Taylor Swift to host, perform on “Saturday Night Live” tonight
Taylor Swift (Associated Press photo)
Country music starlet Taylor Swift will host and perform tonight on ”Saturday Night Live.”
“I’ve been thinking about skit ideas for a long time,” Swift, 19, told the Associated Press last month. “There are definitely some hilarious things that have happened to me over the past couple of months that I think will be pretty substantial skits.”
The only question is who will play Kanye West, since it’s hard to imagine that the “Not Ready for Primetime Players” won’t want to spoof West’s buffoonery at this fall’s MTV Video Music Awards, when he memorably hijacked Swift’s acceptance speech.
“SNL” airs at 10:30 p.m. on NBC (KFOR-4 in Oklahoma City).
For more TV news, visit Penny Soldan’s always informative blog at http://blog.newsok.com/television.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Nov. 7, 2009
Today’s featured event:
TULSA — Listen to country star Alan Jackson and up-and-coming band Gloriana at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the BOK Center, 200 S Denver.
For more information, call (866) 726-5287 or go to www.bokcenter.com
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Rascal Flatts closes 2009 tour, sells 550,000 tickets
Rascal Flatts (Associated Press photo)
Top-selling country band Rascal Flatts, which includes Joe Don Rooney of Picher, wrapped the first leg of the “Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour” last weekend. The tour sold 550,000 tickets in 39 shows since it began in June, according to a news release.
This total includes the two sold-out stadium concerts at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Columbus, Ohio’s Crew Stadium. From January of this year, the band has sold more than a million concert tickets, bringing the trio’s four-year total to more than 4 million tickets sold.
Critics claimed their live shows were a huge success. The Minneapolis Pioneer Press said, “the biggest band in country employed showers of sparks, a well-lit runway that ran the length of the arena’s main floor, and big screens bedecked with images of misty moors and words like “passion,” “faith” and “courage.” And it all fit well with their songs, which assign weighty import to the events of everyday life through carpe diem lyrics, every chorus screamed out with vein-popping urgency.” “Rascal Flatts is a dominant country band for a reason. The songs are catchy and the musicianship is some of the best in ANY genre,” claimed the Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Dallas Morning News said, “The show is high-energy, flat-out from the get-go.”
Next up for Rascal Flatts are nominations for Group of the Year at next Wednesday’s CMA Awards (watch the Country Music Association’s awards show on ABC and follow the live-blog here) and Country Group of the Year and Country Album of the Year at the American Music Awards (Nov. 22 on ABC).
Rascal Flatts newest CD, “Unstoppable,” has been certified platinum for sales in excess of 1 million. The CD launched as the group’s fourth consecutive studio album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, more than any other country artist in the history of Soundscan. This brings the band’s career album sales to a staggering 20 million units in just this decade, and the group has amassed 22.5 million digital downloads.
Rascal Flatts is the biggest-selling and grossing group in country music history and has been named a Billboard Top Ten Touring Act in all genres with more venue attendance records than any other country act.
-BAM
Jamey Johnson-Kid Rock duet, Martina McBride added to CMA Awards performers’ list
Jamey Johnson
Kid Rock
Martina McBride
The performer lineup for the Country Music Association’s 43rd Annual CMA Awards gets even more star-studded with the announcement that Kid Rock will join four-time nominee Jamey Johnson in their first televised duet.
Kid Rock will also present an award during the evening.
In addition, four-time Female Vocalist of the Year winner Martina McBride will perform.
Nine-time CMA Award winners The Judds, Country Music Hall of Fame member Kris Kristofferson, and six-time CMA Award winner Lee Ann Womack have been added as presenters.
The 43rd Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Brad Paisley and Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood, will air live from the Sommet Center in Nashville from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday on the ABC Television Network. You can follow along with my live-blog of the show here at BAM’s Blog.
Performers already announced include Oklahomans Brooks & Dunn, which includes former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn, Vince Gill, who will perform with rock band Daughtry, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, and Carrie Underwood.
Other performers include Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney and Dave Mathews, Billy Currington, , Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, George Strait, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, and Zac Brown Band.
Previously announced presenters include Dale Earnhardt Jr.; stars of ABC’s “The Middle” Neil Flynn and Patricia Heaton; Julianne Hough; nominee Randy Houser (for both New Artist and Music Video of the Year for “Boots On”); nominee Jake Owen (New Artist of the Year); Kellie Pickler; LeAnn Rimes; and ABC News’s Robin Roberts, co-anchor of “Good Morning America” and host of the upcoming “Robin Roberts: Bright Lights. Big Stars. All Access Nashville” ABC television special (airing Nov. 10). Love And Theft will host the Pre-Telecast Awards.
Johnson is nominated in four categories: New Artist, Album (for his Gold-certified That Lonesome Song), and Single and Song (both for “In Color” which he co-wrote with Lee Thomas Miller and James Otto). He won Song of the Year in 2007 for co-writing the Strait hit “Give It Away” with Bill Anderson and Buddy Cannon.
Kid Rock was nominated along with Sheryl Crow in 2003 for Vocal Event of the Year for their song “Picture.” The artist, who has sold more than 25 million albums, performed on the CMA Awards last year and at 2009 CMA Music Festival in June. His most recent album is the three-times-Platinum-certified Rock N Roll Jesus.
McBride is nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, an Award she has received four times (1999, 2002-2004), tying her with Reba McEntire for the most wins in that category. The singer/songwriter/producer also won Music Video of the Year in 1994 for “Independence Day.” McBride, whose current album is Shine, has sold more than 18 million albums.
-BAM
Weekend Warmup for Nov. 6-8, 2009
Rodney Atkins
Here is a list of events happening this weekend (Nov. 6-8) around Oklahoma. For more information, go to www.wimgo.com.
- NORMAN – Catch country star Rodney Atkins at 8 tonight at Riverwind Casino, 1544 W State Highway 9. Information: www.riverwind.com.
- SHAWNEE — Hear “American Idol” David Cook, who has Tulsa ties, at 7 tonight at Firelake Grand Casino, 777 Grand Casino Blvd. Information: 964-7263 or www.firelakegrand.com.
- Take in art, food and music at the sixth annual Girlie Show from 8 to midnight tonight and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at Farmers Public Market, 311 S Klein. Information: www.thegirlieshow.net.
Classical Mystery Tour
- Watch the Oklahoma City Philharmonic perform with Beatles tribute band Classical Mystery Tour at 8 tonight and Saturday at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker. Information: 842-5387 or www.okcphilharmonic.org.
- TULSA and THACKERVILLE — Listen to country star Alan Jackson and up-and-coming band Gloriana at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the BOK Center, 200 S Denver. Information: (866) 726-5287 or www.bokcenter.com. Or catch Jackson in concert at 9 tonight at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville. Information: www.winstarworldcasino.com.
- See new art – from small works exhibits to a container show – during the monthly Paseo Gallery Walk in the Paseo Arts District. Hours are 6 to 10 tonight and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Information: 525-2688 or www.thepaseo.com.
- Hear Chevelle with Halestorm and After Midnight Project at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Diamond Ballroom, 8001 S Eastern Ave. Information: www.diamondballroom.net.
Billie Letts
- SHAWNEE - Hear Tulsa author Billie Letts (”Where the Heart Is”) give the keynote address at the 2009 Red Dirt Book Festival on today and Saturday. Letts will speak at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Raley Chapel at Oklahoma Baptist University. Multiple writing workshops, special programs and panel discussions with authors and editors will be included in the two-day book festival that’s sponsored by Pioneer Library System. The festival opens at 9 a.m. today. Letts and other featured authors will close out the festival with a book signing at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Geiger Center on OBU’s campus. To register for the free festival (which is required) or get more information, go to www.reddirtbookfestival.org.
- Listen to Billy Joe Winghead, Bloody Ol’ Mule, the Starkweather Boys and more from noon Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday at “Drumming for Derek,” a benefit for Oklahoma City drummer Derek Dugger, who has brain cancer. The event will be at 66 Bowl, 3810 NW 39 Expressway. Information: 946-3966.
- MIAMI – Catch the Casey Donahew Band in concert at 7 tonight at Buffalo Run Casino. Information: www.buffalorun.com.
“Frankenstein”
- Watch Oklahoma Children’s Theatre and TheatreOCU’s production of “Frankenstein” at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. today, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in Oklahoma City University’s Burg Theatre, 2501 N Blackwelder. The production is recommended for middle school and high school students. Information: www.oklahomachildrenstheatre.org.
- TULSA – Hear Rob Zombie with Nekromantix and Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Brady Theater, 105 W Brady Street. Information: www.bradytheater.com.
- See a Tribute to Woody Guthrie at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Blue Door, 2805 N McKinley. Also, hear Don Conoscenti at 9 tonight and John Fullbright at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Blue Door. Information: www.bluedoorokc.com.
- Watch Red Dirt Improv perform “Music, Mayhem, and Mamet” starting at 7 tonight at IAO Gallery, 706 W Sheridan. Information: www.reddirtimprov.com.
-BAM
Carrie Underwood writes more on new album “Play On”
A version of this story appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Carrie Underwood’s got the write stuff for new album
Underwood co-wrote seven of 13 titles on her New album, ‘Play On’
Between the No. 1 hits and the TV appearances, the magazine covers and the red carpet fashions, music fans can be forgiven for forgetting that country superstar Carrie Underwood was once an aspiring journalist.
But the credits for her new album “Play On” serve as a pointed reminder that the Oklahoma native was sharpening her pen long before she won “American Idol” in 2005.
“I got a lot of practice writing in general, especially in college. You know, in high school I wrote for the school paper, in college I wrote for the school paper, and was always busy writing stories,” she said in a September press conference at her Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame induction in Muskogee.
Underwood, 26, co-wrote seven of the 13 songs on “Play On,” her third album. She helped pen four tracks on her second record, 2007’s “Carnival Ride,” and one on her 2005 debut “Some Hearts.”
“This one, I had a lot more time to do a lot more writing, and I feel like I’m a lot more comfortable in myself as a writer. That just happens — the more you do it, the better, the easier it gets, I suppose,” said Underwood, who received her mass communications degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah almost a year after she won the reality TV singing contest.
“Play On,” released Tuesday, has been one of the fall’s most anticipated country albums — for good reason. Since winning the fourth season of “Idol,” Underwood has sold more than 10 million records, notched 10 No. 1 hits from her first two albums and won four Grammy Awards, as well as myriad other industry accolades. On Nov. 11, she will co-host and compete for two honors at the Country Music Association’s 43rd Annual CMA Awards.
While she is best known for belting out feisty breakup songs, uplifting anthems and soaring ballads, Underwood is demonstrating a knack for helping craft her hits. Three songs she co-wrote for “Carnival Ride” — “So Small,” “All-American Girl” and “Last Name” — topped the country charts.
For “Play On,” she set out to stretch her songwriting skills.
“I kind of branched out and wrote with a lot of people that I’ve never even met before — people that weren’t even necessarily involved in country music,” she said. “We’d take like me and a good friend of mine who I’d written with before who is a staple in country music and then kind of bring another element to it, which was a lot of fun.”
For instance, she penned “Cowboy Casanova” with respected Nashville songsmith Brett James, who also co-wrote her Grammy-winning hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” and hip-hop writer/producer Mike Elizondo, known for his work with Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent. The saucy lead-off single zipped into the top five in just seven weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
“This is probably the fifth song I’ve written with Carrie and she’s just delightful. She’s a fantastic person, she’s a fantastic singer, obviously an amazing singer, and she’s a really, really great songwriter,” said James, who grew up in Oklahoma City and Cordell.
The songstress also wrote with rockers Raine Maida of My Lady Peace on the lovely ballad “Unapologize” and Zac Maloy, former frontman of Oklahoma City band The Nixons, on the spiritual tearjerker “Temporary Home.”
“I had to be a fan,” she said of Maloy. “I was like, ‘I saw you when I was in high school.’ So, it was a lot of fun for me to work with him.”
Underwood, who counts fellow Oklahoman Garth Brooks as one of her idols, remains unapologetic for making rock- and pop-flavored country music.
“Right now in country music is a great time for a lot of different kinds of country music,” she said. “If you turn on the radio you can find something you like, whether you like things that are more kind of contemporary country, or you find more things that are traditional country or more kind of rock-influenced.”
But she acknowledged her mix-and-match approach to choosing songwriting partners didn’t always work.
“Sometimes we’d get things that were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is new and fresh and awesome,’ and sometimes it was like, ‘Whoa — what have we done?’ she said. “Most of those you’ll probably never hear — that’s why they were ‘whoa, what have we done moments.’ But it was a great learning experience.”
Among the collaborations that didn’t make it onto the album were songs she co-wrote with fellow Oklahoma native and Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill.
“It was still an investment in somebody you like, and a neat kid who’s got her head on straight. And you just root for her,” said Gill, who sings on her new track “Look at Me.”
“She’s all things good.”
Contributing: Assistant Entertainment Editor George Lang.
-BAM
CD review: Carrie Underwood, “Play On”
A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Country
Carrie Underwood “Play On” (19 Recordings Limited/Arista Nashville)
Contemporary country star Carrie Underwood stretches her strong soprano, her songwriting skills and musical boundaries on her third album, “Play On.”
The Checotah native co-wrote seven of the 13 songs, ranging from “What Can I Say,” a twangy heartbreaker with country brother act Sons of Sylvia, to the anthemic title track, which could well be next season’s “American Idol” farewell theme. The album’s sonic diversity reveals the 2005 “American Idol” winner’s willingness to grow and experiment.
The record opens with her latest hit, “Cowboy Casanova,” a feisty country-rocker about a “snake with blue eyes” lothario. She co-wrote the cautionary tale with successful country songsmith and fellow Okie Brett James (who also co-wrote her Grammy-winning hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel”) and hip-hop writer/producer Mike Elizondo, who has worked with Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent.
She keeps rocking with “Undo It,” a catchy kiss-off with a stuttering chorus and strutting groove that she penned with “Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi and hard-rock producer Marti Frederiksen. Her woman-wronged sass takes a more distinctly country turn on “Songs Like This.”
Underwood, 26, gets sentimental with songs like the spiritual weeper “Temporary Home,” which she co-wrote with Zac Maloy, former frontman for Oklahoma City band The Nixons, and the earnest ballad “Mama’s Song,” her other DioGuardi/ Frederiksen collaboration. And if “Change” comes across as a too syrupy bit of idealism, her youth and philanthropy (including a recent donation of musical instruments to Checotah schools) can probably earn her a pass.
The crossover hitmaker often takes her lumps from the Nashville establishment for her pop-flavored music, but she spotlights her country side on the beautifully sad “Someday When I Stop Loving You” and the slow-dancer “Look at Me,” featuring Oklahoma star Vince Gill on vocals.
- BAM
Vince Gill talks Will Rogers, musical diversity and more before receiving Sunday award
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Oklahoma musician Vince Gill to receive Will Rogers Spirit Award in Tulsa
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Vince Gill considers humorist/cowboy/social commentator Will Rogers “the coolest Okie in history.”
So, it’s fitting that the Oklahoma-born country music star is traveling from Nashville back to his home state this weekend to receive the 2009 Will Rogers Spirit Award from the Rotary Club of Will Rogers. The club, along with members of Rogers’ family, will present the award to Gill during a gala Sunday night at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa.
“We look for somebody who exemplifies the spirit of Will Rogers,” said gala committee member Lucy Cravens. “He’s raised a lot of money for a lot of different organizations.”
The “roast and toast,” themed “Oklahoma Swing” after the Gill hit, will feature friends and colleagues of the star performing and speaking in his honor.
For Gill, 52, getting an award named for Rogers, who famously declared “I never met a man I didn’t like,” is a great compliment.
“I don’t know that they’re actually comparing you to (Will Rogers), but you do hopefully some decent things for people and live life for other people instead of just yourself. And that’s all I’ve ever really tried to do is if somebody needs a hand up, you give it to ‘em. And if somebody needs you to help out, you help ‘em out. That just seems like a commonsense way of life,” Gill said in a phone interview from his Nashville home. “That to me comes from where I’m from.”
The Country Music Hall of Famer and his wife, fellow singer Amy Grant, are known for lending their talents to an array of philanthropic projects. The couple this year hosted a concert in Washington, D.C., to benefit Challenge America, a charity working with injured veterans. Since 1993, Gill has hosted his own pro-celebrity golf tournament, “The Vinny,” to support junior golf programs.
He has been busy this year working with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He not only serves as president of the museum’s board of officers and trustees, he also is the creator and driving force behind its “All for the Hall” fundraising initiative.
“I asked everybody to just when they’re playing out there and they’re doing 125 shows a year, just say, hey, while we’re in Omaha, we’re going to play for free and just take the proceeds from that show and give it to the hall of fame,” he said. “Because it was always my belief that the reason I ever played music was because of how much I loved it. It was never how much I could get out of it.”
On Oct. 1, Gill joined Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Melissa Etheridge and others in Los Angeles for the third annual “All for the Hall” guitar pull, in which the musicians traded off playing new and favorite songs.
A few days later, Gill and fellow star Keith Urban co-hosted the sold-out “We’re All for the Hall” benefit concert at Nashville’s Sommet Center. The event, which also featured Taylor Swift, Faith Hill and Brad Paisley, raised more than $500,000.
“It created a tremendous amount of attention and I think it’ll be like dominoes. I think that it’ll inspire a lot of other people to do the same thing,” Gill said.
The 20-time Grammy winner finds inspiration in working with musicians and singers from across genres. He will perform with rock band Daughtry on the Country Music Association’s 43rd Annual CMA Awards, which will air Nov. 11 on ABC. They will play their country-rock collaboration “Tennessee Line,” featured on the band’s new album “Leave This Town.”
He said frontman Chris Daughtry asked him to lend his voice to the song after a mutual friend, singer-songwriter Richard Marx, suggested it.
“Not everything I do is country, you know. I’ve worked with Barbra Streisand, I’ve worked with Ralph Stanley, I’ve worked with Daughtry, I’ve worked with Mark Knopfler,” Gill said.
“That creates its own versatility, being willing to go play bluegrass with Del McCoury and then sit down at a jazz piano with Diana Krall and rock as hard as you want with Mark. … It’s just an open mind is all that’s created all those kind of relationships. And I’m prouder of that anything I’ve accomplished my own. The reason I learned to play music was to play it with other people.”
Former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker praised the Oklahoma native for his musical generosity, noting that Gill sang on his debut country album last year.
“Vince is the coolest guy on the planet,” Rucker said. “There’s not a lot of people who are the real deal … and Vince is the real deal.”
Going on
The Rotary Club of Will Rogers’ 2009 Gala “Oklahoma Swing”
What: Honoring Will Rogers Spirit Award winner Vince Gill.
Benefiting: Proceeds will go in part to Blue Star Mothers of America Inc., Oklahoma Chapter 1.
When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main, Tulsa.
Cost: $125 for individual tickets.
Information: (918) 749-6661 or www.willrogersrotary.org.
-BAM
Tickets go on sale Nov. 13 for Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert’s Oklahoma City show
Brad Paisley (Associated Press photo)
As you saw here on BAM’s Blog last month, country superstar Brad Paisley, along with Oklahoma star Miranda Lambert and emerging artist Justin Moore, will play Jan. 8 at Oklahoma City’s Ford Center.
Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 13, the venue has announced. Friday, Tickets will be available at all area Ticketmaster outlets or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
For more information, go to www.okfordcenter.com.
The reigning Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music Male Vocalist of the Year, Paisley is continuing his highly successful “American Saturday Night” tour into 2010. Special guests for the 19 added dates, including the Oklahoma City show, will be Lambert and Moore.
Paisley is a consummate singer, songwriter, guitarist and entertainer, which has earned him three Grammys, 12 ACM Awards and 11 CMAwards and is currently the most nominated for the upcoming CMA Awards with seven nominations. He will also co-host the show with Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood for the second year on Wednesday.
Paisley has released eight critically acclaimed studio albums that have accumulated sales of more than 10 million units, including twice-platinum 2005 ACM and CMA Album of the Year, “Time Well Wasted.” His most recent album, “American Saturday Night,” released on June 30, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums sales chart. Paisley has 14 No. 1 singles – the last 10 consecutive – extending a streak already unmatched by any other country artist in the 19-year history of Nielsen BDS- monitored airplay. Paisley’s innovative and entertaining tours have consistently placed in the Top 5 in Pollstar for attendance.
Lambert recently started a “Revolution” with the No. 1 debut of her critically-acclaimed third album. “Revolution” joins her previous two releases that debuted at the top of Billboard’s Country Albums Chart, making her one of three artists in Soundscan history whose first three albums all landed the No. 1 spot out of the box (along with LeAnn Rimes and Gretchen Wilson). The two-time Grammy nominee and platinum-selling artist received rare perfect reviews from countless publications, including four stars from Rolling Stone and USA Today, an ‘A’ from Entertainment Weekly and exuberant praise from SPIN, NY Times, Washington Post and more. Many have claimed “Revolution” as the best album of the year in any genre. She is currently nominated as this year’s CMA Top Female Vocalist and has won ACM’s 2007 Best New Female Award and 2008 ACM Album of the Year.
Born and raised in Poyen, Ark. (population 272), Southern country stylist Moore embodies 
the soul and character of a kid from a small town with his tough-talking, straight-shooting brand of country. His single, “Small Town USA” recently topped both country charts, making Moore the only new artist to have a No. 1 hit in 2009, and the first solo artist to have a song from his/her debut album go No. 1 since Taylor Swift’s “Our Song” in December 2007. Moore has been profiled in The Washington Post, People Country, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Nashville Lifestyles, Chicago Daily Herald, Billboard, and Country Weekly. He’s been featured on NPR, WGN Midday News, Fox News Channel, AP, 2009 CMT Music Awards, Crook & Chase, GAC and Better Nashville. Moore has previously toured with Trace Adkins, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams Jr.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Nov. 5, 2009
Today’s featured event:
EL RENO – Hear country band Sawyer Brown at 7:30 tonight at Lucky Star Casino – Concho, 7777 N Highway 81.
For more information, go to www.luckystarcasino.org.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
