DAVE'S DIARY - 10 /8/2015 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 10 - SERIES 27

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER AND TIFT MERRITT HEADLINE NU COUNTRY TV

Quintuple Grammy award winner Mary Chapin Carpenter and Tift Merritt headline Nu Country TV this Saturday August 15 at 10.30 pm on Channel 31/Digital 44 on the eve of their latest Australian tours.

Tennessean Chris Young also returns to the show repeated Monday 5.30 am and 2.30 pm and Wednesday 7.30 am after his March tour with Big & Rich .

A Thousand Horses celebrate this month's birthday of all their peers in the animal kingdom by debuting on the program filmed and edited by Laith Graham.

Queensland singer-songwriter and 2013 Katter Party Senate candidate James Blundell, who quit as a stockman in Papua New Guinea because of back injuries after a horse fall, also returns.

And San Antone born country rapper Mikel Knight showcases his satirical song about trucking.

Nu Country TV is a highlight of C 31 streaming list on Digital 44.

Just follow this link on your computer or mobile phone

- http://www.c31.org.au/program/view/program/nu-country-tv

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER HONOURS LUCINDA WILLIAMS

Mary Chapin Carpenter reaches deep into the past in Behind Bars to celebrate Louisiana born Lucinda Williams with historic hit Passionate Kisses.

New Jersey born Mary Chapin, now 57, performed here in 1991 with Lucinda and Rosanne Cash at Dallas Brooks Hall in East Melbourne.

The five time Grammy winner returned in 2000 for a St Kilda Palais concert.

This time Mary Chapin and Texan born Tift Merritt make their Victorian debut at Ulumbarra Theatre in Bendigo on September 3.

They also play National Theatre in St Kilda, September 4, and famed Caravan Club in Oakleigh on September 5.

Mary Chapin is a big fan of Lucinda who landed her songs in movies diverse as Lone Star, The Horse Whisperer, Niagara, Niagara , Shallow Hal and The Baron And The Kid.

Mary Chapin also recorded a Patty Griffin song My Dear Old Friend for the soundtrack of We Were Soldiers.

CLICK HERE for an exclusive historic interview with Mary Chapin and CD reviews in The Diary.

TIFT MERRITT HITS A SWEET SPOT

Houston born, North Carolina raised singer-songwriter Tift Merritt enlisted many fans on previous tours here.

Tift, now 40, has released seven albums, including two live discs and an EP with her former band the Two Dollar Pistols.

Her 2012 album Traveling Alone was released on October 2, 2012.

It was her first on Yep Roc Records and featured Eric Heywood on pedal steel, John Convertino of Calexico on drums, Marc Ribot on guitar, Rob Burger on keyboards and cameo by Andrew Bird.

Her music has appeared in TV series The L Word, Men in Trees, United States of Tara, Hart of Dixie and Switched at Birth and movies New in Town, Little Birds , and Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return.

Merritt is also a photographer - her first exhibition, Other Countries , ran at The Mahler Gallery in Raleigh , North Carolina in May 2009.

She enrolled at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study creative writing.

She met husband Zeke Hutchins who decided instead to become a school teacher during his band's hiatus.

Merritt and Hutchins formed a band and he set up his drum kit in the kitchen of their farmhouse - they practiced songs at her piano.

In 2009 Tift married Zeke - her drummer and her long-time partner - in New York City where they now live.

CLICK HERE for a Tift CD review in the Diary on February 21, 2005.

MIKEL KNIGHT GIVES A TRUCK

Texan country rapper Mikel Knight reveals how to empty offices of desk jockeys in his video for Don't Give A Truck from his third album Urban Cowboy: Where the City Meets the Country.

San Antone born Knight paid homage to Hank Williams Jr, trusty trucks and controversial rebel flags, also a staple in the music of Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd and other Dixie artists.

“It feels good to launch the video and receive such great feedback and support,” said Knight.

“We worked long hours to make sure the visual experience was as strong as the actual story being told and I think we achieved that. This single and the video are meant to take you on a wild ride, and from the response from our fans, they're having a ball. We couldn't do any of this without their support, and we're looking forward to bringing them more hard-hitting, great Urban Country Music!”

The singer runs his own label, 17 vans and tour bus and sold more than 500,000 CDS.

At 17 he was discovered by a local studio owner for his first deal with a west coast indie label.

Mikel relocated to Texas in 2003 and created his own music.

Further info - http://www.mikelknight.com/site/

JAMES BLUNDELL – BACK IN THE SADDLE

Former Mortlake jackeroo and New Guinea stockman James Blundell takes us home in his new video Casuarina.

The twice wed father of three prayed for the return of the girl of his dreams and maybe rain at the family farm near Stanthorpe in southern Queensland .

Ironically, unseasonal weather brought snow to Stanthorpe back in July.

Casuarina is on Blundell's 11th album Hills Of Brisbane .

The singer, now 50, boomeranged from bankruptcy to stand for The Katter Party in the last election.

Its many moons since James was knee high to a cane toad but he recalled what it was like to be four feet tall in a previous video on eighth album Ring Around The Moon.

Blundell grew up near Texas - Texas , Queensland that is.

It's the town Blundell's little mate Lee Kernaghan sang about before he met Rick Perry - Governor of the Lone Star state.

James filmed his video on the farm - his rocking horse still resides on the veranda of a homestead occupied by his brother Peter.

CLICK HERE for a feature on James in the Diary on February 1, 2005.

A THOUSAND HORSES

Nashville band A Thousand Horses debut with This Ain't No Drink Dial from their second album Southernality.

One of the album songs Suicide Eyes is in new Footloose movie starring Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough.

The band formed in 2010 in Nashville and also has a singer named Zach Brown.

Members are lead vocalist Michael Hobby, lead guitarist Bill Satcher, Zach on guitar and vocals and bassist singer Graham Deloach.

Hobby and Satcher grew up in Newberry , South Carolina , where they began writing songs at 15.

Satcher's cousin DeLoach, joined the duo and performed with Nashville bassist, Jimmy Street .

After Street left, a friend introduced Zach Brown, and A Thousand Horses was formed.

Their first EP, A Thousand Horses , was released under Interscope Records in 2010.

In 2014 they signed with Republic-Big Machine and released first single Smoke that set a record for the highest debut by a new act when it opened at #28.

Ironically, A Thousand Horses was first country group to chart a #1 debut single since Zac Brown Band's Chicken Fried in December 2008.

Further info - http://www.athousandhorses.com/

CHRIS YOUNG COMES OVER

Tennessean troubadour Chris Young returns to the show five months after playing The Billboard Club in Russell Street in the Melbourne CBD with Big & Rich .

Young, just 30, also played CMC Rocks Queensland in Ipswich on his third Australian tour in March.

The singer found his blonde belle after a coffee break in the video for I'm Coming Over from his fifth album, set to be released this year.

But it was not Texan Miranda Lambert, 31, who split on June 20 from twice wed Oklahoma singing spouse Blake Shelton, now 39.

Young, who shared billing with Miranda on her 2012 On Fire tour, claims he's still good friends with the couple and released a statement denying the rumours.

TMZ claimed Shelton ended the pair's four-year marriage after he heard rumours she was cheating on him with Young.

The site also claimed Miranda was unfaithful with a second, unnamed man.

“I don't normally address gossip but in this case I will," Young wrote on Facebook.

"My name has been mentioned as a contributing factor in Blake and Miranda's divorce. That is totally FALSE. They are both my friends and I would not betray that friendship. Just wanted to clear that up. Love you guys.”

CLICK HERE for a Chris Young feature in The Diary on January 9, 2013.

CLICK HERE for a Chris Young CD review in The Diary on October 2, 2013

CLICK HERE to win a Chris Young CD on our Membership Page.

HOW TO KEEP NU COUNTRY ON AIR

We need your support as we celebrate the 27th series of Nu Country TV.

Australian record companies and artists have joined forces to ensure our survival.

We have new CDS by major artists you can win by becoming a Nu Country TV member or renewing your membership.

We now offer Angels And Alcohol - the 20th album by Georgian superstar Alan Jackson.

We also have CDS by include singing actors Willie Nelson and Tim McGraw, Voice judge Blake Shelton, Ashley Monroe, Brad Paisley, Gary Allan, Toby Keith, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Chris Young, Charley Pride, Slim Dusty and more.

We also have a Lady Antebellum DVD.

CLICK HERE for our Membership Page for full details.

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