So, as you heard live on XM - it was announced in a press conference today at the Country Music Hall of Fame that Trisha Yearwood has signed a new record deal, with Big Machine Records.

There were a lot of interesting things to come out of the day - before, during, and after the Press Conference, including scoop that you probably haven't heard yet. I'll try to update you on what I can remember, feel free to ask questions if I leave something out.

First off, the event was held in the Rotunda of the CMHOF, which is where the plaques for the Hall of Famers are hung. There was a stage at the front, several rows of seating, and a platform at the back for tv crews. They closed the rotunda to the public, which I've always found an odd thing to do (it was the same for Tim & Faith's event last month.) If I go to the Country Music Hall of Fame as a tourist, I'm going to want to go see the Hall of Famer's plaques. I'd be miffed if I can't get in there because there's some private event going on. But that's just me.

I will spare you the fun we had trying to get a signal from the rotunda, at one end of the building, to the studio, at the other end. Let's just say... there were some scary moments. Thanks to Moni for posting my blog about the live coverage once we our awesome engineer Daryl got it all worked out. (I'd written the post before I left the house this morning, but didn't want to post it until we were 100% certain we could pull it off!)

Side note / amusing story. Once we knew it was going live Sandi - president of the XM fan club - posted on various country music message boards that the Big Machine press conference involving a mystery artist was going to be heard live on XM. On one particular site, it was posted in the "off-topic" section and didn't mention Trisha by name. (I didn't even tell her where it was being held or that we'd confirmed it was Trisha!) She just posted to help spread the word that XM was carrying a press conference live - which, by the way, we were the ONLY place that did. An overzealous moderator deleted her post because supposedly Trisha's manager saw it and demanded that it was removed.

Trust me, her management had better things to be doing 15 minutes before the press conference than reading the off topic section of her message board. LOL! I know, because I was in the room with them at the time the post was made - and deleted.

Ok, I digress. I'm just sorry those of you who could have listened didn't get the chance. Back to the press conference. Lots of folks from her management company were there, everyone I know at Big Machine was in attendance (except my former intern Natalie) including Danielle Peck and Jimmy Wayne. It was almost like a little Trisha pep rally!

Media turnout wasn't quite as strong, NewsChannel 5 was the only tv camera at the press conference, although there were a couple more tv crews setting up for individual interviews afterwords. Ed Morris from CMT.com was there, along with most of the usual syndicated radio folks. (Interestingly, our competitor didn't show up.)

The event started out with Kyle Young, the Executive Director of the CMHOF, welcoming everyone. He held in his hand an application when Trisha applied to work at the Hall of Fame, and talked of hiring her at $4 an hour. He said some nice things and then introduced Scott Borchetta.

Scott talked for quite a while about his history with Trisha, I hope some of you got to hear it. It's really neat, we were talking before the event about how this brought them back full circle. 20 years ago he worked at MTM Records and knew a receptionist named Patricia Latham. Eventually he worked on the promotions team that worked Trisha Yearwood's her first single - taking it all the way to #1.

Scott is a really nice guy, but on the business side of things, he completely rocks. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, but if I were to ever sign a record deal, he'd be the guy you'd want on MY team, not working the records I'm competing against. His wife Sandi was there as well, who creates all of Trisha's amazing dresses (and yes, that Reba red dress too!) but I didn't get a chance to say hello to her.

The line that stood out to me from Scott's speech was when he said that Trisha no longer had to wait in line - that she'd moved to the front of the pack. It was a direct hit at how her last album had been handled at MCA, and it was a bullseye.

Scott also told me afterwords that the rest of the artists on the Big Machine roster are tickled pink to have Trisha on the label.

Trisha was introduced and she came up wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a pink Titans jersey. This was the mystery of the day. It's not football season. I've never seen her wearing a Titans jersey before. Predators, yes. It's baseball season now, a Braves jersey would have been ok. I didn't even know they made Titans jerseys in pink. And clearly she knew there'd be cameras everywhere. It was an odd choice. (And for those who follow the titans - it was a Vince Young jersey.)

One of the first things she talked about was how over the past 2 years she kept reading about all the great things Big Machine did. I didn't take very good notes on the press conference - I was just so relieved it made it on the air! She took questions from the press. In no particular order, things she covered:

- She corrected Kyle to say she started at $3.65 an hour at the Hall of Fame, not $4.
- Garth Fundis will be producing her, but they're going to work with other producers as well.
- She was asked to take over Reba's role in Annie Get Your Gun, but knew better than to try to follow Reba. She does want to do Broadway, but that requires moving to New York, and she's living with an Okie. However, she's told him that when the girls are grown, they will wind up living in New York. (Wait a minute - I thought when the girls were grown he was going back to living on a tour bus!)
- Her and Garth (the husband not the producer) don't fight over things like money or how to raise the girls, but when they argue it's usually about the music business. She wouldn't ever want him to produce an album on her and there aren't any plans for him to be on this album.
- I asked her when the fans could expect new music - because it said in the press release we were handed at the door, but they hadn't covered that yet, LOL. At some point in early 2008... they don't have a concrete timeline yet, because the album isn't made yet.

After the event I headed up to the board room on the 4th floor, where Trisha was doing some additional media, including the tv things I mentioned. I had 20 minutes to get all kinds of good scoop here - including touring, why she doesn't watch American Idol, her favorite ACM memory, and the latest on that long rumored Songbook 2 album.

Good photos from the event at CMT.com