CMA kick starts 2012 CMA Music Festival on Wednesday, June 6 with The Eighth Annual CMA Music Festival Kick-Off Parade at 11:00 AM/CT, followed by The Seventh Annual CMA Music Festival Block Party at 12:30 PM/CT.
Country icon Glen Campbell will be the Grand Marshal for the Parade. Campbell last performed at CMA Music Festival in 2004. He has received two CMA Awards, including CMA Entertainer of the Year (1968) and Male Vocalist of the Year (1968), and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Last year, Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, he released his final album, the critically-acclaimed Ghost on the Canvas, and is in the midst of his successful Goodbye Tour.
“Last year more than 16,000 fans lined Broadway for the Parade and with our beloved Glen Campbell as Grand Marshal this year we are expecting even more people to come out and show their support and love for this iconic Country Music figure,” said Sheri Warnke, CMA Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing.
The Eighth Annual CMA Music Festival Kick-Off Parade will launch from Tenth Avenue on Broadway and end at Riverfront Park, site of the Chevrolet Riverfront Stage (First Avenue). One of the most popular features of the parade is the 40 Country Music artists riding in a wide variety of Chevrolet vehicles including vintage Corvettes.
Platinum-selling Country group Little Big Town has a different mode of transportation planned for the Parade. In support of their new single “Pontoon” each member of the group, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook, will be riding on four different Premier pontoon boats alongside lucky fans.
"What could we do for the fans that would be unique? Well, we can ride them around on a pontoon at the CMA Festival Kick-Off Parade!,” said Fairchild. “After the parade we'll have the honor of kicking off the Block Party at the Riverfront Stage singing ‘Pontoon.’ It’s a good way to start CMA Fest, don’t you think?”
Little Big Town will be performing as part of the LP Field Festival lineup on Saturday, June 9. The group has received a career total of nine CMA Award nominations to date. The foursome recently recorded “Deep River Woman” with Lionel Richie for his current album Tuskegee, which hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. Little Big Town’s fifth studio album, produced by Jay Joyce, will be released later this year and features the first single, “Pontoon,” which is at radio now.
With Campbell as Grand Marshal, other artists are lining up to participate in the Parade including Bill Anderson, Lynn Anderson, Katie Armiger, Craig Wayne Boyd, Weston Burt, Craig Campbell, Bucky Covington, Cowboy Troy, Ira Dean, Jaida Dreyer, Due West, Tyler Farr, Florida Georgia Line, Flynnville Train, Colt Ford, The Grascals, Greg Hanna, Amber Hayes, Angie Johnson, Little Big Town, LoCash Cowboys, Rachele Lynae, Manuel, The McClymonts, Randy Montana, Lorrie Morgan, Craig Morrison, Chase Rice, Marlee Scott, Matt Stillwell, Payton Rae, David St. Romain, The Roys, Jason Sturgeon, Trent Tomlinson, Trailer Choir, Rhonda Vincent, and Corey Wagar.
Other participants include the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales, BIC® Soleil Sunshine Squad, Carl Black Chevrolet and the Luke Bryan/Eric Church 2012 Chevrolet Silverado, The 22nd Annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge, Cooter’s Garage General Lee, GEICO Gecko, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee, Gnash and the Nashville Predators Dancers and Ice Girls, the Jelly Bean on Tour Bus, military veterans riding the Music City Trolley, Music City Drum and Bugle Corps, a 40x60 foot American flag that will be carried by veterans and representatives of Nashville's Fire Department, Metro Nashville Police Department Drill and Ceremony Team, Metro Police Mounted Unit, Metro Police Special Operations Boat and SWAT Rescue Truck, Nashville Rollergirls, Nashville Zoo and Twiga (the Zoo’s giraffe mascot), Operation Troop Aid, Travel Channel’s Destination Summer Tour Bus, and more.
Making its second appearance in the Kick-Off Parade is the Keep the Music Playing All Stars Marching Band, which is made up of 125 students representing eight Metro Nashville Public Schools including Antioch High School, East Literature Magnet School, Hillsboro High School, Hunters Lane Comprehensive High School, John Overton High School, Maplewood High School, McGavock High School, and Stratford STEM Magnet High School playing together for the first time under the direction of Antioch High School band director Scott Miller, associate director Caryn Miller, and Jarrett Jones, who will be assisting with the drum line.
Six-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift has pledged $4 million to fund a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. The more than 7,500-square foot space, which will encompass parts of two floors and feature three classrooms and a state-of-the-art children’s exhibit gallery, is scheduled to open in early 2014.
Swift’s gift is the largest capital contribution by an individual artist in the museum’s 45-year history, prompting the museum to name the new space the Taylor Swift Education Center. The gift was made in conjunction with Working on a Building: Country Music Lives Here, the capital campaign that will finance the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s expansion from 140,000 square feet to more than 350,000 square feet.
Swift has for years been a generous supporter of the museum, performing for the institution’s 2007 All for the Hall New York, 2009 We’re All for the Hall and 2010 All for the Hall Los Angeles benefits. She has also loaned the museum dresses, stage costumes and instruments for display; a free-standing, Taylor Swift multimedia exhibit has been one of the museum’s most popular attractions since its debut in May, 2010.
“Taylor Swift represents country music’s best traditions,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “She is a gifted singer-songwriter whose deeply personal songs resonate with music fans around the world, and a dynamic live performer whose open heart and engaging personality allow her to make even the largest stadium shows an intimate experience. Her many accomplishments – including being the youngest artist to single-handedly write and sing a #1 country song – have made music history, and she has been an ambassador for country music, raising awareness of our genre literally around the globe.
“Taylor is an artist who has always been ahead of the curve,” Young continued. “By stepping forward to fund our education center, she has once again demonstrated that she has an eye on our industry’s future. We are deeply indebted to Taylor for this wonderful gift, which will help us continue to fulfill our educational mission and serve our worldwide audience. It is not an overstatement to say that the Taylor Swift Education Center will have a profound impact on our museum, our new campus, our city and even our country. It will truly be the heart of our living museum, educating and inspiring young people and families, teaching them country music history and helping them to make meaningful connections between the music and their own lives.”
The new education center will increase the museum’s educational capacity up to seven-fold and will include three classrooms and a children’s exhibition gallery. On the third floor, two traditional classrooms and one “wet” classroom space will be used by museum educators for current educational offerings, including the museum’s flagship program, Words & Music; distance learning programs; and family programs such as the Musical Petting Zoo. The “wet classroom” will feature a utility floor, lending itself to the museum’s Make Letterpress Art with Hatch Show Print family program and similar (messy) offerings. The additional classroom spaces will also allow the museum to develop new educational activities, potentially including after-school programs, teen-centric programs, multi-week workshops for youths, adults and senior citizens, and more. Additionally, the classroom spaces will be adjacent to a visible storage area and design studio; this space will feature thematic displays of artifacts, e.g. dozens of banjos, and allow students to observe museum curators at work. The children’s gallery, situated on the second floor, will be a dedicated exhibit space for young patrons and will be filled with hands-on, interactive exhibits.
With Country Music Hall of Fame member Kris Kristofferson and Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford as honorary co-chairs, the museum launched its $75 million Working on a Building campaign in July 2011 with $56.8 million in cash and pledges already secured. Designed by Tuck-Hinton Architects, the expansion is expected to be completed in early 2014.
Seven-time GRAMMY winning trio Lady Antebellum and thousands of generous fans joined together at Louisville, KY’s KFC Yum! Center tonight to raise more than $285,000 for the Henryville, IN community. All proceeds will be distributed through the New Hope/Indiana Bankers Association for the Disaster Relief Fund.
The group hosted a private prom event with Henryville High School’s Juniors and Seniors where they surprised the students a with an acoustic performance, which was followed by an arena concert open to the public.
"This event started as an idea we had in the studio last year to crash someone's prom," explains Lady A's Hillary Scott. "We had no idea at the time it would fill such a need. We are amazed by the support we've gotten from our fans, sponsors and the press. This is one of the proudest moments in our career!"
Lady A and ABC’s JuJu Chang visited Henryville High School earlier today where they toured the devastated school that is currently under construction and planning to reopen this fall. The community’s inspiring story and highlights from the day will air tomorrow on Good Morning America, World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, Nightline, ABC Radio and on ABC affiliates across the country. Additional national and local media supporters will air special content from the event throughout the week. For more information, visit www.thegreenroompr.com.
In March, Lady Antebellum began a contest offering fans a chance to OWN THE NIGHT with a private concert at their prom. The trio unanimously chose the community of Henryville, IN for their story, resilience and unity following devastating tornados. Lipton also came on board to help with the event in the spirit of their "Drink Positive" and "Live Positive" message, a campaign that Lady A already supports. Fans who weren’t able to attend the concert, but would still like to contribute towards the cause can make a donation here: http://bit.ly/ladyaprom.
Source: CountryMusicTattleTale.com
Taylor Swift helps fans again when a TV station out of Sacramento used their weight for a local officer who was impressed by a daughter & her mother who were hit by a drunk driver. Summer & her mother were on their way to see Taylor Swift in Sacramento for her "Speak Now" tour stop when a driver came out of nowhere & hit their car. Officer Lowry was touched by their story & Summer's inexplainable joy through the ordeal, that he made it priority to reach the singer.
Taylor's label heard the news & her team contacted the family to give them tickets to the next Sacramento show along with some swag. See the story down below
CMA kick starts 2012 CMA Music Festival on Wednesday, June 6 with The Eighth Annual CMA Music Festival Kick-Off Parade at 11:00 AM/CT, followed by The Seventh Annual CMA Music Festival Block Party at 12:30 PM/CT.
group has received a career total of nine CMA Award nominations to date. The foursome recently recorded “Deep River Woman” with Lionel Richie for his current album Tuskegee, which hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. Little Big Town’s fifth studio album, produced by Jay Joyce, will be released later this year and features the first single, “Pontoon,” which is at radio now. 
Six-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift has pledged $4 million to fund a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. The more than 7,500-square foot space, which will encompass parts of two floors and feature three classrooms and a state-of-the-art children’s exhibit gallery, is scheduled to open in early 2014. 
Seven-time GRAMMY winning trio Lady Antebellum and thousands of generous fans joined together at Louisville, KY’s KFC Yum! Center tonight to raise more than $285,000 for the Henryville, IN community. All proceeds will be distributed through the New Hope/Indiana Bankers Association for the Disaster Relief Fund.
devastated school that is currently under construction and planning to reopen this fall. The community’s inspiring story and highlights from the day will air tomorrow on Good Morning America, World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, Nightline, ABC Radio and on ABC affiliates across the country. Additional national and local media supporters will air special content from the event throughout the week. For more information, visit www.thegreenroompr.com.
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