Darius Rucker photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Chart-topping country music star Darius Rucker and ACM Lifting Lives® are partnering for a once-in-a-lifetime musical event to benefit the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC).  For the first time performing together, twenty-five ACM Lifting Lives music campers with developmental disabilities will join Darius on the ACM Awards stage to perform “Music from the Heart,” a song the campers wrote collectively last summer with ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp songwriters Brett James and Chris Young.  The special moment will be performed during the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, to be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Sunday, April 3, 2011, 8-11 p.m. LIVE ET/ DELAYED PT) on CBS.

Brett James has created a new arrangement of the song, customized for this never-before-seen performance. Chris, along with Music Camp friend, country singer and star of the upcoming remake of the classical movie musical Footloose, Julianne Hough, will introduce Darius and the 2011 Lifting Lives Music Camp moment to viewers.

The special performance will support the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, whose mission is to facilitate discoveries and best practices that make positive differences in the lives of persons with developmental disabilities and their families.  The VKC has hosted a music camp for people with Williams Syndrome, Autism and other developmental disabilities for six years, and this past summer, ACM Lifting Lives sponsored the camp for the first time.  Being so touched by the experience, the Academy has sought to do more for those with developmental disabilities ever since.

“People with disabilities often have rare abilities, and in some cases those abilities involve a special talent or affinity for music,” said Darius. “I am honored to join ACM Lifting Lives and the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center to highlight how music can better the lives of young people with developmental disabilities on country music’s biggest night.”

ACM Lifting Lives® is the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. For the third consecutive year, ACM Lifting Lives will partner with an artist and a benefiting charity to create a very special moment on the stage of the ACM Awards.  Last year, ACM Lifting Lives raised funds and awareness for Stand Up To Cancer from downloads and direct donations as a result of Toby Keith’s performance “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” with Dave Koz in memory of fellow musician Wayman Tisdale on the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

Viewers will be given the option to make a donation of their choice to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center by dialing 1-888-9-LIFTING or may make a $5 donation by texting DREAM to 27722.  All proceeds will benefit the VKC’s mission and research to improve the lives of young adults with developmental disabilities.  Donations may also be made online at www.acmliftinglives.org or www.kc.vanderbilt.edu.   

“The need is huge,” said Dr. Elisabeth Dykens, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Director. “One in five children has a lifelong developmental disability, and 20 percent of American families have a family member with a disability. Vanderbilt Kennedy Center researchers, clinicians and educators are at work every day of every week on discoveries and best practices. We’re so grateful to ACM Lifting Lives for this moment of great generosity that will allow us to help even more families.”

“The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center is an amazing place,” said Erin Spahn, Executive Director ACM Lifting Lives. ”Here, people and families across the country who are affected by developmental disabilities can benefit from world-class science and find understanding, companionship, and hope. Our goal is to shine a light on the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center so that viewers will know that they or their loved one are not alone. They may even have a future beyond their wildest dreams, just like the men and women who will make up the choir behind Darius at the ACM Awards.”

ShareThis

Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Reba McEntire hosts the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday, and many of the genre’s biggest stars — including Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney — are already getting prepped for a bevy of performances and trophy presentations in Las Vegas.

The West Coast-based ACMs are a friendly rival of the Nashville-based Country Music Association awards, but the two are often confused by fans (and by some journalists outside of Nashville) because their acronyms — ACM and CMA — are so similar. The ACM has taken some steps to differentiate itself, and one of the biggest is allowing fans to vote for a few of the trophies. The Top New Artist and Entertainer of the Year have a fan-voted component, in effect creating a competition among some fan groups to have their favorite stars recognized.

“Doing things differently is good, making these shows different,” says Brad Paisley, who refused to campaign for the Entertainer trophy. “They can’t just be two different versions of the same exact thing. [The ACMs] need to be unique and they’re certainly getting there in the unique sense.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is the excitement the awards generate among the artists who are finalists.

“It’s just going to be really amazing if we’re able to get up on the stage and win one,” Cheyenne Kimball, a member of the New Artist nominee Gloriana, told the Associated Press. “We’re the babies. We’re very new, so I think it would be very special for us.”

“I started getting random text messages from people just saying congratulations,” David Nail says, recalling the moment when he discovered “Red Light” was an ACM finalist. “At that point, I was overcome with emotion and excitement, but still unaware of what exactly I had been nominated for and so, selfishly, when I found out that it was for Single of the Year, before I realized the other people in the category and the fact that I had no real chance of winning, I was simply glad that it was Single of the Year, so in case some miracle happened and we did win, I would get to go out on stage.”

Even Miranda, who pocketed Album of the Year in 2008 for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, was taken aback at some of her six nominations.

“Most shocking to me really was Song of the Year,” she says. “I didn’t think I had a Song of the Year, top song, ’cause I always think those are inspirational, and you know, have some [positive] message. And ‘White Liar’ was not the one I thought would be.”

Miranda believed “The House That Built Me” stood a better chance at being Song of the Year, but it wasn’t released as a single until 2010, so it wasn’t even eligible.

“I was just shocked and surprised and so honored to have six nominations,” she added. “I never would have thought that. I was just hopin’ for one.”

Even though it’s an awards show, the actual trophies are just part of the attraction. The performances carry a lot of weight within the industry, since they give artists a chance to showcase their songs and their talents for millions of people across the nation. Thus, when the opportunity to do the ACMs came up, Jack Ingram didn’t quibble about the fact that he was going to have to fly from New York on Saturday and shoehorn in a rehearsal with Dierks Bentley to coordinate their performance of “Barbie Doll” with the camera crew.

“It’s a big deal to me,” Jack admits. “It’s an especially big deal because I get to perform a song that I wrote over 10 years ago, and do it in front of 15 million people. Just another lesson to ‘keep on keeping on.’”

Jack has been making country albums for more than 15 years. At the other end of the spectrum, Laura Bell Bundy just released her very first CD, and she was lucky enough to land a spot on the show. It’s unusual for an artist who’s that new and doesn’t have a nomination to get a slot, and she doesn’t take it lightly.

“My main goal is to provide everyone watching with a performance that is entertaining and unpredictable,” she says. “You know, I’m not opposed to being shot out of a cannon!”

While the awards are intended as entertainment, producers look to provide some emotional moments, too. It’s why there’s often been a performance with a military component in the last decade. And it’s why Toby will be joined by sax player Dave Koz to play “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song).” It was written in honor of former NBA player and jazz musician Wayman Tisdale, who died last May. Fans will be able to download the performance, with the proceeds slated for a charity, Stand Up To Cancer.

“Wayman was an amazing guy,” Toby says. “In the song there’s a line that says ‘he showed us how to live and now he showed me how to die.’ Both of those were true. He didn’t frown on people for how they live, he led by example. He showed you how you’re supposed to live, and he died with so much dignity. I am happy to partner with ACM Lifting Lives and SU2C to donate proceeds of the performance downloads to support this important cause.”

The 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards airs at 8 p.m. ET on CBS — but the fun starts way before that! Visit GACTV.com on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Eastern for our live coverage of the Orange Carpet, as hosts Suzanne Alexander and Nan Kelley talk to your favorite stars!

ShareThis

Toby Keith's pays tribute to late friend Wayman Tisdale in his song "Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song)"

Toby Keith wrote his song “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” as a tribute to his friend, fellow musician and NBA star Wayman Tisdale, whom he lost to cancer. Now Toby and ACM Lifting Lives lend their support to Stand Up To Cancer, a non-profit organization focused on accelerating collaborative, cutting-edge cancer research to deliver better treatments to the patients who need them most. All of your donations – that’s 100% – to SU2C go directly to cancer research.

In the song, Toby sings, “He showed us how to live and now he showed me how to die.”

“Both of those were true,” says Toby. “He leads by example. He shows you how you’re supposed to live and then he just died with so much dignity. He never had a down moment.”

Toby is asking the country music community to help him honor Wayman by joining Team Toby Keith for Wayman and raising funds for cancer research in Wayman’s name. Get started today by pre-ordering your iTunes download of Toby’s upcoming performance of “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” on the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which airs LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, April 18th at 8pm ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

ShareThis

Toby Keith pays tribute to late friend Wayman Tisdale in his song "Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song)."

Singer, songwriter and entertainer Toby Keith‘s new single may be the most personal and emotionally raw offering of his entire career. “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” and its accompanying video pay tribute to the basketball legend, accomplished jazz bassist and close friend of Keith’s Wayman Tisdale.

Watch the video for “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” »

An all-American player for Oklahoma and NBA star before launching his career in music, Tisdale passed unexpectedly in May from complications resulting from cancer treatments that seemed to have left him with a clean bill of health. For Keith, Tisdale’s death was a terrible blow unlike anything he’d experienced before. He poured his emotions into music, writing a song he intended to play at Tisdale’s funeral, but the wound was still too fresh.

“I’ve had some loss in my life, of course my dad, but that’s different,” Keith says. “I’ve lost some friends and acquaintances along the way, but this one was very difficult for me. I wrote this for [the funeral], but I could not get through it. I ended up doing Willie’s ‘Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground’ because I wasn’t attached to that. It was weeks before I could make it all the way through the song. It was tough on me.”

ShareThis