NEW PHIL VASSAR SINGLE STRIKES CHORD WITH PROGRAMMERS AND LISTENERS

"Don't Miss Your Life" Taking on a Life of Its Own at Radio

(Nashville, Tennessee...) -- Phil Vassar is no stranger to country radio or their legions of listeners, as he has topped the country charts on numerous occasions both as a writer and artist. And now, his latest single, "Don't Miss Your Life," is exploding at country radio, Facebook and Twitter even before it has been officially released.

"I wrote this song on a plane recently, when I was really missing my family and especially my two daughters," said Phil. "The response we're receiving from country radio and from fans has been absolutely incredible. I am always amazed when a song touches people like this."

Phil finished the song with his frequent co-writer, Charlie Black, and shared it with his Rodeowave Entertainment team. A rough mix was played for Nashville's WSIX-FM, who gave it a test spin on the air. Phones immediately blew up, and the WSIX Facebook page was overwhelmed with comments from fans who identified with the song.

"Don't Miss Your Life" was shipped to radio late last week, and similar comments started pouring in from across the country. The single debuted at #1 on Play MPE's Top 5 Download and Top 5 Streaming charts this week. The single can be heard at http://www.PhilVassar.com and is currently available at iTunes.

Nate Deaton at KRTY/San Jose says: "This is not the best Phil Vassar song I have heard in a while, it is the best song I have heard in a while. The response from listeners has been exactly that." Jeff Whitehead, PD of WQBE in Charleston, WV adds: "The first time I listened to 'Don't Miss Your Life' my life flashed before my eyes. It brought me to tears. It does exactly what a 'Country Song' is suppose to do; absolutely INCREDIBLE! The best song Phil's ever recorded." Scott Donato, PD at WGTY/York, PA concurs: "Phil has written some of the best songs of our generation, but this might be his best yet. It is IMPOSSIBLE not to be moved by this song. Simply put, it's the kind of song that makes me proud to be associated with country music." Comments on Phil's Twitter and Facebook echoed similar enthusiasm.

Music Row Magazine's crack reviewer Robert K. Oermann had this to say about the new single: "Vassar continues to make music as powerfully as ever. His new ballad is the latest take on the businessman who is too busy to enjoy his children growing up. An older man points him in the right direction. This pushes all the right emotional buttons. I'm in."

The single will officially go for adds at radio on February 13, 2012, and a music video is in the works.

For updates on the new music, touring and other news visit www.PhilVassar.com.

Co-sponsored by legendary radio station 650 WSM, the iconic Kenny Rogers returns for an unforgettable night of music with Nashville’s GRAMMY®-winning orchestra at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville on Saturday, January 21 at 8 p.m. With hits like “Lady,” “The Gambler,” “She Believes in Me,” “Through The Years,” “Islands In The Stream” and many more, this is one show you won’t want to miss. Kenny’s last appearance at the Schermerhorn sold out quickly, so get your tickets today to hear this American musical legend before they run out (they’re going fast)!

For tickets visit http://www.nashvillesymphony.org or call the box office at (615) 687-6400.

In June, Willie Nelson is scheduled to share his strange(r) ways with the Symphony. Tickets for that show will go on sale January 27th.

Dolly Parton, Gaylord Opryland announce new Nashville amusement park

Dolly Parton & Gaylord Entertainment are joining together to build a new theme park in Nashville across from the Opryland Hotel.

On her birthday, Dolly Parton partnered with Gaylord Entertainment Co. to announce what they say will be a gift to Nashville: a new water-and-snow amusement park near Gaylord's Opryland hotel.
The park would replace the long-gone Opryland theme park and give a boost to Nashville's leisure travel tourism industry.
"This is going to be so special," Parton said at an early afternoon announcement. "It's a gift for everybody.”
The facility will be a water park during warmer months and will manufacture snow in colder months, similar to the Snow Mountain attraction at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta.
Phase One will involve a $50 million development on half of about 110 acres into the first water and snow park in the country, officials involved in the project said.
The yet-to-be-named park would open no later than the spring of 2014, with a hope of employing up to 450 people and drawing 500,000 visitors in the first year.
Mayor Karl Dean, described by Parton as her “other husband” because the men share the same name, said the project demonstrates that Nashville is "unstoppable as a tourist destination.”

Award-winning brother/sister duo The Roys will join Vietti Foods to extend the Vietti Vinyl campaign, with the duo's image appearing on 500,000 cans of the brand's Family Style Beef Stew in Family Dollar stores in 25 states throughout 2012. The Roys are the first artists to grace the Beef Stew can labels. Vietti Chili line participants include: Riders in the Sky, Chris Young, Tom Hambridge, The Grascals, The Isaacs, John Corbett, Restless Heart, and The Warren Brothers (who funnily enough after having been featured on a "can" now currently lend their writing hands and their voices to a cup - the Toby Keith track/video "Red Solo Cup" to be exact) and more. The Vietti Vinyl initiative gives voice to musicians and gives consumers a chance to spice up their music collection, sample new sounds and videos.

"Our company is highly selective in choosing the artists who participate in the Vietti Vinyl program," says Philip M. Connelly, President, Vietti Foods Company, Inc. "And we are very enthusiastic to partner with The Roys. Fans should expect to discover them on another line of our products in the near future."

"We are beyond excited to join the Vietti Family," says Elaine Roy. "The company is dedicated to the creation of a superior product and active in several charities."

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Ultra-gifted songwriter and vocalist Lee Brice celebrated the New Year by popping a pretty big question to his girlfriend,Sara Reeveley: the couple were on vacation in Key West, Florida when Brice proposed on January 2. (A date has not yet been set). Reeveley, 29, an Ohio native, and Brice, 32, originally from South Carolina, have known each other for thirteen years.

Lee's current single “A Woman Like You” is climbing the Billboard Country Songs chart and is currently at #26.

In 2011, Brice was nominated for three ACM Awards for his Top 5 Billboard country song “Love Like Crazy” (two for Single of the Year and one for Song of the Year.) “Love Like Crazy” was also named Billboard’s Most Played Song of 2010. In other "crazy" news, Lee co-wrote the Eli Young Band’s recent #1 hit “Crazy Girl.” (Not to mention having his co-write credits on "More Than a Memory", which was recorded by some guy named Garth Brooks).

A Skaggs Family Christmas Live comes to RFD-TV for airings December 8 and 9. The hour-long extravaganza features Ricky, his wife Sharon, and their children Luke and Molly, and includes Buck and Cheryl White and Cheryl's daughter Rachel Leftwich. Also performing is Ricky's band Kentucky Thunder along with Jim Gray and the Nashville Session Players. The troupe treats fans to traditional holiday favorites as well as new songs that are sure to become seasonal standards.

Broadcast Dates and Air Times (please check http://www.rfdtv.com/findrfdtv/ to view RFD-TV in your area):

December 8 @ 10 p.m. ET
December 9 @ 4 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET

"Singing carols and hymns ''our way'' is a tradition that started in our living room years ago," explains Sharon White. "It's evolved into a show that, over the last nine years, the Lord has led us to share in churches and symphony halls and at the National Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington D.C.," adds Ricky.

The program was taped at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium during one of the entourage's live performances two years ago. This year, the cast's concert itinerary includes engagements at Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, The Paramount Theater, Music Center at Strathmore, Tennessee Theatre, Honeywell Center, Niswonger Performing Arts Center of NW Ohio, Smoky Mountain Performing Arts Center and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

The extended family has also released two holiday CDs: A SKAGGS FAMILY CHRISTMAS VOLUME ONE (2005) and A SKAGGS FAMILY CHRISTMAS VOLUME TWO (2011). As a bonus to purchasers of A SKAGGS FAMILY CHRISTMAS VOLUME TWO, a free copy of A SKAGGS FAMILY CHRISTMAS LIVE (DVD) is included.

For more information, please go to www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com.

NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Lauren Alaina
By Bob Doerschuk

© 2011 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

Lauren Alaina was just 3 years old when her mother was driving her somewhere in their hometown of Rossville, Ga. The Dixie Chicks were on the radio, and when Mom turned it off and heard her daughter singing the song on her own — in pitch and with every word correct — she did what any perceptive parent would do: She bought her a Dixie Chicks karaoke package and encouraged her to keep singing.

Not much time has passed since then, but Alaina, 17, has blossomed into a singer of precocious technique and sensitivity. She has worked hard for this achievement, singing lead roles in school plays throughout elementary school and winning the talent competition of the Southern Stars Pageant at 8. At age 10, she took top prize in Orlando’s American Model and Talent Competition, beating out more than 1,500 participants, and at 12 Alaina made her first of many visits to Nashville’s Lower Broadway clubs — before 6 PM, of course.

But it was “American Idol” that lifted her into national celebrity in 2011. Finishing second to the equally young, gifted and future Mercury Nashville labelmate Scotty McCreery, she was soon at work on her debut album, Wildflower, with Byron Gallimore producing all but her first single, the power ballad “Like My Mother Does.”

Amidst these 12 tracks crafted by some of Nashville’s top songwriters (Alaina co-wrote one, “Funny Thing about Love,” with Luke Laird and Brett James), “Like My Mother Does” stands out. Alaina heard it for the first time during her “Idol” experience and instantly connected with it. Composed by Nathan Chapman, Liz Rose and Nikki Williams, it whispers through verses, soars into the choruses and ultimately rockets skyward, fueled by Alaina’s accomplished and even astonishing performance.

Alaina will join Luke Bryan on Jason Aldean’s “My Kinda Party” arena tour, beginning Jan. 20 in Greeneville, S.C.

The following information below is from the Associated Press, however - this writer would like to state an opinion on the quality of person Mindy McCready is. I've grown up a fan of her music (and I actually mean that, I don't mean it as a person who only maybe knows one song by the artist). More recently, I got to meet her last year at CMA Fest and could tell almost immediately how sweet and likable of a person she truly is. Mindy, if you're reading this I just wish I would have told you then when you said about your new album "the song from the Dr. Drew show is on it."...that I honestly never watched that show. I'm just a fan of your music. That's right, I know you from MORE than the news-making personal struggles and I'm willing to bet others do too. I pray for you and all you've been through. Please continue to do your best to overcome and don't let the sorry mainstream media who doesn't know you from Adam get you so down. -MC

From the AP:

By the time authorities took country singer Mindy McCready's 5-year-old son from her and into custody on Friday evening, one thing had already become apparent: her life has come to resemble a bad country song.

This week's custody battle, where McCready took her son from his Florida home, was the latest in her brushes with the law.

Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Terri Durdaller wrote in an email Saturday that her agency was working with Arkansas state officials to bring McCready's son, Zander, back to his legal guardian, McCready's mother.

Officials say the boy is safe and in good health after he and McCready were found in a bedroom closet of an unoccupied Arkansas home.

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According to industry updater "Country Aircheck," Davidson County Chancery Court Chancellor Russell Perkins earlier today denied Curb Records' request for an injunction against Tim McGraw during a hearing in Nashville. Afterwards, McGraw's attorney Bill Ramsey asserted that McGraw is now free to sign with another record label and begin a new chapter of his career apart from Curb. McGraw, his attorneys, wife Faith Hill and manager Coran Capshaw were visibly pleased, though McGraw declined to comment. A trial is still scheduled for July that will determine if there was a breech of McGraw's contract with Curb and if damages are in order. Whatever the outcome of that trial, it appears Tim McGraw is no longer a Curb recording artist.

There is still no official word on the status of most songs recorded for McGraw's "Emotional Traffic" album. However, hours after the above ruling, Curb released Tim's first new single since "Felt Good On My Lips." It's called "Better Than I Used To Be" and is most likely from McGraw's as of yet unreleased "Traffic."

Extraordinarly iconic singer, songwriter, musician, actress and philanthropist Dolly Parton is getting some “Extra" special treatment from Mario Lopez and the Extra TV crew! Tonight, Extra will debut a portion of the video on the daily syndicated entertainment magazine show with a link to watch it in its entirety from www.extratv.com. “The Sacrifice” is the second single from her critically acclaimed latest album Better Day (Dolly Records, distributed through Warner Music Nashville). The music video will be distributed to all video outlets worldwide starting November 15th.

Of the new song, Dolly says: “’The Sacrifice’ is another song that is just so, totally, me. I think it’s so totally everybody that has a dream and desire to be successful, and in order to be successful we have to give up things that we’d rather not. But if we’re not willing to make that sacrifice usually we don’t see those dreams come true.”

In other Dolly news, she will return to the silver screen in January 2012 alongside Queen Latifah in Joyful Noise, a musically driven feature that tells the story of an unlikely partnership between two strong-minded women who are forced to work together to save a small town Gospel choir after budget cuts threaten to shut them down.“Joyful Noise will also feature musical contributions from Dolly. This marks Dolly’s first return to movies in some twenty years.

See a trailer for Joyful Noise here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiNEwLKmSq0

For more information, please visit http://www.dollypartonmusic.net