DAVE'S DIARY - 10 JUNE 2013 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 2 - SERIES 20
FORMER BOXING CHAMP HEADLINES NU COUNTRY TV
Former Mississippi
boxing champion Paul Thorn and singing actor Tim McGraw headline Nu Country
TV this Saturday June 22 at 9.30 pm on C 31.
Thorn, making his debut Australian visit next week, shares billing with
Tim - son of late baseball star Tug McGraw - who has toured here twice.
Pistol Annies singer Ashley Monroe returns to the show, repeated Monday
3 p m and midnight and Thursday at 1 am, with San Francisco band Train.
Prolific Tennessean singer-songwriter Will Hoge debuts in Behind Bars
- edited by Blaize Warden.
And expatriate Texan Doug Bruce, now living in Bendigo, and Sydney bluegrass
band The Pigs return to the show you can also see on Catch-Up TV on the
Channel 31 web page.
PAUL THORN PRIMES PIMPS & PREACHERS
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Paul
Thorn first made international TV when he fought world middleweight
boxing champion Roberto Duran at Atlantic City casino in New Jersey
in 1988. But the singer harvested hay from Duran's hay makers when he recorded his 1997 album title track Hammer & Nail about the bout. It preceded the Tom Russell tune The Eyes Of Robert Duran - also recorded by the late Chris Gaffney - and a favourite on Nu Country FM. But this time we feature the video for the title track of Thorn's sixth album Pimps & Preachers on our TV show on the eve of Thorn's Melbourne debut at Northcote Social Club - near our old studios on Beer Can Hill. Thorn, 48 and father of two children, will perform his song live in Northcote on June 23 and Hallam Hotel on June 25. "Well, the album title isn't just a title, it has meaning for me," says Thorn who shares his Tupelo roots with both the late Elvis Presley and Tammy Wynette. |
"My
dad was a Pentecostal minister with a congregation but my uncle was a
real pimp, and I don't mean someone who dresses flashy, I mean a man who
had a stable of women that he dropped off on the corner in the morning,
picked them up in the evening, and they gave him money. He's not proud
of that and that's not something he looks back on and is proud of doing,
but as a child he and my daddy were my mentors so I was literally schooled
by Pimps and Preachers so I understand about the dark and the light
of life because of that."
CLICK
HERE for our exclusive interview with Thorn in the Diary.
TIM MCGRAW ENJOYS ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS
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Singing
actor Tim McGraw performs the video for his 33RD #1 hit One Of
Those Nights from his 12th album Two Lanes Of Freedom on
this week's show. McGraw, whose dad Tug was a baseball star, also played the male lead opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in recent movie Country Strong. |
Tim, father
of two daughters, punctuates albums and tours with other movies Dirty
Girl with fellow singing actor Dwight Yoakam, Four Holidays
with Yoakam and Robert Duvall who had a cameo in Crazy Heart, Friday
Night Lights and Black Cloud.
CLICK HERE for our membership page to win
Tim's new album Two Lanes Of Freedom and previous disc Emotional Traffic.
CLICK
HERE for a review of Two Lanes Of Freedom in the Diary on March 12, 2013.
ASHLEY MONROE HITCHES RIDE ON TRAIN
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Ashley
Monroe was not idle between her two solo albums and matching pair
with Miranda Lambert and The Pistol Annies. It was certified double platinum in the United States and Canada - third album, My Private Nation (2003) was platinum in the United States with the hit Calling All Angels. |
The band
released fourth album, For Me, It's You in 2006, with new members
Brandon Bush (keyboards) and Johnny Colt (bass) and then went on a three-year
hiatus.
In late 2009, Train released Save Me, San Francisco with three
singles - six time platinum hit Hey, Soul Sister, If It's Love
and Marry Me reached #3, 34 and 34 on Billboard.
The album was certified gold and sold 954,000 units.
Since 2008 Jerry Becker (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) and Hector
Maldonado (bass, guitar, percussion, backing vocals) have been touring
and recording with the group around the world.
In 2012 Train released California 37 - first single Drive By
reached #10 on Billboard and was Top 10 in the UK - first Top 20 single
since 2009.
CLICK HERE for
an Ashley Monroe feature in the Diary on May 27.
CLICK HERE for our Membership Page to win
her CD Like A Rose.
WILL HOGE - A SONG YOU CAN SEE AND HEAR
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When
Tennessee troubadour Will Hoge wrote Another Song Nobody Will Hear
he hadn't countered on being discovered here in Australia. We feature his video for the song in Behind Bars. Will, 41, has released eight albums and several live discs and EPS but is best known for writing hits for others. He hails from Civil War town Franklin and attended Western Kentucky University to study history planning to become a high school history teacher and basketball coach. Hoge left university after realizing he wanted to write songs and be a career musician. |
Will almost
died in a scooter accident in 2008 while recording his album, not so cryptically
titled The Wreckage.
He was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in critical condition
- he had surgery immediately upon arrival for numerous broken bones (ribs,
sternum, shattered femur, knee cap, shoulder blades) and lacerations to
his face, arms, and torso requiring over 200 stitches.
Hoge recovered to write hits for Lady Antebellum and the Texan Eli Young
Band who toured here with singing actor Tim McGraw and singing spouse
Faith Hill.
Will co-wrote Eli Young Band #1 hit Even if It Breaks Your Heart
before releasing 2012 EP Modern American Protest Music.
The seven-song project includes Jesus Came To Tennessee and ends
with topical tune The Ballad Of Trayvon Martin - and touches on
religious and political issues.
"I have a feeling that Modern American Protest Music will instantly
cause a reaction because these are hot button issues for a lot of folks,"
Will admits.
"I don't want to fool people into thinking this is another Will Hoge
country/rock record about girls, this is something very different. I'm
not looking for people to agree or disagree, it's a personal expression
from me as a songwriter."
Hoge also recorded the opening theme song You Make Me Happy for
CBS sitcom Still Standing and appeared at the 2013 Grammy block
party in Nashville with Kip Moore.
Further info - http://willhoge.com/wired
THE PIGS ON MENU
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Sydney bluegrass
band The Pigs bring home the bacon with their video for Kanye West song
Gold Digger - the tune they performed on Australia's Got Talent.
The band, one of the big hits at the 37th Port Fairy folk fest in March,
are joined in their limo by some sultry sweethearts of the rodeo.
They show how chappies in Sin City deal with dames dating back to the
Rum Rebellion in the song from 2012 album The Great Bluegrass Swindle.
You can catch The Pigs at the inaugural three day Broadbeach Country Music
Festival from June 21-23.
The Pigs share their name with a Bristol punk rock band formed in 1977
and have appeared on ABC TV shows Rage and Spicks' N Specks.
Further info - www.thepigs.com.au
DOUG BRUCE
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Expatriate
Texan Doug Bruce found true love with a Bendigo belle before he
fled the Lone Star state and headed south to the Victorian gold
fields. You can catch Doug next weekend at the inaugural Broadbeach country music festival on the Gold Coast. |
CLICK
HERE for Tonkgirl's Gig Guide for full details.
HOW TO KEEP NU COUNTRY ON AIR
We need your
support to return to air in December on Channel 31 to celebrate our 21st
series of Nu Country TV.
Australian record companies and artists have joined forces to help our
survival.
We have 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 and Tim McGraw, Voice judge
Blake Shelton and singing spouse Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, Brad
Paisley, Gary Allan, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church,
Carrie Underwood, Slim Dusty, Felicity and many more.
We also have the latest John Fogerty and John Denver all-stat tribute
albums and DVDS by Miranda and fellow chart topper Lady Antebellum.
CLICK HERE for our Membership Page for
full details.