Lawrence Brings “The Rock” To the Troops

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tracyJust weeks away from the official street date of his latest release, The Rock, Rocky Comfort Records artist Tracy Lawrence has announced a Military World Premiere of the album. In an exclusive pre-release celebration, Lawrence will participate in a special two-day event, delivering his new CD personally to military personnel at Norfolk Naval Station and Fort Bragg. Lawrence will visit Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk, VA on Sunday, May 31 and will wrap up the excursion at Fort Bragg in North Carolina the following day. The CD will be made available on these bases for all military personnel to purchase ten days prior to the retail sale date. The singer will also visit with the troops individually via meet and greets and CD signings.

“I’ve been told by a number of listeners that The Rock has really touched them in some way,” Lawrence said. “I cannot imagine the emotions and turmoil our service men and women endure on a daily basis, and to bring an emotional or moving message ‘home’ to them is the least I can do as a memento of my heartfelt appreciation for taking care of me and my family and our entire country.”

The Rock is Lawrence’s third project released on his own Rocky Comfort label and is scheduled for a June 9 release. The album features songs from Nashville hitmakers Dave Berg, Craig Morgan, Brett James and Sam and Annie Tate, among others. For more information on Tracy Lawrence click here.

Foxworthy, Strait, McBride and Honky Tonk TV

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foxworthyFoxworthy Countdown Celebrates 10 Years
This weekend, May 30 and 31, marks the 10th anniversary of The Jeff Foxworthy Countdown. Debuting in 1999, the weekly four-hour radio show features the current Top 30 country hits as well as interviews with top country artists. Airing on nearly 300 radio stations nationwide, The Jeff Foxworthy Countdown can be heard in such markets as: Dallas, Phoenix, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., Columbus, San Antonio, Richmond, Minneapolis and many others. Foxworthy is the largest-selling comedy-recording artist in history, a multiple Grammy Award nominee and best-selling author of more than 26 books. Premiere Radio EVP of Affiliate Marketing, Julie Talbott, stated: “In an industry where few shows last a decade, Jeff Foxworthy has put his stamp on radio. He consistently delivers a top-rated program with his unique brand of comedy, and entertains millions of listeners.”

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straitGeorge Strait — Singer and Songwriter
“Living for the Night,” the debut single from George Strait‘s upcoming Twang album will be available to radio stations across the country tomorrow (5/28) via Play MPE. Check those songwriting credits carefully and you’ll see that this song is the singer’s first single credit as a songwriter. Strait wrote “Living for the Night” with his son, Bubba, and Dean Dillon. Strait’s only other cut as a songwriter was in 1982 with “I Can’t See Texas From Here” off his Strait from the Heart album, but it was never released as a single.

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Honky Tonk TV is On the Air
Country Music has a new nationally syndicated daily TV show. Honky Tonk TV, which is billed as “entertainment news for country music,” has been on the air for two months and has already aired over 40 shows. The show is syndicated across 154 markets (mainly the CW Network) and filmed live each morning out of Orlando, FL. Country artists, managers and label execs are encouraged to head down to Orlando to appear on the show. They’ll even put you up in one of their sponsors’ Walt Disney Resort hotels in exchange for a live performance and interview. To check out Honky Tonk TV, click here.

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martinaThe Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has announced  that RCA Records artist Martina McBride will perform at the 2009 Canadian Country Music Awards. The awards will be held at General Motors Place in Vancouver, BC, on September 13. This will be McBride’s first time as a guest at the CCMA Awards. Other stars confirmed for this year’s broadcast include 2008 CCMA Male Artist of the Year, Johnny Reid, six-time 2008 CCMA Award winners and 2009 JUNO recipients, Doc Walker, and multiple CCMA Award winner Terri Clark.

Blacktop Re-signs Dodson and Yeary

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Blacktop Music Group’s Mike Sebastian has announced the re-signing of hit songwriters Marty Dodson and Jimmy Yeary. Dodson’s latest chart-topper is Kenny Chesney‘s No. 1, “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven.” He also co-wrote the Billy Currington No. 1, “Must Be Doin’ Something Right.” Yeary has had songs recorded by Rascal Flatts, Brooks & Dunn, John Michael Montgomery, The Lost Trailers, James Otto, Steve Holy and Emerson Drive.
blacktopPictured (l-r) are: Blacktop’s Lindsay Gum, Jimmy Yeary, Blacktop’s Mike Sebastian, Marty Dodson and Blacktop’s Kim Wiggins.

Musicians On Call Provides Hope and High Fashion

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musiciansMusicians on Call (MOC), an organization with a mission to bring live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities to enhance the healing process, has enlisted musicians and other volunteers to play for over 136,000 people. MOC continues their mission through room-to-room hospital performances by both local musicians and national celebrities. Since opening the doors of the first National Chapter in April 2007, the organization has received the support of many country artists. Through these volunteer performances, MOC has visited the bedsides of over 10,000 patients, families and caregivers in Nashville. This year, MOC will once again benefit from the 3rd Annual Country Weekly Fashion Show and Concert, being held June 10 at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon.Artists who have graciously given their time and talents to visit patients at local Nashville hospitals include Fashion Show participants Chuck Wicks, Chris Young, Mark Wills, Trent Willmon, Joey & Rory and Jypsi. “I think I may have had more fun than the patients, but it was a joy to walk into those rooms and see the smiles on their faces,” said volunteer performer and RCA artist Chris Young. “I am looking forward to doing it again very soon.” You can find more information about Musicians on Call here. 

Country Music Conference Fetes Journalists

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On Friday, May 22, The 26th annual International Country Music Conference honored some of the top authors and journalists in the field of country music at Belmont University. The Belmont Book Award went to Patrick Huber for his book, Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South.The University of Illinois Press received the Lifetime Achievement Award for their series, Music in American Life, which documented the place of music in American culture and the cultural life that gives rise to particular musical forms. Noted music journalists Alanna Nash and Barry Mazor both took home Charlie Lamb Journalism Awards. The Belmont Book Award, Lifetime Achievement Award and Charlie Lamb Awards were presented during a special noon luncheon, underwritten by the Mike Curb Family Foundation, in the Frist Lecture Hall at the Gordon E. Inman Center.

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(l-r) James Akenson, ICMC; Charlie Lamb Journalism Award winner Barry Mazor; Belmont Book Award winner Patrick Huber; Shelby Singleton; Fred Foster; Charlie Lamb; Charlie Lamb Journalism Award winner Alanna Nash; Peggy and Gary Walker, endowers of the Charlie Lamb Awards; and Don Cusic, Belmont University.

WMBA Presents Annual Awards

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wmbaThe Women’s Music Business Association (WMBA) recently celebrated their 2009 Annual Cocktail Reception and Awards Ceremony at Nashville’s Limelight. Awards were presented to the following WMBA members: Wonder Woman of the Year — Loretta Martin; Miss Congeniality — Sheree Spoltore. Additional award recipients were: Melissa Bollea, Leslie Mitchell, Tarryn Smith, Holly Hefner Nance, Whitney Sutton, and Heather Hubbard. In addition, a special induction of WMBA’s inaugural Alumni Group was announced at the celebration. Inducted into 2009/2010 Alumni are: Melissa Fuller, Dana Kelley, Jessica Porfirio, Amanda Thompson, Sara Pociask, Malia Axsom, and new Alumni Chairman, Jennifer Witherell. For more info on WMBA, click here.

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Back Row (l-r) Leslie Mitchell, Cindy Collins, Brandi Simms; Middle Row (l- r) Penny Dionne, Heather Hubbard, Melissa Bollea, Loretta Martin, Sheree Spoltore & Kasey Cleckler; Front Row (l-r) Holly Ashby, Betsy Walker, Kama Upton

Mark Wills Joins USA Cares To Help Vets

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usa-cares-logoTenacity Records artist Mark Wills is donating a portion of every sale of his next album, 2nd Time Around (in stores June 16th) to benefit military families through USA Cares, a nonprofit organization that helps post-9/11 military families bear the burdens of service with financial and advocacy support. Wills has also created a free USA Cares music sampler at www.markwills.com. Fans can visit the website to receive three free music downloads and a Mark Wills interview with Dennis Miller talking about their work with USA Cares. In addition to proceeds from the sale of the album, Wills has put a USA Cares insert inside the CD case that tells the buyer about the organization and asks them to use their cell phone to text the word “TROOPS” to 90999 which will trigger a onetime charge to their cell phone bill of $5, which will go directly to USA Cares. “The idea of allowing my fans to help make a difference in a Veteran’s life by simply picking up their cell phone is not only cutting edge technology, it is a way that we as Americans can make our voices heard,” Wills said. “So I am going to remind my fans, in audiences and one at a time, to pull out their cell phone and let’s make a difference together.” For more information on USA Cares, click here.

12 South Benefit For Second Harvest

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second-harvestGuitar maker Gibson Acoustic has joined Nashville musical instrument retailer Corner Music and the 12th South District Merchants of Tennessee for the 1st Annual Benefit for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee on Saturday, June 6 beginning at 12 noon. The benefit will include a day of performances on the outdoor stage, food and special sales to benefit Second Harvest. Vendors will be set up in the parking lot of Corner Music and Forks Drum Closet located at 2705 12th Avenue South. In addition, Gibson Acoustic’s Product Specialist will be on hand throughout the day where an exhibit of the world’s greatest acoustic guitars from the Gibson Montana Custom Shop will be on display. Music enthusiasts can receive free advice and information on their guitar. The event is open to the public and attendees are asked to bring a donation of canned goods or non-perishable food items to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank. Second Harvest’s mission is to feed hungry people of the community and work to solve the overall hunger issues facing many families today. For more information on the Second Harvest Food Bank click here.

Sean Hogan

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“Catalina Sunrise”

Lakeland Heart Records

shogan-catalinaWhen Sean Hogan debuted in 1996, his first album release immediately caught the attention of country radio programmers and listeners across Canada. Their reaction earned him the first-ever CCMA Independent Male Artist of The Year Award in 1997. Since then, Hogan has become one of the highest-profiled Canadian singer-songwriters performing his own brand of country and roots music in Canada, as well as in parts of the U.S. and Australia in recent years.

And the accolades haven’t stopped there. Hijacked, Hogan’s second album, as well as his third, Late Last Night, won two consecutive West Coast Music Awards in 2001 and 2002 for Best Country Album. In 2003, Hogan won CCMA Roots Artist of The Year, the first independent artist to win this prestigious award. Hogan’s self-released U.S. Americana debut, Ruled by Mercury, went Top 30, making it to No. 24 on the AMA Americana Chart during Hogan’s self-organized tour in Australia.

Hogan was nominated again in 2008 for the CCMA Roots Artist Of The Year Award and set his sights on making the full time career move to Nashville. He began working tirelessly on his U.S. debut album, The Southern Sessions, and is ready to bring his no holds barred brand of country music to American audiences.

His debut single, “Catalina Sunrise,” released in May 2009, is currently on the rise at country radio and can be found on CDX 474. The Southern Sessions will be available fall 2009 in stores and all digital music outlets.

http://www.seanhogan.net/

CMT and Rhapsody Team For Charity

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cmtoneFor the second year, CMT One Country, CMT’s pro-social initiative, will reward winners of the 2009 CMT Music Awards by making donations on their behalf to their selected charities. In addition to honoring winners, CMT One Country is partnering with Rhapsody to make donations on behalf of all nominees. From now until Sunday, June 21, the proceeds from the purchase of any nominated song from Rhapsody.com will go to benefit that artist’s specified charity. CMT One Country was launched in 2005 to inspire CMT viewers to take action and bring about important change in their communities. After the 2008 CMT Music Awards, CMT One Country donated $70,000 on behalf of winners to their selected charities. An alphabetical list of nominated artists and the charities who would receive their donation is below:
Trace Adkins: The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
Dierks Bentley: Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
Brooks & Dunn: Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
Kenny Chesney: PLAN!T NOW
Def Leppard: Create Now
Trey Fanjoy (Director): MusiCares
Deaton Flanigen (Directors): Victory Junction Gang Camp
Chris Hicky (Director): Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation
Julianne Hough: Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Alan Jackson: CMT ONE COUNTRY non-profit partners
Jamey Johnson: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Toby Keith: Ally’s House
Kid Rock: CMT ONE COUNTRY non-profit partners
Alison Krauss: Thistle Farms
Lady Antebellum: Mocha Club
Miranda Lambert: Humane Society of East Texas
Little Big Town: T.J. Martell Foundation
Martina McBride: Childhelp
Reba McEntire: The Smile Train
Montgomery Gentry: T.J. Martell Foundation
Jake Owen: Mardy Fish Foundation
Brad Paisley: The Shjon Podein Children’s Foundation
Kellie Pickler: Wounded Warrior Project
Robert Plant: TurtleWill
Rascal Flatts: Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
Rehab: Elton John Aids Foundation
Michael Salomon (Director): American Cancer Society
Jim Shea (Director): The Shjon Podein Children’s Foundation
Shaun Silva (Director): Thistle Farms
George Strait: Jenifer Strait Memorial Fund
Sugarland: MusiCares
Taylor Swift: The Red Cross
Peter Tilden (Director): The Shjon Podein Children’s Foundation
Carrie Underwood: The Humane Society of the United States
Keith Urban: Meals on Wheels, Nashville Chapter (and the City Commission)