Jul 25, 2007

Carroll Batting Strong with the Best-Selling Album Debut by a Country Male in the Past Year and Scoring in the Top 25 with the Positive Groove of “Livin’ Our Love Song” 

Nashville, TN – Arista Nashville chart-topper Jason Michael Carroll hit one out of the park with his #1 album, Waitin’ in the Country, which remains the best-selling debut disc by a country male in the past year.  And as he racks up his own impressive singles stats, with his Top 5 “Alyssa Lies” and current Top 25 chart-climber, “Livin’ Our Love Song,” the similarities between baseball and music terminology became all the more apparent, as Carroll found himself the unintended target of a wayward hit last Monday.   

A major sports fan, Carroll took time out while working in Los Angeles to see the Dodgers play the Phillies, and was thrilled to attend his third major league game, only to be struck by a foul ball from 2000 National League MVP and frequent All-Star, Dodger Jeff Kent.  “How random was that?!” Carroll smiled. 

After hitting a homerun earlier in the game, a subsequent at-bat was no pop-up, but a powerful drive that fouled right at Carroll.  “From his bat to my elbow,” Carroll recalled, “it was zoomin’!”  Ironically, the lyrics to “Looking at You” (a track on Jason Michael’s album) include the words “a foul ball hit me right between the eyes,” but fortunately, this one just smacked Carroll on the elbow.  (Photo available on request.) 

Paramedics were on the spot, but all was well.  With souvenir ball in hand, “They were treating me like the chosen one,” he laughed.  And Carroll knows how to appreciate a cool moment, buying a bat at the stadium, engraved with his name, the date, and the words, “Hit by #12 Foul Ball.”  Carroll notes that an autographed ball from Jeff Kent and hopefully a DVD of the foul play are both in the works.   

Carroll, who made multiple appearances at this summer’s CMA Music Festival, including performing the opening set on the first night of the main stage coliseum shows, can be seen in online interview footage from the Festival airing now in webisode five at http://abc.go.com/primetime/cma/index.  The segment is all part of the excitement leading up to tonight’s ABC airing of CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock.  

This week, Carroll’s current single, “Livin’ Our Love Song,” climbs the country airplay charts to #23 in Billboard/R&R, and advances to #22 in Country Aircheck. 

Fans can check out www.jasonmichaelcarroll.com for all the latest tour info as Jason Michael heads toward a string of September and October dates opening the superstar Alan Jackson/Brooks & Dunn tour.