One-third of the Lady Antebellum lineup, lead-singer Charles Kelley, gave his gal-pal of two years, publicist Cassie McConnell, a blingin’ rock and a promise on Christmas morning.
Yep, the handsome bearded songster, 27, and the striking blond, 25, plan to walk down the aisle in the future, according to a recent blurb in US Weekly, but no date is yet set.
Perhaps the recent one-year anniversary of Charles’ brother, pop-singer Josh Kelley, who married Grey’s Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl in 2007 on Dec. 23, put him in a marrying frame of mind.
Still, if he and Cassie hope to walk down the aisle in 2009, they’ll have a full Lady A touring schedule to work around, since the trio—along with artist Miranda Lambert--will serve as openers for Kenny Chesney’s Sun City Carnival 2009 Tour.
Presale tickets to all of the tour dates will be available to Lady A Team members on the band’s Web site as early as Jan. 14 for April shows in Uncasville, Conn., at the Mohegan Sun venue, with more shows announced via the same site beginning at 10 a.m. (Central) Jan. 14.
In more Lady A news, the trio is one of 20 Grammy-nominated artists to be featured on the 15th edition of the Grammy Nominees CD, which will be available Jan. 27 via www.grammy.com. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the CD will benefit the MusiCares Foundation and the GRAMMY Foundation, two charitable organizations established by The Recording Academy. (The 51st Grammy Awards will air Feb. 8, 2009, on CBS beginning at 8 p.m.)
Country Star of Tomorrow: Caitlin Nicole Eadie
Caitlin Nicole Eadie is a name, and voice, country fans will likely want to know better. The16-year-old with a tear-in-her-throat vocal delivery is an aspiring country artist who will likely be a regular in Music City once her high school diploma’s in hand. Judging by the talent displayed on Country Girl, her current indie CD, which is available via her MySpace page at www.myspace.com/CaitlinNicoleEadie, Music Row will welcome the songstress with open arms.
With influences from Patsy Cline and Reba McEntire to Joss Stone, the flame-tressed teen is already a multi-threat artist in the making. Not only can she sing a country song, but she can write one, too. Or, in the case of the 10–song Country Girl, four tunes, including the CD’s title track, Everybody’s Hero, You Said Goodbye and Pity Party.
Singing and performing since age 10, Eadie said she began songwriting about five years ago and recently took up the guitar. Since taking on the six-string some eight months ago, “I have been writing so much more now,” reported the Florida-based budding artist, who is currently choosing songs for her sophomore CD, which she hopes to release fall 2009.
At present, Eadie—who works in about 60 live shows per year around her school schedule, including serving as an opening act for country artists such as Jason Aldean, James Otto and Tanya Tucker—is a featured country artist on My Country Space, where her music can be sampled on her artist profile page.
AFN Alert: Country Fans Now have Cable Network Devoted to Country Music Videos
If you haven’t heard just yet, there’s a new country-music video outlet for country artists and their fans on DirecTV’s Channel 325, Artists and Fans Network, that features the best in country music videos, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
AFN’s motto is “it’s all about the music” and its founders pride themselves on supporting all the genre’s artists, including some bluegrass, country-rock, outlaw country and country-gospel performers, not just commercial country radio's top-20 video artists. To learn more, please access my Jan. 9 AFN article on Suite 101.
