Saturday 28 September 2013

Country to Country 2014 Line Up Revealed

Country to Country 2014 Line Up Revealed


#C2C2014 COUNTRY TO COUNTRY 2014 LINE UP REVEALED!

Where: Millennium Dome/ North Greenwich Arena, more known in this modern branding world as the London O2 Arena
The O2, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX - How you travel to The O2
When: Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th March 2014

LINE UP!: Brad Paisley, Zac Brown Band, Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Dierks Bentley & Chris Young confirmed to appear across the weekend with another artist to be announced!

Tickets: On sale at 9am Friday 11th October 2013:
Cost:
Day Tickets for Saturday 15 March or Sunday 16th 2014 
£56.00 (Ticket + £6.00 Fee), £67.00 (Ticket + £7.00 Fee) or £78.00 (Ticket + £8.00 Fee)
Weekend Ticket
£128.50 (£115.00 Ticket + £13.50 Fees) or £150.50 (£135.00 Ticket + £15.50 Fees) 
* Limit of eight tickets per person and per card.
BUY from - www.axs.com  Ticketmaster UK
  www.c2c-countrytocountry.com www.theo2.co.uk and www.gigsandtours.com

Seating Plan - London O2 CLICK to Enlarge
SOURCE –  www.c2c-countrytocountry.com
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Find C2C on TWITTER Don't forget to tag your tweets with #C2C2014!

C2C 2014 Line Up Montage CLICK to ENLARGE
Following the “acclaimed success” of Country to Country 2013, an “outstanding line up” of music stars are again heading across the Atlantic for a huge two-day music festival extravaganza at The O2 on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 March 2014.


On October 4th C2C Country to Country announced the day splits schedule across the weekend  - Event Line Up

Saturday March 15, 2014: 
Zac Brown Band (Headliners), Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride and Dierks Bentley

Sunday March 16, 2014: 
Brad Paisley (headline), Rascal Flatts, Chris Young + special guest to be announced 


C2C2014 announced for Ireland!

When: Friday 14 and Saturday 15 March 2014 
Where: At The O2, Dublin (situated in the heart of Dublin’s docklands: North Wall Quay, Dublin 1

Ticket information: Tickets for each day are priced from €49.50 including booking fee go on sale Friday, 11th October at 9am from Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.ticketmaster.ie
Friday Line Up:
Dixie Chicks, Zac Brown Band, Dierks Bentley
Saturday Line Up
Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Chris Young

The huge two-day music festival extravaganza will also take place in Ireland for the first time at The O2, Dublin

Brad Paisley returns to Dublin following a hugely successful arena show last year as part of the Virtual Reality World Tour. Rascal Flatts join the lineup after their “phenomenal” Olympia Theatre show in Dublin this summer.

  • Brad Paisley will be headlining Country to Country 2014. The Grammy award winning and multimillion selling critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, guitarist and entertainer who has with 22 #1 singles in the US returns to The O2 Arena after a triumphant show there on Aug 17, 2011. (Watch him perform 'This is Country Music')  Brad appeared on BBC Breakfast on 22nd June 2010 >> Video
  • Zac Brown Band, the three time GRAMMY award-winners, who played Glastonbury 2013, return to the UK to also headline the event, having toured extensively in the US the band look forward to their first headline UK Arena show.
  • The Dixie Chicks, will be performing in the UK for the first time in eight years.
  • Rascal Flatts will also make a return to the UK to join the C2C 2014 lineup after their two sold out shows at London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in July.
  • Dierks Bentley a platinum selling is also confirmed to perform.
  • Chris Young who has just released his latest album ‘A.M’. is confirmed.
  • A further two special guests are soon to be announced to complete “the prolific” line up.
  • “Legendary” broadcaster Bob Harris will again be compering the festival - "It is a very exciting time for Country music in the UK. C2C 2013 was a fantastic experience and next years festival promises to be another massive milestone.  I am thrilled to be compering again and providing huge coverage on 'Bob Harris Country' on BBC Radio 2 when Nashville comes to London.  See you at the O2!"
  • BBC Radio 2 will broadcast highlights of the festival on Bob Harris Country at 7pm on Thursday 20th and Thursday 27th March
  • The inaugural C2C 2013 event set the standard very high, welcoming over 17,000 fans from around the UK, Ireland and Europe to The O2 for the weekend. CMA Board President Ed Hardy said: “CMA is proud of our support and involvement in C2C. The reaction of the fans after the first year and the outstanding support from our artist’s community gives us the opportunity to broaden our music in the UK and Europe
Tweet: Dixie Chicks Anyone out there in London? We'll see you at C2C Country to Country next year.









About the C2C 2014 Artists
CountryRoutesBlog takes a look at the stars appearing at C2C 2014 and their 2013 updates










About: Brad Paisley
  • Brad Paisley was born October 28, 1972, in Glen Dale, West Virginia.
  • Signed to Arista, he issued his debut solo album, WHO NEEDS PICTURES, in 1999. The record produced two chart-topping singles in "He Didn't Have to Be," an ode to loving stepfathers, and "We Danced," and also earned generally positive reviews for its diversity of country styles.
  • The sequel to Paisley's debut, Part II, was released in 2001 and promptly returned him to the Top Five with "Two People Fell in Love." "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)" gave Paisley his third chart-topper.
  • His sixth album THIS IS COUNTRY MUSIC released May 23, 2011, opened with 152,598 sales.  As of November 2012 the Gold album had sold over 702,000 units. "Old Alabama," the second single pulled from the album became Paisley's 19th number one single, followed quickly by his 20th number one, the Carrie Underwood duet "Remind Me."
Country Music Association Awards Wins:
2000 - Horizon Award, 2001 - Vocal Event of the Year ("Too Country"), 2002 - Music Video of the Year ("I'm Gonna Miss Her")
2004 - Musical Event of the Year ("Whiskey Lullaby") & Music Video of the Year ("Whiskey Lullaby")
2006 - Album of the Year (Time Well Wasted) &  Musical Event of the Year ("When I Get Where I'm Going")
2007 - Music Video of the Year ("Online") & Male Vocalist of the Year
2008 - Music Video of the Year ("Waitin' on a Woman") & Male Vocalist of the Year
2009 - Male Vocalist of the Year & Musical Event of the Year ("Start A Band" with Keith Urban)
2010 - Entertainer of the Year

2013 Updates:
  • Paisley’s ambitious, genre-hopping album WHEELHOUSE was released April 9th. It launched with sales of 100,441 to top the Billboard Country Album chart making it his lucky seventh No. 1 on the tally. Paisley who has yet to tally a No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 grabbed his fourth No. 2 album (All four of Paisley's No. 2 sets have debuted in the runner-up slot.) He's now tied with Sheryl Crow for the most No. 2 albums without a No. 1. For Brad “Wheelhouse” is the smallest opening-week sum with a non-instrumental studio set since "Mud on the Tire"s debuted atop the country chart with 86,000 10 years ago. Paisley scored his biggest weekly sales figure when "5th Gear" blew in with 197,000 in 2007. By the end of August “Wheelhouse” had fallen off the Top 25 albums having sold 254,000 copies. For the chart week of Oct 5, 2013 it stood at #38 on Billboard Top Country albums.
  • "Southern Comfort Zone" was released in September 2012 as the first single from Wheelhouse and reached #2 on Billboard Country Airplay Chart. “Beat This Summer" was released on March 4, 2013 as the second single reaching #2 on Billboard Country Airplay Chart and #1 on the Country Aircheck Mediabase Country Singles chart (his 22nd No.1 single). "I Can't Change the World" was released on August 9,  2013 as the third single and after 7 weeks has reached #26 on Billboard Country Airplay (Chart week Oct 5, 2013).
  • Brad appeared on CNN's Piers Morgan Live Tuesday (7/30) to discuss "the touchiest subject there is" [Ref:"Accidential Racist"] then stopped by to perform the BP protest song "Balls In Your Mouth"  on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
  • In the UK "WHEELHOUSE" debut at No.69 on the Official UK Album chart  (1,582 sales; chart week April 20, 2013) then fell off the Top 100. Maverick Magazine editor Alan Cackett awarded Brad Paisley’s WHEELHOUSE album 5 STARS saying “This is the kind of album people will pull out and listen to 50 years from now..No matter what comes out the rest of the year, WHEELHOUSE is my album of the year. No contest!
  • Paisley and Carrie Underwood will return to host the CMA Awards for the sixth time in 2013! “The 47th Annual CMA Awards” airs live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, November  6th live on ABC.
  • Brad is in talks with Sony Pictures to make a big screen movie based on his song, ‘I Can’t Change the World.’
Music Brad Paisley - Original Album Classics (Sony Music Entertainment)
Total Songs: 82 (5 albums) Price: £7.99 - UK iTunes - Amazon UK
(8 April 2013) Brad Paisley - Wheelhouse (Deluxe Edition)
Brad Paisley pulls out all the stops on his adventurous new album, WHEELHOUSE, which includes appearances by rapper LL Cool J and comedian Eric Idle. “The point of this record was to stretch as an artist, to bend genres as much as I could where it still felt comfortable in country music,” he says.


About: The Zac Brown Band
  • Zac Brown was born July 31, 1978 in Cumming, Georgia
  • Zac Brown Band is an American country/folk band based in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • In 2002, the Zac Brown Band was formed and they began traveling with a heavy tour schedule of approximately 200 dates a year.
  • The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, vocals), Coy Bowles (guitar, keyboards), Chris Fryar (drums), Clay Cook (guitar, keyboards, mandolin, steel guitar, vocals), and Daniel de los Reyes (percussion).
  • They have recorded five studio albums (2 #1 Country Albums), and charted nine Number No.1 singles on the Billboard country charts: "Chicken Fried", "Toes", "Highway 20 Ride", "Free", "As She's Walking Away", "Colder Weather", "Knee Deep", "Keep Me In Mind", and "Goodbye in Her Eyes" in addition to the singles "Whatever It Is", "No Hurry", and "Jump Right In", which peaked at # 2 on the same chart.
  • On the Billboard chart week July 28, 2012 the Zac Brown Band landed their second No.1 album on the Billboard Top 200 as UNCAGED debuted with a larger-than-expected 234,289 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It earned the act its best sales week, trumping the 153,000 that YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE sold in its debut frame in 2010. By August 2013 the album had sold over 900,000 copies in America.
  • They have received 14 Country Music Association Awards Nominations and in 2010 won the “New Artist of the Year
  • They have won 2 Grammy Awards. In 2011 they picked up Best Country Collaboration with Vocals — "As She's Walking Away" (feat. Alan Jackson) and in 2013 won Best Country Album for UNCAGED
2013 Updates
  • In February The Zac Brown Band announced they will release a new album and an acoustic album too "a little later on in the year," so said  the country band's frontman speaking with Billboard on the Grammys red carpet. The "Goodbye In Your Eyes" singer also revealed a possible collaboration with T Bone Burnett, who they played with during the Levon Helm tribute at the tail-end of the Grammy telecast. Zac Brown Band’s "Jump Right In" was added to the BBC Radio 2 "B" playlist for week Commencing 22 June 2013. In June 2013 ZBB were in the UK on Sunday (June 30th) playing London's Hard Rock Calling with Bruce Springsteen (Check out the Setlist and Photo Gallery). They played the Acoustic Stage at the Glastonbury Festival on June 29 - Setlist - Watch “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”. They played London O2 Shepherds Bush (July 1, 2013) - Photoset (2Country.net). In July UNCAGED was BBC Radio 2's Album of the Week. They joined Bob Harris in session - www.bbc.co.uk with a bonus performance of “Natural Disaster” . They entered the UK Official Top 100 at No.92. In September Zac Brown expressed his distaste for Contemporary Country Music. CountryMusicNation.com:
Music: Zac Brown Band latest album UNCAGED - Amazon UK UK iTunes

About: The Rascal Flatts
  • The group Rascal Flatts are composed of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, keyboard, piano, vocals) and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, vocals). LeVox and DeMarcus are second cousins.
  • The Name: Once an audience crowd who loved the three of them together asked their name. They said they didn’t have one and a man in the crowd said he had a garage band named “Rascal Flatts” and it stuck!
  • Since their musical debut in 2000, Rascal Flatts has sold over 21 million albums, 25 million digital downloads and delivered 14 #1 singles to the top of the charts. Rascal Flatts is the most awarded Country group of the past decade, earning over 40 trophies from the ACAs, ACMs, AMAs, CMAs, People's Choice Awards and more.
  • As one of the hottest-selling acts on tour in any genre, they’ve sold over 7 million concert tickets, and counting.
  • Discography: Rascal Flatts (2000) 2x Platinum 2,303,000 sales (Chart 01/05/2009) / Melt (2002) 3x Platinum 3,073,000 sales (chart 01/05/2009) #1 Country Album / Feels Like Today (2004) 5x Platinum 5,140,000 sales (Chart 22/07/2009) #1 Billboard 200, #1 Country Album / Me And My Gang (2006) 4x Platinum 4,758,000 sales (Chart 01/05/2009) #1 Billboard 200, #1 Country Album/ Still Feels Good (2007) 2x Platinum 2,192,000 sales (Chart 01/05/2009) #1 Billboard 200, #1 Country Album/ Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2008) 620,000 sales (Chart 01/05/2009) #2 Country Album/ Unstoppable (2009) 526,000 sales (Chart 01/05/2009) #1 Billboard 200, #1 Country Album/ Nothing Like This (2010) Platinum 1,00,1337 sales (Chart Nov 13, 2011) #1 Country Album/ Changed (2012) Gold 534,000 sales #1 Country Album / Rascal Flatts - Career Album Sales 19,083,000 (chart 22/07/2009)
  • Rascal Flatts' latest album CHANGED debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 (Chart week April 11, 2012) selling 129,664 copies. It marked the band's eighth Top 10 album. CHANGED is the eighth studio album by the country music group. It is their second studio album release after signing with Big Machine Records, and was released on April 3, 2012. Lead vocalist Gary LeVox explains the title, "Actually there's a song on the album called 'Changed' and it's a really, really special song. And we thought that title of that song really captures what this new season of our career is cause everything in our professional career has changed...(we) thought the title was appropriate”. After 68 weeks on Billboard Country chart the GOLD album resided at #68 selling less than 1,000 copies with a total of 534,018.
2013 Updates:
  • Journey and Rascal Flatts  joined forces at Super Bowl 47 for an episode of CMT Crossroads.
  • Rascal Flatts and the Band Perry presented their first Australian shows in Brisbane on March 13. Both acts were slated to perform during the weekend at CMC Rocks the Hunter, a festival that would also mark the Aussie debuts of Chris Young and Love and Theft.
  • They presented their Live & Loud tour beginning May 31 in Wantagh, NY. The 34-city run included support from The Band Perry and The Voice season three winner Cassadee Pope.
  • On Friday (Sept 20) they joined Taylor Swift to perform a "What Hurts The Most" duet  at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. Swift said from the stage before introducing Flatts, with whom she toured in 2008. "Remembering the people who helped you out in the very beginning and took you on their arena tour, their sold out tour … when nobody knew your name."
  • For their upcoming album and they have a new producer, rocker Howard Benson who has done albums for Bon Jovi and Daughtry.
  • In the UK Rascal Flatts played 2 nights (July 10th & 11th) at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire watch them perform 'Life Is A Highway' on Thursday 11th July 2013 (Laura Bell Bundy, Jill Johnson (Sweden) and the UK’s every own Tim McKay band supported). Latest album CHANGED got an official UK album release on July 8th. The album included their first UK single "Sunrise" (Promo single artwork) watch them talk about the single >> YouTube . They made an appearance on BBC Breakfast and the album made a debut at No.87 on the Official UK Album Chart. It made a No.1 bow on the UK Country Album Chart and also charted two other albums: self titled album at No.6 after 131 chart weeks along with ME & MY GANG (Angel) at No.19.
  • Rascal Flatts are nominees for the British Country Music Awards 2013 (Nov) for International Act of the Year.
Music: Changed (Decca) 15 tracks Time:57:55 CD - MP3  Sainsburys  -  iTunes  
Album Sampler >> YouTube

BBC Radio Norfolk’s Keith Greentree spoke to Rascal Flatts prior to their London July show.
Listen to his excellent quick-fire interview which was broadcast on July 13, 2013. You can tune in live to “Rodeo Norfolk”, every Saturday between 9am – 12.





About: The Dixie Chicks
  • The band is composed of founding members (and sisters) Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines.
  • The band formed in 1989 in Dallas, Texas, and was originally composed of four women performing bluegrass and country music, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits and small venues for six years without attracting a major label.
  • After the departure of Laura Lynch she was replaced by Natalie Maines as lead singer, and after a slight change in their repertoire, the Dixie Chicks soon achieved commercial success, beginning in 1998 with hit songs "There's Your Trouble" and "Wide Open Spaces".
  • The Dixie Chicks are the highest selling female group in any genre. They hold the distinction of being the only country group in history and the only female group of any genre to earn back-to-back Diamond Awards signifying 10 million in record sales.
  • Discography: Wide Open Spaces ( Jan. 23, 1998) / Fly (Aug. 31, 1999) / Home (Aug. 27, 2002) /  Top of the World (Live) (Nov. 25, 2003) / Top of the World (DVD) (Nov. 25, 2003)/ An Evening With The Dixie Chicks (DVD) (Feb. 11, 2003) / Taking The Long Way ( May 23, 2006; 2.5+ million copies sold to date) /  VH1 Storytellers (DVD) – Nov. 11, 2011 /  The Essential Dixie Chicks (Aug. 24, 2010) /
  • In 2013 ranked at #32 the Dixie Chicks album Wide Open Spaces had sold 8,826,993 copies (8x Platinum+) in America.
  • Country Music Association Awards: 1998: They won Horizon Award and Vocal Group of the Year. 1999: They won Single of the Year ("Wide Open Spaces"), Vocal Group of the Year and Music Video of the Year ("Wide Open Spaces") 2000: Wins for Album of the Year “Fly”, Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year and Music Video of the Year ( "Goodbye Earl") . Finally in 2002 they won Vocal Group of the Year.
  • During a London concert at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Maines said, "we don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States [George W. Bush] is from Texas". The positive reaction to this statement from the British audience contrasted with the boycotts that ensued in the U.S., their albums were discarded in public protest.
  • As of 2012, the Dixie Chicks had won 13 Grammy Awards, including five in 2007 for “Taking the Long Way”, which received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year—and "Not Ready to Make Nice", a single from that album.
2013 Updates:
  • By May 2013, 30.5 million certified albums sold, and sales of 27.2 million albums in the U.S. alone.
  • The Dixie Chicks' singer Natalie Maines joked that going back to a career in country music would be "like going back to your abusive husband." When she spoke with CMT host Katie Cook on the red carpet at a Bruce Springsteen tribute concert sponsored by the Grammys and MusiCares Foundation on Friday night (Feb. 8) in Los Angeles
  • Their Arena concert at the Calgary Stampede was cancelled as the Canadian city recovered from floods in June.
  • The Dixie Chicks were replacements for Lady Antebellum after band member Hillary Scott announced her pregnancy and joined Tim McGraw, and Kenny Chesney as the headliners scheduled for the Craven Country Jamboree July 11-14 in Craven, Saskatchewan, Canada.
  • Live Nation were thrilled to announce the triumphant return of the multi-platinum selling Dixie Chicks with their Long Time Gone Tour 2013 through select markets in Canada. This follows the incredibly warm reception from Canadian fans at this summer’s Craven Country Jamboree, Cavendish Beach Music Festival, and RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest, and marks the first full tour for the Dixie Chicks through Canada in 7 years. Dates start Oct 26, 2013 (Vancouver) to Nov. 10, 2013 (London, ON – Budweiser Gardens). Craven review (July 13, 2013): The Dixie Chicks still rule the roost (with photos + setlist)
  • Natalie Maines’ first solo album, MOTHER (a rock album, not a country album) entered The Billboard 200 at #17 with sales of 22,824, the highest-charting set from a solo woman since Lana Del Rey's "Paradise" EP also debuted at No. 4 on Dec. 1, 2012. The title track first appeared on Pink Floyd’s 1979 album The Wall. That was far below the level of success that Maines enjoyed as a member of Dixie Chicks. All four of that trio’s studio albums reached the top five; the last three debuted at #1.
  • Two thirds of the Dixie Chicks (Emily Robison and Martie Maguire), aka Court Yard Hounds, released their new album, AMELITA (tagged country/rock & rock) on July 16th via Columbia Records. On its debut week it sold 5,426 copies to land on the Billboard 200 at No.70. Their self-titled debut on Columbia Records in 2010 made a No. 7 debut and peak; with 61,000 sales. Court Yard Hounds new single "Sunshine" was added to the BBC Radio 2 "C" playlist for the week commencing June 15, 2013.
  • Peter Cooper on Music: The curious case of the Dixie Chicks (The implosion that happened a decade ago) .Ten years and one day ago was a good time to be a Dixie Chick. Nine years and 364 days ago, not so much. The trio of Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie McGuire had sold 22 million albums and notched six No. 1 country hits, including then-current chart-topper “Travelin’ Soldier.”......
Music: The The Essential Dixie Chicks - Amazon UKUK iTunes
An Evening With The Dixie Chicks [DVD

About: Dierks Bentley
  • Dierks Bentley (born November 20, 1975) signed to Capitol Records Nashville since 2003.
  • He released his self-titled debut album in 2003. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's Modern Day Drifter, are certified platinum in the United States. A third album, 2006's Long Trip Alone, is certified Gold. It was followed in mid-2008 by a Greatest Hits package (Chart Nov 19, 2009; 269,507 total sales). His fourth album, Feel That Fire was released in February 2009 (Chart Nov 19, 2009,  249,561 total sales). A bluegrass studio album, Up on the Ridge, was released on June 8, 2010 (which debuted and peaked at No. 9 Country with 39,000 sales on the chart dated June 26, 2010; total sales 161,182 chart Oct 10, 2010). Sixth album, Home, followed in February 2012, it made its debut with sales of 54,708 to make Billboard entrance at #7 on the Billboard Top 200 and #1 on Top Billboard Country Albums. It was Bentley’s sixth release for Capitol Records featuring #1 single “Am I The Only One”.
  • In August 2012 Bentley debuted at #54 on the Billboard Top 200 (#12 Country) with his Country & Cold Cans EP . This  four-song EP, was an iTunes only digital release - UK  iTunes It has charted at #8 on the US iTunes Country album chart.
  • Bentley's studio albums have accounted for 18 singles on the country singles charts, of which ten have reached No. 1: his debut single "What Was I Thinkin'", as well as "Come a Little Closer", "Settle for a Slowdown", "Every Mile a Memory", "Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)", "Feel That Fire", "Sideways", "Am I the Only One", "Home", and "5-1-5-0". Four more of his singles have reached Top Five on the country charts as well.
  • He celebrated his 10th career No.1 song as an artist and songwriter when his foot-stomping hit “5-1-5-0” tops both the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Mediabase charts.
  • Awards: 2004 CMT Music Awards “Breakthrough Video of the Year” – Won / Academy of Country Music “Top New Artist” / 2005 Country Music Association Awards  “Horizon Award” - Won
  • 10 Grammy Nominations , the last nomination was at the 2013 the 55th Grammy Awards for ”Best Country Solo Performance” (song "Home")
2013 Updates:
  • Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert kicked off their "Locked And Reloaded" tour on Thursday Jan 17 in Columbia, South Carolina.
  • Dierks and wife Cassidy Black are expecting their third child this Autumn
  • He posted a career-high bow at No. 35 with “I Hold On” (Capitol Nashville), the second track from RISER, his upcoming seventh studio album. Lead single “Bourbon in Kentucky” peaked at No. 40 in July. His previous best was a No.38 start (and eventual No. 1 peak) with “Sideways” four years ago.
  • RISER, a project due this Autumn that stands as his most personal to date. Written and recorded in the year following his father’s death, the album draws its title from “I’m A Riser,” a song about resilience and determination. “I’m A Riser” works as a commentary on spiritual, personal and societal recommitment, but it also applies to the competitive battlefield of the music industry. It’s particularly appropriate for an album about rejuvenation delivered by Dierks. >> Video
  • Dierks Bentley is to kick off CMA Awards Week with Music & Miles For Kids on Nov. 3
 About: Chris Young
  • Born on 12 June 1985
  • 2006: Chris Young album released (#3 Country Album) , signed record deal with Sony BMG Nashville's RCA Records and he Won “Nashville Star Season 4”
  • 2009: Single "Gettin' You Home" went to #1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs and The Man I Want To Be his second album was released (#6 Country Album).
  • 2010: Chris won CMT Nationwide “On Your Side” Award and the single "The Man I Want To Be" went to #1
  • 2011: Won 2 American Country Awards (Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Single of the Year), singles “Tomorrow" and “Voices" re-released on July 19, 2010 went to #1 on Hot Country Songs. The Neon album was released (72,830 copies sold in it’s first week, 428,466 total copies sold over first 95 chart weeks (chart week Oct 5, 2013)). He was named People's Sexy Man of the Week.
  • 2012: Single "You" went to #1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs. He racked up four ACA nominations. 
2013 Updates:
  • He picked up a major honor from the Country Music Association to receive the coveted Triple Play Award for his hit songs “Voices,” “Tomorrow” and “You” on January 29, 2013. The award recognizes songwriters who have written three No. 1 songs within a 12-month period. The CMA has also selected Chris as a featured artist to help further the popularity of country music overseas.
  • Chris travelled to the U.K. and Ireland in February to take part in CMA’s Songwriter Series with stops in Dublin, Belfast and London. The series was recorded and broadcast at a later date on BBC Radio 2 - Monarch Publicity Press Release
  • He made a cameo appearance playing themselves alongside fictional characters Rayna James (Connie Britton) and Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) in an episode (Jan. 23) of ABC's Nashville.
  • Continued as headliner of his Liquid Neon Tour stateside, but also taking his music to an international level with performances slated in Ireland, the U.K., and Australia (Rocks The Hunter Festival).  The Grammy nominated vocalist continued to accumulate more career milestones with last year's highlights including TV performances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Talk, and the 47th Annual ACM Awards on CBS, appearances on the Grammy Nominations Concert Live on CBS, and CMT Artist of the Year special, a sold-out tour with Miranda Lambert, received Male Vocalist and Single of the Year ACM nominations and gained his fifth consecutive chart-topping single.
  • He also added PLATINUM and four GOLD RIAA certified singles plus a GOLD album for his sophomore release, “The Man I Want To Be” to his accolades.
  • In August Chris Young was released from Hospital and returned home to Nashville after being admitted to Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver for a dangerous bacterial infection as a result of a small cut on his leg.
  • For the Billboard chart week of March 23, 2013 he claimed his sixth top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay tally, as “I Can Take It From There” (RCA Nashville), moved 12-9 in its 21st chart week.
  • He claimed his sixth top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay tally, as “I Can Take It From There” (RCA Nashville), his 4th single from NEON moved 12-9 in its 21st chart week on Hot Country Songs
  • On the chart week Oct 5, 2013 Young made a No.2 Billboard Album Country bow with A.M. selling 52,742 copies to become his highest-charting album (though not his best sales week). His lead single, “Aw Naw,” , from his new album A.M jumped 12-9, his sixth top 10 on Hot Country Songs and first in 19 months. He returned to the Billboard Country Airplay top 10 for a seventh time, with the single whichmoved 11-10 in its 20th chart week
MUSIC Chris Young -  A.M.  Audio CD 11 tracks (Sony Music) CD
3 STAR Review from Alan Cackett in the Maverick Magazine November/December Issue 2013 

About: Martina McBride

  • Born Martina Mariea Schiff on July 29, 1966 - in Medicine Lodge, Kansas
  • Rose to stardom in the late '90s, starting out with a more traditionalist approach and later moving into pop-friendlier territory. She was born, in 1966 and discovered country music through her father, who led a local band called the Schifters. By her teen years, she was singing and playing keyboards with the Schifters, and after high school she gigged around Kansas with several different bands.
  • Married soundman John McBride, and in 1990 the couple moved to Nashville, where John worked for artists like Charlie Daniels and Ricky Van Shelton; Martina, meanwhile, worked as a demo singer, and her husband produced her demo tape.
  • Signed to RCA in 1991.
  • Hubby John was hired as Garth Brooks' production manager, which helped land Martina an opening slot on tour with Brooks.
  • Her debut album THE TIME HAS COME was released in 1992, offering a set of songs indebted to traditional honky tonk and progressive-minded country-folk.
  • THE WAY THAT I AM, a pop-inflected 1993 follow-up, was her commercial breakthrough, with the lead single "My Baby Loves Me" (written by Gretchen Peters) charting at No.2
  • Martina has recorded a total of eleven studio albums, one greatest hits compilation, one "live" album, a Christmas compilation, as well as two additional compilation albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA Gold certification, or higher. In the U.S. she has sold over 14 million albums.
  • McBride has won the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award four times (1999, 2002, 2003, 2004/ tied with Reba McEntire for the most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times.
  • Discography:  (Albums) The Time Has Come (1992, #49 Billboard Country Album), The Way That I Am (1993, #14 Billboard Country Album, Platinum), Wild Angels (1995,#17 Billboard Country Album, Platinum), Evolution (1997, #4 Billboard Country Album, 3X Platinum),White Christmas (1998, #9 Billboard Country Album, Platinum), Emotion (1999, #3 Billboard Country Album, Platinum), Greatest Hits (2001, #1 Billboard Country Album, 3X Platinum)  Martina (2003, #1 Billboard Country Album, 2X Platinum), Timeless (2005, #1 Billboard Country Album, Platinum), Waking Up Laughing (2007, #2 Billboard Country Album, Gold), Shine (2009, #1 Billboard Country Album), Eleven (2011, #4 Billboard Country Album), Hits and More (2012, #11 Billboard Country Album), The Essential Martina McBride  (2012, Did not chart)
  • Top 10 Singles: "My Baby Loves Me" (1993, #2), "Life #9" (1994, #6), "Safe in the Arms of Love" (1995, #4), "Wild Angels" (1995, #1), "A Broken Wing" (1997, #1), "Valentine" (1998, #9), "Happy Girl" (1998, #2), "Wrong Again" (1998, #1), "Whatever You Say" (1999, #2), "I Love You" (1999, #1), "Love's the Only House" (1999, #3), "There You Are" (2000, #10), "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues" (2001, #8), "Blessed" (2001, #1), "Where Would You Be" (2002, #3),"Concrete Angel" (2002, #5), "This One's for the Girls" (2003, #3), "In My Daughter's Eyes" (2003, #4), "Anyway" (2006, #5), "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" (2011, #4)
  • In Nov 2010 McBride switched labels and signed with Republic Nashville leaving RCA her home for 18 years.  The new deal was announced by the singer along with Big Machine Label President Scott Borchetta and Republic Nashville President Jimmy Harnen.
  • Back in July 2009 Martina played the Indigo2, Greenwich, London (80min set) Setlist: When God Fearing Women Get The Blues, Wild Angels, My Baby Loves Me, I Just Call You Mine, Blessed, Happy Girl, Safe In The Arms Of Love, Help Me Make It Through The Night, Rose Garden, Concrete Angel, How Far, Wrong baby Wrong Baby Wrong, Ride, You're Not Leavin' Me, Somewhere Over THe Rainbow, Anyway, Where Would You Be, This One's For The Girls, Broken Wing, Independence Day, Summer Of '69 - Encore, Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Encore.
  • Martina had to postpone her June/ July 2010 European dates.  
  • Her only 2 UK charting albums are Evolution (#178 UK Official Album Chart) and Shine (#182 UK Official Album Chart). 
2013 Updates:

  • She was the special guest opening for George Strait on the first 21 tour stops on his 2013 The Cowboy Rides Away Tour.
  • The Pandora jewlery brand presented the Martina McBride Tour with nine dates starting in Ralston, NE on July 19th. Her  “The Joy of Christmas” Tour 12-city tour will kick off in Huntington, WV on Friday, November 29 and wrap up in Chicago on Saturday, December 21.
  • In September Martina was holed up in the studio working on a new album, expected out in early 2014, but at this point, the project is essentially top secret. McBride told CBSNews.com, "It's gonna be awesome," adding, "We're feverishly working on it and getting it done. I'm really really excited to be back in the studio making new music”   
  • Down Came A Blackbird:  Martina McBride and her husband launched sound-engineering school The Blackbird Academy with its inaugural six-month Studio Engineering program. It utilizes the couple's Blackbird Studio in Nashville and offers programs for studio and live-sound engineering.
  • She told Spokesman.com ....”I’ve had an amazing career, but I do think it’s harder for women to break through. And when they do, it’s really powerful” 
  • Setlist from a October show in Oklahoma. 
  • Martina is on the bill at selective shows once more for the final leg of George Strait’s 2014 The Cowboy Rides Away Tour.
  • On October 10th BBC Radio’s Bob Harris announced on Facebook that Martina will be on the Saturday line up for the C2C 2014 Country to Country Festival – She writes IMAGE   
  • Fun Facts: Her favorite comfort foods include peanut butter on a spoon right out of the jar, mac and cheese, tomato soup with grilled cheese and chili with cinnamon rolls. Martina McBride is made up of 5% big beautiful blue eyes and 95% lungs!

C2C 2014 Spotify

Take a listen to the stars on the line up for C2C 2014







C2C 2014 Parody

Labour Party leader Ed “Red” Miliband dismayed by the 
C2C exclusion of 23-year old RED singer-songwriter Miss Taylor Swift
Reacts:


















C2C 2013 Flashback

Review:

On the Billboard Boxscore Chart for the week 06/04/2013 the C2C event was ranked at No.10
Rank - #10
Artist/Event - C2C Country To Country: Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Darius Rucker, Little Big Town, LeAnn Rimes, Kristian Bush, Brantley Gilbert
Venue City/State Event -  O2 Arena London, U.K.                           Dates -  March 16-17, 2013
Gross Sales - $1,447,650       Attend/Capacity - 17,152 / 26,840   Shows/  Sellouts - 2 / 0
Prices - $98.22, $52.89           Promoters - SJM Concerts 

Alan Perkins from UKCountry Radio.com reviewed the C2C 2013 Country to Country Festival, and spoke to Vince Gill, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw  >> Audio Link
Alan Perkins superlatives hit count LOL:
amazing (4), brilliant (8), buzzing (1), fabulous (7), fantastic (6), great (3), masterly (1),
mammoth (1), massive (10), outstanding (2), superstar (6), stunning (8),  superb (2) wonderful (5)
Listen: