- There may be plenty of summertime left, but Kenny Chesney has fall arriving early, and in a big way, with his smash single, “The Boys of Fall.” First-week sales of the digital single broke Kenny’s own record for the highest number of opening-week downloads by a male country artist, as sales hit the 82,000 mark according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s the first single from Kenny’s new album, Hemingway’s Whiskey — releasing September 28th — and Kenny loves the song. You can hear some of his thoughts about “The Boys of Fall” in these stories from the Prep Site archives: http://prep.hearsomethingcountry.com/2010/07/22/kenny-chesney-the-boys-are-back-in-town/ and http://prep.hearsomethingcountry.com/2010/07/12/kenny-chesney-new-single-arrives-at-radio-today/.
- Congratulations to Jerrod Niemann, whose number-one hit, “Lover, Lover,” has just been certified as an RIAA Gold Digital Single! It’s Jerrod’s first chart-topper and his first Gold single, which recognizes digital sales in excess of 500,000 copies! In other Jerrod news, look for him in the August 13th issue of People magazine — on sale now — in a segment called “5 Things You Need to Know About” Jerrod, while the latest issue of Country Weekly features him on Blair Garner‘s “The Buzz” page, where Jerrod recalls some great experiences a few years ago when he was writing songs with Garth Brooks. Check it all out in the issues on stands now!
- Miranda Lambert and Jerrod Niemann are the first artists just announced to play the benefit concert at Dierks Bentley‘s fifth annual “Miles & Music for Kids” celebrity motorcycle ride and concert. Set for October 17th, the concert will take place in downtown Nashville, with the entire event to benefit the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Several ticket packages to the event will be available at Ticketmaster beginning August 20th.
- American Idol finalist and Cool, Texas native — how’s that for a great hometown name!? — Casey James has just signed a record deal with 19 Recordings/BNA Records, joining the Sony Music Nashville family of artists. Casey, who placed third this past season, is a singer/songwriter and musician who’s been the namesake fronting the Casey James Band since 2008. His upcoming album will release next year, but for now, fans can watch for Casey on the American Idols Live! Tour 2010.
- More information is starting to come out about the upcoming Loretta Lynn tribute album! While info on participating artists has yet to be announced, we do know that the album will a star-studded affair titled Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn, slated for release on November 9th! We’ll keep you posted!