It’s been another great year in country music…and as we get ready for 2009, we’re looking back at some of the highlights of 2008.
IN OCTOBER…
•Elvis Presley Christmas Duets was released, featuring classic Elvis Christmas performances, newly paired with vocals from Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson, LeAnn Rimes, and many others. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Kenny Chesney hit number-one with “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven,” from his Lucky Old Sun CD. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Craig Morgan released his debut effort for BNA Records, That’s Why, including the hit, “Love Remembers,” and Craig’s upcoming single, “God Must Really Love Me.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Kenny Chesney released his latest CD, Lucky Old Sun, featuring the number-one hit, “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven,” and his new single, “Down the Road.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Carrie Underwood received her own wax figure at Madame Tussauds Museum in New York City. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Craig Morgan officially became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Carrie Underwood hit number-one with “Just a Dream,” from her Carnival Ride CD. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
008 HIGHLIGHTS: October" width="16" height="14" /> Martina McBride says that she knew right away what song she wanted to sing on the Elvis Presley Christmas Duets CD. (:18)
“When this whole project came about, I raised my hand and said, ‘Please let me do “Blue Christmas,”‘ because it’s my dad’s…when we were kids, he would put on the Elvis Christmas record, and ‘Blue Christmas’ was his favorite Christmas song. And so every year around Christmas, this song would play in our house, and so, for me, it reminds me of my dad.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: October" width="16" height="14" /> Kenny Chesney talks about the idea behind his number-one hit, “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven.” (:22)
“I think that’s a common thought among people, I think. You know, everybody wants to go to Heaven; they just don’t want to go today, you know, because I know I want to squeeze as much out of life as I can. And I think everybody does. My family, my friends, my band, my crew, my fans, you know, they love life, and that’s kind of what this song is about.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: October" width="16" height="14" /> Craig Morgan talks about earning fans one song at a time. (:44)
“I’m not a guy who’s bothered by the fact that someone doesn’t know me (laughs), or they didn’t know that I sang that song, and that’s another thing again that’s very rewarding after a show when someone says, ‘Man, I fell in love with you from the first time “That’s What I Love About Sunday” came on the radio.’ So, the idea is that we’re making new fans, every CD, every song. I hope that more people that have never listened to Craig Morgan before come on and listen to this stuff and find out that they did like all that other stuff — and that is who it was singin’ it. It was me, the guy that they have now fallen in love with because of ‘Love Remembers.’ And that’s the great thing about what we do for a living, you know? There’s people that may have never heard of Craig Morgan until they heard ‘Love Remembers,’ and then, all of a sudden, they become a huge fan.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: October" width="16" height="14" /> Kenny Chesney sees his new album, Lucky Old Sun, as a very personal project. (:43)
“I guess that the success of Old Blue Chair, the Be as You Are album, made this record a little easier to do. As much as Old Blue Chair was about my life in the Caribbean and kind of a road map to where I hung out and the people that I hung out with, I think this is, this album is a continuation of how you feel once you realize how still you can really be. And this album is more of a portrait of my very deep thoughts (laughs) that I’ve had while spending time alone on the island. This is not necessarily another road map album.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: October" width="16" height="14" /> Carrie Underwood talks about her wax lookalike in Madame Tussauds Museum in New York City. (:20)
“It was creepy in a good way, because it did look a lot like me. The difference in looking at it actually in person and looking at it from pictures is completely different. It looks like a person. It looks like a real, live frozen-in-time person when you’re looking at it up close. When I look back at the pictures, I was like, ‘Okay, it doesn’t…she doesn’t photograph (laughs) as good as she looks.'”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: October" width="16" height="14" /> Following his induction as its newest member, Craig Morgan offered his thoughts on the honor of being a member of the Grand Ole Opry. (:30)
“Just to play the Grand Ole Opry is an honor in itself, in my opinion. To me, the Grand Ole Opry epitomizes what a country singer should strive to do. And that’s to be a member of this. This is the ultimate club for a country singer, in my opinion. I don’t think there’s a greater honor that can be bestowed on a country singer. This is the deal here. The Grand Ole Opry — good gosh! You can go anywhere in the world and say ‘country music,’ and without fail, someone will say, ‘Grand Ole Opry.’ So, to be considered a part of that is a huge honor, and it’s extremely humbling.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: October" width="16" height="14" /> Carrie Underwood says her number-one hit, “Just a Dream,” was the first song she decided to record for her Carnival Ride album. (:20)
“‘Just a Dream,’ I think it was actually the first song that I made up in my own little mind that was goin’ on the album, and I mean, the first time I heard it, I thought, ‘Wow, this is incredible.’ It was so exciting to hear that one and say, ‘Okay, we’ve got a start. We’ve got a fabulous song as a start.’ And it’s just…it’s incredible.”