News Roundup: Kenny Chesney Has a Ball at White House; CMA Awards Broadcast Announced
- Talk about a slow news day. Isn’t anyone having a baby?
- Kenny Chesney dropped by the White House yesterday–to catch a ball game.
Three tee ball games are […] scheduled at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue featuring youngsters from all 50 states. The games will be attended by President George W. Bush, who will use the event to unveil a stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.”
- The 2008 CMA Awards (the Association’s 42nd annual soirée), will be broadcast live on ABC on the evening of November 12th. No host has been announced yet, but my money’s on John Rich and/or Jewel.
- Alan Jackson and Trace Adkins are teaming up for a 17-city “Good Time” tour, set to kick off on October 2nd in Fayetteville, NC.
- Sugarland will be busy on July 22nd. The “deluxe” edition of their third album, Love On The Inside, hits stores that day, and the duo will be performing on both Good Morning America and The View. (via release)
- If you’re into the Texas Country scene, you may have noticed the recent emergence of singer/songwriter Bonnie Bishop. Yesterday, Bishop signed on with Montage Music Group Publishing. MMGP notes her potential as an artist as one of the factors behind the signing. (via release)
- In the “news I can’t believe I’m reporting” category, “comedian” Cledus T. Judd will tie the knot for the fourth time tomorrow. Country Weekly reports (via The Tennessean) that the parody artist and current Atlanta DJ is set to marry a chiropractor he met after injuring his shoulder in a May softball game.
- The Tennessean’s Cindy Watts has a cool interview with “Beer Man” Trent Willmon, in which he mentions meeting up to work with 9513 reader and pro songwriter Gary Hannan:
[CW:] You said it was merely luck that you wound up as a co-writer on “Back When I Knew It All.” How did your involvement in the song come about?
[TW:]I ran into one of the co-writers, Gary Hannan, at a bar. He said, “Man, you should join me and Phil O’Donnell to write tomorrow. We’ve got an idea for a song.” So they invited me in on the song, and that hardly ever happens. I’m sure the two guys would have been totally capable of writing it all by themselves, but they invited me in, and that’s a really cool thing. I’m forever grateful.
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News that former Sugarland member and co-founder Kristen Hall is suing her ex-mates, to the tune of $1.5 million, goes a long way towards providing a bit of context regarding the Atlanta singer/songwriter’s sudden departure from the group.
In Memory of Don Helms (1927 - 2008) Helms dated back to a time when an excellent four or five piece band and a good singer were all that were needed to make great country music. No drums, no light shows, no production tricks in the recording studio–just good music.Tagged In This Article
Alan Jackson // Bonnie Bishop // Cledus T. Judd // CMA Awards // Gary Hannan // Jewel // John Rich // Kenny Chesney // Sugarland // Trace Adkins // Trent Willmon
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23 Comments
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July 17, 2008 at 7:02 am Permalink
I say bring Vince back! I’m sure I’ll have no such luck though.:(
July 17, 2008 at 7:14 am Permalink
Gill was by far the best host in the history of the show. The perfect blend of class and humor.
July 17, 2008 at 7:33 am Permalink
Jim: Willmon says that getting invited to help write a song “hardly ever happens”. I see a ton of “group efforts” coming out of Nashville. In your opinion, is he saying that HE rarely gets the invites, and if so, is that because he is seen as an outsider trying to navigate the choppy waters that divide “Texas Country” and “The Nashville Sound”?
July 17, 2008 at 9:08 am Permalink
“Country Weekly reports (via The Tennessean) that the parody artist and current Atlanta DJ is set to marry a chiropractor he met after injuring his shoulder in a May softball game.”
Some people will do anything to avoid paying their bill.
July 17, 2008 at 9:40 am Permalink
Kelly–Jim may have a different idea of what Willmon meant, but my guess is that he’s saying that two successful songwriters who already have started discussing what they consider is a good idea rarely invite another writer in on that kind of session. Co-writing and group writing happen every day in Nashville by the thousands, but writers can be protective of what they consider good ideas. As Willmon says, they could’ve easily written it without him, and then they’d be splitting the spoils two ways instead of three. Of course, Trent is a humble guy, and it may not have been the same song without him.
I don’t think many pro writers in Nashville would consider Willmon a Texas outsider at this point.
July 17, 2008 at 9:55 am Permalink
That sounds reasonable enough. I was thinking about the interview that was linked to on this site a while back where Willmon actually discussed eiter feeling like or sometimes being treated like an outisider in both Nashville and Texas (i cant remember specifics).
July 17, 2008 at 10:13 am Permalink
By the way, clever title, Jim.
July 17, 2008 at 10:15 am Permalink
Kelly–I will see if I can find out from the source.
I don’t think it’s unlikely that a writer would “offer in” on a song to an artist, especially if they feel that the artist in question is a credible writer him or herself.
One of the best ways to get songs placed is to write with an artist. And the insider/outsider thing isn’t really a key point, I don’t think. The question is whether or not you’re going to help write a better song or help generate cash flow. These guys write songs for a living, and they need cuts (and singles) to keep putting food on the table.
So I’m not really surprised by the fact that he was invited. But, again, I wouldn’t feel comfortable speculating on what he meant.
July 17, 2008 at 10:20 am Permalink
I wonder if the song would seem different if Trent had been the one to record it?
July 17, 2008 at 10:29 am Permalink
Has it already been mentioned here that some performances from the Wisconsin round of Country Thunder will be broadcast live online via a website called iClips? The live streaming starts today and will run through Sunday. Tonight’s highlight will be the performance by Dierks Bentley. Here’s the link:
http://www.iclips.net/ctusa_wisconsin.php
July 17, 2008 at 11:26 am Permalink
Jim, when did you become uncomfortable speculating about what an artist meant? I thought you did that all the time. :)
As for the chance of Gill coming back to host the CMA Awards, I bet the CMA would be overjoyed to welcome him back if he wanted to do it. They sure didn’t want him to stop when he did.
I also gree that Vince is outstanding at it. But I remember seeing some other good ones, including a couple of shows hosted by Willie and Kristofferson in the ’80s. I wonder if a network or music organization would ever let another artist host in a t-shirt, like Willie did. Not many folks could get away with hosting an awards show with their own name emblazoned across their chest, but as has often been said here, there isn’t anyone like Willie.
July 17, 2008 at 11:48 am Permalink
Aaaaaah Cledus.
I took the kids to see Cledus at the Tulsa State Fair a half dozen years ago.
It was getting close to show time, but there was still no band set up. “OK” I’m thinking, “He’ll be using backing tracks.”
Um, no. They played an off the shelf CD, with his vocals on it, and he sang along.
Anyhoo, congratulations Cledus.
July 17, 2008 at 12:36 pm Permalink
I don’t care who hosts the CMAs as long as it’s only one or two people. This past year’s buffet of TV stars was obnoxious, though I liked Kimberly Williams-Paisley.
July 17, 2008 at 1:27 pm Permalink
I think they should get Blake Shelton to host it. I love his humor. He would be best after Vince of course.
July 17, 2008 at 1:59 pm Permalink
Kim, I’m glad you added that last sentence.:)
July 17, 2008 at 2:04 pm Permalink
How about ….. Vince and Reba — or Vince and Dolly — or Vince and Reba and Dolly? :-0
July 17, 2008 at 2:08 pm Permalink
How ’bout Reba and Linda Davis singing the dialogue to each other ala “Does He Love You?”. that would be quite the feat!
Reba (in over the top singing voice): “Linda, do you have the envelope?”
Linda (in equally over the top singing voice): “Reba, do YOU have the envelope…”
…and so on and so forth…
July 17, 2008 at 2:13 pm Permalink
No teams! Then they’ll have to read scripted banter off the teleprompter, which is always painful.
July 17, 2008 at 2:16 pm Permalink
Chris, those three are rebel enough (and witty enough) to go off-script and ad-lib quite a bit. That’s why I chose them.
July 17, 2008 at 2:32 pm Permalink
…also, reba and linda could sing as they read the scripted banter off the screen….wait, thats karaoke isnt it??? even better!!
July 17, 2008 at 7:01 pm Permalink
I say give the job to Vince. He’s funny and can think on his feet - “Can you say that Kanye?” :)
July 17, 2008 at 7:56 pm Permalink
As for who will host the CMA Awards show, since I never watch such shows I will mimic the new Russian ex-cop messiah Vissarion and say “That does not interest me”! (lol) Reading about this guy is worth the effort it is so insane:
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/FaithMatters/story?id=5225539&page=1
PS - Opry Alert! The beguiling Ashley Monroe will be performing on the Friday Night Opry (July 18) and the feisty faux-Frenchie Tift Merritt will be performing on the Saturday Night Opry (July 19).
July 18, 2008 at 12:34 am Permalink
More breaking news for you Texas based fans of Sunny Sweeney. Sunny and The Wrights will be doing three un-plugged acoustic sets in early August according to Sunny’s MySpace page. Boy would I love to see a gig like that here in Los Angeles!
Details:
Forth Worth, TX: Aug 5, 2008 @ 8:00PM
ACOUSTIC - The Fairmount - w/ The Wrights
Austin, TX: Aug 6, 2008 @ 8:00PM
ACOUSTIC - Saxon Pub - w/ The Wrights
Dallas, TX,: Aug 7, 2008 @ 8:00PM
ACOUSTIC - All Good Cafe - w/ The Wrights
Sunny and The Wrights performed together during a couple of Opry Plaza Party shows during Fan Fair in June, so it appears they made a musical and personal connection. I sure wouldn’t mind seeing a review of one of these shows on The 9513……..
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