Click to read
People Country magazine debuts on newsstands today (8/7), with an accompanying TV special set to premiere on CMT.
Dedicated entirely to the Country music scene and lifestyle, this edition, the third of five special Country issues to be published by People in 2009, takes readers inside the homes of Country’s biggest stars.
In the cover story, Reba McEntire opens the doors to the Tennessee home she shares with her manager and husband of 20 years, Narvel Blackstock. The 54-year-old singer also talks about the upcoming release of her 33rd album, Keep on Loving You, her first solo studio album since the new generation of females took over the charts. “Competition fuels me,” McEntire tells People Country. “I look at the charts, and I want to know where I am and whom I have to beat out. It’s more fun that way.”
Also inside: Miranda Lambert dishes on her favorite things, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill talk about their new fragrances, Jennifer Nettles counts her blessings, and Brad Paisley reveals the inspiration behind his newest single and reminisces about the first time he laid his eyes on his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, when he went to see 1991’s Father of the Bride with his then-girlfriend.
Also included:
Exclusive pics of Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley’s wedding to Cassie McConnell in the Bahamas, attended by brother Josh Kelley and wife Katherine Heigl.
The homes of Darius Rucker, Gretchen Wilson, Holly Williams, Kenny Rogers and Jimmy Wayne.
Yearbook photos of Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Lee Ann Womack and others.
Another bonus: free iTunes downloads from Jack Ingram, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and others. Go to www.people.com/free to get the promo code to download the free People Country playlist.
People Country on CMT is a 30-minute special with exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of photo shoots and interviews (Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Gretchen Wilson and Darius Rucker). The special premiered today (8/7) at 1:30 p.m. ET/PT, and will encore on Sat., Aug. 8 at 1:30 p.m. ET/PT and Sun., Aug. 9 at 11:00 a.m. ET/PT.
“People Country Special” On Newsstands And TV
/by Sarah SkatesClick to read
People Country magazine debuts on newsstands today (8/7), with an accompanying TV special set to premiere on CMT.
Dedicated entirely to the Country music scene and lifestyle, this edition, the third of five special Country issues to be published by People in 2009, takes readers inside the homes of Country’s biggest stars.
In the cover story, Reba McEntire opens the doors to the Tennessee home she shares with her manager and husband of 20 years, Narvel Blackstock. The 54-year-old singer also talks about the upcoming release of her 33rd album, Keep on Loving You, her first solo studio album since the new generation of females took over the charts. “Competition fuels me,” McEntire tells People Country. “I look at the charts, and I want to know where I am and whom I have to beat out. It’s more fun that way.”
Also inside: Miranda Lambert dishes on her favorite things, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill talk about their new fragrances, Jennifer Nettles counts her blessings, and Brad Paisley reveals the inspiration behind his newest single and reminisces about the first time he laid his eyes on his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, when he went to see 1991’s Father of the Bride with his then-girlfriend.
Also included:
Exclusive pics of Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley’s wedding to Cassie McConnell in the Bahamas, attended by brother Josh Kelley and wife Katherine Heigl.
The homes of Darius Rucker, Gretchen Wilson, Holly Williams, Kenny Rogers and Jimmy Wayne.
Yearbook photos of Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Lee Ann Womack and others.
Another bonus: free iTunes downloads from Jack Ingram, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and others. Go to www.people.com/free to get the promo code to download the free People Country playlist.
People Country on CMT is a 30-minute special with exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of photo shoots and interviews (Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Gretchen Wilson and Darius Rucker). The special premiered today (8/7) at 1:30 p.m. ET/PT, and will encore on Sat., Aug. 8 at 1:30 p.m. ET/PT and Sun., Aug. 9 at 11:00 a.m. ET/PT.
Chris Young, Shawna Russell At CRB Meeting
/by Sarah SkatesRCA Nashville hitmaker Chris Young delivered a lunchtime performance for members of the Country Radio Broadcasters’ Board of Directors and CRS 41 Agenda Committee amid meetings recently in Nashville. Chris is currently all over the country airwaves with “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” from his upcoming sophomore album, The Man I Want to Be, in stores September 1.
Pictured (l-r): RCA Nashville Promo VP Keith Gale; CRB Board President and KMPS Seattle PD Becky Brenner; Young; CRB Executive Director Ed Salamon; and Sony Music Nashville Executive VP Butch Waugh. Photo credit: Kristen England Photography
Shawna Russell played the Country Radio Broadcasters Board Meeting Breakfast in Nashville. She and her band delivered a 6-song set to the radio and music industry luminaries. Russell’s label, Way Out West Records, of which she is a co-owner, sponsored the event, which was emceed by the label’s radio consultant, Mike Borchetta.
(l-r): Ed Salamon- CRB Executive Dir.; Michael Osterhout-MCC Radio; Shawna Russell; Carole Bowen-WKIS Radio; Mike Borchetta Photo credits: Kristen England Photography
Deana, Milsap, Swift, Seals, Daniels, and Towns
/by Sarah SkatesAdditional activities include a silent auction. Sponsorships are still available and silent auction donations welcome. Details and tickets at franklin4thecure.org.
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A new single by BLEVE recording artist Ronnie Milsap featuring Capitol’s Trace Adkins will be released by BLEVE Entertainment Group. “My First Ride” will debut Sept. 1 and is the lead single from a compilation album. Proceeds will go to the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Fire Fighters’ disaster relief funds. The idea is the creation of Mickey Milam, a retired Metro Nashville police officer who founded BLEVE Entertainment.
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Taylor Swift performs songs from her sophomore album Fearless in a new episode of Studio 330 Sessions on CMT.com. In a stripped-down studio presentation, Swift delivers new takes on some of her biggest hits including “Love Story,” “White Horse,” and the current hit “You Belong With Me.” Click here to watch.
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Rhonda Towns (Dawn Records) made the rounds to visit media outlets and radio in New York City recently, where she appeared on “The Strategy Room” (Fox.com) and the syndicated radio show “The Joey Reynolds Show” to introduce her current single “Slow Rain.” She also spent time with the staff of KISS FM 98.7 and radio talk personality Bob Slade.
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Brady Seals with the cover character from new album "Play Time."
StarCity Recording Company artist Brady Seals sat down with Maxim.com to film a two minute segment dubbed “A Drink with Brady Seals” where he discusses his new album, video games and Richard Marx’s hair. Seals is preparing to release his new album, Play Time, on Aug. 18 and is currently on tour promoting the first single, “Ho Down,” which, as Brady says, isn’t your average square dancin’ song.
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Tennessee Titans’ kicker Rob Bironas surprised Charlie Daniels with one of his game worn shoes after a recent Charlie Daniels Band appearance at the Grand Ole Opry. The shoe had been dipped in gold and was given to Charlie as a thank you for the golden fiddle Charlie had presented to Rob a few months prior. The plaque reads…”To Charlie Daniels, Keep Playin That Fiddle. – Rob Bironas #2.”
As Ubiquitous Availability Becomes Reality
/by bossrossThe radio business is largely built upon two foundations.
Scarcity—terrestrial radio is built upon demand for a limited number of FCC licenses.
Barrier To Entry— costs to purchase a frequency plus operate are substantial.
Enter the Internet. Startup costs become basic—a URL web address, some readily available low cost software, content and music royalties. Scarcity and barriers to entry are no longer part of this equation. In this morning’s subscriber-only @MusicRow an article about streaming radio says that over half of teens 13-17 are already using the quickly proliferating number of available online services.
Now imagine that in addition to getting the signal on your computer and mobile devices (iPhone, Blackberry, etc.) Internet is also available on your car radio. As ubiquitous availability becomes reality, virtual Internet stations will mushroom overnight.
Kenny Chesney is surfing this wave of change with his newly launched No Shoes Radio channel (www.noshoesradio.com) which features the artist’s music, plus a diverse sampling of other artists and formats. Demand from fans was so high that over 50,000 streams were served on launch, temporarily freezing the servers in the process. “It’s…knowing that you’re still in sync with the fans,” said Chesney. Commenting upon the launch glitch he said, “When you try something that people tell you is crazy, in the back of your mind you’re glad there was so much demand.”
So where is this going?
Will it change the country music business which is still tied tightly to country radio exposure and the radio charts?
Will a changing radio landscape open up playlists and expand the format’s diversity?
What do you think?
Ads In CDs, Twitter, Nashville Symphony
/by Sarah Skates“The idea was really simple thinking: ‘We sell millions of records, so you should advertise with us,’” Antonio “L.A.” Reid, chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group told Brandweek. “My artists have substantial circulation—when you sell 2 million, 5 million, 8 million, that’s a lot of eyeballs.”
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When Twitter went down yesterday, it was because a group of Russians were trying to stop a blogger from the Republic of Georgia from communicating with sympathizers, reports the Telegraph. The denial of service attack also interrupted Facebook and LiveJournal. The Telegraph says, “This technique uses a network of tens of thousands of compromised computers, known as a botnet, to flood a website’s servers with access requests, leaving ordinary traffic unable to get through, and causing the system to overload and crash.” Max Kelly, chief security officer at Facebook, corroborated the story to CNET News.
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The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce recently won the nationwide award for Chamber of the Year. It was given by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives.
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Although The Nashville Symphony doesn’t even charge tax, it is joining in the Sales Tax Holiday festivities this weekend (Aug. 7-9) by offering a 9.25% discount on all SunTrust Classical Series concerts. You can redeem this discount online by using the promo code TAXFREE, over the phone at 615-687-6400 or by visiting the box office in person. www.nashvillesymphony.org
Appearances: Adkins, Worley & Bacon Brothers
/by MichelleAdkins and Simmons
Trace Adkins will appear on this week’s episode of A&E’s reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, set to air Aug. 9 at 8:30 CT. In the episode, titled “Rootin’ Tootin’ Gene,” Simmons travels to Nashville as a favor to KISS’ manager and takes a country band under his wing. Adkins stops by the studio to surprise his former Celebrity Apprentice co-star and friend. Also in the episode, Simmons visits the Loveless Cafe along with Jypsi and Drew Davis Band.
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The Bacon Brothers will make their Opry debut Tues., Sept. 1 when they appear alongside the Bellamy Brothers to perform the Bellamy’s current single, “Guilty of the Crime,” on which both sets of brothers appear. This marks the first public appearance for the Bacons and the Bellamys together. The song is the first single from The Bellamy Brothers’ newest album The Anthology, Vol. 1 available digitally now and in stores Sept. 29.
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Darryl Worley will perform at the Wilson County Fair in Lebanon, TN on Mon., Aug. 24 at 7 PM. For more information, visit www.wilsoncountyfair.net.
Rascal Flatts Sell Out Second Stadium
/by Sarah SkatesRascal Flatts at Wrigley Field
Rascal Flatts will perform their second sold-out stadium show of the summer Sunday (8/9) at Columbus’ Crew Stadium. This weekend a total of 65,000 fans are expected at the Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour’s three stops, including Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
Last weekend the band played a sold-out show last month in front of 37,000 screaming fans at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and became the first country act to perform a concert in the historic ballpark.
Rascal Flatts is also announcing the continuation of the tour with more dates through October. Darius Rucker will stay on board as opening act.
Rascal Flatts recently placed their fourth consecutive studio album atop the Top 200 chart with the release of Unstoppable with first week sales of 351,000 albums. It became the biggest country release of 2009 to date, and the best in country first week sales since November 2008. Since they launched their career in 2000, they have sold 20 million albums.
Artist News: Luke Bryan, Due West, Kingbilly, More
/by Sarah SkatesSarah Buxton opened for Luke Bryan last month at the WGKX Kix on Beale show in Memphis. Buxton later joined Bryan onstage to sing the last two songs with him.
Capitol Nashville recording artist Luke Bryan and zooppa.com have joined forces to host a fan generated online video contest for Bryan’s latest single “Do I,” launching on Aug. 17 and continuing through Oct. 11. Zoopa.com is a social network focused on user-generated advertising. Fans can win autographed copies of Bryan’s soon to be released album Doin’ My Thing, due in stores Oct. 6, and cash prizes by clicking here.
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New country trio Due West now has their own iPhone application which allows fans to watch videos, browse photos, sample music, read blog posts and latest news, and more. The group is gearing up for the release of their debut album later this year. They recently shot their first video for “I Get That All The Time” which has just been added to GAC.
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Nashville country band KingBilly performed Thurs., July 30 at Chicago’s hot spot Joe’s Bar, rocking the crow with songs like “I Wanna Come Back As Her Beer.” Richard Marx took the stage, joining KingBilly on performances of “You Never Take Me Dancing” (recorded by Travis Tritt) and Keith Urban’s hit “Better Life.” Then actor Hugh Jackman made a surprise appearance, leading to Marx, Jackman and KingBilly performing one of Marx’ biggest hits, “Right Here Waiting."
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Wrangler and The Parks are partnering to give fans the chance to register to win one of twenty autographed advance CDs or a grand prize consisting of a Wrangler gift certificate, autographed guitar and autographed copy of the father/son duo’s CD, Born Into It. In addition, fans can preview the record and download free Wrangler/The Parks desktop wallpaper here.
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American Roots Records group TelluRide wrapped up their west coast radio and concert tour on Sunday. A two-night stint headlining the Tenino Wine and Music Festival raised $24,000 for the local Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. The group is now trekking back across the country for several dates throughout New York this week. The four-man-band wrap up the week at the Watkins Glen race track on Saturday and singing the national anthem live on ESPN prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup road race. The band’s Ricky Schroder-directed music video for the debut single, “Pencil Marks,” was completed last week and will begin hitting television and internet airwaves in the next couple of weeks.
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Country/hip-hop singer Colt Ford is teaming up with NASCAR for the release of a new single, “Racin’ The Way It Ought’a Be,” which is part of the racing-themed CD, Bristol Nights: The Official Music of Bristol Motor Speedway. The 12-song compilation is available on iTunes and Amazon. Bristol Motor Speedway hosts its next NASCAR weekend on Aug. 21-22 where more than 160,000 fans will flock to Thunder Valley.
Industry Items: Otto, Fletcher, More
/by Sarah Skates————————————-
An interview with Universal Records South’s Fletcher Foster is posted at This week In The Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc.
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The NashvillePost reports: Gospel legend BeBe Winans last week won a three-year old copyright case in which he had been named the defendant. The case centered on Winans’ albums My Christmas Prayer, which was recorded in 2003, and Dream, recorded a year later. Read it here.
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Effective Sept. 30, Citadel Media will discontinue syndication of GAC Nights: Live From Nashville. The radio show co-hosted by Buzz Brainard and Suzanne Alexander debuted in January 2008.
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Carrie Smith is the new host of Nashville At Nite. Recently, she has been seen hosting a variety of Internet and television programming including the popular HGTV Solutions. Her resume also includes voiceover work, such as the series voice host of CMT’s Dedicated. The second season of Nashville At Nite begins in September and is available exclusively online at www.NashvilleAtNite.com.
Is Gloriana Splitting? [not]
/by bossrossVocal quartet Gloriana is actively promoting its debut CD release this week which stayed at No. 1 on iTunes on release day. Warner Bros. hosted a casual get together for the group last Tuesday to celebrate the event during which Promo Captain Gator Michaels audio conferenced live with the act who was in N.Y. doing interviews. Most of the Gloriana team, however, were absent from the WB conference room event, since they are on the road attending to launch week details.
Gloriana’s first single “Wild At Heart” was Top 10 on MusicRow’s Country Breakout chart.
And in case you’re wondering what the Gloriana guys have been up to…click here.