- Scroll Down for Tamworth 2004 Photos
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- Fan Fair June 9th - 12th, 2005
- FAN FAIR 2005: The dates for the 2005 CMA Music Festival
are June 9 - 12, 2005. For a $100 deposit you can now reserve your
tickets, seating priority and hotel choice. It is never too early
to make plans to go to Fan Fair 2005
-
- As we begin our 8th year of operation, I would like to
thank you for your interest in Country Music Travel and for your
business. I also want to let you all know that you can now view
our 2005 line-up of Nashville, Dollywood, Memphis, Branson and
Myrtle Beach coach tours and vacation packages as well as country
music, bluegrass and NASCAR theme cruises at
http://www.CountryMusicVacations.com . Special hot event
packages happening soon in Nashville include:
Nashville Star TV show hosted by LeAnn Rimes on Tuesdays during
March and April
CMT Awards Show with Reba, Alan, Kenny, Toby and others hosted by
Jeff Foxworthy on April 11.
Call me about George Jones’ appearance at the Ryman on March 12.
We went on our first Grand Ole Opry Cruise in January and had a
fantastic time hanging out with Terri Clark, Trace Adkins, Little
Jimmy Dickens and Bill Anderson. Visit
http://www.OpryCruise.com to see our busy
on-board activity schedule along with photos of the fun plus
details on the 2006 cruise. Charley Pride and Roy Clark have been
announced with two more Opry starts to be added soon. We have
already reserved our own cabin as private concert seating is on a
first-come basis.
Downtown hotels and close-in seats for this June’s Fan Fair (aka
CMA Music Festival) have already sold out. Quality hotel
accommodations in nearby areas and a limited number of tickets are
still available but selling at a faster pace that we have ever
seen. If you are planning on going this year and haven’t made your
reservations, call soon. If you are thinking about next year, plan
on booking early. For those of you with reservations, I will be
following up on final payments shortly. The initial list of 2005
performers has been posted to
http://www.cmaMusicFest.info
. We will post updates as well as this year’s event
schedule as soon as it becomes available. Keep checking back.
It was great meeting some of you on the Opry Cruise, and we hope
to see more of you at Fan Fair.
Mary
COUNTRY MUSIC TRAVEL LLC
PO Box 10171
McLean, VA 22102 USA
Ph. (703) 759-0575 or (800) 472-3054 Fax (360) 237-8218
CMTravel@attglobal.net
- Bill and Mary
Aldacushion
- Dear Country Music Travellers: I just wanted to let you
know about some exciting new information that has been posted to
the Country Music Travel web site in addition to our year-round
vacation packages in Nashville, Dollywood, Branson, Memphis and
Myrtle Beach. The new items include:
Full details on the 2005 Grand Ole Opry Cruise which will sail out
of Port Canaveral, FL on January 26 for the Eastern Caribbean with
Trace Adkins, Bill Anderson, Jimmy Dickens, Eddie Stubbs plus one
more artist to be announced soon - Book now before this cruise is
advertised on the Grand Ole Opry and while the full choice of
cabins is available.
An early bird Fan Fair 2005 package from one of our most popular
suppliers - It is never too early to make plans to go to the 2005
CMA Music Festival on June 9 - 12.
2004 Tennessee Christmas Packages in Dollywood and Nashville -
Great for a holiday getaway or ask about gift certificates for
parents, family and friends.
Special Bluegrass and the Opry and Opry Birthday Bash packages
"See Rock City" and the other sites that Chattanooga has to offer
- A perfect "whistle stop" on your way to or from Dollywood or
Nashville.
For those of you with Fan Fair 2004 reservations, we will be
mailing a final information packet to you this week. Be sure to
see the preliminary Fan Fair 2004 Schedule on our web site which
is still very dynamic. The official program book will be included
in the Fan Fair credential material that will waiting for you at
your hotel.
Thank you for your business, and safe travels to you all.
Mary
COUNTRY MUSIC TRAVEL
PO Box 10171
McLean, VA 22102 USA
Ph. (703) 759-0575 or (800) 472-3054 Fax (360) 237-8218
CMTravel@attglobal.net
http://www.CountryMusicTravel.com
- Bill and Mary Artist
Recommendation
- A recommendation of an act to check
out: Bill Kirchen & The Paladins. If you miss them at Byron Bay,
they will appear at the Basement in Sydney on April 15 and the
Prince Band Room in Melbourne on the 18th. Don't miss this slice
of classic Americana that is going strong today.
http://64.33.96.73/CrosstownArts/client_music/kirchen/bkabout.htm
http://www.thepaladins.com/page8.html
Mary and I attended a concert by Bill Kirchen and his local
Washington, DC Band “Two Much Fun” last night. I was browsing his
merch table after the show when he noticed the “Kasey Chambers -
The Captain” baseball cap that I was wearing. He was aware of her
music, and then said he was heading to Byron Bay next week where
he will appear with The Paladins on Friday, April 9 at 10 PM and
again on Saturday at 10:45 PM.
A strong Bob Wills influence in his repertoire. He and I talked
about something we had in common - the trombone which I haven't
played since my days at uni, but he still plays during his shows.
It was quite a sight to see him pick up his horn while his
telecaster was still strapped on across his back. What an
accomplished musician/picker!
After many years as a country/rockabilly icon in this area, Bill
has relocated to Austin and was part of the SXSW Festival last
month. We also chatted about The Greencards who he saw playing in
the arrival area of Austin Airport prior to the festival.
Bill stared his career way back when with Commander Cody and the
Lost City Airmen which may have been best known for its 1972 hit
Hot Rod Lincoln which is still his closing number.
“Commander Cody & The Lost Planet Airmen were one of the first
bands to combine elements of western swing, rockabilly and truck-drivin'
country and get results over to a mass audience. Their version of
"Hot Rod Lincoln" proved that they were no staid purists when it
came to putting a little drive in their brand of country. With the
advent of MTV, "Hot Rod Lincoln" was put to video. Their version
begins with a re-write of the Charlie Ryan/Johnny Bond final line:
"My pappy said, 'son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin, if you
don't stop drivin' that hot rod Lincoln'"
- Texas-based Country Music Today Magazine
- Hi Helen - just wanted to tell you that the latest
(Mar/Apr) copy of Texas-based Country Music Today (
http://www.cmt.com/countrymusictoday/magazine/pages/index.htm
) magazine arrived at our home today. The "Spotlight"
article was titled "Foreign Relations - Country music today
travels the globe to find country music in some unexpected
places!" by Jeremy Brown. The article included a couple of
paragraphs on Tamworth and the Australian country music scene:
"In Australia, the longest running festival remains the Telstra
Country Music Festival Tamworth, now in its 32nd year. The
festival is so big that the entire town of Tamworth, generally
regarded as the country-music capital of Australia, holds a
pre-festival countdown for seven days. The 10-day show itself
offers more than 2,500 events and plays host to more than 800
artists. The centerpiece of this year's event was a Slim Dusty
tribute. Often hailed as the father of country music in Australia,
his first single, 'A Pub with No Beer,' was the country's
first-ever gold record. Slim died in September 2003 after a long
bout with cancer. In addition to the Slim Dusty tribute, 2004
attendees enjoyed performances by the Basalt River Boys, Kelly
Black and the Kelly Gang, and the Wolverines, as well as a busking
showcase and the 32nd Annual Toyota Golden Guitar Awards.
"Australia also holds the City Muster Festivals, which are held in
Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. This year's Perth festival featured
such Aussie superstars as Lee Kernaghan, Gina Jeffreys and Becky
Cole.
"In August, the bushland is the site of the Toyota National
Country Music Muster. An earthy, down-home festival, the show has
a laid back feel with crackling campfires, poetry readings and
venues ranging from the main stage to taverns and wine bars."
The other geographies covered in the article include UK, Italy,
Argentina and Japan
Sincerely,
Bill Aldacushion
Country Music Travel
Great Falls, Virginia
BillAld@att.biz
http://www.CountryMusicVacations.com
- Country Music Festival 2004
Thank You and Photos from the Overseas Visitors
-
- Mary, Bill and Carol Young "THe Greencards"
-
- Thank you Australia; thank you
Tamworth for making last week such a wonderful experience. And
thank you Rage Page for helping us plan our activities.
We just arrived in Surfers and had a lovely dinner with my nephew
and his partner and her folks. Mary and I are still suffering from
TWS (Tamworth withdrawal syndrome), but we are slowly coping with
coming down from the euphoria of the best country music festival
with the best REAL country music and the best country music fans,
bar none!!!
The Bluegrass show on Saturday afternoon was certainly a
highlight. We are going to try to see Green Card again State-side.
It was also at that show when I had my Kasey-moment. With
encouragement from Kerry, we just went back behind the curtain
after the show. I said, “Excuse me Kasey, but I would like to say
hello to you AGAIN. The first time was when I was the first in
line for your autograph at the 1999 Nashville Fan Fair.” She
laughed and replied, “No, you weren't the first in line. You were
the ONLY person in the line.” That made my day. We just chatted
about the baby for a few seconds and said good-bye. No pictures,
no autograph, just a person-to-person conversation. Wow!
I am savouring a bundle of other memories and feelings that I will
share later on down the road, but for now let me just share a few
snaps of some of my personal highlights:
- Mary, Helen and Bill
- Who says, "but they never play my
requests." I was just listening to
> http://www.KCUVradio.com (American Music) this afternoon and
typed in a
> request for "Life's A Freeway." Within 5 minutes I got "Love's
Not A
> Word I Throw Around." Close enough, eh? Attached is a image of
the
> KCUV Internet playslist.
> Sincerely,
- > Bill Aldacushion
> Great Falls, Virginia
BillAld@att.biz
http://www.CountryMusicVacations.com
-
Dear Country Music Travellers:
-
As we begin our seventh year of serving
country music fans from around the world, I want to thank you all
for your interest and for your business. It has been a pleasure to
work with you by phone or e-mail and to meet many of you in
person.
We have just posted our 2004 vacation packages to the Country
Music Travel web site. In addition to our year-round vacation
packages in Nashville, Dollywood, Branson, Memphis and Myrtle
Beach, you will find these special offerings:
Luxury Country Music and Bluegrass Riverboat Cruises with a stop
in Nashville
Fully escorted multi-city coach tours:
Nashville - Memphis
Memphis - Branson - Nashville
Smoky Mountains (Dollywood) - Nashville - Kentucky
2005 Grand Ole Opry Eastern Caribbean Cruise which will sail out
of Port Canaveral, FL on January 26 for the Eastern Caribbean.
Although some hotels have sold out, it is not too late to book
your 2004 CMA Music Festival package. For those of you who have
Fan Fair reservations, see the preliminary Fan Fair performer and
schedule information that is now on our web site. Check back
regularly for updates.
We just returned from a marvellous trip to the Tamworth Country
Music Festival that is held each January in Australia. We are fans
of the wonderful sounds and artists that can be found Downunder -
traditional Hank Williams & Merle Haggard roots with a unique
Aussie twist. We are still searching for a Tamworth package we can
offer, but let us know if you might be interested so we can get a
sense for the demand. We would be happy to share our experiences
and photos with you.
Looking forward to hearing from you or seeing you in Nashville
during Fan Fair!
Cheers,
Mary
COUNTRY MUSIC TRAVEL
PO Box 10171
McLean, VA 22102 USA
Ph. (703) 759-0575 or (800) 472-3054 Fax (360)
237-8218
CMTravel@attglobal.net
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- Mary from the States with Lee
Kernaghan in background
-
- Catherine Britt with Bill and Mary
-
- Mary, Thelma and Kerry
- Print out and have the memories
|
Tamworth
Rage Page
