Latest / Country Weekly / 9.5.25
Transcript
- 0:04Speaker 1: Now it's time to catch up with Country Weekly, where
- 0:07we dive into news and gossip from the world of
- 0:10country music. I'm your host, Ken Dawkins, and I will
- 0:14be reading from various sources found online. As a reminder,
- 0:18RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
- 0:21blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
- 0:24read printed material. We'll begin with the first article, dated
- 0:28September second from Savingcountry Music dot Com. The Nitty Gritty
- 0:34Dirt Band reprises Circle Moment at Earl Scruggs Fest. The
- 0:39fourth annual Earl Scruggs Music Festival was held on twenty
- 0:43twenty five over the Labor Day weekend August twenty ninth
- 0:46through the thirty first, in Mill Springs, North Carolina, at
- 0:50the Tryon International Equestrian Facility, not far from Earl scruggs
- 0:54birthplace near Shelby, North Carolina. The twenty twenty five event
- 0:58posted a lineup that was stacked with legends of the genre,
- 1:01including Alison Krauss and Union Station, Sam Bush, Earls of Leister, Watchhouse,
- 1:06Del mc quarie Bands, Sister Sadie, Sierra Hull, rob Ix,
- 1:10and Trey Hensley. War Entreaty Authentic, Unlimited, and many more,
- 1:16but the Sunday finale set belonged to the Nitty Gritty
- 1:19Dirt Band. Folks were looking forward to simply getting an
- 1:21opportunity to pay their respects to the legendary band who
- 1:25are now on their farewell tour. During the day at
- 1:28the festival, little hints were surfacing that this performance might
- 1:31be something a little more special. It's been over fifty
- 1:35years that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has existed, from
- 1:37their humble roots as a scrappy bunch of fledgling musicians
- 1:40in California with a jug band back in nineteen sixty six,
- 1:44to becoming superstars in the country and roots music realm.
- 1:48They would enjoy a string of hits including Mister bo Jangles,
- 1:51Long Hard Road, The Sharecroppers, Dream Dance, Little Jean, Fishing
- 1:55in the Dark, and many others in their five plus
- 1:57decades as a touring band, but unquestionably their largest contribution
- 2:02to music has been the phenomenal triple record set Will
- 2:05the Circle Be Unbroken. The album, now in the Grammy
- 2:08Hall of Fame and praised by music critics, musicians and
- 2:11fans alike, is widely considered to be one of the
- 2:13most important recordings made in the history of country music.
- 2:17It brought together towering founders of the bluegrass and country genres,
- 2:21including Mother Maybelle Carter, Roy Acoff, Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis,
- 2:25Doc Watson, and of course Earl Scruggs himself. Scruggs was
- 2:29key to the entire album, and today it stands as
- 2:31another of his many successful accomplishments. Early Sunder a Sunday
- 2:36afternoon on the Legend Stage, two of the Nitty Great
- 2:39Dirt Bands founders, Jeff Hannah and Jimmy Fadden, were interviewed
- 2:42by noted music journalist Craig havigerst. The subject was devoted
- 2:46to discussing Earl Scruggs and the making of the Circle Album.
- 2:50Hannah and Fadden shared many humorous and interesting anecdotes from
- 2:53the band's early history and how they would come to
- 2:55be a part of one of the greatest concept albums
- 2:58of all time. They also shut details of that magical
- 3:01recording session in the Woodland studio where it was done.
- 3:04Later in the evening, as everyone gathered for the Nitty
- 3:07Gritty Dirt Band set, they noticed an unusual amount of
- 3:10microphone stands set up across the stage. There was a
- 3:14rumor that the band may intend to perform the Circle
- 3:17Album this evening. Well, it didn't take very long to verify. JT.
- 3:21Scruggs is the man behind the festival in Earl's Nephew.
- 3:24He shared a few words with the crowd and mentioned
- 3:26that they were about to see something incredibly special in
- 3:29just a few moments. As Jeff Hannah, Jimmy Fadden, Bob Carpenter,
- 3:33Jamie Hannah, and of Jim Photoglow all stood on to
- 3:38the stage. They were followed by a jaw dropping procession
- 3:41of legendary pickers. Jerry Douglas, Rob McCurry, Sam Bush and
- 3:45Sean Camp all filed on stage. Jeff Hannah wasted no
- 3:49time telling the highly excited crowd that they were going
- 3:52to do an entire set of songs from the Circle
- 3:54Album along with a few of their friends. Would that
- 3:57be okay with the audience? Amidst thundering applause heard from
- 4:01throughout the place, they launched into grand old opry song
- 4:04with Sean Camp singing the lead vocal. More songs followed,
- 4:08and two of the younger stars from the scene were
- 4:09invited on stage to join the band, namely the phenomenal
- 4:13Sierra Hull, who had performed earlier in the day with
- 4:15the Earls of Leicester, and recent flat picking phenom Grammy
- 4:20winner Trey Hensley. It was an insane amount of talent
- 4:23on the stage and almost stupefying to take it all in.
- 4:26The writer says, you had multiple Grammy winners, multiple IBM
- 4:29A winners, members of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, and
- 4:32some Grand Old Opry members. The set list included many
- 4:35legendary songs, including A Cops Wreck on the Highway, Merle,
- 4:39Travis Dark As Dungeon, Jimmy Martin's Walkin' Shoes, and others.
- 4:43Featured vocalists took their turns at the mic and would
- 4:45then walk off stage, allowing others to cycle in and out.
- 4:48Jeff Hannah, the frontman of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
- 4:51acted as band leader and introduced each guess. Sierra Hall,
- 4:55who had already performed on Saturday with her band, got
- 4:58tremendous love from the crowd, which she took on the
- 5:00part of mother Maybelle Carter, picking guitar and singing wildwood Flower,
- 5:04Keep on the Sunny Side, and a duet with Jeff Hannah.
- 5:07You Are My Flower. Sierra Hall is a force in
- 5:10the bluegrass and Americano worlds, and we're fortunate to have her,
- 5:14says Saving Country Music. One of the great moments was
- 5:17watching her and Sam Bush trade off on mandolin solos.
- 5:20You could see the admiration each of them held for
- 5:22the other, and their joy in playing was infectious. The
- 5:25most influential dobro player of all time, Jerry Douglas, looked
- 5:28absolutely energized by all of it as he ripped off
- 5:31monumental doughbro leads. The night's performance was e epic. Hensley
- 5:37was also highly impressive to watch as the crowd went
- 5:40wild over his fearsome flat picking skills and deep baritone
- 5:43vocals on Travis nine pound Hammer and other songs. He too,
- 5:47represents all that is great about young blood coming into
- 5:50the bluegrass world, he said earlier in the day. With
- 5:53musical partner rob Icks with jaw dropping and one for
- 5:55the books, Saving Country Music says, keep an eye on
- 5:59this young ground, I mean Winter, and check out as
- 6:01many albums with rob Ix. He's a force to be
- 6:03reckoned with for certain. Now that Ix has decided to
- 6:06quit the touring, Hensley is in perfect position to do
- 6:09just about anything he sets his mind too. The night
- 6:12continue with a nitty gritty dirt band doing some of
- 6:15their own songs and hits, including Mister bo Jangles and
- 6:18crowd favorite by You Jubilee. But it was the closing
- 6:21that really brought the magic ending to the festival, with
- 6:24all gathered back on stage to perform The Circle album's centerpiece,
- 6:28Will the Circle Be Unbroken. The entire evening's performance was
- 6:32a stunning tribute to country music, bluegrass, American music, and
- 6:36a tribute to one of the greatest musicians of all time,
- 6:38Earl Scruggs. The banner above the main stage this year
- 6:42boldly declared the music is coming home. Indeed, it did
- 6:46come home in twenty twenty five, and the attendees of
- 6:48Earl Scrugs Fest no doubt agree. Next, country artist Brian
- 6:54Martin removed from stage amid drunken performance. Average Joe's signed
- 7:00singer and songwriter Brian Martin was detained on Friday, August
- 7:04twenty ninth after attempting to perform at the Shagtcoke Fair
- 7:08in New York. After slurring through numerous songs, making an
- 7:12extended slurred speech, and personnel attempting to escort him off stage.
- 7:17Martin was ultimately forcibly removed by Sheriff's office officials. Brian
- 7:22Martin is originally from Louisiana and was known throughout independent
- 7:25and underground circles before signing to Average Joe's and releasing
- 7:29the hit We Ride Back in twenty twenty three. The
- 7:32song hit number three on the Billboard Country Airplay charts
- 7:36and helped make Martin a national name. Other major songs
- 7:39include Memory to Drown and Everyone's. An outlaw video showed
- 7:45police detaining Martin and ultimately having to forcibly remove him.
- 7:49That video was recently removed. The Rensalaer County Sheriff's Office
- 7:53released a statement saying during the performance, mister Martin displayed
- 7:56signs of intoxication and erratic behavior, which ultimately required him
- 8:00to be removed from the stage. Deputies and event staff
- 8:04attempted to assist mister Martin off stage, but due to
- 8:06his impaired state, he became resistant and had to be
- 8:09forcibly escorted out. At first, what appeared to be an
- 8:12act of aggression understandably caused concern among fans and even organizers. However,
- 8:19in the hours following the incident, mister Martin acknowledged that
- 8:22he is struggling with alcoholism. This admission shifts the perspective
- 8:25from one of conflict to one of compassion. Brian Martin
- 8:30released a statement himself saying, sorry, I let you all
- 8:33down tonight. Truth is, I'm not okay. Been hitting it
- 8:36hard for a while and haven't took time to be
- 8:38honest with myself about my mental health. And it's nothing
- 8:41new to struggle with my anxiety and depression, but I've
- 8:44had a weight on my heart lately that's been heavy
- 8:47and accumulating with time, and I let myself and my
- 8:50fans down by not addressing them and getting help and
- 8:53pretending it was all going to go away. Feelings and
- 8:55this life ain't ever going to be something that gets easier.
- 8:59So far, no word of charges being filed in the incident.
- 9:03Next the reason the twenty twenty five Field and Stream
- 9:07Festival was canceled. The Field and Stream Music Festival has
- 9:12been canceled for the second year in a row. Meant
- 9:15to help promote the return of the iconic American Field
- 9:18and Stream magazine and lifestyle brand, the festival was set
- 9:21to be held in Winnsboro, South Carolina, October three through fifth.
- 9:26Though promoters are given the common explanation of unforeseen circumstances
- 9:30for the cancelation, Saving Country Music has learned it was
- 9:33due to low ticket sales. Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Leonard Skinner,
- 9:38Riley Green, Bailey, Zimmerman, and zz Top were all slated
- 9:42as headliners. In twenty twenty five, the event has been
- 9:45snake bit from the beginning. Last year, the festival had
- 9:48a similar lineup along with Laney Wilson set to perform,
- 9:51but due to remnants of Hurricane Helene, the October festival
- 9:54last year was canceled as well. The Field and Stream
- 9:58name is Deep Country Music tie in. The Field and
- 10:01Stream magazine was in print between eighteen ninety five until
- 10:04twenty fifteen. It became an online publication in twenty twenty.
- 10:09Then in January of last year, Eric Church and Morgan
- 10:11Wallen purchased the magazine and brand and announced its return
- 10:15as a print publication along with the festival. The festival
- 10:18was considered a significant component to revitalizing the brand. Saving
- 10:23Country Music was tipped off the festival would be canceled
- 10:26on Wednesday, August twentieth, and that it would be announced
- 10:29to the public on Friday the twenty second. There's no
- 10:32explanation of why the announcement was delayed. In a statement
- 10:36published on Wednesday the twenty seventh, the festival states, Unfortunately,
- 10:40due to circumstances beyond our control, Field and Stream Music
- 10:43Fest has been canceled. The refund process will commence immediately
- 10:47and will cover all Field and Stream purchases tied to
- 10:50your order. The Field and Stream Festival is owned by
- 10:53the brand itself, with Eric Church and Morgan Wallen as
- 10:55key investors, along with the event production company Southern Entertainment.
- 11:00Now is shimmy over to people dot com Country with
- 11:04the first article dated September second, as Shania Twain turns sixty,
- 11:11She remembers she didn't want to perform this song following
- 11:14her divorce, but now she has a new found appreciation
- 11:16for it. Shania Twain still thinks this song is the one,
- 11:21despite how it came to be. Speaking with Etok in
- 11:24a TikTok video originally shared on YouTube, the country star
- 11:28reflected on the nineteen ninety seven song You're Still the One,
- 11:31which she wrote with her ex husband music producer Robert
- 11:34Mutt Lang. Well, I'm not just saying this because it
- 11:38seems obvious, but You're Still the One really is one
- 11:40of my favorite to do live. She says. I've gone
- 11:43through quite a few stages with that song of not
- 11:45really even wanting to sing it live for a while,
- 11:48just thinking, well, Okay, I'm divorced now does it really
- 11:51mean what it used to mean when I wrote it. However,
- 11:54Twain now has a new found appreciation for the song
- 11:57again I have for a while, She says, it's mostly fans.
- 12:00Fans love it, They want to hear it. It means
- 12:02so much to them in so many ways. They're either
- 12:05getting married to it or having been married to it,
- 12:08or had an anniversary or a friendship or whatever. It's
- 12:11more the meaning that it is, or that it represents
- 12:14to everybody else that makes it so meaningful to me again,
- 12:17added Twain. The Queen of Country Pop also mentioned that
- 12:21she is in the middle of making a seventh album.
- 12:23It's going to be different than maybe what anyone is expecting.
- 12:26There's a lot of storytelling in this album, she teased.
- 12:29You're Still the One was nominated for four Grammy Awards
- 12:32back in nineteen ninety nine and took home two Best
- 12:35Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. It was
- 12:39also nominated for Song of the Year and Record of
- 12:42the Year. It spent forty two weeks on the Billboard
- 12:45Hot one hundred chart, peaking at number one on May two,
- 12:48nineteen ninety eight, for two weeks. Twain and Lang seventy six,
- 12:52were married from nineteen ninety three until two thousand and eight.
- 12:56They share twenty four year old son Asia, currently married
- 13:00to Frederick Tibaud, who she tied the knot with on
- 13:03New Year's Day in twenty eleven. Twain spoke to people
- 13:07in February about being put in a box by the
- 13:10music industry, by fans and executors. If I feel like
- 13:13I'm being put in a box, I start to panic,
- 13:15Twain said. At the time, I run in any direction
- 13:18I can because I don't want to be contained. I
- 13:20have to be able to find my own way. Sometimes
- 13:23I'm not even sure where I'm going myself. How can
- 13:26somebody else tell me that? Right? So, I need the
- 13:28freedom to explore and to land wherever that exploration takes me,
- 13:32added Twain. She also said that it's really great to
- 13:35see artists go beyond their typical genre of music. I'm
- 13:38always championing anybody that does things that are unexpected by
- 13:41the industry or unexpected by the audience. They may not
- 13:45have seen it coming, but the artist does have a
- 13:47sense of where they want to go exploring, and I
- 13:50really think it's wonderful that they do that they explored,
- 13:53and that they take it to whatever limit interests them. Next,
- 13:58Jason Aldean details his breakdown months after the Las Vegas
- 14:02Route ninety one festival shooting. Nearly eight years after the
- 14:07deadly shooting at the Root ninety one Harvest festival in
- 14:10Las Vegas, Jason Aldean is opening up about the impact
- 14:13the event had on him. Aldan, who's now forty eight,
- 14:17was performing on stage at the time of the shooting,
- 14:19which took sixty lives and injured more than eight hundred
- 14:22on October first, twenty seventeen. It was a festival like
- 14:26we've done a million times, Aldean shared on Monday. The
- 14:30episode of this was on the episode of the Armchair
- 14:33Expert podcast. It was just obviously something that we weren't
- 14:36prepared for, the try that in a small town. Singer
- 14:40detailed his packed schedule in the wake of the shooting,
- 14:43including reuniting with his extended family and opening Saturday Night
- 14:46Live days later. We finally got out of there the
- 14:49next afternoon, home and you're just glad to be home.
- 14:52Show up. My mom's crying, Aldine said. You know, my
- 14:55oldest daughter was in school freaking out, thinking that somebody
- 14:58was trying to shoot us. All the details were still
- 15:01kind of coming out. Aldine added that after his sn
- 15:04L performance, he was on the move once again, honoring
- 15:07those impacted by the shooting. Sunday morning, I was on
- 15:11a flight going back to Las Vegas to go to
- 15:13the hospital and see all the victims. That was tough,
- 15:16he shared. People hadn't recovered from their wounds yet. These
- 15:20appearances were followed by Aldane finishing his tour, which consisted
- 15:23of another month of shows. Then his and wife Britney's son, Memphis,
- 15:28was born two months after the shooting, sending Aldan home
- 15:31to spend time with family and to reconcile all that
- 15:34he had experienced all of a sudden at home, we
- 15:37had something else to focus on, versus watching that on
- 15:40the news every day, he said. For me, you know,
- 15:43I had kind of a breakdown in my house one day.
- 15:45It was just after my son was born, and just
- 15:48all that heaviness of everything just getting laid on you.
- 15:51He shared that his emotions were related to the many
- 15:53could have been thoughts he experienced after the shooting. I
- 15:57ended up having a moment at my house when I
- 15:59broke down thinking about all the people that I could
- 16:01have lost, all the people that we did lose, as
- 16:03far as fans, but my inner circle of people, and
- 16:06my wife was there eight months pregnant with my son,
- 16:09and all these things, he explained. The country singer admitted
- 16:12to grappling with his emotions during this time and struggling
- 16:15to decipher just how he was feeling. It's easier to
- 16:18talk about now at the time, it wasn't because you're
- 16:21still trying to comprehend what had just happened. He said.
- 16:24You know, my bass player, my best friend for the
- 16:26last twenty five years, his bass had a bullet lodged
- 16:29in it, and he was wearing that when we were
- 16:31on stage for a little family or a little crew.
- 16:34We got so lucky, not one injury to any of
- 16:36our guys, and you're happy about that, but then you
- 16:39feel guilty to be happy about that. There's life like
- 16:42this guilt ridden thing. When asked about by podcast host
- 16:46Dak Sheppard if he went to therapy for the incident,
- 16:49Aldine replied, I guess I'm too Southern. Here's the ironic thing.
- 16:53We funded a ton of therapy for all the crews
- 16:55and everybody else. My therapy was me, my wife, my band,
- 16:59all of us that were there. We all talked about
- 17:01it amongst each other. Aldean said, the incident will forever
- 17:05connect us to that city, adding at some point you
- 17:08can either run from it or accept it and try
- 17:10and make something good out of it, and that's what
- 17:12we tried to do. Moving forward, al Dean hopes to
- 17:15return to Vegas some day soon for an extended period
- 17:18of time. I think that's probably in our future to
- 17:20hit Vegas, do some residencies, but for me to just
- 17:23stop touring and even doing it the way we do it,
- 17:25he shared, this is what I've wanted to do from
- 17:28the time that I can remember. Now, we're on to
- 17:31countrynow dot Com with the first article dated August twenty ninth.
- 17:36Riley Green's deluxe album features a legendary touch from Willie Nelson.
- 17:42Riley Green has released deluxe version of his iagold certified
- 17:46third LP, Don't Mind If I Do, among the six
- 17:50brand new songs, as a standout collaboration with country music
- 17:53legend Willie Nelson. The Alabama native first heard this track
- 17:56when Randy Montana played it for him a few years ago.
- 18:00While he was ready to record it for the original
- 18:02Don't Mind If I Do track list, He explained to
- 18:05Apple Music's Kelly Bannittt on Today's Country Radio that he
- 18:08had it to be patient because Eric Church had it
- 18:11on hold at the time. I think I maybe have
- 18:14just gotten just famous enough that I can pull a
- 18:16song away if Eric Church isn't going to cut sometime soon,
- 18:19he joked. Once the song was officially in Green's hands,
- 18:22he acted quick to record it and send it over
- 18:24to Willie Nelson, hoping that the ninety two year old
- 18:27would like it enough to add his touch in some way.
- 18:31I got it to Willie's camp and he really loved
- 18:33the song. He wanted to be part of it. I said, well,
- 18:36whatever he wants to do, if he wants to sing,
- 18:37if he wants to speak, if he wants to play anyway.
- 18:40He played the guitar solo on it on his guitar.
- 18:42Green revealed the Alabama native will always treasure having Willie
- 18:46Nelson's guitar licks woven into the track. It's such a
- 18:50cool thing for me, he acknowledged. It doesn't get much
- 18:52bigger than Willie Nelson in country music, especially living and
- 18:55touring and still out there doing it after the amount
- 18:57of time he's been out there. Thinking about Nelson still
- 19:01touring at his age got the worst way singer imagining
- 19:03his own path in music and life and what his
- 19:06future may hold. I can't picture it. I can't think
- 19:09I'm going to be ninety one. I'll make it to
- 19:11ninety one. I always thought I'd do construction work until
- 19:14I couldn't do it anymore. And I kind of feel
- 19:16the same way about playing music. I feel like I'll
- 19:19always find a way to perform and go play shows
- 19:21to a certain extent, he explained. Even if he doesn't
- 19:24continue to perform on major stages or write hits into
- 19:27his old age, Green hopes that he will follow in
- 19:29his late grandfather's footsteps by always finding new ways to
- 19:33stay creative and fuel his passion for songwriting. My granddaddy
- 19:37Buford was a really witty guy, he wrote, poems and
- 19:40Painted Green recalled I didn't write songs at that time
- 19:43in my career. I hadn't really started out before he
- 19:46passed away. He would have been a great songwriter. I
- 19:49could see myself, hopefully with some grandkids one day, sitting
- 19:52around trying to write goofy songs. Don't Mind If I
- 19:56Do Deluxe officially arrived on Friday, August twenty ninth Nashville
- 20:00Harbor Records and Entertainment. In addition to One to Willie,
- 20:04the project showcases Green's powerful storytelling in songs like Make
- 20:08It Rain, Cowboy As It Gets featuring Randy Hauser, I
- 20:12Just Need You with Hannah McFarlane, What Am I supposed
- 20:15to do now? And bet their biting moving along. The
- 20:19new live version of He Stopped Loving Her Today features
- 20:22George Jones and Alan Jackson, two of country music's most
- 20:27iconic voices. George Jones and Alan Jackson have come together
- 20:31for a powerful new live version of Jones' iconic hit
- 20:34He Stopped Loving Her Today, released in celebration of the
- 20:37Grand Old Opry's one hundredth anniversary. This just released collaboration
- 20:42blends two unforgettable moments that could only take place on
- 20:44the Opry stage. It begins with Jones stirring nineteen ninety
- 20:48three live performance of his signature hit from the Opry's
- 20:52Hollowed Circle, and transitions seamlessly into Jackson's emotional rendition from
- 20:56jones twenty thirteen funeral, where he honored his hero by
- 21:00performing the timeless song to close the service. He stopped
- 21:04Loving Her to Day as widely regarded as one of
- 21:07the greatest, if not the greatest songs in country music history.
- 21:11Released in the spring of nineteen eighty as the lead
- 21:13single from George Jones' album I Am What I Am,
- 21:17the track marked a major comeback, becoming his first number
- 21:19one hit in six years. At the time, Jones's career
- 21:23had been in decline following his divorce from Tammy Winnett.
- 21:27The heartbreaking ballad tells the story of a man left
- 21:29by the woman he loved. When she walked away, he
- 21:32promised I'll love you till I die, a vow she doubted,
- 21:35saying you'll forget in time, but he never did. He
- 21:38kept her letters, clung to her memory, and loved her
- 21:41until the day they laid him to rest. The song
- 21:44not only topped the charts, but also swept the awards circuit.
- 21:47It earned Jones a Grammy for Best Male Country of
- 21:50Vocal Performance as well as ac M Song and Single
- 21:53of the Year. Impressively, it won the c m A
- 21:56Award for the Song of the Year in both nineteen
- 21:58eighty and eighty one. From the moment Jackson stepped onto
- 22:02the country music scene, he named Jones as a major influence.
- 22:05His music even inspired the legend to write the now
- 22:08famous note once displayed at the Country Music Hall of
- 22:10Fame and Museum, thanking Jackson for keeping it country. On
- 22:15November seventh, Opry one hundred Country's Greatest Songs is one
- 22:19of a kind album honoring one hundred years of the
- 22:21Opry and featuring twenty never before released live recordings from
- 22:25its legendary stage. The first single from the star studied
- 22:29collection was Your Cheating Heart, performed by Ashley McBride and
- 22:33originally recorded by Hank Williams in nineteen fifty two. Now
- 22:38let's tap dance over to the boot dot com with
- 22:41the first article published on September second, Kelsey Ballerini rocks
- 22:47out with the Jonas Brothers in an epic on stage reunion.
- 22:51The Jonas Brothers pulled out all the stops at their
- 22:54show in Dallas on Sunday night. Not only did the
- 22:57Brothers give the stage to Fifth Harmony for an impromptu
- 22:59proformag they also reunited with Kelsey Ballerini, inviting her out
- 23:03to sing a handful of songs for the crowd. The
- 23:07country singer was an opening act for the Brothers on
- 23:09there remembered this tour back in twenty twenty one, so
- 23:12her appearance at the Dose Equi's Pavilion over the weekend
- 23:15was a reunion. Ballerini brought her whimsical twenty fifteen hit
- 23:20Peter Pan to the stage and the three brothers sang
- 23:23along with her. The country hit maker looked ethereal in
- 23:26an all white ensemble. It also appears that she was barefoot,
- 23:29which is fitting for the song. In a video shared
- 23:33to social media, you can see the playfulness among the
- 23:35four singers. After one chorus, Nick asks if he can
- 23:38take the solo on the next verse Balleroni. Ballerini is
- 23:42quick to call him on his bluff, telling him to
- 23:44take it. He sheepishly waves her off as the crowd cheers.
- 23:49The trio also dug deep into their archives, resurrecting their
- 23:53two thousand and nine song Fly with Me. Ballerini was
- 23:56invited to be a part of that performance too. The
- 23:59Penthouse provided harmonies for the chorus, but the Jonas Brothers
- 24:03will let her take the reins for one of the
- 24:04verses as well. At one point, All four allow the
- 24:08crowd to take over and sing a few lines. Ballerini
- 24:12kicked off twenty twenty five with a headlining tour. Kelsey
- 24:15Ballerini Live, launched on January twenty first, and ran for
- 24:18several weeks before wrapping up on April ninth. The next
- 24:22dates that are on her calendar are in December, when
- 24:24she heads to Australia for a five date run. The
- 24:28Boot has a couple of interesting lists this week. The
- 24:30first one country artists last pre fame regular job before
- 24:34they hit it big. As country music fans, we open
- 24:37our favorite music streaming sites, we download, listen to our
- 24:40favorite songs, and pay our hard earned money to go
- 24:42see our favorite artists play live. But have you ever
- 24:45stopped to think what these uber famous, successful and wealthy
- 24:48country artists did before they were big. For example, a
- 24:51country artist that is eligible for the Country Music Hall
- 24:53of Fame once used to clean human waste out of
- 24:56houseboat reservoir tanks. One of the most successful female country
- 25:02artists of all time used to pump gas at a
- 25:03gas station. So let's take a look at some of
- 25:06country music's biggest artists last pre fame regular jobs. We
- 25:10all know country artists for being well country artists, but
- 25:13the reality is the regular people just like we are.
- 25:17For example, Kelly Clarkson worked at Papa John's before she
- 25:21won American Idol, sold millions of records, and hosted her
- 25:24own TV show. Clarkson used to work at Papa John's Pizza.
- 25:29Jordan Davis was a bartender in Nashville, and speaking to
- 25:32Taste of Country Nights, Davis said that he was bummed
- 25:34that he wasn't getting anywhere in Nashville with his music,
- 25:37so he stopped into a bar for a beer and
- 25:39asked them if they were hiring bartenders. Thomas Rhett laid
- 25:43hardwood floors before laying down the tunes for millions of
- 25:46people's life soundtracks. Rhett was laying hardwood floors, and he
- 25:51enjoyed it. Garth Brooks was a bouncer before becoming the
- 25:55worldwide superstar that he is now. Brooks started with a
- 25:58rather humble beginning, spent years working as a bouncer at
- 26:01a bar in his old college town of Stillwater, Oklahoma.
- 26:05Dirk's Bentley Clean, Dirty, Houseboat, bathroom, reservoir tanks. Before fame,
- 26:10he held the job which involved draining the waste from
- 26:12houseboats that had set at sea for a day, a week,
- 26:15or even longer. King Brown was a FedEx delivery driver.
- 26:20After graduating high school, Brown wanted to get it into
- 26:23the military, but he was told he couldn't unless he
- 26:25removed his tattoos, so he went to FedEx. Jason Aldean
- 26:29was a Pepsi delivery driver. It's another Country Superstar. He
- 26:33used to make deliveries. Dave Haywood from Lady A was
- 26:37a booking agent. He was a booking agent before hitting
- 26:41stardom with the trio He told Tastes of Country was
- 26:44actually Lady A's booking agent. It would act like he
- 26:47was not in the band while he was on the
- 26:49phone booking venues. And Carrie Underwood was a gas station attendant.
- 26:54The other list from the booth The ten best songs
- 26:56about hard work chances are The Office of the Factory
- 26:59is the last thing you want to think about on
- 27:00your off day, But these ten best work songs are
- 27:03all tributes to the good old American work ethic. Number
- 27:07ten Beer on the Table from Josh Thompson has a
- 27:10song one of the best songs about hard work. A
- 27:13fun tribute to the work week is sung slightly tongue
- 27:16in cheek. Number nine Working for a Living from Garth
- 27:20Brooks featuring Huey Lewis. Garth Brooks seven remake of the
- 27:24Huey Lewis and News song was a top twenty hit
- 27:27that included the song's original voice and harmonica player. Number
- 27:32eight Little Man from Alan Jackson. A couple of songs
- 27:35on this list of the best work songs are more
- 27:37of a social statement than a celebration. Jackson's poignant tribute
- 27:40to hard working families that couldn't keep up with big
- 27:43box store businesses is as relevant today as it was
- 27:46back in nineteen ninety nine. Six Days on the Road
- 27:49from Sawyer Brown is number seven. Dave Dudley originally recorded
- 27:53this truck driver's anthem in the early sixties. Of course,
- 27:57nine to five from Dolly Parton has to be on
- 27:58this list. It's six, says the boot. Number five hard
- 28:02Working Man from Brooks and Dun. Ronnie Dunn wrote this
- 28:04song and Brooks and Dunn released it in nineteen ninety three.
- 28:09Shift Work number four from Kenny Chesney featuring George Strait.
- 28:12Kenny Chesney's island boy image might not make him the
- 28:15most genuine mascot for the blue collar community, but this
- 28:18hilarious tribute to men and women working around the clock
- 28:21felt good. In two thousand and eight, Forty hour Week
- 28:24for a Living from Alabama's number three, Aaron Tippins working
- 28:28Man's PhD would be number two and number one says
- 28:32the Boot for working Songs Merle Haggard's working Man Blues Well.
- 28:37This concludes the reading of Country Weekly for this week.
- 28:40If you have any comments or suggestions about our program,
- 28:43kindly call us at eight five nine four two two
- 28:46sixty three ninety. Thank you for joining me and on
- 28:49behalf of everyone here at RADIOI. This is Ken Dawkins,
- 28:52wishing you a great day.