Hunter Hayes
What makes CMA Music Festival so great? Not only are dozens of the biggest names in Country Music in Nashville all at once, but you get surprises like this! Hunter Hayes played a “pop up” show in Nashville to the delight of passing fans. Check it out!
The 48th annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, winner of the 2013 International Bluegrass Music Association’s IBMA Bluegrass Event of the Year Award, will take place June 12-21, 2014. This world famous event, known as the longest continuous running bluegrass festival in the world, will take place at the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Music Park & Campground in Bean Blossom (Brown County), Indiana.
The 10-day festival includes a line-up of the top names in bluegrass music. During the festival, over 75 bluegrass bands will take the stage along with the participants of the Youth Bluegrass Boot Camp. Music fans can also take part in instrument and vocal workshops, jam sessions and enjoy camping, food, vendors, and so much more. Tickets can be purchased by phone (800) 414-4677 or at the park’s website: www.billmonroemusicpark.com.
The 48h Annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival line-up includes:
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Dailey & Vincent, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, Chris Jones & The Nightdrivers, Tennessee Mafia Jug Band, Little Roy & Lizzy Show, Feller and Hill & The Bluegrass Buckaroos, Flatt Lonesome, and the Price Sisters.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Rambling Rooks, Dale Ann Bradley, Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome, Dry Branch Fire Squad, The Roys, Grasstowne, Larry Gills & Swampgrass, and the Hart Brothers.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Bill Yates, County Clare, Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome, Larry Stephenson Band, Darrell Webb, Larry Gillis & Swampgrass, and Tommy Sells & Big Country Bluegrass.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Travelin’ McCourys, The Whites, Detour, Blue River, Remington Ryde, Lonesome Meadow, Breaking Grass, Kody Norris & Watuaga Mountain Boys, Balos Family, and Pastor Baggett.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Nightflyer, Danny Paisley & Southern Grass, David Davis & Warrior River Boys, Glenville State College, Raymond Fairchild & Maggie Valley Boys, Farm Hands, Kody Norris & Watuaga Mountain Boys, and Remington Ryde.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 – TRADITIONAL BEAN SUPPER
The Boxcars, Kenny & Amanda Smith, Town Mountain, Randy Waller & Country Gentlemen, Jesse Gregory & Faultline, Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show, Moron Brother, Phillip Stemetz, and a special performance by the Youth Bluegrass Boot Camp.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Lonesome River Band, Special Consensus, Audie Blaylock & Redline, Ronnie Reno & Reno Tradition, Wildwood Valley Boys, Gentlemen of Bluegrass, Martha & Eddie Adcock, Lost and Found, and the Reno & Smiley Tribute Show.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
The Grascals, Marty Raybon & Full Circle, Crowe Brothers, Special Consensus, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, Adkins & Loudermilk, Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain, Larry Efaw & Bluegrass Mountaineers, and Joe Mullins & Radio Ramblers.
Friday, June 20, 2014 – TRADITIONAL SUNSET JAM
Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press, Ralph Stanley II, Paul Williams & Victory Trio, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, James King Band, American Drive, Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain, Tommy Brown & County Line Grass, and Spinney Brothers.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Larry Sparks & Lonesome Ramblers, James King Band, Cumberland Highlanders, Tommy Brown & County Line Grass, Jesse McReynolds & Virginia Boys, American Drive, Stars of Tomorrow, Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie, Volume Five, and Primitive Quartet.
The Bill Monroe Music Park is located at 5163 SR 135N, Bean Blossom, Indiana 46160. For more information please visit: www.billmonroemusicpark.com or www.beanblossom.US.
Tracy Lawrence
Tracy Lawrence performs his hit “Paint Me a Birmingham” in his latest “Front Row Friday” video series!
photo credit: Stella Parton’s Facebook Page
We had a chance to sit down with Stella Parton during the 2014 CMA Fest in Nashville. Check out what she had to say in what turned out to be a wonderfully honest and engaging interview!
Q. What projects are you working on right now?
A. Actually, I’ve got a brand new dance album out called Resurrection. It’s a lot of older hits, some new songs that we’ve remixed for dance clubs, and so, I’ve had a lot of fun with it, we’re calling it Resurrection; you can find that on StellaParton.com and listen to some samples of it, we’ve got a couple of videos of me performing some of it. It’s been a lot of fun because I don’t dress up like myself, I dress up like in character and just kinda do different characters, depending on the club I’m working in, and I’m working on an album of archival music that I’ve rediscovered in my archives, and it’s going to be called Buried Treasures, and there’s gonna be some really special songs that were produced by a very special person, who is no longer with us, that will be on this project, and it will be called Buried Treasures. So I’m very excited about that, we’re working on a tour for Australia and New Zealand for next year, and The Red Tent Conference was very successful, and we’ll be taking that over a week before the tour starts to Australia and New Zealand, and I’ll be doing speaking engagements before the concert tour begins, and it’s going to be our Red Tent Conference over there, so we’re launching that in Australia and New Zealand, so I’m real happy about that. And…also being considered for a reoccurring role in a new Fox TV pilot called The Sparrows, and I’m supposed to be on the soundtrack, so that’s an exciting prospect right there, so we’ll see how that all works out.
Q. Outside of music, what is something that you are very passionate about?
A. Cookin’…Reading…I love to cook for my friends and family and it’s just a way that I feel like I can…it’s therapy for me, I love to get in the kitchen and not think about things and just create new recipes and nurture people that I care about that way.
Q. What’s been the biggest “Wow” moment of your career?
A. I think I’m still waiting for the next “Wow!” I think every day I wake up and do something is like a “Wow” moment. Today was a “Wow” moment for me when one of the interviewers shared with me that my book had changed the life of two women that he knew, and I thought, “Well, I’m still doing something right!” And that’s all you want to do, is get information like that, get that kind of feedback so you know you that you’re on the right track that you’re not just…it’s not just about yourself, it’s about what you…taking the opportunities you have and sharing that with others and embellishing other peoples lives right along with your own.
Q. Do you remember the first time you heard yourself on the radio and what was your reaction like?
A. It was pretty cool! (laughs) It was really cool! I think I was probably about 10 or 11 years old! Singing on my uncle Bill’s rockabilly records with my sister’s Dolly and Cassie, and we were backup singers, and we sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks, but we were so excited with ourselves, we didn’t realize (laughing) we sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks, it was like “Oh we’re on the radio!” Aaah, we still sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks, don’t we a little bit (laughing)? But it was pretty fun!
Q. If you weren’t doing music for a career, what would you be doing?
A. I think that what I wanted to be was a Missionary, and probably I would’ve gone on and gotten a degree in Social Work, ya know, I would’ve been a Social Worker or a Missionary of some sort but in a way I feel like I’ve been that through my music. I’ve been able to do that missionary work, I continue to do that with the conferences and with the book writing, and just trying to be a positive influence and make people laugh and think and cry when I’m on stage. I love to see a song a song that I’m performing, that I’m interpreting a lyric that has so much passion in it that people have tears on their face during the song, and I love to say somethin’ that makes people laugh and have an entire audience rolling in laughter. I mean, that’s really powerful! And so to me it lets me know that I’m in the saddle of my life, it’s like I’m really in the pocket.
Q. Did you ever pass up on recording a song that went on to be a hit for someone else?
A. Yeah but I’m not gonna talk about it! (laughs) ‘Cause sometimes you just don’t like certain songs and I’ve got a couple of hits that I don’t really…I didn’t like the songs…still don’t like ’em but I still have to do them every show. And I don’t tell people, “I don’t like that song!” You do get sick of some of them and it’s ironic that you’re biggest records are your least favorite songs that you’ve recorded, for me anyway. But the way you keep your show fresh is by inserting new songs, new arrangements on some of the older songs, and just kinda recreate it as a new arrangement, and then it becomes a whole new piece of work.
Q. What’s the #1 item on your Bucket List?
A. #1 item on my bucket list would probably be still to jump out of an airplane…with a parachute of course! (laughs) Yeah I still wanna do that! I think I’ll probably try that this year. I’ve been trying to get that done since I was 40 and every time I would try to do it…if I don’t get it done pretty soon, I’ll be so old I’ll be like George Bush trying to jump out of a plane, so I’m a gonna do it pretty soon!
Q. What are your thoughts on the state of today’s country music?
A. Well, I think it’s alright. I think today’s country music is not the country music that was during the height of my career, but I don’t like to criticize people. And I don’t like to criticize where life is going, I don’t like to say, “wellll, ya know…that happened and this happened.” I don’t feel that that’s, as an artist that we have a right to do that. I think that we should just be authentic, stand in our own integrity, and let everybody else do what they need to do. At the same time, I don’t appreciate it when younger artists refer to some of us as “old farts” and stuff like that, and that was a biig insult to some of us…my generation would NEVER have done that to the older generation, so I think some of the newer generation needs to stop being so arrogant and cocky, but I think life will take care of them just in time… they’ll humble themselves. Life has a way of leveling the playing field, doesn’t it?
Q. What advice would you give to an aspiring artist trying to make it in the music business?
A. The advice I always give to an aspiring artist is to work hard, to believe in yourself, believe you have a right to your dreams, everyone else has a right to their dreams, and so do you…and don’t think you’re so good that you shouldn’t take any opportunity that’s presented. If you’re trying to promote yourself, take any job. Don’t worry if the band is perfect, don’t worry if the sound is perfect, don’t worry if you like the promoter…if you get a chance to work in front of an audience, don’t be cranky. Just get out there and do it. Don’t wait for the perfect situation, just get your butt out there and work! You never know who is out there in the audience.
We had a chance to sit down with Sarah Davidson during the 2014 CMA Fest…check out what the “Private Lives of Nashville Wives” star had to say!
Q: Besides your recently released EP (out in March) and starring on “Private Lives of Nashville Wives” on TNT, what other projects are you working on right now?
A. Well I’m working my single at radio right now, so I’ve been visiting radio stations, big ones and little ones in the middle of nowhere, and just kinda playing my music for the DJ’s and the Program Directors and kind of begging them to play my music. It’s been so much of a learning process but it’s just really fun to finally be able to go out to radio. Ya know, travelling is expensive, and so to finally have somebody that’s willing to support that and to put me out on the road to work the single is so exciting, and to get to meet these people, I’ve been such a huge radio fan since I was a little girl. I used to listen to the radio all night long and my sisters would beg me to turn it off and I wouldn’t. It’s just really rewarding and such a huge blessing, so doing that, playing shows, trying to book as many shows as I can, and then obviously working on a full length album. Ya know, my EP is out right now, and that’s been so exciting to finally get my music out there on a bigger scale and to be able to connect with people. I’m really excited about getting the full-lengthed album ready and getting it out.
Q. How’s the feedback been from radio?
A. It’s been great! Everybody’s been really positive with their responses, “Drink You Up” has gotten really great reviews, it was written by really brilliant songwriters…I didn’t write the song. I’m a huge fan of the song myself, so I think it’s amazing and everyone needs to hear it on the radio! I think the response has been really amazing.
Q. What’s something that you’re really passionate about outside of music?
A. Oh man, outside of music? Ok, I was gonna say, “well making music.” Ya know, I don’t really spend a lot of time doing anything outside of music, ya know…what time I do spend is probably in like, doing something in fashion. Ya know, I love to style myself for any events, red carpet events, for any shows or anything. But…yeah, so, I would say fashion, I have a blog so I talk about music and I talk about ya know, fashion, what I’m wearing, where I’m shopping, so that’s a big creative outlet for me as well. I think some people look at fashion as kind of as another outlet creatively and that’s kind of how I see it, so…I love it.
Q. What’s been the biggest “Wow” moment of your career?
A. Playing the Bluebird, like…having my own night of playing the big stage, like when they set it on the side, it’s not like in the round, it’s like you and your band. That was a really really unbelievable, magical night for me. I was just so blown away by just the presence in the room, you can feel of all the amazing songwriters that have gone before me, it was just something special about that place and ya know just being there singing, and I just remember there was a couple of moments that I just was like, “I’m gonna take this in and just cherish this forever,” and I just, I have. I just…that is always one show that just sticks out to me, and until I play the Ryman stage it will probably be the most memorable, and maybe the most memorable forever, so..it was really cool.
Q. Do you remember hearing yourself on the radio for the first time, and what was that experience like?
A. Yeah. That was crazy, I was actually going…I was on my way to, I was hosting a shower for my good friend Rachel Bradshaw who is also a singer-songwriter as well, and she…I was going to get champagne ’cause it was on a Saturday, and cause her shower was on a Sunday, so I went to go get the champagne and I was with my friend Dan in the car, and it came on, and I just remember like, on the way to the liquor store to get champagne and my song comes on, I mean, it could not be a better time! I just rolled down the windows and we’re just cranking it up riding down the street, I’m singin’ it at everybody and they’re staring at me like I’m crazy and I’m just like “AAAHHH!” Ya know, just goin’ crazy. It was a really fun moment. I was really excited, but that’s a moment I’ve always dreamed of, so it was surreal.
Q. What’s the #1 item on your Bucket List?
A. God, I was thinking there was one the other day…probably sing a duet with either Dolly or Bonnie Raitt. Those are two huge idols of mine, so to sing a duet with them would be something that would be on my Bucket List.
Q. If you weren’t in the music business, what would you be doing for a career?
A. If I was not in the music business, I honestly have never imagined my life doing anything else, but if I was doing anything else, I’d probably be a stylist. I love helping my friends be creative and fun with their clothes, so I’d probably be a stylist, yeah.
Q. What’s your favorite downtime activity?
A. Downtime activity…shopping and drinking! (laughs) Are those activities?
Q. What are your thoughts on the state of today’s Country Music?
A. I wish that there was more females on the radio to be completely honest. And I think that that’s something that is changing because people are talking about it, and so that’s moving in a positive direction I feel like. Ya know, I feel like there’s a lot of people that just are not into the bro-country, obviously we’ve heard that term, but ya know, I also feel like there’s an audience for that, it’s kind of, the radio is really responding to what people are buying, and so if they’re buying it in this genre, it’s like you kinda wanna give them what you want, and it doesn’t mean that people can’t go buy their traditional country music albums, I mean, they can, so, I think that the fans and the people that are buying the music need to respond and go buy the people’s albums that are traditional country if you want to hear the tradition country on the radio, so I think it’s supply and demand.
Q. What advice would you give to an aspiring artist that is trying to make it in this business?
A. I think that one of the most important things that I have learned after moving to Nashville because there is a gazillion blonde singers that are amazing writers and that are gorgeous, and whatever, so I’m just kind of a dime a dozen, but when I accepted the fact that there’s enough room for everyone to own what they do and be successful at what they do, ya know…just because some other gorgeous blonde female is successful doesn’t mean that I have any less of a chance to be successful, there’s enough room in this universe for all of us, and that’s kind of when you lose that fear of failure because you’re not comparing yourself to other people, and just really just owning what you do authentically and don’t be worried about what everybody else is doing.