09/29/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
SHE'S BACK
LeAnn Rimes goes back onstage
this weekend in Reno, Nevada, the first of her rescheduled concert dates since she went
off the road because of throat problems. Rimes says people don't expect to see her dance
or entertain, they come to hear her sing. That's why she'd rather cancel and reschedule a
concert than go onstage feeling poorly. And even though she recorded the songs for the
'Coyote Ugly' soundtrack when she was ill, she says studio singing is completely different
from going onstage and singing 18 numbers in a row, giving your all. Rimes has spread out
ten concerts between tonight and the end of the year. (Country 105)
09/26/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
SHeCHRITMAS
The girls of SHeDAISY are out with
their new CD today. Brand New Year is a holiday album with 13 cuts that mix
traditional Holiday favorites, and some brand new music, like the title cut "Brand
New Year." You can sample all of the cuts on the album at the group's Lyric Street
Records website. The last of the samples was made available last night. A couple of the
song samples even include video clips at www.hollywoodrecords.go.com You can find the
girls on store shelves today, they will be in Nashville for the CMA's next week, and are
performing live in Las Vegas on the 10th at the Aladdin Theatre. (T-100)
09/25/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
GONE GOLD
Aaron Tippin has just
learned that his People
Like Us album will
receive
gold certification today. (T-100)
09/22/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
BUSY WOMAN
Loretta Lynn is planning a
whirlwind tour of New York City in October to
promote her new album, Still
Country. She'll headline
the legendary Bottom
Line club Oct. 2, and she's set for TV appearances on ABC's Good Morning
America (Oct. 4), The Late Show With David Letterman (Oct. 4), Pure Oxygen
(Oct. 5), and the CBS Saturday Early Show (Oct. 7). (Music News)
09/19/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
DIET DILEMMA
Sara Evans isn't half the girl
she used to be. The Nashville Tennessean newspaper reports Evans is a big proponent of a
religious-based diet program
called Weigh Down. The premise is to eat only when your stomach growls, and
then eat whatever you want very slowly, and only to the point where your
hunger ends. Evans is a new mother, and says the diet is the reason she's 25
pounds lighter now than before she got pregnant. She says she's a size six
and 'just shrinking.' And she says the only drawback to her eating plan is
that her band hates it. Evans explains they don't stop the tour bus to eat
until she's growling. So she says her band spends a lot of time 'screaming,
Are you growling yet?' (Country 105)
09/14/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
LEE ANN WOMACK'S NEW
VIDEO IS A HOT ONE
Lee Ann Womack's upcoming
video, "Ashes By Now," is said to be her steamiest yet. The clip is slated to
world premiere on CMT's "Delivery Room" next Wednesday at 11am ET/PT. With a
backdrop of flames, Lee Ann takes on a different look donning skintight patent leather
pants and lots of wavy hair. Lee Ann says, "I think you have to keep growing and challenging yourself. I never
want to repeat what we've done, musically or anywhere else. To me, 'I Hope You Dance' was
the perfect video for that song and I think the director really captured the heat of its
emotion. What makes this song is the powerful emotions that those lyrics capture. Trying
to show that without literally doing a story line could've been tricky, but he (the
director)
nailed it."
"Ashes By Now" is the second release from Lee Ann's nearly platinum I Hope You
Dance album. (T-100)
09/12/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
"SHeDAISY-FYING" CHRISTMAS
SHeDAISY's Christmas
album, A Brand New Year, is complete and ready for release on September 26. According to
Kristyn Osborn, the holiday CD's four original songs will be very diverse. "I'm a Christmas music buff and there
are so many Christmas records that sound the same," explains Kristyn. "I wanted to write some songs that
were completely original. When I sat down with my co-writers to do it, it was very
daunting. But, we did it. We took some really different twists and they turned out
amazing." The sisters
also took a unique approach to several Yuletide standards and "SHeDAISY-fied"
them. Kelsi admits, "It
is scary because you don't know if people are going to accept it, so it keeps you on your
toes. But, that's us and that's what makes us different." The new project will also include
SHeDAISY's own version of "Deck The Halls," which was released last Christmas.
(T-100)
09/11/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
COUNTRY.COM KICKS OFF SPECIAL CMA AWARDS SITE
Country.com has created a
special-events site dedicated to the 34th CMA Awards. CBS will broadcast the awards live
from Nashville on Oct. 4. Fans will find comprehensive coverage leading up to the big
night, with predictions, news stories, past winners, video features and the like. As
Country Music Week unfolds in Nashville, country.com reporters will cover the Nashville
Songwriters Hall of Fame induction dinner, the ASCAP, BMI and SESAC award dinners and much
more. The night of the awards, we'll be on hand to bring you print and video coverage of
all the action. (Music News)
09/11/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
SARA EVANS SOARS
Sara Evans'
upcoming album release, Born To Fly, gave her a chance to really spread her wings. Aside
from co-writing six songs on the new project, Sara also co-produced the CD. The producing
credit was not something Sara had expected. "I had not thought of co-producing at
all," admits Sara. "I never mentioned it, but Paul (my producer) called my manager and
asked to have that credit put on there because of all the work I put on the album. That
came as a big surprise." Her third album release, Sara says, "This is the
most important record I'll ever make. This wasn't some two-day album. We worked on it for
more than six months." The new CD features Ricky Skaggs singing harmony and Bruce Hornsby
contributes a song called "Every Little Kiss." Born To Fly will be in stores on
October 10. (T-100)
09/08/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
WRIGHT GETS TOP MARKS AS
BOSS LADY
CMA Horizon Award
nominee Chely Wright is a pretty fair boss, according to two of her former employees. Jay
DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney, two-thirds of new hit trio Rascal Flatts, cut their teeth in
Nashville as part of Wright's road band. "She was one of the best people, boss or
not," DeMarcus said recently. "She didn't really make you feel like you were
working for anybody." Wright actually introduced DeMarcus and Rooney, who eventually
recruited Rooney's cousin, Gary LeVox, to form Rascal Flatts. "After we got our
record deal [with Lyric Street], we still played with her through the whole year while we
were working on our album," Rooney said. "She would plug us at shows onstage.
She'd go, 'They're going to have a group, Rascal Flatts, and they're coming out next
year.'" The promotion seems to have paid off. The trio's first single, "Prayin'
for Daylight," made it to No. 3 on the Billboard country singles chart. Wright says
she's thrilled with the group's success right out of the box. "To watch that happen has been a great
thing," she told country.com. "All of my band members, if they ever leave me, I
want them to go on to something bigger, and they certainly have." (Music News)
09/08/00 courtesy
of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
LILA MCCANN BUSY ON NEW ALBUM
Lila McCann is enjoying working on
her new album with new producer, David Malloy. She's recording the album in Los Angeles
which she now calls home. "I
find it almost impossible to record in Nashville. Because of my allergies I end up getting
sick when I record there," she
tells us. She's completed four songs so far and loves what they've done. Watch for the
album mid 2001. (Nashville Update)
09/08/00 courtesy
of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
LEANN RIMES - INSPIRATIONS ON
NEXT RECORD
LeAnn Rimes' upcoming album is not
necessarily country. However, LeAnn is not calling her next project a pop record, either.
According to LeAnn's publicist, the new work is dubbed simply "a LeAnn record."
While LeAnn is known as a country artist, she has a wide range of musical influences.
LeAnn says she grew up listening to Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Reba. Later, she
started getting into more of Prince and Aerosmith. Her producer, R&B singer
Brian McKnight, also inspired LeAnn. "Brian has got one of the most amazing voices
I've ever heard," says LeAnn. "I'm in awe of him." LeAnn first met Brian at
an awards show last year and the two "clicked musically." A spokesperson for
Curb Records reports that LeAnn's upcoming album has not been completed yet and no release
date has been set. (T-100)
09/06/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
CHICKS SEE DIAMONDS FOR SALES OF 10
MILLION
The Dixie Chicks have earned
their first RIAA Diamond Award for sales in excess of 10 million units on their
breakthrough album, Wide Open Spaces. In breaking the 10-million mark, the Chicks join
Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers and Shania Twain as country music's only Diamond Award
recipients. It's even more of a landmark, too, since the Chicks are the only country act
to earn a Diamond Award for a debut album. On top of that, Wide Open Spaces is the
best-selling debut album in the history of country music. Released in January 1998, Wide
Open Spaces spent 118 weeks in the Top 10 of the country album charts and was named Best
Country Album at the CMA and ACM awards --and the Grammys. Sales of the Chick's current
album, Fly, is now at 6 million copies and counting. (T-100)
09/05/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
BRAD PAISLEY AND CHELY WRIGHT
The duet, "Hard to Be a
Husband/Hard to be a Wife," will be released Sept. 12 on RCA's Backstage at the Grand
Ole Opry and on Oct. 3 on MCA's Grand Ole Opry 75th Anniversary Vol. II. (Nashville
Update)
09/01/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
A BIG NIGHT FOR BOBBIE EAKES & COLLIN RAYE
Newcomer Bobbie Eakes is more
than likely feeling a bit nervous today with her Grand Ole Opry debut just hours away.
Bobbie and Collin Raye will be singing their duet, "Tired Of Loving This Way,"
on the Opry's 10:30 ET segment this evening. The day Collin and Bobbie recorded the song
was the first day the two singers met. Bobbie was feeling the jitters when she drove up to
the studio. "I was petrified because Collin is the best singer I think in any
genre," says Bobbie. "He's just a great vocalist, so I was really nervous. But
he made me feel so comfortable right off the bat. He put his arm around me and gave me a
big hug. He sat there in the vocal booth with his arm around me the entire time."
Bobbie is currently putting the finishing touches on her debut Columbia Records album.
According to a spokesperson for the record label, Bobbie and Collin are working on another
duet for the project. (T-100)
09/01/00 courtesy of "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
EVERYONE IS SINGING WITH SARA
EVANS
For Sara Evans, vocal events have
been a source of good fortune in her career. Last year, she was nominated for a CMA Award
for her #1 hit "No Place That Far," which featured background vocals from Vince
Gill. This week, Sara sits in the top twenty of the country charts with "That's The
Beat Of A Heart," which she sings with the Warren Brothers for the movie soundtrack,
Where The Heart Is. On her upcoming album, Born To Fly, Sara sings a song that was
produced by CMA Female Vocalist Martina McBride. As we reported earlier, the record
features Martina singing background vocals. It's no wonder that when asked whom she would
most like to team up with musically, she has a list of people in mind. "I would love
to sing with Stevie Nicks. I love her," says Sara. "I like Sheryl Crow. I love
Celine Dion, but I don't know if I want to sing with her. She's so powerful, I don'
t think anybody wants to sing with her." Sara's new project, Born To Fly, will be out
on September 26. (T-100)
|
