03.29.06 (AP) HANK WILLIAMS JR. will receive Country Music Television's Johnny Cash Visionary Award during the 2006 CMT Music Awards show next month, the cable network announced Wednesday. Hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, the program airs live April 10th from Nashville. "I've been around a long time, and life still has a whole lot of surprises for me," said the 56-year-old Williams, who joins such previous winners as Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire and The Dixie Chicks. CMT said Williams' creativity and passion have helped shape country music. Williams, the son of Hank Williams Sr., began his career performing his legendary father's songs, but in the 1970s forged his own musical identity by fusing country music with the Southern Rock of groups such as The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Marshall Tucker Band. "My manager back then said I was nuts. He said, 'I don't know what's wrong with you. Just do your daddy's stuff,'" Williams recalled during a recent interview. When he performed, "if I had, oh, 1,000 people and if 600 of them got up and left, I would tell them where the exit was. Guess what? The 400 that stayed turned into 4,000 and then turned into 40,000." Williams has sold 50 million albums with hits including 'Texas Women,' 'Born To Boogie,' 'Family Tradition' and 'All My Rowdy Friends (Are Coming Over Tonight).' Hank Williams Jr. has also been a pioneer in music videos, pairing with friend Waylon Jennings in 1983 for his first one, 'The Conversation.' The following year he called on Jennings, George Jones, Willie Nelson, George Thorogood and others to appear in his 'All My Rowdy Friends' video. He used cutting-edge production in 1989 to create the illusion of him performing a duet with his late father on the video for 'There's A Tear In My Beer.' That same year. Williams reached a broader audience when he began performing the "Monday Night Football" anthem 'Are You Ready for Some Football,' a role that has earned him four Emmys. There have been obstacles along the way, including drug and alcohol abuse and a suicide attempt in 1974. He broke the bones in his face and almost died in a mountain-climbing accident in Montana in 1975. To hide the scars, Williams adopted his trademark look: a beard, cowboy hat and dark sunglasses. Last year. longtime friend-manager Merle Kilgore died, and this month his daughters -- Holly Williams, 25, and Hilary Williams, 27 -- were seriously injured when their sport utility vehicle flipped several times on a Mississippi highway. Williams said he never would have envisioned how his life has turned out. "My spot in this whole thing is in a place I never dreamed it would be," he said. "Let's go back there and say, 'What are the odds that this kid would be singing with Kid Rock at the Super Bowl and winning Emmy awards?' I mean, come on. I like to aim high, but I would have taken that bet back then."

03.28.06 (MusicPortal.com) Rounder Records has announced the May 23rd release of "All American Bluegrass Girl," the new album from RHONDA VINCENT - the fiery vocalist and multi-instrumentalist dubbed "the new queen of bluegrass" by the Wall Street Journal. Since her first Rounder release, 2000's Back Home Again, Vincent has met with increasing acclaim for her dynamic, infectious take on bluegrass. Her gift for balancing classic bluegrass sounds with subtle contemporary touches is featured throughout "All American Bluegrass Girl." Joining her on the album are the members of her stellar road band the Rage, a host of top-notch session musicians, and some of the music's most legendary figures - including Dolly Parton and Bobby Osborne. The album was co-produced by Vincent and her brother Darrin, and is the first album recorded at her own recording studio, Adventure Studios in Nashville. The twelve tracks that make up "All American Bluegrass Girl" cover a wide range of styles and textures, while maintaining a consistent sound. The spry title track -- an original, high-energy crowd-pleasing autobiography in song -- moves seamlessly into the quietly eloquent, bittersweet 'Forever Ain't That Long Anymore.' For every high-energy bluegrass track, there is something more personal, like the beguiling 'Prettiest Flower There.' Rhonda Vincent continues to find refreshing new dimensions to her music, as evidenced by the swinging, bluesy gospel of 'Jesus Built A Bridge To Heaven.' While Vincent continues to actively seek out talented new songwriters, one of the highlights of "All American Bluegrass Girl" is her own continuing emergence as a writer, with the title track, the poetic and moving 'God Bless The Soldier,' and the nimble instrumental, 'Ashes Of Mount Augustine.' In addition to receiving an unprecedented six consecutive Female Vocalist Of The Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (I.B.M.A.), being named I.B.M.A.'s 2001 Entertainer Of The Year, and being the co-author of the 2004 I.B.M.A. Song of the Year, Vincent was nominated for a 2005 Grammy¨ award for Best Bluegrass Album for Ragin' Live. With its modern take on timeless themes, All American Bluegrass Girl promises to be the next step in her tireless campaign to introduce listeners around the world to the universal appeal of bluegrass music. "Just recently," Vincent recalls, "I was reminded how powerful this music is, no matter how old or young you are. A little girl from Missouri came up to me, after hearing 'All American Bluegrass Girl' and asked, 'Could I sing your song?' I asked her why, and she just said 'Because I'm an All American Bluegrass Girl too!'"
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03.27.06 (AP) Singer BUCK OWENS, the flashy rhinestone cowboy who shaped the sound of Country music with hits like 'Act Naturally' and brought the genre to TV on the long-running "Hee Haw," died Saturday. He was 76. Owens died at his home in Bakersfield, said family spokesman Jim Shaw. The cause of death was not immediately known. Owens had undergone throat cancer surgery in 1993 and was hospitalized with pneumonia in 1997. His career was one of the most phenomenal in country music, with a string of more than 20 No. 1 records, most released from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. They were recorded with a honky-tonk twang that came to be known throughout California as the "Bakersfield Sound," named for the town 100 miles north of Los Angeles that Owens called home. "I think the reason he was so well known and respected by a younger generation of country musicians was because he was an innovator and rebel," said Shaw, who played keyboards in Owens' band, The Buckaroos. "He did it out of the Nashville establishment. He had a raw edge." Owens, elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996, was modest when describing his aspirations. "I'd like to be remembered as a guy that came along and did his music, did his best and showed up on time, clean and ready to do the job, wrote a few songs and had a hell of a time," he said in 1992. An indefatigable performer, Owens played a red, white and blue guitar with fireball fervor. He and the Buckaroos wore flashy rhinestone suits in an era when flash was as important to country music as fiddles. "When people start looking back on his career, they are going to be surprised by the number of things he did first," said guitarist Roy Clark, who worked with Owens on "Hee Haw." "He left a great legacy in country music." Among his biggest hits were 'Together Again' (also recorded by Emmylou Harris), 'I've Got A Tiger By The Tail,' 'Love's Gonna Live Here,' 'My Heart Skips A Beat' and 'Waitin' In Your Welfare Line.' And he was the answer to this music trivia question: What country star had a hit record that was later done by the Beatles? "Those guys were phenomenal," Owens once said. Ringo Starr recorded 'Act Naturally' twice, singing lead on The Beatles' 1965 version and recording it as a duet with Owens in 1989. The song, by Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison, tells of a poor soul who foresees a movie career playing "a man who's sad and lonely, and all I gotta do is act naturally. ... Might win an Oscar, you can never tell." In addition to music, Owens had a highly visible TV career as co-host of "Hee Haw" from 1969 to 1986. With Clark, he led viewers through a potpourri of country music and hayseed humor. "It's an honest show," Owens told The Associated Press in 1995. "There's no social message - no crusade. It's fun and simple." Owens himself could be rebellious, choosing among other things to label what he did "American music" rather than country. "I took a little heat," he once said. "People asked me, 'Isn't country music good enough for you?'" He also criticized the syrupy arrangements of some country singers, saying "assembly-line, robot music turns me off." After his string of hits, Owens stayed away from the recording scene for a decade, returning in 1988 to record another No. 1 record, 'Streets Of Bakersfield,' with Dwight Yoakam. Yoakam said he saw Owens just days before his death. "Even though he seemed in a somewhat fragile physical state, he was emotionally exuberant and still living life in a forward motion, discussing a variety of plans for his future," Yoakam said in a statement. "I will cherish, forever, the musical moments he graciously shared with me during his life. I will be eternally grateful for his..." [full story]
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03.01.06 (AP) ALAN JACKSON's mother Ruth had been after him for 10 years to make a Gospel record. So last year, when the Country superstar's father-in-law died, he recorded 'Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus' for the funeral. Then the whole family got after him, too. So he went to work. He and his wife, Denise, went through an old Baptist hymnal they had in the house, choosing the songs they remembered and liked best growing up in Newnan, Georgia. They narrowed it down to 30 and then to 15. The result, his new album, "Precious Memories," hit stores Tuesday. He could have dug up some obscure hymns for the new Gospel album, or he could have jazzed up the old songs with fresh arrangements, or even given them a Blues spin. But he didn't do any of that. He recorded standards like 'How Great Thou Art' and 'Blessed Assurance' as a Christmas gift for his mother and kept them as simple and pure as he remembered them. "I wanted to make them feel like they did when we sang them in church," ALAN JACKSON said. Jackson, who has sold more than 44 million albums since his 1989 debut, performed all of "Precious Memories" Monday at the 113-year-old Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee - a former Gospel tabernacle, and home to the Grand Ole Opry radio show from 1943 to 1974. The Ryman's stained-glass windows glowed as Jackson, accompanied by a four-piece band and two harmony singers, converted the hall into a church revival with fans singing and clapping in the wooden pews. While recording the songs for "Precious Memories," ALAN JACKSON never intended for anyone but his family and friends to hear them, and had made up 100 CD's as Christmas gifts. His wife and two of their daughters sang on one song, 'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus,' and Jackson shot the photo of the country church on the cover. RCA Label Group Chairman Joe Galante heard the recordings and liked how intimate and emotional they sounded. It didn't hurt either that Brad Paisley -- Jackson's label mate on Arista Nashville -- had a huge hit with 'When I Get Where I'm Going,' a spiritual song that would fit next to any of the hymns found on "Precious Memories." "People seem to have a hunger for those things that not only reinforce their faith but give them hope. Certainly, this record has that feeling to it," Galante said. While Jackson didn't have reservations about putting out such a personal record, he did worry that fans might get the wrong impression about his musical direction. It's one thing for a Country singer past his prime to cut a Gospel album, and another for a contemporary star like ALAN JACKSON to do it. "In the past, I've seen artists in the country field who've decided they want to be a little more active in Christian and gospel music, and there's nothing wrong with that," said Jackson, who is finishing up a mainstream album for release later this year. "But I thought, 'if I'm going to be a mainstream country act I don't want people to get confused and think I'm not doing country music anymore.'" Jackson, whose sound is rooted in the old-school Country of his musical heroes George Jones, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams, writes most of his own songs. In 2002 he won a Grammy for 'Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),' a touching rumination on the Sept. 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Like many Country singers, ALAN JACKSON's early exposure to music came in church. He originally sang in the choir and was drawn to the sound of the pipe organ. Today, at 47, Jackson worships in a church where most of the music is contemporary Christian. His daughters like the modern style, but he said he still misses the old hymns sometimes.
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[Country News: February 2006]
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