Over his 35-plus-year career, George Strait has pretty much seen and done it all. The five-time Entertainer of the Year has sold more than 70-million albums, earned 60 No. 1 singles and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
King George’s trophy case is full, to say the least, but the Texas native will have to make a little more room for his new award: Texas State Musician of the Year.
George follows in the hallowed Lone Star State footprints of past winners Willie Nelson, Dale Watson, Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely, Billy Joe Shaver, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and more.
“It’s a great honor for me to be selected as Texas State Musician of 2017 and join this very prestigious list of other honorees,” said George in a press release. “I’m a very proud Texan and love to sing the praises of our great state every chance I get. Thank you very, very much.”
The Texas State Legislature will officially appoint George as the 2017 Texas State Musician on May 18 in Austin. Selections for the honor are made every two years.
1. Can you see Elmo in the work of art above? If not, move to step 2.
2. Try staring through it, like you would a piece of 3-D art. Any luck? No? Move to step 3.
3. Stand on your head and view it from a distance as you hold your breath. Can you see Elmo yet? Really? No? Move to step 4.
4. Visit Willie Nelson’s tour bus, inhale deeply and wait until Elmo begins speaking to you. WAIT . . . it’s working . . . there he is!
Carrie Underwood posted a pic of the painting to Instagram today (May 17), noting that her 2-year-old son is responsible for the art: “Isaiah painted this last night while we were at the game…we asked him this morning what it was and he said ‘Elmo.’ I totally get it! We may have a little artist in the making! #abstract #toddlerart #elmo.”
The abstract pic has more than 82,000 Likes, so maybe Isaiah is the next Picasso. Me? I’m headed to Willie’s tour bus because I want Elmo to speak to me.
In addition to the aforementioned accomplishments, Margo has continued to tour throughout the U.S., including a recent stop at Chicago’s Thalia Hall with Colter Wall, where she slayed Rodney Crowell’s “Ain’t Living Long Like This”—a song made famous by Waylon Jennings. But you don’t have to take our word for it—Rodney chimed in on Twitter after seeing Margo and Colter’s performance by saying “you slay this song.”
Lady Antebellum is the first confirmed country act that will take part in a special outdoor CMT Crossroads featuring Earth, Wind & Fire.
More country acts are expected to be revealed in the coming days for the show, which will be filmed in downtown Nashville at a soon-to-be announced date.
Some of Earth, Wind & Fire’s biggest hits—such as “September,” “Let’s Groove” and “Shining Star”—will get a country twist as a bevy of country stars perform songs from EWF’s catalog. Earth, Wind & Fire, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, has won six Grammy Awards over its 40-plus-year career.
CMT Crossroads With Earth, Wind & Fire and Friends will air June 23 at 10 p.m. ET on CMT.
Tennessee Head Baseball Coach Dave Serrano has notified Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics John Currie of his intention to resign at the conclusion of UT’s season.
Serrano informed the Tennessee baseball team of his decision Wednesday. He will continue to coach the team through the end of the regular season as well as any postseason tournaments for which the team may qualify. Assistant Coach Larry Simcox will then serve as interim coach during a national search for Serrano’s replacement.
“On Monday evening, John and I had what I felt was a very honest and productive conversation about the Tennessee baseball program,” Serrano said. “My decision to step aside at season’s end is based off what I believe is in the best interest of our student-athletes and this program.
“I have no regrets about taking on this challenge six years ago. It was a job I always coveted. My time living in this great community includes some of the best days of my life. My only disappointment is that we didn’t reach the expectations of success that I’ve strived to achieve for our fans, alumni and players.”
One of only 12 coaches in NCAA history to lead two programs to the College World Series, Serrano was introduced as Tennessee’s head coach on June 15, 2011, and this marks his sixth season guiding the program. In his 13 years as a head coach, he owns a 446-299-1 record. He is 157-160 at Tennessee.
“This program clearly means a great deal to Dave, and I appreciate that,” Currie said. “He steps away with plenty to be proud of. The program possesses a talented and promising young core. And the culture of academic achievement he and his staff fostered yielded positive results in terms of APR scores and graduation success rates.
“We are thankful to him for his service to the University of Tennessee, and we wish him and his family all the best moving forward.”
The most recent graduation success rate data, released in November, reflected a three-year improvement of 18 percentage points for the baseball program, from 50 percent in 2013 to a program-record 68 percent in 2016.
Under Serrano’s leadership in 2015, Tennessee baseball posted its highest team GPA in program history, at 3.12. He also was at the helm when UT baseball posted a program-record 1.000 single-year APR for 2014-15.
And just last week, Tennessee baseball recorded its highest-ever multi-year APR score with a 979. That stands as a 14-point improvement from the previous year and a 45-point improvement from three years ago, when it was at 934.
During his six seasons guiding the Vols, Serrano coached 14 Tennessee baseball players who went on to be selected in the MLB Draft, including first-round picks Nick Senzel (Cincinnati, 2016) and Christin Stewart (Detroit, 2015) as well as current Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Godley.
Serrano also signed six consecutive top-20 recruiting classes from 2012 to 2017.
“I’m very proud of what we accomplished with the program internally, but I realize it ultimately comes down to wins and losses,” Serrano said. “I will always be a big Vol fan and will continue to support and cheer on this great university.”
As Dustin Lynch’s current single, “Small Town Boy,” continues to climb the Billboard Country Airplay chart—currently No. 28 after 10 weeks—the small-town boy from Tullahoma, Tenn., is busy at work on his upcoming third studio album. While Dustin has already given fans a taste of what’s to come on the new project with the release of “Small Town Boy” and previous No. 1 single, “Seein’ Red,” Dustin says the new album is all about spreading the “love.”
“You can expect a lot of sexy songs, at least so far,” says Dustin to Nash Prep. “[There] are a lot of songs about love on this album, believe it or not, and either falling in love, making love, falling out of love or being in love . . . I’m in love with a lot of things, a lot of things, but not a particular woman.”
Dustin will join Brad Paisley’s Weekend Warrior Tour on May 18 for a bevy of summer dates, including stops in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Dallas, Tampa, Cleveland and more. If you can’t wait until the upcoming album to hear Dustin’s new tunes, you can catch him on tour, where he’s been sampling songs from his new catalog.
“We’re already performing some of the songs live,” says Dustin. “I love to test songs live before we record them, just because you can see if there’s a connection or not, and that’s a big thing for me.”
While fashion trends tend to be cyclical, the RompHim™—a romper specifically designed for men—has definitely left the fashion circle to start a couture revolution of its own.
Aced Design launched a RompHim Kickstarter campaign this week with the goal of raising $10,000 by June 13. Currently, $132,590 has been raised by 1,181 backers for the male onesie that features an adjustable waist, zipper fly (thank heavens you don’t have to get semi-nude to pee) and button-up top half.
But the RompHim has not been universally embraced, specifically in the country music community, where Chase Rice, Chris Young and Kelsea Ballerini (the country queen of the romper) have posted their good-natured vitriol on Twitter, while Maggie Rose stopped by the Ty, Kelly & Chuck morning show to sing about the RompHim in today’s 10-minute tune.
Check out the Twitter posts from Chase, Chris and Kelsea, as well as Maggie’s 10-minute tune below.
First dude I see wearing a “guy romper” I’m pouring a beer all over his head and flicking him in the eye.
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee women’s basketball coach Holly Warlick announced Tuesday that redshirt sophomore guard Te’a Cooper is transferring.
“Te’a Cooper and I had a good conversation today during which she shared with me her wishes to transfer. We plan to grant that request. I appreciate all of Te’a’s hard work and her contributions to our program the last two years.”
Cooper averaged 8.6 points, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals while appearing in 36 games as a true freshman in 2015-16. She missed the 2016-17 season due to injury.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 8 national seed Tennessee Volunteers begin their quest to return to the Women’s College World Series this week by hosting Ohio State, USC Upstate and Longwood at the NCAA Knoxville Regional from Friday, May 19 through Sunday, May 21.
For more information on the this week’s regional, please visit the Tennessee NCAA Softball Gameday Information page HERE.
Media & Broadcast Info
Every game of the NCAA Knoxville Regional will be streamed on WatchESPN or broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. The opening game of the regional between Ohio State and USC Upstate with be streamed on WatchESPN while Tennessee’s first game against Longwood will feature a national broadcast on ESPN2.
Radio coverage for all Tennessee games will be carried on Sports Radio WNML (FM 99.1 or AM 990) and UTSports.com. Live stats will be available for every game on the Tennessee softball schedule page at UTSports.com HERE.
Game Schedule
View the full NCAA Knoxville Regional schedule below:
Friday
Game 1 | Ohio State vs. USC Upstate | 4:30 p.m. ET| TV: WatchESPN
Game 2 | #8 Tennessee vs. Longwood | 7 p.m. ET | TV: ESPN2
Saturday
Game 3 | Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner | 12 p.m. ET| TV: TBD
Game 4 | Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser | 2:30 p.m. ET | TV: TBD
Game 5 | Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner | 5 p.m. ET | TV: TBD
Sunday
Game 6 | Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner | 12 p.m. ET| TV: TBD
Game 7 (If Necessary) |Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser | 2:30 p.m. ET | TV: TBD
Scouting Report
Tennessee Volunteers
No. 8 National Seed | No. 1 Seed in Knoxville Regional
The Vols are making their 14th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and the 15th overall in program history. UT is also hosting a regional for the 13th straight season. The Big Orange are a top-eight seed for the sixth time in program history (2006, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2015) and are looking to advance to their ninth NCAA Super Regional.
Tennessee enters the NCAA Tournament with a 44-10 overall record and finished in a tie for third in the SEC regular season standings, posting a 16-7 mark in conference play. The Vols had five players earn SEC postseason honors, led by sophomore shortstop Meghan Gregg, who was named the SEC Player of the Year and was also an All-SEC first team selection for the second straight season. Sophomore’s Brooke Vines and Matty Moss were both All-SEC second team picks while Caylan Arnold and Chelsea Seggern were both named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Arnold was also the league’s Freshman of the Year, becoming the fourth player in program history to earn that honor.
Ohio State Buckeyes
No. 2 Seed in Knoxville Regional
The Buckeyes will make their second consecutive postseason trip to Knoxville after being eliminated by Tennessee in the NCAA Knoxville Regional last year. Ohio State is making its ninth NCAA Regional appearance after posting a 35-16 overall record and a 15-8 mark in Big Ten play, good for a third-place finish. The Buckeyes were the runner-up in the Big Ten Tournament, falling to Minnesota in the championship game.
OSU boasts a powerful lineup that ranks fourth nationally with 1.20 home runs per game. Sophomore infielder Lilli Piper was a unanimous All-Big Ten first team selection and leads the team in most major offensive categories, including batting average (.424), runs (46), hits (73), home runs (17), RBIs (51), slugging (.785) and on-base percentage (.440). Fellow sophomore Emily Clark was also first-team all-conference while Taylor White and Shelby Hursh were named to the second team.
USC Upstate Spartans
No. 3 Seed in Knoxville Regional
The Spartans are making their fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance after winning the Atlantic Sun Tournament title for the third straight season. Upstate was also the league’s regular-season champion after posting a 14-4 record in conference play and a 44-11 mark overall.
USC Upstate racked up Atlantic Sun postseason awards with 11 total postseason honors being awarded to players and coaches. Senior pitcher Holly McKinnon was named the league’s unanimous Pitcher of the Year, while Megan Obier was awarded Defensive Player of the Year and Chris Hawkins was tabbed the ASUN Coach of the Year. In addition to the individual award winners, McKinnon was named First Team All-Conference (unanimous) along with Ansley Gilstrap and Ryan Rector. Obier was joined on Second Team All-Conference by Lexi Shubert, Abbie Millete and Brittany Case. Alicia Dorgan earned a unanimous spot on the All-Freshman Team.
The Spartans feature the dominant pitching duo of McKinnon and Shubert, who have combined for 43 of the team’s 44 victories this season, and have ERAs of 1.36 and 1.43, respectively. Upstate’s team ERA of 1.39 ranks seventh nationally.
Longwood Lancers
No. 4 Seed in Knoxville Regional
The Lancers are making their fourth appearance in the NCAA Regionals, with all four of those trips coming over the past five seasons. This is the third time Longwood has been sent to the NCAA Knoxville Regional with previous trips in 2013 and 2015. The Lancers booked their trip to the tournament by winning their third consecutive Big South Tournament Championship, knocking off top-seeded Liberty in the final.
Longwood had seven players earn All-Big South Conference honors, led by first-team selections Elizabeth McCarthy and Kaylynn Batten. McCarthy, a senior pitcher, is the just the second player in program history to earn conference recognition during all four seasons of her career. Other players that earned all-conference accolades include: Jordan Clark (Second Team), Karleigh Donovan (Second Team), Sydney Gay (Second Team), Kasey Carr (Freshman Team) and Kelsey Sweeney (Academic Team).
Fan Information/Stadium Policies
Please be advised that the university’s clear bag policy for all of its athletic venues will be in effect for the NCAA Knoxville Regional and all other events at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. In order to enhance safety and expedite fan entry at Tennessee athletic events, the university is implementing new safety policies for fans bringing bags into all athletic venues.
Only one clear plastic bag no larger than 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 inches or a one-gallon, clear, resealable plastic storage bag per person will be permitted. Fans will also be allowed a small clutch purse not to exceed 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches. Fans interested in purchasing an approved clear bag may visit the Official Team Store at Neyland Stadium, VolShop locations in the Student Union, 17th & Cumberland Avenue and University Commons; as well as other area retailers.
For more information on the new bag policy and all other stadium policies please visit the NCAA Knoxville Regional Gameday Information page HERE.
What’s Next?
The winner of the NCAA Knoxville Regional will advance to the NCA Super Regionals from May 25-28. Should Tennessee win, they would host the winner of the NCAA College Station Regional next week at Lee Stadium.
From dancing in lines in cowboy boots to saying “y’all” through missing teeth, country music artists and their fans can be subjected to particularly cartoonish caricatures and stereotypes.
