Kenny Chesney photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
Kenny Chesney didn’t do a major tour in 2010, but it was just a one-summer vacation.
He’s mapping out another big concert schedule for 2011 and it includes nine stadium dates that pair him with Zac Brown Band, according to the Associated Press.
The first of the announced dates is March 19 when they play Tampa.
Kenny Chesney photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
Kenny Chesney’s new CD, Hemingway’s Whiskey, got off to a great start — it’s at No. 1 on both the Billboard Country Albums chart and the all-genre Billboard 200.
The top of the country list is a place Kenny’s very familiar with. It marks the tenth time he has had a No. 1 country album.
But it’s also a bit of a different market than it once was. Kenny sold 183,000 copies of Hemingway in the album’s first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and those numbers are good enough to make it the fourth best-selling album of the entire third quarter, even though it was available for only the final week of that period. Still, there were other times in his career that Kenny sold more than half a million in his debut week.
Willie Nelson photo by David McClister, courtesy of Lost Highway.
Concerts, politics and awards were the order of the day.
Country music kicked off the final quarter of 2010 with some pretty special moments this past weekend, including iconic live dates by Carrie Underwood and Willie Nelson, a public vote involving Sammy Kershaw and an NFL appearance by Country Music Hall of Fame member Charley Pride.
Country’s big moments included:
Jamey Johnson photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.
Jamey Johnson is headed to the home of the Milwaukee Brewers Saturday, though he won’t be singing the national anthem or “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” during the final weekend of baseball’s regular season.
Instead, he’s been announced at the last minute as an addition to the lineup for Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid 25: Growing Home For America at Miller Park. Board members John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Neil Young were already set for the concert, of course. And so were Norah Jones, Jeff Tweedy, Jason Mraz and the Randy Rogers Band, among others.
And the event has an interesting connection to the top of the country album charts. Jamey’s new double-disc CD, The Guitar Song, came out Sept. 14 and went to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Kenny Chesney’s new project, Hemingway’s Whiskey, came out on Tuesday, and it’s already being forecast as the top-selling album in any genre for the week. Since Kenny’s scheduled to be at Miller Park, too, it means artists with No. 1 country albums two of the last three weeks will both appear on the same stage the same day.
Johnny Cash photo courtesy of Lost Highway Records.
The American public went crazy on the Dixie Chicks because of Natalie’s statement, and the incident cost the band its mainstream audience. As it turns out, the Man In Black might well have come out publicly against the Iraq War, too, if he weren’t in such poor health.
Daughter Rosanne Cash had put her name on a full-page ad in The New York Times just two weeks prior, joining Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, Dave Matthews and T Bone Burnett among a group of musicians who said, “War on Iraq is wrong and we know it.”
Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.
When Miranda Lambert set a record for female acts by picking up nine awards nominations this week from the Country Music Association, no one was more surprised than her.
But that wasn’t the only shock-a-roonie of the two-day nominations announcement. Lady Antebellum achieved something that’s never been done before, Steel Magnolia and The Band Perry each accomplished something that’s probably been done only once. And Miranda did something that’s only happened twice.
Here’s a bevy of CMA trivia that you may not have seen anywhere else:
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records/Southern Ground Artists, Inc.
When the Zac Brown Band serves up its next album, You Get What You Give, Sept. 21, it will feature several bonus appearances.
Jimmy Buffett and ace bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice both show up, as does Alan Jackson, who sings on “As She’s Walking Away,” which was released as a single earlier this week.
Alan contributed, in part, because he and the band have a similar connection: Keith Stegall produces both acts, and that made it a little easier to line everything up. It makes for a unique collaboration — Alan is decidedly traditional country, while the Zac Brown Band has one foot in country and the other in a sort of jam-band philosophy.
Willie Nelson photo by David McClister, courtesy of Lost Highway.
In September 1985, Willie Nelson established a charity he hoped would be short-lived. Instead, the work goes on, and on Oct. 2, he’ll present Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope For America.
Willie wore a Milwaukee Brewers jersey for the online announcement on Monday in recognition of the venue, Miller Park. The concert marks the first time that Farm Aid will be held at a major-league baseball stadium. John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews — all of whom serve as board members for the organization — are on tap for the concert. Other acts will be named at a later date.
Willie lamented that Farm Aid is still necessary, noting that the event has “called attention to the problem, but we have not solved the problem.”
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records/Southern Ground Artists, Inc.
From its live version of Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” to its island-flavored single “Toes,” the Zac Brown Band has shown itself to be a musically flexible act.
Just how flexible? Enough that it’s landed four country hits off its 2008 album The Foundation but also opened for the Dave Matthews Band at a pair of stadium gigs over the weekend in New York City.
And it sounds as if Zac and crew will demonstrate even greater flexibility with the next release, You Get What You Give.
Jamey Johnson photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.
When he released That Lonesome Song in 2008, Jamey Johnson emerged as one of country’s best-acclaimed acts, earning a Grammy nomination for the album and picking up scads of positive reviews for his Waylon Jennings-inspired sound.
Within just a few months of that project’s release, Jamey started recording again, and the wait for the follow-up will soon be over. He’s got a double-CD package called The Guitar Song coming Sept. 14 with 25 songs covering more than two hours.
Take a trip inside the world of country music with host Storme Warren! Watch full episodes of Headline Country now.
