Vacation with Joey+Rory; Golf & Guitars News: Kid Rock Partners with Symphony and Keith Urban Is Number One

The home office of Engine 145 has been experiencing some technical difficulties this week and we’ll be back to a normal posting schedule as quickly as we can.

• Joey+Rory are hosting “Retreat to the Ranch,” a vacation getaway in Wyoming from July 8 -14. It looks like a cross between City Slickers and the Grand Ole Opry.
• Two of the biggest Canadian country music stars released new music videos this month. Dean Brody released his new video for “Canadian Girls” and Johnny Reid has a new one for “Fire It Up.”
• Staying international, New Zealand singer/songwriter Sarah Brown will be releasing her sophomore album, The Great Heart Robbery, in May. She’s an award-winning Americana-type artist whose first album was terrific.
• The folk trio Oh! My Blackbird is releasing their first full album Dare Me on 3/20 after a couple of EP’s. You can listen/watch their very creative first music video for their first single “Little Bird” here.
• Have you heard of The Malpass Brothers?
• Kid Rock will be doing a concert on May 12 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to help raise funds to save the city’s Fox Theater.
• Randy Montana and his wife Montgomery Lee had a baby girl.
• More baby news. Matt Kennon and his wife Tisha also had a baby girl.
• Kenny Chesney, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Cornell, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ronnie Dunn, Ray LaMontagne, Amy Lee, Lucinda Williams and more will come together for “We Walk The Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash,” an April 20 concert at Austin City Limits.
• Gary Allan is busy recording his next album.
• Nashville’s Bluebird Café will be hosting back to back benefit concerts this weekend.
• Blues legend Louisiana Red passed away at the age of 79. He had over 50 albums to his credit upon his death.
• What were you doing at the age of nine? Probably not landing on the Bluegrass album sales chart for your banjo playing.
• Paul W. Dennis’ Country Heritage column highlights Roy Drusky over at My Kind of Country.
• Toby Keith‘s Clancy’s Tavern and Scotty McCreery‘s “The Trouble With Girls” both were certified gold.
• Chris Young got his mug painted at the Nashville Palm.
• Kenny Chesney covered Bruce Springsteen on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
• The State of Tennessee issued a resolution honoring Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver for their contribution to music.
• Keith Urban’s “You Gonna Fly” is this week’s Mediabase #1.
• It was mentioned earlier this month that Engine 145 is the official online media partner for the Golf & Guitars Children’s Charity concert being held in Sacramento, CA on May 22^nd. Both the Josh Abbott Band and Chuck Wicks have been added this week to the line-up already including Jack Ingram, Kix Brooks, Bryan White, Love & Theft, Jana Kramer, The Farm, David Nail, Jerrod Niemann, Brett Eldredge, James Wesley, Jason Michael Carroll, Steve Holy, Canaan Smith, Dustin Lynch and Jimmy Wayne. All of the artists are volunteering their time in an effort to raise lots of money for kids’ diabetes research and golf rehabilitation programs for the disabled. You can purchase your $30 tickets here.