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 Luke Bryan is thrilled to not only perform on Sunday night’s ACM Awards, but he’s pretty excited about taking part in the CBS-TV special, Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert, which will tape on Monday (April 2nd). “We had our fingers crossed certainly to be part of the Lionel Richie tribute thing,” says Luke. “He is by far in my top three most influential songwriters and artists of all time.” The other two are George Strait and Alabama’s Randy Owen. Luke originally met the iconic performer at last year’s CMA Awards. “He walked up and said, ‘Hey Luke!’ I mean I almost hit the floor backstage.” Luke then had the opportunity to sing with Lionel during CRS [Country Radio Seminar] last month. Luke, who is climbing the country charts with his latest single “Drunk on You,” will perform “Runnin’ With the Night,” during the special, which airs April 13th.
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 Blind Faith brought Nicolle Galyon to Nashville from Sterling, Kansas but The Voice put her in the national spotlight. Although classically trained in piano, she didn’t think those skills had a place in Nashville so she decided to attend Belmont and pursue a career in the music business. “I didn’t even really know you could write songs for a living when I moved to Nashville but I met all these songwriters and I thought, that’s what I want to do” says Galyon. “It was kind of a blind faith thing and I was stupid enough to think I could do it. You kind of have to be stupid enough or you never get started. Now I make a living doing something that shouldn’t happen to people. I mean the music business has been one miracle after another and I guess that’s part of what gave me the confidence to try out for “The Voice”.
Galyon graduated in 2006 and soon after landed a publishing deal with Warner Music Nashville. She’s penned songs for American Idol’s Lauren Alaina as well as Josh Kelley and Brent Anderson but through the process of writing, recording and performing her songs, she found that hearing other people sing her words wasn’t completely fulfilling and that her desire to tell her own story was the ultimate dream. In 2012 she auditioned for NBC’s hit singing competition, The Voice. “I’m finding my voice in front of all of America”, Galyon says. “My fear of failure has become less than my love for music.”
Picked as a member of “team Adam” (Levine), Galyon was paired with Mathai for last night’s showdown. Watch it here:
Unfortunately it was not Galyon’s night last night. It could have been nerves or it could have been she was missing her piano which was a last-minute change to the performance but her amazing attitude is unchanged. We are Nicolle Galyon fans here at Nashville.com and we can’t wait to see what is next for this future star.
“Some people did it for exposure and some people did it because they wanted to win but it was all about the experience for me.”
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 The Band Perry just released “Postcards from Paris” off their debut album but they assure their fans they’re working on new music. “We’re writing with a lot of different people,” says Reid, “kind of doing it all over the place. We’ve written with Skyler Gray as well, who is a writer out of L.A., and listening to songs out of Nashville as well, just finding the best songs we can.” They recently wrote with one of Kimberly’s songwriting heroes, Sheryl Crow, plus they’ve been writing a lot on their own. “It’s really by default,” says Kimberly. “You know we’ve been touring, basically we got started heavy on the road when “Hip to My Heart‟ came out and we really haven’t been home since. So just by default a lot of times the three of us will just hole up in a green room or the tour bus and really try to break ground on some new songs.” They’ve also been writing a lot with The Henningsons, who wrote “You Lie” and “All Your Life” for their debut album. The Band Perry expects to be in the studio again soon working on their sophomore CD.
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 Scotty McCreery has been chosen to perform the “goodbye” song for Season 11 of American Idol, FOX’s hit singing-competition series.
“It’s always a sad time whenever this song is played, but it’s definitely a really big part of the show,” Scotty says. “I never had to experience that feeling personally, but I always felt the pain because we became such a close family on the show. We were such a tight-knit group of people, so it was always sad to see people go. The send-off song was always a way to stay connected to the show. I’m glad they chose me to do it.”
Scotty selected the Tim McGraw hit “Please Remember Me” as the “goodbye” song that will be played after a contestant is eliminated and video highlights of the contestant’s experiences on Idol are shown. The song will debut on American Idol on Thursday.
Simon Fuller, creator/executive producer of American Idol and CEO of XIX Entertainment, says, “Once again this year I wanted to have one of Idol’s past winners sing our farewell song. The success Scotty has enjoyed since he won Idol last year is incredible. He has a platinum album selling over a million copies in just a few short months and has enjoyed a sell-out arena tour with Brad Paisley. With the release of this special song, ‘Please Remember Me,’ his success is set to continue and hit new highs. Idol is proud of all the incredible stars that have come from our show.”
Scotty says “Please Remember Me” is a great song with lyrics that are very appropriate for this setting. “When you are eliminated, whether it’s early on or down the road in the competition, you always want people to remember you. You want to get to work and put out some good music, and through that music, people will remember you. This is one way this lyric can be interpreted for this goodbye song.
“Tim did such a fantastic job with it when he cut it. Hopefully we will live up to his expectations and he will like it,’ Scotty says. “I sent Tim a message and told him that we cut it and I hope that he liked it. He told me, ‘Great man. I can’t wait to hear it. I’m sure you nailed it.’ It was cool hearing that feedback from a country superstar.”
Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia North America and American Idol executive producer, says, “Since being crowned the American Idol last year, Scotty has become a platinum-selling recording artist with legions of fans and immense popularity. He’s the ideal choice to sing the ‘goodbye’ song this season.”
Scotty will perform on American Idol later this season. “I am pumped!” he says. “That was my launching pad and what gave me my platform to do what I’m doing now. Anytime I can go back and see some familiar faces and say thanks, I will be the first one to do it.
“I am excited to go up there and sing and hopefully have some one-on-one time with contestants and see what they are up to and maybe have a chance to give them some advice and some of my ins and outs of the competition that I learned through my experience.”
Since winning Season 10 of American Idol in May, he has quickly emerged as one of the most successful country stars of the last year. His debut album, Clear As Day, was certified platinum for sales of more than 1 million units in just three months, and he was named No. 1 on Billboard magazine’s list of Top New Country Artists for 2011. He also won New Artist of the Year at the American Country Awards in December.
His debut album on Mercury Nashville/19 Recordings/Interscope, Clear As Day, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country Albums charts, making him the youngest man in history to open at the top of the all-genre chart with a debut release. It also garnered the highest sales of any country solo album released last year and held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for six weeks.
Scotty has been nominated for this year’s Academy of Country Music New Artist of the Year Award, which will be given out during the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on April 1.
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 L-R: Eddie Montgomery from Montgomery Gentry, Impact Superstar James Storm, TNA Impact Wrestling President Dixie Carter, Troy Gentry from Montgomery Gentry and Cowboy Troy TNA IMPACT WRESTLING star Cowboy James Storm’s entrance music “Longnecks and Rednecks,” is hitting country radio this week as superstars Montgomery Gentry join Storm in Columbia, Tennessee to shoot the music video. The song is performed by TNA Knockout Music Vice President Serg Salinas and is written by Salinas and Dale Oliver for Knockout Music Publishing. TNA IMPACT WRESTLING airs Thursday’s at 9:00pm ET on SPIKE TV.
Former World Heavyweight Champion and multi-time World Tag Team Champion Cowboy James Storm currently resides in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee and grew up listening to country and southern rock music. When he approached his friends Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry to be a part of this video, the duo jumped in with both feet. “I am thrilled that the guys had time in their schedule to be a part of the video,” says Storm. “We had a great time shooting and my other buddies Cowboy Troy and Sean Patrick McGraw joined us for the party. Even my wife made an appearance in the video,” he added.
This is the first time TNA Knockout Music has serviced a song to country radio and “Longnecks and Rednecks” is already receiving a lot of interest. “The response to this song has been so overwhelming and fits James’ persona so perfectly, we felt like releasing it as a single and shooting a music video was a great way to expose James in a different way,” said TNA President Dixie Carter. “Having Montgomery Gentry, Cowboy Troy and Sean Patrick McGraw join us in the video truly made it a party,” she continued.
TNA Knockout Music is a division of TNA Entertainment, LLC. Writer and executive Serg Salinas had his own career in music prior to leading the publishing and merchandising division of the company. This Texas native had his own country show at a 4000 seat amphitheatre in Texas, has had title tracks to motion pictures and commercials and became a celebrity spokesperson and model for the true American apparel icon Wrangler. Salinas oversees all the recording and music publishing for the TNA Knockout Music themes which can be purchased at www.shopTNA.com or on iTunes.
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 Randy Houser and wife, Jessa Lee Houser beamed with pride this morning as they welcomed their first child, a baby boy, into the world. Weighing in at 6 lbs., 11 oz. and a whopping 19 inches long, the little one will have big ‘boots’ to fill following in the shadow of his talented CMA/ACM nominated “Boots On,” and “Anything Goes,” hit-making father, but to Houser and Yantz, he is the greatest gift they could ever receive. The happy couple married in a private ceremony in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic last year.
To top off a year of positive life-changing milestones, Houser is newly signed with Stoney Creek Records and will release a brand-new single to radio in May, off of his highly-anticipated third album which will hit stores later this year. Houser recently announced several new tour dates for this summer, so to find out if he’ll be coming to a city near you, visit www.RandyHouser.com.
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 For a group of guys who met – and got their start performing together – in college, it’s no surprise that the Eli Young Band recently headed back to campus. On Sunday (3/4), the 2012 ACM nominees headed to Towson University in Maryland to help the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity raise money for a charitable cause. Area radio station WPOC in Baltimore, sponsored EYB’s mini concert and the groups’ combined efforts garnered nearly $2,000 for St. Jude. The band played songs from their Republic Nashville album, including the #1 Platinum hit, “Crazy Girl,” and their single, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.”
EYB is currently headlining the “Keep On Dreamin’ Tour” and will open for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Australian tour, beginning next week. For more on Eli Young Band, visit www.eliyoungband.com.
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 Thompson Square and ChildFund International announced a promotional and awareness partnership to extend throughout the chart-topping duo’s 2012 concert season. The dates will include both Thompson Square’s headlining performances as well as the duo’s supporting dates on Lady Antebellum’s 2012 Own the Night World Tour.
Beginning this weekend, audiences will be treated to a video of Thompson Square discussing the duo’s ChildFund International partnership, describing the difference each fan can make in a child’s life through the organization. The video will be set to the music of Thompson Square’s latest hit single, “Glass.”
ChildFund International will be on site at each concert in a booth run by volunteers who each personally sponsor a child through the organization. Fans who visit the ChildFund International booth and sign up to sponsor a child that evening will receive an autographed copy of Thompson Square’s self-titled debut album.
“The concert venues present another great opportunity to share the message and experience of sponsoring a child,” says Matt Panos, vice president of Global Fundraising and Communications for ChildFund.
“When we learned about the amazing work ChildFund International does to help children on a global scale, we knew immediately that we wanted to be involved and figure out a way that we could contribute,” says Keifer Thompson.
“We’ve personally sponsored an adorable little girl named Lady from Indonesia and hope to make a difference in her life,” adds Shawna Thompson. “Also giving away one of our signed albums to fans who want to join us and give back to a child in need is the very least we can do to help.”
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 The last 12 months in The Band Perry’s career has been a whirlwind of success with #1 songs, awards, nominations, huge concert opportunities and more. Kimberly Perry realizes that to a lot of people they may seem like an overnight success, but she explains, “For the three of us we’ve spent our whole lives working toward this moment. I mean we’ve dedicated every minute to music since I was 15 and Reid was 10 and Neil was 8, so you’re talking about a 13 year journey towards the last 12 months.” While songs like their latest #1, “All Your Life,” and “If I Die Young” have helped to make them a household name, there is a lot of blood, sweat and tears that led up to their current success. For the band, it’s gratifying to see their hard work come to fruition. “We honed so much of our songwriting craft and our performance craft behind closed doors in our living room and it’s just been a huge joy,” says Kimberly. The Band Perry will record their sophomore album this spring and expect to release it in the fall.
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
 Sunny Sweeney is the NRA Country Artist of the Month for March. Sunny joins some of country music’s biggest stars including Craig Morgan, Trace Adkins, Lee Brice, Montgomery Gentry and Justin Moore, who have teamed up with NRA Country to celebrate their support of our brave men and women in uniform, appreciation for the great outdoors, and love of family. Sunny’s respect and admiration for those who serve this great country in every capacity make her a natural choice to be NRA Country Artist of the Month.
“Every day, brave men and women put their lives on the line for our safety and well-being of people of our great nation. From firefighters to law enforcement to our Armed Forces and more, I’m grateful to all for their diligence and dedication. I’m proud to be an American. I am Sunny Sweeney, and I am NRA Country.”
Rounding out 2011, Billboard ranked Sunny as one of the Top 5 New Country Artists and included her record-breaking Top 10 smash, “From A Table Away” in the Top 100 Hot Country Songs. She penned 7 of the 10 tracks on her Republic Nashville album, CONCRETE, which has sold over 400,000 digital tracks to date. Sunny has performed in front of over one million fans after earning a coveted spot on Brad Paisley’s H2O II: Wetter & Wilder World Tour and this summer she will join the Country Throwdown Tour.
As part of the March promotion,fans can register to win an autographed photo and a copy of CONCRETE. Visit http://nracountry.com/this-is from now through the end of March to register to win.
Each month a new country music artist will be featured on NRACountry.com, highlighting what makes them ‘NRA Country.’ Celebrate our country and learn more at www.NRACountry.com!
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
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