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Nashville's premier entertainment blog including album, song and show reviews and exclusive artist interviews.
Go backstage with Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert on the Locked & Reloaded Tour in DBTV, Episode 94.
In other news, Dierks, whose single “Tip It On Back” is closing in on Top 5, is hitting the links on Wednesday in Scottsdale, Arizona for the Waste Management Phoenix Open Annexus Pro-Am. His team will be led by 28 –year-old Swedish pro-golfer, Jonas Blixt. Dierks is also set to perform at the Bird’s Nest in Phoenix for the golf tournament closer.
Kacey Musgraves is getting ready to head out on the road with Little Big Town on the band’s Tornado Tour, which kicks off Thursday (January 31st) in Murray, Kentucky. The Texas native, whose debut single “Merry Go Round” is sitting inside the Top 15, is ready for her first major tour. “I’m really lucky to have really great people working [with] me who have awesome ideas and [are] very helpful and just very instrumental in getting this whole thing rolling, because this is pretty new to me,” says Kacey. “Touring on a national scale is something that is new to me, especially with a set band that’s yours. I mean, I come from the school of playing acoustic.”
So, with this full band and a stage, what can the crowd expect to see, besides hearing amazing songs? “We’re going to have some cool aesthetic aspects to the shows too, playing off the Same Trailer, Different Park album title. I just love kitchy-ness,” admits Kacey. “I’m gonna say there might be some Astroturf involved, some pink flamingos.”
“Merry Go Round” is the first single from Kacey’s debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park, which arrives in stores March 19th.
Today, Mountain Dew taps into its southern roots and welcomes one of country music’s hottest emerging acts, Brantley Gilbert, into the DEW family. Embracing the brand’s Tennessee history and one-of-a-kind flavor, the new partnership is a perfect fit with the hit singer/songwriter’s high-energy live shows and authentic lyrics.
The Academy of Country Music (ACM) New Male Vocalist nominee has sold over 3.5 million tracks to date from both his debut album, A MODERN DAY PRODIGAL SON, as well as his current, Gold-certified HALFWAY TO HEAVEN DELUXE (The Valory Music Co.). Gilbert has scored four #1 hits, including the GOLD-certified smashes “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” and “Country Must Be Country Wide.” After playing to over 500,000 fans last year while on the road with Eric Church and Toby Keith, Gilbert will kick off the second leg of his first-ever headlining dates – HELL ON WHEELS TOUR – on January 31.
“I have been a fan of Mountain Dew for as long as I can remember,” said Gilbert. “I’m honored to be able to partner up with the DEW family for some exciting projects this year.”
Carrie Underwood is teaming up with Tickets-for-Charity.com® to offer fans some of the best seats in the house on her “Blown Away Tour” while also benefiting the Academy of Country Music’s ACM Lifting Lives® and the C.A.T.S. Foundation at www.TicketsforCharity.com/ACMLiftingLives.
Carrie joins artists like Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley and Toby Keith in this exciting program that gives fans access to terrific seats in sold-out sections for concerts nationwide. Fans pay the same or better price they will find elsewhere – the difference is that their purchase through Tickets-for-Charity.com supports causes important to artists and fans, rather than ticket resellers.
Rising star Sarah Darling is the surprise musical guest for a one on one date on an upcoming episode of The Bachelor. The episode will feature a special “one-on-one date” where country music artist Sarah Darling performs a concert in Whitefish, Montana with the newest Bachelor, Sean Lowe. The episode is scheduled to air Monday, FEBRUARY 4, 2013, on ABC.
This season on The Bachelor, Sean, 29, the successful Dallas businessman and entrepreneur who charmed fans while wooing Bachelorette Emily Maynard, meets 26 potential soul mates and gets another shot at love as the Bachelor. Sean was blindsided in the Caribbean island of Curaçao when Emily rejected him, and viewers saw the devastated Sean wrestling to make sense of her decision. Thankfully, Sean did not give up on his dream of love and he now knows with certainty that the time is right for him to risk it all again to try to find the right woman. The Bachelor airs Mondays (8:00–10:01 p.m., ET/PT), on ABC.
Capitol Records Nashville recording artist and 2013 Academy of Country Music Awards show co-host Luke Bryan will release his next spring break-themed album on March 5th, 2013, SPRING BREAK…HERE TO PARTY. This CD will be available in record stores, and digitally, and will contain many of the songs released on his previous EP’s. In addition, Luke has written two original songs for the album.
In promotion for the soon to be released record, Luke will take a short break from his headline tour, “Dirt Road Diaries Tour,” to once again play concerts at Spinnaker’s Beach Club in Panama City, set for March 12th and 13th, where over 40,000 fans flocked to the beach each day last year to see Luke perform. Spring breaking fans can also enjoy a “Dirt Road Diaries Tour” show the following day on March 14th at the Amphitheatre at the Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama.
A tour. An album. And now the official release of a new single to American radio.
Emerson Drive announces the release of a brand new single, “She’s My Kind of Crazy,” the lead single from Roll, the band’s much anticipated new studio album. The song has had over 20,000 iTunes downloads, in just under three months, and sees over 40 spins per week on Sirius XM’s “The Highway.” The flurry of activity forced an earlier release date of Roll to January 22nd.
“Our fans have been wonderfully loud in asking us for new music here in the U.S.,” said lead singer Brad Mates. “We knew ‘Crazy’ needed to be heard and we’ve worked hard the last few months to make it available digitally and now to ask our friends at radio to give us a shot.”
On YouTube, the video (directed Emerson Drive’s David Pichette) is closing in on half a million views! Watch the new clip below!
MCA Nashville recording artist, Gary Allan returned to the top of the charts today with the release of his ninth studio album Set You Free. Selling 106,109 albums in its debut week, Set You Free currently sits in the No. 1 position on the Billboard Country Albums Chart and Billboard Top 200 Pop Chart. This is Allan’s first No.1 Billboard Top 200 debut and third No. 1 debut on the Billboard Country Albums Chart.
Furthermore, Allan’s first single off Set You Free, the RIAA Gold certified “Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain),” reached the top position on the Billboard Country Airplay Chart, Mediabase/Country Aircheck and Music Row charts this week. Allan is no stranger to having a hit at radio. With “Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)” reaching the top position, this marks the fifth time Allan has had a No. 1 song, additionally he has had a cool dozen Top 10 hits.
“It has been a long while, but it feels really good,” says Allan. “I would especially like to thank all of my fans and everyone at radio. I would also like to thank everyone on my team who has helped to get me to this point. This is a great feeling!”
UMG Nashville’s Chairman and CEO, Mike Dungan humbly adds “What a gratifying moment for Gary and everyone on his team, including his family here at MCA and the Universal Music Group! This album is a spectacular piece of work, from one of music’s most unique and talented artists. We are so proud to represent Gary and his music.”
The excitement for Allan’s Set You Free continues. USA Today gave it FOUR OUT OF FOUR STARS and said “Allan is the outlaw whom country’s new wave dreams of being.” NPR admitted “A great mainstream country vocalist knows how to balance ardor with grit. Gary Allan is a master at that Blend” and the Nashville Scene boldly stated “when it comes to album-making as a serious art form, Neil Young has nothing on Gary Allan.”
Stay tuned for much more to come on Gary Allan.
Despite being well into the new year, last year’s successes continue to play out for Little General Records country recording group Taylor Made, as they have been named MusicRow Magazine’s Independent Artist of the Year for 2012. The award, which is based on the greatest amount of overall spins on the MusicRow chart in 2012, label size, distribution model, and promotion staff, will be presented to the trio at MusicRow’s Country Breakout Awards show on February 26th in Nashville.
“What an honor it is to win this award. There are so many wonderful people that have helped us get to this point in our career,” said Wendy Duckworth-Williams, member of Taylor Made. “Greg Darby and Little General Records, our producer/manager Dan Mitchell, Elise Anderson with Nashville Music Media, Jason Mitchell with Nocturnal Music Group, our radio promotions team, and, of course, MusicRow and its panel of reporting stations – many of which have supported us every step of the way.”
With marked success, Taylor Made continues to promote their current single, That’s What Life Is, which holds the #44 spot on this week’s MusicRow chart.
NASHVILLE — RAW: Nashville of the international arts organization RAW: natural born artists will launch its new showcase format Thursday, Feb. 28 at its art-infused showcase, Discovery.
