All posts tagged "Vince Gill"

George Strait photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Easter falls this year on April 4, and if that holiday motivates a little spiritual consideration, a couple of new music compilations have been put together to aid your connection to the Almighty.

One’s a country-specific collection that rolls George Strait, Keith Urban and Josh Turner in among a dozen hitmakers. The other drops Carrie Underwood into an ongoing pop series that places her alongside the likes of Daughtry, Natasha Bedingfield and The Fray.

The country-centered collection, Sunday In The Country: 12 Inspiring Hits From Today’s Top Country Artists, is being released by New Haven Records with proceeds benefiting the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Diamond Rio, Trace Adkins and Tracy Lawrence all contribute tracks to the project, which extends a country-gospel tradition.

Continue Reading

Tammy Wynette photo courtesy of tammywynette.com.

Albums. Concerts. Books. Movies.

Creating entertainment in all its forms is/was the central tenet of such major stars as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette, and numerous members of the Country Music Hall of Fame have had their names in the headlines in recent days for essentially doing what they do. Or for contemplating what they do and how they do it.

You can add Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and Merle Haggard to that list. Here’s what country’s Hall of Famers have had on tap:

Continue Reading

Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

“I never had so many people open for me!” Josh Turner exclaimed Wednesday at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. “Wow!”

Indeed, 14 artists preceded him in that legendary venue, though another three sang after him as well as the Universal Music Group Nashville showcased its talent for Country Radio Seminar registrants in a unique format that provided a microcosm of the wide net that contemporary country represents.

Sugarland, David Nail, Jamey Johnson and Vince Gill were particular standouts as the acts performed just one song apiece. Collectively, the music ranged from bluegrass influences to blue-eyed soul; the acts stretched from brand new artists who haven’t yet released a single to one member of the Country Music Hall of Fame; and their backgrounds ran the gamut from Broadway to TV performer to Texas troubadours.

Continue Reading

Vince Gill photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Dwight Yoakam sang about “guitars, Cadillacs and hillbilly music,” and the guitar is central to current stories involving three different Halls of Fame — one of which contains a Cadillac owned by the late Elvis Presley.

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, previously known as the Cowboy Hall of Fame, has a new guitar exhibit at its home in Oklahoma City, where instruments used by the likes of Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith and Marty Robbins are on display.

A guitar Taylor Swift used during a fundraiser to raise money for the Country Music Hall of Fame in the fall is now being sold at auction to raise even more money for the facility. And the Musicians Hall of Fame, located just blocks from the Country Hall in downtown Nashville, has to put guitars owned by some classic figures — including Charlie Daniels and Elvis musician Scotty Moore — into storage by the end of the week.

Continue Reading

Vince Gill photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Imagine being able to see one of country’s biggest stars playing in a small club every week for only $10.  Vince Gill fans, rejoice — because you can do just that, as long as you’re in Nashville.

The Tennessean reports that Vince — who in 2009 was considered a “part-time” member of the Grammy-nominated country and western swing band, The Time Jumpers — is now a full member of the band for 2010.

Each Monday in Nashville (unless he’s on tour), you’ll be able to see Vince at the legendary Music City club, The Station Inn. Continue Reading

Valentine’s Day is little more than a month away, and guys who might be trying to figure out an economical gift that’s a little different from the usual box of chocolates or floral bouquet might want to take a look at the new Vince Gill compilation, Love Songs.

Set for release Jan. 26, the disc features 14 songs about romance, including “You And You Alone,” “Let’s Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye,” the Grammy-winning “When Love Finds You” and “Whenever You Come Around,” a song Vince was inspired to write about Amy Grant, who became his wife several years later.

Their tenth anniversary comes up March 10, and the couple is on the cover of the new edition of Good Housekeeping, where Amy suggests he is as a husband what he seems to be in his songs. He’s never in a hurry to get through a conversation or to give a cursory kiss, and the time he takes is a key to the happiness they still find in the marriage.

Continue Reading

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.

Continue Reading

Sugarland photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

For the 16th straight year, the Recording Academy is celebrating its awards show with the 2010 Grammy Nominees CD, with five of the 20 tracks on the latest edition coming from country acts: Taylor Swift, the Zac Brown Band, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts.

It marks the most country releases ever featured on the multi-genre compilation, which has previously never had more than two from Nashville’s best-selling idiom in a single year. In fact, during four of the previous 15 years, no country artists made the nominees CD at all.

Continue Reading

Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

So the holidays are over and you’re thrilled to be back at work… right? Sorry if the answer’s no, but we all gotta do what we all gotta do. And just like the rest of us, country artists are going back to work en masse this week. Rascal Flatts tapes an acting role; Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood hit an awards show; and Brad Paisley is kicking off the next leg of his current tour.

Really. That really is work, as it’s defined in their job descriptions.

Continue Reading

Kenny Chesney photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

#8 on GAC’s Top Stories of 2009 |  View all »

In the midst of a depressin’ recession, it’s a huge gamble to put on a stadium concert, and very few acts are willing to roll the dice on the up-front expenses for that kind of a gig. Of those that do, it seems nearly all of them were country acts in 2009 — and usually that act was Kenny Chesney.

Kenny played a dozen stadiums during his Sun City Carnival Tour, joined for most of the schedule by Sugarland, Montgomery Gentry, Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum. Kenny created a party atmosphere, often bringing up hometown athletes — including members of the Chicago Bears and the New England Patriots, for example — to connect with the city. By the time Sun City ground to a halt in Indianapolis in September, the Zac Brown Band had replaced Lady A and Kenny had topped every other act in any genre as the top touring artist, according to USA Today.

Continue Reading