4 States... 1156 Miles... 6 Days

Been running around the country, but I wanted to check in and wish everyone good luck with their speed dialing tomorrow! Let me know how it goes!

Happy Thursday!

Hope it's as good a day for you as everyone is hoping it will be! :-)

Today's Word Is...

Had to go to dictionary.com to check this word out. Yep... it meant what I thought it meant. Dang.

em⋅bar⋅go 
 /ɛmˈbɑrgoʊ/ [em-bahr-goh] noun, plural -goes, verb, -goed, -go⋅ing.

–noun
1. an order of a government prohibiting the movement of merchant ships into or out of its ports.
2. an injunction from a government commerce agency to refuse freight for shipment, as in case of congestion or insufficient facilities.
3. any restriction imposed upon commerce by edict.
4. a restraint or hindrance; prohibition.
5. a word that steals the joy from the media.

Stickin' Out Like A Sore Thumb

I did something I'd never done before in my life today. I walked into a Harley dealership. First thing I realized once I'd found it was that I was clearly not dressed appropriately. I had a minimal amount of black on, and absolutely no orange. To say I felt a little out of place was an understatement. In hindsight, a bandana would have been a big help in the wind.

It was all for a good cause though. Dierks' Bentley's 4th annual Miles & Music for Kids event. My role there was simple -- quick interview with Dierks to gather soundbites for The Highway's "Nashville Flash" news minute. Mission accomplished. The concert lineup for the event was pretty good, but surprisingly, very few of the artists were doing the ride part of it. (Darius told us a couple of weeks ago "If Dierks thinks I'm riding a motorcycle he's on crack.") Troy Gentry showed up to ride, but Wynonna was the only performer who was also riding. I did not see so much as a whisp of her red hair during the 2 hours I was there.

By the way, let the record reflect that IF indeed I ever MIGHT have had a SLIGHT crush on Troy Gentry... it's over. Still love the MG music, but Troy has gotten a little too glam rock for me. I miss the rough and rowdy redneck who came to town with a little scruff and a pair of cowboy boots. Where did that guy go? And who is this guy wearing eyeliner looking like a drag queen waiting to come out? Even his motorcycle was over the top. (Even Dierks mentioned it.) At any rate, that was the topic of conversation amongst the media while we were waiting for Dierks to come around.

When he did come around he talked about the event, what his daughter will be for Halloween (Yoda), his touring plans for next year (taking the spring off) and his next two cds (one of which will be Bluegrass.) Dierks is a good guy, I love his music and I love that his heart is in the right place when it comes to his career. However, a year into fatherhood honey, you have to stop referring to your daughter as "my kid." Or worse yet, describing Vanderbilt as "my wife had her kid there." Try something a little warmer like "our child." When Evie gets old enough to read your interviews, she'll thank you.

Trick or Treat !

I love the Opry Pumpkin Patch -- check it out in the foyer of the Grand Ole Opry house now through Halloween!

The Comeback....

So as I last blogged... I've been a lousy blogger lately. I blame a couple of different things -- one is my crazy life, and the other is Facebook. It's made me lazy. It's easier to just throw out a line here and there when I'm walking through the parking garage. However, due to some upcoming events in my life, and the realization that a lot of people I really don't know very well have access to everything in my life including pictures of my house, I'm about to draw some lines in the sand. Basically, I promise to try to be better about blogging if you promise not to get upset if I unfriend you on Facebook. The work stuff will go here - the personal stuff will go there. Deal?

Another reason I haven't had much to say lately about my adventures across the Sirius XM nation lately is that I haven't had many. I haven't traveled in ages, and I've had almost nothing to do with what specialty programming has been created. HOWEVER -- I'm working out the details to hit the road soon.

SO... let's play catch up, shall we?

Miranda Lambert at the Ryman was AMAZING. The entire balcony seemed to be music industry and VIP's. Taylor Swift was there, front and center in the front row. She was like 3 rows ahead of the president of Taylor's record label. Everyone and anyone in the country music media -- we sat next to Bob Kingsley. I've read that Kelly Clarkson was there, although I didn't see her, nor do I know anyone who did. CMA, GAC, CMT executives -- if they had 3 letters, they were there too. Everyone at her record label. Really.... I've never seen such a VIP turnout.

After performing her new CD Revolution top to bottom (and if you haven't gotten this yet, please do yourself a favor and buy it!) she did three classic country songs acoustic. When she was singing Patsy Cline, she stepped away from the mic for part of it, and just let her voice ring out. Very cool. Then of course, she did her hits. At the end, she got down on her knees and kissed the Ryman stage.

Afterwords there was a smaller party at The Stage downtown. She came over and worked the crowd. I was able to spend a few minutes with her and introduce her to my friend Donna, who was celebrating a birthday. A good night.

Best #1 party I've been to lately, hands down, was Jason Aldean for "Big Green Tractor" on the roof of BMI. We did a 30 minute or so round robin with him before the party started. Jason told me prior to going into the shindig that I wouldn't be able to miss his family. He was right -- his little girls were in denim skirts and "Big Green Tractor" t-shirts. There were green tablecloths and potted mums, and green (non-alcoholic) drinks called Tractortinis -- served in martini glasses. Food was plentiful -- waiters serving mini-cheeseburgers and corn dogs, and a full buffet of munchies. And it was perfect weather. Love the rooftop events!

Seems like we're getting overrun with new music lately... I always ask what's grabbing you -- and I want to know that too, but I also wonder what is turning you OFF. I've got a song right now that just drives me crazy every time I hear it, because it sounds so out of place on country radio. Since I don't want to show up in this artist's google news alerts, I won't name names... but will tell you it's a remake - and the original wasn't country either.

Ok your turn!

Checkin' In...

Yeah, I know I haven't blogged in ages. The little subtitle of my blog is titled "Adventures across the SXM Nation" and quite honestly, I haven't been having many of those adventures lately. I did spend a couple of days in Outlaw Country last week, which WAS an adventure - a good one! - but I was also working in Roadhouse and was too slammed to really be able to come up with anything witty to share. Beyond that, I really don't think y'all want to hear about how I'm updating spreadsheets, timing out logs, and updating more spreadsheets. I chose not to get into the whole Taylor / Kanye thing here... I figure that was being discussed everywhere else.

Hope you're well, and we have something fun to chat about soon.

xoxo
- J.

Blogging From The Opry House

At the Opry House for the Darius Rucker show... part of which is being taped for Jimmy Kimmel Live later this week. Does anyone else find that funny? A show with 'Live' in its title is several days old?

Anyway... can someone remind me how to email posts in? Sean, are you out there tonight?

Late Night Ramblings

Time for a few miscellaneous ramblings, as I look back on a crazy busy week, and try to figure out how to survive the week ahead.

First off... the AOL writing gig has been a blast! SO much fun. Wish I had time to do more of it. I cram a little in either first thing in the morning or after everyone's gone to bed at night. Because of needing to be on top of the more quirky news... I'm actually considering... CONSIDERING... signing up for a Twitter account. Because I think that's where all the scoop is at.

Secondly... I've heard from a bunch of you either through email or facebook about the fact that I currently don't have a boss. That's still the case, and probably will be for a while. One of the questions I keep getting revolves around the status of some of our long form programming, like ShortCuts and Driver's Ed. They'll continue through Labor Day weekend... not sure beyond that. Stay tuned.

The week ahead another of my co-workers is out of the office... so in addition to the extra work of being short staffed in Nashville, I'm playing PD for one channel, and producing some shows I've never produced before for another. Never a dull moment!

I know what you REALLY want to hear about though, is the parties! And there have been a bunch of them lately. I've kind of been on an anti-party kick for the past few months. I just got to the point where I'm already spending SO much time at the office, hitting the schmooze fests were something I sacrificed so I could have dinner a little more often with my family. Last week, I didn't get to have dinner with my family once, LOL, but I did hit some fun parties.

First off was a small event at Sony. It was a Kellie Pickler private performance... very small, maybe 50 of us, including label staff. Food was amazing... I think the caterer was called something like Two Fat Men, or Two Fat Cooks. They had these triple chocolate brownies that were AMAZING. But back to the performance. Kellie was HYSTERICAL. Came out in an evening gown and bare feet. With Kellie, there is no edit button. She thinks it... she says it. She was swearing like a sailor, and crossing herself afterwords -- admitting that she wasn't Catholic, and probably wasn't even making the motions right. I was at a table with Brian Mansfield, who was tweeting the event for USA Today. We were just dying. When I got back in my car the valet had left both of Kellie's cd's wrapped up in a bow with a handwritten note from Kellie on the passenger seat. Must be CMA voting time!

Same label group, different night -- a #1 party for Brad Paisley. Took one of my NYC co-workers with me... it was his first time to get to go to a #1 party. We chatted up the label head, laughed and clapped and moved on to the next event. Food looked good, but all I had was a little cheesecake bite. Honestly... by this time, I've been to so many Brad Paisley #1 parties they all run together. Kim and the kids not in attendance.

Same night, different label -- a platinum party for Darius Rucker. SO much fun. We chatted with Darius at the bar when we first arrived... started talking about which single would be next. He wants - as do I - "All I Want" to be a single. He told us if we got anywhere near Mike Dungan to tell him that should be the single. Not a problem, I adore Mike. So once we get done chatting with Darius, we head his direction.

Mike is a really great guy, and he was telling us about how everything started with Darius right there at Sambuca, where we were partying. We had a nice conversation, and eventually asked about the next single. He told us which one it would be - and I'm sorry, I can't remember the name of it... and he told us the second choice... to which we said "Hmm.... what about 'All I Want.'" Mike burst out laughing, and said "You've been talking to Darius, haven't you?" Busted! But honestly, I'd have picked that one had I NOT been talking to Darius! The thing about that song that scares the label is that it is a shuffle, and they failed with Trace Adkins' "Marry For Money." Totally different song, totally different artist. The thing that I love about that song is that it has such a great hook and has a tune that will get stuck in your head.

The party itself was good... Darius got a nice plaque, they did a video highlight reel of his last year (I did mention it's CMA voting time, right?)... food was good, sushi - which I didn't have - and some little roast beef sandwich things. Completely open bar, which I wouldn't be surprised if Darius himself paid for. Many jokes running through the night about how Darius wasn't expensing things... he was already a multi-millionaire, he wasn't doing this for the money. He is working on his second album, with Frank Rogers. Plenty of jokes too about Frank, who also produces Brad Paisley, who was having his party across town. Darius said it was ok if Frank didn't show up, he knew Frank had to hang with his A guy, and might not have time for him. (For the record, he did show up.)

I have mentioned that I love Darius, right? I need to find some Hootie music, because I really don't know his rock stuff. I've got 2 more events with him this week. In fact... one I need a date for Monday night. And Saturday, one half of Sugarland is coming into the studio before they open for Keith Urban. Come to think of it... I might need a date for that one too! LOL

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

A couple of weeks ago I told you how odd it was that Sony issued a press release announcing that they had parted ways with Gretchen Wilson. I mentioned that's not normally the way it's done.

Hello, Exhibit A: There is another artist no longer on Columbia records. And the only reason that we know that is because someone asked "hey, when is ___________'s album coming out?"

And the answer was, it's not.

Click Click Click!

Ok, I promise I'm not going to turn into one of those annoying people constantly promoting their self. But at the moment, I'm really excited with the newness of writing for The Boot, so I wanted to come share. :-)

It's been a while since I worked in the online world, outside of updating the country channel pages on the XM website. But I'm getting back in the swing of it. I got trained on our software tonight, so now I have access to all kinds of things, including an hour by hour breakdown of how many people click on my stories. Crazy!

What I've learned is that every click, and every comment counts. Especially the comments! Because when stories get multiple comments they show up on the sidebar, so more people see them, even if they're a few days old. So if you have a thought or comment on the artist or story, please share with the world! And if I write about an artist you're a fan of, please feel free to post a link to the story on that artist's message board, myspace, etc. (Don't copy and paste the whole story somewhere else though, that's incredibly bad netiquette, LOL.)

I also discovered that our stuff on The Boot shows up on the artist pages of AOLMusic.com. So my Kellie Pickler story, for example, shows up on Kellie's AOL Artist page. Cool!

There. *whew* Shameless plug over.

Ta-da!

As many of you have figured out from my Taylor-Swift-like hidden messages and clues that I was going to start writing for the largest country music website on the internet, I am now, officially a staff writer for The Boot.

Being a 13+ year subscriber to America Online, I can't even tell you how cool that is! This is VERY much a part-time, as-I-can-find-time, opportunity, but I'm hoping to find time a couple of times a week anyway.

So go click on me!

KISS a Girl

Hysterical... simply hysterical. If you are a fan of Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, KISS or Hershey's chocolate -- I guarantee you'll enjoy this 5 minutes of video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-QBbAhNukY

Jitters

So I've turned in my first couple of pieces for my new writing gig, and now I wait. Nervously. Will they like them? Did I do them right? This company follows the AP style guide for writing, which is not what I'm used to at all. Basically, AP took everything you learned in English class and reversed it, and threw in a few more things just for fun. Why they can't abbreviate states with two letters like the rest of us mortals, I don't know.

Hopefully... I'll have a link to share tomorrow. I'm due to post a big piece on Monday, but I did a couple of little "test run" things first.

George Taylor Morris

Long time XM listeners remember the Artist Confidential series launched many moons ago with George Taylor Morris as the host. GTM, as we called him, was a program director for Deep Tracks, and eventually went on to become a Senior Program Director over our rock channels.

I didn't know his legacy in rock radio, but I did know he was a prince of a guy. Very mild mannered and gentle, the kind of guy who commanded respect. He was one of the guys I would hunt down to say hello to when I visited Eckington Place, and would always come by to find me if he heard I was in the building. In October of 2007 I helped him behind the scenes with research for the Faith Hill Artist Confidential episode, and he put my name in the credits. I can't even tell you how cool that was (although I'm pretty sure I blogged about it at the time.) The only time I ever got my name in the credits for that show, although I have helped other hosts several times since. It was one of the last shows in that series he hosted.

In the year or so leading up to the merger GTM was out of the office more than he was in. He was battling throat cancer, and his presence was missed terribly, by both the staff and the listeners. He did come back to work, weaker physically, but the kind spirit we all knew was still there.

His health did not hold up, although his ambition did. Several months ago he was planning a trip to Australia and New Zealand. He only got as far as Los Angeles before his health prohibited him from leaving the country. We lost GTM last week, and he left a hole in the heart of the entire XM family.

Our video dept. tried to put together a little tribute video. It doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the talent encompassed within his body, but it does give a face to the voice that I know so many of you have heard through the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YcMJjRlgJI

Hooray for Hootie!

Darius Rucker's 3rd single is the 3rd to go to #1... so excited for him! Hopefully, I'm finally going to make it to a #1 party for him, LOL. With any luck, people in country music will stop referring to him as "Hootie" now...

BTW -- I just finished signing about half a tree worth of papers that I overnighted to NYC for my new writing gig. So excited! Hope to get my first thing up by week's end.

Just a little tease...

In case you're sitting there wondering to yourself... Gee, I wonder what awesome new programming J. is working on for The Highway... let me give you a few clues.

Beaucoup de Driver's Ed classes - Including a threesome, a foursome, a guy on his second record deal, a guy who's hat is way too big for him and Al Skop's teaching debut.

ShortCuts - a show that I did the interview for but haven't locked in who will actually host the show yet, a reality show winner, and an album that's been delayed at least twice, but I think is really, finally, going to come out this month.

Competition for Elvis - Country's "King" gets a big ole weekend celebration just before releasing album #823.

Redheads Confidential - Oh how I wish I was going to be in the Big Apple in late August... full band, private party, our studios.

Sirius 60 / XM 16 / DISH 6060 / DirecTV 814 / Air Trans / Air Canada / Jet Blue

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow...

Gretchen Wilson and Columbia Records have "parted ways." Surprising? Expected?

They haven't really had much success with her since Redneck Woman, but I wouldn't call her a one-hit-wonder either. The surprising thing to me was that the record label put out a press release on it. Normally these things happen quietly and people don't know it's happened until months later when someone publicly asks "hey, when's that ______ album coming out?"

One Year Ago Today...

...I was in Foxboro, MA... where I got The News.

Happy (?) Anniversary to us. I can honestly say I didn't think I'd survive this long. I almost didn't. At one point I was told I was going to be let go, and prepared to let someone else take over my job. There have been days I kind of wished that had happened. But I know everything happens as part of a much bigger plan, so it's intriguing to me that I wound up making it. I'm not sure how many of us original XM'ers there are left, but I know there aren't many.

Now that we've hit the one year mark, I can get fired, demoted, or given a pay cut, without any sort of severence option. Or, I may be here for another 8 1/2 years.

Stay tuned.

CMA Music Fest on Sirius XM's "The Highway"

Listen in on The Highway - Sirius channel 60 / XM channel 16 / DISH Network 6060 / DirecTV channel 814, as well as Jet Blue, Air Trans and Air Canada. Schedule subject to change... !!

Wednesday, June 10
3:00 PM ET The 5th Annual CMA Music Festival Kick-off Parade – Jon Anthony and Storme Warren will kick off The Highway’s live coverage with a “car-by-car” play-by-play of the stars and special guests in this year’s parade. Among those scheduled to be interviewed as they roll down Broadway in their Chevy vehicles – NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, Grand Marshall Rodney Atkins, Sammy Kershaw, Collin Raye, The Oak Ridge Boys and many, many more!

4:00 PM ET The 4th Annual CMA Music Festival Block Party – LIVE concert performances from the Chevy Stage by Rodney Atkins, Eric Church, The Lost Trailers, Emerson Drive, James Otto, Jason Michael Carroll, Trent Tomlinson, and the LoCash Cowboys.

Thursday, June 11
10:00 AM ET Phil Vassar Phan Club Party

12:00 PM ET LIVE Concerts from the Chevy Stage – Jeff Cook, Steve Holy, Caitlin & Will, Danielle Peck, John Conlee, Trailer Choir, Kentucky Headhunters, Colt Ford

9:00 PM ET Dierks Bentley “Last Call Ball”

Friday, June 12
12:00 AM ET The 3rd Annual “Late-Night Songwriters LIVE Concerts” to benefit Musicians On Call – Bob DiPiero, Sarah Buxton, Gary Burr, The Warren Brothers

8:00 AM ET Songwriters Concert replay from midnight

12:00 PM ET LIVE Concerts from the Chevy Stage – David Nail, Lee Brice, Dean Brody, Rhonda Vincent

3:00 PM ET Dierks Bentley “Last Call Ball”

4:00 PM ET LIVE Concerts from the Chevy Stage – Kate & Kacey, Julie Roberts, Cherryholmes

8:00 PM ET Joe Nichols Fan Club Party

10:00 PM ET Luke Bryan Fan Club Party

Saturday, June 13
12:00 AM ET The 3rd Annual “Late-Night Songwriters LIVE Concerts” to benefit Musicians On Call – Jason Matthews, Luke Laird, James Slater, Karen Rochelle, Jonathan Singleton

8:00 AM ET Songwriters Concert replay from midnight

11:00 AM ET Dierks Bentley “Last Call Ball”

12:00 PM ET LIVE Concerts from the Chevy Stage – Ty Herndon, Katie Armiger, Halfway To Hazard, Jonathan Singleton & The Grove, Holly Williams, Carter’s Chord, Justin Moore, Billy Dean

7:00 PM ET Mark Wills Fan Club Party

9:00 PM ET Phil Vassar Phan Club Party

11:00 PM ET Joe Nichols Fan Club Party

Sunday, June 14
12:00 AM ET The 3rd Annual “Late-Night Songwriters LIVE Concerts” to benefit Musicians On Call – Bobby Pinson, Rachel Proctor, Dallas Davidson, Leslie Satcher, Rhett Akins

8:00 AM ET Songwriters Concert replay from midnight

11:00 AM ET Luke Bryan Fan Club Party

12:00 PM ET LIVE Concerts from the Chevy Stage – Bo Bice, Emily West, Carter Twins, Jypsi, Grascals, Charlie Louvin, Blackberry Smoke, Bomshel, T. Graham Brown

7:00 PM ET Jo Dee Messina Fan Club Party

9:00 PM ET Mark Wills Fan Club Party