DAVE'S DIARY - 13/7/2020 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 8 - SERIES 44
TEXANS WILLIE NELSON AND GEORGE STRAIT HEADLINE NU COUNTRY TV
Texan singing actors Willie Nelson and George Strait headline Nu Country TV with classic hits on Saturday July 18 at 9.30 pm on Channel 31/ Digital 44.
Louisiana born towering troubadour Trace Adkins and Californian singer-songwriter Jon Pardi return to the show repeated Tuesday 4.30 am, Wednesday 10.30 pm and Friday 1 am.
Tennessean Larry Fleet and Gold Coast gaucho Allan Caswell also boomerang to the program filmed and edited by Laith Graham.
Nu Country TV is a highlight of C 31 streaming list on Digital 44.
Further info - https://www.c31.org.au/
SHOTGUN WILLIE HONOURS BILLY JOE SHAVER
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Shotgun Willie Nelson honours long time fellow Texan peer Billy Joe Shaver with his new version of We Are The Cowboys.
It was a 1981 hit on Shaver's fourth album I'm An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be A Diamond Some Day.)
Willie, 87, shows no sign of slowing down after revamping it on his 144 th album First Rose Of Spring that was released this month.
Nelson performs high in the saddle on one of several steeds he mounts at his horse rescue ranch at his movie town Luck near Austin.
The Red Headed Stranger has a new book coming out via Random House on September 15 with his pianist and elder sister Bobbie, now 89.
Me & Sister Bobbie - True Tales of the Family Band - shares the siblings' story of being abandoned by their parents as young children and their resulting tight-knit, eight-decade bond.
Their dual memoir shares recollections of their personal lives and careers.
The book, a collaboration with music biographer David Ritz, tells the story of Willie and Bobbie's relationship in a manner that switches between the sibling's voices in alternating chapters.
That Nelson family memoir arrives five years after Ritz and Nelson co-wrote the Texas singer's second memoir, It's a Long Story: My Life
His first memoir, Willie: An Autobiography , came out in 1988.
Bobbie, a pianist and singer, joined Nelson's band in the seventies and has collaborated with Willie on albums of gospel music, including I'd Rather Have Jesus (1986), Gospel: Old Time Religion (1992), How Great Thou Art (1996), and Farther Along: The Gospel Collection (2013).
In 2008, she released her own album, Audiobiography.
Willie also caters for a younger demographic on an upcoming duet with fellow border hopping hombre and little mate Snoop Dogg.
CLICK HERE for a recent Willie CD feature in The Diary on August 5, 2019.
GEORGE STRAIT AND ALAN JACKSON HEAD FOR AMARILLO
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South Texan singer-songwriter-actor and rancher George Strait shows why he still pulls huge crowds on his return.
George, now 68 and Georgian superstar Alan Jackson, 61, perform live to 104,000 fans at a huge stadium in Arlington, Texas.
They duet on Amarillo By Morning - originally a huge hit on Strait's 1982 album Strait From The Heart.
Fellow Texan singer-songwriter Terry Stafford wrote Amarillo By Morning after he drove home to Amarillo after playing at a 1973 San Antone rodeo.
Strait last appeared on Nu Country on November 23 with I Cross My Heart - second single on his 30th album Honky Tonk Time Machine - his 27th #1 LP.
He also appeared in August last year promoting his own brand of Tequila that he launched at Gillette stadium - home of the New England Patriots.
Strait markets his Tequila under the name Codigo - it was his first video from his Honky Tonk Time Machine.
Strait co-wrote eight songs on the disc and received the Nashville International Songwriter Keystone Award on September 17 at the Ryman Auditorium.
George has never toured here but our diarist interviewed him at the 1983 Aqua Festival in Austin, Texas.
CLICK HERE for an exclusive Strait interview in the Diary on November 16, 2011
CLICK HERE for an Alan Jackson feature in The Diary on July 29, 2015.
TRACE ADKINS FISHING ON A MISSION
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“There might be a few people talking bad about me/ when they see that I'm a missin'/ but I'd rather be on a lake with my mind on God/ than in church with my mind on fishin.'” - Mind On Fishin' - Wynn Varble-Aaron Raitiere
Singing actor Trace Adkins returns with his humorous Sabbath mission fishing saga.
Four times wed Trace, 58, had a Bible in his pick-up truck as bait floated his boat while peers worshipped in church.
His mind was on God as he ensured social isolation from that far pew.
With five daughters and three wives Trace is no stranger to churches.
Mind On Fishing is on his 14th album out now on Verge Records .
Trace praised a woman who lived to 92 after raising four children in a long war in previous video Tough People Do.
Adkins has appeared in 24 movies and telemovies and released 12 studio albums and other compilation discs.
His movies include The Lincoln Lawyer, Hickock, Traded or Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story, Trailer Park Of Terror , An American Carol, Bennett's War and The Virginian .
On October 12, 2019, Adkins married fourth wife - Canadian actress Victoria Pratt - in New Orleans .
CLICK HERE for a Trace CD feature in The Diary on July 6, 2009.
JON PARDI ALWAYS A COWBOY
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Californian singer-songwriter Jon Pardi heads way out west in a scenic role reversal in his return.
Pardi picked a desert setting for his saga but the feisty filly co-star rode off with her equine pal in a well locked float - a vast contrast to Pardi's real life.
Jon, 35, proposed to his wife Summer Duncan on stage at the famed Ryman in Nashville.
He toured here in April & May of 2019, with Brett Eldredge
Ain't It Always The Cowboy is on his third album Heartache Medication.
He recently appeared on Nu Country with Thomas Rhett on their Beer Can't Fix video from Rhett's fourth album Centrepoint Road and Heartache Medication.
Pardi also borrowed imagery from the Hud movie to drive his message for She Ain't In It from second album California , released in 2016.
Further info - http://www.jonpardi.com/welcome.html
LARRY FLEET BOOMERANGS
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Tennessean Larry Fleet returns by popular demand for his Mix Them With Whiskey video from his solo album Working Hard.
It follows his Where I Find God clip where he fished with family and worshiped in the Old Harmony Church.
Fleet's joyous journey began after Florida born star Jake Owen, now 38, found him singing at night in bars after his construction day jobs.
Larry has since toured with Owen.
“He just, kind of, took me under his wing introduced me to a lot of people and helped me out along the way,” Fleet revealed.
Working Hard was produced by Joey Moi of Florida Georgia Line and Morgan Wallen fame and features eight tracks including Lied About Love that landed his deal with Big Loud Records.
“I sent the song to Jake, and he called me and told me to get a hold on it. I didn't have a record deal at the time, so he offered to finance the record that featured this song on it,” Fleet explained.
“A couple of days later, I find out the song is still getting pitched. It gets over to Big Loud and they ask who is singing on the song. They started searching to find out who I was, and they wanted to talk to me. They called me in and told me they wanted to offer me a record deal. So I got a record deal from a song that I sang a demo on that nobody probably wanted me to have. So yea, that song kick-started this whole process.”
Further info - https://larryfleet.com/
ALLAN CASWELL HARD TIMES AND STRUGGLE
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Latter day Gold Coast hit writer, author and raconteur Allan Caswell returns with another story torn from his colourful career.
The eight time Golden Guitarist debuts new single Hard Times And Struggles from his 20 th album Tequila Amnesia.
Caswell may have a new song source.
He planned to launch his book Secrets of Stronger Songwriting and CD with Damian Carafella at the Mantra Studio Restaurant in Yarraville on Saturday.
But, like Santa, the border closure meant he never made it.
The expat English and one time Blue Mountains singer, now 68, celebrated 53 years living down under last year.
He was born in Chester , arrived here at 14 and has written more than 500 songs for a vast cast of peers.
Caswell and Sydney protégé Michael Carpenter took a wry look at life after 40 in previous video Back When I Was Older.
He recently released timely single Bordertown, penned with fellow veteran Doug Ashdown.
CLICK HERE for a Caswell feature in The Diary on September 19, 2016.
HOW TO KEEP NU COUNTRY ON AIR
We need your support in Nu Country TV's 44th series with Australian record companies and major artists teaming to ensure our survival.
Singing Texan crime novelist Kinky Friedman has donated his 18th album Resurrection that features Willie Nelson.
You can join Watling & Bates as members and win their 13 track CD Small Town Tales and Kip Moore's third album Slowheart.
We also have other CDS by major artists you can win by becoming a Nu Country TV member or renewing your membership.
They include Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and late larrikin legend A.P. Johnson.
CLICK HERE for our Membership Page for details.