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The Songwriter Agency Opens in Nashville; Hall of Fame Adds Items to Hank Williams Family Exhibit; Dierks Bentley’s New Video
The Songwriter Agency opened in Nashville with the specific goal of booking hit songwriters into a variety of mainstream venues. Full roster here. The official count for Taylor Swift‘s first week of sales for Speak Now is 1,047,000 copies. Only 16 other albums have sold a million in a week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking [...]
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Randy Travis Divorces; Asleep at the Wheel to Celebrate 40 Years; Broken Bow Records Signs Kristy Lee Cook
Randy Travis and his wife Elizabeth finalized their divorce last Friday. No details were given and the couple asks for privacy, but a statement did say Elizabeth will continue to be Randy’s personal manager. Bill Anderson turned 73-years-young today. Check out this video of Anderson and Roy Acuff performing “I Wonder If God Likes Country [...]
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Garth Brooks Announces Date for Nashville Concert; Billy Ray Cyrus Headed for Divorce; ACL to Close Studio 6A with Lyle Lovett
Garth Brooks announced this morning that he’s hosting a benefit concert for flood victims at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Dec. 17. “If you come to Vegas, you’ll see Garth Brooks with a guitar,” he said. “When you come to Nashville this Christmas, you’re gonna see the band that you know, you’ll see the light rig [...]
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Jane Seymour Believes Son is Channeling Johnny Cash; CMA Presenters Announced; Stream Jamey Johnson
Actress Jane Seymour believes her 14-year-old son Johnny is channeling the spirit of his godfather, Johnny Cash. UPDATE (11:38 am): Sugarland’s The Incredible Machine topped the Billboard 200 albums chart this week with 203,000 copies sold. Back in 1981, Johnny Cash and Ray Charles recorded a duet on the Kris Kristofferson song “Why Me Lord,” [...]
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Tim McGraw – “Felt Good On My Lips”
Songwriters: Brett Beavers, Jim Beavers, Brad Warren, and Brett Warren Over the last few years, Tim McGraw has become the New York Yankees of country music: well paid and certainly talented, but poorly managed and underperforming. His latest single, “Felt Good on My Lips,” from the upcoming Number One Hits, continues his streak of strong [...]
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Toby Keith Sets Record Low for No. 1 Debut; Billboard Touring Awards Finalists; Hank Williams Reinterpreted
Kenny Chesney slipped to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 this week with his album Hemingway’s Whiskey, but for the second week in a row a country album topped the chart in its debut week. This time, it was Toby Keith‘s Bullets in the Gun with 71,000 copies sold. It’s his fourth No. 1 and [...]
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Former Manager Sues Taylor Swift; Faith Hill Spoofed on ‘SNL’; Jamey Johnson as Country Music’s Caretaker
Music manager Dan Dymtrow is suing Taylor Swift, claiming she owes him millions for helping develop her career from April ’04 to July ’05. Dymtrow says his management deals with Swift and parents Scott and Andrea Swift provided that he be paid between 5 percent and 10 percent commission (or more) from Taylor’s music career. [...]
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CMT Names Artists of the Year; All for the Hall Recapped: Parton Covers Jones; Tim McGraw’s Number Ones
Using pre-defined criteria, CMT chose its first-ever artists of the year: Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Zac Brown Band. They’ll be honored during a 90-minute special, CMT Artists of the Year, on Dec. 3 The Tennessean‘s Cindy Watts and GAC’s Tom Roland recapped last night’s All for the Hall benefit. Vince [...]
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Blake Shelton Invited to Join Opry; ‘Country Strong’ Tracklist Announced; Nashville Venue Plans Austin Location
It only took the Opry 69 characters of the allotted 140 on Twitter to invite Blake Shelton to become a member during last night’s Opry House reopening ceremony. Watch video of the invitation on YouTube » Tom Roland recapped the events of the Grand Ole Opry House reopening. But the night also included performances that [...]
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Shania Twain Writing Memoir; Asleep at the Wheel Celebrates 40th Year; New Tim McGraw Single
Next spring, Atria Books will publish a memoir from Shania Twain. Accompanied by his lead guitarist and bassist, Billy Currington stopped by the American Songwriter office to perform five of his more popular songs: “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right,” “Good Directions,” “People Are Crazy,” “That’s How Country Boys Roll,” and “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer.” [...]
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- Jack Hanford: For those who are interested, there is a new 90-minute documentary video about Tompall & the Glaser Brothers on DVD ...
- joe morris: how come nobody mentions his fan club which started 1950 and was called the " the penny pushers " which ...
- jane: I'm reading this article in 2013 and I've yet to hear anything from the album played on the radio.....
- Catwandy: I guess Matt C. is eating his well-deserved crow 'bout now. Critics....gotta love 'em , bless their little hearts.
- Ed McClendon: Saw the brothers in Greeley CO on the occasion of Tompall's 50th birthday. The show wasn't well promoted and there ...
- Roby Fox: I'm sure no one else will know, or even care about this little tidbit of trivia. "Keep Your Change" was ...
- kate wonders: Roni Stoneman is still on Hee Haw every Sunday night on RFD channel.
- Marsha Blades: Tommy, You were so kind to me during a tough time in my life and I don't think I ever ...
- Leona Jones: I seen Chris at the Grand Ole Opry last week.. First time I have heard of him.. He rocked the ...
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