Int’l Country Music Conference Coming To Belmont
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 here. For more information, visit www.internationalcountrymusic.org.
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.
Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® and Edison Research have posted the full results of their National Country Radio P1 Study online in the form of a video slideshow, complete with audio commentary. The presentation, which was originally given this year at CRS-40 in Nashville, may be viewed at either www.CRB.org or 
The 40th Annual Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) is ready to roll. The Festival is hosted by the Regal Green Hills Stadium 16 in the Green Hills area of Nashville. With over 22,000 people attending last year’s NaFF, it is one of the best-known arts events in Tennessee and is the biggest, most international film festival in the mid-South. The festival runs from April 16-April 23, and advance tickets for individual movie screenings go on sale April 7. The kick-off patron party, one of the festival’s big fundraising events for the year, is scheduled for Thursday, April 9 at Tennessee Bank & Trust at Grace’s Plaza in Green Hills from 6:00-9:30 PM.. Last year NaFF received over 1700 submissions from all over the world and 215 films from 38 countries were selected. NaFF provides the only opportunity to see many of these films in this region of the U.S. You can check out the full schedule of films 
Great American Country (GAC) will present an encore presentation of the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday May 31 at 8 PM/CT. This year, GAC and GACTV.com expanded their longstanding partnership with the Academy of Country Music by hosting the first-ever fan vote for nominees in the Top New Artist categories.
Two big releases due April 7 — from Lyric Street’s Rascal Flatts and Broken Bow’s Jason Aldean — could bring a welcome boost to 2009 country sales. Fresh from their seventh consecutive ACM Vocal Group of the Year win, Rascal Flatts will celebrate the release of their sixth album, Unstoppable, with a day-of-release appearance on NBC’s Today followed by guest spots on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 13 and The Late Show with David Letterman on April 16. “Here Comes Goodbye,” the debut single from Unstoppable, has already hit the top of the MusicRow CountryBreakout chart.
Platinum-selling artist Aldean will release his third studio album, Wide Open. Already riding high on the momentum of the album’s debut single, “She’s Country,” the singer will visit eight cities in eight days. Highlights from his cross-country promotional trip include an April 10 appearance on NBC’s Today, followed by an appearance at the opening game of the Atlanta Braves home season, where Aldean will throw out the first pitch and sing the National Anthem. He will also be featured on a one-hour GAC special titled Jason Aldean: Wide Open, also premiering April 7. On May 1, Aldean will play Jimmy Kimmel Live’s outdoor concert series.
Country stars Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Montgomery Gentry and Josh Turner are among the celebrities who will be participating in the 19th Annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge on Wednesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. at Nashville’s Greer Stadium. Billed as the unofficial kickoff to CMA Music Festival, this year’s game will be held in the evening for the first time since the event’s inception 19 years ago. Rival teams, Grand Ole Opry and After MidNite with Blair Garner return for an evening of pranks, fun and softball. The whole affair benefits City of Hope, a leading research, education and treatment center for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Tickets are $18 each and $40 for a family four pack. There will be a silent auction during the game with autographed memorabilia as well as an online auction after the game at www.auctionsforhope.com. For more information on the 19th Annual City of Hope Nashville Celebrity Softball Challenge, visit www.cityofhope.org/softball. To purchase tickets visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 615-255-9600.
Ronnie Gilley Entertainment’s BamaJam Music & Arts Festival has announced a cross-promotional partnership with Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway. The partnership is designed to cross-promote the spring 2009 Talladega Superspeedway races and the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival, scheduled for June 4-6 in Enterprise, Ala. BamaJam Music & Arts Festival will have a prominent presence at the three Talladega Superspeedway races to be held the weekend of April 24-26. Prior to the races, the BamaJam bus will make its official entry with pit stops at local truck stops Race City Travel in Lincoln, Ala. and Rookies, in nearby Oxford, Ala. During the 3-day race event, the BamaJam bus will be at the Superspeedway making tickets available for purchase. Fans can also participate in a bean bag toss competition and enter to win prizes including an autographed guitar by BamaJam performing artists, a “Richard Petty Driving Experience” prize package and more. In addition, LoCash Cowboys, official spokespersons for the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival, will perform at the Superspeedway on Saturday, April 25 at 9:00 PM/ET.