Big Country Notes for Feb 1

KEITH URBAN TO MAKE HIS DEBUT APPEARANCE ON “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”

Keith Urban heads for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on February 10th. It will be the singer’s debut performance on the television show. Urban will perform two songs. He joins Oscar Nominee/SAG award winner Forest Whitaker, who is also making his first appearance on the groundbreaking program. Whitaker will host the show. “Saturday Night Live” has welcomed other country singers over the years including Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, the Dixie Chicks, Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt, Randy Travis, Rosanne Cash, the Charlie Daniels Band, Anne Murray, Kris Kristofferson and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Urban’s appearance is the first for a country singer since the Chicks were on the show in 2003.
The Wreckers will join Keith on his “Love, Pain & the whole crazy World Tour” beginning June 8th in Phoenix, AZ. They will be on the bill for all 36 concerts in 33 cities.

CRITICS PICK KENNY CHESNEY AS LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR

A group of national music critics chose Kenny Chesney as the Live Act of the Year in the “Nashville Scene’s” Country Critics' Poll. Chesney admits he was surprised at the honor. He says, quote, “I get that they [critics] have their standards -- and the things that connect with them aren't always the things that connect with the largest amount of people.” He says when he’s onstage he plays to his fans, not any music critics who might be in the audience. Chesney says, quote, “What I think is cool is they [critics] actually get that. They get how hard we work at rocking the people who come to see us… how hard we try to throw a big ole party everywhere we go, and send people home feeling like summer just hit them between the eyes.” Kenny says he believes the critics understand how important the things he sings about are in his fans lives and adds, quote, “By recognizing what we do on the road, it's kinda like the critics recognize how important those people coming to the shows are -- and that makes me really happy.”

TRACE ADKINS HEADS OUT ON “DANGEROUS MAN” TOUR TONIGHT

Two dangerous men and a woman hit the concert trail tonight. Trace Adkins kicks off his 2007 tour in University Park, PA along with Craig Morgan and Danielle Peck. Trace told the Pennsylvania’s centredaily.com, quote, “"This is the first time we're taking a female out with us. We were looking for a female that was coming out and looked like she would do promising things and that seems to be Danielle." Peck told the newspaper, quote, “I'm really looking forward to taking the music out there to the people." Adkins says he will probably do about 90 shows this year. He adds, quote, “90 shows is going to be a break. We did 130 shows last year." The tour continues to Fairfax, VA tomorrow and Salisbury, MD on Saturday. It comes to Pikeville on Friday, February 23. Tickets are available at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center or on line at http://www.ticketmaster.com


Trace will be a guest on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” on February 18th. Portions of a concert Adkins performed in Austin, TX to help raise money to renovate a couple’s home so it will better accommodate their children who have been diagnosed with varying degrees of autism.

ALABAMA SET TO RELEASE SECOND ALBUM OF INSPIRATIONAL SONGS

Alabama found Gold with their first “Songs of Inspiration.” The group is hoping for the same with the release of “Songs of Inspiration Volume II” on March 27th. The first volume, released last year, entered “Billboard’s” top country albums chart and its two Christian/gospel albums chart. Randy Owen of Alabama says, quote, “This project is about performing these songs and just laying your heart and soul on the line vocally, some of it with tears and some with so much feeling that it takes all you can to get the words out.” The second project is a continuation of traditional hymns and three original songs. Classics include “Will the Circle be Unbroken,” “Down by the Riverside,” “Lonesome Valley” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Owen adds, quote, “These are songs that my mother, grandmother and grandfather – some who have gone and some who are still with us – would like.” The three original songs are “When It Comes My Time,” written by band member Teddy Gentry, “The Refrain of John Dillon James,” written by Ronnie Rogers and “One Life,” written by Buck Moore and Eric Todd. The Del McCoury Band provided vocals and instrumentation on “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” and Riders In The Sky sing vocals on “Love Lifted Me.”

In related Alabama member news, Jeff Cook continues to work with his new duo, Cook & Glenn. North Carolina native Mitch Glenn is the other half of the duo, which is booked for a show March 17th in Huntsville, AL opening for Heartland.

BLAKE SHELTON’S “DON’T MAKE ME” IS EXPRESSION OF THE SINGER

Blake Shelton says the first time he heard his new single “Don’t Make Me” he thought it was a great song but he wasn’t sure it was one he would record. He tells CMT.com that the further into the new album he went, quote, “I started to realize maybe that song being on the edge of whether it’s me or not is exactly why I should do it – maybe I should expand a little bit, should try some new things on this album.” Now Blake things that this will be one of the favorite songs people pick from the disc because, quote, “You know when you hear it, it’s so true. It’s a song that says something no other song has ever really said before.” The song, about a guy who tells his girl he’s going to leave because he sees that for whatever reason it’s hard for her to love him. Shelton says the one thing he knows for sure about the song is, quote, “It completes this album. It’s hard to find a song that’s an expression of who you are and also completes an album with the rest of the music.”

KELLIE PICKLER NOT INTERESTED IN FINDING HER MOTHER

Kellie Pickler’s new single “I Wonder” is a series of questions to her mother, who left her when she was two years old. While Kellie sings the questions she has no real desire to find her estranged mother to ask them in person. The only time Pickler has lived with her mother was when she was around 10 years old, and she has related on various occasions that her mother was physically and mentally abusive to her. A few months ago a writer at the “Charlotte Observer” tracked down the singer’s mother and her side of the story was very different from the way Kellie remembers things. Pickler says, quote, “She denied everything and completely made herself look like the victim. I’m not mad at her, I don’t hate her.” Kellie adds, quote, “I was really hurt that my hometown paper would do that to me. I’m their hometown girl, I try to represent the state of North Carolina the best I can. So I was really hurt when he printed it and made her look like the victim.” The singer says she has worked all her life on getting past growing up without a mother and having a father who abused drugs and alcohol and served time in prison. She says, quote, “Sometimes things are better left alone. I haven’t talked to her, seen her or had any contact with her and I have no desire to. Maybe in the future but not now.”

Kellie will guest on “Larry King Live” tonight. She'll talk about the success of her Gold selling debut album, “Small Town Girl,” her upcoming tour with Brad Paisley and about being an “American Idol” finalist.

HANK WILLIAMS JR, LYNYRD SKYNYRD ANNOUNCE “ROWDY FRYNDS” TOUR

All their rowdy fans will come out to see Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The artists have announced their “Rowdy Fryds” tour, which kicks off April 22th in Huntsville, AL, with dates running through June. Johnny Van Zant of Skynyrd and the country duo Van Zant says, quote, “Hank played with Skynyrd years ago and it was one heck of a show. Since then, we’ve been looking for the opportunity to tour together because his fans are our fans, and vice versa.” Williams says, quote, “Talk about a show…I can’t wait to see what happens in those cities!”
Dates for the “Rowdy Frynds” tour:

April
11 - Huntsville, AL
13 - Tampa, FL
20 - Indianapolis, IN
21 - Peoria, IL
27 - Baltimore, MD
28 - Raleigh, NC

May
4 - Nashville, TN
5 - Charleston, WV
11 - Dayton, OH
12 - Auburn Hill, MI
18 - Sioux City, IA
19 - Minneapolis, MN
25 – TBD
26 - Orange Beach, FL

June
1 - Atlanta, GA
2 - Greenville, SC
8 - University Park, PA
9 - Albany, NY
15 - Louisville, KY
16 - St. Charles, MO

Hank Williams Jr. is ready for some football! He and touring pals Lynyrd Skynyrd will be a part of Craig Ferguson’s special Super Bowl edition Sunday after the touchdowns have been scored. CBS will air a special edition of Ferguson’s “Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson” following the evening news. Hank says, quote, “This is going to be a rocking party. The Skynyrd guys are my friends and every time we get together it becomes a party.” Count on rockin’ performances by the two entertainers.

In other Hank Jr. news, CMT host the world television premiere of “A Country Boy Can Survive” today on “CMT Top 20 Countdown.” This is the first video Hank has done for the song, which was a hit the first time around 25 years ago.

JASON ALDEAN PREMIERING SONG FROM UPCOMING ALBUM AT CONCERT

Johnny Cash has been making its way to Jason Aldean concerts. That would be the song “Johnny Cash,” and the singer says his fans are loving it. Aldean says, quote, "This is a song I've had my eye on for a couple of years. When we are recording, I always try and think about what songs will be good for our live show, and this is one of those." “Johnny Cash” is the first single off the new album, which will be released in the spring of this year. Aldean will join Rascal Flatts next Thursday in Charleston, WV, for their "Me & My Gang" Tour.

QUICK BITES

Craig Morgan tells Pennsylvania’s “CentreDaily” that his next single release will be "Tough." He says, quote, “It talks about the women in my life and how much tougher they are than I am and why. Every guy has a woman in their life ... who is tougher than they are."

Pam Tillis plans for the release of her new album, “Rhinestoned,” on April 17th. It will be on her Stellar Cat label. Songwriter Gary Nicholson is co-producing the album with Tillis and Matt Spicher.

John Mellencamp’s “Freedom’s Road,” featuring vocals by Little Big Town, is his highest debuting album ever on the all-genre “Billboard” 200 chart. It entered the charts this week at number five, making it his first top ten album in ten years.

Phil Vassar is scheduled to perform for a fundraiser tonight night at the Musicians Hall of Fame. Proceeds will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Middle Tennessee.

Lorrie Morgan, Gary Nichols and Trick Pony have been added to the annual "Country Thunder" music festival, taking place April 12-15 at Canyon Moon Ranch in Florence, Arizona. Previously announced artists include Trace Adkins, Reba McEntire, Big & Rich, Montgomery Gentry, Tanya Tucker, Phil Vassar, Neal McCoy and others.

Sarah Buxton will be a part of this weekend's "Max It Out" event benefiting the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. The event will be held at Nashville's Wildhorse Saloon.

“American Idol” contestant Bucky Covington will make his Grand Ole Opry debut on March 9th. Bucky told Larry King, quote, "That is just going to be awesome man, I am really looking forward to it and I just hope I don't screw up!" His self-titled debut album will hit stores on April 17th.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. will release five new CDs in the “Live Classics” series. Country legends like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Dolly Parton and Waylon Jennings are just a few of the many artists whose Opry performances are captured on this special collection available exclusively at Cracker Barrel.

Tracy Lawrence will be featured in an “At Home” feature in the March 12th issue of “Country Weekly.”