Inside Music Row

Savannah Maddison is determined to make a difference in the world.  As a young teenager, she is working full time on a career in country music, but her heart is full of love for America’s soldiers.  Initially inspired by her best friend, Savannah created a program designed to bring a little love from home to soldiers deployed to all corners of the world.  “Savannah’s Soldiers” is closing in on one hundred-thousand letters sent to our military forces overseas.  We caught up with Savannah to talk about that exciting program.

The Country Music Hall of Fame will soon have three new additions.  The Country Music Association announced the latest class of inductees as Ronnie Milsap, Mac Wiseman, and Hank Cochran, bringing the new total of honorees to 124.  Later this year, the three will be formally inducted in a special Medallion ceremony, which serves as a rite of induction into the hallowed hall.  We had a chance to visit with the honorees to talk about this amazing experience.

Dolly Parton’s 42nd studio album hit the top of the charts when it was debuted in New Zealand, which coincided with the Australian leg of her tour earlier this year.  Now “Blue Smoke” is available in the U-S, and it’s a project she’s very excited to promote.  Dolly is continuing her “Blue Smoke” tour here in America this week, before heading across the pond again for more than 20 shows in Europe.  We caught up with her at a rehearsal in Nashville before the new U-S leg of her tour.

Hey everybody!  I'm Kelly Sutton!  So glad you’ve joined us for another Inside Music Row!  We’ve got plenty of entertainment headlines for you, so let’s get started!  Country music legend Crystal Gayle has a new exhibit open now at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  The “When I Dream” exhibit features plenty of fashion statements, awards, letters, family photos, and more from her incredible career.  Look for the exhibit to run through November.

The Grand Ole Opry group member Old Crow Medicine Show is set to release a new album full of catchy melodies and humorous lyrics.  “Remedy” will hit stores July first, although the group will hit the road this week for their largest ever tour.  Look for the tour to hit up plenty of North American dates this summer before heading over to Europe in October.

Alan Jackson is still making incredible music, and his latest release is now the title track on a movie soundtrack.  “A Million Ways To Die” will be available next week both physically and digitally, just before the movie hits theatres May 30.  The film stars Seth MacFarlane, who also directed, produced, and co-wrote the project, along with Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris, and more.

Willie Nelson was presented with his fifth degree black belt last month in Austin, Texas.  Willie has been into martial arts and kung fu since coming to Nashville many years ago.  He believes this is a good form of exercise, especially as you get older.  Willie just turned 81 years young.

The popular “America Icons” campaign is returning to Macy’s stores across America, this time with a little bit of a country spin.  Look for Brett Eldredge, Jana Kramer, and Lucy Hale to join others as the face of the brand in the second annual campaign.  The initiative benefits “Got Your Six” and its non-profit partners, which support military families and veterans.  “Got Your Six” is a military phrase that means “I’ve Got Your Back” and the organization is one of the nations’ most innovative veteran empowerment initiatives.

Now it's time to go “Inside The Song.”  On his latest “Headlights, Taillights and Radios” project, Tracy Lawrence has a track called “Butterfly,” which came from a very inspirational place.  Here is Tracy to tell us where he got the idea for that emotional song.

As a young artist, Mary Sarah has amassed a wealth of experience in country music.  Her debut album “Bridges” hits stores this week, which includes twelve duets with some of country’s biggest traditional stars, including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and many more.  Her career as a singer started about ten years ago, when she started posting all of her performances on youtube.  Now she counts roughly 80-thousand followers on her Twitter account.  We wanted to learn more about this amazing young woman, so we caught up with her at the Country Music Association headquarters on Music Row.

“Out Among The Stars” was initially recorded in the early 1980’s by Johnny Cash, with legendary producer Billy Sherrill at the helm.  The album was almost complete when Columbia Records placed them in a vault and Johnny moved on to other projects.  The tracks were soon forgotten, and just recently re-discovered after Johnny’s death by his son John Carter Cash.  We had an opportunity to sit down with John to see how those previously unreleased recordings were found and finished.

Contemporary Christian artist Michael W. Smith has sold more than 15 million albums, hit number one on the charts 28 times, and earned three Grammy Awards in his incredible music career.  Now he can head out for Grandma’s Pancake Breakfast at Cracker Barrel and check out his latest C-D in the Old Country Store music collection.  His album “Hymns” contains 15 classic Christian songs, many of which he grew up singing in church with his family.  Fans have flocked to Cracker Barrel restaurants to pick up the new exclusive “Hymns” project, propelling the album to number two on the Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart the week it debuted.  Kelly Lynn caught up with Michael to talk about the new project.

Hey there!  I'm Kelly Sutton.  We are so glad you’re here for another Inside Music Row!  We've got lots in store for you today, so let’s get started.  Toby Keith’s eleventh annual golf classic tees off this weekend in his home state of Oklahoma.  Toby created the event to help raise money for the O-K Kids Korral, a cost-free home away from home for children battling cancer.  The event includes a huge auction, plenty of fabulous food, incredible entertainment, a celebrity-filled round of golf, plus… someone will walk away with a new Ford truck.  After a decade of planning and fundraising, The O-K Kids Korral opened earlier this year and has already seen more than 75 families with visits from one day to eight weeks.  What an incredible way to help families during extremely difficult times!

Eric Church is set to hit the road this Fall when he launches “The Outsiders World Tour.”  The party kicks off September 11th in Bossier City, Louisiana, and will hit up at least 31 arenas across North America.  Look for Dwight Yoakam as the special guest for the tour, with opening acts Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, and Halestorm to split opening sets.  Eric’s last tour featured plenty of specially-designed backdrops for the show, so he’ll have a completely new look for this tour, which will have a high-tech design and a 360-degree view of Eric and the band.  For ticket info…check out Eric Church dot com.

After one of the most successful summer tours of 20-13, Bad Company and Lynryd Skynyrd are teaming up again for more co-headlining shows this summer.  The groups have about ten dates together in the Northeast in the month of July.  For the most up to date tour information, check out Bad Company dot com or Lynyrd Skynyrd dot com.

Jerrod Niemann has established a new non-profit called “Free The Music U-S-A.”  The new organization is dedicated to collecting used instruments and giving them to children in need.  Jerrod holds a deeply rooted belief that every child deserves the opportunity to explore music, so he is doing his part to get instruments in the hands of children that otherwise would not be able to afford them.  Jerrod is currently celebrating the launch of his latest album “High Noon” and the success of the lead single “Drink To That All Night,” which just hit number one on the charts.

Now it's time to go Inside The Song.  Austin Webb’s debut single on Streamsound Records did quite well for him and earned a lot of praise from the critics.  We had a chance to ask him what the track “Slip On By” is all about.

This next artist received her very first singing lesson from “Uncle Frank” Sinatra, and has received encouragement, direction and support from Sammy Davis, Junior.  Growing up as the daughter of the iconic entertainer Dean Martin, Deana Martin has found success as a musician, author, actor, radio personality, and more.  Her fourth studio album “Destination Moon” even includes a duet with her father called “True Love.”  We had a chance to hook up with Deana on a swing through Nashville to talk about her latest endeavors.

Red Bow artist David Fanning can be described as a musical triple threat.  As an artist…he’s gaining fans each and every week.  As a songwriter…he’s written tons of hits for some of today’s top artists.  As a producer, he has three number one hits under his belt.  David’s latest single is a cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Drink You Away,” and we caught up with him to hear about his country spin on the original.