Jason Aldean, Lady A & Toby's rough week

Jason Aldean will be featured on CMT's show called "Invitation Only" this Friday night.  The show puts country stars in a smaller setting with a group of fans where they perform many of their hit songs and do a question & answer session with fans throughout the show.  Jason will be performing his hits:  Hicktown, Amarillo Sky, Dirt Road Anthem, Why, My Kinda Party and several others.  Click on the following link to get a sneak preview of Jason performing one of his hits:  http://www.cmt.com/videos/misc/673948/invitation-only-jason-aldean-my-kinda-party.jhtml
Jason's episode of Invitation Only will be on CMT this Friday at 8pm.

Lady Antebellum has released a little more info about their upcoming album "Own The Night".  In addition to the cover art, they have released the track listing:

1.  We Owned The Night
2.  Just A Kiss
3.  Dancin' Away With My Heart
4.  Friday Night
5.  When You Were Mine
6.  Cold As Stone
7.  Singing Me Home
8.  Wanted You More
9.  As You Turn Away
10.  The Love I've Found In You
11.  Somewhere Love Remains
12.  The Heart Of The World

Own The Night will be out Sept 13th.

Toby Keith had a rough couple weeks.  Two weeks ago, someone robbed his "BelMar" golf club in Norman, Oklahoma.  The thief made off with an undisclosed amount of money.  Then, last week, the pool house at BelMar caught fire.  Witnesses say they could see flames from as far as a mile away, and when firefighters arrived, the building was engulfed in flames.  Damage is estimated at $75,000 and the cause is suspected to be from the pool's filter pump.  I think I speak for everyone when I say, who knew Toby owned a golf course???

Carrie Underwood has confirmed her appearance on the CBS drama "Blue Bloods" this season.  She will appear as herself and will perform the song "It Had To Be You" with Tony Bennett.  Carrie will also be part of Tony's new "Duets II" CD, where they will perform that same song.  The CD will be out September 20th, and the new season of Blue Bloods will begin September 23rd on CBS.

Hometown Team Tryouts continue this week with Marty White in the morning!  Hope you are enjoying listening to that.  Have a great week and thanks for listening to Your Country 102.7 WXBM!!  Also, be sure to scroll down and check out the upcoming CD & concert list.

Upcoming CD's

July 26th

Eric Church - "Chief"

 

August 2nd

Trace Adkins - "Proud To Be Here"

August 9th

Luke Bryan - "Tailgates & Tanlines"

August 16th

Eli Young Band - "Life At Best"

August 30th

Jake Owen - "Barefoot Bluejean Night"

September 6th

George Strait - "Here For A Good Time"

September 13th

Lady Antebellum - "Own The Night"

Terri Clark - "Roots & Wings"

October 18th

Martina McBride - "Teenage Daughters"

November 1st

Miranda Lambert - "Four The Record"

Artists with release dates TBA

 

Dierks Bentley

Alan Jackson

Toby Keith

Upcoming Concerts

August 6th

Ronnie Dunn - Wind Creek Atmore

August 12th

Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson - IP Biloxi

September 2nd

Clint Black - IP Biloxi

September 5th

Kid Rock - Wharf in Orange Beach

September 9th

Tracy Lawrence - Hard Rock Biloxi

September 23rd

Gary Allan - IP Biloxi

December

Josh Turner - Bonfire Jam

Country music fan, it's going to be a great summer and fall.  Between new music, concerts and TV specials, we have a lot of great stuff on the radar.

Let's start with new music.  We'll be seeing new CD's from Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum, Trace Adkins and many more (I'll give a complete list of artists & dates below) but the CD that I'm really looking forward to is George Strait's new one "Here For A Good Time".  We have been playing the single on WXBM for a couple weeks, and it's........it's vintage George Strait.  I think the man is incapable of recording a bad song.  He could find a way to make the "Hokey Pokey" sound good.  Here For A Good Time is George's 89th career single on the radio and it comes off his 26th studio album.  I was six years old when George released his first single, "Unwound", to country radio in 1981 and here he is, still making great music 30 years later.  Over the last 10 years, there's been quite a few times that I put the four CD's from his box-set "Strait Out Of The Box" in my truck, and that's all I listened to for months.  Literally, months.  Here's why I like George so much.  Most artists today are looking to go "out of the box" to find a new style or sound for their music, and for the most part I don't have a problem with that, but George has always stayed "in the box" and has found a way to stay fresh.  Whether it's a tear-jerker, a good drinkin' song or something that will make you laugh, George has a way of finding great songs and making them sound like country music.  He's a one-of-a-kind, and I'm glad he's still around. 

Miranda Lambert's new CD will be called "Four The Record".  She said that with the success of her previous albums, she doesn't feel like she has to prove herself as an artist nearly as much this time around and that has made the recording process a little more fun.  She also said that she's open to doing a duet with her husband Blake Shelton, but don't look for one on "Four The Record".  Maybe next time.  Look for Miranda's new CD November 1st.

Be sure to set your DVR for the CMA Music Fest concert.  They have a great lineup again this year with performances from Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts, Josh Turner, Taylor Swift, Alan Jackson and many more!  The three-hour special will air August 14th on ABC.

As far as concerts go, we had an interesting week.  WXBM announced that Josh Turner will headline Bonfire Jam (http://www.bonfirejam.com/) in Chumuckla after the annual Redneck Christmas Parade, and that Kid Rock will play the Wharf in Orange Beach on Labor Day, Sept 5th.  And, Jason Aldean got rained out.  He rescheduled his July 14th show for September 25th at the Wharf.  They will honor all tickets purchased for the original show date, and they are offering refunds for those who bought tickets but cannot make the rescheduled date.  For more information, call:  251.224.1020

That's the news!  Thanks for taking time to read the News & Notes blog this week.  Be sure to check WXBM out on facebook at www.facebook.com/1027wxbm at our main site http://www.wxbm.com/  Thanks for listening!  Have a great week.

Upcoming CD's

July 26th

Eric Church - "Chief"

August 2nd

Trace Adkins - "Proud To Be Here"

August 9th

Luke Bryan - "Tailgates & Tanlines"

August 16th

Eli Young Band - "Life At Best"

August 30th

Jake Owen - "Barefoot Bluejean Night"

September 6th

George Strait - "Here For A Good Time"

September 13th

Lady Antebellum - "Own The Night"

Terri Clark - "Roots & Wings"

October 18th

Martina McBride - "Teenage Daughters"

November 1st

Miranda Lambert - "Four The Record"

Artists with release dates TBA

Dierks Bentley

Alan Jackson

Toby Keith

Upcoming Concerts

July 23rd
Miranda Lambert & Gary Allan - Wharf in Orange Beach

August 6th

Ronnie Dunn - Wind Creek Atmore

August 12th

Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson - IP Biloxi

September 2nd

Clint Black - IP Biloxi

September 5th

Kid Rock - Wharf in Orange Beach

September 9th

Tracy Lawrence - Hard Rock Biloxi

September 23rd

Gary Allan - IP Biloxi

December

Josh Turner - Bonfire Jam

Hey Hey Hey!! Fat Albert Airlines!!

I'll admit it.  I was wrong.  After pulling 7.7g's in the back of a F/A-18 Hornet with Lt. Cdr Kevin "Kojak" Davis in 2006, I figured that riding in a big, lanky C-130 would be a piece of cake.  I was wrong. 

The Blue Angels do a TON of airshows each year, and before each show, they offer rides to members of the local media.  I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to go on a media ride in Blue Angel #7 back in the fall of 2006 (more about that later) and now on Fat Albert.  They provide rides so people in radio, TV and print media can tell about their experiences and get young minds out to the airshows and hopefully, one day, strive to serve our country in a similar way. 

  In the flight briefing, Capt Edward Jorge told us 14 media folks to stay on our toes because we would experience everything from brief zero-g (weightlessness), to 2-3g's in sharp banking turns throughout the demonstration. A "g" refers to gravitational force. 1g is your normal weight. If you weigh 150 lbs, 2g's would make it feel like you weight 300 lbs. 3g's...450lbs, and so on.  When you experience g's, it forces the blood out of your head and when you get to 5g's & up, it can cause you to black out.  Since I experienced 7.7g's with Kojak, I couldn't help but to crack a wise smile as if to say "bring it on".  I can handle 2g's, no problem.  I probably should have kept my smile to myself because it was more work that I thought it would be.

So, we all get strapped in and we taxi to the end of runway 7 aboard NAS Pensacola. When Capt Jorge lets off the brakes, we could immediately feel the power of the airplane, and it was very impressive. When he reaches full power, Capt Jorge pulls back and takes us all up into the sky at a steep 45-degree angle and we get a brief taste of 2g's. It lasts only a few seconds until he pitches Fat Albert's nose over and then we get our first zero-g experience which was awesome!! I have always been fascinated with space flight, so to experience zero-g just for a few brief seconds was really cool. So, after we're airborne, we make a short commute over to Pensacola Bay and wait for the boss to say "showtime".  During that time, the crew members open the back cargo door and we have a great view of Pensacola, the 3 Mile Bridge and Gulf Breeze. (For pictures and video, visit www.facebook.com/1027wxbm)  There aren't many windows on Fat Albert, so having that back cargo door wide open was pretty cool.  After about 10 minutes of circling over Pensacola Bay, the show started, and Capt Jorge showed us and the crowd at Pensacola Beach what Fat Albert is capable of doing.  I really enjoyed the low pass maneuvers because in order to get in position for those low passes, we had to make some really sharp, fast turns.  During several turns, the wings were almost at a 90 degree angle to the ground, and I would look out the little round window across the cargo bay and see water and land going by at a mind-bending pace.  I couldn't believe how fast we were flying and how LOW we were flying!!  Fat Albert only performs for about 10 minutes during the actual airshow, and I'll admit that at the end of that 10 minute demonstration, I was ready to fly flat for a while.  I had my barf bag handy, and on several occasions, thought I may have to use it.  Thankfully, none of us 14 had to use our sick bag, but a few of us were pretty green by the time the wheel hit the runway!  To some, it was the zero-g effect (which we experienced four times) that made their stomach turn, but for me it was the extended 2-3g's.  There was quite a few times during the flight that we would feel 2-3g's for 15-20 seconds, and for some reason, that just didn't agree with my stomach.  I held it down though, so I feel good about that.  I sure would have been embarrassed to be the ONLY one to get sick!!  What an experience though.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 Anyone who lived in the Pensacola area in 2007 probably remembers when the #6 jet crashed at an airshow in South Carolina, killing the pilot.  The pilot of #6 that year was Kevin "Kojak" Davis, the same pilot that took me up on my media ride in 2006.  Actually, I was Kevin's last media ride in the #7 jet, as he was scheduled to move to the #6 the following year.  I was very sad to get the news that Kojak had died in the crash.  I hadn't met him until shortly before we took off, and I really expected him to be a cocky, arrogant "Maverick" kind of guy from Top Gun, and he was the exact opposite of that.  I was floored by his humility and by how friendly he was with me and my family that had come along that day.  You could tell he absolutely loved what he was doing.  Today, while our media group was filling out paperwork in a first-floor office, I was thinking about Kevin and how great it was to be able to meet him and fly with him.  As we were standing in that office waiting to go out to Fat Albert, I noticed a Trek bicycle with a custom Blue Angels paint job, tucked away in the corner of the office.  When I looked closer, I noticed a Blue Angels #6 and a "Kojak" decal on it, so I asked Andrew, one of the Blue Angels media relations workers if that was Kevin's bike, and he nodded "yes".  It's pretty cool that even though none of the current members of the Blue Angels team were around when Kevin passed, they keep something of his in the office to remind them of him.  RIP Kojak.  Thank you for serving our country.

Married life....so far

At 6pm CT on Sunday, June 26th, I married the love of my life in Las Vegas!  We treated our guests to an Elvis wedding at the Viva Las Vegas wedding chapel, and it was a blast!!!  Our family & friends were expecting a quiet, small ceremony.  Instead, we gave them the "Pink Caddy" wedding where the room fills with fog and laser lights to the song from "2001:  A Space Odyssey" and as the song ended, Elvis (with Kim & I in the back seat) drove a 1964 pink Cadillac convertible INTO the chapel, and so it began.  As silly as it sounds, we had fun, and our guests had fun and that's exactly what we wanted.

Blake Shelton is also a newlywed and in a recent interview with US Weekly, he said he's tired of the bachelor life.  Blake said "I grew tired of going out drinking until 7am and waking up at noon & eating pizza".  He said he'd much rather have a quiet night at home with Miranda.  Maybe that's a sign that you have found "the one", because that's exactly how I feel about Kim.  I know there are probably a lot of married people rolling their eyes as they read the last sentence or two and thinking "give it time".  I'm not sure how long Blake and Miranda have officially been a couple, but Kim & I have been together for almost six years, and it still feels new to us.  Hopefully we will feel the same in 50 years. 

In other Blake news, he has a new CD out next Tuesday the 12th called "Red River Blue", featuring the hit song "Honey Bee".  The new project will also include a song that Blake has had on the back-burner for quite a while.  "I'm Sorry" is a song that he said is difficult to sing, but finally feels confident enough in himself and in the song to put it on a CD.  For a sneak preview of "I'm Sorry", click on the following link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6jj_PfqZgU

Tim McGraw is busier than ever.  He is currently out on his Emotional Traffic tour with Luke Bryan and The Band Perry.  Tim said he's also getting a TON of movie scripts.  The hard part is not only reading all of them, but finding projects that fit into his schedule.  He recently backed out of a movie called "Safe House" with Denzel Washington & Ryan Reynolds because of scheduling conflicts.  Tim does have a minor role in an upcoming film called "Dirty Girl" featuring William H. Macy, Mila Jokovich and Mary Steenburgen.  Dirty Girl will be in theaters in August. 

The "Teen Choice Award" nominees have been announced.  Here is a list of a couple of the country categories:

Favorite Female
Taylor Swift
Miranda Lambert
Carrie Underwood
Kellie Pickler
Jannette McCurdy

Favorite Male
Jason Aldean
Keith Urban
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Luke Bryan

Favorite Group
Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts
Little Big Town
Steel Magnoila
The Band Perry

The award show will air August 7th on Fox and you can vote now at:  http://www.teenchoiceawards.com/index.html

That's the news this week.  As always, thank for listening to Your Country 102.7 WXBM!