Friday, March 06, 2009

CRS Parties Astound And Abound As Irby Mandrell Passes

NEIL HAISLOP’S NASHVILLE IQ ©:
SONY MUSIC NASHVILLE BOAT SHOW, MONSTER!
So much cool stuff happened on the CRS Sony Music boat show that it's hard to include it all in this report.

KENNY CHESNEY appeared wiht singer-song writer, Brett James to unveil Kenny's new single , "Out Last Night." The song was so fresh Kenny couldn't pass up debuting it in front of a high-powered group of industry and radio guests.

ALSO, while hey had him on stage Kenny's label presented him with a huge plaque commemorating the highest digital sales of any male country artist, 15 million sold.

Other performances came from Martina McBride on "Shine." Gretchen Wilson retuned to that stage, along with Kellie Pickler, Chuck Wicks, and Montgomery Gentry, Craig Morgan, Jason Michael Carroll, and Carrie Underwood. Carrie also was presented with a plaque commemorating her total album sales not past 10 Million copies and counting.

Special guest John Kay from Steppenwolf, came on stage and tore it up it up with a medley of "Magic Carpet Ride," and "Born To Be Wild." That was pretty cool but it got even batter during Brad Paisley's set when Peter Frampton came on stage enlisting Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood to render "Baby I Love Your Way." Then Brad Paisley joined Frampton on an incrdedible battle of the the guitars on 'Do You Feel Like We Do." It was a huge finale that went down in the minds of many long time attendees of the boat show as the best they'd ever seen on that stage.

After the show, Carrie Underwood announced that she'd taken over a bowling invited any show attendees that wanted to join her there for a bowling party.

TIM McGRAW BOWLS FOR BRAINS
The Tug McGraw Foundation (TMF), founded in honor of legendary pitcher Tug McGraw to fund quality of life research on behalf of brain tumor patients, today announced its return to the Country Music Marathon & ∏ Marathon on Saturday, April 25. Team McGraw, an endurance sports training program that raises money and increases awareness for the Foundation, will host a warm-up party to celebrate its marathon runners Friday, April 24 from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm at Tusculum Lanes in Nashville, The bowling party is open to all Country Music Marathon and ∏ marathon runners. Tickets can be purchased online at www.tugmcgraw.org for $10 to $25.

"We are grateful to the Competitor Group and all the athletes who have joined Team McGraw and devoted their efforts to quality of life awareness and research for brain tumor patients," said country superstar Tim McGraw, honorary chairman of the Tug McGraw Foundation. "Kicking off our 2009 season here in Nashville with the Country Music Marathon and ∏ Marathon is a thrill, and we are excited to see so many dedicated new runners joining our running alumni to take on Music City.

KEITH URBAN PREVIEWS NEW ALBUM THIS WEEK
Keith Urban has been letting the press listen to his new album and then will sit down with them today to talk about the new album and more.

BILLY RAY CYRUS AND MILEY CYRUS MAKE CHART HISTORY
This week, Miley Cyrus debuts with "The Climb" (Walt Disney/Hollywood/Lyric Street) at No. 48 and father Billy Ray bows with "Back to Tennessee" (Walt Disney/Lyric Street) at No. 59 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. Both songs will appear on the Walt Disney Records soundtrack, due March 24 and in the Walt Disney Pictures film, "Hannah Montana The Movie," which opens nationwide in theaters April 10. Back To Tennessee is also the title track of Cyrus's upcoming CD, which will be released on April 7. This marks the first time in nearly twenty years that a father and daughter have appeared on the chart with separate solo singles. (Johnny and Rosanne Cash had separate singles on October 5, 1990.)

"The Climb" (Walt Disney/Hollywood/Lyric Street) has been added to over 140 stations in 4 formats of radio in just 3 weeks, making it one of the most quickly added records of the year. It has hit the Top 30 on the Top 40 radio charts and is climbing rapidly at country and Hot AC formats.

After a string of hit songs at country radio and the recent top five smash "Ready, Set, Don't Go," Billy Ray Cyrus's latest effort "Back To Tennessee" is climbing the country radio charts. Produced by Mark Bright (Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood), the album features 12 new tracks. Billy Ray co-wrote two of the tracks on the new project. In addition, country powerhouse writers Jeffrey Steele, Neil Thrasher, Craig Wiseman, Rivers Rutherford, Blair Daly, Troy Verges and Casey Beathard all contribute tunes to the new record.

A musical highpoint in "Hannah Montana The Movie," Billy Ray (as his character Robby Ray Stewart) performs "Back To Tennessee." Written by Cyrus, Tamara Dunn and Matthew Wilder, it is inspired by Billy Ray's longing to return to his roots and breathe the sweet southern air of his home state.

Back To Tennessee will also contain a special extended version (4:44) of the father/daughter duet "Butterfly, Fly Away," which was produced by Glen Ballard. A 3:11 version of the duet appears in the film and on the soundtrack.

CRS 41 TO BE HOSTED BY TAYLOR SWIFT
Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® and the Academy of Country Music® have announced Taylor Swift as the host and headliner of next year's CRS-41 Music City Jam at the Nashville Convention Center.

"I can't think of a bigger star to host the Music City Jam at CRS-41 than Taylor Swift," said CRB Executive Director Ed Salamon. "We're thrilled to have her headline next year's event and continue the tradition of superstar talent that has performed in years past."

Each year, Country Radio Seminar's Music City Jam has showcased some of the biggest stars in country music, including performances by Brad Paisley at CRS-39 in 2008, Toby Keith in 2007 and Keith Urban in 2006. Tim McGraw hosted this year's show at CRS-40.

"Taylor is an amazing talent, and we are thrilled to have her at the Music City Jam in 2010," said Bob Romeo, Executive Director of the Academy of Country Music. "I can't wait to see what she surprises everyone with. She always has a trick up her performance sleeve."

The Academy of Country Music will once again sponsor the Music City Jam next year. The show is preparing to enter its sixth year in 2010.

Angie Gore (615 321-3211) reports: Irby Mandrell passed away at 2 p.m. on March 5, 2009 in a Nashville hospital.

"Our family and some friends were standing around my daddy's bed at Baptist Hospital when he passed peacefully on to his heavenly home. I'm speaking for all of my family, especially my sisters Louise and Irlene, when I say he was our hero and we will miss him always."--Barbara Mandrell.

Visitation will be held at Forest Lawn Funeral Home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee
3/7--Saturday visitation: 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
3/8--Sunday visitation: 2 p.m.-3 p.m.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jaye,
I am so jealous..I guess I'll somehow need to get a job with Sony to experience the boat ride. I am relegated to doing dinners with those who also don't get an invite. I'm going to call Joe G in the morning :)

JANET said...

What a joke, Tim Mcgraw performs new songs from his upcoming album and all you can say is he performed.

Where's the meat, why not a detail review of his new songs instead of news on Taylor performing next year.

Sad how the industry treats one of big ones in country music.

Bet you didn't know that May 9th will be the 20 year mark of the day Tim arrived in Nashville. Also this year marks the 15th year mark of the release of his huge breakout album Not A Moment Too Soon.

Why not a feature on that?