Big Country Notes

WYNONNA TO PERFORM AT NOBEL PEACE PRIZE CONCERT

Wynonna will perform at the Nobel Peace Prize concert on December 11th in Oslo, Norway. The singer will join other celebrities including actress Sharon Stone and singers Lionel Richie, John Legend and Rihanna. The performers will honor The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s 2006 recipients, Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, for their efforts to create economic and social development. Today, Wynonna will be at Kiehl’s in Manhattan where she will act as YouthAIDS U.S. Ambassador for World AIDS Day. Then she flies to Fresno to perform two shows tonight before heading for Las Vegas to present an award at the Billboard Music Awards Monday night. Tuesday, Wynonna jets to Atlanta to tape a BET special with Patti LaBelle. After her trip to Oslo she plans to be in Nashville for some well-deserved rest with her family for the holidays. She tells “The Tennessean,” quote, “I’m a busy girl, but I signed up for it and I’ll probably do a Christmas tour next year. We didn’t have time to put it together this year.”

RASCAL FLATTS CLAIMS PIECE OF HISTORY WITH TWO NUMBER ONE SINGLES

Rascal Flatts is making history this week. They are one of only three country artists in the 45 years of shared adult contemporary (AC) and country radio chart history to have two different songs at number one on two diverse radio charts in the same week. The group’s “My Wish,” the band’s sixth number one country single, is at the top of the Mediabase country chart this week while “What Hurts The Most” holds onto the top slot in its third week at number one on the “Radio & Records” AC chart. The group is the first country act in more than three years to achieve this feat. Only two other country acts, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks, can claim the same accomplishment.

VINCE GILL GETS NOD FOR BEST COUNTRY MUSIC ALBUM FROM AMAZON.COM

The staff at Amazon.com has voted Vince Gill’s album “These Days” the Best Of Country Music for 2006. Gill released his four-CD project in October, and then kicked off a tour in New York City that ends in Las Vegas next weekend, December 7th-9th. Gill wrote all 43 songs on the four albums and invited many of his fellow artists to perform with him. Gill says, quote, “All of the songs are original and new. I understand that has never been done before. In my heart, it just felt like the right thing to do. I was completely inspired by every note that every musician played, and by all the great singers.” While Vince says there are some new voices harmonizing with him on the songs, many of the folks who sing with him are old friends for whom he has sung harmony or played on their albums over the years. The album went gold five weeks after it was released.

SUGARLAND REMEMBERS MEETING PAUL MCCARTNEY AT GRAMMYS

With nominations for the GRAMMY awards coming up next Wednesday, Sugarland’s Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles reminisce about last year’s awards show, when they met Sir Paul McCartney. Kristian and Jennifer, there as nominees for Best New Artist, were walking down the red carpet. Kristian says, quote, “That’s a pretty humbling experience, these two kids from Atlanta, standing next to the Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani. So we’re walking backstage and someone taps me on the shoulder.” When Kristian turned around it was McCartney, who complimented them on the song he had heard them do at rehearsal. Kristian says, quote, “Then I realized I hadn’t introduced him to Jennifer so I ran up and grabbed her and came back and there was this awkward moment where you go, ‘Paul, this is Jennifer … Jennifer this is Paul.’” Bush adds, quote, “It’s pretty thrilling to walk away and go ‘wow a Beatle knows who Sugarland is.’”

MIRANDA LAMBERT SAYS HUNTING HAS REPLACED SONGWRITING TO HELP HER RELAX

Now that Miranda Lambert is fully entrenched in the music business, she says songwriting has become part of the job for her. She says she’s taken up hunting as a hobby to help her relax when she’s home in Texas. Miranda says, quote, “My dad took me hunting when I was little and then I really started hunting three years ago. I mean I started having a passion for it -- it’s not about hunting necessarily. It’s about being in the woods having a chance to just get away.” Lambert says she doesn’t have a lot of time to go on vacation, with all the hours she spends pursuing her career. She says, quote, “I go hunting with my dad or my little brother and hang out with people that really matter to me in my life or just go by myself.”

SARAH BUXTON SAYS SHE’S THRILLED “STUPID BOY” DOING WELL FOR KEITH URBAN

Sarah Buxton had the song first but it’s Keith Urban who is climbing the country singles charts with “Stupid Boy.” Buxton says, quote, "It’s my favorite song on the record. It’s about a girl who is brave enough to leave a harmful situation.” She adds, quote, “There's nothing worse than losing your identity and your freedom to a lover who does nothing but put you down. Love isn't supposed to make us feel scared or ashamed." Buxton co-wrote the song with Deanna Bryant and Dave Berg. She says she is excited to see Keith’s version of the song doing so well.

SARA EVANS, JERRY SPRINGER HARMONIZE TONIGHT IN INDIANA

Sara Evans welcomes an unusual duet partner to the stage tonight when she and Jerry Springer appear in Merrillville, IN, near Chicago. Evans met Springer while she was a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” and found out he loves country music. Sara says, quote, “He is a huge fan and even cut a country record so I invited him to sing at my show in Merrillville where he’ll do a couple of classic songs...I cannot wait!"

QUICK BITES

“The Very Best of Travis Tritt” will be available January 30th, 2007. The album will include 20 of Travis’ best-known hits including “Help Me Hold On,” “Can I Trust You With My Heart,” “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” and his two duets with Marty Stuart -- “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’” and “This One’s Gonna Hurt You (For A Long Long Time”).

The place where Garth Brooks once worked is closing. The Tumbleweed dance and concert hall will be sold at auction on Thursday after operating for 25 years in Stillwater, OK. The Tumbleweed was a popular stop for country artists including Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Travis Tritt, Keith Whitley, George Jones and Chris LeDoux. Lee Ann Womack plays one of the last concerts at the venue Saturday.

Members of the group Blackhawk will make a 15-thousand dollar donation to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center next week in memory of their former member and co-founder, Van Stephenson. The singer died in 2001 from skin cancer. The money will be used for melanoma research.

Trent Tomlinson will end a busy year of touring on New Year’s Eve at the Target Center in Minneapolis. He’ll join friends Phil Vassar and Little Big Town to help ring in the New Year.

Pat Green’s new single “Dixie Lullaby” debuted in Hot Shot Rotation yesterday on CMT’s “Top 20 Countdown.” Trent Tomlinson’s “One Wing in the Fire” also made its first appearance in the countdown.

Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler took advantage of some down time before the upcoming Broncos-Seattle Seahawks game to throw a football around with Gary Allan’s band. Cutler, the 2006 number one draft pick, makes his first start in an NFL game as the Denver Broncos quarterback on Sunday. Allan was in concert at Denver's Fillmore this past weekend, so Jay dropped by to throw some passes to Allan’s steel player, C. J. Eudeen. We understand Cutler’s passes were right on target and Eudeen caught all of them.

On the Opry this weekend: Sarah Buxton, Danielle Peck, Craig Morgan, Ray Price, Kellie Pickler and more.