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Bill Aldacushion - CountryMusicVacations

Photos of CMA Fan Fair 2006 Nashville USA

Photos Catherine Britt + Fans 2006 CMA Music Fest Fan Fair Nashville

Click here for a Bill and Mary 2004 Ragepage Country Music Report

 

Click here Photos Catherine Britt, JeddHughes, Adam Harvey and More Fanfair 2007

 

Uncle Earl video on YouTube: Kung Fu Clogging

 

Fred Eaglesmith on the road without Willie P. Bennett.

 

Catherine Britt debuts in Washington DC area at WMZQ FEST

Click here Catherine Britt Artist Report Page

Bristow, Virginia – May 5, 2007:

Catherine Britt made her debut in the Washington, DC metropolitan area this afternoon performing a 30 minute showcase set on the side stage of country radio station WMZQ's Fest at the Nissan Pavilion as the sold out crowd (over 22,000) gathered for an evening show line-up consisting of Josh Turner, Clint Black, Terri Clark and Montgomery Gentry.

Judging from audience reaction during and after her set, Catherine was enthusiastically welcomed by the audience, most of whom were hearing her name and music for the very first time. Arriving on this cool, rainy spring day, Catherine walked through the crowd to the backstage area virtually unrecognized. After her performance she was mobbed by autograph seekers as soon as she walked off stage. One fan, who was wearing a singlet, handed Catherine a Sharpie and asked her to sign her name on his very hairy chest….she graciously obliged. The number of people who then queued up in front of the official autograph tent was very impressive.
WMZQ Fest 2007
Photo Gallery Links
Jypsi
Ashley Monroe
Catherine Britt
Catherine was preceded by a young brother & sister band called Jypsi, Ashley Monroe and John Luskey
 

Knoxville, Tennessee native Ashley Monroe delivered a very solid set of heart-felt love 'em and leave 'em and passionate traditional country tunes including Pain Pain Go Away, Satisfied, Hank's Cadillac, Used, California, I don't Want To and Can't Let Go.

Catherine led off her set with Little Wildflower, Swingin' Door, her current top-40 single What I did Last Night and a new song called Cinderella. She then dug back into the catalogue and delivered a powerful rendition of Folsom Prison Blues that would have made Johnny Cash smile. She raised the energy level up another notch when she concluded with Bruised But Not Broken. Catherine was backed up by Jimmy Herman on fiddle and a hot guitar player called Marty.

I think Catherine made a strong impression on the WMZQ staff and listeners on hand which should result in some air play of her new single in the Washington DC area. I was very proud to be on hand to see Catherine rise to the occasion despite the weather and take her music to a new level. She will be back at Nissan Pavilion on June 10 as part of the Alan Jackson, Brook & Dunn summer tour.
 

Vote for Keith’s and The Greencards’ New Videos on the CMT.com Weekly Countdown
Here's your chance to show your support for new videos by several Australian artists or singers who recently have performed here. CMT.com’s Pure 12-Pack Countdown  presents a list of video links each week from Friday to Wednesday allowing you to pick up to twelve favorites each time you vote. This week’s list includes Keith Urban, The Greencards, Fred Eaglesmith, Dale Watson, Jim Lauderdale and Elizabeth Cook who co-wrote “Sometimes It Takes Balls to be a Woman” with Melinda Schneider. So please visit the link above to vote ..... and to vote often!!
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The Washington Post Raves About The Greencards
Vienna, Virginia April 16: It was a cold blustery Monday evening, the start of a work week, but still a near capacity crowd turned out to see The Greencards perform at an intimate "listening" club called Jammin' Java in this suburban Washington, DC town. Those in attendance were not disappointed as the band, in the words of the opening support performer, came on stage "playing with fire in their gut."

The Washington Post sent a reporter to the show who wrote this extremely flattering gig review:

Greencards: Bluegrass With Varied Accents
Wednesday, April 18, 2007; Page C02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701577.html 
Halfway through Monday's show at Jammin' Java, vocalist-bassist Carol Young introduced the acoustic guitarist to her left as the newest member of the band, Matt Wingate, just seven dates into his tenure.

You would never have known it, as his deft flat-picking fit perfectly with the skillful instrumentation that has been the trademark of the Greencards since they formed several years ago. The Alabaman adds his distinctive accent to the bluegrass-Americana band made up of two Australians and an Englishman, and one wonders what conversations sound like in the tour van.

Surely the Greencards are the first Aussie-English-American outfit to reach the top of the Billboard bluegrass chart, as their disc "Viridian" did upon its release last month, and while the accolade may be deserved, it's impossible to classify the Nashville-based band as simply bluegrass. New numbers "River of Sand," "Waiting on the Night" and "When I Was in Love With You" recall progressive folk from the 1960s, with Young's keening vocals and sparse bass lines giving the songs broadly measured space.
But not always. Brit Eamon McLoughlin, so impressive with his liquid fiddling, and mandolinist Kym Warner, who defies expectations with thrill rides up and down the fingerboard, paired up for a Brazilian instrumental before bursting into the lively "Lonesome Side of Town," one of the few "real" bluegrass numbers in the set.

As for Wingate, he not only took it all in stride, he showcased his own nimble skills without showing up his new employers.
-- Buzz McClain
The Greencards at Jammin Java

The Greencards performed at Jammin Java in Vienna, Virginia for the
first time on Friday night, October 13. The club is small with limited
meal and beverage service and can be noisy during some shows, but the
Greencards received 100% attention from the crowd. Carol asked at one
time how many people were seeing The Greencards for the first time, and
about one third of the audience of about 150 people raised their hands.
The Greencards really gained a lot of new fans. The show was a great
balance of songs from their two cds plus several songs from their new cd
which will be released early in 2007.

Eamon, Kym and Carol took turns singing lead, and several instrumental
numbers were truly outstanding. Robbie Gjersoe was the guitarist of the
night, and as he usually does, provided solid backup along with some
brilliant solos. Kym and Eamon get better every performance on the
mandolin and fiddle. Carol’s singing was also brilliant, and the
harmonies with all three singing were great. My favorite numbers were
"Man from Galilee", "Caleb Meyer", "Gnocchi", "Marty's Kitchen", "Moving
On", and the very moving "My Darling Home" which they use as a final
number before they are called back for an encore.

The crowd was completely won over. The meet-and-greet line was jammed
with lots of people wanting to meet Carol and buy cds. Because of a
later show scheduled for the same venue, people couldn’t linger too
long, but I know a lot of people became Greencards Fans tonight, and I
think (and hope!) the Greencards will be back to Jammin Java.
Mary Aldacushion

COUNTRY MUSIC TRAVEL LLC
PO Box 10171
McLean, VA 22102  USA
Ph. (703) 759-0575 or  (800) 472-3054  Fax (360) 237-8218
Mary@CountryMusic.Travel
http://CountryMusicTravel.com
http://OpryCruise.com
http://CmaMusicFest.info
 

Dear Country Music Travelers:
We are always on the look out for country music theme cruises and have just found two more for you:

Country Music Cruise to the Eastern Caribbean from Ft. Lauderdale with Chely Wright and David Ball - Nov. 12-19, 2006
Party Cruise to the Bahamas from Miami with Lynyrd Skynyrd and other bands - Jan. 5-8, 2007
These are in addition to:

Grand Ole Opry Cruise to the Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles with Lorrie Morgan, Jimmy Dickens, Bill Anderson, Riders In The Sky and Eddie Stubbs - Jan. 21-28, 2007
Kevin Richard’s Country Music and Dance Cruise to the Eastern Caribbean from Ft. Lauderdale with Collin Raye, Bellamy Brothers and Mel Tillis - Feb. 25 – Mar. 5, 2007
Rusty Wallace NASCAR Cruise to the Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles - Dec. 3-10, 2006
See our web site for details: http://www.CountryMusic.Travel 
There is still time to book one or two night CMA Awards Show and Opry packages for November 6 in downtown Nashville, the CMA Music Festival 2007 plus a wide array of Tennessee holiday get-aways including the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular, the Pam Tillis Christmas Dinner Show and Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Winterfest. We would be happy to produce specialized gift certificates for these or any of our other vacation packages.

For our friends in Australia: we are getting excited about making our trip Down Under to the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January. Hope to see you there.
Mary

COUNTRY MUSIC TRAVEL LLC
PO Box 10171
McLean, VA 22102 USA
Ph. (703) 759-0575 or (800) 472-3054 Fax (360) 237-8218
Mary@CountryMusic.Travel 
 

Australian Festival in Nashville
NASHVILLE, September 13, 2006: A crowd of 10,000 people is expected to attend this weekend's tenth annual Australian Festival at Centennial Park in Nashville, Tennessee - an event organisers are calling “the largest of its kind outside of the outback.”

The Festival includes three days of music and entertainment across three stages with fourteen Aussie and Kiwi performers and their bands. Among the artists appearing are: Colin Hay, The Bushwackers, Dobe Newton, James Blundell, Janine LeClair, Kylie Harris, Lewis Burns, Luke O’Shea, Megan Laurie, Neil Murray, Paul Killingly, Pru Clearwater, Simon Bruce and Stephen Rowe.

The Festival will be preceded on Thursday by The Australian Music Forum which will explore the music industry in Nashville and the opportunities that exist for Australian and New Zealand artists.
For more information visit: http://www.australianfestival.org
 

USA - CMA Awards Show/Fan Fair on TV/Christmas Packages

Dear Country Music Travelers:
It was a pleasure to meet many of you at Fan Fair last month .... just wish I could have found more of you in that record crowd.

For those of you still considering going to the 2007 CMA Music Festival, I suggest you contact me quickly as the event continues to grow in popularity with some choice seating sections and downtown hotels already selling out. Demand is sure to spike after the US ABC prime-time TV broadcast of highlights from this year’s event on Monday, July 24th. See CmaMusicFest.info for our current package offerings.

For the first time, the Country Music Association has made a limited number of tickets available to non-members for their awards show to be held in Nashville on Monday, November 6th. I have worked with one of my suppliers to offer one and two night CMA Award Show Packages. Again, I expect these will go quickly. Click on the link to see details.

And we have just posted our 2006 line up of Tennessee Christmas Packages featuring the Smoky Mountain Winterfest at Dollywood and the Rockettes in Nashville. These packages make wonderful holiday presents. Ask me about customized gift certificates.
Mary
COUNTRY MUSIC TRAVEL LLC
PO Box 10171
McLean, VA 22102 USA
Ph. (703) 759-0575 or (800) 472-3054 Fax (360) 237-8218
Mary@CountryMusic.Travel
http://CountryMusic.Travel
http://OpryCruise.com

 

Dear Country Music Travelers,
We have finally gotten word that the 4th act on the January 2007 Grand Ole Opry Cruise to the Mexican Riviera will be those performers of classic western music and comedy, Riders In The Sky, joining previously announced artists Lorrie Morgan, Jimmy Dickens and Bill Anderson. We have also just added the Kevin Richards’ February 2007 Caribbean Country Music and Dance Cruise with Collin Raye, Mel Tillis, The Bellamy Brothers plus premier dance instructor Scooter Lee, and hot Canadian newcomers Rick Henry, and Peter Myles.

Thanks to all of you who have booked 2006 CMA Music Festival packages with us. Please visit our Fan Fair web page www.cmaMusicFest.info  where you will find links to
The latest Fan Fair Week Events Schedule (updated regularly)
CMA Music Festival Hints and Tips

The Josh Gracin Fan Club has made a special $5 discount offer to Country Music Travel clients for the Josh Gracin BBQ and Fan Club Party which will be held on June 9 - doors open at Noon. Send your ticket request to admin@joshgracin.com  with the code word "CMTravel" in the subject line.

The dates for the 2007 CMA Music Festival are June 7-10. The pricing is not yet final for next year’s packages, but at least three of my suppliers are now taking deposits. Seats will be assigned in the order deposits are received. Early deposits are a bit of gamble as you don’t know what the final package prices will be, but the advantage of booking early is that you will have higher priority for better seats including a limited number in Gold Circle. Contact me for the latest options. We will be adding 2007 packages to our web site as soon as details firm up, so keep checking back. Given the high level of interest we saw for this year, I suspect the best seats will be sold out during June and July.

As always, please check the www.CountryMusic.Travel  web site for our full line-up of escorted tours and vacation packages to Nashville, Memphis, Dollywood and Branson.

Hope to meet some of you all at Fan Fair. We just might be wearing Country Music Travel baseball caps and T-shirts. Here is a picture of us last year with one of our favorite rising stars, Catherine Britt (C) and Mary.

COUNTRY MUSIC TRAVEL LLC
PO Box 10171
McLean, VA 22102  USA
Ph. (703) 759-0575 or  (800) 472-3054  Fax (360) 237-8218
Mary@CountryMusic.Travel
 

Keith Urban Played the Piano and Wins Male Vocalist!
May 23 2006: Tonight on the US CBS Network's telecast of the Academy of
Country Music Awards Show from Las Vegas, Keith Urban played the piano
and sang "Tonight I Want to Cry. Immediately after his performance,
Keith won Top Male Vocalist of the Year. Shortly after receiving his
award ceremony, he joined Brooks & Dunn playing backup acoustic guitar
in a touching performance of their hit single "Believe. The evening
ended with Keith being edged out for the final award, Entertainer of the
Year, which was won by Kenny Chesney.

 

Click here - Audrey Auld Mazera and Megan Laurie capture top spots

in MerleFest Songwriting Contest

 

Keith Urban wins 2006 CMT Video of the Year Award
April 10: Tonight Keith Urban was awarded the US fan-voted Country Music Television (CMT) Music Awards' Video of the Year for Better Life - the second year in a row he has won in this category. The award show was broadcast live on CMT.

Keith closed the show with a performance of Better Life with backup vocals provided by choir members who had been displaced from the Hurricane Katrina disaster area." I've been to New Orleans, and I was struck by a combination of things: How much has been done, and how little has been done," he said. "We wanted to bring some awareness to the cause."
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Australian Artists at Nashville Fan Fair 2006
April 7: Most of the program schedule details have been released for the 2006 CMA Music Festival (a.k.a. Fan Fair) to be held in Nashville the week of June 5, and Australian artists are included.

The week’s events start Monday evening with the CMA Global Artist Showcase - a free concert event featuring performances from a variety of international country music artists at The Stage On Broadway in downtown Nashville with Brad Johner (Canada), Nick Kingswell (Australia), Jake Nickolai (Australia) Jacqueline Van Der Griend (The Netherlands) and Tantowi Yahya (Indonesia).

The Riverfront Park Stages will be the site of the Wide World of Country Show on Sunday at Noon with Catherine Britt (Australia), Lane Brody (Greece), 2006 Telstra Road to Tamworth winner Nick Kingswell (Australia), 2006 CMA Global Artist Award winner Jason McCoy (Canada), Michelle Wright (Canada) plus more artists to be announced soon..

To see the full line-up of the week’s activities along with photos from previous Fan Fairs, visit http://www.countrymusictravel.com/www/id16.html
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Austin came to Washington, DC

 Asleep at the Wheel with Ray Benson.                                  Mary

 

Washington Monument in background behind drummer

 

A little bit of Austin came to Washington, DC yesterday on a gorgeous spring evening (April 9) as the Kennedy Center concluded its first-ever Country Music Festival with an outdoor concert featuring Texas-swing dance lessons and music by Asleep at the Wheel. Ray Benson, the band's leader, announced the June 1 opening in San Antonio of A Ride With Bob, a musical-drama about the life of  Bob Wills with Ray's fiddle player Jason Roberts in the starring role. The play will be staged at the Kennedy Center in September. Bob Wills fans travelling in the US can check out the show's road tour schedule at

http://www.aridewithbob.com/
 

Howdy Country Music Travellers,
Hope the new year is starting off good for you. Ours started with a wonderful time in the Caribbean aboard the Grand Ole Opry Cruise with Charley Pride, Pam Tillis, Roy Clark, Rebecca Lynn Howard and Eddie Stubbs during the last week of January. You can see the schedule of special Opry onboard events along with our photos at http://countrymusictravel.com/www/id24.html 

The 2007 Opry Cruise will sail out of Los Angeles/Long Beach next January with Lorrie Morgan, Bill Anderson, Jimmy Dickens, Eddie Stubbs plus a fourth Opry star to be announced soon. This should be a convenient port for those of you living in the Western US, Japan and Australia/New Zealand. Details can be found at http://OpryCruise.com
 We will continue to look for more theme cruises to add to our web site throughout the year.

For those of you going to Fan Fair in Nashville in June, the CMA still has not announced any of the 2006 performers or show schedules. We will post them to http://cmaMusicFest.info as soon as we have the information. Fan Fair packages are selling much faster than last year with many of the downtown hotels already sold out. Anyone still wishing to go this year should contact me immediately. For 2007 packages, I urge you to call as soon as this year's festival is over to ensure the best section of seats and accommodations.

Please visit http://CountryMusic.Travel to see our complete 2006 lineup of hotel/show vacations packages for Nashville, Dollywood, Memphis, Chattanooga and Branson plus a number of fully-escorted, multi-city coach tour offerings.
Thank you for your business and continued interest in Country Music Travel.
Mary
COUNTRY MUSIC TRAVEL LLC
PO Box 10171
McLean, VA 22102 USA
Ph. (703) 759-0575 or (800) 472-3054 Fax (360) 237-8218
Mary@CountryMusic.Travel 
 

Click here Bill's Photo from Fanfest 2005