Here’s the latest on the Washington County Fair in Abingdon, Va. Everything is the same with the exception of Wednesday, Sept. 16. That was supposed to be The Zac Brown Band. But unfortunately for those of us who had planned on going to see them – they have canceled. The fair has not announced yet who they will have on stage that night – but I’m sure they will let us know soon.

In case you forgot, or didn’t write it down. Here is the rest of the schedule for the event this year.

Monday, Sept. 14, BomShel (WXBQ Night)
Tuesday, Sept. 15, Carter’s Chord
Wednesday, Sept. 16, To Be Announced
Thursday, Sept. 17, Heidi Newfield
Friday, Sept. 18, Keith Anderson
Saturday, Sept. 19, Jake Owen

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Reba McEntire’s “Strange” is No. 14 on this weeks Top 40 Countdown (Bob Kingsley). I only mention that because this post is going to be all about Reba… and because when that song moves up four more slots on the countdown, it will become Reba’s 57th single to make it to the Top Ten. As you probably guessed, that gives her more Top 10’s than any other female country artist. She has released 31 albums, and sold more than 50 million records worldwide. Her career spans 33 years.

She was born in McAlester, Okla,, on March 28, 1955, to Jacqueline and Clark Vincent McEntire. Her mom was a teacher whose father was a sharecropper. Her dad was a rodeo performer and cattle rancher. Reba grew up in McAlester. She learned to ride in rodeos, to sing, and play music with Oklahoma native Cadillac Jack. She was raised on a 7,000 acre family ranch, and traveled with her parents and siblings to rodeos where her dad competed. He was named World Champion Steer Roper in 1957, 1958 and 1961, Her grandfather, John McEntire, had won the same title in 1934.

Reba formed a singing group with her brother and sister, The Singing McEntires. Her sister, Susie Luchsinger, has a successful career in Christian music and co-hosts Cowboy Church, a Christian show on RFD-TV. Her brother, Pake, had a success as a country artist in the 1980s. The trio had a local hit with “The Ballad of John McEntire,” a tribute to their grandfather. Reba also has an older sister, Alice, who was not part of the group. Following in her family’s tradition, Reba also competed in rodeo, and was a barrel racer. That was the only event open to women.

In 1974, while attending Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Reba sand "the national anthem at the National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City. Red Steagall, a country singer who was attending the rodeo, suggested that Reba go to Nashville to pursue a solo career. She landed a contract with Mercury Records, and her country music career began.

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Larry the Cable Guy will release a 4th of July special digitally – a download package is being distributed exclusively by Basecamp Productions.  The special was taped at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., on Independence Day in support of Husker fans on the University of Nebraska at Lincoln Campus. Larry’s appearance was in conjunction with The City of Lincoln’s 2-day event, “Uncle Sam Jam.” The digital download package is called Tailgate Party, and you can download it here.

Prior to the taping, Larry The Cable Guy said, "I am looking forward to the Fourth of July show at the stadium. It’s a dream come true for me as I spent every football season since I was a little kid in Pawnee city listening to games coming from that field."

Happy National Country Music Day!!!

Did you all know that July 4th is National Country Music Day? I didn’t know it either. Not until I read it at examiner.com. Jace Shoemaker-Galloway’s article tells us “July 4th is National Country Music Day! Whether you love the old country classics or prefer the newer, edgier tunes with a touch of rock-n-roll, today is a great day to celebrate country music.” Now this is my kind of holiday. I wonder if Hallmark has a card for it yet.

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Back on June 26, I put up a post titled “Dude Mowrey sings real country music.” And the reason I did that entry was to give everyone in Eastern North Carolina a heads up about a show Dude Mowrey would be doing on July 4, at Patches Neon Moon Saloon in Jarvisburg, N.C.  And, of course to tell you a little about Dude, who I think is a great artist.

Unfortunately, there’s been a change of plans. The following message from the folks at Dixie 105.7, showed up in my e-mail this morning, and I wanted to pass it on to all of you. Dixie is really great about keeping their listeners up-to-date with frequent e-mails about what’s going on at their station and around their listening area. (I recently had someone tell me they didn’t notice below where it says “Read the rest of this entry,” so I just wanted to point that out one more time. It’s at the bottom of every post I put up here – just click on it. Thanks).

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There’s a lot going on with our country music entertainers right now. We’ve got a wedding, a few new babies, several new CDs in the works, and even a $38 million house for sale … let’s see what else we can find. Oh yes … and the Kellie/Kid thing.

Let’s start with that one … On June 28, I told you all about the rumor that Kellie Pickler and Kid Rock are dating. The only way you could have missed that story is if you had been visiting another planet that day. It was everywhere. Newspapers, FOX news, country music blogs… literally all over the Internet. It was like I said when I told you about it – it was a rumor. That was all it was. I’m very happy to report that Country Music Tattle Tale has said that Kellie’s publicist is putting an end to all those rumors with the statement, “there is no truth to the story.”  I know I’m not the only one glad to hear that. Although no one said this – I’m pretty sure Kellie and Kyle are still an item.

Here’s a little baby news – Josh and Jennifer Turner are now the parents of two sons. Their second, Colby Lynch Turner was born on Friday, June 26. “I’m just a proud daddy right now,” says Turner. “Jennifer gave birth to another healthy baby boy. Hampton loves being a big brother and we’re just one big happy family.”

Kassidy, lead singer for the group SHeDaisy, got married recently. The announcement was made by the groups publicist in a press release. She and longtime boyfriend, Derek Williamson, were married at the LDS Temple in San Diego. Kassidy said “For being one of the most important days in my life, it couldn’t have been more perfect and beautiful.”  (You might remember that that Kassidy dated Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts – that two year relationship ended in 2003.) The girls will soon be releasing their fifth album, “A Story to Tell,” on Lyric Street Records.

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Charlie Allen is a Bristol, Tenn., native. He now lives in Nashville. He sings country music. And I like him. You can listen to his current single, “No Welcome Home,” by clicking here. This is a really good song, and it’s going to mean a lot to everyone who knows anyone who spent time in Vietnam. My brother was a Marine for four years, and he spent 18 months of that time in Vietnam.

Bristol has certainly given us a lot of country music history, with its annual Rhythm and Roots Festival, and nick name, The Birthplace of Country Music. Bristol was where Ralph Peer first recorded The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. And it’s not just the area that brings us a lot of country talent – it’s Charlie’s family, too. From a very young age, his bio tell us, Charlie and his brothers, William and Robert, learned from the best. Their Mom, Louise Bouton, was a regular on WCYB radio’s “Fun and Farm Time,” and she was a member of the Bristol Hall of Fame. His dad, Charles D. Bouton, was an artist manager.

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It’s never hard to tell when I’ve been somewhere I absolutely enjoyed! You just know when I try to find the words to tell you how the event was. Well, this event was fantastic.

The folks at Fountain of Life Bible Church in Johnson City, put on a great Car and Bike Show at the Appalachian fairgrounds in Gray, Tenn. on Saturday, June 27. And to top it all off, they had Aaron Tippin on stage at 6 p.m. to perform for the crowd.

The church didn’t charge one cent to get in to the fairgrounds, or to go to the concert. They did accept donations to help with their ministry, and I hope everyone felt led to give. They work hard. And they definitely organized a great event.

Back on Feb. 9, I did a review of Aaron’s new CD, “In Overdrive.” You can check out the post by going to the February 2009 listing under Archives on the right. The CD is great, and I was thrilled to hear Aaron do some of the songs from that CD on stage. And if you have a chance to check back through the archives, I got some pictures of Aaron up when he was at Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tenn., on Aug. 3 of last year. And I have been fortunate enough to see this great entertainer on several other occasions.

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I don’t really like rumors. And, I’m fairly sure celebrities don’t much care for them either. But they’re always out there. The latest, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, has Kellie Pickler “secretly” dating Kid Rock. Now, the fact that it’s being reported in a San Francisco newspaper (and pretty much all over the Internet) takes a little of the “secrecy” out of the budding romance. But here’s what they’re saying about it.

Kid attended the CMT Music Award in Nashville on June 16, accompanied by Sheryl Crow. But the Globe reported that he was really there to be close to his new love, Kellie Pickler. A source told the publication that “The romance between Kellie and Kid has been the worst-kept secret in Nashville.” OK, in that case, could I have a comment from Kellie, please.

Insiders said that Kellie was talking about Kid Rock in a radio interview when she said, “I’m seeing someone. I got a man. He’s a great, great guy. We’ve been seeing each other for over a year.” She said that? Ok, let’s back up a year.

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Good Morning! I’m running on about no sleep here. Last night was our Unicoi County Relay For Life. We don’t have a grand total yet on the money we raised, but during the 12 hour event, 7 PM last night until 7 AM this morning, we know we’ve added greatly to the total we’ve raised during the year. I’ll let you all know how we did when the final penny has been counted. (This photo was from our 2008 Relay. The county theme was “Don’t Give Cancer a Sporting Chance.” Each team was a sport – we picked football, and used the slogan “Our Goal…Kick Cancer.” This year’s theme was “Searching the World for A Cure,” and each team decorated their camp like a foreign country.)

With the little sleep I had, and the plans I have for today, this might be a bit of an unorganized post – but I’ll do my best to make some sense for you guys. Then, I’m going to go catch a few hours sleep so I can head to Gray, Tenn., this evening for a concert at the Appalachian Fairgrounds.

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The folks over at Dixie 105.7 in Nags Head, N.C., have been talking a lot about  Nashville recording artist, Dude Mowrey. His name is one I remember from a long time ago, but I couldn’t remember anything he had done, and I knew I’d never seen him perform. So I thought it was time I do a little checking around and find out what I could about this country singer.

I’m definitely living in the right era, because I’m not sure what I would do without the Internet and MySpace pages. Dude, as you might guess, has a MySpace page. And it’s complete with pictures, bio, and even videos. So I’d like to pass a little of that information on to you. And I encourage you to check out his MySpace page for yourself.

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