Maxine Brown Will Be Speaking at the Delta Blues Symposium

Maxine Brown, country singer and founding member of the great vocal trio The Browns is speaking at the 13th annual Delta Blues Symposium in Jonesboro, Ar. at Arkansas State University. Maxine Brown is participating in a panel discussion on "Music Biography and Autobiography" with film maker Robert Gordon and musician Ben Sandmel.

Maxine Brown has written the acclaimed autobiography, "Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memior." It has quickly become one of University of Arkansas Press' best-selling titles and has earned her many media appearances.


"Looking Back To See: A Country Music Memior" is available on our website for $24.98.

This 366 page hardcover book details the life and times of the Browns--Jim Ed, Maxine and Bonnie as told by Maxine Brown. This memoir delves deeply into the Browns' remarkable past, beginning with the Depression-era childhood in rural south Arkansas. From it emerged a duo, Maxine and Jim Ed, and in 1954 they had a Top Ten hit with "Looking Back To See." Sister Bonnie later joined them and strenghtened by shared experience. Illustrated with never-before-published photographs, "Looking Back To See" is a remarkable story told here for the first time.

Charlie Pride to Award Scholarships to 4 Katrina Victims

Country Music Hall of Fame star Charley Pride is awarding scholarships to four high school seniors that had been affected by Hurricane Katrina. The four seniors attend Gulfport High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Each of the four seniors will receive $2500 a year in to the school or university of their choice.

Charley Pride- who is from Sledge, Mississippi- is to play a concert with the Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra at the Hattiesburg’s Downtown Saenger Theatre. The scholarships will be awarded to the seniors before the start of the show.

Country Music Artist Henson Cargill Passes Away at 66

Henson Cargill, famous for singing #1 Country hit song "Skip a Rope," died this past Saturday from complications from surgery. "Skip a Rope" topped the country charts in 1968 for 5 weeks and landed in the top 25 on the pop charts. The song was also nominated for CMA song of the year. Cargill later hit top 10 again with the song "None Of My Business."


Henson Cargill's hit "Skip a Rope" is available on the Hard To Find 45's / Various Artists CD for $16.98.

Marty Stuart Releases New Duets Album in June!

Attention all Marty Stuart fans! Marty Stuart is releasing a new album on June 5th called Compadres: An Anthology of Duets. This album will be released on Marty Stuart's own label Superlatone Records. It will feature many duets with fellow artists such as- Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Del McCoury, B.B. King, Steve Earle, Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass, Old Crow Medicine Show, Earl Scruggs, Connie Smith, Mavis Staples, the Staples Singers and Travis Tritt.

Also if you are in the Nashville area get tickets and go see Marty Stuart host the 6th Annual Late Night Jam on Wednesday June 6th at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

Reba McEntire to Host ACM Awards on CBS

Reba McEntire will be hosting the 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards show on CBS. The Awards show is scheduled for May 15th (Tuesday). It will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show is scheduled to be aired on CBS at 8pm/7pm (EST/CST).

This will mark the ninth time that Reba has hosted the ACM Awards show.

Tune in--it should be quite an entertaining show with a lot of really good live performances. Who would you most like to see perform this year?

Free Concert and Family Fun at Nashville City Fest

Nashville City Fest is May 19th and 20th at Riverfront Park in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Country music performers include LeAnn Rimes and Craig Morgan. Other well-known artists will be performing contemporary Christian and pop music--such artists include: Steven Curtis Chapman, Toby Mac, Jeremy Camp, BarlowGirl, and more.

Nashville City Fest is more than just music concerts. There will be fun for the whole family--games and activities for children, health screenings for adults. The Livin It Tour, which includes world class BMX, motocross, and skateboarding demostrations from some of the sport's top athletes, will also participate in the two-day festival. For more details click following link: http://www.nashvillecityfest.com/festival_features/action_sports/

For details about the Nashville City Fest in general click the below link:

http://www.nashvillecityfest.com/

Free concerts and family fun don't come around that often--especially with huge stars like LeAnn Rimes, Craig Morgan, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Toby Mac.

Dukes Of Hazzard Ringtone Goes Platinum!

The 1980 #1 Country Music Hit for Waylon Jennings, Theme from the Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol' Boys) has once more topped the charts- this time as a mastertone. A mastertone differs from a regular ringtone because it is the actual song instead of the synthesized intrumentation. The Dukes of Hazzard theme song has reached platinum status which means people have downloaded the mastertone one million times.

Charlie Louvin Plays At South By Southwest Conference

Charlie Louvin played in front of several hundred music fans about a week ago (March 14th) at a club in Austin, Texas, which normally features rock artists. Charlie was in Austin to be part of the South by Southwest music conference, which attracts thousands of artists and music fans each year. Well, Charlie was just here in our studio in late February to promote his new self-titled album Charlie Louvin, (see blog posted March 8th)--and it was during this interview that Charlie explained he is feeling full of energy and excited about touring this Spring and Summer. That's pretty remarkable for someone turning 80 years old this year.

Check out his latest 2007 tour schedule at the link below to see if he will be performing near your hometown:

http://www.charlielouvinbros.com/shows.html

He is also scheduled to perform at this year's Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee (June 14-17). Bonnaroo is one of the largest outdoor music festivals in the United States.

Charlie is keeping classic country music very much alive with his performances--especially those performances in places like the club in Austin and at the upcoming Bonnaroo festival, where classic country is not the type music most regularly played.

Willie Nelson Gets His Own Ice Cream Flavor!

Ben and Jerry's has revealed that they have come out with a new flavor of ice cream: Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler! The Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler consists of peach ice cream with mixed-in chunks of cinnamon sugar shortbread. It is only fitting that Country Music Star and Legend Willie Nelson gets his own flavor - seeing that several other musicians have their own flavors such as: Jerry Garcia, Phish, and a few others!

Unfortunately, due to a labelling error which excluded "wheat" from the ice cream's ingredients- 250, 000 pints of the Willie Nelson's Country Cobbler were recalled! That's bad for someone who is such a huge supporter of farmers like Willie Nelson!

Here is a link to a funny clip talking about Willie Nelson's new flavor on comedy central...
http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/?ml_video=84016

Billy Ray Cyrus on ABC's Dancing With The Stars

Billy Ray Cyrus is one of eleven contestants showing off their dance skills on ABC's Dancing With The Stars. The 2007 premiere show was last night (3/19/07). I didn't get to watch it. Did anyone see Billy Ray show off his dance moves--or lack there of?

The next show is scheduled for 3/26 (Monday). This show (Round 2) will feature the stars dancing the mambo and the quickstep.

Billy Ray is the only country music star featured on Season Four. In Season Three, the country music industry was represented by Sara Evans, who made it through Week 5 (Round 5) before she withdrew from the competition due to her divorce proceedings.

Earl Scruggs Will Sign Autographs at Country Music Hall Of Fame

Earl Scruggs will be signing autographs at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville this Friday (3/23/07) at 4 pm. He is signing autographs to help promote the new Best of Flatt & Scruggs TV Show Volumes 1 and 2 on DVD.

Event Details / Rules:

Limited to the first 150 guests.
No posed photos with Mr. Scruggs.
Mr. Scruggs will only sign items that were purchased in the Museum store.
No more than 2 items per fan.
Fans may begin lining up for autographs at 3:30 pm on Friday (3/23/07)

Brad Paisley Added to List of Performers at 2007 CMA Music Festival

Brad Paisley was just recently added to the list of performers at this year's CMA Music Festival (formerly known as Fan Fair) in Nashville. Other concert performers include: Miranda Lambert, Billy Currington, Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, Big & Rich, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood, Gretchen Wilson, Sugarland, and the Wreckers. Paisley will close the Festival with his concert on Sunday (06/10/2007) at LP Field. The CMA Music Festival in my opinion offers the best concert line-up of any country music concert venue throughout the year. There is also the opportunity to meet many of the country stars at special events. Also, downtown Nashville, where the Festival is held, has really blossomed over the past few years offering good entertainment, restaurants, sporting events, and hotels.

As many may already know, Brad and his wife, Kimberly Williams, just became new parents of a baby boy on February 22nd. They named him William Huckleberry Paisley.

Congratulations to Brad and Kimberly on the birth of their first child!

Is anyone planning on attending the CMA Music Festival? Let us know if you have any questions about the Festival or Nashville in general, and we'll try to help.

You can find almost all the info you need about Nashville and the CMA Music Festival on their official website. See link below.

http://www.cmafest.com/2007/

However, if you want to get off the beaten path in Nashville, please post your suggestions or ask for ours.

Johnny Cash's New Gospel Album

Johnny Cash's new album Cash: Ultimate Gospel has three never before released songs by him. They are "My Ship Will Sail," "How Great Thou Art," and "It Is No Secret." The CD contains 24 gospel tracks in all.

Has anyone heard the album yet?

John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" named Colorado's Second State Song

The Colorado state Senate voted to name John Denver's song "Rocky Mountain High" the official second state song. The Colorado Senate voted 26-8 to adopt "Rocky Mountain High." The official state song remains "Where The Columbines Grow"--adopted by the Colorado General Assembly in 1915.

John Denver was born in Roswell, New Mexico--he moved with his family all through the Southwest and South during his early years due to his father's military career, but he lived in Aspen, Colorado, from the early 1970's until his death in 1997.

I'm sure if John was living today that he would be happy to have his song as the second official Colorado state song.

Willie Nelson Launching New Record Label

Willie Nelson is launching a new record label called Pedernales Records. He will be making a formal media announcement about the new label on March 16th at the South by Southwest music festival. The new record label's first signing will be a band named 40 Points, which features two of Willie Nelson's sons as band members--Lukas and Micah Nelson.

Has anyone heard Lukas or Micah perform before? I haven't--and I'm just wondering if they have some of the same musical and vocal talents of their father.

Kris Kristofferson to receive CMT's Johnny Cash Visionary Award

It has been announced that Kris Kristofferson is slated to receive CMT's Johnny Cash Visionary Award at the 2007 CMT Music Awards, which airs live from Nashville on April 16th. Rosanne Cash will present the award to Kris. CMT states that the Award represents "an artist's extraordinary musical vision, innovative and groundbreaking music and pioneering initiatives in entertainment." The Visionary Award was created in 2002, but renamed to the Johnny Cash Visionary Award in 2003 to honor Johnny. Past recipients are listed below:

2002: Dixie Chicks
2003: Johnny Cash
2004: Reba McEntire
2005: Loretta Lynn
2006: Hank Williams Jr

Congratulations to Kris. Try to tune in to the CMT Music Awards on April 16th and watch Kris and many others be honored. There will also be a lot of live performances and probably some good comedy considering that Jeff Foxworthy is the host of the show.

Laryngitis Forces George Strait to Re-schedule Weekend Concerts

George Strait was originally scheduled to perform concerts on March 9th and 10th at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut; but a bad case of laryngitis forced George to have to re-schedule the concerts for April 26th and 27th. Ronnie Milsap, who tours and opens for George, will also be on the April concert bill.

We hope George gets his voice back soon. Does George have a summer concert tour? His website does not show any concert dates past the April 26th and 27th dates.

Charlie Louvin visits Country Music Greats studio

In case you haven't heard the news, Charlie Louvin, of the Louvin Brothers has recently released a new album. The new album self-titled, "Charlie Louvin", features a mix of well-known Country Artists providing back ground and musical support on the recordings. The album consists primarily of songs written and recorded by the Louvin Brothers. Country superstars such as, George Jones, Tom T. Hall, Bobby Bare as well as several contemporary artists like Elvis Costello and Jeff Tweedy, lend their voices across the record and perfectly complement Charlie's beautifully aging voice.
You may be surprised to hear not only is Charlie back with a new album, but he also has plans to tour the country promoting his new album. Charlie claims to be, "shoving 80 years old" as he has no intention of slowing down and feels blessed that he still has the opportunity to tour.
When Charlie entered our studio for the Country Music Greats Show (hosted by Jim Ed Brown), I couldn't help but feel the nostalgia in the air as Charlie proceeded to reminisce. Charlie told stories about different times such as when his brother, Ira, was still alive and the Louvin Brothers were heroes to folks such as a young Johnny Cash.
In my own opinion, there is not much better than having the chance to meet and spend any amount of time with our Country heroes from yesterday. I found Charlie's reflection on life made me wish there was a way to turn back time, however, listening to Charlie's new album may be the perfect way to do just that.

Recording Academy to Honor Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn has been chosen as a recipient of the Nashville chapter's Recording Academy Honors. Others chosen this year include Rascal Flatts, the Fisk Jubilee Singers (of Fisk University located in Nashville), and Jars of Clay. Loretta and the others will be honored with a gala event at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel on West End Ave in Nashville on April 9th (Monday).

The gala event, featuring celebrity presenters and performances, is open to those in the general public who purchase a $350 ticket. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Recording Academy's educational and philanthropic programs along with the MusiCares Foundation, which serves to offer help to musicians in times of financial, personal, and medical crisis.

Congratulations to Loretta on achieving yet another personal honor for her music.

If anyone is interested in knowing more details about the gala event to be held on April 9th (2007)--just comment back--and we will try to get that for you.

Mac Davis at the Country Radio Seminar

Mac Davis was asked to perform his hit song "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" at the 2007 Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, last week. The song was #1 on the pop charts in 1972, and it made it to #26 on the country charts. Upon being asked to perform the song live at the Country Radio Seminar, he jokingly said, "I don't know if I remember all the words." Mac actually remembered them just fine, and the crowd showed its appreciation for the performance and all his works over the years with a standing ovation.

I know Mac has had a successful career in the music business, both pop and country. I also know that Mac did some acting. Does anyone remember him acting in the That 70's Show in 2000? I know he was on the show, but I can't remember his role.

Well, anyway, I was glad to see country radio executives and DJ's give such strong show of appreciation for his singing and songwriting career at last weeks Country Radio Seminar.