COUNTRY QUICKIES: 5/9/13
~~Taylor Swift will take her Red tour to Australia late this year for four stadium concerts. The shows are scheduled for Dec. 4 in Sydney, Dec. 7 in Brisbane, Dec. 11 in Perth and Dec. 14 in Melbourne.
Taylor will also perform an arena show in Auckland, New Zealand, on Nov. 29. She will be the first solo female artist in two decades to undertake a national stadium tour of Australia. Madonna played stadiums there in 1993 during her Girlie Show tour.
~~ Luke Bryan will appear on "The Late Show with David Letterman" on Monday, May 13. Luke will perform his new single "Crash My Party," the first song from his next studio album due out later this summer.
After The Late Show with David Letterman appearance Luke will head out for the summer leg of his headline tour, the "Dirt Road Diaries Tour," which begins on May 17 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
~~Marty Stuart holds his annual "Late Night Jam" at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on June 5th.
Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives will be joined by a slew of special guests, including Connie Smith, The Oak Ridge Boys, Bobby Bare, Brandy Clark, Charlie Worsham and Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. Proceeds benefit MusiCares, the charitable arm of the Recording Academy.
~~ In honor of the late George Jones, Sammy Kershaw released his latest single and music video, "The Route That I Took".
Sammy notes, "George was a major part of my life for many years. He was my friend and mentor and I wrote this song with him in mind a while back and hoped that he one day might record it. I couldn't think of a more appropriate time to put it out. God Bless you, Possum and see you again someday my friend."
"The Route That I Took" is available for download now on iTunes and Amazon.com. A portion of the song's proceeds will go to a to-be-announced charity.
~~ Organizers haven't set a date yet but the restoration of the Johnny Cash home in Dyess, Ark. is on track to open in 2014.
The project by Arkansas State University also includes restoration of a nearby theater and the Dyess Colony administration building. The structures should be ready for visitors in fall of next year.
The home is being renovated to look as it did when the Cash family moved to the Dyess Colony in 1935 in the middle of the Great Depression.
The center has obtained a $500,000 grant for the work, and an annual music festival at ASU helps fund the effort in the northeast Arkansas town. This year's festival is set for Aug. 17 and is to feature country singer Vince Gill.














