Music – Page 4363 – 105.7 WDNY

Jimmie Allen + Brad Paisley can’t wait to play their duet single on tour together this summer

July 1, 2021 by WDNY Radio

When Jimmie Allen heads out as an opening act for Brad Paisley’s headlining tour this summer, it’ll be a big deal for both artists. Not only is Brad a musical idol to Jimmie, but their duet, “Freedom Was a Highway,” is now rising at country radio.

This will be the first time Brad’s ever toured with an artist with whom he shared a current single, as the country veteran points out during a recent interview the two singers did together for Apple Music Country.

“I’ve never had a tour with the person I had a duet out with,” Brad reveals. “When Carrie [Underwood] and I had ‘Remind Me,’ she wasn’t on tour with me anymore. She was way bigger than that.”

The singer goes on to say that there have been other near misses where he almost shared the stage with a current duet partner, but the timing’s never quite worked out before.

“I’ve had songs with Dierks [Bentley], I’ve had songs with Alan Jackson, but I’ve never had them out on the road while I had that. And in this case, while [the song is] rising like this…we’ve got great entrances planned for you, you know what I mean?” Brad tells Jimmie.

“We’re gonna shoot him out of a cannon for the song,” he jokes.

Before they hit the road together, Jimmie and Brad will take the stage for Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series on July 5. They’re part of a lineup of July 4th festivities that also includes a performance from Lady A.

Janet Jackson invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences

July 1, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Janet Jackson is one of 395 individuals who’ve been invited this year to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the folks who hand out the Oscars. If she accepts, she’ll get to vote on who wins them in the future.

The invitees have “distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures,” the Academy notes, and are divided into different groups, such as actors, cinematographers, directors, makeup artists and hairstylists, and, in Janet’s case, music.

On the list of invitees, Janet is noted for two of her movies: Poetic Justice and Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? Janet starred in the latter and recorded the song “Nothing” for its soundtrack. She also starred in Poetic Justice and her hit “Again” was used as the film’s closing song. It received a Best Original Song nomination at the 1994 Oscar ceremony.

Among the other musicians invited to become Academy members this year is singer/songwriter H.E.R., who just won the Best Original Song Oscar this year for “Fight for You,” from Judas and the Black Messiah. The list also includes singer/songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, Leslie Odom Jr. and Jon Batiste, who wrote the score to the animated film Soul.

In an attempt to make its membership more diverse, the Academy notes that 46% of this year’s invitees are women, and 39% are from “underrepresented ethnic/racial communities.”

Jimmy Buffett to perform “This Land Is Your Land” on ‘A Capitol Fourth’ special

July 1, 2021 by WDNY Radio

As previously reported, Jimmy Buffett is among the artists taking part in the 2021 edition of PBS’ A Capitol Fourth television special. Now comes word about what the lauded singer/songwriter will be performing on the show.

Buffett will be singing folk legend Woody Guthrie‘s classic Americana tune “This Land Is Your Land” in a segment that was taped at a Southern California location overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The performance also features two members of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band — keyboardist Mike Utley and steel-drum player Robert Greenidge — and will be intercut with scenes of various American landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Grand Canyon.

Written in 1940 and first recorded by Guthrie in 1944, “This Land is Your Land” was chosen in 2002 to be added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

The 41st annual edition of the A Capitol Fourth special will be broadcast this Sunday, July 4, at 8 p.m. ET on PBS. The program also will stream on Facebook and YouTube as well as PBS’ website.

The special’s performance lineup also includes Gladys Knight, Train, Cynthia Erivo, Kermit the Frog, Alan Jackson, Pentatonix, Renée Fleming and many more.

Vanessa Williams will host the festivities but due to the pandemic, A Capitol Fourth will feature pre-recorded performances from stages all across the country, in lieu of the traditional concert on the U.S. Capitol’s West Lawn.

The show also will feature a live fireworks display over the D.C. skyline, as well as tributes to the men and women of the military and their families, and a salute to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams ahead of this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

New York Mayor confirms Bruce Springsteen & Paul Simon will headline “amazing” Central Park concert

July 1, 2021 by WDNY Radio

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has confirmed the news reported Wednesday by Page Six, that Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Jennifer Hudson will be among the headliners of a huge concert held August 21 in the city’s Central Park to celebrate the post-COVID-19 reopening of the Big Apple.

Speaking about the event, apparently called the Central Park Homecoming Concert, at a press conference Thursday, de Blasio declared, “[I]t’s gonna be a great moment for the city marking our rebirth, marking our comeback, and it’s gonna be one of the greatest Central Park concerts in history.”

In revealing Springsteen’s participation in the show, the mayor noted, “He just did something amazing by bringing back his show on Broadway, and starting the Broadway rebirth. He is beloved in New York City in an extraordinary way, even though he happens to come from New Jersey — no one’s perfect — he is amazing, and I’ve loved his music from the first moment I heard it, and I know so many others have as well.”

Regarding Simon, de Blasio mentioned that the folk-rock legend played two previous historic concerts in Central Park, in 1981 — with Art Garfunkel — and 1991.

De Blasio promised that a full lineup and a lot more details about the show will be announced soon, adding “get ready for a concert for the ages and a big part of the rebirth of New York City and the summer of New York City.”

As previously reported, the massive concert is being organized by famed music mogul Clive Davis.

4th of July in New York City is BACK! Join me at City Hall as we get ready for this weekend’s celebrations.
https://t.co/WTOv8IQzYL
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 1, 2021

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