Friday, August 13, 2010

Country Music Pride

Country Music Pride

Lionel Richie to perform at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s All for the Hall in L.A.

Posted: 13 Aug 2010 08:48 PM PDT

Superstar Lionel Richie will perform at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum's All for the Hall Los Angeles fundraiser on Thursday, September 23, at Club Nokia, Museum officials announced today.  The event, which will follow a "guitar pull" format, will feature performances by Country Music Hall of Fame members Emmylou Harris and Kris Kristofferson, superstar Taylor Swift, and a very special fourth chair who must remain anonymous.  Richie will be a special guest.

The evening offers a unique opportunity to see these acclaimed singer-songwriters interact with one another as they take turns swapping songs, stories and personal recollections.  The "guitar pull" is a Nashville specialty; it originated in the homes of Nashville songwriters who gathered to try out new compositions for their peers.  Nashville's most storied guitar pulls were hosted by Johnny and June Carter Cash.  The hallmarks of a great guitar pull are spontaneity and camaraderie.

Academy and Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum artist Lionel Richie has written and sung many of American music's most indelible hit songs; as a member of R&B act the Commodores and as a solo artist, he has sold more than 100 million records.  Among his many hits are "Easy," "Three Times a Lady," "Still" and "Sail On" (all with the Commodores); "Endless Love" (with Diana Ross); and "Truly," "All Night Long (All Night)," "Hello" and "Say You, Say Me."  The latter song, from the film White Nights, also garnered Richie an Academy Award for Best Original Song.  Richie collaborated with Michael Jackson on the #1 charity single "We Are the World," by USA for Africa, and has penned hits for other artists, including Kenny Rogers' #1 smash "Lady."  Recently, Richie collaborated with Rogers on an episode of CMT Crossroads; and performed on the 2009 season finale of American Idol.  He continues to successfully write and tour around the world.

The Museum launched All for the Hall, its first-ever non-bricks-and-mortar fundraising campaign, in 2005.  The campaign addresses the Museum's need for long-term financial security and will provide a safety net for the institution and its work.  This is the fourth year the Museum has taken its "annual giving" event on the road, hosting previous All for the Hall events in New York in 2007 and 2008 and in Los Angeles in 2009.

All for the Hall Los Angeles patrons are offered their choice of table seating for five for $5,000, or individual tickets at $1,000 per seat. A cocktail reception and dinner will precede the guitar pull.  To purchase tickets or for more information, patrons may contact Holly Lane at hlane@countrymusichalloffame.org or telephone (615) 416-2035 or (800) 852-6437.

All for the Hall Los Angeles is chaired by AEG Live Chairman Tim Leiweke and produced by CAA's Rod Essig and Vector Management's Ken Levitan. The event is made possible by the generosity of AEG Live and Club Nokia LA Live.  The 2010 host committee for All for the Hall Los Angeles includes Orly Adelson (dick clark productions), Mark Bloom (UBS Financial Services), Thomas Carroll (SunTrust Bank), Essig, Jay Faires (Lionsgate), John Frankenheimer (Loeb & Loeb LLP), Gary Haber (Haber Corporation), Henry Juszkiewicz (Gibson Guitar Corporation), Levitan, Bob Romeo (Academy of Country Music), Cameron Strang (New West Records), Cal Turner, III (Cal IV Entertainment) and Jody Williams (BMI).

All for the Hall Los Angeles's supporting sponsor is Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Last year's event, also held at Club Nokia, featured performances by Vince Gill, Harris, Dwight Yoakam and Melissa Etheridge; special guests included Chris Isaak, who also acted as host, Kara DioGuardi and Michael McDonald.

Ty Herndon opens up about drug addiction, new album

Posted: 13 Aug 2010 08:40 PM PDT

Ty Herndon's Country music career has seen its share of ups and downs, a fact the No. 1 hit singer and songwriter discusses frankly in the Aug. 16 issue of Country Weekly magazine, on stands now.

With a new album titled Journey On released in June, Herndon reveals to Country Weekly that the subject matter on his latest project touches on some very personal issues in the singer's past and in his present life.  Journey On also marks Herndon's debut as a songwriter, with the revitalized Country star co-writing all eleven tracks on the new album.

"I needed to talk about the last 10 years of my life," says Herndon.  "I needed to write this record."

In an exclusive Country Weekly interview with Deborah Evans Price, Herndon discloses in detail how drug addiction almost killed him and his career in the process.

"I've really never told this before, but when I recorded the majority of What Mattered Most, I was not sober," Herndon says of his 1995 debut album, which included his first No. 1 hit single.  "That should have been the most bright and shining time in my life, but everything I'd worked my whole life for was crumbling all around me."

After a four-year addiction to methamphetamine, Herndon says he hit rock bottom living in Los Angeles in 2004.  He relates a scene in which he found himself face down on his kitchen floor, crying and praying for direction in his life and career.

"I just had a little talk with God, laying there on my face because I didn't even feel worthy to talk to God at that point.  I felt the hand of God touch my head and gave me just enough strength to know that I needed to get on that plane [back to Nashville]," says Herndon.

Journey On, co-produced with Wayne Haun, blends Herndon's contemporary Country and Christian influences with lyrics that reveal a singer reinvigorated with his faith and spirituality.  Herndon, Haun and Dove Award-winning songwriter Joel Lindsey collaborated on the song "When We Fly," a duet with Lizzy Long that earned Herndon a 2010 Dove Award earlier this year in the Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year category.

Journey On marks a transitional point for Herndon and his 15-year career, which has produced sales of more than 4 million albums and multiple No. 1s on the Country charts, including "What Mattered Most," "Living in a Moment" and "It Must Be Love."  Herndon's new single and title track, "Journey On," is receiving airplay at Christian and Country radio and carries the positive kind of message that the singer and newly discovered songwriter hopes will connect with his listeners.

"There was so much I wanted to say to fit where I find myself spiritually and emotionally, and I wanted to sing about that," he says.  "When I was singing songs that someone else had written, I found that I wasn't in my strongest voice.  I am very, very proud of this record."

In February 2010, Herndon became the flagship artist for Nashville-based label, FUNL Music.  The label plans to release a new Ty Herndon Country album later this year.

Courtesy of Aristo P.R.
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