Frankie Ballard – FrankieBallard: That was the greatest!! Johnny Van Zant is the coolest dude on earth! He gave me his hat after the show:)
Jake Owen – JakeOwen: Wow.. Thanks to every fan, songwriter and country radio for giving me my FIRST #1 record. I’m so blessed and thankful. Ahhh! Happy dance!!
Thanks to the single “Wild At Heart” and an opening slot on the Taylor Swift Fearless Tour, Gloriana built quite a strong foundation in the last couple years as a new country band.
The song’s harmonies and its catchy melody definitely caught on — “Wild At Heart” was certified gold just last month.
With that success behind them, the four members — Cheyenne Kimball, Rachel Reinert and brothers Tom and Mike Gossin — started writing songs on Tuesday for the next album. Despite the attention they’ve gotten, they’re feeling no pressure to duplicate or exceed the last one. In fact, they’re itching to see what kind of changes they can make to their core sound.
Keith Urban photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of Capitol Nashville.
A year ago, Keith Urban raised $500,000 for the Country Music Hall of Fame when he threw an all-star All For The Hall concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
This year, he’s pitching in again, but it’s not the only thing going on in country music with hall of fame overtones. Hall of Famer Loretta Lynn will be celebrated with a tribute album, fellow Hall of Famer Merle Haggard will receive another rare honor, and five composers — including a former Beatle — are being added to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Here’s a rundown of the hall of fame-related events of note:
Lady Antebellum performs at the Nightly Concerts at LP Field on Thursday, June 10 in Downtown Nashville during the 2010 CMA Music Festival. Photographer: John Russell / CMA.
Lady Antebellum had the best-selling album in America during the first half of 2010, and the group made its first headlining venture overseas last week, playing to a sold-out crowd at Shepherds Bush Empire in London Aug. 11.
Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood were a little uncertain about what to expect, especially because they didn’t really know how Brits would respond to their brand of country, a music style that originated in the U.S.
Keith Urban performs at the Nightly Concerts at LP Field on Friday, June 11 in Downtown Nashville during the 2010 CMA Music Festival. Photographer: Donn Jones / CMA.
When fans look back on the 2010 CMA Music Festival, one of the sonic moments they’re likely to remember collectively will be the close of Keith Urban’s Friday-night set at Nashville’s LP Field, where he put together an all-star ensemble for a Beatles cover.
Keith brought out a horn section led by Kenny Chesney sideman Jim Horn, keyboard players Tony Brown and Tim Akers and a group of background vocalists that included Sarah Buxton and Little Big Town members Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman for a version of “With A Little Help From My Friends.” Footage of last month’s Tennessee flood — and of neighbors helping each other through it — ran across the video screen in the back, underscoring the song’s communal theme.
Watch it here:
Keith did the song twice for a film crew that was taping the stadium shows for the Sept. 1 ABC special “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night To Rock.” Nashville’s recovery from the disaster is likely to be an undercurrent in the special, in part because it’s an example of a city that pulled together to help itself.
Saturday marks three years since the tragic fire that destroyed the former Tennessee home of Johnny Cash and June Carter, a moment that had a huge impact on Nashville’s music community.
A number of country artists — Marty Stuart, T.G. Sheppard and several Oak Ridge Boys, among them — could only watch helplessly as flames engulfed the structure, which had been purchased from the Cash family by the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb. A couple of songwriters, Monty Holmes and Leslie Satcher, were inspired by the blaze to write “House Of Cash,” a Patty Loveless duet that appeared on George Strait’s award-winning Troubadour album. And Larry Gatlin turned the disaster into a statement about the changing nature of country music, “Johnny Cash Is Dead (And His House Burned Down).”
David Lee Murphy, writer of Jason Aldean's "Big Green Tractor," celebrates with Jason at the platinum party for his Wide Open CD. Photo by Chris Hollo, courtesy of The GreenRoom.
One of the biggest hits of 2009 was Jason Aldean’s “Big Green Tractor,” which went to No. 1 for four weeks in the fall and — combined with the power-packed previous single, “She’s Country” — launched his concert sales into a whole new stratosphere.
The song, written by 1990s hitmaker David Lee Murphy and Jim Collins, used the tractor as a literary vehicle for the escapism that a relationship can provide. But Jason’s not completely sure that the tractor itself wasn’t the attraction in the song.
“I told the writers if they have any more tractor songs, be sure to send them to me,” Jason told The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.
Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Atlantic Records.
With more than 100 categories represented, the Grammy Awards cover a lot of stylistic turf, from jazz to rock to reggae to classical.
The Zac Brown Band is in the running this month for the Recording Academy’s Best New Artist trophy, which pits the group against artists from several other genres. The band is hoping the recognition means there’s more success in its future.
Sugarland photo by Kate Powers, courtesy of UMG Nashville.
Oct. 5, 2009 — Sugarland’s current Live On The Inside album features remakes of songs by Pearl Jam, Beyonce and Kings Of Leon, but they covered another great band during a tour in the spring.
“We went to Abbey Road [studios],” Kristian Bush told The Toledo Blade. “Jennifer [Nettles] and I sat in there and re-recorded ‘Come Together’ to mark the 40th anniversary of the [Abbey Road] album. We were doing it in the same studio on the same mikes as the Beatles. I was just like, ‘Wow.’”
The duo’s recordings of its own songs have helped Sugarland become one of the top acts in the country music business since the release of its first single, “Baby Girl,” five years ago. Sugarland sessions have yielded a bunch of hits — “Everyday America,” “All I Want To Do” and “Stay,” among them — but the moments on stage are still the ones that mean the most.
“We love playing,” Kristian said. “For us, it’s a shared art. Continue Reading
