University of Tennessee athletics director Danny White met with the media this week to discuss the My All campaign, Tony Vitello and facility upgrades for Lindsey Nelson Stadium and Neyland Stadium, among other things. Video is courtesy of our friends at WVLT-TV.
Lady A announced that they’ll be releasing new music by the end of the month!
The trio posted “‘What A Song Can Do (Chapter One)’ is coming June 25th! With every track on this collection, we strived to share a little bit more of who we are and what we’ve taken from this last year. It’s where we are at this moment – all living in the now, together. Pre-order starts Friday along with the release of a song very close to our hearts titled ‘Things He Handed Down.’ We can’t wait for y’all to dive into this Chapter One with us!”
The new 7 track collection of songs includes Lady A’s current single at country radio, “Like A Lady”
Photo Courtesy of Lady A
Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White on Thursday announced plans to host a “Big Orange Block Party” adjacent to Lindsey Nelson Stadium during this weekend’s NCAA Baseball Super Regional games.
A limited number of standing-room-only tickets will go on sale at the front-entrance ticket window at Lindsey Nelson Stadium as gates open 90 minutes prior to each game of Tennessee’s best-of-three series against LSU. Fans interested in purchasing SRO tickets may begin forming a line no earlier than 2 p.m. Saturday. Fans unable to secure tickets will be able to soak in the gameday atmosphere at the Big Orange Block Party which begins 2.5 hours prior to first pitch.
Football VFL Jayson Swain first proposed the idea, and White and his staff quickly mobilized to develop plans for a family-friendly non-ticketed fan experience.
The Big Orange Block Party is free for all fans and will feature a live big-screen game broadcast, games for children, access to concessions and more.
The area opens Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET and will open 2.5 hours prior to first pitch on Sunday and Monday (if necessary).
To accommodate the Big Orange Block Party, Pat Head Summitt Road will be closed to vehicle traffic between Fraternity Park Drive and Todd Helton Drive (the left-field gate near the porches will remain accessible).
-UT Athletics
Congrats to the 2021 CMT Music Awards Winners…
This is A Day in the Country with Paul Koffy – June 10th
On this day in 2011, Brad Paisley was in the middle of two weeks at number-one with his song “Old Alabama” which featured Alabama
In 2005, Brad’s buddy, Carrie Underwood made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry – check out the moment that Randy Travis asked Carrie to be a member of the Opry.
In other Opry news…on this day in 1988 Ricky Van Shelton became a member of the Opry
and a very happy birthday goes out to Lee Brice who’s celebrating his day.
Photo Credit: Spidey Smith
After making the 2021 Spotify Hit Country Artist to Watch list, now Kameron Marlowe is dropping his first Spotify Singles recordings.
Side A features a stripped-down piano driven reworking of his song “Giving You Up”
Side B is Kameron’s take on the Johnny Cash classic “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Talking about the recording, Kameron says, “I chose to cover ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ because Johnny Cash is one of my all-time heroes. To me, he is the Godfather of country music, and I have always had nothing but respect for how his sound and songwriting have influenced so many artists, myself included,” said Marlowe. “
As far as the new take on his own song, Kameron added, “I decided to re-work ‘Giving You Up’ because I wanted to try something new. That song will always hold a special place in my heart, and it’s fun for me to try different styles every once in a while.”
Headline Photo Credit: Matthew Berinato
The Circle Network has announced a new primetime series featuring NASCAR legend Kyle Petty called Dinner Drive with Kyle Petty.
The new show features Kyle visiting with notable athletes, musicians, actors and personalities in the place they call home. Along the way, each guest showcases a vehicle that has a special meaning to them. Whether it’s their very first car, an antique car, their dream car, even a boat or motorcycle, Kyle finds out the sentimental stories behind them. That’s all before they hop in and take a spin to each guest’s favorite local eatery to enjoy some good food and even better conversation about growing up in their hometown, their careers, personal life and more.
The show launches next month with episodes featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr, Davis Love III, Mario Andretti, Ric Flair, Richard Petty, Herschel Walker, Pitbull and Darius Rucker.
In the July 22nd episode with Darius, Kyle drops in to his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, where Darius treats Kyle to a historic home tour, a little guitar picking and a spin in a special car, all before revealing sentimental moments from his personal and professional life over a seafood dinner at Pearlz Oyster Bar.
Check out a preview of Darius’ episode of Dinner Drive with Kyle Petty, here…
Dinner Drive with Kyle Petty debuts on the Circle Network, Thursday, July 8th at 8 pm ET/7 pm CT
Headline Photo Credit: David McClister
Additional Photos Courtesy of the Circle Network
Jimmy Hyams
Danny White might be a new athletic director at Tennessee, but he knows how things work in the Vol Nation – and college athletics in general.
No. 1, he knows he has to figure out a way to keep baseball coach Tony Vitello from being poached by another school or White’s approval rate will dip drastically.
No. 2, he knows who to listen to when it comes to important baseball decisions.
Knoxville appears on the verge of building an 8,000-seat multipurpose facility downtown. Many have speculated that venue is where Tennessee will play SEC games while playing non-SEC games on campus.
During a Zoom call with the media Wednesday, White was asked which he is committed to.
“I’m committed to whatever our baseball coach says gives us the best opportunity to recruit and develop players to the best of their ability,’’ White said.
“We are the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the No. 3 team in the country. That’s pretty good. I’m going to listen to the person responsible for putting us in that position, and that’s Tony Vitello.’’
Brilliant answer.
White said he would not scrap previous renderings of Lindsey Nelson Stadium expansion because he said he could learn from them, but he is not opposed to putting his imprint or that of Vitello or an architect’s into finding the “right formula’’ for the baseball park.
“We know the stadium needs to be bigger,’’ White said.
Asked if boosters have stepped up to help pay for a raise for Vitello and/or his staff, White said “I’ve had great conversations with donors in investing in Lindsey Nelson Stadium.’’
White said he has had conversations for several months with Vitello about his contract and stadium improvements.
Vitello makes $600,000 a year (minus the paycut he took during Covid) and his deal runs through 2024.
A source said LSU was willing to pay Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan double his pay of $1.2 million to $2.4 million, and that LSU has cooled on O’Sullivan.
If LSU pursues Vitello and offers big bucks, how high is Tennessee willing to go?
Regarding other topics:
*White said he isn’t at liberty to say that Neyland Stadium will be at 100% capacity, but would be “surprised’’ if that isn’t the case, since baseball is already at 100%.
*White said it was “smart’’ to involve the NCAA “every step of the way’’ in UT’s internal investigation (led by attorney Mike Glacier) but he said he couldn’t put a timetable on when probe will be complete.
*White said the first two projects UT will undertake facility wise are renovations to Neyland Stadium, including lower West club seats behind the UT bench with premium amenities and a video board for fans on the South side of the stadium with a sports bar, party dec
Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all
Tennessee baseball senior outfielder Evan Russell spoke with the media ahead of this weekend’s Super Regional in Knoxville vs. LSU.
Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello spoke with the media ahead of this weekend’s Super Regional in Knoxville vs. LSU.
