CMT Nom for Newfield’s “Johnny and June”
It’s not often that a country singer manages to step up to solo stardom after becoming closely identified with a successful group. Wynonna’s post-Judds career comes to mind. And now there’s Heidi Newfield. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the former Trick Pony singer turned to producer Tony Brown, who oversaw Wynonna’s debut, when it came time to make her own solo statement. Whatever the reason, “Johnny and June,” the leadoff single from her first solo effort, What Am I Waiting For, hit the Top 10, putting the singer in some rare company. Along with Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, Newfield is one of only four solo women in country to have had a Top 10 single in 2008. She’s also the first female to score a Top 10 hit with her debut single since Swift’s “Tim McGraw.” And with her sophomore single, the title song from What Am I Waiting For, picking up steam, it looks like Newfield is decidedly not just another one trick pony. She’s recently been covered in Billboard, Blender, Country Weekly, First for Women, The New York Times, People, and USA Today. In addition, the singer has been featured on CNN, CNN.com, Gannett News Wire, Associated Press, “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” CBS TV, EW.com, TV Guide.com and more. Following are some of Newfield’s upcoming tour dates:
April 17 – Port Huron, MI
April 18 – Grand Rapids, MI
April 24 – Kennesaw, GA
April 25 – Clewiston, FL
May 1 – Nashville, TV
May 22 – Miami, OK
May 24 – Roanoke, VA
May 25 – Cincinnati, OH
June 6 – Enterprise, AL
June 12 – Chicago, IL
June 13 – Winstock, MN
June 19 – Marinette, WI
June 26 – Oshkosh, WI
June 28 – Grand Junction, CO
CMA Music Festival’s Nightly Concerts at LP Field are the place to see country’s biggest stars all gathered on one big revolving stage, and tickets are now available on a nightly basis. Beginning Saturday, April 18, at 9:00 AM/CT, tickets to the individual Nightly Concerts will go on sale for $40 for reserved seats on the lower and club levels, and $30 for general admission in the upper deck of LP Field. Recently added to the lineup of stars performing at the Nightly Concerts are Lee Ann Womack, Luke Bryan, Jack Ingram, and the Zac Brown Band. The complete nightly schedule is as follows:
Big Machine artist Jack Ingram has returned from a four-day, three-show USO tour of Cuba. The tall Texan chose to visit the isolated island nation to spend time with soldiers stationed at Guantanamo Bay, because, he said, he wanted to sing for the soldiers serving our country that maybe nobody notices. The singer/songwriter spent hours signing autographs after playing various military venues including the “Goat Locker,” a sort of makeshift officer’s club and an intimate venue for Ingram and his three-piece band. On his final night in Cuba, Ingram played for the general population at Guantanamo Bay’s community center with a raucous set that saw people up and dancing. “It felt like any Friday night in Anytown, U.S.A. with a bunch of kids and people looking for an escape from their everyday problems,” Ingram said. “It was certainly fun to play for them – it’s always fun, especially with audiences like those – but this was a special kind of honor, too.”
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.
Country Music Hall of Fame member Charley Pride showed up in the town of Leduc in Alberta, Canada on Thursday (4/2), to take a stand against online ticket scalping and surprise a dedicated fan in the process. Determined to catch Pride’s show at the Jubilee Auditorium in nearby Edmonton, longtime fan Jacqueline Sharp ended up on a resale ticket site and paid $1,210.71 for a pair of seats to the June 20 show. Tickets are $58.50 and $67.50 plus service charges at Ticketmaster. Pride, who lives in Dallas, learned about Sharp’s situation when her son sent an e-mail to his agent. Amid a flock of cameras and journalists, Pride surprised Sharp at the City Centre Mall in Leduc, where she works. The singer handed her $933 US — or the equivalent of what she paid — and two floor seats to his Edmonton concert. Sharp cried when she hugged Pride. “I don’t think it’s right,” Pride said. “I wouldn’t like paying that much money to see myself.”
Knoxville-based AC Entertainment, co-creator of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, has announced that it has acquired Nashville-based concert promotion company Great Big Shows. The new partnership will strengthen AC Entertainment’s Nashville presence and expand its resources for event creation, management and production nationwide. The relationship between the two entertainment companies began when Rick Whetsel, owner of Great Big Shows, approached AC Entertainment founder Ashley Capps about booking a major event for him in Washington D.C. In turn, Capps enlisted Great Big Shows to handle production management for one of his events. Since then the two companies have collaborated on both big and small events. The first major Nashville event to be announced under the new venture is a co-headliner concert featuring the Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic at Riverfront Park on October 14, 2009. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 17. Visit www.acentertainment.com for more information.
ACM Top New Artist nominees Zac Brown Band, along with Bonnaroo Music Festival and CMT have announced The Bonnaroo Music Festival Flyaway with Zac Brown Band Sweepstakes. The winner, along with a guest, will receive a prize package that includes a five-day/four-night Bonnaroo getaway, including flights, hotel, two tickets to the Festival and the opportunity to meet and record a song with Zac Brown Band at a mobile studio backstage. The contest is open for entries until 11:59:59 PM CT on May 22. Full details and eligibility are available 
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Duane Jarvis, known to music fans as a sideman for artists like Lucinda Williams and John Prine, as well as for his own critically acclaimed album releases, died of colon cancer this morning in his Los Angeles apartment. He was 51. Jarvis, who was a well-known and much-loved figure on the Nashville music scene for many years, recorded five solo albums, and lived in Nashville until recently. During the ‘80s, he was a key player in the vibrant LA country scene that also included artists like Dwight Yoakam, Williams, Buddy Miller, Rosie Flores, The Blasters and Jim Lauderdale. He released his first solo album, Front Porch, in 1994, the same year he moved to Nashville. Jarvis played guitar on recordings by Flores, Williams, Prine, Yoakam, Frank Black, Amy Rigby, Giant Sand, Peter Case and many others. He toured with artists including Prine, Black and The Divinyls, and his songs were featured in movies including The Horse Whisperer and The Rookie. In 2007, Jarvis, a native Oregonian, was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
With Ticketmaster Entertainment and Live Nation recently announcing plans to merge, Ticketmaster has announced that President/CEO Sean Moriarty has resigned, effective March 24. Moriarty has also resigned from the company’s board of directors. His role at the company has been uncertain since last November when Ticketmaster acquired a controlling interest in Irving Azoff’s Front Line Management. Azoff now serves as CEO of both Ticketmaster and Front Line. During Moriarty’s reign, Ticketmaster expanded the scope of its operations through acquisitions of companies including TicketsNow and Emma Entertainment and strategic investments in businesses such as iLike and Echo Music. Moriarty was part of the original Citysearch technology team and served as Director of Internet Systems for Citysearch, Ticketmaster’s predecessor. In 2005, he became Ticketmaster’s President and COO, rising to Chief Executive Officer in 2007. “I’ll always be grateful for my time spent at Ticketmaster with its truly outstanding people and I wish the company every success in the future,” Moriarty said.