CMT has partnered with Big Machine Records for the first DVD release of its critically-acclaimed series, CMT CROSSROADS, when the episode featuring Taylor Swift and Def Leppard hits stores on Tuesday, June 16. CMT CROSSROADS: TAYLOR SWIFT AND DEF LEPPARD includes 11 electrifying performances by 2008’s best-selling artist among all genres of music and Great Britain’s premier arena rock band. The DVD will be available exclusively, at a low price of $11.88, in Wal-Mart stores in the US and Canada, including Sam’s Club and on Walmart.com, and hits shelves the same day Swift and Def Leppard are scheduled to appear on the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS.
Their performance of “Photograph” is also up for both Performance of the Year and Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the CMT MUSIC AWARDS.
Taped before a standing-room only audience in Nashville, Swift fulfilled her “childhood dream” when she walked onstage and performed with Def Leppard. Lead singer Joe Elliott and Swift swapped lyrics on such hit songs as “Photograph,” “Hysteria,” “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Picture to Burn” and “Love Story.”
The DVD has special features that include extended and new interviews with the artists, and never-before-seen performances.
We found this cool video of Bucky Covington & brother Rocky Covington putting their soulful spin on one of my favorite all-time country music songs "Seven Spanish Angels" before a happy crowd of troops and families during Bucky's recent USO tour. Watch it here...
The George Strait tribute last night was a great honor for one of country music’s biggest living legends. We have several of the videos from the show posted below including performances by Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley, Jamie Foxx, Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, Jamey Johnson & Lee Ann Womack.
And just to keep the interior decorator's worst nightmare theme with country music themed Father's Day gifts, how about this one- acoustic guitar toilet seats. All yours for the low low price of only $169. From their website:
If you're into music, we mean REALLY into music, then you'll get a kick out of this offbeat bathroom fixture. Jammin' Johns toilet seats made by Marvin Maxwell who once created a guitar from a toilet lid realized the idea worked just as well in reverse. If you think you might want a guitar or piano toilet seat you're in good company—the list of clientele includes Steven Spielberg, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton!
The innuendo's would be endless. "Honey, I'm going downstairs to play around with Dolly Parton." "I'm going to go score with Dolly Parton."
But for the country music fan that has $1500 burning a hole in their pocket, (does anyone in this economy really have $1500 burning a hole in thier pocket?), they can buy their very own 1979 Bally Dolly Parton Pinball Game.
From the Pennsylvania Gameroom Warehouse:
Very few super stars get their own pinball machine and even fewer get their own amusement park. Dolly Parton brings live performance excitement to your gameroom collection with traditional silverball action and competitive four player scoring.
If you're interested in adding this to your gameroom collection, click here...
Big James Otto (Just Got Started Lovin’ You) has announced a brand new album coming out in the fall and is just releasing a brand-new single called Since You Brought It Up that he calls country soul. Check out these fun suggestive lyrics to go along with the new track...
Since you brought it up, why don’t you bring it over,
Columbia Nashville duo Montgomery Gentry was invited to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry this evening during the Tuesday Night Opry. Montgomery Gentry made their Grand Ole Opry debut nine years ago on March 3, 2000. The duo will be formally inducted into the Opry family on Tues., June 23.
Opry member Charlie Daniels surprised Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry by approaching them from the Opry House audience and making his way on stage. “I have been chosen to do something very special,” Daniels said. “I have known you guys for a long time, and I am very proud of all your accomplishments,” he continued before offering, “if you agree to it, on June 23rd you’re gonna be made members of the Grand Ole Opry!”
Montgomery and Gentry, both visibly surprised and moved, exchanged hugs with each other and with Daniels, after which Gentry managed, “I’m speechless” and Montgomery borrowed a handkerchief from Daniels to wipe his eyes.
After composing themselves, the two kicked into their current hit, “One In Every Crowd,” while Gentry noted his surprise, yelling out to the Opry staff and Daniels, “y’all got us!”
“The Grand Ole Opry, ba-by!” Montgomery added.
“With each and every Opry performance Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry have offered, it has been quite apparent that not only do they know how to move audiences with their unique brand of music, but they too are moved by the connection they share with the Opry and its rich legacy,” said Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher. “All of us at the Opry eagerly await the 23rd of June when Montgomery Gentry will formally join the ranks of the Opry's esteemed membership roster.”
Becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry has been a career dream for both of the duo’s members. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Montgomery Gentry’s debut album, Tattoos & Scars. The duo’s road to gold and platinum albums, CMA and ACM Awards, a Grammy nomination and highly successful tours has been paved both with musical integrity and with an abiding respect for the people and the genre they represent.
Musical genres and boxes be damned. Jessie James is going to cross all lines and blow through all paradigms on her journey through her music career.
"I've known this is what I was supposed to do since I was 10," says Jessie James, who cites her influences as LeAnn Rimes, Christina Aguilera, Janis Joplin and Bobbie Gentry. "I'm just anxious to get out there and let the world hear me. I'm just so excited. I've got a lot to say and I'm more than ready for this."
With a message of female empowerment and refusing to play the victim, Jessie's first single, "Wanted," which she co-wrote with American Idol judge and hit songwriter Kara DioGuardi as well as Mitch Allen and David Hodges, shows off her intensity in a full-throttle dance-rock scorcher that catches and won't let go."My mother taught me when I was growing up not to let myself be treated badly," she insists. "I think it's a real good message to young girls out there… don't wait around for a guy to change. Just get out."I just don't like doing what I'm told. That's what I love about rock. Rockers are just so ballsy. They do whatever they want on-stage, which I really admire. You still have to be a lady, but I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to be like that. I feel like, in another world, I could have been in a '90s rock band."
But she’s can also be all country. On songs like the twangy "My Cowboy," co-written with Mercury Nashville artist Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser, and the sassy "Blue Jeans," with its hip-hop swagger and tribal percussion--featured on the soundtrack of the hit Touchstone film version of Sophie Kinsella's best-seller Confessions of a Shopaholic- Jessie shows she's not afraid to strut her sexuality, either. She points out that lyrics like "Gimme some like I never had" ("Wanted") and "Saddle up and take me for a little ride" ("My Cowboy") may be just what they say, suggesting the latter could well be about hopping on a horse."You can take it anyway you want," she laughs. "There's nothing wrong with being a little sexy, if you do it with class. I'm not going out there taking my clothes off, but I do think it's empowering to feel comfortable with your sexuality...within reason, of course.
"Working with producers like Julian Bunetta (Hillary Duff, Sean Kingston), John Rich, and Mitch Allen, James' debut album shows off a variety of musical styles and sounds, from the arena-rock belt of "Wanted," the mix of banjo, fiddle and rock guitar in "My Cowboy" and the hip-hop beat and playful schoolyard rhyming of "Blue Jeans" to the torch song ballad "Guilty" and the stark, stripped-down, soulful blues intimacy of "Liar."
"When I first tried to get a record deal, my real problem was, I couldn't put my music in a single box," she explains. "I just loved everything. That was part of me growing up in so many different places. I didn't want to limit myself to just one kind of music. I just decided, why not just do all of it, and somehow blend it together. And I think I've done that. There are all different types of music, beats and instrumentation."
Check out her new decidedly upbeat rocker music video, “Wanted,” below… and then catch our interview with the beautiful Ms. James afterwards.
That Nashville Sound- What brought you to music in the first place?
Jessie James- I was born doing it, I have always been a singer, and always loved music.
TNS- Describe your music- what's the mission behind the music?
JJ- My music is pop with a twang!! I am on pop radio and i hope to cross over to country because I love both genres so much! My goal is to play at the MTV awards, and the Opry!
TNS- Your music crosses lots of boundaries between country, pop and rock- where do you see it landing on radio?
JJ- Both, Pop for right now, then crossing over later... I want my music to reach as many people as possible. I write both styles, so it would be really hard to stick to one genre. I am both. So I plan on sharing my music with both.
TNS- What kind of music are you listening to? What's in your iPod?
JJ- I love Shelby Lynne, she is my girl! I love her Dusty Springfield tribute album, " Just a little lovin"...its a masterpiece.
TNS- What's next for you? Where do you hope to be career-wise a couple years from now?
JJ- I will be touring, doing more promo. I'm doing promo right now for Steve Madden and Sephora makeup. Also some dates with David Cook. I hope in a couple years that I am headlining my own tour. My dream is to play music for the rest of my life.
TNS- Quick questions (which do you like best?): Opry or Opera?
Tonight, Tuesday, May 26, Arista Nashville recording star Jason Michael Carroll will be the featured guest at the Chicago Cubs' "Country Music Night," taking place at the world-famous Wrigley Field in Chicago. Carroll will perform the National Anthem just prior to the 7:05pm game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He'll then throw out the first pitch, lead the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and conduct the 7th inning stretch from the announcer's box. Carroll, who recently released his sophomore album, Growing Up Is Getting Old, has been riding the wave of success with his latest Top 15 hit, "Where I'm From."
On this date (5/26) back in 1962, a young new singer/songwriter named Willie Nelson made his country & western chart debut with a ditty named "Touch Me." You can listen to his very first radio single below. (Email subscribers can hit this columns headline to listen.)
All That Nashville Sound Email Subscribers Will Be Entered To Win One Of Two Jason Michael Carroll Growing Up Is Getting Old CDs. Entry Cut-Off Will Be 6/4/09 at 11:59p PST
The National Moment of Remembrance, established by Congress, asks Americans wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to pause in an act of national unity (duration: one minute).The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday.The Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom. It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be. In this shared remembrance, we connect "On This Day" (click to download the song as sung by Sara Evans.)
The Memorial Day anthem, “On This Day” was composed by Charles Strouse, award-winning composer of Annie and Bye Bye Birdie. It is an inspiring song that honors America’s fallen and the families they left behind.
The song helps promote and inspire the tone of this annual observance: to connect us all as Americans and to sustain the American spirit. By remembering those who died for our country, we become more aware of our identity as Americans. The song has been created not to show a financial profit, but to inspire patriotism and pride.
CMT has partnered with Big Machine Records for the first DVD release of its critically-acclaimed series, CMT CROSSROADS, when the episode featuring Taylor Swift and Def Leppard hits stores on Tuesday, June 16. CMT CROSSROADS: TAYLOR SWIFT AND DEF LEPPARD includes 11 electrifying performances by 2008’s best-selling artist among all genres of music and Great Britain’s premier arena rock band. The DVD will be available exclusively, at a low price of $11.88, in Wal-Mart stores in the US and Canada, including Sam’s Club and on Walmart.com, and hits shelves the same day Swift and Def Leppard are scheduled to appear on the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS.
