Carrie on twitter and FREE concert tickets

Carrie Underwood announced that she is now officially on Twitter!  She said she finally caved because it's a good quick way to connect with her fans.  You can find her on Twitter at @carrieunderwood.  About a  year ago I decided to get with the program and get me a Twitter account (@ryanandrew01), but I haven't made a post yet.  I'm a Twitter follower.  I'm a huge baseball & football fan, so I follow a lot of my favorite athletes as well as a few country singers.  Larry the Cable Guy and Blake Shelton are two guys who I really enjoy following.  By the way, if you like Larry at all, you HAVE to check out his show "Only In America" on History Channel.  It comes on Wednesday night at 8pm (I think) and Larry is usually on Twitter making jokes throughout the show.  Good stuff.

Alan Jackson is coming to the Pensacola Civic Center on May 4th with Lauren Alaina.  You can catch Alan on the Tonite Show with Jay Leno March 30th on NBC.  No word on when that new project will be out from Alan, but I'll keep you posted.  In the mean time, check out the video for Alan's new single "So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore":

The concert calendar is filling up FAST!  In addition to Alan at the Pensacola Civic Center, Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert will play the Wharf in Orange Beach on March 10th, BeulahFest is March 16-17th at the Escambia County Equestrian Center and we just announced that Luke Bryan and Frankie Ballard will play the Wharf on April 14th!  Great shows and we have a bunch of FREE tickets for you to win on WXBM. 

Here's the scoop for Eric Church tix:

At 9:35am Marty & Lindsey Marie will post a line from an Eric Church song on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/1027wxbm), and at 1:35pm Lynn West will post another line from that same song.  That will give you some time to try to figure out what song we're talking about.  Then between 2-7pm I will let you know when to call in and give me the name of the song.  If you get it right you'll win a pair of tickets to the Blood, Sweat & Beers tour AND you'll be qualified to be part of Brantley Gilbert's "Encourage" where you will get a private meet & greet with Brantley, walk from the bus to the stage with him, be part of his pre-show ritual and watch the first two songs from the side of the stage!  We'll draw for the winner on Friday.

Luke Bryan tickets:
Listen for ANY song from Luke between 6am - 5pm and be the 25th caller to qualify to win a pair of tickets.  At 5:35pm I will draw for a winner of a pair of tickets. 

Also, BeulahFest tickets are on sale now.  Travis Tritt will play BF Friday, March 16th and Rodney Atkins will play Saturday the 17th.  WXBM will be out there both days....hope you will be there too!  www.beulahfest.com for tickets and more info.

Thanks for listening to Your Country 102.7 WXBM!  Have a great week.



Taylor Swift has been working on a new CD for a while now, and she is starting to give a little more info on what fans can expect.  Taylor recently told MTV that she has been writing a TON of songs, and then re-writing them.  She said she has written so many songs that her record label has told her "that's enough" and "stop" several times!  Taylor also revealed that the songs will mostly be about love, hurt, rejection & frustration and that she is working with other writers on this project.  Although she wouldn't name any names, she said that she's working with other song writers this time around instead of doing all the work herself.  No word on when that project will be completed, but I'll keep you posted.  In other Taylor news, she lent her voice to the upcoming 3D computer animated movie called "The Lorax", which is based on the Dr Seuss book with the same name.  Danny DeVito, Betty White and Zac Efron are also voice actors in The Lorax which will be released March 2nd.

Blake Shelton and the other three judges on NBC's "The Voice" have signed on for a third season!  Kim & I have been watching the show this year and we're really enjoying it....and kicking ourselves for missing it last year!  Sounds like the 3rd season will come with a nice pay raise too.  It's reported that Christina Aguilera will receive a whopping $10 million next season and the other three judges, Blake, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine will each earn around $6.  I wondered why Christina will make more and the only thing I can come up with is that either she has some part in creating the show or she has a REALLY good agent.  Several articles suggest that the 3rd season could start as soon as this fall, although NBC is saying that they haven't made any decisions on when it will air.

A few other quick things on upcoming CD's: 

Rascal Flatts will release their new CD "Changed" April 3rd.  The new project will have 11 new songs as well as four bonus songs on the deluxe edition.  Kix Brooks will release his first solo single "New To This Town" next month.  Kix has been taking his time with his new CD, but he said he's excited to get it out there.  Lee Brice has a hit with his new one "A Woman Like You".  That song will be featured on Brice's new CD "Hard To Love" which will be released April 24th.

Also wanted to let you know that WXBM's 14th annual Children's Miracle Network Radiothon is coming up soon and we've got a great way for you to help the kids at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital and possibly win a 7 night stay on Pensacola Beach at the same time!  Gulf Blue Vacations has donated a 7 night stay in a three bedroom unit at the Pensacola Beach Club Resort & Spa, and Sacred Heart Children's Hospital has 500 raffle tickets available for this!  When they're gone, they're gone.  I believe they are only asking $25 per ticket, and 100% of the money raised will be donated to Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Pensacola!  If you would like more info on how to get a ticket (or several tickets) call 850-416-4660.  Drawing will be Friday, March 9th at 5pm on Your Country 102.7 WXBM.

Thanks for listening to WXBM!  Have a great week.



Aldean/Bryan stopping a song to help a drunk fan = laughter!

Last week I ran across a pretty funny video from a Jason Aldean/Luke Bryan concert.  They were performing in Champaign, Il and in the middle of a song, a fan got a little too rowdy and caught the eye of Jason, Luke and a security worker: 

Too funny!  Funny how drunk people go deaf.  Even when someone is trying to help them, they just can't hear a thing.  If he woulda just gone back to his seat like they said he probably would have been able to see the end of the show.  Trying to get a drunk to listen is like trying to get a hungry kid out of the candy aisle at Walmart.  Good luck.

In a recent interview, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill said a duets album is "very likely".  Faith said that they have been spending lots of time together and have some good ideas on what they'd like to do.  Neither of them gave any clues as to when we would see that project, but it's cool to know that it's something that they are talking about.  Tim & Faith are getting ready for a busy 2012.  Tim released "Emotional Traffic" last month, Faith has a new project called "Illusion" coming out this year and they are getting ready to headline a bunch of shows together in Australia starting next month.  Then Tim will be out on the Brothers Of The Sun tour with Kenny Chesney starting in June.

Don't forget, Alan Jackson concert tickets are on sale now!  Alan and Lauren Alaina will play the Pensacola Civic Center on May 4th and we'll have a bunch more chances for you to win free tickets tomorrow!  We'll give you a chance to call in and win every other hour between 9am - 6pm on Valentine's day!  Hope you are able to score some tix!  If you don't win tomorrow, the concert is still a couple months down the road, so I'm sure you'll have more chances to win on Your Country 102.7 WXBM. 

Thanks for listening!  Have a great week!

TV news and Super Bowl thoughts

Looks like country singers will be all over the TV in the coming weeks & months.  Miranda Lambert on Law & Order this week, Blake Shelton on the Voice, Dierks Bentley on Letterman & a new sitcom for Reba.  I'll have full deatils in a sec.

First things first.  Blake and Miranda were awesome together singing "America The Beautiful".  Kelly Clarkson was just a good singing the Star Spangled Banner.  Madonna was terrible at halftime.  Who books halftime entertainment?  Was Madonna really their best option?  Didn't they vow to keep the halftime entertainment "clean" after the whole Janet Jackson (intentional) "wardrobe malfunction"?  For the most part, Madonna, herself was OK, but one of her fellow performers flipped the middle finger to the camera during the performance.  Who really thought Madonna or any of her cohorts could get through a performance without offending someone?  Not me.  I know the middle finger isn't exactly the same as Janet Jackson's bare boob, but kids watch these singers and like it or not, they look to them as role models.  Call me old fashioned, but I wouldn't want my kids to see that.  There hasn't been a true country halftime show at the Super Bowl since 1994 when Clint Black, Wynonna, Tanya Tucker and The Judds performed together.  I know, Shania performed a few years back, but most would beg to differ that she is a country performer.  What about Garth?  The people who schedule SB halftime entertainment are (for the most part) not scheduling artists who are rising stars or are at the peak of their stardom, they're going after artists like Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, U2, Paul McCartney, Prince, Bruce Springsteen & The Who.  Garth would be  perfect for the Super Bowl.  He has sold more albums than anyone on the planet and he is (in my opinion) the best stage performer of ANYONE out there.  Anyone.  Of course I don't know all the details.  Maybe he was already booked in Vegas that weekend or they couldn't come to terms somehow.  Or if they want someone relevant in today's music, what about Taylor Swift?  I'm really not that upset with the whole thing, I'm just trying to figure it out.  When they say they want to have a halftime show that is acceptable for all ages, and then they book Madonna, it makes me wonder.  I'm sure, like anything else, money and profit take priority over anything else even if means having to see the occasional boob or middle finger.  Who would you like to see perform at halftime of the Super Bowl? 

Miranda Lambert will be featured on an episode of NBC's "Law & Order:  SVU" this Wednesday, Feb. 8th.  Miranda will portray a reality actress who accuses her producer of assault.  It's a TV show and a role that hits home for her since both her parents worked as private investigators when she was going up and her father worked with victims of violent crimes.  Look for Miranda's episode this Wednesday at 9pm on NBC.  She will also be helping her husband, Blake Shelton as a coach on NBC's The Voice.  I missed The Voice last year, but caught the premiere last night after the Super Bowl and really liked it.  I'll definitely be watching every episode this year.  If they could only find a "mute" button for Christina. 

In other TV news, Reba is scheduled to film a sitcom pilot in April for a show called "Malibu Country".  She will play the part of a woman from Nashville who discovers her rock-star husband has been cheating on her, so she packs up their kids and moves to Malibu to try to resurrect her own singing career.  ABC has agreed to shoot the pilot episode in April with the hopes of getting it on air mid-summer.  I'll keep you posted.

Couple other quick things:  Dierks Bentley will be on Letterman tomorrow night, 10:35 on CBS.  Dierks' new CD "Home" is out tomorrow.  And Carrie Underwood announced that her new CD will be released May 1st.  No title for that project yet, but she has stated that there will be some "darker" material on it.  The first single "Good Girl" will not be one of those dark tunes, but it should be released later this month. 

As always, have a great week!  Thanks for checking out the News & Notes blog, and thanks for listening to Your Country 102.7 WXBM!