DAVE'S DIARY - 3/9/08 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 14 - SERIES 10

LARRY JON WILSON HEADLINES NU COUNTRY TV

Celebrated but reclusive Georgian singer-songwriter Larry Jon Wilson headlines the finale of the 10TH series of Nu Country TV this Saturday - September 6 - at 8.30 p m on C 31.

Wilson, 67, performs in a documentary to promote his return to recording after a 30-year hiatus.

Revered American TV icon Andy Griffith also appears with chart topper and hot shot guitarist Brad Paisley.

And Kentucky singer Sarah Johns makes her debut on the show repeated on Thursday at 9.30 am.

Also making their debuts are Queensland country singer Shari Williams and Sydney artist Danielle Blakey.

More familiar is veteran Oklahoma stone country singer and pianist Becky Hobbs live at our special concert with fellow international artist Kacey Jones from the Noise Bar at Railway Hotel, Brunswick.

We also preview Series #11 with a snippet of a video of When The Dust Settles by the Prairie Oysters who supported Becky and Kacey at Bayleaf Restaurant, Dandenong.

The popular Melbourne band is likely to perform at the long running Red Hill country festival in January.

LARRY JON AND DAVE LOGGINS SONG

Larry Jon Wilson made a big impression on Australian fans when he was one of the unsung heroes in the acclaimed Heartworn Highways documentary.

Wilson and fellow outlaw David Allan Coe appeared in the docco, originally on VHS but now on DVD that dated back to 1976.

The late Townes Van Zandt stole the show when he appeared in a cameo separate to a picking session with Guy Clark, Steve Young and Steve Earle as a teenager.

This time Wilson, now 67, recorded an album for 1965 Records, promoted on a DVD docco filmed at Perdido Key and other locales in Florida and Alabama.

Wilson performs an organic version of Dave Loggins evocative hit Goodbye Eyes - a highlight of the Loggins compilation released by Australian record label Raven.

We'll have more songs from the Wilson docco during our summer season - Series 11.

CLICK HERE for a Larry Jon Wilson feature from the Diary on August 27, 2008.

ANDY GRIFFITH AND BRAD PAISLEY

Retro country band BR5-49 eulogised former syndicated TV host Andy Griffith in their humorous song Me' N Opie Down By The Duck Pond before they toured here in 1998.

But this time Griffith, 82, joins chart topping West Virginia born country star Brad Paisley in mall and beach locales in the video for new hit Waiting On A Woman from his latest album 5th Gear.

Paisley, 35 and a hot guitarist, has had 10 #1 hits and sold 10 million albums in his decade long recording career.

Griffith first appears in a mall with Paisley who is waiting for a woman and frocks up for a beach scene where he's the man still waiting for a woman.

The beach is on an island Andy owns near his home in North Carolina.

"One of my greatest achievements was meeting Andy Griffith," Brad revealed.

"Kim (Williams-Paisley Brad's actress wife) and me took my son Huck. We flew over to the island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina where Andy and his wife live - the prettiest spot on earth, pretty as Hawaii.

"We went down a week early so I could meet Andy and visit with him. Course Andy wasn't really sure what a video was about until I described its function. Andy and his wife both loved the song."

"Andy drove us around his property. It's just beautiful down there. Afterwards we sat around the house and told stories. Andy still has the Martin guitar that he played on The Andy Griffith Show. Matter of fact Andy said he played that same guitar in the movie, A Face in the Crowd. I can't believe I sat in his house on his sofa and played that same guitar while Andy sang, 'You get a line and I'll get a pole, honey, You get a line and I'll get a pole, babe, You get a line and I'll get a pole and we'll go down to the crawdad hole, Honey, baby mine.'"

Griffith moved from Hollywood back home to North Carolina after his friend, Don Knotts, aka Barney Fife, passed away.

CLICK HERE for a Paisley CD Review from the Diary on January 8, 2008.

SARAH JOHNS

Kentucky singer-songwriter Sarah Johns exudes plentiful humour in the video for her latest hit The One In The Middle.

The video, set to a bouncing pop-country arrangement powered by a purposely comic harmony vocal groove, finds the a female protagonist pointedly breaking up with her guy after discovering him enjoying the company of what the lyrics refer to as "just a skank."

The singer tells the fellow that she was ready to offer him the ring finger on her left hand.

Instead, she's offering a different finger - "The one in the middle/The one that's a little bit longer," Johns sings in the chorus.
That's not all, either, as she adds, "And I've got another one on my other hand/So I can say it even stronger."

Sarah, 26, wrote all 11 songs on debut album Big Love in a Small Town.

That small town is Pollard - with just 150 people - 90 minutes south of Lexington and reliant on tobacco farms.

Toby Keith's manager T K Kimbrell discovered Johns performing in a bar - she has since toured with Keith and Texan troubadour George Strait.

But her introduction to music was through her church.

"I was in church my whole life singing. Singing all the time. I led praise and worship at a Pentecostal church until I was 21 in Lexington."

"The sound guy at church was saying 'Sarah you're really good. You need to do something with it. I said 'okay'. I just kept on singing."

She did not get interested in secular music from her family.

"I couldn't really listen to anything. All I could listen to was church music. That's the way it was. I just grew up in church so much, and they didn't want to me listen to so-called secular music. I was sneaking when I was mowing grass, I'd listen to Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette. I just loved it."

Johns continued singing, but left church singing for the bars in Lexington where she went to the University of Kentucky.

She sang songs of Cline, Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack and Allison Krauss.

"I knew that it wasn't going to fly. If the church people knew I was singing at a bar, they'd say, "oh my God. She shouldn't be doing that.'"

Her break came when Kimbrell hit the bar where Johns was singing.

"He said the atmosphere changed when I sang," she recalled.

"He said 'you need to move to Nashville. He said, 'I can't do this here. Are you sure?' He said, 'I'm telling you right now you need to move to Nashville'. In 28 days, I broke up with my boyfriend and moved to Nashville. I was just about to graduate. I knew that I would never get this opportunity again. This is your chance. You'd better do it, and I just left. I quit college."

Joe Scaife, who worked with Gretchen Wilson and Montgomery Gentry, produced Johns who had a big hand in direction of the CD from picking players to the music.

"Just make sure there's fiddle and steel on it, and that's all I care about," says Johns.

Further info - www.sarahjohns.com

BECKY HOBBS AND MAN IN BLACK

Oklahoma stone country singer-songwriter and pianist Becky Hobbs performs her Johnny Cash eulogy There Will Never Be Another Man In Black live at the Noise Bar at the Railway Hotel in Brunswick.
The tune is from Becky's 2004 album Songs From The Road Of Life on her indie Beckaroo label.
Hobbs and Californian born comedienne and country singer Kacey Jones played the Nu Country TV concert special during their debut Australian tour in January-February.
< Photo by Kip Karpik

Hobbs, born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, turned 58 in Tamworth, and impressed with a vast variety of songs from Best Of The Beckaroo Part 1 and her rich back catalogue.

Beckaroo features songs from her albums from 1988-2001 - All Keyed Up, The Boots I Came To Town In, From Oklahoma With Love, Swedish Coffee & American Sugar and Hottest Ex In Texas.

CLICK HERE for a Becky Hobbs feature from the Diary on December 15, 2007.
CLICK HERE for their Noise Bar review from our concert section.
CLICK HERE for our exclusive on the road feature on Kacey and Becky from our Diary on February 11, 2008.

KACEY JONES CDS AND TEE SHIRTS TOO

Kacey Jones has donated autographed copies of her acclaimed tribute CD to the late, legendary Texan singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury to Nu Country.

Nu Country has featured the CD video clips San Francisco Mabel Joy and Lie To Me Darlin' featuring Texan singer-songwriters Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Payne.

The CD - released here in July - is one of many rewards for viewers to become members or renew their much-appreciated memberships.

Kacey also autographed tee shirts and posters for Nu Country members.

For your $22 membership and postage you can take your pick of Kacey memorabilia. We have limited supplies so please email us at music@nucountry.com.au first.

SHARI WILLIAMS SUNNY

North Queensland chanteuse Shari Williams performs a video for her new single - Out Of Here from her debut album Sunny.

"It was about how a terrible relationship finally ends and you realise you are better off," Williams revealed.

"In this case I grab my guitar, leave Sydney and head to Armidale to study Law. So the breakup ended up being a fantastic life-changing event."

Shari was born into a family of musicians.

Her dad cut a vinyl record when he was at school and her mum sang in school choirs, her sister is a songwriter and plays the guitar along with her uncle and cousins.

Shari's dad hails from Cooma and her mum was inner Sydney.

But Shari was born in Canberra and lived on Sydney's Northern Beaches from the age of two and now resides in Far North Queensland.

She began performing at just three years of age with Jazz/modern ballet and tap & loved it!

Shari learned piano, guitar, flute, saxophone, recorder, kazoo and even bagpipes.

"Then puberty came along and it was more like fantasia," Shari revealed.

"You know the hippo in the tutu rather than the delicate fairy say no more!'

Not long after, Shari left school she studied nursing and sang in a popular Sydney corporate band Don't Ask.

They played hotels and functions including Backyard Blitz, SBS, Sydney University Law Society Balls and Manly Rugby Union parties

Further info - www.shariwilliams.com.au

DANIELLE BLAKEY DRIVING SONG

Sydney singer-songwriter Danielle Blakey performs a video for her Driving Song.
Blakey's music is a hybrid of country, pop and jazz.

She has toured Europe and the US, playing North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and Monterey Jazz Festival in California.

Danielle also cut Anybody Listening, penned by Peter Northcote and Marty Irwin that appeared on US television show Smallville.

She is now working on her album of original material produced and co-written with Peter Northcote, for release later this year.

"I started singing at around the age of nine, when I realised I was just to unco for ballet," Danielle revealed.

"In ballet I found out that there was this little singing studio below the ballet school I went inside to take a look. After five minutes of being there I was hooked. I started singing and acting classes in a group of similar age kids and at the end of the year we would put on concerts and plays. It was great training ground as there was no pressure and we were just there to have fun. After a few years of being involved with that, one of the teachers started to recommend I take my singing to the next level, so I began to enter into the shopping centre talent quests, eisteddfods, winning some and losing some but gaining experience, learning to perform and developing my stage craft. I can remember that during the final year HSC exams instead of studying I was out many of the nights before exams going to rehearsals, gigs, and doing recordings. I definitely knew I wasn't going to uni by then. I'm now playing with a couple of bands - Harry Sutherland Quartet - and my own band."

Further info - http://www.myspace.com/danielleblakey

WIN ADAM BRAND CD-DVD PRIZES

We have more good tidings for viewers wanting to join Nu Country TV and keep us on air in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and New Zealand.

Major independent label Compass Brothers has donated autographed copies of Adam Brand's seventh disc Blame It On Eve for viewers who become Nu Country members or renew their membership.

The CD has a bonus DVD of the making of the album and the video clip of Get On Down The Road that we aired on our show.

Adam also did an exclusive interview with Nu Country TV that we have broken up into two episodes during Series #10.

We have limited supplies of Adam's big selling CD-DVD so please email us first at music@nucountry.com.au so we can allocate your reward.

CLICK HERE for the Adam Brand interview from the Diary on March 3, 2008.


WIN CATHERINE BRITT AND MELINDA SCHNEIDER DISCS

We also have the latest CDS by Aussie stars Melinda Schneider and Catherine Britt as a reward for new members and renewing members.

Melinda hosted an episode of Nu Country and has donated copies of her fifth CD Be Yourself.

And Catherine and her record company ABC-Warner provided autographed copies of her third CD Little Wildflower.

We have limited supplies of Melinda and Catherine's big selling CDs so please email us first at music@nucountry.com.au so we can allocate your reward.

WILLIE NELSON BOOK PRIZES

We also celebrated Shotgun Willie Nelson's 75th birthday on April 30 with a special giveaway of his collectors' book.

We have limited stock of Willie Nelson - The Collected Writings Of A Living Legend - The Facts Of Life And Other Dirty Jokes.

The book, featuring yarns, jokes and Willie song lyrics, is a new addition to our prize treasure trove.

It's available for viewers wanting to become members or current members wishing to renew membership.

Please email us at music@nucountry.com.au for a chance to win a copy of this book with your membership.

We also have autographed copies of Mike Brady's new album Country To Country and others by Troy Cassar-Daley, Tania Kernaghan and Arizona singer Billy Wyatt.

CLICK HERE for our Membership Page.

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