Kenny Chesney + Tim McGraw = the 2012 Brothers of the Sun Tour, which will stop at 19 stadiums on weekend dates starting June 2nd in Tampa. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and Jake Owen are the opening acts for this double-star bill. Kenny says of Tim, "He's one of my closest friends in music and in life, and I know this tour is going to be something special." Tim adds, "Our friendship was forged on the road, so it's going to be a blast heading out with Kenny again." It's been ten years since the two toured together, but they've stayed friends since then. You'll remember - or maybe not - the police horse incident about a decade ago, when Tim was the headliner and Kenny was the opening act. They bonded after that, and will be bringing their friendship to these tour stops:
Jun 02, 2012 Tampa FL Raymond James
Jun 03, 2012 Altanta GA Georgiadome
Jun 09, 2012 Dallas TX Cowboys Stadium
Jun 10, 2012 Kansas City MO Arrowhead Stadium
Jun 16, 2012 Philadelphia PA Lincoln Financial Field
Jun 23, 2012 Nashville TN LP Field
Jun 24, 2012 Charlotte NC Bank Of America Stadium
Jun 30, 2012 Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field
Jul 01, 2012 Cincinnati OH Paul Brown Stadium
Jul 07, 2012 Chicago IL Soldier Field
Jul 08, 2012 Minneapolis MN Target Field
Jul 14, 2012 Anaheim CA Angels Stadium
Jul 21, 2012 Denver CO Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Aug 11, 2012 East Rutherford NJ MetLife Stadium
Aug 12, 2012 Washington DC FedEx Field
Aug 18, 2012 Detroit MI Ford Field
Aug 25, 2012 Foxboro MA Gillette Stadium
This might come as a shock to you, but Blake Shelton doesn't care what you think. In a chat with CNN, he was asked about his series of "I'm so drunk" tweets. He said he likes to drink and isn't going to apologize for it. He went on to say he got The Voice gig because he's not afraid to make an a** of himself, and opined that he can't talk religion or politics because he already gets into enough trouble with his alchohol consumption. Check out the segment...
There's a release date for Dierks Bentley's next cd. "Home," which contains his current single of the same name and the hit "Am I The Only One," will be out February 7th, 2012. What has Dierks been working on for this project? “I mean, I’m always trying to be a better songwriter, and try to get in there and write songs that have more depth. By the same token, I love songs that are just fun and, when I’m drivin’ around just…just, I love jammin’ too. So, that aspect is represented on there as well.”
Ronnie Dunn is taping some tv appearances this week. He'll be on Dr. Phil and The Doctors in early December, and I'll let you now the air dates as soon as they're announced.
We think of Nashville as the center of the universe where country music is concerned, but where country album sales are concerned, not so much. Here are a couple of top ten lists that show that maybe Music City likes getting their country music live, not recorded:
Country’s Top Markets: Album Sales Volume
1. New York, NY
2. Los Angeles, CA
3. Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
4. Chicago, IL
5. Houston, TX
6. Nashville, TN
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Atlanta, GA
9. Boston, MA
10. Philadelphia, PA
Country’s Top Markets: Percentage of Total Album Sales
1. Charleston-Huntington, WV
2. Tri-Cities, TN-VA
3. Springfield, MO
4. Paducah, KY; Cape Girardeau, MO; Harrisburg, IL; Marion, KY-IL
5. Nashville, TN
6. Knoxville, TN
7. Lexington, KY
8. Evansville, IN
9. Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA
10. Chattanooga, TN
Congratulations to Sunny Sweeny and her new hubby Jeff Hellmer, who were married at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas on 11/11/11. Jeff is a sergeant with the Austin Police Department and former Air Force staff sergeant.
And more congratulations to Taylor Swift, who has notched yet another #1 song with "Sparks Fly." Check out how she describes the life of one of her songs: “The most amazing feeling is to watch a song start out as just an idea that hits you in the middle of your day, and kind of haunts you until you write it. And, then you’re playing it in your living room on guitar, and then you take it into a studio and they put a band behind it. And, then it goes out into the world and it becomes what it’s going to be.”
Happy birthday to Jack Ingram, who turns 41 today.
The tweet of the day is from Kellie Pickler: "swaying' back & forth on an old porch swing...listening to the coyotes howl...& counting' deer."
