With social networking fostering a whole new level of listener involvement, multi-platinum artist Martina McBride is finding myriad ways to engage her sizable and dedicated fan base. While the singer is the first to admit that the life of a superstar isn’t always glamorous, that hasn’t stopped her from taking her fans “into the action,” whether it be to a monthly marketing meeting, a behind-the-scenes look at her latest video shoot, or backstage access on the Shine All Night tour. McBride makes of point of encouraging fans to get involved, whether it be via Twitter, MySpace or other online outlets.
Myspace.com and McBride recently teamed up to give fans the chance to karaoke for the singer. The competition allows fans to belt out songs from Shine, including her current Top 20 single, “Wrong, Baby, Wrong,” as well as familiar classics, including “This One’s For The Girls.” Myspace.com will narrow down the entries to 20 and McBride will pick the winner, who gets travel and accommodations to check out the Shine All Night tour stop in Altanta, GA on May 1. Fans can log on to http://ksolo.myspace.com/music/Martina-McBride to give it their best shot.
Non-singing fans can follow the singer on Twitter for more ticket giveaways. McBride gives fans the chance to win tickets for each show via a Twitter scavenger hunt. She personally hides the tickets with a hand-written note on the day of the show and the hunt begins. McBride tweets clues for the location of the tickets until they are found. Winners are encouraged to tweet a photo of themselves with the tickets.
“The Twitter ticket hunt is a really fun way to connect with the fans in each city and we have a blast doing it,” says McBride. “I tweet the clues myself so it’s really cool to see the winners in the front row. Sometimes they even bring the envelope and wave and say thanks!”
“Martina Moments” have been taking fans “behind the curtain” since May 2009 and the fun continues this week as fans get a backstage look at how McBride prepares for her show with the “Dance Party” episode. It becomes available today (3/25) at www.MartinaMcBride.com. Other moments, including a visit to McBride’s hometown, McBride onstage with Kid Rock and behind the scenes at the video shoot for “Wrong, Baby, Wrong” can be found on her site as well, with new moments being added weekly.
Reba Keeps On Going Gold
/by contributor“It is always a thrill to get a Gold record,” says the singer. “I have been blessed to get to record some great songs from great songwriters and then go into the studio and work with great producers and musicians. My Valory team, led by Scott Borchetta, have played a huge role in the success of this CD.”
All eyes were on Reba when she made the move to an independent label,” says Valory Music Co. President & CEO Borchetta. “It’s very gratifying that Reba and the Valory team have not only hit the initial goals but we have exceeded them with her first-ever #1 Billboard Top 200 album debut and her longest-to-date #1 single, ‘Consider Me Gone.'”
With the success of “Consider Me Gone,” Reba, who is currently celebrating her 14th ACM Top Female Vocalist nomination, joins Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Gretchen Wilson as the only female country artists to log more than three weeks at No. 1 in the past 10 years. Filmed recently in Los Angeles, the music video for “I Keep On Loving You” features generations of Reba and her husband’s families and friends as well as The Young & The Restless stars Tracey Bregman Recht and Christian LeBlanc. You can check the video below.
Gretchen Wilson Prominent on iTunes
/by contributorGretchen Wilson’s fourth studio album, I Got Your Country Right Here, is set to hit stores on Tuesday, March 30, but fans of the Redneck Woman can pre-order the 11-cut album from iTunes now (for a nice $10 price).
i-Tunes is giving the album some premium billing, featuring it on its Music Main Page and on the Country Page. The CD is also being featured in the pre-order section on both pages of the popular digital music site.
Fans in the U.S. and Canada can access the CD directly at:
U.S. http://itunes.apple.com/us/preorder/i-got-your-country-right-here/id361326735
Canada: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/preorder/i-got-your-country-right-here/id361326735
Wilson’s “Work Hard, Play Harder” single has already gone Top 30 on the national country charts, and the corresponding music video is in rotation at CMT Pure, CMT, GAC and a host of other regional and local video shows and video pools. Check out the “Work Hard, Play Harder” below.
Martina’s Fan Base Gets Involved
/by contributorMyspace.com and McBride recently teamed up to give fans the chance to karaoke for the singer. The competition allows fans to belt out songs from Shine, including her current Top 20 single, “Wrong, Baby, Wrong,” as well as familiar classics, including “This One’s For The Girls.” Myspace.com will narrow down the entries to 20 and McBride will pick the winner, who gets travel and accommodations to check out the Shine All Night tour stop in Altanta, GA on May 1. Fans can log on to http://ksolo.myspace.com/music/Martina-McBride to give it their best shot.
Non-singing fans can follow the singer on Twitter for more ticket giveaways. McBride gives fans the chance to win tickets for each show via a Twitter scavenger hunt. She personally hides the tickets with a hand-written note on the day of the show and the hunt begins. McBride tweets clues for the location of the tickets until they are found. Winners are encouraged to tweet a photo of themselves with the tickets.
“The Twitter ticket hunt is a really fun way to connect with the fans in each city and we have a blast doing it,” says McBride. “I tweet the clues myself so it’s really cool to see the winners in the front row. Sometimes they even bring the envelope and wave and say thanks!”
“Martina Moments” have been taking fans “behind the curtain” since May 2009 and the fun continues this week as fans get a backstage look at how McBride prepares for her show with the “Dance Party” episode. It becomes available today (3/25) at www.MartinaMcBride.com. Other moments, including a visit to McBride’s hometown, McBride onstage with Kid Rock and behind the scenes at the video shoot for “Wrong, Baby, Wrong” can be found on her site as well, with new moments being added weekly.
The Book Wars—Chapter One Reading Between The Lines
/by adminAmazon’s latest move has been to make its book content readable on devices in addition to the kindle. Just this week they released software that makes Kindle books readable on Mac computers. Other hardware that already had software to read Kindle books inclues the iPhone, Blackberry and many PCs.
To date, research shows baby boomers and middle aged women appear to be the most fervent adopters of the new digital book reading formats. Additional players in the digital book space include Sony, Barnes & Noble, Plastic Logic, Microsoft and Google. Apple’s iBookstore platform has the advantage of being part of its iTunes store which consumers understand and enjoy using. However, the iPad’s book-reading experience is still an unknown, leaving the book market balance of power a mystery novel yet to be written.
Fans To Decide Brooks & Dunn’s ACM Song
/by contributorBeginning today (3/24), viewers can log onto www.cbs.com/brooksdunn to vote in two phases for one of six favorite Brooks & Dunn songs:
My Maria
Brand New Man
Red Dirt Road
Neon Moon
You’re Gonna Miss Me
Boot Scootin’ Boogie
There is no registration to vote, and fans may vote one time per day. Additionally, a 30-second clip of each song is available for listening. The second phase of voting begins on Wednesday, April 14 when the list narrows down to the top three songs. Fans may again vote to decide which hit song the duo will perform on the broadcast. Voting will continue up until Brooks & Dunn’s final ACM performance on Sunday, April 18.
At this year’s ACM Awards, Brooks & Dunn are nominated for Top Vocal Duo of the Year. As part of the previously announced May 23 tribute concert special, ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn – The Last Rodeo, the duo will receive the Academy’s Milestone Award in recognition of their 20-year record-breaking career. They will be honored for holding the record for the most wins of any artist in the Academy’s history with 26 awards in total, including three Entertainer of the Year awards. They will also be honored for holding the record for most Top Vocal Duo wins, with 15 awards, eight of which are consecutive from 2000-2007.
Trailer Choir
/by ProgrammerPlaylistShow Dog – Universal Music
Are you sick of this long, cold winter? Are you eagerly awaiting summer’s arrival and the time when you can open the car window to let your hair blow around? So are we. And Trailer Choir is here to help us all into the warmer seasons with “Rollin’ Through The Sunshine,” a little slice of joy that’s impacting radio right now.
“This song is pure Trailer Choir,” says TC member Crystal. “Sometimes you need an escape and that’s what Trailer Choir is all about.” And helping to aid this escape are the natural benefits of hand surfing, Tom Petty, and a rum and coke.
The Show Dog – Universal trio–named About.com’s Best New Country Duo/Group in 2009–originally started as a loose association of musicians and singers, usually including Butter and Big Vinny, traveling the Southeast playing private parties and frat houses. As their fan base began to grow and Crystal was added to the group, the gang realized they might be on to something big. That feeling was validated when Toby Keith introduced himself to them after a show and brought them on tour. All their hard work culminated in the release of their Off The Hillbilly Hook EP, which contains the hit “Rockin’ The Beer Gut” as well as “Rollin’ Through The Sunshine” and “Off The Hillbilly Hook.”
http://www.trailerchoir.com/
http://twitter.com/trailerchoir
Trailer Choir on Facebook
Meltesen Becomes Country Weekly Assoc. Publisher
/by contributorMeltesen will continue his role in creating marketing partnership programs with brands to drive the magazine’s advertising revenue, such as the “Wipe It Out” campaign presented by Clorox Disinfecting Wipes which, to date, has featured over 20 country artists and their charities of choice. Meltesen joined Country Weekly as Marketing Manager in 2004. He can be reached at (615) 743-0222 or jmeltesen@countryweekly.com.
SOLID Rocks For Musicians On Call
/by contributorLocal companies were enlisted to form their own “Rock Bands” to compete for the title of Rock Stars of Music Row. Each participating company donated $80 for the privilege of competing.
Emceed by local hip-hop artist BigFella, the Rock Band Challenge saw the assembly of 10 “bands” competing for the title of Rock Band Champion. with booking agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) taking first place and the APA team following up at a strong second place.
“Karaoke, Rock Band and an amazing non-profit organization is a recipe for a good time for our deeply rooted music community,” says SOLID President Katie Pope. “It’s my favorite event that I look forward to each year and I am so excited to see it growing larger and gaining more recognition. It allows SOLID to join forces with and benefit a non-profit in the community while having a great time.”
The packed room at 12th & Porter surpassed last year’s event by bringing in more supporters and more than double the proceeds to be donated to Musicians On Call for the second consecutive year.
“Musicians On Call is so grateful to SOLID for hosting the Rock Band Karaoke Challenge and for making us the beneficiary for the second year in a row,” says Musicians On Call’s Nashville Program Director Katy Brown. “This donation will enable MOC to deliver the healing power of music to more than 100 patients in the local Nashville community by bringing a volunteer musician right to their bedside.”Musicians On Call’s Nashville Program Director Katy Brown commented on the success of the event and what it means to the program,
For more information about SOLID, visit www.solidnashville.com.
Big Kenny “ASPIRES” To Help
/by contributorASPIRE Appalachia’s primary goal is to provide two students at the College of Public Health the opportunity to complete their required field placement by working in an Appalachian community. The purpose of these placements is to be consistent with Big Kenny’s and HTHH’s shared altruistic vision of supporting people in the context of who they are and where they live.
On Thursday (3/18) Big Kenny presented his inaugural ASPIRE scholarship to Jodi Southerland and Jenny Hunt on the belief that by helping these two students continue their missions they will, in turn, help countless other individuals throughout their careers.
From Greene County in the Appalachia region of east Tennessee, Southerland is a Doctor of Public Health student in the Community Health Track at Eastern Tennessee State University. Her focus is on the health challenges facing the rural elderly.
Hunt is a Master of Public Health Student in the Health Service Administration track and is from Cocke County in the Appalachia region of east Tennessee. She will carry out her ASPIRE Appalachia work with some aspect of prescription drug abuse, a significant public health problem in the coalfield areas of central Appalachia.
Rich, Rogers and Wy Honor Vets
/by contributorThe star-studded gala culminated in a concert performance from the three artists. Celebrity support of the event reaches all aspects of news, armed forces and entertainment.
All proceeds from the event will be donated to the National Fisher House Foundation, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.