The Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard powered by BigMachineRecords.com will feature a lineup of Big Machine artists for the fourth consecutive year.
The Band Perry, Justin Moore and Brantley Gilbert will headline concerts at the Brickfest Music Festival on Saturday (July 26) and Sunday (July 27) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Additionally, music and racing fans will be introduced to newcomers A Thousand Horses and Drake White during the weekend of entertainment, which is free with track admission each day.
For more information, visit brickyard.com.

ABC’s new singing competition Rising Star debuted with a 1.5 adults 18-49 rating, averaging 5 million viewers, according to Nielsen’s preliminary ratings on Zap2it.com.
Brad Paisley, Kesha and Ludacris make up the panel of experts on the show, where their votes are added to real-time votes from at-home viewers as the contestants attempt to “raise the wall.” The show, hosted by Josh Groban, airs live so that voting can be conducted in real-time via app. If the contestant scores enough points, the video wall between them and the experts is raised and they move on to the next level.
According to Variety, NBC planned a special edition of America’s Got Talent opposite the premiere of Rising Star to intercept the new show’s viewers. Talent won the 9 PM ET hour for NBC.
Country singer Sarah Darling was among the first round of contestants and received enough votes to return to the competition (see video below). Teenage boy band Beyond 5, who recently moved to Music City, also competed but did not receive enough votes to continue on the show.
In recent months, talent competitions have saturated TV line ups. Fox cancelled The X Factor, and American Idol had its lowest-rated year ever. NBC’s popular series, The Voice, also experienced a ratings slip.

Grand Ole Opry star Jimmy C. Newman died Saturday night (June 21) in Nashville after a brief illness. He was 86.
A public service will be held Wednesday, June 25 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium at 10 a.m., followed by a private visitation and a memorial service for close friends and family. Contributions can be made to the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund.
Newman joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1956; his final performance at the Opry was Friday, June 6, 2014.
Newman was born in Mamou, La., in 1927. As children, he and his brother Walter helped support the family farm. Later, Newman formed a band and hosted a show on KPLC-TV (Lake Charles) and joined the Louisiana Hayride.
Newman’s first Nashville deal was a publishing contract with Acuff-Rose Music, which led to a recording deal with Dot Records. His hits included “A Fallen Star,” “Cry, Cry Darling,” and the Cajun-laced singles “Diggy Liggy Lo,” “Alligator Man,” and “Bayou Talk.” He was later inducted into the Cajun Hall of Fame, Cajun Music Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
In his later years, he enjoyed spending time on his ranch in Rutherford County with his wife, Mae.

Blackhawk, one of Country music’s premier harmony groups of the ’90s, has returned with its latest single, “Brothers of the Southland,” the title track from Blackhawk’s first project in 12 years, due out in early July.

Now signed with Loud & Proud Records, Blackhawk’s Henry Paul, Dave Robbins and Randy Threet showcased pitch perfect harmonies on “Brothers of the Southland,” as well as classic Blackhawk singles “Every Once In A While” and “That’s Just About Right” during a performance for MusicRow staff.
The group originally comprised Henry Paul, Van Stephenson and Dave Robbins, and signed with Arista Nashville in 1993. The band’s debut single, “Goodbye Says It All,” reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks, and their self-titled debut album went double platinum. The album’s four additional singles, “I Sure Can Smell The Rain,” “Every Once In A While,” “Down In Flames,” and “That’s Just About Right,” all made the Top 10. The follow-up project, 1995’s Strong Enough, went on to be certified Gold and produced the hit songs “I’m Not Strong Enough To Say No,” and “Like There Ain’t No Yesterday.”
“We were very lucky to be in the right place at the right time,” says lead singer Paul. “Our sound was just left of center, and now, promoting our new single, it reminds me so much of when were started, visiting all of the radio stations across the country.”
In 2001, Stephenson lost his battle with skin cancer. Brothers of the Southland features a few demo songs recorded with Stephenson during the early days of Blackhawk. The first single and title track first appeared on Blackhawk’s 2002 album Spirit Dancer, the first project the group recorded after Stephenson’s death.
The group currently plays approximately 100 dates per year. For more information, visit blackhawklive.com.
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