Sugarland photo by Jennifer Tzar, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Marco Club Connection, a Nashville-based country music dance venue marketing company, has released its seventh annual Top Ten list of the year’s most requested country dance club songs — Sugarland tops the list with the sticks-in-your-head tune, ”Stuck Like Glue.”

Each year in December, Club Connection surveys a panel of more than 240 club owners, DJs and dance instructors from across the country to compile its Top Ten rankings.

“As country music continues to incorporate more and more of a pop element, the dance clubs can be a very important tool in breaking an artist,” says Club Connection Venue Marketing Specialist Bobbe Morhiser. “Look no further than Laura Bell Bundy for proof of that. ‘Giddy On Up’ was huge in the dance clubs, and for a brand new artist to place in Club Connection’s top five at the end of the year is very impressive.”

The results of the 2010 Top Ten Country Dance Club Hits are: Continue Reading

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Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Josh Turner was suffering from the last remnants of a head cold, but he didn’t let it dent his spirits.

Josh joined songwriters Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip as the men of the hour at a No. 1 party Tuesday at Rooster’s in Nashville, honoring his quirky, summer-themed hit, “All Over Me.”

Coming on the heels of “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” the song made Josh one of only six artists to notch a pair of No. 1 singles this year, according to Billboard. The significance of that moment was not lost on him.

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Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Summer officially segued into fall a few weeks ago, but a song Josh Turner put out to take advantage of the last season just peaked at No. 1.

“All Over Me” is bathed in string bikinis, suntan oil and riverside romance, and it hit the top of both the Billboard and Country Aircheck charts this week. It follows “Why Don’t We Just Dance” to the pinnacle of the weekly lists. According to Billboard, Josh joins the Zac Brown Band, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Billy Currington and Lady Antebellum as the only acts to have two No. 1 singles thus far in 2010.

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The 48th Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards were handed out on September 14, 2010 at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium. Pictured (l-r): Dierks Bentley, Artist/Songwriter of the Year; Josh Kear Song of the Year for “Need You Now,”; Chris DuBois, Publisher of the Year, Sea Gayle Music ; Brett James, Songwriter of the Year and Tim DuBois, ASCAP vice-president and managing executive, Nashville. Photo by Kay Williams.

Dierks Bentley won Songwriter/Artist of the Year, Josh Kear took Song of the Year for co-writing “Need You Now” with Lady Antebellum, and Brett James walked off with Songwriter of the Year during the star-studded ASCAP Country Music Awards for songwriters Tuesday at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium.

Dierks picked up the Songwriter/Artist trophy after two of his songs — “Sideways” and “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes” — were recognized among the performing rights agency’s most performed songs of the year.

Dierks played a bluegrass version of “Sideways” during the two-hour presentation in which each of ASCAP’s Top 5 songs was rendered live. Chris Young sang “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” songwriter David Lee Murphy played “Big Green Tractor,” Darius Rucker offered “Alright” and Josh Kear teamed with Lady A for a dramatic acoustic version of “Need You Now.” Josh was cheered heavily by the songwriting community when he sang some of the lines that Charles Kelley usually sings — Josh proved he was an admirable singer in addition to being an ace songwriter.

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Alan Jackson photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

All aboard! Alan Jackson’s Freight Train Tour hits the tracks on Thursday, and a couple of his passengers have turned it into a rather appropriate musical package.

Alan’s opening acts are Josh Turner and Chris Young, two artists with deep, rich voices and an obvious love of country music tradition. Teaming them with a guy like Alan — whose appreciation for such classic-country acts as George Jones and Vern Gosdin is well-documented — should make for a very consistent evening at a concert hall.

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Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

When Josh Turner decided to record “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” one of the biggest reasons was the song’s ability to create an escapist, happy mood in the middle of a difficult economic landscape.

Naturally, when it came time to celebrate the single’s four-week run at No. 1 on the country chart, a happy mood was imperative. And so was a dancing theme. Numerous executives showed up Tuesday at the Nashville restaurant Cabana to toast Josh and the song’s writers — Jim Beavers, Jonathan Singleton and Darrell Brown — and they were greeted with a sonic medley of happy, dance-themed songs: Wilson Pickett’s “Land Of 1000 Dances,” Men Without Hats’ “The Safety Dance,” the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” and Van Halen’s “Dance The Night Away,” to cherry-pick a few.

The mood reflected the original intent of the writers when they came up with the ignore-the-news-with-a-party-for-two storyline somewhere around August or September of 2008.

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Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Josh Turner is  on a roll and dancing all the way to No. 1, again.  For the fourth week in a row, Josh’s smash hit “Why Don’t We Just Dance” remains at the top of the Billboard Country Songs chart. And his recently released album Haywire is second only to Lady Antebellum‘s Need You Now on the album chart.

In related news, Josh recently announced that he’ll be joining Alan Jackson on his upcoming “Freight Train Tour” set to leave the station on April 8, making its first stop in Estero, FL. “I am really looking forward to sharing the stage with Alan, he has always been one of my musical heroes and I know we will be playing for a great group of country music fans during this tour,”  Josh told fans in a post on his website last week.

And just two nights ago, Josh was the featured musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live, performing his chart topping hit “Why Don’t We Just Dance.”  You can watch Josh’s performance right here:

Visit GAC’s official Josh Turner artist section to watch our recent interview clips and Fan Q&A session »

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Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Josh Turner’s new album Haywire got off to a great start, selling 85,000 copies in its first week to land at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and at No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard 200. And that news comes as the CD’s first single, “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” holds steady at No. 1 on the Top Country Songs list.

Josh may be hot in the present moment, but part of his success has comes by learning from the past. Randy Travis was a symbolic mentor for him during his formative years, and he’s worked with such previous hitmakers as Trisha Yearwood, Ralph Stanley and Diamond Rio to build his career since he started recording.

But Josh was getting an education about artistry and the music business long before he made his way from South Carolina to Nashville. The stories of established artists can be found in many settings, and Josh looked to those people’s histories to pick up creative nuances or even motivation.

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Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Anyone who’s watched just 10 minutes of CNN or Fox News probably understands Josh Turner’s “Why Don’t We Just Dance” very, very well. It’s great to know what’s going on in the world, but when the bulk of what’s presented is disasters and pessimistic politics, it doesn’t do much for the psyche.

Which is pretty much why Josh cut “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” which implores the listener to move the couch, ignore the “315 channels of nothing but bad news” and cut a rug.

“Why don’t we just have some fun?” Josh said to Entertainment Weekly. “That’s what this record’s all about.”

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Josh Turner poses with dancers Ciaran McCarthy and Ashley Anderson (who are married in real life) from his new video, “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” which makes its world premiere on GAC’s "Monday Music Mania" on October 5 at 8 p.m. Eastern. Photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

When he was a youngster, Josh Turner had some enunciation problems. He’d perform shows for his family, borrowing the name of an established artist he simply couldn’t pronounce properly, Kidney Rogers.

Hannah, S.C., is a long way from country music’s capital, but even then, Josh knew it was his destination.

“My dream was to go to Nashville,” Josh says. “I didn’t know how and I didn’t know when I was going to get there, but my dream was to be here.”

Josh’s rise from “Kidney Rogers” to multi-platinum star is dissected in Origins: Josh Turner, a GAC special that connects the dots between his farm-town beginnings to his current stardom. Grandparents from each side of his family influenced his musical ambitions. And his journey through Nashville’s Belmont University plays an important role in the story.

In addition to conversations with Josh and his family, the special features an acoustic concert with performances of “Long Black Train” and “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” which reached the Top 15 this week among country singles on the USA Today Mediabase chart.

The show is well timed, leading up to the release of his new album, Haywire. Two versions of the CD reach stores Feb. 9: a standard, 11-song release; and a deluxe edition offering two live tracks, the “Why Don’t We Just Dance” video and footage of an interview about the disc’s songs.

Origins: Josh Turner debuts Thursday on GAC at 8 p.m. ET.

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