Big Country Notes for JULY 27

BROOKS AND DUNN RIDING INTO "COWBOY TOWN"

Brooks and Dunn have been writing songs for their new album "Cowboy Town," which will be out on October 2nd. In fact, their new single "Proud of the House We Built" is the first one from the new disc. Both guys are prolific songwriters so they joke that it’s been hard for them to finish the project. They say every time they think it’s finished one of them writes or finds another song that feels like a perfect fit for the album. The duo’s Kix Brooks says, quote, "We really need to get this out, because neither one of us will let ourselves stop [writing], you know, until this thing’s released."

SUGARLAND ON "GOOD MORNING AMERICA’S SUMMER CONCERT SERIES" TODAY

Sugarland will be performing for a national audience this morning. The duo will sing "Everyday America" and "Something More" when they make an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series" today from New York's Bryant Park this morning. A performance of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush singing "Settlin" will be posted on ABC.com following the show. In other Sugarland news, they'll do "Everyday America" on ABC’s "The View" on Monday.

KENNY CHESNEY AT TOP OF "VENUES TODAY" TOP CONCERT GROSSES

Kenny Chesney remains hot on the concert trail. He had the top grossing concert in halls with more than 15-thousand seats as listed by "Venues Today" this week. His show in Marysville, California brought in over 17-thousand fans for a gross of just over 966-thousand dollars. A second Chesney concert in Scranton, Pennsylvania was in third place. That show brought in just over 16-thousand people for a gross of 841-thousand dollars. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s "Soul2Soul Tour 2007" had the second highest gross in venues between 10-thousand and 15-thousand. Their show in Jacksonville, Florida brought in 75-hundred fans for a gross of 705-thousand dollars.
Tonight Faith and Tim are in Biloxi, Mississippi where their show will benefit organizations and individuals who are still fighting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The money will be distributed through the artists’ Neighbors Keeper Foundation to support these efforts in Faith’s home state of Mississippi. Tomorrow night they are in Lafayette, Louisiana and Sunday they play in Dallas.
Tomorrow night Chesney takes his "Flip Flop Summer" tour to his next stadium date in Foxboro, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Last year his show at Gillette Stadium was one of the largest of his tour and set records for country shows in the Northeast. This year the show sold out in 15 minutes.

BRAD PAISLEY TO PERFORM ON "THE TONIGHT SHOW’S" TOYOTA SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

Brad Paisley is taking "Ticks" to New York City. The singer will perform live on NBC’s "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’s" Toyota Summer Concert Series on Wednesday. Paisley is scheduled to perform his hit single "Online" live for the television audience. Then he will sing his chart topper "Ticks" for the live show audience. Both songs along with an interview from his backstage dressing room will stream on http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/Toyota_Concert_Series/.
Fans can see the bonus online footage immediately after "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" airs.

JOSH TURNER’S NEW SINGLE "FIRECRACKER" A CO-WRITE WITH FRIENDS

"Firecracker" is sparking a lot of interest for Josh Turner as his new single. He wrote the tune with friends Shawn Camp and Pat McLaughlin. Turner says, quote, "They are two great songwriters whom I’ve always respected and always loved their body of work." Josh says he got the idea for the up-tempo number just before he was going onstage to do a show in Michigan. Like any good songwriter, he stopped long enough to write the thought down because he knew he might forget it before he got back to his bus. The song is about fireworks between a man and a woman, not the fourth of July kind. It’s off Turner’s upcoming album which will be out this fall. It is available for fans to download now at iTunes and other similar music sites.

KELLY CLARKSON SAYS SHE'D HAVE RECORDED ANYTHING TO GET TO SING WITH REBA

It's no secret that Kelly Clarkson is a huge Reba McEntire fan. It didn’t take the "American Idol" winner long to say yes when Reba told her she’d like to record Kelly’s song "Because of You" for "Reba Duets." Kelly says, quote, "I would have even sung "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on her record." When the song became the first single release from the album Clarkson was even more thrilled. "Because of You" has become Reba's fastest moving single in a decade and has entered the top ten in just as many weeks.

LITTLE BIG TOWN WILL TAKE TIME OFF IN AUGUST TO PREPARE FOR BABY

Little Big Town is getting ready to make the group a quintet. Group members Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook and Karen Fairchild will come off the road in a week to prepare for the arrival of fellow member Kimberly Road’s baby. The group has been on tour with Martina McBride for the last few months but will leave that tour after their show in Marietta, Georgia next Saturday. They return to their road schedule on September 21st in Hazard, Kentucky. Then they will join Sugarland and Jake Owen for "CMT On Tour" in Charleston, South Carolina on September 27th. The tour continues through its final date in Huntsville, Alabama on December 15th.
In other Little Big Town news, fans can catch them on ABC’s "6 Degrees of Martina McBride" Monday night. The two-hour special explores the six degrees of separation theory. In the special the band plays a part in connecting a country music hopeful to McBride. The band is completing work on its highly anticipated second CD which will be released later this year.

QUICK BITES

Talk about a cool call to march. Members of the Ashwaubenon High School Jaguar Marching Band’s Drum Corp will perform with Keith Urban at his back-to-back shows Tuesday and Wednesday in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Students were sent a piece of music to learn and perform at both concerts. The band has participated in parades all around the country, including the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena and the Orange Bowl Parade in Miami.

Blake Shelton is stepping in for Billy Currington at the Douglas County Fair in Yreka, California on August 10th. Currington was sidelined this month due to a severe case of laryngitis. According to the "News Review," he was expected to pick up his concert schedule in August but doctors have advised him to take more time off to allow his voice to rest.

Marty Stuart is producing Kathy Mattea’s new album. "Folkwax" magazine reports that Kathy approached Marty about working with her. Stuart says, quote, "She said she had envisioned a record of coal mining songs, which is absolutely down my pipe." He adds, quote, "I'm a total champion of the coal mining cause and the coal miners, just the hardships and the struggles of the everyday life, the ins and outs of coal mining." Marty says he was very taken with the idea of a West Virginia girl getting back to the very basics of her roots. He describes the album as "just exquisite."

Gene Watson has added Clinton Gregory to his Farewell Party Band. He will play fiddle, acoustic guitar and sing backup vocals. The two were both Step One labelmates back in the 1980’s.
The new Danielle Peck video for her single "Bad For Me" premiered yesterday on CMT.

Porter Wagoner, just back from a big week in New York City and a performance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," will return to the Grand Ole Opry this weekend. Others on the show include Charley Pride, Connie Smith, David Lee Murphy and Bill Anderson.