May
2010
20
2010
(Mac McAnally)
Several songwriters who have written some of Kenny Chesney‘s biggest hits are scheduled to perform them at Nashville’s Hard Rock Cafe during the 2010 CMA Music Festival.
Mac McAnally (“Down the Road,” “Back Where I Come From”), Craig Wiseman (“The Good Stuff,” “Ain’t Back Yet,” “Summertime”), Brett James (“When the Sun Goes Down,” “Out Last Night,”), Neil Thrasher (“There Goes My Life,” “I Lost It”), Wendell Mobley (“There Goes My Life,” “How Forever Feels”) and Casey Beathard (“Don’t Blink,” “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems”) will appear at the June 10th event.
The performance will air on Kenny Chesney’s No Shoes Radio and funds raised will benefit Musicians On Call. Tickets are available HERE.
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Currently in the midst of putting the finishing touches on his 3-D movie, Kenny Chesney is also set to release new music in the coming weeks. “Ain’t Back Yet,” Chesney’s new single, will hit country radio on February 8, and Kenny says the song very much fits his life. The song begins “I heard a song ’bout a ramblin’ man, bought a guitar and I started a band/ I got a gig at the local Am Vet, I was gone and I ain’t back yet,” which is a story line that Kenny can certainly relate to. “That song is pretty much everything about what happened to me, especially with the music,” Chesney admits. “You get so focused on what you’re trying to accomplish, it takes over… and there’s nothing that’s going to come between you and your dream. For some people, it’s sports; for me, it was the music. You know, there’s a price you pay to do this, but look at what this is.”
Kenny continues to explain his relation to the song, saying “Or as the bridge goes, ‘Lookin’ back at the moments, black and white/ I wouldn’t change a thing that changed my life/ For the worse, for the better, man, I was gone, gone forever… The laughs, the smiles, the trails, the tears/ It’s hard to hate what got me here…’ Pretty much sums it up.”
“Ain’t Back Yet” is the lead single from Kenny’s studio album that’s due this fall.
In addition to his already busy schedule, Kenny is up for a Grammy Award this weekend for his duet with Mac McAnally, “Down The Road.”
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Best Female Country Vocal Performance
“Dead Flowers”
“I Just Call You Mine”
“White Horse”
“Just A Dream”
“Solitary Thinkin’”
Best Male Country Vocal Performance
“All I Ask For Anymore”
“People Are Crazy”
“High Cost Of Living”
“Living For The Night”
“Sweet Thing”
Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
“Cowgirls Don’t Cry”
“Chicken Fried”
“I Run To You”
“Here Comes Goodbye”
“It Happens”
Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
“Beautiful World”
Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin
“Down The Road”
“Start A Band”
Brad Paisley & Keith Urban
“I Told You So”
Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis
“Everything But Quits”
Lee Ann Womack & George Strait
Best Country Instrumental Performance
“Under The (Five) Wire”
Alison Brown
“The Crystal Merchant”
The Greencards
“Mansinneedof”
Sarah Jarosz
“Producer’s Medley”
Steve Wariner
Best Country Song
“All I Ask For Anymore”
Casey Beathard & Tim James, songwriters (Trace Adkins)
“High Cost Of Living”
Jamey Johnson & James Slater, songwriters (Jamey Johnson)
“I Run To You”
Tom Douglas, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)
“People Are Crazy”
Bobby Braddock & Troy Jones, songwriters (Billy Currington)
“White Horse”
Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
Best Country Album
The Foundation
Zac Brown Band
Twang
George Strait
Fearless
Taylor Swift
Defying Gravity
Keith Urban
Call Me Crazy
Lee Ann Womack
In addition to the above nominations, Taylor Swift is also up for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her hit, “You Belong With Me” and Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for “Breathe” with Colbie Caillat. Swift also scored a nomination in the Album of the Year category for her multi-platinum release, Fearless. Swift is up for a total of eight grammy awards.
Other noteable country music nominations include Zac Brown Band in the all-genre Best New Artist category, Brad Paisley for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “Playing With Fire” from his album, Play, and Keith Urban for Best Long Form Music Video for “Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy World Tour Live.”
Click HERE for the FULL list of nominees.
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards are set to air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 31 at 8pm (EST) on CBS.
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Musician of the Year – Mac McAnally
Musical Event of the Year – “Start A Band” Brad Paisley & Keith Urban
Video of the Year – “Love Story” Taylor Swift
Single of the Year – “I Run To You” Lady Antebellum w/ producers Victoria Shaw & Paul Worley
Song of the Year – “In Color” Jamey Johnson, James Otto and Lee Thomas Miller
Vocal Group of the Year – Lady Antebellum
New Artist of the Year – Darius Rucker
Album of the Year – “Fearless” Taylor Swift
Vocal Duo of the Year – Sugarland
Male Vocalist of the Year – Brad Paisley
Female Vocalist of the Year – Taylor Swift
Entertainer of the Year- Taylor Swift
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Tonight’s the night! The 43rd Annual CMA Awards air LIVE from Nashville at 8pm EST on ABC!!
It’s always fun to make predictions on who will take home each award. We had a really tough time picking winners this year…there’s so much amazing talent out there!
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Ahhh, the coveted EOTY award….For us, this is a BIG toss up between Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift. We want Chesney to take it home, but we have a good feeling this is going to be a BIG night for Taylor, so we’re predicting she’s going to win.
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR:
Carrie Underwood has laid pretty low this year and because of that we think she might not win this one this time around. We think Taylor Swift to take this one home.
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Brad Paisley seems to be the top choice in this category and we think he’ll probably take it home again this year. If we got to pick, we’d give this one to Darius Rucker. He’s had AMAZING success and we think he really deserves this one.
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
This is a tough one. Both Darius Rucker and the Zac Brown Band have had a huge, breakout year. We think Darius will pull through on this one though.
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Another TOUGH category….We think Lady Antebellum and the Zac Brown Band are going to give Rascal Flatts a run for their money in this category. Ultimately, we think the Flatts will pull through again, but we’d love to see Lady A or ZBB come out with a win.
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
There’s pretty much no doubt in our mind that Sugarland will take home the CMA for Vocal Duo of the Year. If we got to pick, we’d chose Montgomery Gentry- love them!
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
We really think (& hope) “Chicken Fried” by the Zac Brown Band will come out on top. We’ll never forget the moment ZBB rocked LP Field at CMA Fest with this song. We don’t think the crowd has ever been so loud!
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Hands down…Taylor Swift’s Fearless.
SONG OF THE YEAR
We’d love to see “Chicken Fried” (Zac Brown/Wyatt Durrette) win, but we also love “People Are Crazy” (Bobby Braddock/Troy Jones) and we think that it has a great chance of winning.
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
There are too many good ones in this category! It’s definitely a toss up between “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” (Brooks & Dunn featuring Reba McEntire, “Down The Road” (Kenny Chesney with Mac McAnally), and “I Told You So” (Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis). Honestly, we can’t decide! We’d love to see “Down The Road” win, but we think “I Told You So” might pull through.
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
We’d love to see Randy Houser’s “Boots On” (Directed by Eric Welch) take this one, but we think “Love Story” Taylor Swift (Directed by Trey Fanjoy) will come out on top.
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
We think Mac McAnally (Guitar) will take this one home again.
What are your picks? Do you agree/disagree with ours? Leave us a comment & let us know!
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Brad Paisley was the big winner at the 7th annual French Country Music Awards, taking home the Best Entertainer of the Year, Best Album of the Year, and Best Musician of the Year honors. Other winners include:
- Best Male Vocalist of the Year – Alan Jackson
- Best Female Vocalist of the Year – Sara Evans
- Best New Talent of the Year – Zac Brown Band
- Best Duo of the Year – Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally (“Down The Road”)
- Best Song of the Year – “Out Last Night” by Kenny Chesney
- Best Video of the Year – “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” by John Rich
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Musician of the Year
Eddie Payers
Paul Franklin
Dann Huff
Brent Mason
Mac McAnally
Single of the Year (Award goes to artist & producer)
“Chicken Fried”- Zac Brown Band
“I Run To You”- Lady Antebellum
“In Color”- Jamey Johnson
“People Are Crazy”- Billy Currington
“Then”- Brad Paisley
Song of the Year (Award goes to songwriter(s))
“Chicken Fried”- Zac Brown, Wyatt Durette
“I Told You So”- Randy Travis
“In Color”- Jamey Johnson, Lee Thomas Miller, James Otto
“People Are Crazy”- Bobby Braddock, Troy Jones
“Then”- Brad Paisley, Chris Debois, Ashley Gorley
Vocal Group of the Year
Eagles
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band
Vocal Duo of the Year
Big & Rich
Brooks & Dunn
Joey & Rory
Montgomery Gentry
Sugarland
Music Video of the Year (Award goes to artist and director)
“Boots On”- Randy Houser, Directed by Eric Welch
“Love Story”- Taylor Swift, Directed by Trey Fanjoy
“People Are Crazy”- Billy Currington, Directed by The Brads
“Start A Band”- Brad Paisley (duet with Keith Urban), Directed by Jim Shea
“Troubadour”- George Strait, Directed by Trey Fanjoy
Album of the Year (Award goes to Artist and Producer)
American Saturday Night- Brad Paisley, Produced by Frank Rogers and Chris DuBois
Defying Gravity- Keith Urban, Produced by Dann Huff and Keith Urban
Fearless- Taylor Swift, Produced by Nathan Chapman and Taylor Swift
Love On The Inside- Sugarland, Produced by Byron Gallimore, Kristian Bush, and Jennifer Nettles
That Lonesome Song- Jamey Johnson, Produced by The Kent Hardly Playboys
Musical Event of the Year (Award goes to each Artist)
“Cowgirl’s Don’t Cry” Brooks & Dunn w/ Reba McEntire
“Down The Road”- Kenny Chesney w/ Mac McAnally
“Everything But Quits”- Lee Ann Womack w/ George Strait
“I Told You So”- Carrie Underwood w/ Randy Travis
“Old Enough”- The Raconteurs w/ Ricky Skaggs & Ashley Monroe
New Artist Of The Year
Randy Houser
Jamey Johnson
Jake Owen
Darius Rucker
Zac Brown Band
Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Male Vocalist of the Year
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Darius Rucker
George Strait
Keith Urban
Entertainer of the Year
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Taylor Swift
Keith Urban
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This past Saturday was a beautiful day in Louisville, KY with the sun shining down on an 85 degree day and just enough breeze to keep the crowd that had gathered for this stop of the “Sun City Carnival Tour” comfortable throughout the day-long concert. Lady Antebellum took the stage to kick-off the show to a half-packed stadium. Once again, the crowd seemed to really enjoy their high energy set as well as their spot-on vocals. The trio played songs from their self-titled debut album as well as a few cover songs. Their album is filled with great music so we’d rather hear them play more of their own songs instead of covers, but judging by the crowd’s reaction, Lady A has the ability to entertain the crowd no matter what the song selection is.
Miranda Lambert was the next one to hit the stage and wasted no time proving why she’s a perfect addition to the “Sun City Carnival Tour.” Miranda’s true country music sound along with her no apologies, true-to-herself attitude helped her win over the respect and enthusiasm of this Kentucky crowd! She may not be the biggest female name in country music just yet – but there’s no doubt in our minds that she’s the most all-around, truly talented country gal out of the bunch!
Kentucky natives Montgomery Gentry took the stage next, much to the delight of the crowd. As the guys continued to belt out hit after hit, this home-state crowd showed their appreciation and affection for MG by staying on their feet for the entire set! It was an awesome sight to see the crowd so passionate and proud of Eddie and Troy. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – you MUST make it a point to catch this duo in concert. Their music is great, but their entertaining ability is even better and if you’re not already, they will make a fan out of you if you just give them a chance!
With each act that passed, more fans continued to fill the stadium and it was clear that they were eagerly awaiting Sugarland‘s performance. Despite recent reports of health problems, Jennifer’s vocals sounded awesome as she belted out a great combination of hits from each of Sugarland’s three albums. During “All I Want To Do” the duo mixed a fun combination of songs from a few different genres – we’ve honestly never heard anything like that and it was very cool! Another fun moment of their set came as Jennifer and Kristian climbed inside two giant bubbles and proceeded to crawl over the crowd. That moment proved to be a little anti-climactic as they didn’t venture out very far into the crowd, but it was still a fun sight to see. It’s clear to any country music fan that Jennifer and Kristian have a unique energy within them that comes across in their music and during their live show. That energy is even more abundant proving that these two have carved out their own niche in country music.
As the clock neared 9:00pm, Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium was completely full of fans waiting to see the man of the night. As we had seen at his first show of the tour, Kenny Chesney enters the stage at his arena shows via a swing that he maneuvers to the different areas of the venue. Now, that same swing that had guided him inside the walls and of a small arena was now moving Kenny throughout this open football stadium. As Kenny sang the opening number and greeted fans, the crowd was electric with appreciation at getting such an up close view of the superstar.
Shortly after his feet hit the stage to continue through the set list, Lauren and I looked at each other and agreed “he’s got it tonight.” Kenny’s face was rarely seen throughout the night without a big grin sprawled across it and his energy level, as always, was in high gear. Although the songs sounded fabulous through Chesney’s two-hour set, it felt as if the songs were secondary to connecting with every member of the packed house. As Kenny belted out his set full of hits, he was constantly shaking hands with fans, high-fiving them, and seemed very genuine in showing his appreciation for them.
Mac McAnally was in attendance at the show and took the stage to help sing two songs that he’s written for Kenny, “Down The Road” and “Back Where I Come From.”
Shortly after McAnally’s appearance, what had been a day full of perfect weather turned quickly into rain. In what was almost an appropriate time, as Kenny sang “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven,” the ‘heavens’ opened up and soaked the high-spirited crowd! Kenny wanted to soak up the moment with the fans and immediately moved his microphone stand out to the very end of the long stage and opened his arms, welcoming the rain just as the fans were doing. Just as quickly as the rain came, it was gone again and the rest of the evening stayed completely dry.
As the show came to a close and Chesney stayed on the stage signing autogrpahs for the fans, it remained evident that his live show is what sets Kenny Chesney apart from other artists. Kenny has often stated that the awards and accolades aren’t what fuels his drive as an artist – that his live show and connection to the audience are his top priority – and this past Saturday night in Louisville, KY, the massive crowd at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium whole-heartedly agreed.
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