Jason Aldean Extends Tour With Luke Bryan

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Jason Aldean

Jason Aldean

After selling out the entire fall run of his Wide Open arena tour, country rocker Jason Aldean has extended the tour into 2010. Rising star and fellow Georgia native Luke Bryan will join Aldean as a special guest on the nearly 30-city run, kicking off in Greenville, SC on Jan. 22 and including an already sold out hometown stop at the Macon Centreplex Coliseum.

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Luke Bryan

“Luke and I grew up playing in some of the same clubs down in Georgia, so it will be really cool to have him out with us…playing bigger rooms with bigger crowds,” said Aldean.

Aldean is hitting the road behind his latest album Wide Open, which was just certified Platinum. Bryan is touring in support of his second album, Doin’ My Thing, which was released in October.

Rascal Flatts Tour Runs Through March

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rascalflattsRascal Flatts today announced the final leg of their Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour, sponsored by JCPenney with associate sponsor Hershey’s. The tour will restart on January 15 & 16 in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena and the band will perform 23 shows through March 13, wrapping in Oklahoma City at the Ford Center. Darius Rucker will continue as opening act.
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The first leg of the Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour sold 550,000 tickets in 39 shows since it began in June 2009. This total also includes the two sold-out stadium concerts at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Columbus’ Crew Stadium. The band’s 2009 tours have sold over a million concert tickets, bringing their 4 year total to just over 4 million tickets sold.

Brooks And Dunn Map “Last Rodeo”

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brooksdoneBrooks & Dunn are going out with a bang. After announcing their pending retirement earlier this year, the duo has planned a farewell tour launching April 23, 2010 and running through August 8, 2010. The Last Rodeo will be a celebration of their 20 hitmaking years together, with 47 shows including a yet-to-be-announced Nashville stop.

Brian O’Connell, concert promoter Live Nation’s President of Nashville Touring, is helping oversee the nationwide run. The tour follows the recent release of Brooks & Dunn’s career-spanning double-disc collection, #1s … and then some.

Huffman Rice Open Bus Driver Training Program

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busChip Huffman, President of tour bus company Nitetrain Coach Co., and longtime music business executive Tandy Rice of Top Billing, have partnered to launch Huffman & Rice, offering bus driver training and driver placement. The first session of The Celebrity Bus Drivers Academy will be held Wednesday, March 3 through Saturday, March 6, 2010 at the Williamson County Agricultural Center in Franklin, Tenn.

A transportation executive for 20 years, Huffman co-founded Nitetrain Coach in 1986. The company provides 50-60 buses (all Prevost Le Mirage XL II’s, primarily slide-outs) as year-round tour transportation for artists including Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Kings of Leon, Korn and Tool.

Rice has owned Top Billing, Inc. since 1968, and has worked with such superstars as Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner. More recently he helped start the George Jones University, and was an adjunct music business professor at Belmont University.

Read more from the Nashville Post. For more information or to apply to the Academy, contact Rice at 615-297-2771 or log on to www.huffman-rice.com.

Toby Keith Concludes Sold-Out European Tour

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Toby performing for the sold out crowd in Helsinki, Finland.

Keith performing for the sold out crowd in Helsinki, Finland.

Toby Keith recently wrapped his first European tour, which included a two week sold-out run of nine shows in six countries. Keith opened the tour in Glasgow, Scotland Nov. 9 before playing London’s Hammersmith Apollo (Nov. 10), Dublin’s Olympia Theater (Nov. 12), Belfast’s Odyssey Arena (Nov. 13) and jumping across the North Sea for shows in Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; Oslo, Norway and, finally, Bergen, Norway.

Keith’s stop on the popular Swedish talk show Skavlan was one of the highest-rated episodes of the year. He was also the subject of cover stories or features appearing in the Irish News, Sunday World, Up Country, American, Irish Star, The Newsletter and more.

Messina Adds 2nd Show For Holiday Concert

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joDeeJo Dee Messina has announced the addition of a second Nashville show for a special holiday concert on Sat. Dec. 5 at the Brentwood United Methodist Church. All proceeds from the performances will go to Harvest Hands Community Development Corp. Tickets are being distributed for free in advance with fans being asked to make a donation at the event.

“Harvest Hands is truly an amazing organization,” says Messina. “It is currently taking the inner city of Nashville and is changing it one life at a time with educating, kindness and love. To go down and actually see how they are making a difference, has touched me. This show is for them.”

All 1800 tickets for the 7 p.m. performance have been claimed. Now a matinee show is also scheduled. Tickets can be obtained online at www.jodeemessina.com/tickets and locally at the Brentwood United Methodist Church.

Messina will perform a wide array of songs from her 2002 Christmas album A Joyful Noise, plus other holiday classics and music from her next album, including the upcoming single “That’s God.” The Dec. 5, 7 p.m. concert will also be streamed live at www.ustream.com/jodeemessina

Sound And Speed Returns To Music City

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scaled_e1258666488Sound & Speed returns to Nashville Jan. 8-9, and tickets are now available at ticketmaster.com and opry.com and www.soundandspeed.org. This year’s fifth annual event, hosted by Sprint and presented by SunTrust will include two nights of music.

On Fri. Jan. 8, some of country’s hottest acts will fire up the Ryman Auditorium stage with two shows at 7 and 9:30 pm. Artists performing will include Hank Williams Jr., Chris Young and NASCAR legend Kyle Petty. More artists are soon to be added.

On Saturday, Jan. 9 the event continues at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, where fans of racing and country music will have the opportunity to get up-close and personal with drivers, team owners, and top-name artists for autographs, story-telling, and question-and-answer sessions. The fan event will feature show car and sponsor displays, as well as a charitable auction with memorabilia from the racing and entertainment industries. Among the NASCAR stars scheduled to appear are Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Michael Waltrip, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, and David Stremme, along with country music stars Jason Michael Carroll, Josh Turner, members of Diamond Rio, and Chris Young with more drivers and country music artists joining the star-studded line-up in the coming weeks.

Since its inception, Sound & Speed has attracted an estimated 40,000 fans and raised more than $800,000 for Victory Junction (a year-round camping experience founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty for children, ages 6-16, with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses) and the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum.

XL Video: New Nashville Shop For Tour Planning

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From the Nashville Post:

One of his hands is already in The Claw. With the other, Ken Gay is out to grab a hold of Nashville’s concert scene.

Gay is the general manager of the XL Video Nashville, the local outpost of a global player in the lighting of bright and glitzy events that range from sport’s biggest stages to auto shows and some of the world’s most extravagant concert tours.

Read more here.

Superstar Strait Tour With Lee Ann Womack And Reba

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Tgeorge-straithe upcoming George Strait tour will be a huge outing, with Lee Ann Womack just added to the dates, alongside previously announced superstar Reba McEntire. The arena tour kicks off in early 2010 and continues through late Spring. On the schedule are more than 20 nationwide dates, starting in late January, and going through April.

“’Does Ft Worth Ever Cross Your Mind’? ‘Whoever’s In New England’? ‘The Fireman’? ‘Little Rock’? ‘Wrapped’? ‘The Last To Know’? We’re talking classic country from the source,” praises Womack. “I can’t leeannwomackimagine a better tour to be on than George Strait and Reba McEntire — and now I’m not imagining!”

2010 TOUR DATES

Date City
22-Jan Baltimore, MD
23-Jan Greensboro, NC
29-Jan Knoxville, TN
30-Jan Charlottesville, VA
5-Feb Phoenix, AZ
6-Feb Las Vegas, NV
18-Feb St Louis, MO
19-Feb Wichita, KS
20-Feb Tulsa, OKreba
25-Feb Atlanta, GA
26-Feb Orlando, FL
4-Mar Memphis, TN
5-Mar New Orleans, LA
6-Mar Little Rock, AR
26-Mar Portland, OR
27-Mar Tacoma, WA
8-Apr Omaha, NE
9-Apr Kansas City, MO
10-Apr Des Moines, IA

Kevin Neal To Head Buddy Lee Attractions, More Changes Coming

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Kevin Neal

Kevin Neal

Longtime Buddy Lee Attractions agent Kevin Neal has been named President of the company following Friday’s (11/13) resignation of former President Tony Conway. Neal has been with the agency for 20 years where he previously served as Senior Vice President. He is the responsible agent for Jason Aldean, Colt Ford, and Ash Bowers among others, and was the 2006 and 2008 IEBA Talent Agent of the Year and the 2007 NATD Talent Director of the Year.

Additional staff and roster changes at BLA are forthcoming. Neal explains, “The changes we’re about to undergo as a company will be made to benefit our client roster. In addition, we will be announcing some strategic alliances that will enable our roster to further profit in years to come. I am honored to be asked to help direct this company, and I feel that there is a great opportunity for growth.

Neal was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised in the music business as son of the legendary agent/manager Bob Neal. He joined the Neal Agency in 1981 and worked with his father, before eventually settling at Buddy Lee Attractions.

Neal can be reached at 615-244-4336 or at [email protected].