The members of Rascal Flatts- Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus & Joe Don Rooney- were honored this morning as they were awarded with the CRS 2012 Artist Humanitarian Award at the opening session of Country Radio Seminar being held in Nashville this week.

“It’s a little uncomfortable to be recognized for something we feel we should be doing,” remarked Jay DeMarcus after the band received their award on stage. “We have been so blessed with an amazing career, to pay the blessings forward seemed the most natural thing to do.”

The honor was bestowed on behalf of their charitable endeavors with the American Red Cross, The Jason Foundation and Make-A-Wish as well as their continued contributions to the Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn.

Monday night, Nashville-based, singer-songwriter Nicolle Galyon debuted on NBC’s The Voice, singing her rendition of Kenny Chesney‘s “You Save Me.”   Within seconds, judge Adam Levine of Maroon 5 turned his chair around, selecting Nicolle for Team Adam.  His excitement over her performance even prompted him to proclaim that “when you weren’t nervous, you were so special” and that his fellow judges “were sleeping at the wheel.”

Nicolle is a Belmont University graduate and Warner Nashville songwriter who, ironically, has penned songs for American Idol’s Lauren Alaina as well as Josh Kelley and Brent Anderson.

Nicolle is putting a new spin on Country music by pairing her Country vocal chops with her classical piano skills.

Nicolle Galyon grew up in Sterling, Kansas, a town of 2,000 people “smack dab in the middle of nowhere.”  At the age of four, Galyon began mimicking the older kids at her babysitter’s house who were taking piano lessons and began classical training at age five. From there she persistently pursued piano competitions until the age of 18. Upon graduation from high school, Galyon moved to Nashville to pursue a career behind the scenes of the music business, as she “didn’t think there was anything I could do with classical piano training in country music”. 

Shortly after her move to Music City, Galyon enrolled in Belmont University’s Music Business program and started secretly writing songs in the practice rooms at the school, as she was too timid to sing them in front of other people. But upon a friend’s request, she entered a few of her songs into the Songwriter’s Showcase Series at Belmont and landed a spot playing on the University’s biggest stage and biggest yearly event, The Best Of The Best. “I had never sung in front of anyone at that point in my life,” Nicolle remembers.  “I thought there’s only one way to dive into this, and that’s headfirst. Here goes nothin’.”

That night parlayed Galyon into other writer’s rounds and soon after graduation she signed a publishing deal with Warner Music Nashville, where she has been a staff songwriter since 2007. In that time, she has had songs recorded by American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina, Universal Recording artist Josh Kelley, newest Sony/Seagayle signing Brent Anderson, in addition to several other television placements.

But along the way, Galyon found that her love for music did not just stop for writing. Through the process of writing, recording and performing her songs, she found that hearing other people sing her words wasn’t completely fulfilling and that her desire to tell her own story was the ultimate dream. In 2012 she auditioned for NBC’s hit singing competition, The Voice.

“I’m finding my voice in front of all of America”, Galyon says. “My fear of failure has become less than my love for music.”

Galyon’s songs are a marriage of piano-based, pop melodies mixed with charming, sophisticated, and endearing lyrics about Middle America. “A lot of people ask me why I don’t just do pop music since I’m a piano player. And I tell them that as long as I’m writing what I know, I will always be a country artist,” says Galyon. “You can’t take the small town outta the girl, no matter how much time she spends in LA or Nashville. And at the end of the day, I just want to be authentic. As long as I’m being genuine, my songs will be country. No matter what instrument I’m playing.”

Keep up with Nicolle and her new venture on NBC’s The Voice by visiting her official website, www.NicolleGalyon.com.

photo credit: Monarch Publicity

Country music entertainer and award-winning TV host Craig Morgan took a break from his busy schedule readying for the launch of his new album to visit a local school today.  While at Dickson Middle School, an hour west of Nashville, Morgan donated 15 Dean acoustic guitars to the music program and talked with Mr. Elston’s 8^th grade class about the importance of music.  While there, the class got a brief guitar lesson from Morgan and even wrote a quick song together.

“Music has always been such an important part of my life,” says Morgan.  “I’m happy to give back so that others can share in that experience.”

Craig Morgan is gearing up to launch a brand new album, THIS OLE BOY, in stores next Tuesday, February 28^th.  The lead single is currently in the 20s on the country charts.

Congratulations go out to Joe Nichols and his wife as they just announced to People.com that they are expecting their first child together.  The happy couple tells People exclusively, “After trying to have a baby for so long, we are thrilled to announce that I am pregnant,” Heather says. Adds Joe, “I have to give all the credit to my wife — she has been a trooper through all of this, and I am so happy.”

Joe & Heather were married in September of 2007.  To read the full article, please click HERE.

Pictured (L-R): Front Row – The Band Perry’s Reid, Kimberly and Neil Perry; Back Row – Republic Nashville President Jimmy Harnen, TBP's Managers Erik Peterson, Bob Doyle, WME’s Rob Beckham, Ryman Auditorium GM Sally Williams, WME’s Dana Burwell, Gaylord Entertainment Senior Vice President, Media and Entertainment Steve Buchanan and Big Machine Label Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta. Photo Credit: Rick Diamond

The Band Perry played to a full house last night at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, TN.  When tickets went on sale last fall, the show sold out in a staggering twenty minutes, a first for the Republic Nashville breakout trio! Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry were also the first artists to perform on the recently renovated stage at the legendary venue.

“We are so excited to have performed our first headlining show in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium! Country music’s ‘mother church’ was in need of some loving attention, so a brand new stage has just been added,” says Kimberly Perry. “We had the honor of being the very first act to perform on it. The evening was even better than we imagined.”

The 2012 ACM Vocal Group of the Year contenders shared a few new songs as well as their Gold-certified #1 single, “All Your Life;” their Triple-Platinum, #1 smash, “If I Die Young” and the Gold-certified “You Lie” from their Platinum Republic Nashville debut album.

Not only did last night’s show in Music City sell out in a matter of minutes, their show last Saturday night (2/18), at Billy Bob’s Texas in Ft. Worth, also sold out in advance – quite an accomplishment for a new act. With more than sixteen thousand in attendance, the sibling trio also performed to a packed venue at the San Antonio Stock Show last Wednesday (2/15).

“It’s so amazing that our fans appreciate what we do live and support us by coming to hear us play,” says Reid Perry.

“We have been so blessed in our career since we began and to know our fans continue to support our music is so gratifying,” says Neil Perry.

The Band Perry heads back out on the road this week on Brad Paisley’s VIRTUAL REALITY WORLD TOUR 2012 with upcoming stops, including:

Country supergroup Rascal Flatts and AEG Live, in conjunction with NCM Fathom, will present a very special one-night-only in-theater event that will take place across the nation on Thursday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT/6:00 p.m. MT/8:00 p.m. PT (tape delayed).  Rascal Flatts – CHANGED: One Night Exclusive Theater Event will deliver exclusive never-before-seen access into the lives of Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus, along with exclusive live performances of their biggest hits and music from their new album, CHANGED, set for release April 3 on Big Machine Records.

Tickets for Rascal Flatts – CHANGED: One Night Exclusive Theater Event will be available to the U.S. public in early March at www.FathomEvents.com. The event will also play at select Cineplex Entertainment theatres across Canada.

Pictured Above, L-R: Ira Dean, Warrior Kyle Moser and his wife Alex Moser

Average Joes recording artist Ira Dean visited with many of our nation’s wounded warriors at the Walter Reed Medical center on Thursday, Feb 16. Dean headlined Operation Troop Aid’s “Song Rounds” and performed his current solo artist single debut, “Somethin’ Bout A Sunday.”