Told you last week that Garth Brooks will kick off the Calgary Music Festival this summer with a full-band show. Here's how hot the demand is for the G-man: nearly 16 thousand tickets for the July 12th show sold in less than one minute. It's the fastest sellout in the festival's 100-year history. There were no pre-show sales to fan club members or festival patrons - this was a 58-second sellout through Ticketmaster. There won't be a second show, so you know the scalpers will be out in force re-selling these tickets.
We don't get to see it here, but Keith Urban is having a blast being a coach on the Australian version of "The Voice." He enjoys giving aspiring singers a shot at the same kind of stardom he's found, but has a rough time with some aspects of the show: “The battle rounds are the hardest ‘cause you gotta choose somebody over somebody else, and let someone go—that’s the toughest bit. But the fact that they got a couple minutes of camera time to show everybody what they do is really the greatest thing.” This Saturday he becomes the first Australian to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.
In other Keith Urban news, his "All for the Hall" event last week raised nearly half a million dollars for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Over the last three years, the annual concert has raised about a million and a half dollars, and Keith says there will be another one in 2013.
Eric Church is on his first arena tour, his first headlining tour and his first real touring challenge: how to take the Blood, Sweat and Beers tour into the bigger venues and still have the party atmosphere he likes. Eric explains, “The hardest thing and the most important thing for me is to turn that arena into a bar or club. You have to make it feel the same way, wall-to-wall, people up. Beers in the air. Partying, interacting with each other. And it’s the hardest thing to do in an arena that size when people get farther and farther away. And I’ve been very pleased and proud of the fact that we’ve been able to do that.”
Congratulations to Luke Bryan, whose "Tailgates & Tanlines" album has been certified platinum for over a million units sold. It's been a learning experience for Luke: “When you get into your third album and you’re lucky enough to get to a third album, you just get more seasoned and a little more calm about the experience. You’re not...you take the things you did write and wrong from your other two and you make mental notes and you try to do all the things you liked and roll into this album.” Luke is touring with Jason Aldean, but you know there'll be a platinum party soon.
And congratulations to Blake Shelton, who has the #1 country song in America this week with "Drink On It."
Waylon Jennings has been gone for 10 years, and in September, his final recordings will be released. "Goin' Down Rockin' - the Last Recordings" will include songs he wrote and recorded during the last few years before his death.
The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "My husband just took me on a date y'all. First real date in a while. Back Home now with a pile Of dogs!:) just how we like it!"
