Inside Music Row

Kimberly, Neil and Reid of The Band Perry are keeping quite busy these days.  Not only are they in the middle of their “We Are Pioneers” world tour, but they are very excited about the new season of N-B-C’s hit show “The Voice,” which premiered this week.  The sibling trio will advise Team Blake during the upcoming battle rounds, and hope their turn to pay it forward works out for the contestants.  You can also find The Band Perry on the 40th anniversary re-mastered edition of Elton John’s 1973 album “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”  Their version of “Grey Seal” is included on the project, set to released March 24th.  They also have two nominations for the upcoming ACM Awards.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s annual “All For The Hall” fundraiser returns to Los Angeles next week.  The program will again follow the spontaneous “guitar pull” format with performances and stories from Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Heart, and Jason Mraz.  The “All For The Hall” event was originally launched in 2005 to provide a safety net for the institution and its work.

Jake Owen and a few of his friends joined together for “Concert for the Cause,” which raised over 200-thousand dollars for the non-profit “Kids Cancer Alliance.”  Frankie Ballard, Jana Kramer, Jason Sturgeon, and many more joined in the show, which also featured live and silent auctions, plus a special after party.  For more information on the organization, check out Kids Cancer Alliance dot org.

Travis Tritt has been added to the cast of “As Dreamers Do,” an independent film based on the life of Walt Disney.  Travis will act as the narrator for the project, and he’s also written a song called “That’s What Dreamers Do.”  Look for the movie to be released later this year.

American Idol winner Scotty McCreery has joined up with the “12-14 Foundation” as a ‘national goodwill ambassador.’  The Foundation was started in Newtown, Connecticut to promote performing arts to help communities recover from tragic events.  Look for Scotty to help promote the foundation’s mission and fundraising efforts through personal appearances and social media.

Bubba Sparxxx has his own brand of music that isn't quite mainstream country, but it's not rap either.  It fits somewhere in the middle, and his audiences are enjoying every minute of it.  Bubba has been friends with Rodney Atkins for the last eight years, and they've talked about collaborating for a while, but the "right" song just never came about.  When they found "Right," a country song depicting the real-life troubles of "getting it right," they knew this was the song for them.  We had a chance to catch up with Bubba and Rodney behind the scenes on the set of "Right."

As a young teenager, Rachel Holder earned a slot performing at a theater near the Dollywood theme park outside Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  In two years, she honed her singing skills through roughly 800 shows, and that experience is paying off.  Now signed to Curb Records, she's working with producer Wilbur Rimes, who also happens to be the father of another Curb artist...LeAnn Rimes.  We had a chance to check in with Rachel to talk about her new music.

It turns out the label move to Red Bow Records is paying off for Joe Nichols, as it helped earn him his fifth number one hit with "Sunny and 75."  Kelly Lynn joined up with BMI and ASCAP for a special bumber one party at the Country Music Association to honor Joe along with writers Michael Dulaney, Paul Jenkins and Jason Sellers for that hit song.

We kick off another Inside Music Row with the mention of Blake Shelton as he has announced plans for a new leg of his "Ten Times Crazier 2014 Tour", which kicks off in June.  Keith Urnan and Rascal Flatts are up next as they are set to headline the 2 day ACM "Party For A Cause" Festival April 4th and 5th in Las Vegas.  Shaniea Twain is also in the news as she is set to perform a show outside of Las Vegas at the Virgin Mobile Stampede Concert Series at the Scotiabank Saddledome stage in July.  Kacey Musgraves lst teamed up with Katy Perry at the "We Can Survive" benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 2013.  Now she's set to join Katy on a few dates of the Prismatic World Tour in August.  Jamie O'Neal is set to release her first new album in five years called "Eternal."  Look for the 11-track project to be released March 18th in partnership with her own Momentum Label group.  Finally, we go Inside The Song with Alabama to hear about their song "Born Country."

Chirs Lucas and Preston Brust have come a long way as the LoCash Cowboys on Average Joe's Records.  Known mostly for hard partying kinds of songs, the duo recently co-wrote a song about Chris' father called "Best Seat In The House."  We had a chance to catch up with the guys on the set of that new music video.

Frankie Ballard has come a long way since winning Kenny Chesney's "Next Big Star" competition for the state of Michigan in 2008.  His self-titled debut album was released almost three years ago, and included the singles "Tell Me You Get Lonely" and "A Buncha Girls."  Now he's riding the success of his third hit single and celebrating this week with the release of "Sunshine and Whiskey." 

"Country Club" was the debut single recorded by Travis Tritt in 1988 and released the next year.  That song spent six months on the charts and pushed Travis into mainstream country music.  Twenty-five years after that very first release, he's had many hit singles, albums, and even a few major film roles.  We had a chance to catch up with Travis at the Franklin Theatre to mark that special career milestone.  

We kick off another Inside Music Row with the mention of Garth Brooks as he is kicking off his new world tour with a bang!  Garth has now scheduled two shows in July at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, which have been dubbed the Comeback Special Event.  Look for the main tour to kick off sometime this Fall.  

Up next is Jason Aldean as he has recently partnered with Major League Baseball for portions of the 2014 "Burn It Down" Tour.  Look for Florida Georgia Line and Tyler Farr to join him when the show opens May 1st.  

John Rich is also in the news as he and "Big Kenny" Alphin are back at work together, and not just on another album.  They've formed a new venture called "Big and Rich Records," and will release their fifth studio album on the new label in the coming months.  The lead single on the new project is "Look At You," which you may have already heard on the radio.  

Country Hall of Famer Don Williams will release a new 10-track studio album on Sugar Hill Records.  Look for "Reflections" to be released March 11th.  

Tracy Lawrence is enjoying life out on the road again with his "Headlights, Taillights, and Radios Tour."  The first leg kicked off in Minnesota last month and runs through April 26th, when the tour wraps in Fort Worth, although more dates could very well be added.

Finally, we go Inside The Song with The Black Lillies to hear about their new song "Smokestack Lady."

Deborah Evans Price has covered almost every single country and Christian artist as a journalist for Billboard Magazine, so it was no surprise that she was asked by a book publisher to put a project together about country artists and their faith.  We were able to meet up with Deborah at a Nashville-area Barnes and Noble bookstore to talk about "Country Faith."