Country Chatter Archive (February 8th - February 14th, 1999)

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February 8th - February 14th Nashville medical examiner, Bruce Levy met with Tammy Wynette's three daughters regarding their request to have their mother's body exhumed to find out the cause of death. He stated that he will consider their request, and would give his answer in a few days. The daughters say that they aren't convinced that Tammy died from a blood clot, but rather think she was being over-medicated. *Update* Later during the week, the medical examiner denied Tammy's daughters' request, saying that he was convinced that she did indeed die from natural causes. Dan Warlick, the daughters' attorney has said they will persue other legal avenues to obtain an autopsy. Van Stephenson, from the group, BlackHawk had surgery for a malignant growth last Friday. The doctors say that the cancer was limited to one lymph node, which was removed. This is the second time that Van has had to have a growth removed. Just over a year ago, he had one removed, again, from his lymph node. Best wishes to Van for a quick recovery. Johnny PayCheck has been released from the hospital, and has been transferred to a rehab center. Johnny has been in the hospital for the past two months for Asthma and a severe intestinal infection. In rehab, Johnny will work on getting his dormant muscles back to work. Deana Carter and her father appear in a public-service announcement for the National Kidney Foundation. The cause is close to their hearts as Deana's dad had to have a kidney transplant 5 years ago. Deana was ready to donate one of her kidneys, but another compatible kidney became available, so that one was used instead. As spokesperson, Deana is working with Ticketmaster, to include an organ-donor card with tickets to her concerts that are sent through mail. They're looking for a sponsor to help defray the printing costs right now. Deana is also considering autograph sessions where she would act as the witness for fans that sign organ-donor cards, or sign the organ-donor space on their drivers license. Australian fans made Shania Twain feel at home down-under last week when they made her album, Come On Over the top selling album in their country. Back in the states the CD has just been certified at 8 million units sold. Wow!! Congrats Shania! :) When she returns to the US, she will head to Houston, TX for the Livestock Show and Rodeo on February 22nd. Billy Dean is the latest artist to part with a label, due to disappointing sales of his last release, Real Man. Billy was with Capitol. Other artists that were recently released are optimistic about getting a new label. Danni Leigh's manager, Ron Cotton mentioned two other labels interested in her. Chris Knight was in the middle of recording an album when he was released. His manager, Rick Alter says that they've had labels from Nashville, New York, and LA calling them and asking what they were going to do. John Anderson also has had interest from three other major labels and a few independent ones as well. His manager, Bobby Roberts is confident that they will place him with another label, and are in no hurry. Jack LaGrone, manager for Rhett Atkins says that when they first heard questions about Decca's future, they began discussions with other labels. He believes in Rhett's case, because he has a good fan base, it shouldn't be hard to take him back to radio. Shane Stockton's manager, Susan Burns believes that he needs to be seen at some live shows, and will get that opportunity at the New Faces show at the upcoming Country Radio Seminar. W. Howard Fields Jr., manager for Rebecca Lynn Howard is in negotiation with MCA, but isn't sure how that will pan out. Oscar nominations were announced last week, and Allison Moorer was nominated for "A Soft Place To Fall," from the The Horse Whisperer. She's up against some stiff competition, including the Diane Warren penned song, "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing," as recorded by the group Aerosmith, from the movie Armageddon. The Charlie Daniels Band Volunteer Jam Tour '99 has entered a partnership with the Habitat for Humanity Charity, volunteering to build a number of homes in the Volunteer Jam markets. This is the first time the Volunteer Jam has hit the road, having started back in 1974. The world famous shows have served as a prototype for many of the annual day-long music festivals. This year, the show will feature The Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band and Molly Hatchet. Steve Wariner has a new single called "Two Teardrops," which he co-wrote with Opry Star Bill Anderson. While that may not seem unusual, the way that it was released is. Steve sang an accoustic version of the song at the Ryman, and Nashville radio station WSIX was broadcasting live that night and caught the song on tape. Soon after the song began airing on a syndicated show, Nashville Nights. So, to get back at WSIX, Steve sent the official copy of the single to their rival station, WSM to debut, and then later sent the song out to everyone else. Garth Brooks will be joining the San Diego Padres at Spring Training, hoping to find himself a spot on one of their minor-league teams this year. The Padres Spring Training Camp is in Peoria, AZ, just outside of Phoenix. Garth will arrive just before the scheduled opening date of February 23rd, and he will not attend the Grammy's on the 24th, in Los Angeles, even though he is nominated for three awards. He'll wear the number 77 on his uniform, and his pay will be donated to his new "Touch 'Em All Foundation." Here's an interesting tale. A couple weeks ago, the Kinleys were to do a TV show in Germany. But, only one Kinley actually made it to the show. Apparently, Heather lost her passport, and had to fly to two different cities trying to find an office that would issue her another one. She eventually did get the passport and flew to Germany. Her sister Jennifer wasn't so lucky. Jennifer took the originally scheduled flight, but that plane missed the connection in Chicago, so she booked a flight to London, which ended up not taking off due to a warning light that came on during take-off. Wonder if they lost her luggage to boot? Country.com, TNN, DreamWorks Nashville & StarWorks will join forces to create a CD of "Encyclopedia of Country Music And Its Performers." The CD-ROM is based on Barry McCloud's book "Definitive Country: The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Country Music And Its Performers," and is due to be released on April 6th. The CD will feature photos, videos and artist interviews, as well as artist contact information and discographies. It will also contain a search engine, so you can look up an artist by their first or last name, group, album title, song title, awards, birthday or style. The list price is $29.99. Alabama's Jeff Cook has a new company which sells guitars, called Stinger. The company is run in Fort Payne, AL, and thoroughly tests each guitar both in the studio, and on the road. Each guitar is personally hand signed by Jeff. The cost is 184.99 plus shipping costs. Faith Hill was a big winner at the recent "Nashville Music Awards." Her song, "This Kiss" won for song of the year, video of the year, and Beth Neilsen Chapman received the songwriter/composer award for the song. Faith's album, Faith also took the Country Album award. Other winners were Vince Gill for Male Artist, Trisha Yearwood for Female Artist, The Mavericks for Group/Duo, and Pop Album for Trampoline. Ricky Skaggs won the Bluegrass/Old-Time Music Album award for Bluegrass Rules, and Lucinda Williams won for Artist/Songwriter, and Americana Album for Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Emmylou Harris won the Independent Album award for Spyboy, Johnny Cash won the Heritage Award, and The Complete Hank Williams won for Album Artwork. Vince Gill's recent A&E special, Live By Request really boosted his album sales, moving The Key from 21 to 9 on the Billboard Country Albums charts. The CBS show, Touched By An Angel spawned an album of the same name which recently was certified Platinum. The album features songs from The Kinley's and Wynonna, among others. On Valentine's Day, the show aired a special episode that highlighted songs from the soundtrack, including The Kinley's "Somebody's Out There Watching. Also featured was Deana Carter's "Colour Everywhere." The 100th episode of the show, which featured Wynonna Judd and Celine Dion will be released to home video in April. This show featured Wynonna singing "Testify To Love" also from the soundtrack. Lastly, a television special, More True Stories From Touched By An Angel will air on March 10th at 8pm ET on CBS. The show will feature behind-the-scenes interviews with Della Reese, Wynonna, Randy Travis and Celine Dion, along with performances from the series. Jeff Foxworthy signed a record deal with DreamWorks Nashville. "I'm very excited. This is the best record deal I've had since I got those ten CD's for a penny," said Foxworthy. John Michael Montgomery's wife, Crystal gave birth to the couple's second child, on February 13th at 6:30 am ET, in Lexington, KY. Walker Carl Montgomery weighed 8 lbs 10 oz. This gives them one of each now. Their first child was a girl, Madison. Mother and baby are doing very well. Congrats to all the Montgomerys.

February 8th - February 14th

Nashville medical examiner, Bruce Levy met with Tammy Wynette's three daughters regarding their request to have their mother's body exhumed to find out the cause of death. He stated that he will consider their request, and would give his answer in a few days.

The daughters say that they aren't convinced that Tammy died from a blood clot, but rather think she was being over-medicated.

*Update* Later during the week, the medical examiner denied Tammy's daughters' request, saying that he was convinced that she did indeed die from natural causes. Dan Warlick, the daughters' attorney has said they will persue other legal avenues to obtain an autopsy.

Van Stephenson, from the group, BlackHawk had surgery for a malignant growth last Friday. The doctors say that the cancer was limited to one lymph node, which was removed. This is the second time that Van has had to have a growth removed. Just over a year ago, he had one removed, again, from his lymph node. Best wishes to Van for a quick recovery.

Johnny PayCheck has been released from the hospital, and has been transferred to a rehab center. Johnny has been in the hospital for the past two months for Asthma and a severe intestinal infection. In rehab, Johnny will work on getting his dormant muscles back to work.

Deana Carter and her father appear in a public-service announcement for the National Kidney Foundation. The cause is close to their hearts as Deana's dad had to have a kidney transplant 5 years ago. Deana was ready to donate one of her kidneys, but another compatible kidney became available, so that one was used instead.

As spokesperson, Deana is working with Ticketmaster, to include an organ-donor card with tickets to her concerts that are sent through mail. They're looking for a sponsor to help defray the printing costs right now.

Deana is also considering autograph sessions where she would act as the witness for fans that sign organ-donor cards, or sign the organ-donor space on their drivers license.

Australian fans made Shania Twain feel at home down-under last week when they made her album, Come On Over the top selling album in their country. Back in the states the CD has just been certified at 8 million units sold. Wow!! Congrats Shania! :)

When she returns to the US, she will head to Houston, TX for the Livestock Show and Rodeo on February 22nd.

Billy Dean is the latest artist to part with a label, due to disappointing sales of his last release, Real Man. Billy was with Capitol.

Other artists that were recently released are optimistic about getting a new label.

Danni Leigh's manager, Ron Cotton mentioned two other labels interested in her.

Chris Knight was in the middle of recording an album when he was released. His manager, Rick Alter says that they've had labels from Nashville, New York, and LA calling them and asking what they were going to do.

John Anderson also has had interest from three other major labels and a few independent ones as well. His manager, Bobby Roberts is confident that they will place him with another label, and are in no hurry.

Jack LaGrone, manager for Rhett Atkins says that when they first heard questions about Decca's future, they began discussions with other labels. He believes in Rhett's case, because he has a good fan base, it shouldn't be hard to take him back to radio.

Shane Stockton's manager, Susan Burns believes that he needs to be seen at some live shows, and will get that opportunity at the New Faces show at the upcoming Country Radio Seminar.

W. Howard Fields Jr., manager for Rebecca Lynn Howard is in negotiation with MCA, but isn't sure how that will pan out.

Oscar nominations were announced last week, and Allison Moorer was nominated for "A Soft Place To Fall," from the The Horse Whisperer. She's up against some stiff competition, including the Diane Warren penned song, "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing," as recorded by the group Aerosmith, from the movie Armageddon.

The Charlie Daniels Band Volunteer Jam Tour '99 has entered a partnership with the Habitat for Humanity Charity, volunteering to build a number of homes in the Volunteer Jam markets.

This is the first time the Volunteer Jam has hit the road, having started back in 1974. The world famous shows have served as a prototype for many of the annual day-long music festivals. This year, the show will feature The Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band and Molly Hatchet.

Steve Wariner has a new single called "Two Teardrops," which he co-wrote with Opry Star Bill Anderson. While that may not seem unusual, the way that it was released is. Steve sang an accoustic version of the song at the Ryman, and Nashville radio station WSIX was broadcasting live that night and caught the song on tape. Soon after the song began airing on a syndicated show, Nashville Nights.

So, to get back at WSIX, Steve sent the official copy of the single to their rival station, WSM to debut, and then later sent the song out to everyone else.

Garth Brooks will be joining the San Diego Padres at Spring Training, hoping to find himself a spot on one of their minor-league teams this year.

The Padres Spring Training Camp is in Peoria, AZ, just outside of Phoenix. Garth will arrive just before the scheduled opening date of February 23rd, and he will not attend the Grammy's on the 24th, in Los Angeles, even though he is nominated for three awards. He'll wear the number 77 on his uniform, and his pay will be donated to his new "Touch 'Em All Foundation."

Here's an interesting tale. A couple weeks ago, the Kinleys were to do a TV show in Germany. But, only one Kinley actually made it to the show.

Apparently, Heather lost her passport, and had to fly to two different cities trying to find an office that would issue her another one. She eventually did get the passport and flew to Germany.

Her sister Jennifer wasn't so lucky. Jennifer took the originally scheduled flight, but that plane missed the connection in Chicago, so she booked a flight to London, which ended up not taking off due to a warning light that came on during take-off.

Wonder if they lost her luggage to boot?

Country.com, TNN, DreamWorks Nashville & StarWorks will join forces to create a CD of "Encyclopedia of Country Music And Its Performers."

The CD-ROM is based on Barry McCloud's book "Definitive Country: The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Country Music And Its Performers," and is due to be released on April 6th.

The CD will feature photos, videos and artist interviews, as well as artist contact information and discographies. It will also contain a search engine, so you can look up an artist by their first or last name, group, album title, song title, awards, birthday or style. The list price is $29.99.

Alabama's Jeff Cook has a new company which sells guitars, called Stinger. The company is run in Fort Payne, AL, and thoroughly tests each guitar both in the studio, and on the road.

Each guitar is personally hand signed by Jeff. The cost is 184.99 plus shipping costs.

Faith Hill was a big winner at the recent "Nashville Music Awards." Her song, "This Kiss" won for song of the year, video of the year, and Beth Neilsen Chapman received the songwriter/composer award for the song. Faith's album, Faith also took the Country Album award.

Other winners were Vince Gill for Male Artist, Trisha Yearwood for Female Artist, The Mavericks for Group/Duo, and Pop Album for Trampoline. Ricky Skaggs won the Bluegrass/Old-Time Music Album award for Bluegrass Rules, and Lucinda Williams won for Artist/Songwriter, and Americana Album for Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Emmylou Harris won the Independent Album award for Spyboy, Johnny Cash won the Heritage Award, and The Complete Hank Williams won for Album Artwork.

Vince Gill's recent A&E special, Live By Request really boosted his album sales, moving The Key from 21 to 9 on the Billboard Country Albums charts.

The CBS show, Touched By An Angel spawned an album of the same name which recently was certified Platinum. The album features songs from The Kinley's and Wynonna, among others.

On Valentine's Day, the show aired a special episode that highlighted songs from the soundtrack, including The Kinley's "Somebody's Out There Watching. Also featured was Deana Carter's "Colour Everywhere."

The 100th episode of the show, which featured Wynonna Judd and Celine Dion will be released to home video in April. This show featured Wynonna singing "Testify To Love" also from the soundtrack.

Lastly, a television special, More True Stories From Touched By An Angel will air on March 10th at 8pm ET on CBS. The show will feature behind-the-scenes interviews with Della Reese, Wynonna, Randy Travis and Celine Dion, along with performances from the series.

Jeff Foxworthy signed a record deal with DreamWorks Nashville. "I'm very excited. This is the best record deal I've had since I got those ten CD's for a penny," said Foxworthy.

John Michael Montgomery's wife, Crystal gave birth to the couple's second child, on February 13th at 6:30 am ET, in Lexington, KY. Walker Carl Montgomery weighed 8 lbs 10 oz. This gives them one of each now. Their first child was a girl, Madison. Mother and baby are doing very well. Congrats to all the Montgomerys.

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