McGraw Greets 2011 With Peak Career Events

"Once you become a superstar, a lot of opportunities present themselves to an artist like Tim..." (to quote Nashville Answer Man Neil Haislop), and Tim is taking full advantage right now as he sits at #1 with "Felt Good On My Lips," and...announces his new "Emotional Traffic Tour" ...AND stars in a major hit movie (with Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund And Leighton Meester In "Country Strong," that's opening this Friday, plus THE TIM TOUR with LUKE BRYAN and THE BAND PERRY.

Ticket sales will begin on January 15th; for further details visit Tim's website. Fans can get the latest updates on the “Emotional Traffic Tour” by joining McGraw’s fan club or via Facebook or Twitter. Outback Steakhouse will be a sponsor of the tour, which will be promoted nationally by Live Nation.

McGraw ALSO delivered “The Journey to Super Bowl 45,” the opening tease to the FOX NFL Sunday pre-game show last Sunday on FOX.

“Felt Good On My Lips,” McGraw’s latest single, is No. 1* on Billboard’s Country Songs chart and has topped Mediabase’s Canadian chart for three consecutive weeks. The song is one of two bonus tracks included on his new double-CD collection, Number One Hits (Curb Records), which includes 22 other chart-topping singles.

McGraw will then be discussing the film in a series of television appearances that includes “Late Show with David Letterman” tonight (1/4), “Good Morning America” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” tomorrow (1/5), “Chelsea Lately” (1/6) and “The Martha Stewart Show” (1/7).

Variety called Country Strong a “rare ensemble piece in which all four principals are not only compellingly drawn but handled with an astute sense of dramatic balance” while CMT Insider noted: “Tim McGraw proves once again just what a fine actor he is.”

Free Nashville Concert For McGraw-Paltrow Flick (But, No Tim Performance)

A concert that is being filmed for the new country music movie Love Don’t Let Me Down, starring Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow and the public is invited (free).

The show and filming take place Tuesday, Feb. 2, at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. Extras should plan to stay from 4-11 PM.

McGraw will welcome the crowd but will not perform, since the scene being filmed is the big comeback concert of Paltrow’s character, superstar “Kelly Canter.”

Playing Kelly’s opening acts are Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy). The music being used is by Nashville tunesmiths. The Lost Trailers will also entertain fans with an acoustic set.

Admission is free and participants must be at least 18 years old. E-mail to request tickets. Concertgoers are encouraged to donate new or slightly worn shoes for Soles4Soul’s Haitian relief efforts.

Synergy

Five months after CBS created the "Interactive Music Group," and four months after Jay McCarthy joined Tim McGraw's organization comes yesterday's impressive announcement about the multi-channel leverage being applied to Tim's upcoming appearance on the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN:

McGraw will perform an exclusive “Live on Letterman” webcast concert from the Ed Sullivan Theater on Monday, Oct. 12, following the taping of his appearance.

This CBS Interactive Music Group event will be promoted across and broadcast on several CBS assets, as the concert will be streamed on the LATE SHOW website at CBS.com that evening at approximately 8:00 PM, ET/5:00 PM, PT, and will also be featured live on-air and online on CBS RADIO country music stations across the country.

Additionally, live and on-demand video of the concert will be available on CBS properties including Last.fm, mp3.com, TV.com, etonline.com and theinsider.com, as well as the CBS Television Station websites, among others.

Jay, I see your fingerprints all over this. Of course, no one person can make something this big happen, but I've been watching for what you've been doing.

Thanks for already teaching us by example how to maximise impact, using every single outlet and input we have access to now.

It's great to see "a country radio guy" grow into something much more, helping us all as you have done so.

Tim's Greatest Hits, Coming Faster And Faster

McGraw's previous greatest hit packages, 2006’s Tim McGraw Reflected: Hits Vol 2 and Greatest Hits released in 2000, have collectively sold nearly 8 million copies and both debuted at #1 on the country chart. Curb Records will release Tim's Greatest Hits 3 on October 7, 2008. Meanwhile, you can also look for him in the children's section of your library or bookstore too!

Rascal Flatts, Tim and Keith Urban News

Rascal Flatts have added additional dates to their “Bob That Head Tour” that will take the tour through November 2, 2008 with opening act Taylor Swift. Shows set for this upcoming weekend include sell-outs at Hartford’s New England Dodge Music Center and Hershey’s Giant Center with 50,000 fans in attendance. Remaining dates in 2008 include:

8-22 Hartford, CT New England Dodge Music Center
8-23 Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mtn
8-24 Hershey, PA Giant Center
8-29 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
8-30 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
8-31 Syracuse, NY New York State Fair
9-11 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
9-12 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
9-13 Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center
9-18 Louisville, KY Freedom Hall
9-19 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center
9-20 Detroit, MI The Palace
9-25 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
9-26 Bossier City, LA CenturyTel Center
10-9 Omaha, NE Qwest Center
10-10 St Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
10-11 Green Bay, WI Resch Center
10-23 Columbia, SC Colonial Center
10-24 Knoxville, TN Thompson Boling Arena
11-2 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun
11-3 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun

Tim McGraw heads back to Rayville, Louisiana on Saturday, September 13, 2008 to host Swampstock 2008 presented by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Neighbor’s Keeper Foundation. Net proceeds from the activities will benefit the Neighbor’s Keeper Foundation’s local initiatives.

This year’s event will host a new location for the nightly concert on the steps of the Richland Parish Courthouse and will feature performances by Catherine Raney, Halfway to Hazard, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Faith Hill and McGraw.

And for the first time Habitat for Humanity of Ouachita will be an additional partner with Swampstock on a community build beginning September 9 and wrapping Saturday, September 13 to refurbish the Rayville Recreation Center.

“We are anxious to return this year with an amazing line up of artists,” says McGraw. “In addition to supporting Rayville Youth Baseball and the Steve Colvin Scholarships, it’s a great to add Habitat for Humanity of Ouachita and keep the focus on helping the local community. I’m encouraging everyone to help us make this one of the most successful Swampstock’s ever.”

KC Masterpiece and Kingsford, recent sponsors of McGraw’s “Live Your Voice Tour,” will also help “fire up” Swampstock as a sponsor and support the Habitat Build.

CMT.COM reports that Keith Urban will duet with countrywoman, Olivia Newton-John, on her forthcoming album, Olivia Newton-John & Friends: A Celebration in Song.

The two will sing "Sunburned Country," a song they co-wrote for an earlier album of Newton-John's "Olivia (2)." Royalties from her new project are being donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Center, a comprehensive center for the treatment, care and research of all types of cancer. The album, comes out Sept. 2, is important to Newton-John, 60, a breast cancer survivor herself, and will also include pairings with musical friends such as Sir Cliff Richard, Barry Gibb, John Farrar Delta Goodrem and Richard Marx.

Tim McGraw Tours Solo In '08

After wrapping the most successful consecutive multi-year tour in country music history last year, “Soul2Soul II,” with wife Faith Hill, Tim McGraw returns to touring in 2008 as a solo act.

McGraw headlined and sold out shows since 1993, will kick-off “Tim McGraw ‘08 Live Your Voice Tour” in May with special guest Jason Aldean and Halfway To Hazard. 

The first leg of the tour is slated to launch in Tampa, Florida on May 9 and will wrap in July 6 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Tim McGraw Caps A Great Day Of Golf For a Great Cause

It's the same week as CRS, but if you'll happen to be in Austin on Friday (3/7), here's another place to meet a lot of stars and do something really good!