Artist News: Young, Ingram, Ducas

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Pictured at Michigan International Speedway: NASCAR driver Kurt Busch and Young

Pictured at Michigan International Speedway: NASCAR driver Kurt Busch and Young

NASCAR fan and RCA Nashville hitmaker Chris Young was at the Michigan International Speedway recently to kick off the excitement with a national anthem performance prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CARFAX 400. Young’s new album, The Man I Want to Be, featuring his hit, “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song)” is set for a Sept. 1 release.

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Self-proclaimed barbeque expert Jack Ingram is partnering with KC Masterpiece® Barbecue Sauces and Marinades in a campaign to encourage grilling throughout Fall football season.

 The campaign includes “Eat and Greets” with Ingram at select tour dates beginning in September, where contest winners will be invited to a backstage barbeque before each show. Ingram will make public appearances on behalf of the brand and participate in additional media-driven programs in key markets. The passionate griller will also share a few of his personal barbecue recipes using KC Masterpiece with his fans. 

”I will literally spend an entire weekend in my backyard working on the perfect brisket…it’s what we do in Texas…we barbeque, drink beer and talk smack about football,” says Ingram. “The KC Masterpiece relationship is perfect because it’s a brand that you would already find in my fridge any day of the week.” Ingram’s new album is called Big Dreams & High Hopes, including hit lead single “Barefoot and Crazy.”

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BMI singer-songwriter George Ducas was the featured performer at the New Mexico Broadcasters Association’s (NMBA) Excellence in Broadcasting Awards Gala held August 14 in Albuquerque. Ducas, who penned the Sara Evans number one smash “Real Fine Place to Start,” and hits for Garth Brooks, George Jones, the Eli Young Band, Radney Foster, and others, entertained the packed house with songs from his diverse catalogue, including his own top ten record “Lipstick Promises.”

Following George’s performance are (l to r): BMI’s Dan Spears, NMBA Chairman and VP/GM of Pecos Valley Broadcasting Gene Dow, Ducas, Citadel Communications-Albuquerque VP/GM and NMBA Chairman Elect Milt McConnell.

(L-R): BMI’s Dan Spears, NMBA Chairman and VP/GM of Pecos Valley Broadcasting Gene Dow, Ducas, Citadel Communications-Albuquerque VP/GM and NMBA Chairman Elect Milt McConnell.

CMA Nominations Coming Sept. 9

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darius_ruckerThe announcement of the final nominees for the 2009 CMA Awards will be carried live on Wednesday, Sept. 9, from the Good Morning America studios in the heart of New York City’s Times Square on the ABC Television Network. The final nominees in select categories will be announced by Darius Rucker, who has quickly established himself as a fan and industry favorite with three No. 1 singles to his credit, and Lee Ann Womack, a former CMA Female Vocalist of the Year with 18 career CMA Awards nominations to her credit. The live announcements will take place during the 8:30 AM/ET half-hour of the morning news program.

leeannwomack The 43rd Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from the Sommet Center in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 11 (8:00-11:00 PM ET/delayed PT) on ABC and is hosted for the second year by reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year Brad Paisley and reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Carrie Underwood.

In addition to the nominee announcements, Chuck Wicks will announce the finalists for the 2009 CMA Broadcast Personality and Radio Station of the Year in four categories (small, medium, large, and major markets) as well as the finalists for the CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year live on Premiere Radio Networks from their New York studios.

Benefit Concerts, Comedy, Golf And More

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Natalie Hemby plays the Miller Harris benefit tonight at the Bluebird.

Natalie Hemby plays the Miller Harris benefit tonight at the Bluebird.

Go to the Bluebird tonight (8/27) and support the Miller Harris Foundation’s Asthma Camp for Kids. Carey Barlowe, Nathalie Hemby, Josh Hoge and Stephen Lee Olsen play at 6 PM; the 9 PM show features Sherrie Austin, Jeff Bates and Stephen Dale Jones. www.bluebirdcafe.com

The Miller Harris Golf Tournament will be Monday, September 14 at Temple Hills Golf Club. Register to play, volunteer or become an official sponsor of the 10th anniversary event. Details at www.millerharrisfoundation.com or by calling (615) 584-7848. The tournament includes a chance to win a Porsche, custom motorcycle, and more.

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Duet Dreams Come True: A Benefit For The ALS Association will be held tonight (8/27) from 6-9pm at 3rd & Lindsley. It is a night of duet performances, duet karaoke, songs from Doyle and Debbie, ’80s duets by members of Guilty Pleasures and one lucky attendee will get to perform a duet with Linda Davis. ALS is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Local event planner Kathleen Chandler Wright, whose father was diagnosed with ALS, spearheaded the event. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.3rdandlindsley.com, 1-866-468-3401 or at the door. Details and an online auction with autographed items from Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Peter Frampton, and more at www.duetdreamscometrue.org.

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Three country performers are gathering this weekend at the Nashville Palace to raise money for the United Warrior Survivor Foundation (UWSF). Keni Thomas, Ty Herndon and Jamie O’Neal will perform Saturday, August 29 at 8 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the organization established to aid Special Forces widows with support, bereavement and future planning. Tickets are $10 at the door.

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komen_logoBreast cancer is no laughing matter, but International Man of Comedy Tom Rhodes along with Beth Donahue, Brian Bates and Shawn Tidwell invite you to get Tickled Pink. The show hits the Belcourt Theatre on Friday, September 18, at 7:30 pm. A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Greater Nashville Affiliate. Sponsored by the Moosehead and Alice Crafts, CPA, LLC, tickets are on sale now for $25 at www.belcourt.org.

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After wrapping up a brief tour in Scandanavia earlier this month, country recording artist Mark Chesnutt jumped aboard a plane and headed to Iraq with the mission to perform for our troops as part of the Stars For Stripes summer concert series. The seven-day jaunt (August 9 through August 15) enabled Chesnutt to visit with and perform before the service men and women stationed in the Iraq bases, Sather AB, Camp Victory, Camp Liberty and Camp Stryker as well as Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. erforming in five separate shows (one in Kuwait and four in Iraq), Mark enjoyed the opportunity to spend quality time with the troops including meet and greets in which Mark made personal introductions with each and every individual. As part of the itinerary, Mark also took a helicopter out to visit two Forward Operating Bases (FOBs)--the FOB War Eagle and FOB Istiqlaal before flying back to the States on the 14-hour flight to D.C. Mark was presented with a commemorative coin as a “thank-you;” the Challenge Coin, as it is commonly referred, was presented to Chesnutt by General Ray Odierno, Commanding General, Multi-National Force, Iraq.

Mark Chesnutt headed overseas this month as part of the Stars For Stripes summer concert series. He performed for service men and women stationed in Iraq and Kuwait. Chesnutt was also presented with a commemorative coin called the Challenge Coin as a “thank-you” from Gen. Ray Odierno, Commanding General, Multi-National Force, Iraq.

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The eighth annual Bruce Burch and Friends Concert Honoring John Jarrard will bring another talented group of songwriters to Gainesville, GA on Sept. 24. The concert at Brenau University includes John Berry making his third appearance, Steve Cropper, Jimmy Hall, Roger Cook, Buddy Cannon, Gary Nicholson, Burch and Allen Nivens.

John Jarrard was a Gainesville native and Nashville songwriter who wrote songs for performers such as Don Williams, Alabama, George Strait, Diamond Rio and Tracy Lawrence. Jarrard battled diabetes before passing away in 2001. The concert honors Jarrard and benefits local charities like the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hall County, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Georgia Chapter, the Georgia Mountain Food Bank, and the University of Georgia Music Business program.

Church Tour Goes “Wild”

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eric_church_2Eric Church is set to embark on The Young & Wild(er) Tour, a series of East Coast and Midwest dates, beginning September 3 in Wilmington, DE. The tour features performances at the House of Blues in Cleveland, two nights at Joe’s in Chicago and the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, among others. He is scheduled for more than 25 dates running through Nov. 20. The Young & Wild(er) Tour arrives on the heels of Church’s sophomore release, Carolina. It follows Church’s performance at Lollapalooza, which earned praise from Rolling Stone, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times

Church’s Young & Wild Tour this past spring included 20 sold out shows, record-breaking attendance at the Dallas Bull in Tampa, FL and performances on NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and CBS’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Supporting Church on the road is the Eric Church Band, which is rounded out by Driver Williams (guitar), Ed Smoak (guitar), Jeff Hyde (banjo/mandolin), Lee Hendricks (bass) and Craig Wright (drums).

New Video, Free Download, Opry Radio Special

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From the unlikely pairings dept: Randy Houser is wearing his Boots to the Oprah & Friends Radio Network where he will visit Dr. Maya Angelou’s program airing this week on XM 156 and Sirius 195. During the interview Houser discusses his new album, Anything Goes, family, faith, and why he loves country music.

Houser is also preparing for CMT’s eighth annual tour which he will co-headline with longtime friend Jamey Johnson, beginning in October. It will hit 30 markets across the country.

His new single, “My Kind Of Country,” will arrive at radio mid-September, but in the meantime, you can listen to it on his MySpace page. Below is his new live video for “Boots On.”

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Mallary Hope’s debut single, “Love Lives On,” is the iTunes Single of the Week and can be downloaded for free. The 22-year-old Georgia native is signed to MCA Records.

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Luke Bryan is set to host the America’s Opry Weekend Number One Party radio special Labor Day weekend. It will include live Opry performances, artist interviews and his own performances including latest single, “Do I,” and covers of John Anderson’s “Money In the Bank,” Conway Twitty’s “I’d Just Love To Lay You Down,” and Billy Currington’s “Good Directions,” which was  co-written by Bryan. Bryan’s Doin’ My Thing album is due in stores Oct. 6.

Reba’s Record Setting Album Enters At No. 1

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This week Reba taped her first-ever appearance on AOL Sessions in New York City.  Reba is pictured above with AOL Chairman/CEO Tim Armstrong (himself a big country music fan) prior to the taping.  Reba’s appearance on AOL Sessions is set to premiere September 4th.

Reba recently taped her first appearance on AOL Sessions in New York City and it is set to premiere Sept. 4. She is pictured with AOL Chairman/CEO Tim Armstrong.

Reba McEntire’s first new solo studio album in six years—and her first for The Valory Music Co.—debuted at No. 1 today on the Billboard Top Country and Top 200 Albums charts. She sold almost 96,000 units the first week of release.

Keep On Loving You is her first solo studio album to reach the pinnacle of the all-genre Top 200 chart. Featuring the Top 10 smash “Strange,” the album is the highest debut from a female country artist for 2009.

With today’s news, Reba now holds the record as the female artist with the most No. 1 albums—11—on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. She previously shared the title with Loretta Lynn with 10 albums.

The chart watchers at Valory also report this is the first time in history that three country albums in a row have topped the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. Most recently the No. 1 slot belonged to George Strait and Sugarland.

Reba performs her new single, “Consider Me Gone,” tonight (8/26) on NBC’s hit summer series America’s Got Talent (9-10 p.m. ET).

Reba welcomed Clear Channel national programmers and national voice-trackers to her Nashville home Monday evening following a day filled with interviews that will air on Clear Channel stations nationwide.  Pictured above (l-r): Valory’s Scott Borchetta, Joe Boxer, Michael J. Foxx, Valory’s JoJamie Hahr, Reba, Doug Montgomery, Billy Greenwood, Valory’s John Zarling, Clay Hunnicutt and Valory’s Jon Loba.

Reba welcomed Clear Channel national programmers and national voice-trackers to her Nashville home Monday evening following a day filled with interviews that will air on Clear Channel stations nationwide. Pictured above (l-r): Valory’s Scott Borchetta, Joe Boxer, Michael J. Foxx, Valory’s JoJamie Hahr, Reba, Doug Montgomery, Billy Greenwood, Valory’s John Zarling, Clay Hunnicutt and Valory’s Jon Loba.

Sony Courts Kindle Readers

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sonyreader

Sony's readers: (L-R) The Pocket Edition ($199), e-Reader ($299) and the newly announced Daily Edition ($399) with 7" touch screen.

They say “those who do not study history are bound to repeat the same mistakes…” Well someone at Sony Electronics must be paying attention. Especially regarding how Apple came in and pushed Sony’s Walkman music players to the curb. Now Sony is trying to do the same thing to Amazon’s Kindle book reader.

Sony has just announced its Daily Edition electronic reading device. Readers can use the unit’s touch screen to swipe (turn) a page plus view pages both vertically and/or horizontal (2 at a time). Also significant is that, unlike the Kindle, this unit can download books from a variety of sources including free books from your local library, if you have a library card.

Kindle users are only able to download books from Amazon. iTunes at first used the digital rights management approach to keep iPods tied to its store, but later decided to eliminate the DRM restrictions, as did many other sites. The net result of no DRM was that the music and players became more platform independent, something which Amazon may now reconsider in response to Sony’s new offering. Sony is using the EPUB format which can be read by a variety of different readers, while Kindle uses a proprietary format that can only be read using the Kindle.

Amazon has also been under fire for its Kindle content deals with newspaper publishers who object to giving up 70% of the subscription generated revenue. Sony promises to do better, but has not yet revealed its plans.

Priced around $400, the Daily Edition is priced about $100 under the Kindle. The new device has a 7″ screen and uses AT&Ts 3G mobile broadband service for downloading. Other Sony offerings include the Pocket Edition ($199) and the Sony e-Reader ($299).

Chesney Pens ESPN Song, Heads For “Austin City Limits”

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chesneyIt’s widely known that Kenny Chesney is a huge football fan, and now he has put pen to paper and written a song about the game that will be used exclusively by ESPN this fall.

“It was one of those moments of spontaneous inspiration,” he recalls. “We were talking about how much goes into getting on that field, what it means to those guys out there… and Bill Bonnell turns to me and says, ‘You oughta write a song about it… ‘I mean, there we were at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse with [announcer] Brett Musburger, [sports analyst] Kirk Herbstreit and the head producer of ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC [Bonnell]—and the next morning I’m gonna do College Game Day—and it just hit me! I asked for a cocktail napkin, and started writing the verses and the chorus.”

“This Is Our Moment” debuts across the ESPN properties, including their ABC network live college telecasts as part of Football Kickoff Weekend on Sept. 3.

Chesney is also set for PBS’s legendary concert show Austin City Limits, debuting Oct. 17. The special will feature stripped down performances of some of his biggest hits such as “Beer In Mexico,” “Summertime” and “Young.” Chesney also reaches into his more contemplative songs with “Anything But Mine” and the never before performed “Somewhere In The Sun.” Joining him are percussionist Drummie Zeb from the Wailers, and singer/songwriter Mac McAnally, who appears on the duet “Down The Road.”

Ingram Sets World Record For Radio Interviews

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Jack Ingram is a awarded a Guiness World Record by Adjudicator Laura Plunkett.

Jack Ingram is a awarded a Guiness World Record by Adjudicator Laura Plunkett.

Country music marathon man Jack Ingram dove headfirst into the release day of his new album Big Dreams & High Hopes by setting the Guinness World Record this morning for “Most Consecutive Radio Interviews In A 24 Hour Period.”

Ingram notched 215 interviews across most of the 50 states and parts of Canada, Ireland and Australia, easily shattering the previous record of 96 interviews. 

Ingram began interviews in New York City yesterday (8/25) at 8:00 AM at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge and continued through the night. He wrapped the session this morning with a performance of the album’s lead single “Barefoot and Crazy” on Fox & Friends.

CMT.com exclusively streamed the event, and recorded a record number of viewers in what is also the longest continuous stream the site has ever attempted. “After the last 24 hours, I officially have nothing left to say,” concluded Ingram.

Ingram will continue the momentum by jetting straight to his home state of Texas to play Dallas tonight and Austin on Thursday before rounding out the week opening three shows for Toby Keith in California.

Rosanne Cash To Keynote At Americana Conf.

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rosanne-cashRosanne Cash will be the subject of the Americana Music Association’s Festival and Conference 2009 Keynote Interview. The interview, conducted by author/journalist Michael Streissguth who recently wrote a book about the artist, will take place Thursday, September 17 from 10:45 until noon at the Nashville Convention Center.

Cash has built an acclaimed career over 30 years of inspired music making. The Grammy Award-winner is embracing her roots with The List, a collection of cover songs culled from more than 100 classics she was encouraged to explore by her legendary father, Johnny Cash, when she was 18 years old. A handful of special guests, including Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy and Rufus Wainwright join her on the record, which will be released on Manhattan Records October 6.

Interviewer Michael Streissguth’s latest book, Always Been There: Rosanne Cash, The List and the Spirit of Southern Music (DaCapo Press), chronicles the making of The List, providing readers with an intimate look behind the scenes of the album’s creation through in-depth interviews with Cash and husband/producer John Leventhal in the studio, at home and on tour.

The 10th Annual Americana Festival and Conference runs Sept. 16-19 will offer seminars, panels and networking opportunities at the Nashville Convention Center by day, while the evenings bring nearly 100 stacked Americana music showcases to five venues. The capstone is the Honors & Awards Show, Thursday September 17th at the legendary Ryman Auditorium. For details on how to attend visit Americana.org.