Big events in Charlotte coming up the weekend of Dec. 2 include Tommy Davidson of “In Living Color” at the Comedy Zone, “Alanis Morisette’s “Jagged Little Pill: the Musical” at Belk Theater and Kannapolis’s own Kameron Marlowe. Queen City Nerve’s Ryan Pitkin joined WFAE’s Gendolyn Glenn for this week’s “Weekend in Entertainment.”
“[Jagged Little Pill] pretty much changed my life, as much as any 10-year-old boy can relate to a 20-something woman talking about heartbreak,” said Pitkin. “And the musical is now touring. It’s depicting a dysfunctional family in the social media age, so they’re definitely bringing it up past where you might expect it just to be based on the ‘95 album. But it uses all those songs like ‘You Oughta Know,’ which is one that pretty much anyone still recognizes about almost 30 years later.”
You can listen to the full conversation above. Here’s a quick look at what else Glenn and Pitkin covered this week.
One of the largest country music festivals in the Northwest is coming to Fort Worth in 2023.
The Hwy 30 Music Fest, which started in Idaho in 2009 and has grown into the biggest in that state, is expanding with a second concert series to be staged at Texas Motor Speedway on Oct. 19-23.
Organizers expect the inaugural Texas festival will attract 30,000 to 60,000 people each of the four days of country, rock, Americana and red-dirt music. About 8,000 camping spaces will be available.
Gordy Schroeder started the Hwy 30 Music Fest in 2009 as a school fundraiser in Filer, Idaho, population 2,800. The festival, held during the summer in fairgrounds, grew over the years and attracts 30,000 fans from across the country.
Hwy 30 Music Fest started in Filer, Idaho, in 2009 and now attracts about 30,000 people over several days. Hwy 30 Music Fest
Schroeder spent years looking for a second city to hold the event, according to promoters, and ultimately chose Fort Worth. The “Hwy 30” name still applies as Fort Worth is along Interstate 30 . (The Idaho festival got its name from Filer being on U.S. 30, which crosses the country from Oregon to New Jersey.)
“As soon as we arrived in Fort Worth to scout for a second location, it immediately felt like home,” Schroeder said, in announcing the new concert series. “Our attendees have been asking us for years to consider this expansion and we know that Texas Motor Speedway will be able to provide that family-friendly, homegrown atmosphere that people come to us for while still attracting some of the biggest acts in the world.”
The festival has not announced the Texas lineup. A limited number of four-day passes will go on sale for $159 before Christmas, and then prices will increase from there.
At least 36 acts performed at last summer’s Idaho festival, including Sam Riggs, Turnpike Troubadours, Kolby Cooper, Koe Wetzel, Granger Smith and Aaron Lewis.
Both the Idaho and Texas events will host special dedication days, including honoring military and first responders and raising awareness about cancer and human trafficking.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Frank Ray will be coming to Grand Rapids on Thursday. The country singer has a new single that is climbing the charts and he has just announced that he is joining Old Dominion on tour in January.
Ray is performing at The Stache at The Intersection on Thursday. Tickets are still available.
“It’s going to be a fun time, the show is high energy, it’s a lot of fun and I encourage anybody to come out,” Ray said. “Let’s just hang out, listen to some good music and have a couple drinks together.”
He is sure to perform his hit song, ‘‘Country’d Look Good On You.” Ray, who served as a police officer for 10 years before deciding to pursue music full time, says the song changed his life.
He grew up in Texas, and was immersed in both country music and the Mexican culture, and says his music is a blend of both.
“I think it’s been a long time since a Hispanic artists has emerged in the genre,” he said. “So we’re just doing everything we possibly can do make the biggest impact in country music and let people know that country music belongs to everybody.”
Ray continues to advocate for mental health awareness for both the Hispanic community and first responders. He recently traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with members of Congress.
For the full conversation with Frank Ray, watch the video in the player above.
December 8 it’s CMA Country Christmas! The ACountry team froths at the mouth for holiday specials, so we will be at the edge of our seats waiting to watch host Carly Pearce bring the holidays home. This is the 13th year we will get to enjoy the comfort of Christmas melodies as we relax after a full day of work (or holiday shopping.)
There are a few performances already slated like Dan + Shay, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, and Scotty McCreery! This is incredibly exciting because it’s hot off the heels of an Old Dominion CMA win for ‘Vocal Group of the Year’, and the latest #1 single ‘Damn Strait’ from Scotty McCreery!
Carly Pearce hosts and performs (“Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Man With The Bag”) during the festive special. The lineup includes Steven Curtis Chapman (“Precious Promise”), Dan + Shay (“Officially Christmas” and “Holiday Party”), Scotty McCreery (“Holly Jolly Christmas”), Maren Morris (“Merry Christmas Baby”), Old Dominion (“What Christmas Means To Me”), Molly Tuttle and Pearce (Bluegrass Medley – “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” “Let It Snow,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Christmas Time’s A-Comin’”), and The War And Treaty (“O Holy Night”).
If you’re a Christmas fanatic like us, check out this sneak peek of the show:
‘CMA Country Christmas’ airs Thursday, December 8th on ABC, and you can find it the next day on Hulu and Disney+. I think we are all ready to soak up some Christmas cheer, so if you’re tuning in, tweet about your excitement with us here. Get your meme on with us on Instagram here, and keep up with the latest and greatest news on Facebook here
Country music artist Jake Flint died in his sleep just hours after his wedding on Saturday 26 November, it has emerged.
His wife Brenda Flint posted a video clip from their wedding and captioned the post: “I don’t understand.”
Flint, 37, was based in Tulsa, and grew up in Holdenville.
The cause of his death has not yet been determined.
His long-time publicist Clif Doyal said to The Oklahoman: “He was not only a client, he was a dear friend and just a super nice guy. As you can see from the outpouring on social media, he was loved by everybody. I think a lot of it was just that he was a people person, and he had an amazing sense of humour.”
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He added: “He made everybody laugh, and he made everybody feel welcome. He was an ambassador for Oklahoma Red Dirt music.”
Flint’s first music album 2016’s “I’m Not Okay” and subsequently released three more albums-2018’s “Live and Not OK at Cain’s Ballroom,” 2020’s “Jake Flint” and 2021’s “Live and Socially Distanced at Mercury Lounge”.
He was a featured performer on the Future Faces Show at the 2018 Texas Regional Radio Music Awards.
Brenda Cline, Flint’s business adviser said that he was loved by fans as a new artist.
“I have never met a new artist that was so loved and had so many fans. It takes you years to build that — and that’s what Jake had. Oh my gosh, he was adored and loved by everybody. Jake didn’t have an enemy in the world. He was willing to do anything for anybody… and he had a very good business mind. There’s only one Jake Flint,” she was quoted as saying.
Tributes also poured in from other musicians.
“If there’s a heaven and they let me in, I know it’ll be because you went to bat for me, Jake,” wrote Blake Lankford, who is part of the VIIDR – Seventh Day Rebellion songwriter group that counted Flint among its members.
“The world has a dimmer sparkle without you in it,” wrote Buffalo Rogers.
Travis Kidd said Flint “a true legend that will never be forgotten.”
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She is the “Queen of Country.” Known for her red hair and sassy style, Reba McEntire is one of the most successful female recording artists in country music history. From her humble beginnings on an Oklahoma cattle ranch to her rise as one of country music’s most influential stars, this one-hour special explores the experiences, triumphs and losses that made Reba McEntire a household name. Reba broke barriers and built an entertainment empire by expanding her career to movies, the Broadway stage and television. Rare childhood photos and intimate behind-the-scenes videos reveal her story of grit and determination in a male-dominated industry. The program also sheds light on her marriages, her current relationship with “Big Sky” co-star Rex Linn, and new details of how she dealt with the tragic plane crash that ended the lives of her tour manager and seven members of her band.
The star-studded TV event features interviews with artists that know and admire Reba, including Carrie Underwood, Wynonna Judd, Vince Gill, Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Nick Jonas, Darius Rucker, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Dolly Parton and Kristin Chenoweth. “Superstar: Reba McEntire” airs Thursday, Dec. 8 (10:01-11:00 p.m. EST), on ABC, available next day on Hulu.
“Superstar” is produced by ABC News. David Sloan is senior executive producer. Muriel Pearson is executive producer.
Watching a newly-in-love George Jones (Michael Shannon) and Tammy Wynette (Jessica Chastain) perform together at a bar, country music producer Billy Sherrill (David Wilson Barnes) takes in the crowd’s rapturous reaction.
“Look at how they look at them,” he remarks to songwriter George “Rich” Richey (Steve Zahn) beside him. “George and Tammy are every man who ever loved a woman, and every woman who ever loved a man.” Rich suggests it’s “just poetry,” but Billy sees something else. “Not poetry. Commerce,” he says, adding only after a pause: “And poetry too, I suppose.”
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It’s true the two are inextricably linked in Showtime’s George & Tammy, which charts a relationship in which the tumultuous romance fed the chart-topping music, and vice versa. But it’s the first part of Billy’s statement that truly gets to the heart of the series. This is, above all, a love story, almost as gripping and plaintive as the tunes that skyrocketed the pair into lasting fame.
Created by Abe Sylvia (who wrote last year’s Oscar-winning Chastain vehicle, The Eyes of Tammy Faye) and directed by John Hillcoat (Triple 9), the miniseries does not aim to reinvent the artist-biopic wheel. Its structure is a fairly straightforward chronicle of the pair’s journey — from their first meeting in the late ’60s through their rocky marriage in the ’70s and all the way into their final collaborations in the ’90s. (“Why should we let divorce ruin a perfectly good partnership?” Tammy asks wryly.)
Nor does it completely manage to sidestep the clichés of a music-biz drama, like iffy wigs and hit songs deployed as overly literal descriptors of events we’re already watching unfold. Its very premise can’t help but invoke the likes of Walk the Line or A Star Is Born, particularly in a first episode that introduces Tammy as a rising star on the Nashville scene, and George as a slightly faded one suffering an alcoholic addiction so severe that his bandmate (Walton Goggins) is forced to duct-tape his knees in order to keep him upright enough to perform.
But perhaps because it’s based on a memoir written by someone so entangled in both their lives — their only biological daughter, Georgette Jones — the series’ perspective remains unusually up close and personal, focused above all else on the relationship itself as experienced by the two people inside it. To tell that story, George & Tammy gives itself the luxury of time. Although the series is a fast-paced one, in that it covers roughly a quarter of a century over six hourlong episodes, it takes great care not to rush the moments that make up those decades. It leaves room for uncertain silences, for meaningful glances, for playful moments with the kids or arguments rehashed again and again over time.
Most of all, it lingers on the way Tammy and George simply look each other, and Chastain and Shannon speak volumes through the way their eyes light up or darken or soften around one another. That both turn in exceptional performances should come as little surprise (even if their impressive singing voices do). But in scenes together, the intensity of their chemistry seems to show each of them in a whole new light.
From that firsthand angle, labels and stereotypes that might apply from afar tend to melt away. Tammy isn’t merely some meek little lady standing by a man who did her wrong, but an ambitious talent whose love outweighs her reservations until it doesn’t. George is a terror when drunk, and George & Tammy‘s harrowing depictions of his violent rampages make no excuses for his behavior. But he’s also more than the sum of his worst habits, and the series takes pains to show the gentleness and humor that were also integral to his personality. You can judge their choices — and the series is well aware of how destructive and tragic many of them will turn out to be — but you’ll understand, at the very least, how they got there.
The tradeoff to such intimacy is a sense of scope. The pair’s ballooning successes can be gleaned from snippets of dialogue about charts and records, or from shots of glamorous venues and roaring crowds. Tammy and George’s places in country music history or culture more generally are hinted at here and there, by questions posed by a fan about Tammy’s anti-feminist messaging or one directed to George by a radio host about his opinions on modern country music. But the series does not dwell on such issues long enough to make any particular statement about what George and Tammy’s lives and careers might represent to those outside themselves. For that matter, it does not even dig very deeply into their relationships with those in their inner circle, like their next spouses or their children.
Yet this narrowness reads, in a certain light, less as a limitation than as a show of empathy. Throughout George & Tammy, George expresses ambivalence about the divide between “George Jones,” the charismatic star beloved by millions, and “Glenn,” the troubled human man he actually understands himself to be. That this series exists at all testifies to the enduring appeal of the former: Plain old Glenns don’t get glossy Hollywood projects about their lives, and this one’s A-list cast, sensitive direction and inescapably catchy soundtrack are bound to reinforce or introduce the legend of George Jones and Tammy Wynette to a fresh audience of TV viewers. In the end, however, it’s the latter that proves the key. George & Tammy succeeds where so many other biopics fail: by bringing its subjects to life not as legends — but simply as a man and a woman, profoundly and imperfectly in love.
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There are many iconic songs in the history of country music. But there are only a small handful that have gone on to define what it means when someone says “country music” to millions of people. The song “Behind Closed Doors” written by Kenny O’Dell, and performed by Charlie Rich is definitely one of those songs, and it might be the most recognizable song in country music where a piano plays the melody. A Top 10 country song of all time? “Behind Closed Doors” most certainly deserves to be in that discussion. And it was recorded 50 years ago today: November 28th, 1972.
Charlie Rich did not start his career in country music. After leaving the Air Force in 1956, he purchased a 500-acre farm in West Memphis, Arkansas, and would drive over the Mississippi River bridge at night to play piano in jazz and R&B outfits in Memphis clubs. Eventually he ended up at Sun Studios in Memphis as a studio musician. Sam Phillips didn’t see him as a performer though, chiding that Rich was too jazzy. At one point, Sam Phillips handed Charlie Rich a stack of Jerry Lee Lewis records and told him, “Come back when you get that bad.”
For years Charlie Rich struggled as a performer since he wasn’t dirty enough for rockabilly or country, and not distinctive enough to make it in the world of pop. But when the Countrypolitan sound became all the rage in country music, it gave Charlie Rich an opening. Where some more hard country artists struggled to perfect the more genteel Countrypolitan approach, Charlie Rich’s balladeer style and smoothness fit the era perfectly.
They called Charlie Rich The Silver Fox. Looking at even some of the very earliest promo photos of him during his Sun Records days, silver streaks emanated from Charlie’s sideburns and widow’s peak. By the time he became a country artist, Rich was pretty much full on grey. But it wasn’t just the premature pigment loss Rich suffered from that resulted in the nickname, it was his ability to charm ladies with his delivery. This was part of the calculus when he stepped into the studio to record “Behind Closed Doors” with producer Billy Sherrill.
“Behind Closed Doors” wasn’t just Charlie Rich’s breakout single. Everything about the song had been meticulously planned out to custom fit it to Charlie and the persona they wanted to present to the listening public. Songwriter Kenny O’Dell wrote the song specifically for Rich, with Sherrill tinkering with a few lines to get it dialed in perfectly. Released in April of 1973, the lyric was a little racy for the time, and some radio stations refused to play it initially, or outright banned it from playlists. But as we’ve seen from other iconic songs in country history, all that mild controversy did was boost the song’s popularity. “Behind Closed Doors” was pure sex, and Billy Sherrill played the public perfectly, while Rich turned in the performance of his career.
One critically important note about the song is that even though Charlie Rich was a piano-based country performer and “Behind Closed Doors” is a piano-based song, it’s not Charlie Rich who played the iconic intro and piano part in the studio. Instead, it was Country Music Hall of Famer Hargus “Pig” Robbins that composed and played the simple melody that sets off “Behind Closed Doors” and immediately evokes fond memories whenever you hear it.
In fact, throughout the 80s and 90s, and up to today when Time Life broadcasts their infomercials on network television for their collections of country classics, not only do they lead segments with Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors,” the “Pig” Robbins piano part is also used as a music bed that plays as the announcer explains what the music collection includes.
“Behind Closed Doors” didn’t just hit #1 in country and #15 in pop, the song eventually won both Single of the Year and Song of the Year from both the CMA and ACM Awards. It won the Grammy for Best Country Song, and Best Country Vocal Performance for a Male. Rich also won Best Male Vocalist from the CMAs in 1973, and the album Behind Closed Doors won for Album of the Year.
The song’s success also sparked off a succession of seven #1 singles from the Silver Fox leading into 1974. The songs “The Most Beautiful Girl,” “There Won’t Be Anymore,” “A Very Special Love Song,” and “I Love My Friend,” all fed into Charlie Rich’s massive popularity and persona. He was the biggest star in all of country music, and in 1974, along with winning Album of the Year again, the CMA’s dutifully awarded Charlie Rich with the most important award that exists in country music, the coveted CMA Entertainer of the Year trophy.
Along with “Behind Closed Doors,” what happened the next year at the CMA Awards went on to define Charlie Rich’s career. This is when the reigning Entertainer of the Year flipped out his zippo lighter, and while reading the name of John Denver as the new 1975 Entertainer of the Year, burned the envelope with John Denver’s name. It’s been disputed over the years if Rich was just drunk or did it in protest. But either way, the incident would go on to overshadow the rest of his career, and Charlie Rich soon lost his grip as one of the top performers in country.
Nonetheless, here 50 years later, “Behind Closed Doors” has persevered, and still stands as one of the greatest country songs of all time, telling a patently human story, with just a little bit of risque spice to keep it interesting.
When is the “right” time to start listening to Christmas music?
This might be a highly contested debate in your house or among friends. While there will never be an objective “right” time to start listening, we can take the advice from Christmas experts and apply their holly jolly judgment to our own lives.
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Dolly Parton weighed in on the topic in a conversation with TODAY.com.
Parton, who is an unofficial-official Queen of Christmas (she tells TODAY.com that her nieces and nephews literally call her “Christmas Dolly”) is no stranger to getting extra spirited in advance of the Christmas season, especially in 2022.
While Parton has her hands tied with multiple holiday-related projects this year, including the rerelease of her Christmas album “A Holly Dolly Christmas” and a new NBC holiday film “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas,” she told Better Homes and Gardens that she still makes sure her home is decorated to the nines, with a Christmas tree in every room.
But what about the Christmas music debate? Parton says the answer is really up to you to decide.
“I think it’s anytime we feel like it,” Parton tells TODAY.com. “It makes you feel good and makes you happy!”
But Parton has her own routine. She waits until the day after Thanksgiving to get the holiday tunes going in her Tennessee home.
“I actually start decorating and playing Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving,” she reveals.
Though she makes exceptions when family is visiting year round. “Some of my little nieces and nephews come to visit me and they always think of me as ‘Christmas,’ because I do such a big deal about it. So they often want me to play Christmas music when they’re visiting with me,” she says.
But how does one “become” Christmas, you may ask? Parton says it’s really just in her DNA.
“I could kind of be like a ‘Christmas Dolly’ or a ‘Dolly for Christmas,’ my name just kind of fits in there,” she says. “My little nieces and nephews love me at Christmas. We have Christmas night and we have cookie night where we make cookies and make the biggest mess in the world! But I just love Christmas songs. I love the Christmas spirit.”
As for a favorite Christmas tune, the country crooner reveals that she doesn’t have just one. She tells TODAY.com she loves everything from “Rudolph” to “White Christmas.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Country music legend Loretta Lynn died on Oct. 4, 2022. Throughout her career, Lynn won countless awards and toured for decades. While she was still involved in the music industry before her death, Lynn eventually had to stop touring due to multiple health issues in 2017 and 2018.
Loretta Lynn | Erika Goldring/WireImage
Loretta Lynn suffered a stroke in 2017
Lynn’s health issues that prevented her from touring and attending industry events began in 2016. In September 2016, Lynn fell and was injured.
Her team published a statement on Lynn’s website announcing that the singer could not perform multiple shows including a Labor Day concert.
“Although her injuries are not serious, she will be undergoing minor surgery and Loretta’s doctors have advised her to stay off the road until she’s made a full recovery,” Lynn’s team wrote on her website.
In May 2017, Lynn suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. Due to her recovery, Lynn missed attending the preview of her exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and had to push back the release of an album.
By October 2017, Lynn was determined to attend public events and attended Alan Jackson being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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The country singer broke her hip in 2018
After she recovered from the stroke in 2017, Lynn fell and broke her hip in 2018. Lynn’s daughter Patsy Eileen Lynn Russell discussed her mother’s injury with People Magazine.
“She had an accident on New Year’s Day and fractured her hip,” Russell told People Magazine. “At my mom’s age it’s so dangerous when it comes to the hip, so we’re all just grateful she seems to be okay. She’s up putting weight on it and starting her rehab now.”
Russell then revealed the fall could have been because of Lynn’s new pet at the time.
“She has a new puppy — we don’t really know if she was chasing after the puppy or what, but she slid and fractured her hip. We blame the puppy! Though the puppy brings smiles so there’s that,” said Russell.
Time flies when you’re having fun! 60 years ago a dream came true when I became a member of the @opry. It’s still the most magical place in the world and holds so many wonderful memories for me! pic.twitter.com/orf0aVia3I
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Loretta Lynn eventually stopped touring
Toward the end of 2018, Lynn missed the CMT Artists of the Year Awards. The country singer later explained her absence on Facebook.
“I was so disappointed to have missed it because I was sick. After a brief hospital visit, I’m feeling better now and enjoying a weekend of resting up at home,” Lynn wrote on Facebook according to People Magazine.
Because of her stroke in 2017 and her fall that resulted in a broken hip at the beginning of 2018, Lynn ultimately decided to stop touring.
However, the singer still attended industry events when possible, and she did her best to keep fans up-to-date on her health on social media.
On Oct. 4, 2022, Lynn’s family released a statement that Lynn died at the age of 90 years old.
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