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THE SONY SCENE for week of June 4
Posted By Heather Bodajla - Sony Music Canada
Jun 7, 2004

TV APPEARANCES:
June 7            Trent Willmon on GAC's "Country Request Live"
June 18           Gretchen Wilson on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno"

NEW RELEASES:
July 13           Brad Cotter - Patient Man - Epic
July 27           Trent Willmon - Trent Willmon - Columbia
August 17   Travis Tritt - My Honky Tonk History - Columbia

JESSI ALEXANDER:

Jessi and Sony Music's Susan Myers showing off a $100 bill Grady just gave them to hit the casino

Just before leaving for Vegas last week, Jessi Alexander received a phone call from producer Garth Fundis.   Trisha Yearwood was in the studio recording Jessi's song "Baby Don't You Let Go" and requested that she sing backup. The Columbia Nashville artist received the call at 4:00 pm and was in the studio at 5:00 pm to record for one of her heroes. During ACM week,
Jessi performed in the Sony Music Suite and was escorted to the show by label president John Grady. The attached photo is Jessi and Sony Music's Susan Myers showing off a $100 bill Grady just gave them to hit the casino. No word on the outcome of the gambling excursion.

BRAD COTTER:
There's no rest in sight for the new "Nashville Star" winner and Epic newcomer Brad Cotter. With his new single "I Meant To" steadily climbing the charts, Brad takes to road, making a few radio station visits.   On June 5, he'll join Gretchen Wilson and Reba in concert at the WXTU Birthday Bash in Philadelphia.   He travels from there to Pittsburgh to perform for WDSY (Y-108's Hot Country Jam) with Buddy Jewell before returning to Nashville to begin Music Festival week.   On June 8, he'll perform at the IFCO show and make appearances in several signing booths. On June 12, he'll perform at Music Fest's Riverfront Stages Show at 11:30 am.   June 18 marks the kickoff of the "Nashville Star" tour. Brad will join Matt Lindahl, Lance Miller and George Canyon on the 30-date tour beginning in Kettering, Ohio.   For tour details, visit the "Nashville Star" link on www.usanetwork.com.

SHELLY FAIRCHILD:

Shelly Fiarchild & Travis Tritt

New Sony artist Shelly Fairchild has been busy putting the finishing touches on her debut album, but last month took her away from Nashville opening for some of the top names in country music.   On May 4 and 5, she traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, to open for Wynonna at the Celebrity Theater performing in front of two sold-out crowds.   Two weeks ago, she joined Travis Tritt in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she performed two shows at the House of Blues closing out Bike Week. "Oh my lord, the first concert I ever went to was a Travis Tritt concert in Jackson, MS," says Shelly. "So it was amazing to be opening for him! He's extremely talented and has some of the most intense fans I've ever seen."

BUDDY JEWELL:
Fresh off a busy week in Las Vegas for the ACM Awards, new artist nominee Buddy Jewell will head to New York to promote his latest single, "One Step At A Time." On June 2, Jewell will make his first appearance on MSNBC's "Imus In The Morning." He will then pay a visit to Sean Hannity, a Buddy admirer, on his nationally syndicated radio show as well as join provocative talk show hosts Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes."   Jewell will also tape a performance for Sirius Satellite Radio which will be broadcast on New Country, Sirius 31, will air at 6pm ET on Thursday, June 3rd. Jewell then heads to his hometown in Arkansas for his high school reunion.

MONTGOMERY GENTRY:
10 DAYS, 10,000 MILES
Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry crisscrossed the country last week...... Following a date in Dallas, the guys and their band flew to Los Angeles for their debut appearance on "The Tonight Show" on May 21. Immediately after their performance, they headed to the airport for an overnight flight to New York for an appearance on the "CBS Saturday Early Show" where they performed three songs including their Top 10 hit "If You Ever Stop Loving Me." At 3:00 p.m. that day, they headed west to Las Vegas for their rehearsal in the opening slot of the 39th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. On Tuesday - the day before the Awards show - duo and band once again headed to Los Angeles where they performed "If You Ever Stop Loving Me" and their rousing hit "Hell Yeah" on "The Jimmy Kimmel Show." Following the ACM Awards, the weary guys flew to Montgomery, Alabama, where they resumed their headline tour.

They'll add another 4-5,000 miles to the tally tomorrow when they make their debut appearance on "On The Air with Ryan Seacrest."

TRAVIS TRITT:
Travis Tritt performed admirably during Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown" earning $5000 for his charity of choice - St. Jude's. In the game of No Limit Texas Hold'em poker, filmed before a live audience at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Tritt beat actor Mena Suvari and Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Betts before losing to comedian Wanda Sykes and actor Rosario Dawson. Tritt traded quips with Wanda Sykes who joked the two should go out on tour together.    Travis' new single "The Girl's Gone Wild" continues to move up the radio charts and his new album My Honky Tonk History will be released August 17.

TRENT WILLMON:
After spending ACM week in Vegas, Columbia Nashville newcomer Trent Willmon heads to Phoenix, Arizona, on June 5 to perform an acoustic set for KNIX morning team Tim and Willey. Station PD Shaun Holley and MD Gwen Foster first saw Trent at CRS and were blown away. Trent will perform his hit single "Beer Man" (#28 R&R, #35 Billboard) for the group as well as several selections from his July 27 self-titled release. The video for "Beer Man" is currently #14 on GAC's viewer voted "Top 20 Country Countdown." Fans in Nashville for CMA's Music Festival can catch Trent performing at Riverfront Stages Show on June 11 at 3:45 pm as well as signing at several booths throughout the week.

GRETCHEN WILSON:
The fans keep turning out for Gretchen Wilson appearances across the country. Over 1,000 in Buford, George; 3500 at her instore appearance in Oldsmar, Florida, and over 8,000 at her full-band performance on Speed Street in Charlotte.   After stealing the show with her performance of her #1 hit "Redneck Woman" on the ACM Awards Show - which included an audience-gasping fall into the waiting arms of a MusicMafia mosh pit - Gretchen headed to Charlotte for an appearance on Speed Street and an incredible rendering of The National Anthem before the start of the Carquest Auto Parts 300 Busch Series NASCAR Race. Gretchen's #1 album Here for the Party received the "Critic's Choice" honor from People Magazine (June 7).   Of her voice, Ralph Novak writes, "she sings with an exceptional level of energy and control" and of the album, "if there's any justice, this rousing Party will make her a big star." As her single
continues to hold the #1 position on both R&R and Billboard, her video has been added onto the VH1 playlist and stays at #1 for the third consecutive week on the CMT "Top 20 Countdown."

Watch for Gretchen to perform "Redneck Woman" on NBC's "Today Show" tomorrow, June 2.

SONY NASHVILLE:
Amidst all the ACM events and commotion, Sony Nashville had a lot to celebrate by claiming the top two spots on Billboard's Country Album Chart last week - Epic Nashville newcomer Gretchen Wilson's Here For the Party maintained No. 1 for the second week and Montgomery Gentry's fourth Columbia Nashville release, You Do Your Thing, debuted in the No. 2 position.   The last time Sony Nashville had the top two Country albums was the week of August 5, 2000, when The Dixie Chicks' Fly was No. 1 and Billy Gilman's debut One Voice was at No. 2. For the first time in the modern era of charting - since 1970 - the Nashville division of Sony had two top 10 albums on the Top 200 charts, in the same week.

Sony Nashville Executive VP of A&R Mark Wright, along with Joe Scaife, produced both albums. Producer Wright now has, phenomenally, six albums in Soundscan's Top 20. "Redneck Woman" is Wright's 50th career No. 1 as producer or writer.

These two albums, along with Buddy Jewell's self-titled certified gold debut and Mary Chapin Carpenter's April 2004 release Between Here and Gone, a top five country album chart debut, are the first four releases of Sony Music Nashville since John Grady took the reigns of the record company in May 2003.

ARTIST BIRTHDAYS:
June 26           Gretchen Wilson