Here’s hoping that the servers didn’t crash from the demand last week as tickets went on sale for Keith’s Australian shows in December. If you missed the story On The Road with Keith Urban from Channel Seven’s Sunday Night program showing him at the "happiest place he’s ever been" life-wise, you can watch the replay at
au.tv.yahoo.com/sunday-night/video/-/watch/13970308/

Back in February we alerted you to Intune @ Tamworth, who brought us online festival footage, vodcasts, gossip and what was happening at the Tamworth Festival. Now the best of their second year of broadcasts has been compiled and begins airing on NITV (National Indigenous Television) from Wednesday 15th July at 9:30pm.
www.nitv.org.au/intune

RASCAL FLATTS recently used the US People’s Choice website to host its album-design contest. First, the band provided optional photos and design elements to aspiring designers, who then submitted potential covers. Then, the group chose a handful of favourites and let fans decide a winner. Chris Kubik, a senior graphic designer for Schumacher Electric Corp. and long-time Rascal Flatts fan, made the leap from managing artwork of battery chargers and jump starters to the cover of the superstar country trio’s new album. His design, which features the musicians sitting in high-back chairs with picture frames representing the group’s six albums behind them, won out from over 2,000 other submissions to become the cover of the album Unstoppable. Three other finalists had thumbnails of their designs inside the CD booklet. Expect to see a lot more fan interaction with musicians of all styles in the near future.
www.rascalflatts.com

NEW TECHNOLOGY AT CMA MUSIC FEST!
That was the publicity headline coming from Nashville last month. Amongst the featured technology available to country music fans this year was;

‘HotShots’, allowing fans at the CMA Music Fest to share all their photos with the world by emailing them to the website. www.cmafest.com/2009/videophotos/games/hotshots/

‘TAGs’, which meant fans could download info straight to their Blackberry, iPhone or other Smartphone to get the nightly line-up, shuttle routes, and other event schedules right on their mobile phone!

At the Microsoft booth inside the Exhibit Hall they could try out CMA Music Fest’s new Be This Close game. It was a virtual scavenger hunt with prizes and although the contest is over, you can still play the game online. You may need to download Microsoft’s new Silverlight add-on to your browser, but it is fairly small and quick.
www.cmafest.com/2009/videophotos/games/bethisclose/

And, bringing us back to where we started this month, check out the Desktop Wallpaper available from the festival, especially a great photo of KEITH URBAN and his guitar amongst the crowd.
www.cmafest.com/2009/videophotos/wallpaperIcons.aspx

Until next time, happy surfing!

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A collection of DVDs under the banner of Legends of the famous ‘Lippman + Rau Festivals’ may not ring any bells for the casual country music fan, but for those with a eye to the historic, a rough gem awaits! Horst Lippman and Fritz Rau were German club owners turned concert promoters in the sixties and as is the European way, they celebrated and revered not only American music, but the entire art and culture that went with it. Their ventures included Jazz, Folk, Blues and Country. DVD 2 in the series, LEGENDS OF SPIRITUAL & GOSPEL AND FOLK & COUNTRY contains, three monochrome television specials made during various tours. The first two contain not just Gospel songs, but entire Church services, imported lock, stock and hallelujah, as they would have been performed in the African-American churches of the USA. The third program is the Festival of American Folk & Country Music 1966 with very rare recordings of the Stanley Brothers & Clinch Mountain Boys, New Lost City Ramblers, Roscoe Holcomb, Cousin Emmy and Cyp Landreneau. Tracy Schwarz of the New Lost City Ramblers hosts the show, apparently because he spoke some German, and although the set-design is quite elaborate for the era, the presentation is somewhat stilted. The music however is exceptional in its honesty and rawness, particularly Roscoe Holcomb who was the inspiration for the term ‘high, lonesome sound’. An Appalachian coal miner and farmer, he is to old-timey country, what Blind Willie Johnson is to the Blues. The Stanley Brothers numbers are poignant to watch when you realise that Carter Stanley would pass away later that year. Cyp Landreneau and his band perform unadulterated Cajun music with the older school line-up of accordion, fiddle and triangle! Cousin Emmy was known as the ‘the first hillbilly to own a Cadillac’ and her outrageous musical abilities and singing style endeared her to the folk-revival festivals and Hollywood alike. These videos have never been released before and are lovingly presented with a 56 page booklet that includes all the historical information and reminiscences from some of the participants.
Tropical Music, catalogue number 68.363, available in Australia via Planet Distribution. For more information and visit www.legends-of.com

Back in the early sixties, BOB DYLAN had a ‘message’ and he shouted it with a passion. By the release of his landmark country album Nashville Skyline in the late sixties, his unorthodox singing voice was often thought of, in commercial terms, as a shortcoming. His new album from, Together Through Life (Sony Music Entertainment Australia), continues on the flow of his most recent releases with a melodic style that suits his now more aged than ravaged voice. Parallels can be drawn with the final albums of another elder statesman, the late Johnny Cash or the latest from fellow troubadour Willie Nelson, who will be a guest artist on the forthcoming US tour of The Bob Dylan Show. The deluxe version of Together Through Life includes a DVD of ‘The Lost Interview’ with former manager Roy Silver, filmed for, but not used in the 2005 No Direction Home documentary. Fans are still hoping for rarer treasures to surface such as more of the footage of Dylan and Cash in the studio that was just hinted at in the documentary or the full album of duets the pair recorded in 1969. Still, on the new album country blues influences abound, banjo, steel and mandolins ring and the accordion of David Hidalgo from Los Lobos adds a distinct Tex-Mex flavour to the song This Dream Of You. Although Dylan quoted the lyrics of Dolly Parton’s Jolene in a recent interview, he claims the character in his song of the same name is “a different lady”. The album has been well received critically and while it may not attract legions of new converts, as Dylan himself has said, “I know my fans will like it. Other than that, I have no idea.”

Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
 

Until next time, happy surfing!

As a young rising star of the music scene and a busy world traveller,
SHEA FISHER has to get her information and fun on the run these days. Currently on a two month promotional tour across the USA, you can follow her exploits as she blogs at her own site (www.sheafisher.com) with chatty news about the many towns along her trail, plus personal insights such as why her band will probably not let her choose the next movie they go to see.

Shea favours many of the well-established and most useful sites such as iTunes (www.itunes.com); “I love iTunes. You can find any song you are looking for it doesn’t matter what genre or era the song you are looking for is from. I like the fact that you can listen to 30 seconds of each song before you decide whether you want to buy it or not.”

Like most of us, Shea thinks “Google (www.google.com) is one of the best inventions. It allows you to find ANYTHING you want. If you need information on an artist, movie, town, celebrity etc you can find it all by just typing what you are looking for into Google search box. I spent many hours when I was at school on Google and it was so helpful for assignments and projects. I now love it because it keeps me up to date with the world around me and also lets me find some cool images of my favourite artists.”

Understandably, Shea is enjoying the benefits of Skype (www.skype.com). “It allows me to talk to my family and friends back home in Australia for free when I am travelling overseas. All I have to do is go online and ring their number and it connects me straight through. I love that I am able to see the person I am talking to as well as hear them. It is great when I am travelling.”

From her personal angle, as a rodeo champion herself it is no surprise that Shea visits the website of the Australian Professional Rodeo Association (www.prorodeo.asn.au). “This is one of my favourite website to look up during the rodeo season. It is so helpful to see where you draw out in each event you are competing in. You can also keep up to date with where you at sitting in the Australian standing. Even when I am on the road singing, I like to look up the results of who places at each rodeo that I can’t attend in person.”

Shea is plugged in to all the latest trends including Twitter and Facebook but especially likes MySpace (www.myspace.com/sheafishermusic). “It is such a great way for me to be able keep in touch with friends and fans. I love looking at other artist’s MySpace pages as well. Music MySpace allows you to check on the latest songs released, latest shows coming up and learn more about your favourite artist. I personally love being able to write blogs to my fans, update my photos and reply to messages people send me.”

They say a tree can wither if nobody tends its roots, so now we leave the young aspiring artist and look back at the superstar who was known as The First Lady of Country Music. From the Archive Series of the Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum comes another DVD, this one entitled LEGENDARY PERFORMANCES - TAMMY WYNETTE (via Shock in Australia). Fifteen rare television performances are included which span from 1967-1981, beginning with Tammy singing a Loretta Lynn hit, but quickly progressing to a succession of her own chart-toppers. Highlights include I Don’t Wanna Play House, D-I-V-O-R-C-E, Stand By Your Man and four fabulous duets with George Jones. Today’s video generation, accustomed to scene changes every few seconds and multiple costumes, will marvel at the stationary camera work and bouffant hair styles, but even today the magic of Tammy Wynette still fills the air with wonder.

Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
 

Until next time, happy surfing!

19 April 2009: FELICITY URQUHART co-hosted John Nutting’s SATURDAY NIGHT COUNTRY to launch her new album Landing Lights at the Sydney studios of ABC Radio 702.

From the Archive Series of the Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum comes the DVD entitled LEGENDARY PERFORMANCES - MERLE HAGGARD (via Shock in Australia). This is the first chance for many of us to witness live USA television appearances by Merle Haggard and the Strangers dating from 1968 (Branded Man on ‘Country Music Holiday’) through to 1983 (San Antonio Rose on the ‘Johnny Cash Christmas Special’). Amusingly on the earliest clips, the band was almost stationary, like deer caught in the headlights of the television studio. It must be remembered that their sound however, particularly the interplay between guitarist Roy Nichols and steel-man Norm Hamlet, was revolutionising the country music scene. By the time they performed Workin’ Man Blues on ‘Pop! Goes The Country’ in 1974, both Merle and the band were pushing the boundaries again by incorporating improvisation and extended solos into their show. This harked back to the western swing style of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys whose music was undergoing a revival, spearheaded by Merle Haggard and The Strangers who by now included the legendary Tiny Moore on electric mandolin. Merle is the poet whose words championed the disenfranchised everyday man and The Strangers are the band that set the standards that still hold true today. This DVD is not to be missed.

It’s a good time to be a Hag fan because also out now is a DVD of Merle Haggard’s very first Austin City Limits performance, containing 12 different songs than the previously released 1985 show. LIVE FROM AUSTIN, TX ‘78 (via Shock in Australia) comes as a dual CD/DVD package. This is a wonderfully relaxed show with a large band (eleven onstage including three fiddles when Merle takes up the bow) and a fine mix of Haggard hits and western swing standards. This is not only a near-perfect record of their live show, but historically a significant snapshot of the best in country music, the way it was in 1978.

  For a bit of light-hearted diversion, check out SLEEVEFACE, a site that features “one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion”. Some of the contributors’ photos involve them holding an LP cover in front of their face while dressed in appropriate clothes to become part of the picture, but some of them are much more inventive. It has to be seen to be appreciated and the site has also spawned a book of images. If you want join in as well as observing, there is an entertaining how-to video tutorial on the site which is itself worth watching just for fun. Pictured here is my own humble effort, in keeping with this column, Merle Haggard - Live In Our Living Room.
 

On a local note, our own SHEA FISHER stands poised on the brink of International stardom and you can find out why when you download a free track from her new album Shea. The following link will take you to the E-card for the track and also lead you her latest video clip, filmed in Los Angeles.
universalmusic.net.au/ecards/shea-fisher

Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
 

Until next time, happy surfing!

It was the early hours of 15 March 2009 and TANIA KERNAGHAN was leaving the Sydney studios of ABC Radio 702 where she co-hosted John Nutting’s SATURDAY NIGHT COUNTRY to launch her new album Livin’ The Dream. While passing through the ABC foyer, Tania was surprised to find herself hanging on the wall…as part of the 16th annual Bald Archy Prize exhibition! The painting “Push For The Bush” by David J Gough - a finalist in the 2009 Bald Archy Prize - also features several other country music luminaries. The exhibition has already been a major attraction of the National Multicultural Committee in Canberra and you can find details of the Sydney exhibition here (showing until 8 April). The exhibition then moves on to Coff’s Harbour, Wagga Wagga, Deniliquin, West Wyalong, Melbourne, Adelaide and Bowral.
Photo permission kindly granted by Peter Batey, Founder/Director of the Bald Archy Prize.

TRACY KILLEEN had barely recovered from her Female Vocal win at the 2009 TIARA Independent Artists Awards, when – more excitement – Tracy relocated to Brisbane! Amongst her exciting new activities is a role as the radio co-host of ‘Heatwave Country’ with Daryl Kirkup on the KIX Country network. Check the station’s website for a list of broadcast frequencies that extend diagonally from the Queensland coast to South Australia. If you are out of range, don’t panic! You can listen live on the web and check out ‘Kirkup & Killeen’ streamed on the internet every Friday from 5 pm (4pm EST). Tracy is pictured here in Tamworth with fans Amelia & Jemma who are modelling the latest in TK fashions. 

 
MELINDA SCHNEIDER is celebrating her 6th Golden Guitar award win with Still Here; the heart warming duet with Paul Kelly that won the Vocal Collaboration of the Year category at the 37th CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia. Still Here is the latest single from the ARIA nominated album Be Yourself. You can listen to Still Here and watch the video at Melinda’s MySpace page. Paul is quoted as saying, “I like the tune and the words. Long lasting love is the hardest kind of love to write about. I like the way our voices sound so different yet blend kinda salty-sweet. Cool clip, too. They should all be so easy.”

MELINDA SCHNEIDER, JOHN WILLIAMSON, CATHERINE BRITT

The JOHN WILLIAMSON website has a new look and featured on the news page is the video for his Golden Guitar winner and latest single, Australia Is Another Word For Free. The clip features the combined performing talents of John Williamson, Warren H. Williams and Amos Morris and was filmed on location at Stillwell Trucks in Sydney by award-winning director Mark Jago. While you are there you can sign up for the True Blue Newsletter and check out the news archives of what was a very busy time for JW after the release of the Hillbilly Road album.

CATHERINE BRITT beams out from the front of her site, proudly holding her well-deserved Female Artist of the Year Golden Guitar Award. If you are lucky enough to have a copy of the Little WildFlower Deluxe CD & DVD Edition you can watch not only the video clip version of Catherine’s winning track What I Did Last Night, but also a live performance video from last year’s Telstra Road to Tamworth show. I can also recommend clicking over to the site for SBS Television’s ROCKWIZ. Not only is it one of the most entertaining shows on the air, but under Past Performances you will find live clips of several country artists including Catherine Britt who duets with Max Merritt on his classic Slippin’ Away and Melinda Schneider singing Hush with Russell Morris.

Until next time, happy surfing!

Sony Music Entertainment Australia is pleased to support the fundraising for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal through the release of a special benefit compilation CD “BUSHFIRE AID – Artists for the Bushfire Appeal”. Australian and international artists have immediately jumped to the cause and generously donated their songs and royalties to help the appeal. BUSHFIRE AID – Artists For The Bushfire Appeal features thirty five tracks over two cds from artists such as Midnight Oil, Hoodoo Gurus, John Farnham, Delta Goodrem, Jessica Mauboy, John Butler Trio and Wes Carr, together with international artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel.

BUSHFIRE AID – Artists For The Bushfire Appeal was officially launched during the Nine Network telethon ‘Australia Unites – The Victorian Bushfire Appeal’, which aired on Thursday 12 February nationally. Sony Music proceeds from the sale of the CD will go to the Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal through the charitable arm of the Australian Sony Group of Companies, The Sony Foundation.

Denis Handlin AM, Chairman & CEO, Australia & New Zealand, Sony Music
Entertainment said: “Sony Music Australia is privileged to support the Victorian Bushfire Appeal through this special CD.

Our thanks go to all of the artists and songwriters for generously donating their tracks royalty free. We also thank Sony DADC Australia for kindly donating the CD manufacturing.

I know everyone in Australia shares deep concern for this tragedy, its horrific toll on life, families, communities and wildlife. On behalf of Sony Music and the Sony Foundation, our thoughts and prayers are with those affected, and our immense gratitude goes to all the emergency service people and volunteers who have so generously given in this time of need.”

BUSHFIRE AID – Artists For The Bushfire Appeal is in stores now.
www.bushfireaid.com.au

If you missed the festival or just want to re-live some of the excitement via the World Wide Web, check out Intune @ Tamworth, the “prime multimedia resource for the festival”. For the second year the Intune team posted daily vodcasts (short for video-podcasts) full of the latest news and exclusive festival footage. Each bite size video is available online and you also can watch for them to be screened on NITV (National Indigenous Television) via cable television. During the Starry Starry Night episode, Intune Interactive host EJ Garrett talks to Sharnee Fenwick and continues to explore the significance of Star Maker contest in launching the careers of some Australia’s biggest Country Music stars. Also featured is Darren Coggan, a few days before his Golden Guitar win, pictured here backstage at the Star Trek anniversary concert talking to Intune host Belinda Miller, recalling how Star Maker helped him along. Also featured in the series are The McClymonts, James Blundell, Kirsty Lee Akers, the buskers and much more.

STEVE PASSFIELD and the HANDPICKED BAND can be seen busking in Tamworth as part of the historical vision on their new 21^st ANNIVERSARY DVD. Subtitled ‘Inspiration & stories flowing from the Macleay’, the documentary section intertwines film of the band’s reunion celebration with tales of Steve’s family and upbringing in Kempsey. Bush yarns and interviews with family friends sit alongside reminiscences of current and former band members and footage that includes Steve’s 2008 Golden Guitar win. Also included from his solo album are four music videos, each with an introduction from Steve. Amongst the light-hearted themes are some serious issues such as racism in the not too distant past, and also tolerance of those who are different, explored in the lyrics of the moving song Acceptance. The DVD rounds out with a Handpicked History Montage that runs through a series of photos that not only chart the growth of the band but also the length of Steve’s moustache! An excellent chronicle of a fine band and the era that created them.

It seems that DVD releases that feature JOHNNY CASH far outnumber all other country music artists and the good news is that they just keep getting better. After last year’s local release of the brilliant retrospective The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show 1960-1971, comes a feature-length documentary film entitled JOHNNY CASH’S AMERICA. Acclaimed filmmakers Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon have approached their subject both chronologically and through a series of topics; Land, Freedom, Protest, Justice, Family, Truth, Faith, Patriot, and Redemption. The material used to tell the story is not used for an obvious ‘greatest hits’ re-telling of what is by now a familiar story, but rather as an examination of a magnificent, yet flawed human and the magnificent, yet flawed country that he loved so well. Contradiction is a word much used to describe Cash and America in the narration and by many of the interviewees that range from Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle and Kris Kristofferson to Al Gore and Snoop Dogg! Several family members are featured, particularly in a scene where Johnny’s sister Joanne leads a road trip to the original family house. There is rare and previously unseen footage plus live and studio performances from all eras of his career and the DVD is packaged with an 18 song CD soundtrack that includes 5 previously unreleased tracks. The dark-side of the music ‘business’ is exposed as Johnny Cash is dropped by Columbia Records in the eighties after decades of hits. Producer Rick Rubin (American Recordings label) is credited with the artistic rejuvenation of Johnny Cash in the nineties, much as June Carter Cash is recognized as saving his personal well-being and spirit so many years before. The film ends with his chilling version of the Trent Reznor song Hurt that sounds as autobiographical as anything Cash had ever written himself. Johnny Cash’s America is an engrossing story told with superb style.

110 minutes - Columbia/Legacy 88697 23401 2 via Sony Music Entertainment Australia.

Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…

Until next time, happy surfing!