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Watch Thompson Square “Play It Forward” by Covering Faith Hill’s “It Matters to Me” in Nash Country Daily Exclusive

Posted on July 26, 2018

Shawna Thompson of Thompson Square stopped by the Nash campus last week to chat with Elaina Smith on her Women Want to Hear Women podcast (you can listen to the entire podcast here).

One of the podcast’s segments—“Play It Forward”—beckons the featured artist to perform a song from another female’s catalog.

For her Play It Forward, Shawna covered Faith Hill’s “It Matters to Me,” a tune Faith took to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for three weeks in 1996.

Watch Shawna perform “It Matters to Me” with husband and duo partner, Keifer Thompson.

Charles Esten Earns Guinness World Record for 54-Week Streak

Posted on July 25, 2018

Charles Esten can add a Guinness World Records title to his lengthy resume.

After his performance on the Today show on July 25, Charles was presented with a certificate for the Guinness World Records title for the Most Consecutive Weeks to Release an Original Digital Single by a Music Act. The title reflects Charles’ #EverySingleFriday campaign, which started on July 15, 2016, and ended on July 21, 2017. The record represents 54 original songs that Charles wrote (or co-wrote), recorded and released every Friday during the campaign.

“On July 1, 2016, I posted a video where I promised to put out a brand-new original single every single Friday for ‘as long as it made sense,’” says Charles. “At that time, I had no idea how it would go, or how long I could do it. I only knew that, as a lifelong songwriter, through my role as Deacon Claybourne on Nashville, I had found my way to Music City and, surrounded by some of the most talented people in the world, I was feeling a level of inspiration and creativity that needed a different kind of outlet than an EP or an album. I had no idea how challenging this project would be, or how incredibly fulfilling, or that a little over a year later, I would complete #EverySingleFriday with 54 original singles released. I certainly had no idea that number would be considered a Guinness World Records title.”

The Guinness World Records title comes on the heels of Charles’ 100th performance on the Grand Ole Opry on July 20.

photo by Jason Simanek

Ricky Skaggs Among New Inductees for Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame

Posted on July 25, 2018

It’s been a hall-of-fame year for Ricky Skaggs.

After being announced as a 2018 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame in March, Ricky Skaggs was named a 2018 inductee into the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame on July 25. Ricky will be joined by 2018 inductees Paul Williams, Tom T. Hall and the late Dixie Hall.

“I’m very honored to be inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame along with the ‘Father of Bluegrass’ Bill Monroe,” says Ricky. “His impact on me and all of us as musicians and singers that love bluegrass music will never be replicated. With so many other heroes in the Hall, I’m just thankful to have my name mentioned alongside theirs.”

The induction ceremony will take place on Sept. 27 in Raleigh, N.C., at the International Bluegrass Music Awards. The awards show will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction (Ch. 62).

New Report Blasts TV Show “Nashville” for Costing Taxpayers More Than $45 Million

Posted on July 25, 2018

As the sixth and final season of Nashville comes to a close on July 26, research organization the Beacon Center has released a report on the “ineffectiveness of film incentives in Tennessee,” citing that Nashville cost Tennessee taxpayers more than $45 million.

According to its profile, “The Beacon Center is an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan research organization dedicated to providing expert empirical research and timely free market solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee.”

Here’s what the Beacon’s new report had to say about Nashville, in part:

No project exemplifies the bad public policy of [movie production incentives, MPIs] in Tennessee more clearly than the ABC/CMT television show Nashville. The show, which has now been cancelled twice in three years due to poor ratings, has received the most taxpayer money of any project, totaling $45 million in state incentives alone (including millions more in local taxpayer incentives). Even worse, the show’s six seasons received the largest six individual Tennessee Entertainment Commission grants of any project in state history. The smallest incentive, $5.7 million given for the sixth and final season, was still awarded after CMT announced the show would be permanently cancelled. The show Nashville also serves as an example of how corporations or sports teams hold cities and states hostage after receiving taxpayer money. After the show’s second season, ABC producers explored moving filming to Austin, Texas, unless the show received more in Tennessee taxpayer incentives for the third season. However, this came immediately after less than 50 percent of season two’s budget was spent in Tennessee, a series low.

For a show named after a Tennessee city, outside of its first season Nashville was hardly dominating the Tennessee film industry. Also of note is that with the increased production budget after the first season, the percentage of expenditures that were qualified Tennessee expenditures dropped dramatically. The show also demonstrates that if a taxpayer-incentivized television show becomes even somewhat popular and scales up production and budget, the vast majority of a project’s growth will inevitably occur elsewhere, likely in Hollywood, where actors and actresses are more likely to reside and where support staff is easier to obtain. Thus, even a “successful” TV series will result in Tennessee taxpayers subsidizing Hollywood and other out of state locales. While fans may miss the show after it received its final death in July 2018, Tennessee taxpayers should breathe a sigh of financial relief.

Event though Nashville spent more than $251 million for goods and services in Tennessee over its six seasons, the Beacon is one entity that won’t miss Deacon, Juliette, Scarlett, Will and the rest of the gang.

photo by Jason Simanek

Reba McEntire Named 2018 Kennedy Center Honoree for Lifetime Artistic Achievement

Posted on July 25, 2018

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that Reba McEntire will be one of the four honorees at the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors. Reba will follow in the hallowed footsteps of past Kennedy honorees Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn and more.

“The Kennedy Center Honors recognizes exceptional artists who have made enduring and indelible marks on our culture,” said Kennedy Center chairman David M. Rubenstein. “Country songstress Reba McEntire has inspired us over four decades with her powerhouse voice and music that conveys heartfelt, heart-warming honesty.”

In addition to Reba, the 2018 class includes Cher, Philip Glass and Wayne Shorter.

The 41st Kennedy Center Honors ceremony takes place on Dec. 2 in Washington, D.C. The show will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 26 at 9 p.m. ET.

Reba’s Kennedy Center Honors’ bio is below.

Multi-media entertainment mogul Reba McEntire has become a household name through a flourishing career that spans music, television, film, theater, and retail. She marked her 13th summit as Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope topped both the Billboard Country and Christian/Gospel charts, bolstering McEntire’s successful record of 35 No. 1 singles and over 56 million albums sold worldwide across four decades. The double-disc collection earned McEntire her third Grammy Award® and first GMA Dove Award. The Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry, and Hollywood Bowl member has also won 16 ACM Awards, 15 American Music Awards, 9 People’s Choice Awards, and 6 CMA Awards. Her leadership and philanthropic endeavors have been recognized with the Andrea Bocelli Foundation Humanitarian Award, Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award, the Music Biz Chairman’s Award, the National Artistic Achievement Award from the U.S. Congress, and with joining the Horatio Alger Association.

McEntire returned for the 15th time to host the ACM Awards in April and led the 2017 ratings-high CMA Country Christmas television special. In 2005, she partnered with Dillard’s to launch her own lifestyle brand, and launched the REBA by Justin™ collection at select retailers nationwide for holiday 2017. The Oklahoma native is an acclaimed actress with 11 movie credits to her name, a lead on Broadway in Annie Get Your Gun, and starred in the six-season television sitcom, Reba. As part of the longest-running Country act in The Colosseum’s history, she will join with superstar pals for another round of Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas at Caesars.

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

Chill With Kacey Musgraves as She Performs “Golden Hour” on “The Late Late Show” [Watch]

Posted on July 25, 2018

Kacey Musgraves stopped by The Late Late Show With James Corden in May to promote her recently released album, Golden Hour.

In addition to performing new tune, “Velvet Elvis,” Kacey treated fans at Stage 56 to a rendition of the album’s title track, which was broadcast on July 24.

Kacey’s new 13-song offering follows her 2013 debut album, Same Trailer Different Park, and her 2015 sophomore album, Pageant Material, both of which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. Golden Hour followed suit in April as it reached the top of the chart.

“I had a different mindset this time, which was feeling rather than thinking—leading heart first,” says Kacey.

Watch Kacey perform “Golden Hour” on The Late Late Show With James Corden.

photo by Jason Simanek

Jimmy’s blog: Plethora of bowls rewards too many undeserving teams

Posted on July 25, 2018

By Jimmy Hyams

Growing up in North Louisiana, surrounded by pine trees, the Cane River and a bushel full of future NFL quarterbacks (Terry Bradshaw, Joe Ferguson, Bert Jones, Doug Williams, etc.), I loved watching bowl games.

Bowls were a measure of success for a college team.

If you didn’t go 7-3 or better, you were home for the holidays.

One year, 1969, a 9-1 LSU team got locked out of the bowls when Notre Dame changed its policy and accepted a bid to the Cotton Bowl.

LSU had been ticketed for the Cotton. When that fell through, there weren’t 40 other bowls for LSU to pick from.

I first became fixated on bowls in 1965.

At that time, there were nine bowls. And bowls were a reward for a good or great season – not for going 6-6 or 5-7.

Those nine bowls: The Sugar, Rose, Orange, Cotton, Liberty, Sun, Gator, Bluebonnet and Tangerine.

By 1975, we had 11 bowls – the Fiesta and Peach were added.

By 1985, we had 18: the new additions were the Independence, Holiday, Cherry, California, Aloha, Freedom and Hall of Fame.

In 1995, we still had 18, although some were added and some were dropped.

Then came the boom in bowls.

In 2005, we had 28.

In 2015, we had 41.

When the Bowl Championship Series started in 1998, there were 22 bowls. And some thought the national championship game would ruin – or diminish – the importance of all other bowls.

Yet, since the advent of the BCS, we’ve had 19 new bowls – 19!

You can argue many of the bowls are meaningless to the masses, but the BCS and College Football Playoff haven’t made those lower-tire bowls anymore meaningless than they already were.

Are there too many bowls for my liking? Yes.

You’ve got too many bowls when 5-7 teams fill slots.

You’ve got too many bowls when 6-6 teams fill slots. But there are exceptions to a .500 team going bowling.

Tennessee in 2014 is an example. The Vols hadn’t been to a bowl game in three years; hadn’t won a bowl in seven years.

More than 40,000 Vol fans showed up in Jacksonville to watch UT whip Iowa. It was a positive experience for supporters, players and a second-year coach trying to build a program.

But that’s an exception.

And this year might be an exception for Tennessee as well, if Jeremy Pruitt can show improvement after inheriting a 4-8 team.

Yes, teams that play in bowls enjoy the experience. I would enjoy a free trip to Hawaii, but that doesn’t mean I deserve it. And I don’t think 6-6 or 5-7 teams are “deserving’’ of playing in a bowl game. You shouldn’t be rewarded for average or below-average performance.

But you are rewarded for mediocrity under the current structure due to the plethora of bowls.

Certainly, I don’t have to watch a bowl game that I that don’t want to. But I would still prefer that teams invited to bowls earn the right to play in the postseason.

Bowl games do help with the economic impact of a city and in raising funds for charity.

But I wonder how many cities might lose money by hosting a bowl game and paying out $750,000 per team.

Twenty-five bowls seems like a nice number to me.

That way, you don’t have to worry about 6-6 or 5-7 teams getting bowl bids and bowl gifts.

It would add to the prestige of going bowling.

And you reward the more deserving teams.

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Craig Campbell: See You Try Tour

Posted on July 25, 2018

Craig Campbell is hitting the road for a new tour this summer and fall. Kicking off on Aug. 3, Craig’s See You Try Tour will make more than 20 stops from coast to coast, including dates in Des Moines, Indianapolis, San Diego, Knoxville and more.

See You Try Tour

Aug. 3 – Providence, KY – Winghaven Lodge (Tradewater Music Festival)
Aug. 4 – Pocola, OK – Gilley’s at Choctaw Casino & Resort
Aug. 8 – Sioux Falls, SD – Sioux Empire Fair
Aug. 9 – Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
Aug. 10 – Omaha, NE – Whiskey Tango
Aug. 11 – Watertown, WI – Riverbend RV Resort
Aug. 17 – New Martinsville, WV – Town & Country Days
Aug. 18 – Anderson, SC – Wendell’s Dippin Branch
Aug. 23 – Mount Morris, MI – Genesee County Fair
Aug. 30 – Columbus, OH – Country Jam + Campout
Sept. 1 – Middletown, OH – Land of Illusion
Sept. 2 – Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena (Red, White & Boom Music Festival)
Sept. 6 – Indianapolis, IN – 8 Seconds Saloon
Sept. 8 – Clifton, TN – Horseshoe Riverbend Festival
Sept. 11 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Valley Fair
Sept. 23 – South Bend, IN – 24th Annual B100 Birthday Party
Sept.26 – Fort Collins, CO – Sundance Steakhouse & Saloon
Sept. 27 – San Diego, CA – Moonshine Flats
Sept. 28 – San Bernardino, CA – The Brandin’ Iron Saloon
Sept. 29 – Morenci, AZ – Community Center
Oct. 1 – Doswell, VA – Meadow Event Park
Oct. 11 – Lyons, GA – Kerrigan’s Country

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

Vol Football Announces Time, Additional Details For Fan Day

Posted on July 24, 2018

KNOXVILLE – The Tennessee Volunteer football team invites fans to meet the Vols in Neyland Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 5, for an open practice at 2:30 p.m. followed by an autograph session.

Admission and parking are free for the event.

Gate 21 will be open to fans at 1:30 p.m. The autograph session will begin at the conclusion of the practice at approximately 4:30 p.m. Stations will be designated by position group on each sideline, and head coach Jeremy Pruitt will have his own separate table.

Fans interested in attending the post-practice autograph session on the field will need to secure a wristband as they enter Gate 21. Wristbands will be distributed on a “first-come, first-served” basis and will only be available while supplies last. A wristband will not guarantee an autograph due to time constraints.

Concessions stands on the lower level will be open throughout the stadium, while the Official Athletic Team Store at Gate 20 will also be open for fans.

Members of the Tennessee Athletics ticket sales team will be available at Neyland Stadium for fans interested in purchasing season tickets or mini-plans for the upcoming football season.

Please note that a portion of Volunteer Boulevard – between Cumberland Avenue and Peyton Manning Pass – will be closed for streetscape enhancements.

The Tennessee Athletics’ Clear Bag Policy will be in effect for the event. More information on the policy can be found here.

Fans are also advised that if inclement weather forces practice indoors, the autograph session will be canceled.

UT Athletics

Music City Walk of Fame Announces Four 2018 Inductees

Posted on July 24, 2018

The Music City Walk of Fame announced its 2018 inductees: Ben Folds, Brenda Lee, Jeannie Seely and Ray Stevens.

Following in the footprints of stars Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis and more, Ben, Brenda, Jeannie and Ray will inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame on Aug. 21 at 11:30 a.m at Nashville’s Walk of Fame Park. The event is free and open to the public.

The Music City Walk of Fame—created in 2006—is a tribute to artists of all genres who have contributed to the world through song and made a significant contribution to the music industry with a connection to Music City. Sidewalk medallions line the one-mile stretch with the names of the inductees etched in a star and guitar design. Past inductees include Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Keith Urban, Hank Williams, Trisha Yearwood, Little Big Town, Kenny Rogers and more.

The inductees will receive the 81st, 82nd, 83rd and 84th stars on the Walk of Fame. Ben, Brenda, Jeannie and Ray will be recognized for their significant contributions to preserving the musical heritage of Nashville and for contributing to the world through song or other industry collaboration.

Bios and photos of each inductee are below, courtesy of the Music City Walk of Fame.

Ben Folds
Multi-platinum selling singer/songwriter/producer Ben Folds’ genre-bending body of music spans the musical spectrum from pop to classical. An artistic advisor at the Kennedy Center, Folds actively tours the world performing with orchestras and as a pop artist. He frequently appears in film and TV, was a judge for five seasons on the critically-acclaimed NBC show “The Sing Off,” is an avid photographer, is a leading national advocate for arts funding in our schools and music therapy and is currently writing his first book. He also earned international praise for raising awareness that led to the saving of the famed historic RCA Studio A on Music Row from demolition.

Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee has been a superstar since childhood, selling more than 100 million units of music globally. She released her first single when she was only 11 years old, shared the stage of the Grand Ole Opry with Elvis Presley at 12 and watched The Beatles open for her on tour in Europe before she turned 20. The GRAMMY nominee’s biggest single was “I’m Sorry” in 1960, which went on to sell more than 20 million copies. She is the only female member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Jeannie Seely
A member of the Grand Ole Opry for 51 years, Jeannie Seely’s recordings have spanned six decades. She was a prolific songwriter, and she earned a GRAMMY for her recording of “Don’t Touch Me” in 1967. A country music legend and trailblazer, Seely became the first female to regularly host segments of the weekly Opry shows and is credited for being the first to wear a mini-skirt on the Opry stage. She hosted a show on the Armed Forces Network, wrote a book and starred in several major stage productions.

Ray Stevens
Twelve-time nominated and two-time GRAMMY winner Ray Stevens has spanned the generations with 60 years of comedic musical talent, including songs such as his multi-million selling hit “The Streak” and his classic pop standard “Everything Is Beautiful.” Throughout his career, Stevens has sold more than 40 million albums and continues daily office operations at his home base, Ray Stevens Music, located on Nashville’s historic Music Row. Stevens hosts Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville, a 30-minute weekly music/talk show airing on public television. The music legend recently opened his very own Nashville entertainment venue, the CabaRay Showroom, a 35,000-square-foot music venue where Stevens performs weekly live concerts.