Coming Soon...

... a new "Protecting the Guilty" column! It's written... I just need to sleep on it, to make sure I'm not forgetting something.

For some unknown reason, I spent some time tonight reading a few so-called country music blogs. Oh. My. Gosh. Do people even read back what they wrote? I mean, this blog is far from Honors English, but I think it usually at least makes sense. Tip to wanna-be writers: Read your stuff out loud. And spell check. And the profanity really has no point.

And for goodness sakes, learn the difference between the CMA's and the ACM's. Because Miley Cyrus performing on the ACM's next month is NO reason to badmouth the CMA's.

I miss Country Nation.

By the way, can someone please explain this whole "followers" thing? Because it kind of freaks me out. For a long time I had 12... so I pretended that y'all weren't there for fear God would smack me down. But I don't have any idea what it means to follow me. I don't Twitter, LOL. Please tell me you don't get an email every time I update something, because I'm going to have to constantly be apologizing since I'm constantly tweaking this thing.

The Intern X-perience - Week 6

Well, it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks here in Nashville. And I don’t use that term lightly… within about 10 days, Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, AND John Rich all came in to talk about their new albums for upcoming episodes of ShortCuts! I mean really, when I applied for this internship I was hoping that I might meet one or two artists, but this was too good to be true! I know I am working in the music industry and this shouldn’t be any big deal, but I am an intern from Idaho and a huge country music fan, so this is all a dream come true!

The Keith Urban interview was the highlight of the past two weeks for me, he is a really nice guy and such a talented artist (and he liked my name). Given that Sweet Thing went #1 on the Billboard Charts, there was also a party at BMI last week to celebrate. It was the usual awards ceremony with lots of plaques and speeches… except for the minor difference that he brought his whole band on stage to do a few songs! Joyce and I had front row spots for this and it was so cool! It beats driving to Salt Lake City to see him perform…

But in reality, I did actually learn a lot and was not jumping up and down all the time. I helped Joyce put together the scripts for all of these ShortCuts, and even got to do a little editing of my own. :-) My main job was to pull out the liners and get those ready for air play, and there are tons! I also learned that just because something is scheduled doesn’t mean it actually happens… but that’s a whole different story.

Oh and I almost forgot that I went to Blake Shelton’s #1 party for "She Wouldn’t Be Gone" by myself! I got to do the round robin interview (we won’t talk about the audio on that) and hang out for the party. Jeffrey Steele, Steve Wariner, and (supposedly) Barry Bonds were all there to hang out too. (J.'s note... she was the envy of the other interns, who had to sit in the corner, while she was at the main table, and got to ask Blake a question!)

Now the editing fun begins! So be listening for all of these upcoming ShortCuts episodes. They are telling me that next week will slow down, but I don’t believe it…

The Intern X-perience -- (Belated) Week 5

Is anyone still out there? I posted all those CRS pictures and didn’t get hardly any comments, so I haven’t been back here in a while, because I wanted them to stay on top. Sydney and I have been SLAMMED with shows lately… another day, another superstar dropping by, LOL. We’re spoiling her for life! But we’re working hard to catch you up on everything you’ve missed here in Music City. Lots of scoop and pictures coming. First up – her post-CRS blog, which complete and utter exhaustion prevented me from posting until now. My bad – sorry! Heeeeeere's Sydney!

Well, I don’t know where to start. In a nutshell, last week was Country Radio Seminar Week! For those of you who don’t know, CRS involves lots of seminars for people in the radio industry… for me, this translated into concerts all week! Country music singers and songwriters come in and give special interviews and performances.

I kicked off the week with a party at Fuel where Kate and Kasey opened for Justin Moore. Jack Ingram, Jimmy Wayne, Emerson Drive, and Adam Gregory were all there to hang out and listen to the music. I was able to see several acoustic performances… I really enjoyed David Nail’s music, and his new song Redlight is new on Sirius XM this week! Love and Theft were also amazing and they have a new single Runaway! Caitlin and Will came into the Music Row Happy Hour, and were also just as good in person as they were on Can You Duet.

Then came the Miranda Lambert Round Robin. I am a huge Miranda fan, so it was great to meet her and hear about her new album that is in the works. (J.’s note – Miranda spent a nice little bit of one on one time talking to Sydney about her internship and her upcoming show in Boise.)

A friend of mine had an extra ticket for the New Faces show (J. again… Sydney’s friend just happens to work for one of the country music trade magazines…), so I got to see the Zac Brown Band, Chuck Wicks, Kellie Pickler, James Otto, and Lady Antebellum perform all in one night! Amazing! Everyone but Chuck received a standing ovation from the industry crowd. These are the people who will be taking country music by storm (and they have already started) so watch out!

I would have to say the highlight of my week was going to see the Randy Rogers Band. I am a huge fan of these guys and they always give a great live performance! Plus Holly Williams (yes, part of the legendary Williams family) opened for them and I surprised how much I enjoyed her voice. Oh and we had Adam Gregory, Jimmy Wayne, and Gloriana live in the studios! The music industry people were everywhere as well, and it was very cool to meet the people behind the scenes in Nashville, and really all over the U.S. I know I am forgetting something… Did you know Adam’s tour manager is Jason Aldean’s dad? That’s the kind of behind the scenes scoop I’m getting here at Sirius XM!

Oh, and be listening to ShortCuts in the next few weeks… there are TONS of new episodes in the works!

Random Pics Around CRS

A few assorted pics from some of my CRS schmoozing. BTW the highlight of the week was discovering what a hottie Ryder is from The Lost Trailers (bottom right.)

Sony Music Nashville Boat Show

An amazing night, for sure. A couple things to note in this collage: Check out Kenny holding the lyrics sheet. It was the first time he'd ever performed the song which will be his next single. He seemed to really enjoy the looseness of it. That's Brett James with him, who co-wrote the song. That's John Kay from Steppenwolf with MG. (Look at me pretending to know rockers!) Martina's album cover is awesome, I think. And Gretchen's photo comes with a PG 13 rating.

Keith Urban at The Rutledge

This was a small club... 300 people... he played for probably an hour? Show started around 11pm... he joked about it being past his bedtime, that he has a baby in the house, so he needs all the sleep he can get. Treated us to some new music, including a song called "Kiss The Girl" that does NOT involve singing fish or crabs waiving conductor wands.

Blogging From The Boat

Greetings from the Sony Music Nashville extravaganza aboard the General Jackson. This is my favorite event of CRS week.

I was sent ahead to secure a table for 10... Which I have done. Now I'm fighting off grouchy radio chicks that can't believe I'm holding 'the WHOLE table?'

I smile sweetly. Sipping an amaretto sour and oogling Troy Gentry. There are worse ways to spend a Thursday evening, eh?

For those new to my CRS blogging, this should be an evening of heavy hitter performances. Carrie, Kenny, B&D, Martina... Usually a special guest too.

Updates on Facebook as I'm able.

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

Overheard On the Streets of Nashville

So Sydney and I are walking back from the Jamey Johnson thing, and we're behind this group of business suits, and they're talking...

"Hey who was that guy that did Beer For My Horses"

"Beer For My Horses.... ha ha ha ha ha..."

"Wasn't that Willie Neslon?"

"Yeah, but who was the other guy? There was some other guy singing with him."

...discussion...

"Oh! I've got it! Toby Keith!"

Sydney and I were definitely laughing... out loud.

Morning Came Way Too Early

Just spent about an hour with Miranda Lambert in a hotel suite. Love her. Not as much as Sydney does... But I do love her.

On the way back to the office we stopped in to listen to Jamey Johnson who is playing a concert in the middle of a downtown street.

Great Beer For My Horses story on the way!

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

Hangin' With Reba

Just left Starstruck. We heard 4 of the new songs...one of which will premiere on the ACM's as Reba's new single. We got to rate them each on a scale of 1 to 5. She describes the music as ''sassy with attitude.'' Jay Thomas and I had a nice chat with Reba. She's hard at work on her dresses for the ACM's.

Off to the next party... Jack Ingram and the rest of the Vallory / Big Machine gang.

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

Testing Blog Publishing

This is a test to see if I can email a post to my blog…

 

The Intern X-Perience -- Week 4

Hello all! I'm here to fill you in on another week of happenings in Nashville! I have to say, it was pretty exciting. If you didn’t already know, Billy Currington’s song "Don’t" went #1, and that (apparently) calls for a celebration! In honor of the success of the song, I got to go to my first and second #1 parties in one night! This is because the song was the product of the collaboration between ASCAP and BMI writers. I guess they like to party in Nashville! There were two ‘round robin’ interviews, one with Billy and the other with the songwriters. They each told a little bit about the song and also on their own lives. Each party had food set up (I still haven’t decided who had the better food) and awards were presented to just about everybody who had anything to do with the song. While rubbing elbows with the elite of Music City, I got a better understanding of the songwriting process; it is an extensive and intriguing! I am looking forward to more songs going #1…

Another highlight for me was watching an interview with Sirius XM DJ Mike Terry and Ronnie Milsap. My grandma was a huge fan of Ronnie Milsap, and his music was always played while I was growing up, so it was an honor to be in the same room as him as he told some of his stories. The interview took place at Starstruck studios, which is owned, and also used by, Reba McEntire! Sadly, I did not get to meet Reba, or see her infamous quarters on the top floor of the building. Oh well maybe next time… This interview will be playing Thursday night at 6pm on The Roadhouse, so be listening!

I also had my turn at editing an interview of a Driver’s Ed taping, but I don’t really want to talk about it… it's still too painful... my only advice is to remember not to ‘over edit’.

Although the verdict is still out on whether or not I will be allowed to stay and work Music Fest in June, I am gathering info for all of the fan club parties, and I hoping that I actually get to go! I hope y’all can make it as well! If you feel the need to get in touch with me, or just want more info about Sirius XM, you can check out my NEW Myspace site . I’m looking forward to hearing from you! And check in all week, rumor is it is going to be crazy here in Nashville!

Psst! I'm now #5 in the Sirius XM Fantasy NASCAR standings!

Mobile Blogging Test

Testing the ability to blog from my phone. What I've discovered is that it's a pain in the butt... I think it's going to be easier to update my facebook status on the go.

Unless of course... I happen to have a reader who works for...say... Google... that knows of any mobile blogging tips and tricks... ;-)

We've added a lot of events to the calendar this week... Faith, Dierks, John Rich, Billy Ray Cyrus...gonna be busy for sure!

Can You Figure This Out?

The invitation came from the General Manager of The Ryman Auditorium, and simply says..

Please Join Us on March 5th

On this historic date, please join us as we celebrate the return of a great country music legend.

You'd be crazy to miss it! We'll treat you to ham & biscuits. Then we'll take you to your seat for some breaking news and song. Bring your cameras!

Detective J. and her trusty assistant Sydney think they've figured it out. Go ahead and give it your best shot -- we'll report back on Thursday afternoon!