DAVE'S DIARY - 8/1/07 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 5 - SERIES 7
RASCAL FLATTS HEADLINE NU COUNTRY TV
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International
chart toppers Rascal Flatts headline this week's episode of Nu Country
TV hosted by show founder and executive producer Peter Hosking. Leading Australian artists join Rascal Flatts on the show that airs on C 31 in Victoria on Saturday January 13 at 9.30 p m and is repeated on Wednesdays at 5.30 p m and Thursday at high noon. The trio performs a video of the title track of its fourth album Me And My Gang that has sold more than three million units and earned two Grammy nominations. Hefty airplay and touring has pushed total album sales beyond 12 million, making it the biggest selling album of 2006. This is the second consecutive year that the band is the best selling country artist. |
It's also
the first time in 14 years that a country artist has ended the year with
the best selling artist album!
Not since Billy Ray Cyrus in 1992 has a country artist finished the year
with the best selling artist album across all genres of music!!
The band's Oklahoma born guitarist Joe Don Rooney, 31, wed Tiffany Fallon
- 2005 Playmate of the Year in Mexico in 2006.
Rooney's pictures of the Georgian model - who played a femme fatale in
Toby Keith video Who's Your Daddy - have graced Playboy.
Other band members are Ohio born cousins Jay DeMarcus, 35, and Gary Levox,
34.
The trio's new disc features a riveting roadhouse romp of Marcel-Tony
Mullins song Backwards - a parody of playing a country song backwards.
Further info - www.rascalflatts.com
STEVE YOUNG
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Internationally
acclaimed Georgian born country singer Steve Young makes his debut
on Nu Country on the eve of his fifth Australian tour. Young appears at Northcote Social Club on January 19 with Louisiana born singer Mary Gauthier before appearing at Harvest festival at Red Hill on Sunday January 21. Popular former Nu Country FM DJ Colin Weidner and fellow DJ-singer Nipper Mack interviewed Steve Young in 2005 at the Tommy Alverson country festival in Texas. Colin had quadruple heart by-pass surgery after returning to Melbourne from the fest. Nipper was more fortunate - he has since released three albums with his dynamic duo Very Handsome Men. Young, 64, recorded a dozen albums after writing many hits including Eagles smash Seven Bridges Road. |
Steve has
a high profile audience in Australia - among his audience at the Camp
Hotel in Ballarat on a previous tour was country music loving Judge John
Bowman.
CLICK HERE for a feature
on Steve in the Diary on December 14.
FROM PHILLIP ISLAND TO FAME
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Nick
Kingswell, who hails from Newhaven on Phillip Island, performs a video
clip of his debut single Hope For Me Yet. Nick was just 19 when he scored his record deal when he won the Telstra Road To Tamworth talent quest. Nick recorded his debut single with expatriate Australian producer Mark Moffatt - of Saltbush fame - on a Nashville trip last year. Mark has done a brace of production work for expatriate Australasian Barry Coburn - publisher of superstar Keith Urban and original manager of Alan Jackson. Nick also performed at the famed Fan Fair festival and wrote with leading Music City hit writers. He is scheduled to return to Tamworth this month for the annual festival. Further info - http://www.nickkingswell.com/ |
THE DISTANCE
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Mornington
Peninsula band The Distance inspired a flood of emails when it debuted
on Nu Country TV with the title track of its album Don't Look Back. This time it's This Land - one of nine tunes written by lead guitarist Gavin Leadbetter. The video graphically depicts the story behind the Leadbetter song about the perils of life on the land at the whim of drought, floods and bushfires. |
The only cover on the disc is Bill Anderson classic Get A Little Dirt On Your Hands, a duet with Johnny Chester.
Further info - http://www.thedistance.com.au/
RONNI RAE RIVERS ROLLS IN
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Ronni
Rae Rivers, born in Sydney to an Aussie mum and a Texan dad, performs
the Conway Twitty hit It's Only Make Believe. Ronni, who plays fiddle and piano, lived in Australia and US during her formative years and now calls Western Australia home. Rivers released her debut EP, Bridging The Gap, in 2003 and was a graduate of the 2004 CMAA Australian College of Country Music. |
Her 2005
album Notice Me scored her a Golden Guitar nomination in 2005
for Randy Vanwarmer 1979 hit - Just When I Needed You Most.
Ronni has released four singles including Rodeo Romeo and It's
Only Make Believe.
She has also shared stages with artists diverse as Bill and Kasey Chambers,
Adam Brand, Beccy Cole and Aaron Neville & the Neville Brothers.
Further info - http://www.ronniraerivers.com/home.html
JASON KEMP
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Jason
Kemp won wide acclaim when he performed with Silver String Outlaws
at the Nu Country showcase at Hotel Kew on October 7. Kemp - a highlight of our 2005 Christmas party - performs a video for his song The Ballad Of Adrian Peddemore. It's one of five Kemp video clips scoring him wide exposure as he writes songs for diverse peers. |
Jason hails from St George in Queensland and recently released his second album that he recorded in Melbourne.
Further info - http://jasonkemp0.tripod.com/jasonkemp/