AUSTIN, Tex. (AP) – Willie Nelson is about to turn 81, and he’s about to get promoted in martial arts. Nelson will receive his fifth-degree black belt in the art of Gong Kwon Yu Sul, a Korean martial arts system, on April 28 in Austin, Texas. Nelson has practiced martial arts since he was a songwriter in Nashville. He often practices on his tour bus.
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NEW YORK (AP) – Zac Brown Band have added a bassist. Matt Mangano joins the band as its eighth member. That doesn’t mean John Driskell Hopkins is leaving. He’s just moving to other instruments. He plans to play guitar, baritone guitar, ukulele, and banjo as well as bass and upright bass. Zac Brown Band will kick off their Great American Road Trip Tour on May 24 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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In case you thought it might be fun to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the ACM Awards in Dallas next year, you’ll want to put those travel plans on hold. Tickets for the ACM Party for a Cause: 50 Years of Music and Memories April 17-18, 2015 at Globe Life Park and the ACM Awards at AT&T Stadium April 19, 2015 sold out Tuesday in 18 minutes. If you’re counting, that’s 70,000 tickets, making it the biggest and fastest-selling event in ACM history. “We want to thank the fans for their continued support,” says CEO Bob Romeo. “We’re working hard to plan more events to accommodate as many fans as we can. Country music is alive and well in North Texas!” Tickets may be made available as staging becomes finalized, and ACM A-list members will be notified first. Sign up here.
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NASHVILLE (AP) – George Jones’ widow will mark the one-year anniversary of his death by planting trees in his honor. Nancy Jones will plant two dogwood trees at the monument in Nashville’s Woodlawn Cemetery on April 26. Nancy Jones says the day will be bittersweet but she wants fans to be there to keep her husband’s legacy alive.
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NASHVILLE (AP) – When Kenny Rogers gets into something, he REALLY gets into it. Rogers says he used to play tennis 8 hours a day for 15 years. He says he was so good he was nationally ranked. He can’t do it any more, so he’s turned his attention to photography. He says it’s a good way to spend time when he’s on the road. Rogers says he’s come across a psychological term for what he does: “impulsive obsessive.” He says that means he gets impulsively involved with something and then he’s obsessed with it.
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Follow Kicker Country Stampede on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/countrystampede, and like them on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/countrystampede.
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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – Blake Shelton will play in the sand next summer. He will perform a free show on the beachfront in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 31. It’s a promotional event to attract visitors to the area. Last year, 50,000 people showed up to a free Jimmy Buffett concert on the beach in Atlantic City.
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Eric Church will launch The Outsiders World Tour Sept. 11 in Bossier City, LA; more than 31 dates are confirmed thus far. Dwight Yoakam will guest on each date, with alternating openers Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark and Halestorm. On-sale dates will be available at EricChurch.com, and the best seats at each venue will be paperless to avoid scalping. Fans also have the chance to gain access to pre-sale tickets by becoming a member of the Church Choir fan club. Joinhere.
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NASHVILLE (AP) – The project Mark Collie has been working on for 13 years is finally seeing the light of day. His documentary, “The Mountain,” will be screened at film festivals later this year. It’s a film that followed him as he performed at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary for prisoners. The album version “Alive at Brushy Mountain” came two years ago. Collie will also appear with Amy Grant in an independent feature film called “The Secret Handshake.”
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UNDATED (AP) – Craig Morgan and 3 Doors Down will each do their part in entertaining American troops overseas. Morgan will travel to southwest Asia in May to perform for U.S. military stationed there, while 3 Doors Down will go to Japan and Hawaii from June 28 through July 4 to do the same. They will travel as part of Armed Forces Entertainment, the official Department of Defense agency for providing entertainment to U.S. military personnel overseas.
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NASHVILLE (AP) – Trisha Yearwood is selling her home and it appears to be breaking her heart. Yearwood tells The Tennessean she’s selling her home outside Nashville because her husband, Garth Brooks, also owns property there and it doesn’t make sense to keep hers. She says the house has all the charm of an older one but all the bells and whistles of a new one. She’s been cleaning it out preparing for the sale and she says she’ll be sad to let it go. The house sits on four acres and is 6,553 square feet. It’s listing for $2.2 million.
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The ACM Awards’ temporary move to North Texas for its 50th anniversary show was announced to the general public during Sunday night’s telecast (4/6). Long in the works, the move puts the show in the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington April 19, 2015. Luke Bryan andBlake Shelton return to co-host the CBS-TV telecast, while the two-day Party For A Cause will take place April 17-18 at Globe Life Park, the nearby home of the Texas Rangers. George Strait and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made the announcement. Tickets go onsale next Tuesday (4/15); more here.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – The man who wrote “Dueling Banjos” has died. The Charlotte Observer reports Arthur Smith died Thursday at his home at the age of 93. Smith recorded a song called “Feudin’ Banjos” in 1955. The song was used in the film “Deliverance” but credited as “Dueling Banjos” and did not give any credit to Smith. He filed a lawsuit and got a substantial settlement. Smith also recorded an instrumental called “Guitar Boogie” that influenced many musicians including Tom Petty, Eric Clapton and Glen Campbell. Paul McCartney played “Guitar Boogie” as one of his first songs with The Quarrymen, who later became The Beatles.
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