Debuting this coming Sunday, September 7th, Tom McK presents 2 hours of the best and brightest straight from Nashville! Big Country USA kicks off Sunday at Noon Mountain!
Be sure to tune in! Find out more at BigCountryUSA.com!
Aside from all the Hot Country Hits you could ever want, we strive to provide other programming that compliments and enhances our musical selections. We want to always entertain you and give you the BEST Country Music programming you can find the world over. This special programming is high quality and here you’ll find some new information as well as some near-term plans we have for you.
Currently, we give you some great morning show content with the very talented and funny Bobby D on The Bobby D Show. From 6am-9am Monday through Friday, Bobby D gives us updates on news and celebrity gossip as well as other great features and info. At 10am and 5pm each weekday, Tammy Swanson gives us a quick checkup on everything Country Music and Nashville on the Music City Minute.
Our weekends are a lot of fun as well. Starting at 9am-10am, on Saturdays, Steve Southard gives us Nashville’s New Country. A show that offers an advanced look at what songs will be coming soon and be future hits. We repeat Nashville’s New Country at 9pm as well. At Noon, The Cowboy Bobby Lopez presents 2 hours of Texas Country, also known as Red Dirt Country. Based on your feedback and your clear interest in this alternative genre of Country music, we hope you enjoy the CD-Tex Radio Show each Saturday. Following the CD-Tex Radio Show, at 2pm, we join John Stevens as he counts down the top 20 country songs in the USA with Prime Country USA’s Hot Country Countdown.
On Sundays we switch gears a bit to bring you 24 hours of uplifting, creative and inspiring music. Talented musicians, singers, groups and artists who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are featured exclusively all Sunday long on An Inspired Selection. Calm down, enjoy and feel this great music as it enhances your Sunday mood.
Coming up on the day after Thanksgiving, we present 100% Christmas Music. The name says it all. Christmas Music with no commercials and very little interruption. This continues a long tradition of playing a huge variety of styles, genres and types of Christmas Music. 100% Christmas Music continues through New Year’s Eve. Christmas is a personal favorite time of year. I love the sights, feelings and the sounds of the Season.
We truly hope you enjoy and appreciate the variety of programming we offer. If you ever have a question, complaint or suggestion, always contact us directly. Find out how to reach us on our Contact page. Also, all times listed are Mountain Time.
Thanks!
-Timmy
[error]This contest has ended! Thank you![/error]
Here’s the skinny: wrap those snazzy earlobes around the incredible sound of America’s Country and when you hear the Cue To Text, text us at 801-788-4916 and BAM-O!! you win a FREE CD!!
Thanks to the incredible folks at Curb Records, Average Joe’s Entertainment, Warner Bros. Nashville, Universal Music Group and many others, we have boxes full of great country music CDs to give away! Here’s the current list of CDs we have in our stash:
Trace Adkins – Love Will
Colt Ford – Declaration of Independence
The LACs – 190 Proof
Montgomery Gentry – Rebels on the Run
JB & The Sunshine Band – Beer For Breakfast
Lee Brice – Hard 2 Love
Rodney Atkins – Take A Back Road
Randy Rogers Band – Trouble
Jana Kramer – Jana Kramer
Gloriana – A Thousand Miles Left Behind
Big & Rich – Hillbilly Jedi
Eddie Bush – Calloused Hands
I also have some other older ones hanging around. When you text in, you’ll get a reply back asking for your information and a choice of CD. If you ask for something I have, you’ll get it. If I don’t have it, I’ll politely let you know and you can pick another.
Here are the limitations: 1) This contest (and all others) is only open to US Residents. 2) You may only win a contest if you’ve not won within the previous 30 days. 3) I cannot guarantee you will get the CD you want but I will try my best and let you know otherwise.
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Country. Here’s the link you’ll need to listen and win:
http://bit.ly/TXVmf0
Love ya!
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I recently had the pleasure of talking to Matt Thomas of Parmalee followed by seeing them at The Grizzly Rose this is a combination of the 2 experiences.
Parmalee is comprised of brothers Matt Thomas (lead vocals/guitar) and Scott Thomas (drummer). Barry Knox (bassist) is their first cousin as for Josh McSwain (guitar and keyboards) “we met Josh in college and have been together ever since.” With no hesitation Matt went on to say “he is family now we’re family with his mom, we’re just all a big family.” That sentiment is also relayed on stage when
he referred to the band as a family band. As I talked to Matt and saw them in concert, my mind kept going back to the fact that not long ago he, they had a gun pulled on them during a robbery. His brother Scott was seriously injured when it ended in gunfire. Without Scott having his concealed weapons permit and the fact that he was carrying and was able to shoot the intruders it’s one of those situations that make you wonder “what if.” What if Scott didn’t have his own gun? Pretty powerful thought when you consider the most obvious answer – I surely wouldn’t be sitting here talking to Matt about the great music they make. Powerful ~ Thought Provoking. We started our conversation talking about that night. When asked how it affected the band emotionally, in his answer you can hear the deep rooted emotion and yes even feel it through the phone lines as he talked about the aftermath of that September night. “Well I mean it brought everybody tighter obviously. Because we had to go through all that together with Scott ~ he spent 35 days in the hospital ~you know we were being a nurse ~ the good thing that came out of it once that happened we got so much support mainly from our fans, but our family, and friends and everybody that was around us. You realize even though we’ve been kind of beatin up and down the roads for years doing our thing you touch a lot of people. They respect that and reached out to help us out. The biggest thing that came out of it minus the whole new look on life, was the fact there were people out there who cared about what we were doing and wanted see us continue to make music and they kept us a float for 4 months. Paying our bills, donating money doing benefits all kinds of just crazy fundraisers ~ all kinds of help they gave us.” You could hear the sincerity in his voice as he continued “That was the great thing if something like that had never happened we would never have known that kind of kindness. But we got the chance to see it.” He sounded humbled by the whole experience and obviously it touched them all deeply. Matt did write a song called “September” the night Scott got out of the hospital you can tell it’s still pretty “private” as he explained it’s a “personal song that you do for your fans that know you and know what went on its not an album cut.” Hmm maybe if you catch a show near Parmale you’d get to hear the song or hopefully perhaps one day we’ll all get to hear it on an album. Since emotion makes a song real and it seems as the deeper rooted that emotion is the better the song, the better the performance I for one would love to hear it. He did tell me about a song “Another Day Gone” that is on the album “it is based around the mentality of the fact you’re never guaranteed the next day and you need to take advantage of what you have in front of you. Kind of a reflection on the whole aspect of life is fragile better take advantage of it.”
Speaking of the CD they are in the studio now – in fact he jumped on our call just out of the studio where he had been “writing with Blair Daly laying down tracks.” That was rousing news to hear for me. The CD is still a work in progress; they have 12 songs worked out and they are writing and recording more. He was expecting it out by summers end. As far as songs on it he said “we have co- written with lots of wonderful people in Nashville we have written with in the band and we’re taking outside songs.” Hearing things like “our mentality is the best song wins” makes the anticipation for the album grow more intense. “Fortunately most songs are songs we’ve written.” He attributes that to “we know who we are. After we come out with a record you’ll have Nashville writers writing songs right down our alley. But as of right now most of the stuff we have on the record will be ours.” Talk about collaboration. As a band they write together. They write solo. They write individually with other people, the band works with other people and then they bring it all together. That’s just the beginning. Throw in their producers, Rich Redmond, Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy (Jason Aldean’s band) and David Fanning which make up Indie New Voice Entertainment, one of Nashville’s hottest productions companies. Another key player is Benny Brown from Broken Bow records. He helps determine songs as part of the process. A big part of the final song selection is what Matt feels he can perform with honesty and what they feel is real for them. Matt said fan reaction goes a long way in helping to determine as well, “especially people who have never heard you, everything is new to them you get a good feel for what is sticking and which ones aren’t” One of Matt’s favorites to do live is one of their new songs “Day Drinkin” I can see why and it was a crowd favorite at The Grizzly Rose when I saw them. Fun song great beat and great musically! Matt did go on to say “’Carolina’ takes the cake it is kind of the Golden Child” It is their current single released on iTunes January 22, 2013 and officially released to radio February 4, on February 5th it was the #2 most added song at stations for the week. “It’s been a good blessing – it is the
song that got us out here” The song has kind of come full circle in a sense. They wrote the song, released it in 2008 on an independent thing in 2010 it was picked it up to be released as a single by Benton Blount. “That’s how we got the whole deal” after the it garnered so much interest they decided “we’re going to roll out to Nashville because we’re song writers. We’re going to try take up every opportunity we get as the writers of the song. We co-wrote with New Voice and that led to the deal with Stoney
Creek. I’ll always stand behind its release to country radio without us behind the song” he chuckled as he finished “you know not being the performers just being the writers.”
Now let’s go to a show … they came out with a bang! Super infused music which lead into “Musta Had A Good Time” They are some hard rocking guys up on stage. Matt is full of personality, very cute. The talent oozes off the stage from all of them! Very impressive! They intermingle with one another and the crowd. One of Matt’s favorite covers he does is “Night Moves” by Bob Seger, and I can
tell you they do an amazing job on the song! They did an amazing montage of covers (“Midnight Rider” Allman Bros – “Can’t You See” Marshall Tucker – “Let’s Get It On” Marvin Gaye & “Seven Bridges Road” Eagles) that was simply stunning! They ran through some great originals that I sure hope made the “cut”. One of my favorites was “Calling You Mine” I fell in love first time with that song. Another favorite is “Can’t Tell My Heart What to Do” all about that tug of war relationship I think we all experience at some point. I didn’t hear one song that if it came on the radio I would change the station. No question about it they were all right at home on stage – it was a pretty full house that night and they had the crowd well entertained. They ended much the same as they started they hit up “MHGT” again and went out with some strong hard hitting finish! After the show they stayed to meet the fans and sign for them.
They again were very comfortable and seemed to really enjoy this part of the night.
Matt lights up as he talks about music you hear his appreciation for MUSIC. He is well versed –I get the impression he is a musical connoisseur and I for one would love to spend an evening listening to tunes talking to him about music, about some of his experiences, I’d bet the farm it would be fascinating. The band’s music evolved from the exposure they had growing up, it led them to where they are now as a band. They all 4 had exposure to some degree from their families being involved with music. Matt and Scott’s dad (Jerry Thomas) was in a cover band, “My dad was a soul southern soul singer with country roots. He sounded like Travis Tritt and Bob Seger kind of mixed together. We (Matt, Scott and Barry) grew up in that world. When we were kids he was playing in a cover band doing things like Travis Tritt, Kentucky Headhunters, Bob Seger, Allman Brothers all that southern stuff he also did soul greats like Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye that kind of stuff. We were exposed to all that music” Matt calls it “southern country soul music. For me Scott and Barry it was a big part of growing up.” They didn’t just listen to his dad’s band they got to play in it. Josh’s dad was in a blue grass band and he grew up going to blue grass festivals all the time.
“What you’re exposed to real early on kind of holds a little place in your heart and that’s kind of where we’re back to now.” They’ve dabbled in it all pop, rock, hip-hop country soul “It’s like taking parts of it all and putting it together in what we do.” He talked about so much music, such a variety and when you see them, hear them it all makes sense. It is an accumulation of their broad exposure to music growing up as well as them experimenting with many different genres that have brought them to where they are now. I got to see a video from 2008 of Matt, Scott and Barry playing “Feelin Alright” with Jerry.
It is a 6 minute musical extravaganza. You see how deep rooted the talent on the “music” side really is. Hearing all this and getting a good sense of his appreciation for music, it’s no surprise Matt has a wide variety on his iPod – one of his most listened to is The Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore East. It reminds him of his dad. I imagine one day there will be people listening to Parmalee because it takes them back home to their family – to their parental units.
They’ve always known that they would be doing something in music. There was no “backup plan,” Matt and Scott were loggers, Barry was a furniture reposseser and Josh was a pizza maker. Making music was always in their sights, they always had their focus on it. It is all starting to pay off as the “wish list” is starting to get some pretty significant check marks on it. They’ve signed with a
great label, in the middle of putting together their first CD with some top notch producers; “Musta Had a Good Time” broke the top 40 on the charts. Matt is hopeful that “Carolina” will help a couple more of those dreams come true, like playing at the Opry, or maybe breaking into the to 20. One of their aspirations I am in full agreement with is they want to play at Red Rocks “that’d be on that list for sure.” You could hear his excitement as he talked about wanting to tour with people like Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, Eric Church and yes Kenny Chesney would be the ultimate to tour with if they could swing it.
For now they are taking it piece by piece just soaking it in and appreciating it all along the way. They are enjoying seeing the country, meeting the people behind radio and meeting and making fans all along the way. If they come to a venue near you I would recommend checking them out! Don’t forget to visit iTunes to download “Musta Had a Good Time” and “Carolina” – rate and review them. Be sure to request their music wherever you listen to it.
Be sure to follow @parmaleefans and like their fb page as well.They are the official fan site for Parmalee. They will keep you well informed as to what the guys are up to and what you can do as a fan to help them keep on keeping on this journey of theirs.
A carefree day on the water in Vero Beach … Wipe out … Mangled shoulder … Lead to one of the most poignant new beginnings for Jake Owen.
A wakeboarding accident severely injured his shoulder and squashed his dreams of becoming a pro-golfer. He knew he had to reassess, redesign his future. Lucky for us, music is the direction he chose to focus his interest and hard work! He picked up a borrowed guitar and learned to play it. He started out playing covers in bars, once he had a few original songs he tried them out – good response – more of him followed! He signed a record contract when he was 24 with Sony/BMG Nashville. Jakes 1st CD was released in 2006 – his 3rd Barefoot Blue Jean Night was released in 2011. Easy Does It came out in between in 2009, and housed “8 Second Ride”, his 5th top 25 on Billboard”s Country Hits.
In 2011, the release of ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night’ was another new beginning, beginning of people starting to really know and understand his music. The self-titled single was Jake”s first #1 hit! Released in April 2011 it steadily rose up the Billboard country charts securing the top spot in September 2011. The song finished with the 2nd highest ranking for the year. He was touring with Keith Urban ~ Up next opening for the epic Brothers of the Sun tour.
He has had new beginnings in his private life as well …. In 2012, he asked his girlfriend Lacey Buchanan to marry him. He did it in his own “Jake surprises his fans” style. He proposed on stage in his hometown of Vero Beach on April 7, 2012. They got married a month later again in Vero Beach FL… yup, many new beginnings ahead here as well!
Jake appreciates his fans and shows it by including them in things like his proposal. He interacts with them on a personal level on twitter, sometimes even responding physically to special requests. By having impromptu Stageit concerts, back to back both with encores! He is just him on those nights. He shares with the fans as if he were talking to friends. Once he talked about a life mentor named Pearl. What a special person she was in his life, he then shared when she passed. He has introduced us to Lacey and never hides his feelings, his love for her. The relationship he is building with his fans has helped launch him to the next level in his career they will be there for the duration.
His current single “The One That Got Away” is steady on the charts at 25 now and it is slowly making its ascent upwards. Could it be another #1 hit single for Jake?
September 25th, Jake will be releasing an EP “Endless Summer”. October 10th, he kicks off his headline CMT on tour ~~ Summer Never Ends ~~ in New York City. This is his first headlining tour and he is bringing ‘Love and Theft’ and ‘Florida Georgia Line’ along for the ride. Are there more new beginnings in store for Jake? With the tour along with the fact that Jake and Lacey expecting a daughter in November I imagine the answer is yes!
The One That Got Away — http://www.cmt.com/videos/jake-owen/793779/the-one-that-got-away.jhtml
Barefoot Blue Jean Night — http://www.metacafe.com/watch/sy-1020866127001/jake_owen_barefoot_blue_jean_night_official_music_video/
8 second ride — http://www.metacafe.com/watch/sy-34288607001/jake_owen_eight_second_ride_official_music_video/
Jakes proposal to Lacey — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cY62nwzwg
Jakes Web site — http://www.jakeowen.net/splash
– Guest Writer Nickie Techmanski (Find her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Acologal)
[important]Folks, please welcome Nickie Techmanski! She”s our new guest writer and will be sharing some timely and informative articles here! Please comment with your feedback for her![/important]
After taking a few years off to enjoy fatherhood, Steve Holy was getting ready to come back to us. When he was leaving home to go to Nashville, his daughter asked “Dad, where you going?”
“To Nashville dear, I need to work”
“You don’t work, daddy”…
Thankfully, he did go back to work because he released Love Don’t Run in September 2011, in which he teamed up with producer Lee Miller. The first single titled “Love Don’t Run” fared relatively well becoming his 3rd top 20 song. Steve has now released his 3rd single off the CD – “She Hauled Off And Kissed Me”. This upbeat, fun song is a reflection on how things have changed with time. How women no longer sit and wait for the man to make the move. Steve would like to see this one move up and be his 3rd #1 hit, however he surely wouldn”t mind it taking off with a bit more fire then his 2 previous #1 hits! Although Steve is used to being patient, it took his first hit 18 months from the release of Blue Moon to hit the top spot. And it took his 2nd one 36 weeks to climb the charts.
Nine years after Steve’s 1st big break in 1993, he won a weekly country music variety show held in Arlington, TX, and had a hit! Steve is probably most known for this legendary song – “Good Morning Beautiful”, which stayed at #1 on the charts for five weeks in 2002. The song was featured in the movie Angel Eyes starring Jennifer Lopez and even reached 29 on Billboard Top 100. The CD Blue Moon that the song came from reached Gold Status nine years after its release. The hit is always a staple in the romantic song queue.
Steve released some singles over the next few years including “Rock A Bye Heart”, that topped off at 37 on the charts in 2003. In 2005, he released his second CD Brand New Girlfriend ~ the title track was the ringer on this one as it did become his 2nd #1. “Men Buy The Drinks” started the climb but petered out at 38 on the charts, but it is always a fan favorite at his shows.
Love Don’t Run contains a cover of “Help Me Make It Through The Night” in which Steve’s voice cuts you to the core. You can feel his emotion coming out of the speakers. The song became an instant favorite of mine! “Wonders” is a snappy tune and is one of his favorite songs it wouldn”t surprise me to see it come out as a single before it is all said and done.
… He tends to agree with his daughter, “This isn”t work.” He knows it is a blessing he gets to do this every night. And so do we and for this reason we give a wholehearted welcome back to Steve and look forward to hearing what he brings to the table in the future as well.
If you like what you hear, call or text America”s Country and request ~ She Hauled Off And Kissed Me ~
Here are some links to his website and videos –
http://www.cmt.com/videos/steve-holy/676514/good-morning-beautiful.jhtml
http://www.cmt.com/videos/steve-holy/675028/love-dont-run.jhtml
http://www.cmt.com/videos/steve-holy/99302/brand-new-girlfriend.jhtml
http://steveholy.com/default.asp
– Guest Writer Nickie Techmanski (Find her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Acologal)
