Martina McBride recently spent the weekend enjoying the company of her brothers and sisters helping celebrate the 45th wedding anniversary of her Mom and Dad. I had the pleasure of meeting her parents last year at Medicine Lodge, Kansas at a Tracy Lawrence concert. It just so happens my truck driver, Bob Brown, of nearly 17 years went to school with her dad. If you ever wondered where Martina got her beautiful looks you have to see her mother.
Four months later, the Grand Ole Opry re-opened Tuesday, September 27, 2010. Helping celebrate the re-opening was, Blake Shelton, Little Jimmy Dickens, Bill Anderson, Trace Adkins and many more. During Blake Shelton’s portion, Blake was brought a cell phone and asked to check his twitter for an important message. Once checking his twitter, he noticed he had a message from the Grand Ole Opry asking him to join. Blake Shelton will be inducted in to the Opry this October. Miranda Lambert, his fiancé, can’t complain about his Twitter account. Miranda tweets too “I’m engaged to a member of the Grand Ole Opry” I think this is Blake’s year, his hard work is paying off.”
“Local” Edmond Turner passed away Saturday, September 25th during a performance in Franklin,TN. Edmond was the last act at our Anniversary party the night before. Edmond was a good friend of Dale Allen, who is a good friend of ours. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family as well as Dale’s. It is tough losing a good friend.
Our Founder, Dan Wunsch, took the leap and left for Prague for the writer’s festival Monday, September 20. We have not heard from him yet. Hope all goes well for him there. He has plans to stay and party there for a month. Keith Urban is letting his fans get involved in his artwork for his new album, due out in November. Who would have guessed it? Ronnie Dunn is working on a solo album; I thought he was a solo act this whole time. Kenny Chesney, for the first time in 8 years, was not nominated for CMA Entertainer of the Year. Kenny said it came as no surprise, blaming it on his taking a year off. I would blame it on some other good artists getting some well-deserved recognition. Loretta Lynn celebrated her 50 years in country music by hosting a concert at her ranch at Hurricane Mills on Saturday, September 25. The night before, little sister, Crystal Gayle did a performance at the ranch. Late September, Lady Antebellum kicked off their first headlining tour. Marty Martel is finally getting answers to his question of where the stars that are getting local attention in the paper and local channels have been. Travis Tritt is hitting the big screen and playing the character of Eddie Waters in the upcoming movie Fishers of Men.
Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, Mel Tillis appeared on the Tonight Show, hosted by Johnny Carson 28 times … yes that is correct 28 times! Trips to New York were nothing out of the ordinary for country music’s iconic stuttering funnyman. Tillis’ last visit to the “concrete jungle” came in 1987 when he last appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. Last week, while promoting his new comedy album, YOU AIN’T GONNA BELIEVE THIS …, the Country Music Hall of Famer returned to the Big Apple after a 22-year absence from the city that arguably, helped catapult him into stardom. Award-winning singer/songwriter, Jamey Johnson, and award-winning actor, Matthew McConaughey, collaborate on the music video for Johnson’s “Playing the Part”. Ricochet celebrates fifteen years of “Daddy’s Money” with a new tour. Darryl Worley’s 9th annual Tennessee River Run raised $200,000 in proceeds and will be donated to the Darryl Worley Foundation. More than 10,000 people from all over the country attended the 3-day event, which included a poker run, golf tournament, songwriters round, and fish fry along with two star-studded nights of concerts.
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