This Day in Country Music- May 17th
- 2009, Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark and session musician Charlie McCoy are officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville
- 1993, Johnny Cash begins four days of recording in producer Rick Rubin’s living room in Los Angeles, backed only by his own guitar. It marks the start of work on his “American Recordings” album
- 1975, Pop singer B.J. Thomas finds his way to the top of the Billboard country chart with one of country music’s longest song title: “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”
- 1952, Guitarist Pat Flynn is born in Los Angeles, California. He joins the progressive New Grass Revival in 1981, eventually becoming a studio musician and playing on hits by Lee Ann Womack, Kathy Mattea, George Strait and Conway Twitty, among others
A 420-Pound Trace Adkins?
Trace Adkins is still very much in the running to win All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. In fact, it’s down to just Adkins and Penn Jillette, so their final challenge was to create an ice cream flavor for Walgreens’ Good & Delish private label. I’m sure he’d love to win, but Adkins is also a little worried about what would become of him during the promotional activities for his Maple Macadamia Mash-Up. “I’m going to have to fly around the country eating it for the next year,” he told Country Countdown USA. “Everywhere I go, people are going to want to eat ice cream with me. I’m going to weigh 420 pounds when I come back. Luckily, I’m tall, so I can carry it.” He’s right. I’d want to eat this ice cream with him. It’s that good. I bought all the $4 cartons my Walgreens had. So I’ll be rooting for Adkins on the finale on Sunday night (May 19). In fact, I’ll be rooting for the potential country winners — like Kellie Pickler and Kree Harrison– in all the upcoming reality show finales.
This Day in Country Music- May 16th
- 2006, Kenny Chesney performs “There Goes My Life” and “Back Where I Come From” for president George W. Bush and Australian prime minister John Howard at the White House in Washington, D.C.
- 1989, “Reba McEntire’s Greatest Hits” becomes the singer’s first platinum album
- 1979, Waylon Jennings’ “Greatest Hits” goes gold
- 1969, Merle Haggard records “Workin’ Man Blues” at the Capitol tower in Hollywood
- 1964, Buck Owens nets a #1 single in Billboard with “My Heart Skips A Beat”
Why Brad Paisley Does Date Nights
Brad Paisley is thinking ahead. Way ahead. Like 18 years or so. That’s why he and his wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley still go out without the kids as often as possible. “Date night is important, even if it’s going to Schlotsky’s,” Paisley told Good Housekeeping. “A preacher once told us that after the kids leave home, if you haven’t had a conversation in 18 years, it’ll be pretty hard.” Still, date nights might not be all that perfect because Paisley admits he doesn’t do the small-talk thing. Other things that make his marriage strong: He still makes her laugh, she never holds grudges and they both take their vows much more seriously than Williams-Paisley’s character on the Nashville TV series does. “When you’re old-fashioned like I am, you know marriage is forever,” he said. “Those vows are a promise.”
via CMT : News : OFFSTAGE: Why Brad Paisley Does Date Nights.
George Strait Calls Tour “Bittersweet”
While George Strait says his Cowboy Rides Away tour has been one of the most fun tours he’s done, it’s also pretty sad. “It’s a little bittersweet knowing that some of these places I’ll never go back to and play again,” Strait says in a video interview. “And I’ve been doing ‘em for over 30 years.” So it sounds like he’s trying to fill up his memory bank with all the good times. “I’m taking it all in. I’m soaking it up, man. And the crowd is giving it to me,” he adds. It’s great to hear him talk about being onstage from his perspective. I also love hearing how much Strait loves recording, and that now that he’s starting songwriting, he doesn’t want an album to go by that doesn’t have at least one song of his on it. As for his new album Love Is Everything, Strait explains why he chose that to be the title. “The world revolves around love, you know? Love is something that if you lose it, it’s gonna hurt.”
via CMT : News : OFFSTAGE: George Strait Calls Tour “Bittersweet”.
This Day in Country Music- May 15th
- 2004, Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus marries Allison Alderson in Nashville. His groomsmen include fellow band members Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney, plus comedian Cledus T. Judd. Vince Gill sings “When Love Finds You” during the ceremony
- 1999, Tim McGraw’s “Please Remember Me,” written by Rodney Crowell, begins a five-week stay at #1 in Billboard
- 1988, With her marriage to John McBride in Wichita, Kansas, Martina Schiff becomes Martina McBride
- 1942, K.T. Oslin is born in Crossett, Arkansas. Songs such as “80′s Ladies,” “Hold Me” and “Come Next Monday” make her a voice for serious women’s issues in the 20th century’s final two decades
Ray Price Hospitalized for Dehydration
Ray Price has entered the hospital for a case of severe dehydration, according to a post on his official Facebook page on Monday (May 13). “Doctors are pouring the fluids to me and I am feeling much better. I wanted you to hear from me before you hear it from the media. I have asked my wife, Janie, to keep you all posted. Thanks for your prayers and support,” Price wrote. The Country Music Hall of Fame member revealed a six-month fight against pancreatic cancer in November.
This Day in Country Music- May 14th
- 2011, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are married at the Don Strange Ranch near Boerne, Texas, in front of Reba McEntire, Dierks Bentley, Martina McBride and The Bellamy Brothers
- 2004, Brad Paisley and pop artist John Mayer are paired as a new edition of “CMT Crossroads” makes its cable debut. Radney Foster hosts the show, which includes Paisley’s songs “Me Neither,” “Little Moments” and “Celebrity”
- 1985, Dustin Lynch is born in Tullahoma, Tennessee. The reedy-voiced singer-songwriter earns a hit with his debut single, 2012′s “Cowboys And Angels”
- 1984, The Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson single “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” goes gold
Kellie Pickler’s Next Step
Yes, she is blowing us away with her grace and rhythm on Dancing With the Stars. But then what? Kellie Pickler told Rolling Stone where she’s going to go next.
“I’m bouncing from the dance studio to the recording studio, so hopefully my album will be ready to put out this fall,” she said. The new record will have some of her own songwriting, some collaborations with her husband Kyle Jacobs and some songs from outsider writers.
“It’s country — it’s Kellie country. I have that crying pedal steel. I grew up on traditional country,” she said.
She also told the magazine how devastated she was when George Jones passed away. “We perform some of his songs in our set on the road, and actually ‘White Lightning’ is my Grandpa Pickler and I — that’s our song. I do that in my shows and I’ve always been a big George fan,” she said, adding that she’s considering recording a Jones song in tribute to the legend. Sounds like the perfect bonus track to me.
This Day in Country Music- May 13th
- 2006, The Wreckers make their Grand Ole Opry debut
- 2000, Kenny Rogers’ “Buy Me A Rose” sprouts at #1 on the Billboard country chart with vocal assistance from Alison Krauss and Billy Dean
- 1966, Darius Rucker is born in Charleston, South Carolina. The lead singer of Hootie + The Blowfish, he becomes a solo country artist in 2008, winning the Country Music Association’s New Artist of the Year in 2009
- 1965, Lari White is born in Dunedin, Florida. The soulful vocalist nets three hits in the 1990s and acts in the Tom Hanks movie “Cast Away.” She also becomes the first woman to produce an album by a major male star: Toby Keith’s “White Trash With Money”
