Artist Updates (12/5/13)

Taylor Swift has shattered another record as the first female artist in history to sell out Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, kicking off the Australian leg of her RED tour last night to a capacity crowd of more than 40,900 fans. She is also the first female solo artist in twenty years to undertake a national stadium concert tour of Australia.
The tour continues on to stadiums in Brisbane (Dec. 7), Perth (Dec. 11), and Melbourne (Dec. 14) and will travel to the UK and Germany in early 2014. Her performance of “I Knew You Were Trouble” at Allianz Stadium will be featured on The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!, which airs Friday, Dec. 6 at 10:00 p.m. ET on CBS.

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Maggie Sajak is currently featured on SELF.com’s “Celeb Move To Steal,” where she reveals her tips on balancing  a music career, student life at Princeton, and staying in shape. She also discusses her favorite workout, jogging with bandmates, and demonstrates a lower body exercise.

To read the interview and get Maggie’s fitness tips, visit self.com.

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Clay Walker and the Military Warriors Support Foundation surprised US Army Soldier and Purple Heart War Hero Timothy Medford with a home on Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family. Clay also performed “All American” for the crowd.

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Ryan Bingham has written the title theme and will produce the music for a new film A Country Called Home, his first film music project since winning an Oscar and a Grammy for 2009’s Crazy Heart, according to Billboard. The film will be the full-length directorial and screenwriting debut of Bingham’s wife Anna Axster.

Bingham and Axster will announce a Kickstarter campaign this week to raise $75,000, the remaining 20 percent of the film’s financing. Bingham plans to write other songs for the film and solicit contributions from other songwriters and performers, plus score it.

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Trace Adkins recently released his first Christmas album, The King’s Gift, which infuses Celtic sounds into classic carols. He is currently on tour promoting the project.
“This is totally me getting out of my comfort zone and doing something way out of left field,” says Adkins. “I’m a five-piece honkytonk guy, so to be onstage with a 12-piece band and all these vocalists, it’s a thrilling thing to be part of.”