Reba’s Record Setting Album Enters At No. 1

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This week Reba taped her first-ever appearance on AOL Sessions in New York City.  Reba is pictured above with AOL Chairman/CEO Tim Armstrong (himself a big country music fan) prior to the taping.  Reba’s appearance on AOL Sessions is set to premiere September 4th.

Reba recently taped her first appearance on AOL Sessions in New York City and it is set to premiere Sept. 4. She is pictured with AOL Chairman/CEO Tim Armstrong.

Reba McEntire’s first new solo studio album in six years—and her first for The Valory Music Co.—debuted at No. 1 today on the Billboard Top Country and Top 200 Albums charts. She sold almost 96,000 units the first week of release.

Keep On Loving You is her first solo studio album to reach the pinnacle of the all-genre Top 200 chart. Featuring the Top 10 smash “Strange,” the album is the highest debut from a female country artist for 2009.

With today’s news, Reba now holds the record as the female artist with the most No. 1 albums—11—on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. She previously shared the title with Loretta Lynn with 10 albums.

The chart watchers at Valory also report this is the first time in history that three country albums in a row have topped the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. Most recently the No. 1 slot belonged to George Strait and Sugarland.

Reba performs her new single, “Consider Me Gone,” tonight (8/26) on NBC’s hit summer series America’s Got Talent (9-10 p.m. ET).

Reba welcomed Clear Channel national programmers and national voice-trackers to her Nashville home Monday evening following a day filled with interviews that will air on Clear Channel stations nationwide.  Pictured above (l-r): Valory’s Scott Borchetta, Joe Boxer, Michael J. Foxx, Valory’s JoJamie Hahr, Reba, Doug Montgomery, Billy Greenwood, Valory’s John Zarling, Clay Hunnicutt and Valory’s Jon Loba.

Reba welcomed Clear Channel national programmers and national voice-trackers to her Nashville home Monday evening following a day filled with interviews that will air on Clear Channel stations nationwide. Pictured above (l-r): Valory’s Scott Borchetta, Joe Boxer, Michael J. Foxx, Valory’s JoJamie Hahr, Reba, Doug Montgomery, Billy Greenwood, Valory’s John Zarling, Clay Hunnicutt and Valory’s Jon Loba.

Sony Courts Kindle Readers

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sonyreader

Sony's readers: (L-R) The Pocket Edition ($199), e-Reader ($299) and the newly announced Daily Edition ($399) with 7" touch screen.

They say “those who do not study history are bound to repeat the same mistakes…” Well someone at Sony Electronics must be paying attention. Especially regarding how Apple came in and pushed Sony’s Walkman music players to the curb. Now Sony is trying to do the same thing to Amazon’s Kindle book reader.

Sony has just announced its Daily Edition electronic reading device. Readers can use the unit’s touch screen to swipe (turn) a page plus view pages both vertically and/or horizontal (2 at a time). Also significant is that, unlike the Kindle, this unit can download books from a variety of sources including free books from your local library, if you have a library card.

Kindle users are only able to download books from Amazon. iTunes at first used the digital rights management approach to keep iPods tied to its store, but later decided to eliminate the DRM restrictions, as did many other sites. The net result of no DRM was that the music and players became more platform independent, something which Amazon may now reconsider in response to Sony’s new offering. Sony is using the EPUB format which can be read by a variety of different readers, while Kindle uses a proprietary format that can only be read using the Kindle.

Amazon has also been under fire for its Kindle content deals with newspaper publishers who object to giving up 70% of the subscription generated revenue. Sony promises to do better, but has not yet revealed its plans.

Priced around $400, the Daily Edition is priced about $100 under the Kindle. The new device has a 7″ screen and uses AT&Ts 3G mobile broadband service for downloading. Other Sony offerings include the Pocket Edition ($199) and the Sony e-Reader ($299).

Chesney Pens ESPN Song, Heads For “Austin City Limits”

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chesneyIt’s widely known that Kenny Chesney is a huge football fan, and now he has put pen to paper and written a song about the game that will be used exclusively by ESPN this fall.

“It was one of those moments of spontaneous inspiration,” he recalls. “We were talking about how much goes into getting on that field, what it means to those guys out there… and Bill Bonnell turns to me and says, ‘You oughta write a song about it… ‘I mean, there we were at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse with [announcer] Brett Musburger, [sports analyst] Kirk Herbstreit and the head producer of ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC [Bonnell]—and the next morning I’m gonna do College Game Day—and it just hit me! I asked for a cocktail napkin, and started writing the verses and the chorus.”

“This Is Our Moment” debuts across the ESPN properties, including their ABC network live college telecasts as part of Football Kickoff Weekend on Sept. 3.

Chesney is also set for PBS’s legendary concert show Austin City Limits, debuting Oct. 17. The special will feature stripped down performances of some of his biggest hits such as “Beer In Mexico,” “Summertime” and “Young.” Chesney also reaches into his more contemplative songs with “Anything But Mine” and the never before performed “Somewhere In The Sun.” Joining him are percussionist Drummie Zeb from the Wailers, and singer/songwriter Mac McAnally, who appears on the duet “Down The Road.”

Ingram Sets World Record For Radio Interviews

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Jack Ingram is a awarded a Guiness World Record by Adjudicator Laura Plunkett.

Jack Ingram is a awarded a Guiness World Record by Adjudicator Laura Plunkett.

Country music marathon man Jack Ingram dove headfirst into the release day of his new album Big Dreams & High Hopes by setting the Guinness World Record this morning for “Most Consecutive Radio Interviews In A 24 Hour Period.”

Ingram notched 215 interviews across most of the 50 states and parts of Canada, Ireland and Australia, easily shattering the previous record of 96 interviews. 

Ingram began interviews in New York City yesterday (8/25) at 8:00 AM at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge and continued through the night. He wrapped the session this morning with a performance of the album’s lead single “Barefoot and Crazy” on Fox & Friends.

CMT.com exclusively streamed the event, and recorded a record number of viewers in what is also the longest continuous stream the site has ever attempted. “After the last 24 hours, I officially have nothing left to say,” concluded Ingram.

Ingram will continue the momentum by jetting straight to his home state of Texas to play Dallas tonight and Austin on Thursday before rounding out the week opening three shows for Toby Keith in California.

Rosanne Cash To Keynote At Americana Conf.

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rosanne-cashRosanne Cash will be the subject of the Americana Music Association’s Festival and Conference 2009 Keynote Interview. The interview, conducted by author/journalist Michael Streissguth who recently wrote a book about the artist, will take place Thursday, September 17 from 10:45 until noon at the Nashville Convention Center.

Cash has built an acclaimed career over 30 years of inspired music making. The Grammy Award-winner is embracing her roots with The List, a collection of cover songs culled from more than 100 classics she was encouraged to explore by her legendary father, Johnny Cash, when she was 18 years old. A handful of special guests, including Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy and Rufus Wainwright join her on the record, which will be released on Manhattan Records October 6.

Interviewer Michael Streissguth’s latest book, Always Been There: Rosanne Cash, The List and the Spirit of Southern Music (DaCapo Press), chronicles the making of The List, providing readers with an intimate look behind the scenes of the album’s creation through in-depth interviews with Cash and husband/producer John Leventhal in the studio, at home and on tour.

The 10th Annual Americana Festival and Conference runs Sept. 16-19 will offer seminars, panels and networking opportunities at the Nashville Convention Center by day, while the evenings bring nearly 100 stacked Americana music showcases to five venues. The capstone is the Honors & Awards Show, Thursday September 17th at the legendary Ryman Auditorium. For details on how to attend visit Americana.org.

RIAA Reveals Summer Certifications

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Lady Antebellum earned its first RIAA gold digital single award this summer.

Lady Antebellum earned its first RIAA gold digital single award this summer.

Capitol Nashville had a great summer where certifications are concerned. Trace Adkins scored a Platinum single (1,000,000 songs sold) for “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” Keith Urban received three Gold single awards this June and July. Fans purchased more than 500,000 downloads of “Tonight I Wanna Cry,” “Stupid Boy” and “Sweet Thing” to up Keith’s career Gold song tally to seven. Meanwhile, the label’s new trio, Lady Antebellum grabbed its first Gold single prize for “I Run To You.”

Also scoring big in the digital sales tallies was Sony Music, with hits by Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler and Brad Paisley. A Platinum Digital Single went to Underwood’s “All-American Girl,” and a Gold single was handed out to her “I Told You So.” Paisley scored Gold with “I’m Still A Guy,” “Then,” and “Ticks.” Pickler received Gold for “Red High Heels” and “Best Days Of Your Life.”

For Country albums, George Strait’s Troubadour on MCA Nashville was certified Platinum, just before its follow-up hit stores. Jason Aldean’s Wide Open on Broken Bow went Gold.

On the rock front, Nashvillians Kings of Leon (Sony/RCA) earned three Gold and Platinum certifications this summer. The Grammy award winning troupe took their first Platinum album award for Only By The Night (2008) and first digital single nods for “Sex On Fire” and “Use Somebody,” each certifying both Gold and Platinum. And fans rocked out to Atlantic artist Kid Rock, turning Rock N Roll Jesus triple-Platinum to take June’s highest album certification.

For June And July ’09

Platinum Album—Troubadour, George Strait, MCA Nashville

Gold Album—Wide Open, Jason Aldean, Broken Bow

Platinum Digital Single

“Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” Trace Adkins, Capitol Nashville

“All-American Girl,” Carrie Underwood, Arista Nashville

Gold Digital Single

“Whatever It Is,” Zac Brown Band, Homegrown/Atlantic Records

“I Run To You,” Lady Antebellum, Capitol Nashville

“Just Got Started Lovin’ You,” James Otto, Warner Bros. Nashville

“I’m Still A Guy,” Brad Paisley, Arista Nashville

“Then,” Brad Paisley, Arista Nashville

“Best Days Of Your Life,” Kellie Pickler, BNA Records

“Sweet Thing,” Keith Urban, Capitol Nashville

“Ticks,” Brad Paisley, Arista Nashville

“Red High Heels,” Kellie Pickler, BNA Records Label

“I Told You So,” Carrie Underwood, Arista Nashville

“Stupid Boy,” Keith Urban, Capitol Nashville

“Tonight I Wanna Cry,” Keith Urban, Capitol Nashville

CMA Names Awards Co-Hosts, Plans Tweet N Greet

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carrie-underwood-and-brad-pBrad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will return as co-hosts of the CMA Awards when the show airs live from the Sommet Center Wed., Nov. 11 on ABC. They are the respective reigning Male and Female Vocalist of the Year. See the full story at People.com.

Since Paisley won the Horizon Award in 2000, he has garnered 11 CMA Awards. Underwood also won the Horizon Award in 2006, and has gone on to claim a total of five CMA trophies.

The second round of voting for the awards ended yesterday (8/24) and the Final Ballot will be sent Fri., Oct. 16. Voting ends Tues., Nov. 3 at  5:00 PM/CDT.

Tweet ‘N’ Greet
In related news, the CMA will host its first-ever live Twitter feed on ABC.com, Monday, Aug. 31 (8:00 – 11:00 PM/ET), during CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock, airing on the ABC Television Network.

Fans can log on to see Tweets from artists including Trace Adkins (@traceadkins), Dierks Bentley (@dierksbentley), Lady Antebellum (@ladyantebellum), Martina McBride (@martinamcbride), Reba McEntire (@Reba), Kellie Pickler (@therealpickler), and the Zac Brown Band (@zacbrownband). Each artist will be posting their observations about the show as well as behind-the-scenes tidbits, anecdotes about other artists performing on the show, as well as memories from past Music Festivals.

“Twitter is one of the best ways right now to directly connect with fans – especially ones on the cutting edge of technology,” said Dan Bowen, CMA VP of Strategic Marketing and Communications. “We’re excited to work with ABC.com to be able to bring a great group of Country Music artists together with their current fans and hopefully some new ones.”

The “Tweet ‘N’ Greet” will create an interactive feed between the fans and artists. Fans will have a direct connection to some of their favorite performers, not only allowing them the opportunity to ask questions, but also providing them with behind-the-scenes access. In addition, CMA (@CountryMusic) will be updating fans with information on the participating artists’ upcoming album releases, tour dates, and appearances.

“CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock,” expanding to three hours for the first time, features high-voltage stage performances by chart-topping superstars, along with revealing special segments about fan favorites. Scheduled to perform are Adkins, Jason Aldean, Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Julianne Hough, Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, McBride, McEntire, Jake Owen, Brad Paisley, Pickler, John Rich, Darius Rucker, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, and Zac Brown Band. In addition, Kid Rock performs his smash hit “Picture” with McBride, while Wynonna and Naomi Judd reunite as The Judds to perform together for the first time at the CMA Music Festival in six years.

“CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock” is executive-produced by Robert Deaton and directed by Gary Halvorson.

Justin Moore Debuts With 34,000+

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Justin Moore spent time with WBEE/Rochester PD Billy Kidd, pictured above, following a recent concert performance.

Justin Moore’s self-titled debut album for The Valory Music Co. entered the Billboard Country Album Chart this week at No. 3, making it the second highest country debut of a new artist this year. Selling over 34,000 units, it was also the No. 10 release across all genres on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.

On release day, the album quickly peaked as the second most downloaded Country album at iTunes, behind only George Strait. Moore’s album also rose to the No. 8 most-downloaded album of all genres on iTunes.

Driving the sales is hit single, “Small Town USA,” which lands at No. 3 on this week’s MusicRow Country Breakout chart. “Small Town USA” also rises to No. 7 on the Billboard Country Songs Chart this week. The climb makes the rising star one of only three new country artists to enter the Top 10 so far in 2009.

Faith Is “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night”

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faith_homeNBC Sports will again feature Faith Hill performing the opening theme for NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Hill’s “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” debuts this season on Sunday, Sept. 13, the first Sunday Night Football broadcast of 2009 featuring the oldest rivalry in the NFL as the Green Bay Packers host the Chicago Bears in the debut of new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. The opening theme will continue weekly, kicking off the games throughout the NFL season on NBC. See a video preview here.

“Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” is set to the original Joan Jett song, “I Hate Myself For Loving You.” She recorded the track with her longtime producer Byron Gallimore at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tenn. The video was shot at Universal Studios Orlando.

“Faith Hill singing ‘Waiting All Day for Sunday Night’ is a signature of Sunday Night Football,” said the show’s producer Fred Gaudelli. “We are thrilled to have one of America’s most popular recording stars back with NBC for a third season.”

Hill has sold 30 million records worldwide and topped the charts with 11 No. 1 singles.

Willie, Kellie, O’Shea And More

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willieWillie Nelson is working with MySpace Music to promote his latest album, a collection of jazz standards called American Classics being released today (8/25) by Blue Note. He is playing his hometown bar in Maui, Hawaii tonight as part of MySpace’s popular “Secret Show” franchise. The event at Charley’s Restaurant & Saloon will also feature special guest indie rockers Band of Horses. Tommy LiPuma produced the project which features guest vocalists Norah Jones and Diana Krall. It premiered on MySpace, streaming in its entirety beginning Sat., Aug. 22. MySpace is also currently featuring a video about the making of the album here.
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oshea_anni09Up and coming country duo O’Shea is presenting An Affair To Remember on Aug. 26 in celebration of the one year anniversary of their weekly Wednesday night gig at local hot spot Blue Bar. The evening serves as a thank you to the duo’s supportive fans. Doors open at 6:00pm followed by a complimentary champagne toast at 6:30pm. O’Shea take the stage at 7:00pm. No cover charge but table seating is limited.

Hailing from Australia, the talented husband and wife team, Mark and Jay O’Shea, are featured in Nashville Lifestyles’ The Hot List issue and recently taped an episode of Words & Music. O’Shea made their reality TV debut as one of the Top 5 duos on this year’s season of CMT’s Can You Duet. They balance their weekly shows in Nashville every Wednesday with weekend opening spots for Jimmy Wayne, Sara Evans and The Oak Ridge Boys, to name a few.

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kellie-pKellie Pickler is putting her affinity for shoes to work for a good cause. She continues her support of Soles4Souls Thurs., Aug. 27 in New York City by teaming with Ladies’ Home Journal. She will collect new and gently worn shoes that afternoon before her show at Madison Square Garden. The drop point for the shoes will be the entrance to the Garden and will be open from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Pickler joins her friend Taylor Swift on the Fearless Tour 2009 for the sold out show that night.

Nashville-based Soles4Souls collects and distributes free footwear to people in need around the world. Since its inception, the charity has distributed more than 5 million pairs, which equals about one pair every 13 seconds.

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Jo Dee Messina has added more dates to her successful, intimate Music Room Series Tour. She started the unique shows this spring and has added more dates in October and November. The fall tour will kick off Fri., Oct. 23 in Ft. Pierce, Florida, for an initial run of 14 dates. Modeled after her music room at home, the tour gives fans a chance to view a side of Messina that is rarely seen in her full band shows. Touring with just three musicians, she performs stripped-down versions of her numerous No. 1 singles, favorite covers and songs she’s written but not yet recorded. Each show is driven in large part by audience requests.

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The debut single and video from newly-signed Black River/Cherry Heart recording artist Ty Williams will premiere Thurs., Aug. 27 on nationally syndicated TV show The Daily Buzz, airing mainly on The CW. “Barn On The Rooftop” will be the first country music video to premiere on the show and it includes appearances by show hosts Kia Malone and Mitch English. Gamma Blast’s Chad Denning directed the video. “Barn On The Rooftop” goes for adds at country radio on Aug. 31 and will be available Sept. 8 on iTunes. Williams’ self-titled debut album is scheduled for release later this year.

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Broken Bow/Holeshot Records artist and avid motorcycle rider Krista Marie will perform at the opening reception of the 22nd Annual Tennessee Lifesavers Conference 2009 on Wed., Aug. 26. Tennessee Lifesavers hosts around 400 law enforcement, prosecutors, judicial personnel, educators, and others who are interested in learning about highway safety. She is also scheduled to sing the national anthem at the 5th Annual Law Enforcement Challenge in Nashville on Fri., Aug. 28. The Law Enforcement Challenge is a competition designed to recognize and reward the best overall traffic safety programs across the State of Tennessee and across the country.