DAVE'S DIARY - 30/1/12 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 9 - SERIES 17
NU COUNTRY WEATHERS THE STORMS OF LIFE
Expatriate
Australasian superstar Keith Urban headlines Nu Country TV this Wednesday
February 1 - at 10 pm on C 31 - with a prophetic weather forecast.
Urban, 44, and recovering from throat surgery performs the video for his
seasonal hit Long Hot Summer.
Kinglake bushfire survivors Carter & Carter also return with a joyous
rain dance.
And Missouri chart topper David Nail debuts a video for his precipitation
plea.
Queensland flood victim Troy Cassar-Daley breaks the weather pattern in
the video for his first single from his eighth album - cut in Nashville.
March tourist Jim Lauderdale showcases his humour in a show hosted by
Mid Pacific Bob Olson and edited by fellow academic Ashley Hall.
Bob ventured to the Sapphire Coast home of previous editor Peter Staubli
to share culinary skills with his double cooked pork belly dish.
Our Beer Can Hill delta denizen and porkbassador upstaged former North
Melbourne star-ambassador Sam Kekovich in a show repeated Friday at 1.30
a m for early birds dining out on worms.
LONG HOT URBAN SUMMER
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Keith
Urban celebrates his recovery from throat surgery with his Long
Hot Summer video from ninth album Get Closer. Urban, 44 and father of two daughters, has other good tidings. He wrote and recorded new song For You specifically for the movie, Act of Valor. Urban recorded his collaboration with prolific co-writer Monty Powell in Nashville with co-producer Dann Huff. The track is available digitally on February 21 and will be played during the film's end credits when it opens on February 24. Act of Valor is a thriller about active-duty Navy SEALS who fight global terrorism. Directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, active duty Navy SEALS and Roselyn Sanchez, Jason Cottle and Nestor Serrano feature in the fictional screenplay. "I loved the challenge of writing for a film," said Urban. |
"I've
never done that before. After seeing Act of Valor, my co-writer
and I wanted to capture the essence of not only what these men and women
do so extraordinarily, but how that relates to all of us. Valor shows
us what they are willing to give their all for, which made me wonder,
'What am I willing to give my life for?' For You is intended to
allow the listener to define who that is for them."
Urban's acting links date back well before wedding Nicole Kidman.
"I was actually in a theatre group when I was a kid for about three
years. We did quite a few stage productions, which was really my starting
board for learning how to perform on stage. So, I'd love to do some of
that down the track. I wouldn't want it to interfere with my music."
CLICK HERE
for an Urban CD review in the Diary on December 13, 2010.
TROY PROVES WHAT COUNTRY IS
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Grafton
raised Troy Cassar-Daley has often joined Urban for cameos on his
American visits. But the singer didn't need Keith's support when he produced his eighth album Home in Nashville last year. Troy performs the video for first single Country Is on this week's show. He produced the disc featuring the cream of Nashville A-team session pickers at Reba McEntire's Starstruck Studio. Troy launched it at the 40th Tamworth festival last week on the eve of a national tour with Melbourne born Baptist preacher's daughter Harmony James. |
Cassar-Daley,
wife - 4KQ breakfast disc jockey Laurel Edwards - and their two sons lost
invaluable memorabilia when the basement of their farm home was flooded
last summer.
Troy, like Urban, proved his natural talent when he performed live on
the Nine Network on the anniversary.
"It's always been a risk living on the river and we had water coming
up pretty bad," Troy, now 43, said at the time.
"We were ringing the neighbour every hour, and by the fourth call
he said he was over the bank and it's gone, but he saved our horses.
"We lost a lot, but not as much as people down the road - people
down the road are burying family and horses.
The singer performed in Victoria late last year with Geelong born fellow
star Adam Harvey.
Troy returns in a more extensive tour with Harmony after an indigenous
concert at Federation Square on February 10.
CLICK HERE for a Troy
feature in the Diary on May 7, 2009.
CARTER & CARTER DANCE IN THE RAIN
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When David
and Merelyn Carter moved from Lilydale to Kinglake they soon suffered
the perils of the bush.
Although the duo was spared in the Black Saturday fires in 2009 many of
their peers and neighbours suffered loss of life and property.
Now, three year later, they proved that dancing in the rain is solace
for folks of all ages in their new video clip that we feature.
The song Dance In The Rain, featuring family and friends, is on
their seventh album To The Moon And Back.
It made the 40th Australian Country Music Awards finals in Tamworth last
week.
The sequel of sorts to Surviving Black Saturday is a song of celebration,
of letting go and embracing the joy of living.
"This is really a song about the little girl inside me - she's always
been there, wanting to burst out, but now I have grandchildren, she's
got a new excuse to appear more often," Merelyn said.
The album evolved quickly.
"When we began writing, it all just flowed out. We wrote 13 songs,
and 11 of them have ended up on the album," David said.
"It's strange that such positive music has come out of such a bad
place. We've realised that we write the best songs once we've emerged
on the other side - and this time we've written from very personal perspective,
even more than on our previous albums."
Merelyn reassessed the role music played in their lives.
"I wasn't sure what direction to take. I was focused on writing my
book, and I felt that there were other things I wanted to explore. I need
to know what I was meant to do," she said.
"When I started the book, all the negative things came to the fore,
and I needed to get beyond those. I was forced to re-evaluate a lot of
my values and beliefs, and the reasons why I do things. In the end, there
was a sense that something had been unlocked, and it all came very freely."
David and Merelyn watched their community go through major changes.
"It's pretty much a new community. The population's gone from 7000
to 3000, so many people have left, there have been so many relationship
break-ups - nothing is the same and it will take years to rebuild,"
David said.
"So I think we value our community, and particularly our own little
piece of it, so much more."
Carter & Carter launched their album in Tamworth with Kaylee Bell,
did a gospel concert and presented a young talent showcase.
They also play Whittlesea Country Music Festival on Sunday February 12.
Further info - www.carter-carter.com
DAVID NAIL LETS IT RAIN
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Missouri
born balladeer David Nail performs the video for fifth single Let
It Rain. It
hit #1 49 weeks after its release - second longest climb to the
top in the chart's 68-year history. |
Frank Liddell,
Chuck Ainlay and Glenn Worf co-produced the album. Scooter Carusoe and
Phil Vassar, who performed at the 2010 CMC Rocks The Snowys festival at
Thredbo, wrote the title track.
Former Arkansas State university student Nail co-wrote I Thought You
Knew and was sole composer of Catherine - a tribute to his
wife whom he wed in 2009.
Grit of songwriting is depicted in the title track and Songs for Sale.
The latter features harmonies by Texan songstress Lee Ann Womack - also
Liddell's wife.
Nail, now 32, was in his early 20s when he signed to Mercury Records.
In 2002, he recorded an album for the label and released self penned first
single, Memphis.
It peaked at No. 52 but Mercury decided not to release the Keith Stegall-John
Kelton produced album.
From 2002 until 2007, when he signed with MCA Records, Nail was virtually
wandering in an emotional wilderness.
"I was lost," he admits.
"I had moved to town and gotten a record deal so quickly and lost
it. It took probably a good two or three years to figure out what the
hell had just happened. I went through the usual, 'Is it something I want
to do? Do I have the courage and the strength to go through this situation
again?'
During that period between labels, he supported himself by writing songs
for his music publisher.
"I spent a lot of time on my front porch with a six-pack of beer
and staring at the road," he recalled.
In 2009, Liddell and Mike Wrucke co-produced Nail's first album for MCA
- prophetically titled I'm About to Come Alive.
That yielded Nail's first Top 10 hit, Red Light, and Top 20 song
Turning Home.
So will Mercury ever release his first album?
"I sure hope not," he says.
"It's not that I didn't like it. I liked it for a record for a 20-year-old
kid. But it's definitely a far cry from what I do now."
Further info - www.davidnail.com
JIM LAUDERDALE - HUNTER BOUND
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Jim Lauderdale
returns to Nu Country with the video for his song Who's Leaving Who?
It's on Bluegrass - the 14th of Jim's 20 albums.
Lauderdale, who debuted here in 2002, is one of many stars of the second
CMC Rocks The Hunter festival in March.
At 54 the North Carolina Presbyterian minister's son has God on his side
and his disciples in his band.
The multi-instrumentalist also played in the house band in the recent
Tim McGraw movie Country Strong.
Jim increased career longevity, writing hits for artists diverse as Texans
George Strait, Dixie Chicks, Bruce Robson, Kelly Willis, Jon Randall,
Mark Chesnutt, Deryl Dodd, Rick Trevino and Doug Supernaw, Vince Gill
and Patty Loveless.
Lauderdale played George Jones in Stand By Your Man - the stage
version of the Tammy Wynette story in Nashville.
Jim also performed the 2007 CMC Rocks The Snowys festival at Thredbo with
another of his happy song recipients - California born chart topper and
surfing cowboy Gary Allan.
Australian artists Melinda Schneider and Felicity have also recorded Jim's
songs.
CLICK HERE for a
Lauderdale interview in the Diary on December 14, 2006.
MIRANDA LAMBERT PRIZES
Grammy award
winning Texan star Miranda Lambert cancelled her 2010 tour at the 11th
hour - because of a respiratory ailment.
But we have good news for fans of Lambert - we have her award winning
fourth album Revolution as a prize for viewers who renew Nu Country
TV memberships or become members.
Sony-BMG promotions chief Emma Smith has also given us multiple CMA Award
winner Miranda's DVD - Revolution: Live By Candlelight.
The DVD features rare acoustic performances of six songs White Liar,
The House That Built Me, Love Song, Heart Like Mine, Love Is Looking At
You and Rolling Stones country classic Dead Flowers.
All you have to do is either become a member of Nu Country TV or renew
your membership.
It costs just $20.
Please send a cheque or money order made out to Nu Country Music to us
at P O Box 625 - Northcote - 3070.
We also now have electronic banking for membership payment and renewal.
WIN KEITH URBAN CDS
Expatriate
Australasian superstar Keith Urban is recovering from throat surgery.
To celebrate Keith's record company EMI-Capitol has great news for Nu
Country TV viewers.
Promotions ace Bianca O'Neill donated autographed copies of his huge selling
ninth album Get Closer.
She also donated new compilation Very Best Of Slim Dusty.
All you have to do to win Lambert, Urban and Dusty CDS or the Lambert
DVD is become a member of Nu Country or renew membership.
But email us first at music@nucountry.com.au
as stocks are limited.
Other prizes
on offer include -
Eric Church - Chief
Luke Bryan - Tailgates & Tanlines.
Taylor Swift - 2ND CD Fearless.
Tim McGraw Southern Voice Tour CD with 11-bonus video clips.
Felicity - Landing Lights
Air Supply singer Russell Hitchcock - Tennessee - The Nashville Sessions
CD and DVD
Slim Dusty Sittin' On 80 Boxed Set
The Very Best Of Slim Dusty
Catherine Britt - Little Wildflowers.
Compilation CDS.