanted to make country music, so a move to Nashville was inevitable. “It just absolutely fit for us,” says Kacey. “It felt like home.”
Adds Kate, “The values and traditions that country music stands for is exactly in line with Kacey and I, as performers and artists and daughters and sisters and friends. Like she said, it’s always felt like home. There’s a place to still believe in those traditions, have hope and a sense of family.”
Kate and Kacey will join the Corona Sun City Tailgate Experience with Kenny Chesney for 11 dates this summer.
A new class of inductees to the Music City Walk of Fame has been announced. The new inductees include National Baptist Publishing Board founder Dr. Richard Henry (R.H.) Boyd, pioneering producer/songwriter/performer “Cowboy” Jack Clement, record executive and songwriter Mike Curb, and performers Marty Stuart, Josh Turner and CeCe Winans. The inductees, the sixth class to be named, will be honored April 19 at 2:30 PM in the Hall of Fame Park in downtown Nashville. The ceremony, which is sponsored by Great American Country (GAC), is free and open to the public. The Music City Walk of Fame is an official project of Music City, Inc., the charitable foundation of the Nashville Convention & Visitor Bureau. The April 19 inductions bring the total number of Walk of Fame honorees to 37.
CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) has announced the second World Copyright Summit for June 9 and 10 in Washington, DC. The Summit will provide a forum for influential creators, rights organizations and guilds, content service providers, broadcasters, telecommunications operators, hardware manufacturers, legal experts and policy-makers to exchange ideas and discuss issues linked to intellectual property and creative content online. More than 100 speakers will emphasize the need for constructive dialogue about the importance of copyright protection and the distribution of creative works in the digital era. CISAC President Robin Gibb will be joined at the Summit by artists including world renowned painter and sculptor Frank Stella, Motown songwriting legend Lamont Dozier, French visual artist Hervé Di Rosa, and Mexican composer Armando Manzanero. The slogan for the World Copyright Summit, “New Frontiers for Creators in the Marketplace,” reflects the four main themes to be addressed during this two-day conference: New Visions for Creative Industries; Challenges for Creators and Rights-Owners in the Digital Era; Weather Forecast on Copyright Climate; and Valuing the Creative Eco-System.
The Washington Post is reporting that Universal Music Group and Google have finalized a deal to create a new music video service called Vevo, a site billed as a “premium online music hub built for consumers, advertisers, and content owners,” which is expected to launch before the end of the year. The two companies will share advertising revenue generated by the site. Under the agreement, Vevo will exist as a central repository of all UMG video content, including music videos, interviews, concert footage and so on, with YouTube providing the technology behind it. The two companies say that at launch the site will have more traffic than any other music video site on the web. Users will be able to access the content through the main hub at VEVO.com or through a VEVO channel on YouTube through a VEVO branded player. Vevo will service the 
content to other streaming video services online, starting with YouTube. As its existing licensing deals with others such as Yahoo, MTV and AOL expire, those too will syndicate their content from Vevo. UMG CEO and chairman Doug Morris is charged with bringing the other major and independent labels on board.
We always knew that, underneath that tough exterior, Miranda Lambert was a softie. And now the hit Columbia artist is a softie on the outside as well. Lambert is one of three artists (R&B songstress Jazmine Sullivan and indie rocker/actress Zooey Deschanel are the others) who will offer their interpretations of the familiar “the touch, the feel of cotton” music in a new advertising campaign for Cotton Incorporated, the research and promotion company for U.S. cotton growers. The melody for the well-known jingle, which was retired in 2001, was revived because “It’s the right message at the right time,” says Glenn Sciachitano, Director of Consumer Advertising at Cotton Incorporated. The television commercials, created by DDB New York, began airing on April 5 as part of a The Fabric of My Life advertising campaign that also includes print and Internet components. The print campaign shows stills from the commercial shoot and highlights cotton wardrobe worn by the vocalists, along with notes from the singers about what that garment means to them. Internet components are slated to roll out in late May and will include an interactive look inside Lambert’s closet. “My style in three words is comfortable, funky, my own,” Lambert said. “Cotton is a big part of that style so I was very excited to be part of this campaign.”
The 26th Annual International Country Music Conference will be held May 21-23 at Belmont University. The event features appearances by some of the top historians and scholars in country music and includes presentations of The Belmont University Book Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award and The Charlie Lamb Awards. This year’s conference will also include special panels on legends Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, as well as address the topic of how to define country music. The panel “Defining Country Music: What It Is and Does It Matter” will be hosted by Dr. Don Cusic, author of Discovering Country Music, Ronnie Pugh, author of Ernest Tubb: Texas Troubadour, Dr. Jocelyn Neal, author of The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, as well as Dr. Erika Brady and Dr. Patrick Huber. Special papers on Hank Williams will be presented by Jim Murphy, Tom Wilmeth and Colin Escott. Additionally, Barry Mazor, Dr. Tim Wise, Dr. Anthony Lis, Dr. Jocelyn Neal, Dr. Nolan Porterfield and Dr. Catherine Davies will present papers on Jimmie Rodgers. The event will be co-chaired by James Akenson and Cusic. Registration is $100 and checks should be sent to James Akenson, Box 5042, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN, 38505. The 2008 ICMC Program Schedule can be found 
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is getting ready to pay tribute to “Little Miss Dynamite,” Brenda Lee, with the cameo exhibition Brenda Lee: Dynamite, Presented by Great American Country Television Network, which will open in the Museum’s East Gallery on August 7 and run through June 2010. Born Brenda Mae Tarpley on December 11, 1944, the Atlanta native sang from the time she could talk and won her first talent show at the age of four. With influences ranging from Judy Garland to Edith Piaf to Frank Sinatra, Lee’s explosive voice and bubbly personality made her incredibly popular at home and also overseas. Throughout the ‘60s Lee performed regularly in Europe, South America and Japan, at one point touring Germany with the Beatles as her opening act.
Country news, music and lifestyle website Digitalrodeo.com will sponsor Nashville’s first-ever Andy Griggs Celebrity Poker Tournament, to be held Thursday, June 11 at Cadillac Ranch. The winnings from the tournament will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and other charities. Celebrity players from country music, sports, film and television, as well as professional poker players, are scheduled to participate. Confirmed attendees will be posted online at www.DigitalRodeo.com and www.AndyGriggs.com. Country artist and World Series of Poker participant, Andy Griggs, will host the event, beginning at 2 p.m. on Thursday (6/11). The event will also include an in-the-round jam session and a silent auction and door prizes. Griggs is the first country artist to receive sponsorship into the main event at the World Series of Poker. He outlasted every non-poker celebrity in the tournament, including his sponsor, WSOP champion Doyle Brunson. Griggs went on to register an impressive finish in the top 12 percent of the 2008 competition. Leading up to the tournament, DigitalRodeo.com will feature a weekly poker tip from Griggs on his profile page at www.DigitalRodeo.com/AndyGriggs.