Country Music

Vegas at the Mandarin, High Roller Gamblin’

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…Me and Diddy drippin’ diamonds like Marilyn

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HBD @marenmorris !!! ❤❤❤

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Maren Morris celebrated her birthday a bit early this year during her time in Vegas for the ACM Awards. This Grammy winning “hard to get starlet” turns 27 on April 10th, but who can resist the chance to throw a birthday bash in Las Vegas?! Complete with friends and family, boyfriend Ryan Hurd, and decorations matching her tattoo that she got back in July, this one was for the books!

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THE CAKE MATCHES HER TATTOO!!

BLOG CAKE MAREN

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Brett Young Caught The Bug For Music In Church

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“You know, it started in the church for me. My dad’s a pastor and I went to a Christian school. My sophomore year, I had played a little guitar. All the kids walking around in Christian junior high learned to play guitar. One day, in my sophomore year, one of the kids who leads worship every Friday said, ‘Hey, I need somebody else to play guitar with me this week.’ So I did. And he said, ‘You did great, I’m not gonna be there next week and you need to lead.” So next thing I know, I’m 15 years old and playing in front of 700 kids for the first time. From that moment, I knew I loved it. It wasn’t until I hurt myself, I played baseball, I had to have elbow surgery, until I really started pursuing it as a career.”

Brett Young is being dubbed a “Nashville Newcomer” with his debut single, “Sleep Without You” currently sitting at number 12 on the Mediabase Country Chart and number 17 on the Billboard Chart. I’ve been following Brett for a couple years of course via social media, and actually was surprised to meet him at a backstage party after a Sam Hunt show in Boston in February of 2015, nearly 2 years ago. First of all, as a California native and a Nashville local, I was wondering what on earth he was doing in Boston?! Just hanging with friends from the band and partying Foundation Room style! He was nice enough to chat with me for a few minutes while sipping on his drink and take a photo with me too. (Man is he TALL! Ok, and handsome!!!)

I’m hoping to catch him live for the first time in a couple of weeks! I’m thinking we need a more recent photo! 😉

You can check out more of Brett Young on his official website or twitter feed!

 

This is My Heartbeat Song

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POR-Heartbeat

By now, it’s well known that my heart beats for country music. It runs through my blood and nourishes my soul. I’ve been fearless in the pursuit of what sets my soul on fire, and following my heart has been the smartest move that I’ve made thus far. The amount of happiness that working in the country music industry brings me is immeasurable.

I am so thankful that a little over a year ago I was given the chance to work for my local country radio station, WPOR 101.9 on their street team! (You can read about my dreams coming true here!) Since then, being hired for the street team, I have also become the station photographer for shows and events, filling in at the front desk as a receptionist on a regular basis… and now…

photo of me taking pix for blog

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New Music Monday – Runaway June “Lipstick”

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Impacting TODAY 5/23/16!

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These girls stole my heart in Vegas at the BBR Music Group brunch (during ACM week), when they were introduced and performed 3 of their songs. Watch the video below of “Lipstick” and let me know what you think about these ladies! I’m trying so hard to get them here this summer! This song is catchy and sure to fly up the country music charts, and with female artists on the rise, these ladies are going in the right direction. Country is taking a slight turn from “bro-country” and starting to focus on the ladies!

If you’re gonna love somebody / Yeah you better love somebody/ Who ruins your lipstick, not your mascara / So if you’re gonna love somebody / Yeah you better love somebody / That keeps those pretty blue eyes as dry as the Sahara / If you’re gonna love somebody / Yeah you better love somebody / Who ruins your lipstick, not your mascara ❤

If you want to check out more about Runaway June and their music, check out their website and follow them on twitter!

Cole Swindell Prepares For Album Release Day

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Cole Swindell performed for some VERY lucky Southwest Airlines passengers today before gearing up for his sophomore album release party! “You Should Be Here” is being called the song defining his career, and Cole himself said that this is the song he “came to Nashville to write”. “You Should Be Here” was the first single of his new album and it’s already held at No. 1 on the charts for multiple weeks, sold nearly half a million tracks, and surpassed 25 million streams.

Cole announced via Twitter today that he would be participating in Southwest Airline’s #LiveAt35 series.

If you follow Cole on snapchat, you got a preview of his “mile-high” performance earlier today! (I’ve always wondered what people who are non-country fans think of these Southwest Performances. Cole isn’t the first artist to do one!)

You Should Be Here is available everywhere tonight at midnight (May 6th, 2016), but those who pre-ordered (like myself of course!) have already gotten a download of 5 of the 12 amazing songs! See the track listing below! I’m obviously loving “Flatliner” with Dierks Bentley, “Stars”, and I’ve always loved “Middle of a Memory” from hearing it live at his shows. Actually, “Middle of a Memory” will be the second single released off this album! Can’t wait to convince my radio station to add it! 😉

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WPOR Announces Old Port Festival Lineup!

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The 43rd annual Old Port Festival will be held on June 12th, 2016 from 11am to 5pm! There will be four stages with live music scattered throughout downtown Portland, Maine. I of course, will be there at the WPOR stage! See the lineup below!

WPOR Stage (Middle & Temple Streets)

12pm — American Ride (local cover band)
1pm — Matt Gary
2pm — Drew Baldridge
3pm — Dylan Scott
4pm — Brooke Eden

First of all, I’ve been dying to share this news with you since I spoke with Brooke Eden in Vegas at the BBR Music Group brunch on Sunday April 3rd before the ACM Awards. But because I knew my station had not officially announced the lineup yet, I kept it to myself. I went up to Brooke at the brunch and told her that I was that girl who made her come out of her bus in the freezing cold to come into WPOR so that I could meet her and take a photo with her, and that I needed a re-take since I was in my “work clothes” lol. She informed me that she would be coming back to Portland the same weekend as CMA Fest and I was ecstatic! She also told me she would be performing later that night at the ACM Official After Party, All Star Jam, which was officially my first time seeing her live!

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Brooke Eden and I at the BBR Music Group brunch in Las Vegas!

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World Premiere of Chris Janson’s “Holdin’ Her” Video

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CHRIS JANSON’S “HOLDIN’ HER” VIDEO PREMIERES TODAY ON CMT

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Chris Janson continues to enjoy the success of his debut album Buy Me A Boat. The title track became the singer songwriters’ first #1 single, has been certified Platinum, it won the iHeartRadio Award for “Country Song of the Year,” earned him a nomination for Breakthrough Male Artist of the Year for the American Country Countdown Awards which airs this Sunday on Fox (5/1/16), and much more. But for Janson, his greatest success is his wife and kids.

 They are the inspiration for the song and music video for his new single, “Holdin’ Her.” “It’s my number-one favorite song,” said Janson. “It’s the story of the things that I love most: my wife and my kids and my journey in life. If anyone wants a real look inside my life, here it is!”

“I’m so excited and happy about this video,” said Janson.  It is a very personal and real look into our life with my wife, kids and bonus kids. This song is our love story and I wanted real moments in the video.”

SEE THE VIDEO HERE!

In addition to his ACCA nomination, Janson will perform on the show. 2016 has been just as incredible as 2015, when he landed on multiple year-end lists, including Billboard‘s Top New Country Artist list, Rolling Stone Country’s Best list for his full-length debut and The New York Times Best Songs of 2015 for “Buy Me a Boat.” He was chosen as a 2016 Next Big Thing by MusicRow and, adding to the industry recognition, received standing ovations for his electric performance at the prestigious New Faces Concert during Country Radio Seminar. Acclaimed for his spirited harmonica playing and riveting live show, Janson has played the Grand Ole Opry more than 130 times and earned spots on tour with Blake Shelton, Toby Keith and Luke Bryan.

You have to see this sweet and heartfelt video! I had the opportunity to see Janson perform this song live at the ACM All Star Jam (after the ACM Awards) and I was blown away hearing it for the first time. It’s such a polar opposite of his #1 single, Buy Me a Boat, and shows a completely different side of his personality. Janson told the crowd when introducing the song, that he hates the term “step-children” and he instead calls his wife’s previous children, “bonus kids”. Such an admirable trait!

Faux-Chella: My Perfect Country Music Festival

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Country Heartbeat Day1 Fixed

With Coachella just around the corner, TickPick and I have teamed up to present with Country Heartbeat readers my ideal country music festival! I have so many favorites that they had to divide the festival between two days! If you’ve been following this blog for a while now, it’s pretty obvious who my favorite country artists are. Whenever someone asks who my favorite artist is, I ask them if I can give them a top-5 or top-10 list instead, because it’s entirely way too hard to narrow down. I then proceed to list the above 10 artists, and a few others… depending on whose show I may have seen recently and re-fell in love with.

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ACM Week Recap – Day 2 – Guitar Pull

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Thursday 3/31/16

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As soon as I learned two of my ultimate favorites, Kip Moore and Kelsea Ballerini, would be at the 95.5 The Bull’s 8th Annual Guitar Pull, I made it a goal to attend! As most of you all know, this was a “budget trip”, so funds were limited. Per usual, I reached out to 95.5 for a chance to win some tickets, but heard nothing back. As fate would have it, my friend Chris had a pair of tickets and became ill, and he graciously donated them to me! So appreciative beyond words for this opportunity to see these artists acoustically in a laid back setting.

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Thursday night’s outfit

Up first on stage was Hunter Hayes and Kelsea Ballerini! Kelsea started off by telling the crowd that her and Hunter are “real-life friends” and that he was actually with her when she found out that Dibs had reached number 1! (It appears that Cody Alan (her “favorite human”) was there too!

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ACM Week Recap – Day 1 – Maine to California

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Wednesday March 30th, 2016

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My adventures started off by being asked to call KBUL 98.1 in Revo, NV shortly after arriving at the airport! I had connected with their morning show host, Bob Richards, on twitter a couple of weeks before. During my search to win fly away’s to Vegas for the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards, I entered every contest that existed. I secured a one way flight, just in case I didn’t win, to insure that I would get there. However, while being there, I also had my hopes set on being able to attend the 3-Day Party For A Cause Festival. The price of the 3-day festival, however, was $175 before taxes and fees. Definitely not something that I could afford on my own, on top of flights, especially with this trip having a super strict budget!

Luckily I believe in manifesting your desires and the Law of Attraction. I believe that acting like you already have something (or in this care that you’re already attending) will help the Universe deliver what it is that you want. BUT, you must also put in the effort to obtain this desire, and ASK. You’re not going to get what you want magically (unless you’re insanely lucky)… you have to take some action. So I searched the official PFAC hashtag, #ACMparty on twitter to find contests to enter. I entered the ones that I could, but the “call in to win” ones, I knew I would be unable to listen to non-local radio stations day in and day out. So I reached out to the KBUL Moo Crew in Reno, NV.

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