Make every night a Friday night!

Eric Paslay extends 2015 tour to venues across the country.  

http://www.ericpaslay.com/eric-extends-headlining-tour-2015/

My Top 15 of 2014

Top 15 Songs of 2014
In no particular order...

Sam Hunt "Take Your Time"

Eric Church "Like a Wrecking Ball"

Eric Paslay "Song About a Girl" 

Thomas Rhett "It Goes Like This" 

Brett Eldredge "Beat of the Music"

Jake Owen "What We Ain't Got"

Dierks Bentley "Say You Do"

The Brothers Osborne "Stay a Little Longer"

Kenny Chesney "The Big Revival"

David Nail "I'm a Fire" 

Charlie Worsham "You Can't Break What's Broken"

Joe Nichols "Yeah"

Chase Rice "Gotta Wanna Tonight"

The Band Perry "Don't Let Me Be Lonely" 

Dierks Bentley "Bourbon in Kentucky"

"Come Over" by Sam Hunt

Love Kenny's version but there's something about a songwriter singing their own songs that always get me.

Sam Hunt covers "Strawberry Wine" by Deana Carter

Check out Sam Hunt covering "Strawberry Wine" by Deana Carter on the Bobby Bones Show.

Good news for Kip Moore!

In addition to Kip Moore winning the #ACCAward for Breakthrough Artist of the Year; Moore's "Something 'Bout a Truck" is now double platinum and "Hey Pretty Girl" has reached platinum status.  Kip heads back on the road in 2015. 


1/27 — Missoula, MT

1/29 — Kennewick, WA

1/30 — Portland, OR

2/3 — Vancouver, B.C.

2/5 — Edmonton, Alberta

2/6 — Calgary, Alberta

2/7 — Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2/13 — Clear Lake, IA

2/14 — Madison, WI

2/20 — Tallahassee, FL

2/21 — Birmingham, AL

3/7 — Dublin, Ireland

3/8 — London, England

Little Big Town heads back out on tour in 2015!

3/5 — Savannah, Ga. — Johnny Mercer Theatre

3/6 — Birmingham, Ala. — BJCC Concert Hall

3/8 — Chattanooga, Tenn — Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium

3/12 — Evansville, Ind. — Aiken Theatre

3/13 — Louisville, Ky. — Louisville Palace

3/14 — Muncie, Ind. — Emens Auditorium

3/19 — Davenport, Iowa — Adler Theatre

3/20 — St. Louis, Mo. — Fox Theatre

3/27 — Sioux City, Iowa — Orpheum Theatre

3/28 — Enid, Okla. — Enid Events Center

For ticket information, visit http://littlebigtown.com/tour

Joel Crouse - Even the River Runs

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152880845665682&id=263682150681

People's #ACCA Awards Photos

People Magazine was on hand for the inaugural American Country Countdown Awards and has some great shots of your favorites, including Chase Rice above.

People Magazine

To fan club, or not to fan club? That is the question.

Here is some information and notes about some of the popular country music fan clubs.

Overall, so far my best success have been with the Dierks Bentley, Jake Owen, and Joe Nichols fan clubs.  Comment below with your suggestions!

Artist	Cost	Includes	Meet and Greet Success	Comments
Dierks Bentley DB Congress	$9.99	Online Content Meet and Greets Presale Ticketing	1/3 Attempts (which I didn’t end up being able to attend)	DB Congress has a fun twitter to follow and the website has behind the scene photos.  For my one meet and greet win, I was unable to attend.
Jake Owen	$14.99	Online Content Meet and Greets Presale Tickets	1/1	I didn’t see the email until after the show because it was in my spam and I don’t want to talk about it.
Joe Nichols Joe Nichols Fan Club	$10.00	Online Content Meet and Greet Early Access to Purchase Fan Party Tickets Early Access to the Meet and Greet at the Fan Party	2/2	I was lucky enough to meet Joe after a “Stars with Guitars” show in Maryland.  Awesome show, super nice guy.  Really friendly and seemed excited to meet everyone.
Zac Brown Band Zamily	$40.00	Pre-sale and Eat & Greet opportunities, priority show entry via Early AcZess, insider information and content, eligibility to attend special events and our annual Zamily reunion, a 20% discount in the Zamily and ZBB web stores	0/1 for an “eat and greet” which costs extra to attend.
Eric Church Church Choir	$19.95	One year membership Presales Meet and Greets Opportunities to attend Church Choir parties, Online content community.	0/1
The Band Perry Fans Perry	$24.99	One Year Membership Tee Shirt Meet and Greet eligibility, Pre-sale Ticketing	0/1 Attempt
Luke Bryan The Nuthouse	$25	Exclusive photos and videos. Meet and Greet eligibility Ticket giveaways Presales	0/2 and I never saw the live link to sign up.  But I have seen meet and greet photos which lead me to believe they exist.  Like a unicorn.
Chase Rice	-	-	0/1	Chase doesn’t have a pay to join fan club but you can sign up for meet and greets through his website.
Thomas Rhett The Home Team	-	-	0/1	Thomas just started his fan club.  You need a clique ID to register and it gains access to Meet and Greets.
Eric Paslay	-	-	1/1	I met Eric Paslay at the Hard Rock Boston by accident.  Like I went to get my coat and somehow ended up first in a meet and greet line.
Brett Eldredge	-	-	1/1	I got to meet Brett through a VIP package that was a $40.00 add on to my ticket.  Brett was a super sweet and nice.

Gloriana at the House of Blues

Local Boston radio station WLKB 102.5 hosted its annual Holiday Jam at the House of Blues.  The co-headlining acts were Gloriana and Jerrod Niemann.  Gloriana, comprised of brothers Tom and Mike Gossin along with Rachel Reinert played all the fan favorites including "(Kissed You) Goodnight" and "Can't Shake You".  One of the more fun moments of the set was when the trio ventured into the crowd for a cover of Champagne Supernova.  The band debuted two new songs, one by my personal favorite Eric Paslay titled "Nobody But You" which was fantastic and I can see getting some serious airplay in the future.  They also played "Trouble" to which Rachel told the ground that boys should know, "girls are like little detectives" and that they should know that before they start trouble.  The act ended with the second cover of the night, changing it up a little with Tom playing the piano and Rachel on guitar for a rocking rendition of the Beatles' "Come Together".

Eric Church debuts Talladega video

I was surprised to see Talladega released as a single but as usual, Eric Church does not disappoint.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rek_Cxrc1pE

What do you think of the new video?

I hate Stuhub. A LOT. A rant.

Recently, Sam Hunt tickets went on sale for a February 12th show at the Paradise Rock Club.  The small venue quickly sold out and the event was moved to the House of Blues where it once again sold out in minutes.  The tickets for the show were $25.00 plus a few dollars in fees.  Currently, the cheapest way in is $70.00 for upper deck stadium seats on Stubhub.  General admission floor tickets are up to $123.  As someone who rarely has the willpower to let a show go by with out attending, I'm frustrated for a few reasons.  One, I don't want to give a random person that isn't a talented songwriter from Alabama $45.00 and especially $98.00 while giving the person I actually want to see $25.  Two, I have no issues paying big money for great seats at a show, but it's frustrating that someone that isn't about music is profiting off people who are.  Also, I'm in the same overpaying boat when it comes to trying to get half decent seats for Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, and Frankie Ballard at either Mohegan or the Verizon Arena in NH.  

So, what's the solution?  I believe the only to stop exorbitant ticket resale prices is for the artists to get involved and make it happen.  Eric Church, who has "declared war" on ticket scalpers and who cancelled 500 tickets to a Knoxville show.  When you buy tickets through the Church Choir, you sometimes have to pick them up in person at the event or use your credit card and license to gain access.  When you purchase tickets through the Kip Moore or Dierks Bentley fan clubs, tickets are mailed to you a week before the show which can also help cut down on reselling.  Artists should be just as unhappy for us overpaying as we are.  We're in this together.  I can see how cancelling general admission shows would be a problem, but when you know the person in section 123, row G is selling there tickets, there should be a way to bring them back to the fans that deserve them and away from scalpers and corporate scalpers like Stubhub.

Jake Owen - A few new things.

Jake debuted a new haircut on his twitter handle @jakeowen along with a new, stripped down music video for "What We Ain't Got".  I'm a big fan of both.

New England to Nashville Homecoming Show

New England to Nashville is a group of local New England country music song writers and performers who are working on making it big in Nashville.  They hosted an event on Saturday to benefit Cameron Liberatore, a local artist who was recently injured in a car accident in Nashville.  The event helped to raise well over $1,000 for Cam and his family to assist with their medical expenses.  I was blown away by how talented the artists were and that they all so graciously donated their time.  The artists included: Featuring: Jilly Martin Music, Carly Tefft, Ryan Kelly, Houston Bernard, Darren Bessette, Cory Farley, Kate Cameron, Britt Hill, Alec Mac Music &Tyler Reardon.  This was my second New England to Nashville event and I can recommend them for those who like to hear up and coming country talent.  

If you'd like to check out Cam's music, click here:  https://www.facebook.com/CamLiberty

If you're able to assist the Liberatore family, click here:  http://www.gofundme.com/cameronliberatore

For more information about New England to Nashville, click here:  https://www.facebook.com/NETNFan

Kip Moore, Sam Hunt, and Charlie Worsham at the Orpheum Theatre

I was lucky enough to attend the CMT: Up in Smoke tour on November 22nd at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston.  Anyone who was there was treated to a giant dance party with three very talented audience.  

Starting the show off was Sam Hunt who has enjoyed a ton of recent success including the #1 single, "Leave the Light On" after song writing success with Kenny Chesney's "Come Over", Keith Urban's "Cop Car" and Billy Currington's "We Are Tonight".  There's been some controversy over just how "country" he is, there's no mistaking his talent.  He brought the house down and had Orpheum rocking.  

Next up was Charlie Worsham.  I first read about Charlie in a Rolling Stone article about guitars you don't want to miss at CMA Fest.  I downloaded his debut album, "Rubberband" and was blown away.  He didn't disappoint live either.  He had a high energy set and was a great transition from Sam to Kip.  

Last up was the main event.  Kip Moore was one of those acts that had somehow escaped me in my rampant concert going.  Kip's voice is unreal and he's a fantastic entertainer.  He can go back and forth between soulful, sweet love songs (Hey Pretty Girl and Young Love) to party anthems (Something About a Truck) flawlessly.  Boston was definitely luck that country music came to town.  

Dierks Bentley with Randy Houser and Eric Paslay

Joel Crouse and Love and Theft!