Johnston Celebrates Cut on ALABAMA’s New Album “Southern Drawl”

Nashville, TN-(October 6, 2015)-Last month on September 18th, just days before the one year anniversary of the release of his latest album “No Bad Days,” Ray Johnston felt like a kid on Christmas morning when he looked at the track list of “Southern Drawl,” the first new studio album in 14 years from country music’s most iconic and biggest selling supergroups, ALABAMA, and spied the title-track of his album “No Bad Days” among the list. Ray wrote this song with James Otto, James Slater, Patrick Davis, Django Walker, and ALABAMA’s own, Jeff Cook, who added a verse and stars as lead vocals on the track. This is a personal best for Ray and a huge compliment stamped on his “songwriter’s calling card.”  The song is significant, well-written, and is an inspirational serenade that even the Grinch couldn’t reject. It’s damn sure the motto of Ray’s life.

Ray Johnston first made his name widely known in 2004 when he got himself into the NBA as a point guard for the Dallas Mavericks.  He accomplished this as an undrafted free agent, the odds of which are equivalent to winning a Mega-Million lottery. In 2005 he was delivered a crushing blow when he was diagnosed with Leukemia and saw his newly realized dream of playing pro ball dashed.  Since then, Ray has won many battles with the disease, and most recently, has also won the battle of stepping out from under his own shadow as a pro athlete and establishing himself a genuine music artist. This year, Ray Johnston celebrates his successful evolution into a solid music career since the release of his latest album “No Bad Days.” 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Though Colin Hay made an indelible mark on pop music back in the ‘80s, he’s been far from idle in the years since his unmistakable tenor and witty, ska-inflected songs sent Australian band Men at Work to the top of the charts. His second-chapter career includes 12 solo albums (his latest, Next Year People, was released in February on Compass Records) and a variety of acting gigs; multiple appearances in the TV show Scrubs alone endeared him to a new generation of fans.

Of course, he’s kept his nose to the touring grindstone, too, organically growing his audience the old-fashioned way — by putting on the kinds of shows people tell their friends about. Following the success of his Last Summer on Earth outing with Barenaked Ladies and Violent Femmes this past summer, Hay is embarking on a solo excursion across the Midwest and Northeast starting Oct. 29 in Cleveland. Naturally, he’ll showcase tracks from the new release, which Rhythms magazine called “his latest admirable installment,” adding, “there is more than enough to confirm that he has lost none of his ability to craft openhearted songs with insightful lyrics and catchy melodies.”

One of my favorites, Reckless Kelly, are currently on their annual East Coast run which began last week in Nashville and ends on October 13th in Georgia. The quintet, who are undeniably one of the best live bands you will see, bring their Roots Rock (locally) to New Jersey at Asbury Park's Wonder Bar and to Pennsylvania at the historic Sellersville Theatre. 

They definitely won't be back until next year, so unless you plan to head to Texas, make it a point to get out, listen to some story songs, see some top notch musicianship and have a good time.

Click the links below for more information and to purchase tickets.

10/5 Buffalo, NY, Sportsman's Tavern 
10/6 Cambridge, MA, The Sinclair 
10/7 Asbury Park, NJ, The Wonderbar 
10/9 Sellersville, PA, Sellersville Theatre 
10/10 Winchester, VA, Brightbox Theatre 
10/11 Falls Church, VA, State Theatre 
10/12 Richmond, VA, The Tin Pan 
10/13 Decatur, GA, Eddie's Attic 

Nashville, TN…(October 5, 2015)… Country music entertainer, military veteran, award-winning TV host and philanthropist CRAIG MORGAN is putting the finishing touches on his 9th Annual Charity Event benefitting the Dickson County Craig Morgan Foundation and many of his famous friends are joining in on the festivities!
 
Taking place October 17 in Dickson, Tennessee, the morning will start with a golf tournament at Greystone Golf Course. MMA champion Dan Henderson and motocross pro Kevin Windham will be hitting the green with Morgan.  Gates will open at 2:30pm for the family-friendly music festival taking place at Dickson’s War Memorial Lawn with artists including former American Idol contestant Janelle Arthur, celebrated songwriter and Sirius XM Highway Find artist Adam Sanders and Kentucky rockers Halfway To Hazardentertaining the crowds before Craig’s full-band headlining set at 7pm. In between performances attendees can bid on exclusive items at the silent auction, shop for artist merchandise and dine with area food trucks.
 
Concert Festival Performance Schedule
3:00pm           Casi Joy
3:30pm           Aly
4:00pm           Janelle  Arthur
4:30pm           Adam Sanders
5:30pm           Halfway to Hazard
7:00pm           Craig Morgan
 
Tickets for the festival and golf tournament team registrations are available atCraigMorgan.com and Event Brite.
 All proceeds from Craig Morgan’s golf tournament and festival will benefit the Dickson County Craig Morgan Foundation, supporting foster children in Dickson County and throughout Middle Tennessee. The organization’s primary goal is to assist foster children in Dickson County and throughout Middle Tennessee.

Celebrating the November 27th release of 4-CD 50-year 20-label retrospective box set, Mississippi blues legend, king of the Chitlin’ Circuit Bobby Rush will be NYC playing the Big Eyed Blues Fest. 

Bobby Rush’s incredible half century of recorded music is ready to be devoured by those who’ve never tasted and those who want another helping on Chicken Heads: A 50-Year History of Bobby Rush, due out November 27, 2015 on Omnivore Recordings. 

Nearly 100 tracks from the three-time Grammy® nominee’s storied career are finally collected in this unprecedented set. Including his Checker, Galaxy, and Jewel sides through Philadelphia International, Malaco/Waldoxy, LaJam, and Urgent cuts, as well as material from his own Deep Rush label, Chicken Heads tells the story of Bobby Rush: unfiltered, unedited and unbelievable. With almost five hours of music on four CDs, Chicken Heads traces his career from 1964’s “Someday” through the title track, from 1979 collaborations with Gamble & Huff to tracks from 2004’s FolkFunk. 

The 32-page, full-color booklet is filled with photos, ephemera, liner notes from Bill Dahl and testimonials from friends and fans including Mavis Staples, Keb’ Mo’, Elvin Bishop, Denise LaSalle, Leon Huff, Al Bell, and many more. With mastering and restoration by Grammy® winner Michael Graves, Bobby’s vintage recordings have never sounded better

When: Saturday, October 10th  
Where: Big Eyed Blues Fest
Kumble Theater, One University Plaza, Brooklyn
Time: Show at 7:30 p.m.
          Bobby at 9:30 p.m.

http://bigeyedblues.org   
http://kumbletheater.tix.com/m/Event.aspx?EventCode=786431 

What better way to kick off October’s Country Music Month than for the nation’s premiere country gospel group to receive two awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)? On Thursday, October 1st "The Chuck Wagon Gang Complete Recordings 1936-1955” won ‘Best Liner Notes for a Recorded Project' (awarded to the writers Bill Malone, Marty Stuart, Shaye Smith, Harold Timmons, Jeremy Stephens and Eddie Stubbs) and ‘Best Graphic Design for a Recorded Project' (awarded to designer Mychael Gerstenberger).

“No other gospel group had closer ties to the country music industry overall than the Chuck Wagon Gang. Their recordings in this box set were marketed to the same people who bought country music of that era and it’s safe to say that the majority of the songs within that box were played at one point or another on country radio stations,” said Eddie Stubbs WSM, radio personality and Grand Ole Opry announcer, who played a large role in bringing the collection together as its Reissue Producer.

The Chuck Wagon Gang, who are entering their 80th anniversary this November “and remain one of the most influential acts in all of music” (NASH Country Weekly), have impacted the lives and music of everyone from Merle Haggard and Charlie Daniels to Connie Smith and Dan Rather, and have sold forty million records over their eight decade career.  As Marty Stuart puts it, "Heaven only knows how many hearts have been touched by the music of the Chuck Wagon Gang."

"America's Gospel Singers - The Legacy Lives On," a documentary executively produced by Marty Stuart and airing on Public Television stations this fall, chronicles the history of the Chuck Wagon Gang, sharing their stories through rare family photographs, poignant personal stories, old recordings and live performances. The Chuck Wagon Gang's most recent album release 'Meeting in Heaven' (New Haven Records) also finds the current configuration of the band singing the songs of Marty Stuart, who also served as executive producer on the album.

It was President Richard Nixon who stated, “the heart of a people is found in their music, and no music is more deeply rooted in the soul of America than country music.” These roots certainly run deep, and you can trace a lot of them to The Chuck Wagon Gang.

Next week, on October 9, Muscle Shoals legend Donnie Fritts will release a new album, Oh My Goodness through the Florence, Alabama-based Single Lock Records (Steelism, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Dylan LeBlanc). NPR Music is now offering the album as an exclusive stream via their First Listen series. 
 
Pre-order Oh My Goodness here: http://smarturl.it/Goodness
 
The album is the first to be produced by John Paul White, formerly of the Grammy-wining duo The Civil Wars, along with Ben Tanner of the Alabama Shakes. Oh My Goodness features an all-star cast of contributors including Brittany Howard of The Alabama Shakes, Jason Isbell, John Prine, Amanda Shires, The Secret Sisters, Spooner Oldham and many more. 
 
Recently, Rolling Stone premiered the song "If It's Really Gotta Be This Way" and said "Oh My Goodness is Fritts' chance to say that the musical power of Muscle Shoals is not found in some singing river - it's in people like him."
 
Donnie Fritts and John Paul White recently spoke to Southern Living who said "Some of the songs are raucous, some are heartbroken, and some of them delicate with only the sounds of a 72-year-old man and his Wurlitzer piano. All together, they show why Donnie could never be forgotten."
 
Donnie Fritts is a Florence, Ala. native and one of many local musical luminaries. He’s a lauded songwriter, noted for his tracks “We Had It All” (recorded by scores of artists from Waylon Jennings and Dolly Parton to Ray Charles & The Rolling Stones) and “Breakfast in Bed” which he co-wrote with Eddie Hinton for Dusty Springfield’s album Dusty in Memphis. He played and travelled with Kris Kristofferson’s band for nearly 20 years, and has released three previous albums-- Prone to Lean,Everybody’s Got a Song, and the Dan Penn-produced One Foot in the Groove.

www.funkydonniefritts.com
www.facebook.com/donniefrittsmusic

Aaron Watson started his 2015 by making Billboard history becoming the only independent solo male country artist to debut #1 on Billboard's Country albums chart. Known as a hard-touring artist, he took the new album and newly designed production set on the road. The fans responded and since February, Watson has seen more than 120,000 in hard ticket sales over 36 states. Today Watson announces the remainder of his 2015 dates, which include headlining shows on New Year's Eve at one of Texas' biggest venues and a four-day run during National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Additional highlights include a Nov. 21 date at The Lone Star Convention & Expo Center in Conroe (Houston), TX, billed as the inaugural "Faith Fest," where Watson will co-headline with Christian artist Jeremy Camp. An innovative pairing, Watson and Camp will treat their shared audiences to a hybrid mix of Christian and country music, with many support acts of both genres, followed by Watson's first headlining show at the "House of Blues" in Dallas, TX on Dec. 19. 

This is Aaron's fifth consecutive year as a headliner during National Finals Rodeo -- the biggest gathering of rodeo competitors in the world -- and he's been asked by NFR bookers to expand his usual three-day run at South Point Hotel & Casino, to four nights due to fan demand. Aaron's performances follow the nightly Montana Silversmith "Buckle Go-Round" presentation to each night's NFR winner. Aaron will also perform at Thomas & Mack Arena to open Round 4 of NFR and lead Elevation, the Cowboy Church service on Sunday, Dec. 6 in The Hollywood Theater while in Las Vegas.

Chris King has been busy working on a new record and in advance of that, he is giving a preview of a new song, "Almost Gone." King had this to say about the song in am email to fans, "The track follows a person who's just woken up & began to examine what's going on around them, for better or worse. It's about getting out of a bad situation & a bad location. This particular song isn't exactly reflective of the rest of the record's sonic landscape, but it fits in perfectly with the overall theme of the album & I'm really proud of it." 

The song features Cody Foote on bass, Scott Davis on electric lead, Kenny Smith on drums, Jesse Basham on rhythm electric, Wade Josie on keys, and was produced by John Ross Silva at Cedar Creek Recording. Give it a listen below...you'll like it.

So, if you frequent NYC and the Best Buy Theater (Randy Rogers and Stoney LaRue played here a few months back), you are going to have to start calling it by its new name. For more informaiton read on in the press release below.

NEW YORK, NY (October 1, 2015) – Times Square’s 2,150-capacity concert and special events venue has officially been renamed PlayStation®Theater, it was announced today by Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. (SCEA) and AEG Live.  Formerly known as Best Buy Theater, the venue celebrates its 10th anniversary this Fall having hosted 1,368 events and sold 1.7 million tickets since its grand opening on September 19, 2005.  Artists that have played at the theater include Bon Jovi, The Eagles, John Legend, Rihanna, Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas, Fall Out Boy, Jay-Z, Linkin Park, Drake, Little Big Town, Sugarland, Prince, Tom Jones, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, and Phil Lesh & Friends who had an historic 14 night run at the venue in 2008.