A Little Country Rock and Roll With Frankie Ballard

Cassi Jane Concert Reviews, Contributors, Country Chatter , , , , , , , ,

Not sure how many of you have seen Frankie Ballard live but if you haven’t, you need to do so now! When I found out Frankie was scheduled to perform with Native Run and David Nail on 11/8/14 at the House of Blues in Boston and I knew I could not miss the opportunity to see this guy again!

I had purchased the VIP experience for Frankie and for anyone who loves Frankie, this is a must. After a little bit of waiting and being ushered into the lobby, Frankie and Eddie (his lead guitarist) entered the room, guitars in hand and smiles on faces. To break the ice Frankie asked if we all felt important since this was a VIP experience, and with everyone in laughter Frankie started the night off with a little acoustic rendition of his latest single and current #1 hit, Sunshine and Whiskey. As he was working his way to the chorus people started joining in and before you knew it the whole room was singing along with him. Judging by the smile on his face, you could tell he was never going to get tired of that.

frankie3

Continue reading →

Country Heartbeat’s First GIVEAWAY!

countryheartbeat Uncategorized , , ,

We have teamed up with Country Outfitter’s Marketplace to bring you an awesome giveaway! Just by entering this giveaway, you will also receive 10% off $100 of Marketplace items from 11/3 to 11/9.

Giveaway runs from November 3rd- November 6th, so enter quickly! Don’t miss out on this opportunity! Good luck!

Country Outfitter is one of my favorite places to shop (in my case BROWSE and DREAM) of beautiful hand crafted cowgirl boots, jewelry, and accessories! Check them out!

CountryOutfitter.com

Is “Remix Your Future” A Legit Event?

countryheartbeat Making It Happen, Networking , , ,

There’s just so much in my head and going on in my life right now, I feel like I need to write some of it down and share it with y’all!

First of all, Rodney Atkins himself favorited this tweet that I posted about my previous blog entry:

So yeah, that was a pretty cool notification to wake up to this morning! Apparently he thought that it was pretty cool that he was my first country concert.

Continue reading →

TBT #2 – Chris Young 4/18/13

countryheartbeat Making It Happen, Throwback Thursdays , , , , , ,

THROWBACK THURSDAY! 

Throwing it back this Thursday to a whole Chris Young filled day!

WHEN: April 18th, 2013
WHERE: The State Theater, Portland Maine
HOW #1: Had the day off, waited outside by his bus parked near the venue.
HOW #2: Created posters/signs and held them up in line for the WPOR “Secret Spy” to spot us. They chose a few lucky fans in line for the show to give away meet and greet passes to!

Continue reading →

Joel Crouse Reveals Truth Behind Hit Song, “Oh Juliette”

countryheartbeat Concert Reviews, Country Chatter, Songwriting Secrets , , , ,

Last night was opening night of the Night That You’ll Never Forget Tour, which kicked off in Portland Maine. Joel was extremely excited to be starting the tour in New England, as he was born and bred in Holland, Massachusetts. Tonight he is back in his home state at the Royale in Boston for night number 2. Joel spoke of how when he moved to Nashville 5 years ago, and he went to play his first gig with long-term friend Kyle Rife, the guy laughed when Joel said he was from Massachusetts. Joel confirmed what we all know to be true, the Northeast has some of the best darn country music lovin’ folk around!

Continue reading →

“Dream Trip of a Lifetime”

countryheartbeat ACM Awards , , , , , , ,

258115_170550366343112_2107631_o

My local radio station, 99.9 The Wolf, announced a contest opportunity to win a trip to Vegas for the 2011 ACM Awards. Teaming up with J.D. Haas Entertainment, they were able to offer an all expense paid trip including round trip airfare, 3 night stay at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, tickets to the live 2011 ACM Awards show, and tickets to attend the taping of the CBS Special, Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country to be filmed and then aired at a later date.

Picture 4

First of all, Vegas is one of my all time favorite places on earth. By this time my interest and knowledge of country music had grown and blossomed and I knew that there could be nothing better in this world than combining my TWO LOVES into one. A entire weekend of country music concerts, shows, a red carpet experience, fancy dresses, cowgirl boots, and everyone who is anyone in the country music world all staying at the same hotel. I HAD TO WIN. It wasn’t really an option.

Continue reading →

TBT – First “Official” Luke M&G

countryheartbeat Throwback Thursdays , , , ,

THROWBACK THURSDAY! 

Throwing it back this week to my first time at an actual Luke Bryan “Meet & Greet” (not my first time meeting him though!)

WHEN: June 2nd, 2013
WHERE: Comcast Center, Mansfield Massachusetts
HOW: Was one of the lucky 18 to win from the Fan Club

Guest Pass and Meet & Greet!
Luke Meet & Greet Pass

Luke’s Meet & Greet was scheduled for 7:15pm. Luke did not show up until about 7:45 and FGL went on at 7:55 so I had to run back so fast to find my friends in the pit as their set was starting. Of course I was in line by 7, so needless to say by 7:45 my anticipation and anxiety of “meeting” Luke sober had grown itself way out of proportion. It was super quick, and a big blur. All I remember is that the person on the other side of Luke was supposed to take our purses to hold so that they wouldn’t be in the picture. He didn’t… I had to awkwardly overstep Luke and place it on the ground a few feet away and remember feeling slightly embarassed and annoyed. I can’t even remember if I told him my name or shook his hand!? I was flustered, handed him the CD insert to his “Tailgates & Tanlines” CD for him to sign, and posed for a quick picture. He squeezed my shoulder a couple times after the picture as a way of saying goodbye/thank you I suppose. I think I said thank you to him? All I know is that he smelled amazing and I was way too nervous to sound like a 5 year old and ask, “Can I have a hug?” Maybe next time… I do have one M&G opportunity left for this year!

First M&G with Luke, June 2nd 2014
First  “official” M&G with Luke,  June 2nd 2013

PS. It was NOT Monaco (Black Mike) taking the photos! Slight disappointment there! Most likely he was filming for Cole/Swindell Vision since Cole’s performance was during Luke’s M&G. To see a review of the concert, click here.

Is Luke coming to your town any time soon? Check below for local concert tickets. And be sure to sign up for his fan club, The Nut House for a chance to win 1 of 18 meet and greet passes that are up for grabs for each show! Details provided when you join! You typically need to get online to request them 2 weeks prior to the show date.

TicketLiquidator

Where it all Began…

countryheartbeat Uncategorized , , , , , ,

Prior to this point of discovering country (late 2005/early 2006ish) when ever I was asked, “What kind of music do you like?” My response was ALWAYS, “Everything! EXCEPT country and classical!” Oh the irony! Liking country music back then wasn’t considered “cool”… nor had I really ever given it a true chance. The first country song that I was introduced to was during the summer of 2000, Lonestar’s ‘Amazed’. I did absolutely love the particular song and the memories it invoked, however this one song did not turn me onto the country genre. A couple of years later in 2002, while visiting a friend in CT who loved country (who I happened to have a crush on of course!), he played me Randy Travis’s ‘Forever and Ever, Amen’. I of course downloaded it in Napster, or Morpheus, (or whatever the program of those days were) when I got back home. I did “secretly” also like Shania Twain, but that was about it, and all that I had been introduced to thus far.

Continue reading →

Making IT Happen – Productive Day!

countryheartbeat Making It Happen, Networking , , , , , , , , , , ,

makeithappen

Hi guys! I have spent most of today trying to #makeIThappen (and all the while D. Jenks [@donaldsjenkins] retweeted and favorited my tweet about that!) Anyway… Chase Rice’s manager (@John_Lessard) responded to me on Friday about what he majors in and what colleges in the Nashville area offer them. He is an Entertainment Industry Studies major and a Music Business minor, and he met Chase at an industry party and they hit it off. So yes, you DO need an education background in the music business, but it’s also all about connections and who you meet!

With that being said, I have spent the past couple days on my LinkedIn profile, trying to “make connections”. It’s difficult because people have to accept you, and although I know who all these people are (Like Jessica Northey, Jenny Driessen, Jamie Vess, Justin Mrusek, etc) THEY don’t know who I am. I’ve been writing up a little something every time I send a request, and luckily Rich Redmond (@RichRedmond/@crash4success) accepted me, most likely because this connection-who-you-know-thing is one of the things he passionately teaches about in his CRASH Course for Success. Which I was grateful for the opportunity to attend this summer. I’ve spent the day browsing record label CEO’s and printing out inspirational people’s resumes who have jobs I would enjoy in the industry to try and see what I need that would help me. Unfortunately, most of these people went to school for it and have a TON of experience, and I feel like I am starting out so late in life! I just turned 30 and now I finally figure out what I want to do with my life? Luckily I have an advantage in the “Tour Photographer” dream with my Associates Degree in Graphic Design and Photography.

Continue reading →

That’s My Kind of Night with Luke & FGL

countryheartbeat Concert Reviews , , , , , , , , ,

Cole Swindell, Florida Georgia Line, & Luke Bryan
at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts (June 2nd, 2013)

IMG_2949
On our way to the show!

 

Comcast Center Venue Review:

Apparently purses that resembled “backpacks,” even when clearly being held like a purse/pocketbook, are NOT allowed into this venue. I had brought my cute little bag that I had made for ACM week with all of the girlie necessities that I would need, including my camera, phone and chargers, autograph book, CD inserts, sunscreen, sunglasses, rain ponchos in case, money, makeup, perfume, etc. This caused QUITE an uproar between the event staff letting people in at the gate and myself, who tried extremely hard to make them understand that this bag was NOT a backpack. “Go put it back in your car,” they suggested. Umm, sorry, I can’t do that, my car is at some park and ride 2 hours away, and we took a shuttle from the hotel to the venue. Nor could I survive without everything that I had carefully planned and packed with items specific for this one night only. Long tumultuous story short, the event staff/security were EXTREMELY rude and harsh and unwilling to budge or listen to my explanation of WHY it’s not a backpack and WHY I need each and every item that it was holding. My blood pressure rose quite a bit and I required a $10 beer to calm me down afterwards. Oh, that’s right… $9.75 for ONE beer. Needless to say the quarter left over was the only tip he got…

Continue reading →