Mar
8
Alan Jackson photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
This week is a significant milestone for Alan Jackson: It marks 20 years since “Here In The Real World” climbed into the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Since then he’s landed more than 50 titles in the Top 10, literally taking him from rags to riches.
Alan was one of the first artists to break through after Arista Records opened its country division, and he’s been with the label ever since, although it appears those days are numbered. What the future holds for him remains to be seen.
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Feb
11
Big Kenny photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.
You hear them every day on your radio or watch their videos on GAC. But country stars get involved in lots of things outside of country music.
Gretchen Wilson’s taking part in a big sports event, Kathy Mattea’s taking an environmental stance, Larry Gatlin and the Oak Ridge Boys are politicking and Big Kenny’s effort to find a lost friend came to a tragic ending.
Here’s what’s happening with some of your favorite stars outside the studio and away from the concert stage:
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Jan
29
Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.
Nearly three weeks after a Jan. 12 earthquake destroyed large swatches of Haiti, the response from country music’s community is heartening. Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Pam Tillis, Big Kenny, Restless Heart and Toby Keith are just some of the artists who found ways to get involved.
They’ve donated their time, their voices and their money, and in one particular instance, one unintended result was a confirmation that the recording industry has crossed a barrier as it continues to evolve in the digital age. Taylor and Keith were both featured on the multi-network special Help For Haiti Now, which was immediately released as a digital-only album. It quickly sold more than 170,000 copies and came in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 all-genre albums chart. It marks the first time in history that the top album in the country could not be purchased in a physical format.
Here’s a summary of the ways country stars have reached out to help:
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Dec
10
Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.
Country music festival, Country Thunder USA, will be back in 2010 with three big headliners — Keith Urban, Willie Nelson and Kid Rock.
The outdoor festival (sponsored by GAC) will be held at the Canyon Moon Ranch, in Florence, Arizona. A full 4-day general admission pass is $99.00 –and passes are now on sale. One day event tickets will also be available closer to the event. VIP and sponsorship packages are also available with added perks of hospitality tent access, preferred parking, and premium concert seating. Organizers encourage early bird tickets as the event is expected to sell-out.
The announced line-up includes: Continue Reading
Dec
10
John Rich photo by Frank Ockenfels, courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.
In late 2008, John Rich took an active role in John McCain’s presidential push, authoring the campaign’s theme song “Raisin’ McCain,” playing numerous events during the Republican National Convention and performing with Hank Williams Jr. at McCain’s election-night soiree in Arizona.
John stayed with public issues, even after the votes were tallied. He performed “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” at a tea party in Atlanta, sang at a pro-coal Labor Day rally in West Virginia, played a November fundraiser for a Conservative Party candidate in Watertown, N.Y., and even hosted an event last weekend at his house for Republican Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Zach Wamp.
Tuesday, he hit the road again to campaign for a Republican candidate in Alabama.
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Nov
20
Joe Nichols recently visited troops on US military bases in Kuwait and Iraq. His trip was filmed for the GAC special, Joe Nichols: My Military Diary, premiering Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Joe Nichols spent a week this summer singing for American troops in the Middle East, and the good vibes from that trip are getting coverage on GAC, in the special Joe Nichols: My Military Diary.
Joe made some new friends on his overseas visit, and he was particularly impressed by the dedication the service men and women demonstrate on a daily basis. Their lives are on the line every hour, and they’re forced to be away from home for months at a time during their tour of duty.
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Nov
10
Big Kenny photo courtesy of Glotown/Love Everybody/Bigger Picture Records.
If you buy Big Kenny’s The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy, in stores today, you’ll truly be getting music that lives forever.
Kenny’s CD package (surrounding the disc) is made of 100% compostable materials embedded with a variety of the artist’s favorite perennial wild flowers. This means you can actually plant the casing and later, have a lovely bunch of flowers, courtesy of Big Kenny. Continue Reading
Oct
30
Justin Moore photo by Kristin Barlowe, courtesy of The Valory Music Co.
Many country stars enjoy dressing up for Halloween – and some avoid it altogether. Dial-Global recently spoke with Justin Moore, Big Kenny & Dierks Bentley about their Halloween plans.
“I absolutely hate Halloween,” Just tells Dial-Global. “Everybody makes fun of me ’cause I despise Halloween and I don’t know why. I was a real serious child, which makes no sense because I’m never serious now, but I never wanted to dress up as a kid. My parents, they’re like, ‘You are the strangest kid.’”
As one might expect, the opposite is true for Big Kenny. “Halloween is the great American excuse for everybody to get dressed up, eat, drink and be merry together and spook the dickens out of all the kids and even some dudes like me who are still spookable,” he says. Continue Reading
Oct
27
Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.
Toby Keith will top 1 million ticket sales, Jimmy Wayne had an onstage drop-in from a legendary pop artist, and Kenny Chesney had the summer’s top tour.
In addition to the weekend’s previously reported mass of ticket sales for the new Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift dates, there’s still plenty of country concert news to skim.
What’s up on the road:
When Toby Keith concludes his current America’s Toughest Tour, he will have sold a whopping 1 million concert tickets for the year. It is, he says, the ninth time he’s reached that mark.
When Jimmy Wayne appeared in Baltimore last week on Brad Paisley’s American Saturday Night Tour, he had a surprise guest join him onstage. John Oates, of the pop duo Hall & Oates, helped out on Jimmy’s performance of “Sara Smile,” a 1976 H2O hit that Jimmy’s re-recorded as his current single. Brad’s tour, which also featured Dierks Bentley, came to a close over the weekend. Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore take over Dierks’ and Jimmy’s slots when Brad goes back out in January.
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Sep
4
John Rich photo by Frank Ockenfels, courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.
Based on the lawsuits, barroom brawls and barbed political commentary John Rich has made over the last year, it’s easy to think of the Big & Rich founder as a difficult personality, and it seems he would agree.
“Big & Rich is the most unlikely pairing of human beings you could possibly come up with,” he told The Press Of Atlantic City. “Kenny says, ‘I love everybody.’ I say, ‘Screw everybody.’” Continue Reading
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