Country Bites News snippets February 3 - February 9, 2014

Country Bites News snippets February 3 – February 9, 2014

SOURCES / LINKS shown in RED

UK & IRISH News

For the week commencing 8 February 2014 on the BBC Radio 2 Playlist  and with the station named as one of the official sponsors for the C2C Country Festival it comes as no surprise to see headliner Brad Paisley now added to “B” playlist with “The Mona Lisa” as Chris Young with “Lonely Eyes” remains on the “C” playlist.

All five dates (400,000 tickets) for The Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event are now sold out. Tickets for a 4th date went on sale Feb 6 at 9am and sold out quickly. A 5th date was added and tickets for that date went on sale immediately. The 5th date has now also sold out, bringing the total number of tickets sold for The Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event to 400,000. This will be the first time that an artist will play 5 consecutive sold out dates at Croke Park.

The Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event will take place on Friday 25, Saturday 26, Sunday 27, Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 July 2014 at Croke Park.

Blackberry Smoke who were cover feature artists in Country Music People’s January issue release THE WHIPPOORWILL [3 bonus track] [Deluxe Edition] via Earache Records , iTunes and Amazon. It’s also being made available as a vinyl Double LP, see the promo >> video . The bonus tracks are: Tr14. Country Side of Life, Tr15. Pretty Little Lie LIVE and Tr16. Six Ways to Sunday LIVE. They tour in the UK stating Fri 28 February 2014 (O2 ABC, Glasgow) till Weds 5th March 2014 (Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton) All their dates are shown on the Tour Page and are available on Ticketmaster UK

Krista Detor released her latest album, FLAT EARTH DIARY, available Digitally on Amazon and iTunes in January, 2014. This is Krista’s fifth album to date and her first in four years and has been met with equivalent acclaim: "Magnificent!.. 5 Stars!" - Maverick Magazine. Of Songwriter Krista Detor’s work, Rolling Stone says, “A Small Miracle....”

Krista Detor is an enigmatic artist. A singer-songwriter with folk roots, she doesn't fit a singular category. So what genre classification can we place her in? The answer is “who cares?” When an artist produces music of this caliber, what does it matter the genre he or she produces? And Krista truly produces great music...Read more Press Release

Listen to "Always Somewhere" and her promo Single "Belle Of The Ball" >> Watch the album preview on YouTube

She currently has 7 UK dates for April and May starting on Friday 25 April 2014 (Tingewick Village Hall, nr Buckingham) to

Saturday 10 May 2014 (The Joseph Whitworth Centre, Station Road, Darley Dale, Derbyshire)   

Singer-songwriter Amy Wadge has released her first solo release in 6 years. Her new 5 Track EP RECOVERY has 5 new original songs written, recorded and produced by Amy and is available to pre-order at amywadge.com

On Feb 5, 2014 C2C Country to Country announced the Pop-Up Stage news and line-up. An eclectic selection of up-and-coming acts will appear on the Pop-Up Stages at C2C Country to Country at The O2. These shows are free and will follow the

huge success of last year’s gigs where the cream of new talent were given a stage to showcase their talents and prove that country music has a very strong future in the UK. Country Routes Blog shines the spotlight on the 27 Pop-Up Stage C2C 2014 acts - HERE

Sam Hollyman enjoyed 3 weeks atop the British & Irish Hotdisc chart at his first attempt. He and producer/drummer Justin Johnson, a native of the Pacific Northwest in America (www.jroom3.co.uk), who is now based in Stoke-On-Trent, worked on the first single from Sam's album "The Red Reel Sessions" which dropped late August 2013. >> Watch the studio footage

Sam found fame as a 15-year old after the Youtube video ("Singing with a Fan Live") of him singing with Michael Bublé (re-visited after his appearance on The Voice UK) which has now reached over 7.3 million views, landing him loads of press both in the UK and in America including Good Morning America.

Sam was joined by an incredible line up of studio musicians including Toby Chapman (Tom Jones) on keys, Al Vosper (Chris De Burgh) on bass, Roo Walker (Gary Barlow) on guitar and Scott Poley (Dave Sharp) on Pedal Steel. The video was shot during the tracking sessions at the famous Parr Street Studios (Coldplay, John Mayer) in Liverpool in May 2013 by Toni Graham.

Also please check out his brand new video shot live at the recent Orchard Acoustic Sessions in Cheshire. It features the single "The One For Me" from his latest album Red Reel Sessions album available on Amazon and iTunes.

 

Sam & Hollie

On his album Sam sang a duet titled "Games" with 16 year old Newcastle-Under-Lyme native Hollie May a talented Country/ Rock singer/songwriter, composer and acoustic performer of her own original material. 
>> Spotify Webplayer Link - Sam Hollyman – Games

She released her first debut EP “Every Living Wish” on iTunes and Amazon in September, 2013 (see Hard copy artwork) which was also produced by Justin Johnson. Currently busy with studies she has been working on raising her profile around Staffordshire which started with a virtual sell-out album launch concert (See Flyer) at The Gatehouse Theatre in Stafford on Sept 19, 2013 alongside Sam Hollyman. She has performed in local pubs, festivals, and has sang for BBC Radio Stoke. 

>> Watch the studio tracking of opening cut 'Won't Bring You Down'. Visit Hollie on Facebook

Photo luke.hodgkins

TV Alert: This weekend Saturday Feb 15, at 19:10 on BBC One sees the Blind Auditions 6 / Series 3 of The Voice UK.

Emma Willis and Marvin Humes host the penultimate round of blind auditions as the search for the UK's next big vocal talent continues.

OMG: The lovely professional singer Talia Smith, one halve of the hot UK country duo Travellin Rose will be one of the contestants. On Monday Feb 10, 2014 The Sun newspaper ran with a feature on page 27 titled “ My big fat gypsy wedding singer ..Traveller Talia on The Voice. The BBC programme charts new territory with Talia becoming the first gypsy to audition.

See separate Blog Post for more on this story and details and background on Talia’s music.

UK CHART NEWS

Official UK Singles Top 100 (Weeks Ending Feb 15, 2014)

Avicii‘s “Hey Brother” which features uncredited vocals from Dan Tyminski in its 20th week moved 8-10 (sales 22,535).

After painting London Red Taylor Swift with “I Knew You Were Trouble” returned to the chart 189-94 in her 62nd week

Official UK Albums Top 100 (Weeks Ending Feb 1, 2014 & Feb 8, 2014)

Taylor Swift’s RED re-entered the Top 100 moving 113-93 in her 66th week on the chart. Mary Chapin Carpenter with SONGS FROM THE MOVIE debuts at No.95.

Sheryl Crowe’s FEELS LIKE HOME (First released Sept 10th by Warner Brothers) album fell back 5 places to No.21 (Sales over 4,500 copies) in her second week on the chart.  The four month delay that followed its US release surely resulted in most of her core fanbase originating import purchases long this chart showing.

Red Fever helped Taylor Swift’s RED move up 30 places 69-39 in her 68th chart week with sales around 3,000 copies.

Official UK Country Album Chart  (Week Ending Feb 15, 2014)

Sheryl Crowe with FEELS LIKE HOME (Warner Brothers) held at No.1 on her 7th chart week. Kacey Musgraves’ SAME TRAILER DIFFERENT PARK (Decca) and Lucinda Williams self titled album were non-movers at #2 and #3.

Beth Nielsen Chapman with UNCOVERED slipped 4-5. New on the chart at No.7 is Bap Kennedy with LET’S START AGAIN (Proper Records)

On the Hotdisc Chart (February 9, 2014 Chart)

With new tracks impacting the chart from the February 2014 promo Hotdisc #182 witnessed the undisputed King of Hotdisc, Mr. Billy Yates, crashing in at the pinnacle to grab the Hotdisc Hotshot Debut honour. Yates, who has had more chart toppers than anyone else in Hotdisc history, made his bow at the summit with his self penned “The Man I Used To Be" beating his last single which took just two weeks to land the #1.

Andy Griggs cover of the Hank Williams song “Ramblin’ Man” stayed at No.2.

Last week David Shelby who finally got his song "Stealing Honey" to No.1, after spending seven weeks at the runner up slot, this week saw it dip to 1-3.

Jessie Lee Cates with “Scotland” fell back one slot 4-5 as did Bart Connell with “What A Way To Go” (5-6).

There were 3 new entries in the upper tier. The next highest debut at No.4 , "Glad She's Not An Angel “ (writers Michael Huffman and Judy Harris) came from Branch & Dean, who have never yet failed to get a #1 with their previous three singles. David Wood with his cover of an old Dean Martin song, "Memories Are Made Of This" (writers Bilkyson/ Dehr/ Miller) landed at No.9 and David Starr rounded out the Top 10 as his second Hotdisc release, "Way Past Ready", written with Amy Garland Angel, debuted at #10.

New debuts on the top 20 were Chris Higbee with “Wild And Crazy” (#14, co-written with McKnight and Harden), Levi Riggs with his title cut “I’m Good” (writers Mark Nester and Marty Dodson) came in at #15. Female duo Moore & Moore with “Mississippi Missing You” (writer Debbie Moore) landed at #18 and Fergal Flaherty with "Hey Son" (writer Brenda Lee Heathcote) made a bow at #17 which was enough to bag him the British & Irish Chart No.1 replacing Sam Hollyman’s 3-week No.1 “Where I Wanna Be”, which slipped back 11-19 on the Top 40 (1-2 British chart)

Kathryn Anderson who has received much praise from the local BBC country DJ’s enters at No.30 (#4 British & Irish) with her self penned EP title cut  “The Road Less Travelled”.

UK COUNTRY ALBUM RELEASES

(28 Nov 2013) Jessie Lee Cates - Let You Country Out

6 Tracks/ Time: 18:44 CD Import - MP3 - Amazon.com - CD BABY

(25 Jan 2014) Holly Norman - Appalachian Angel (Freedom Entertainment)

12 Tracks/ Time: 46:22 CD Import - MP3 - UK iTunes - Amazon.com

(14 Jan 2014) Krista Detor - Flat Earth Diary (Tightrope Records) 

12 Tracks/ Time: 48:16 CD (out March 17, 2014) - MP3 - UK iTunes - Amazon.com 

(4 Feb 2014, 17 Feb UK) Eric Paslay - Eric Paslay (Universal Nashville/ EMI Records)

11 Tracks/ 40:32 CD - Amazon.com - US iTunes

(11 Feb 2014) Irene Kelley - Pennsylvania Coal [Import](Patio Records)

CD - Amazon.com >> YouTube Preview - Press Release  

BLUEGRASS NEWS

Rhonda Vincent’s new album, ONLY ME, debuts at #1 on Billboard Bluegrass Album chart, ending a 4-month reign by Alan Jackson. In addition, the critically acclaimed album, debuts at #36 Top Country Albums.  "It's a dream come true!” says Rhonda Vincent.  “I was hoping for a #1 CD with Only Me, but never expecting it after only 2 days of sales. This is unbelievable! " Read more + US Tour dates . Here the track listing

The Claire Lynch Band are working on a holiday CD that will be released later this year. The project, which mixes winter songs with Christmas numbers and one Hanukkah tune, will be released on Claire’s own label, at least initially, between CDs

for Compass Records. Bassist Mark Schatz is taking six months away from Claire’s band to rejoin Nickel Creek on the road this spring and summer.

AUSSIE NEWS

Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert are No.1, moving 3-1, on the week's national Country Tracks Top 30 (Feb 15).

Last weeks No.1 Lee Kernaghan with "It's Only Country" dropped one slot 1-2 after 3 weeks at the Aussie summit.

Amber Joy Poulton's “Foolish Things” climbed 4-3 and Aleyce Simmonds "Believe" strode 6-4, her highest peak.

The Jayne Denham/Shannon Noll duet Beyond These City Lights fell 2-5.

Dan Biddle, a label veteran of 15 years working for BMG, Universal Music and most recently Sony Music, has launched TCO Artists. TCO (Taking Care Of) Artists will handle management for country sister trio The McClymonts and the Southern rock-inspired Adam Eckersley Band. “Having survived the steep decline of the record business through the 2000s, I can see that this is an entrepreneur’s industry right now, and I believe time will show this to be one of the great eras in music business history. I am very positive about the future.” Set up TCO as an all-round service provider, Biddle’s immediate focus is new releases from the two acts. The Adam Eckersley Band, from the NSW Central Coast act, release their debut album The First Album through Island/Universal Music on March 14. The McClymonts will release their fourth album through Universal Music mid-2014.

Ever wondered what it’s like behind the scenes at the Golden Guitar Awards? It takes a team of all sorts of experts many days to erect the stage and pull all the technical details together so that you get to enjoy the best of Country Music in Australia. Country Music Australia (CMAA) partner with the Tamworth Council each year to bring you a star-studded lineup. Here is a CMMA sneak peak at the 42nd Country Music Awards of Australia

CANADIAN NEWS

OMG! One More Girl's limited Edition 5 track EP The Hard Way is available now on iTunes.ca released on Open Road Recordings Feb 04, 2014. It features the track "Love Like Mine" performed by Hayden Panettiere (as Juliette Barnes) in the TV series Nashville. A full CD launch is scheduled for April 2014. See the stunning (OMG!) cover art from the West Coast Canadian sisters Britt and Carly McKillip. Find them on Facebook

Releases by Gord Bamford, Dean Brody, Brett Kissel, Small Town Pistols, and Tim Hicks were nominated for the Country Album of the Year Juno Award. Daniel Romano and Lindi Ortega are among the nominees for Solo Roots & Traditional Album.

2014 Juno Award nominees:

Country album: Started With a Song, Brett Kissel; Crop Circles, Dean Brody; Country Junkie, Gord Bamford; Small Town Pistols, Small Town Pistols; Throw Down, Tim Hicks. See the full list of categories cbc.ca/news/

Shania Twain: The Eilleen Years CD/DVD combo pack is out. The CD/DVD set includes Shania Twain in her early years - when she was performing in Canada as Eilleen Twain. The DVD includes a documentary on the Deerhurst resort and its performers, while the CD contains Eilleen singing 10 songs, including "Two Hearts One Love.". It’s exclusive to MVD Entertainment Group

NEWS

• Snapshot Country Aircheck's Insider News: February 7, 2014 - February 11, 2014
• Country Radio Seminar's (CRS) 5th annual "TEAM UMG AT THE RYMAN" luncheon will return at 12p (CT) on Wednesday, February 19th with performances by Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Easton Corbin, Billy Currington, Vince Gill, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Scotty Mccreery, Kip Moore, Kacey Musgraves, David Nail, Jon Pardi, Eric Paslay, Darius Rucker and Josh Turner.
• Brad Paisley and Keith Urban were among the artists who appeared on a CBS special on Sunday night that celebrated The Beatles' historic first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Keith joined forces with John Mayer on "Don't Let Me Down." Brad collaborated with Pharrell Williams and Cirque du Soleil on "Here Comes the Sun." Read more for performance details.
• Luke Bryan is teaming up with Florida Georgia Line at the 4th Annual ACM Fan Jam during the ACM Awards in April. The remote broadcast takes place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas just down the street from the main ACM show at the MGM Grand.
• Voice coaches Blake Shelton and Shakira were in the studio Saturday, recording a song for her album out March 25. Blake hired The Band Perry to be his Team Blake mentors on The Voice. The season premiere in the US is February 24.

TOURS

Shania Twain has added 21 new shows to her Shania: Still The One residency at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. More here.

Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas kick off their co-headlining tour May 1 in Murray, KY. Kacey Musgraves will be on select shows.

SINGLE / ALBUM NEWS

Terri Clark will allow fans to preorder her new album via direct-to-fan platform PledgeMusic. The project is set for release this fall. Pledge donations range from an Early Pledger T-shirt $33+ or Autographed CD for $38 to a private house concert for $25,000 or be Terri's date to the 2014 CCMA Awards for a mere $50,000! So far she has 332 pledges reaching 62% of her goal with 47 Days left, more here

Sherry Lynn is set to release her sophomore CD, A BEAUTIFUL LIFE, on March 11 under the Steal Heart Music imprint. The disc contains the New Jersey native’s current chart-active single, the anthemic “Girls Will Be Girls,” which hit radio programmers’ desks last month. 

Rising “country star” Dallas Smith will release his new EP TIPPIN’ POINT across the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, March 4th. Produced by Joey Moi (Florida Georgia Line, Jake Owen), the six-song project features the high-octane single “Tippin’ Point” (Released on iTunes Oct 8, 2013) and marks his debut U.S. release on Big Loud Mountain Records/Republic Nashville. The infectious party anthem set the record for the fastest Canadian country single to go GOLD and is currently No. 1 on SiriusXM’s The Highway Hot 45 Countdown.

A Gigantic Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner Bear Family Records boxed set is coming your way this spring "Just Between You And Me" (>> listen to title cut) Complete Recordings 1967-1976

PRESS RELEASES

• Natalie Stovall and The Drive’s “Baby Come On With It” earns rave reviews as it impacts Country Radio
• Steve Wariner asked fans to help choose songs for his concert set-list for this year's tour dates
• Country Radio Seminar (CRS 2014) media reminder Music City Media artists (David Shelby etc) available for interviews.
• Ray Stevens the Country and comedy music legend has released archived video footage revealing the identity of the original Duck-a-fone commander!
• The CMA Triple Play Awards were handed out at the Feb 4th Fifth Annual CMA Songwriters Luncheon. Fifteen of Nashville’s top tunesmiths received the Award, which is presented to songwriters who pen three chart-topping hits in a 12-month period. Attending today’s luncheon were Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, Hunter Hayes, Ben Hayslip, Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally (“Better Dig Two,” “Downtown,” “Mama’s Broken Heart”), Jimmy Robbins, and Troy Verges. Also in attendance were hit tunesmiths from ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, as well as songwriter members of CMA and representatives of some of the most successful publishers in Music City. Read more about the recipients at cmaworld
• Charlie Daniels and The CDB has is a new album release by titled Off The Grid—Doin’ It Dylan. Produced by Charlie Daniels and Casey Wood, the new project is set to street April 1, 2014. His first new album project release since 2007, the new tribute collection contains Daniels’ signature deft musical delivery on ten of Dylan’s finest writings - Cover Art
• Open Road Recordings celebrates 2014 Juno Nominations! -
• Dean Brody 'Crop Circles & Tractor Beams Tour' conquers the Canadian East Coast!
• Eric Paslay Country star and outdoor enthusiast has been chosen as NRA Country’s Featured Artist for February. The announcement comes during an exciting week, on the heels of the release of his highly anticipated self-titled debut album including his hit and first No. 1 single as an artist, “Friday Night.” As an NRA Country Featured Artist, Paslay joins some of country music’s biggest artists including Florida Georgia Line, Lee Brice, Love and Theft, Easton Corbin, and many more, in teaming up to celebrate his support of our brave men and women in uniform, appreciation for the great outdoors, and love of family. Note: The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a formidable opponent, however, when it comes to grass-roots organizing. It has more than 4 million members who feel passionately about gun rights. Nearly 90 percent of NRA members oppose the  banning semi-automatic weapons.
• Duck Commander, the brand of the best-selling duck calls and name of the thriving family-owned company led by the Robertson clan of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” fame, has signed a multi-year agreement to serve as title sponsor of the annual spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
• Dolly Parton announced the release of her new album Blue Smoke which will be released by Sony Music Masterworks and Dolly Records on May 13, 2014. Pre-Order already available on Amazon.com
• Americana Music Association UK Showcase takes place at Kings Place, London during Feb 13-15, 2014. The recently formed Americana Music Association UK (AMA-UK) will present some of the very best of Americana music, featuring top artists from North America, including Laura Cantrell, Sturgill Simpson and Austin Lucas along with UK based bands Police Dog Hogan, Emily Barker and Hatful of Rain and The Vagaband... Following this weeks showcases, the AMA-UK will produce a second Americana/UK Music conference during the Maverick Festival at Easton Farm Park in East Suffolk on Friday July 4, 2014.

INTERVIEWS

CMC.com Interview: Rosanne Cash -CMC talk to the country music royal about her new album.... Great records have an ability to transport the listener to a place or time where they may never have even been.It only takes the first few bars of Rosanne Cash's new album The River & Ther Thread to make you realise that this is one of those records, as opener 'A Feather's Not A Bird', plonks the listener deep into the southern United States America and leaves them there for the duration of the album's 38 odd minutes.....

Rolling Stone: Eric Church's Heavy Trip…. Nashville badass follows star-making 'Chief' LP with a dark, wild country epic...

Extract: "I don't know how people are going to take it," Eric Church says in his twangy Carolina drawl. The 36-year-old singer-guitarist looks a little bleary as he settles into a leather couch at the Nashville studio where he cut his fourth album, The Outsider.....He had 121 songs by the time he hit the studio with his longtime producer Jay Joyce. "There were probably eight or nine that are legitimate runaway smashes – song-of-the-year-type songs," Church says. "But we didn't record them, because I felt like we'd kind of been there."...

Rollingstone Jennifer Nettles Details All The Facets of 'That Girl'

EN145 Suzy Bogguss Gets Lucky …Extract: You made this new album by funding it on Kickstarter, and you raised $75, 000 in just one month. Why did you decide to use this approach? You know, doing it this way reminds me so much of when I first started out. I was running around in a camper truck, playing in folk rooms and coffeehouses. We had these folk co-ops to which we belonged where we took care of each other and told each other about places to play. To belong to the co-op all you had to do was to share with other the names of three places to play where they would pay you and feed you. When I put together my first album, I borrowed money from folks in bars. This isn’t so different except that when fans participated in the Kickstarter campaign, they’d get the album earlier than anyone else and it would have bonus cuts on it. You could choose how much you wanted to contribute; some people received a set of handwritten lyrics; one person will even get a private home event. These folks have been like patrons; if I was a new artist starting out today, I’d certainly be looking into Kickstarter.

MAGAZINES

Big Machine's Taylor Swift features on the cover of the March issue of GLAMOUR magazine for the publication's 75th anniversary issue.

Taylor Swift - Glamour Magazine March 2014
Photos: Patrick Demarchelier; Stylist: Anne Christensen
CLICK to ENLARGE

"Taylor Swift is the quintessential GLAMOUR cover star: a gorgeous stylish woman with a real voice, who's become one of the world's biggest stars -- and a role model to millions of young women. She's the total package, and the perfect person to ring in Glamour's 75th anniversary," said Glamour Editor-In-Chief Cindi Leive.

The issue hits newsstands February 11, or download the digital issue at glamour.com

In a heart-to-heart with the editor, Tay talks about men, mistakes, the glare of the spotlight—and her hopes for the future.

Go behind the scenes with Taylor Swift at her March 2014 Glamour magazine cover-shoot >> Video

Glamour magazine – Cover - Page Image - Page Image - Page 19 - Page Image

a) On the cover Taylor stuns in fiery red Floral pretty lace Lucid Dress from Rachel Comey’s Spring 2014 collection. The dress detaches into separates through exposed zip around waist ($644.00 (pre-order) shoplesnouvelles ) - Fashion Pic

b) Taylor channelled her hippie love in a white open-weave Chloé dress from the Spring 2014 runway Worn with Charlotte Olympia ‘Sophia Seashell Sandals’ from Charlotte Olympia’s nautical-inspired Spring 2014 collection. These ankle-strap peep toe heels have an oyster shell with a pearl inside as a decoration - Fashion Pic - Fashion Pic

c) Relaxing on a sofa Taylor is seen wearing a Stella McCartney dual-tone lace dress with a plunging neckline from the Spring 2014 collection – Fashion Pic

d) With hair extensions and chilling out barefoot with her blue guitar Taylor was decked out in a beautiful floral skirt and matching cashmere sweater by Michael Kors (Spring Collection) - Fashion Pic

LISTEN

• Bluegrass trio Nickel Creek have kicked back into life on Feb. 3. The promise of a new album, a new song >>  “Destination” and a string of eight tour dates posted to their official website.
• Miranda Lambert “Automatic” (Single Edit) now at Radio published Feb 5th
• Song Premiere: Rod Picott “Milkweed” a track from Picott’s new album, Hang Your Hopes on a Crooked Nail (Picott’s longtime friend and frequent co-writer, Slaid Cleaves, recorded the song that lyric comes from, “Dreams,” on Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away)
• Listen to 'Waited' by Americana/Roots Music Wylie, TX native Kylie Rae Harris , featured on ‘Hart of Dixie’. It’s the lead-off track from her Taking It Back EP available on iTunes (Released: 17 Sept 17, 2013 via Be Music & Entertainment)

She names her Influences as: Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, John Denver, Crosby Stills Nash and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

WATCH

• Alison Krauss – “End of a Summer Storm” from Sandra Boynton’s "Frog Trouble" [Official Music Video] see Feb 3, 2014 Newsletter
• Suzy Bogguss appeared on Good Day L.A. Watch the interview and performance 
• Jarrod Birmingham "December Gone" (Official). The Victoria, TX native has been compared to Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams, Jr., producer Eric Paul described the country traditionalist as “the first real singer of the 21st century. (Facebook)
• Deric Ruttan "Pass It Around" (Official Vid) from his Take The Week Off album.
• Logan Brill performs "Scars" live at The High Watt in Nashville, TN. (Footage by Big Branch Productions)
• Garth Brooks performs "The Dance" on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno
• Ashton Lane Kitchen Sessions "Counting Stars" by One Republic and "Let Her Go" by Passenger

 A platform for live concerts isn’t exactly a new idea. In fact, it’s been floating around for years. Artists using their own professional video equipment have filmed live private home concerts to fans and broadcast them using platforms such as Livestream and Ustream.tv. Taylor Swift introduced her album RED talking to her fans around the world live on the web at Ustream.tv/taylorswift.

Tim McGraw unveiled his video for “Highway Don’t Care” live to fans with a first-ever music video premiere event with Google+ Hangout. Webcasting such as Google+ #CMchat Twangout events brought artists, magazine editors, commentators and fans together to discuss music and launch projects.

Those entering the space have been hamstrung to an over-abundance of friction stemming from royalty and licensing issues and having to convince venues to install the technology and hardware — among other things. As a result, live online music has been slow to take off.

EvntLive founders saw a new music industry beginning to emerge, in which the new scale of online consumption and distribution channels now allow artists to tap into much larger audiences. In turn, with digital music moving towards free, artists now make most of their money from touring, but because they can only tour so much and play so many venues, the access to new audiences and ticket sales afforded by a live, online platform is becoming more appealing.

Services like Concert Window, StageIt and Qello are live and finding traction.

Below are listed on the Concert Window event schedule. Requirements are: At least 2mbps internet connection speed (there is a low-bandwidth video option for those with slower internet connections; for example, 400kbps download speed).

Watch on your computer, smartphone, tablet or Apple TV. Payment details are made by credit card

Find Concert Window on Facebook

Pay what you want for:

Amanda Shires Blue Rock Studios Wimberley, TX (Thurs Feb 13 at 8:30 pm EST - concertwindow.com This will be a LIVE video webshow with no commercials.

Sally Barris, is breaking into the clouds with an internet concert aired from her home in Nashville on Tues Feb 18. Sally will be playing a 30 minute (or longer) show directly into their laptop - concertwindow.com

Brennen Leigh & Noel McKay Live webshow starts Saturday February 15 at 9:00 pm EST - concertwindow.com

Christene LeDoux will be playing this 30 minute (or longer) show directly into their laptop, on March 8 at 11:00 pm EST / 7:00 pm AKST concertwindow.com

$5 Shows:

Slaid Cleaves / Eliza Gilkyson / Bruce Robison April 10 at 7:30 pm EST , Blue Rock Studio ($5) - concertwindow.com

The Claire Lynch Band May 8 at 7:30 pm EST; Blue Rock Studio ($5) in Wimberley, Texas - concertwindow.com

COUNTRY FASHION

The ever-effervescent Joseph Cassell - aka Taylor Swift’s stylist - once again made some magic happen with rhinestones and made a custom sparkly London tee for Taylor’s second show at the O2 Arena in London. Putting sparkle in her step she wore Miu Miu silver leather brogues. A dusting of glitter makes these classic shoes a statement in glamorous dressing (£420 net-a-porter.com).That night, she brought out Sam Smith to sing “Money On My Mind.” - Images

For the third show (of five!) at the O2 Arena, Taylor paid tribute to The Beatles in a white tee featuring the artwork for the iconic album Abbey Road. She wore the shirt, with a few sparkly stones glued on, to give it that Swiftian flair while performing >> “Breakeven” with Danny O’Donoghue, the lead singer of the band The Script. Image

Don't Grasp Nettles but with Jennifer I make an exception!

Rebel in a Blue Dress: Lovely 39-year-old Jennifer Nettles strikes a beautiful pose in a Mason Leather Bodice Contrast Dress (from the Fall 2013 Collection michellemason.net) on the cover of the March 2014 issue of Redbook.

It has an Asymmetric hem with a Center back zipper closure (Revolve Style No. MASO-WD226 Manufacturer Style No. M-9701)

Launched in 2002 as a diffusion from Los Angeles-based designer Michelle Mason's eponymous label, Mason is a youthful collection of playful garments inspired by modern shapes and classic attire. Her line offers sweetly draped and embellished blouses, tanks and tops in colors that range from muted greys to vibrant pinks. The Los Angeles-based designer has become a well known name among stylish red carpet regulars like Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz and Natalie Portman

Find out about Jennifer's future of Sugarland, the post-pregnancy asset she's still enjoying, and how she deals with bullies. It's all in the March issue of REDBOOK—on newsstands February 11—or download the iPad edition - Fashion Pic

>> Watch the background video to her cover feature. Read the story and run the slideshow at redbookmag.com

Rockabilly/ Country Aussie songstress Shelley Minson tries to keep cool in a baking hot Tamworth. She wears one of her favourite Hell Bunny dresses the Vanda 50's style dress with a gorgeous new necklace from Lucy Luxxe. Her wig is from Gothic Lolita - Image

COUNTRY GOSSIP

• David Nail Reveals What His Wife Won't Let Him Do in the Bedroom....Ummmmm Nail always thinks about his wife, Catherine, when he sings that line in "Whatever She's Got" about the girl in tight blue jeans. "She definitely makes 'em look good," David told ABC New Radio. Catherine doesn't allow David to see her put those tight jeans on, though. For some reason, she always makes him turn the other way when she's pulling them on in their bedroom. Says David, "I guess they're painted on so tight that she's gotta do a little process that she doesn't want me to witness. I don't know what it is. I don't know if she's got one of those shoehorns that you put on tight shoes, if she's got a little jean horn that she puts on."
• Garth Brooks and former longtime employee, Lisa Sanderson, go to trial in Nashville’s U.S. District Court. Garth’s suing her for $226,000 plus interest, attorney’s fees and more. She says the money was a gift, Garth says it was a loan made to her thru his company Red Strokes where she had been an employee.

PHOTO

Reba McEntire: Forever Love video shoot. 1996 when I 1st cut my hair. That corset killed me!!! #throwbackthursday #tbt Image

Reba McEntire: #throwbackthursday can u believe that hair???? That outfit is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame. - Image

BIRTHDAYS

February 10: Lionel Cartwright (1959)

February 11: Wesley Rose (1918)

February 12: Moe Bandy (1944)

February 13: Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919)  

February 14: Razzy Bailey (1939)  

February 15: Hank Locklin (1918)

February 16: Ruby Lovett (1967)

February 17: Jon Randall (1969), Bryan White (1974)