Tom T Hall

Tom T. Hall, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, Country Music Highway committee members, and TourSEKY announced two new initiatives surrounding famed highway U.S. Route 23. Known as the ‘Country Music Highway,’ the stretch of road winding along the eastern corridor of Kentucky, has given rise to several country stars including The Judds, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless, Crystal Gayle, Loretta Lynn, Rebecca Lynn Howard and more.

The new initiatives will include a talent competition to discover the next generation of artists from the area, as well as the development of a charitable organization, the ‘Country Music Highway Arts Education Fund,’ which will support music programs in Kentucky schools and aid children in discovering their passion for music. The initiatives are aimed to bring awareness of the highway’s significance to the next generation.

“I am certain that Governor Beshear will agree with me when I say how proud we are to honor the rich musical heritage springing from the State of Kentucky,” Jeff Crowe, President and CEO of Tour SEKY, said. “Our youth is teeming with musical talent and I am excited to see the impact the program will have upon them.”

The Country Music Highway Road to Fame competition will begin in mid-March. The winner will receive a scholarship to participate in career development and coaching under the direction of PCG Nashville, an acoustic guitar, and a plaque recognizing their achievement. The contest is open to artists 13-35 years old from the 15 counties that border the highway. More information can be found at www.cmhroadtofame.com.

“I’m really excited about the competition because it will show that some of the best talent can be found in the hills of Eastern Kentucky,” Tom T. Hall, a native of the area, said. Continue Reading

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Reba McEntire photo courtesy of The Valory Music Co.

Reba McEntire will headline the International Festival of Country Music when the festival returns to Wembley Arena in London for the first time in 20 years on February 26, 2012. This will be Reba’s first performance in the UK in 12 years.

“My band, crew and I are really looking forward to going back to Europe to play our music,” Reba said. “The last time we performed there was in 1999!  We have been very busy for the last 10 years doing the Reba TV show and concerts in North America. Now, we are so excited to be able to travel abroad and do both our new and old songs for our European audience, who has always been so good to us.”

“I’m bringing the International Festival of Country Music back after over twenty years due to popular demand,” Mervyn Conn, festival founder and CEO of MM Events Ltd., said. “The regard for Country Music has grown significantly in the UK since the first year I promoted this event and I believe that now is the time to reintroduce this once hugely popular event to converted fans of country music and to a new and emerging group of country music lovers.” Continue Reading

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Loretta Lynn photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Five decades ago, Loretta Lynn and her husband-manager, “Mooney” Lynn, drove station to station around the U.S. promoting her first single, “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl.” All these years later, she’s a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and a global symbol for country music, and she was honored Friday at her Coal Miner’s Daughter Museum in Tennessee for 50 years as an American icon.

A bevy musicians and music-industry executives were on hand for the occasion, including Marty Stuart, Crystal Gayle, Jack Greene and Terri Clark. Ronnie McDowell presented Loretta a painting he had created, depicting her when she was 10 years old and living in Kentucky. A string of presenters included John Carter Cash, arranger Bill Walker and Ray Walker, of the Jordanaires, the Hall of Fame vocal quartet that backed Loretta on such classics as “You’re Lookin’ At Country,” “Blue Kentucky Girl,” “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”

There were also video tributes from Wynonna, Big Kenny, Keith Anderson, Martina McBride, Kellie Pickler and Dolly Parton. The ceremony took place in a sweat-filled tent outside the museum. The museum houses an extraordinary volume of memorabilia, including letters from presidents, stage wear and a string of awards — none of which have led Loretta to think of herself as anything other than the little girl who grew up in poverty in an eastern Kentucky shack.

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Steve Wariner at the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy® Grammy Nominee party. Photo courtesy of The Recording Academy® 2009 & Rubin Media. Photograph by Rick Diamond/WireImage.com.

Four country acts that launched a series of hits in the 1980s and ‘90s — Steve Wariner, Patty Loveless, John Michael Montgomery and the late Keith Whitley — are set to enter the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame when it holds its next induction ceremony in April 2011 in Lexington.

They’ll be joined as new members by bluegrass duo the Goins Brothers; gospel singer Larnelle Harris; and Molly O’Day, a country vocalist who left a critically acclaimed body of work in a short five-year recording period in the late 1940s.

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Elvis Presley image used by permission, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

In a bittersweet ceremony the day before a make-or-break court proceeding, four sets of session musicians received new awards Thursday at the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville. The players — who collectively backed such artists as Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys and Johnny Cash — are among those recognized in the structure, which is likely to be demolished to make way for a new convention center.

“To have it all torn down,” said Elvis’ drummer D.J. Fontana, “is a damn shame.”

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Elvis Presley image used by permission, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

Elvis Presley, George Jones, June Carter Cash and Sheldon Kurland — a key musician in the growth of Nashville’s music industry — are all receiving recognition for their legacies in ways that range from sad to historical to simply amusing.

Elvis and June are being commemorated by public institutions, Sheldon is being remembered by friends after his death this week, and one of the Possum’s most infamous moments was documented in a piece of art by a fellow musician.

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Carrie Underwood was in Singapore last week visiting with Asian media, performing and promoting her upcoming album release, PLAY ON . Photo Credit: ION, Richard Kang, October 16, 2009

Country music has expanded its mission in recent years to include conquering international fans. Usually, that means potential music buyers in the United Kingdom, continental Europe and Australia. But several country acts — Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and Carrie Underwood — have put Asia on their personal calendars of late.

Last week, Carrie visited Singapore to spend time with Asian media in advance of her forthcoming album, Play On. While there, she played at the opening of the ION Orchard shopping mall, a sheltered, open-air venue.

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Crystal Gayle photo courtesy of Webster PR.

Next Friday, October 2 at 11:30 a.m., Crystal Gayle will get her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Crystal’s star will be near her sister Loretta Lynn‘s star, and it’ll be the 2,390th on the Walk. Tanya Tucker will be a guest speaker at the event.

Crystal was born Brenda Gail Webb in Paintsville, Kentucky. When she was four years old, her family moved to Wabash, Indiana. Inspired by her sister’s career, she decided to learn to play the guitar and later sang in her brothers’ country bands. Continue Reading

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