Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Hot country music newcomer Carrie Underwood will one of the headliners at the 2006 Oregon Jamboree lineup, festival organizers announced this week.
The Aug. 4-6 Jamboree also includes Randy Travis, Charley Pride, John Michael Montgomery, Josh Turner, Keith Anderson, Ryan Shupe and Rockie Lynn.
The Jamboree announced Gretchen Wilson during its 2005 event.
Regional talent will include Alexis of Albany; The Higgins of Vancouver, B.C .; and Much More Country of Portland, Event Manager Peter LaPonte said. The Jamboree still has a couple of more regional slots to fill.
?The big hit there is Carrie Underwood,? LaPonte said. She won ?American Idol? last year, and ?she broke every record in December for record sales. She beat people like Martina McBride and Faith Hill.
?It?s a great lineup, tons of variety in there, and I think Carrie Underwood is exciting. It?s the first time anyone will see her on the West Coast, at least so far.?
Underwood, from Checotah, Okla., is touring in support of her first CD, ?Some Hearts,? featuring her first single, ?Jesus, Take the Wheel.?
?I never thought that any of this would actually happen to me,? Underwood said of ?American Idol? and her new career. ?These kinds of things only happen to imaginary characters on television or in the movies ? Not real people.
Underwood started her musical career at a very early age, singing songs in church, like ?Jesus Loves Me,? she said.
?As I grew up, Mrs. Cooper?s music class was an easy favorite. I somehow landed all of the lead roles in the third- through fifth-grade musicals.?
She said that as she grew older, she got her mother to take her to local talent shows.
?I never won but usually placed,? she said. ?I was so excited when I won a $25 savings bond or trophy. Little did I know that those little things would someday lead me down the road I?m on today.?
After high school, she majored in broadcast journalism ?to be practical and prepare for my future in the ?real world,?? she said.
?In my last year of college, I was at home one weekend and saw on the news that many people were in Cleveland, Ohio, sleeping outside in hopes of auditioning for the 2005 ?American Idol? season. People always told me that I should try out for the show, but I never thought I would be able to handle it. I decided to see where else the auditions would be held and found out the closest place to my home was in St. Louis ? hours away. After visiting with a family friend, my mother offered to drive me if I wanted to try out. And the rest is history.?
?So in conclusion, I guess things like this do happen to normal people. I don?t know how or why I am this lucky, but I hope I continue to be for many years to come. And I hope I never forget where I came from.?
Pride, one of the few African-Americans to make it big in country music, was born to poor sharecroppers, one of 11 children in Sledge, Miss. Pride unofficially started his music career in the late 1950s as a ballplayer with the Negro American League?s Memphis Red Sox singing and playing guitar on the team bus between ballparks. Self-taught on a guitar bought at the age 14 from Sears Roebuck, Pride would join various bands? onstage as he and the team roved the country.
Between 1969, when he first hit #1 on the singles chart with ?All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)? and 1984, when he commanded the top spot again with ?Every Heart Should Have One,? Pride scored more than 36 number one country singles.
Over the past 30 years, Pride has remained one of the Top 20 best-selling country artists of all-time. His incredible legacy includes 36 #1 hit singles, over 70 million albums sold, 31 gold and 4 platinum albums – including one quadruple platinum. On RCA Records, Charley Pride is second in sales only to Elvis Presley.
Turned down by nearly every record label in Nashville, often more than once, Randy Traywick was finally signed to Warner Brothers Records in 1985. Record company executives changed his name to Travis, and his first recorded effort for his new label was ?Prairie Rose,? on the soundtrack to the film, ?Rustler?s Rhapsody.?
It was followed by the release of the album, ?Storms of Life? in 1986, and the rest is country music history.
2005 turned out to be a great year for Trvis. He?s been awarded a Grammy for ?Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass, Gospel Album? for ?Worship & Faith,? and the album has also been nominated for a Dove Award for Country Album of the Year. His latest Word Records/Curb/Warner Bros. release, ?Passing Through,? is a collection of country and inspirational songs that speaks to listeners from all walks of life.
Montgomery has been performing for more than 12 years. Whether conveying the subtle drama of ?Letters From Home? and ?The Little Girl,? the tender romance of ?I Swear? and ?I Can Love You Like That,? the breezy philosophy of ?Life?s a Dance,? or the heart-pumping power of ?Be My Baby Tonight? or ?Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident),? Montgomery has proven his ability at giving a song just the right emotion or energy it needs.
?The other day someone told me that I?d had more career songs than any current artist,? he said. ?I don?t know about that. All I can say is that I work very hard at finding songs. I know they?re not going to just fall into my lap. I spend so much time listening and going through tapes, because I?m only as good as the songs I sing.?
Turner debuted with ?Long Black Train.? Spurred by its haunting, gospel-inflected title track, the album sold a million copies and brought Turner a pair of nominations from the influential Country Music Association plus a Top New Artist nomination from the Academy of Country Music.
That debut, however, was merely a prelude. Turner?s sophomore project, ?Your Man,? demonstrates an increased maturity, a better-honed sense of his strengths and a more specific portrait of the singer as both an artist and a man.
Shupe and his RubberBand bring acoustic-based country music back with the soft-spoken ?Dream Big? ? a folksy ?I Hope You Dance? world of peeled back guitar-and-mandolin-layered positive affirmation.
Wilson included Keith Anderson?s composition ?The Bed? on her 2004 debut album, ?Here for The Party,? co-written by Vicky McGehee and Big & Rich?s John Rich. Anderson?s own solo album, with the single ?Pickin? Wildflowers,? came out in 2005.
Universal South recording artist Lynne had the best new artist debut this week at country radio since Wilson?s ?Redneck Woman? in March of 2004. His debut single, ?Lipstick? was the second most-added this week at country radio, second only to Brooks & Dunn and tied with Wilson?s newest single. His debut album is scheduled for release in March.
The Jamboree features 14 concerts over three days of country music and camping in Sweet Home.
The festival is produced by the nonprofit Sweet Home Economic Development Group, and proceeds benefit economic development and charitable programs in the Sweet Home community.
General admission three-day passes cost $90. General admission single-day passes cost $60. Camping costs $70 for the full weekend. Three-day passes for children between the ages of 7 and 12 cost $20. Children?s one-day passes cost $10. Children under 6 are admitted free with an adult. Tickets are available at Safeway Tickets West outlets and online at http://www.oregonjamboree.com.
For information, call 367-8800.