Cup of Country- 3/5/15

Shania Twain Is Launching Her Farewell Tour in June, and Will Release New Music Later This Year

 I bet you didn’t see this coming.  SHANIA TWAIN is launching her first tour in over a decade, and then she’s retiring from the road.  She announced it yesterday on “Good Morning America”.

She said, quote, “After 11 years, I’m going back on tour.  It’s going to be big because it’s going to be my last, so I’m going to make the most of it.  I feel like I’m ready to hang my hat up . . . and I’m ready to go out with a bang.”

It’s called the “Rock This Country” tour and it’ll kick off June 5th in Seattle . . . hitting a total of 48 cities in North America by the time it wraps August 23rd in Fresno, California.  Dates and details are at ShaniaTwain.com.

 

She’s promising that the tour will be different than her Vegas run.  Quote, “I didn’t want to take part of [that] show on the road, I wanted to take an entirely new show that was custom-made for touring.”

 

She’s also determined to release a new album this year.

 

Quote, “I’m working on the new record as we speak.  That’s going to be coming up after the tour.  I want it to come out when I’m 50, so . . . I’m going to make it happen.”  (She turns 50 on August 28th.)

 


 

Darius Rucker is Raising Polite Southern Kids

DARIUS RUCKER is about as real as they come, and he attributes a lot of that to being raised in Charleston, South Carolina, so that’s where he’s bringing up his kids.  He says, quote, “When you live in Charleston you don’t have to do much to raise ’em.

 

“I try to teach them things I was taught.  Be respectful, say ‘yes ma’am, yes sir’ . . . be courteous to others.  In Charleston, [everybody’s] just really nice.  We say hey to everybody all the time . . . I try to teach them the things my mom taught me growing up.

 

“I’m trying to let them be happy healthy kids but they’re definitely southern kids, that’s for sure.”  Darius and his wife Beth have two children.  He also has one child from a previous relationship.

 


 

The Band Perry Recorded a Song with Pharrell Williams

 

THE BAND PERRY collaborated with “Voice” coach PHARRELL WILLIAMS for a song on their next album.  KIMBERLY PERRY says, quote “We got to hang out with Pharrell.  He’s a huge country music fan, and he loves what we do with harmony.

 

“One thing that we worked on with him was this song where all three of us sing different interwoven vocals on the verse and on the chorus.”  No word on the name of the song.  The album’s supposed to come out sometime this year.


FRANKIE BALLARD’s “Young & Crazy” video features a lot of concert footage and little backstage stuff.


 

ELI YOUNG BAND’s “Turn It On” EP will be out next Tuesday . . . and the title track is streaming right now on Vevo.