Pages

▼

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Country Music Pride

Country Music Pride

8 Country Music Stars Who Have Served Our Country

Posted: 10 Nov 2014 04:14 PM PST

By: Tony Manfetano

Even a peacenik such as myself has to salute the intrepid men and women who have not only put there lives up but consequently laid them down to serve our nation. Our armed forces and a general spirit of patriotism is inextricably linked with country music. While artists such as Toby Keith, Trace Adkins and Hunter Hayes put forth great efforts to salute and entertain our troops, songs like Lee Brice's "I Drive Your Truck" keep them on our minds here on the home front. Apropos of Veteran's Day this week we are going to run down, in no particular order, the top 8 country music stars who have served our proud nation as a member of the armed forces. Shall we?

Jamey Johnson    The "In Color" singer spent 8 years in the U.S. Marine Corps reaching the rank of Corporal. Johnson served as a mortarman, an infantry personnel who is responsible for tactical employment of light and medium mortars. That is some serious badassness. Jamey is said to have written and played original songs for his peers during his term.

George Jones    The man who many call the greatest country music voice to ever have lived had already been performing on local radio from a young age. It was not until a failed marriage in 1951 that Jones enlisted in the Marines. The country crooner stationed in California continued to perform in bars through his service and dove right back into the business shortly after discharge. Although the Korean war was during Jones' time in the corps he was never deployed.

Craig Morgan    This seventeen time country Billboard charter holds the longest military career on our list with 10 years active duty in the U.S. Army and an additional 7 years in army reserves. Morgan says he would often mess around with guitar to relieve stress during his nearly two decades of service, but it was not till after a string of jobs including construction, security guard and WalMart that Craig began working in music as a Nashville demo singer.

George Strait    Shortly after his marriage to high school sweetheart Norma in 1971 George joined the Army where he was stationed at Schofield Barracks on Hawaii. The reigning king of country played in both army sponsored and civilian bands during this time before returning home to attend Southwest Texas State University. He continued to play in honky-tonks till serendipitously befriending Erv Woolsey, a bar owner and former MCA Records man, who would eventually bring Strait to music row.

Willie Nelson    Yeah. Willie does not seem to be one accused of having a propensity towards regiment. Yet, the hall of fame singer/songwriter did indeed serve in the Air Force before a medical discharge due to back issues. I guess this was before  he discovered the medicinal herb. Nelson was stationed at Lackland AFB around the same time as our next legend but it is unclear whether the two ever crossed paths.

Johnny Cash    Anyone who has seen the movie Walk The Line knows the rumors that "Folsom Prison Blues" was penned during Johnny's time in the U.S. Air Force. Originally stationed at the aforementioned Lackland AFB he was subsequently deployed to Germany where he spent most of his military career as a morse code interceptor.  Cash would go on to be one of the greatest champions of patriotism our nation has ever seen.

Kris Kristofferson     Is there anything this Rhodes Scholar, helicopter pilot, movie star and prolific songwriter has not done? Well, add Army Ranger and Captain to the list. Already having obtained a Master's from Oxford, Kris joined the forces in 1960. He formed his own band while stationed in Germany and worked on music. He would later turn down a position at West Point Academy to move to Nashville and focus on music.

Elvis Presley     The most famous name on this list the king of rock and roll himself. One of only two artists holding places in both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, respectively. The other being Johnny Cash. Many do not know that Presley turned down two offers, one for "Special Services" and another to form his own troop and be stationed in Vegas, and insisted on serving as a regular soldier. The king trained at Fort Hood in Texas and met wife Priscilla while deployed. Unfortunately, though none war inflicted, Elvis' service was fraught with undesirable events including the death of his mother and an addiction to stimulants.

While country music will always support our armed forces let us not get too caught up in what celebrities are doing lest we forget the Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, Sisters, Sons, Daughters, Husbands, Wives and Friends who proudly stand up for and protect our great United States. Happy Veteran's Day.

                                                                                                                                                                                             (Wikipedia.org, TasteOfCountry.com)

Jennifer Nettles returns to host “CMA Country Christmas”

Posted: 10 Nov 2014 01:52 PM PST

Christmas is right around the corner and what better way to celebrate and start the holiday season off right than to watch the "CMA Country Christmas" special! Jennifer Nettles returns for the 5th year in a row to host the two-hour special on Monday, December 1st at 8 PM/ET on ABC.

The special is a celebration of the season will feature some of the top stars in music this year performing holiday songs and getting into the Christmas spirit. Artists already announced include Dan + Shay, Brett Eldredge, Sara Evans, Lucy Hale, Hunter Hayes, Little Big Town, Idina Menzel, Nettles, LeAnn Rimes, Michael W. Smith, and Carrie Underwood.

For updates and information visit CMAchristmas.com

Chase Rice “Ignites the Night” at House of Blue San Diego

Posted: 10 Nov 2014 10:34 AM PST

By Amy Dolkas

San Diego just wrapped up the country concert season at Sleep Train Amphitheatre with huge name acts like Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean putting on tremendous performances. Chase Rice came to town following these huge acts and played a smaller show at the House of Blues. To my pleasant surprise, Rice put on a fun show that was quite deserving of a much bigger stage.

His is one of the most unique country shows I have ever been to. Rice clearly puts in the effort to make his shows memorable and enjoyable. Covering hip hop and rock songs like "Country Grammar" by Nelly and "What's my Age Again?" by Blink 182, the songwriter shared his musical influences growing up. He reminded the audience that all kinds of music can serve for writing inspiration. The crowd was having a blast singing along with all of the throwback songs he played. Instead of simply singing his songs, Rice involved the audience throughout the show. He pulled up a girl with a birthday tiara on stage to sing her the SoMo song "Ride", making her blush and the audience cheer. Later on in the show he split the crowd in half and along with the help of his band put on a little contest of which side of the room could sing louder. He showed genuine excitement when the crowd got engaged and sang along. Rice explained that he moved to Nashville planning to be a songwriter, not a performer. Luckily something changed that plan because Rice has the confidence to command the attention of the entire room in a captivating way.

He shared a touching moment with the audience when he performed his song "Jack Daniels and Jesus". The song is about a time in Rice's life when was struggling and felt lost after suffering the loss of his father. He explained to the audience that this is his favorite song he has ever written because it came from a place of complete honesty and vulnerability. His band stepped away and Rice performed the song with just his acoustic guitar, exactly how he had written it. Playing this kind of sad but honest song in the middle of a energetic show revealed how important the song is the singer. It was apparent that Rice wanted to show all sides of himself to the audience, which takes a lot of courage, especially when most people know him for his party hit "Ready Set Roll". It was a move that elicited respect from the audience and showed that Rice is a serious songwriter who is sure to excel in the country music world.

Rice left the stage without playing his hit single "Ready Set Roll", so when he came back out for the encore, everyone was expecting him to play the beloved song. Many in the crowd were surprised to learn that Rice's biggest song he has written is not in fact "Ready Set Roll", but "Cruise" recorded by Florida Georgia Line. Rice then sang both songs for his encore set and the crowd went nuts singing along to every word of both hits. Rice has only been on the country music scene for a handful and years and has already written huge hits that are changing the sound of country music. It is clear this man has quite a future ahead of him in the music business.

At the end of his show Rice showed his gratitude to the audience by going down and walking through the crowd, signing autographs and taking photos with fans. The classy gesture showed tremendous character and was yet another move that showed this emerging singer is worthy of respect.

Why Blake and Miranda don’t interview together…

Posted: 10 Nov 2014 09:46 AM PST

Have you ever wondered when we would see a joint interview from one of country music's hottest couples? Well, we can keep on looking… Apparently Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton have vowed not to do an interview together. With the power couple constantly being in the public eye, how do Blake and Miranda keep their privacy?

While they are not known to do interviews together, Miranda recently stated the reason being, "We feel like we’re very honest with who we are and our relationship. We’ve kinda told the good, the bad, the ugly as our relationship has progressed from the beginning till now. And people dig anyway and they make up lies, so I feel like, we don’t really hold back, because if you hold back they’re going to dig anyway so might as well just tell it.” I agree Miranda! We ought to see the positives attributes of your relationship and not look for issues that don't exist. Thank you for your honesty, that marriage or any relationship for that matter is work, and that you guys are making it work!

The couple has now been married for over three years. While they are busy traveling frequently on tour, being a coach on the Voice or supporting their local pet rescue missions, they return to their 1200 acre ranch in Oklahoma for privacy. It's important for everyone to have that one place they can go to where they are safe from the world, to be able to re-group so to speak. Miranda explains that their home is the only private thing they have.

Watch the video below to see what Miranda Lambert has to say about her dogs with Blake. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/miranda-lambert-id-be-short-a-husband-if-i-adopt-another-dog/
at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Make a Nice Comment .....