DAVE'S DIARY - 16/11/2015 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 12 - SERIES 28
BILLY BOB THORNTON AND TRAVIS TRITT HEADLINE NU COUNTRY TV
Georgian singing actor Travis Tritt recruited veteran actor-musician Billy Bob Thornton to illustrate a crime saga that headlines Nu Country TV this Saturday November 21 at 10.30 pm on Channel 31/Digital 44.
March tourists Big & Rich also return to the show repeated Monday 5.30 am and 2.30 pm, Wednesday 7.30 am and Thursday 3 am.
Texan Bruce Robison and singing spouse Kelly Willis also revisit the program filmed and edited by Laith Graham.
Another Texan Cody Jinks debuts live in Behind Bars from famed Texas town Luckenbach.
And Dana Hassall, raised on a Darling Downs alpaca farm, makes her debut on the eve of her return to Tamworth .
Nu Country TV is a highlight of C 31 streaming list on Digital 44.
Just follow this link on your computer or mobile phone –
http://www.c31.org.au/program/view/program/nu-country-tv
MODERN DAY BONNIE & CLYDE
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Travis Tritt recruited Billy Bob Thornton and a pistol packing redhead for historic road trip video Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde . It started at a Kwik Mart in Johnson City , Tennessee , paused at a motel and ended in jail. The cinematic crime narrative is on Down The Road I Go - the seventh of Travis's 12 albums.
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Tritt, 52, has toured and recorded with peers diverse as Marty Stuart, Hank Williams Jr and the late Waylon Jennings.
He also recorded duets with daughter Tyler Reese - one of three children from his third marriage to Theresa Nelson.
His acting career included The Blue Brothers movie, Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Diagnosis Murder and Touched By An Angel .
Travis's first role was in 1993 telemovie Rio Diablo - in 1994 he appeared as a bull rider in The Cowboy Way that starred Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland.
In 1995 he appeared in horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt and Yes, Dear as a rehabilitating criminal.
He also appeared as himself in Sgt. Bilko that starred Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd and Phil Hartman - his cover of Only You (And You Alone) appeared on the soundtrack.
Tritt and Randy Travis appeared in 1997 film Fire Down Below, starring Steven Seagal and Kris Kristofferson, featured recently on Australian TV.
His latest movie was Fishers of Men - a 2011 Christian film.
Billy Bob, a veteran Arkansas born movie and TV actor, has released four solo albums and five with his band The Boxmasters.
The 60-year-old's acting career began in 1986 and embraces more than 100 movies and TV series.
Singing Texan crime novelist Kinky Friedman collaborated with him on his 2013 autobiography The Billy Bob Tapes: A Cave Full of Ghosts.
CLICK HERE for a Tritt CD review in The Diary on January 25, 2011.
BIG AND RICH ROAD ROMANCE
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Prolific duo Big & Rich illustrate a different style of road romance in their video for Run Away From You from their fifth album Gravity.
Their video journey started and ended on Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
They showcased their song at the Billboard club in Russell Street in the Melbourne CBD during their second Australian tour in March.
John Rich was co-founder of Texan band Lone Star and Kenny Alphin (Big Kenny) signed to Hollywood Records in 1998 where he recorded an unreleased rock album Live a Little.
One of its songs was featured on the Gun Shy movie soundtrack.
They created Big & Rich in 2004 and founded the MuzikMafia - a bunch of singer-songwriters including Cowboy Troy, James Otto, Gretchen Wilson and Shannon Lawson.
Big Kenny and John Rich wrote Amarillo Sky - title track of McBride & the Ride's 2002 album and later a top 5 hit for Georgian March tourist Jason Aldean in 2007.
CLICK HERE for a Big & Rich-Chris Young concert review in The Diary on March 11.
BRUCE ROBISON AND KELLY WILLIS LEAVING LIVE
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Texan couple Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis perform a live version of their song Leaving from their 2013 debut disc Cheater's Game.
Robison relates how the song was inspired by making a movie with fellow Texan Kris Kristofferson.
It's just 15 years since Bruce, now 49 and Kelly, now 47, performed live on Nu Country FM at Beer Can Hill four months before our Northcote studio burned down on June 26, 2000.
Bruce and Kelly are parents of four children - including twins.
Robison wrote #1 hits Travelin' Soldier for the Dixie Chicks , Tim McGraw's Angry All the Time and Wrapped for George Strait and released eight solo albums dating back to 1996.
After 17 years of marriage, four children, and more than 15 albums, Bruce and Kelly cut Cheater's Game and then Our Year in May, 2014.
“When we decided to make Cheater's Game , I was like, "I'll either write 13 of them or none of them,” Robison revealed.
“I don't care which one it is." I just wanted to record great songs. I'm hoping my songs measured up, but I'm willing to go to the mat for the other tunes on Cheater's Game , whether it's a Dave Alvin song or a Robert Earl Keen song or a Razzy Bailey song or a Hayes Carll song. Those are great songs and I really feel like we brought something fresh to them. Our Year is a continuation with original songs, as well as songs like Tom T. Hall-penned Harper Valley P.T.A . and Statler Brothers' I'll Go to My Grave Loving You ."
Oklahoma born Willis wed high school boyfriend and Radio Ranch drummer Mas Palermo from 1989-1991 and had a cameo in Tim Robbins' 1992 film Bob Roberts.
CLICK HERE for a Bruce Robison interview in The Diary on January 9, 2013.
CLICK HERE for a Kelly review in The Diary on March 30, 2004.
CODY JINKS LIVE IN LUCKENBACH
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Cowtown singer Cody Jinks performs live in Behind Bars in the famed Luckenbach tiny town at a Sunday song swap with fellow Texans Deryl Dodd and Courtney Patton.
Cody visited Luckenbach to perform Alone and Momma's Song from his fourth album The Adobe Sessions.
Momma's Song is dedicated to Jinks mother - he sings about how she has always been there for him through good times and bad in his music career.
Alone was inspired by the morning after returning from a gig .
Jinks performed on a rustic stage in the town where The Ballad of A Dead Liver song-writer Brendan Mitchell found our Luckenbach TV prop on a recent Texas trip.
Pedal steel guitarist Mitchell - co-founder of veteran Victorian outlaw band The Dead Livers - spreads his talents among many local bands.
Further info - http://codyjinks.com/
DANA HASSALL SPINS HER WHEELS
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Toowoomba singer-songwriter Dana Hassall debuts on Nu Country with Spinning Wheels - title track of her first album, out in January.
Multiple Golden Guitar Award winner Matt Fell produced it and her 2011 debut EP See It Now.
The singer, raised on her parents Double-H Alpacas farm at Kingsthorpe on the Darling Downs, filmed her road video in Brisbane and Canada .
“The video is very captivating,” Dana, now 23, revealed after performing Gympie Muster, Deni Ute Muster and the Urban Country music festival in Queensland .
“You're kind of forced to watch until the end to see what happens. If only we knew the ending in real life too!”
Growing up in country Queensland gave Dana the perfect level of isolation to lock herself away and create.
“I used to hide behind my mum's legs every time someone started talking to me. I'm a little past that stage but I'll still take singing over speaking any day. I secretly think that's why I'm attracted to music. I can tell my story, but it's pre-written so I don't need to worry about saying something silly in the spur of the moment!”
At the age of eight she sang on stage, started to write her own music and now has a 50 song catalogue.
"I fell in love with all the stories and the fact that country music actually means something,” revealed Dana who joined a country music club in Dalby.
“We always used to listen to a lot of music at home and I'd be standing on a stool singing along to Lee Kernaghan, Beccy Cole and Savage Garden .
“From the dancing in the living room, mum suggested maybe I should try a real stage. I fell in love with all the stories and the fact that country music actually means something. And now I don't know what I'd do without it.”
Dana plays Wednesday at the Drunken Poet , Thursday at Yarra Hotel , Abbotsford, and Friday and Saturday in Mansfield .
Further info - http://www.danahassall.com/
HOW TO KEEP NU COUNTRY ON AIR
We need your support as we celebrate the 28th series of Nu Country TV.
Australian record companies and artists have joined forces to ensure our survival.
We're pleased to announce Sony has given us the latest CD and DVD by Georgian star Jason Aldean on the eve of his debut Australian tour in March.
We also have Angels And Alcohol - the 20th album by fellow Georgian superstar Alan Jackson.
Also new CDS by major artists you can win by becoming a Nu Country TV member or renewing your membership.
They include singing actors Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw and Toby Keith, Voice judge Blake Shelton, Ashley Monroe, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Charley Pride and more.
We also have a Lady Antebellum DVD.