Poker Tips from Andy Griggs

Montage Music Group recording artist and World Series of Poker main event participant, Andy Griggs, has partnered with DigitalRodeo.com to share some expert tips with poker players around the world.

Beginning Friday, February 6, DigitalRodeo.com will feature a weekly video tip from Griggs on his profile page (www.DigitalRodeo.com/AndyGriggs) as he offers advice on a variety of topics, including how to bet, gauging facial expressions, reading your cards and learning to interpret body language.

The first country artist ever to receive sponsorship into the main event of the World Series of Poker (sponsored by DoylesRoom.net), Griggs outlasted every non-poker celebrity in the entire tournament, including his own sponsor, WSOP champion Doyle Brunson. Griggs went on to finish in the top 12 percent of the tournament, which was quite a feat for a first-timer.

Fans can also witness first hand, as Griggs uses his own personal poker strategy in a bounty poker tournament, only on ESPN.com on February 10th.

This Is My America Honors Memory, Vision of Journalist Daniel Pearl

The memory of acclaimed journalist and musician Daniel Pearl is honored in song on the historical, three-disc compilation set This Is My America.

Titled "A Bridge Across," the track features narrative and lyrics sung by Dolly Parton, with orchestrations by Carl Marsh and performances by the Nashville Symphony, as well as a special instrumental performance by Mark O'Connor. The violin O'Connor played in the song is the custom-made, handcrafted Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin, created in 2002 by luthier Jonathan Cooper to honor Pearl's memory and lifelong peacemaking efforts. Pearl was working as a journalist in Pakistan when he was kidnapped and murdered seven years ago this week.

"We hope 'A Bridge Across' reaches the hearts of millions of Americans who share Danny's vision of a friendly world," says Judea Pearl, Daniel's father and President of The Daniel Pearl Foundation.

Adds Daniel's mother Ruth, who serves as CFO of the foundation, "The inspiring music, Dolly Parton's warm voice, and the amazing lyrics truly represent Danny. We only wish he could listen to it - maybe he is."

Nashville songwriters Tom McBryde and Lynn Wilbanks wrote the moving "A Bridge Across" in early 2008. In the song, Parton sings, "A bridge across a border / A hand reaching out / One heart at a time / To erase the doubt."

"It's a song that we hope will serve to honor the memory of Daniel and help build bridges between all people. We wanted to create something that expressed how the work and dedication of one man has continued to inspire so many," says co-writer Wilbanks.

Each year since 2002, the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin has been awarded to a top student at the Mark O'Connor String Camp. For the next year, the recipient agrees to play the instrument at public performances as a means of educating others about Daniel Pearl and his foundation. The student returns the instrument the following year at the camp so that it can be awarded to another promising young talent, perpetuating the efforts and spirit of Daniel Pearl. One such student, Samantha Robichaud, used the violin to compose background music for the narrative intro to "A Bridge Across."

Taylor Swift All Access

Grammy nominee Taylor Swift is taking it all in and putting it all out there. She isn't just any 19-year-old. Taylor is the hottest thing in country music. She's focused, fearless, and a little in shock.

"I don't think, in a million years, if you told my mom, or my record label, or me, that all of this would have happened, I just would have laughed," she tells CBS News anchor Katie Couric during a recent shopping trip in New York City.

At age 11, Taylor convinced her mother to take her to Nashville's Music Row. "I would get out of the car and walk into the record labels and hand the receptionist my demo CD and say, 'Hi, I'm Taylor.'"

She says she wasn’t taken seriously. "I had to figure out a way to make myself different. That's about the time I wrote my first song."

"I think I fell in love with words before I fell in love with music. All I wanted to do was talk," she says.

Taylor talked her parents into moving the whole family from their Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania to Nashville, Tenn. Within a year, she had a songwriting contract.

Couric: So you were 14, your after school activity was going down to Music Row and writing songs with mostly 20- and 30- and 40-year-olds.

Taylor: Yeah. It was sort of like having a double life. And it was basically like during the daytime I was 15 and I had to be 40 after school!

Writing songs for other artists made Taylor feel as if she was giving too much away. "I loved writing songs, but they were so personal that I couldn't see anyone else singing them."

Scott Borchetta and Taylor Swift were both unproven talents the night they met at Nashville’s famed Bluebird Café.

"There were several other record companies that were in the room. And I'm looking around. I'm going, 'I hope none of these other guys are getting it,'" Borchetta says. Borchetta signed the young singer as his first client for his new record label.

Her first album, "Taylor Swift," peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums Chart and spent eight consecutive weeks at the top of the Top Country Albums chart. Two years later, her album "Fearless," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. Its single, "Love Story," is a country and pop hit.

"It feels amazing, I can’t believe it, like a childhood dream come true right now," she says of a banner celebrating her latest No. 1 hit.

Taylor's rise has been swift, but unlike other young celebrities, a fall doesn’t seem likely. "I'm not ever gonna be that person that's, like, really into partying. It just isn't really in my makeup. I’m not drawn to that."

But there have been some bumps along the way.

"I had a group of friends when I was about 12. [Then] they all just decided they didn't wanna hang out with me anymore. I would go and sit down at the lunch table with my friends. And they would get up and move their trays to another table, which is not fun to go through," she reveals to Couric. "So at that point, all I had was my mom."

Couric: They were really mean to you, these girls?

Swift: They were mean. Let's say that had [they] kept me in their group, and I had been the most popular girl in middle school, I would never have been inspired to write one song.

Couric: So I guess we need to call them and thank them.

Swift: We need to call them and [say], "Hey, thank you!"

Years later, Taylor put that experience to words in "The Best Day," a song she wrote for her mom, Andrea -- her constant companion and best friend.

"All I ever wanted to do was write songs that mean something to people," she says.

Andrea describes the song as bittersweet. "It’s memories of things that were wonderful and things not so wonderful."

It seems Taylor’s songs touch everyone. Critics say she writes with wisdom well beyond her years.

Swift: I don’t think you should ever be afraid of honesty and of being honest that you’re not perfect, and that you do feel vulnerable sometimes. I just happen to write about it.

Couric: Has it been tough to be in the spotlight and have all aspects of your life dissected? Your boyfriends, your breakups, and all sorts of things?

Swift: The dissection is kind of interesting. That's sort of a new thing.

Her very public breakup with Jonas Brother Joe Jonas has taught her it's OK to keep some things to herself.

"It's been kind of weird having people actually care and actually delve more into it," she says.

We did a little digging too. It seems there is a dark side to Taylor Swift.

"My dream is to die on 'CSI.' I've always wanted to, like, be one of the characters on there that they're tryin' to figure out what happened to."

Her dream is coming true. Without giving too much away, she’ll appear on an upcoming episode of the CBS drama, but her character isn't quite living the dream... the way Taylor is.

Thanks to CBS News

The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival 2009 Lineup

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish (2 Shows)
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello Solo
Erykah Badu
Paul Oakenfold
Ben Harper and Relentless7
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Gov’t Mule
Andrew Bird
Band Of Horses
Merle Haggard
MGMT
moe.
The Decemberists
Girl Talk
Bon Iver
Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
The Del McCoury Band
of Montreal
Allen Toussaint
Coheed and Cambria
Booker T & the DBTs
David Grisman Quintet
Lucinda Williams
Animal Collective
Gomez
Neko Case
Down
Jenny Lewis
Santogold
Robert Earl Keen
Citizen Cope
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
The Ting Tings
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
King Sunny Adé
Okkervil River
St. Vincent
Zac Brown Band
Raphael Saadiq
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Crystal Castles
Tift Merritt
Brett Dennen
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Toubab Krewe
People Under the Stairs
Alejandro Escovedo
Vieux Farka Touré
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Cherryholmes
Yeasayer
Todd Snider
Chairlift
Portugal. The Man.
The SteelDrivers
Midnite
The Knux
The Low Anthem
Delta Spirit
A.A. Bondy
The Lovell Sisters
Alberta Cross

Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy Selected for the Country Music Hall of Fame

Three country musicians — linked by recording sessions, television appearances and friendships — have achieved country music's highest honor.

Wednesday morning at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Ford Theater, Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy were announced as the next three inductees into the Hall. Chosen by the Country Music Association's anonymous, roughly 300-member panel of electors, the three honored musicians will increase the Hall's membership to 108 when they are officially inducted at a Medallion Ceremony this spring.

"This is the pinnacle," said Mandrell, who helped usher in a new era of country music showmanship in the 1970s and who brought country to 40 million viewers per week in the early 1980s through the NBC-TV series Barbara Mandrell & The Mandrell Sisters.

Mandrell hits such as "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" featured McCoy on harmonica, and she appeared with Clark on many stages over the years. Clark was a co-host of Hee Haw, the syndicated television program on which McCoy served as musical director for 18 years. The three are connected as musicians who were not defined by television but who used the burgeoning medium to full advantage.

"The camera was very kind to me, and I consider myself to be a television baby," said Clark, who first appeared on Washington, D.C.-area television in 1947. "At first, it wasn't that I was so talented, but they had to fill time and they had to put somebody on. So they'd say, 'Well, let's get the kid.' Later, I got to where when I looked at a camera, I didn't see a mechanical device. I saw a person."

Excepting his time on Hee Haw, many of McCoy's major achievements came out of the sight and recognition of most listeners. He thrived in the recording studio, where he was a member of Nashville's A-Team of musicians, and he is the most recorded harmonica player in history. His harp is heard on smashes including George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and Tom T. Hall's "Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine," and he also contributed to sessions on guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards, horns and other instruments. A founding member of band Area Code 615, McCoy was voted into the Hall in the "Recording and/or Touring Musician Active Prior to 1980" category.

"I didn't approach a session on bass any differently than one on harmonica," said McCoy, whose bass is heard on the entirety of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding album and who also played guitar on Dylan's "Desolation Row" and trumpet on Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35." "Learning to play a lot of instruments kept me here in Nashville all these years."

Mel Tillis heard McCoy playing in a Florida club in 1959 and stutteringly persuaded the young musician to head to Nashville. Tillis told McCoy that he would be able to get a record deal, which McCoy said was "Like showing a steak to a wolf."

In Nashville, McCoy first recorded as a singer and guitarist, but soon wound up playing harmonica on hits by Ann-Margret and Roy Orbison. McCoy's instantly identifiable harmonica playing reinvented the instrument's possibilities and brought the harp back to popularity in Nashville sessions. McCoy also adapted Neil Matthews' numbered vocal transcription method, taught the system to other musicians and turned the "Nashville Number System" into studio players' standard written language.

Wednesday morning, McCoy surveyed the 105 plaques in the Hall's rotunda, did some counting and determined he had re-corded with 51 of the en-shrined Hall of Famers, in-cluding Jones, Hall, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill and Merle Haggard.

A deft guitarist whose instrumental instruction books were teaching tools for many younger players, Clark scored hits including "Tips of My Fingers," "Yesterday When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound." He was the first country artist to open a theater in Branson, Mo., in 1983, and his television credits include The Tonight Show, The Muppet Show, Hollywood Squares and, of course, Hee Haw. His onstage ease was honed from his early days in Nashville, when he and banjo player David "Stringbean" Akeman worked stages small and odd.

"We would play drive-in theaters, standing on the top of the projection booth," Clark said. "If the people liked it, they'd honk their horns."

Clark was inducted in the "Career Achieved National Prominence Between World War II and 1975" category. Mandrell was elected as someone who achieved prominence between 1975 and the present.

"My lifeblood is country music," said Mandrell, who was playing saxophone and steel guitar at age 10 and was playing paid gigs a year later. She joined the Mandrell Family Band when she was in the eighth grade, performing with father Irby and mother Mary Ellen. Her father became her manager and aided her in moving to Nashville in 1968, where club performances quickly led to a record deal with Columbia. She had some hits on Columbia and ABC/Dot, but her career peaked as an MCA artist. While on MCA, she was named the CMA's female vocalist of the year in 1979 and 1981, and the entertainer of the year in 1980 and 1981.

"I was taught that people don't come to your concert to hear an album, they come to see a show," she said. "You have to give them something visually."

Each inductee spent time on Wednesday talking about their teachers.

Clark learned from Grandpa Jones and from a father who played guitar, fiddle and banjo.

Mandrell talked of advice given to her by Minnie Pearl, and of kindnesses shown her by musicians Norman Hamlet and Joe Maphis. She talked especially about her father, who managed her as an adult and who used to tap a spoon against a music stand while Mandrell practiced the saxophone, in hopes that the beat would help her timing.

McCoy spoke of a disc jockey named Happy Harold who encouraged him, and of the sacrifices made by his single mother to buy him his first harmonica, for 50 cents, in 1949.

"All I ever wanted to do was perform on records," McCoy said. "This is beyond my fondest dreams."

The assembled crowd at the Ford Theater applauded that notion, but the 67-year-old McCoy finished his remarks with a heartening caution: "And guess what? I ain't through playing."

Thanks to Peter Cooper

Jamey Johnson to Perform on "The Tonight Show" This Evening

Jamey Johnson has been confirmed to perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday, February 5th. Jamey's Mercury Nashville debut album THAT LONESOME SONG and single "In Color" have been nominatyed for three 2009 Grammy awards, including Best Country Album and Country Album.

Music Industry Benefit

Music Industry Benefit
Including Prominent Artists and Songwriters

Tuesday Feb 10th, 6:30 pm

The Closing Bell - Wall St Pub

1524 Demonbreun St

Nashville, TN 37203

Antiques and Garden Show of Nashville

In its 19th year, the Antiques and Garden Show of Nashville brings together nationally and internationally renowned experts and exhibitors in the fields of antiques, decorative arts and landscape design. Hailed as one of the most prominent antique and garden shows in the country, the Show offers over 150 antique and horticultural booths and landscaped gardens.

This year’s event, themed Sustaining Beauty, will explore ways to live beautifully, while still preserving our world’s natural splendor. Guests are invited to enjoy exquisite antiques and lush landscapes, to consider the merits of organic gardening, and to embrace the possibilities of a greener lifestyle. Be a part of sustaining beauty in our world!

In addition, special lectures have been offered by experts in their fields who are on the cutting edge in home and garden style. Lecturers include:

* David Howard, Former Head Gardener at Highgrove House, private residence of HRH The Prince of Wales
Thursday, 2/5 10:30am
* Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR, Founder and President of The Cultural Landscape Foundation
Thursday, 2/5 1:30pm
* Barry Dixon, Barry Dixon, Inc.
Friday, 2/6 10:30am

Ticket Info
Tickets: $15/General Admission
$12/Advance Admission

Lectures:
$110/Lecture Series includes one run-of-show ticket
$50/Per Individual Lecture includes one day ticket
Info Phone: (615) 352-9064

Dates & Times
Dates: February 5-February 8, 2009
Times: Thursday 10:00am-7:00pm
Friday 10:00am-8:00pm
Saturday 10:00am-7:00pm
Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm

Jazz Night at the Show
Thursday 5:00pm-7:00pm

Young Collectors Soiree
Friday 5:30pm-8:00pm

Venue Info
Nashville Convention Center
601 Commerce Street
Nashville, TN 37203

UFC Comes to Nashville!!!

UFC Fight Night Comes to Nashville
on April 1st at the Sommet Center
led by Condit vs Kampmann.

Schermerhorn Symphony Center Building Tour

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center offers building tours, free of charge, given by highly-trained and enthusiastic volunteer docents.

Tours begin promptly from the West Atrium on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 1:00pm and last approximately 50 minutes. All scheduled tours are subject to change depending upon previously scheduled event activity, we therefore highly recommend that you call the Schermerhorn Symphony Center Tour Hotline at (615) 687-6580 for the most up-to-date information prior to your visit.

Jamey Johnson to Join Willie Nelson Tour as Opening Act

Jamey Johnson will open nine shows for Willie Nelson in March, including seven stops in Florida and one each in South Carolina and Mississippi. "I can't believe I get to open gigs for one of my heroes," says Johnson. "I first met Willie when I performed at Farm Aid last year, and I got to hang out with him on his bus. That was a career highlight." Johnson is currently nominated for three Grammys, including best country album for That Lonesome Song, as well as best male country vocal performance and best country song for "In Color."

WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY WITH SPECIAL GUEST JAMEY JOHNSON TOUR INFO:

March 11 Youkey Theatre Lakeland, FL
March 12 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, FL
March 13 House of Blues Lake Buena Vista, FL
March 14 St. Augustine Amphitheatre St. Augustine, FL
March 15 House of Blues North Myrtle Beach, SC
March 17 Ruth Eckerd Hall Clearwater, FL
March 18 King Center For The Performing Arts Melbourne, FL
March 19 Marina Civic Center Panama City, FL
March 20 Silver Star Resort & Casino Convention Center Choctaw, MS

Julianne Hough, Kellie Pickler, LeAnn Rimes, and Jessica Simpson to Announce ACM Nominees on Febraury 11th.

A quartet of country beauties, Julianne Hough, Kellie Pickler, LeAnn Rimes and Jessica Simpson will announce the 2009 ACM nominees during a press conference on February 11, from the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN.

The ACM Awards show will be held at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV on April 5, starting at 8:00 pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

Taylor Swift's Fearless Tour Dates

Fearless Tour 2009

February 10 San Antonio, TX
March 1 Plant City, FL
March 20 Houston, TX
April 23 Evansville, IN
April 24 Jonesboro, AR
April 25 St Louis, MO
April 30 Charleston, SC
May 1 Jacksonville, FL
May 2 Biloxi, MS
May 14 Spokane, WA
May 15 Seattle, WA
May 16 Portland ,OR
May 17 Yakima, WA
May 21 Phoenix, AZ
May 22 Los Angeles, CA
May 23 Las Vegas, NV
May 24 San Diego, CA
May 26 Salt Lake City, UT
June 4 Enterprise, AL
June 11 Baltimore, MD
June 12 Greensboro, NC
June 24 Oshkosh, WI
June 25 Caddott, WI
July 8 Calgary, Alberta
July 10 Craven, Saskatchewan
July 11 Winnipeg, Manitoba
July 16 Twin Lakes, WI
July 17 Columbus, OH
July 18 Charleston, WV
July 23 Cheyenne, WY
July 24 Rapid City, SD
July 25 Minot, ND
August 7 Detroit Lakes, MN
August 9 Omaha, NE
August 27 New York, NY
August 28 Uncasville, CT
August 29 University Park, PA
August 30 Louisville, KY
September 4 Greenville, SC
September 5 Charlotte, NC
September 10 Lafayette, LA
September 11 Bossier City, LA
September 12 Birmingham, AL
September 25 Dallas, TX
September 26 Little Rock, AR
September 27 Tulsa, OK
October 1 Cleveland, OH
October 2 Grand Rapids, MI
October 3 Pittsburgh, PA
October 8 Indianapolis, IN
October 9 Chicago, IL
October 10 Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Walk the Line

In 1955, a tough, skinny guitar-slinger who called himself J.R. Cash walked into the soon-to-be-famous Sun Studios in Memphis. It was a moment that would have an indelible effect on American culture. With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as deep and black as night, Cash sang blistering songs of heartache and survival that were gutsy, full of real life and unlike anything heard before. That day kicked off the electrifying early career of Johnny Cash. As he pioneered a fiercely original sound that blazed a trail for rock, country, punk, folk and rap stars to come, Cash began a rough-and-tumble journey of personal transformation. In the most volatile period of his life, he evolved from a self-destructive pop star into the iconic "Man in Black" facing down his demons, fighting for the love that would raise him up, and learning how to walk the razor-thin line between destruction and redemption.