It Sure Is Monday

Alan Jackson’s upcoming Australian tour seems like it will be quite successful after tickets sold out within hours of being put on sale. Ticket sales for the four March dates in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane sold so quickly that the tour was extended with a third show in Brisbane. This is Alan’s first tour to the land down under. Reached on his boat about adding another Australian tour date, Alan said, “I‘m a Southern man, and that‘s about as far South as we can go – let’s go do it!”

Last Thursday, Garth Brooks lent a helping hand to Habitat for Humanity in Birmingham, Alabama. Garth and 300 other volunteers helped paint a house, hang towel racks, and lay sod. He said, “One of the biggest misunderstandings about Habitat is that they give away homes for free. They don’t. These people work their butts off.” Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter will help Habitat for Humanity complete the remaining six houses in Birmingham.

There’s sad news from the Josh Turner household today. Josh’s beloved bloodhound Moses, who appeared in Josh’s “Everything is Fine” video, has passed away due to a kidney failure. Moses was only six, and Josh and his wife got him shortly after they married. Josh said, “Moses was a special part of our family. It’s been a very hard time for us. He was the best dog there ever was.” Last year, Josh even listed Moses as one of the five things he’s most thankful for in an article for People magazine.

And there’s news you wouldn’t expect from Jaron & The Long Road To Love. It turned out that some people were not amused by a recent practical joke that Jaron played in Pennsylvania. Jaron spotted a mascot’s uniform for a local baseball team during an awards dinner, and he thought it would be great fun to wear it to a local country radio station the following morning. Unfortunately the uniform was reported missing, and local police and the media were notified about a public theft valued at 5-thousand dollars. Once Jaron walked into the station with the suit, police were informed and arranged the suit to be returned safely. Jaron said, “Sometimes we don’t think too far in advance, but it’s all in good fun. We need to not take ourselves so seriously. It’s just a stuffed animal.”

And finally, there’s more work for the DVR this week. You can catch Trace Adkins tonight on E!’s comedy talk-show, Chelsea Lately, followed by an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tomorrow.

A Laborious Weekend Ahead

The latest series of greeting cards written and inspired by Taylor Swift are available at exclusively at Target from now through early November. The 18 new designs to celebrate birthdays and friendship have her identifiable butterfly icon on the back to continue the sequencing. Previous cards in the series have been sold at retail stores in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the U.K. By fall 2010, the products will be available in Australia, New Zealand and U.S. military bases worldwide.

Loretta Lynn has revealed the artists who she personally chose to participate in an upcoming tribute album. The project will include Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Allison Moorer, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Lucinda Williams, Gretchen Wilson, Lee Ann Womack, Paramore, and the White Stripes performing Loretta’s hits with the producer and musicians of their own choosing. The album will be released November 9th.

Jaron and the Long Road to Love identified his co-star in the upcoming music video for his single, “That’s Beautiful to Me.” MTV The Hills star, Kristin Cavallari, will play Jaron’s love interest in the video, which was filmed in Los Angeles this past week. Jaron says, “She couldn't be more perfect for it. Sweet, kind, beautiful but doesn't flaunt it kind of way, adorable and all other goodness. It's gonna be awesome!”

And finally, for Labor Day Weekend, here’s the story behind Gretchen Wilson’s hit, “Work Hard, Play Harder.” Gretchen Wilson co-wrote the song with one of her closest friends in the industry - John Rich. The two wrote the song at her house and also at one of John’s bars in Nashville. The lyrics were inspired by a random foot tapping and John’s acoustic guitar. They started bouncing around song ideas back and forth, but were stuck on writing a song describing the feeling of being proud to work hard and earned something. Gretchen had her Grandfather in mind who was a veteran of World War II. The song can be found on Gretchen’s album, I Got Your Country Right Here.

Meet Jaron

The Country Station recently ran across a great article on Jaron And The Long Road To Love. It's worth sharing in today's post.

Jaron, of Jaron and The Long Road to Love sounds more than a little bitter in his hit single, "Pray for You," as he prays for bad things to happen to his ex. But that's only part of his complicated love story. The rest of it is laid out in his album, Getting Dressed In The Dark. "There was one relationship that really sticks with me," he said. "And that's where most of the songs come from." In fact, Jaron dedicates the album, released in June, to his unnamed ex-girlfriend in the liner notes, thanking her and saying that although she was "annoying at times," he deserves most of the blame and is sorry for hurting her. "Through help of my therapist, we worked it out," said Jaron, grinning. Lots has happened.

"In 2003, Evan and I decided to take a year off and do some other things. We just wanted a break from the music business, because it can be a love-hate business," said Jaron, referring to his twin brother and "Evan and Jaron" music partner. "That year turned into six, and in 2009 I said, 'Evan, I've got stories to tell.'" Jaron was living in Los Angeles, working as a screenwriter. Evan wasn't ready to get back into music, but he encouraged his brother to go solo. "I wrote probably most of the songs on this album in a two-week period in L.A. before I left and jumped out to Nashville just to get away from the distractions of L.A.," he said. "I knew if I was going to start over and I was going to go back to square one and have to get stuff kicked in my face, I was going to have to get away from the comfortable lifestyle that I had built in L.A."

Jaron ended up finding newfound creative inspiration after a move to Nashville. It was in Music City where, last year, Jaron crafted enough songs for an album, and he decided to record them under the banner of Jaron And The Long Road To Love. "The idea behind it was to let my listeners know that the songs I'm going to sing and that they're going to hear from me are all about relationships. They're all about me and my experiences, where I got it right and where I got it wrong." Jaron doesn't know why his road to love has been so long, but he can describe his ideal girl by quoting from his next single, "That's Beautiful To Me. "The second verse in the song has a line that says, 'You turn every head when you walk into a room, but your kindness and your sweetened soul lingers like perfume," he said. "That's what I'm looking for." Jaron's new single "That's Beautiful To Me" is at Country radio and he's set to film the music video in Los Angeles later in August.

Also, congratulations are due for James Otto and his wife, Amy, who are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Ava Katherine Otto. Born Tuesday night at 9:23pm at a Nashville-area hospital, Ava Katherine came into this world weighing 8 lbs., 2 oz. and is 19 1/2 inches long.

"We can't believe Ava is finally here! She is beautiful like her Mama and I am already wrapped around her tiny finger. I am so grateful I made it home in time to be here for her arrival--it has truly already changed our lives," James said.

New Video Today

Kenny Chesney’s music video for his new single “The Boys of Fall” will make its world premiere on ESPN’s SportCenter today. The video will air just before 10am Mountain Time, followed by another airing at noon. Tomorrow, the eight-minute version of the music video will be available on CMT. “The Boys of Fall” is the debut single from Kenny’s forthcoming album, Hemingway’s Whiskey, which will be released on September 28th.

Wynonna will receive The Cecil Scaife Visionary Award for 2010 on August 24th. She is being recognized for her endless contributions to the Nashville community as well as helping future generations who wish to pursue a career in the music industry. A spokesperson for the Cecil Scaife Visionary Award says, “Wynonna personifies the spirit of this award. She has given so generously of her heart, talent and time to help the next generation realize a better life and better chance at success through her work with youth in our community and students pursuing a career in the music industry.”

And finally, here’s an interesting admission from Jaron and The Long Road To Love. You may remember Jaron’s hit with his twin brother Evan back in 2000, “Crazy For This Girl.” Ten years later, Jaron has noticed the key to switching formats, and crossing over to country music. “It’s not what you think,” Jaron said. “I think people are still confused by what’s happening, but the reality is that if you ask Kid Rock or Darius Rucker, you ask any of these guys, they’ll tell you the same thing: country went pop, we didn’t go country.” He even thinks country’s biggest artists have pop-music in their genes. “If you listen to a Keith Urban or Lady Antebellum song, those are straight-up pop songs. There’s that whole “wink-wink “I’ll throw a banjo or a mandolin in” thing, but it’s pop,” he says.

Tuesday Newsday

Weren’t we just talking about a rash of babies expected by the stars? There’s word of another one as Josh Turner and his wife, Jennifer, have announced the impending arrival of their third child. The new baby will join big brothers, Hampton who is three, and one-year-old Colby. Josh is actually responsible for the couple finding out that they were pregnant again. Josh says that Jennifer had been acting “a little different” so he encouraged her to take a pregnancy test. The test came back negative, but he refused to believe it. So Jennifer took another test that proved his theory right! Perhaps they’ll have another boy, which may set some sort of new precedent for having three boys in the family, as opposed to the set of three girls that so many artists are raising. Makes you wonder if Brad and Kimberly Paisley are paying attention to all these babies, and if they’d try for a third son. Mark Chesnutt is the first other artist to come to mind who has three sons versus daughters.

News From Around The Country
Cheyenne Kimball of Gloriana turns 20 today. She’s the youngest member of the group. ….. Jaron and The Long Road To Love is scheduled to perform his hit “Pray For You” tonight on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. ….. Reba McEntire is featured on the September cover of the Cowboys & Indians Magazine. …. And finally, Martina McBride has been speaking recently about her friendship with Kid Rock, as well as her view on cross-genre music. Martina helped Kid Rock kick-off the CMT Music Awards this year as they performed “Cowboy” with a handful of other country artists. And she’s featured on the track “Care” along with rapper T.I. on Kid Rock’s upcoming album, Born Free. Martina commented, “Everybody says to me, ‘well that’s a weird pairing, you and Kid Rock.’ But it doesn’t feel weird when we’re together and we’re performing. It’s just exciting to me that he has singled me out to be part of his project. I think that’s really cool. And it’s an honor.”

Tuesday Newsday

News From Around The Country
David Nail made his national baseball debut in the Major League Baseball All-Star Legends & Celebrity game last night. The game, which was a five-inning softball event, featured various major league and baseball celebrities including, Jon Hamm, James Denton, and Mario Lopez. ……. Set your DVRs, Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself, American Masters, a documentary that outlines Merle’s teenage years in prison and his path to success will premiere on PBS on July 21st. ….. Craig Morgan will be holding his Annual Charity Ride on August 7th and 8th in his hometown Dickson, Tennessee. The proceeds from the event, which includes a dirt bike ride and concert, will benefit his Craig Morgan Charity Fund. The mission of Craig’s charity is to build and maintain a home called Billy’s Place, for temporarily displaced children in Dickson County, Tennessee. ….. Jaron And The Long Road To Love’s debut album Getting Dressed In The Dark became the highest-charting debut album from a new act this year on Billboard’s Top Country Albums. Now Jaron has something else to celebrate as he has been asked to join Trace Adkins and Toby Keith on the American Ride tour. ….. Jerrod Niemann’s debut album Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury hits stores today. Like any new artist, Jerrod planned to get the CD at midnight when it went on sale, but he had some alternative plans to buying it. Jerrod jokes (we hope), “I’m gonna do something that’s never been done before…I’m gonna purposely get caught stealing my own album from Wal-Mart. Can you get in trouble for that? I want to know. It’s my album! I will not go to jail! I’ve never stolen anything, but I feel like if I want to steal my own album…I should be able to.”

Tuesday Newsday

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill will be holding their Nashville Rising benefit concert tonight in Nashville. Tim and Faith invited guests Toby Keith, Taylor Swift, Julie Roberts, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, ZZ Top, Carrie Underwood, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus, Amy Grant, and LeAnn Rimes to perform during the event. Tim’s band – The Dance Hall Doctors – are serving as the house band for the night which has kept them quite busy. Tim said, “My band’s working their butts off. But they look at it as this is their contribution to it. They’re having fun—they get to work with artists—I mean, they’re tired of me. They get to work with somebody else for a change.” Proceeds from the concert will benefit flood relief efforts of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Faith Hill has hand-picked teen TV star and Nashville newcomer Jennette McCurdy as her opening act at a couple of California concert dates in July. Jennette, one of the stars of the Nickelodeon hit, iCarly, scored her first acting job by way of Faith, when she was in Faith's music video for “The Way You Love Me.” Jennette’s debut album, The Story of My Life is due at the end of June.

And finally, from the album release section, Jaron and The Long Road To Love releases his debut album Getting Dressed In the Dark today. The first song from the project, “Pray For You,” is a timely hit on the radio and in video. Jaron explains why he wrote the song, “A true story. You know—I was in a relationship with a girl, and then I found out that ‘We should maybe take some time off’ meant ‘I’m cheating on you.’ And so I got the revenge the best way I know how to. I just went to my piano and started writing. It’s like, you know—don’t mess with the guy with the mic.”