Get your skiis waxed and your poles placed to enjoy the inaugural Crested Butte Songwriters Festival Jan. 13-13. The festival, presented by Texas Roadhouse, Coors, BMI, and Crested Butte Mountain Resort, will feature performances by a stellar cast of world class songwriters, staged at Crested Butte hot spots.

An event-capping benefit concert will be held on Saturday night, Jan. 14, to raise funds for Tough Enough to Wear Pink and the TJ Martell Foundation. To date, the Tough Enough campaign has raised $9 million for breast cancer charities; the TJ Martell Foundation has helped provide more than $250 million for leukemia, cancer and AIDS research.

Home base for the event is the Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Crested Butte, Colorado. Special group rates and packages are available, call 888-443-6715 or the online code: cbsongwritersfest.

Performances will feature a diverse collection of the world’s top songwriters. Texas roots country hero Robert Earl Keen; veteran troubadour Dean Dillon, writer of more than 50 classics for George Strait; country icon and hit writer Mac Davis; pop writer/producer Marti Frederiksen; up-and-coming country stars Jake Owen,Kristen Kelly, Nicolle Galyon, Emily Shackelton, and Kristy Lee Cook; modern country hit songwriter Rodney Clawson (“Amarillo Sky” and “Johnny Cash” by Jason Aldean, “Sunshine and Summertime” by Faith Hill); and Crested Butte local favoritesTyler Hansen, Steve Snyder and David Paulik. All shows will be hosted by endearing host Storme Warren.

SCHEDULE
Friday, January 13
8 p.m. at Kochevar’s featuring Dave Paulik, Steve Snyder, Kristy Lee Cook, Emily Shackelton, Nicolle Galyon, Rodney Clawson and Robert Earl Keen. Admission: Make any donation to T.J. Martell Foundation

Friday, January 13
10 p.m. at The Eldo, featuring Tyler Hansen, Marti Frederiksen, Kristen Kelly, Jake Owen and Dean Dillon. Admission: Make any donation to T.J. Martell Foundation

Saturday, January 14
7 p.m. – In-the-Round benefit show at Center for the Arts featuring Kristy Lee Cook, Rodney Clawson, Nicolle Galyon, Dean Dillon, Robert Earl Keen, and Mac Davis

9:30 p.m. – In-the-Round benefit show at Center for the Arts featuring Jake Owen, Marti Frederiksen, Kristen Kelly, Dean Dillon, Robert Earl Keen, and Mac Davis. Admission: $50 tickets benefitting Tough Enough to Wear Pink available at Western World in Gunnison / 970-641-6566; Center for the Arts / 970-349-7847; the Toggery in Gunnison / 970-641-0844; and the Adventure Center at Mountaineer Square / 970-349-4554.

Hank Williams Jr. will give a special solo acoustic performance Tues., Dec. 6 at the Country Music Hall Of Fame’s 213-seat Ford Theater to mark the impending end of the exhibition Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy.

Williams will perform songs spanning his career and talk about the exhibit, his music, and his family’s ongoing musical legacy. In addition, the closing reception will feature meet & greet opportunities, limited-edition Family Tradition posters autographed by Hank Jr., photographs and a dessert reception all to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The award-winning, 5,000-square-foot Family Tradition exhibit will close Dec. 31, after an unprecedented four-year run.

Limited tickets available for $500 each here. Doors at 7:30; 8:00 p.m. performance.

• Jamie Lynn Spears, younger sis of Britney, debuted a set of original country tunes during appearances at The Rutledge and Puckett’s earlier this month. A short video clip from the Nashville Scene.

• A preliminary hearing is scheduled for tomorrow (11/29) in the lawsuit between Tim McGraw and Curb Records. According to The Tennessean, Davidson County Chancery Court records will “first make a final determination on whether or not Curb is entitled to prevent Mr. McGraw, by injunction or otherwise, from recording for other entities other than Curb.”

• With so many music services available, it is hard to keep track of them. The New York Post compares and contrasts subscription, cloud, and radio services including Google Music, iTunes Match and Spotify.

Canada’s music community gathered Nov. 21 at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto for the 2011 SOCAN Awards gala, co-hosted by Michelle Wright, Steven Page and Abdominal.

Country SOCAN Awards for songs that achieved the greatest number of performances on domestic radio during 2010:

• “I Believe in Angels” (Performed by George Canyon)
Composers: Johnny Reid, Jeremy Campbell (BMI)

• “Make Hay While the Sun Shines” (performed by Steven Lee Olsen)
Composers: Steven Lee Olsen, Bruce Wallace (BMI)
Publishers: ole, Roots 3 Music Inc.

• “Up All Night” (performed by Deric Ruttan)
Composers: Deric Ruttan, Jimmy Rankin
Publisher: Doc’s Cabin Songs, Song Dog Music Company

Meanwhile, The Stampeders were celebrated with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for a 40-year career which yielded more than a dozen Top 10 hits ( “Carry Me,” “Sweet City Woman”) and four Juno Awards.

Another of this year’s standout winners was Michael Bublé, one of the most successful singers in the world today, who won a Pop/Rock Music Award and the International Song Award for the 2010 hit “Haven’t Met You Yet.”

Prairie Oyster won the SOCAN National Achievement Award for a career of more than 30 years as an award-winning, chart-topping act. The band has won Country Group or Duo of the Year honors six times from both the Canadian Country Music Awards and the Juno Awards. They have numerous hit singles, gold and platinum albums, are Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductees.

Click here for a complete winners list.

New entertainment company Ramblin’ Music recently announced the signing of country singer/songwriter Weston Burt as the flagship artist for its Ramblin’ Records label. Burt has also signed with Octagon Entertainment for management and Paradigm for booking.

“Weston Burt is a young talent who simply loves to entertain,” said Stuart Dill, Senior Vice President/General Manager of Octagon—Nashville. “His music and live shows are absolutely infectious and we’re proud to be in business with Weston, with Ramblin’ Music and with Paradigm.”

Co-founded by Atlanta business couple Gene and Donna Brooks, Ramblin’ Music includes Ramblin’ Records and Young Guns Publishing. Veteran producer and songwriter Cliff Downs is President of the company, and Teddi Bonadies’ Teebo Consulting coordinates radio promotion and marketing. The company is located in Nashville at 1105 16th Ave. S., Suite A.