All posts tagged "Eli Young Band"

Eric Church photo by Jim Wright, courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Eric Church released his debut album, Sinners Like Me, in 2006 to nearly unanimous critical praise. The disc launched three singles into country music’s Top 20, but Eric wasn’t quite able to find his way into the Top 10.

That changed late last year when Eric reached that hallowed chart ground with “Love Your Love The Most.” The song is a ballad, unlike many of Eric’s rough-around-the-edges tracks, but it’s still just a bit left of center. And he figures it’s a testament to staying with the artistic program.

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Montgomery Gentry photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

This morning, tickets went on sale for the 2010 Country Throwdown Tour, sponsored by GAC. The tour kicks off May 14 at the Ford Amphitheater in Tampa, Fla. and goes through June 20 in Mountain View, Calif. at the Shoreline Amphitheater.

The tour features Montgomery Gentry, Jack Ingram, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town, Eric Church, Emily West, Eli Young Band, Heidi Newfield, The Lost Trailers, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses and Jonathan Singleton and the Grove.

In addition to the artists above on the main stage, there will be a Bluebird Cafe Stage Continue Reading

Randy Houser photo courtesy of Universal Records South.

If you want an update on where country music’s been and where it’s going, you only need to put two events from the past week into perspective: Tuesday’s announcement of the 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees and Friday’s New Faces Show at Nashville’s Country Radio Seminar.

Don Williams, the most recent hitmaker among the four Hall of Fame additions, was often noted for a quiet stage show. He simply stood at the microphone and sang, and his success relied exclusively on the warmth of his gentle demeanor and the thoughtful messages that dominated his understated songs.

The New Faces Show demonstrated the bigger-is-better philosophy that’s dominated concerts ever since Garth Brooks turned up in arenas two decades ago. From the outset, Love And Theft and Randy Houser — the first two acts in a five-artist lineup — cranked the volume and the tempo in a slickly produced show meant to confirm for radio programmers that they are indeed playing the right new performers as they compete for listeners’ ears.

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Once again Great American Country and the Academy of Country Music have teamed up to give fans the opportunity to pick their favorite stars for the 45^th Academy of Country Music Awards’ three newcomer categories including Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Duo and Top New Vocal Group.  Fans can start voting online today and are allowed to submit one ballot, selecting their favorite artist from each of the categories.  Voting ends on March 12, 2010 at 5 p.m. ET.

Click here to place your vote now »

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The Academy of Country Music and Great American Country (GAC) announced today that for the second year, the three newcomer categories for the Academy of Country Music Awards— Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Duo and Top New Vocal Group —will be opened up to interactive fan voting through VoteACM.com. As previously announced, the Top New Solo Vocalist category will take the place of the Top New Male Vocalist and Top New Female Vocalist categories.

Following is the list of final nominees in the Top New categories that the Academy announced today: Continue Reading

Sarah Buxton photo courtesy of Lyric Street Music.

One of the most infectious singles of the last year came with Sarah Buxton’s “Outside My Window,” which is bubbling and bopping at No. 23 on the most recent Country Aircheck singles list.

Just as engaging is her video, shot with a digital camera on a whim with co-writers Victoria Shaw, Mark Hudson and Gary Burr for only about $80. Her record company didn’t even know she was shooting it, but its goofy, happy-go-lucky attitude and panorama of colors made it easy for Lyric Street to get it into circulation.

The video has, however, made it more difficult for the competition.

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Toby Keith (l) signed Trace Adkins to his label, Show Dog-Universal Music, on Jan. 12, 2010. Photo courtesy of Show Dog-Universal Music.

Thanks to his song “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American),” Toby Keith was billed in some circles as a warmonger, but it turns out that one of the moments that bonded him to his new label president was a time when Toby took a peaceful stance during the Country Radio Seminar.

Toby’s Show Dog Nashville label has merged with Universal South to create Show Dog-Universal Music, with Toby as the principle and former Universal South chief Mark Wright as the president. The two actually go back a long way. Mark started out in the business as a songwriter, penning such hits as Mark Chesnutt’s “Your Love Is A Miracle,” George Strait’s “Today My World Slipped Away” and Alabama’s “Take A Little Trip.” He heard some of Toby’s songs before Toby ever released a single, and he was completely knocked out.

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Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.

A little over three years since he launched his own Show Dog Nashville label, Toby Keith unleashed his newly merged Show Dog-Universal Music Wednesday during a press conference at BMI in Nashville in which his appreciation for risk underscored much of the discussion.

The music business is in a strange transition in which the album, which previously funded the business, is selling in smaller numbers each year while single tracks are increasingly becoming the way the public buys pre-recorded sound. Companies are required to pay the same amount to market their material as in the past, but with less than a tenth the per-unit income they previously received.

A number of people lost jobs in the merger, though the new company is larger than the previous version of Show Dog. And Toby — whose income stream includes songwriting royalties, concert fees and income from film work, a fashion line, horse racing and his I Love This Bar & Grille chain — is in a position to roll the dice on a label.

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The last time we headed into a new decade, it was the beginning of a completely new millennium, and it kicked off with a bang: The Judds reunited in Phoenix; Trisha Yearwood and Kenny Rogers performed for President Clinton in Washington, D.C.; Kenny Chesney opened for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at the arena in Nashville; and Grand Ole Opry stars Marty Stuart and Connie Smith went to church in Mississippi.

As we enter 2010, country stars are once again a big part of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Martina McBride and Diamond Rio will be on TV; Shania Twain carries the torch for the Winter Olympics; Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw will appear at college bowl games; and Garth Brooks, Rodney Atkins and the Eli Young Band will help transition into January on stage.

Here’s how some of country’s biggest stars will add to the turning of the calendar on Thursday and Friday:
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Montgomery Gentry photo courtesy of Sony Nashville.

Country Throwdown 2010, a multi-act outdoor tour produced by the same company that created rock’s annual Vans Warped Tour, has enlisted Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town and Jack Ingram among the initial acts for a five-week, GAC-sponsored series of concerts next spring. Specific markets and the entire lineup have yet to be revealed, though the Throwdown will feature 21 total acts on an itinerary from May 13-June 20.

“When Eddie [Montgomery] and I were approached about doing the Country Throwdown Tour we immediately said yes,” Montgomery Gentry’s Troy Gentry said. “We loved the idea of it being like a big festival, a big party. I mean, that’s what Montgomery Gentry is all about. We’re keeping the ticket prices low because we know it’s hard out there. Fans are going to get a lot of entertainment for their money. This tour is going to be a great experience for us, the other artists and especially the fans.”

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