DAVE'S DIARY - 4 JULY 2023 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 6 - SERIES 56
DIERKS BENTLEY AND BILLY STRINGS HEADLINE NU COUNTRY TV
Arizona born singer-songwriter Dierks Bentley and bluegrass ace Billy Strings headline Nu Country TV at 6.30 pm on Saturday July 8.
Ohio born dairy farm refugee Peter Schlegel and comedian Cledus T Judd add humour to a show repeated Thursday at 1 am.
New Mexico born latter day Texan Bri Bagwell and Ferny Creek singer-songwriter Brendan McMahon boomerang to Behind Bars on the program filmed and edited by our multi-talented lockdown producer-host Laith Graham.
Kinglake singer Merelyn Carter and former Scotland yard detective Craig Lloyd and prolific Golden Guitarists Felicity and duet partner Josh Cunningham also appear this week.
Nu Country TV is a highlight of C 31 streaming list on Digital 44.
Further info - https://www.c31.org.au/
DIERKS AND BILLY HIGH AT THE STATION INN
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Dierks Bentley and dual Grammy winner Billy Strings give new meaning to high notes at famed Station Inn, Nashville, in their Nu Country TV return.
Dierks, 47, toured here with Lee Kernaghan in 2012 and attracted AFL stars including Carlton players Andrew Walker and David Ellingham and former St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt to their St Kilda Palais concert.
Nick and singer-actor Tim McGraw also kicked footballs into the audience at McGraw's 2019 Rod Laver Arena concert with Midland and Travis Collins before moving to Texas with his wife.
Dierks and Michigan born Grammy winner Strings, now 30, combined for their High Note video for Dierks 12th album Gravel & Gold .
Bentley flies his own Cirrus SR 22 to some U.S. concerts after it was featured in his hilarious Drunk On A Plane video.
Dierks fronted our show with his videos Pick Up, Hold The Light , featured in 2017 movie Only The Brave , and Burning Man and fronts his satirical band Hot Country Knights.
Strings, 30, fronted our show with social comment video Watch It Fall from his fourth album Home.
Billy was also joined by guitarist dad Terry Barber and singer mother Debra on his Behind Bars return with bluegrass traditional song Long Journey Home.
It's on Billy's sixth album Me And Dad be released in November, 2023, with Nashville musicians - bassist Mike Bub, mandolinist Ron McCoury, banjo player Rob McCoury, fiddler Michael Cleveland, Jerry Douglas and Jason Carter.
He also fronted Nu Country with his In The Morning Light video from 5th album Renewal and Uncloudy Day.
Billy proved his altruism as he donated 208 guitars to Twin Rivers Elementary School in Muir, Michigan, from his tour bus and U-Haul truck.
All 208 students received a Fender guitar.
Billy, aka William Apostol, attended Twin Rivers Elementary where his music teacher Mrs. Mercer still works.
Billy has a new duet The Great Divide with North Carolina nouveau outlaw chart topper, 2022 CMA Entertainer Of The Year and August tourist Luke Combs.
Further info - https://www.billystrings.com/
CLICK HERE for a Bentley CD review in The Diary on July 25, 2016
CLICK HERE for a Dierks feature in The Diary on March 30, 2014.
CLICK HERE for a Dierks interview in The Diary on April 26, 2009.
PETE SCHLEGEL AND CLEDUS T JUDD SPECTACULAR SPECTACLES
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Ohio born dairy farm refugee Pete Schlegel debuts with satirical singer-songwriter-actor Cledus T Judd in timely warnings about the need to check your specs before you flex in a bar.
Pete showcases how it's much easier to milk a cow than chase cowgirls who may be cowboys.
Peter and Cledus add much mirth in their video for Glasses that follows Schlegel's seventh album.
“I need glasses, what the hell is wrong with me” Peter quipped.
“The older that I get, the easier it is to see I need glasses.”
Peter was raised on a dairy farm in Paulding, Ohio, and listened to country radio while milking the cows as a child.
This early exposure to the radio shows grew his passion for country music. He worked as a state trooper and EMS helicopter pilot but his love of country music drove him to pursue his dream of performing.
He headed to Nashville in 2002 and worked with producer Clyde Brooks.
Brooks produced Pete's debut album Strong Stuff that was promoted with his It Takes A Whole Lot Of Liquor To Like Her video .
It was followed by albums including I'm Not Listening, That's What I Believe, Rusty Ole Halo and sixth album J-Town in 2017.
Further info - https://peteschlegel.com/
BRI BAGWELL IN TRENCHES
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Latter day Texan Bri Bagwell recalls Covid isolation in her latest video Trenches.
Like many peers she cancelled concerts and tours and wrote new songs.
Bri and rodeo queen Kylie Frey also fronted Nu Country with a live version of a hit by another queen in Florida.
They joined forces at Captain Tony's Saloon , a Hog's Breath Café and sea craft to countrify Cyndi Lauper hit Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
Bagwell, 35, moved from New Mexico to Austin , Texas , when she was 18 and lives down south in New Braunfels.
She showed a large roster of musical mentors in her rollcall for previous Heroes video from her third album In My Defence.
Bri fronted Nu Country with her live video Asphalt & Concrete in her Treehouse Sessions in Austin , Beer Pressure, I Can't Be Lonely and Half As Good.
This time Bagwell showed how she lived in isolation in ditches in her Trenches video on her fourth album Corazón y Cabeza .
Further info - https://www.bribagwell.com/
BRENDAN MCMAHON HONOURS SOLDIERS
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Ferny Creek singer-songwriter Brendan McMahon honours soldiers who lost their lives fighting for our country in his return to Behind Bars.
The South Australian stock and station agent's son recorded the video for I Hear Your Voice (The Soldier) on his sixth album As The Road Unfolds.
Brendan, now 59, was born at Kapunda near the Barossa Valley and sang along to the radio as he drove his Ute in the bush on dark nights.
He previously fronted our show with Back Roads from As The Road Unfolds that also features his Gundrys' Track video, evocative maternal homage video Mother and I Am inspired by childhood wanderlust.
Brendan followed his music east to Rowville - not Nashville - where he wrote songs about a steer named Morris and an echidna who remains nameless.
CLICK HERE for an interview with Brendan in The Diary on December 9, 2019.
MERELYN CARTER AND CRAIG LLOYD
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Kinglake singer Merelyn Carter and former Scotland yard detective Craig Lloyd pay tribute to a little country store on debut.
Merelyn and latter day Gisborne singer-songwriter Craig Lloyd showcase historic Taggerty country store in central Victoria .
They sing of how the building may have faded but memories never do in the town that had a population of 328 in the 2016 census.
It's located at Maroondah Highway and Thornton Road intersection near where Acheron River crosses the highway.
A pastoral run called Taggerty Run was established in 1846.
Craig moved to Australia after laying down the law at Scotland Yard and worked as a fireman here before meeting his wife and moving to Gisborne.
Little Country Store follows Take The Wheel from Craig's debut album The Other Side of Me
Merelyn is also in the Carter & Carter duo.
Little Country Store was written by David and Merelyn Carter and Craig Lloyd and released in April.
“It was inspired by unforgettable nostalgic experience of Taggerty General Store and its colourful owners,” the duo revealed.
“The shop stands sentinel as the lifeblood of a town of yesteryear, where everything else is long since abandoned. The building is old, in need of a little repair, but its essence stays strong, even in the face of modern-day change.
“The store feels like it's always open, a place for hearts to gather for a chat, post a letter or buy a beer, but it's the man behind the counter at his trusty coffee machine who draws us in, providing the reassurance that everything is okay, leaving us with the undeniable feeling of home.”
Carter & Carter have released eight albums, one DVD and four books in their twenty year career.
Their recent album Wonderful World was launched at the Capitol Theatre at Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Further info - http://www.carter-carter.com/about.html
Further info - https://www.craiglloyd.com.au/
FELICITY AND JOSH CUNNINGHAM
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Prolific Golden Guitarists Josh Cunningham and Felicity Urquhart pay tribute to her late husband Glen Hannah who died on May 28, 2019.
They erased their painful past to celebrate the future in new video Unsteady Ever Since You've Gone.
Felicity, 47 and mother of two daughters, filmed with divorcee Josh on beaches and Filmery studio in Gosford.
Unsteady Ever Since You've Gone follows their duet album Song Club, released on May 7, 2021.
Felicity and Waifs co-founder Josh previously fronted our show with their Seasons video.
The singer-songwriter found solace with divorcee Josh after the death of her singing spouse Glen.
Felicity rebounded from Glen's suicide to win six Golden Guitars in 2020 for her seventh solo album Frozen Rabbit.
The revered former host of ABC Radio show Saturday Night Country, Sydney Weekender host on Seven Network and one time Nu Country TV host, is a prolific songwriter.
Josh co-founded award winning West Australian Waifs trio with Vikki Thorn and Donna Simpson in 1992.
Felicity met Josh through online Song Club where artists share songwriting and recording by email.
Josh suffered divorce from his wife in 2019 and met Felicity at her Avoca Beach home on NSW Central Coast over cups of tea.
This tea coupling inspired their album that features eight Cunningham originals, two co-writes and Felicity solo original Hopeless And Good .
CLICK HERE for Felicity's Frozen Rabbit CD feature in the Diary on April 29, 2019.
CLICK HERE for an historic Waifs interview in the Diary on March 31, 2004.
WIN WAYLON, GEORGE JONES AND MERLE HAGGARD
Help us celebrate being Nu Country TV members and win albums by late Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Highwaymen by becoming a Nu Country member or renewing your membership.
George, Waylon, Merle and Willie Nelson were among country historian Barbara Dowling's favourite Texans.
The Waylon, Highwaymen , Merle and George discs were donated by Barbara who died at 77 in December, 2020.
She co-hosted Long In The Saddle in our Nu Country FM era and was pioneer Australian and Victorian country music awards judge.
Barbara was admired for rising above losing her sight as a young woman and her country passion with annual trips to Waylon's birthplace in Littlefield, West Texas.
Waylon died at 64 on February 13, 2002, and is survived by singing spouse Jessi, now 79, and son Shooter, 43.
WIN KEITH URBAN CDS ALSO
We have expatriate Australasian superstar Keith Urban's chart topping 12th album The Speed Of Now - Part 1.
Also BR5-49 CD Big Backyard Beat Show and Billy Ray Cyrus's historic 1992 album Some Gave All featuring Achy Breaky Heart.
We have other CDS by major artists you can win by becoming a Nu Country TV member or renewing memberships.
They include Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Kip Moore, Carrie Underwood and late larrikin legend A.P. Johnson.
CLICK HERE for our Membership Page for details.