COOL COUNTRY 2KA – KEEPING THE COUNTRY COOL

CC2KA Managing Director Ken Roberts and the Solar Power Station.

Cool Country 2KA is keeping the country cool in more than one way. Not only do we play the coolest country music, but we now have a solar electricity power station that will help keep the Country cool. The power station will generate around 7,000 kWh (kilo watt hours) per year. This will offset around 25% of our power requirements and save over 7 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. In ideal conditions, the power station generates 2.9 kW of power.

The managing director, Ken Roberts, has laid down the challenge to other business owners to get serious about the environment and to commit to energy reductions and to invest in renewable sources of energy. Ken says that “unless business owners take a strong leadership role in investing for our future, we can’t expect others to make short-term sacrifices for the long-term good”.

The solar power station incorporates a number of innovative features. These include:
• Automatic tracking of the sun throughout the day (using a microprocessor control system that is much more reliable than alternative technologies),
• Three tilt angle adjustments to follow the drift of the sun north during winter,
• High output 220W panels.

The solar power station was designed, supplied and installed by LJW Solar. Additional information can be obtained through their web-site at www.ljwsolar.com.au.

Cool Country 2KA T-Shirts and Polo Shirts are now available at Saddleworld, corner Batt Street and York Road Penrith, (next door to Solarhart) and St Marys Sound Centre, Queen Street St Marys

Emerson Drive, Terri Clark Among Canadian Country Music Award Nominees
July 30, 2008
Emerson Drive and Terri Clark are among the nominees for the 2008 Canadian Country Music Awards, the CCMA's board of directors announced Wednesday (July 30). Emerson Drive is nominated for group or duo of the year, and Clark picked up a female vocalist of the year nomination. Newcomer Jessie Farrell received seven nominations to lead this year's field. The nominees for this year's top selling album are Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand, Reba McEntire's Reba Duets, Taylor Swift's self-titled debut and Garth Brooks' Ultimate Hits. Nominated for the top selling album by a Canadian artist are George Canyon's Classics, Corb Lund's Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!, Johnny Reid's Kicking Stones, Farrell's Nothing Fancy and Paul Brandt's Risk. Clark will host the awards show on Sept. 8 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Source: www.cmt.com

JW to star in 2008 Variety Bash
Country star John Williamson and his "trusty" "Hillbilly Road" (named after his latest album) will star in the 2008 Variety Bash. The 24th annual Variety NSW Blacktown to Batemans Bay NRMA Insurance Bash kicks off on Thursday August 7 and concludes close to 4,000 kilometres later on Saturday August 16. Along the way, this year's Bash will visit towns including Boorowa, West Wyalong, Mildura, Renmark, Murray Bridge, Bordertown, Mount Gambier, Halls Gap, Warrnambool, Torquay, Bendigo, Puckapunyal, Wangaratta, Walwa, Cooma and Batemans Bay. The annual Variety Bash celebrates a year of fundraising, as dedicated Variety "Bashers" drive their decorated pre-1970 cars through country areas to support isolated and special needs kids. "If you see over a hundred crazy cars carrying nearly 400 even crazier people coming down the street, you’ll know that the 2008 Variety Bash has come to town!" said a spokesman for the organisers. Twenty-four years ago, Dick Smith and some fellow adventurers set off from Bourke for Burketown and raised $250,000 in the process. They gave this money to Variety and so started an Australian institution of Variety Bashes which are now held in every state. Other well known names participating in this year's event include John Paul Young and John Howard (the actor). Weblink – www.varietyclub.org.au.

Robertson Brothers hit the country chart
The more broader music market aligned Robertson Brothers have hit the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Australian Country Album Chart.
The Brothers' new Flight 1974 album (named after their recent flight to Nashville) is their fourth release and was recorded Music City USA in January.
The self-funded album (available through destra) has jumped to number two on the Australian Country album chart.
It was co-produced and co-written by Nashville based Grammy Award winning writer Bobby E Boyd who also co-wrote a recent Rascal Flatts number one hit.
The video for the first single from the album – Language Of Heaven – has been added to CMC and can also be viewed at www.myspace.com/robertsonbrothersmusic

Chart update – Amber hits number one
Amber Lawrence (pictured) takes over the top spot on the coming week's Country Tracks Top 30 singles chart with her hit Good Girls.
The long-running former number one from Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson – Rattlin' Bones – slips one place to number two, as does Carter & Carter's Slow Dancing At Midnight to number three while Adam Brand's Comin' From / Khe Sanh edges up one to number four. The McClymonts' Finally Over Blue is also up one to number five, America's Montgomery Gentry is at six with Back When I Knew It All and Travis Collins' Rip It Up remains steady at seven. Catherine Britt is down to eight with What I Did Last Night, Chasing Bailey edge up one place to number nine with Little By Little and Harmony James' scores another top 10 hit with Home entering the chart at number 10. Bullet performers for the coming week include 8 Ball Aitken's Cyclone Country (18 to 15), Jasmine Rae's Country Singer (23 to 20), Matt Frost's Second Home Town (26 to 22) and Graham Rodger's Give This Hug To Daddy (28 at 25). New entries to the chart for the week include the Davidson Brothers' Long Distance Love Affair (in at 30).
The full chart can be viewed at www.nfspublicity.com.au.

Mark Chesnutt's Band OK After Accident
Mark Chesnutt photo courtesy of Lofton Creek Records.
July 29, 2008 — Mark Chesnutt’s band and crew escaped injury Sunday morning in a bus accident that found one of Mark’s employees working briefly for the state. The wreck occurred around 3 a.m. as the group headed back to Nashville following a concert at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, Texas. A car exceeding 100 miles per hour slammed into the back of the bus. The automobile was totalled, and the driver was apparently charged with driving while intoxicated and driving without a license. The drama was heightened by the police response. Two cars were sent to the scene, though one arrived with a flat tire. Mark’s road manager, Kenny Thurman, changed the tire for the officers while they took reports from the entourage, which included bus driver Dave Simon and band members Delaney Jackson, Cary Stone, Lee Kelley, Steve Ledford, Bob Gulley and Don Bradley. Mark was not aboard the bus; he was instead flying back to his home in Beaumont. "I'm really, really glad all the boys are alright," Mark said, emphasizing the incident has not made him squeamish about ground travel. "I'd still rather drive than fly," he insisted. "I love the bus!" Source: www.gactv.com

Sugarland's "Inside" has Sales Upside
Sugarland photo by Kate Powers, courtesy of UMG Nashville.
July 31, 2008 — Sugarland nabbed its first No. 1 album this week as Love On The Inside hit the top of the Billboard Country Albums chart with sales of 314,000 units. That represents the best sales for a single week for any CD that charted country, according to Billboard, since the Eagles sold 359,000 copies of Long Road Out Of Eden during a week last November. The ascent to the top seems almost perfectly logical. Sugarland’s first album, Twice The Speed Of Life, peaked at No. 3. The duo’s sophomore album, Enjoy The Ride, got one notch higher, hitting No. 2. There was only one more chart rung available for Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush to climb. Unfortunately, No. 2 is the pop number Love On The Inside picked up. The album was released the same day as Miley Cyrus’ pop album Breakout, and it sold a hefty 371,000 copies, taking the top slot on The Billboard 200. Source: www.gactv.com

Peter McWhirter wins Telstra Road to Tamworth heat

Peter McWhirter is now on the road to achieving every country musician’s dream, after winning the Penrith heat of the Telstra Road to Tamworth competition at the Penrith RSL on Saturday night.

Peter, 19, from Harrington Park, will advance through to the Finals held at the Tamworth Country Music Festival presented by Telstra in January 2009 and is in the running to win a full album deal with ABC Music, along with a return trip to country music capital Nashville, USA. The 14 contestants who performed in the Penrith heat were live judged by a panel of industry experts at the event and remotely in Brisbane via Telstra’s Next G™ and BigPond networks, but it was Peter who caught the eye of the judges.

Having grown up in nearby Camden, Peter is a full-time musician who performs regular gigs at a number of local pubs. An avid music lover since he received his first guitar at age seven, Peter began vocal training at Leah Cassar Voice Production in Camden when he was 10 years old and hasn’t looked back since. Performing to a packed venue, Peter enjoyed a strong show of support from the local audience and impressed everyone with his vocal ability and exceptional guitar playing. Peter opened with a classic from Cold Chisel “Beau River”, and then finished with an original track titled “Chasing Girls”. “I don’t know what to say, thanks so much everyone and especially my family for all their support”, he said when accepting his winner’s trophy.

As part of the trip to Nashville, the overall winner will perform at a two high profile showcase concerts during the CMA Music Festival, the largest country music festival in the world. Australian country music star and 2009 Telstra Road to Tamworth Ambassador, Adam Harvey, said Peter is now on his way to becoming the next big thing in country music. “Every country music hopeful dreams of two things - to record their first album and to perform in Nashville. The Telstra Road to Tamworth gives musicians the chance to win these opportunities and secure a successful career start in country music,” Harvey said. Like all 14 heat winners, Peter receives $1,000 to assist him travel to the Finals held during the 2009 Tamworth Country Music Festival presented by Telstra in January recognised as the largest country music festival in Australia.