22 July 2013

Little Big Town has reason to celebrate today. The award-winning foursome’s latest album ‘Tornado’ has achieved certified Platinum status after selling more than one million units. Back in September 2012, when LBT released ‘Tornado,’ the album debuted at No. 1 on the country charts and spent five weeks in the top slot. In addition to the album’s success, several singles from ‘Tornado’ have been getting tons of airplay. The album’s first single, ‘Pontoon,’ spent two weeks at the top of the country radio chart, and scored a CMA award for Single of the Year. The song went double Platinum, which helped the band to earn a Grammy award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. The record’s title-track also peaked at No. 1 and has since sold more than 800,000 units. Now, the third single, ‘Your Side of the Bed,’ is taking its turn in the limelight. The emotional song is much different than fun anthems like ‘Tornado’ and ‘Pontoon,’ but that hasn’t stopped it from getting great reviews. ‘Your Side of the Bed’ is a subtle, yet emotional, song that details how it feels when a relationship starts to unravel. We’re sure that LBT would like to stop and pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate their most recent success, but it’s not likely that the foursome will have much time to hoot and holler. Currently, the group is on tour with Keith Urban, and they’ll be burning up the road for the rest of the summer.

Dierks Bentley’s Country Cares Concert, benefiting The Granite Mountain Hot Shots, is officially sold out. Set for July 22 in Prescott Valley, Arizona, the event will raise funds for the families of the 19 firefighters who recently lost their lives battling wildfires. The Band Perry, Randy Houser and David Nail have joined the lineup following the sell out. “Country fans are the best, and when their friends need help, they show up,” Dierks said. “This is my hometown, and I feel a huge pull to go back and be there with them and do what I can to help. I’ve had some friends speak up and say they wanted to come help, so we’re going to put together a special night of music, raise some money and hopefully leave these families and this community with some positive memories.” “We feel very blessed this concert sold out so quickly,” KMLE Country 107.9 Program Director Tim Richards said. “Thanks to these artists for putting together such an amazing event in such a short amount of time. We hope families of the firefighters know how much the Arizona community cares about them.” Fans who would like to help but are unable to attend the Country Cares Concert can make a direct donation here. All proceeds from the concert will go to the United Phoenix Firefighters Charities who will distribute directly to the families of the 19 fallen firefighters.

He’s gone bluegrass. That’s the news from traditional country singer Alan Jackson, who once eschewed those who tried to cash in on country music. “The Bluegrass Album” will be released Sept. 24 on Jackson’s ACR label, distributed by EMI Records Nashville. Eight of the tracks are Jackson originals, along with covers of The Dillards’ There Is A Time, John Anderson’s Wild And Blue and a slow, 3/4 time version of Blue Moon Of Kentucky. When he brought Alison Krauss in to produce his 2006 project, “Like Red On A Rose,” some thought Jackson might veer towards bluegrass, but the disc stayed in the country realm. This year, though, Jackson assembled an all-star cast of bluegrass pickers and singers in April, and tracked a new all-acoustic record at The Castle outside of Nashville. Sammy Shelor on banjo, Adam Steffey on mandolin, Tim Crouch on fiddle, Tim Dishman on bass, Rob Ickes on reso-guitar, and Scott Coney on guitar all participated. Ronnie Bowman and Don Rigsby were on hand to provide harmony vocals, with Keith Stegall and Adam Wright (he is Jackson’s nephew and one-half of The Wrights with his wife, Shannon) producing. Shelor said that they tracked all the rhythms and most of the vocals in five sessions over two days. The band sat in a circle with half dividers between them so that everyone could see each other, with Jackson and the backup singers tracking live with the band. “The most we did on any song was three takes; we got most of them the first time. We worked from charts, but Alan knew what he wanted on every song before we started,” said Shelor in a story posted on Jackson’s web site. Coney also plays guitar, fiddle and banjo in Jackson’s country band. Jackson told Coney to put a band together for this record, but that he didn’t want it to ‘sound like all the other bluegrass albums country artists cut in this town.’” “Alan’s voice lends itself perfectly to bluegrass, in my opinion. If you like Ronnie Bowman or Marty Raybon singing bluegrass, you’ll love Alan Jackson doing it,” Shelor said. “I’m extremely blessed and happy to be a part of this project. It’s a great bluegrass record, and its Alan Jackson singing. What more could you ask?” Current plans suggest that Jackson will do some television and selected live shows to promote “The Bluegrass Album” around the release date, with a likelihood of further touring to follow. They hope to hit a number of major bluegrass festivals next year as well, using the same musicians who appear on the album. Songs on the disc are: 1.) Long Hard Road – Alan Jackson 2.) Mary – Jackson 3.) Appalachian Mountain Girl – Jackson 4.) Tie Me Down – Alan Jackson 5.) Way Beyond The Blue – Mark D. Sanders/Randy Albright/Lisa Silver 6.) Ain’t Got Trouble Now – Adam Wright 7.) Blue Ridge Mountain Song – Alan Jackson 8.) Blacktop – Alan Jackson 9.) Blue Side of Heaven – Alan Jackson 10.) There Is A Time – Rodney Dillard/Mitch Jayne 11.) Wild and Blue – John Scott Sherrill 12.) Knew All Along – Adam Wright/Shannon Wright 13.) Let’s Get Back to Me and You – Alan Jackson 14.) Blue Moon of Kentucky – Bill Monroe