Carrie Underwood donates sheet music to Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame
Carrie Underwood performs at her induction into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in September. Underwood has donated original sheet music of her song “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore” to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and Museum. (Photo by Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman Archives)
A version of this story also appears in Friday’s The Oklahoman.
Carrie Underwood’s gift hits write note with museum
Checotah native donates original sheet music of a song she co-wrote
MUSKOGEE — Country music superstar Carrie Underwood has donated original sheet music to her song “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore” to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
The hall of fame unveiled the gift from the Checotah native Thursday evening at the Muskogee institution, where officials also talked about plans for a multi-million dollar expansion and statewide music trail.
Underwood, along with keyboardist Rocky Frisco and yodeler Ramona Reed, was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in September.
She said then, “This is where we all come from, this is where we all call home, so the fact that throughout all our lives and careers, the fact that we’ve had this amazing state behind us is a wonderful feeling.”
Underwood co-wrote “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore” for her 2005 debut album, released six months after she won “American Idol.” The sheet music, framed with her signed photo and dedication to the hall, will be displayed immediately at the museum’s home in the historic Frisco Depot.
“It’s astounding what Carrie Underwood has done for us,” said Andrea Chancellor, hall of fame board member. “She has remembered us by putting together a true piece of art that shows her tie to Oklahoma and her dedication to what we’re doing and her support of Oklahoma musicians.”
Board President Max Boydstun said the gift is the kind of artifact he can imagine going into a Carrie Underwood exhibit in the planned museum expansion.
Boydstun presented to the legislature in August a $16.5 million plan to build a new museum next to the depot and establish a music trail similar to the Mississippi Blues Trail. The proposed 30,000-square-foot building would give the museum, now housed in the 2,000-square-foot former railroad depot, space to pay tribute to hall of fame members, display their memorabilia, offer interactive exhibits, open a children’s area and have concerts and classes.
“We have to let the younger generation know that music doesn’t just come out of an iPod,” he said. “We want kids to have hands-on experience at how a guitar makes music.”
The planned Oklahoma Music Trail would include at least 100 historical markers to be posted around the state, from Underwood’s hometown to Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. The markers would honor important musical people, places and events in state history.
“We feel like that will become a tourist attraction in itself, but the real cool part is, it will not compete with any other attraction in the state. It will only help market the other music-related museums and events,” he said.
The hall of fame and museum will ask the legislature next session to appropriate $12.5 million over the next five years to help pay for the two projects, he said. The remaining $4 million will be sought from federal and local governments, as well as corporate and private donors. The mayor, city councilors, local legislators and other community leaders attended Thursday’s event.
“We as a state, I think, have a great opportunity at increasing the tourism business in Oklahoma … and I see the museum and trail as a part of that,” Boydstun said. “And strictly from a pride standpoint, we want kids in Oklahoma growing up to be able to look at a Carrie Underwood or a Gene Autry or a Charlie Christian and not only enjoy their music and what they’ve done but also have that sense … that ‘I can take my talents to world like these people did.’”
-BAM
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame to unveil Carrie Underwood gift
Carrie Underwood performs at her induction into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in September. (Photo by Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman Archives)
MUSKOGEE – The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and Museum plans to unveil to the public a special museum donation from country music star Carrie Underwood and discuss its plans for the future at an event Thursday afternoon.
Underwood, along with state performers Rocky Frisco and Ramona Reed, was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in September.
Stay tuned to BAM’s Blog to learn what Checotah’s favorite daughter has gifted to the institution.
And for more information on the Oklahoma Music Hall, go to www.oklahomamusichalloffame.com.
-BAM
Carrie Underwood, Leona Lewis to perform at “CNN Heroes” gala
Carrie Underwood (Associated Press photo)
Oklahoma country music star Carrie Underwood and British singer Leona Lewis will perform at the third annual “CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute,” CNN announced today.
The gala honors everyday citizens who are making a difference in their communities and beyond. Hosted by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, the program will air globally on Thanksgiving, at 8 p.m. Nov. 26 on CNN/U.S., CNN International and CNN en Español.
Celebrities scheduled to present include Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Neil Patrick Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Randy Jackson and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Additional appearances will be announced in days to come.
The Top 10 CNN Heroes, as selected by the Blue Ribbon Panel, were unveiled by Cooper on CNN last month. The public will select the CNN Hero of the Year via voting at www.CNN.com/Heroes, which concludes at 5 a.m. Thursday. During the Nov. 26 broadcast, the Top Ten Heroes will each be awarded $25,000, and CNN will reveal the CNN Hero of the Year, who will receive an additional $100,000.
This Year’s Blue Ribbon Panel judges included Sir Elton John, Colin Powell, Mariane Pearl, Shakira, Wallis Annenberg, Tavis Smiley, Ted Turner, Tory Burch, Kirk Cameron, Whoopi Goldberg, Malaak Compton-Rock, Rossana Rosado, and Masi Oka. In its third year, the CNN HEROES initiative garnered a record number of nominations – more than 9,000 – and a record number of online votes for CNN Hero of the Year, surpassing 2 million votes.
For more TV news, check out Penny Soldan’s TV blog at http://blog.newsok.com/television.
-BAM
Carrie Underwood continues TV blitz
Checotah native Carrie Underwood is continuing her huge TV blitz in support of her new album, “Play On,” which is currently sitting at No. 1 on the multi-genre Billboard 200 chart as well as on Billboard’s Country Albums list. The “American Idol” winner also has the No. 1 country song in the land with the album’s lead-off single “Cowboy Casanova.”
Today The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
Nov 18 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Nov 19 Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Nov 22 American Music Awards
In addition, the country star’s first-ever “Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special” will air at 7 p.m. Dec. 7 on FOX.
For more TV news, check out Penny Soldan’s information-packed blog at http://blog.newsok.com/television.
-BAM
Photo gallery: 2009 CMA Awards red carpet
Carrie Underwood smiles on the CMA Awards red carpet. (Associated Press photos)
Several of country music’s biggest stars donned their sparkling best to walk the carpet at Wednesday night’s CMA Awards at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn. Check out these Associated Press photos of some of the music luminaries.
Carrie Underwood wore sparkling silver for the first of her many gowns for the evening.
Duet partners Chris Daughtry and Oklahoma native Vince Gill walked the red carpet together.
Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert went with a long black gown for the red carpet and a short white dress for her performance.
Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles picked a black red carpet gown, too.
Oklahoma native Reba McEntire also went with basic black.
Keith Urban and his movie-star wife Nicole Kidman get affectionate on the red carpet.
See more photos after the break.
Photo gallery: Carrie Underwood performs “Cowboy Casanova” at the 2009 CMA Awards
Carrie Underwood and a bevy of beautiful backup dancers perform “Cowboy Casanova” at the Country Music Association’s 43rd Annual CMA Awards Wednesday night in Nashville. (Associated Press photos)
Along with co-hosting Wednesday night’s CMA Awards, Checotah native Carrie Underwood put in one of the showstopping performances of the night with her sexy rendition of her new No. 1 hit “Cowboy Casanova.” Check out these sexy Associated Press photos of Underwood singing and strutting her stuff in an outrageous outfit.
-BAM
Photo gallery: Oklahomans at the 2009 CMA Awards
For the second year, Brad Paisley and Checotah native Carrie Underwood co-hosted the CMA Awards at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn. (Associated Press photos)
The Country Music Association’s 43rd Annual CMA Awards took place Wednesday night at Nashville’s Sommet Center. It was a huge night for 19-year-old starlet Taylor Swift, who won four trophies, including entertainer of the year, to the outrage of many country purists and the delights of her legions of fans.
Although Oklahoma’s stars went home winless, they represented our state quite well, with several of them performing and Checotah native Carrie Underwood c0-hosting the show. Check out these Associated Press photos of Okies in action at the CMAs; I’ll put pictures of Underwood’s sexy performance of her new hit “Cowboy Casanova” in the next blog post.
Soon-to-split duo Brooks & Dunn (which features former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn, center) asked ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, right, to join them for their final CMA Awards performance.
Oklahoma native Vince Gill performs “Tennessee Line” with rock band Daughtry.
Reba McEntire performs her latest hit, “Consider Me Gone.”
Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert rocks the show with “White Liar.”
Carrie Underwood does her co-hosting duties.
-BAM
Carrie Underwood takes “Play On” to No. 1, appears on Biography tonight
Oklahoma superstar Carrie Underwood sees her third album, “Play On,” debut amid a flurry of No. 1s, with first-week sales hitting a whopping 317,695 units to displace Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” as the No. 1 album in the nation.
The release earns the highest first-week sales of the year for any solo country artist and the best release-week tally for a female artist in any genre in 2009, according to a news release.
In addition to holding the No. 1 spot on both the country and pop album sales charts, “Play On” is also tops in digital sales, with 62,848 copies sold, making “Play On” country’s best-selling digital album debut of 2009.
It claims the No. 1 berth on Nielsen SoundScan’s digital country and overall digital album charts this week, as well as earning the No. 1 slot as iTunes’ top-selling album in all genres throughout release week.
The big first-week success of “Play On” makes the Checotah native the only country act in Nielsen SoundScan history to achieve first-week sales of more than 300,000 units on each of his or her first three albums.
The feat also extends to “American Idol,” where the Season Four winner is the first contestant to launch three albums in a row above the 300K threshold. Here 2005 debut, “Some Hearts,” has gone seven-times platinum, and 2007’s “Carnival Ride” is currently triple-platinum.
It’s been a week of No. 1s for Underwood, since “Cowboy Casanova,” the first smash single from “Play On,” hit the top at country radio, becoming her 11th single to top a key sales or airplay chart.
In addition, “Cowboy Casanova” also ranks as this week’s top-selling digital country single. Meanwhile, the music video for “Cowboy Casanova” continues its No. 1 roll on CMT’s Top 20 Countdown for the fifth consecutive week and for a third week atop GAC’s fan-voted video countdown.
A four-time Grammy winner, Academy of Country Music entertainer of the year, and three-time Country Music Association female vocalist winner and three-time reigning ACM female vocalist winner with total album sales now in excess of 11 million, Underwood first charmed the nation on “American Idol,” becoming an immediate fan-favorite.
Tonight, fans can tune-in for a look at Underwood’s life and career as the Biography Channel premieres “Biography – Carrie Underwood” at 9 p.m.
For more TV news, check out Penny Soldan’s always informative TV blog at http://blog.newsok.com/television.
-BAM
Taylor Swift dominates CMA Awards, Oklahoma stars winless
Taylor Swift
Teen sensation Taylor Swift dominated Wednesday night’s CMA Awards, even as Oklahoma’s usually bright contingent of stars went home winless.
“I’ll never forget this moment because in this moment, everything I ever wanted has just happened to me,” a tearful Swift said as she accepted the top prize, entertainer of the year.
The country-pop singer-songwriter performed the show’s opening number, and she spent much of the night onstage, as the Country Music Association presented her with four trophies, for entertainer, female vocalist, album for “Fearless” and music video for “Love Story.” At 19, she is the youngest person ever to win the entertainer title and the first solo woman since Shania Twain in 1999 to take home the award.
Swift’s fellow country stars showed their support of the starlet by taking several good-natured jabs at rapper Kanye West, who now-infamously interrupted her acceptance speech at September’s MTV Video Music Awards.
Checotah native Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley co-hosted the CMA Awards for the second straight year. Paisley earned the male vocalist award and musical event of the year for “Start a Band,” his duet with Keith Urban. But Underwood experienced a rare shutout, with Swift stopping her streak of female vocalist wins at three and Paisley taking the musical event title.
Oklahomans Miranda Lambert and Reba McEntire also were nominated for female vocalist, while McEntire and Brooks & Dunn competed unsuccessfully for musical event.
Brooks & Dunn, which includes former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn, made their last CMA Awards appearance as a duo; the pair announced earlier this year their intention to split after their 2010 tour. Dunn and Kix Brooks were nominated for vocal duo, a category they have won a record 14 times, but lost to the reigning titleholder, Sugarland.
We don’t usually expect this, but we especially didn’t this year,” Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles said, offering Brooks & Dunn a chance to speak, which they refused. “Thank you for what you’ve done for us and thank you for what you’ve done for country music.”
Rascal Flatts, which includes Joe Don Rooney of Picher, failed to claim the vocal group of the year award after winning it the previous six years. Contemporary country trio Lady Antebellum scored the group award along with single of the year for “I Run to You.”
Former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker, who will play Friday at Tulsa’s Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino, was named the top new artist, while venerable songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Mac McAnally won musician of the year. Song of the year honors went to Jamey Johnson, Lee Thomas Miller and James Otto for “In Color.”
2009 CMA Awards winners
Single (to artist and producer): “I Run To You,” Lady Antebellum, produced by Victoria Shaw and Paul Worley
Song (to songwriters): “In Color,” Jamey Johnson, Lee Thomas Miller and James Otto.
Vocal group: Lady Antebellum.
New artist: Darius Rucker.
Album: “Fearless,” Taylor Swift, produced by Nathan Chapman and Taylor Swift.
Musician: Mac McAnally, guitar.
Vocal duo: Sugarland.
Music video: “Love Story,” Taylor Swift, directed by Trey Fanjoy
Musical event: “Start a Band,” Brad Paisley duet with Keith Urban.
Male vocalist: Brad Paisley.
Female vocalist: Taylor Swift.
Entertainer: Taylor Swift.
-BAM
2009 CMA Awards winners list
Taylor Swift (Associated Press photo)
Here is the list of winners of tonight’s 43rd Annual CMA Awards. And if you’re not a Taylor Swift fan, you’re not going to like it, since the 19-year-old contemporary country star won four trophies, including female vocalist and entertainer of the year.
It was a rough night for Oklahoma stars: Even though Carrie Underwood co-hosted the show and several put on stellar performances, the Okies went home winless.
(Nominees with Oklahoma ties are marked with an asterisk)
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
George Strait
WINNER: Taylor Swift
Keith Urban
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
*Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
*Reba McEntire
WINNER: Taylor Swift
*Carrie Underwood
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Kenny Chesney
WINNER: Brad Paisley
Darius Rucker
George Strait
Keith Urban
Darius Rucker
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Randy Houser
Jamey Johnson
Jake Owen
WINNER: Darius Rucker
Zac Brown Band
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Eagles
WINNER: Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
*Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Big & Rich
*Brooks & Dunn
Joey + Rory
Montgomery Gentry
WINNER: Sugarland
Lady Antebellum (AP photo)
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to artist and producer)
“Chicken Fried”
Zac Brown Band
Produced by Keith Stegall
Atlantic Records
WINNER: “I Run To You”
Lady Antebellum
Produced by Victoria Shaw and Paul Worley
Capitol Records Nashville
“In Color”
Jamey Johnson
Produced by The Kent Hardly Playboys
Mercury Nashville
“People Are Crazy”
Billy Currington
Produced by Carson Chamberlain and Billy Currington
Mercury Nashville
“Then”
Brad Paisley
Produced by Frank Rogers and Chris DuBois
Arista Nashville
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to artist and producer)
“American Saturday Night”
Brad Paisley
Produced by Frank Rogers and Chris DuBois
Arista Nashville
“Defying Gravity”
Keith Urban
Produced by Dann Huff and Keith Urban
Capitol Records Nashville
WINNER: “Fearless”
Taylor Swift
Produced by Nathan Chapman and Taylor Swift
Big Machine Records
“Love on the Inside”
Sugarland
Produced by Byron Gallimore, Kristian Bush, and Jennifer Nettles
Mercury Nashville
“That Lonesome Song”
Jamey Johnson
Produced by The Kent Hardly Playboys
Mercury Records
SONG OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to the songwriters)
“Chicken Fried”
Zac Brown/Wyatt Durrette
“I Told You So”
Randy Travis
WINNER: “In Color”
Jamey Johnson/Lee Thomas Miller/James Otto
“People Are Crazy”
Bobby Braddock/Troy Jones
“Then”
Brad Paisley/Chris DuBois/Ashley Gorley
Brad Paisley and Keith Urban (AP photo)
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to each artist)
*“Cowgirls Don’t Cry”
Brooks & Dunn featuring Reba McEntire
Arista Nashville
“Down The Road”
Kenny Chesney (with Mac McAnally)
Blue Chair Records, LLC & BNA Records
“Everything But Quits”
Lee Ann Womack (duet with George Strait)
MCA Nashville
*“I Told You So”
Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis
19 Recordings/Arista Nashville
“Old Enough”
The Raconteurs featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe
Third Man Records/Warner Bros. Records
WINNER: “Start a Band”
Brad Paisley duet with Keith Urban
Taylor Swift (AP photo)
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Director)
“Boots On”
Randy Houser
Directed by Eric Welch
WINNER: “Love Story”
Taylor Swift
Directed by Trey Fanjoy
“People Are Crazy”
Billy Currington
Directed by The Brads
“Start a Band”
Brad Paisley (duet with Keith Urban)
Directed by Jim Shea
“Troubadour”
George Strait
Directed by Trey Fanjoy
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Eddie Bayers- Drums
Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
Dann Huff – Guitar
Brent Mason – Guitar
WINNER: Mac McAnally – Guitar
-BAM
