Newsvine – XM Radio to Launch George Strait Channel
Newsvine – XM Radio to Launch George Strait Channel: “NASHVILLE — George Strait says he still gets a thrill hearing his songs on the radio, and now he’ll have a whole channel of his music to get excited about.
‘Strait Country’ will launch April 1 on XM Radio channel 17 to coincide with the release of the country star’s 37th album, ‘Troubadour,’ the satellite radio company announced Wednesday.
The station will run through May 31 and feature songs from Strait’s catalog as well as exclusive interviews and programming about the star.
He joins Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson as the only recording artists to have their own XM Radio channels.
‘It’s always a thrill to hear one of your songs played on the radio, but to have XM Radio dedicate an entire channel to my music is just amazing,’ Strait, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, said in a statement.
The singer’s career spans more than 25 years and includes 55 No. 1 hits. His latest single, ‘I Saw God Today’ is No. 8 on Billboard’s country singles chart, and his duet with Kenny Chesney, ‘Shiftwork,’ is No. 4.
‘George’s tremendous achievements and body of work transcends musical genre and will make this channel a must-listen for all music fans across the country,’ said Eric Logan, executive vice president of programming for XM Radio.”
Reba & Kelly Concert at Tulsa
The Reba & Kelly concert on Friday was awesome. Melissa Peterman, the actress that played Barbra Jean on “Reba”, opened the show with a stand-up comedy routine. She was hilarious. Every time I have seen her on T.V., she has the same amount of energy she had on the stage, and it makes me wonder if she’s that way all of the time.
There was a short break after her routine. The show started with the curtain down and you hear the beginning of Patsy Cline’s “Sweet Dreams”. This was the song that Reba would sing a cappella in previous shows….but it ended up nothing like Patsy’s version. The curtain rises and she and Kelly break into Eurythmics’s version.
Both artists were on the stage for the whole show. Songs from both artists were sung, with each occasionally taking a roll as a backup singer.
When it came time for the duo to sing “I’m a Survivor”, the theme song for “Reba”, Melissa made another stage appearance. I knew some of what was coming from seeing part of previous concerts on Youtube, but she still had me falling out of my seat.
I knew that Reba wouldn’t be able to make it through the show without at least one wardrobe change, and she didn’t disappoint. I haven’t been to many concerts, so I don’t know if this is common, but as well as I can remember, Reba has always had a sort of pause close to the end of the concert, and then she would come back out for a few songs, encore-like. The same thing happened with this show, with she and Kelly coming out from below the stage, in different shirts. I laughed out loud and told Jerry that I knew she couldn’t make it without changing. She used to change many times when she had the big, elaborate concerts. They closed the show with “Fancy”, a personal favorite of Reba’s.
The show was a wonderful blend of country and pop. Jerry was amazed by Kelly’s voice, even though some of her songs weren’t up his alley. The sound of the two voices together was lovely and I wished they would go on all night. I told Jerry that we could still get tickets to the concert at Kansas City, MO on my birthday, but he didn’t pick up the hint.
I guess Reba will always be that one celebrity I wish I could meet. I started adding it up and realized that I have been a fan for over 20 years. My fan-dom has ebbed and flowed during those years, but one thing is certain; there will always be a Reba song close at hand.
41st Annual CMA Awards
The 41st Annual CMA Awards are Wednesday, November 7th on ABC. Reba and Kelly are nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “Because of You”. Reba is also up for Female Vocalist of the Year. She won that award four straight years from 1984 to 1987. I had stopped watching music award shows, but I do believe I’ll be tuning in for this one.
Because of You
Here’s Reba’s latest video with Kelly Clarkson from Reba’s Reba: Duets album that’s scheduled for release on September 18.
Edited 7-3-07: This single is available on iTunes. I haven’t looked at any other online music stores.
Genres in my iPod
Mak asked me a while back what was in my iPod and there wasn’t really any way I could tell her, except to say a little bit of everything. I put a list to the right showing the genres…I guess it’s obvious I like a little bit of everything.
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