Congratulations to Greg Bates, who proposed to his girlfriend of two years, Shelley Skidmore, on Valentines Day. He popped the question at the church Skidmore attended while growing up in Stanton, KY. They are planning a May, 2015 wedding.

 

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Congratulations to Eric Church,UMG/Nashville and the EMI Nashville team for topping the country and all-genre album charts with The Outsiders, which sold more than 287,000 copies in its debut week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This is Church’s second such debut.Chief sold more more than 145,000 copies in week one in 2011.

 

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PURCHASE, New York (AP) – If you go catch Dierks Bentley in concert, expect to see a lot of Mountain Dew signs around. Pepsi has announced that its Dew division will be teaming up with Bentley to support his upcoming tour. The concert series will be in support of his seventh studio album, “Riser,” due out next week. The tour will also feature special guests Chris Young, Chase Rice and Jon Pardi.

 

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Summit Media’sWQNU/Louisville and MCA’s Gary Allan are partnering for a show to benefit Addie’s Army. Earlier this month a man claiming to be connected to Jason Aldean scammed the non-profit and a Louisville club out of more than $9,000, money meant to benefit two year-old Addilyn Roberts’ fight against Leukemia. “It says a lot about who Gary is as a person and an artist to take the time to do a show like this,” says WQNU OM Shane Collins. “I’m happy we can be there,” Allan says. “I feel for the Roberts family. It’s clear they were lied to. It is a real shame anyone would take advantage of a family in a situation like that. We plan to have a good time and hopefully raise some money to help them.” Only 250 tickets will be sold for the March 25 show, with sales starting Monday (2/17). VIP and meet-and-greet ticket packages will also be available. All proceeds will be donated to Addie’s Army. More here.

 

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Garth Brooks has come out the winner in a legal tussle with a former employee. The Tennessean newspaper (http://tnne.ws/1bvGULs) reports a federal jury ruled Brooks’ way in a dispute over $226,000. Brooks and his TV production firm sued Lisa Sanderson over the money, claiming it was a loan she failed to repay. Sanderson claimed the money was a gift – and that she and Brooks were so tight, they were like family. She also claimed the money was part of a pension she was owed after Red Stokes Entertainment closed down in 2010. The jury found otherwise. But it’s unclear whether Brooks will ever see the money. Sanderson told the judge that she did not have the money to repay the singer.

 

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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) – Dolly Parton says she has always enjoyed working with other artists on tour. But she says it’s nice to know she can sell out a venue overseas with just her name on the marquee. She says back in the ’70s, she used to tour overseas as part of what she calls “package shows” – with other acts. But she says eventually her management convinced her that she could sell out as a solo act. So she did – and she loved it. She says fans overseas make her feel more special because she doesn’t get out of the country as often. So, Dolly says, when she does tour overseas she feels like she is “kinda like a rock star.”

These days, Parton is making the rounds in New Zealand and Australia – and will also perform in the U.K., Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden this summer.

 

 

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Congratulations to Bucky Covington and fiancée and Monarch Publicity’s Katherine Cook, who will welcome their first child in the fall. The pair met in 2007 and were engaged in 2010. 

 

 

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Craig Morgan has partnered with Kidde Fire Safety, The Tennessee State Division of Fire Prevention and the National Fallen Firefighters Association to donate 5,000 Kidde smoke alarms to to fire departments along the route of Morgan’s The Journey Tour. The fire departments will choose homes throughout their communities in which to install the alarms. Morgan made the first donation in his hometown of Dickson, TN. More here.

 

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