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KHAZ Country Music News: Eric Church to Perform at Lollapalooza in Chicago this August

khaz eric church 20121214Eric Church is the sole country act on the bill for this year’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, coming up August 2 through 4. Eric is slated to perform on Saturday, August 3.  Most of the acts playing the festival are rock or alternative acts, like Mumford & Sons, The Killers and The Cure.

The Lollapalooza gig is one of a few select dates Eric has on the books this summer. He’s also playing stadiums with Kenny Chesney on the No Shoes Nation trek.

Eric is also writing songs for his next studio album these days. Look for his first-ever live album, Caught in the Act Live, to land in stores April 9.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: The Band Perry Updates Their “Modern Throwback” Sound with “Pioneer,” in Stores Today

khaz the band perry 20130215The Band Perry’s sophomore album, Pioneer, is now in stores.  The sibling trio is out to expand people’s perception of that word, “pioneer,” beyond covered wagons and bonnets.  That’s why they’re dressed in cutting edge clothes on the cover, and you might also notice they’re leaning forward in that cover photo too.

The group’s Neil Perry tells ABC News Radio, “There’s so much to be discovered still.  And if you look at the cover as well, we’re kind of leaning forward.  So, we wanted to point out that there’s a forward motion with The Band Perry.  We’re marching on.”

That pioneering spirit showed up in the musical choices The Band Perry made on the album too.  Lead singer Kimberly Perry describes their style as “modern throwback,” and the acoustic sound that marked hits like “You Lie” and “If I Die Young” is still represented on Pioneer.  But some tracks push the envelope a little more, incorporating the Perrys’ shared love for rock and roll.  One track, “Forever Mine Nevermind,” features Brad Paisley on guitar as well as high harmonies from the Perry boys inspired by the rock group Queen.

“This very modern output of music from us probably also has the most amount of teeth of anything that we’ve had,” Kimberly says of their new musical direction.  “Most aggression.  Multiple electric guitars.  Some very bold musical moments.”

Finding that new direction wasn’t easy for The Band Perry, and they had a lot of questions about where to go next after scoring a huge hit with “If I Die Young.”  They address that early confusion with the title track, “Pioneer.”

Speaking of that track, Reid Perry explains, “It asks, ‘Where are we going?  What will become of us?’  It in itself is a question, and the question we were asking, and we didn’t have a lot of the answers.  Only that there was this unknown that we were marching into, but that we just had to put one foot in front of the other.  So, that, for us, is what Pioneer is.”

Pioneer has already produced another #1 hit for The Band Perry with “Better Dig Two.”  The video for the second single, “DONE.,” hits Vevo Tuesday.  Look for The Band Perry to talk about their new album on ABC’s Nightline Tuesday night.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Kacey Musgraves Going into This Sunday’s ACM Awards a Three-Time Nominee

khaz kasey musgraves 20130401Kacey Musgraves just topped Billboard‘s Country Albums chart with her debut album, Same Trailer Different Park, but she had multiple ACM Awards nominations before that project was ever released. Kacey is up for Female Vocalist of the Year and Video of the Year for performing and producing her clip for “Merry Go Round.”

She says, “Just a nomination even is the ultimate compliment from people that you work with in the business. It just makes me feel like I’m doing something right, and I’m just, I’m thankful.”

Kacey is a long shot to win the Female Vocalist trophy since she’s up against Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift.

“These girls that have been doing this longer than I have in the public eye,” Kacey says of her fellow Female Vocalist nominees. “I don’t consider myself a vocalist. I mean I like to convey my message with my voice, but just to even be included in such a category is just unreal.”

As for her Video of the Year nomination, Kacey chalks it up to the magic of the do-it-yourself trend happening these days. She made the video using stock footage from the internet spliced in with footage she shot on her iPhone.

Kacey says, “It was just kind of different, kind of real, and that’s, I feel like, what the song needed.”

The 48th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live from Las Vegas Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Luke Bryan Relying on “Preparation and Prayer” to Get Ready for ACM Awards Hosting Gig

khaz luke bryan 20130401Luke Bryan has topped the charts and sold out show after show on his Dirt Road Diaries tour, but this Sunday, Luke takes his stardom to a new level by hosting the ACM Awards with Blake Shelton.

Luke knows how big an opportunity this hosting gig is, and he plans to make the most of it. He’s been hosting countdown shows on TV and radio for years now, and Luke says, “I think it all puts feathers in your cap to hopefully prepare yourself for these moments, and I think you have to learn ’em over time.”

While Luke is hosting a major awards show on CBS, he’s still a country boy from a peanut farm in Georgia. Making the leap to network TV is something Luke would never do without his management team behind him to make sure he looked good on camera.

“Nothing’s more icky than watching something icky on TV,” Luke says. “So, I think I’m gonna try to do that and have fun with it. I mean, I’m ready for it. I think preparation and prayer ought to get you ready for anything.”

Luke’s pal Jason Aldean has predicted Luke will get tongue-tied at some point during Sunday night’s show, and Luke has no doubt he’s going to flub a line here and there. Luke knows he can look down at Jason to help him laugh it off.

He says, “When I do start getting tongue-tied, I’ll have to look down at him. I’m sure he’ll wink at me and be bent over laughing in his chair. So yeah, it’ll be a funny moment.”

The 48th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live from Las Vegas Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Brantley Gilbert “Honored and Humbled” to Perform for the Troops on First USO Tour

CBrantley Gilbert‘s first-ever USO tour put him in front of thousands of U.S. troops in Italy and Kuwait over eight days. Brantley is a big supporter of the military, and he was “honored and humbled” to get the opportunity to entertain those serving in the armed forces.

“It means so much to me knowing that I was able to bring them a distraction and to take their minds off all the things they are missing back home, even if just for a few hours.”

Brantley is now back home in the United States gearing up for the ACM Awards, Sunday, April 7 in Las Vegas.  He’s up for New Artist of the Year, and fan voting in that category is now going on at VoteACM.com through the day of the show.  The 48th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live on CBS at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: ACM Awards Making a Big Splash Through Social Media

khaz blake shelton luke bryan 20130401Fan voting in the ACM Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year categories is now underway at VoteACM.com, but that isn’t the only way the fans can get involved in this year’s ACM Awards.  The show takes place Sunday, April 7 live on CBS, and fans can get their tweets on the air during the broadcast by using the official ACM Awards hashtag, #ACMs.  An ACM Awards app is also available to iPhone and Android users.

In another fun social media twist, the ACM Awards have made up flat cutouts of this year’s co-hosts Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, and they’re now available for printing at ACMSocialSplash.com.  The ACM is looking for fans to take “Flat Blake” and “Flat Luke” with them to the grocery store, to work or anywhere else.  Just take your photo with either of the cutouts and use #FlatBluke when posting the image to Instagram and Twitter.  Details on how fans can win prizes posting those photos will be announced soon.

Brad Paisley is also recruiting fans attending his performance at the ACM Fan Jam to become part of the light show during his performance.  The Brad Paisley Lightshow app allows users phones’ to display colors in sync with the music during the performance.

The 48th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live from Las Vegas Sunday, April 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: The Band Perry Offers a Sweet Treat to Go with Their Upcoming Album, “Pioneer”

khaz the band perry 20130215The Band Perry‘s new album, Pioneer, comes out Tuesday, but that’s not the only sweet treat the group is offering their fans. The Perry siblings have also collaborated with Nashville bakery Gigi’s Cupcakes on a new cupcake, called The Very Perry Chocolate Cherry. The cherry flavor is a nod to a line in the song on Pioneer titled “I’m a Keeper,” in which the girl in the song wants to change her name to Cherry.

The Band Perry’s Kimberly Perry tells The Tennessean, “I’ve always wanted Cherry to be my name. That girl in The Outsiders, Cherry Valance, she’s always been one of my favorite heroines in literature. So the cupcake was named after the song and we got to taste test.”

After tasting a few options, The Band Perry and Gigi’s owner, Gina Butler, decided on a white cupcake sweetened and colored with maraschino cherry juice and filled with chopped cherries. Mounds of chocolate frosting and a cherry top it all off. The cupcake will be available on Fridays and Saturdays at Gigi’s Cupcakes starting soon.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Brad Paisley Explains Why He Named His New Album, “Wheelhouse”

khaz brad paisley 20130308Brad Paisley lifted the title of his new album, Wheelhouse, from a line in his latest #1 hit, “Southern Comfort Zone,” which is all about getting out of your wheelhouse, or your comfort zone.  As he continued working on the new project, Brad became taken with that concept.

“I started thinking about that as a thing that encompassed what I was trying to do,” Brad explains, “which was the comfort zone being the strike zone — the area where you’re at your most effective.  And our goal with this album was to challenge what is that and to figure out if I can operate outside of that.  ‘Cause I would have never been comfortable doing some of these things early on.”

Brad is referring to the experimentation with new sounds and recording methods he used while making the album. As he continued working on the project and explored the world outside of his proverbial wheelhouse, he decided that particular word would be a great album title.

Says Brad, “”I love that term, ‘wheelhouse,’ and I don’t think there’s been any albums called Wheelhouse.  That feels like, you know, it should have been an REO Speedwagon album or a Van Halen album.  You know, the new album from Van Halen, Wheelhouse!”

Wheelhouse also includes Brad’s latest single, “Beat This Summer,” as well as collaborations with everyone from Dierks Bentley and Hunter Hayes to rapper/actor LL Cool J and Eric Idle of Monty Python fame.  The project hits stores April 9.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert May Be Getting into the Hospitality Industry

American Country Awards 2011 - Backstage And AudienceBlake Shelton and Miranda Lambert have attracted a lot of tourists to their hometown of Tishomingo, OK, thanks in part to Miranda’s new boutique, The Pink Pistol. Now it seems they’re opening a place for those tourists to also spend the night.

According to Life & Style, the couple has purchased a building on Main Street in Tishomingo with the intention of running it as a bed and breakfast. The property is just across the street from The Pink Pistol.

Miranda’s rep tells ABC News Radio the bed and breakfast is on her wish list.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Kenny Chesney Welcomes Willie Nelson and the Wailers Band on “Life on a Rock”

khaz kenny chesney 20120711Kenny Chesney has recruited Willie Nelson and reggae icons the Wailers Band to perform on his new album, Life on a Rock.  Willie lends his voice to the lighthearted song “Coconut Tree,” and the collaboration was a sweet reunion for Kenny.

He says of Willie, “He sang on ‘Lucky Old Sun’ with me, and Buddy Cannon and I got to produce his Moment of Forever, which is one of the things I’m proudest of in my career… and I wanted to do something different with him this time.”

As for the Wailers Band, Kenny welcomed them on the inspirational track “Spread the Love,” but this isn’t the first time the two acts have worked together.

Kenny explains, “They came and played the CMA Awards with me one year, but we never went into the studio! And I really wanted to have that experience with Family Man and those guys, to go to Jamaica and make music.”

Life on a Rock lands in stores April 30 featuring those songs as well as Kenny’s latest hit, “Pirate Flag.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Craig Campbell Announces New Album Details; Hosting Cornhole Challenge June 4

khaz craig campbell 20130329Craig Campbell will release his sophomore album, Never Regret, on May 7. The project features “Outta My Head,” which is easily the sexiest single Craig has sent to radio yet. Craig first revealed the album cover and release date on his Facebook page Wednesday.

In other Craig news, he’s launching a Celebrity Cornhole Challenge to benefit the TJ Martell Foundation’s colon cancer research efforts. Craig’s father passed away from colon cancer at age 36.  Craig says, “This tournament will benefit colon cancer awareness and research, which I am very passionate about.”

The Cornhole Challenge is set for June 4 at the Public Square in downtown Nashville. Gloriana, Greg Bates, Jerrod Niemann and Love and Theft are among the stars already confirmed to participate.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Darius Rucker Introduces “Wagon Wheel” to His Concert Audiences

khaz darius rucker 20121205Darius Rucker is climbing the country charts fast with his latest single, “Wagon Wheel,” a cover of the Old Crow Medicine show song that has become a honky tonk and frat house anthem in the past few years.  Darius’s version is selling about 75,000 downloads a week, and he’s getting an awesome reaction to the song in concert.

Darius tells ABC News Radio, “It’s really great to watch the people who are fresh out of college who know it just really freak out and have a great time and try to rush to the stage as fast as they can pushing through people.”

As popular as “Wagon Wheel” has become, Darius’s version is introducing it to a lot of people for the first time.

“The people that don’t know it just realize it’s such a great country tune,” Darius says of his concert crowds. “It’s so pure and so real.  It’s awesome to watch people, by the end of it, everybody’s singing it.  It’s that catchy.  It’s that kind of tune.”

Though he’s happy to hear “Wagon Wheel” on country radio, Darius loves just about everything else getting played these days as well.

He says, “I listen to so much country radio, and it’s so rare that I turn the channel ’cause there’s so much good stuff coming on.”

Darius is a big fan of Hunter Hayes‘ music, and Lady Antebellum‘s latest hit struck a big chord with him too.

Darius says of “Downtown,” ” I can’t get enough of it.  You know, I don’t buy things on iTunes, and after about the fifth time of hearing that, I said, ‘I gotta buy that song!'”

Darius Rucker’s fans will be picking up copies of his third country album, True Believers, when it lands in stores May 21.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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KHAZ Country Music News: Brantley Gilbert Releases Demo of New Song “One Hell of an Amen”

khaz brantley gilbert uso 20130329Brantley Gilbert was so inspired by his recent USO tour he wrote and released a demo of his song “One Hell of an Amen” on his Facebook page Thursday.  The finished track of the song will appear on Brantley’s upcoming album, and he describes it as “very dear to my heart.”

Brantley says to his fans, “For all the support y’all have given me, and being a part of this amazing movement we’re in together, I wanted y’all to hear this first.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

 

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