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Artist To Watch: Michael Shoup
When it came time to pick Tragic Kingdom’s featured artist for March it was a tough decision. With my latest move to Nashville, country music has become so relevant (as you’ve clearly witnessed by the blog’s recent country takeover), but I wanted to do something special this month. I wanted to prove to the readers that Nashville is more than hillbilly rockers and twangy crooners. Despite the hicktown stereotypes, it wasn’t hard to find a variety of talents spanning all genres, many of whom will be featured in the coming months. When I first moved to town, I stopped by a writer’s round at a local venue near my new…
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Ellen DeGeneres, Jason Aldean, Kelly Clarkson, Kurt Allison, Rich Redmond, Tragic Kingdom, Tully Kennedy
Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson To Go #1
Academy of Country Music‘s nominee for Entertainer of the Year, Jason Aldean, is busy making the talk-rounds in LA this week. Earlier today, his stop by The Ellen Show aired, where he performed his newest monster hit “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with his vocal companion Kelly Clarkson. The performance was incredible per usual: Jason delivered, ‘the boys’ (Rich Redmond, Kurt Allison, and Tully Kennedy) rocked it, and Kelly’s vocals were flawless. But it was backstage where Clarkson spilled some exciting news. Check out this web exclusive video of two of Tragic Kingdom’s featured artists behind-the-scenes after their performance. And if you unforgivably missed the performance, Tragic Kingdom has your back. Enjoy!…
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Hop Aboard the Neon Trees Train
Over the last few years, the band Train has delivered some delicious, radio-friendly ear candy (cue “Hey Soul Sister”), but when I saw the boys perform with Martina McBride at the CMT Crossroads event here in Nashville, I was blown away by Pat Monahan‘s very real talent. This morning, when I woke up to discover that Lady Gaga‘s new single “Born This Way” is really just an updated version of Madonna‘s “Express Yourself”, I found this little treat in my inbox. It seems Tragic Kingdom isn’t the only mega-Neon Trees fan. Train covered the band’s hit, number-one single “Animal” with a very cool acoustic performance that is already making its way around the…
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Artist To Watch: Thompson Square
If your a follower of music, it’s no surprise why Tragic Kingdom is featuring the husband-and-wife duo, Shawna and Keifer Thompson of Thompson Square. The two singers met at a singing competition, where they had immediate romantic chemistry, after moving to Nashville separately to pursue solo careers. And although the chemistry didn’t initially lead them to share the stage, eventually the pair found it making sense. When a mutual friend – who had once tried to pursuade them against forming a duo – saw the pair perform at local Nashville club, he was blown away be their energy and cutting-edge style. It became obvious that their on-stage chemistry could be just as…
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I Can Take It
When I moved to Nashville from Denver last fall, I knew things wouldn’t be easy. Meeting new people, integrating into a new environment, and learning my way around a new city were the exciting challenges that I was ready to take on. In the next couple of weeks, I am going to shift focus from music for a minute here and there to introduce you to some of the exciting findings from my journey. While proving to be worth it, the journey to Nashville has been a rough road. When I started going through the catalog of Tragic Kingdom’s first featured songwriter, John Edwards, I couldn’t help but connect with…
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The Harder The Life, The Sweeter The Song
Since moving to Nashville late last year, I have learned one thing: Nashville is full of true talent. It’s not just the songbirds who spit out twangy vocals, this town has musicians (some of the best in the world), engineers, publishers, and songwriters. As a new feature to Tragic Kingdom in 2011, the Songwriter Spotlight will give songwriters a chance to get much needed, and well deserved, attention. First up, is by far one of the most sincere storytellers in town, John Edwards. Born in the hills of Lenior, North Carolina, songwriter John Edwards was destined for success. At the age of three, his mother moved John and his brothers…
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Happy Holidays!
Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to pack up a bag full of goodies and make the trek, along with the millions of others, to see the family. This year I am headed to Montana for some holiday cheer and home cooked meals. And if I know my Montana family, my holiday will consist of plenty of quality time with my three favorite wise men: Jim, Jack, and Jose. While away, I will be preparing my list of top albums and singles from 2010 – get ready because this year was a doozy. I wish you all a very Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! To put you in…
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Julianne Hough Makes The News
Although the biggest story here is probably that, besides being linked to Ryan Seacrest, Dancing With The Stars alum and country singer, Julianne Hough is making headlines across the music industry for her flatlining music career. Early this week, Julianne released the video for her new single “Is That So Wrong” online. In the summer the video appeared on CMT, but was later taken down after sources say the conservative folks at the music television network found it too “wrong” for their audiences. The video showcases Hough strutting around her house doing what she does best: stripping, er uh, dancing… while removing articles of clothes, gyrating her hips, and spreading eagle…
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America Wants To Stay
On Wednesday night, we watched Jason Aldean stun audiences with his powerful vocal performance and on stage chemistry with global pop sensation Kelly Clarkson, when the duo took the stage at the 44th Annual CMA’s. The Tragic Kingdom favorites performed the new single from Aldean’s latest album, My Kinda Party, entitled “Don’t You Wanna Stay”. Yesterday, Aldean’s label, Broken Bow Records, rushed the songs release and made the song available due to a flood of requests from radio stations across the country. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years in the record business, it is always give radio what they want,” said SVP Promotion Carson James. “Our entire…
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Jason Aldean: My Kinda Party
On the eve of his album release, Tragic Kingdom introduces a new breed to our growing list of featured artists. He’s already sold 3.5 million records worldwide and has spent more time in the last 14 weeks at number one than any other country artist, but it wasn’t until I arrived in Nashville a couple months ago that I took notice of Jason Aldean. I was sitting at a friend’s house listening to one of the tracks from his latest effort, My Kinda Party, and it was clear that this country boy was more than another Nashville wannabe. In fact, this guy rocks. I got an advanced copy of the album…
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Only 6 More Days
The Tragic Kingdom is all a-buzz tonight! And it’s not from that baked good we found stashed in our suitcase left over from our SXSW trip in Austin, it’s much more stimulating. Glee’s season premiere ended with this: Need I say more? This is going to be an epic television event, one the Tragic Kingdom will certainly be tuning in for… I wonder how long baked goods last.