A lakefront property in Hendersonville, Tenn., (20 miles northeast of Nashville) that once belonged to Johnny Cash is for sale. The 4.5-acre property was home to Johnny and June Carter Cash from 1968 until their deaths in 2003.
However, the 14,000-square-foot mansion that the Cash family called home was destroyed by a fire in 2007. The remaining structures on the property include a stone foundation, tennis court, swimming pool, covered boat dock and a three-car garage that Johnny and June used as a wardrobe room that has been converted into an apartment.
James Gresham, the seller who purchased the property for $2 million in 2014, has not specified an asking price, instead telling the Wall Street Journal, “There is nothing you can use as a comp. We’re going to see what the market is and go from there.”
Highlighted in the 2005 film Walk The Line, the home was where Johnny retreated for his infamous 1960 detox, where Kris Kristofferson landed his helicopter in a heroic plea for Johnny’s attention and where countless guests visited the family, including Bob Dylan, Billy Graham, Al Gore and Ronald Reagan. It’s also where Johnny hosted his legendary “guitar pull” jams in the late ’60s and early ’70s and where he sat for his final music video, “Hurt.”
We know, we know, for a guy who is supposed to be “retired” from touring, George Strait has sure been onstage a lot recently. From his performance at the Americana Honors & Awards in September (which airs on PBS tomorrow) to his concert last night (Nov. 16) at Gruene Hall to his string of Vegas dates that kick back up on Dec. 2, George has been back in the showcase saddle, so to speak.
George returned to Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, last night and performed a nearly two-hour set in celebration of his new album, Strait Out of the Box: Part II, which drops on Nov. 18. During the concert, which was live-streamed on wranglernetwork.com, George performed a number of his most beloved hits, as well as debuting two new songs, “Kicked Outta Country” and “You Gotta Go Through Hell,” both of which are available on his new album.
Check out some photos from his Gruene Hall performance.
After 11 seasons as one of the biggest reality TV shows on A&E, the Robertson family is calling it quits on their Duck Dynasty series.
According to a release, the family and network wanted to give their loyal fans a long farewell with one last season followed by a series of holiday specials. The current season will run through Jan. 18, 2017. Following a small hiatus, the final seven episodes will start back up on March 1, with the series finale airing on April 12.
The reality series, which follows the lives of the Louisiana-based Robertson family and their family-owned duck calling business, made stars of the family from it’s inception in 2012. The main cast included brothers Phil and Si, Phil’s sons Jase, Willie and Jep, Phil’s wife Kay and Willie’s wife Korie, along with their families. The show quickly became the most watched reality series in cable history and the No. 1 series on A&E.
The family informed their fans of the end of the show with an announcement that aired in the beginning of the final premiere episode Wednesday night (Nov. 16). Check out what the Robertsons had to say, in their own special way.
Rule-breaking raconteur Robert Earl Keen has been a purveyor of fine Texas country tunes for more than three decades with albums such as No Kinda Dancer, A Bigger Piece of Sky, Picnic, No. 2 Live Dinner and What I Really Mean. After delving into his love of bluegrass with 2015’s Happy Prisoner, Robert Earl is getting back to his anything-goes roots with a new album, Live Dinner Reunion, which marks the 20th anniversary of 1996’s No. 2 Live Dinner.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the milestone album, he returned to the legendary John T. Floore’s Country Store in the Texas Hill Country town of Helotes where he recorded No. 2 Live Dinner and upped the ante by inviting a handful of his hard-charging chums to sing along, including Cody Canada, Lyle Lovett, Bruce Robison, Cody Braun, Joe Ely and more.
“It was a really great night,” says Robert Earl. “I’m sure a lot of people will like it. It’s a good cross-section of my songs and my friends singing my songs. For instance, Lyle and I sang ‘This Old Porch,’ Bruce Robison sang ‘No Kinda Dancer’ and Cory Morrow sang ‘I’ll Go On Downtown.'”
The two-disc album drops on Nov. 18 and includes 26 tracks.
Live Dinner Reunion Track Listing
“Tell It Like It Is”
“Feelin’ Good Again”
“Gringo Honeymoon”
“State of Thanks Address”
“I Gotta Go”
“Lucky Weather”
“Intro Lyle Lovett and This Old Porch”
“T for Texas” with Lyle Lovett
“Write a Drinking Song”
“Hot Corn, Cold Corn”
“Cory’s Story”
“I’ll Go On Downtown” with Cory Morrow”
“Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas” with Mark Patterson and Bryan Duckworth
“On the Money”
“No Kinda Dancer” with Bruce Robison
“Boys in the Band”
“Shades of Grey”
“Deliverance Dry Cleaning”
“Ninety Nine Years for One Dark Day”
“Amarillo Highway”
“Wild Wind” with Cody Braun
“Merry Christmas From the Fam-O-Lee”
“Corpus Christi Bay”
“Lonely Feelin'” with Cody Canada
“Grateful Cred”
“The Road Goes On Forever” with Joe Ely
If you are not familiar with the name Stephanie Quayle, get ready, you will be. The newcomer is out with her current single, “Drinking With Dolly,” and pays tribute to the golden age of country music in a new video.
Stephanie, who hails from Montana, grew up on a working buffalo farm and spent her time cleaning stalls while listening to country music.
“‘Drinking With Dolly’ is so special because the beautiful women in this song have helped shape me into the artist I am today,” says Stephanie. “I remember racing to the barn and listening to country music on a tiny little AM radio. That is where I fell in love with music. From the front porch, to the barn, to nervously getting ready in a bathroom with my guitar, these moments are my story. What better way to express how much this song means to me than to take it back to where it all began.”
In the video, present-day Stephanie prepares for a big performance as viewers are transported back to simpler times in a sequence that shows a young girl falling in love with country music.
It’s easy to feel the nostalgia with lyrics like I’d go drinking with Dolly after the Opry, pour one for Tammy too / Put on my rhinestones, paint up my nails, kick up my dancing shoes / Hey there Loretta put a quarter in the jukebox, we’ll sing along with you / We’ll raise up a glass wish Patsy could be here to / To talk about men because that’s what women do.
And yes, the Dolly she speaks of in the title and lyrics is the Dolly Parton.
Watch Stephanie’s latest video for “Drinking With Dolly.”
Willie Nelson, 83, was forced to cancel two scheduled performances over the last week due to an undisclosed illness.
Willie, who has toured perpetually over the course of his Hall of Fame career, cancelled shows in Midland, Texas, on Nov. 13 and in Lubbock, Texas, on Nov. 15. Willie’s next performance is slated for Nov. 18 in Lake Charles, La., and he still has more than a handful of dates on the schedule before the end of the year.
In September, Willie released his latest album, For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price. More recently, following the 50th annual CMA awards on Nov. 2, Willie stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to spend some quality time with the late-night talk show host and enjoy a cocktail while playing Three Ridiculous Questions.
As George Strait gears up for the release of his new three-disc album, Strait Out of the Box: Part II, on Nov. 18, he isn’t resting on his laurels.
The King announced on Nov. 16 that he is returning to Las Vegas for four weekends—eight additional nights—at the T-Mobile Arena in 2017. Billed as 2 Nights of Numbers 1s, the back-to-back concerts will feature George performing songs from his vast catalogue of No. 1 hits, which total 60 on various charts.
Singer/songwriter Cam will support George on the eight new dates: April 7 & 8; July 28 & 29; Sept. 1 & 2; Dec. 8 & 9. The eight new dates are in addition to the previously announced sold-out shows on Feb. 17 and 18.
Over the last two weeks, Garth Brooks has been making the rounds with appearances at the CMA Awards, The Voice and Good Morning America. Last night (Nov. 15) the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year was in Los Angeles on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live to perform his current single, “Baby, Let’s Lay Down and Dance.”
Before Garth treated the crowd to a performance of his single, the superstar sat in with the band while Jimmy chatted with guests Casey Affleck and Laurie Hernandez. Jimmy also announced that Garth will be returning to the show tonight (Nov. 16) for a big outdoor concert behind the Jimmy Kimmel Live studio, so don’t forget to tune in tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
Check out Garth’s energetic performance of “Baby, Let’s Lay Down and Dance.”
A cappella group Home Free—comprised of Austin Brown, Rob Lundquist, Adam Rupp, Tim Foust and Adam Chance—released a new video for their harmony-driven cover of Zac Brown Band’s “Colder Weather.” Home Free first performed the song when competing on NBC’s The Sing-Off in 2013.
“We have always been a fan of Zac Brown Band and this song,” said Rob. “I loved the lyrics the minute I heard the original version and it allowed us to get really creative with the harmonies and craft a new blend with our voices. Ever since we performed it on The Sing-Off, we wanted to add it to an album and couldn’t think of a more fitting time.”
Zac Brown Band’s recording of the tune, which was penned by Zac, Wyatt Durrette, Levi Lowrey and Coy Bowles, reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart in 2011. Home Free’s new version of “Colder Weather” is featured on their expanded Christmas album, Full of (Even More) Cheer, which is available now.
If Ronnie Dunn’s voice were a whiskey, we’d all be damn drunks. His smooth vocals have captivated us for more than 25 years with songs like “My Maria,” “Neon Moon” and “Believe”—and those same smooth vocals can be heard again on his third solo studio album, Tattooed Heart.
The album, which dropped on Nov. 11 and is available on iTunes, contains 12 tracks, including the current single, “Damn Drunk,” which features Ronnie’s former Brooks & Dunn partner Kix Brooks. Also joining Ronnie on the album is his good friend and country superstar Reba McEntire, who lends her vocals to “Still Feels Like Mexico.” But it was the addition of Rascals Flatt’s Jay DeMarcus, who produced Tattooed Heart, that helped Ronnie contemporize his sound without skewing off course.
“I worked with Jay Marcus on the production. A good friend. Known him forever,” said Ronnie. “Initially, I went through the list of all the usual suspects for producers, and ended up cutting two or three tracks with Jay—just to get a feel to see what he did—and I was blown away. I was very pleasantly surprised. It’s not the Rascal Flatts perspective. That was the elephant in the room, and he didn’t do that. He honored those songs and what what I ultimately wanted to pull off in a great way.”
Ronnie with Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus – Photo by Dustin Haney/BMLG
One standout track on the album is the title track, “Tattooed Hear.” Ronnie, at the urging of his daughter, recorded the song that was made popular by pop star Ariana Grande. It was a song that found Ronnie hiding away for the recording, not wanting anyone to know that he was going to attempt the cover. But it wasn’t out of embarrassment, it was something else.
“I was intimidated by her singing,” Ronnie explains. “They’re going to A/B these songs and these performances, so I went in with a couple of buddies—Duke Adam, Charlie Judge and my engineer Mike Kyle—and we just hid out. Camped out at the barn, which is the studio, and recorded it. We just kept adding stuff and adding stuff, we’d throw parts in, take parts off, and finally built it where it turned into the title cut.
“My daughter is always bringing stuff and making me listen to things that she’s into, or I’ll grab her and say, ‘Hey, play me what you’re listening to.’ I just went down the 12 tracks and went, ‘Oh, “Tattooed Heart.” I like the tattooed thing, it sounds like it might be a little edgy.’ It was a title that I would write as a writer. I listened to it and the song really appealed to me. It kind of has that throwback, almost to me like a Sam Cook era.”
While Tattooed Heart is exactly what the doctor ordered, that’s not all that Ronnie has on his plate. The former Brooks & Dunn frontman has rejoined his partner in crime, Kix Brooks, and good friend, Reba McEntire, for a residency run at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas—Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas. The trio kicked off the show in the summer of 2015 and have been having so much fun that they extended the show through 2017 and possibly longer. But that residency didn’t begin with an arduous drawn-out plan to get the three superstars together. No, it was simple phone call and a still moment made it all come together.
Kix Brooks, Reba a nd Ronnie – Photo by Michael Buckner/Academy of Country Music
“It happened because of a cold call from the people at Caesars and AEG and our agents at William Morris. I can remember specifically sitting in Mexico, at Reba’s place—with her husband at the time, Narvel—staring out at the beach and going, ‘You know what? I don’t care if I ever walk up to a microphone again. I’m good. I’m going to go play with a camera or something.’
“Narvel gave me one of the coolest pieces of advice I’ve ever been given. He said, ‘Why don’t you just sit still for a minute?’ Because I came out of Brooks & Dunn and I scrambled to get us all a record and then I went and did my own thing on my own. I was going to take on the world and all this stuff and he was like, ‘Why don’t you just stop for a minute? Sit still, and see what happens.’”
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If Ronnie Dunn’s voice were a whiskey, we’d all be damn drunks. His smooth vocals have captivated us for more than 25 years with songs like “My Maria,” “Neon Moon” and “Believe”—and those same smooth vocals can be heard again on his third solo studio album, Tattooed Heart.
