Monday Musings

Bon Anniversaire! That’s a French Happy Birthday to Brad Mates. The lead singer of Emerson Drive is 30 today.

Looking at the week ahead of us, Jerry Hardin announces the winner of the 8-track collection today, the Dallas Season 9 DVD giveaway begins today, and Dierks Bentley will be overseas.

Dierks Bentley is playing sold out concerts in England, Ireland, Norway, and France this week. "We've always tried to focus on playing new places or spots you maybe wouldn't expect to see a country singer," said Bentley. "Whether it is a gig in France or a rock festival like Lollapalooza, the goal is always the same: to bring some new fans back to Nashville with us." When Dierks gets home next week, he’ll do a show at the annual Lollapalooza in Chicago, and then finish up the summer with fairs and festivals. This fall, Dierks will be working on his fourth studio album. "This is definitely the most time I've ever spent making an album," said Dierks. "I started writing for it in December 2006, and I have put these songs through four different studios, countless sound checks and dressing room strummings, and a couple have even made it into the live show at some point or another. I've really enjoyed having the time to let the album and the songs develop fully." To keep you entertained while Dierks is out of the country, here’s a bit of his last show in New Mexico.



News of Note:
Rissi Palmer has a new video coming out this week for “No Air” (the video was shot on the Caribbean island of Providenciales), and Tim McGraw will star in the 2009 film Get Low with Robert Duvall. Julianne Hough will be back on Dancing with the Stars this fall. No cast announcements of partnerships yet, but she is under contract for two more seasons before she can focus on music full time. And if this were smell-a-blogger, you could check out Jessica Simpson’s new fragrance, Fancy. Guess you’ll just have to wait until August 15th. And no, Reba McEntire’s hit was not the inspiration for the product.

And finally, it’s not exactly country news, but it’s still pretty cool. Comedian Billy Crystal has joined Robert DeNiro and other prominent figures on the board of directors for the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. This isn’t Crystal’s first attempt to aid New York City. The 60-year old funnyman performed at a benefit concert just a month after the tragedy, and co-hosted eight Comic Relief telethons that were broadcast on HBO. The National September 11th Memorial and Museum has so far raised more than 350-million dollars in hopes of building a memorial to represent the 2001 terrorist attacks.