NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville gossip

This should be the Walmart Greeters' new job

No more standing around saying hi and checking for stolen items when the buzzer goes off, this should be the Walmart Greeter's new job - complimenter.

Yes, the world needs more complimenters. 

Out with the old from the inbox

 

It's Monday which seems like the perfect day to do a little house cleaning.  Here are some of the stories that you might find interesting that I didn't have a chance to post in an individual post. 

The Zac Brown Band says thanx...“We want to thank our fans for believing in us, coming to our shows and supporting our music by buying ‘The Foundation.’ We couldn’t have done all this without you! To show our appreciation, our ‘Breaking Southern Ground’ tour will be pulling out ALL the stops this fall - we’ll have opportunities for fans to win passes to join us for a pre-show feast with our signature dishes and we’ll be bringing along the Southern Ground Records Artists to join the party.  Look forward to seeing you there.

My friend, Jason Rogers, had some exciting news..."This week on August 24, 2009 I ( Jason Rogers ) signed a major record deal with Cashbox Records, a division of the new Cashbox Magazine & Cashbox Canada.  Cashbox Magazine is still known to many as one of the "Big 3" for music charts along side Billboard.  After long talks with President Bruce Elrod over several months I decided to say yes."  You can find out more about Jason on his website http://www.jasonrogerscountry.com/

So who do you look like?  Well if you answered Tanya Tuckerthen do I have a contest for you...Saguaro Road Records is inviting all Tanya Tucker look-alikes to upload their photos and compete to see who best resembles the dynamic country music superstar.  Photos must be uploaded to tanyacontest@gmail.com by September 20, 2009 along with their name and contact information.  Shortly after, three finalists will be selected.  Fans will vote for the grand prize winner, who will be announced in late September. The winner will receive a special autograph from Ms. Tucker, a copy of her new CD, My Turn, a Saguaro Road Records flash drive and will also be showcased on www.saguaroroad.com.

Carrie Underwood

paints 'em pink....The Grand Ole Opry is joining the fight against breast cancer by “going pink” during two Opry performances Fri., Oct. 2. On each of the night’s shows, Opry superstar Carrie Underwood will take the stage to “flip the switch,” turning the Opry’s signature barn backdrop pink in support of the groups Women Rock for the Cure and Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. The shows will also include performances from Underwood, Terri Clark, and other artists to be announced as well as special activities recognizing breast cancer survivors and the continuing fight against the disease. Beginning today, when fans mention the code “OPRYPINK” when ordering tickets via telephone or when they enter the same code when purchasing tickets online, $5 from the sale of those tickets to the night’s shows will be donated to Women Rock for the Cure and the Greater Nashville affiliate of Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Or, to participate in the donation with a “Night at the Opry” package including Opry tickets and room accommodations at Gaylord Opryland Resort, refer to code GPINK. Tickets and packages may be purchased by calling (800) SEE-OPRY. Tickets are also available at opry.com.

Country joins Jerry Lewis...The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon will present great entertainment again this year, including Dolly Parton, , Wynonna,  Reba McEntire, Tony Orlando, Charo, Train, Bo Bice, Terry Fator, The Grascals, Neal McCoy, comedian George Wallace. Lee Greenwood, Joshua Bell accompanied by Frankie Moreno, Three Dog Night and many more.  Check it all out Labor Day weekend.  For more information visit www.MDA.org.

David Nailreleases big...Nashville's week-old release I'm About To Come Alive by David Nail garners the 3rd highest new artist debut spot on the country charts for the year. Alive sits in the Top 20 on the Top 200, and single "Red Light" has posted a gain of more than 1 million audience impressions with triple digit spin increases on both the Country Aircheck and Billboard Hot Country songs charts and is at #22 and climbing.

The Zac Brown Band hit the tour trail...This year's breakout new artist the Zac Brown Band kick off their "Breaking Southern Ground" tour next month - marking their biggest national headlining tour to date.  Behind only Lady Gaga, the Zac Brown Band are the biggest selling new artists of the year with their near-platinum debut album 'The Foundation' (Atlantic Records) and a third hit single "Toes" climbing the charts at #19 this week on Hot Country. Be sure to check out all the dates on the ZBB's website http://www.zacbrownband.com/.

Old trucker, Aaron Tippin, joins Honky Tonk TV

Aaron Tippin sits down with Honky Tonk TV's Autumn Alexander and talks about his latest CD Overdrive, living healthy, and performs "Kiss This" and  "Where The Stars And Stripes And Eagles Fly." He even has a laugh at himself and an old picture.  Great stuff. 

Ace leaves Carrie a gift in her bed

Ahhh, the joys of owning a pet.  Especially a pet who sleeps with you. 

Carrie Underwood played the Ravinia Pavilion in Highland Park, Illinois recently and told the sweet story of a gift she woke up to from her sweet pooch, Ace.  From the Sun Times...

The biggest laugh came when she described how she was awoken on Sunday: "Ace, my rat terrier, decided he was going to wake me up by taking a tinkle in the bed. He is potty-trained, so I don't know what this was."

Yep, pets are so. much. fun.  I remember back not too long after hubby and I got married 100 years ago we had this huge tom cat.  I woke up one morning to my feet being just soaked.  The strange thing was my first thought was, "did Mark (hubby) pee the bed?" My second thought was, "did I pee the bed?"  It was very odd and disconcerting to be an adult and wondering such things.  Ended up both of our bladders were completely leak free and it was our male cat who had done the deed.  Trust me, I would have much preferred if it had been one of us who peed the bed - although I wouldn't be sharing the story with you now if it had been us.  Ewww.  Trust me, all our cats since then have been fixed as soon as their age allowed. 

So anyone else out there have a ewww pet story?

Tis the season for Christmas music Sugarland style

Oh goodie, goodie.  Not sure how many of you who come here were here last October/November when I had the whole conversation about my Christmas music obsession.  I'm crazy and start listening to Christmas tunes about November 1st or so.  Yes, I am a little touched in the head, but there is actually a practical reason for my early celebrating via Ho Ho Ho music.  I work at home doing medical transcription and am paid on production so listening to Christmas music puts me in a Christmas state of mind and makes me more productive knowing I've gotta make some extra mullah to shop. 

Okay, that's the excuse I give everyone.  It's actually just because I really love Christmas music (here's where I get my Yuletide fix).

Hmm, I did have a point to this post.  Oh yeah, Sugarland.  They are releasing a new holiday CD called Gold and Green on October 6th.  The CD will have 10 songs including five original songs co-written by Jennifer and Kristian. 

I personally can't wait....you know, for my productivity.  Ha ha.

TRACK LISTING:
    1. City Of Silver Dreams*
    2. Winter Wonderland
    3. Holly Jolly Christmas
    4. Coming Home*
    5. Gold And Green*
    6. Maybe Baby (New Year's Day)*
    7. Nuttin' For Christmas
    8. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
    9. Little Wood Guitar* 
    10. Silent Night

*original tunes

Carrie decides to Play On

So pretty.  USA Today has given us our first glimpse of Carrie's new CD, Play On, which hits stores November 3rd. 

Thanx Emily.

Jason Aldean let's the Keith Urban secret slip

Uh oh, someone's got a tongue lashing coming I think - and I don't mean in a good way.

Seems one of Jason Aldean's peeps posted Keith Urban's big secret on Jason's official website hours before the official announcement is set to be made.

Oops.

Bad for them, good for us.  Since CMTT found it first I'll be nice and just direct you to their websiteif you want to know the secret, otherwise, make sure to watch the announcement live on KeithUrban.net tonight. 

Still disappointed it's not baby news. :0(

One NashvilleGab reader has learned my cardinal rule

One of the cardinal rules around here is if I'm not posting enough of your favorite star, then send me something yourself.  One reader did just that.  Thinking the site was lacking in the Billy Ray Cyrus department, she decided to send me some pictures to post. 

First off is Billy Ray looking surprisingly handsome and rugged in his new movie Christmas in Canaan. 

And she sent me some pictures from Billy's concert at the Sean Hannity Freedom Concert at Kings Island in Cincinnati on August 21.

Just click to enlarge.  Not 100% sure why but I can't get the last two pics to center so they're a bit off center. 

 

I do believe I've found a musical muscle relaxer

You know, sometimes it's fun to just wander around YouTube and look for interesting stuff.  I was doing just that this morning looking for cover songs of Taylor's rumored new tune when I came across this video of this guy singing Miranda Lambert's Dead Flowers.  OMG, instant relaxation.  I had to listen a couple of times.  He absolutely completely relaxed me.  So odd.  So wonderful.  I'm not sure if it was because he was a good singer or if it was some sort of match between his tone and my melt button.  Don't think I've ever had someone singing relax me so much. 

Name's Nate Burnham.  You can check out his MySpace here and his YouTube page here.  Enjoy.

Update:  I just listened to every song on his MySpace.  I love this guy. 

Stop the presses, he sang Gary Allan.  You all know I love me some Gary Allan.

Taylor Swift album news - let the games begin

Taylor Swift fanatics you have a new date to mark on your calendar.  October 27, 2009. That's the day it's rumored Taylor will be re-releasing Fearless in the form of a CD/DVD combo. The CD may even contain a new song with the first single being Sparks Fly.

Walmart may have just improved their outlook for Christmas this year. 

There are videos on YouTube of Taylor singing Sparks Fly, but they all appear to be audio from the same performance and the audio is awful quality.  So I went on a hunt for a good cover.  Amazing that there are literally hundreds of covers and fan made videos from this one song that's never been released and the only audio around is a bad-quality concert recording.  It's going to be huge when it does get released.  If you would like to hear Taylor sing you can check it out here.  But if you'd rather, check out this really good cover (well apart from half her head being cut off) by 19-year-old Haley Adkins.

And to prove you never know what you're going to find when you're searching for Taylor Swift cover songs, here's a video of Taylor wearing her really big glasses and eating...set to music!