05 - This Week in Country Music 22 years ago in 1982, Charlie Daniels hosted Volunteer Jam VIII, featuring Johnny Lee, Crystal Gayle, The Oak Ridge Boys, Dickey Betts, Roy Acuff and others.

Charlie talks about the art of entertaining: 

(:20) (Charlie Daniels) "We're supposed to entertain people. How do you do it? If you look great in a pair of size 32 jeans you know and you just knock all the women out when you walk on stage you can do it that way. If you've got it records and you do one behind the other behind the other, you can do it that way; I have never had that luxury. I've never looked good in a pair of tight jeans and I've never had one hit record after another so I had to learn how to entertain." 

• Daniels kicks off a series of tour dates in March. Check out all his dates here: www.charliedaniels.com/tour

CHARLIE DANIELS ON  ENTERTAINING

03 - This Week in Country Music 10 years ago in 2007, Hank Williams Jr.'s "A Country Boy Can Survive" video, a remix, debuted on CMT and CMT.com

As Hank shares, that song and others are the tunes he must sing on stage each night for fans: 

(:26) (Hank Williams Jr.) "'All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight' and probably "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound' and probably one that has really got bigger and bigger 'Outlaw Women' that thing is huge. You're talking about twenty somethings that know every word. Standing in the front row singing every single word to a song that was written before they were born."  

• Hank recently announced some tour dates for 2017. Check them out here: www.hankjr.com/tour/

HANK JR. ON SONGS HE HAS TO SING IN CONCERT

05 - This Week in Country Music 22 years ago in 1982, The Charlie Daniels Band took part in pre-game activities for the Super Bowl at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville where the New England Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21.

Last year (10/28), Charlie celebrated his 80th birthday and as he shared, he still has a lot to do:

(:17) (Charlie Daniels) "I wanna kill a ten point buck (laughter) I'm serious and I wanna catch a ten pound large mouth bass and I wanna write a whole bunch more songs, I wanna play a lot more shows. I am content with who I am and what I'm doing I mean it's my life it's what I do I'm an entertainer."

• Daniels kicks off a series of tour dates in March. Check out all his dates here: www.charliedaniels.com/tour

CHARLIE DANIELS 80 PLUS GOALS

04 – JOSH TURNER ON RANDY TRAVIS

Josh Turner was one of the many stars that paid tribute to Randy Travis in concert in Nashville last week (2/8). Backstage before his performance, Turner shared what he thought was the secret to Travis' success:

(:26) (Josh Turner) "His consistency is a big reason I think he was so successful like you know he just… Anytime he was out you know in front of a camera on stage or whatever he looked and acted like Randy Travis. I mean, some artists kind of let their hair down you know, when they're in those situations but not Randy he was always that artist that you always knew and that you expected him to be."

• Other performs at Wednesday night's (2/8) tribute concert in Nashville included Alabama, Kenny Rogers, Rodney Atkins, Chris Janson, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Michael Ray, Ricky Skaggs, Michael W. Smith, The Randy Travis Band, Tanya Tucker and Scotty McCreery.

JOSH TURNER ON RANDY TRAVIS

John Conlee is perhaps best known for his smash hit "Rose Colored Glasses" a song he wrote more than three decades ago: 
 
(:17) (John Conlee) "I wrote it (Rose) in 1976 and 'Back Side of Thirty' were written within about six week they were in the first recording session but I wrote 'em within about six weeks of each other in '76 and they helped get me the first recording contract and both ended of being singles, 'Rose' is my signature song of course." 

• John plays a show in Greenville, Texas this week (3/8). You can check out John Conlee's tour dates here: http://www.johnconlee.com/
• See John perform "Rose Colored Glasses" at Farm Aid 1985 here: https://youtu.be/tTtibiaN4mU

JOHN CONLEE ON ROSE COLORED GLASSES

04 – This Week in Country Music 39 years ago in 1978, Gene Watson recorded "Farewell Party" at the Jack Clement Studios in Nashville. As Gene shares, over the years he has held on tight to good songs: 

(:23) (Gene Watson) "You know there was a time when I was plugged in to some of the best writers out there you know and would like to say that I still am to the ones that (are) still alive but the Johnny Russells and the Dave Kirbys I mean they are not around anymore. So you've gotta find 'em where you can. And I hoard good songs because when I find one it might not be time to record it right there at that time, but I hang on to it." 

• Watson's latest album is called "Real. Country. Music." You can check it out here: www.genewatsonmusic.com
• See Gene's 2017 tour schedule here: www.genewatsonmusic.com/tour

GENE WATSON ON HOARDING GOOD SONGS

01 - This Week in Country Music 29 years ago in 1988, Dolly Parton won two trophies during the People's Choice Awards, which aired on CBS. 

Parton's popularity soared in 1980 when she did her first movie. She shares: 

(:19) (Dolly Parton) "Well I have starred in a lot of things that people call classics and I've loved every one of them. '9 to 5' I loved because it's like a first love. It was the first movie that I ever did I'd never even seen a movie made at that time. And then every thing about it just fell so perfectly in place and it was a hit so why wouldn't that be like a first love."  

• Check out her winning the People's Choice here: https://youtu.be/9spkZyNKuSs
• Donate to Dolly Parton's "My People's Fund" here: https://dollywoodfoundation.org
• Dollywood opens March 18th.

DOLLY PARTON ON "9 TO 5" MOVIE CLASSIC

03 - This Week in Country Music 44 years ago in 1973, Tanya Tucker began two days of recording at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio.

At the time, Tanya was just a teen. She talks about the record label trying to cover up that fact: 

(:20) (Tanya Tucker) "Four days later after I cut it (Delta Dawn) they shipped that sucker out to radio and Billy (her producer Billy Sherrill) didn't want anybody to know I was that young. He said, 'Boys let's keep it a secret, you know we want this to be a real hit not just you know a fluke.' So they didn't make that a big deal, of course eventually people found out but he wanted to keep that a secret as long as we could."

• Last month (2/27), Tanya walked the red carpet at the Oscars in Hollywood. Check out a photo here: www.tanyatucker.com/tanya-at-the-oscars/

TANYA TUCKER ON BEING SO YOUNG

04 – LORRIE MORGAN – PLAYING THE OPRY THURSDAY (3/23)

Lorrie Morgan plays the Grand Ole Opry on Thursday's (3/23) Classic show and so does her son Jesse Keith Whitley. As Lorrie shares, playing the Grand Ole Opry gives her a feeling like nothing else: 

 (:31) (Lorrie Morgan)  "I love being at the Opry, I absolutely…it's a high that I can't find anywhere else. You know, just seeing my old friends there, it's kind of been a sad place lately we've lost so many great people, but it's just a high man, as soon as you walk on that stage you're just like nothing in the world matters you know and you turn around, the band's happy and everybody's just you know happy to be at the Grand Ole Opry and the audiences… you know they're… it's something for everybody at the Opry."

• Lorrie is set to sail on 2018's Country Music Cruise – check out the full lineup here: www.countrymusiccruise.com/lorrie

LORRIE MORGAN LOVES THE OPRY

03 - This Week in Country Music 40 years ago in 1977, Kenny Rogers recorded "Daytime Friends" at the Jack Clement Studios in Nashville. It was also in 1976, that Rogers began recording with Dottie West. He says of his dear friend: 

(:23) (Kenny Rogers) (sigh) "My heart breaks every time you mention her name. The fact that she's not in the Country Music Hall of Fame you know. And I caught her on the kind of down swing of her career and took her out with me and kinda boosted it up again and I was so happy about that. She was one of the nicest genuinely nice people I've ever met in my life."

• Kenny is currently playing dates on his "The Gambler's Last Deal" Tour with his next date on April 6 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

KENNY ROGERS ON DOTTIE WEST

THE HOT SEAT PRESENTS: THIS WEEK IN COUNTRY MUSIC
APRIL 17 – APRIL 21, 2017 - SOUNDBITES

THE BELLAMY BROTHERS ON BABY BOOM

04 – BOBBY BARE 

Bobby Bare has a brand new album coming out on May 26 called Things Change full of original songs and a collaboration with Chris Stapleton. Bobby talks about his love of recording: 

(:32) (Bobby Bare) "That's what I love to do. My passion is finding really good songs and going into a studio and record 'em no matter what even if I don't have a record deal I'll do it. On this one, Max Barnes who is the son of one of my best friends. So, Max T. probably when he was eighteen, nineteen years old, he played in my band for a while. He was wanting to start up a record company and I said, 'Why not let's do it.'"

• Chris Stapleton's collaboration is on Bare's classic "Detroit City."

BOBBY BARE ON RECORDING NEW ALBUM

05 - This Week in Country Music 55 years ago in 1962, Johnny Cash played the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York. Dolly Parton shares that Cash was one of her first concerts: 

(:23) (Dolly Parton) "He was just so magnetic and I was a young girl and I was in the audience and I was probably maybe thirteen. I don't know I was young and that was my first experience of what sex appeal was you know like somebody being magnetic and thinking, you know, grown up thoughts. But I always kidded him about that that he was my first crush, my first grown crush."  

• Dolly was at Dollywood over the weekend (5/6-7) and was able to present the final "My People's Fund" checks to the families of the December Gatlinburg Wildfires in person.

DOLLY PARTON ON JOHNNY CASH

03 - This Week in Country Music 28 years ago in 1989, Keith Whitley died from alcohol poisoning at his home in Nashville. Lorrie Morgan – who was married to Keith – recalls the first time the couple met: 

(:26) (Lorrie Morgan) "I heard this song come on the radio, pulled over on the shoulder of the road like I was just in awe and I was listening to the song "Miami My Amy" and Keith Bilbrey comes on he goes, 'That was Keith Whitley well shooting right up the charts' he says, 'He's gonna be here tonight at the Grand Ole Opry' and boy I stepped on that gas (laughs). I was like, 'I'm gonna get to the Opry and see Keith Whitley' and when I introduced myself he said, 'You don't have to tell me who you are.'"

• Lorrie plays a show with Pam Tillis at the Dakota Magic Casino on Friday (5/12). See all her tour dates here: www.lorrie.com/events

LORRIE MORGAN ON OPRY WITH KEITH WHITLEY

01 – DOLLY PARTON 

Dolly Parton is proud of where she is from and her heritage as a country girl from the hills of Tennessee. She jokes about a big difference in country and city kids:  

(:16) (Dolly Parton) "Well, the best thing about country girls… I don't know the best thing, they're just simple pure and simple (laughs) I guess. And I guess you know, the difference in a country kid and a city kid like I mean, city kids have nannies and country kids have nanny goats (laughs)."

• Check out what Dollywood has to offer for 2017 here: https://dollyparton.com/dollywood-theme-park

DOLLY PARTON ON CITY VERSUS COUNTRY GIRLS

02 – This Week in Country Music 11 years ago in 2006, Crystal Gayle gave Saudi Arabian prince Turki Al-Faisal a tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville. Crystal talks about it: 

(:18) (Crystal Gayle) "I feel very honored that they asked my to escort him around at the Hall of Fame and it was incredible he was very sweet and we did some other events and receptions at other houses and it was a nice day to be with him."

• Crystal plays the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Saturday (6/10). 
• See all her tour dates here: www.crystalgayle.com/tour.html

CRYSTAL GAYLE ON SAUDI PRINCE AT CMHOF

05 – This Week in Country Music 36 years ago in 1986, Hank Williams Jr. headlined the inaugural country concert at Starwood Amphitheater in Nashville.

Hank talks about songs he can't get away with not singing in concert these days: 

(:26) (Hank Williams Jr.) "'All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight' and probably 'Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound' and probably one that has really got bigger and bigger 'Outlaw Women' that thing is huge. You're talking about twenty somethings that know every word. Standing in the front row singing every single word to a song that was written before they were born."

• See Hank's latest tour schedule here: www.hankjr.com

03 – This Week in Country Music 22 years ago in 1995, BNA released Lorrie Morgan's "Greatest Hits" album. On that album was her first chart-topper "Five Minutes: 

(:17) (Lorrie Morgan) "We had a blast in the studio and that was one of the first songs Barry [her producer] played for me was 'Five Minutes' and I fell in love with it I mean I love the tempo, the beat, the message it had and you know, my first number one."

• Lorrie celebrates a birthday this week (6/27).
• Check out all her tour dates here: www.lorrie.com
• Follow Morgan on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/thelorriemorgan

LORRIE MORGAN ON "FIVE MINUTES"

03 – This Week in Country Music 24 years ago in 1993, John Anderson took "Money In The Bank" to #1 on the Billboard country chart.

John talks about the time Johnny Cash gave him a song to record: 

(:25) (John Anderson) "I was talking to him one afternoon and he said, 'Did you all ever get that song I sent over there?' I said, 'Yes, sir' he said, 'You probably oughta do that song son I think it could be a hit.' And you know that was just about all the advice I need from Big John at that time. I went and told my people I said, 'We need to…The next time we go in the studio that needs to be one we do' and indeed it was and Big John was right that song was a hit."

• Anderson will be opening an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame marking the 35th Anniversary of his smash hit "Swingin'" as well as his other achievements in country music.
• John's latest album – released in 2015 – is called "Goldmine" and can be purchased here: http://www.johnanderson.com/page.aspx?id=5419&page-id=5605

JOHN ANDERSON ON JOHNNY CASH GIVING HIM A SONG

01 - This Week in Country Music 41 years ago in 1976, Charlie Daniels played during a Southern rock fundraiser for presidential candidate Jimmy Carter at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.

As Charlie shares, he plays for America's military whenever he can: 

(:20) (Charlie Daniels) "I feel that we owe our people who put their lives on the line between us and our enemy… we owe them an un payable debt of gratitude. And I try to pay as much of it as I can. I never get paid but if it's going over where they are to play for them or whatever it is I want to do it. I've been a patriot all of my life. There's never been a day in my life when I was not a patriot."

• Check out Charlie's newest song "Ragged Old Flag" here: www.charliedaniels.com
• Daniels plays shows this week in New York and Wisconsin.

CHARLIE DANIELS ON BEING A PATRIOT

Big and Rich recently announced that their brand new album "Did It For The Party" will be released on September 15. Known for pushing boundaries with their music, John Rich explains that it was never intended: 

(:18) (John Rich) "I don't think real artists ever set out to push a boundary. I think it's what they are hearing in their minds and they've got enough nerve to chase it down the road and get it on to something you can play. I think if you're trying to push a boundary it comes off like that it's not genuine. I don't think any of our boundary pushers throughout time intended it."

• You can pre-order the new album here: www.bigandrich.com/news/447579/pre-order-did-it-for-the-party

JOHN RICH ON PUSHING BOUNDARIES

THE HOT SEAT PRESENTS: THIS WEEK IN COUNTRY MUSIC
JULY 24 - 28, 2017 - SOUNDBITES

RANDY TRAVIS ON FOREVER AND EVER AMEN

THE HOT SEAT PRESENTS: CLASSIC COUNTRY 
JULY 24 - 28, 2017 – SOUNDBITES

TANYA TUCKER IS OBSESSED WITH HISTORY

THE HOT SEAT PRESENTS: THIS WEEK IN COUNTRY MUSIC
AUGUST 14 – AUGUST18, 2017 - SOUNDBITES

TANYA TUCKER ON GLEN CAMPBELL LOVE

CRYSTAL GAYLE ON "HALF THE WAY"

THE HOT SEAT PRESENTS: THIS WEEK IN COUNTRY MUSIC
AUGUST 21 - 25, 2017 - SOUNDBITES

NAOMI JUDD ON MAMA HE'S CRAZY

THE HOT SEAT PRESENTS: THIS WEEK IN COUNTRY MUSIC SEPTEMBER 4 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 - SOUNDBITES

JOHN RICH ON BIG AND RICH SONGS THAT COEXIST

THE HOT SEAT PRESENTS: THIS WEEK IN COUNTRY MUSIC
OCTOBER 2 - 6, 2017 - SOUNDBITES

HANK JR. ON LONG TIME FANS AT SHOWS

KENNY ROGERS ON DOLLY CHRISTMAS ALBUM

THE HOT SEAT PRESENTS: THIS WEEK IN COUNTRY MUSIC
OCTOBER 30 – NOVEMBER 3, 2017 - SOUNDBITES

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