Loretta Lynn Picks Deschanel for Broadway Version of Coal Miners Daughter
May 15th, 2012
Three hundred cheers for Loretta Lynn, the iconic Country Music star who at age 80 keeps on truckin’ with another major career move: Broadway.
As the Washington Times reports, Country Music Hall of Fame member Loretta Lynn is taking her life story to Broadway, and she has tapped film and TV actress Zooey Deschanel to play her onstage.
Miss Lynn unveiled plans for a musical adaptation of “Coal Miner’s Daughter” during a Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman Auditorium. Wearing one of her signature long sleeve, floor- length dresses, the singer blew through four songs before bringing Miss Deschanel onstage to sing the title tune.
The announcement mirrored the way Miss Lynn invited actress Sissy Spacek on the Opry stage in 1979 to reveal that Miss Spacek would play her in the upcoming film. She won an Academy Award for her portrayal.
via Taking Names: Deschanel picked for stage version of Coal Miners Daughter – Washington Times.
Carrie Underwoods New Album Blown Away Debuts At No. 1 on Billboard 200 Album Chart
May 9th, 2012
Country music continues to chart heavily with this weeks Carrie Underwood album release hitting number 1 on the Billboard 200.
As reported by Billboard.biz, Carrie Underwood easily trounces the competition this week as her fourth album, Blown Away, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 267,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The debut for Blown is also the second-largest arrival of any album in 2012. This year, only Madonnas MDNA started bigger, with 358,000. So far in 2012, just three titles have bowed with more than 200,000 in their first week — and they are all by women. In addition to Underwood and Madonna, Nicki Minajs Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is in the 200,000-plus debut club, as it started with 253,000.
via Carrie Underwoods Blown Away Debuts At No. 1 With Best Country Sales In Months | Billboard.biz.
New Alan Jackson Album a Collection Songwriters Can Cheer
May 4th, 2012
By Norm Daniels
In June, Alan Jackson will release his first album since leaving Arista Records and forming his own label, AJR, in conjunction with EMI. The album is titled Thirty Miles West, in honor of the legendary Dixie Highway he grew up near. Alan is still total Country, of course, a solid fact that traditional fans will appreciate.
And there’s something songwriters everywhere will appreciate: Jackson includes seven songs written by outside writers; that despite his own songwriting abilities that make him one of the best writers in the business, and totally capable of writing the whole thing himself.
Some artists capable of writing or at least co-writing, hog not only the creative spotlight, but want to keep all the kale to themselves. Fortunately there are still some great singer/songwriters who love great songs enough to sprinkle some efforts other than their own through each project. Jackson is one.
Going in on this album, he sent out the word to publishers that he was going at a new project. There were two caveats: “Don’t worry about making it sound like me, I’ll take care of that.” And “Send me songs I wouldn’t write.”
It didn’t take long to get all he needed. Who wouldn’t want a cut on Alan Jackson? And despite so much music described as Country Pop, most good Nashville-style songwriters still like to write a good Trad Country song. There’s just something satisfying about it.
June 5 is the release date. You might want to grab one up and enjoy it from day one.
Sheryl Crow Competes in Nashville’s St. Jude Country Music Half Marathon
April 30th, 2012
It’s a big thing for Nashville Music Stars and obviously a lot of others folk. Music Row and environs were taken over this past Saturday (4/28) by what some call the Music City Marathon, but is really the St. Jude Country Music Marathon (the name gets longer). As MusicRow.com reports:
Over 30,000 runners turned out for the 2012 St. Jude Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon Presented by Nissan on Saturday 4/28, including St. Jude Music Gives first ambassador Sheryl Crow.
Other notable runners included radio host Dave Ramsey (2:16:15), Christian artist Toby Mac(2:18:39), GAC Nights and On The Streets host Suzanne Alexander (2:19:58), and Columbia Nashville artist Joanna Smith (2:22:33), who also sang the national anthem before the race began.
What No Songwriter Should Miss: Hank Cochran Documentary Premieres at Nashville Film Festival
April 26th, 2012
Note to songwriters: If you get within a hundred miles of a showing of the Hank Cochran documentary, “Livin’ for a Song,” get there. See it. It’s not just history, its a lesson for all songwriters from one of the greatest of all time.
There’ve been a lot of lines written about it and Hank …here’s part of what The Tennessean, Nashville’s daily put in a blog:
Friends, family members and fellow country stars were on hand to celebrate late country songwriting great Hank Cochran on Wednesday night at the Nashville Film Festival, where the documentary Hank Cochran: Livin’ For a Song held its world premiere.
Cochran, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer who composed “I Fall to Pieces” and “Make the World Go Away,” died in 2010 at 74.
Of course that’s a small part of his songwriting. His songs were recorded by pop as well as country artists during a career that spanned 50 years.
via Hank Cochran documentary premieres at Nashville Film Festival | Tune In Music City | The Tennessean.