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Lee Brice’s single “Love Like Crazy” moves to # 3 and enters its 55th week on the Billboard Country Songs Chart, breaking the record for most weeks spent on this chart. The song that held the chart for 54 weeks was Eddy Arnold’s “Bouquet of Roses,” which debuted the week of May 15, 1948.
“It’s really hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this song has been on the charts for over a year,” Brice said. “I had a really good feeling about it when Doug Johnson played it for me. But never in my wildest dreams did I think it would have this kind of life. It’s a song people can relate to—nothing flashy—just straightforward and honest. And that’s what makes a truly great song.”
“Love Like Crazy” entered the Nielsen BDS-based Country Songs radio airplay chart at #58 the week of September 5, 2009. Since the song hit the Top 40, Brice has been one of the most in demand artists for live performances. He has already performed a full summer tour, with another three months of roadwork to go, touring with such superstar acts as Hank Williams Jr., Brad Paisley, LeAnn Rimes and Jason Aldean.
Brice also holds the distinction of co-writing the first song in Billboard’s Country Songs chart history to enter the charts at #1—Garth Brooks’ hit “More Than A Memory.” For more information on tour dates and the artist, please visit leebrice.com.
Jimmy Wayne has been home for a month now after his Meet Me Halfway trek – a nearly 1,700-mile walk he took from Nashville to Phoenix to raise awareness about teen homelessness. Now, the country star says the walk has inspired him to write an album about the experience.
Wayne has already finished one song, which was inspired by the people he met during his seven-month trek.
“It’s a consolidation of all the people I have met in one song,” he told TheBoot.com. “This album is not going to be your bubble-gum record at all. It’s inspired by this walk.” He added, “It’s not necessarily all about the foster kids because you don’t have to beat that thing to death. It’s a record about my experience — why I walked, about the walk, the end of the walk, and what I hope happens after the walk. I’m writing down the truth and I’m writing from my heart. It’s real. It’s my heart.”
Steve Wariner is one of the confirmed co-writers for the album. Along with this album, Wayne is also co-writing his first book, Paper Angels, with Travis Thrasher. Seems like fans of Jimmy have been waiting for this book to finally happen. The book will hit shelves in late 2011.
Keith Urban and some of his musical friends are joining forces again for a good cause. Urban’s second annual We’re All for the Hall benefit concert will feature artists such as Miranda Lambert, Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, John Mayer and Alan Jackson, just to name a few.
The concert is Oct. 5 at Bridgestone Arena and will benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Tickets, which go on sale Sept. 17, range from $25 to $35. They can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com , all Ticketmaster locations, the Bridgestone Arena’s box office and by phone at 800-745-3000.
Museum Director Kyle Young said last year’s We’re All for the Hall concert was the museum’s most successful fundraiser, raising about $500,000.
Dierks Bentley will take New York City “Up On The Ridge” for four nights beginning Oct. 18. Each consecutive night will showcase a different aspect of Bentley’s award-winning career in four different venues across the city. Bentley will also welcome unparalleled special guests, including the Del McCoury Band, the Punch Brothers and more to his first-ever residency. A limited number of four day passes will be available on dierks.com beginning Fri., Sept 10 with single tickets available both on his web site and through each venue. Sirius/XM will also give fans across the country the opportunity to listen in as they stream the shows on both The Highway and Bluegrass Junction channels.
“This entire year has been about following my heart, musically,” says Bentley. “Getting the opportunity to be in New York in the Fall, playing with my heroes and my friends is really exciting…it’s a cool way for me to take everything we’ve done this year and pick it apart and really focus on each different element of the music for an entire night.”
Bentley will kick off his New York City residency playing all his chart-topping country hits at the Bowery Ballroom. He will spend the next evening with bluegrass legends the Del McCoury Band at City Winery. The week will progress with an intimate singer/songwriter night at Joe’s Pub where Bentley will be joined by award-winning songwriters Jessi Alexander, Jim Beavers and Jon Randall Stewart. The run will conclude in Brooklyn with acoustic virtuosos the Punch Brothers.
Dierks Bentley snagged three CMA Awards nominations last week for Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for Up On The Ridge and Musical Event of the Year for the album’s track “Bad Angel” featuring Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson. Since its release on June 8, Up On The Ridge has won critics over with the Washington Post calling it “the best country recording we’ll hear in 2010” and NPR deeming it “timeless.” To see what else critics are saying and for a full list of upcoming tour dates, visit www.dierks.com
Award-winning singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson will perform “Lonely at the Top” on Late Show with David Letterman Thursday, September 9. The song was written by Don Cook, Chick Raines and the late Keith Whitley but was never previously recorded. When Letterman and his staff heard the track from Johnson’s forthcoming 25-song Double Album, they thought it would be the perfect song for him to perform on their show.
Johnson will perform multiple times while in NYC next week. On September 8, he is a guest and will perform on Imus in the Morning, later that night he will perform at Joe’s Pub as part of the CMA Songwriters Series. On September 9, in addition to his performance on Letterman, he will headline a show at the Highline Ballroom.
Johnson’s The Guitar Song will be in stores on September 14. In the meantime, iTunes Countdown to The Guitar Song program gives consumers the opportunity to purchase select tracks and receive credit towards the full album purchase at iTunes on street date. Currently, “Playing the Part,” “Front Porch Swing Afternoon,” “Heartache” and “That’s Why I Write Songs” are all available for purchase at: http://www.JameyJohnson.com/countdown
“I’ve decided that everybody wants to know what you sing about, what you write about and what you look like,” says rising country star Justin Moore. “But I think it’s more important that they know you’re at least a halfway decent person before they spend 10 or 12 bucks on an album or 50 or 60 bucks on a concert ticket.”
After watching Justin Moore: How I Got To Be This Way, Sunday, September 12, 9:30 p.m./Eastern on Great American Country (GAC) there will be no doubt that Moore is both an incredibly talented and decent person raised by devoted and loving parents.
In the small town of Poyen, Arkansas (population 272), Moore grew up “hunting, fishing and obsessed with sports” and his first musical memory is that of singing in church. “I grew up singing solos,” he explains. “Growing up in a town as small as mine, there ain’t a whole lot of people to choose from that can sing on key.” As he got older, he began playing music regularly yet it wasn’t until his senior year in high school that he gave any serious thought to pursuing music as a career. “I thought, ‘That’s too fun to be a job, you’re supposed to hate your job,’” he says.
His father fully encouraged his only child to pursue a career in music and enthusiastically played his son’s music over his cell phone to anyone who would listen. Interest grew as more folks in Nashville heard Moore’s music and before long he had a manager. “I just thought his voice was amazing,” recalls Pete Hartung, Moore’s manager. “I called up his parents, asked if we could take a drive down to meet him and absolutely liked what we saw.” A short time later, the singer was signed to The Valory Music Co. – sister label to Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records (the home of Taylor Swift).
Moore’s band is most certainly a band of brothers and for this special, they gathered around a camp fire on his hunting land outside of Nashville. “Even though I’m a solo artist, we are a band. I hire guys to do a job that I can’t do.” “I don’t think there’s ever been a time we’ve been on stage and not had the best time of our life,” says keyboard player Kory Caudill of the band’s camaraderie. “It gets better every time.”
In the network special, Moore speaks openly about what has been both the best and worst year of his life. Along with achieving two consecutive Top 5 singles (including the #1 anthem “Small Town USA”), touring alongside Brad Paisley, and the birth of his first child Ella Kole, Moore also lost two of the dearest people in his life.
In addition to Moore’s candid conversation, fans will be treated to the music video of his newest hit single, “How I Got To Be This Way.”
“I’ve always loved country music because I thought people were writing just about me and it was describing how I was growing up,” Moore says
Billy Currington proves he’s pretty good at picking and delivering #1 hits with his latest chart topper “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer” written by Troy Jones. The song marks Currington’s fourth consecutive #1 single, sixth overall.
Currington will make his national television debut of the single later this month on “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” on CBS. Airdate to be announced.
“Its great to have another #1,” said Currington. “I’m extremely grateful to all involved, especially to Troy Jones for giving up another great song to me.”
Jones, a Tiltawhirl Music/Crozier Music Enterprise, a division of Carnival Music Group, and BMI writer, picks up his second #1. His first, “People Are Crazy”, was also recorded and performed by Currington.
Don’t forget to pick up the latest issue of People Magazine, on stands this Friday, September 10th, for an inside look at Currington’s all-time favorite beer-drinking tunes. His fourth album titled Enjoy Yourself, which debuts September 21.
This year, superstar Alan Jackson is celebrating the 20-year anniversary of his debut album, and he’s doing it in style with the November 23 release of 34 Number Ones, a career-spanning, double-disc collection featuring all 34 of Jackson’s #1 hits. With 37 songs in all, the project will also include two rare tracks and the new single, “As She’s Walking Away,” with Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson.
Alongside Alan’s first chart-topper, 1990’s “Here in the Real World,” fans will find such enduring favorites as “Gone Country” (1995); Jackson’s poignant, GRAMMY-winning “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” (2001); the Jimmy Buffett duet “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (2003); last year’s “Country Boy,” and many more. Also included are the beautiful “Look at Me” (previously available on the 2008 soundtrack to Billy: The Early Years) and Jackson’s never-before-released take on the classic Johnny Cash hit, “Ring of Fire.”
Over the past 20 years, Alan Jackson has become one of the most successful and respected songwriter/performers in music, inspiring audiences across several generations with his modern approach to classic country. A 16-time CMA and ACM Award winner and a GRAMMY-honored songwriter, Jackson’s career to date has included sales of more than 50 million albums. Later this month, Jackson will add to his long list of ASCAP honors, when he is presented with the ASCAP Founders Award, recognizing him for his innovative, influential, and pioneering contributions to music, joining such past recipients as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and James Taylor.
