06-09-08
The tour busses have hit the road, the stages have been struck and everyone is off to their next destination as the CMA Music Fest came to a close yesterday. The festival grew by 9% over the last year which was surprising to local officials for the festival thinking that gas prices would result in a drop in attendance. But apparently country fans cant be deterred from getting a chance to meet with their favorite artists… and if you were in the right place at the right time… after most of the big shows were over… you got a chance to see them hanging out in clubs… taking over the mic to do their own rendition of a Garth or Waylon song… Like the club LOSERS on Division St owned by Erv Wolsey who is George Straits manager. On Friday night Daris Rucker showed up… now as you know Darius is formerly from Hootie and the Blowfish… yeah, he’s a country artist too with a current single on the air now. Rucker sang a few Hootie songs, then clay walker and Miranda Lambert walked in and entertained the crowd for a few minutes… after a while Jack Ingram got up on stage and sang a few and then Lee Brice took the stage… now remember… this was not planned… these folks were just hanging out. So when Lee Brice gets done he seemed a little overwhemed and thrilled to be there… so he got the crown’s attention and says “Ladies & Gentelmen, please give a big round of applause for the great band and for these fantastic artists… Darius Rucker, Clay Walker, Miranda Lambert and,…. wait for it….. Jeff Johnson!!… Yeah… Poor Jeff Ingram… wins an ACM and still cant get introduced right!
Brad Paisley’s “I’m Still A Guy” is knocking over charts but he’s not slowing down… he’s currently filming the video for his next single and video “waiting on a woman”. We got a chance to sneak a peek on location as they filmed and let me tell you… if Brad can make you smile about life, laugh about fishing, a geek on my space and being a celebrity and reminisce about being young… this next one will bring you to tears as a man waits on his woman. In the 3minute mini movie, Andy Griffith plays and old man that is waiting for his wife in life & in heaven… it actually brought the set crew, including myself, to tears as we watched the scene where Andy is walking on a beach… but I don’t want to spoil it… the video premiers late summer
Finally, I ran into Jeff Dunham and Walter this afternoon. Now for those that don’t know the comedic genius of this guy, he is the one behind the 50 million You Tube clips of Achmed the Dead terrorist. Aside from that and having 2 sucessful comedy central shows… while most comedians only sell 25 thousand DVD’s, Jeff has sold 1.7 million! He’s also starred on Blue Collar TV, The Best Damn Sports Show Period and was only one of 4 comedians invited to THE COUCH on the Johnny carson show the FIRST time he performed… So I asked Jeff and Walter how one wakes up one day and decides to be a ventriloquist and apparently Jeff was in 3rd grad when he saw a ventriloquist doll in the window… asked for it for his birthday and the rest is history!
I’ll have the complete interview… both audio and video…up for you on the website, www.Nashvillespill.com by June 10….
Well… that’s all the news I know in Nashville… I’m Andie Lynne with the Nashville spill
