HitCountry.TV – Hit Country Music News, Videos & Entertainment Australia

Long serving 2SM Supernetwork radio breakfast personality Grant Goldman has won a prestigious international award.

After 17 years as the voice of ABC Local Radio’s Saturday Night Country, John Nutting, one of Australia’s most enduring supporters of country music is set to ride away from microphone.

"John has been at the forefront of country music in this country," said Kate Dundas, Director ABC Radio.

"He has helped bring country music closer to the mainstream and brought countless new talented musicians into the homes of country music lovers around Australia."

One Saturday 27 February John Nutting stepped behind the microphone for the last time and presented a special edition of Saturday Night Country with new host Felicity Urquhart. They looked back at program highlights since 1993 and play tributes from the characters and guests who have contributed to the show.

"It’s been an amazing ride and I’ve loved every minute of my time at the ABC, but it’s simply time move on, fuel up the motor home and hit the road to see more of this great land of ours," said Nutting.

Saturday Night Country will continue, hosted by Felicity Urquhart. The program can be heard from 10pm Saturday to 2am Sunday AEST on ABC Local Radio and on ABC Country through Digital Radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Twelve time Canadian Country Music Award and Juno winners Doc Walker have arrived for their first Australian tour and the release of their new album, Go.

Featuring recent CMC Country Pick ‘If I Fall’, Go is officially released on March 5 when Doc Walker make their first ever live Australian appearance at CMC Rocks The Snowys.

Doc Walker’s first release in Australia, the Juno and six time Canadian Country Music Award winning Beautiful Life was released in July last year and featured the hit singles ‘Beautiful Life’, ‘That’s All’ and ‘One Last Sundown.

Their east coast “CMC Rocks” tour with leading Australian artist Steve Forde and US superstar Jack Ingram starts next week with shows in Sydney, Orange, Tamworth, Brisbane and Toowoomba. Doc Walker have earned the title of ‘the hardest working Country band in Canada’ the old fashioned way, through relentless touring and forging a lasting relationship with their audience.

Track Listing 1. Coming Home 2. Speed of Life 3. If I Fall 4. Why 5. The Hard Way 6. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me 7. From Here 8. Girls In Their Summer Clothes 9.Go 10. Dancin' All Night

Buy Go Now

Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band have topped the nominations for the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which were announced by Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton last night.

Kristy Cox is an emerging Australian bluegrass artist with a great new song called 'That's Where The Faith Comes In'. Check out her great new music video!

The smokin' east coast tour, CMC Rocks, kicks off in two weeks. Featuring US artist Jack Ingram, Canadian super-stars Doc Walker and local chart topper Steve Forde. It follows the CMC Rocks The Snowys festival on March 4 and 5 in Thredbo.

Jack Ingram is renowned for his high-octane stage shows and gritty, hard-edged music. Honing his skills as one of the kings of the Texas red-dirt country scene, Ingram has released eight studio albums, six live albums and has scored many Top 40 singles including the number one 'Wherever You Are'. His new album 'Big Dreams and High Hopes' is a gutsy mix of Southern Rock and dynamic country ballads and features the hit single 'Barefoot and Crazy', as well as collaboration with folk/rock icon Patty Griffin. This is Jack's first trip to Australia.

Steve Forde is one of Australia's best live performers. He's an artist who has blazed his own trail through country music over almost a decade of recording and performing. A former rodeo rider who channels the same energy and spirit into his music, Steve has built a fiercely loyal fanbase through years crossing the length and breadth of Australia on his tour bus. After years as a extremely successful independent artist, Steve signed with ABC Music, releasing a self-titled album in 2007 and in 2008, the acclaimed 'Guns and Guitars' which topped the Australian Country sales charts.

Canada's Doc Walker have amassed countless accolades over their 12 year career, including a staggering 10 Canadian Country Music Awards. They've earned the title of 'the hardest working Country band in Canada the old fashioned way, through relentless touring putting over a million miles behind them in Canada alone, forging a lasting relationship with their audience. The hitmaking trio is gearing up for their first ever shows down under, promising Aussie audiences a night they won't forget. 


TOUR DATES
March 9 - Rooty Hill RSL Club, Sydney NSW

March 10 - Orange Ex-Services Club, Orange NSW

March 11 - West Tamworth League Club, Tamworth NSW

March 12 - Rumours International, Toowoomba QLD

March 13 - The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD
 

Gloriana are currently in Australia opening for Taylor Swift on her national Fearless Tour. They perform at Rod Laver Arenea in Melbourne this evening. The response to the group from Australian audiences has been fantastic with their debut self-titled album currently at the top of the iTunes Country Album sales chart (at time of writing).

They won the fan voted Breakthought Artist of the Year award at last year's American Music Awards, beating Lady Gaga!

Gloriana's members Tom Gossin, Mike Gossin, Rachel Reinart and Cheyenne Kimball took the time to speak to HitCountry.TV this week about their music, success to date and time in Australia.

Take a look at the music video for Sara Storer's new single, 'Calling Me Home'. It's the first single from her soon to be released greatest hits collection, Calling Me Home - The Best Of Sara Storer through ABC Music/Universal Music Australia.

The music video is directed by Golden Guitar winning man of the moment Duncan Toombs. 

Co-written with Mick Thomas (from Weddings Parties, Anything) and Nashville songwriter Trey Bruce, the song was inspired by Sara’s old farm house and thoughts of compassion for her old home.

"There is also a strong sense of belonging and needing that place to fall back on even though we unfortunately have to move on to new places," Sara says about the song.

"If I sit and listen, I can hear my place (the old farm house) calling me back... to all those things I remember and love so much."

Related Article: Sara Storer Returns To ABC Music

Taylor Swift won the major award at the GRAMMYS earlier this week - the award for Album of the Year, as well as three other awards, but her vocal performance with Stevie Nicks has been widely critized.

Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times said, "Even though Swift was the big winner Sunday night, she has largely been derided by critics and is viewed as a youthful enthusiasm, not a serious artist. (If you watched the show, you may have noticed that while she has lovely hair, she can barely sing).

And popular online music critic Bob Leftez said, "Taylor Swift shortened her career last night. And since she says she calls all her own shots, she has to shoulder the blame. Yes, her dream came true, she made it, she's a star, but the real test is longevity. Elton John can play with GaGa decades later. Will Taylor Swift be duetting with the stars of the 2030s? Doubtful."

Scott Borchetta, the head of Swifts record label, Big Machine Records responded to the critics in the The Tennessean by saying...

“The facts say she is the undisputed best communicator that we’ve got," Borchetta said.

"So when she says something or feels something it affects more people than anybody else. Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she is the best emotional singer. Everybody gets up there and is technically perfect people don’t seem to want more of it. There’s not an artist in any other format that people want more of than they want of Taylor. I think (the critics) are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them. Maybe they are jealous or can’t understand that. But obviously the people that she talks to are engaged with her. No one is perfect on any given day. Maybe in that moment we didn’t have the best night, but in the same breath, maybe we did.”

In a phone intoerview to Billboard, Borchetta went on to say, "This is not 'American Idol.' This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It's not about that technically perfect performance."

And that prompted a response from American Idol's first winner, Kelly Clarkson on her online blog.

"I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes’. Thank you for that ‘Captain Obvious’ sense of humor because you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well. Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better. I have been criticized left and right for having shaky performances before (and they were shaky) and what my manager or label executives say to me and the public is “I’ll kick butt next time” or “every performance isn’t going to be perfect” ……I bring this up because you should take a lesson from these people and instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay," said Clarkson.

Swift takes to stage on Saturday night at Acer Arena to a sold out crowd in Sydney. There's no doubt her longevity as an artist will have everything with her ability to continue to record hit songs and remain relevant to her world-wide army of fans, as opposed to the reaction to her GRAMMY performance.