CHESNEY A TOP RANKED TOUR HEAVYWEIGHT  FOR DECADE 1 - 2000 PLUS

At first, it went almost unheralded enough that Kenny Chesney was putting over a million butts in seats year after year of the new century. But, it was soon undeniable that Chesney had moved up to Heavyweight class, not only among country acts, but  also among every other touring act in North America. That's now reflected in his ranking as the #3 among Top American touring acts of the decade.

According to Pollstar, Chesney grossed $434.4 million dollars during the first 10 years of the 21st Century. How good is that? It topped the Rolling Stones ($426.9 million), Bruce Springsteen ($416.4 million) and more. The top spot overall went to the Dave Matthews Band with $529.1 Million.

BRAD PAISLEY'S "AMERICAN SATURDAY NIGHT" ON TWO-DAY SALES EXCLUSIVE

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KEITH URBAN FEELING THE LOVE BACK HOME

Keith Urban arrived at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne three nights ago after a two-month break from touring.  He rehearsed with his band and then greeted nearly 50 members of the Australian media.  He performed a few songs from his “Escape Together World Tour” for them and then answered questions on a range of topics including his return to Australia, his four Grammy Award nominations, the tour and his plans for the holidays.   As one journalist put it, “I don’t know of any other artist that would do something like this for us, no less on the day of his first show here. It was incredibly gracious.”  A few hours later, he hit the stage, before a sold-out crowd of nearly 12,000.

The following morning the newspapers hailed Urban’s sold-out return to Melbourne and Wollongong and universally praised his performance. “The crowd was totally enthralled and he was as intimate with the crowd as one could be at Rod laver. A terrific spectacle,” printed the Melbourne News.  “Urban can make 12,000 fans in a stadium feel like they are with him in a room.  On stage he becomes one of them.  From the moment he comes out it’s one big party,” proclaimed the Undercover Music News.

And Urban couldn’t be happier.  “I’m most excited about being able to bring out whole show down here.  We don’t usually have the time to do that, but this time we had about two months in between and it was enough time to put all of this equipment on boats and ship it over.  It feels really good to do that because we’ve had this production since May of this year and we’ve done a lot of shows on this stage, so there’ll be a good familiar feeling being up here playing.”

Next up for Urban are two performances at Sydney’s Entertainment Center.  

TAYLOR TURNED 20 TURNS GIFT GIVER TO OTHERS

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FAITH ONLY ARTIST WITH TWO SONGS ALL-GENRE MOST PLAYED OF THE DECADE

Faith Hill is the only artist, in any musical genre, to have two of the Top 10 most played songs of the decade (according to Nielsen BDS). Released to Country and Pop radio in November 1999, “Breathe” stands at #4 on the Chart, while “The Way You Love Me,” released on February 29th, 2000, comes in at #6.
 
“When I heard this I didn’t even know what to say,” said Faith Hill.  “I was absolutely floored.  The idea that these songs have connected the way that they have, with so many people, is just magical to me – it’s a tremendous honor.  It’s what inspires me to continue to make music.”
 
Both songs come from Faith’s breakthrough fourth studio recording Breathe, which to this date, remains one of the most successful country albums of all-time - having sold more than 8 million copies in the US alone.  It netted Faith three of her five Grammy Awards (Best Country Album, Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals) as well as an American Music Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
 
The title track (“Breathe”) spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart, 17 weeks at 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary and hit #1 on the Adult Top 40 Chart.  The song also reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and remained on the chart for 53 weeks.
 
“The Way You Love Me,” was the second single from Breathe.  It spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts in May of 2000 and was a Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 and AC track.  
 
Faith is currently working on her seventh studio recording.

WINDOWS 7 SECTION 7 FOLKS GET FREE TIM McGRAW FAN CLUB MEMBERSHIP

Windows and Live Nation on a new online community called Windows 7 Section 7. I is offering a cool thing to Tim McGraw fans.  People signing up for Windows 7 Section 7, they get a free Tim McGraw fan club membership. There are a number of other artists/groups participating as well – the entire list is available here <http://promo.livenation.com/fanclubselect/> .
 


DAVID NAIL SINGS FOR NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

DAVID NAIL performed holiday standards "White Christmas" and "Chestnuts Roasting" and "Turning Home" from his record I'm About To Come Alive last Thursday, December 10 on Wall Street for the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE'S TREE LIGHTING ceremony.

Nail also recently performed at a benefit show in Lakewood Ranch, Florida that raised funds for pediatric brain cancer and THE PAYTON WRIGHT FOUNDATION. Click here to view footage from the event, as well as performance and interview footage with Nail: http://www.davidnail.com/mediaplayer.aspx?meid=1364.



PHIL VASSAR RELEASES TRAVELING CIRCUS TODAY
 
Phil Vassar released his 5th studio album Traveling Circus yesterdaty just in time for the holidays.  Vassar took a unique, hands-on approach when it came to making Traveling Circus.  He produced the album himself and hired his road band to play on the album. His friend and a high school art teacher Jason Erwin painted all of the album art, aspiring videographer fresh out of film school Chris Cella produced the video for “Everywhere I Go,” and a young and aspiring photographer Wes Aldridge shot the new album photo shoot.
 
“I was excited to have the opportunity to take advantage of the creative liberty I was given to make this album,” states Phil.  “I was surrounded by some of the most talented people I know throughout the entire process and I think that really comes through when listening to the album.”
 

LITTLE BIG TOWN SHARES HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH "GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN"

Little Big Town's version of the beautiful spiritual 'Go Tell It On The Mountain' is up on their MySpace player and their asking their fans to help them spread the holiday cheer by adding that song to their MySpace music player. As a token of their appreciation, Little Big Town will give each person that adds the song to their MySpace player a LBT guitar pick and fan chosen at random, will receive an autographed LBT print!

For more info and to hear "Go Tell It On The Mountain," please click the link below.
http://www.lotosnile2.com/littlebigtown/