Big Country Notes for MAY 7

GEORGE STRAIT, SONNY JAMES, HAROLD BRADLEY RECEIVE HALL OF FAME MEDALLIONS

Three men who’ve made major contributions to country music were honored as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame at a special Medallion Ceremony last night in Nashville. George Strait, Sonny James and musician Harold Bradley were officially welcomed into the hallowed institution by other Hall of Fame members. All three were emotional in their acceptance speeches and high in their praise for the people who helped them in their careers.
George Jones presented Strait with his medallion. Strait told the crowd gathered in the Henry Ford Theatre at the Hall of Fame, quote, “What an honor to be here with Harold Bradley and Sonny James.” He went on to say, quote, “It’s a dream come true because ever since I started signing country music I wanted to be in the Hall of Fame.” He thanked God for his talent and his family and friends for their support.
James accepted his medallion from Porter Wagoner, who told the crowd, quote, “Sonny and I have played many shows together and I am so proud to make this presentation to such a wonderful entertainer.” James responded, quote, “I accept this on behalf of the Good Lord and all of you [fans] across the country who have had a great deal to do with my success.”
Brenda Lee presented Bradley with his Hall of Fame medallion. She told the audience he had worked on her first session when she was just ten years old. Harold was very emotional when he spoke about his brother, producer Owen Bradley, who he credited with getting him to learn to play guitar.
Many of today’s biggest stars were on hand to honor the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels, Trace Adkins and Reba McEntire sang songs Bradley had played guitar on. Connie Smith, Randy Owens, Vince and Ray Stevens along with George “Goober” Lindsey performed several of Sonny’s biggest hits including “Young Love,” “You’re The Only World I Know” and “Running Bear.” Dean Dillon, Lee Ann Womack and Alan Jackson performed Strait’s “The Chair,” “The King of Broken Hearts” and “The Fireman,” respectively. Strait then performed his hit “Amarillo by Morning.”

CARRIE UNDERWOOD SETS ANOTHER RECORD

Carrie Underwood’s fans are standing by her and helping children around the world. Underwood’s recording of the Pretenders’ classic “I’ll Stand by You” is the first iTunes exclusive track to debut in the Top 10 of the “Billboard” Hot 100 chart. Carrie’s song will come in number six in this week’s “Billboard” tally. The song also becomes one of just six digital-only songs to debut in the Hot 100 Top 10. It’s the only track to do so without having been serviced to radio for airplay. “I’ll Stand by You” was recorded by Underwood to accompany footage of her two-day trip to Africa in April, undertaken for a video shown on the “American Idol” special “Idol Gives Back.” Based on SoundScan sales, the audio track of “I’ll Stand by You” will debut at number two on Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs chart with downloads of over 124-thousand copies, based on sales from the night of the April 25th “Idol” episode through this past weekend.
The accomplishment is great for Carrie but it’s also a big win for the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund (CPEF), which has partnered with Idol to raise awareness and funds for relief organizations assisting children and young people in extreme poverty in America and Africa.

TERRI CLARK WILL KICK OFF CMA MUSIC FEST JUNE 7TH

Terri Clark is hoping a few “dirty women” will join her when she kicks off the CMA Music Fest June 7th at 10 a.m. in Nashville. It’s not that she has friends in low places – she just says she sees women she sings about in her new single “Dirty Women” at her shows every night. Terry says, quote, “I think even the ones that aren’t like that have a side to them that are.” She adds, quote, “You know, I just feel like this is a song that speaks to those kind of women that aren’t afraid to get under the hood and get dirty and… go four-wheeling and all that fun stuff that isn’t so girly.” Terri is thrilled to be opening the downtown festival because she played on in that area of town when she first came to Nashville. She says, quote, “I remember playing for tips down on Lower Broadway, and seeing how excited the fans were - and that was just so contagious. “There were a couple years, I even got passes [to the festival] and got to stand in line and get my share of autographs.”
Terri has several special guests on her upcoming album “My Next Life,” due out in August. She’ll be joined by Martina McBride, Reba McEntire and Sara Evans on a track titled “Nashville Girls.”

KELLIE PICKLER HAVING TROUBLE DECORATING HER NEW HOME

Kellie Pickler has a new home in Nashville and practically no furniture. She says her schedule keeps her busy and she’s not had much time to shop for furniture and other things she’d love to have for her home. That being the case, Kellie says it’s probably a good thing she’ll be out on the road with Brad Paisley’s “Bonfires & Amplifiers” tour this summer. She says, quote, “My house is not very warm and welcoming yet!” She also says she’s not the best person to pick out color schemes. Pickler says she picked out a couch, then found a painting she liked and realized the colors didn’t go together. One of her most important items is already installed, however – she bought a red washer and dryer!

VAN ZANT SAY THEY HAVE LIVED THE LYRICS TO NEW SONG

Johnny Van Zant says he and brother Donnie of the band Van Zant have lived their share of the lines in their new single, “That Scares Me.” Johnny admits, quote, “We’ve all had our pasts.” He adds, quote, “I was kind of worried about the line in the song that mentioned sex and drugs … wondering about what my kids would say. “… but the cool thing about my kids—my kids grew up around music and all of these things so they still going, ‘Wow, Dad—you get paid for doing that?’ That’s your job?’”

NEAL McCOY CLOSES HIS 903 MUSIC LABEL

Neal McCoy says his label, 903 Music, has run out of money. In a statement released Friday, McCoy says, quote, “"I am sad to announce the closing of 903 Music. After two years of great success, we flat ran out of money. End of story." McCoy added that he didn’t want to run a label that didn’t have the resources to promote its artists. The artist roster included Neal, Darryl Worley and The Drew Davis Band.

ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC ADDS SECOND STAGE TO FREMONT STREET EXPERIENCE

Trent Tomlinson, Keith Anderson and Trick Pony will headline the second stage at the Academy of Country Music’s Fremont Street experience in Las Vegas on May 12th and 13th. Joining them will be Little Texas, Poverty Neck Hillbillies, James Otto, Ray Scott and Halfway 2 Hazard. Performing the following date after the fourth annual Celebrity Motorcycle Ride will be Montgomery Gentry, Craig Morgan, Big Kenny, Emerson Drive and Gretchen Wilson with Special Guests. The concerts are free and open to the public.

QUICK BITES

Randy Owen of Alabama says he’s working with John Rich of Big & Rich as producer of his first-ever solo album. Randy says he is recording some outside songs and a few he's written with John. He says he’s recorded a few songs already and is very happy with them.

Joe Nichols will join the GRAMMY Foundatrion in honoring Hunters Lane High School students in Nashvlle for achieving GRAMMY Signature Schools Gibson Grant Award status. Nichols will be at the school tonight when a check for five thousand dollars is presented to the institution.

The Hunters Lane Choral Department Choirs will be performing, as well as students from the guitar program. A reception will be held before the concert. The GRAMMY Foundation Signature Schools program recognizes the top 22 public high schools across the country for outstanding commitment to their music education programs.

Blake Shelton will be on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” tomorrow night. Shelton is also featured in the current issue of “People” magazine.

Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd played the Nashville Arena Friday night and Hank got some extra perks. According to WKRN’s “bradon2,” Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher presented Hank with a Titans jersey with “Bocephus” on the back. Then Nashville vice-mayor Howard Gentry gave Williams a Tennessean of the Year plaque from the state Sports Hall of Fame for his support of Monday Night Football.

John Schneider's personal 1969 Dodge Charger sold for nearly ten million dollars Friday on eBay Motors' Web site. The car was painted to resemble the General Lee muscle car from “The Dukes of Hazzard” television series. The vehicle was one of many used in the original TV series “The Dukes of Hazard.” Scheider has had the car modified, including the installation of a 725-horsepower Hemi engine. The bid is believed to be the second-highest ever at an automobile auction.

Sawyer Brown and Bucky Covington will perform Thursday at the Wildhorse Saloon. The show is a benefit for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee’s Kids Café. Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown is Bucky’s producer.


MOVIEGOERS CAUGHT UP IN "SPIDER-MAN" WEB

Movie rivals were no match for "Spider-Man 3" this weekend. As expected, the third installment of the blockbuster superhero adventure topped the weekend box office, shattering records in the process. According to new box office estimates, "Spider Man 3" netted an unprecedented 148-Million dollars in ticket sales in its opening weekend to eclipse the opening record set last year by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." The film, which reportedly cost 258-Million-dollars to produce, has earned a whopping 227-million-dollars at the foreign box office since May 1st, bringing its worldwide total to 375-million-dollars. It's the highest worldwide opening since the 2005 release of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" which opened to 254-million-dollars. "Spider-Man 3" also set a single-day record on Friday with 59-point-three-million dollars in ticket sales, breaking the old 55-point-eight-million dollar record, also held by the "Pirates" sequel.
Elsewhere at the box office, three-week box office champ "Disturbia" logged a distant second place finish with five-point-seven-million dollars in box office receipts. The Anthony Hopkins-Ryan Gosling legal thriller "Fracture" was third with three-point-four-million, followed by "The Invisible" at number four with three-point-one-million. Rounding out the top five is the Nicolas Cage thriller "Next" in fifth place with two-point-eight-million. (Metro Source)
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. (final figures will be released today):
1. "Spider-Man 3," $148 million.
2. "Disturbia," $5.7 million.
3. "Fracture," $3.4 million.
4. "The Invisible," $3.1 million.
5. "Next," $2.8 million.
6. "Lucky You," $2.5 million.
7. "Meet the Robinsons," $2.46 million.
8. "Blades of Glory," $2.3 million.
9. "Hot Fuzz," $2.1 million.
10. "Are We Done Yet?", $1.7 million.