Darryl Worley Gives Back

01/11/2008

Darryl Worley donated $16,000 to four charities on Tues., Jan. 8 during a visit to his hometown Savannah, Tenn. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, LeBohneur Children's Medical Center, St. Jude and Ayers Children’s Medical Center received funds raised at his annual Tennessee River Run, and throughout the year at other events. To date the Darryl Worley Foundation, which also supports Savannah area charities, has made about $500,000 in donations.

(L-R): Trey Moore, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Connie Haygood, LeBohneur Children's Medical Center; Denna Kail, Ayers Children’s Medical Center; Worley; Beth Koffman, Ayers Children’s Medical Center; Jackie Profitt St. Jude Photo: Courtney Goolsby

Sugarland Headed Into Studio, Overseas In 2008

Sarah Skates – 01/11/2008

Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush are set to begin work on a new album next month, which will probably be released sometime in 2008. Among the group’s other plans, Nettles says, “We’re going out on tour again, of course. We’re even going to go across the old pond, as it may be, and try to visit some other folks that love country music in the world. And we’re going to come back and do every fair and festival on the planet.”

Artist News Friday (1/11/08)

Michelle Ross – 01/11/2008

Kellie Pickler led the group to the helicopters while in the Persian Gulf on a recent USO tour. This is Pickler’s first USO tour. Photo Credit: Dave Gatley

Dierks Bentley will be joined by special guests for a performance at a private late night pre-GRAMMY show at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles on Feb. 8. Bentley has earned four Grammy nominations this year for his album Long Trip Alone and his live concert DVD, Live & Loud at the Fillmore.

Jennifer Hanson and Universal Records South labelmate Phil Vassar are going on a multi-city acoustic tour, kicking off Jan. 12 in Prescott, AZ, and running through the end of February. Hanson will treat fans to her own hits ("Beautiful Goodbye," "Joyride"), songs recorded by other artists ("Leave the Pieces," "A Different World") plus new single, "73," from her upcoming album on Universal Records South.

Neal McCoy will perform during half-time of the NFL NFC divisional-round playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants this Sunday (1/13). McCoy, his band, 200 soldiers and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders will perform at the Texas Stadium.

NBC’s Friday Night Lights on Fri., Jan. 10 will feature Big & Rich’s “Loud,” at 8 p.m. CT.

Collin Raye's myspace site has received over one million fan visits since its inception in February ’07 including 300,000 downloads of current single, "Quitters" from Raye's second CD, Selected Hits.

IPAK recording artist Ansel Brown is set to visit five children's hospitals in North and South Carolina as part of his Bigger Heart Tour. The tour kicks off on Jan. 14 and will run through Jan. 18.

Emily West Visits Music Row

01/10/2008

Capitol Records Nashville artist Emily West visited the Music Row staff on Tues., Jan. 8 to share music from her upcoming debut album. She performed “Mississippi’s Crying,” “Blue Sky,” and “Rocks In Your Shoes,” all of which are on her recently released EP, available at iTunes.

Pictured (L-R): MR Publisher David Ross, RowFax Mgr. Michelle Ross, MR News Editor Sarah Skates, West and MR Chart Dir. Jon Freeman.

Artist News Thursday (1/10/08)

Miranda Lambert joins Kix Brooks in the list of country artists to recently enter the wine business. Lambert and her parents Rick and Beverly purchased the private label Red 55 Winery, named after Miranda's first...

Lady Antebellum Visits CMA

01/09/2008

Capitol Nashville recording group Lady Antebellum recently visited the offices of the Country Music Association and treated the staff to an acoustic performance.

Pictured (L-R): Hank Adam Locklin, CMA Sr. Mgr. Membership and Industry Relations; Charles Kelley; Hillary Scott; Tammy Genovese, CMA CEO; and Dave Haywood.

Big Machine & Taylor Swift Celebrate 5 Weeks At No. 1

01/09/2008

Taylor Swift and the Big Machine promo staff celebrated her single, “Our Song,” spending a fifth week at No. 1 on the Billboard/R&R and Mediabase charts. Her self-titled debut CD also returned to the No. 1 position atop Billboard‘s Country Albums sales chart this week. The release has sold in excess of 2 million copies.

Pictured (L-R) back: Jack Purcell, Mandy McCormack, Scott Borchetta, Swift, Erik Powell, Bobby Young and Larry Hughes. Front: Jayme Austin and John Zarling.

Taylor Swift Connects with Nashville Radio

01/08/2008

Taylor Swift reconnected with Nashville radio stations this week during a series of interviews, including one at WSM/Nashville.

Pictured (L-R): PD Kevin King; Swift; on-air personality Jim Day and promotions director Chris Waters.

Artist New Tuesday (1/8/08)

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are expecting their first child. Although Kidman is already the mother of two adopted children from her previous marriage to Tom Cruise, this will be her first biological child. Kidman...

Trisha Yearwood on Artist Confidential

01/07/2008

During a recent taping of Jazz At Lincoln Center in New York City, Trisha Yearwood recorded an edition of XM Artist Confidential with host Bill Anderson. The installment runs continuously today (1/7) on XMX and also premieres today on XM Highway 16 at 2 PM and 8 PM CT. The profile special containing exclusive acoustic performances will also air on XM’s United Airlines channel in the first quarter of 2008.