Platinum-selling, Grammy, ACM and CMA nominated artist Billy Currington will hit the road on his headlining Stay Up ‘Til the Sun tour beginning March 9th, 2017 in St. Louis, MO. Billy’s energetic live shows always invite the audience to what feels like a great family reunion that turned into a raucous party. Currington released his sixth studio album, Summer Forever, on Mercury Nashville in June 2015. The first single off of Summer Forever, “Don’t It,” climbed to number 1 on the country airplay charts, followed by the album’s second single “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To,” marking his 10th & 11th career #1 singles. Currington’s latest single from the album, “Do I Make You Wanna,” is a “lay back and take it easy” track with lyrics that provided his latest tour’s title. Over the course of his career, Currington has celebrated eleven No. 1 hits, platinum-selling albums and ACM, CMA and GRAMMY nominations. Currington’s series of chart-toppers include “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To,” “Don’t It,” “Good Directions,” “Let Me Down Easy,” “Must Be Doin’ Something Right,” “People Are Crazy,” “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer,” “That’s How Country Boys Roll,” “Hey Girl,” “Don’t,” and “We Are Tonight”. Billy will visit more than 20 cities including the below:
3/9/17 St. Louis, MO Peabody Opera House3/10/17 Dubuque, IA Five Flags Center3/11/17 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater3/23/17 Northfield, OH Hard Rock Live3/24/17 Roanoke, VA Berglund Performing Arts Theatre3/25/17 Sayerville, NJ Starland Ballroom4/6/17 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE4/7/17 Silver Spring, MD The Fillmore4/8/17 Strousburg, PA Sherman Theater4/20/17 Houston, TX House of Blues4/21/17 Oklahoma City, OK The Criterion5/11/17 Philadelphia, PA The Fillmore5/12/17 Huntington, NY The Paramount5/13/17 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom5/19/17 Richmond, VA Center Stage5/20/17 New York, NY Playstation Theater6/1/17 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
Evie Ladin Band is wrapping up its East Coast swing tonight. Be sure to catch them tonight, January 10, at Rockwood Music Hall. The event, hosted by John Platt of WFUV, will be from 7-9 PM w/ Session Americana & Bruce Carroll.
For more information on Evie Ladin Band check out http://www.evieladin.com/
The Country Radio Broadcasters have announced Zac Brown as the recipient of the CRS 2017 Artist Humanitarian Award and former Chairman and CEO of Greater Media, Peter Smyth, as the recipient of the CRS 2017 Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award, to be presented during Country Radio Seminar 2017; following the Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday, February 22nd, 3:30-4:00 p.m.
The CRB Artist Humanitarian Award was created in 1990 by the organization’s board to honor those Country music artists who have exhibited exceptional humanitarian efforts during their career. Past recipients of the annual award have included Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Trace Adkins, Randy Owen, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Reba, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks and Charlie Daniels, among others.
Zac Brown is a strong supporter of multiple philanthropic causes including his own Camp Southern Ground which was inspired by his experiences as a camp counselor. The program at the Georgia-based state-of-the-art facility is an inclusive camp that combines children with neuro-developmental disorders with mainstream children. Its mission is to provide extraordinary experiences for these children to recognize and magnify the unique gifts within themselves and others in order to profoundly impact the world. Additional organizations that Brown is committed to include GRAMMYS on The Hill, GRAMMY U, MusiCares, Robin Hood Foundation and The USO.
Three-time GRAMMY winner and multi-platinum artist Zac Brown, of Zac Brown Band, is one of music's most heralded acts. The latest platinum-certified album 'JEKYLL + HYDE' (Southern Ground Artists/John Varvatos Records/Big Machine Label Group/Republic Records) marks the band’s fourth consecutive No.1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart. Zac Brown Band has earned a historic series of fifteen No.1 hit radio singles and is only the second band to top both the country and active rock formats.
The Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award is given at the discretion of the Country Radio Broadcasters Board of Directors to recognize an individual in the Country Radio industry who has displayed a magnanimous spirit of caring and generosity in service to their community. This award is named in honor of CRB Board member Tom Rivers, who died in 2004 at age 38 of bronchial asthma. Rivers, known for his work at WQYK, Tampa/St. Petersburg and WUSN, Chicago, was highly regarded for his public service.
An active philanthropist, Smyth currently serves on the Board of Directors of New England Baptist Hospital and the One Hundred Club of Massachusetts, an organization dedicated to enhancing the welfare and safety of the families of public safety officers and firefighters. Additionally, he is an Advisory Board member of the Home Base Program of Boston, which provides clinical care, education, research and support services for military veterans and their families throughout New England.
Smyth is a past member of the Board of Trustees of Emerson College and is a member of the US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management Advisory Board.
In May of 2007, Smyth received the "Humanitarian of the Year" Award from the Hundred Club of Massachusetts. He has also been recognized by Special Olympics of Massachusetts, The USS Constitution, Rogerson Communities (which provides low income housing for the elderly) and the Salvation Army of Greater Boston.
In response to the honor, Smyth commented saying, "I am incredibly honored and humbled to receive this distinguished award. I look forward to attending CRS in 2017."
About Country Radio Seminar: Country Radio Seminar is an annual convention designed to educate and promote the exchange of ideas and business practices in the Country music industry, with specific emphasis on issues relevant to Country radio. Country Radio Seminar 2017 is set forFeb. 22-24, 2017at the Omni Nashville. Visit www.CountryRadioSeminar.com for more information. Follow CRS on Facebook,Twitter (Hashtag #CRS2017) andInstagram.
2016 was a very good year for country music in Boston! Here are my 5 favorite performances from the year (with one cheat).
5. Maren Morris, Bank of NH Pavilion, July 3, 2016.
Maren Morris had arguably my favorite album of 2016 and hearing Hero live certainly didn't disappoint. I missed her opening at Red Rocks (Church may have been a little late to his meet and greet) but loved seeing her open for Keith at the Bank of NH Pavilion.
Maren's vocals are phenomenal and she has such a fun stage presence. If you want to check out a few extra tracks off Hero that you may not have heard yet, I recommend "I Could Use A Love Song" and "How It's Done". If you're making a trip to Target, the hard copy of the CD is worth your while for "Space" alone. Estatic to finally see a full set (at the Paradise Rock Club none the less) when the Hero tour comes to Boston on Friday, February 3rd. http://marenmorris.com/tour/
4. Charles Kelley, House of Blues Boston, April 11, 2016
I have always enjoyed Lady Antebellum but never had them on my "Must See" list. Initially drawn in by the GRAMMY nominated single, "The Driver" with Eric Paslay and Dierks Bentley. I quickly grew to love the entire album.
Kelley was joined by his very talented brother Josh and his show featured some of his Lady Antebellum classics, most of The Driver, and also some of his Lady Antebellum classics. Kelley isn't currently touring, but Lady Antebellum has started releasing dates for Summer 2017. http://ladyantebellum.com/events
Kip Moore is one of the most energetic performers in music today. For the "Me and My Kind" Tour, Moore, supported by Jon Pardi, had the Tsongas Arena rocking. For me, the highlight, other than Moore's signature raspy voice, was hearing so many tracks off my favorite EP, "Underground" live. Moore's energy is contagious, even on a snowy New England Thursday night. You can check out additional dates of the tour here: https://www.kipmoore.net/tour
2. The Brothers Osborne, The Bull Moose Music Shop, HOB Boston, The Blue Ocean Music Hall, and Topsfield Fair. January 14, April 29, and October 7, 2016.
I can tell you the exact moment I heard The Brothers Osborne for the first time. Sitting at Newfound Lake during the summer of 2015, my cousins played me two songs he thought I'd like. The first was "Nowhere Fast" by Old Dominion. And the second, "Stay A Little Longer" by The Brothers Osborne. I was instantly hooked to both. We spent the rest of the weekend listening to the EP and falling in love with "Arms of Fire and "Love the Lonely Out of You". I also quickly had instant regret realized when I heard "Rum" that I had missed 95% of their set opening earlier in the year at House of Blues Boston (which is why you should always go in for the opening act). I've easily listened to "Stay A Little Longer" a thousand times and it's the focal point of every dance party in my living room after too many. One of my favorite days of 2016 was January 14, 2016. I left my day job for a very important "appointment" to get to the Country 102.5 album release party at Bull Moose in Salem, NH. It was amazing to get to say hello to John and TJ and hear some of the releases of Pawn Shop acoustic and ask questions.
From there, I returned to my day job to finish out the day before going home to head into Boston for that night's show at House of Blues. Any day you get to hear a John Osborne guitar solo is a good day, which made January 14th a great day. TJ's smooth baritone is my favorite and the chemistry and harmony between the two is perfection. The Brothers returned to Massachusetts to play for a packed house at the Blue Ocean Music Hall on April 29th.
The highlight of that night for me was hearing the incredible response to one of my favorites, "21 Summer". They played the arena at the Topsfield Fair three weeks before their CMA Duo of the Year win. I have a sad feeling it will be a bit before I see them at a venue that small again. While I'm sure we got a good taste of the Dirt Rich Tour at the fair, I was still hoping they'd come back around with the super talented (and John's wife) Lucie Silvas. You can catch John and TJ on the road with their Dirt Rich Tour now. http://dirtrichtour.brothersosborne.com/
1. Eric Church, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, August 7, 2016
As a Boston-based country blog I feel terrible that my number one show of 2016 is 1,982 miles away from home. That being said, it would be a lie to say that my favorite show was anything other than Eric Church at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Red Rocks has been on my bucket list for a very long time and seeing it in person did not disappoint. Experiencing the views (and altitude) was a one of a kind experience. And seeing Eric Church there was truly a dream come true. Church had two stellar opening acts, Maren Morris night one and Cam night two. He was also joined by long time tour companion Joanna Cotten for duets liked "Mixed Drinks About Feelings".
The concert featured many songs being played live for the first time, including the name of Church's upcoming worldwide tour, Holdin' My Own Tour. I almost fell off my chair when he covered Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". It's hard to describe the atmosphere at the show but there was just a true sense of happiness from the crowd. We knew how lucky we were to be there. From the first note you could sense how special the night was to Church.
Church has many family and friends in attendance sitting behind him at the show including his children (and Peyton Manning). From the moment Church announced his surprise album, Mr. Misunderstood during the CMA Awards, the album has held a steady place in my heart. Each song is so different yet they are woven together to paint a vivid portrait. Church has long been my favorite but The Outsiders didn't do it for me the way that his previous albums had. Mr. Misunderstood did. Church's tour will arrive at the TD Garden on Saturday, January 28th. For tickets to that show or any of the other stops, visit http://www.ticketmaster.com/Eric-Church-tickets/artist/1020885
Honorable Mentions - Old Dominion at Mohegan Sun, Keith Urban at Bank of America Pavilion, Sam Hunt at the Ottawa Blues Festival, Kelsea Ballerini at the House of Blues Boston, Dierks Bentley at Bank of America Pavilion, Cam at Mohegan Sun, Chase Rice at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom.
