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June 29, 2007

 

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THE WOLF CHANGES DIRECTION IN PROGRAMING

Everyone was wondering what John Sebastain would do when he took over as program director at 99.5 The Wolf in Dallas.  Many of us have feared that he would go more mainstream Country and program less Texas Music.  This week he discussed his plans to Country Aircheck on changes at the Wolf.  His goal is to become a 35-44 demo vs the old 18-30 demo.  He blames the ratings decline on too many promotions, not playing some national releases and too much talk with air personalities.  He has changed the news time, put in more songs and less promotions.  We are now hearing more Patsy Cline, Garth Brooks vs. Kevin Fowler, Deryl Dodd, Robert Earl Keen, etc.  It's a sad day.  Cody Allen resigned last week over the new direction. 

WEST EXCHANGE TO OPEN THIS WEEKEND IN THE STOCKYARDS

Spencer Taylor's new entertainment complex, West Exchange, will open this weekend in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards.  It will feature 6 clubs with one cover charge.  The Clubs are Spinner's Blues Bar, Grace Live, G-Dubs Sports Bar, Tricky's Cowgirls, Widgie's Karoke Bar, Pat's Dueling Piano's and the WestX Social Club.  There will be all types of food and beverage available.  For more information go to:  www.100westex.com

   

INTERNET ROYALTY RATES UNDER ATTACK

Many internet radio station observed a day of silence this week to draw attention to royalty rate increases that have been passed that could put many internet broadcasters out of business. The copyright fees could increase 300 to 1200 percent.  There's a new bill before the house to prevent this called the "Internet Radio Equality Act," that broadcasters are lobbying to get passed before July 15.  Please call your local representatives to help keep Texas Music radio stations like TOSSM Radio and Radio Free Texas on the net broadcasting.

 

ARTISTS

Todd Fritsch's video, "What's Wrong With Me," will air on CMT's new show, Pure Country, starting tonight.  Two Tons of Steel is featured on Concert TV this month.  The Gougers will be at Woody's Tavern on July 13.

RECORD LABELS

Larry Pareigis has opened Nine North Records in Nashville.  Ty Herndon has signed with the label. CD Tex is putting together it's first annual Christmas compilation CD of holiday songs.  It will be sent out to over 1400 broadcast outlets.

 

RADIO NEWS

Jerry Clayton's Radio Lonestar Concert Series has now become Soundcheck Texas.  It features recorded shows and interviews from John T. Floore's Country Store.  The Ranch is accepting applications for the Colgate Country Showdown local competition that will be held at Hulen Mall on July 28.  Applications must be submitted by July 8.  They have been having problems getting their emails this week with their old email addresses.  Baily will be the featured artists on CD-Tex this weekend. Jason Boland will the special guest at The Texas Music Series for July 4th on Wednesday.  No Justice is number 1 on the Texas Music Chart with “Never Come Back”

JUDY'S CORNER

It's has definitely been a wild week with all the rain that we've been having.  The Wolf officially announced on Wednesday to call off the Wolf Dance on Tuesday.  It's predicted that it will rain through Tuesday.   We hope that everyone has a great July 4th holiday! Judy   

Please make note of our address!  Please send scoop to Texas Made Music, P.O. Box 137558, Fort Worth, TX 76136

 

 

 

 

RANDY ROGERS BAND TO PLAY SPECIAL SHOW AT BILLY BOB'S TEXAS ON TUESDAY NIGHT IN WAKE OF WOLF DANCE BEING POSTPONED

With all the rain that we've experience here in Fort Worth this week, the Wolf decided to cancel Wolf Dance on Tuesday in Stockyards Station.  The good news is that the Randy Rogers Band and Micky and The Motorcars will play inside at Billy Bob's Texas on Tuesday night.  Wolf Dance tickets will be honored at the show.  For more information go to:  www.billybobstexas.com

 

"COYOTE FUNERAL"--- RED DIRT FILM ABOUT WALK ACROSS TEXAS DEBUTS ON DVD

"In a walk across Texas, the greatest distance is between two brothers." Coyote Funeral, an independent feature film made by Texan filmmakers using Texan actors, has just been released on dvd. The film features an appearance by Cooder Graw as well as a soundtrack of stellar Texas Music artists including Robert Earl Keen, Charlie Robison, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Kevin Fowler, Reckless Kelly, Wade Bowen, Bleu Edmondson, and Texas Renegade. The movie's co-directors, native Houstonians Jason May and Phelps Harmon, both graduates of St. John's School and Washington and Lee University, take a universal theme and add a Texas-sized twist in their first feature film. In Coyote Funeral, two estranged brothers attempt to rekindle the camaraderie of their youth by literally walking 857 miles across Texas. After the journey begins along the Sabine River, the sibling rivalry unfolds amidst the dynamic and rugged terrain of Texas itself, culminating with an emotional high in El Paso. May's brother, Jono Young, stars as the leading protagonist. May says, "We made Jono audition, and he delivered the lines like I heard the character in my head. But that doesn't mean it was easy. Sure I liked the opportunity to tell my little brother what to do, but I don't think he liked putting up with it quite as much. In the end though, it made the film that much more interesting." Filmed along the back roads and honky tonks of Texas, including the legendary Gruene Hall, Coyote Funeral makes Texas as much a character as a setting. But whether or not they make it depends less on braving the elements than surviving each other. "Coyote Funeral" is available through the film's website, www.coyotefuneral.com.

TEXAS' TOUR DE FORCE SAM BAKER GOES NATIONAL WITH /PRETTY WORLD

Texas songwriter Sam Baker is not that well known even in his adopted hometown of Austin. However, since the 2004 release of his debut /mercy/, word of Baker's songs have slowly, but surely spun its way around the world. On August 7, Baker returns with the second part of the story, the self released /pretty world/. Co-produced by fellow Texan and songwriter Walt Wilkins, the new songs reflect a life lived well and nearly lost. Austin producer/songwriter Gurf Morlix said of /mercy/ "It's the best writing I've come across since Mary Gauthier." The UK's /Maverick Magazine/ awarded /mercy/ five stars and writers that have discovered this raw talent often compare him to fellow Texans Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark.

JOHNNY RODRIGUEZ ARRESTED ON FELONY DRUG CHARGES

Johnny Rodriguez was arrested last Friday on the way to a show in Oklahoma . McClain County prosecutors have charged the singer who topped the country music charts in the 1970s with three felony drug counts.  Blanchard police stopped Johnny Rodriguez at U.S. Highway 62 and Rockwell west of Oklahoma City on a complaint of speeding, according to a court affidavit filed with the charges.

 

Officers then found what they believed to be bags of marijuana, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and an open container of beer in Rodriguez's pickup truck, court papers said.

 

Rodriguez was charged with felony counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of marijuana and driving under the influence of drugs.

 

The 55-year-old Laredo , Texas , resident also was charged with possession of paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. He was released from the McClain County jail Saturday on $6,500 bail.

 

Rodriguez had six No. 1 hits on the country charts in the 1970s, including I Just Can't Get Her Out of My Mind, Love Put a Song in My Heart and That's The Way Love Goes.

 

COUNTRY WEEKLY SPENDS THE DAY WITH TODD FRITSCH

Country Weekly recently spent a day with Todd Fritsch at his home in Willow Springs , Texas . The article will run on July 2. The rising star proudly showed off The Fritsch Cattle Company ranch, where he grew up and learned to rope, ride - and work hard.

 

Todd credits those early days on the ranch with the strict, waste-no-time approach he takes in his musical career. Fans can learn about Todd - and his family's close relationship and shared drive - in this three-page spread, photographed by Marc Morrison. The layout includes seven photos of Todd, his family, favorite horse and his working dogs, Rip, Rudy and Ranger.

 

SUNNY SWEENEY RECEIVES NOMINATION FOR AMERICANA MUSIC AWARDS S

The Americana Music Association has announced Big Machine Records artist Sunny Sweeney as a nominee for the 2007 “New and Emerging Artist” Award.  The 6 th Annual Americana Music Honors and Awards will take place at 7 p.m. on November 1 st at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville , TN.

 

Sweeney is in very good company -  she has been nominated alongside Amy LaVere, The Avett Brothers and Uncle Earl for the coveted award.  Nominees are chosen by members of the Americana Music Association and eligibility is based on work released during a 12-month time period from June 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007. 

 

“The nominations reflect the diversity and ever growing popularity of Americana Music,” says AMA Executive Director Jed Hilly.  “Today's nominees are responsible for some of the finest music being made and I am confident the awards show in November will be a musical night to remember.”

 

TERRI HENDRIX TO MARK THE 10 th ANNIVERSARY OF HER HOMEGROWN WILORY RECORDS WITH NEW RELEASE ON AUGUST 7 TH , THE SPIRITUAL KIND

Coming three years after the acclaimed The Art of Removing Wallpaper and two after her just-for-grins foray into kid's music with the whimsical (and wildly successful) Celebrate the Difference, The Spiritual Kind is a celebration of life and song that sums up Terri's myriad charms like a veritable career anthology. Some of the tracks, including "Acre of Land," "The Spiritual Kind" and Terri's cover of Woody Guthrie's powerful "Pastures of Plenty," have already proven their mettle over months of road-testing in listening rooms, theaters and festivals across the country. Others, like the incredibly catchy but sociallyconscious "Jim Thorpe's Blues" and the beautiful "Soul of My Soul," are certain to join the ranks of the fan-favorites that helped secure Terri's standing as one of the most endearing independent artists throughout the contemporary folk scene.

 

RYAN JAMES TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM, DIRECTED, ON JULY 17

“I am self taught because I was too stubborn and lazy to do what teachers wanted me to do.  I just wanted to play the music I liked .”   It would seem that singer/songwriter RYAN JAMES was either sort of a problem child during his schooling years or simply a pure product of that famous Texas modus operandi.  It would seem that way when you take into account his once unsettled spirit that led him through years of right to left and backwards to forwards in an attempt to find his “place.”  It would appear that James was a flighty soul drifting from one band to the next, one university to the next, one major to the next and one town to the next, all the while never finding true happiness outside of his guitar, his pen and his thoughts.  Hindsight being 20/20 it now appears that Ryan James was being DIRECTED all along to play and record the music pouring out of him.

 

And that is why DIRECTED , Ryan James' brand new July 17th release on High Tail Records, is not only perfectly named, but also corroborates James' rite of passage through thirteen solid tracks of perfect afterglow.  The record was recorded in Nashville with reappearing producer Tim Lorsch (Bull Creek Productions).  “ Tim brings a nice dimension to any record he is a part of,” explains James , “ This record is melodically endowed and the songs are of a straight feel-good nature.  There is nothing depressing about it.”