|
Hi everyone,
here's some country music news for october
2.
George Strait Plans Third Holiday Album
Mon. October 02.2006 6:11 PM EDT George Strait's new MCA album, It Just Comes
Natural, arrives in stores
Tuesday (Oct. 3), but he'll also release a new holiday album this year. Strait's Fresh Cut Flowers will be available only during November and December at Hallmark Gold Crown stores and will sell for $7.95 with the purchase of three cards. James Taylor released a similar holiday project through Hallmark in 2004, and Michael McDonald was featured on the company's 2005 release. Strait's album will feature "We Three Kings," "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "Up on the Housetop," "Deck the Halls," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and others. Strait previously released two other holiday albums -- Merry Christmas Strait to You (1986) and Merry Christmas Wherever You Are (1999). Martina McBride, Keith Urban to Perform on CMA
Awards
Mon. October 02.2006 2:48 PM EDT Martina McBride and Keith Urban have been added to
the list of performers
for the CMA Awards show on Nov. 6. McBride is nominated for female vocalist of the year, which she has won four times. Urban's four nominations include entertainer, male vocalist, song ("Tonight I Wanna Cry") and single ("Better Life"). Previously announced performers include Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, George Strait, Carrie Underwood and Gretchen Wilson. Held in downtown Nashville and open to the public this year, the CMA Awards will air live on ABC. Historical Marker Notes Ryman as "Birthplace of
Bluegrass"
Mon. October 02.2006 2:48 PM EDT A new historical marker was placed in front of the
Ryman Auditorium on
Friday (Sept. 29), officially naming the music venue the "Birthplace of Bluegrass." Guests at the ceremony included banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs and WSM-AM broadcaster Eddie Stubbs. Bill Monroe and his band played the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman in December 1945, and that night's lineup of Monroe's Bluegrass Boys -- including Scruggs, guitarist Lester Flatt, fiddler Chubby Wise and bassist Cedric Rainwater -- is widely considered the band that launched bluegrass music as its own musical genre. The marker was presented by the Tennessee Historical Commission. Dobro Legend "Uncle Josh" Graves Dies
Sun. October 01.2006 11:54 AM EDT Dobro legend Burkett "Uncle Josh" Graves, whose
distinctive playing style
played a major role in Flatt & Scruggs' sound during the '50s and '60s, died Saturday (Sept. 30) in Nashville at age 81 following a lengthy illness. Reference sources provide contradictory information regarding Graves' year of birth. According to his official Web site, he was born Sept. 27, 1925, in Tellico Plains, Tenn. He launched his professional career in 1942 in East Tennessee as a bassist for Pierce Brothers before touring and recording with singer Esco Hankins. He later worked worked with Molly O'Day and Mac Wiseman before joining Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper's band. After Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs saw Graves performing with the Coopers on the Grand Ole Opry in 1957, they invited him to join their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. Although he was hired as a bassist, Graves soon started playing Dobro in the group. Influenced by Cliff Carlisle and bluesman Blind Boy Fuller, Graves incorporated a rolling, three-fingered Dobro technique similar to Scruggs' banjo style. Graves' sense of humor provided comic relief during Flatt & Scruggs' live shows, and he remained in the Foggy Mountain Boys until Flatt & Scruggs split up in 1969. He then joined Flatt's Nashville Grass, a band that featured teenaged mandolinst Marty Stuart. In 1971, he began a three-year tenure in the rock-oriented Earl Scruggs Revue. Graves recorded more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and collaborated extensively with fiddler Kenny Baker. Graves and Baker were also members of the Masters, a quartet that included mandolinist Jesse McReynolds and guitarist Eddie Adcock. Graves' credits as a session musician include recordings with Kris Kristofferson, J.J.Cale and Steve Young. Plagued by a variety of health problems in his later years, the bluegrass community assisted him by staging several benefit concerts, including a 2001 show featuring Scruggs, Alison Krauss and one of Graves' many Dobro disiciples, Jerry Douglas. Graves was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Honor in 1997. IBMA Fan Fest Underway in Nashville
Fri. September 29.2006 5:57 PM EDT The International Bluegrass Music Association's
(IBMA) Fan Fest began Friday
morning (Sept. 29) in downtown Nashville following the organization's annual award show the previous night. Scheduled through Sunday (Oct. 1), this year's Fan Fest lineup features Blue Highway, Ronnie Bowman and the Committee, Dale Ann Bradley, Cherryholmes, Michael Cleveland, J.D. Crowe & the New South, the Grascals, Hot Rize, the Isaacs, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, the Claire Lynch Band, the Del McCoury Band, Mountain Heart, Alecia Nugent, Larry Sparks, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, among many others. New Jersey Hosts Farm Aid This Weekend
Fri. September 29.2006 5:57 PM EDT The annual Farm Aid concert will take place at the
Tweeter Center in Camden,
N.J., near Philadelphia, on Saturday (Sept. 30). Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews will return as headliners to raise money and awareness for the organization. Additional guests include Jerry Lee Lewis, Steve Earle, Allison Moorer, Shelby Lynne, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Los Lonely Boys, Arlo Guthrie & Family, Gov't Mule, Steel Pulse, Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra, Pauline Reese and Danielle Evin. The mission of Farm Aid is to keep family farmers producing food on their Oxford American Publishes Music Issue
Fri. September 29.2006 5:57 PM EDT The Southern literary magazine The Oxford American
has published its 2006
music issue with an accompanying sampler CD. The cover story of Sam Cooke was written by his biographer, Peter Guralnick. Other subjects include Jeannie C. Riley (written by CMT's Chet Flippo), Uncle Dave Macon, Gary Stewart and Townes Van Zandt. The CD sampler also includes music from these artists, as well as recordings by Andy Griffith and Muhammad Ali. CMT sponsored the annual music issue, the eighth published by the magazine. Heartland, Big & Rich to Perform National
Anthem
Fri. September 29.2006 5:57 PM EDT Heartland will sing the national anthem Sunday
(Oct. 1) prior to the NASCAR
Banquet 400 in Kansas City, Kan. The performance will air on NBC at 1:30 ET. Heartland's single, "I Loved Her First," is currently No. 3 on Billboard's country singles chart. ... Meanwhile, Big & Rich will perform the anthem before the Dallas Cowboys-Tennessee Titans football game Sunday. The game will air regionally on Fox at 1 p.m. ET from LP Field in Nashville. Kay
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/
Visit the group home page at:
http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore |
