You may be asking yourself, where will you get all of your country music updates after I stop blogging? For my last post I decided to fill you in on some other websites that are great for keeping in tune with everything country!
Country Weekly- This site has kept me up to date 24/7 through their website and twitter! They also publish a magazine every week. www.countryweekly.com/
The Boot- I love this site because it has a ticker at the top for the the news that is trending! They also feature an album of the month. www.theboot.com/
Taste of Country- I always come to this site when I want to watch the latest music videos because every week they have a top 10 countdown. www.tasteofcountry.com/
GAC- Country Artists A-Z- This is where I go to read about all of the artists I'm interested in. Their country artists A-Z section has a bio on about every country artist you could think of! They also feature an Artist of the Month, which includes exclusive interviews and Fan Q&A!
I highly recommend any of sites, as well as local radio station websites who are a great resource for local events! It has been a great semester blogging for all of you, I hope you enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it! I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from a song:
Life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride.
On December 10th Fox will be hosting the 4th annual American Country Awards! Fox saw huge ratings increases on other networks that aired the American Country Music and CMA Awards, and decided to produce an awards show of their own. So, the American Country Awards were born!
NASCAR superstar Danica Patrick and country music recording artist Trace Adkins will co-host the show that will air live from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Unlike the CMA Awards, the ACA's are fan voted! Fans can still vote for Artist of the Year every day at theacas.com. Voting will close Saturday, December 7th at 11:59 PM PT. Nominees for each category are determined by five media measurement companies:
BigChampagne-record sales and media consumption
Great American Country- video airplay
Mediabase- radio airplay
Pollstar..The Concert Hotwire- touring data
Nashville Songwriters Association International
The ACA's are not a typical award show that hands out a pretty trophy, they hand out guitars! Luke Bryan has walked away with a few in the past...
Listed below are a few of the main award categories that fans were able to vote for:
As 2013 winds down it's time to start looking at what is ahead in 2014! A number of country music superstars have already announced new tours or extended dates and more are sure to come. Touring the country is one of the best ways to grow closer to fans and it is the best way for artists to see what kind of impact their music is making. I just recently went to the final show of Rascal Flatts Live and Loud tour and out of all the concerts I have been to I can easily say it was in my top 3! The Band Perry is one of my favorite up and coming groups and did a fantastic job of opening the show. Below is some of the biggest shows that will hit the road in 2014, and some of their dates that will be near us! Who doesn't love a night full of country music and throwing back a few beers?
Lady Antebellum will be setting out for the Take Me Downtown Tour with Kip Moore and Kacey Musgraves as their opening acts. The latest album Golden was released in May. The tour will consist of 60 shows starting Janurary 10th in Peoria, IL and they will make a stop February 7th in Minneapolis. Lady A just performed their newest single "Compass" at the CMA Awards on November 6th, check out the song below!
Darius Rucker's True Believers Tour will hit 15 cities this upcoming year with Eli Young Band and David Nail. Up and comer David Nail is most known for his hit song "Let it Rain". Eli Young Band has also had a great success this year with their song "Drunk Last Night".
Justin Moore's Off the Beaten Path Tour just kicked off at the beginning of this month and will be on the road until April. Joining Moore will be Randy Houser and Josh Thompson. Justin's third album also titled Off the Beaten Path just hit stores in September. Justin has been making hits since 2009 but this tour is sure to make him a household name.
Keith Urban has announced a third and final leg of his Light the Fuse Tour. He originally hit the road starting in July and will the final show taking place February 1st. So far he has played 28 outdoor shows and will have an upcoming date at the iconic Madison Square Garden. He recently played near sold out shows in Des Moines and Peoria (I'm still VERY bitter I missed both). However, he will be playing in Chicago on January 10th and Minneapolis the night after! Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch will continue to open shows for him as well. Check out Little Big Town's video for "Tornado" which was nominated for Music Video of the Year at the CMA Awards.
Country superstar Luke Bryan is having an exceptional year and is looking to start out 2014 on the same path. His That's My Kinda Night Tour will also include Lee Brice and Cole Swindell. Swindell is an up and comer who is best known for his single "Chillin' it" and is signed with Warner Bros. Luke has a few dates that are in our region: February 6th in Moline, IL, February 7th in Cedar Falls (UNI Dome), March 2nd in St. Paul, MN. Luke has also officially hit superstar status in my book earlier this week when he sold out Madison Square Garden in less than five minuets!
Projected to be one of the most successful tours of 2014 is Jason Aldean's Night Train Tour. The hit duo Florida Georgia Line and solo artist Tyler Farr will join Jason. The Night Train Tour has multiple dates in the Iowa/Illinois area. January 16th they make a stop in Des Moines, then slide over to Moline, IL for two nights at the IWireless Center in Moline the 18th and 19th. Then, February 21st and 22nd they come back to the midwest to the US Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, IL.
I already have my tickets for Lady A and Jason Aldean, what shows will you be seeing next year?!
For this weeks featured artist I decided to fill you all in on another Illinois native just like me, Brett Eldredge!
theboot.com
Listeners get a big surprise when Brett sings because he has such a soulful baritone voice. The singer songwriter has patiently been climbing his way up the ranks in Nashville. With his past two singles and opening up for Taylor Swift's tour, I think his big break is finally here! Brett attended Elmhurst College in Chicago for a few years but, after a visit to see his cousin in Nashville, decided to transfer to Middle Tennessee State University.
Brett is also unique because he didn't start playing the guitar as a child. After his move to Nashville, he recalls seeing all these artists on stage singing and accompanying themselves with the guitar. He decided right then that he needed to learn how to play way better than he could at that time. Brett said in an interview with The Boot, "I locked myself in a room that whole summer and I taught myself how to write songs and play guitar. I was also learning old songs that would help me learn the guitar more and forcing myself to make it happen. I really started to love it."
He released his debut single "Raymond" in September of 2010. This song is especially powerful for him because he wrote it about his own grandmother's troubles with Alzheimer's disease. His third single "Don't Ya" is a flirty upbeat country song that was his first song to hit the Billboard Hot 100 list. His debut album Bring You Back was released in August of this year, the same month "Don't Ya" hit number one on the Country Airplay charts.
Brett is rounding out this year with a nomination for New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards. Starting in 2014 he will be heading out on an arena tour with Keith Urban and Little Big Town. He says he will also be focusing on songwriting. "You can create something from nothing, and that's the coolest thing in the world to me," Eldredge says. "This new music is me, and it's taken every song I've written up to this point to get to where I am. I feel better about my music now than I ever have felt, and I can't wait for people to hear it."
If you happened to miss the 47th annual CMA Awards on Wednesday night here is a quick run down on what took place!
Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood did a fantastic job of hosting, as they have for the past 6 years. FYI Carrie changed outfits NINE times! According to zap2it.com viewership was up 24% from last year. The show held an average of 16.6 million views throughout the night. This number makes it the most-watched CMA Awards in the past 4 years.
E! News
The legend and one of my favorite country artists of all time George Strait won the biggest award of the night, Entertainer of the Year. He seemed genuinely surprised and so thankful during his speech, it just melted my heart. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are without a doubt the power couple in country music right now. Blake took home the award for Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year. While Miranda took home the award for Female Vocalist of the Year.
The full list of winners includes:
Vocal Duo of the Year: Florida Georgia Line
New Artist of the Year: Kacey Musgraves
Vocal Group of the Year: Little Big Town
Musical Event of the Year: Tim McGraw feat. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban "Highway Don't Care"
Single of the Year: Florida Georgia Line "Cruise"
Song of the Year: Lee Brice "I Drive Your Truck"
Music Video of the Year: Tim McGraw feat. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban "Highway Don't Care"
Musician of the Year: Mac McAnally (guitar)
We can't forget about the performances! Here are my top 4 favorite performances of the night:
4. Taylor Swift, Allison Krauss and Vince Gill singing "Red". This acoustic version is so much better than the dance version. Plus, the musicians playing the song are just phenomenal.
3. The Band Perry sang their newest song "Don't Let Me Lonely". It is a super catchy song and who doesn't love the Perry siblings?! They are adorable!
2. Eric Church sang his latest single as well called "The Outsiders". He has been getting some criticism for it because it isn't a typical country tune. However, I think it is genius and the fire machines heat up the performance for sure!
1. My favorite performance of the night was definitely Luke Bryan's. He dedicated this special performance to his late brother and sister.
Any performances that didn't make my top 3 that you thought were great? Sound off in the comments!
Over the past few years country music has had a boost of new artists. One of the most successful duos to break into the industry is without a doubt Florida Georgia Line.
hollywoodreporter.com
Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard met through a mutual friend while attending Belmont University in Nashville. After college the guys packed up and traveled the country playing their music anywhere they could. After getting lots of attention from different labels, the boys signed with Big Machine Records' Republic Nashville in July of 2012. After releasing two successful EPs in 2010 and 2012 the duo's first studio album Here's to the Good Times released in December of 2012. Their fourth single off the album "Stay" started playing on the radio in early October.
Since the release of their debut album the duo has experienced increasing success. "Cruise" was the first single of the album and spent a record breaking 12 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. 4.3 million copies of the single were downloaded making it the best-selling digital download by a duo.
The success of "Cruise" and their second single "Get Your Shine On" earned the boys two Academy of Country Music Awards for Best New Artist and Best New Country Duo. The boys will be performing at this year's CMA awards where they are also nominated for Musical Event of the Year, Vocal Duo of the Year, and Single of the Year.
Fans can catch Florida Georgia Line headlining their "Here's to the Good Times Tour" for the rest of the year. In 2014 they will be joining Tyler Farr for Jason Aldean's "Night Train Tour", which will be making a stop in my hometown of Bloomington, IL! Check out their website floridageorgialine.com for a full list of upcoming performances!
With the 47th annual Country Music Awards coming up next Wednesday night I figured I would give y'all the low down of what to expect from "Country Music's Biggest Night". Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley will be hosting the event for the 6th year in a row. Ed Hardy, president of the CMA board of directors states in a press release, "Carrie and Brad are consummate hosts. They have the respect of our industry, artistic credibility, critical acclaim and a quick-witted, genuine rapport that makes them popular with our audience and the viewers at home. We are delighted to have them back as hosts for the sixth year." Brad and Carrie will not only be hosting but they will also be performing. Check out the video below for their opening segment of last years awards. Who knows what they have come up with for this year!
The CMA's are known for their spectacular performances and this year will be no different. This year there are a couple performances that are sure to shake things up. Dave Grohl the frontman from Foo Fighters will join Zac Brown Band, Jason Mraz will perform with the current CMA New Artist of the year Hunter Hayes. One of the biggest surprises so far has been the news that Taylor Swift will sing along side of Vince Gill and Alison Krauss.
One of the most well known CMA performances happened in 2010 when Jason Aldean teamed up with Kelly Clarkson for their hit duet "Don't You Wanna Stay". The performance lead to a major radio hit and the song became the second single off of Aldean's My Kinda Party album. Jason will also be performing at this years awards.
Other artists who will be hitting the stage on November 6th include: Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Eric Church, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Kacey Musgraves, George Strait and Keith Urban. One thing is for sure, it will be a night to remember!
