The CMA Tweaks Awards Process
- The CMA is making some changes to the way its awards voting takes place. According to the 6/17 issue of Country Aircheck:
On the first ballot, only the top 20 qualified vote recipients will advance to the second ballot. In the past, any candidate receiving 10 votes moved on. Also, on the second ballot, members may now vote for up to five candidates per category, rather than the mandatory five needed in the past.
It seems like this change could make the eventual nominee list more homogeneous by setting a higher threshold for artists to appear on the second ballot. The CMA is also changing the name of the Horizon Award to “New Artist of The Year.”
- Stephen M. Deusner put together a list of what he deems highlight albums from the past couple of years that deserve to be listened to with the same open-mindedness and enthusiasm as Miranda Lambert’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
- Garth Brooks performed a 45-minute solo concert at a charity event on Saturday to help raise money for the Starkey Hearing Foundation. He played several of his hits and covered songs from George Jones and Merle Haggard to George Strait, and with tickets $1,250 a pop, more than $5 million was raised.
- Toby Keith held is own annual fundraiser and brought in $709,000 for families of children with cancer.
- Billy Ray Cyrus‘ reaction to Miley’s Vanity Fair photo shoot:
“So I was surprised when I saw it, you know, but … stuff happens. That’s life. Things happen and sometimes things get a little out of control and you just gotta deal with life,” he said. “Again, it’s peaks and valleys and ups and downs.”
- According to Michelle Branch, The Wreckers disassembled so Jessica Harp could get her solo career on track, she didn’t want to be known as “that other chick in The Wreckers with Michelle.” Branch considers her new album more singer-songwriter than country, but thinks the term country is relative, and feels like that’s where she needs to be. She hopes to release Everything Comes and Goes, her first solo album since the split, by the end of the year.
- People has the first Sara Evans/Jay Barker wedding photo.
- Independent Americana band Hang Jones posted several songs for download on their website from their forthcoming outlaw concept album, The Ballad of Carlsbad County. To make things interesting they’ll be releasing a chapter-at-a-time story to accompany the songs to help explain the overall story arc.
- That’s Country has a one week listening party for the debut album from Carter’s Chord. (via Country Music Central)
- Julianne Hough puts rumors of romantic hookups with her “Dancing With the Stars” partners to rest.
“I have never hooked up with any of my partners from ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ record straight. But like on PEOPLE magazine it was like, ‘Julianne Hough is a homewrecker.’ No way I would never do that! I love Helio [Castroneves] and Apolo [Anton Ohno] as friends, and good thing there were no rumors about Adam [Carolla] and I, because that would be just wrong.”
- The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame held a ceremony last Friday to induct its charter members, which included Doc Watson, Dolly Parton and The Carter Family.
- Carrie Underwood began work on her next video near Hampshire, TN earlier this week. Publicist Chris Melancon said the video will be for her new single, “Just a Dream.” (via our roving reporter of all things Carrie, Jarheaddad)
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Tagged In This Article
Billy Ray Cyrus // Carrie Underwood // Carter's Chord // Doc Watson // Dolly Parton // Garth Brooks // Hang Jones // Jessica Harp // Julianne Hough // Miranda Lambert // Sara Evans // The Carter Family // The Wreckers // Toby Keith
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June 18, 2008 at 11:34 am Permalink
Snipped from the People article on Sara Evans’ wedding:
“… Barker’s kids — Andrew, 9, Braxton, 8, and twins Sarah Ashlee and Harrison, 6 — gave him away. ”
Since when does the groom get given away??
June 18, 2008 at 11:38 am Permalink
That’s kind of sweet though.
June 18, 2008 at 12:07 pm Permalink
Interesting on the CMA process. When do those nominations come out anyway–August?
June 18, 2008 at 12:55 pm Permalink
so julianne hough didn’t hook up with the gay guys from ‘dancing with the stars’ (excluding adam carolla). wow. and i thought it was so obvious that she did.
June 18, 2008 at 12:55 pm Permalink
Barker: “I can’t believe we get to spend the rest of our lives together.”
Be careful what you wish for … Just don’t let Sara on Dancing with the Stars again …
June 18, 2008 at 3:40 pm Permalink
I can just see the beginning of a Sara Evans “Brady Bunch” type reality series in the works……
I think the CMA should officially become the ACMA for “Airhead Country Music Association” considering the kind of pop-rock crap they tend to glorify these days. I don’t give a damn about anything the CMA does…….
I’m waiting to see if an actual physical CD gets released for Carter’s Chord in September as has been announced. I expect it will wind up like Jypsi’s debut with the CD release being put on “indefinite hold” (which translates into “probably never”). I was reading “Oh Boy” records just signed a distribution deal with an HD downloading service that offers lossless format downloads! If I can’t get a physical CD its nice to know really high quality downloads will be available for some artists….
Jessica Harp’s decision to leave The Wrecker’s will likely lead to her being known as “that other chick in The Wreckers with Michelle Branch who’s solo career tanked after she left………”
June 18, 2008 at 6:08 pm Permalink
Be fair! Michelle’s career tanked BEFORE The Wreckers. That’s pretty much why there was a Wreckers.
June 18, 2008 at 7:59 pm Permalink
“Just a Dream.” That’s going to be a smash. Killer song.
June 19, 2008 at 12:28 am Permalink
So I guess the new CMA voting process is going to give the big voting blocs even more power. Terrific, I was just thinking the other day about what an underappreciated artist Kenny Chesney is.
And what in the world was so bad about the name “Horizon” that it needed to be replaced with that wordy crap of a title?
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