Reminisce from Country Thunder, All the dirt on the Red Dirt Fest, a concert for the trees, watch Dierks in the Den and get unwrapped with Trailer Choir, Sugarland and Trace Adkins.
The calm after the storm
[singlepic id=364 w=190 h=130 float=left]With a lineup featuring major touring acts like Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert and Sugarland, it was easy to turn a blind eye to the ultra high humidity, scalding like temperatures and torrential thunderstorm the Country Thunder festival almost always seems to throw at its fans. As always, it’s a bittersweet feeling to close the books on another successful year but the memories will live on as our live blog coverage and photo galleries from the four-day festival are now complete.
Players for patients
What do Chicago Cubs Randy Wells and Ryan Theriot have in common with the Texas music scene? Apparently a lot as the pro baseball players will kick it “Texas style”, on Wednesday, for a special event benefiting Children’s Memorial. With entertainment featuring “red dirt” musicians Stoney LaRue and the Arsenals, Randy Rogers and Brandon Jenkins along with the help of NBC5 Meteorologist Ginger Zee and sports broadcaster, Len Casper as emcees, the Wells and Theriot benefit will premiere as the Red Dirt Fest at Joe’s Bar. Tickets to this event are $30, available on ticketmaster, and include an hour and a half of open bar.
Friends in uncommon places.
The summer season not only brings mega music festivals to the Chicago area but, if you look hard enough, country fans can find a handful of “hidden treasure” shows along the way. As a part of the Morton Arboretum’s “2010 In Tune with Trees Concert Series”, country stars Lee Ann Womack with Mark Chesnutt will plant their bands at the west suburban nature park on August 7 at 7PM. Ticket prices range between $40 to $45 and can be purchased on mortonarb.org.
[singlepic id=370 w=270 h=145 float=left]Dierks on the Den
Back in April of 2009, country music star Dierks Bentley converted the retro-cool Ravenswood Billboard Factory into an intimate concert venue for a private taping of the PBS series, Live from the Artists Den. On that blustery night, a handful of area fans were hush-hushed into the North Side meeting space to play the part of well, the fans. According to a press statement, the Bentley performance is set to air during the week beginning August 9th, 2010. Live from the Artists Den airs locally on WTTW, Channel 11, Sundays at Midnight. Here’s a video sneak peek provided by The Artists Den.
Unwrapped:
Trailer Choir parks new album
Big Vinny, Butter and Crystal, otherwise best known as the Trailer Choir, dropped their debut album, “Tailgate” on July 6. While “Tailgate” is mostly a recap of their first couple of years in the business by reproducing most of their well-worn hits like “Rockin’ the Beer Gut”, “In My Next Five Beers” and “Off The Hillbilly Hook”, it does come equipped with a few chances to score a couple of charted hits with “Rollin’ Through The Sunshine” and “Wal-Mart Flowers”.
Sugarland can explain…
It’s simply “steampunk” for Sugarland. With a new album on the horizon, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush explained to Entertainment Weekly that while album motif is Victorian inspired steam machine, the recordings on their upcoming album “The Incredible Machine” does not necessarily reflect the same era. On the albums first prerelease single, “Stuck Like Glue“, Nettles busts out with a reggae beat. In the same article, she explains that it was really just a way for her to release her “inner Bob Marley”. “The Incredible Machine” is due out on October 19.
Take it Away Trace!
[singlepic id=371 w=200 h=150 float=left]Rough and Ready country singer Trace Adkins will release his first album since joining the Show Dog – Universal Music label. The album, title “Cowboy Back In Town”, will hit the shelves on August 17. As a prerelease to the album, Adkins is exposing some behind the scenes footage of the making of the album’s first music video “This Ain’t No Love Song”.
Show Dog Records, an independent label spearheaded by country star Toby Keith, merged with Universal Music back in December 2009. The announcement of Adkins joining the label followed shortly after. Catch the labelmates during Keith’s American Ride Tour at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre on September 18.
This Ain’t No Love Song:
About Scott Winterroth, Editor
