Archive | May 7, 2017

Josh Abbott Welcomes New Baby

Josh Abbott of Josh Abbott Band and his girlfriend, Taylor Parnell, welcomed Emery Farryn Abbott on Friday.

Born Friday, May 5, around 1 a.m. in Austin, Texas, Emery Farryn Abbott weighed 6 lbs., 13 oz., and measured 19 inches long.

The name Emery Farryn means “brave adventure.” “We wanted to do something similar with a girl name to how my brother named his daughter Eisley Dawn, which means ‘Cheerful Beginnings’…The word ‘brave’ is a word I used to describe Taylor in a song I wrote for her, ‘I’m Your Only Flaw,’ on the new album coming out this year,’ said Abbott.

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Dolly Parton Helps Distribute Final My People Fund Checks And Surprises Families With $5,000 Checks

Dolly Parton with foundation recipients.

The Dollywood Foundation administered the final distribution from the My People Fund on Thursday with recipients noticing an extra surprise when they received the check.

Thanks to fundraising efforts, Dollywood Foundation officials were able to provide a $5,000 check to each family as they work to recover from the Smoky Mountain wildfires which occurred last November. Beginning last December, the My People Fund provided $1,000 each month to Sevier County families whose primary residences were completely destroyed due to the fires.

In total, recipients received $10,000 as a hand-up to help start their rebuilding efforts following the fire. The fund, which was established by Dolly Parton, The Dollywood Company, Parton’s dinner theaters and The Dollywood Foundation, was supported by contributions from across the country, as well as donations made through the Smoky Mountains Rise telethon which took place in early December.

“The My People Fund has been a great success,” said Parton. “I want to thank my team, the Dollywood Foundation, my friends in the music business and the thousands of people from all over the country who opened both their pocketbooks and their hearts to help us.

“Over the last five months, we’ve given nearly 900 families $5,000 to help them recover. Yesterday, we had our last distribution and I went over to The LeConte Center to say thanks to all the volunteers and to help give out a few checks myself. We matched what they’ve received already with another $5,000 check. I know $10,000 can’t solve everything, but I do hope the money will help them to dream again.”

In addition to providing initial monetary support to displaced families through the monthly check distribution, the remaining funds from the My People Fund will continue to help the people of Sevier County. At least $3 million will be contributed to the Mountain Tough Recovery Team which will serve the continuing needs of residents during the critical rebuilding period ahead. This program will begin helping families on June 1.

“We’re still receiving money, so we aren’t finished yet,” Parton added. “Recovery will take some time, so a new organization—called Mountain Tough—has been created to help our people get back on their feet for the next three years. We’re giving at least $3 million to help this new organization begin the next chapter of our journey.”

Mountain Tough assists individuals and families recovering from the wildfires by providing resources for the unmet needs of low-income families and individuals in Gatlinburg and the surrounding Sevier County area. The team seeks to restore the quality of life and provide for the long-term needs of those affected.

“Mountain Tough will help pick up where the My People Fund left off,” Dollywood Foundation President David Dotson said. “They will be staffed with case managers who will work to identify the immediate needs of residents and our funds will be used to address those needs. For example, it may help with transportation so someone can continue to be employed, or it may help with medicine for conditions caused by the fire. The case managers will coordinate with county agencies to ensure needed assistance is not duplicated and achieves its maximum impact.”

Anyone who wants to help the Mountain Tough Recovery Team with their efforts should visit www.mountaintough.org for information on how to donate, how to volunteer and much more. The website is the official source for all information regarding the recovery effort.

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ABOUT DOLLY PARTON
Dolly Parton is the most honored female country performer of all time. Achieving 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards, she has had 25 songs reach #1 on the Billboard Country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 41 career top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. All-inclusive sales of singles, albums, hits collections, paid digital downloads and compilation usage during her Hall of Fame career have reportedly topped a staggering 100 million records.

She has garnered seven Grammy Awards, 10 Country Music Association Awards, five Academy of Country Music Awards, three American Music Awards and is one of only five female artists to win the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award.

In 1999 Parton was inducted as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. She has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and became a member of the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001. Broadcast Music honored Parton with their Icon Award in 2003, and in 2004 the U.S. Library of Congress presented her with their Living Legend Award for her contribution to the cultural heritage of the United States. This was followed in 2005 with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for excellence in the arts.

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Chris Stapleton’s New Album, “From A Room: Volume 1”, Available Now

★★★★ “From A Room is strikingly focused, sonically and thematically.”
—Rolling Stone

Chris Stapleton’s highly anticipated new album, From A Room: Volume 1, is out now on Mercury Records Nashville (available here).

Released to widespread acclaim, The New York Times recently profiled Stapleton and his wife and collaborator, Morgane Stapleton (read the full story here). Of the couple, The Times’ Jon Caramanica praises, “The dynamic between the two is one of country’s great treats, a vivid display of affection that elevates their music.” He goes on to assert, “Like Traveller, From A Room is earthen, rich with tradition, has a tactile intensity and is carefully measured.”

In celebration of the release, Stapleton will debut new music on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” this coming Monday, May 8 and will be a guest on Sirius/XM’s  “Howard Stern Show” on Tuesday, May 9. Stapleton also recently sat down with Beats 1 for an in-depth interview filmed at RCA Studio A. Watch the full interview here.

Additionally, “Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show” tour kicks off tonight with back-to-back sold out shows in Alpharetta, GA and will span throughout 2017 with ten additional shows announcing today. The new dates include performances in Houston, Dallas, Tampa and Omaha as well as a very special hometown show at Nashville, TN’s Bridgestone Arena on October 13. Exclusive Stapleton Fan Club pre-sales will begin next Tuesday, May 9 at 10:00am local time. For more information visit www.stapletonfanclub.com. Public tickets for the newly announced concerts begin Friday, May 12 at 10:00am local time. Live Nation is the national tour promoter for the “All-American Road Show.”

Citi® is the official credit card of the “All-American Road Show” tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets through Citi’s Private Pass Program® beginning Tuesday, May 9 at 10:00am local. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.

Special guests for the extensive tour include Brothers Osborne, Lucie Silvas, Anderson East, Brent Cobb, Margo Price and Marty Stuart. Of a recent performance, the Seattle Times declares, “…Stapleton dazzled the sold-out crowd with a barrage of songs that defy easy categorization while receiving the kind of deafening cheers reserved for superstars.”

From A Room: Volume 1 is the first new music from Stapleton since 2015’s breakthrough double Platinum solo debut Traveller and will be followed by From A Room: Volume 2—coming later this year.

The album takes its name from Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, where it was recorded during the winter of 2016-17. Once again produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb, Volume 1 features eight original songs as well as “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning,” which was written by Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar and made famous by Willie Nelson. Additional highlights on the album include the album’s first radio single, “Either Way.”

In addition to Stapleton on vocals and guitar and Cobb on acoustic guitar, the album features Morgane Stapleton on harmony vocals as well as longtime band-members J.T. Cure on bass and Derek Mixon on drums and musicians Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Robby Turner on pedal steel and Mike Webb on keys.

photo credit: Andy Barron

The May 5 release of Volume 1 comes exactly two years to the day since the release of Traveller. Released to immediate widespread critical acclaim, the album had one of the best-selling first weeks by a debut country artist in 2015. Following a historic turn on the 49th Annual CMA Awards—where Stapleton became the first artist to win Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year at the same awards – Traveller became the first album to re-enter the Billboard 200 all-genre album chart at No. 1, where it stayed for two straight weeks. The critically acclaimed album went on to win multiple Grammy and ACM Awards and was the #1 selling Country album of 2016 and the fourth-highest selling album of 2016 across all genres. Additionally, in the past two years, Stapleton has performed on multiple national TV shows including “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and was profiled on “CBS News Sunday Morning.”

FROM A ROOM: VOLUME 1 TRACKLIST

1.  Broken Halos (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)

2.  Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning (Gary P. Nunn and Donna Sioux Farar)

3.  Second One To Know (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)

4.  Up To No Good Livin’ (Chris Stapleton and Casey Beathard)

5.  Either Way (Chris Stapleton, Tim James and Kendall Marvel)

6.  I Was Wrong (Chris Stapleton and Craig Wiseman)

7.  Without Your Love (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)

8.  Them Stems (Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Stewart and Shawn Camp)

9.  Death Row (Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson)

“CHRIS STAPLETON’S ALL-AMERICAN ROAD SHOW”

May 5—Alpharetta, GA—Verizon Amphitheatre‡ (SOLD OUT)

May 6 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Amphitheatre‡ (SOLD OUT)

May 11—Virginia Beach, VA—Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at VA Beach‡

May 12—Raleigh, NC—Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek§ (SOLD OUT)

May 13—Charlotte, NC—PNC Music Pavilion‡ (SOLD OUT)

May 18—San Diego, CA—Mattress Firm Amphitheatre‡

May 19—Phoenix, AZ—Ak-Chin Pavilion‡

May 20—Los Angeles, CA—The Forum‡

May 23—Denver, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre‡ (SOLD OUT)

May 24—Denver, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre‡ (SOLD OUT)

June 1—Fresno, CA—Save Mart Center at Fresno State‡

June 2— Mountain View, CA—Shoreline Amphitheatre‡

June 3—Wheatland, CA—Toyota Amphitheatre‡ (SOLD OUT)

June 9—Southaven, MS—BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove§

June 10—Birmingham, AL—Oak Mountain Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)

June 11—Nashville, TN—CMA Music Fest

June 15—Charleston, WV—Charleston Civic Center§ (SOLD OUT)

June 16—Cincinnati, OH—Riverbend Music Center§

June 17—Indianapolis, IN—Klipsch Music Center§

June 22—Tulsa, OK—BOK Center§

June 23—Manhattan, KS—Country Stampede

June 24—North Platte, NE—Nebraskaland Days

June 29—Chicago, IL—Wrigley Field# (SOLD OUT)

July 5—Milwaukee, WI—Summerfest#

July 6—Milwaukee, WI—Summerfest#

July 14—Mansfield, MA—Xfinity Center§

July 15—Hartford, CT—The XFINITY Theatre§

July 16—Darien Lake, NY—Darien Lake Performing Arts Center§

July 20—Holmdel, NJ—P.N.C. Bank Arts Center§

July 21—Wantagh, NY—Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater§

July 22—Bristow, VA—Jiffy Lube Live§

July 28—George, WA—Watershed Festival (SOLD OUT)

July 29—Central Point, OR—Country Crossings Music Festival

July 30—Mountain Home, ID—Mountain Home Country Music Festival

August 3—Duluth, MN—AMSOIL Arena** (SOLD OUT)

August 4—Prairie Du Chien, WI—Country on the River

August 5—St. Louis, MO—Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre**

August 10—Hershey, PA—Giant Center**

August 11—Pittsburgh, PA—KeyBank Pavilion**

August 12—Philadelphia, PA—BB&T Pavilion**

August 17—Toronto, ON—Budweiser Stage**

August 18—Cleveland, OH—Blossom Music Center**

August 19—Clarkston, MI—DTE Energy Music Theatre** (SOLD OUT)

August 25—Gilford, NH—Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion**

August 26—Gilford, NH—Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion** (ON-SALE 5/12)

October 5—Moline, IL—iWireless Center** (ON-SALE 5/12)

October 6—Des Moines, IA—Wells Fargo Arena**

October 7—St Paul, MN—Xcel Energy Center**

October 13—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena†(ON-SALE 5/12)

October 19—Baton Rouge, LA—Raising Cane’s River Center Arena†† (SOLD OUT)

October 20—San Antonio, TX—AT&T Center††

October 21—Bossier City, LA—CenturyLink Center††

October 26—Austin, TX—Austin360 Amphitheater††

October 27—Houston, TX—Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman†† (ON-SALE 5/12)

October 28—Dallas, TX—Starplex Pavilion†† (ON-SALE 5/12)

November 3—Columbus, OH—Nationwide Arena†† (ON-SALE 5/12)

November 4—Grand Rapids, MI—Van Andel Arena††

November 10—Tampa, FL—MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre†† (ON-SALE 5/12)

November 11—Jacksonville, FL—Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena†† (ON-SALE 5/12)

November 16—Little Rock, AR—Verizon Arena†† (ON-SALE 5/12)

November 18—Omaha, NE—CenturyLink Center Omaha†† (ON-SALE 5/12)

‡with special guests Brothers Osborne and Lucie Silvas

§with special guests Anderson East and Brent Cobb

#with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

**with special guests Margo Price and Brent Cobb

†with special guests Brothers Osborne and Brent Cobb

††with special guests Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb

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