Last night, at the beautiful Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Doyle and the guys received the 2012 ICM award for Vocal Group of the year! The band was also nominated for “Inspirational Bluegrass Artist”
Lawson’s band Quicksilver and the Roys each performed for the audience.
At at press conference this morning the Birthplace of Country Music announced that fundraising for the Birthplace of Country Music Museum is now complete and construction will begin on the former Goodpasture Motors building, located on the corners of Moore and Cumberland Streets in Historic Downtown Bristol, VA, the first of November.
The expected completion date for the project is August 2014, just in time for fans coming to the twin cities for the summer race at Bristol Motor Speedway and Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion.
Birthplace of Country Music Alliance will also begin re-branding efforts, and will go by their registered trademark "Birthplace of Country Music".
The National Traditional Country Music Association’s Rural Roots Music Commission has just announced their 2012 List of the Best CDs.
Though Ricky Skaggs may be more widely known for his Country and Bluegrass music, there is another format that remains very near and dear to his heart -- Gospel. In fact, it was Gospel hymns that ignited Skaggs’ love affair with music.
To date, almost every album Skaggs has released has included at least one Gospel, Christian, or inspirational Country song.
On August 14, Skaggs’ adoration for the genre comes full circle when he is inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
– Ricky Skaggs, Rhonda Vincent, Jimmy Fortune, Dailey + Vincent and The Roys
Bluegrass is all about passing the torch. During last week’s CMA Music Festival there was a special gathering filled with songs and inspiration during “Bluegrass Generations,” hosted by Sharla McCoy of McCoy and Associates.
LeMars, Iowa.....Americas upper Midwest's longest running promoter of America's traditional and classic country, bluegrass, and folk music, is very outspoken when he talks about the future of old-time acoustic music in his part of the country.
A Smithsonian Institution recording artist, and worldwide traveler performing and promoting America's 'rural' music, Bob Everhart of Anita, Iowa, is quick to point out the discrimination by national media against Midwest lifestyle and music.
"We've become the part of America that is nothing more than a 'fly-over' zone. The media in NYC and LA don't even know we exist. They send out their programming, news, and entertainment to satisfy an audience in NYC or LA, and us.
How often to you see a performer on any of these so called 'national' programs from Iowa? Do they think there is no talent here, or do they think we do not exist. I'd call that discrimination, no matter how you look at it."
Five Bluegrass bands are pickin’ it up – hopin’ that you’ll pick them. The bands are all finalists in the Independent Country Music Awards (ICMA)
Fans can vote once every 24 hours and then can see the automatically tabulated results for all of the categories on one page. Voting ends on April 30th.
Here is how the various groups ranked at the time of the posting of this story.
Charlie Peters to be honored at ACMA’s Mountain Music Museum
The Appalachian Cultural Music Association and the Mountain Music Museum invite the public and fans of Appalachian Music to attend a press conference and unveiling of the Charlie Peters exhibit on Thursday, April 12th at 2:00 pm at the Mountain Music Museum which is located on the upper level of the Bristol Mall in Bristol, Virginia.
Charlie Peters was once mayor and city councilman for the City of Bristol, Tennessee serving the city from 1979 until 1984. Charlie is 88 years old and is fighting a brave battle with cancer. Charlie Peters will be at the unveiling and will be available to answer any questions reporters or the public may want to ask.
Charlie Peters was the first person to “start the ball rolling” in having Bristol, TN-VA officially recognized as the “Birthplace of Country Music”. He worked with State Senator Carl Moore and Carl’s daughter Dana in 1984 to have the State of Tennessee officially recognize Bristol as the “Birthplace of Country Music”.
Bobby Braddock, Kenny Chesney, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Gayle Holcomb, Alan Jackson, Roger Miller, Billy Sherrill, Ricky Skaggs and Dwight Yoakam Announced as Off-Camera Winners for the 47th Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards
ENCINO, Calif., March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Academy of Country Music is announcing the winners of awards that will not be televised during the live telecast of the 47th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, telecast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network, due to time constraints. Special Awards, Industry Awards, MBI (Musician, Bandleader, Instrumentalist) and Songwriter of the Year honorees will be feted at the 6th Annual ACM Honors event on September 24, 2012 in Nashville.
Mountain Fever Records is releasing "The Heather Berry & Tony Mabe Show" self titled CD on Feb. 14th.
Geoff Morris a distinguished DJ from Australia will be offering up the world premier of the record this coming Monday night on the WWB (WorldWide Bluegrass) where he hosts a show every Monday night. Listen Here
ALAMOGORDO, NM RADIO STATION KALH FM HAS BEEN NOMINATED AS COUNTRY STATION OF THE YEAR BY NASHVILLE MUSIC PUBLICATION
Nashville music publication NEW MUSIC WEEKLY which also has offices in Los Angeles has announced their list of nominees for various music awards which will be handed out this coming November at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, CA.
Among 7 radio stations across the U.S. nominated for their Country Station of the Year is Variety 95.1 FM – KALH in Alamogordo. The station, with studios just outside of Tularosa in Otero County New Mexico plays a broad variety of music, including the weekly syndicated Prescription Bluegrass, but it’s base format is largely Country Music oriented.
The station features many new artists, just breaking into the recording industry and is often the first station in the area to play new songs by established artists.
Other radio stations nominated in the Country Radio category include 2 from Missouri, and one each from Oregon, Iowa, Idaho and Arizona.
The winning station will be selected based on votes cast on line at www.newmusicweekly.com by people involved in the music industry and from the general public. Votes can also be cast in other categories for favorite artists and individuals nominated as listed.
KALH celebrated its 6th anniversary on-the-air on January 1st 2012 and has been featuring Prescription Bluegrass every Thursday evening for the last year. According to Ken Bass, General Manager for KALH FM, the popularity of bluegrass on Thursday evenings was a huge factor in the recent decision to add bluegrass pioneer Del McCoury’s new radio show immediately following Prescription Bluegrass.
In its second year of broadcasting to the Tularosa Basin, the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau selected KALH as New Mexico’s Radio Station of the Year based largely on the large number of community and information oriented programs broadcast by 95.1 FM.
Bass, who is also President of the stations licensee, South Western Trails Cultural Heritage Association, Inc., a not-for-profit New Mexico Corporation, said on hearing of the New Music Weekly nomination that it came as a total surprise and that even being nominated is a great and very humbling honor.
Voting is open to station listeners and members of the public. To cast a vote, go to www.newmusicweekly.com and on the upper left, select NEW MUSIC AWARDS then VOTE NOW.
Sign in and you can vote for any of the categories.
VACM or Virginia Awards Country Music is a new organization aimed at promoting country, gospel and bluegrass music in Virginia. The new entity will also promote the artists who are adding to the state’s rich musical heritage.
Individual artists and bands can qualify for awards across the country, gospel and bluegrass genres.
Sometimes known as Mr. Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright, a country music pioneer who had hits as a singer in the duo Johnnie and Jack (Anglin) and guided the career of his wife, Kitty Wells, died early on Tuesday Sept. 27th. He was 97. Close family friend Eddie Stubbs, Chief Announcer on WSM Radio and the Grand Ole Opry, said Wright died of natural causes around 1.00 a.m. at his home. He had been in failing health for some time. Stubbs said that as a lifelong Nashville resident, Wright was a witness to most of country music’s greatest moments.
("I Wonder What God's Thinking"). Winners will be announced during the 2011 ICM Faith, Family & Country Awards show, held in Nashville on Friday, October 28 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The Roys will perform "That's What Makes It Love" that night with special guests Ricky Skaggs and The Whites. Both songs are from The Roys' current CD, LONESOME WHISTLE, which was recorded at Skaggs Place Studio and released March 22 this year on Rural Rhythm Records.The disc debuted at #7 on BILLBOARD's Bluegrass Albums Chart, and is currently #6 on Bluegrass Unlimited's Top 15 Albums Chart, #7 on Cashbox Magazine's Top 20 Bluegrass Albums Chart and #16 on The Alternate Root's Top 66 Bluegrass Album Chart.
...Chet Akins says Skaggs “single-handidly” saved country music. The singer is too humble to agree with that, but it’s true he picked up where bluegrass pioneer and mentor Bill Monroe left off...
Ricky Skaggs was seen as a rebel for switching from country music to bluegrass in the mid-’90s. In reality, he’s a picker at heart, and according to the Taste Of Country Magazine, country fans were lucky to have him on the radio during his run of No. 1 hits and country music awards. |
| Tom T and Dixie Hall talk with Prescription Bluegrass Host Brian McNeal |
John A. Brown, one of the two men convicted of killing Stringbean and his wife years ago, is coming up for parole on July 19th. So far, there has been very little opposition to his being released. I talked with a lady named Jennifer Brinkman, who is connected with victims' rights board....or something like that....for the state. She suggested the following:
If you would like to protest the release of John A. Brown, you can send her an e-mail at: jennifer.l.brinkman@tn.gov and just let her know you oppose it and why.
Those of us who knew String and Estelle will never fully get over the brutal way in which their lives were taken from them. One of the killers has died while incarcerated. The other should never be allowed to go free.
Please take a minute to e-mail this lady, and urge your friends to do likewise. The amount of opposition to his parole kept him behind bars last time. It needs to do so again.
Thanks,
Bill Anderson
Dixie Hall and Tom T. Hall
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| Stringbean Murderer John Brown before Parole Board |
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Lyric Alana Frizzell |
... “I’m proud to be part of a natural progression in music. And I hope to still be playing 30 years from now.”...
...3 Chances to Watch The Roys On TV...Lee and Elaine perform their current charting single, "Coal Minin' Man"on the popular family show.
