Feb 11, 2008

*During her recent concert in Tampa, Taylor Swift spent some time hanging out with the WQYK staff on her bus before the performance. Pictured above (l-r): Big Machine’s Bobby Young, WQYK PD Mike Cullotta, Taylor, WQYK on-air personality Dave McKay, and WQYK MD Jay Roberts.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

• Taylor Swift “Picture To Burn” Posts 80 Reporters On Official Add Date
• Jack Ingram Single: Rate The Music Top 5 Research Debut In 25-34 Demo
• Garth Brooks & Huey Lewis Go Top 20; Earn Billboard AIRPOWER Title
• Trisha Yearwood & Taylor Swift Garner R&R BREAKER Honors This Week 

*During his recent benefit concerts in Los Angeles, Garth Brooks spent some time visiting with radio guests in attendance, including KWNR PD Cary Rolfe (pictured above).

ARTIST NEWSFLASH

*TAYLOR MAKES DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: Taylor Swift can now officially add the title of ‘director’ to her resume.  The 18-year-old singer-songwriter edited and directed the new video for her song “I’m Only Me When I’m With You”, and this week that video has been added to Hot Shot Rotation on CMT, power rotation on GAC and heavy rotation on CMT Pure.  The song is featured on the Deluxe Limited Edition version of her self-titled debut collection.  The video clip features footage of Taylor’s journey over the past 18 months, including performance clips, candid shots with her band and other artists, as well as her fans.  “It was so much fun to put all of that footage together,” says Taylor, who edited to footage on her laptop.  “I think creative people like to do anything creative.”  Taylor is getting ready to be creative again when it comes to music videos; the rising star is planning to film the video for her new single “Picture To Burn” in the coming weeks.

*Taylor Swift is pictured above with WPAW/Greensboro PD Randall Bliss during a recent performance.

*Trisha Yearwood’s new single “This Is Me You’re Talkin’ To” is raw with its presentation of a fragile relationship, and we asked Trisha if she feels the female character in the song really wants to reconcile with the guy or does she just want to make the man fess up to his true feelings?  “I’m not sure if it’s either,” states Trisha.  “I’m not sure if she wants to reconcile, I think it’s just a commentary on when two people that have been so intimately involved are not anymore, and then they run into each other it’s almost like a dance.  You’re not sure what to say, you’re not sure how to act, you’re not sure what to do with your hands.  You just feel uncomfortable.  And you’ll have that surface conversation, when really there is another conversation going on in your head.  For me, that’s the female character, saying ‘this is me, the one whose heart you broke, you don’t have to make small talk.  This is me you’re talking to.’”  Fans can find the new single on Trisha’s critically-acclaimed Top 10 album Heaven, Heartache And The Power Of Love.

*Jack Ingram is performing on Martina McBride’s Waking Up Laughing Tour throughout 2008. Jack is pictured above at a recent show with opening act Lady Antebellum member Charles Kelley.

*"Nobody starts out life with experiences they can write about.  So for me, my 20s and early 30s were an exercise in experience," Jack Ingram recently told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. The hitmaker plans to put many more of those experiences on paper as he continues to write his upcoming record, and he says he generally knows when an idea is going to work.  "You know when you're writing something good.  It's that feeling.  Time stands still, the world stops.  It's all about you and that song…[and] in order to finish a song and muscle through it, you've gotta believe.  Inspiration is a very fickle thing.  If you don't have the confidence to do it, you get lost somewhere in that three-and-a-half-minute song."

*Danielle Peck took part in Nashville’s recent Sound & Speed event and during the weekend spent some time at a VIP reception at The Wildhorse Saloon. Pictured above with Danielle is Trace Adkins.

*RANDOM NOTES: Click here to watch Taylor Swift host the CMT Online Awards.  The program which is currently featured on CMT.com will air on CMT-TV on February 12th…Jack Ingram joins Joe Nichols, Mark Chesnutt, Chuck Wicks and Tracy Lawrence for the 2008 Country Cruise.  The fan-focused 7-night cruise departing from Galveston and touring the Western Carribean kicks off March 30th.  Click here for more details…Danielle Peck will perform on the 20th Anniversary of Japan’s Country Gold Festival this October…Taylor Swift will appear February 11th on Ellen during a special GRAMMY-related episode of the popular syndicated talk show…People Magazine’s latest country special edition is on stands now and features a profile on Trisha Yearwood and a new artist spotlight on Fisher Stevenson.  Fans can access a free download of Fisher’s song “No Tomorrow Here Tonight” by clicking here.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: This week second-round ballots for the Academy Of Country Music Awards were issued, and Taylor Swift, Jack Ingram, Trisha Yearwood and Pearl Records’ Garth Brooks are eligible in multiple categories; we ask for your consideration in categories detailed below.   Also, this week first-round nominees were announced for the CMT Music Awards, a fan-voted contest bringing recognition to Taylor Swift, Jack Ingram and Pearl Records’ Garth Brooks in various categories.