Tag Archives: George Strait

CMA Awards Artist Spotlight: MARTINA MCBRIDE

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Martina McBride wins Female Vocalist of the Year at the CMA Awards in 2002.

It’s no surprise that Martina McBride is nominated again this year for CMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year. Having earned the title a total of four times, she ties Reba McEntire for the most Award wins in the category. With a new album out and a 2012 tour lined up with the “King of Country” himself, George Strait, Martina McBride has a lot to look forward to. The “45th Annual CMA Awards” which air Wednesday, Nov. 9 (8|7c on ABC) earn McBride her 21st CMA Award nomination.

More about Martina McBride

It’s not just award wins and albums sales that distinguish a true “leading lady” of Country Music. It’s also character and longevity.  Good thing for Martina McBride, she has all of these qualities and then some.  Since the release of her first album in 1992, McBride has continuously wowed audiences with her impressive vocal range, positive attitude, charitable generosity and long list of awards and recognitions.

As a well-respected member of the music community, Martina McBride has participated in a number of charity and music events, including the “Stand Up 2 Cancer” telethon in 2010 and the Academy of Country Music’s Girls’ Night Out Benefit Concert in 2011, which featured fellow CMA Award nominees Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Nettles (of Sugarland.) She is the current spokeswoman for the “National Domestic Violence Hotline” and has hosted the Middle Tennessee’s YWCA Celebrity Auction every year since 1995.  In Feb. 2011, McBride took the stage with Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welch and Yolanda Adams at the 53rd GRAMMY Awards to pay tribute to vocal legend, Aretha Franklin.

Over the course of her nearly twenty-year career, McBride has released ten studio albums, as well as a Greatest Hits, Christmas and Live compilation. She has sold over 18 Million albums worldwide and released fifty singles.  On Oct. 11 2011, McBride released her long-awaited eleventh studio album, appropriately titled, Eleven.

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CMA Awards Artist Spotlight: ALAN JACKSON

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Alan Jackson debuts "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)" at the CMA Awards in 2001.

Country music legend Alan Jackson returns to “The 45th Annual CMA Awards” to potentially claim his fourth win for Musical Event of the Year after a wildly successful collaboration with the Zac Brown Band on the No.1hit “As She’s Walking Away.” This nomination marks Jackson’s 80th CMA Awards nomination, making him second to only George Strait whose current reign with 81 nominations is certainly in a precarious position. Other featured nominees for the category include Grace Potter, Alabama, Kelly Clarkson, Loretta Lynn, and Sheryl Crow. The Zac Brown Band is up for four nominations this year for Vocal Group, Single, Album, Song, and Musical Event of the Year.

More about the “As She’s Walking Away” Collaboration

Picture Alan Jackson recording the chart-topping, double platinum breakthrough hit “Chicken Fried,” the single that shuttled the Zac Brown Band into prominence. It may seem ridiculous, but it almost happened. Keith Stegall, who produces both acts, pitched the song to Jackson before Zac and his band mates had a record deal. Jackson good-humoredly admits vague regret about passing up the offer, but on the bright side, the close-call gave both Jackson and Zac an opportunity to acknowledge a mutual reverence for one another’s talents. Two years later, the Zac Brown Band and Jackson reunited to record “As She’s Walking Away” as the first single off of Brown’s You Get What You Give album.

The song is a lyrical tale of innocuous flirtations and a young man whose hesitation to approach a girl of interest could mean he loses the opportunity forever. Appropriately, Jackson serves as the voice of wisdom, a no-nonsense guide who tells Brown to “roll the dice and have some faith.” Under Stegall’s production, Brown’s guitar acoustics seamlessly interweave with layered vocal harmonies and Jackson’s warm baritone accompaniment.

Alan Jackson joins Zac Brown Band to perform "As She's Walking Away" at the 2010 CMA Awards.

“As She’s Walking Away” debuted at No.32 on Billboard’s country charts and on November 20, 2010 it became Brown’s fourth consecutive No.1 single and Jackson’s 26th. In an ironically pleasant twist of fate, “As She’s Walking Away” became Jackson’s 35th number one single only three days before he released his gold-certified compilation album entitled 34 Number Ones, a career-spanning commemoration to his previous hit singles. But to show good faith in light of his recent champagne problem, Jackson presented Brown with a 1966 Cadillac El Dorado at a Nashville performance the following December as a thank you gift.

The song has earned Jackson and the Zac Brown Band a slew of industry accolades including a Grammy this year for “Best Country Collaboration with Vocals,” a second for them both. Of the award and the collaboration, Jackson remained true to his famously modest, Georgian disposition, “I was real honored when Zac asked me to be on this record. You know, it’s pretty cool when a few of us Georgia boys can end up winning a Grammy out in L.A.”

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CMA Awards Artist Spotlight: BRAD PAISLEY

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Brad joins Carrie Underwood for their first turn hosting the CMA Awards in 2008.

In addition to returning as co-host of “The 45th Annual CMA Awards” alongside Carrie Underwood in 2011, CMA’s reigning Entertainer of the Year Brad Paisley is up for five Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 9! With his five nominations this year (for Entertainer; Male Vocalist; Album for This is Country Music; Musical Event and Music Video for “Old Alabama”), Paisley has amassed an incredible 57 career nominations to date. Only two artists have earned more in their careers (George Strait with 81, and Alan Jackson with 80). Paisley joins a pack of artists with five nods apiece in 2011, including Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, and Taylor Swift.

More about Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley’s laundry list of well-deserved awards illustrate a male vocalist and entertainer who has produced some of the most highly-revered albums, videos, and musical pairings of the past 11 years. A consummate musician, Paisley delivered his first public performance at age 10 and began to write his own songs at age 12. Studying at Nashville’s Belmont University, Paisley’s natural talent, hard work, and ideal placement within the Country Music capital poised him for success. Among Paisley’s list of successes are:

  • 12 million: Albums sold worldwide
  • 20: No. 1 Country singles to date
  • 14: CMA Awards
  • 4: Years as CMA Awards host (2008-2011)
  • 3: Grammy Awards
  • Many additional industry honors

In 2000, Brad captured the Horizon Award, the first of 14 CMA Awards he's received through 2010, when he was named Entertainer of the Year.

With his ninth studio album, 2011′s This is Country Music, Paisley continued his tradition of excellence, as evidenced by the album’s impressive sales debut (152,000 copies first week) which placed it atop the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart. The album marks Paisley’s sixth consecutive album to debut as a national best-seller, and it also racked up rave reviews from some of the industry’s toughest critics who recognized Paisley’s instinctual ability to masterfully communicate the heart and soul of the Country format. Paisley co-wrote 12 of the album’s 15 tracks and collaborated with stars including Alabama, Clint Eastwood, Sheryl Crow, Carrie Underwood, and Blake Shelton to capture a variety of musical tones that push the boundaries of Country Music. The album’s first three singles (the title track, “Old Alabama” and “Remind Me”) have already ascended to No. 1.

Paisley toured internationally in 2011, featuring fellow musicians along the way including Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Jerrod Niemann, and the JaneDear girls. In late August, Paisley wrapped up a two-week, eight-show European tour during which he performed for more than 40,000 fans. Sold out shows and unscheduled surprise guests on tour (e.g. Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones joined Paisley in London and performed “Let The Good Times Roll”) have combined with the favorable response and support for the album to make 2011 a tremendous success for Paisley.

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CMA Music Festival Kick-Off Parade: New Route, Debut Attractions, More Stars and Plenty of Excitement

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For five years, fans who didn’t want to wait for Thursday morning have begun the CMA Music Festival party one day early. The Festival’s Kick-Off Parade does that and more, with veteran and fast-rising new artists riding classic Chevy vehicles through the streets of Downtown Nashville.

This year, though, visitors can enjoy fresh perspectives on the action along a new route. From the corner of Second Avenue North and Church Street, the all-star procession winds two blocks past the restaurants and businesses that line Second Avenue and then turns right. From there, it rolls down Broadway toward an afternoon of great – and FREE – music at the Chevy Music Stage on the Bridgestone Arena Plaza.

Following right behind a huge inflatable musical note, signifying the start of the Parade, Country Music Hall of Fame member Brenda Lee leads the way as Grand Marshal. Dozens of artists follow in an array of vehicles supplied by Carl Black Chevrolet and members of the Nashville Corvette Club. The lineup this year includes Lynn Anderson, Katie Armiger, Rodney Atkins, The Band Perry, Bo Bice, Ash Bowers, Carter Twins, Jeff Cook, Diana DeGarmo, Fast Ryde, Colt Ford, Brantley Gilbert, Gloriana, Josh Gracin, The Grascals, The Harters, Buddy Jewell, KingBilly, Jesse Lee, LoCash Cowboys, Lonestar, Jerrod Niemann, James Otto, Danielle Peck, Point of Grace, Marty Raybon, Pam Tillis, Trent Tomlinson and Chuck Wicks (artists participating subject to change).

Many favorites from past parades are back this year, from the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to the Nashville Sounds, Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans mascots. But new participants will join the fun too, among them the Pryme Tyme Athletics cheerleaders, young members of the Nashville Children’s Theater, the Color Guard and Honor Guard from the Metro Nashville Police Department and more. In total, there are approximately 20 more units in this year’s Parade than in 2009, according Parade Coordinator Dell Courtney.

“Part of our task was to increase the efficiency of how the parade moved down the street, by making sure everything was in the right order and to make sure our volunteers are properly informed of what needed to be done and when it needed to be done,” said Courtney, who owns VisionWorks, a Louisville-based company that specializes in planning major events such as parades, festivals and trade shows. “Then we added elements to make the parade a little different – for example, we have a very strong patriotic element this year – without taking away from what the fans come to see, the artists in Corvettes and Silverado trucks.”

The Chevy vehicles, the Big Kenny, Luke Bryan and Wrangler/George Strait trucks, the Music City Drum & Bugle Corps, the rowdy Nashville Rollergirls and ever-civilized Geico Gecko and all their parade-mates hit the road at 11:30 AM on Wednesday, June 9.

Steppin’ Back in Time…Fan Fair at the Fairgrounds

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Time for your history lesson again!  After growing exponentially in the 1980s, Fan Fair (the old name for the CMA Music Festival) became so big that it was moved to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in 1982 to accommodate more fans.   Not long after, Patty Loveless swung by Vince Gill’s booth at the 1985 Fan Fair for an autograph and picture with him.  Though she wasn’t a star yet, she told Vince she would be soon.  And boy was she right!  Just two years later, Vince was singing on Patty’s debut album, and she went on to win CMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year in 1996.   

Coming full circle -- After getting Vince's autograph in 1985, Patty takes a turn at giving autographs in 1990.

Coming full circle -- After getting Vince's autograph in 1985, Patty takes a turn at giving autographs in 1990.

At the 1988 event, complete darkness from a power failure didn’t keep George Strait from seeing fans and Continue reading →