It's hard to believe that this is the 12th column and that a year has gone by already. This month, we're going to explore some more official artist sites, specifically Chely Wright, Sammy Kershaw and Alan Jackson. We'll also look at a new artist from Texas, Casey Lee Green. And we have a New Discovery for those looking to improve their Windows 95 desktop.
Chely WrightChely Wright has changed record labels and recently issued her third album, Let Me In. She says this change has allowed her to do the music she wants to do and it seems to be paying off in the amount of airplay she's been getting on the radio. Now her fans can access her web site and get a variety of information on her career.
There's nothing fancy about the site and it contains a lot of the usual features. There are pages for biographical information, career facts, tour dates and a photo gallery. The tour information is up to date through the summer and it looks like she'll be busy. She'll be appearing with Vince Gill on several dates toward the end of the summer. There are links to other web sites containing information on Chely and a limited set of links to other country music related sites.
There are, however, some interesting features to the site including a list of e-mail addresses to country radio stations across the country so fans can send in requests to play Chely's music. Unfortunately you have to scroll through the list in order to find the station you want; they are listed by state. It would be nice to have a table of contents up front to link to each state. You can also subscribe to a mailing list that distributes an electronic newsletter. The mailing list is managed by GetReminded (and if you join there are several other mailing lists for country artists you can join).
Another interesting feature allows you to vote for your favorite Chely Wright song. You can see the percentage of votes for each song and they're listed by the their popularity, from most to least. After you vote you can redisplay the list to see the effect of your vote. And there is also a page that lets you know how Chely's music is doing on the Billboard and Radio & Records singles and album charts. And there is a "current happenings" page that is kept up to date.
