Alison Krauss and Union Station

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Alison Krauss and Union Station were the highest nominated band at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards collecting more than 11 nominations. Krauss was nominated for Best Female Vocalist and Dan Tyminski was nominated for Best Male Vocalist. (Dan Tyminski actually lived in my hometown for awhile. His children went to my school for awhile, and his wife was my biology teacher. We got to take a field trip to their farm one day, and he gave us a private concert at his house). The band was also nominated for Instrumental Group and Vocal Group of the Year. Other members of the band including Barry Bales, Jerry Douglas and Ron Block also were nominated for several awards. They have sold over 7 million albums and Krauss has won over 20 Grammy Awards,(more than any other female).

Warren Barfield

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Warren Barfield was also at the concert I attended last night at Anderson University. Although he opened for Shane and Shane, he played for about an hour, and the audience loved him. Barfield has had over 2 top ten songs in the CCM charts and Radio and Records said that he was the #1 New Christian Artist of the Year. His newest album "Reach," was influenced by the last two years of his life. It was a very trying time for him, the most tragic being when his sister and her best friend, who was very close to their family were involved in a car accident. The best friend was killed instantly, and his sister Rena, was told that she would have to have her leg amputated. The songs on this CD, really show how he struggled over the past two years. Warren Barfield is definitely a great Christian artist who is increasingly becoming more and more popular.

Shane and Shane

photo courtesy of cmcmusic.com

Last night, I attended a concert by Shane and Shane also with Warren Barfield at Anderson University. The concert was amazing. The auditorium was filled with people of all ages all wanting to come together to worship the Lord. Shane Bernard and Shane Everett make up this Christian group who sing mostly praise music. They led all the people at their concert in a worship experience. They had words on a projection screen so that you could sing along and worship also. They played many songs from their new album "Clean," but also played many songs from their past albums and other praise and worship songs.

MTV TR3S

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MTV is going to re-launch its spanish music channel on September 25, 2006, called MTV TR3S. It hopes to up to amount of people it reaches from 3.1 million homes to 5.5 million(which is about 55% of Latino Households.) They really want it to be "more than just MTV in spanish". The channel now features only eight hours of music replayed throughout the day, but now will have its own VJ's such as, "comedian Carlos Santos, who will host "MiTRL," a weekly version of MTV's flagship video countdown" It will also feature shows such as "Quiero Mis Quinces" similiar to our "My Super Sweet 16" and "Pimpeando" which is like the show "Pimp my Ride." Jose Tillian the senior Vice President of the channel says that "A lot of folks that have been doing Latin (programming) in the U.S. for a long time are still struggling with the concept that, hey, maybe Latin is a culture, not a language, in the U.S."

Me and My Gang

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Rascal Flatts, a very popular country trio, has been nominated for two American Music Awards. One category was in Favorite Country Band and the other was Favorite Country Album for their CD "Me and My Gang." This CD has gone muti-platinum, and sales are continually growing. The album has stayed in the number one Billboard spot for over 2 weeks. Band member Joe Don recently got married on April 23 and his wedding photos are featured in "In Style Weddings magazine." The band also recently stopped and Vanderbilt's Children Hospital on September 12, to spend time with the children that are in the hospital.

Paisleys Expecting Their First BABY!

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photo courtesy of ruggedelegantliving.com
Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley are expecting there first child. Many people will recognize Kimberly from both of Father of the Bride 1 and 2 and from According to Jim, the sitcom she is now starring in. The couple first met on Brad's music video "I'm Gonna Miss Her" (also known as the Fishing song)when she starred as the leading lady in this video. The couple was married in May 15 of 2003, and are now residing on a farm near Nashville.

"Music Will Make Your Child Smart"

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A recent study in Canada showed that by giving your children music lessons, you might in fact be making them smarter. They studied children ages 4-6 and found that the children with music lessons showed more "brain repsonses" This study is going to be published in Oxford University's neurology journal Brain. Even though their playing might seem really simple, they are in fact making crucial brain connections that can have an impact on " heightened literacy, verbal memory, math and I.Q. skills in kids as young as four." Music can be very important not only to increase their smarts, but also most kids really enjoy playing music, and that is what overall really matters.

Dancing with the Stars

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Sara Evans, a popular country music star is learning something new....DANCING. She is on the hit program Dancing with the Stars with partner Tony Dovoloani. Although they did not do so well last week with the fox trot, they plan on spicing things up with the mambo this week. (The shows airs Tuesday, September 19 at 8pm on ABC) Her country music fans helped keep her in the running last week by voting for the couple to stay on the show. The judges told her last week that they wanted to see more of her personality come through her dancing, so hopefully this week the country music star will spice it up a little bit. No matter how her dancing career turns out, she will always be well known for her music. She has earned an Album of the Year Nomination, has had over 4 hit singles, and has had several of her CD's go double platinum . Her newest album, "Real Fine Place", was released in 2005.

Best Female Vocalist

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Nichole Nordeman, was voted the Best Female Vocalist for 2006 by the CCM Reader's Choice Awards. Nordeman is an very well famous song writer, who is known for her deep introspective Christian songs. Her songs depict deep theological meanings and have emotionally moving words all throughout them. She also has been nominated for 8 Dove Awards and also has been voted Female Vocalist of the Year one other time. She also recently has become a mom, and says that it has been a trying time for her songwriting. But her new CD, Brave, which came out in May of this year is a whole lot different than her other CD's. She tried to be honest and straightfoward in her songs, and tried not to make it seem like the Christian walk was really easy.

Carrie Underwood

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Carrie Underwood, winner of American Idol 2005 and a country music star was recently nominated for 4 CMA awards. This makes her the most nominated female of the awards. Her nominations included Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year and Music Video of the Year for "Jesus Take Wheel", and the Horizon Award. "Jesus Take the Wheel" held the #1 spot for over 6 weeks, and her album "Some Hearts" went triple platinum. Underwood has toured with big names in the country music business such as Brad Paisley. Her fame has gone beyond just her music though, she was recently featured in a milk mustace ad, in a sketchers ad, and is on the cover of several magazines including Sweet 16, Girls Life and Reader's Digest. Although she never dreamed that one day, something quite as big as this would have ever happened to her, it did. "Don't Forget to Remeber Me" is holding its own at # 5 on the Hot Country Recurrents chart and her album "Some Hearts is ranking at #4 on the Top Country Albums Chart.

Celebrating "The World"

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Brad Paisley, one of country music's finest, has hit the top of the charts again! His song, "The World" hit the top of the Billboard chart- Hot Country Recurrents. All four of his most recent albums have gone either platinum or double platinum. He celebrated his most recent success at a planetarium because he felt that this way kids could come, and it went along with the feel of the song. Fans stood below and watched as a cow, an ice cream cone, and an alien were displayed in the "sky", as his song was played in the background. Paisley is known for wit and funny humor that are both often portrayed in his songs. "The World" can be found on his most recent album "Time Well Wasted" which was released in August of 2005. This CD also includes many of his other great songs such as "Alcohol," "When I Get Where I Am Going," and "Waiting on a Woman."

Is It Time To Say Goodbye?

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Nickel Creek,
a popular progressive bluegrass trio has made an announcement that at the end of their 2007 tour, they will no longer be together as a group. Lately, the band has had some difficulties, and they decided to call it quits while they are still remembered as a good band, with good music. Not a band that was good, but then broke up. The band members consist of Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins (Sara and Sean are brother and sister). They have been together as a band since 1989, and have had several hit near the top of the charts. This band will be greatly missed, but fans can remember their greatness with their newest CD "Why Should the Fire Die?" which was released in 2005.

Toby Keith...Movie Star?

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Toby Keith has changed venues from music to movies. His new movie, "Broken Bridges" hit theatres nationally on September 8th. It co-stars Kelly Preston, Lindsey Haun and Anna Marie Horsford. In the movie, Keith and Preston are high school sweethearts who have lost touch until they both return to their hometown. While there, Keith finds out that he has a daughter that he has never known about who is played be Lindsey Haun. Haun's song "Broken" appears in the movie and she may actually be starting up a country music career of her own. Willie Nelson also makes a debut in the movie. A soundtrack of the movie is already availible which features Toby Keith, Lindsey Haun, Willie Nelson and various other artists.

From Backstreet Boy to Country

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Brian Littrell, formerly one of the Backstreet Boys recently released a new alblum, but this time it's country. Littrell learned how to sing in his Baptist Church growing up, and was going to go to school to become a music minister until his cousin called him, and asked him to audition to become a member of the Backstreet Boys.(he was only a senior in high school) This year, he won a GMA Award for his version of "In Christ Alone" and "Welcome Home" his new country alblum, became available in stores. Although the tone and genre of his music has changed, he still is doing what he loves, and that's music.

For The First Time in 30 Years

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Bob Dylan, the 65 year old pop artist, became the oldest living artist to ever have a number 1 hit song on the billboard. His song, "Modern Times" hit the top of the pop charts, which is his first number 1 hit since 1976. In '76 his song "Desire" held the top spot for 5 weeks, but until his lastest song, his ratings had been dropping. The alblum sold over 192,000 copies in the last week and "Modern Times" also hit number 1 in Austrailia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and Norway. Dylan has been in the music business for over five decades and has sang in all types of genres such as pop, rock, country, and folk music.

You Had a Bad Day

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Daniel Powter, a Canadian native has taken the world by storm. His hit song, "Bad Day," first debuted in Europe and then became famous all over the world. The song became so famous that it was used by Coca-Cola for their ad campaign and in American Idol everytime a contestant got eliminated single "Bad Day" hitting the number 1 spot in seven countries.
He has released several songs since then including "Jimmy Got High," "Lie to Me," and "Free Loop"- although none have had the success that his first song did. His trade mark is his beanie (he owns over 40) which he claims he wears all the time to cover up the large scar on his head that he received from being hit by a car as a child. Maybe this day inspired his hit song- you had a bad day..

Third Day

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Third Day, a contemporary Christian rock band is going to appear on Fox's new show 30 days. This show is all about taking a person and putting them "in a living environment that is antithetical to their upbringing, beliefs, religion of profession". On September 9, at 10pm Third Day will be featured on a episode where a woman who is an atheist is placed into a Christian home. During her 30 day stay, the Christian family brought her to a Third Day concert, and part of the concert will be shown during the broadcast.
Third Day also just reached another milestone in their music career by having their song "Mountain of God" register as a number 1 radio hit. This was their 23rd song to do so.

The Wreckers

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"Leave the Pieces", a song by The Wreckers, a country duo made up of Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp rose to the number one country Billboard charts.
This is the first time since 1953 that a female duo has had a number one single. Branch had a successful solo pop/alternative career before changing venues and teaming up with Harp to form a band in the country music indutry. The Wreckers have toured with big names in the country music industry such as Rascal Flatts and Brad Paisley