Bryan Plots Promotional Push For New Album

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lukeb-cdLuke Bryan will promote his new album Doin’ My Thing with an industrious tour visiting nine cities in nine days. The launch for his second album will kick-off Oct. 5 in Statesboro, Georgia, with Bryan’s previously announced Farm Tour benefit show.

On release day, Oct. 6, the Capitol artist will head to Leesburg, Georgia for a concert on his hometown high school football field that the town won through an online contest with www.eventful.com.

During the intense promotional run, Bryan will visit radio stations, host meet and greets for fans, and perform concerts. The outing will wrap in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Oct. 14.

Following the album launch, Bryan’s first headlining tour, the Doin’ My Thing Tour, opens Oct. 30 in Jacksonville, Florida. The rising star has previously joined superstars like Kenny Chesney on the road.

Bryan recently celebrated a No. 1 video for “Do I,” the lead single off Doin’ My Thing. The song is climbing MusicRow’s Country Breakout chart, and lands at No. 5 this week.

Grascals Strike Black Gold

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busThe IBMA’s World of Bluegrass opened today in Nashville with events including a special media luncheon to announce The Grascals securing sponsorship by Mobil Delvac heavy duty diesel engine oil. Band member Jamie Johnson said it best when he proclaimed, “We’re the new Jed Clampett of bluegrass—we struck oil in our backyard!”

Following the luncheon, the team unveiled the Mobil Delvac/The Grascals-branded tour bus the band will call home for the next 12 months. The tour bus will be filled with Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15w-40, a heavy duty diesel engine oil which will also be tested periodically by the Mobil team. As part of the sponsorship, the band will also make several appearances at industry events and retail locations over the next 12 months.

The Grascals are nominated at this week’s IBMA Awards, including nods Entertainer of the Year, and Album of the Year.

grascals

“Eat and Greet” With Zac Brown Band

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zbbIn addition to being a fiercely talented musician and songwriter, Zac Brown is also something of a food connoisseur. A few lucky fans will get to experience that first hand on Zac Brown Band’s Breaking Southern Ground Tour, when the band hosts an “Eat and Greet” at several tour dates.

Pass holders will not only get to hang with Zac Brown Band before the show, they’ll also be treated to a plate of southern-style cooking prepared by none other than Zac himself with Chef Rusty and featuring Zac’s signature brown sauce, spice rub and more. Each attendee will receive an autographed photo and can wash all that delicious food down with drinks provided by Budweiser.

But as is the case with so many good things, there’s a catch: availability for these passes is extremely limited. Only 24 “Eat and Greet” passes have been allotted for each show at the recession-friendly price of $35 apiece, and they will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. Furthermore, tickets to the concert must be purchased separately. But this is a rare opportunity for the public, because these passes will soon be available only to ZBB fan club members. The Breaking Southern Ground Tour kicks off today (9/24) in Cary, North Carolina and runs through November 14 in Boca Raton, Florida. “Eat and Greet” passes for ZBB shows this weekend are already available for purchase. Visit zacbrownband.com for details.

Chesney Curbs Tour

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chesneyFirst hand reports indicate that Kenny Chesney’s final show from his Sun City Carnival tour was an emotional moment for the Luttrell, TN troubadour. Guests who took part in front of 45,000 screaming Indianapolis fans included Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band and others.

“It’s hard to believe we’re putting this thing up on blocks,” an emotional Chesney said after the sold-out show at Lucas Oil Stadium. “The response from the fans, out in the crowd and the internet, it makes you feel like people understand… and that they know we’re not gone for good, it’s just a breather…And I hope people understand, I’ve never been an all or nothing kind of guy. This doesn’t mean there will be no shows or no music. It means I’m not going to be staging a major tour – I’m not going to take two weeks off and be meeting with people to build a stage, to start thinking about how we can do the lights different and what the video’s gonna be. This isn’t just a show, it’s a major production… and it’s not just ‘lets decide what to play, rehearse for a couple weeks and get out there’. I need a break from that, so I can get back inside from a fresh place. I’m really looking forward to that, because I don’t know anyone who keeps their foot on the gas like this for 8 years. There are all kinds of things to explore within the music, I can’t wait to take the time to see where some of this will take me, and where I might turn up, because, you know, I now have the time to maybe get into some interesting places… We’ll just have to figure it out.”

Love and Theft Joins Aldean’s Tour

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Carolwood Records trio Love and Theft willl join Jason Aldean’s Wide Open tour this fall, to support the trio’s recently released album World Wide Open. They will play a total of fourteen shows on the tour, beginning in Lexington, KY Sept. 25 and ending Nov. 14 in Southhaven, MS.

Love and Theft

Love and Theft

Love And Theft recently performed its single, “Runaway,” live on The Today Show and has also been featured on Access Hollywood and in the pages of Country Weekly and People. Their debut album, released August 25, was produced by Robert Ellis Orrall and Jeff Coplan, and features a collection of 11 songs all co-written by Love And Theft’s Brian Bandas, Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles.

Live Nation Offers Ticket Specials

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366Concert fans have just been gifted with a flat fee “passport ticket” for admittance to shows at Live Nation clubs for the remainder of 2009. The $49.99 cost includes complete admittance, subject to availability. Tickets to individual shows can be reserved online, every Monday. Complete details are available at livenation.com.

Approximately 26 clubs are participating in the offer. Some of them are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Miami.

The mega-concert producer is also offering 24-hour discounts on other shows beginning Sept 23. Specials include $10, $20 and $30 tickets to see artists such as Rob Thomas, Creed, Colbie Callait, blink-182 and others.

Los Angeles-based Live Nation produces over 22,000 concerts annually for 1,600 artists in 33 countries. During 2008 the company claims it sold over 50 million tickets. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol LYV.

Chesney Tour Schedules A Break

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chesneyMonster ticket-seller Kenny Chesney will take a hiatus from touring next year, the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year tells Entertainment Weekly’s EW.com. “It seems like in the last couple of years, I’ve been on an empty tank,” he said. “And that’s gotta change.”

With numerous hit acts in tow, Chesney’s summer tours consistently sell-out 30,000 tickets plus at stadiums, and pack arenas too. His 2009 Corona Extra Sun City Carnival which closes Saturday (9/19) in Indianapolis featured Sugarland, Montgomery Gentry, Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum. Chesney was the only country act in the Top 10 of Pollstar’s Midyear Report.

“It’s just a short pause,” he tells EW.com. “It would be easy to keep doing it, because it’s fun and the fans are unbelievable… Then you realize that at some point you’re missing a part of your life…I need to recharge creatively and get off the clock of having to be somewhere.”

Georgia Boys Give Back: Luke Bryan, Zac Brown Band

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Capitol Recluke-bords Nashville artist Luke Bryan is planning a Farm Tour to benefit charities in local farming communities. With the inaugural show set for Oct. 5 in Statesboro, Georgia, these special one-off shows will continue throughout Bryan’s career with additional dates already planned for 2010.

GAC’s Top 20 Countdown will film their show on site at the Oct. 5 event at Hurricane Plantation outside Statesboro. Money raised that night will go to a scholarship fund for students at Georgia Southern University, Bryan’s alma mater. Tickets are available tomorrow (9/10) at lukebryan.com.

The first-ever Farm Tour show is also the kick-off for Bryan’s Doin’ My Thing album launch where he plans to head to multiple cities in a two week timeframe to meet his fans and play new music. Doin’ My Thing is due in stores Oct. 6.

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CMA New Artist of the Year nominee Zac Brown Band will take their Breaking Southern Ground tour to Atlanta’s Fox Theatre on Oct. 30 to headline a benefit to rebuild the Athens, GA landmark the Georgia Theatre. Prior to a devastating fire earlier this year, the movie-palace-turned-music-club hosted performances by ZBB and local legends including R.E.M., B-52s, Drive-By Truckers and Widespread Panic.

Zac Brown Band are hosting the show and are the first confirmed performers, but they hope to add other successful acts who came up through the beloved venue. Tickets will cost $100 and are available via Ticketmaster. Presented by Outback Concerts.

Church Tour Goes “Wild”

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eric_church_2Eric Church is set to embark on The Young & Wild(er) Tour, a series of East Coast and Midwest dates, beginning September 3 in Wilmington, DE. The tour features performances at the House of Blues in Cleveland, two nights at Joe’s in Chicago and the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, among others. He is scheduled for more than 25 dates running through Nov. 20. The Young & Wild(er) Tour arrives on the heels of Church’s sophomore release, Carolina. It follows Church’s performance at Lollapalooza, which earned praise from Rolling Stone, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times

Church’s Young & Wild Tour this past spring included 20 sold out shows, record-breaking attendance at the Dallas Bull in Tampa, FL and performances on NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and CBS’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Supporting Church on the road is the Eric Church Band, which is rounded out by Driver Williams (guitar), Ed Smoak (guitar), Jeff Hyde (banjo/mandolin), Lee Hendricks (bass) and Craig Wright (drums).

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.