Thursday, July 12, 2007

Big & Rich Finally Hit No. 1

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(gactv.com)

Big & Rich have scored the first No. 1 hit of their career as a duo with "Lost in This Moment," which tops both the Mediabase and R&R Country Singles charts this week. John Rich calls the milestone "an incredible honor." To Big Kenny, "it proves that our dream of 'Music Without Prejudice' is real, and it is possible."

John tells Dial-Global that while the duo is just now topping the charts, you wouldn't know it based on the response from concert crowds to many of their songs. "It's been a very interesting paradox that we've written all of these songs that have been hits and haven't had one that was a technical hit, as far as where it wound up on the chart," he says. "We've had hits that died in the 20s and we play them every night and they know every word to them. It always boggles my mind that we can go play Comstock, Nebraska, and there's 30,000 people screaming the words to a song that died at 32."

Keith Anderson and John co-wrote the song six or seven years ago, before either of them had a record deal. Keith says they thought for sure somebody would have recorded it by now, and they each finally decided it was time someone did.

"Last fall I got a call from John, just catching up," Keith says. "He said, 'Hey! Congratulations! You've got a song that's gonna be on our new record.' And I'm like, 'Well, you've got one of our songs that's gonna be on my new record.' And it was the same song! We both cut "Lost In This Moment," so I'm gonna have my version on my record that's coming out this fall too. We figured whoever put it out, it wouldn't matter 'cause we both had a cool version we had already cut. So they put it out first, and now it's a big ol' No. 1. We knew it was a hit and we proved it seven years later."


 





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Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum Celebrates Marty Robbins

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(gactv.com)

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will honor singer, songwriter and actor Marty Robbins in "Marty Robbins: Among My Souvenirs," a biographical exhibit opening August 3 for an 11-month run in the Museum's East Gallery.

Opening weekend festivities will include guided tours of the exhibit and a panel discussion with some of Marty's friends and family. Weekend screenings will include Marty Robbins at Town Hall Party and the 1967 film Hell on Wheels, including musical performances by Marty, the Stoneman Family and Connie Smith. Marty's former assistant, Lucy Coldsnow Smith, now a top film dialogue and sound editor, will reflect on her years with Marty and share stories of his imprint on her life and career.

"Marty Robbins was a man with a huge appetite for life," said museum director Kyle Young. "He consistently treated challenges as opportunities, used them to his best advantage and became one of the most stylistically diverse and most beloved stars in country music history.

"We are grateful to Marty's son, Ronny Robbins, for his cooperation and assistance in planning 'Among My Souvenirs,' and we are pleased to welcome Ronny and all the Marty Robbins friends and collaborators who will be with us to help tell his story from their personal viewpoints."

Marty's 35-year career earned him induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, just seven weeks before he died of chronic heart disease at age 57. Through stage costumes, vintage photos, awards, original song manuscripts, instruments, posters and advertisements, personal correspondence and career-spanning audio and video, "Among My Souvenirs" will show how Marty stretched country music's boundaries by recording rockabilly, teen-pop, Hawaiian music and Tin-Pan Alley standards; returned country to its western roots with cowboy songs like "El Paso"; was a consummate showman, appearing in more than a dozen films and two syndicated television series; and was a family man who enjoyed racing stock cars.

 




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Vince Gill Gives Lowdown on Nashville Golf

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(gactv.com)

July 11, 2007 — The latest issue of GolfWeek magazine features Vince Gill in its Local Knowledge section, where Vince shares his tips on golfing in and around Nashville.

Vince describes his three favorite courses and best 19th hole, as well as offering advice on hotels and restaurants. Vince says he' been swapping concert tickets for green fees for 30 years. "Free golf — that's the motive" — and when he's not teeing up with his buddies, he's often playing in celebrity events, which he admits can be nerve-racking. "I've been a scratch player almost all of my life, but on the first tee, everybody's saying, 'OK, Mr. Coulda-Gone-Pro, let's see your action.' It's always a struggle."

In 1993 he established an annual tournament, The Vinny, which has raised more than $3 million for junior golf. Recently he has been nurturing his own junior golfer, 6-year-old daughter Corrina, though he admits that "a day on the golf course with her usually consists of looking for worms and bugs and snakes and building sand castles in the bunkers."

In 2003, Vince received the PGA of America's Distinguished Service Award, the association's highest honor. He and his family recently taped public service announcements to promote PGA Family Golf Month this month.






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Bucky Covington's First Single Hits Top 10

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(gactv.com)

Bucky Covington hit another career milestone this week as his first single, "A Different World," cracked the Top 10 on country radio.

The good news of Bucky's first top 10 hit comes after a weekend of travel woes for the singer. It all started last Thursday when Bucky and his band, including his twin brother, Rocky, flew from Las Vegas to New York City following a show on Independence Day. After a five-hour delay the group finally arrived in the Big Apple, but without their luggage and instruments. The next day they showed up on Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends wearing "I Love NY" T-shirts. They didn't connect with their lost luggage and instruments until two days later in Charlotte, N.C., hours before a show.

Bucky's self-titled CD debuted at No. 1 on Nielsen SoundScan's Country Top 75 Chart with not only 2007's biggest unit debut from a new country artist, but also the best first week sales and highest Top 200 debut for any new male country artist since Billy Ray Cyrus in 1992. In recent months his national television appearances have included Live with Regis & Kelly, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Good Morning America.





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Rascal Flatts Chart Highest Debut Yet

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Rascal Flatts' new single "Take Me There" debuted at No. 24, making it the highest R&R country chart entry of 2007. The debut also beats the band's previous high debuts of No. 26 for "Stand" and "Me and My Gang."

"Take Me There" is from the forthcoming Rascal Flatts CD Still Feels Good, due out September 25. The project, co-produced by Rascal Flatts and Dann Huff, will be the band's fifth album since debuting in 1999.

In support of the upcoming album, Rascal Flatts will launch the Still Feels Good concert tour on July 13 in Uncasville, Conn. In 2006, the group performed to more than 1 million fans.






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