Taylor Swift Announces Tour; Stops in Chicago

Country Thunder and an undisclosed Chicago location make the cut

Country music mega star Taylor Swift announced Friday that she will headline her first solo tour and has recruited, country music sweetheart Kellie Pickler to accompany her during Swift’s Fearless tour.

“Headlining my own tour is a dream come true! This way I can play more music every night than I ever have before,” said Swift in a statement provided by her record label. “Having written my own songs, they are all stories in my head, and my goal for this tour is to bring those stories to life. My favorite thing when I go to a concert is having lots of changing things to look at, so I’ve been working really hard to make this show as multi-dimensional as possible. I want to be sure that everyone has the opportunity to come see my show, so we have affordable tickets available for every date we do this year.”

According to Swift’s website, the teen singer will make stops in 52 cities in 38 states and provinces in the U.S. and Canada. Among her stops include the annual, multi-day music festival, Country Thunder, in Twin Lakes, Wis. (approx. 70 miles from Chicago) and a date in Chicago on October 9. (At the time of publication, location information had not been released.)

Swift entered the country music scene 2006 with mega hits like, “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops on my Guitar.” Most recently, she released her sophomore album, “Fearless,” which is currently number one on the Billboard Hot 200 (overall) and “Love Story,” the album’s debut single, is currently number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs.

CMC

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Concerts | February & March 2009

Country Music Concerts in Chicago for February and March 2009.

February 2009

Rascal Flatts with Jessica Simpson
Assembly Hall | Champaign
Friday, February 6, 2009 | 8pm |$50 – $70 | Ticketmaster

Luke Bryan with Wade Bowen
Joe’s Bar* | Chicago
Friday, February 6, 2009 | 9pm | $10 | Ticketmaster

Randy Rogers Band
Joe’s Bar* | Chicago
Friday, February 13, 2009 | 9pm | $10 | Ticketmaster

Pat Green with Randy Houser (Sold Out)
Joe’s Bar* | Chicago
Friday, February 20, 2009 | 10pm | $28 | Ticketmaster

Toby Keith with Jack Ingram
MetroCentre | Rockford
Saturday, February 21, 2009 | 7:30 | $33.25 – 48.25 | Ticketmaster

Toughest Cowboy Rodeo Featuring Whiskey Falls
United Center | Chicago
Saturday, February 21, 2009 | 6:30pm | $20 – $75 | Ticketmaster

Jason Michael Carroll
Joe’s Bar* | Chicago
Friday, February 27, 2009 | 8:30pm | $10 | Ticketmaster

CMC Editor’s Pick:
Country’s Hottest Party!
Gretchen Wilson, John Rich, Cowboy Troy and Jeffrey Steele
Pheasant Run Mega Center | St. Charles
Saturday, February 28, 2009 | 7pm | $55- $89 | Ticketmaster
Overnight Packages are available, click here.

Chuck Wicks & TelluRide
Joe’s Bar* | Chicago
Saturday, February 28, 2009 | 8pm + 9pm | $10 | Ticketmaster

March 2009

Cross Canadian Ragweed
Joe’s Bar*| Chicago
Monday, March 2, 2009 | 8pm | $12 | Ticketmaster

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Rialto Square Theatre | Joliet
Friday, March 6, 2009 | 8pm | $28 – $60 | Ticketmaster

Little Big Town
Joe’s Bar* | Chicago
Saturday, March 7, 2009 | 9pm | $35 | Ticketmaster

The Eagles
The Sears Centre | Hoffman Estates
Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 8pm | $71 – $216 | Ticketmaster

Vince Gill
The Venue at Horseshoe Casino | Hammond, IN
Saturday, March 28, 2009 | 7:30 | $50 – $70 | Ticketmaster

Upcoming: Eric Church, Keith Anderson, Larry the Cable Guy and more…

Please note: information subject to change without notice please check with the venue’s website for updates.

* This venue is a bar, may require patrons to be 21 and older.

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James Otto, Randy Houser set to play Joe’s Bar Friday

Weekend Concert Alert!

Chicago country music fans know James Otto for his Grammy nominated song, “Just Got Started Lovin’ You” but this Friday, fans will have the opportunity to party with this rising country music star at Chicago’s Joe’s Bar, 940 W. Weed, Chicago.

For just $10 bucks, fans will hear some of Otto’s music from his hit album, “Sunset Man” including the “For You” a bittersweet song about breaking up.

Opening for Otto is country music newcomer, Randy Houser, who was behind Trace Atkins’ mega-hit “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” and recently released his own single, “Anything Goes” from the album of the same name. Houser, who reminds us of Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, and Otto are both musicians you will want to check-out while you can still catch them for just $10 bucks!

CMC

Details:

WHO: James Otto and Randy Houser

jamesotto.net | randyhouser.com

WHERE: Joe’s Bar, 940 W. Weed, Chicago | joesbar.com

WHEN: Friday, January 30, 2009: 8pm

TICKETS: $10 available through ticketmaster.com

MORE: Download James Otto’s “Sunset Man” on iTunes:

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Dierks Bentley – Feel That Fire

(Capitol Nashville)

Album Release Date: February 3, 2009

Country music star Dierks Bentley, known for his curly hair and free spirit, is set to release his fifth album, “Feel That Fire”, on February 3, 2009. The album’s title track, and Bentley’s current single, is a catchy, quick tempo song of how sometimes you just want that one girl to know how much you really love her or in Bentley’s terms, feel that fire.

Bentley’s prior album tracks range from sad love songs like “Long Trip Alone” to fun, up-beat songs like “What was I Thinking” and like “Feel that Fire”, almost all of his popular songs, whether he’s leavin’ or lovin’ are almost always ode to a woman.

Bentley spends a lot of time in the road performing but he explains how he manages his time on the road and still has time to prepare for this release.

“This time, we changed the dynamic; went straight from the road to the studio. Didn’t stop. Didn’t pause. Just stripped away everything we knew, took these songs that I’d spent over two years writing… took my road band… and set everything that we knew on fire,” explains Bentley.

Bentley’s music is grounded in country music tradition but sparked with modern, poetic sounds and lyrics make his newest album a recommended buy.

Side Note: Upon release of his new album, look out for the re-launch of his redesigned website. Check it out at www.dierks.com

S. Winterroth, CMC

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Atkins, Rialto a perfect match

By: Mark Gregory, CMC Contributor

It was a perfect fit. A singer that is as real as Rodney Atkins looked perfect on the stage of the 100-plus year old Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, Friday. As odd as it may be to look out to a sea of cowboy hats and Miller Lite in cans in a forum as prestigious as the Rialto, it all blended together when Atkins took the stage.

He wasted no time getting the crowd into the show when he pulled out his mega-hit, “These are My People,” on the third song of his set. Atkins not only played for the fans, he talked to them. Sure, every artist in every concert uses time in between songs to tell a funny story while guitars are swapped out and amps are corrected. Atkins didn’t waste time, he spoke directly to his fans in the Rialto when he thanked them for spending their hard-earned money in tough economic times to come out and see him perform.

He was just as touched during his final song of the night, when he turned the microphone over to the fans to help sing the chorus of “If You’re Going Through Hell,” the title track from his last album. The intimate setting of the Rialto allowed the crowd to fill the theater with their voices.

Prior to leaving stage, Atkins sang “It’s America,” the first single off his upcoming album, “Simple Things” set to be released next at the end of March and as he performed his new song, a huge American flag draped behind him. He then left and returned to a chorus of fans chanting, “Rodney, Rodney.”

He opened his encore with a cover of Charlie Daniels hit “Long Haired Country Boy,” a song that separated the old school country fans from todays. Joliet passed the test, with many fans singing along to the 1974 classic.

Opening for Atkins were the Lost Trailers, a Georgia-based band headed for a lengthy career with hits like “Holler Back” and their new one, “How Bout You Don’t.” The band met fans and signed autographs after their performance.

Photo by Mark Gregory.

Download Rodney Atkins music on iTunes:

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Jamey Johnson packed Joe’s Bar

Alabama native and rising country music star, Jamey Johnson performed before a packed, standing room only crowed at Joe’s Bar, Friday. A riled-up and fully-engaged crowed cheered throughout his almost two hour performance at the famed sports bar and venue located on Chicago’s near-north side. Johnson’s songs, accompanied by his traditional style, gruff-voice and rigid attitude, carry a common theme about woman, drinkin’ and good old times and are deep-rooted in traditional style.Throughout Friday evening’s performance, the crowed shouted between sets for “In Color”, a bittersweet song of good and bad reflections of the past and a current single from the Grammy nominated album, That Lonesome Song. Chicago fans proved to Johnson, as well as representatives from his record label who attended Friday’s performance, that his traditional style of music is still alive when the crowed almost out sung Johnson during his performance of “In Color”.

Other crowed pleasers we’re his performance of his long past hit, “The Dollar” and the song he co-wrote “Give it Away” made popular by George Strait and won them a ACM Song of the Year award in 2006 and a CMA Award for Song of the Year in 2007. Johnson remarked, “…and George Strait knows my name” when he was singing about accomplishments in his music career.

Hopefully, Johnson will soon have more music awards to sing about. Friday’s performance is just off the recent announcement of three prestigious Grammy Award nominations for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for “In Color”, Best Country Song for “In Color” and Best Country Album for “That Lonesome Song”.

Johnson’s unique style, traditionalism and country-rebel sound is a breath of fresh air to today’s trendy, pop-like mainstream country. One could say he should be classified in category of his own, but better yet, other mainstream country music should be reclassified because his music is truly, country music.

- S. Winterroth

Download Jamey Johnson’s Grammy nominated album That Lonesome Song on iTunes:

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