JAMEY JOHNSON, BUDDY CANNON AND SCOTTY EMERICK HEADLINE SONGWRITERS 4 SONGWRITERS SHOW JULY 29

Show to Benefit The Pen Fund; Advance Tickets Available Now

Nashville, TN (July 8, 2015) - Jamey Johnson, Buddy Cannon and Scotty Emerick will kick off fundraising efforts for The Pen Fund with a hometown show on Wednesday, July 29 at 3rd and Lindsley (818 3rd Avenue South).  Dubbed Songwriters 4 Songwriters, the event will benefit songwriters with Pancreatic cancer.  TPF supports disease awareness and furthers cutting-edge breakthroughs in research and development for early detection and treatment.  Tickets are $20 online and $25 day of show; the doors open at 6 p.m. and the music starts at 7:30.  For those who cannot attend the show, donations can be made directly to The Pen Fund at www.thepenfund.org or by logging on to your PayPal Account.

The three performers were all friends of Hank's. Jamey Johnson, a Platinum-selling singer/songwriter from Alabama found fame with his 2008 CD release THAT LONESOME SONG.  The disc's first single, "In Color," earned Johnson the CMA Song of the Year in 2009 and launched a career that has gained the talented artist universal recognition.  In 2012, Jamey released the Buddy Cannon-produced LIVIN' FOR A SONG: A TRIBUTE TO HANK COCHRAN to critical and commercial success.  In addition to writing his own hits, Johnson has co-written singles for Trace Adkins, George Strait, James Otto, Joe Nichols and Jessie James.
 
As a producer of #1 hits for Kenny Chesney, Mel Tillis, John Michael Montgomery, Joe Nichols, Sammy Kershaw and Reba McEntire and others, Buddy Cannon's talent in the studio continues to speak for itself. Cannon's knack for picking and producing artists and their hits helped launch the careers of mega-stars Shania Twain and Billy Ray Cyrus.  His songwriting prowess has provided numerous hit songs, including "Set 'Em Up Joe," "Dream Of Me," "I'm Still Crazy," and "She's Not Cryin' Anymore," "I've Come To Expect It From You" and the ACM 2007 Song of the Year, "Give It Away."

Scotty Emerick began his songwriting career in the mid-1990s, landing cuts by Sawyer Brown, including their Top 5 single "I Don't Believe in Goodbye," which he co-wrote with Bryan White.   Emerick's career counts co-writing credits on the # 1 hits: "I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight," "I Love This Bar," "Whiskey Girl," "As Good as I Once Was" and "Beer for My Horses."   Scotty has ridden the Top Five with singles "Get Drunk and Be Somebody" and "A Little Too Late."   He is a frequent co-performer on Toby Keith's national stadium and arena tours as well as on the entertainer's USO tours to U.S. military bases in Germany, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.

As any fan of the singer/songwriter genre knows, surprises are the norm.  "We could see a few friends drop by," hints Booth Calder Cochran (co-founder of TPF and Hank's daughter).  "I think it'll be a fun night and it's for a great cause.  That usually brings the folks out."

The family of Country Music Hall of Fame member and award-winning singer/songwriter Hank Cochran launched The Pen Fund in conjunction with the Nashville-based non-profit organization, The Nikki Mitchell Foundation, in Hank's honor.

For more information on The Pen Fund, visit www.hankcochran.com or www.facebook.com/ThePenFund.

To learn more about the Nikki Mitchell Foundation visit www.nikkimitchellfoundation.org or https://www.facebook.com/NikkiMitchellFoundation.  NMF is a registered 501(c)(3).

TOBY KEITH DROPS IN ON TROOPS IN HAWAII, GUAM AND PHILLIPINES

Superstar Toby Keith thanks troops and their families with a three-country, 10-day USO tour April 28-May 7. Keith is visiting the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii to lift the spirits of troops and their loved ones.

Since his first USO tour in 2002, Keith has performed 11 USO tours and traveled to 15 countries plus the USS Enterprise, USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Cape Saint George. In total, the singer-songwriter has lifted the spirits of 225,984 servicemen and women.

During the tour, the singer/songwriter is scheduled to perform seven USO shows exclusively for military families.

(USO photos by Dave Gatley / Produced by Christian Pelusi)

Singer-songwriter Toby Keith makes the first stop of his 11-day, three-country tour in the Philippines on April 28. While in the region, Keith greeted troops at various JSOC military bases and performed his first 2013 USO concert. At left, Keith performs his acoustic show with Scotty Emerick.

 

"It feels so good to be back out visiting and performing for our troops in uniform and their families," Keith said. "I've toured a lot in my lifetime but nothing beats traveling with the USO, having the opportunity to uplift the spirits of our nation's service heroes and showing them that America is always by their side no matter where they are in the world."

 

This summer, Keith will hit the road on the "Toby Keith Hammer Down Tour Presented by Ford F-Series." The tour will begin June 8 in Ozark, AR.

 

The troops applaud Keith and Emerick as they entertain on April 28. Last year, Keith celebrated a decade of touring the globe with the USO and capped off the year with a return USO visit to the Middle East. 

Make Your Vote Count! Vote for the ACM New Artist of the Year Award!

OK guys, it's that time! Fan voting for the ACM New Artist of the Year Award begins at 9 a.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 16th! This is where your opinion counts! Make your voice heard and vote for your favorite new artist. This vote will narrow it down to the 3 finalists. Click HERE to VOTE! 

Brantley Gilbert      Hunter Hayes           JT Hodges         Scotty McCreery

Justin Moore               David Nail            Jerrod Niemann     Thompson Square

Toby Keith & Friends Bluebird Café Benefit Concert Raises $20,000

Source: Country Aircheck


Show Dog-Universal's Toby Keith brought along some songwriting friends for a packed-house performance at Nashville's Bluebird Café last Tuesday night (6/28). The first in a series of charity events benefiting the legendary venue featured Keith, Scotty Emerick and Bobby Pinson in a three-hour musical free-for-all that raised thousands of dollars (final numbers aren't in yet). The decidedly non-PC night felt a bit like riding along on Keith's tour bus during songwriting sessions. Jokes were told, quips exchanged, names were named, and a bottle of Keith's new Wild Shot mezcal flowed freely among the participants and the crowd as the headliner cheerily filled glasses with the reportedly psychoactive liquid. From "Weed With Willie" to an inspired performance of "American Soldier" dedicated to a Marine sergeant who met the singer in Iraq and was at the event, Keith more than lived up to his billing as NSAI's Artist/Songwriter of the Decade.