COPPER CHIEF RECEIVE 2019 TEXAS REGIONAL RADIO AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR NEW BAND OF THE YEAR AND GROUP OF THE YEAR

PHOTO: Christina Feddersen

https://www.copperchiefmusic.com

From roots to rock 'n' roll, country and soul, Copper Chief can do it all. The multi-talented group from South Austin, Texas has been nominated for not one, but two Texas Regional Radio Awards and will be performing at this year's 9th Annual T3R Awards on March 24 at the Arlington Music Hall. The four best friends are being nominated for New Band of the Year as well as Group of the Year. To cast your vote, visit here.

Copper Chief released their self-titled debut album in December 2017, but most recently starred as a fan favorite on the USA Network country music showcase series "Real Country" that was executive produced by the legendary Shania Twain. The album was produced and recorded by Josh Serrato and Ben Hussey at Melody Mountain Studios in Stephenville, Texas.

Since then, the group has burned a path through Texas and have steadily increased their fanbase throughout the U.S.

Copper Chiefs will be performing in the following cities:

February 21 Dallas, TX

February 22 Springfield, MO

February 23 Lufkin, TX

March 02 Lindale, TX

March 08 Austin, TX

March 09 Houston, TX

March 15 McKinney, TX

March 16 St. Jo, TX

March 22 Dodge City, KS

March 23 Comanche, TX

March 29 Waxahachie, TX

March 30 Durant, OK

April 05 Spring, TX

April 19 Saint Jo, TX

May 17 Lampasas, TX

May 25 Austin, TX

Copper Chiefs will also be performing multiple shows at this year's SXSW. To learn more, please visit https://www.copperchiefmusic.com for 2019 dates.

MEET US MARINE SINGER/SONGWRITER MIKE CORRADO

Photo credit: Mike Corrado Twitter

Have you met Mike Corrado? Mike not only stands behind our country each and every day fighting for our freedom and safety, he also stands behind a microphone performing his music to audiences not only here in my local area of eastern coastal North Carolina, but around the country . Well, we started listening about 7 years ago and music fans really started paying attention when Mike took the stage with Toby Keith to perform "Call A Marine" for the May 20, 2014 televised special "ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute to the Troops." We love him around here and we hope you do too!

Mike Corrado first bent the ear of radio stations and was featured on outlets like CMT and Armed Forces Radio and Television and others with "Stand", his 2010 single and video, a loving dedication to those who serve in our military and their families who support them.

A few years back, Mike took a leave from service and put his heart and soul into writing and performing music, hitting the road and performing wherever he could to whoever would listen.Duing that time, Mike shared the stage with big names like Edwin McCain and John Mayer. That time off would soon come to a quick halt with the events of September 11, 2001 when the terrorists brought down the World Trade Center. Mike was again mobilized, proudly put his uniform on and hit the front lines with the Marines for a year in Fallujah, Iraq. Mike didn't let the events going on around him keep him from music, he let it fuel his fire and gave him even more reason to write and record from personal place. Mike wrote, recorded and released a video for "Still in the Fight" to raise awareness for those wounded in service. The song made such an impact that it was turned into a documentary which was released on DVD. You can read more about that at http://www.stillinthefightfilm.com.






Mike released a feel good single recently called "Beach Bar" and the video came out last week. Check it out below. The song is available on iTunes and most digital outlets. If you download, please do it via a reputable source that pays royalties and be sure to leave a review!



I hope you'll connect with Mike, listen to his music and let him know that you appreciate his service and his music. Mike, thank you from the bottom of my heart and with gratitude from my family for all that you do.

Connect with Mike online at www.mikecorrado.com and get social on Twitter at @mjcorrado, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/corradomusic, Instagram at @themikecorrado and Youtube at www.youtube.com/user/mcbgrunt.

- Jenn
Follow Jenn on Twitter at @lovinlyrics

NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: MO PITNEY

Photo Credit: Joseph Llanes

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2015 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

You might have to go back to Josh Turner to find a singer like Mo Pitney — one whose voice so effortlessly embraces Country tradition and expresses more through understatement than many do through excess.

Born in Cherry Valley, Illinois, Pitney began learning to play his dad’s guitar at age 12. From Johnny Cash, Daryle Singletary, Randy Travis and the other vocalists who inspired him, he learned how to beckon listeners into a song with a smile and an easygoing delivery.

As co-writer on each of the tracks on his upcoming Curb Records album, produced by Tony Brown, Pitney shows a strong lyrical facility too. On “Clean Up on Aisle 5” (Pitney, Wil Nance), he transforms a chance encounter between two supermarket shoppers on into an elegy for a past they’d both left behind. He opens “Come Do a Little Life” (Pitney, Nance and Byron Hill) with the unpromising “hey, girl” callout, but then follows with “you’re my best friend” and eventually elevates the tune to a meltingly romantic paean, assuring the target of his love, “What a beautiful mom you’re going to be.”

In June, Pitney became the first debuting performer in 14 years to earn a standing ovation at the Grand Ole Opry. The last one was Turner. It could be a while before someone shows the merit to repeat that feat.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

MUSICAL HERO

“I fell in love with music when I heard Tony Rice sing and play guitar.”

DREAM DUET PARTNER

“Tammy Wynette.”

PET PEEVE

“I’m trying to eliminate them.”

PHRASE YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING OVER AND OVER

“Thank you.”

On the Web: www.MoPitney.com

On Twitter: @MoPitney

NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: THE SWON BROTHERS

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2014 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc. Photo Credit: Jeremy Cowart

Whatever Merle Haggard and his pals did or didn’t smoke long ago in Muskogee, Oklahoma, one couple there managed to raise Colton and Zach Swon on a diet of strong values and good music. As toddlers, the brothers debuted with Exodus, the Swon family’s band. Zach was just 9 or 10 when he took over its drum chair, with Colton already entertaining up front and in the spotlight.

 After they cut down on touring and concentrated on building a residency at Wagoner, Oklahoma’s Civic Center, the band broadened beyond its Southern gospel style. They covered everyone from Michael Jackson to Elvis to Frank Sinatra, complete with appropriate stage costumes. Their typically sold-out shows soon propelled Colt and Zach into a duo career. They moved to Nashville, began writing their own songs and won national exposure as members of Team Blake on NBC’s “The Voice.”

With the Oct. 14 release of their self-titled debut album on Arista Nashville, produced by Mark Bright and The Swon Brothers, their momentum accelerated. Whether riding a dance beat prickled by banjo and a few well-placed turntable scratches on “95” (written by Ryan Hurd, Frank Rogers and Brad Tursi) or surfing surging dynamics on the ballad “Breaking” (Derek Southerland and Jamie Moore), their voices trade solo spots and twine in tight synchronicity, often free of vibrato but always rich in expression. This “Swon song” augurs a bright future.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

ACTOR WHO’D PORTRAY YOU IN A BIOPIC

COLTON: “Paul Rudd or Owen Wilson.”

ZACH: “Jack Black.”

WHAT YOU’D BE IF NOT A MUSICAL ARTIST

COLTON: “Coach in the NFL.”

ZACH: “”Football player in the NFL.”

MOMENT YOU’D LOVE TO RELIVE

COLTON: “Suiting up to play football.”

ZACH: “Singing with Bob Seger.”

SOMETHING WE’D NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU

“Zach gets pedicures and Colton hates velvet.”

On the Web: www.SwonBrothers.com

On Twitter: @TheSwonBrothers

CMA CLOSEUP NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: DANIEL LEE

Photo Credit: Lyn Sengupta

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2014 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

Daniel Lee isn’t the first young Country artist to write about trucks, beer and ball caps. But he’s found a few fresh perspectives on these tropes.

Consider “Hell Yeah,” one of five solo-writes on his debut album Roots, available now from Average Joes Entertainment. This is a flat-out exercise in braggadocio. He hollers out that he’s a “throw-down fighter,” a “Mason jar sipper” and “one crazy S.O.B.” His litany owes less to Music Row than to Mike Fink, the frontier riverboat legend who informed the patrons of countless saloons, “I’m a Salt River roarer! I’m a ringtailed squealer! I’m a reg’lar screamer from the ol’ Massassip!”

Whether consciously or not, Lee invests his lyrics with a kind of folk eloquence and delivers them with swagger, sensitivity and/or pain, whatever is most appropriate. Another self-penned song mirrors “Hell Yeah,” this time conveying adoration to his true love through more-than-clever metaphors: “I’m a freight train ready to go off any minute and you’re the track that keeps me in line,” he assures on “To Me.” And a third solo composition, “For Sale Sign,” turns prosaic want-ad copy into a confession that the object being sold is “this heart of mine.” Sounds corny, yes, but it also feels real and works beautifully.

This Winder, Georgia, native is already writing and performing like a truck-bed, bar-brawl poet.

For more on Daniel Lee, visit www.CMACloseUp.com.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

MUSICAL HERO

“It's a tie between Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.”

SONG YOU’D LOVE TO COVER

“‘Iris,’ by the Goo Goo Dolls.”

PET PEEVE

“Being hung up on.”

ACTOR WHO COULD PLAY YOU IN A BIOPIC

“Whoever is crazy enough at the time!”

LUCKY CHARM

“It’s a little piece of metal that I engraved ‘luck’ into. I wear it around my right boot.”

On the Web: www.DanielLeeOfficial.com

On Twitter: @DanielLeeMusic

CMA CLOSEUP: NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - AMERICAN YOUNG

Photo Credit: Reid Rolls

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2014 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

When two artists, already wise to the ways of the Country Music world, form a duo, the result can be more varied than what you often get from sibling pairs.

When the twosome is Kristy Osmunson and Jon Stone, it can also be close to magic.

They have plenty in common. Both are American and, though well established in Nashville, young. Stone’s writing credits include “Me and My Gang” for Rascal Flatts, “A Woman Like You” for Lee Brice and “It Ain’t Yours to Throw Away” for fictitious superstar Gunnar Scott on “Nashville.” Osmunson sizzled on fiddle with another duo, Bomshel.

On June 24, Curb Records released their first digital EP, whose six tracks bubble with their chemistry and daringly defy convention. Their first single, “Love Is War” (written by Billy Montana, Kylie Sackley and Jonathan Singleton), eschews slamming backbeats and hillbilly swagger for simple, quiet harmonies and unisons over delicate, lutelike plucks and an almost evanescent drum part. Each takes a turn in the spotlight — Stone with tangible urgency on “Wasn’t Gonna Drink Tonight” (Lee Brice, Billy Montana and Stone), Osmunson with muted desperation on “God Sends a Train.”

Expect American Young to be making music this memorable well into adulthood.

For more on American Young, visit www.CMACloseUp.com.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

BOOK ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND

OSMUNSON: “The Do’s and Don’ts of Twerking.”

STONE: “Touring for Dummies.”

PET PEEVE

OSMUNSON: “Jon.”

STONE: “I don’t have a pet. I travel too much.”

FAVORITE MODE OF TRANSPORTATION

OSMUNSON: “Horse.”

STONE: “Teleportation – anything besides the back of a cop car.”

TITLE OF YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OSMUNSON: “Eat Dessert First.”

STONE: “Confusion Gets You Far in Life.”

FAVORITE FOOD ON THE ROAD

OSMUNSON: “Carrot juice and veggies – I’m pretty much a rabbit.”

STONE: “Anything local.”

SOMETHING WE’D NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU

OSMUNSON: “I’m not really blond.”

STONE: “I can read.”

On the Web: www.AmericanYoung.com

On Twitter: @American_Young

CMA CLOSEUP NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: LEAH TURNER

Photo Credit: Jeremy Cowart

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2014 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

Leah Turner was raised on a California ranch, the daughter of a rodeo champion. Her parents bought her a piano when she was 5. Within a year, inspired by the Country classics her mom and dad enjoyed, she had written her first song.

In a college songwriting class, she caught the ear of Kenny Loggins, who persuaded her to move to Los Angeles. But Turner, sensing that Nashville was more consonant with her sound and spirit, eventually booked a one-way ticket to Tennessee and began making herself known in the heart of the Country capital.

On her self-titled debut EP, released by Columbia Nashville and produced by Cary Barlowe, Jim Catino and Jesse Frasure, Turner’s talent explodes like a sunburst. Her singing is intense, with a rough timbre shaped by technical command and deep soulfulness. Each of these six songs rocks hard but at medium tempo, allowing Turner plenty of room to sculpt her delivery with delicate nuance.

When she needs to interpret a lyric carefully, as on “Beat Up Bronco” (written by Turner, Barlowe, Frasure and Hillary Lindsey), she does so; even on the “whoa, whoa” lick at the end of the chorus, she pours soul into her syllables. And when she needs to shout it out, nothing can stop her.

Turner’s grit, humor and talent suggest that the era of male chart domination in Country may soon be coming to an end.

For more on Leah Turner, visit www.CMACloseUp.com.

IN HER OWN WORDS

SONG YOU WISH YOU’D WRITTEN

“I really love ‘Love Can Build a Bridge’ by the Judds. I remember singing it as a little girl. There’s so much truth in that song.”

SONG YOU’D LOVE TO COVER

“Right now, I cover ‘Cowboy Take Me Away’ by Dixie Chicks.”

FIRST GIG

“The first time I played guitar out was in a place in L.A. called On the Rocks, on Sunset Boulevard. My mom, dad, my uncle and three other people came. I learned right there what Garth Brooks meant when he said if there’s only one person there, play like there were thousands.”

GREATEST PERFORMANCE TO DATE

“It was the second night of the Brad Paisley tour. The band was on. I felt on. The crowd was loving it. And I walked off of there with my band, feeling like, ‘Hell, yeah. We can do this’.”

On the Web: www.LeahTurner.com

On Twitter: @LeahTurnerMusic

CMA CLOSEUP - NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: LUCY HALE

Photo credit: Sasha Eismann

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2014 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Hale adored Faith Hill and Shania Twain, performed two Martina McBride songs during a talent competition at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills and ultimately left for Los Angeles to seek success as a singer.

But fate had something else in store for her. Hale was just 13 when she won the Fox Network’s “American Juniors” singing competition; her exposure opened the door toward appearances on multiple TV shows and a regular role as Aria on ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars.”

Maybe if she’d gone to Nashville instead, she wouldn’t have wound up a TV celebrity first. But as her debut album demonstrates, it was only a matter of time before she found her way back onto the musical track. Released on June 3 by the DMG Nashville/Bigger Picture Group, produced by Mark Bright and Mike Daly, Road Between captures Hale’s ability to coax listeners into the lyric with a buoyant, upbeat delivery.

Just check out her first single, “You Sound Good to Me.” Written by Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird and Hillary Lindsey, set to a sassy groove, the snap of the snare backbeat sweetened by fiddle and slide guitar, it flows easily over just the I and IV chords. But the dimension comes from Hale’s vocals — fluid and a little teasing on the verses, locked tight to the harmony on the irresistible, sing-along choruses. She’s a winner … and, for Country lovers, worth the wait.

For more on Lucy Hale, visit www.CMACloseUp.com.

IN HER OWN WORDS

MUSICAL HERO

“Martina McBride. Her song ‘Broken Wing’ made me want to be in Country Music.”

SONG YOU’D LOVE TO COVER

“I'd love to do a Country version of Emeli Sandé’s song ‘Next To Me.’ Or ‘Jolene’ by Dolly of course.”

BOOK ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND

“The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.”

WORD YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING REPEATEDLY

“I literally say the word ‘literally’ all the time.”

LUCKY CHARM

“A diamond ring that was passed on to me from my late grandma.”

SOMETHING WE’D NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU

“A lot of times people meet me and think that I’m 24 going on 40. I’m actually quite goofy and childlike, though. You just have to get to know me :).”

On the Web: www.LucyHale.com

On Twitter: @LucyHale

CMA CLOSE UP - NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: DOWNDAY

Photo Credit: Render Records

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2014 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

DownDay could fit in equally at CMA Music Festival or on a bill with Metallica. But the Arkansas quartet’s hearts are pure, if power-chorded, Country.

Christian Dean and Rockey Jones, along with bassist Damon Shores and drummer Mike Martin, signed with Render Records in April 2013. Nearly two months later, the label released the band’s earlier, regional album, Chapter 1, along with “Back in the Day” (written by Jones, Dean, Steve Freeman and David Oneal). From the structure of the song to the catchy chorus, that debut single leaned strongly toward Country and began earning adds within a month on Country radio.

Their first album for Render, After All These Years, produced by Steve Freeman and releasing May 26 on Render Records, stretches way beyond this foundation. Dreamy washes of piano, a moody minor key on the verses and anguished lead vocals wrap “Last Song” (Jones, Dean) in the cloak of metal balladry. And “Slide Me One More” (Dean) is nothing but voice and a ringing guitar playing slow, droning arpeggios.

But the lyrics draw from both vintage Haggard and modern Music Row, mourning, “I bet no one would ever miss a drunk like me.” A crunchy guitar and muscular Hammond organ riff do kick off “Crank It Up,” (Jones, Dean, Freeman) that’s true — but the lyrical bullet points are Country all the way: blacktops, cutoff jeans, beer cans and George Strait on the radio.

So mix in a little Dokken or Stryper with your Waylon! DownDay does — and it works.

For more on DownDay, visit www.CMACloseUp.com.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

MUSICAL HERO

DEAN: “Man, there are a lot of them, Paycheck to Haggard. They wrote and sang about their music, their way of life, so I try and do the same with my songs today. It lets people see the real you and that’s very important in my music."

SONG YOU SING IN THE SHOWER

JONES: “I always turn on Pandora ‘Drink a Beer’ radio on my phone when I get in. Whatever is on there at the time usually works. Sometimes we come on and I’m like ‘Hey, I sound just like that guy!’ LOL!”

LUCKY CHARM

DEAN: “A leather guitar strap my brother Rick gave me when he was in the Navy. I was in my teens. I still have that strap and it stays on my main guitar and is in our videos as well. I do not play a show without it. That strap shows the road I’ve been down to get here. Thank you, brother.”

JONES: “I have a football card in my wallet that my best friend gave me when we were kids. We were inseparable from age 5 until he passed away Monday, March 29, 1999, less than a month after his 21st birthday. It has been in my wallet for over 20 years now and it will be with me when they shovel the last bit of dirt on me. I’m never without it.”

On the Web: www.DownDayBand.com

On Twitter: @DownDay1

CMA FEST 2014: THE HGTV LODGE ANNOUNCES ARTIST LINEUP

HGTV's The Lodge

Photo credit: Allaccess.com

If you've been to CMA Fest before, you know now to miss the artists performing at the HGTV venue, The Lodge. Starting Thursday, June 5 through Sunday, June 8, country music lovers can catch some of the biggest names in music in a smaller venue, a more intimate and up close opportunity to really hear just how good this music really is.

The Lodge is a "wristband only" venue, which means if you don't have a wristband, you aren't getting in so hurry up and register for yours by RSVP'ing in advance at CMAfest.com between May 21 – May 27. Wristbands are first come, first serve and will go FAST so don't spin your wheels, get it done.

The 2,400 sq. ft Lodge also offers visitors a chance to recharge their electronic devices at the Brother vs. Brother Lounge, named for the hit HGTV home renovation competition series that premieres on Sunday, June 8, at 9 p.m. ET/PT and stars the popular Property Brothers, Jonathan Scott and Drew Scott. In addition, visitors can enter for the chance to win $5,000 cash in the #LOVEHGTV Cash Giveaway. No purchase necessary and open to legal U.S. residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, 18 or older. The sweepstakes ends 4 p.m. CT on June 8, 2014. Void where prohibited.

Check the schedule below and pencil your favorites into your CMA Fest itinerary! Keep in mind that artists and performance dates/times are always subject to change! Have fun!

Thursday, June 5:

10 a.m.: Rascal Flatts performance + autographs

11:30 a.m.: Dierks Bentley performance + autographs

12:45 p.m.: Kip Moore performance + autographs

2 p.m.: Frankie Ballard performance + autographs

3 p.m.: Eric Paslay performance + autographs

4 p.m.: Josh Turner performance + autographs

Friday, June 6:

11 a.m.: Jana Kramer/autographs only

12 p.m.: Dustin Lynch performance + autographs

2 p.m.: Sara Evans performance + autographs

3 p.m.: Charlie Worsham performance + autographs

4 p.m.: Parmalee performance + autographs

Saturday, June 7:

11 a.m.: Brett Eldredge performance + autographs

2 p.m.: Tyler Farr performance + autographs

3 p.m.: Kristian Bush performance + autographs

4 p.m.: Craig Morgan + autographs

Sunday, June 8:

10 a.m. Chasin’ Crazy, performance + autographs

12 p.m.: Jon Pardi performance + autographs

1 p.m.: Gloriana performance + autographs

3 p.m.: Love and Theft performance + autographs

CMA CLOSEUP: NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - DAN + SHAY

Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay.

Photo credit: Williams + Hirakawa

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2014 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

PRESS RELEASE

Early in 2013, Dan Smyers threw a party at his place. Among the folks who showed up was Shay Mooney. They’d never met, though both had been drawn to Nashville to take their chances in Country Music. (Smyers grew up in Pittsburgh, while Mooney came from Natural Dam, Ark.) After playing a few tunes together, they decided to try a little co-writing.

Flash forward to 2014. In those few months, they formalized their musical relationship as Dan + Shay; recorded a debut album (produced by Smyers, with Scott Hendricks and Danny Orton co-producing, released by Warner Bros. Records on April 1); surpassed a quarter of a million sales by March for their first single, “19 You + Me”; cut a video for the song, which quickly reached No. 1 on MTV, VH1 and CMT; and, on March 20, hit the road on Hunter Hayes’ “We’re Not Invisible Tour.”

How did they achieve full speed so fast? The secret is their sound. That debut album, Where It All Began, crackles with upbeat young energy. Their vocals suggest a Rascal Flatts influence: emotional, expressive twists on the melody and powerful harmonies over hard rockin’ riffs.

“19 You + Me” reflects their aesthetic perfectly. Written by the duo with Danny Orton, the lyrics outline nostalgic images of a summer romance. Yes, it is commercial, but it’s also impeccably done, with the passion and flair for drama that Country stardom demands. Undoubtedly, they’ll cover even more ground in the year to come.

For more on Dan + Shay, visit www.CMACloseUp.com.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

MUSICAL HERO

DAN: “Dave Grohl.  I can't wait to hear the music he makes with Zac Brown Band.”

DREAM DUET PARTNER

SHAY: “Shania Twain.”

PET PEEVE

DAN: “iPhone Red Eye Correction.”

FAVORITE MODE OF TRANSPORTATION

SHAY: “Tour bus.”

FAVORITE FOOD ON THE ROAD

DAN: “Trail mix.”

FIRST GIG

SHAY: “Church … I was 3 and I got a kiss on the cheek from a girl I liked.”

GREATEST LONG-TERM CHALLENGE

DAN: “Winning a CMA Award!”

On the Web: www.DanAndShay.com

On Twitter: @DanAndShay