DAVE'S DIARY - 22/12/2014 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 4 - SERIES 25
ERIC CHURCH HEADLINES NU COUNTRY TV CHRISTMAS SHOW
North Carolina star Eric Church headlines Nu Country TV on Christmas Day at 10.30 pm on Channel 31, Digital 44.
Expat Queenslander 8 Ball Aitken and West Australian 2015 Starmaker finalist Jonny Taylor also return to the show hosted by Mid Pacific Bob Olson and repeated Monday 5.30 am and 2.30 pm and Thursday at 2.30 am.
Texan Mikel Knight debuts on the program filmed and edited by Laith Graham.
And bluegrass queen Rhonda Vincent and her band The Rage return to Behind Bars.
Nu Country TV is a highlight of the 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
COLD ONE LEAVES CHURCH CHILLED
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Eric Church suffered the cold shoulder back in May in a cool room and warehouse to massage his message on his latest video clip.
Cold One is third single from Church's fifth album The Outsiders, released in February.
Church included band members in the video, directed by Peter Zavadil, as both performers and actors.
It was filmed at a beer warehouse and bar near Nashville .
"It's one of my favourite songs on the album," Church, 37, told Nu Country of the tune with a salient sting in the tail.
"I grew up a big fan of The Band and Little Feat . That song captures that era - it will be a single."
The CD spawned chart-topping single, Give Me Back My Hometown , but Church doesn't write songs for current radio trends.
It's very feel-good, Church says of radio fodder.
It's a little bit shallower than it was a few years ago - it's Let's drink, forget our worries, beach, bonfire, lake.' When something's working, everybody falls into a pattern. One thing I miss is turning on the radio and just having a song punch me in the gut, and, as a songwriter, knock me on my ass. And I think we could use more of that.
Church has since released new single Talladega .
The tune is a nostalgic flashback to some of his favourite memories of his North Carolina youth.
NASCAR was as hot as any sport back in the '90s, and it was a thing where a group of your buddies go take stuff, tents, camp out, stay a few days, walk back and forth to the track, Church recalls.
We actually lost the damn car, you know; you're so far away. I can't tell you who won the race, but I could tell you all the experiences we had in a two- or three-day period.
CLICK HERE for a Church interview in the Diary on March 1, 2014.
MIKEL KNIGHT FLEES BOUNTY HUNTERS
Texan hick hop singer Mikel Knight flees bounty hunters in his Cherry Red muscle car - a 1977 Oldsmobile - in his video for Last Night In Mexico.
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Knight was raised in the hill country near San Antone and heads to Mexico with a cashed up navigator in his video directed by Peter Zavadil. It was filmed and shot across the Lone Star State in honor of its back story and is lead single from new album, Urban Cowboy: Where the City Meets the Country . It feels good to launch the video and receive such great feedback and support, said Knight. We worked long hours to make sure the visual experience was as strong as the actual story being told and I think we achieved that. This single and the video are meant to take you on a wild ride, and from the response from our fans, they're having a ball. We couldn't do any of this without their support, and we're looking forward to bringing them more hard-hitting, great Urban Country Music! |
The singer runs his own label, 17 vans and tour bus and sold more than 500,000 CDS.
At 17 he was discovered by a local studio owner and inked his first deal with a west coast indie label.
Mikel relocated back to Texas in 2003 and created his own music.
The birth of Hip-Hop inspired his Urban Country Fusion paying homage to hard-hitting street beats and irreverence from rap while embracing country music roots.
Further info - http://www.mikelknight.com/site/
RHONDA VINCENT BEHIND BLUEGRASS BARS
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Missouri bluegrass queen Rhonda Vincent performs an evocative tribute and peace paean to veterans of three major wars in her live version of Till They All Come Home from 2006 album All American Bluegrass Girl. The singer scored applause from veteran peers in her star studded audience in Behind Bars. Vincent and her band The Rage also perform a dynamic version of Driving Nails In My Coffin at the famed Loveless Café in Tennessee. At 52 the prolific award winner has 16 albums in her slipstream. Rhonda won two SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America) awards on February 2 including the highest honour - Entertainer of Year. |
The show was memorable for Vincent, who was also inducted into prestigious SPBGMA Hall of Greats, and her band, the Rage .
They won Instrumental Group of the Year, with band members, Josh Williams and Mickey Harris, also winning Guitar Player and Bass Player of Year.
"This was one of the greatest evenings of my career, from the induction to the Hall of Greats, Entertainer of the Year, and I'm so proud of all the men of the Rage for being honoured for their incredible talents," Vincent says.
"We travel 250 days out of the year, living our dream, playing the music we love, and this night was a great reward for all our hard work. We are very thankful for all the honours!"
She also released two-disc set Only Me that combines her love of bluegrass and country and spent much of the year on the road performing those songs.
The singer-songwriter admits that, even after 25 years in music, she finds her new set of tunes challenging to sing every night.
"All of these songs, I found myself singing in a different way, and probably the songs on this album were more difficult than anything I've ever sang before," she said.
"And as I got on stage and started singing them, there's not just one song - I mean, it's almost exhausting when you start singing these songs with all of the turns and the twists and holding the notes out."
Shotgun Willie Nelson, 80, and Georgian singer Daryle Singletary, 41 and seven album veteran, also appear on Only Me .
CLICK HERE for a Vincent CD review in the Diary on September 25, 2006.
8 BALL AITKEN TANK ON EMPTY
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Former Queensland banana picker 8 Ball Aitken celebrates his marathon national tour after long Texas and Tennessee sojourns since 2009 with his video for My Tank's On Empty from seventh album Southern Hemisphere .
The singer exploits petrol metaphors for frustration high in the mountains.
Aitken, second eldest of 12 children, uses videos to flesh out credible characters - especially being hoodwinked by a Mexican senorita seductress in a robbery in previous video I'm Going To Jail (She's Going to Mexico .)
8 Ball and Troy Cassar-Daley - regular recording and performing partners - made the 2015 Golden Guitar awards finals for Old Hickory in the instrumental category.
The duo perform together at the January festival where 8-Ball releases eighth album The New Normal and Troy hopes to add to his 26 Golden Guitars.
Aitken songs have also been used on popular American TV shows including Justified, Parking Wars and Breaking Amish .
He recorded The New Normal in Nashville with expat Australian producer Mike Flanders.
CLICK HERE for an 8-Ball CD review in the Diary on January 25, 2014.
JONNY TAYLOR SUFFERING IN SILENCE
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West Australian Jonny Taylor returns with his new video honouring unsung survivors.
Suffering in Silence is from Taylor 's second album Something To Say.
The Mandurah singer uses frequent life on the road to soak up mental illness, depression and teen suicide sources for his songs Suffering In Silence, Brighter Than You Feel and Nothing Wrong With You.
But pressure on the singer, who swung from the ropes on reality TV shows Australian Idol and Australia's Got Talent , struck a chord on a personal level.
I think my awareness was more from myself, Taylor confessed to Nu Country .
I had a struggle with it for a few years without realising what it was. I was in a rut and found it hard to get out of. Ultimately that took my grand-dad on my dad's side. He shut himself down mentally and his body followed behind. It's such a common thing with men. I've seen it in the wheat belt in W.A. We get out there and I see the lengths they go to keep their heads above water. My grand-dad was only about 72. He was quite fit - then they found an issue on his lungs and he convinced himself it was going to be the end of his life. He lived in fear - we would sit with him, talk to him and try to make him laugh and he wouldn't even open his eyes to look at you.
CLICK HERE for a Jonny Taylor interview in The Diary on July 16, 2013.
HOW TO KEEP NU COUNTRY ON AIR
We need your support as we celebrate the 25th series of Nu Country TV.
Australian record companies and artists have joined forces to ensure 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, Ashley Monroe, Brad Paisley, Gary Allan, Toby Keith, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Chris Young, Charley Pride, Slim Dusty, Kacey Jones, Rosanne Cash and more.
We also have DVDS by Lady Antebellum.
CLICK HERE for our Membership Page for full details.