Stars On Deck For City Of Hope

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hopeCountry stars Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Montgomery Gentry and Josh Turner are among the celebrities who will be participating in the 19th Annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge on Wednesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. at Nashville’s Greer Stadium. Billed as the unofficial kickoff to CMA Music Festival, this year’s game will be held in the evening for the first time since the event’s inception 19 years ago. Rival teams, Grand Ole Opry and After MidNite with Blair Garner return for an evening of pranks, fun and softball. The whole affair benefits City of Hope, a leading research, education and treatment center for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Tickets are $18 each and $40 for a family four pack. There will be a silent auction during the game with autographed memorabilia as well as an online auction after the game at www.auctionsforhope.com. For more information on the 19th Annual City of Hope Nashville Celebrity Softball Challenge, visit www.cityofhope.org/softball. To purchase tickets visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 615-255-9600.

BamaJam Join Forces With Talladega

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bamajamlogoyellowspotRonnie 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.

Industry Vets Open Herrington/Fox Management

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Industry veterans Dan Herrington and Mitchell Fox have announced the formation of Herrington/Fox Management, a full-service, artist and project management company headquartered in Nashville. Herrington, who recently sold his Dualtone Records label to Cal Turner IV, brings more than 20 years of record company and music publishing management experience to the company. Fox got his start in artist management working with Peter Grant and Led Zeppelin at Swan Song Records in New York in the late ‘70s. He relocated to Nashville where he managed the Kentucky Headhunters through his own company, Mitchell Fox Management. Initial client roster for the management company is being established and will be announced soon. Herrington and Fox are also partners in The Last Company, an information and data management service provider to the music industry. Herrington can be reached at danherrington@bellsouth.net or at 615-975-9021. Fox can be reached at mitchell.fox@comcast.net or at 615-202-2177.

Storme Warren Tweets For GAC at ACMs

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storme_warrenGAC’s Headline Country added a new component to coverage of Sunday’s ACM Awards. Show host Storme Warren was on the orange carpet providing live updates via the online social network, Twitter. Additionally, Warren plucked a fan from the bleachers to the orange carpet to file the Twitter updates visible at www.twitter.com/headlinecountry.

Rich Pacts With Crown Royal

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jrWarner Bros. artist John Rich and Crown Royal Canadian Whisky are teaming up to offer one winner a “special mentorship experience.” The For Every King, A Mentor contest includes a trip for two to Nashville for a behind-the-scenes look into Rich’s performing, producing and songwriting career; a tour of the mansion where his CMT show Gone Country is filmed and a personally-signed guitar. Rich will also conduct a tour of some of his favorite Nashville hangouts. Fans of legal drinking age can enter the contest by visiting www.CrownRoyal.com and explaining their aspiration for being mentored by Rich. “Crown Royal is all about getting people together and celebrating responsibly, and that’s how I like to enjoy myself with my friends and family,” Rich said.

NY Sen. Schumer Introduces Ticketing Legislation

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U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer has introduced legislation designed to crack down on ticket resellers and ensure that fans get the opportunity to obtain concert tickets at face price. The legislation would give fans two days to buy tickets before they became available to ticket resellers to sell on the secondary market. The legislation also requires resellers to obtain a federal registration number from the FTC, and post that number in conjunction with all ticket re-sales on brokerage websites and through other means. According to Schumer, Ticketmaster supports the proposed legislation and he plans to meet with Ticketmaster to draft a formal code of conduct for ticket reselling. The legislation will be introduced in two weeks when the Senate reconvenes.

“I am very happy to support Sen. Schumer’s thoughtful proposal and leadership on this issue,” says Irving Azoff, CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. “Staggering the resale process to commence 48 hours after an on-sale is a very important step in reforming the process and bringing transparency to the on-sale process.”

Country “Sidekick” Frank Oakley Passes

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Frank Oakley, a well-liked music executive who worked with country artists including Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, Faron Young and Willie Nelson, died on April 2. He was 83. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Oakley was a veteran of WWII and a former police officer. His country music career began in 1961, when he was hired by  the Mary Carter Paint Company, charged with attracting country stars for the company’s advertising. In 1979, Oakley and his wife Jeanie went to work for Nelson, opening the Willie Nelson and Family General Store, which they ran for the next 30 years. He chronicled his life in country music in a recent book, The Nashville Sidekick. Oakley was was a member of AFTRA and R.O.P.E.

Craig Morgan’s Easter Surprise; Big Kenny’s Mountaintop Crusade; GAC’s Backstory

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9c2b8397-3048-8909-cc0e0ef3e68ab391_200Big Kenny Alphin is joining forces with Sheryl Crow, Kathy Mattea and Emmylou Harris to launch a new campaign, Music Saves Mountains, to halt mountaintop removal coal mining in Tennessee and across Appalachia. The musicians are urging people to contact Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and encourage him to support the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act which would prohibit mountaintop coal mining within 100 feet of streams and rivers. The act  would also protect mountains over 2,000 feet high in Tennessee. “This campaign was founded out of the respect musicians — and especially people from Appalachia — have for our beloved mountains,” Alphin said.

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BNA artist Craig Morgan is no stranger to the military, having served 10 years of active duty in the Army with the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and delivered countless performances for US troops at home and abroad. Now, Morgan has teamed with the US military on a special audio message for Easter. By utilizing his latest single, “God Must Really Love Me,” several members of the military will be sending Easter greetings to their families and friends at home. The song, with its positive message of thanks, will serve as an audio backdrop for the Easter greetings. Morgan was honored with the 2006 USO Merit Award for his work with the military, joining the likes of Steven Spielberg, Elizabeth Taylor, and Bob Hope as a recipient.

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Great American Country (GAC) will debut Backstory, a biographical documentary series devoted to the lives of country music’s top stars, on Monday, April 6 at 7:00 PM/CT. The premiere episode will feature multi-platinum RCA artist Sara Evans. The show will feature an in-depth interview with the singer and those closest to her including her mother, her husband, her label head, her co-writers and her close friend, Sheryl Crow. Future episodes of Backstory are currently being shot, and the next artist featured will be Darius Rucker.

CMT Camp Nashville Offers Discount

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cmt-campFounders of CMT Camp Nashville, the first-ever multi-artist fantasy camp for country music, have reduced the $7999 price of the camp by nearly 40% for anyone who registers before April 15. The $1000 spouse packages will be discounted by 50%. CMT Camp Nashville will provide campers with five days in the role of a country superstar where they’ll have the opportunity to learn, hang and perform with country stars including John Rich, Ronnie Milsap, Darryl Worley, Andy Griggs, Bo Bice, Rhett Akins, Deana Carter, Jessica Harp and Henry Paul and industry leaders such as world-renowned vocal/image coach Renee Grant Williams. The camp will culminate with a Final Showdown, where bands will compete in concert at the Wildhorse Saloon on Memorial Day (5/25). The competitors will share the stage with Phil Vassar and Lady Antebellum. One Camp Experience will be sold  to the highest bidder on CMTauctions.com to fund tornado relief for Boys & Girls Club of Rutherford County.

Charley Pride Takes Stand Surprises Fan

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charleypride042707Country 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.”