The Invitation to be a head-lining artist at UK Country Music Festival, YeeHaw UK brought with it both surprise and honour for Australian Singer/Songwriter, Aleyce Simmonds. “I’ve never been to the UK but always wanted to go. To actually be paid to go over there, play my music at one of UK’s biggest Country Music Festivals AND get to see another country for the first time is a dream come true!!” Simmonds is no stranger to Australian country music audiences. A 4 times Golden Guitar nominee, she rose to prominence in 2005 after winning the Telstra Road to Tamworth competition. Since then she has delivered number one singles, hit videos and toured extensively with artists from all ends of the country music spectrum. Hers has been an old-school country music journey – complete with successes and failures, broken hearts and even physical adversity. Aleyce’s latest album, BELIEVE has since its release in September, produced a nomination for Female Artist of the Year at the prestigious Country Music Awards of Australia and two top 5 radio singles. Both BELIEVE and STRONGER current sit together in the Hot Country and KIX FIX National Radio Network chart at number 9 and number 15 with a subsequent single release scheduled for Early July. Aleyce will finish her set on stage at the Iconic ‘Gympie Music Muster’ in QLD, Australia and be off, on her way board a flight to London. This will be followed by a jam-packed 3 weeks of shows around the UK and a flight home to Australia – just in time for the Mildura Country Music Festival in Victoria. “To play at 3 of the biggest Country Music Festivals in the world in a little over a month is actually quite mind-blowing for me. I’ve always believed that we can do anything if we work really hard but for that to actually eventuate is just incredible”. BELIEVE is available for download on iTunes worldwide. www.aleyce.com

Dolly Parton’s latest critically acclaimed release, BLUE SMOKE, on Dolly Records/Sony Music Masterworks debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at number 6, and number 2 on the Billboard Country chart, marking her highest charting solo album ever. As the smoke continues to rise, Parton’s latest music video for her forthcoming single, ‘Home’ has premiered on Vevo. Parton is currently performing to Sold Out shows in the United States ending the North American leg of the Blue Smoke World Tour in Thackerville, Oklahoma. Next Parton will be hitting the stage in Liverpool, England on June 8th she will continue crisscrossing Europe with concert performances in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden before bringing the tour to a close in Locarno, Switzerland, on July 14th.

Little Big Town will return for the second year to host CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock. “We could not be more excited to be coming back as hosts for CMA Music Fest,” exclaimed Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet. “Last year was incredible and we can’t wait to be back in LP Field surrounded by 50,000 screaming fans!” Bandmate Karen Fairchild added: “Country Music truly has the most dedicated fans in the world and we’re looking forward to spending another four days with them.” “It is great to have Little Big Town back to host Country’s Night to Rock,” said Deaton. “They have impeccable timing, a terrific sense of humour, the respect of the artistic community, and the admiration of the fans. They are the perfect ensemble cast to host this special.” Critically acclaimed Country group Little Big Town – consisting of members Fairchild, Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, and Jimi Westbrook – first entered the music scene more than 14 years ago with hits such as “Boondocks,” “Bring It On Home,” “Good As Gone,” and the Grammy-nominated single “Little White Church.” The quartet’s fifth studio album Tornado was released on Sept. 11, 2012 and debuted at the top of the Billboard Country Chart where it stayed in the No. 1 position for five consecutive weeks. The album has been certified Platinum with sales of more than 1 million copies. Filmed during CMA Music Festival Thursday through Sunday, June 5-8, the show features many of today’s most exciting country music stars as they hit the stage during the four-day party and celebration of America’s music. The annual event is unlike any other, with autograph signings in the AT&T U-verse Fan Fair X, live music on 11 stages, more than 430 artists and celebrities, and a guest list of 80,000 avid singing-and-dancing-till-dawn fans.

Billboard released their list of the Top Live Acts of the past quarter century (1990-2014), and only one country artist made the Top 10: Kenny Chesney. Topped by the Rolling Stones, U2 and Bruce Springsteen, the songwriter from Luttrell, Tennessee arrived at number 9 on the list – in spite of taking 2010 and 2014 off the road – with 12,681,629 tickets sold. “You look at a list like this… with so many iconic rock acts, people like Madonna, or Elton John, and you think, ‘Man…’.” says the 4-time Country Music Association and 4 consecutive Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year. “When you get on the bus for the first time, you’re just hoping people will come. You never expect to be in this kind of company, unless you’re buying a ticket.” Many people bought tickets for Chesney’s high energy shows. Since becoming a full-fledged headliner in 2002, playing a homecoming show at Knoxville’s Neyland Stadium, then into NFL Stadiums in decidedly uncountry Boston, Pittsburgh and Washington, DC in 2005, his tours have become rites of summer for over a million people each tour and a breaking ground for many of today’s biggest headliners. “Knowing people work hard, have stress whether it’s their family or their job or their friends, you strive to create a place where they can forget all that for a few hours,” Chesney offers, “They’ll come out, and they come back with their friends. Just like when you sing songs that speak to how they really live, they listen. They listen and they hang onto those songs like it’s their life – because it is.” Though taking 2014 off to focus on the follow-up to 2013’s deeply personal LIFE ON A ROCK, Chesney is anxious to get back out there. As he says: “The fans feed me as much as I feed them… And that’s why I wanted to step back, really think about this record and give them something as hardcore as they are! These songs are gonna rock live; but more importantly, they say a whole lot about how the fans live. I can’t wait to play’em onstage.”

Lucy May returns from Nashville where she was in the studio writing with the hugely successful song writer Jeff Cohen (behind some of the hits for The Band Perry and Sugarland) and recording her songs for the album. She also took the time to perform famous Bluebird Café which was “a dream come true”. She is currently touring the UK as the support for Michael Bolton. She will be playing at Royal Albert Hall tonight (May 22) and Bournemouth BIC May 24, 2014.

Country fans heading to Nashville in June for the CMT Music Awards and CMA Music Fest will have the chance to join chart-topping country artist Rodney Atkins for his annual Music City Gives Back concert in downtown Nashville on Tuesday, June 3. Now in its fourth year, the show will feature an all-star lineup of Atkins’ friends including Lee Brice, Jana Kramer, Dustin Lynch, Josh Thompson and more and will benefit Nashville’s W.O. Smith Music School. The event will kick off at 6:00 p.m. CT at 1st Avenue and Broadway and is free to the public. “I am so excited to be part of this event for the fourth year in a row and to have such a great group of artists give their time and talent to help out,” said Atkins. “I’ve always believed that music is a great healer and it’s important to me as an artist to use that platform to give back.” Founded in 1984, W.O. Smith Music School provides music instruction to children from low-income families for the nominal cost of 50 cents per lesson. An all-volunteer teaching artist faculty of 220 gives music lessons to more than 650 students annually. Instruments and all learning materials are loaned to the students at no additional expense.

Each June, country music connoisseurs from all over the world travel to Nashville for CMA Music Festival, but fans aren’t the only ones crossing borders to attend Country Music’s largest event. International Country artists from all over the globe make the pilgrimage to Music City each year to perform at CMA World GlobaLive!, a free showcase featuring international Country Music artists on Monday, June 2 in downtown Nashville. The CMA World GlobaLive! concert will be held on an outdoor stage on Broadway and First Avenue in downtown Nashville. The concert is open to the public and will feature performances by Country artists from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and the U.K. “Each of these acts has already achieved a high degree of momentum and success abroad,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “They are performers that we think are capable of attracting industry attention.” CMA World GlobaLive!, which began in 2004 as the global artist party, serves as a showcase for overseas talent during the festival. Each year, the concert attracted standing-room-only crowds of enthusiastic fans, which prompted CMA to move the event from a club setting to a larger outdoor stage. The concert will now have the capacity to house its largest crowd yet with an audience of fans and press from around the world. 2014 CMA Music Festival is now a sold-out event with attendees traveling from across the U.S. as well as 21 foreign countries. More than 150 artists were submitted for consideration to perform on the CMA World GlobaLive! stage, according to Jeff Walker, CMA Board member and Executive Producer of CMA World GlobaLive! “When evaluating artists to perform at the event, we look at several factors, including radio airplay, social awareness, touring schedules and media acceptance within their local territories,” said Walker. “We are excited about this year’s lineup and the surging popularity of Country Music overseas. By presenting shows like GlobaLive!, participating in events like C2C in the U.K., and the ongoing outreach to other international Country Music organisations, we are creating an environment to escalate the expansion of the Country Music brand internationally.” Artists performing during CMA World GlobaLive! include Jaida Dreyer,who was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year in Canada and is signed to U.S. label Streamsound Records; Canadian super group Emerson Drive, who has had a successful U.S. career since the late ‘90s; Kira Isabella, the reigning Canadian Female Vocalist of the Year; Kaylens Rain, who was recently named CRA winner by radio station professionals throughout Australia; Wes Mack, the Canadian Country Music Association’s Discovery Winner; One More Girl, the rising Canadian duo comprised of sisters Britt and Carly McKillip, who have an impressive past and present touring schedule; Australian duo, O’Shea, who are routinely found in the Australian Top 5 and also host an Australian television show on the CRC; David Park, rising star in his native Sweden who has also earned the nickname of “Banjo Man”; Jared Porter, the reigning winner of the nationwide Star Maker talent search in Australia; Cameron Scott, the New Zealand Horizon Award winner; Dallas Smith, previous frontman of rock group Default, who was already a huge star in Canada before he made the transition from rock to Country; and Tamara Stewart, the recent winner of a CMAA Golden Guitar for her composition entitled “Women in Song.” www.cmafest.com

The Americana Festival and Conference was has been featured in the Tennessean thanks to its significant contribution to Nashville’s economy. “The annual Americana Music Conference and Festival quietly has become a major contributor to the local economy, bringing in more than $5.1 million in direct economic impact last year, thanks to growing concert attendance and steadily rising membership in the association” “And, the marketing of this year’s festival – the 15th annual – will be amplified by an August ‘Americanafest NYC’ to be held in New York at Lincoln Center, which will feature concerts and panel workshops,” reported The Tennessean. The 15th annual Americana Music Festival and Conference will take place September 17 – 21, 2014 at multiple venues throughout Nashville, Tennessee. The event brings together fans and music industry executives alike offering four days of celebration through seminars, panels and networking opportunities by day and raw, battery–recharging showcases each evening. The Americana Music Association is a professional not-for-profit trade organisation whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world. The Association produces events throughout the year including the Cross County Lines Festival featuring Patty Griffin and John Hiatt in Franklin, Tennessee and the annual Americana Music Festival and Conference, Presented by Nissan, and the critically acclaimed Americana Honours & Awards program.

Darius will host his fifth annual “Darius and Friends” benefit concert in Nashville, TN on June 2nd, and some of the acts scheduled to join him have just recently been announced! Every year it’s a surprise, and this time the reveal is particularly exciting. Clint Black, Eli Young Band, David Nail, Cassadee Pope, Kenny Rogers, Corey Smith and Thompson Square are among some of the names that will take to the stage at the Wildhorse Saloon, benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The next day, Darius will be hitting the golf course for his annual Darius and Friends Celebrity Golf Tournament. Colt Ford, JT Hodges, Randy Houser, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley, Dustin Lynch, David Nail, Jon Pardi, Eric Paslay and Thompson Square’s Keifer Thompson are some of the names announced to join him on the course. Both events are sold out, and both events are anticipated to be the best kick off possible for the 2014 CMA Music Fest.

Winner of the British Country Music Awards 2013 Album of the Year, country singer-songwriter Pete Kennedy is releasing his latest single, “I Am The One,” today. “I Am The One” is the first single off of new record of the same name. The single is already gaining notoriety, earning itself a top spot on the New & Noteworthy section of the iTunes Country page alongside other country greats such as Hunter Hayes, Rascal Flatts and the case of the hit TV show “Nashville.” The song holds special meaning for Kennedy, as he wrote it while making the move to Nashville from his native home, Ireland. In the song, he doubts whether he can make it in the Nashville music scene, but he pushes the doubt aside, knowing that no matter what, he’ll make it through in the end. Kennedy has made good use of this inner confidence as he’s made the big switch to Nashville. Already a huge success in Ireland and Britain, Nashville is an entirely new challenge for the talented performer, one he’s meeting with characteristic charm and vigor. Kennedy is taking Nashville’s challenges in stride, already becoming a favorite among music lovers. He’s garnering countless friends and fans wherever he goes, proving his trust in himself, as declared in “I Am The One,” is well-merited. A favorite in the United Kingdom, Kennedy has received numerous awards and nominations at the British Country Music Awards, including back-to-back Album of the Year awards for his albums “The Nashville Sessions: Volume 1” and “The Nashville Sessions: Volume 2,” as well as nominations for Song of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and European Act of the Year. But his accolades aren’t just limited to the United Kingdom. Kennedy is also receiving high praise in Music City, USA. He made his break into the states with being selected for the high honor of performing at the County Music Radio CMR Nashville International Showcase in 2011, and since then he’s gone on to be named an official featured artist during the 2013 CMA Festival. Now that Kennedy is officially located in Nashville, expect a lot of exciting big news about the talented singer. The release of his new single, “I Am The One,” is just the beginning. Kennedy has also recorded a music video for the single, featuring scenes shot in both Ireland and Nashville. The video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIW2cyp_18&feature=youtu.be.