This Is My America Recounts History of America with All-Star Cast

Fifty-six award-winning, American songwriters and performers have united to tell the history of the United States in a musically unprecedented, three-disc concept album called This Is My America.

Developed by Canadian producer Douglas Hutton, This Is My America employs songs and spoken narratives to chronicle a timeline of significant events that helped to shape the path of American history.

"The 'star' of this project is a place called America," says Hutton, executive producer and president of King Motion Picture Corporation. "Portraits of the American experience have been expressed and distributed through film, television, recordings and countless literary works, but I wanted to tell it in a more inventive way that respects and reflects today's American values. What better way to do that, than through the international language of music?"

The epic set features an impressive array of some of Nashville's most talented singers and songwriters, including dozens of award-winning North American Songwriters Association (NSAI) composers, such as Charlie Black, Rory Bourke, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Roxie Dean, Steve Dean, Matt King, J Fred Knobloch, Wood Newton, Tim Ryan, Bill Shore, Sharon Vaughn, Jon Vezner, Jim Weatherly, Brian White, Lynn Wilbanks and David Wills.

Dolly Parton, Kathy Mattea, Charley Pride, Mark O'Connor, Billy Dean, the Nashville Symphony and the Fisk Jubilee Singers are just a few of the performers that contributed to one of the most expensive projects ever recorded in Nashville.

"This is My America is simply one of the most amazing projects the Nashville Songwriters Association International has had the privilege to be involved with," says NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison. "The music is incredible, the stories are amazing, and the concept is fabulous."

This Is My America chronologically spans more than 500 years of American history, touching on Native American themes, European exploration, Western settlement, and specific events such as the arrival of the Mayflower, the California Gold Rush, the Civil War, World War I and II and the recent tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001.

The three-disc set, beautifully designed by artist Rollow Welch, is currently available online at www.ThisIsMyAmerica.com.

This Is My America is a musical journey through America's history. It is much more than another contemporary collection of patriotic hits; it is an epic concept album that provides unique insight into the Story of America, as told through the original interpretations of the songwriters and performers.

Music City Motorplex Expected to Continue Weekly Racing Schedule in 2009

Weekly racing is expected to continue this year at the Music City Motorplex, the racetrack at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds.

The Tennessee State Fair’s board decided today to enter agreements with individuals and organizations that want to run races or use the facility for other events this year. The most recent track operator’s five-year lease expired on Dec. 31, and the fairgrounds’ long-term future is up in the air as the city considers redeveloping the 117-acre site.

Buck Dozier, the fairgrounds’ executive director, said he hopes weekly racing will return for at least 2009. “That would be the goal,” Dozier said. “Hopefully somebody will step up and offer themselves.”

Parties that want to use the racetrack this year have until Jan. 16 to let the fair board know. The board will enter contracts by early February, chairman James Weaver said in an email.

“We believe this decision allows the Fair Board the opportunity to increase Fairground revenue while at the same time giving us greater control over the use of the track facility. This decision also will allow various racing promoters to hold a 2009 season — something that was very important to the local racing community.”

Danny Denson, co-owner of Full Throttle Race Parts and Equipment in Nashville, said he plans to submit a proposal to run a weekly racing series. He said he had spoken to Sterling Marlin and other NASCAR veterans about racing at the Motorplex this year.

“We’re going to try to make it good and enjoyable,” Denson said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Weaver said the fairgrounds' management would be sensitive to neighbors who have complained about the noise generated by the Motorplex.

" Whatever the final decisions on racing, weekly or otherwise, we will of course abide by the restrictions we have worked out with our neighbors concerning noise and hours of operation," he said.

The fairgrounds’ management also could bring other types of events, like concerts, to the facility, Dozier and Weaver said.

“We’ll begin to go after entertainment or whatever we think might draw an interest,” Dozier said. “We don’t know what’s out there right now, but we’ll try.”

Thanks to Michael Cass

WWE Coming Back to Nashville

MONDAY NIGHT RAW and ECW
Monday, February, 23rd - 6:30 PM
At the Sommet Center

The following WWE Superstars are scheduled to appear:

John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Kane, CM Punk,
Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Candice, Beth Phoenix, Jamie Noble, Mickie James, William Regal, Layla and many more of your favorite RAW & ECW Superstars

SCHEDULED MAIN EVENT
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH
JOHN CENA vs. RANDY ORTON

Swing into 2009!

Are you ready for a movie that will remind you of a more kind and thoughtful era; when "follow your dreams" simply meant listening to your heart?

If so, you will love SWING, a feature film that will get your heart pumping and your toes tapping. Offered by our friends at Spiritual Cinema Circle, SWING stars Jacqueline Bisset, Jonathan Winters, Tom Skerritt and Nell Carter in a film about keeping dreams alive. The film's captivating Muse, played by the beautiful Ms. Bisset, teaches a young man to Swing dance by following her instructions, meanwhile following his heart. Receive this film plus 3 great short films Tanghi Argentini, Passing, and Greedy for Life when you sign up for a free trial membership.

Downloadable Total Sheet Music

Adam Gregory and Soles4Souls Partner for Charity Campaign and "What It Takes 2009" Club Tour

Nashville-based charity Soles4Souls has partnered with Big Machine/NSA/Midas recording artist Adam Gregory to raise money and provide shoes for needy individuals around the world during Gregory's "What It Takes 2009" club tour.

"We are very excited about this campaign between Soles4Souls and rising music star Adam Gregory," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. "Even though he's only 23 years old, he is an amazing talent and also demonstrates his deep commitment to charitable causes and giving back to his fans. We are extremely proud to count him as a friend."

The ten-week tour includes dates in 25 different cities, beginning Jan. 19 and running through March 31, 2009. Gregory will partner with a radio station in each market to provide a unique concert event and singles mixer that targets local listeners.

Upon entry to the event, fans will be provided an opportunity to donate a new or gently worn pair of shoes or make a donation to the Soles4Souls organization. Individuals will then receive a numbered flip-flop and attempt to locate their "sole" mate with the other matching shoe. The evening concludes with a grand prize giveaway and full band performance by Gregory. Proceeds from each night's event will be donated to Soles4Souls.

"I'm really looking forward to these shows because I feel like we can make a difference in people's lives," said Gregory. It's not just me performing for an audience, it's all of us working together for a bigger cause. I can't wait to get started."

Gregory will kick off the partnership on Jan. 8 by delivering shoes to local Nashville shelters as part of the "Takin' It To The Streets" shoe drive. He will perform at the "Livin' The Music" benefit concert for Soles4Souls at 3rd and Lindsley later that night.

Soles4Souls has launched a campaign website (www.whatittakes2009.com) where fans and radio stations can track donations and find exclusive blogs and video features from Gregory during the tour.

A complete list of dates and markets for the "What It Takes 2009" tour are currently being finalized, but Phoenix, Kansas City and Milwaukee are already confirmed. The Soles4Souls agreement follows Gregory's promotional tour in 2008, in which the rising star partnered with leading mobile carrier Cricket Communications, Inc.

Music Without Prejudice Continues with MuzikMafia Performance on Tuesday at the Cannery

It was in October of 2001 when Nashville soul artist Jon "King" Nicholson first teamed up with pals "Big" Kenny Alphin, John Rich and Cory Gierman to form the MuzikMafia, a group of Music Row misfits that celebrated their detachment from the mainstream music industry.

Now, after seven years, a dozen new artists and over 10 million albums sold between them, Nicholson says he and the fellow members still feel like outcasts.

"I think we probably like to feel that way," he says. "That's what feeds our creative energy."

When the Mafia first started, the group performed every Tuesday — for 76 weeks straight — at defunct Nashville club Pub of Love. These days, as its members spend much of the year touring and recording individual efforts, a Mafia gathering — like this week's Mafia Nation concert at the Cannery Ballroom — is turning into an annual, pull-out-all-the-stops blowout.

"The Mafia's always been that perfect opportunity, where you get 20 different artists up on stage at one time, and 20-30 different musicians up on stage," Nicholson explains. "At some point, it becomes the ultimate jam."

At the Cannery, Nicholson will be joined by fellow Mafia founder Alphin (who's doing his first solo gig since starting work on a new solo album), James Otto and 3 Doors Down members Brad Arnold and Todd Harrell.

The latter two are performing in 7 Day Binge, a new Southern rock group that includes Nicholson, Shannon Lawson and guitarist Kenny Olson. Nicholson is particularly excited about performing with the group, partly because it fits into the Mafia's carefree philosophy.

"It's all of our alter egos, where we can get together any time we can, and just create some dirty, nasty Southern rock and roll," he says. "The whole purpose of MuzikMafia was to create an avenue for artists to be able to be completely creative and original, and not let anybody put them into a box or tell them what kind of songs they should write, or how they should look."

In addition to the marquee country/rock acts, it wouldn't be a Mafia event without the inclusion of idiosyncratic artists like rock/R&B performer Damien Horne, Latin rocker Danny Salazar and Nashville "music painter" Rachel Kice. And as the Mafia has grown to include a wider range of artists, it's been more eagerly embraced by the city as a symbol of diversity. This week's concert is sponsored by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"That was the whole original idea (of MuzikMafia)," Nicholson says. "'Music without prejudice.' We've started working with the city to explore the possibilities of exposing Nashville's musical diversity to the rest of the world. I don't think people really realize how great our musical diversity is."

And the industry's become more receptive to that diversity as well, Nicholson says.

"They've opened up in a lot of ways. Especially with the way things are going with the industry, and things opening up with the Web and digital distribution, the doors have been thrown wide open. Nashville is the greatest place on the planet to gather musicians, and have places to record and get our music out. We have all the tools we could ask for here."

Thanks to Dave Paulson

Jack Black Goes Country, Wishes to Sing on the Grand Ole Opry

Jack Black may have been schooled in rock, but now he'd like to sing at the Grand Ole Opry with wife Tanya Haden's family, who recently turned him on to bluegrass music.

The 39-year-old actor-musician energetically sings the traditional tune "Old Joe Clark" on father-in-law Charlie Haden's Grammy-nominated CD "Rambling Boy."

"I wasn't sure what to expect because I haven't recorded or really sung any old songs like that before, bluegrass style, but it came very naturally and I cranked it out in two takes," said Black, who grew up in the Los Angeles area. "There was something in the music that I think struck a chord in my DNA. I think I've got some hillbilly in my roots. ... I'm already practicing my square dancing if we play the Grand Ole Opry."

Black, who recently starred in "Tropic Thunder" and the animated "Kung Fu Panda," had to be a bit tenacious to land a last-minute supporting role when his father-in-law brought the nearly finished mix to their home so he could hear his wife sing on her own and as part of the Haden Triplets, with sisters Rachel and Petra.

"Tanya's very shy and doesn't think she can sing, so I wanted Jack to hear especially how beautifully she sings `He's Gone Away,' which I really had to do some talking to get her to sing," said Charlie Haden, the eminent modern jazz bassist who brought his current family together to perform some of the old-style country songs he once sang with his parents and siblings in the popular Haden Family band in the 1930s and '40s.

"Old Joe Clark" was originally intended to be an instrumental, but Black felt it was "a great jam" and asked his father-in-law if there were any lyrics. Haden hastily arranged a studio session so Black could add a vocal track.

"Even though I was already married to Tanya and we had kids, when I was invited to be on the Haden family album, I finally felt like I was truly part of the family," said Black, speaking by cell phone with his wife from their car outside a Los Angeles restaurant. "I've always loved Tanya's family. The whole family has always been kind of a magical source of mystery."

Black is a self-declared "ham" whose upcoming Judd Apatow/Harold Ramis biblical times comedy, "The Year One," co-starring Michael Cera, is slated for summer release. His wife, a cellist and visual artist, describes herself as "more of a hermit," and recently completed an animated short with music by her sister Petra for the Nick Jr. children's show "Yo Gabba Gabba!"

But on the album, Tanya and her sisters — with their tightly blended harmonies on the Carter Family's "Single Girl, Married Girl" and other songs — really stand out among a lineup that features vocal stars such as Vince Gill, Elvis Costello, Dan Tyminski, Ricky Skaggs and Rosanne Cash.

"We'll just start singing a song and we'll naturally fall into certain harmonies," said Tanya Haden. "When we were little we would spend the night at our grandparents' house on our mom's side, which was really fun for us because we'd share a room and sing in harmony before we went to bed."

The triplets and brother Josh — all of whom have been involved in the indie rock scene — were largely raised by their mother, Ellen Haden, a therapist, after her parents divorced. Tanya says her mother — whose parents played classical music in the Los Angeles Mandolin Orchestra — helped influence their musical bent along with her more well-known father.

Haden and Black first met at a private high school in Santa Monica, Calif., but went their separate ways. She jokes that she was "a groupie" who would show up at concerts by his comedy-rock band Tenacious D. He says he was "kind of stalking" her by turning up at Haden Triplet performances. They met up again three years ago when Tenacious D was playing at a mutual friend's surprise birthday party and were married in March 2006.

"Rambling Boy" includes an excerpt from a 1939 Haden Family radio show with 22-month-old Little Cowboy Charlie yodeling on a gospel tune. Black and Haden say the oldest of their two sons, 2-year-old Sam, is already showing he's inherited the family musical DNA after being exposed to everything from Weezer's danceable "Surf Wax America" to Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite."

"Our son is already yodeling better than my father," said Tanya Haden. "He already has his own taste in music. He'll hear something and do his own rendition and we'll try to sing along with him and he'll tell us to shut up."

The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America Convention

The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America will hold its national convention and annual awards show Feb. 12-15 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville.

Among the acts scheduled to perform at the awards show on Feb. 15 are Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, the Grascals, Ronnie Bowman, IIIrd Tyme Out, Nothin' Fancy, Grasstowne and Rarely Herd (who will also host the ceremonies).

Bands appearing at other events during the convention include the Daughters of Bluegrass, the James King Band, Tim Graves & Cherokee, Paul Williams & the Victory Trio, Randy Waller & the Country Gentlemen, Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, the Williams & Clark Expedition, Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain, the Larry Stephenson Band and the Mark Newton Band.

Kenny Chesney to Hit the Round in 2009 on the Sun City Carnival Tour

Reigning ACM and CMA Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney will hit the road again this Summer with what he calls the Sun City Carnival Tour. The opening acts will be Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry and Sugarland.

So far the only date announced is the opening stadium show at Gillette Stadium, near Boston on August 15th.

Russ Varnell to Guest on the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree Radio Show

Wilson's Own country music singer Russ Varnell is headed to Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 10 to be a guest on the legendary Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree Radio Show.

Varnell will be guest on the show hosted by Grand Ole Opry star Stonewall Jackson.

Varnell will do a couple of songs on the show which is broadcast on WSM 650-AM. You can watch live or listen to the show at www.etrecordshop.com.

Midnight Jamboree is America's second longest running radio show, still being broadcast every Saturday night on WSM 650-AM, following the Grand Ole Opry. Many consider this show to be a stepping stone to appearing on the World Famous Grand Ole Opry.

Varnell said he considers himself lucky to have the opportunity to be back on this show for the second time. He first appeared on this show five years ago and now has been asked for a return performace. Varnell hopes that one day he will have the opportunity to be on The Grand Ole Opry .

You can check Russ Varnell & His Too Country Band Concert dates by going to www.russvarnell.com or www.myspace.com/russvarnellhistoocountryband.